#so instead it's just 'return to the OP Villain then'

[andastartosteerherby]

SVSSS Fic Rec

I'm updating it everyday, because time crunch.

(Mostly Bingqiu/Bingyuan, Unless Tagged)

*Different Endless Abyss

Guess I'll Die - Shen Qingqiu goes to the Endless Abyss.

Speak No Evil - SQQ gives up his voice to stop Endless Abyss. It happens anyway.

*Amnesia

Night of Yearning - Luo Binghe forgets Shen Qingqiu.

*Jinlan City Goes Differently/Different Reunion/Different Rebirth

High Mountains, How I long

Dew Over - Shen Qingqiu is reborn in the mushroom body and tries to live as Peerless Cucumber.

Honesty is Such a Lonely Word - Shen Qinqiu faces the trial, and Old Palace Master uses a truth-finding artefact.

*Time Loop/Time Travel

Just Like A Monkey (I've Been Dancing My Whole Life) - Instead of being reborn after self-destructing, Shen Qingqiu keeps coming back on the Stairs of the Brothel in Jinlan City.

Master of Dual Cultivation Series - Shen Yuan reboots his time in PIDW. He is traumatised and less happy-go-lucky. This one is multi, with Liu Qingge and Yue Qingyuan getting more focus uptill now (in the first two stories) but Luo Binghe is important too.

*Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan

Deluxe System 2.0: Co-op Mode!

Found Brother Shen brothers.

A-Yuan Has at Least Three Friends - Shen Qingqiu turns into a kid with both Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu's memory. They are the same person.

Replacement Head Disciple Shen Yuan - Set after the Abyss, before Binghe's return. Shen Brothers.

*Epic (These fics are longer and plot-heavy, and won a special place in my heart)

You Reap What You Sow - Luo Binghe is the transmigrator. I thought it would be so-so, but turned out to be one of the best ones I've ever read. Also has Shen brothers.

Xiangyang - When you are born as the daughter of your murderer, what do you do? A question for the ages. No active pairing, original LBH and his harem is present.

Uprooted - Shen Yuan transmigrates as a minor villain in PIDW. Except he's not.

To Stem the Coming Tide - Shen Qingqiu learns about Shang Qinghua a bit earlier, and they plot to avoid their fate. No Endless Abyss.

*IWYWMH & Its AUs

I Wish You Were My Husband - The epickest of epics. It produced a number of spin-offs of it's own. Maybe I should put them under separate sub-headings when I have time. Bingqiu main pair, but has past yuejiu and hints of one-sided liushen.

A Wish to Change Fate - A great fanfic to IWYWMH. Shen Yuan is actually Shen Jiu's reincarnation. This fic touched my heart in all the right ways, gave me things I didn't even know I craved. Someday I should write about it in details. Hings of Bingjiu/Bingyuan (since both are the same).

No Wish for the Wicked - Shen Yuan wasn't around to take the place of Shen Jiu. Sad.

*Bingge

to love another (and to learn yourself) - Bingge tries to get his own Shizun and brings a Shen Yuan. Even without his cultivation power, Shen Yuan is not a pushover. Binggeyuan.

How to Train Your Shen Qingqiu - Another piece I ignored for a long time, but turned out to be very good. I need to reread it.

*WIP

I usually avoid wips, but here are some of the best ones I read:

I Was Transmigrated as a Sword (Gen up till now)

Lotus Seeds - Shen Yuan runs away to save himself from the horrible fate of the Scum Villain - to the realm of the Lotus Eaters.

Scum Villain's Book of Prophecy - Shen jiu reads PIDW and learns the future. Original Luo Binghe/Original Shen Qingqiu. Almost finished, epic length.

[bxriles]

Post JJK Ch 219 thoughts.

Man, I’m just bummed out because this can’t be the same story that WRECKED me in Shibuya. It can’t.

Shibuya was just so *chef’s kiss* and had me in one hell of a post story depression… but this? Shouldn’t this be some of the most exciting shit right now? Sukuna takes over Megumi, takes away Megumi’s will to fight, and the gang has to figure out how to stop everything? Should be hella exciting.

So then why am I so BORED?! I’m bored, guys. Big bored. Like I get it. Sukuna is the king of curses and bro is OP as fuck. I GET ITTTTTT. But I don’t carrreeeee because it’s BORING. Isn’t this level of OP-ness what Gege hates so much about Gojo? Didn’t Gege say or allude to Gojo being a nightmare to deal with for this story because of his power level?? Sukuna seems even worse. And Jesus. Everything I’ve seen so far, I don’t even think that Gojo Satoru could beat Sukuna. And that’s SO BORING.

I’M BORED. I went through and read my reactions again to Shibuya and Maki and I was so excited!! I wanna feel excited about this story again. Instead, I’m bored and weirded out. And I’m sorry, but why tf should I care about Tsumiki? Do I feel sad for Megumi? Of course. But her death didn’t do shit because we didn’t get any time with her. I was more sad about Haibara’s death compared to Tsumiki, and we never even actually saw Haibara outside of Nanami’s dying thoughts. Megumi has been stressed about saving Tsumiki this whole time but I felt no sense of urgency because why would I? She’s not a real character! We’ve never seen anything real out of her. She’s just ✨nice.✨

I’m bored and disappointed. I’m going to continue reading and be hopeful that Gege will return to form and pull out that Shibuya-level performance one more time for the end. But right now? I’m bored. Sukuna is a boring villain.

Kenjaku really feels like the only thing that makes this story interesting right now. Him and his wild scheming is all I care about right now.

What a shame.

[19-bellwether]

RWBY character tier list based on writing quality

Opinions on some individual characters:

Ozpin: great for V1-3, but meandering afterwards. Didn't need to be a main character.

Torchwick: great starter villain, appears just the right amount, leaves the story at the best possible time.

Ruby: generally good, just needs more moments to show off her personality and to challenge her as a leader.

Weiss: Generally alright, peaked in V4 and V6, had little to do from V7 onwards despite taking place in her home.

Penny: Near perfect from V1 to V8, dropped the ball starting with the hack, and monstrously destroyed her character arc by the end.

Cinder: She's a roller coaster of quality. Just needs to be refocused and kept on a clear path.

Neo: neat side character in V1-3, her return from V6-V9 was ultimately unnecessary.

Nora and Ren: comedic side characters that struggled to stay relevant after V3. Attempts at giving them arcs came too little, too late. Should be recurring side characters instead of main characters.

Blake: terrible racism allegory. Good personal story with fluctuating execution quality. Starts becoming aimless by V8.

Tyrian: good example of RWBY's struggle to introduce darkness without pushing the rating. Ends up being a saturday morning cartoon villain, though he has some high points in V7.

Big guy who stabs himself with rocks whose name I'm forgetting: "I will kill as many children as I have to in order to stop you from killing children."

Adam: nadir of the racism allegory. Good job as Blake's psycho ex though.

Salem and the gods: clearly meant to be endgame antagonists but just come off as tropey and unintimidating.

Maria: didn't need to exist after V6.

Hound: first time a grimm has ever felt like a genuine threat. Could have been a stellar recurring antagonist but killed off way too soon.

Summer: took too long to expand on her, to Ruby's detriment.

Oscar: Just not interesting, and most of his development happens off-screen. Should be a recurring side character, not a main character.

Ace Ops: a massive contributor to RWBY's cast bloat problem.

Sienna: the other nadir of the racism allegory.

Jaune: On four different occasions, women are maimed or killed for his development. On multiple occasions, moments that should have gone to Ruby are given to Jaune. On two occasions, his character development is reset so he can relearn the exact same lesson again. You treat a tumor by cutting it out.

Feel free to ask for details about anything.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Rewatching that new intro, I've now realized that throughout the series, Ruby's character development is still building where she's sinking down further into her problems while the rest of the team has already encountered their personal problems and has overcome them.

Y'know what anon-chan, I think there is something to be said about that---about what we're going to witness as the possible end of Ruby Rose or...at least what we have always perceived her to be.

I've been rewatching the V9 opening theme (cause I absolutely love this theme), analyzing the visuals while additionally taking a closer gander at the lyrics.

I just can't shake the impression that by the end of V9, the character of Ruby Rose is going to disappear forever and what will emerge from the remnants of her former being will be an entirely new different person who is meant to usurp the former and take her place in the story moving forward.

And this is where I believe Alyx---our mystery Alice in Wonderland character from the OP--- is going to play a part in that development. Thanks for informing me @miraculouscorazone.

To aimlessly toss another ludicrously far-fetched theory onto the table of possibilities,

What if…Ruby Rose is going to “die” by the final chapter of her misadventures in the Ever After and by the time her allies return to Remnant, they wouldn’t be accompanied by what we know Ruby to be anymore but…someone else.

Something else and that something could be Alyx…or whatever the character of Alyx is meant to represent in the grander scheme of things?

Allow me to explain. According to a tweet by RWBY Youtuber: Calxiyn, Alyx is the girl from the Remnant Fairytale: The Girl Who Fell Through the World (teased in Roman Holiday) and the meaning behind her name is “protector of humanity”.

So…what does this insinuate? Leaning into the far-fetched side of my hunch, a part of me wants to consider the concept of Alyx being the one destined to stop Salem once and for all and is the missing solution that Ozma never found because she was never in Remnant but in a completely other world.

Or…on the non-farfetched side of things, perhaps it’s not the character of Alyx that is important but what she symbolizes---the protector of humanity.

Let’s say…in the Ever After, Alyx was the protector of whatever world she originally came from before ending up in the Ever After and her presense is what will challenge and put pressure on Ruby because there will be similarities between the two girls.

So maybe that’s what Ruby is meant to become.

The true protector of humanity and her world of Remnant but she needs to endure the Ever After and what that world reveals about herself in order to come to that realization and transform into that kind of being.

Throughout the V9 trailer,the question of what Ruby Rose is going to be keeps coming up and I find that rather curious since…why ask her what she is going to be instead of who she is going to be?

I guess the answer is already there, right? Ruby knows and has always known who she is. She is Ruby Rose. But what is she meant the be? The kind of person she is meant to become if she continued on this path she’s on, this is the part that’s being brought into the question now. What is Ruby meant to become in the war against Salem? Or rather, what does she need to be and become to stop Salem?

(This is making me think back to Trollhunters when Jim needed to shed his humanity and become a troll in order to stand a chance at defeating Gunmar.

Having our hero character go through a drastic change in order to be ready to defeat the main villain type of archetype).

Because really and truly, what is Ruby Rose?

From what we’ve gathered about her over previous seasons, Ruby Rose is a human girl born and raised in the world of Remnant.

She is the youngest daughter of Summer Rose and Tai Yang Xiao Long.

She is the baby sister of Xang Xiao Long. She is a huntress. She is the leader of Team RWBY. She is a Silver Eyed Warrior…possibly even the last of her kind (granted that Salem doesn’t have more Silver Eyes she’s kept enslaved to be used as lab rats for her grimm experiments).

But what does this all mean in the grand storyline. Do all of these little facts that we know about Ruby truly answer what she is, especially when measured up to other significant facts that there is an immortal being back on her home world whom she and her allies have no concept on how to defeat.

What Ruby becomes after the Ever After is important. She may not even be Ruby anymore. She may be someone completely different and that’s the part of all this that has this squiggle meister boggled.

I know we're only on the first episode and all we’ve gotten so far is the opening (and the trailers before it) but, as I mentioned in my first impressions post, there were moments from the opening visuals that rationalize why I think Ruby is going to disappear and either she’ll be replaced by Alyx or…she’ll become Alyx or…an ‘Alyx’ meaning the “true protector of humanity”---the one meant to stop Salem once and for all?

There were lines from the V9 trailer that got me thinking like this. There were these lines of monologue from the RWBY V9 Official Trailer:

“...What are you?”

“...You never were the hero…”

“So…what are you gonna be?”

“...You seem to be carrying a rather large burden with you…”

“I’m fine. I can handle it.”

“What if you could leave Ruby Rose behind? Shed like an old coat. What might happen if you don’t?”

There’s this real push for Ruby to abandon her old self and become something else. It’s even hinted in the opening theme.

“...In a fairy-tale she’ll find

Inside, A New Me I’m Ready

But who will I find?

Inside

I gotta let go But could I lost my mind…?”

It’s seems like we’re being geared up to watch the character of Ruby Rose be undone and unraveled only to be built up into something else.

What that will be? Will that something be positive or negative? A good ending to the fairy-tale or a bad one?

I don’t have the slightest clue but…I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t invested in seeing it play out because it’s all in the name of Ruby’s development and after watching the little red rose get overlooked for many seasons prior (despite being the literal main character and FACE of the franchise), it’ll be a welcomed and much, much needed sight to see her be a main focus of a season for once.

As a little red fan, colour me intrigued, I guess. Just hope it’s not another disappointing bait and switch from the showrunners. I can't stomach another season of Ruby being mistreated.

So I hope her story in the Ever After will be a good one.

~LMS (2023)

[coffeecatttt]

Resident Evil 5 hates women

Replayed Resident Evil 5 and decided to look up the discourse from the era. The blatant racist imagery is obvious, and frankly I don't think the games press was in a great spot to discuss it adequately on release. Frankly, as a white person I'm also not the most appropriate person to do so either, so I'm not going to get in into that.

But for all the racist shit in the game, I was not prepared for just how overt the sexism would be. Sure, it's from 2009, and things have changed a lot since then, but... yeah, there's a lot.

Character Designs

Obviously, the RE games are no strangers to giving their lady characters scantily clad outfits, and even sexualizes a character who is arguably a minor in RE4, but RE5 really takes it to an extreme.

Literally every female character in the game has some kind of skimpy skintight outfit or dress, solely to accentuate their bodies, regardless of any possible practicality for a combat situation.

This is contrast with the male characters. While they’re also basically models as far as their body shapes go, they at least get to have much more practical fatigues and body armour.

But there’s also aspects of sexism that are coded into the gameplay. For starters, Sheva is relegated to a “2nd player” role. You can’t even play as her by default if you’re not in co-op. Instead she’s an unlockable character.

Presumably, Capcom either thought nobody would want to play as a woman by default, or maybe worse, because they thought that they could dangle a woman as a reward for completing the game.

But that's not the only unlockable! There's also the costumes. Sheva’s standard one isn’t modest, but the costumes all find a way to put her into even more skimpy clothes, including shiny gold “club” attire, a business suit with a skirt so short it wouldn’t make sense outside of a porn scene, and the infamous “tribal bikini”.

All of these costumes are things you have to spend your points to unlock, so not only is your reward for finishing the game getting to play as a woman, but dressing her up in increasingly pervy ways. Hooray!

Narrative Stuff

But the character designs aren't enough. Capcom also felt it fitting to cement its misogyny in the narrative. Pretty much every significant action in the story is driven by a man.

Sheva, despite being one of the featured protagonists, is basically just along for the ride, despite being the “local guide” for the area who should know much more than Chris. Yet Sheva never uses her skills and knowledge to move things along. She’s just there to help Chris do co-op stuff, like getting vaulted up to higher areas by him because she weighs less. Girl power!

In fact, the tertiary character Josh, Sheva’s mentor, arguably helps more to move the plot along than Sheva does, since he helps drive the boat and tells them where to go on a couple of occasions. This would have been ideal for Sheva, but I guess the game couldn't let her do anything important.

Jill returns in this game, but spends most of the game mind-controlled by Wesker using some kind of magic device implanted in her chest, I guess because her cleavage is the one part of her latex catsuit that has exposed skin? The fight against her has Chris and Sheva trying to tear this off her chest in an *extremely* awkward QTE.

After getting her butt kicked, instead of zipping up her top or bandaging herself up, she just leaves it open, chest wounds oozing. For the rest of the game she basically has no role except to deliver some deus ex machina plot advice over the radio, even though it'd make a lot more sense for her to help out as an active participant.

Excella Gionne, meanwhile, is the female villain, whose two character traits are worn on her chest. She’s vain, manipulative, and ultimately expendable when Wesker turns her into a monster to attack the protagonists near the end of the game.

Throughout the story, she basically does nothing except to occasionally taunt the player and unintentionally provide info to help them. Despite being the head of Tricell, a biotech company, we never get to see her business or scientific abilities on display, just her lust for power and attempts to seduce Wesker. Her ultimate role is instead to be betrayed by Wesker, cementing him as the true baddie at the end.

Get That Dilc

And yeah, I’m going to the DLC as well. The first is pretty good and actually has Jill in a fairly equal role to Chris, with a significantly less sexualized outfit, so that's cool. I wish I could play as her by default, but hey, progress!

But the second DLC has you playing as Jill during the campaign, back in her catsuit, chest still seeping. The dialog in this is gross. both Josh and new character Doug spend almost all their lines hitting on her, and instead of telling them to fuck off, she inexplicably entertains their advances. It's ludicrously tone deaf.

This part feels extremely triggering for me, and I'm sure for others. The frequency at which women are forced to accept unwanted compliments from men, and show some sign of reciprocation for fear of retaliation, is a disappointing aspect of lived experience for many women. That someone at Capcom thought this was "charming" or appropriate for the situation shows just how incredibly, deeply backwards their views were at the time.

Anyway

When I went searching online for discussion about the constant casual sexism and misogyny in RE5, I came up pretty much empty handed, save for a bunch of gamers on reddit and GameFAQs saying how hot they think Sheva's costumes are. So I guess mission accomplished?

Not only was games journalism of the time the game released not in a place to adequately talk about the racism, the sexism was also apparently barely touched on. Was it just normal back then? Were we blind to it? I'm a different person today than I was then, so maybe.

So yeah, old lady screaming about a nearly 15 year old game, what gives? Well, in all honesty, I have to give Capcom credit for how much they improved. The turnaround in portrayals of women for the RE2 and RE3 remakes really is appreciated, and shows a genuine effort to present them as real characters.

I don't know if Capcom is going to remake RE5. I have a hard time envisioning how the devs could sidestep the fundamentally racist imagery baked into the premise, or handle it with the grace it deserves. But if it does come to pass, I'll be very curious to see how its portrayal of women changes. They deserve better.

[mxtxfanatic]

Something that rubes me wrong in SVSSS is the amount of fandom that defends Shen Jiu.

In my personal opinion he didn't deserve the death he got, much less the abuse he went through while growing up, but to say he "deserved better" doesn't settles up to me.

He did deserve consequences for abusing disciples, fometing bullying, attempting to murder one. It just happened that the one he hurt the most in canon content was an OP stallion MC with the mentality of "return 10 times whatever was given to you".

On the other hand, that same people say that is unfair that other characters like Shen Yuan, that they are friendly and loyal to him. But the thing is, unlike Shen Jiu, Shen Yuan is not abusive nor cruel, and he tries to be kind, seem reasonable, to aid others and do good to the people that surround him.

It's all about actions and consequences. So why are so many in the fandom being abuse apologist, both here and in MDZS (refering to the Jiangs, Meng Yao and Xue Yang)?

I can’t explain or understand the amount of abuse apologia that happens in fandoms surrounding mxtx’s works. I do see a lot of projection, people who overly sympathize with villains or antagonists because those characters remind them of themself, specifically coming from the angle of their tragic backstories, but something about that feels very sad to me, that a person can only relate to child abusers and serial killers but not to characters who are genuinely kind and strive to do right by others in all their actions and intentions.

I feel for Shen Jiu in what happened in his childhood that shaped the rest of his life, but my sympathy stops at his adulthood where he chooses to use his newly amassed power to… continue the cycle of abuse. He is no longer a defenseless street kid helpless to the machinations of cruel, rich adults, but instead of trying to shape the world into one where no other child has to experience what he has, he ensures that many children will live through his exact childhood horror, all personally at his hand. I cannot relate to this.

What I can relate to is Shen Yuan looking at a child covered in bruises given to him by an adult he trusted and immediately shoving medicine into that child’s arms, even while the system actively threatens his life over this small kindness. I can relate to Shen Yuan mourning having to take his first life, even as it was right for him to do so in order to protect his students and himself. I can relate to Shen Yuan accepting that the privileges of Shen Qingqiu also come with the sins of Shen Qingqiu, and it is the right thing to do to atone for those sins (even if he goes about that atoning all wrong at first). I aspire to be this type of good person who can reliably choose to do what is right first and always, even if I fuck up along the way. This is the type of perseverance that failure and cruelty can’t discourage, and it’s very sad that so many fans find this unrelatable or unrealistic enough to be worthy of derision.

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

Hey, Pop Culture Detective did a new video on the MCU Marvel's Defenders of The Status Quo

Damn, thank you for sharing, that was really good!

I wholeheartedly agree with OP that in these movies we see the heroes reacting only when the status quo is threatened and them stopping the villains is considered a win - whatever the villains were trying to change is never addressed, they never engage in any socio-political project. The pattern is always the same: to return the world to what it was before the attack, never to use this as an opportunity for change.

And it's especially jarring given that some of the heroes should know better than defending the status quo. Steve is one of them, the disabled child of immigrants born in the '20s living in NYC in the middle of a rise of eugenicism would do anything in his power to actively fight against the status quo, and yet he's content with fighting external fights and stopping a bunch of helicarriers in TWS and getting his people out of the Raft... what about the other inmates? What about the people who will be taken there once the heroes are gone? What about fighting against the system to get the Accords repealed? Nope, we get none of that.

What OP says about Stark reminded me of Luke Cage and Danny Rand's argument in The Defenders where Luke is telling him his wealth leaves him in a privileged position to incite real change in the world but he'd rather go on vigilante mode instead. It's the same with Stark, he doesn't use his money to advocate for social change, if anything he runs Damage Control and takes jobs from the citizens of NYC like we see in Homecoming.

As OP says: "Instead the superheroes engage in random acts of benevolence. A billionaire gifts the world with some fancy new proprietary technology, a soldier asks nicely that corrupt bureaucrats just do better. In the best-case scenario, a wealthy monarch builds an international network of community centers. These Band-Aid approaches may help a few disenfranchised individuals here and there but they're also designed to keep the current economic and political structures firmly in place".

I think probably the worst case offender of villains being right but having their methods be as immoral as it takes in order to get the audience to disagree with them are Killmonger and the Flagsmashers. Erik starts making a little too much sense for Disney's liking so they have him kill his girlfriend out of nowhere (at least they address some of the overarching issue with T'Challa following Nakia's lead but as said above, that's a band-aid), Karli and the others are asking for redistribution of food and medicine, the relocation of refugees, a change of how borders are reinforced and a stop to mass deportations... so of course The Mouse has Karli kill a bunch of innocents out of nowhere so they can be called terrorists. Nobody wants to side with a terrorist, right?

To quote OP again: "Having the villain's methods always involve indiscriminate killing is a deliberate decision by the writers [...] The equating of social justice causes with outright villainy is one of the reasons why the superhero genre is often accused of leaning conservative ideologically."

Lastly, I really like that part about Alan Moore's criticism of superhero movies and the trend that "speaks to a denial of reality and an urge for simplistic and sensational solutions". I like it because it reminded me of the TVA, how in the Loki series we're told HWR is the only bad guy and taking him down will solve the problem as if that kind of fascism would go away by taking down the main guy, as if that organization wasn't comprised of thousands (if not more) of agents who agreed with his methods and worked willingly for an unknown period of time effectively pruning entire realities and killing innocents. You can't destroy the system by punching one guy and it's almost insulting how the narrative in the series tries to convince the audience that's all it takes.

In short, there's a reason why Disney and Marvel got rid of Nomad Steve so quickly + they're choosing to ignore Sam but they're oh so willing to bring Captain Carter to the spotlight. She's as pro-status quo as it gets. These movies should be addressing social change, not defending the system that gets a lot of people discriminated against and oppressed - especially when a lot of the heroes fit that criteria but of course they're never shown talking about it on-screen.

[300iqprower]

most wanted summer alt(guys included)?

AH i knew i'd forgotten something!

My joke from last time aside, because if I named all of them i'd be here for another 3 weeks, there are 3 big ones.

Avenger Medea, as previously discussed, with an Argo Cruise Ship summer vacation that gives us Jason's Okeanos outfit and Lancer Peleus, Foreigner Orpheus, Rider Circe, a teaser of Caster Penelope, and Pretender/Ruler Jason who is STILL a dedicated Argo support servant but is now a really good one and not a one off gimmick. The villains are the Boreads and you have new allies in Aello, Ocypete, and Calaeno, as well as who else but Medea as the welfare.

Hundred Faced Hassan, who's having an identity crisis and has to come to terms with her DID and sense of self and its blatantly not a gag event but a very serious one because they fucked her out of any chance of real characterization in both Zero and the main story so damnit someone has to do it. The villain is some new Foreigner like Hastur or Shub Niggurath fully formed and the parallel of 1000 young to the 100 personas as you effectively have to go around meeting all these various identities that were a part of Hundred Face Hassan, and also we get Predator Scuba Gramps.

Rider Caesar, but he's played completely straight. Like he's a massive himbo who doesn't even realize he's in a gag event and very seriously thinking he has to save everyone and very egotistical but also too stupid to be mean. Just absolutely PEAK himbo with just enough narcissism to give him room for character development and make his genuine love for Cleo meaningful. He's as ripped and half naked as Summer Gawain but all his skills and even his NP are completely serious, and the costumes are instead the 3 outfits of what he SHOULD look like. The only female swimsuit the entire cast is Summer Cleopatra and it's still only a costume, and the only returning summer servant is Summer Caeneus. All the others are male swimsuits, the reason being Rider Caesar is so OP he broke the game into allowing male swimsuits. The villain or the welfare is my Pretender Brutus i've talked about.

[meandmyechoes]

Kingohger ep20

i'm not well

take a deep breath Wedding…

no op…

that's the face of a man who's soul has left him

sorry racles look good in full mantle

you guys don't even bother to go to the wedding 😂 but i guess racles never sent out invites

Gira is back in his cell😭😭

Gira you can't just say you wanna be somewhere other than the cell and immediately follow up with the evil king act 😭😭

Rita is gonna be fed up with you one day with that drama talk like jeramie

Ani-ue…

you two should've been the one married.

are they same age or not?!

this ep has so much target to meet in the runtime if Jeramie is narrating midway

Boshimaru jumped ship no surprise

Dougu… (me dead passed out on the floor)

Omg shot by shot recreation of ep8

but the music is so… normal/relaxed?

Rita looks completely fed up like this is gonna become a weekly match lol

oh Gira's necklace is back in frame

Himeno swordfighting in the dress is so cool 😭

omg black white outfit switch good for them

not sorry i can distinguish the fake Kagu jsut by pecs alone

OP put here??

the tone is too light-hearted so far *frowns*

yep yappari because there is the surrender option. matched with a Tool theory i read that Gira asked for a duel just so he can talk to his brother. you could say i got spoiled but it's a reasonable deduction with the clues given from the show. so i'd say that's solid writing if you just give the story patience

Giving up his victory in return for the Racles apology to the people such a very Gira thing to do…

live Rita fighting 😍😍😍

huh we have a whole part 3 left…

ooh i thought Kagu just didn't hand him the right one that's a good plan

it's recreating ep8 down to the poison switch

Jeramie can't see pass bug disguise 🤔

I don't believe Racules didn't already know Boshimaru is a spy but regardless his care for the Tools are showing like Spin-off #1

so so much live rita and wings two weeks in a roll thank you 🙏🙏

yes yes yes thank you for the brother conflict follow up to 18

Yes OST V1T5 Racles's Conpiracy!!! INFERNO IT'S YOUR TURN

yan hime combo fight!

Kamejim is green?

INFERNO not quite, but V1T22 "I will Rule the World" huh entirely just Gira's BGM instead of a shared song

I LOVE the full villain angle they are taking with Racules at least on the surface. I won't rule out Yano-san's effort made the character more sympathetic and affected his future course, but at the current stage, I'm satisfied if the script can round itself up from the Villain Racules angle.

V1T1 😭😭 The 5 Kings. I knew I'm gonna cry when they replay this track from ep1's ending. I'm gonna cry so hard when they play it at the series finale.

YESSS FILLER EPISODES FINALLY THANK YOU

(wouldn't be surprised if Erica does know how to play the piano)

RECGONITION? INTERNATIONAL RECGONITION AND Rita face reveal??? THANK YOU OH TOEI THANK YOU SO MUCH FROM MY LEGAL AND YUZUKI NERD HEART

[acceptsonlynttnightwing]

Just wanted to say, thank you for your detailed defense of Elwing and Eärendil in some posts I've seen recently.

I've been going nuts listening to people bash them without really considering and or understanding what was actually happening to them.

These Fëanorian apologists, in their quest to find the tiniest shred of redemption in the Kinslayers, needlessly villainize their victims Elwing and Eärendil for the innocent and somewhat naive decisions they made under immense pressure in the worst of circumstances.

It's a relief to know I'm not the only one out there who recognizes that!

No problem, happy to help :) I think I know what post you're talking about - unfortunately the OP blocked me when after I said Maglor didn't actually save the twins so I don't think you can see it anymore. I'm planning on writing a full length post reconciling the different Silmarilion version and their contexts.

It really annoys me when people go "Yeah, Maglor had no choice but to adopt Elros and Elrond or they'd have died" and often imply (especially in fics and snippets) that Elwing and Earendil were such terrible parents and while the third Kinslaying sucks, the twins were better off because of it.

Like, how do you so massively leave out the fact that there were survivors of Sirion who were able to informe Gil-Gilad and Cirdan of the twins being, and I quote, "taken captive" (how would they know if the twins had been left alone to be "rescued"?). And, you know, Balar was a few hours away + Ulmo guarded the waters, safeguarding them from the orcs. The twins would have been fine had they been left with their people and even the biggest Maglor/Maedhros fan cannot say they were better parental figures that Cirdan.

Also, Tolkien himself said the twins were "taken captive" and had no further interaction between them and Maglor - as you might imagine there would be Elrond really considered him his true father. On the other hand, Elrond was proudly half-elven, appears to mention his lineage with pride and named his sons with the family -El (or just straight up "Evenstar" lol).

The - sadly rather common, I've discovered - idea that the Maglor found the twins abandoned in a cave is completely false and the result of what I assume was some kind of Reddit Chinese whispers. Tolkien wrote once in a LETTER that Elrond and Elros were so named because they were carried off by the sons of Feanor and were found LEFT in a cave. He later changed the origin of their names (to honour Menelrond and Doriath instead). There is no version whatsoever (trust me, I just went through every version of Quenta Silmarilion in History of ME AGAIN) wherein MAGLOR found the twins in a cave, only one where he left them in one.

Could/Should Elwing have sent the twins away as soon as the Feanorians found out the jewel was in Sirion? Yes, definitely.

But was she an idiot for not doing so? Not really.

The only place of safety left was Balar (Doriath, Nargothrond, Gondolin and the Fallas were all gone), a small war camp of an island barely a few hours away. It wasn't a leap to assume she could sent the twins away quickly if that ever became a necessity.

Did Elwing have valid reasons for not assuming they would attack immediately? Also yes. Maidhros sent letters of friendship and attacked even before Earendil could return - basically in the midst of negotiations. And while some may say "The Feanorians attacked Doriath! It should have been obvious they'd attack Sirion", Sirion was the first time the Feanorians had killed Noldor. Unto that point, the kinslayings had been of Teleri and Sindar/Falathrim elves - it was a decent assumption that they wouldn't attack their own people, especially not the ones ruled by the grandson of Turgon (their previous High King).

I think the problem is that a lot of people read LOTR and then skim the Silmarilion (fair, some parts can be a LOT) and get a lot of their information from online sites, which while super fun and informative aren't always the most reliable. Especially with Tolkien's work, it's easy to mix up the different timelines and versions of events, especially when you want things to be a certain way.

And since the earlier drafts of the Silmarlion (from before Tolkien even wrote or conceptualised LotR) present a far more sympathetic Maidhros and Maglor, it's tempting for fans to bring those versions of their favourites into the final version. The problem is, things were so different and so many characters didn't exist in the original that TOLKIEN changed thing - for example, there's a quote from the old Quenta Silmarlion that says Elrond stayed with Maglor for a while - pretty strongly in favour of happy kidnap family, right? Well, that version of Elrond was also supposed to become the high king of the Noldor! He was also a single child since Elros didn't exist - neither did Gil-Galad, Galadriel, Celeborn, Thranduil and Celebrimbor (Cirdan went missing and was presumed dead after the Havens fell to Morgoth). Elrond and Maglor were basically the only elves of any note left in ME.

It's pretty inaccurate and kinda dishonest to mash that version into later, more fleshed out ones.

-------- ----- -------------

Don't get me wrong, I like Maedhros and Maglor (mainly Maglor actually), but I also like Elwing and Earendil and Gil-Galad and Cirdan and I'd like if we could not shit on the later characters and their relationships.

I, personally, prefer to think of the twins and Maglor loving each other but having a very complicated relationship - one that acknowledges the messiness of the past and doesn't try handwaving it away. Especially because the twins weren't with them for long enough to really move past that past - ten/fifteen years max (and that's only if the Feanorians didn't fight in the war of wrath - again, unlikely, because they were part of the camp when the war ended - so it's probably closer to 6/7 years).

[gratuiciel]

(to the tune of running up that hill) you wanna hear about the fics im writing

u dont have to btw, especially if u dont know the fandoms im talking about (dq11 and tokrev) bc this will mostly sound like a bunch of nonsense if u dont

content warning for whump writing and descriptions of violence/injuries/captivity

first one is gonna be jasper//hendrik in a setting where the luminary doesnt show up on time at the last bastion and so hendrik has to surrender himself to save the people living there (bc he Knows they'll keep fighting if he asks them, and he Knows the whole siege is kind of his fault since jasper is doing this specifically to prove his military superiority over him). definitely gonna be whump in there. jasper keeps him captive in his sky fortress (hendrik cant exactly fly away) and mostly fucks with his mind, but then mordegon decides thats not fun enough and takes matters into his own hands (jasper eventually defects to the luminary while hendrik gets turned into a monster. role reversal babey!)

second one is a gen fic in which hendrik manages to go back to the past (eleven passed on his power during the final battle bc he was too injured to heal), so he's like okay ive got this im gonna fix everything also im literally proficient in both combat and magic thanks to the luminary's power so there is nothing i cant do... except that when he has to choose the moment where he wants to return he kind of panics bc there are so many things to fix, and the confusion as he formulates his wish causes him to return just a few weeks before the events of the game, except he's 6 now and he can't lift a sword anymore. get detective conan'd, idiot. (this is mostly bc adult hendrik with luminary powers would be op as fuck and therefore i had to nerf him and also force him to ask for help for once. he knows everything but cant say anything and he'll need to rely on others to save the world) the fic will then follow the canon story order but things will happen in a different way due to hendrik's interference

third one's premise is: chifuyu gets visions of the future instead of takemichi, and when he sees baji's future he jumps to take the hit in his place. when he wakes up in the hospital, he learns that baji took the blame for the stabbing (he's in jail now) and that his new hospital roommate (once his condition has stabilized) is none other than kazutora (he's been punched in the face a whole lot and got broken bones too). they cant get along at all and takemichi is tasked with watching over them (kazutora is in his division now). once kazutora has healed somewhat, he'll try to get revenge on kisaki and hanma for pushing him to stab baji. at this point he's just obsessed with vengeance and doesnt care abt his own personal safety and chifuyu gets visions of him getting into big big trouble and so he has to get him out of it each time. they grow to trust each other eventually. there is also this takemichi//kisaki subplot which i am cooking up, where kazutora sends dudes to fuck up kisaki while he himself is fighting hanma, and takemichi is the one to rescue (sort of) kisaki (he gets his ass kicked lol but him taking half the hits essentially means kisaki doesnt get beaten to death). then takemichi carries kisaki home to tend to his wounds and then the dude gets a fever and takemichi gets to learn somewhat abt his past and why he is like this. main appeal of the kisa//take subplot is that at some point takemichi will have to go to the future for information and find out that kisaki didnt kill hina bc he didnt propose to her bc now he's in love with him?? for some reason?? it's honestly so funny to me. also i just wanna flesh out kisaki as a villain and find out what couldve shaped his world view (needless to say his family life is Fucked up) anyway this will probably also follow the canon timeline except now kazutora is here to fuck shit up and takemichi is trying to understand kisaki (with mixed results), which will drastically change how things go i think (no idea how this will end yet. i havent even figured out how to make chifuyu and kazutora get injured enough to share a hospital room for some time but not too injured that they can make it to the christmas fight (theyll probably still be recovering by that time... possibility of additional angst by having surgery scars reopen and all))

[wormsgame]

Following the Worms tradition of "how the hell do you make these games so fast", the follow up of Worms Revolution, Worms Clan Wars released in August of 2013.

It expands upon Worms Revolution in ways such as actually balancing the classes and not locking weapons behind paywalls. The big main attraction here is the Clan Wars mode. You can make a clan, customise its emblem, gather your friends together to join, give them different roles and develop a superiority complex and then battle with other clans. A companion app for this was also made.

The regular wormy experience also gets a lot of upgrades here. All the new features from Worms Revolution return here, alongside new physics "contraptions", like elevators, seesaws and spinners, as well as more miscellaneous ones like giant water guns and big balloons.

Alongside all weapons returning from Revolution and its DLC, 9 brand new weapons & utilities are also featured, being the Mega Mortar, Gravedigger, Winged Monkey, Oxygen, Worm Charm, Bovine Blitz, Whoopsie Cushion, Teleport Gun, Aqua Pack and The Equiliser. The Teleport Gun was made as an alternative to the Ninja Rope due to the criticism surrounding it in Revolution.. instead of just fixing it? Bovine Blitz from Worms 4: Mayhem also appears.

Alongside your usual Worms customisation, the game also introduces Steam Workshop support, letting people upload custom accessories, speechbanks, gravestones, maps and trinkets. The game comes with an editor to easily let people create the accessories, gravestones and trinkets, while the map editor is available in-game and speechbanks are just a matter of uploading sound files.

The game takes place in a museum, with all the landscape themes taking place in different exhibits, being Inca, Viking, Feudal Japan, Industrial Revolution and Prehistoric, all with a new day & night cycle system.

The game's story mode has your worms travelling throughout this museum to find "The Golden Child of Wormlore" and steal back the Stone Carrot from "Lord Crowley Mesmer", a villain who wants to mind control all the worms in the world, and is using the Stone Carrot to do so.

You are guided by Tara Pinkle, a wealthy and famous explorer voiced by Katherine Parkinson, who replaces Don Key Stone. There is also a "Worm Ops" mode which acts as the games time attack, with 10 levels alongside the story mode's 25 missions.

this is a good game i really like this one.

[icharchivist]

I find it hilarious that Snoke was built up to be this mysterious big bad but then killed. You'd think if any dead big bad is coming back it's him. But nope. It's Palpatine that gets teased. XD

There’s only One Bad Bitch in this House, Snoke could NEVER. 

Palpatine had survived nearly 3 decades in power where he wrapped the Senate around his finger and fucked up 2 generations of Skywalker while destroying the entiere Jedi Order. What did Snoke even do? He didn’t have the aesthetics. He wasn’t linked to the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise. He wasn’t The Senate. 

And most importantly Snoke never DID THIS

I Rest My Case. Snoke WISHES he had what Palpatine has. 

[saltydumplings]

IM GONNA CRY. GIVE ME PART NINE OR EVERY TIME I VISIT YOUR CELL I WILL THROW A TOMATO AT YOU. Also here lemme show you how to get out, it’s pretty easy actually on my cell anyways but it should be the same for yours too…

Snippet #9.8

Part 8

Holy mother of God, so many requests for this one - thank you so much!! Now Epic, you're saying that I just...and then...oh, I see...and then just -- awesome, thank you so much. Also, you realise that by showing me this I can now visit your cell, right? Right. Horny Jail just got twice as fun >:D

Cw: gun violence, character death (don't be scared, it's a good death I swear)

The hero's first punishment for their behaviour was to remain bound by the leash, forced to keep their arms just so unless they wanted to lose their ability to breathe - something that they soon realised they'd have to give in to if only briefly because the ache of holding the position would eventually become too much to bear. Their second punishment was to be put back in the cage.

The hero hated it: it was so small and cramped, and the assassin had removed the blankets from it so that they couldn't even have the smallest of comforts. It was hardly the worst thing though - the hero knew that; the hero knew that this was only the beginning of even more horrible punishments to come...

They turned away as best as they could when the assassin locked the cage door, refusing to let the other see them cry. The idea of the villain's death was still so fresh in their mind - they wanted to kick and scream but they couldn't do any of that so they just lay there, unwanted tears sliding down their cheeks. Was this just it now? One stupid mistake and everything good in their life swept away like it was nothing.

"I'll return within the hour, pet. Until then, I suggest that y--"

The assassin stopped, an alarm blaring out somewhere within the building. Inside the cage, the hero startled at the noise - momentarily flinching just a little too much and making the collar pull taut against their throat. They gasped and relaxed again, trying to turn and see the assassin's expression: their captor's eyes were narrowed, a slight twitch in their jaw revealing their annoyance clearly.

Quickly they walked over to the one table and collected the gag that was laying on it, unlocking the cage to roughly tie it around the hero's mouth before closing it once more.

"Sorry, pet, but I'm going to need you to stay quiet. And if by chance someone does find you then you would do well not to go with them. If you do...let's just say what I originally had in mind for you will seem like a reward."

With that, they grabbed a blanket from the floor and tossed it over the cage - covering it completely and leaving the hero in darkness. They heard the assassin's footsteps walk away and the door close, the alarm still blaring out until it suddenly stopped just a few seconds later.

Was this a good thing? Please let this be a good thing.

The hero squirmed a little, careful not to put too much strain upon the collar as they attempted to escape the bonds, quickly accepting that it was useless. They forced themself to relax again, simply having to be content to listen instead - the sound of gunfire and shouting just audible through the walls. The hero waited and waited, a horrible silence soon settling over the place once more.

When the door to the room suddenly opened again they froze, hearing quiet footsteps making their way around them. A few items were shifted about before they saw the blanket being moved - the whole thing pushed back and a flashlight shined down onto their face. The hero blinked against the sudden light, a figure above them letting out a gasp at the sight of them.

"Hero - Hero, holy crap, just hold on okay?"

The hero knew that voice...

The flashlight was moved to the side, the person setting it down so they could open the cage - the hero blinking a little more before they could see the face of the sidekick clearly. The other wasted no time in breaking the lock, opening the door and reaching out to untie the gag from the hero's mouth. They went to pull the hero out but stopped as soon as the other started gasping for breath, soon noticing the collar that ensnared their neck.

"Sorry - sorry!" the sidekick said in a panic.

"I-It's o...okay," the hero reassured, catching their breath once more.

The sidekick carefully turned them so they could work on untying the leash, struggling to pick the knots for a moment before finally something shifted and let go - the hero taking a deep inhale as the sidekick managed to unlock the collar as well, feeling fully free for the first time in days. They got out of the cage on unsteady legs, holding onto the sidekick like a damn lifeline.

Help had come - they hadn't been abandoned: the sidekick was saving them and they--

"I thought I made myself quite clear, pet," a voice sounded from the doorway.

The lights flickered on and the hero felt a wave of panic course through them, quickly shoving the sidekick behind them as they turned to face the assassin - the gun in the other's hand pointed directly at them. But they knew the assassin wouldn't shoot them: they wanted them; they wanted the hero alive and that was why the sidekick was safe as long as the hero was blocking the other's shot.

"If someone finds you, don't go with them...What was it you were about to do?" the assassin said.

The hero shivered a little but held their ground, reaching back and getting their hand on the sidekick's own gun, the weapon still holstered in their belt. The other let them take it, keeping as still as possible - one move and the assassin would undoubtedly shoot them. The hero brought the gun up with shaking hands, the assassin laughing a little at the sight.

"Let us go," the hero said, "or I'll--"

The assassin took a shot - the accuracy of the aim almost inhuman as the bullet ricocheted off the metal bars of the cage and cut across the top of their arms, only just breaking the surface of the skin but hurting enough to startle the hero into dropping the gun.

The hero gaped, fear gripping them fully as they realised the full extent of their situation: it didn't matter that they were standing in front of the sidekick. The assassin could kill them without blinking but they hadn't; they could have shot them before even announcing their presence but clearly they had other plans.

"Ah, you see it now, don't you?" the assassin said, a sharp, sadistic grin lining their mouth. "How about you be a good pet now and get on your knees - and maybe I won't shoot your friend."

"Hero, you don't--"

"I do," the hero said, cutting the sidekick off quickly and falling to their knees.

"Very good," the assassin praised. "Now crawl over to me."

The hero started to move forward slowly, trying to ignore the complete humiliation they felt knowing the sidekick was watching. They got about halfway before suddenly coming to a halt, eyes widening as they caught sight of something moving in the doorway.

"Don't be shy now, come here and--" the assassin stopped as they felt the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of their head.

"Enough games," a voice said strictly from behind them.

The assassin seemed to freeze completely then - the hero certain they saw something akin to panic flash in the other's eyes. They got up from their position on the ground and moved back towards the sidekick, sensing they didn't have to do what the other said anymore.

The assassin's gun was dropped with an echoing clunk.

"Supervillain," they greeted. "I wasn't expecting a visit."

"Neither was I," the other said, and suddenly more men were piling into the room - guns all pointed towards the assassin. "Unfortunately, this little stunt of yours is proving rather bad for business..."

"You can hardly blame me: it was just a little fun," the assassin tried to argue.

"Yes, well the fun ends here. Now."

The assassin swallowed. "Will you kill me?"

A long silence fell between them.

After a while, the supervillain huffed and lowered their gun. "No, I won't kill you: you're of too much use to me."

The assassin let out a small sigh of relief, turning to smile at the other. "Thank you. I promise you won't regre--"

A shot rang out. The assassin dropped down on the floor, dead - the supervillain frowning down at a small splatter of blood that had landed on their suit.

"H-Hero!" the sidekick cried in disbelief.

The other had picked up their discarded gun and shot the assassin in cold blood, now staring blankly down at the corpse that lay before them, hands shaking slightly. They had to do it - couldn't let that monster live. The supervillain hadn't been willing to kill them but they sure as hell weren't letting them get away so lightly...

"Huh," the supervillain mused as they stared down at the body. "Good shot. Usually I'd shoot anyone that murdered one of my men but..." They shrugged, seeming unbothered. "I'd say your reasoning was fair enough."

They turned their back then, letting their gun slip back into their belt. "Come on, we're done here."

With that they left and the other men followed behind them, each filing out one by one until it was just the hero and the sidekick left in the room. The sidekick moved to stand in front of the other - hands falling upon the hero's shoulders and pushing down slightly in an attempt to ground them. Slowly the hero's grip relented and the gun slipped to the ground, a fresh well of tears starting to build up in their eyes as they shook.

"Hero what - what did they do to you?" the sidekick said, expression deeply concerned - knowing the hero would never kill anyone without reason.

The hero looked up at them sadly, voice wobbling a little as they spoke. "Not to me, they...they killed Villain. I had to: they killed them and I couldn't - I couldn't just--"

"Hero - Hero!" The sidekick shook them slightly, trying to get them to listen. "Villain isn't dead."

Silence. Then:

"Wh-what?"

"Villain: they're not dead. Injured, yes, but Assassin didn't kill them."

So they were fine? The villain was alive - the assassin had lied - and they could see them again and kiss them and tell them that they were an idiot and that they were sorry and--

The hero's gaze wandered back to the assassin's corpse, a sudden wash of regret and injustice overcoming them.

"Hey, it's okay," the sidekick reassured, pulling the hero's focus back to them. "It's better this way, alright?"

Was it? They'd never killed anyone before and now they'd killed the assassin over a lie that they should have never believed in the first place. As much as it was nice to know they wouldn't need to worry about the other coming after them again, they couldn't help but be aware that something in them had shifted now - killing the assassin had changed them. And there was no going back.

The hero let out an unsteady breath, no longer wanting to be in this room but somewhere else - far away from this hell and in the arms of someone they never thought they'd get to see again.

"I need to see Villain," they said. "Take me to Villain."

Part 10

[samplingmoonsters]

Hear me out— Dream, a average normal guy, suddenly got transported into his favorite novel "The Making of DSMP", as the main Villain— bUT, Instead of doing the whole evil thing he just kinda stays in the sidelines hoping that the plot can continue without him, unbeknownst to him, he sorta low-key kind of made Prince Technoblade of the Antarctic Empire, Who's suppose to be his sworn lifetime enemy throughout the whole book— falls for him instead. Cue funny plot speed run >:D — || Owline Hoot ||

That would be such a good idea 😭 everyone would just be so confused why the villain suddenly stopped doing bad things! And the plot reminds me so much of isekai animes :o does this mean Dream would be OP in the world he got sucked into like the average Isekai protagonist? Would make it even more funny since Dream would have all that power but he doesn't do anything with it!!

I guess Technoblade would fall in love with him during a duel, seeing how powerful Dream is and what a sweet nature he has would make him instantly simp for blonde. He's a simple man, you see, one good duel and a cute guy smiling at him and he's done for lol

Also, what if Dream was like a engineer or something in the real world, and now that he's trapped in a magic world that's basically plays around in the middle ages or something, Dream could do so much good with his modern knowledge!!! Just imagine him fusing technology with magic and creating fantastic things.

Maybe at this point we can add some drama, like people thinking that the new guy that came out of the feared forest unharmed, and who wears strange clothes, is a witch. Now Dream is hunted by the church and prince Techno has to safe him before he gets burned on a cross in the middle of the market. Maybe after that, Techno makes Dream his court inventor.

And so they fall in love and do cute stuff and have sex lmao.

About the end...

We can either make it fluffy or angsty.

Angst option: Dream finally finds a way to go back to his own world. He can't stay here forever. On earth there are people waiting for him, friends, family etc. So he says Goodbye to Techno and goes away.

Fluff option: Dream didn't have a happy life on earth. He was depressed, poor, no friends, and no contact with his family. Getting sucked into a alternative dimensions was a blessing. He met a lot of amazing people, and even fell in love with a prince. When he finds a way to return to his own world, he doesn't take it. He stays with Techno and his friends inside the story book forever :) (this ending would certainly suit the isekai vibes I was going for more. Most protagonists from those animes didn't have a good life in the real world and it was a blessing for them to escape to another dimension)

[11queensupreme11]

My Drunken Dead Yuta Theory 🍾🤪

(This is a theory that I made like… the day after chapter 181 of the manga was released. I originally put in my jjk fic “TSUNAMI”, but decided to copy-paste it here because why not.)

Just to clarify: I WAS NOT COMPLETELY DRUNK WHEN I THOUGHT OF THIS! I was drinking (not that much ofc) and barbecuing with my friends when I had an epiphany: Yuta is possibly Yuji’s foil and therefore, he might die because of it.

(Btw, I literally came to this conclusion when I was pulling at the aluminum foil for the barbecue. Lol, get it, foil? Foil??? no??? ok bye 🥲)

EDIT: In my wattpad/quotev rant, I completely forgot to explain what a foil is, whoops. A literary foil is basically a character that contrasts another character.

Ex: Nanami and Mei Mei. Nanami cares a lot about children and the safety of others and returned to the jujutsu world because he knew he was making a positive impact on ppl. Meanwhile Mei Mei is only concerned about money and doesn’t care much for anyone else’s life but her own. She exploits everyone including her own brother (a child) and pretty much used him as a shield against a powerful curse. They’re opposites of each other.

You can find a more detailed analysis about these two characters being foils over at reddit. Can’t put the link in cuz tumblr’s a meanie about links. 

LEMME EXPLAIN WHAT I MEAN.

First off, look at this Twitter thread I found about jjk chapter 181:

Before Gege created Yuji, Yuta was his original main character. He was created during a time where main characters of shounen animes/mangas all started out super strong or OP—that’s why Yuta was so powerful back in Volume 0 because that was usually how creators made their MCs back then.

Around the time Yuji was created, there was a shift in interests within the shounen genre; people began to find MCs who quickly became OP boring, they became more fond of more developed characters instead. Main characters, like Yuji, had more realistic progress in their abilities rather than starting out special and OP.

And you know another thing that was super common back in the day? Shounens had a thing for using the Power of Friendship and Talk-no-Jutsu to unrealistically settle conflicts. With the Power of Friendship and Talk-no-Jutsu, protagonists and their friends easily defeated the villains and all was good! 🤗

That’s not what Gege’s doing here, as the Twitter thread above had already explained.

In JJK, he’s showing us that corruption (the jujutsu society as a whole) and selfishness (Sukuna, Mei Mei, Zenins, etc) will always win over selflessness and all things good and holy. He’s showing us that being good can be a weakness, it can get you or other people killed, so it’s better to only care about yourself.

Gojo tried to save people in the train station and got trapped. Nanami prioritized the safety of the kids and got killed for it. Meanwhile, you’ve got fucked up characters like Mei Mei (who I think is Nanami’s foil) who gets to live and thrive in her selfishness (after Nanami died, she’s later seen in Malaysia—you know, the place Nanami wanted to visit the most?—because she ran away from Shibuya to save her ass).

I think the reason why Gege brought Yuta back was so he could be Yuji’s opposite. Yuji’s going down a dark path after what happened in Shibuya and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up prioritizing his life and becoming more selfish.

Then we got Yuta who refuses to believe that you should fight for yourself and chooses to fight for his friends and loved ones. During his fight with Uro, he was constantly trying to Talk-no-Justu her into believing in the ✨Power of Friendship✨ and whatnot 💀💀💀

Girl was literally trying to tell him that that shit won’t work in the real world, but he was like “how dare you insult the Power of Friendship! 😡 *proceeds to beat her up*” BOY PLEASE JUST LET HER SPEAK OMFG 😩

It’s clear to me that Yuta is supposed to represent the stereotypical shounen MC whereas Yuji represents a newer, darker concept of an MC. And we’ve seen how many times Gege’s shown us that the stereotypical shounen shit is unrealistic and is NOT gonna happen in his manga. Because of this, I think that he might have Yuta actually try to fight one of the Big Bads (Kenjaku or maybe Sukuna) and die terribly as a result of it. That would be a VERY obvious message to the readers that the Power of Friendship and Talk-no-Jutsu ain’t gonna work in the world of JJK.

EDIT: omg didn’t Yuta say he was gonna try and gain 400 points and then fight Kenjaku so Gojo wouldn’t have to??? BOY YOU BETTER SIT YOUR ASS DOWN

I HOPE TO GOD THAT I’M WRONG THOUGH!

I don’t want Yuta to die 😭😭😭 I don’t want ANY of them to die, I WANT THEM TO LIVE A HAPPY LIFE WITH A WHOLE NEW REFORMED JUJUTSU SOCIETY WHERE CORRUPTION DOESN’T EXIST AND MAYBE SUKUNA PULLS A KURAMA AND BECOMES GOOD.

But that’s clown shit, I know 😞

JJK is probably gonna have a very sad ending and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it ended with the bad guys winning and the good guys dead 😭

If my theory made any of you guys upset… good :)

It made me upset when I thought of it, so I thought it was only fair to put you guys through this pain too 💖