#so much implications of the situation the puppets are in

[hajimedics]

I'M NOT YOUR DOLL AND I'LL THINK FOR MYSELF AND I'LL LIVE FOR MYSELF

[chronicbeans]

Wally and a Puppeteer Reader

I was just kinda thinking to myself... What would happen if he somehow got into contact with one of the puppeteers working on the show? Idk I just like to write what I find interesting. Lol.

TW: Obsessive Behaviors, Mentions of Stalking, Idol Worshipping

🍎 The first time Wally realized what is going on, he's going to panic. Yes, Wally has been aware of the fact that he is a puppet, but he never really understood what that meant. He has always just seen it as a name for what species he is. Kind of like how humans are called humans and that caterpillars are called caterpillars. Just a word that had no implications on his free will.

🍎 However, when he sees the outside of his world... the bright lights setting the stage, the crowd of people all running around and setting things up, he is terrified. These... creatures... look so similar to his neighbor that he has seen every now and again. The only difference is that they are usually smaller and, compared to some of these versions he now sees, have no fluff on their face.

🍎 Then, he sees YOU. He recognizes you. He's seen you in the background, behind one of the smaller creatures he calls his neighbor. You sometimes even come by to check on them. What are you doing here? He doesn't know, but you are an immediate comfort amongst the strange, unfamiliar faces... Even if he doesn't know you.

🍎 Next thing he knows, you are picking him up in your warm arms and carrying him somewhere. He watches as his neighborhood slips away from him, the horrifying realization that his world is just a small little stage in it of itself. His neighbors all being taken by their own strange creatures to their own little areas.

🍎 On your way to wherever you are taking him, someone happens to pop in. Complimenting you on your love for the little puppet in your arms, the excellent care you give him when handling him, and telling you that you are surprisingly good at puppeteering for a newbie on the set. You're going to make an amazing replacement for the last guy.

🍎 Wally cannot believe his ears. What's a puppeteer? This is the first time he's heard of that word. It isn't until the odd fellow asks you to make Wally say his iconic line that he realizes what is happening. You suddenly maneuver him, making a poor impression of his voice as you force him to say "You think I'm the absolute most? You're the most to me, neighbor!"

🍎 Yes... the situation is all coming together in his mind. You must be the one behind everything! All that he does and all that he says is in your hands. All that his friends do and say should be in your hands too, right? It would make sense... If you can control him, then you can control the others!

🍎 Soon enough, you've brought Wally to a room with a little tote box near the corner. You begin checking him over, looking for rips or tears, before wrapping him in a plastic bag. Then, you place him in the box, making sure he isn't squished at all.

🍎 Left alone with his thoughts, Wally thinks about everything that has happened. This all feels too real to be a dream, as much as he sort of wishes it was. In fact, it feels more real than his life before this. He must do something, anything, but he doesn't know why. He just has to do something other than sitting in this bag inside a tote.

🍎 So, after a few hours of trying to move, he finally succeeds. He's gotten himself out of the plastic bag... Then, after a few more minutes, he hears someone return to the room. Lying limp, he watches as you open the box. Your eyes grow wide as you look down at him. You turn your head to look around the room, before crying out "Hey... Dave... Did you mess with Wally?" "Nah, (Y/N)! Why? Is something wrong?" With that, you leave to go talk to this... "Dave".

🍎 Of course, he follows. Very slowly, since he isn't used to walking in this... odd way. His legs feel weak. Like they are filled with stuffing. It is a strange feeling. He is also so incredibly cold. Why is he cold, yet, you are so warm?

🍎 He find you talking to another one of your kind. You and the other strange creatures that make up your species seem so frightened by him moving. Why is it okay for you to make him move, but not for him to move on his own? Why are they assuming someone tampered with him?

🍎 You seem most worried. How... introguing. You seem so kind compared to the rest of these odd creatures! So benevolent in your worries. The others talk about him like some sort of object, but you seem to genuinely have an attachment to him!

🍎 He wants to learn more about your kind - no... YOU in specific. He could care less about the others. You are all that really matters at the moment. If he is wrong about his assumption that you control all in his world, be it that others of your kind control his friends or whatnot, he will deal with that. For now, he can watch from a distance. When you all go, he'll be sure to learn the layout of this new land he is in. When he does, he can find you wherever you are in here. He can find out what you love and hate, what makes you tick, what makes you sad.

🍎 That sounds like a wonderful thought to him... maybe, if he leaves little gifts for you, you'll be sure to make everyday of his good. Happy parties with all of his friends, no bumps or bruises on himself or his friends, no rainy days that makes Home sad and cold... If it takes giving gifts, he'll gladly do so! You are so warm and benevolent, he would do so even if it never became fruitful for making his world perfect.

[autisminabox]

I’m going to be discussing spoilers from the new update, specifically entailing Eddie. Spoilers are below the cut, so, like. Spoiler alert

One thing that stuck out to me right before Eddie “goes to Toyland” (which is what’s implied to happen) is the anger he felt. To me it felt incredibly out of place. Out of place for what’s supposed to be a children’s show, and out of place for Eddie.

We’ve seen Eddie in situations substantially worse for his staying focused on the job than people not having any mail. We’ve seen people jump at him, get pressured into literally lifting other people (and possibly a fucking house), and was too nervous to speak up for himself. We’ve seen him take a lot of shit from both Howdy and Barnaby in the audios, and he more or less took it on the chin. Julie overwhelmed him with her business game, and instead of getting frustrated, he just kind of… curled up.

So this strikes me as particularly odd. There are two explanations I can think of to explain why it happened. The first is a theory I’ve seen floated around about the puppets slowly deviating from the in-universe writers’ design. We see this contrast between how everyone acts in the books and ads and how they act in the bug audios; Barnaby had a twinge of meanness, Julie had a personality beyond being ADHD incarnate, Frank expressed kindness. It’s not out of the question. The second theory is based off of a few observations from earlier on: Eddie is notably from out of town, and is loosely implied to have moved in last out of the main cast. It wouldn’t be absurd to say that this leads him to being “not with the program”, even if him being the newest addition is only in-universe for the show (as opposed to him being literally constructed and written last)

The second thing that was prominent to me was Home’s response to Eddie entering Toyland. This is quite plainly conspicuous and intentional, but I wanted to bring attention to it because of the interesting implications of it. First off, Home is pretty much confirmed to be sentient now. I’ll be damned if there’s any coherent counterargument that doesn’t boil down to going “nuh-uh”. Second, Home is at minimum recognizing that something is happening to Eddie. It’s not clear whether Home is aware of what specifically is happening to Eddie, or whether or not Home had a hand in setting off the incident, but the fact that home recognized that something was happening to Eddie nearly instantly solidifies how intelligent and aware Home actually is. This isn’t inherently surprising, since we’ve already gotten word-of-God confirmation that Home has repeatedly beaten Frank at chess, however, this is the most pointed and direct example that we’ve seen in the actual project.

Third, the fact that Eddie specifically had The Horrors™️ enacted upon him first specifically (at least, as far as we’re explicitly aware of; It’s unclear whether Wally counts as having experienced The Horrors™️ or if he is the arbitrator of them. More on that later) lends to some very interesting suggestions. Five possible explanations I can think of work as follows: One, he knew too much about either the nature of whatever specifically is weird about Home (town), whether that be Home (house), Wally, another character, the monsters of the night, something else about the night, or he knew too much about his nature as a fictional character. There is some speculative support for this; first, the aforementioned outsider angle that he’s been played with, and second, his parallels to the scrapped character Sunny. Sunny was the most recent to move in within the beta continuity, he was the love interest for Frank, he was smart and likely knew too much, and he disappeared first. Two, his outburst earlier in the day proved to be too out of character and thus a risk and liability to whoever was in control of what happened to him. Aside from my above breakdown of that scene, and from the fact that there’s very prominent examples of Playfellow and Marlo (or perhaps Wally, if for whatever reason Evil Wally ends up being true) blatantly straightwashing characters and possibly suppressing free will of the characters, assuming that’s what we’re meant to take away from the bug audios. Three, Eddie realized the actual absurdity of the Pea On A Plate and “woke up”, lucid dream style. I don’t really like this interpretation, since the fact that it’s in several promotional materials and companion merchandise suggests that it was an absurdist humor bit in-universe, which isn’t farfetched considering how children’s shows tend to be. Four, there’s another reason that’s yet to be revealed as to why Eddie got selected first. To be a total Devil’s advocate, we’re still relatively early in what’s looking to be a very slow-paced story. We’re not gonna have all the details, and red herrings are going to pop up, intentionally or otherwise. Five, Eddie was selected randomly or with no actual reason.

There’s also a few possibilities for who sent Eddie to Toyland, which is interesting to me. First, it could be Home. It wouldn’t be surprising considering its mysterious and noted uncanny nature, and its prominence during that scene. Second, it could be Wally. While I personally don’t find it to be the most reasonable, since something of this magnitude being perpetrated by a character we have a face to would likely involve that character, there’s enough evidence of Wally acting aware and generally odd where it isn’t completely absurd. Additionally, it’s entirely plausible that Wally’s conspicuous absence during the entire arc is indicative of some sort of guilt. Third, the show writers, someone at Playfellow, or another party along those lines somehow caused it, either by technological or supernatural means we don’t know about or by some accidental bout of supernatural fuckery, such as rewriting something and it having bizarre effects on the characters. It’s out there, but not out of the question considering the weird shit they’ve done. On top of that, it’s not impossible that another entity or force somehow caused this that either hasn’t been revealed or explained yet.

As to what Toyland actually entails, I’ve concocted a few theories. One, he literally got up and mentally teleported to a land of giant toys. Two, it’s full Star Trek mode and there’s Horrors™️ so mentally stimulating that the only way it could be perceived by either us or Eddie that that’s all it can be perceived as. Three, Going To Toyland is some sort of initiation, rite of passage, or method of psychologically controlling the cast that everyone else either doesn’t realize is happening or has their memories of it forcibly suppressed. This could be supported by the aforementioned “Eddie is an Outsider” and it’s possibly his first Homewarming since moving to the area. After all, a housewarming is a celebration that welcomes and initiates someone to the neighborhood; would it be that odd that Homewarming is a twisted version of that?

Anyways. Those are my observations and a bunch of interpretations. Part of why I love this project so much is how mysterious and unclear the exact details are, creating excellent suspense and a drive to theorize, and leading up to a truly gobsmacking reveal or conclusion. This update certainly delivered. Whatever the answer is for any of the branching paths I described, it’ll almost definitely reveal how truly fucked up the perpetrator is (or, alternatively, how utterly fucked up the situation is in general, if there ends up not being an instigator) for, y’know, doing that. Clown and Co., you’ve certainly outdone yourselves, and the wait was worth it; this speculative theorycrafting this update has provided is absolutely incredible.

[shakesqueers13]

When you stop and think about it, so much of Shakespeare is just kids being forced into situations by adults, and by extension, the fundamental generational nature of tragedy.

This goes both ways. In plays like Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet, we see teenage protagonists being manipulated by the adults in their lives. Juliet is forced into marrying Paris and arguably rushes into a marriage with Romeo to avoid this, telling herself it's what she wants while simultaneously trying to avoid the path set forth for her by her parents. The Friar agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet only because he thinks it might remedy the feud between their parents. Hamlet is set out on a quest of violence and revenge by his father who isn't even there to support him through it, all while navigating the inner conflict of loving his mother while simultaneously hating her for what she's done.

And conversely, in plays like Macbeth and Richard III, we see children suffer for the actions of their parents and guardians, and it's just heartbreaking to watch. So many productions ham up the implications of children being the last ones standing in many of Shakespeare's tragedies (Titus comes to mind) but this is really a fundamental aspect of the plays.

I'll never know what Shakespeare thought or meant with anything he wrote, but I can't help but imagine that he himself felt a degree of pressure from some parent or authority figure. As a playwright, he must have faced some opposition from people who wanted him to go in a more traditional direction. And so much of what he writes displays children being just absolutely ruined by expectations and a desire to make people proud of them. There's so much pain hidden below the surface of so many of his characters—doing what they're told despite what they want, and just as often, doing what they want and suffering bitterly for it. It's interesting to think about, and I think a lot of people miss a fundamental piece of Shakespeare's works when they think his younger characters are motivated simply by love or anger... the truth is, so many of them are being controlled like puppets by those around them and so many older characters are complicit in the pain of younger ones.

[robislav1986-blog]

I've been actively avoiding the fan communities to stay spoiler-free up to now, so forgive me if this has been brought up before, but quick question. Does anyone recall how Rhondson and Hudson got engaged almost immediately after you brought her in as the town tailor? Because between that and Mipha's intent to give Link the Zora armor as an engagement gift, I get the impression that Hyrule women make marriage proposals by offering articles of clothing to their intended husbands.

With that in mind, it suddenly makes a lot more sense why Zelda was so excited in her diary entry about the tunic she made for Link, why she went to so much effort to keep it secret, and why she arranged for him to find it in the throne room. The same throne room, mind you, where the seat of power is conspicuously repositioned to be off center, as if to make room for TWO thrones (which you can see in the puppet Zelda's illusion). The implications sort of speak for themselves.

Anyway, I just wanted to ruin y'all's day with that added layer of angst over the situation.

[dhmis-autism]

My headcannon is that Duck has been in a state of awareness throughout the series much like Yellow was in Electricity, the visual tell for this bring their big ass eyes. Yellow's enlarged sclera is obvious because his eyes are radiation green. Duck's eyes are brown so they just look like slightly bigger black dots than the others. What I'm getting at is Duck has some awareness. He's just naturally deranged.

HAHAHAHA! OH MY GOD! okay! from MY POV, the idea of Duck having any awareness about their situation at all is so fucked up.

The pupil thing could be a good way to hide it, and totally a route I could see BB&J (becky,baker and joe) taking, realistically. He also does just have MASSIVE pupils.

Anyways, the reason that ideas super duper fucked up to me is because um… well one of Ducks main motivators in like EVERY episode is just keeping the three of them together. Even in eps like Jobs or Family where they're separated, he spends all his energy and spare thoughts on the other two (where are they, what are they doing, who are they talking to, ect). Now I assumed this was because their little trio-ship is the ONLY thing in that house that matters to him or that he even remotely cares about.

But sure, let's get meta with it and say for the sake of argument that Duck has been FULLY aware of the fact that they're in a forever looping TV show and that theyre puppets.

That makes some lines like "That's not allowed (in reference to going outside of the house)!" and "People are dying to know what your final guess would have been." a lot more … explainable I guess? But it also makes his weird dedication to keeping the three of them together undeniably sinister (e.g is he doing this bc he knows who Lesley is or something?? Is he doing this bc he's aware theres nothing for them OUTSIDE of this house??). It means it's not that he tries to keep them together BECAUSE he cares about them, he tries to keep them together for the sake of the keeping the SHOW GOING.

It also means he is WELL AWARE that the other two are miserable in that house and just DOES NOT CARE, because he thinks the three of them being together is better than the alternative. It also would kind of paint the "I like looking at you too" scene in a bit of a different light,no? For all we know, he could be referring to Red (the puppet) as opposed to Red (the character).

I don't even think him being aware would make him… deranged, I think it would literally just make him ACTUALLY irredeemable. Which I'm fine with! Best boy either way! A character doesn't have to be morally sound for me to like this, just interesting. But like. think about the implications of what you're saying here.

[myshredda]

My brain isn't working well enough to get very deep in this but I'm so SO interested in finding out Beck and Joe are implying about Yellow's whole family situation....

Yellow's interactions with his father are always off putting, he claims his dad is his best friend but Roy's clearly only interested in subjecting his son to constant anguish and suffering, hiding in the walls to keep tabs on him and/or eating people to keep them from interfering in his relationship he has with his son. Roy either operates on a mindset of 'the only person that can traumatize and abuse my son is ME" in the family episode or he got hungry watching them eat the chicken bucket and let his cannibalistic urges get the best of him and shoved Yellow away so he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. He doesn't seem interested in killing him, probably because it will end the prolonged misery he lives through and where's the fun in that? After all, as far back as the web series he attempted to stop Red from ending the simulation, happy to let Yellow be tortured and tormented for the cameras for as long as possible. And clearly he had some type of say in the situation.

And then there's Lesley, the second character that's been shown to have some control over the narrative, and the second character that may have a parental connection to Yellow. Her narrating Yellow's dream about community and the way she screams when he's hit by the car, the way she loses control in the attic and rages that he's not her real son. Becky and Joe didn't have to throw that in there at all, she could have just been the evil version of a children's show host in the same way DHMIS is the darker version of a children's educational puppet show. But she's got all these implications about her connection with him, she calls him her favorite, she talks to him the same way you'd talk to a little kid, keeps her voice calm and soothing until she has her little outbursts...

Is it a cautionary tale about abusive stage parents? Is it an allegory about how harmful it can be to a child's psychological state when forced into being a child actor? Of the systematic abuse they face? The stolen innocence? How the very people that are supposed to protect them are inflicting the most harm? The way they push him into role after role no matter the damage it may inflict on him psychologically/physically/emotionally with no care being paid to how it's affecting him? Will continue to affect him?

How much pain he's in is secondary only to the role he plays in the story, and they refuse to let that role end, no matter what.

[super-hero-confessions]

I've seen some discussion on Homelander's character duality and have been doing a lot of thinking about it lately. I find some of it strange and some intriguing, and I just wanted to share some thoughts on it.

There's some ideas that Homelander is who the character wants to be or is proud of being currently, but I think it goes much deeper than that.

There's an implication in the Diabolical series with Homelander's debut and first mission as well as the episode with 'Mirrorlander', and of course they don't cover everything. But I do think they tell quite the story.

The other thing is the often missed duality in Homelander's character, not to say that people don't notice he has more than one side to him, but more like they don't realize just how divided he is from the inside out.

He used to be a boy named John Gillman. Which Vought then tortured, never allowed to grow up, and convinced to be their chosen god puppet and 'perfect creation'. The Homelander.

But I think what people forget is that becoming Homelander was never really a choice for him. It was the path they set before him and told him he was going to be, while creating an image he not just wasn't prepared for, but couldn't possibly meet the standard of with the upbringing they gave him.

And this might be controversial, but I don't think Homelander is the real him.

I don't think John Gillman is the real him either.

I think they're both vital parts of him we see in the episode where he speaks to himself in the mirror. I think John Gillman is the little boy forced to be in a body far too powerful for even himself, that was able to admit that he wanted to be loved and does, more than anything. And I think Homelander is the part of him created by what Vought forced him to be that was yelling at him from the mirror, and is angry at the world for his circumstances and wants to take that feeling Vought stole, of having power and control back, through fear.

I think the real him is caught somewhere in a limbo between these two parts of him as there were a couple things that really struck me when I took a second look.

Annie January, or Starlight has a conversation with her mother at the end of the first season where she screams out, "No wonder I don't know who the fuck I'm supposed to be!".

The conversation is about Compound V and how her mother controlled every tiny little aspect of her life, down to her daughter never getting a real choice on what she wanted, based on a lie she was told.

Obviously, this isn't to say that Starlight went through anything close to what Homelander did, but the parallels of the situations can be seen, if much less severe, and there is still validity in the grief she has.

And that's the thing. I think Homelander doesn't know who the fuck he's really supposed to be. He wouldn't admit it, but I don't really think it's reasonable to think that with how badly Vought fucked him up, that he would somehow be certain of who and what he wants to be. And that just makes it worse.

When we see him in Diabolical during his debut, he is bewildered and in absolute awe. So far, only seeing the adoration from people. Something he's never had before in any capacity most likely. And those people understand him to be The Homelander, to be a new superhero that is there to save them.

There's even an immediate reaction of jealousy when the attention is switched to Black Noir because up until that point, Homelander has never had those feelings from people. Just fear and disgust.

Already, he's preconditioned to think extremely lowly of himself due to what Vought has done to the boy named John Gillman. And he doesn't realize he is a victim and that John never deserved those things, which works perfectly to manipulate him into being enamoured with this new persona that Vought created for him. Because it's new. It's different. And so far, it's not painful.

Understandably, his first mission goes terribly wrong. Especially when he is called a 'monster' as 'The Homelander'. Suddenly reliving his memories as the feelings against what he never chose to be come boiling up to the surface. He completely loses himself and kills every single person he is supposed to save, despite having initially tried to help. So we know that he wanted to be good, he wanted to be the hero, and he wanted to be loved. Even before being The Homelander, it was John Gillman who wanted all of those things.

But what happens instead? He is manipulated, first by Madelyn Stillwell into fighting Noir when he knows he's messed up and believes Noir will terminate him, and then Noir turns it around and makes him realize he can and will be loved by everyone as long as they never know he's imperfect.

And The Homelander is supposed to be 'perfect'.

So he latches on to that image and 'god' created by Vought while simultaneously using it to protect the and bury the boy he used to be.

And it continues like this. Eventually he begins to embrace the 'monster' that he can keep veiled while he takes power back through fear, and he can be loved so long as people never know about that 'monster'. Solidifying his path and duality of who he is from that very first mission. If he can get away with anything, why wouldn't he? Vought never taught him different.

The internal conflict won't simply disappear, but his comfort is having his cake, and eating it too. Even if he knows it will never be real...

[bastet-c-haddock]

For Everyone reading my Cyberpunk AU and asking "Who's this Neala character?" well, here's your answer:

Neala, the Gumm-Gumm Hound, is my Tales of Arcadia Fan Character. Firstly created in 2018 as I watched Part 3 of Trollhunters and later developed further as Wizards was released.

Her first design was inspired by Draal and Nomura. Though I didn't intent to make a FanChild by that combination, I purely liked Nomura's agile sillouhette and Draal's Spiky body. Of course, at the end, I put my own spin on it and so, Neala was created.

From the start, I knew I wanted them to be a warrior, obviously this fact would make her an outcast, or at least, not a part of Heartstone Trollmarket. For a moment, there was the idea of making them a Changeling, but the idea was scraped once I had a narrative of her role on "Eternal Night"

It started out as a "New Challenger enters the fight" situation, where she would arrive umpropted and ready to face Gunmar and the Gumm-Gumms, but the "Mary Sue" approach was changed for something much more altruistic.

Redemption.

Here, the exhiled Gumm-Gumm train got going.

You can find the first version of her story HERE!

She was "Gunmar's Champion", a loyal fighter adopted and raised by the Skull Crusher as a bloodhound, but once Morgana came into the picture, giving Gunmar the power to make anyone into a mindless slave, Neala fled.

Inspired by Argh! She abandoned Gunmar as well, but instead of refusing to fight, she just fought for centuries in the shadows, helping Troll-kind in places where the Trollhunter wasn't an option, akin to Angor Rot before becoming Morgana's Champion.

Once she knew of the Human Trollhunter, she moved to Arcadia Oaks. Her mission remained the same though, protecting her kin, while also being a hidden support for the newest Trollhunter.

As much as this concept seemed good, it felt a bit...Mary Sue-esque. But at the time, I had no chance of fixing it, nor the vision to see what could be better. So, I let her rest, while still using her as a guiding force on "Dashed Hopes" my Cyberpunk AU. Where she serves as Krel's messenger and spy.

After a while, some ideas started to pop-up in regards to them. How I wanted them to be, their motives, everything. And so, I had a new backstory for them.

She was a Gumm-Gumm commander, pretty much as before, she was raised into a bloodhound by Gunmar. Previously, her personality was pretty neutral. Having some level of consciousness regarding the world outside her home. My reimagining of their personality was making them rough, stronheaded and arrogant. A soldier who knows their value, their skills and their goals, which, of course, align to the ones of their king, who they see as a role model before everything falls.

Once Morgana comes, Neala doesn't fully trust her. She's a human after all, she might be tricking their king into a trap. A suspiscion half way confirmed by the Slaving Ability bestowed into his sword. They challenged the witch, demanding her the truth before Gunmar cut it off and sent Neala to rescue Argamon.

On their way there, they thought of the implication of their king becoming a puppet to a witch. Then and there, they became a ghost, dissappearing into the night, no longer a Gumm-Gumm, but not a Pacifist either. A Renegade who would dismantle human kingdoms and tribes to return what was robbed from their kind.

For centuries, they did it. Becoming a hero for troll kind when Angor Rot became another puppet for the Eldritch Queen. But as Humans became more abundant and poweful, Neala wasn't enough to fight against them. And so, they did the minimum to keep trolls out of human sight to avoid a purge, like Arthur did in their times.

As they knew about Jim, the new Trollhunter, they were ready to hunt him down until they saw him defeat Bular. There, they saw both were on the same team, and so, Neala became a hidden ally.

In regards to their design, I cut their hair down, as well as most of the spikes, since it made their design a bit noisy. Kept their clothes short and mostly form fitting so their sillouhette was agile no matter the version.

To Read their updated story: The War is Coming ~Part 1.

Keep going!

Gumm Gumm territory was always hostile, but it has become more so since the human King started to hunt Troll-kind. Everyone is eager to grab that fleshbag and tear him to pieces, eating him is an option too, but meat is not my kind of meal if I'm being honest. Gunmar must not know though, he already has enough on his claws. War is coming, tensions are growing, and we might not be enough to face Camelot's army. We have to make each of us count on the battlefield when the time comes...

Battle after battle, we've won followers, soldiers, trolls aware of the sacrifices needed to recover what's ours, and still, not all of them join the cause.

Dwuoza has become the sanctuary for those who still want to hide, those who aren't willing to fight against Arthur. Weakness, fear, cowardness, training rips those feeling to shreds, I should know...

I was taken by Gunmar when I was a youngling, my memory of how is really fuzzy, the only thing I remember is my name. "Neala", Champion. Gunmar sticked to it and, from then on, I became his. A warrior, a conqueror with no mercy, just like Bular, his son. Still...it might be giving him to much credit.

Despite us both been raised by him, Bular's always been the one to beg for his father's praises, as if he deserved them. A soldier, and over all, a prince, should know respect is earned. Each time your weapons are weilded against an enemy, is an oportunity to proof your worth and earn respect from your King. Having said that, it's pathetic. Seeing the son of the Skull Crusher begging like a spoiled child is just pathetic. When will he learn his actions speak louder than his words? Hell if I know...

While he goes asking for his father's praises, I stay in camp, training. Handling this blades is no easy task, their iron blades and black stone handles make them a weapon able to be thrown or handled, but the ability required for them is forged by discipline, strength, aim and, not to mention, acrobatics. Those are unusual amongst trolls, just certain kinds can manage such a dynamic fighting style.

My hooves slide through the ground, each choreographed by my instict. I pirouette and jump with my tail as a balancing force against the lightness of my body and the weight of my blades. I spin them by the handle, feeling how my claws click each time the black stone hits them slightly, letting me know I'm in control. The silence of my coordination exercices is broken by steps, heavy and small steps from some group of soldiers.

Once they arrive, I could feel there were three or four cadets who stopped once they saw me on the training ring.

-Good evening, gentlemen- I say before handling my blades properly, ready for anything. -Came for a round?- I ask, confident. A challenge is always good, especially for them.

They start to garbble and mumble trying to decide if fighting me is wise. After all, they have seen me at the battlefield. I can easily face a knight squad and win without a scratch. Some time later, they wield their spears, challenging me -Very well then.- I reply as they sorround me -Better make it quick, I gotta patrol the gate- Cracking my neck before taking a deep breath. Then silence...

3...2...1!

A soldier charges at me, as I avoid, leaning to the side to they can run pass me. With a spin and a help from my blade, I spin swiftly to knock him with a kick of my hoof. As he trips into another soldier, I grab his spear with my tail to block an attack from.a third brute. Quickly, I push the attacker with my body and blades to suddenly turn and throw one, towards the last rookie, making him stop dead on his tracks. At a moments notice, I appear behind him, sweeping him of his feet with a fast sweep of my hoof. Like that, four of them were down -You still need to work on your stands! Focus your weight into your legs to ground yourselves.- some feedback won't hurt them as I pick my weapons and go to the entrance. They grunt as a response -Maybe next time- I reply, leaving the ring with a smile.

-Champion?- a familiar voice comes from behind me, Bular. I turn around and sheith my blades.

-Prince...- I answer, cold but respectful.

-My father asks for your presence. I'll take your place at the gate- he tells me, indiferent, almost a little annoyed. I nod making him believe I didn't notice his disagreement to the order.

Soon, I arrive to my king's throne room. A dark cave with a natural window that lets him know what happens in his domains. It's intimidatimg, no matter how many eons I've spent alongside the Skull Crusher inside this place, a chill still runs through my spine each time I step in here.

-You called for me, your majesty.- I say as I kneel before the black troll in front of me. He has something on his claw, admires it. Looks like some sort of mask. Despite my constant talk about being the Black King's Hound, I'm still outranked. Not only by Bular, the flesh and bone of my lord, but by the tribute brought to him shortly after me: a gray and green brutish creature in Gumm gumm armor, Argamon, the Kruuvera Champion. Who stands right beside him, like a dog waiting for orders.

As of now, I'm the only one who he speaks to.

-Commander...- the lord says to me, in his deep rough voice. It shakes every spike of my body. -I've heard my soldiers understimate your skill...- he questions me, I lower my gaze in annoyance. Though the ones from before knew who they were talking to, others aren't as wise.

-When they arrive, they tend to mock me. But they learn what is best for them in no time.- I answer, secure with a light growl. My arrogance made me stand from other soldiers, since it has pushed me to be smarter, more skillful and cunning than the rest. Some may say I am a weaker image of my lord, a shadow of his grandeur, but not one as dark as Bular is.

-I see...- he turns around and throws me the mask he was looking at. I catch it in the air, handling it so I can see it too. It resembles those often wore by the rest of the army. Dark with green highlights at the edge of each twisted horn, but this one, aside from its smaller scale, had no muzzle and no backside.

-My lord?- I ask, confused. It is small for his size, it would barely fit me. Made of black metal, yet hollow and light. Given how rough our troops were while fighting, I think this little mask won't stand a chance once push comes to shove. I look back at my King, expecting his reply.

-My son is my living image, he commands where he stands. The Butcher, the humans call him. Just the mention of him can make a batallion tremble.- growls in victory as he comes closer, speaking seriously, looking at me with his cold and lonely eye. -Argamon is our tank, a moving fortress with no fear. On any battlefield, his strength is our weapon.- signaling the brute, now behind him, as it responds to the words spoken about him with pride. -You are my top commander, my bloodhound, fierce and loyal. A lethal assassin.- even though his voice is severe, he speaks with a certain fondness. -Your presence, reputation and that helmet should make them quiver and hear your every command.- growling in triumph as I look at the metal at my claws once more. Thoughtful.

-Wear it, and you'll be my general in the war to come.- His growls become threatening. Refering to the Human King with rage and thirst for violence. But what he says, makes me jump as I realize...

Finally Arthur drew the last straw. The war is coming.

Years of tensions, of disgrace and lies have come to a climax. The time has come to reclaim what is ours...

Looking back to my lord, I nod and put on the mask, it sits on my actual horns, letting me see while darkening my gaze. I unsheith my blade, trying to look at my reflection, despite the carving at the spine of the weapon at my claw. Now, I look like one of them. Humans may think of me as a demon, and I would let them think so. I'll rip their lives to shreds until darkness consumes them, as we rise to victory.

I Look once more at my majesty's eye, he nods lightly, approving my decision. A moment later, he asks me to stay there to see Argamon train, he'll need that, more now than ever.

Some hours run by, the sparring continues when, suddenly, a messenger comes with some news from the Gate.

Bular has been captured by the King's men.

To be Continued...

[catgirl-frostmoon]

Memories Come in on Little Cat Feet

@fyeahghosttrick  it be the #ghost swap and it be for you, @katecattus​ I ended up following three of your prompts (mostly by accident, mind you XD). Here they are: Prompt #1 Anything on how Yomiel met Sissel, could be at any point in their lives, any situation, just give me a first spark that attracted them to each other Prompt #2 I don’t get tired of Yomiel in prison, so anything on that note, be it a story or an art would be nice Prompt #3 The main cast interacting with Yomiel post canon. Make it an accident or something planned, apologetic on one or both sides, but something with a feel-good vibe And here’s the Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48004426 ____

It has been said that 'the fog comes in on little cat feet'; perhaps that is why your thoughts came in like fog, a gradual build-up of emotions and memories.

That's when I met you, old friend.

I had ransacked your body, claimed it as my own. I had pitter-pattered those little cat feet - no, little kitten feet, given how small you were (as small as you are now, because I took away your ability to grow up) - off in search of food, of water, of comfort and 'home'. All I could hear originally were your base thoughts: 'I need food', 'I'll die of starvation', 'it's just so cold', and 'I'm lonely'. 'I'm lonely, lonely, lonely, abandoned by all those who might love me.' (I was so lonely, too. That's almost certainly what drove us together.)

So I took you out, traveled away from the corpse I didn't realize was mine, and gathered you food, and gathered water water, and gathered even the occasional appreciative human. In those days, as you slept on the brink of consciousness and I had forgotten my own twisted existence, life was vaguely peaceful, a sort of fuzzy cohabitation where neither party was truly in their best minds. And then I found her, dangling down from our ceiling, and everything I had forgotten came rushing back.

All the memories of yours that had crept in like mist, the immediate recollection of who was in front of me - they made me realize that I was somehow in someone else's body, rummaging around a house I just traveled to on subconscious instinct alone, parading around some cat while my own body was gods-know-where and my fiance was, well. I don't even remember what happened directly afterwards; I know I retrieved my corpse at some point and had puppeteered it back home, but how exactly I did that has only gotten fuzzier over time. Despite the whole "taking over your body" thing, I still had yet to fully absorb the implications of my abilities, or my state of being, because wow, who'd have thought that the lack of feeling was some weird side effect of being a walking corpse and not just an awful trauma response? All I know is that a few days later, I was somehow taking care of the starved kitten I accidentally saved, adopting a name for you I never thought I'd use again.

…I think it was that convergence of memories that netted you the name Sissel."

And so, the ghostly black cat who moved as though he was transient, blue mist - he blinked back, his fur rippling against the blood-red backdrop. "I see."

 (I'm fighting the urge to facepalm, Sissel, because that was a non-response if there ever was one.)

"Yes, well," a slight bristle here, a twitchy whisker there, "I'm not sure if I have any good responses to this." (I can't mess up on my words here…!)

"Cat got your tongue?"

"...."

"...still," the man-formerly-in-red-but-now-currently-in-pink spoke with an-almost smile, a sight more common as each day in the new world passed, "thanks for listening. You and the other Sissel check up so frequently that I can almost push past the leftover despair." And with that, his not-quite-smile darkened with melancholy, a much more familiar sight. "Almost."

And so, in lieu of a response, Sissel leaned himself into Yomiel's shoulder; an ethereal feeling, as everything in the ghost world is, but a comforting touch nonetheless. "Then," with a patented cat smile, "I'll just keep asking you questions until you can truly smile. Okay?" And without waiting for a response, the mental link ended, the world no longer painted in hues of red, a ghostly black cat no longer (visibly) gracing his presence.

"I'll hold you to it."

[sporesgalaxy]

since i dont want an entire "zim age debate" on your blog im keeping this off anon so you can answer this privately if you want

im ALSO not trying to "convince you" to change your interpretation of zim because thats stupid and completely defeats my entire point that its up in the air. thatd also be pretty mean of me!

but my main point is that i think different writers on the show have different ideas for how they see him, considering jhonen is not the sole opinion-haver there and his favorite thing to do is make shit up. like richard and andy((zim and dibs voice actors, respectively)) im pretty sure dont think hes an old man otherwise the puppet kiss incident or the "i love you zim" wouldnt have happened. ((not that i want this to be About shipping but thats a big example)) and then theres advertisements calling zim an "alien kid" or jhonen himself calling zim a child in the old pilot bible

i understand what you mean with tak the hideous new girl however thats also the episode where he tries to Date tak under the impression that shes a human child and id rather not see my funny greenboy as a predator. i just always thought that the 60 years joke was "haha isnt it funny that were using ridiculously long periods of time and theyre still children"

not to mention mopiness of doom where it shows that zim and dib are grossly codependent enemies and i just dont really want to imagine a 60+ year old man and a child depending on eachother like that,,,,,

theres more "evidence" but i think this ask has gone on long enough

ALL OF THAT BEING SAID!!!!! theres no definitive proof either way and i find that unless youre shipping or really want to dig into the child soldier angle((which i personally find interesting)) it doesnt really matter. again this isnt supposed to be a persuasive essay just like,, idek. i like discussing this show and the characters in it! theres story benefits to either interpretation of zim and i like your art either way

uhh,, cheers and also sorry i think!!

eh. I had to write so much to respond to all this, it seems wasteful not to post.

TL; DR

There is no way for me to 100% guarantee that zadr will be read the same way by everyone, because it won't be, as is the nature of all media. That is exactly why I don't think that everyone who interprets Zim as a child necessarily has ill or manipulative intentions.

But I can provide arguments like the following for why I think zadr and kids who ship it would be a likely target for groomers, and therefore why I feel it is a good idea to discourage this ship.

As I mentioned in the previous ask, I think that said discouragement should be approached with the mindset that not everyone involved is malicious or arguing in bad faith. It is necessary to determine how best to act depending on the situation.

Personally, I'm going to continue pointing out the problems I see with the ship as much as I can in hopes of changing peoples' minds, whenever I have the time and energy to do so.

re: the VAs: This does not refute my point about Zim being easily read as an adult bc of the 50 years comment/ many other contextual implications made by the show. If anything the vagueness about Zim's age because of his alien society could make this a more useful grooming tool. I feel the same way about Bill Cipher x Dipper. Bill has just as much childish adult coding and just as little certainty about his age within the context of his alien species.

•••

re: the pilot bible: the show changes lots of things from the pilot bible so this is no more reliable than any other "word of god" (input from creators of the show rather than material within the show) from Jhonen.

That said, I think the VAs were joking around and did not put much thought into it. Joking around by making characters act the opposite of normal (hating each other -> liking each other) is common.

That said, I think the unprovable nature of the intentions behind the VAs comments is a good argument for excluding word of god from the Zim age conversation entirely. I think that zadr is still Not Good and should be Discouraged even if you only look at the show with no additional outside input, for all the reasons I explained in the first ask and have added here.

re: advertisements calling Zim an alien kid: a bunch of characters in the show call him a kid because they are genuinely convinced he is one, so it doesnt surprise me that advertisement/bumper writers who arent really paying attention would call him that.

re: trying to date Tak: in that episode it is made VERY clear that Zim does not understand romance at all, and does not care to beyond what's necessary to blend in. He clearly does not genuinely want to date her and only wants to use it to seem more socially normal. The Keef episode established a precedent for how Zim treats human relationships he's unfamiliar with, and it's by doing the bare minimum and then ditching them immediately. It's not GOOD behavior by any stretch, but he isn't acting with genuine predatory intentions.

re: 60 years joke: yeah sure that is a joke the show might make. But the additional cultural context we have for Zim's life (that he has been a soldier for a long time + that he trained to become a soldier for a long time, as we see in The Trial) gives Tak being a janitor for 50 years more potential to be taken literally.

re: mopiness of doom: yeah honestly I just personally don't like that episode script. But also, as codependant as they are and as weird as that is, nothing about it is inherently romantic. My frenemies argument from the end of the original post still stands, as do all of my arguments about the ship being potentially useful for grooming because of the lack of clarity.

re: your conclusion: The fact that Irkens HAVE child soldiers IS interesting, yes, and we see in The Trial that Zim has been trained to be a soldier basically since birth, which is also interesting to consider for Zim's character.

However, I explained in the previous ask how I think reading Zim as a child during the current events of the show weakens some of the show's core themes about incompetent, unquestioning adults. I think the whole show just makes more sense if it is centered around a socially shunned child and socially shunned adult fighting against each other. The fact that Zim is old and still a loser further highlights how futile both his and Dib's aspirations to greatness are within their respective societies-- and they are CLEARLY meant to be seen as futile.

I cannot think of a theme or character arc that would be served by Zim's age being unclear, so I do not think it comes across as intentional, even if you rule out word of god. But still, even if nothing I've read into here was intentional, what matters is that it is lends itself to being interpreted as an adult/child ship, or being interpreted as an age gap that "doesnt count" for superficial reasons. And NO I am not claiming that there is any way to conclusively determine that a ship with an unclear age gap has crossed the line into potentially harmful territory. It HAS to be considered on a case-by-case basis. And you've made it clear that there are muddling factors to sift through for this one in particular!

But I feel very strongly that these muddling factors are more circumstantial than, less intuitive than, and ultimately outweighed by, the parts of the text which contextually place Zim as an adult, and will continue providing examples supporting this conclusionc whenever I am able to.

[timeskip]

Gon, Suicide, and the Chimera Ant Arc

Hi! I'm new to HxH, so I'm sure other people have made the connections here, but it's been rattling around my head since I read the end of the CA arc, so I thought I'd write up something about the reading of Gon's nen contract as a suicide attempt.

Obviously, spoilers and tw for discussion of suicide and self harm. I'll be discussing only what's in canon though, nothing outside it, so if you've read/watched the chimera ant arc then you should know what to expect!! I also know there's way more to the reason why Gon made the nen contract than just wanting to die, but for the sake of this post that's the viewpoint I'm looking at it from.

Before the palace invasion

First, a little bit about the framing and set up of Gon's emotional state here. I think when you look back at the arc as a whole, it becomes INTENSELY clear the way Gon's been destroying himself from the start and that builds up throughout the whole thing, but it only really picks up around them finding puppet Kite, and Gon letting himself get hurt by him.

Looking at the entire arc leading up to Gon's self destructive tendencies hurting him in the worst way possible, then I think him putting him in harm's way with puppet Kite is the most clear showing of those tendencies getting worse. Throughout the series so far, Gon has put himself in harm's way over and over, but mostly to prove himself in some kind of way, the way he did in the battle against Genthru. But when he goes up against puppet Kite, he lets himself get hurt on purpose, because of his guilt. It's an extension of what we already know about Gon (his willingness to hurt himself) but different now, and that's super important to Gon's character arc.

He blames himself, and this only fuels his anger at Pitou. The story very VERY clearly sets up Gon's feelings of responsibility for Kite's situation, but it comes alongside his need to defeat Pitou after seeing what's become of Kite:

For Gon, his feeling of guilt is tied to his anger at Pitou. It's something he's pushing away so we don't see it much until they invade the palace--even though Gon is aware of his own self blame. And it's also very clear that he's hurting himself on purpose BECAUSE of that guilt. When he's given the abstract question of hurting himself, he thinks of letting himself get hurt by Kite FIRST:

I don't think any of this is new to Gon even, because we've seen him be reckless and self-sacrificing before. But suddenly, the purpose of it has shifted, and we're reminded over and over that Gon is doing this out of a guilt that we know may never go away until Kite is fixed. This is Gon essentially self harming because he blames himself! We know it's wrong and painful for him to be putting himself in this situation! It just builds as the arc goes on, and shows us how far Gon is willing to hurt himself due to his own (false!) perception of himself as the one who hurt Kite.

I'd also like to point out that even though Gon has been hiding his emotions to the other characters OVERALL, it's pretty clear that he's still suffering on the inside: see how he reacts when Morel tells him to pretend that he's Pitou and attack him. Gon is Not Doing Okay, but nobody stops him from having that rage and spiraling more. (I suspect that in part for the adults it's because that rage is useful for fighting the ants, which inevitably leads to ignoring Gon's worsening mental state.)

Killua and [lover's] suicide

I'm not sure how well known the "lover's suicide"/shinjuu line actually is so I'll explain it just in case: in the original JP, Killua refers to the worst case scenario as him dying with Gon, as a suicide. This fact makes me feel A LOT OF THINGS, and it's such a Choice to translate it out. Even ignoring the romantic implications, I think the fact that Killua believes they could commit suicide is important, not just for his own arc, but also for Gon's.

We see a lot of Gon through Killua's eyes. We know Gon well because we've been following his point of view, and we know that Killua knows Gon well, enough to think that Gon could and would throw his life away for his revenge against Pitou. I don't think Killua believes that Gon would literally commit suicide, but he definitely knows that Gon would willingly die for this--and he's right! We know he's right! And Killua mentioning that the worst case scenario might happen plants this idea in our minds; what will happen, if Killua can't stop Gon? What if Gon goes Too Far?

And even though the idea of suicide is lost in the english translation (at least the ones I'm aware of) it's still thematically important. I mean, look at Netero's death, and look at Komugi's death. In any case, it gets us thinking about how Killua could and would die with Gon.

Gon would die for this revenge! Willingly and purposefully, and we know it's true even if we don't want to believe it'll happen yet.

The connection to Meruem and Komugi

This is (surprisingly?) not as important to my reading here, but I do want to point out that Meruem and Gon are parallels in this arc, being somewhat opposite tragedies.

Though Meruem himself doesn't directly commit suicide, like I said above, it's telling in a sense that thematically, this arc has a LOT to do with suicide! Both Netero and Komugi end up committing suicide in two very different ways--and I'd like to point out specifically that Komugi's suicide is a lover's suicide the way Killua was talking about. She's dying specifically to stay with Meruem, even if it's in death. If we look at Komugi+Meruem and Gon+Killua as parallels, then Komugi's death ends up reinforcing the idea of suicide being an important part of the arc's story.

Killua, after all, wants to stay with Gon, but wasn't able to when Gon did everything alone. Gon almost died, and it was without Killua. This is significant for their character arcs! And so is Killua not letting him die! Gon's suicide attempt is a desperate act that's opposite and parallel to Meruem+Komugi's arcs, in that while Meruem and Komugi can accept their deaths (like how Komugi has been willing to die from losing Gungi this whole time, and Meruem and she are both dedicating their final moments to each other), Gon has similarly accepted his own end, at too great a cost for the viewer to feel anything but dread about. He's dedicating what he thinks will be his final moments to his own destruction. These being the two different climaxes of the arc (that of Gon's story and Meruem's story, respectively) DOES feel like it matters.

The nen contract itself

And now, at last! The actual contract itself! Ow!

Gon's grief is heavy, and his mindset has been to punish himself this whole time. Gon views the non contract itself as a result of not being able to forgive himself, because the narrative PRIMES us for that!!! We see Gon's self hatred, the way he flips between rage at Pitou and his own personal despair, believing that he killed Kite himself by not doing enough. This is the build up to the nen contract and his transformation, and it's all built on that guilt that made him hurt himself before. He (obviously) willingly made this choice, not caring what happens to him!

They don't directly say that it's a suicide attempt, but they don't have to for it to be framed as one. He makes a nen contract to use up ALL THE POWER HE'LL EVER HAVE, including his own life. He gives up his life and very nearly dies (he WOULD have died, if it weren't for Killua dragging him to safety) not caring about what will become of him!!! It's a tragedy!!! It's a self destructive action by a child who wants things to stop, which sounds a lot like suicide!!!

We have all this build up about Gon's self blame, all the build up about how it could be a suicide mission, and everything comes to this at the end of Gon's arc. Gon wants Kite to have lived, but he didn't--he's been faced with the reality that someone he cared about is dead and he couldn't fix it, and he doesn't know how to handle it. He destroys himself in a tragic way, and we're not supposed to look at this as anything other than the self destruction it is! We're still supposed to see Gon as a child even in his "adult" form! His inner conflict drives him closer to death, because he just wants it to end.

And I do think the nen contract being like a suicide was INTENTIONAL, because they're so clear that he knew it would kill him, but he Did Not Care!!! Especially the thought he has that he just wants it to end; that's framing his thoughts spiraling between guilt and rage as leading right to him intentionally ending himself and Pitou, together.

Also important: right at the end he says that he's okay with ending up just like Kite:

Obviously this is about the arm injury and not the death itself, but... considering that he's put himself through pain because of Kite's death before, and the way he's starting the transformation at the cost of himself BECAUSE of that guilt, I think this is the final and most clear showing that this is being framed as Gon's way of punishing himself. He feels relieved that he can be like Kite, but it's horrible and tragic. He believes that this is the end for him, and he does it intentionally, because he can't forgive himself. He's stopped caring about himself, and the story is framing this as his (near) death being because of his own guilt!! He's just a kid in the middle of trying to fight creatures more powerful than him, and he willingly sacrificed his arm just to be LIKE KITE. It's another form of hurting himself because he doesn't know what else to do.

Gon's transformation, this power up that leaves him on the brink of death, fits in really perfectly with all the themes of sacrifice that has been building in the chimera ant arc, and before it too. He's been reckless and sacrificed his arms before, but he can't deal with his emotions about Kite's death, especially not in a healthy way because he has no healthy outlet to deal with his own grief. So he turns it inwards, against himself, not caring about his own future.

I think this has to do a lot with chimera ant arc building up Gon's singular focus on Kite's death... he just wants to deal with this, and when he can't, he doesn't know what to do. Even Killua can't help him, so Gon deals with it alone, and it only serves to hurt him more.

The transformation being a suicide attempt is DEVASTATING as an arc ending. Like this is an epic power up in some ways, but more than that it's horrifying what this child (even though his grief and power has forced him to "grow up" and act like all the adults around him) believes he has to do to end things, whether that's in the fight or... his entire life. Unfathomable power, at the cost of the rest of his life, and he chooses to destroy Pitou.

Resolution - or: Kite's rebirth

Kite being reborn is of course immensely important to Gon getting a conclusion in this arc. I think it's possible that the idea of making ants be "reborn" came specifically so that Gon could heal.

Mainly I'm writing this because I don't want to end this post on a depressing note (even given the depressing topic) so here's some thoughts on Gon's healing:

I don't actually think everything is okay for him after he gets healed, but I also don't expect canon to touch on this much more. He's spending time at Whale Island! He's healing in his own way! But before that, he had to realize that Kite's death wasn't his fault. And yes, Ging helped with that, since he knew Kite well, but actually going and seeing Kite was what let Gon realize that he was just a kid who couldn't save someone in that situation.

I think a lot of it is about control; Gon wasn't in control of the situation with Kite, but he wanted to be and felt like he should be, so he blamed himself. He was in control of the situation with Pitou, desperate for some way to fix things, but that ended badly. His revenge was carried out, but that's not what helped him. It was realizing that the pain he went through due to Kite's death was natural and horrible and also not his fault that really helped. If Kite hadn't been reincarnated to tell him that it WASN'T his fault, maybe he would've kept feeling like that, especially since Pitou is dead and can't take responsibility.

And, you know, a lot of Hunter x Hunter's themes regarding revenge has to do with how horrible it is to those enacting it. But Gon is healing and figuring things out, and more than anything letting himself get back to being a normal child at home. And that's important, especially after something like the trauma he went through!!

Thank you for reading!!! I hope my thoughts here haven't been talked about too many times already, but if they have, I hope I still said it in an interesting way!!

[cozy-possum]

"Grisha who control the elements are controlled natural disasters waiting to be pointed to the target" IM FERAL OVER THIS DESCRIPTION its so *chefs kiss*, I'm absolutely obsessed.

Personally, I'd be throwing hands with any Inferni making everything all muggy and humid; I live in New Zealand, so I live in 80%+ humidity every day and its the worst 😭😭 i LOVE the concept of the Tidemakers essentially being able to become puppeteers, though – how terrifying would it be to be forced to move against your will, especially in a battle situation??

I know you've mentioned before how Tidemakers could feel "clammy" or Inferni having burnt hands or how Sun Summoners don't have a shadow; how else do you think this body horror take on Grisha talents could impact them physically? I think the physical implications are just SO interesting and really add to the perspectives of other nations (and maybe even non-Grisha Ravkans) to be looking at Grisha as dangerous, abominations, something to be fearful of.

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I'm glad you like it! I was particularly proud of it haha

Oh man I've escaped previous heat/humidity and do not want to go back lol

Yes, being moved against your will, or being unable to move when you hit a certain range that the tidemaker can control! That would be terrifying!!! Thinking you're on a scouting mission and suddenly you think you can hear voices, so you rush forward, and there's a group, the lost patrol, but they're froze to the spot, screaming for you to run back, instead you find yourself walking towards them, a strange sound of waves in your ears. You don't cry, no matter how much you want to, they don't want to waste the water for tears.

I think it would be really interesting if what they controlled didn't effect them or hinder them, that their science automatically compensated for it. And going of the fact Grisha are supposed to be 'rare' it would be a cool like 'natural protection' for them, and possibly another tool for people to find them before their powers develop, a way to hunt them if you go darker. The closer it gets to their powers showing, the more automatic processes their body does.

Also the more they use their powers the more visual it becomes. Shadow summoners who's limbs blacken, and seem to vanish into smoke in certain light. Sun Summoners who slowly go blind from their own light, burning from the inside out and collapsing like a dying star. Tidemakers who slowly drown themselves, every manipulation of water fills there lungs drop by drop, or the opposite, they pull water from their very being. Squallers who pull air from themselves, slowly suffocating, or they fill themselves up with so much they combust, they dissolve into the air itself. Inferni who have burns creeping up their hands, who cough and breathe out ash and smoke, their bodies being burned from the inside out, after all that's all oxygenation is

Tidemakers who never get wet or damp, even in the rain, not because they're moving it, but because the water knows not to effect them. Like how some birds have oil in thier feathers that makes them hydrophobic. They can hold their breathe for too long, the water dividing itself into oxygen for them to breathe. One of the ways to check if a child might be a squaller is to hold them underwater, of course, not many abide this old superstition. The can handle slightly hotter or colder temperatures as the water in their bodies adjusts. Tidemakers that can direct small bits of water, when it's raining the runoff never seems to dampen their feet or the area they stand.

Inferni that are never uncomfortable in any temperature their body naturally adjusting, they're immune to certain chemicals/combinations because of the combustion particles. They can gain bursts of strength, their bodies manipulating them as they would flame from the world around them. Depending on what specific particles it is they can manipulate (Would other Inferni be better at different particles/combinations?? That would be very interesting) they can breathe in highly toxic areas like nothing is wrong. They can track or recognize places and soldiers by particles, they can tell where things have come from if they've been exposed to certain particles from certain areas. They can effect the temperature of those around them, especially with strong emotions. Those that make an Inferni anger or someone that causes lust/ a crush are often the source of a sweltering gaze and prickling heat, sometimes when their gaze is averted, something close by will combust/light on fire/heat up. Inferni who give off steam when they become emotional.

Squallers that never seem to slow in movements, the wind pulling and pushing their bodies for them, keeping them moving, keeping them out of danger even if their body can't or shouldn't be moving. Like when a strong gust of wind moves you. They can handle low oxygen environments like mountains or caves easier than most. They can alter air pressure around objects to make them heavier or lighter to an extent. The wind seems to influence their emotions, or the other way around, most aren't sure and no one want to anger a Squaller enough to find out.

Sun Summoners who move faster, are stronger in the sunlight, seemingly full of energy when in the lights path. They can see in the dark because they produce a natural light that encompasses themselves, the more power they have the more others can see it. When they become angry or too excited, or just too many strong emotions it will blind others from their reactions. They never seem to get sunburned, or sun stroke. They become effected by the season more easily, the lack of sunlight causing them distress if they're lacking in a strong family

Shadow Summoners who can see in the dark, who don't recognise that there isn't a light source. They can move the shadows to hide them. They often move silently when in darkness. The changes in season are usually when they're stronger, they don't seem effected by the shorter days or longer nights. They can travel better and night, they can stay in darkness for days at a time, so different methods of torture must be used for them. They suffer from light sensitivity often struggling to be out during the highest points of the day or they hide from flames and other light sources.

Support My Writing?

[imagionary]

Guys,, my sister pointed out that Warren the Worm looks like the "Pesky Bee" that got killed by Duck Guy....

I wish I had a better picture of Warren, but my sister and I think that Warren is Intrusive Thoughts. There are a lot of, uhh, very bad implications that my sister and I picked up for poor Yellow Guy (having to do with unwanted.. realtions with people; being stuck in strange, cultish families being forced to be a parent that he doesn't want to be; etc...).. we're wondering if Warren is like Intrusive thoughts of an aborted child from a horrible situation that constantly haunts him?

Warren has the same eye color as Yellow Guy, which is green (shown later in Episode 6 of the All4 series). Warren also has purplish blue hair like the "Pesky Bee" has (which you can see once the maggot is smooshed;; I wish I had a better picture of Warren, because his hair pops out from under his hat at some point in the episode). Warren also has the same kind of Binky nose as Shrignold, except his is red like the "Pesky Bee". I also find it strange how Warren would have Rat Eyes when RatEyes is Yellow Guy's Maiden name apparently. I also find it interesting that Duck Guy would pull this Warren out of Yellow Guy's head and call him a "Pesky Bee". It's also interesting how Warren would want to call himself an Eagle when he's a worm... kinda like how Yellow called Shrignold a little baby pigeon.

It's all so weird, and there's things in the 3rd episode of the All4 series that make us think that the family has to do with the Cult of Malcom or something, since the members seem to be,, inbred to some degree; somewhat look like Michael; have strange cultish vibes to them; force Yellow Guy to be the mother (could be alluding to trauma of Warren? Idk.. cause, he's an unWarrented baby? UnWarrented thoughts?); they're bluish grey and green like Malcom;

There's some sort of cohesive thought floating around in our brains somewhere, but in short, our theory of the big picture is that Yellow Guy is dealing with trauma of having to have grown up in a cult that pretended to be his family, and pretended to love him, despite invalidating his transness, and trying to convince him that he's a woman (which could be why Special One looked so much like him, it could have been the Cult actually trying to make him believe he was a woman) ((we think he's trans because of the numerous times he's had a child or was forced to be in a female role, despite being a boy)); trying to force an unwanted pregnancy on him, which he aborted and feels guilt about; he fantasizes about having a normal life with a normal job and a wife and child who love him, which will never happen; etc, etc. Just a lot of jumbled thoughts.

Sorry if none of this makes sense, I just needed to ramble this out here omg;; I also need to watch the season 619 more times.

(((Another thing on how Warren could be Intrusive thoughts; we don't think Yellow Guy's imaginary brother is just imaginary. He didn't leave with the other imaginary friends of his when Warren was bothering them, and instead stayed. We think he's actually a memory that Yellow holds onto of his brother that ended his own life; Warren seems to make Yellow's feelings and memories turn into the worst things,, and it could make sense as to why his brother ended himself instead of leaving like the other imaginary friends,, the Intrusive thoughts made him think of what his brother did to leave him...

Also, his brother showed up as a real puppet in the end of the episode, which could also imply that he did exist at one point, but it's all our speculation)))

[psychewritesbs]

Chapter 211: Ripen—Megumi, on the power of suffering + a bunch of other stuff

Happy JJK Sunday! Gege is a sadistic cat and is going to “punish” Megumi. In case it wasn’t obvious... my favorite mangaka are always sadistic to their creations--I’m looking at you CLAMP’s Okawa Nanase.

So this chapter made me feel like Tomoyo and her adorkable obsession with Sakura...

There’s just something so cathartic about seeing a blorbo be put to the wringer for the sake of character development. And now, my favorite cursed cat is going to pull some machiuvelical, Greek Tragedy, Mexican telenovela style, twist on us. yesssssssssssssss!

I have a nasty migraine so... don’t expect much intelligence underneath the cut. 

Also, did I ever publicly mention that this particular scenario is one of my favorite self-indulgent head canons? You know... Tsumiki turning out to be at the crux of Megumi’s conflict because she’s up to no “good”?

Like just imagine the shock to Megumi’s schema of the world, the pattern interrupt to his logic, but more importantly, his inability to exert his will upon another being’s free will.

THE DRAMA... 

Sea-Urchin-Head

I wasn’t going to write anything for this chapter... 

So my plan was to just be a troll and write about the evolution of Megumi’s hair and how it went from this...

to full on epic sea-urchin-headness proportions.

But like... how to bring up the evolution of Megumi’s hair without also addressing the evolution of the art style and how much Gege has improved over the last 5 years?

And it’s not just the art that has improved from an aesthetic perspective, but the way he draws brings the characters to life on a new level. The characters aren’t static 2-dimensional figures on a 2-dimensional surface any longer...

Rather, the characters reflect their character development and multi-dimensionality in that Gege has also improved at showing emotion...

And how characters express their unique and diverse emotional landscape.

Just look at the sheer terror on his face... have we ever seen Megumi drop the poker face and betray his emotional state THIS MUCH?

This is like the worst chapter reaction liveblog I have ever written...

Megumi, on the power of suffering

If you’ve been reading my rambles for a while, then you know Megumi shares the #1 spot for my favorite animanga character with Sumeragi Subaru (who, interestingly enough, shares a lot of interesting similarities with Megumi). 

I LOVE Megumi and I ADORE the way Megumi is written.

Megumi is, true to his name, a bright light in the midst of darkness. His voice, the voice of conscience trying to find its way in the dark. 

If Gege is a genius at writing poetic justice, then Megumi is poetry in action. 

I’ve written before about how he got off “easy” after Shibuya and how that could mean his moment to shine and have his ego brutally destroyed is coming.

IT’s HERE! FINALLY! 

It’s not that I’m excited to see him suffer... it’s that I know that the suffering will be like turning lead into gold. ok yes I want to see him suffer because fck yeah catharsis my beloved!

Whatever the case, however Gege executes, Megumi is about to have another “come to Jesus moment” like or much more impactful than the one he had during The Origin of Obedience arc.

Anyways. Shipping dynamics aside, whether Tsumiki has been corrupted or is a vessel to a sorcerer from the past, the fact that she is turning “against” (for lack of a better word, don’t hate me, no nuance to be found in my brain today I have a damn migraine) Megumi isn’t just Reggie’s curse activating... it’s a reversal on Remi’s situation with Reggie. 

It’s a reversal on Megumi looking down on Remi for her unwillingness to see Reggie for what he was.

What an asshole! I love him your honor!!!

Perhaps even a reversal on Megumi looking down on Remi for becoming Reggie’s puppet?

You know... just following down daddy’s steps...

Regardless of what happens...

OH, THE DRAMA!!!! 

Like... The implications for how events can unfold are so juicy!!!!!! 

Let’s see where Gege takes it from here.

Hana

Me before Gege finally introduced Kurusu Hana: she’s poison! Don’t trust her! She’s not to be trusted! She’s probably a horrible person!!!!!

Meanwhile Hana:

Also me: Dammit I love her... my symbol analysis was trash looool (or is it?!!!!! we still don’t know what’s Angel’s deal).

Ripen

Just a reminder that the kanji that Gege uses for the word “fate” includes the kanji for “fruit”. 

The timeline has been super confusing so let’s see how Gege executes and brings it all together.

Allright. Thank you migraine. I’m done. I'm over it. Not even proofreading before publishing.

Thanks for reading to all 10 people who usually read lol. Don’t hesitate to say hi or share your own reactions! 

Happy JJK Sunday.

[bonesandthebees]

Then there’s what we can get from the scenario itself. It’s very interesting. It’s a losing battle so being able to turn it around shows a lot of skill. Also it’s very specific, so when Phil was explain I stopped reading like “trying to comprehend and memorise all of this in one go seems like hell”.

Anyway, Quackity is smart, but kinda non-confrontational. He similarly wants to avoid casualties by trading for food with the civilian. Assuming that they would hate being occupied by their own forces is fair, but committing treason needs a lot more factors than that and a specific situation. If you are sending in people to sneak around, they might as well just try to steal food for everyone or scope out the town.

It also makes a lot of sense for Quackity to say this given his alliance to Schlatt. He puts value in money. He thinks you can get a lot done with the right number. This is why we works with Schlatt and gets his support. Worst case the man can threaten to withdraw his support of the crown if Quackity doesn’t get chosen.

Niki is so ruthless and I love that for her. I also love Wilbur and Techno being the only people to know. For once Wilbur had a one up on his father. It also shows how much she truly holds herself back. Obviously that’s what she thinks is needed to win both that battle and this exercise. For someone so aware for what people think of her and how much she needs their support, she cares surprisingly little about what the enemy’s civilians think of her.

While it shows that she can make the hard decisions and do what it takes to protect her country. It also makes it look like she is bad at thinking ahead. If you burn the temple, the people will be upset. When the news spreads, it will rule up the rest of the country too. Might want to make them fight harder or result in the people trying to sabotage them as revenge.

I love how she stands up to Phil (several times). It’s something Wilbur could learn from. She doesn’t let him interrupt her. She finishes her idea and when he doesn’t agree she sticks to her guts. Essentially she tells him that she doesn’t care about his opinion, but still in a ‘polite’ way. This probably knocks her down in Phil’s best heir list since he wants to get Wilbur a puppet king. Also he knows from experience how dangerous a monarch that doesn’t listen to their consul can be.

Also, of course Wilbur has already been there before (and is once again there even though he doesn’t need to be). Niki has been too. And them keeping each other away is cute. Also I didn’t miss that you put them on opposite ends of the table and the implications.

Lastly, I think what this chapter as a whole is about, is the start of Wilbur’s shifting mindset. He still can’t stand Tomys, but he can see where his value lies. Both as a monarch as a puppet. He’s not quite there yet. For a multitude of reasons, but it’s shifting.

(3/3)

-🌲

do you know how long it took me to come up with that scenario in the first place. it's so complicated and I had to think of so many factors to try and be able to show off the aspects of their personalities I wanted to and just arghhhh it was a nightmare

yes yes you nailed quackity exactly. he puts value in money and bargaining with people. he doesn't want to scare the townspeople into submission, he wants to come to an agreement with them. the power of words (and outside influence) and all that. it was a really smart idea, just not one well-suited for war.

niki is incredibly conscientious what the other people at court think of her, but this is one of the rare instances where she feels like she's able to express more of her ruthless side and make it work to her benefit. while it might have negative consequences later on, in truth niki's is the most realistic strategy out of the three (at least in my opinion). in a situation like this, you have to be ruthless and use whatever you can to your advantage. war is cruel sometimes, and you can't play fair when your army is outnumbered. niki recognizes that.

and in turn with showing her ruthless side, niki stands up to phil. she outright refuses his advice instead saying they will agree to disagree. and in my mind, phil also recognizes that niki's strategy was actually the most likely to succeed out of the three. he just didn't give her that satisfaction because she refused his advice, which tells him more about her than simply what kind of strategy she would use in a war.

hmm... things are certainly shifting. wonder how the l'mannes trip might affect wilbur's perspective on everything?