#solid tragedy lol

[blackjackkent]

The guards inside the creche entrance round on them with startling rapidity the moment they show their faces.

"Sentries! To arms!" one of them snaps. Her eyes fix on Rakha in a sharp glare like that which she has often seen in Lae'zel's expression. "Istik. State your purpose - quickly."

"Stand down, gish," Lae'zel snaps back, equally sharp. "Is it not Vlaakith's command to welcome her faithful?"

"I expected no visitors, faithful or otherwise," the guard says coolly. "Why have you come?"

Rakha's eyes narrow warily. The antagonistic tone sends a flicker of irritation through her, something that could easily spiral into something more. But for Lae'zel's sake, she keeps her tone even with an effort of will. "I was infected by an illithid," she says. Little point in dancing around the subject; Lae'zel has made it clear that this is something the gith know of already - along with how to deal with it. "And was told to seek a githyanki creche."

She waits for the gish to direct them - but instead, the other woman's eyes widen and her mouth sets in a thin line.

"You are infected?" She spits the word out like a curse. "A ghaik thrall is something to eradicate, not reason with."

Her hand is already going towards her sword, and Rakha feels her pulse start to thump in her temple with the sense of impending battle. But Lae'zel's voice cuts across the moment, shattering it.

"The faithful may be purified!" she snaps. "This is Vlaakith's protocol!"

(A/N: I remember being a little baffled by this on my first playthrough - that Lae'zel seems so confident about this while it seems like literally every other githyanki clearly already knows the score. It makes sense for Voss to be like 'nah actually you're gonna die' - he's already rebelling against Vlaakith - but even this random guard goes straight past the cleansing concept and straight to 'time to eradicate this thrall.'

I find it kind of interesting tbh.

On the one hand - clearly this is partly a manifestation of how young Lae'zel is under all that confidence. The implication seems to be that yeah, it's hammered into you in your training that you need to report to a ghustil and get "purified" if you're ever infected, but that once you're actually out on duty it becomes an open secret that "purification" is just another word for death; Lae'zel just didn't happen to get that far before the nautiloid picked her up.

However - this leads to other questions. How are there not more rebels, if it's common to reach a point where you realize the purification lie is nonsense? What is the party line within these more adult units? Alternatively - is K'liir unique (and uniquely cruel) in framing it as a salvation, and every other creche treats it like a necessary sacrifice on behalf of the greater group?

IDK, I'm getting rambly here but it's intriguing to ponder. The whole creche sequence, if I'm honest, isn't always entirely clear in its writing, but if some of the minor holes are extrapolated I think it gets kind of interesting. :D )

The guard stares at Lae'zel for a long moment, reading her expression very carefully. Then she nods slowly, her lip curling with evident disdain. "Chk. Fine. Let the ghustil carry out your fate. Report to the infirmary at once."

Her eyes move over Rakha and the others briefly, then back to Lae'zel. "And step carefully. Creche Y'llek watches you."

-----

"She did not expect us to request purification," Rakha mutters matter-of-factly as they walk on further into the creche.

"I know," Lae'zel says curtly.

"You said it was a protocol. A standard procedure."

"It is," Lae'zel hisses. "That she did not honor it is no fault of mine."

"Voss also did not."

"Voss is a traitor. Should I find him again, I shall feed him pieces of his own skull."

Rakha tries hard to ignore the way the beast in her head shivers at this mental image. "But why do they deny it?"

"I don't know!" Lae'zel snaps at her; her voice whips out like a weapon, sharp as the blade on her back. "These inane questions serve nothing. Let us find the ghustil and finish matters."

[alethiometry]

for my own peace of mind i may need to stop reading r/yellowjackets jfc. in just a single post i have seen people theorize that

javi is still alive bc he found an underground hot spring / javi found civilization and saved the girls

jackie's dream actually happened bc she wouldn't have dreamed of the dead hunter

laura lee survived the plane exploding bc we never saw a body

[uncomfortablepiratecollection]

My hot take is that season 4 of the umbrella academy was good actually

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

I’m basically in favor of alternate readings and I don’t consider it some kind of obligation to embrace the authors vision. And like in the case of SW specifically I get not always agreeing with George Lucas I mean he has written some racist shit occasionally and honestly even some of his benign concepts are kinda weird at times. Not everyone is gonna vibe with that. Still, I feel like if you’re gonna engage in analysis it is useful to acknowledge what the intention of the story was, even if to know where and why you’re re-interpreting it.

[orcelito]

But. Yeah. i finished reading trigun maximum.

this manga ripped me apart limb from limb, then put me back together again. never have i felt a catharsis this deep before. a manga that made me cry seven times, as opposed to the previous record holders of two times each.

it really is something special. and i love it so, so, SO much.

[nomname]

O'ercharger With Death

Lambert x Narinder || Royal AU

Still unsure what this AU should be about. Pretty much it's just me throwing stuff in there to see what sticks, no solid story just concept ideas.

warnings below → drinking blood, blood, eye gore and murder

Haha funny instrumental representing the living body and the old faith being conductors capable of influencing mortals' music with tragedy.

Although Narinder can not influence anyone. death isn’t capable of changing the outcome. death is the end of ends something already pre-decided. Lambert though…

If one of the hands of death could conduct music wouldn't it be similar to reanimating a corpse?

It was prophesied that Narinder would share the role of death with a Lamb, Hence his arranged marriage with Lambert. However, even with Lambert as life and could revive the dead, Lambert still struggles to reanimate the dead and simply refuses to do so despite narinder's encouraging gifts but soon would be enough.

Standing underneath the shattered stained glass ceiling, drenched in his sibling's blood that was beginning to burn his flash and soon leaving nothing but bone. his neck snapped upward to the heavens above, chanting his forbidden scripture.

The ear of pestilence silenced all sounds before all sounds became louder with the mind of war ripping the fabric of space in half, the gods, they saw through the eyes of chaos and spoke through the throat of famine. Narinder was going to unstable the balance and bring an apocalypse to the crowns if it would undo the vile prophecy.

That's when the guards started piling into the castle doors.

His actions resulted in banishment his siblings decided; to chain their brother beneath the kingdom's catacombs. These catacombs connected the vast territories of Darkwood, Anura, Anchordeep, and Silk Cradle. In this place, Narinder would serve as an eternal undertaker.

Someone had to take on the role of death, and Narinder was deemed unreliable. And I think it would be cool if Shamura and the others would have to take on that responsibility.

The prophecy would soon be brought forth. Shamura and the others can try to prevent it, but it will come to fruition. Thus the madness above and beneath the kingdoms began.

flowers

I chose butterflies because of their mud pudding; I thought it would be neat to represent butterfly blush sprouting from the lambs' corpses.

For-Get-Me-Nots is pretty self-explanatory.

Aster is based on the tears of Astraea.

The Golden Beams is about Narinder and Lambert becoming one… and their marriage. Lol

Think the cult grounds being built on top of Narinder's kingdom would be a neat concept; might play around with it at a later date.

[ohnoitstbskyen]

I know you made shorts for Sora, Riku, and Kairi, but do you have any other thoughts about Kingdom Hearts?

Ik this is kinda vauge and you get these kind of asks all the goddamn time, but I hyperfixated on those games for most of elementary and middle school and its always cool to see your favorite Youtuber talk about stuff you really like. Not to guilt trip you into answering this one or anything, just. . . I'm very tired and it would be very cool lol.

Again, saving my character design thoughts for some more shorts, but I adore Kingdom Hearts. Like, the first game really ISN'T much more than a cross-promotional branding exercise for Disney and Square, same as any of a dozen other similar crossover centric franchises; it's a Saturday morning cartoon show that wants to get you invested (or keep you invested) in a bunch of fancy IPs to buy toys of, but it's a really good one of those.

And it's a game that understands that the central thing that's going to hook people IN to that kind of thing is characters that are willing to believe in what they've got going on with one thousand percent sincerity. Which I think is the thing they nailed more than anything. Sora cares SO MUCH, and he wants to find his friend and his love interest (Kairi and Riku, respectively) SO BADLY, you can't help but root for the poor kid and want to believe in it.

Then, with the first game successfully managing to hook a solid fanbase, the creative team went "hey what if we had even MORE extremely earnest cool anime people getting deep in their feelings?" and now we're off to the races with Organizations and Oblivion Castles and fractions of 358 days.

And the thing that makes all the hyper-convoluted wheels-within-wheels plot machination nonsense WORK is that down, deep down, right at the core of what the franchise is always trying to say, is that love will save us. Yeah yeah hearts and darkness and unversed and nobodies and keyblades and blah blah blah (to be clear: I adore all that nonsense), but all of it is top-to-bottom in service of that singular central thematic clarion call.

Love will save us.

What holds Ventus together after Xehanort tears his heart apart? The love of Sora. What keeps Roxas the nobody from fading into Sora? The love of Xion and Axel, and Hayner, Pence and Olette. What brings Xion back? The love of Axel and Roxas. Hearts ring together and resonate and bind themselves to each other and there is no darkness so deep, no tragedy so absolute, no villain so foul that the cry of a loving heart cannot defeat it.

Roxas is a nobody doomed to darkness? Fuck you, Kingdom Hearts is love, no he isn't. Xion is a mere replica puppet, a failed experiment that nobody will remember? >>EXTREMELY LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER<< get seasalt icecream'd on top of a clock tower at sunset, IDIOT.

Over and over again characters sink into despair and loneliness, they fear that their connections are fake or fading, they fear being forgotten or left behind (Riku in the first game, the breaking of Ventus, Aqua and Terra, Roxas thinking nobody would miss him, Aqua in the Realm of Darkness), and over and over again they are proven beautifully wrong. There is always a hand reaching out, there is always someone who will miss you. Love will save us.

And this absolutely gets hokey, of course it does, it's a saturday morning children's cartoon. It's a bit simplistic, maybe a bit naïve, but honestly in a world where you can't walk two steps without bleak-minded doomer cynicism forcing the assumption that nothing truly good is possible and that the worst will always happen, Kingdom Hearts is a story so absolutely drenched in hope, sincerely held, that it feels like a fucking balm.

Also, LITERALLY where the fuck else are you going to get Woody from Toy Story reading an edgy anime villain for absolute filth? Nowhere, that's where. ONLY Kingdom Hearts.

None of this is to suggest I don't have criticisms of the franchise or that it's faultless. I could talk for several hours unbroken about all my gripes and problems, chief among which is LET KAIRI DO THINGS OH MY FUCKING GOD the franchise is low key misogynistic towards its female characters sometimes but I am talking about the things I love here let me just be happy for a second.

[songspirits]

rating fanon portrayals of the outsiders boys

note: my guesses on the canon personalities probably arent even true lol this is my opinion

-

ponyboy curtis

5/10

sometimes the portrayals are really good!! but i hate that often, people portray him either as a moody brat or a weak baby. he is canonically a good fighter, especially after the fire, though he doesn’t like to. hes a loner, hes a reader, hes a pacifist, hes a good kid.

you have to remember that the outsiders is literally written in HIS POINT OF VIEW!!! ofc yes he’s a sassy and snarky teenager but he is also so intelligent and smart. hes a loner, but the gang would never shun his company. he has so much depth that a lot of writers often forget. hes a 14 year old kid with thoughts of a adult and can only do so much. thats what makes the outsiders so relatable to alot of people. its his intelligence that makes him and darry argue, because of how darry sees himself in ponyboy

but also on the other side of the coin ponyboy is a fragile character after the events of the book, because he is 14!!! but he has thoughts!!

i feel like people forget his good traits and only focus on the bad (and oh my goodness does this count for darry too!)

sorry for my rambles i just love his character so much :-(

darry curtis

7/10

besides fanfiction.net and like 30% of the fics on ao3 hes actually a solid portrayal most of the time, but tons of people forget that his relationship with ponyboy wasnt actually that batshit awful. sure theyd butt heads alot and go back and forth but they love each other thats why they did that. hes so much more than just an angry man who happens to be ponyboys brother.

hes a man who peaked in high school (IM KIDDING) and lost it all not because of his brothers but because of his parents. there was probably some strong resentment there for a while until they died. darrys problem or flaw is that he cares too much and his fear turns to anger. its love for sodapop and ponyboy that brings him back when he realizes his anger is doing more bad than good for his little brothers. It’s opening up and allowing his brothers in that helps his character.

that being said, people often focus more on his bad traits than his good traits. its a running theme in the outsiders fandom, i’ve noticed

sodapop curtis

7.5/10

highest rating i have on this list!! fanfiction.net outsider fics ive gotta say i actually just cant handle it so thats why it isnt a full 8 and ao3 is a 50/50

people put that hes soft but also forget that hes wild. hes batshit CRAZY. hes just as protective as darry and just as snarky as ponyboy. hes soft!! hes rough!! sodapop curtis is a dynamic character!!!!

johnny

5/10

ehhhhhh, most johnny portrayals i’ve seen are either really good or really bad. kinda ponyboy’s problem, being seen as weak. hes just a dynamic character who is allowed to be weak but also has so many strong traits about him. he is a frightened wounded animal to most but to the gang hes something more than that. also, snarky and ‘over’ johnny portrayals are great.

dallas

4/10

most portrayals i’ve seen are pretty good but its the same problem ive seen in all the boys— they only focus on a few traits dallas has (aggressive, tough, hardened) and stick with that. forgetting the youth in dallas winston and making his character honestly… less tragic?

imo the tragedy of the outsiders is the youthfulness in all the boys and how shitty situations couldnt make them more vulnerable, so i would love more of a vulnerable dallas in fics around the gang. another thing, people forget how much ponyboy really does mean to dallas. johnny and ponyboy were both his brothers and he’d did so much for the both of them precisely bc of that

two-bit

5/10

again.💔people forget how DYNAMIC these characters are!!! two-bit knows when to get serious for the love of god!!

steve

1/10

what portrayal. ☹️ppl dont write him enough and if they do its like one line #justiceforsteve

in conclusion

the outsiders fandom often have such good portrayals but only for one part of their character. this isnt to shame anyone or anything!! but this is just a helpful criticism ?? for any writers out there portraying the boys!! trust me i had to think abt this too lmao

[sakurology]

wbk x karaoke nite 🎤🍻

feat. Furin + Shishitoren + Endo&Takiishi

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: lol none really just my brilliance, but minors still fuck off and dni

daisy says: I haven't stopped thinking about the karaoke chapter of chainsaw man and I'm making it y'all's problem by assigning our little fight club signature songs. Links included incase you haven't heard them! Tagging @interstellar-inn for network giggles and @suosteacup bc my beloved 🩷

Furin

Sakura: tries singing I Write Sins Not Tragedies, only to realize he only knows the chorus -its just a lot of mumbling and then I “CHIME IN WITH A-" (baby please learn the words)

Suo: everyone is actually surprised he volunteers to sing… only to queue up Tequila bc it’s just one word. 

Nirei: Mr. Brightside by The Killers

Kiryu: Girls by the 1975 (yeah… 🤤)

Tsugeura: Tokyo Drift by Teriyaki Boyz, but he actually doesn’t sing/rap and just does the pec flexing thing to the beat… but that's cool too I guess

Ume: I Believe in a Thing Called Love by the Darkness (VERY off key but fun!) followed up by Jay Sean’s Down

Hiragi: Love Bites by Def Leppard

(Drunken)Kaji: Gee by Girls’ Generation (everyone is shocked and a little scared but he slays- even does the dance) 

Tsubaki: What Makes You Beautiful (my 1D af friend I know it for a fact)

Shishitoren

Togame: Do I Wanna Know? (bold move- hot, actually sounds like Alex Turner)

Choji: Boy’s a Liar (he REALLY likes pinkpanthress? Also just as off-key as Ume) , wants to do the Ice Spice remix, but Togame refuses to back him up

Sako: does a SOLID, very haunting rendition of Creep by Radiohead (everyone cried a little it briefly fucked up the vibe)

Others

Endo: Chop Suey! by System of a Down, followed by Insane Clown Posse’s ENTIRE discography (juggalo coded, derogatory)

Takiishi: Never sings, but keeps saying he’s up next (he is lying) 

[applepixls]

hey guys. have you heard of hadestown.

(its a musical that meshes the myths of orpheus & eurydice and hades & persephone)

orpheus is a naive (sorta sheltered?) bard who acts on his whims while eurydice is a realistic and tough girl who's doing all she can to survive

hades is king of the underworld and keeps persephone there a lot of the year meaning there's a lot of winter up above

now hear me out.

3rd life.

scar as orpheus, grian as eurydice.

wedding song as scar proposing they take over the desert, the second verse being grian suggesting they take the dark oak. now, imagine all I've ever known as a dark night dancing in the desert not to mention, "its a sad tale, its a tragedy" (bonus: in a gathering storm eurydice calls for orpheus and he isn't there because he's off writing his song, narratively similar to grian calling for scar in double life when everyone was digging around for their sugar cane while scar was off accidentally lighting the place on fire and petting the jellie pandas)

extra bonus ideas:

persephone sounds like bdubs? like, listen to livin' it up on top. the gritty voice/singing and all her attitude (/pos) and some of the lyrics "who makes the summer sun shine bright?/thats right! persephone!" (he was the esmp2 sun god!) she sort of reminds me of the vibe bdubs gave off when he was ren the king's guy in s9 (my impression was he was kinda frantically running around at ren's whim, its not at all the same with hades and persephone but there's the sort of obeying a king thing)

leading me to my next thought of ren as hades. someone i was listening with said "winter has come" which made me think of "red winter is coming" dfhj

but another thought is just the last life ethubs divorce? seems very relevant with bdubs persephone parallels

also in hey little song bird hades refers to eurydice as a canary and we all know whos a canary

hermes (conductor of the train on the road to hell) and the fates play a narrator type role except hermes is more explicit while the fates are the humming in the back of your head they weave the path of how everything goes and you cant defy them

martyn throughout all the series is a sort of nomadic no solid home kinda guy and always self aware (he makes the lore-) which connects him to hermes for me but at the same time the fates are very much watcher/listener things so like bigb and martyn? (i don't know the lore sorry lol) i'd also say that somehow impulse's littlefinger flip floppy triple double agent character in third life gives a vibe like he knows whats going on in all the groups also connecting him to them for me

(i will say scar could fit hermes as well in being a sort of travelling sales person in last life and a bit in double life? also I've read dirges in the dark which means i see him and the devil and making deals with complicated clauses as very interconnected)

my final note (and being a devils advocate)

scar could also parallel hades.

if you watch his perspective he's very happygolucky and doesn't seem to get the real weight of the situation and such but from other perspectives his and grians deal seems kinda like he's had grian sign away his soul or he's kidnapped grian and there's some stockholm syndrome happening (its actually grians guilt but i digress)

hades convinces eurydice (scar is a silver tongued man) to sign away her soul to him and also the story of hades and persephone is that he kidnaps her and she eats some pomegranite and has to stay in the underworld for part of the year

sooo yeah. paralells between hadestown and 3rd life/life series. enjoy.

[littlesparklight]

Are there any good books (preferably non-fiction but idm fiction recs) about Paris and/or Helen you would recommend for someone wanting to dive more into the mythology of each?

Haha you're only getting non-fiction because I'm so picky about fiction when it comes to Greek myth I've barely read any at all. So I'll give you some of my favourite academia! Anything that isn't a book is a paper you can read for free either on academia.edu or on Jstor (the latter with a free account). Or, you know, getting it in some other way just like with the books /cough

Helen of Troy: Beauty, Myth, Devastation by Ruby Blondell - SO good (some reviewers feel the Odyssey chapter is lacking,); it's obviously about Helen mostly haha but Paris gets solid mentions in the first couple chapters and scattered ones throughout. Depending on the edition you get, it might or might not have a chapter/paper titled Bitch That I Am: Self-Blame and Self-Assertion in the Iliad ; I recommend this one too, and it can be read on Jstor.

The Body as Argument: Helen in Four Greek Texts by Nancy Worman - really interesting, especially for the Iliad and Sappho 16 sections. On Jstor.

Image, Text, and Story in the Recovery of Helen by Guy Hedreen - he goes through this really systematically! Obviously, nothing about Paris here, but it's definitely a good look at the part of Helen's story that has to do with her being reclaimed by Menelaos. On JStor.

Helen's "Judgment of Paris" and Greek Marriage Ritual in Sappho 16 by Eric Dodson-Robinson - Sappho 16 my beloved. Anyway, it was a while since I read this one, but I remember liking it, and it goes into Helen as subject. Can be found on Jstor, Academia, or downloaded from the university itself!

Aspects of Effeminacy and Masculinity in the Iliad by Christopher Ransom - If you start reading about Homeric masculinity, you'll very soon notice there often comes a line similar to something like this: "but Paris is not that". And if you want to, like, read some actual exploration of how/why Paris is not that and what that means, they will not provide it! This is where Ransom comes in; he walks through the Iliad and all the ways Paris deviates from normative Iliadic (and general ancient Greek) masculinity. Very good paper. On Academia.

Artistic and Literary Representations of the Judgement of Paris in Antiquity by Cristian Mancilla - this is an unpublished thesis and you'll have to google search for it but it's downloadable from the university. If you're interested in the Judgment, this is where to go!

Euripides and the Judgement of Paris by T.C.W. Stinton - you'll probably have to borrow this book from a library? (I got it second hand from a second hand bookstore not even in my country lol) But it's one of those works that gets referenced very often and laid a lot of ground. Is not actually only about Euripides' versions/use of Paris.

Paris in the Epic Tradition by Roberto Nickel - another unpublished thesis, so google search title+author. If you're interested in a (speculative but grounded in the Iliad) discussion of what Paris' character might have been like in earlier times, this is where to go. Nickel explores (but is certainly not the one to have thought of) the possibility of Paris once having had basically both his and Hektor's characteristics in the Trojan War story.

Some general recs:

Listening for the Plot: The Role of Desire in the Iliad's Narrative by Rachel Hart Lesser - this one is now also a published book! (As Desire in the Iliad: the Force That Moves the Epic and Its Audience.) But having compared them, I like the unpublished thesis a little better, personally (certain sections/discussions I liked very much have been restated in a more restricted way in the published book, or otherwise gets less obvious).

Inventing the Barbarian: Greek Self-Definition Through Tragedy by Edith Hall - This one can fit for a Paris rec as well because Paris is a focus thanks to being the "patient zero" and the prime exemplar of the "eastern effeminate barbarian" which is part of what Hall discusses. Very good/interesting book! Go be a pirate about it or download it on Hall's own site, no piracy necessary.

The Iliad: A Commentary by G.S. Kirk (and other authors attached to the volumes past vol. 2) - if you want a commentary, I really like this one, and in terms of Paris and Helen, obviously checking out the volumes that contain the books they appear in is interesting and useful!

[cruyuu]

OK so it wasn't just me who thought that Yuuji and Sukuna went on a hiking date

Im sorry but if Yuuji was a girl (or Sukuna) this would be 100% considered romantic and atp im rolling with love

These two idiots will be the end of me i swear LOL

Hii anon!

You're not alone! That chapter lowkey read like a date and like Yuuji really wanted to change his mind before the end and also get to know him more, learn more about him while baring parts of himself he never bared to anyone else (like sheesh... that's pretty deep). He was hoping for an equal exchange (I bare out my heart, you bare yours) but Sukuna wasn't giving anything (even him recognizing hydrangeas got brushed off as Megumi's memory... why is he so afraid of admitting he likes flowers smh)

It's really funny because with them every single thing works somehow? Like there's a solid basis for every interpertation regarding their relationship. Do you see them as enemies? Do you see them as reluctant friends? Do you see them as soulmates? Do you see them as two parts of a single soul? Do you see them as each other's curse? As each other's salvation? Platonically or romantically? Do you see them as lovers? Do you see them as reincarnated uncle and nephew? Do you see them as ??? aka "I don't even know"? All of those are correct interpretations because the ground work to cover all those explanations exists. That's why they're like crack cocaine to me. They are many things in a single package. Mirrors. Foils. Twins. Equals. Opposites.

Objectively— it's true that Yuuji chased Sukuna around, trapped him (frantically) in a domain so he could parade him around his hometown and get them to hang around (while Sukuna, unnaturally, obliged). It's true that Sukuna, no matter how much he claims he doesn't care, cares about him in a weird way. It's clear because he acts a lot more differently with Yuuji than he does with the rest (plus him being the only human for Sukuna who's different than the rest... you already know what canon said lol. I'll get carried away). It's undeniable that there's something very special between them. That's canon! So seeing chapter 265 as awfully romantic isn't a bad interpretation. Their relationship is just... undefined. They're weird and tied to each other, in a love-hate relationship <3

Now personally, I see them in many different aspects. I love them as a ship, platonically, romantically, as die hard enemies or whatever. Their dynamic is the highlight of jjk for me because nobody does it like them. Their chemistry is off the charts and they match each other even if they're so different from each other. Idk I'm insane.

Im sorry but if Yuuji was a girl (or Sukuna) this would be 100% considered romantic and atp im rolling with love

Well, they are a bit iffy to ship to a lot of ppl because Yuuji's a minor (even tho he lived through hell and back at just fifteen and is more mature than actual adults in this manga) and because of reincarnated incest (uncle and nephew) which is invalid if you apply the logic of reincarnation– Yuuji doesn't have Sukuna's twin brother's soul, after all, (He's a completely different one. Biology doesn't equate soul sharing lol.) so it's not just about heteronomativity. After all, people have latched onto other m/m ships without problems but consider these two not shippable even if canon ties them together again and again and they embody good tropes and their relationship is 101 how you can write some damn good tragedies or redemption arcs (because their dynamic and them as characters just work so well together that it's insane).

As somebody who really doesn't care about all the problems this ship carries (because I see them as characters in a fictional world), all of that is irrelevant to me because I, like you, am rolling around in love and screaming into the void because Gege finally brought them together again. That was all that mattered to me! Now I'm excited for what's to come and am really curious how jjk will end.

They'll be the death of me as well. I'll miss them a lot once jjk ends :( Thank you for the ask!

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

so I’ve been trying to think of the best way to talk about Skuld’s fate for a while now and I think I’ve finally got it. My feelings about how she could be handled are a bit complicated (maybe even controversial? lol) but I hope I can make myself clear. This is essentially gonna be the post I point to whenever and if ever I need it later in the future. Thanks in advance if you read this!

If for whatever reason it’s confirmed that Skuld isn’t Subject χ and she gets together with Ephemer in canon (which I don’t believe will actually happen, but who knows), I do genuinely think there’d be something incredibly poetic about both of them leaving behind a legacy together.

Skuld as Subject χ is a super intriguing concept that I want to see get played out in canon, and even outside of that possibility, I would really love to just see her go on her own journey, have her own story where she can grapple with the events of khux in her own ways. But as someone who also happens to love her and Eph’s dynamic, I like to indulge in the possibility of them founding Scala together too.

Believe me when I say that I’m very skeptical of Skuld getting the credit and spotlight she deserves given the track record of how female characters are treated in this series. It would break my heart if Skuld got turned into an accessory or got shafted or worst case scenario, is used only to kickstart the Ephy lineage and nothing more outside of that. She deserves good, solid writing no matter what her fate is, I’m sure we can all agree on that at least.

And then there’s also the question of whether or not Nomura would ever establish a canon romantic relationship, and if he even should do that in the first place. I think it would be great, as long as it’s written in such a way that it doesn’t impede on the other types of relationships he’s already established. It could delve into some interesting new territory that can highlight the themes of kh, and make them even stronger and more profound. But you don’t absolutely need romance in order for that to be accomplished, ya feel?

Do I love Skuld and Eph together? Yes. Do I think they should be together (romantically) in canon? Not necessarily. You can both enjoy a ship AND recognize the nuances involved.

But anyway anywaaaaay, long disclaimers aside, these two characters have been through so much together…they witnessed two apocalypses. They’ve suffered the loss of a dear friend at their hands, along with their other friends as a result of horrible circumstances they had no control over. They stayed side by side as their home collapsed around and on them. But they also laughed together. They looked out for each other, stood up for each other. Encouraged and comforted and teased each other so they would smile.

From the very beginning, to the very end, they had each other over and over again. Clinging to hope with incredible resilience. From party members, to friends, to leaders. They’re both wonderful characters who I have no doubt would support each other throughout the rest of their lives, just as they always have.

I’ll be fine if a romance between them doesn’t become canon, in fact I’ll probably be pretty relieved. But I can’t deny that the idea of the two of them being entwined forever, bonded by the tragedies they’ve been through, yet also by all of their happy times and shared memories, is a beautiful thought to me.

Surviving to see the other side and building everything from the ground up again together, and seeing the legacy that follows their love, is a story worth telling, in my opinion. In the end, if that’s a story left to us fans to tell, that’s more than enough for me. We have so much to work with. Regardless of what Nomura and/or the rest of the writing team choose to do, I don’t need them to be a canon couple to enjoy the profound love and care they have for each other.

TL;DR - Whatever happens with Skuld, I’m down for the ride. As long as she’s present, period, I’m here for it. Just…please for the love of god, let her be written well. I miss her so much and I need all these years of loving her character to pay off

[justheretoposttrash]

day 9 in endhawks hell (actually over a year in endhawks hell but moving on):

not one to spread apocryphal info on the internet but my very unverified source (my friend) told me that losing a right arm in anime/japanese media symbolizes shame, disgrace, some other kinda downfall, or the need to redeem oneself. to be clear i have not found an actual source on this, but it definitely would explain a LOT (tears of the kingdom, aot, fma, hunter x hunter, so many more)

and big surprise, that all 100% tracks with endeavor's loss of his arm. if we were to assume all the symbolism is true and accurately described by me (which i encourage not to assume outside of this post), it's very interesting that endeavor loses it in the afo fight protecting hawks rather than in his fight with touya.

it should be noted that him losing his temper is what indirectly places hawks (and tokoyami and jiro) in danger, bc his rage at afo opened him up to injury and being absent from part of the fight in the first place. i also appreciate that, when hawks shouts at endeavor to "keep a cool head" in the face of afo's psychological warfare and endeavor fails to do so, hawks very clearly doesn't view this as weakness, but as a natural human reaction and is mainly worried about him--whereas endeavor is furious with himself right after the fact.

he says it outright in the text--that from the beginning, the whole tragedy, even his rage at afo leading to his current injury, is all only made possible because of the wounds he inflicted on his family in the first place. it's also notable that endeavor's inability to manage his anger, rather than having anger at all, was a core aspect of his abusive outbursts in the past, and his initial fall to afo in this fight. his temper continues to be a source of problems for himself and those around him.

and while endeavor made an overt mistake, hawks made a covert one: it is confronting his own emotions, rather than shutting them away (making a "clean break", as it were), that allows endeavor to re-enter the fight in full.

in result, endeavor's struggles with his own shame create an opportunity for hawks to be killed, but in accepting his shame, he saves him. (aside: the playful echo of "keep a cool head" in the above panel is so ridiculous. non-judgmental, trusting, teasing--knowing, yet forgiving/appreciative--like hawks and his intern hadn't just nearly died, lmao. arms were lost but there's always time to squeeze in a wisecrack)

this also fits well with hawks initially thinking that it's because endeavor is in an emotionally vulnerable place that he couldn't fight touya without losing (read: dying).

hawks initially felt certain that endeavor needed his support and protection because the man wasn't shutting his emotions away--but it's after endeavor is able to resurge back with his emotionality intact that hawks reverses his decision and is the one encouraging him to be the one to confront touya. and with full confidence! (the, uh, touya fight was a hair's breadth from ~not going well~, but let's not tell hawks that right now lol)

to slightly shift back to this "clean break" moment: by contrasting himself against endeavor, who is trying to do better = still vulnerable to the past = has emotions that the enemy can exploit, hawks implies that he doesn't see himself as being the same on *any* of those counts, which is a sad thing to realize. shutting off his heart? not being a better person than he was before? this implication would have benefitted from more intentional and clear closure in the manga (i think the single tiny frame of hawks talking with tokoyami in 430 is just *fine*, ish), but at any rate, endeavor certainly sets a solid example of a person learning to open themself up to these sorts of things, and those lessons are ones hawks could very much use.

anyway, in short, thematically/symbolically/what-have-you, endeavor's work towards atoning for his family, taking more emotional accountability, and accepting emotions rather than rejecting them is connected to inspiring hawks, doing right by him, and even saving him a second time.

[mummer]

is hotd a good show ?

fascinating question. is it a good show? i mean, yeah, it’s pretty good. it’s a bit difficult to evaluate because season 1 is structured so weirdly (not a diss, i think they made the best choice given the crazy timeline of f&b), NO original tv show would ever EVER be structured like that. it’s also hard because i think as source material fire and blood isnt very good. like, it’s not a narrative in the same way and it has to make a lot of odd choices to make all the dates and character ages and stuff function, and it literally does not HAVE a definitive narrative, it’s epistolary, there is no character drama except for what the reader extrapolates from records, and it intentionally offers multiple versions of events. which is fine, but it’s bad when you have to make a tv show out of that. so in that way, again, i think they mostly made the most compelling choices they could have made in this highly specific scenario.

completely aside from the adaptation complexities of it all i think it’s good! i think it’s got interesting stuff to say and mostly layered characters with compelling conflicts. even with the extended timelines they make excellent choices in containing episodes to one big event, succession style, making them feel self contained in a fun way. i like the huge doomed tragedy of it and the way it plays into that. i like the horrible bloody web of incestuous and patriarchal family dynamics. alicent alone is a triumph of a character. it’s got some good writing, some kinda chunky dialogue, but it’s rarely bad. is there stuff i’d change absolutely. i think it’s missing levity really sorely, stick a comedic side character in there, i think humor is usually derided but it’s more important than people realize. i think some of the choices they make are done to create shocking moments but end up feeling a bit stupid or undercooked in the implications? idk lol

ummmm anyway, a lot of the really interesting stuff in the dance happens at the end so im not really mad about middling parts of the setup if they pull off the big culminations. it’s like a 7/10 so far but in a way that makes it interesting to think and talk about, which in a sense makes it more fun than a solid great 8/10 with nothing going on

[inkwellfire]

[Image Description: 2 set of colored drawings of two original characters. One is a greekish soldier girl, with black curly hair in a bun wearing grey armor with a red scarf and purple skirt. She stands next to a otherworldly looking star themed character with short glowing gold hair purple skin wearing a orange jump-suit with a blue poncho with a star in the center, that fades into a bright gold. They are just standing next to each other in the first picture. In the second picture, the solider sits on the ground wearing a helmet, looking up at the floating Star who smiles, offering a hand. End ID]

New Ship: Greek Tragedy meets Disney Fairytale (or anime lol) (and they're lesbians)