#the man who is capable of doing horrific things… is just a man

[pinkeoni]

Lonnie is honestly very compelling to me. Yes he’s a scumbag and a piece of shit but he’s also just. A guy. I would venture to say he’s the most grounded and realistic character on the show. Like that’s just a guy you could find in the real world. He’s an alcoholic who abused his wife and kids but the way that adults in town talk about him he was well regarded. He had friends. He was a monster in his home but people liked him. He received hugs and well wishes at Will’s funeral. He was the guy you knew from the bar who told everyone that his son was queer.

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

Oh man I really agree with your tags on that one post. The whole king of delusion thing is terrible to me bc like. Delusions aren’t some gotcha you can use against him? It’s a serious mental health issue? But I’d also like to add I hate when people mock him for smelling bad or having poor hygiene or w/e… :/ It’s not funny when people with mental illness can’t properly take care of their hygiene lol I thought we were all understanding of this?

EXACTLY. It's not like "wow look how wrong you are and how terrible you are for being delusional".

Also the hygiene thing pisses me off too. I know lots of his fans use it as a joke, even affectionately, but like... he was homeless. He was living in the slums. Most people around him probably smelled bad. I'm sure they and he cleaned up whenever they could, but buddy, the slums isn't a public showering area. They'd be lucky if they were able to bathe. It's not something they take for granted. Even the "smelly cape" jokes bother me.

I've met homeless people. I've lived in a shelter where I met people who prior to that shelter lived in tents. Showering and bathing isn't something they could just get up and do before being in the shelter. Those people are lucky if they can even go to the bathroom in a proper bathroom, let alone being able to bathe.

Then like you said, on top of that, he's mentally ill. He's not thinking about his next bath. He's talking to people who are dead, believing they are answering him back and responding to their answers to him. There's also the general idea that Lambert's last words were not actually what were told to us via Dimitri's flashback, but the words he remembers because of his illness. He is very likely remembering wrong, because that version of Lambert matches the version of him that Dimtiri talks to, but does not match the version of him in Rodrigue's flashback.

Even depression can cause a lack of proper hygiene, and that's also a mental illness. In his case he has full on episodes of either psychotic breaks or having conversations with people who aren't there, and when he's out of those states he's desperately trying to do what he's been told to do by those voices. He's trying to do it both for those people and because, as he expresses later into AM, he wants them to stop. Those voices harass him day in and out and ridicule him and it hurts him, so he becomes desperate to do what they tell him so they stop tormenting him (which is part why he's so hellbent on hurrying to finish his tasks in the first half of AM).

It's an absolute spiral of a situation, where he already has these delusions but now on top of them feels absolutely terrible and like someone who has been emotionally abused by loved ones for years and years. He loves them but is terrified of them because they always say awful things to him or try to say things about him that aren't true. The worst part is that these are delusions of people who loved him and were nothing like this, so it causes even more suffering for him.

I don't really understand why it's so funny to people to poke fun at characters with or for bad hygiene. Like, firstly it's... just not a funny thing/topic? And secondly I'm sure there are people uncomfortable with it because they have bad hygiene or lower than "socially acceptable" hygiene due to mental illness and feel they're being laughed at as well for their hygiene. That's definitely a stereotypical mindset and something society does to make fun of people less fortunate than them, be it physically, mentally or both (like not having access to bathing.

Rich people can bathe whenever they want and often in media look down on "stinky people" who are always the poor, generally living in the slums). It's a very unfortunate dominant mindset and almost always comes from people who are more well off and haven't experienced it for themselves to realize how awful it can be (and there are of course people who don't need to experience something to know how bad it is, and I wish there were just more people like that).

I just don't understand what's so funny about hygiene. If anything it just feels like people laughing at the concept of someone not being up to society's standards about health, and it's what literal kids do to make fun of each other. Like, if someone smells bad, I feel like we should be more concerned about the person and why that is... and that would be the case if society raised its people to think that way, but since society raised people to be the opposite (to make fun of smelly people), most people who haven't experienced it for themselves make fun of it.

Like... idk am I missing something lol, I just don't see the humor in someone smelling bad. Even without considering any implications behind it I still don't see the humor in it. Considering Dimitri's circumstances though it just feels very wrong to see people make fun of him for that. I know fans of his that do it are doing it harmlessly and most likely wouldn't make fun of real people for similar things, but it just doesn't sit right with me. There's just nothing amusing about poor hygiene.

Using it as fuel to hate on him though is just is a show of someone's true character and who they really are. :/ Anyone who makes fun of him for his hygiene and mental illness are the kind of people who look down on people with those problems and deserve to experience it for themselves to see just how awful that shit can be. It being fictional doesn't change the fact that it's a show on someone's true character to be able to make fun of someone suffering, and especially to the extent Dimitri does.

Like yes, Edelgard suffered, but she has her own way of moving past it. She's not suffering in the same way as Dimitri or handling it the same way and comes across as "strong" for that - another societal mindset from people who think it's "strong" to not show that you're suffering or have suffered. It's how she handles it, sure, and that's fine... but it's people's reactions to how differently they handle their trauma that's so obnoxious.

People can only be pushed so far, and people hate on Dimtiri for his violence despite that being part of his illness and trauma. Hating on people for being violent as a result of their feelings or past is an awful thing and I really think anyone who can hate on a good and well meaning/intentioned person (real or fictional) simply because they're violent toward bad things needs some serious introspection (like Dimitri having violent reactions to seeing innocents being slaughtered in front of him at Remire. It was an impulsive reaction that he would've hid if he could have, but he wasn't able to).

Like oh no, how dare someone be violent and aggressive toward murderers! How dare someone say off with their head when they've done terrible things! Not everyone is perfectly peaceful and puritan. Hell, Edelgard isn't either and chooses violence as her first and foremost answer to everything, and only considers "negotiations" (i.e. anything that will benefit her/the Empire and only her) if she's losing and only stands to gain from them.

Her first solution to everything is violence, and yet Dimitri is the one who gets shat on for... being violent. Because of his trauma and illness specifically, both in game and out. But since Edelgard has been able to moved past her trauma for the most part and has a different way of handling it that "looks better", he looks "bad" for not having gotten past his trauma yet. Good for her to be able to handle it the way she does, but why is it "bad for him" that he can't handle it "better"?

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

May I request some full HCs of the M6 with an ex coliseum fighter MC?

The Arcana HCs: M6 with an ex-Coliseum fighter MC

Julian

His first thought when he laid eyes on you after he broke into your shop was "wow, they must have some stories to tell!"

Oddly enough, the physical (and mental/emotional) scars you carry from your time in the Coliseum are big reasons for why he chooses to trust you - and, eventually to cherish you. You've been through it

As someone who's had quite the wild life himself, he can trust you to understand how difficult experiences do and don't define who you are. He knows if he talks about life with pirates, you'll get it

If it's his turn to have a nightmare, he doesn't have to worry that talking about his bad dreams will expose you to new horrors. If it's your turn, he's a light sleeper for good reasons

Tends to pry for stories about your time there, but in a good way that pushes you to process what it was like

Checked over all the scars you accumulated there and regularly asks after any lingering chronic pain from the injuries

Once he's gotten past the initial flirtatious comments and the awkwardness of opening up, he'd be lying if he doesn't find the scars and background very attractive. Rough him up anytime ~

Asra

They're in two minds about the whole situation and they're not totally sure how to proceed with it when discomfort isn't their thing

He's glad you're not there anymore. He often wonders if you coming back without memories was actually a merciful thing, if it meant not remembering the details of your trauma

They hate seeing all the marks of pain and violence on your body, because it's like a reminder to them of one of the many ways they somehow let you down or left you alone when you needed help

Deep down, however, it's beyond comforting to him to know what you're capable of surviving without help, because he knows he can't always be there for you no matter how hard he tries

They know that if you're ever in a situation again where your life is threatened, you'll fight viciously to preserve it. They hate that you experienced it and hope you never will again, but they're relieved

All that to say, he doesn't know how to talk about it and he's not going to broach the subject unless you do

Still committed to loving you and being open with you. They know you, they know you're good, and they want you to know them too

Nadia

When she first met you, she assumed the scars must have come from fighting in a war. The Coliseum didn't occur to her

She doesn't even have the clearest memories of it, since she only really saw it after being married to the man who instated it. That doesn't stop her from feeling immensely guilty about it

This happened to you while she had the power to push back against it, and she didn't. There was so much going wrong that she never addressed because she was holed up in her tower, hiding

That only spurs her to try to make things right. You do receive a halting but heartfelt apology from her early on, and a respectful invitation to share your experience with her at your comfort

Just as you've helped her to move on and recover, she wants to do the same for you. You have a powerful skill set. To the extent that you're willing to, she'd love to see you put it to noble use

How do you feel about teaching martial arts? She'll put you in touch with Nahara, and will help you fund a teaching studio for anyone who could use the coaching

Or you could be her personal bodyguard ...

Muriel

More than anything, he's just relieved he never had to kill you. He already has so much regret to live with, and the thought of ending the person who would've made life good again is horrific

That doesn't make you easy to be around at first. Everything about you brings back the memories he wants to leave behind

The scars that match his, the way you react to movement, even the way you walk to compensate for the drag of chains you don't wear anymore. You're the un-hateable mirror of everything that hurts

And that's just after the first few days. Truthfully, you scare him, and even after building a new life with you there are still moments when being perceived by you terrifies him, because you get him

You don't need words or confessions to understand the hell that's shaped him so profoundly. And even when he can't stand to carry someone else's pain on top of his own, he still understands yours

It's precisely that forced vulnerability that makes loving you so profoundly healing. He loves you for you, he loves you for the pain you've experienced, and since it's the same as his own, he's learning to love himself begrudgingly in the process

Portia

Not put off by you at all, which is extremely rare for you

She finds it attractive if anything. You look like someone who's really lived. You look like someone who gives as good as they get

It makes her a little uncomfortable to be around at first. She's so quickly caught up in the coolness and excitement of your violent past that she can get borderline insensitive with her questions

What's it like to be in a fight? Who's the biggest person you fought? Did you really have to kill all of your opponents? How many did you kill? Was there a lot of blood? What weapons did you use?

Does a complete 180 the first time she sees the emotional and mental toll it's taken on you. She's so empathetic, it takes all of five seconds for her to understand this is trauma before she's weeping

So very happy to be your anchor and grounding presence. She will hold you and grieve with you and never, ever, ever look at you differently for what you were a part of. You're not scary to her

Almost overprotective when it comes to how other people perceive you. Someone's acting like you're the scariest person in the room and making you uncomfortable? She's about to prove them wrong

Lucio

After spending three years as a goat ghost, he doesn't care who you are, just talk to him - oh, his survival depends on your good graces? And he had you stuck as a Coliseum fighter? Hmmm

Tried to hide it, but he was scared at first. He was smart enough to know that you had good reason to dislike him, and therefore plenty of reason to further mess him up in such a vulnerable state

But you didn't. Which made him confused. And curious

Tell him about your time there, then! What was it like being in the ring? Being a participant in his favorite fight of yours?

Oh. Oh, it was that bad? ..... oh.

He carries guilt for every painful repercussion you experience. It was shame, and now it looks more like remorseful responsibility, but he doesn't need it rubbed in his face to know it was wrong

What he also knows is a valuable lesson you taught him, which is both the importance and possibility of making things right

You will never have a nightmare he won't be ready to comfort you for. You will never have an injury he won't be getting his clothes dirty for treating it. You will always, always have him by your side

[thr0wnawayy]

Chapter 429 has been my Dabi's Dance

I can't stop smiling.

I wanted to start off by saying thank you. Not to Hori, but to you all. Every last one of you in these tags for your contributions. Be it analysis, re-reads, fan works or simply your perspectives. I look forward to seeing what you will make in the future.

So, Thank you.

I suppose I should start at the beginning. MHA was always in the background of my life and I hated it. I don't watch anime and yet still MHA related media would make it's way onto my socials in all it's obnoxious forms. This went on for years.

And then suddenly, it stopped. It seemed like MHA's craze had died down, I'd still see it from time to time through merchandise but never to the consistency it had prior.

That was until Dabi's Dance was published and the net went wild.

I knew a few things about Endeavor from my past exposure, he was universally hated and abused his kids and wife (to the point she scalded her son in a fit of psychosis).

Deciding I had nothing better to do, I found myself searching to see what kind of consequences would befall such a monstrous character.

Would he fall like Icarus, be torn apart by the public, how would the family he ruined react to the news?.

And then, nothing. No punishment, no reaction. Just dead air.

I recall that my face dropped internally. My blank expression mirrored my phone screen's sterile nature, as it displayed the information in front of me.

He got away with it. So I did some digging and it got so much worse.

Bakugo's evasion of any consequences or damages, coddled and shielded by Hori's inability to go through on anything.

Hawks who murdered a near crippled man on a hypothesis, for the mere crime of having the "wrong" quirk, for not giving up, for being "unlucky"

Aizawa, Hori's little mouthpiece. who decides to play judge, jury and executioner with the futures of students he's supposed to be teaching. Only for the Nedzu and the narrative to allow him, his friends turned into lapdogs that agree to the letter.

The Commission who strive to keep theirrotting husk of a system alive through assasins, child soldiers and indoctrination.

Even if it's gears must be lubricated with blood, even if it means lying to the world and having them clean up the mess. They MUST stay on top, the illusion must be upheld.

I just couldn't fathom how this was seen as a good thing.

And somewhere along the way I began to feel something akin to hate. Not your typical ire, one powered by anger, no.

I wanted to see how low Hori would go, just how horrifically he would mangle a series that everyone had once praised.

I wanted to witness what wonders a jaded community would create, to show what they were capable of (to create and understand MHA in a manner Hori wishes he could even emulate a fraction of)

I wished to see your own expressions of love and hatred.

The thought of witnessing the breaking point, the dust settling to expose all the glaring flaws and infested wounds of MHA. It buzzed in my brain like electricity.

The idea that when all was said and done, you, the people would do what Hori couldn't/wouldn't and forge the bones and salvagble bits of MHA into a story worth remembering.

One where abusers are punished for their crimes instead of rewarded

Where victims can have a voice, feel and grow, carve their own paths and move forward from their trauma.

Where the implications of MHA's rotting and disingenuous society get explored instead of swept under the rug

Where people get a chance.

I waited eagerly for the day it would all fall apart.

So, do you know what I did when I logged onto the tag and saw your posts!?.

I laughed, the shrill giggle in the back of my throat quickly surging into an almost manic cackle. It was like lightning, vindicating and sobering all at once. My face was stretched to it's absolute limits with how wide my grin was. I could almost hear the shattering of MHA's last bit of integrity and I loved it.

The realization MHA's greatest threat was the author himself, It's one that I grasped long ago (as far back as the Dark Dekiru Arc) and I'm sure most of you understood this as well.

But to see that more of you are starting to get it, to realize there's no going back. That as the curtains draw near and the lights begin to dim, there is no other side here. Violence begets violence and Hori's gone past the event horizon.

It feels, hopeful. Perhaps we can build something worth saving.

It's been a wild ride so far and it's still ongoing. Hori's time is long over, it has been for a while now, so I suppose what I'm asking Is:

Now It's Your Turn, what's your play?

_______________________________________

Update:

IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING!

[t0rturedangel]

if it's not much, some yandere jekyll and/or hyde hc's? can be both sfw and/or nsfw 🤭 anyways take care

╭ . . . 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 ੭

𝐃𝐑 𝐉𝐄𝐊𝐘𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐑 𝐇𝐘𝐃𝐄 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 ➤ 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴

❏ warnings : love-sick ('yandere') themes, dark themes, a Victorian doctor, mentions of torture, mentions of blood, murder, Hyde.

I have SOOOO many requests LOL, and i got so much homework- this shit is more important- ILY MY LOVELIES

✩ ⊱ Jekyll likes to think that he's the gentler, sweeter and more loving version of the two (technically one) men obsessed with you. he's not.

✩ ⊱ He's manipulative, and knows how to get his way with you- you try to leave? Why? do you hate him, do you want to see Hyde take control of him and never let the face of Jekyll be shown to the world ever again? You're the only thing that's keeping him in power.

✩ ⊱ He also, sometimes, has a brutal side to him too- if someone he doesn't approve of gets a bit to close to his lovely dear spouse (Either your parents arranged a marriage with Jekyll, for money obviously, or Jekyll had manipulated you to marry him) well he's just gained a new test subject- how sweet right? right?

✩ ⊱ Don't worry though, he'll save you from watching- he doesn't want to ruin your little head (anymore than he already has.)

✩ ⊱ Jekyll likes to believe that you're a pure little thing, how could you not be? He could only love someone as pure as you- dont even thing about how he's a terrible man- you dont need to at all! Just keep being you're little angelic self

✩ ⊱ unfortunately for you, Jekyll is a Victorian man (a doctor no less) so therefore he has the mentality of one too, i hope you can see what I'm trying to say

✩ ⊱ Jekyll views you as his property is what I'm trying to say, right? I know it sounds horrible and it is, but that's his mentality- I am not going to sugar coat this for you, my lovelies

✩ ⊱ Don't worry though! Jekyll does have his sweet moments, on some occasions he'll let you roam the house! Though the servants will either be busy or away from you, after all who needs to see them, hm? all you need is him!

✩ ⊱ The doctor is deadly scared of loosing you, to either death, or someone else so therefore, he locks you up in a lovely little room he had made and decorated for you- the walls are your favorite colours, he got all the decorations he knew you would love, makes sure the room is constantly clean and you have a lovely large bed the two of you sleep in (whenever Jekyll is not busy, and is not Hyde- though Hyde will also visit you) though you are shackled, again he doesnt want you to leave

✩ ⊱ Hyde, on the other hand, is some how more gentler- though he's a monster, he's artificially made his soul is full of nothing but hate and rage but somehow he never lays a hand on you

✩ ⊱ He, actually doesn't to much to you. Sometimes he'll only sit on a chair in your room and just stare at you- sometimes he smiles at you (or what seems to be a smile) which is either more horrific or sweeter than what Jekyll does.

✩ ⊱ Sometimes Hyde loves to sit next to you, and let you rest against him, he'll also play with your hand or hair, if it's your hand it will be near the shackle so your aching skin could have at least some relief- you're the only person he will ever be gentle with.

✩ ⊱ Whenever he knows Jekyll is not mentally there, he'll let you out of your room and take you outside (in the night of course- there's less people, and much like Jekyll, Hyde hates having people any closer to you than at least a street away) and show you around, sometimes you'll be lucky and he'll take you to his house.

✩ ⊱ Hyde can cook, shocking I know- but he loves to cook for you whenever he can, and hey- it keeps you full and Jekyll never knows.

✩ ⊱ Unlike Jekyll, Hyde (despite loving you so much) does not really care if you saw something horrific, it just means you'll see what he's capable of, how much he's willing to protect you and how much blood he can shed.

✩ ⊱ though don't you EVER think, EVERRRRR that he'll lay a hand on you, he may be evil but he'll never do that, no Jekyll does that (sometimes, after he's sob and beg for your forgiveness)

✩ ⊱ Overall, yeah no, I beg- do not fall for this man (men?) your life will not look so pretty but they'll love you, at least they'll tell you that they do.

[iridiss]

Garroth growing up in a blood family that doesn’t treat him with any love, so as a kid he wishes so hard for the destined, perfect love of his life to come and save him, whisking him away like a knight in shining armor, to a life where he’s truly loved, and it’s that escapism in fantasy that he’s constantly using to cope and keep himself sane growing up

He dreams of the day someone will love him, unconditionally and truly, and though he doesn’t really know what that’ll look like yet, it’s something that he just knows intrinsically in his heart and yearns for desperately. He’s a big lover, he’s super empathetic and sensitive, he has a big heart, especially as a kid. Whenever he falls for anyone, he falls HARD, but he can’t seem to find anyone who would love him back as much as he loves them (especially since people keep seeing him as The Prince and not lovey little Garroth)

Then Garroth being forced to marry a woman he had never loved and barely even met before. Marriage being used as a giant weapon to forever seal him into the horrific life as heir to the throne, as one of the permanent pieces of this broken and abusive monarchical system, when marriage and love was supposed to be one thing that got him out, and it breaks him so much that he abandons everything and runs away. If no perfect and magical knight in shining armor will save him, then he’ll do it himself, alone.

And then he meets the most romantic knight in the world.

Laurance is so extremely homoerotic and suggestive and flirtatious with him all the time, even in canon, especially in canon

Laurance loves LOUDLY and a LOT, he’s very honest and up-front about all the emotions in his heart, and when he falls in love with someone (as opposed to falling in surface-level lust with someone) he falls HARD, but unlike Garroth, he is NOT shy about it lol

Laurance sending love and affection Garroth’s way in droves, and Garroth being utterly confused and clueless about it, because no one has ever spoken to him this way, hell, I don’t think his sheltered Princely blood has even SEEN any other person talk this way. Like Laurance just honestly and bluntly telling him “Hey big guy, I think you’re hot and cute as fuck, we should fuck on the beach right here, whaddya say?” like how is his brain going to compute that, he’s never even SEEN an affectionate relationship before, let alone seen someone be so clear and forward about it

And Laurance is honest and means every word he says, he’s not trying to play or trick Garroth. At one point Garroth thinks he is and gets super suspicious of him, but then Laurance laughs and denies it so casually and easily, and now Garroth is lost again

He literally meets the most affectionate person ever. He’s honest and upfront about his affections, he’s patient enough to give Garroth all the time in the world, he’s emotionally intelligent enough to know why he’s struggling so much with his gestures, and he’ll just patiently stand there and watch him while he has an existential crisis trying to figure out what love even means after Laurance gave him a bouquet of hand-picked flowers. Trust Issues Garroth would eventually try to accept all these kind things Laurance says about him, rather than deny the compliments and insist he’s all the things Zane and his father called him as a child. He leans into the affections, and Garroth learning how love actually works, as the very man he dreamed of as a child holds his face in his hands, and does not mock or beat or hurt him, but kisses him on the cheek instead.

Garroth learning how to love from Laurance’s unconditional and obnoxious affections, slowly becoming less and less afraid of it, until he embraces it completely and starts to give Laurance So Very Much Loving in return like he was always capable of doing. And Laurance is perfectly capable of handling the immense amount of affection, he finds it exciting actually

And though I don’t think homophobia is a thing that exists in this fantasy world, I think it’s also thematically perfect that Laurance is the exact kind of person that Garroth’s parents would HATE having as a son-in-law. Laurance’s rebellious pride is perfect for that role of breaking Garroth free of the abusive strings of his evil monarchical family and learning how to love himself instead

[gotta-love-writers]

Monsters Together

Avengers Loki x Avengers Female Reader

Summary: Loki and Reader are close friends, she's the angel to his devil and both have feelings for the other that they refuse to admit, but what happens when he finds out she's not as angelic as he thought?

Warnings: Fluff and angst, Jotun! Loki makes an appearance, comfort, Reader sees herself as a monster.

Note: Reader is Lucifer Morningstars (From the show Lucifer) daughter. No use of Y/N. This is my first story on here so please give me feedback!

Everybody at Stark Tower absolutely adored you. Making things for everyone once they got back from missions was your specialty but you also loved to just hug and be affectionate with everybody too. You had been on a small handful of missions but you hated hurting people and so your usual job was to use your wings to scout out places from above, though most times Tony just used his drones. You didn't mind missing out on the action, you often preferred to be sitting in and reading anyhow. Whether it was bear hugging Nat after a successful reconnaissance assignment, baking Thor some homemade pop-tarts, or making little origami figures for Sam, you loved to give. And that went for everybody, including Loki.

He began with pretending not to care about your affections, choosing to go to his room when you'd try to talk to him in the library or seeming indifferent about your baking. But your friendship slowly grew and blossomed. You were the only person at Stark Tower who actually treated Loki nicely and took an interest in the things he spoke about or liked. Though he'd never admit it, he was incredibly grateful for your seemingly never ending kindness. The two of you became quite close and you grew feelings for the asgardian rather quickly.

However, you knew you could never tell him how you felt. Because despite what everybody thought of you, you knew the truth. You were no angel, quite the opposite infact. You were the daughter of Lucifer himself and that technically made you a demon. You were determined to prove everybody wrong, you did not have to be bad because of your heritage. You were a monster when you were a teenager, it's why Fury put you on the team. He knew the harm you were capable of and talked you into helping, but you'd made him promise that your past stayed between the two of you. You'd let your anger get the better of you when a group of humans were committing horrific acts in the name of your father, claiming it's what he wished for.

You and your father had an rocky relationship but you still cared for him deeply, and you weren't going to let some humans make him feel responsible for their actions, even though you knew your father could handle it. So you slaughtered them. A whole group of satanists gone just like that. That was the day you'd realized you'd become exactly what everybody thought you'd be, and you vowed to never let that happen again. You would not become your father. So it was for the best that you were rarely put on missions, you wouldn't be able to hurt people that way.

Loki was also rarely allowed on missions, despite being at Stark Tower and causing relatively no trouble for nearly two years. It aggravated you that they treated him so. After the New York incident, he had done nothing but keep to himself and mostly do what he was asked. You had only ever know him as the introverted, sarcastic, and handsome man who would occasionally read to you if you had a bad day (even if he made you swear you'd never tell anyone). So the fact that they told you to 'babysit' him while they were on mission and make jabs at him or leave him out all the time made you livid. You had never really gotten angry with the avengers though, you controlled your temper and would reprimand them calmly for their behavior. Though, they never really listened.

You woke up on the wrong side of the bed one particular morning, neck aching from sleeping wrong and mouth incredibly parched. You stood from your bed and promptly tripped on your way to your closet. Okay seriously? Today's going to be one of those days? You thought to yourself. Getting changed into a comfy sweater and determined to make today a good day, you headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. You found Bucky, Steve, and Sam in the kitchen chatting. You smiled at the welcome sight of your friend's.

"Good morning doll," Bucky gave you a soft smile. "Yeah good morning," Steve greeted. "Hey guess what?" Sam asked. You wanted to groan in annoyance at being asked a question right after you woke up but instead you entertained his antics with a smile. "What?" You asked tiredly. "Goooood morning!" He beamed. You giggled. "Good morning to you guys too," You couldn't help the smile spread across your face, despite the bad morning, you had your friend's to cheer you up even when they didn't know anything was wrong.

Bucky gave you a quizzical smile and a raised brow, before you could ask what was up he spoke. "Doll, is that my sweater?" You laughed, "Oh its yours? I saw it on the couch yesterday and took it. Finders keepers you know. It's so soft!" You smiled and rubbed the fabric of the sleeve against your cheek. You hadn't noticed Loki enter, which meant you also hadn't notice the frown that he bore at the notion of you wearing Bucky's sweater. He turned heel and left without anybodys notice. You weren't the only one starting off with a bad morning.

After breakfast you ran into Natasha whom you discussed a movie night with. She told you that she'd invite everybody to watch the new horror movie with you in a few nights. You made sure she meant everyone. Last time, unbeknownst to you, they didn't even tell Loki about it. When he didn't show, you went to his room and promptly realized what happened. You calmly informed everyone that the next time Loki wasn't included in any events invite, you wouldn't be going either. Everybody groaned and whined but you stuck to your guns and ended up skipping T's next party because of Lokis lack of invitation. The memory made you frown and want to go see Loki but you relented. The asgardian did enjoy his alone time and you didn't want to be too annoying or clingy.

You hadn't seen Loki all morning, and while it wasn't entirely unusual, it still saddened you a little. You were trying to ignore your rather disappointing and upsetting morning by watching your favorite movie on the couch when Tony walked in, laughing along with Thor. Thors voice boomed as he spoke. "Yes! I agree!" "I mean I think Loki is still just a sad little boy who can't accept who he really is." Tony laughed at his own statement. Today was not the day. White hot anger shot through you. You honestly didn't know what got into you but you were tired of people talking about Loki like that and especially tired of people taking your kindness as weakness. That bullshit was about to stop.

"What the fuck, Tony?" You snapped, standing from the couch. Both he and Thors eyebrows shot up in surprise. Not only did you just snap at them and swear, but you always called Tony 'T' as a nickname. Even when you were reprimanding him like you were his mother, you used the nickname. He took a step back wearily. "Uhm okay let's calm down for a second-". "No I'm not going to fucking calm down! You treat Loki like shit all the fucking time and you talk about him like he's nothing! And Thor! Condoning this? Loki is your brother! And you wonder why he despises you," You laughed cruelly, upper lip curling into a snarl. "My Lady I appreciate your concern for my brother but you do not know him like I do. He is fine and he can certainly handle a few jokes." "The way you treat him is not a joke, Thor!" Your fists were clenched and you chest was heaving. You could feel yourself shaking with anger and you took a couple deep breaths in a desperate attempt to calm down.

"Darling is everything alright? I heard you yelling?" Loki stepped into the room, Natasha and the super soldiers in tow. His brows were furrowed in concern as he stepped towards you. "Oh come on, you're a monster don't pretend like you give a shit about an angel like her." Your head snapped towards Tony's voice. You saw red and you couldn't think. You had made it vehemently clear when you showed the team your wings to not call you angel. Even as a nickname. You weren't an angel.

You lunged for him. Clamoring ontop of him and you did not pull any punches. You weren't even aware you were screaming until you stopped. Loki clamped his arms down over yours and pried you off of Tony. He led you away gently as Thor grabbed Tony and began leading him to the infirmary. You looked around. Eyes darting from the damage done to Tony's face to the people, your friend's, staring at you, they knew what you were. A monster. You looked up at Loki, wide eyed as tears began to well up. "Lokes, can we please go?" Your voice shook as you spoke, lips trembling. "Of course, dove, of course." You used to adore that nickname, now it just felt like a name born of a lie. Doves were innocent and beautiful, and you were, well, you.

Loki carried you to his room where he gently placed you to sit on his bed. He sat next to you but said nothing. You'd never known him to be the type at a loss for words but right now he said nothing. He shot you a few glances as you tried to hold yourself together. You will not cry infront of him. Do not be weak. You tried but you just couldn't keep it together. You began to sob. Loki pulled you into him, rubbing circles on your back with his left hand and lightly grabbing your waist with his right. You relaxed in his embrace and sniffled into his shirt.

"Darling, you don't have to defend me you know? Especially not if it makes you feel like this." That statement made you want to cry even harder, but you steeled yourself and pulled away from him, even if it broke you. "Loki defending you doesn't make me feel this way, they do. You don't deserve to be treated like that and they never listen." Your voice shook but you refused to cry again. "It's okay my little dove, I can handle it. And besides, I am a monster, I do deserve it." You stiffened. Your jaw clenched and you slapped him across the face lightly. "You are not a monster. You are amazing Loki. Do not ever let anybody tell you any different." You cupped his face in your hands, forcing him to look at you. He stood angrily. "Yes I am! Do you not remember the attack on New York?! Are you dull?!" "Loki-" "No, you do not understand. I am a monster." "Really Loki? Because monsters don't read to their friends when they have a bad day. Monsters don't help their enemies, monsters don't try to fix their mistakes, Loki, monsters don't-" "Enough!" Loki changed. The once pale, green eyed, asgardian that you fell for became a blue-skinned, red-eyed, Jotun that was fuming with anger. You gasped. "Now you see. How monstrous I truly am. How worthy am I of your kindness now?" "Loki," You paused, debating on what to say. You took a breath and began to speak, slowly standing and stepping towards him as you did.

"Lokes, what you look like does not dictate who you are. Who you were born as is not who you are destined to be. I do not show you kindness because I think you're a saint. I show you kindness because I've been there Lokes. I know what it's like. And I know that hurt people hurt people. I don't care if you never tell me who hurt you but I refuse to become one of the people in that group. Don't let anybody but yourself tell you who you are going to be. I've never known you to let anybody tell you a damn thing before." You gave him a weak smile as you took his hands in yours. His skin was freezing but you didn't mind. "You are beautiful Loki, the most handsome being I've ever laid eyes on, yes even like this. It pains me that you cannot see that." His brows furrowed as his eyes searched yours. "Do you truly believe that darling?" He spoke softly, like he couldn't quite find his voice. You nodded. "How? Why do you not see me as everyone else does?"

Your wings carefully opened, usually everyone would speak about how the dark grey made you look beautiful, but not now. Now they were different. The once gray and beautiful feathered wings were now bat-like, deep red skin webbed between the black structures of the wings that pointed to a tip at the top, reminiscent of horns. "Because, I've been there too. I know what's it's like thinking your a monster, Lokes." You pressed your lips together in worry. Searching his eyes for a reaction. He pulled his left hand from yours as he brought it to your cheek. He lowered his head and pressed his lips to yours. Melting into the kiss, you reached up and tangled your hands in his hair. His right hand fell to your waist and pulled you into him. You wished you could stay in this moment forever. He pulled away, much to your disappointment.

"If we are monsters, Lokes, than we can be monsters together."

[spacedace]

Fuck whatever DC is doing with the al Ghul's characterizations and story lines, I've decided that from now on the al Ghul's are gonna be DC's version of the Addams Family instead.

Now I don't mean just give the various al Ghul's the exact personalities of the various Addams and call it a day. That's boring, that erases all the interesting parts of the al Ghuls, that's just using "find & replace" and not actually adding anything. I mean give them the vibes of the Addams Family.

Keep the al Ghul's as the al Ghul's with all their scheming and machinations and world domination attempts but give them all the unhinged energy, the casually insane view of the world, the deranged levels of love and devotion for family. Make them that group where objectively they are batshit insane but also you cannot argue with the fact that they are indisputably the most stable and functional family in the entire universe.

They're creepy, they're kooky, they're mysterious and spooky. Ra's many opulent homes and impenetrable fortresses are a museum and the al Ghul's really are a screa-um whenever people come to see-um (or when they lay waste upon their enemies in a surprise attack that has been planned for months and is just the first domino in a series that will ultimately lead to achieving a far greater goal).

They all love each other and want each other to be happy, they express this primarily with stabbing and murder attempts (its fine, death is a thing that happens to other people).

And forget the League of Assassins being a cult. Just make the whole vast globe spanning organization a collection of cousins/aunts/uncles/dear old friends ect. No one (not even the al Ghuls, if they cared to keep track of such things) is sure who is actually related to them and who just got absorbed into the ever expanding family tree based on their vibes being right.

(Is Sensei Ra's father you ask? Well he's certainly someone's father - probably.

Anyway have you heard about Cousin Cheshire? Despicable poisoner of a young woman, capable of the most horrific things imaginable - yes she is the sweetest dear. Like I was saying though, she just had a baby!

Everyone in the family is just so excited to throw a baby shower to celebrate! Ubu has really gone all out with the spike traps, he does so love getting to welcome a new addition to the family.

Talia of course has cultivated a brand new strain of the most toxic plants imaginable to make a brand new kind of necrotizing poison. You know, as a nice little romantic gift for Cousin Cheshire and that young man of hers. It really is so important to make sure you take time for you and your partner to go on dates and have a few pitched battles to the death on dark rooftops in the pounding rain when you have children.

Now there is some to-do about it all of course, you know how family get together can be. Everyone is arguing over who should get to give little Lian her first weapon and what it should be. Nyssa is pushing for grenades but Ra's is insisting on a sword - he's traditional like that you know - but Dusan has the vote so far on throwing knives. You know the kind that have the little divots along the edges of the blades them to make it easier to get the poison you dip them in to stick.)

I'm just saying that the al Ghuls should be a delightful cross between the Bond Villains they were originally conceived as and the lovingly unhinged Addams Family. It just feels correct in my heart.

(Again keep the interesting aspects of the characters and the nuances of who each of them are like their drive to save the world through destroying humanity and their strong environmentalist leanings and their constantly playing 5D chess and everything, but like, take away the racism and the cartoonishly evil for no reason bullshit and give them some fun feral energy to go along with it).

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 70 – American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis

I’m honestly not sure I ever would have gotten around to reading this on my own, but ended up buying it through the ‘blind date with a book’ thing a bookstore in New York was doing when I was visiting (incredible gimmick, for the record). The fact that it then took me a solid three months to actually finish probably tells you something about how genuinely difficult a read I found it. Not in the sense of being bad, but just legitimately difficult to stomach at points. Overall I’d call it a real triumph of literature.

Not that anyone doesn’t already know, but; the book is spent inside the head of Patrick Bateman, high-flying wall street trader and Harvard blueblood at the close of the Reagan era. Also a serial killer. The story is told as a series of more or less disconnected vignettes, jumping from dinner conversations at one exclusive bar or club or another to the brutal torture and murder of a sex worker to several pages of incredibly vapid pontification on Nina Simone’s discography. The story vaguely tracks Bateman growing ever-more alienated and out of control as the year goes on, but there’s very much not any real single narrative or cathartic climax here. - most stuff just happens (stuff that’s either incredibly tedious or utterly nauseating by turns but still just, stuff).

So yeah this is an intensely literary work (obviously), a word I’m here using to mean one that is as much about the form and style of the writing as about the actual events portrayed. Bateman is a monster, but more than that he’s just an utterly boring and tedious husk of a man, traits which are exaggerated to the point of being fascinating– if you told this story in conventional third person narration without all the weird asides, it would be a) like half as long and b) totally worthless. The tonal whiplash of going from an incredibly visceral depiction of Bateman cutting out the eyes of a homeless man to six (utterly insipid) pages on the merits of The Doors is the selling point here (well actually I think Ellis goes back to that specific well probably one time too many, but in general I mean).

Bateman is a tedious, unstable monster, but as far as the book has an obvious thesis it’s that he differs from the rest of his social milieu only in degree. A symptom of a fundamentally rotten society, not a heroic devil among sheep. The book’s climax, such as it is, involved Bateman getting into a drug-fueled gunfight with the NYPD, shooting multiple people in the middle of the street, and then stumbling home and leaving a rambling confession to every crime on his lawyer’s answering machine – but despite very clearly wanting and trying to get caught and face some sort of consequence or justice, people just refuse to believe that someone like him is capable of anything like that. (It’s not, it must be said, an especially subtle book).

There is, as far as I can recall, not a single character who gets enough screentime to give an idea of their personality who I’d call likeable. Sympathetic, sure, but that’s mostly because it’s pretty much impossible not to sympathize with someone getting horrifically tortured and torn apart (at one point a starving rat is involved). The upper crust of New York yuppie-dom is portrayed as shallow and vapid, casually bigoted towards quite literally everyone who isn’t identical to them, status-obsessed to the point of only being able to understand the world as a collection of markers of class and coolness, and totally incapable of real human connection. Bateman is a monster not because of any freak abnormality, but just because he takes all of that a few steps further than his coworkers.

The book is totally serious and straight-faced in its presentation, and absolutely never acknowledges any of the running gags that are kept up through it. Which shows impressive restraint, and also means that none of them exactly have a payoff or a punchline – it’s just a feature of the world that all the expensive meals at trendy restaurants everyone competes for tables at sound disgusting when you think about them for a moment, or that the whole class of wall street trader guy are so entirely interchangeable that ostensible close friends and coworkers constantly mistake each other for other traders and no one particularly cares. Or – and I’m taking this on faith because fuck knows I’ve got no idea what any of the brands people are wearing are – that the ruinously expensive outfits everyone spends so very much time and money on for every engagement all clash comically if you actually looked up what the different pieces looked like. The book’s in no way really a comedy, so the jokes sit a bit oddly, but they’re still overall pretty funny, at least to me.

I like to think I have something of a strong stomach for unpleasant material in books, but this was the first work of fiction that I had genuine trouble reading for content reasons in I can’t even remember. I’m not sure it’s exactly right to call the violence pornographic in a general sense, but as far as American Psycho goes the register and tone Bateman uses to describe fucking a woman and torturing her to death are basically identical (and told in similarly explicit detail), and all of Bateman’s sexual fantasies are more or less explicitly just porn scenes he wants to recreate, so. Regardless, the result’s pretty alienating in both cases – his internal monologue never really feels anything but detached and almost bored as he relays what he does, sound exactly as vapid and alienated as when he is carefully listing the exact brands and designers every person he ever interacts with is wearing at all times, or arguing over dinner reservations for hours on end with his friends and lovers (though both those terms probably deserve heavy airquotes around them). He legitimately sounds considerably more engaged when talking about arguing over sartorial etiquette. It all adds up to a really strong alienating effect.

Anyways, speaking of sex and violence – perhaps because my main exposure to the story before this was tumblr making memes out of scenes from the movie, but I was pretty shocked by just how explicitly awful Patrick is ‘on screen’. The horrible murder, sure, but also just the casual and frequent use of racist and homophobic slurs, the pathological misogyny, the total breakdown he has at the idea of a gay man being attracted to him and thinking he might reciprocate – all of these are entirely in character for an asshole Wall Street ‘80s Guy even if he wasn’t a serial killer, but it’s still oddly shocking at first to see it so thoroughly represented on the page. It makes how comparatively soft-pedaled the bigotry and just, awfulness, of villains in a lot of more modern books stand out a lot more, I suppose? I have read a lot of books that are in some sense About queerness and/or racism in the last year, and no one in any of them holds a candle to good old Patrick Bateman.

Part of that is just the book being so intensely of its time, I suppose. The New York of this book is very much one of the late ‘80s, incredible wealth living side by side with social rot and decay, crippling poverty everywhere and a society that has to a great degree just stopped caring. Absolutely none of which Bateman or any of his peers care one bit about, of course – they’re too busy showing off the latest walkmans and record players, going to the newest clubs, and just generally enjoying all the fruits of Reagan’s America. Recent history has made the fact that Bateman’s personal idol is Donald Trump almost too on the nose to be interesting, but in 1991 I’m sure it was a bit more subtle in how telling it was.

Anyway, yeah, horrifying and exhausting read, triumph of literature, my god did Easton Ellis hate America (this is a compliment). Now time to go watch the movie!

[skullcfusher]

When u tlked about the toby n kate HCs u gave us Kate angst HCs do u have any toby angst HCS I'm obsessed w sibling relationship kate toby its the best 100 percent

Ok I tried typing out a huge thing but it's not letting me post that SOOO you're getting the short version, if anyone is interested in a long version dm me or smth idk BUT here they are

Toby struggles like crazy with masculinity, vulnerability and authority figures, between his father smacking him around and verbally abusing him, the bullies not only at school when he was there but actually trailing to his neighborhood and any time they could find him and all of the neighbors and older folk who saw what was happening but stayed silent, he felt crazy weak, especially when most of the things Frank said to him were always related to him not being man enough in some way, and it didn't help that Toby was a scrawny boy because food was hard to come by, it's not like he was starving by any means but they were kinda just getting by. This follows into his proxy life, always having to be stronger than everyone else in the room, killing people in horrific ways to show his strength and pushing himself to an extent to show that no one should fuck with him. Toby was born into a dog eat dog world but now the point he's at, all of the other dogs aren't hungry but he's still eating even if he's full. No one is trying to hurt him, don't get me wrong not a whole lot of creeps like him all that much but no one is looking to hurt him, but he can't fathom that. He has to fight, no matter how tired he is of fighting, he just doesn't recognize a world outside of that and it scares him. The only being he can't fight is slender, he's horrified of slender because slender has the capability to make that boy feel pain, not in the sense he can just flip the switch and he feels everything now but he can give Toby the most earth shattering, mouth frothing, skin peeling headaches. It's not just some small shit, Toby's feeling throat curdling pain for the first time, if feels like he's burying his own axe into his head. Punishment is bad for all proxies, but this shit is really new to Toby, Tim and Brian usually have to leave when Toby goes under cause they can't stand to hear him when he screams and thrashes he doesn't just fall to the ground and scream either he bites and rips his skin off and throws shit and gets fuckin crazy, Kate tries to stay and comfort but Toby pushes her away, he can't let her take care of him like that he's supposed to be able to handle it how can he not be able to handle something the rest can

Ok that's all for now I think, just cause I'm trying to make it short but if u want more or have any questions or even requests for other creeps I'm SOOOO OPEN I love answering shit

[heavenlyvixen]

Percy

I want to address the allegations and scandal that has engulfed Percy Hynes White. As a survivor of SA, I take all allegations seriously and give all accusers the benefit of the doubt. When I was first made aware of these allegations my heart dropped into my stomach, and I felt the first stirrings of panic rise. My own experiences make me specially sensitive when these things occur. You could say I’m triggered. I logged off for my own mental and emotional well being. Once I calmed down, I logged back on and went to read the allegations. I didn’t want to believe that Percy was capable of such a thing, but as someone who believes victims first, I was open to the possibility that this kid I thought was charming, funny and sweet was an illusion and the reality was that a monster lurked beneath the surface. However, as I began to read through the tweets and “evidence” against this man, something didn’t add up.

That’s when the anger kicked in. Do you know how insulting it is, as a survivor of rape, when girls make false allegations? Do you know the damage that it does to legitimate victims? The likely hood that they will receive justice falls even lower than it already was. It is a further violation committed against us. And there is no justification.

So over the last few days we have learned that Percy himself committed no crimes - he did not SA anyone. We’ve learned that at worst, while a teen, he was cavalier with a girl’s feelings. Not kind, but if we are to believe this is true, he also apologised when older and wiser. We have learned that when he learnt that a friend of his was capable of such horror, he ended the friendship and he was kind and compassionate to the victim.

When all that came to light, his accusers tried another avenue to smear him - they called him a racist. Their evidence? A video of a very young Percy quoting a tv show. The line happened to contain a slur. Stupid, but I think forgivable considering his age at the time. But that’s not all, according to the girls, they also offered instagram likes as proof. Problem is, the post they referenced, was not what they claimed. And don’t even get me started on his supposed twitter likes. He doesn’t even have a twitter account.

Then they tried another route - kink shaming. Again, they posted unverifiable “proof” that he liked some kinky stuff. Ok, that’s not a crime first of all. And second, fantasies and exploration of your sexuality is normal. There is nothing wrong with that except the fact that these girls violated Percy’s privacy by telling everyone.

Were they done? No. Not even. They released naked and risqué pictures of Percy that they claim he sent to them as proof of bad acts. We have a few problems with that. 1) they offer no proof that he sent them to them, just the pictures themselves, which begs the question “how did they really get them?”. 2) revenge porn is a crime, but sending the pics to them in and of itself is not. Especially if they had a sexual relationship with him at the time. 3) this is the really disgusting part. Percy appears to have been 13 years old when some of those pictures were taken. That classifies as child p*rnography and most certainly is a crime. A vile, horrific crime.

Throughout all of this, all anyone has proven is that one girl was possibly assaulted by someone that Percy knew. He reacted with shock but kindness when he found out. As to be expected. But most of all, we learned that Percy is the victim here. And we learned that there are many among us that are more vile than I ever feared.

He’s a victim of vindictive little girls who held on to images they never should have had to justify false allegations in an attempt to ruin his life because he didn’t reciprocate their affections.

This is fucking sick. It makes me sick, it pisses me off and makes my heart break for every true victim of SA, for Percy, and for his real friends and loved ones.

I hope that the people responsible face the consequences of their actions. And I finish with one final point. There is no justification in this world for spreading child p*rnography. None. There is no justification for falsely accusing an innocent person of vile crimes. None. Those involved should be ashamed of themselves.

I hope and pray that Percy is being taken care of, that he’s ok and that he is able to return to some semblance of normalcy when it all dies down and the air clears. The reality is he’ll be irrevocably changed by this. I just hope it doesn’t change him too much. I hope he emerges from this still kind, goofy and adorably weird. Take care, Percy and know that we are on your side.

[hurtmyfavsthanks]

HI!! okay so with the magical euphoria thingy i screamed into my pillow like twenty million times while reading AUDHSHXH /pOS YOUR WRITING IS AUAHDHAHX!!:?:!;!;:!, ANYWAY.

whumpee uses WAY too much magic in a fight. they’re completely giddy, out of it, and have just horrifically defeated something/someone.

looks around and notices that everyone is silent and terrified of what whumpee is capable of, because holy fuck. they did not need to go that far????

meanwhile whumpee thinks they were doing the right thing and, still incredibly excited from winning, runs over to caretaker!! and doesn’t understand why caretaker flinches away from them!! ^_^

sorry for the heinous grammar its like almost midnight rn :(((

(context)

I’m glad you liked my writing! I’m grinning like a fool rn.

And yes!!! Not every battle ends with Whumpee exhausted and ready to collapse. Sometimes they’re still sparking with energy, too deep into the high to realize they’re acting oddly, but not deep enough to be entirely gone. And honestly? For the people who care about them, for the people who are afraid of them, I think that state would be far, far worse. Awake but not quite aware. Unpredictable.

So like, hear me out.

The squadron is returning back to camp after a long day of missions. Their mage is still with them, in both senses of the word. They’re not fallen into total lunacy yet, still conscious and mobile. Whumpee’s bouncing on their toes, head swiveling on their shoulders like an excited puppy. They’re chatting excitedly, near incomprehensibly, at a soldier that made the mistake of getting too close. The soldier can only nod along to the stream of consciousness leaving Whumpee’s lips.

Caretaker is keeping a hold on Whumpee’s arm, making sure they don’t run off. They know Whumpee will be fine after a night’s rest.

It’s a rare moment of calm. They’re sore and exhausted, but the warm pride of a job well done leaves them feeling satisfied. The atmosphere is light as they trudge through the forest. Peaceful, all things considered.

But then Whumpee freezes, body stiffening all at once as something catches their attention. They turn, eyes focusing on something. A flash of enemy colors flicks in their vision–

Whumpee’s moving before Caretaker can react. Light bursts from their hands, illuminating the dark forest, and the squadron freezes on instinct. Whumpee’s attention, fractured and fleeting moments ago, has sharpened into a deadly edge to focus on a single figure.

Whumpee reaches out a single glowing hand, fingers curling as if grabbing something.

Flanked by two petrified guards, hands shackled behind his back, is a single enemy soldier taken as prisoner. His eyes widen as Whumpee’s attention focuses on him, the man’s bruised and exhausted face contorted in terror. His mouth is open in silent, terrified scream.

Just as Caretaker is reaching out to stop them, Whumpee reaches out with an open hand. Their fingers curl inward as if grabbing something. With a sharp movement their hand is pulled back, fingers clenched shut. The prisoner’s body lurches forward in response.

The crackle of energy cracks through the air, and suddenly something red and dripping and squirming is hovering mere feet from the man. He’s never laid eyes on it before, but the emptiness in his chest tells him exact

The human heart, still beating, falls to the forest floor. Its owner falls a moment later.

Silence follows. Fear and shock runs through the squadron, their minds struggling to comprehend what had just unfolded. Some freeze like a deer in the headlights, terrified that moving will bring Whumpee’s wrath. Others are inching their hands towards their belts, looking for a weapon. Others still are simply trembling from shock, suddenly and violently reminded of the danger in their midsts.

The terror that grips Caretaker is different. They’re afraid for Whumpee. Training kicking into overdrive, Caretaker’s eyes dart over the scene, calculating. Assessing the panic, assessing how long they have until fear turns into action.

They know they have to take control of the situation. Caretaker’s footsteps are firm as they approach Whumpee, exuding confidence they don’t feel, and praying it's enough to keep the situation from escalating.

Caretaker places a hand on Whumpee’s shoulder. Whumpee turns to face them, expression blank

“Whumpee,” Caretaker speaks with trained calmness, voice gentle yet firm. Their smile is a weak, trembling thing, doing little to mask their anxiety. The smile Whumpee gives in return is genuine and bright, oblivious. “We need him alive. We’re taking him in for questioning, remember?”

Whumpee doesn’t respond. Their eyes are more clouded than they were a moment before, their sanity strained even further by that display of power. For a long, breathless moment Whumpee simply stares, a vacant smile plastered over their face.

Caretaker keeps their expression calm, but the tension is suffocating them. All they can hear is the gurgling of a dying man.

And then the moment breaks. Whumpee blinks, and awareness flicks back into their eyes. A tittering giggle creeks out from between their teeth.

“Oh! Right, yes. We need that one alive, don’t we?” Whumpee laughs.

The clearing is still as Whumpee all but skips over to the twitching body. They grab the heart from where it dropped.The muscle is still pulsing weakly, spilling blood over Whumpee’s arms. They don’t seem to notice.

Whumpee calls their magic again, the organ vanishing in a flash. In that same instance, the prisoner’s eyes fly open, bloodless lips widening with a desperate gasp. His next inhale comes out as a sob. He curls inward, limbs close to his chest, as if desperate to keep his heart in its place.

Whumpee doesn’t even give the man a second glance. As their would-be victim sobs, broken and terrified, on the ground, Whumpee happily returns to Caretaker’s side. They reach their hand, now coated a deep red, expectantly towards Caretaker. Caretaker holds Whumpee’s hand with a trained smile, and tries not to flinch at the warm wetness.

Caretaker starts walking, not daring to look back. They know the terrified, hateful, dangerous looks they’ll see if they did.

Whumpee doesn’t notice the way Caretaker's grip tightens, or how they’re maneuvered to walk some distance away from the other soldiers.

The rest of the trip is done in silence.

[undreaming-fanfiction]

My lovely @henderdads Cass, I unfortunately didn't manage to write a full length fanfiction that you 100% deserve for your birthday, buuuut...I saw that your fav Disney movie is Mulan. What if I gave you a very adjusted Mulan Steddie AU idea with a partial apocalypse, joining the army in place of someone you love, and an incredibly annoying voice in your ear who tells you what to say and do...

Eddie Munson is very much anti-war, thank you. He hates the army, hates the cops, tolerates Chief Hopper because he's cool, but overall authority? Nah, not for him. Eddie would never, ever join something violent and wear camo.

The world doesn't care about his preferences. When interdimensional rifts start popping up left and right and the whole planet is currently battling creatures pouring out of what is called the Upside Down dimension, every family has to send a man to join the war.

Eddie should not be joining anything. After a horrific car crash that nearly cost him his life, half of his torso is nothing but scars, his body is weak from spending months in the hospital, plus his aim is atrocious. But the government said someone needs to go, and his beloved uncle Wayne, the 50-ish man who looks like a nihilist but is secretly all the goodness in the world personified, is gearing up to go and serve his country. That just won't do.

He steals the letter ordering someone from the Munson family to join the Hawkins battlefield and prays that no one will have a chance to check his records. They probably won't, most of the documents for his town got burned to a crisp when a rift opened under the office. And because he knows absolutely nothing about the special Upside Down units he's about to join, he's doing what he knows the best - practicing by roleplaying. He's simulating small talk with "the boys". He's trying cheeky comebacks. And he's incredibly, cringe-inducingly bad at it.

Fortunately for him, or maybe not, he has a guardian angel, except the angel is a 13 year old kid he used to DM for. His name is Dustin and he's ruthless. When he stumbles upon Eddie's "Oh yeah, I used to play the ball in high school. Which ball? Uh...all the ball!", he announces Eddie is useless and gives him a small comm he's developed with his nerdy friends. "Don't worry," he says, "I will guide you through everything."

And Eddie believes it might be a good thing, that it might counterbalance his uncontrollable mouth, at least until the moment that he sees his sergeant, Steve Harrington. The guy is friendly, capable, tough as nails and incredibly, mind-numbingly pretty.

"Say good to meet you, sir!" the voice in his ear whispers.

Eddie opens his mouth to say exactly that. "Wow, aren't you a sight to behold, big boy!" is what ends up leaving it.

Dustin finds out the hard way that the barely functioning gay disaster Eddie Munson is impossible to guide through anything. He picks the lock to the showers after midnight to avoid showing his scars - or if he wanted to be honest, showering very heterosexually next to Steve fucking Harrington, the man who pulled him out of harm's way when Eddie messed up, and then nonchalantly produced a spiked bat and beat the creature preparing to snack on Eddie to a pulp.

"Why did you freeze when Steve was discussing tomorrow's mission?" Dustin hisses at him.

"You're not here, you twerp, you'd freeze too if you saw all that chest hair!"

Many things end up happening during the war of the worlds (cliché, but it works in Eddie's head). Eddie somehow ends up saving Steve's life by backing into a cassette player, turning it on and blasting "Master of Puppets" all over the battlefield, luring the creatures away from Steve's position. He tries to explain that it was an accident, but no one believes him.

Eddie notices that the creatures are invading in certain patterns. When people ask him how come he noticed something no one else did, he just shrugs and says: "it's what I would have done if I was running this as a campaign." He ignores Dustin's excited rambling about how cool the campaign would be and that Eddie definitely has to survive now.

Steve starts respecting him, even enjoying his company. How the hell did that happen. And there's definitely some tension between them, not the angry kind, and Eddie is taking cold showers now. For health reasons, obviously.

And finally, Eddie finds out that even if his aim sucks, he's pretty great with a flamethrower. They become unbeatable as a close range fighter duo with Steve.

Eventually, Eddie's insight combined with some secret government experimentation (they experimented on a kid? If it didn't work out so well, Eddie would have punched them and then set them on fire) end the war. The portals are closed, the remaining creatures gradually eliminated. Steve and Eddie are decorated as heroes and sent home. It's all very quick, very "let's not talk about this whole rift thing possibly being a government fault, nope!", Steve finally finds out about Eddie not being fit to serve and spirals into an absolute meltdown about endangering someone who was never supposed to fight in the first place. Eddie finds himself sitting on a bus home with a medal and a broken heart.

It's only a few days later, after Wayne's crushing hugs, scolding, well hidden tears and Dustin's constant visits, that someone knocks on his and Wayne's trailer door. It's Eddie's former sergeant Steve Harrington, wearing a soft yellow sweater and the cutest shy smile Eddie's ever seen. "Hi. Uh...I know it's difficult to make up for putting you through all that and not verifying your records. But..." he says and shushes Eddie when he tries to accept all the blame and get into a spiral of his own, "...I think a dinner would be a good start to that apology. How does that sound?"

Eddie grins at him and reaches for his hand. "I'd say you've got yourself a date, big boy."

[cosmicjoke]

Okay, so, I just got an ask in my inbox from someone bitching at me for "defending" Erwin Rommel, the German general from WWII that some people think Erwin is based on or inspired by. They said "I can't believe you would defend Erwin Rommel because of a mid anime. He turned against Hitler in 1944 because the war was turning, not because he was against Fascism". Needless to say, I'm not going to play into this morons game by actually directly answering them, but I do want to make a point which is important to understand.

Because here's the thing that idiots like this don't get. The morons like this, that want to accuse AoT of being antisemitic, Fascist propaganda, they say all this shit while laboring under the belief that the Eldian's are "meant to be Jews", and because they can turn into Titans, Isayama was making some nefarious insinuation that Jews are actually monsters.

This is so stupid, it shouldn't even need to be addressed, but I will anyway, because some fuckers need to get their heads out of their assess.

First of all, nothing in AoT is meant to be a direct or 1 to 1 allegory of anything. It's an amalgamation of different historical events all meshed together. Second of all, none of these people seem to want to acknowledge that the closest group the Eldian's resemble, in reality, are the Germans, not Jews. It doesn't even make sense for Eldian's to be seen as Jewish, or as a stand in for Jews, because everything about them, from their history, to their names, to their culture and architecture and religious beliefs, resembles German and Germanic culture and history, including the German's historically warmongering ways. Remember, the Eldian's started off as a warring, Viking-like tribe of people who went around conquering other tribes of people. And the arc of the Yeagerist's eventually coming to power most resembles how the Nazi's eventually came to power, through the German people being horrifically oppressed and punished for the outbreak of WWI through the Treaties of Versailles, something we see reflected in how the Eldian's were eventually punished for their warmongering, cut off from the rest of the world, isolated and stolen from. Even if Erwin Smith is inspired by or based on Erwin Rommel, how does that in any way, shape or form indicate some Fascist or antisemitic agenda on Isayama's part, when Erwin Smith clearly isn't meant to be Jewish, but in every way resembles a German man? Let's suppose he is inspired by Rommel, again, it only supports the likelihood that the Eldian's are meant to be German, not Jews, and so the entire crux of these fucking moron's argument, that Isayama is being "antisemitic" because the Eldian's can turn into titans, completely falls apart, when the people that can turn into titans aren't meant to be seen as Jews, but clearly more obviously resemble Germans. Further, Erwin Smith is a fictional character. Just because he was inspired by a real-life historical figure doesn't mean he's meant to be that historical figure. While Erwin may share some superficial aspects with Rommel, Erwin is still a fictional character, and possesses multiple characteristics that differ immensely from Rommel in every way. People don't seem to understand that inspiration for a character or theme doesn't mean the character or theme is meant to be a direct representation of the thing that inspired it.

Further, one of the main themes of AoT is that we all have the capability to be monsters. Eldian's being able to turn into titans isn't meant to be seen as some sort of condemnation of their race. We aren't meant to hate them for this. The entire idea is that people, all people, can be monsters, their having some weird, magical ability to turn into titans having nothing to do with it. The Marleyans were just as monstrous as the Eldian's ever were in the way they treated people, in the things they did, in the agenda they pushed, and in their warmongering. They couldn't turn into titans, but they were every bit as bad, every bit as capable of evil. Again, the ability to turn into a titan isn't ever meant as any sort of statement as to the nature of the Eldian people. It's human nature itself that is framed as the real monster. It's also important to note that the Eldian's turning into titans wasn't ever something they wanted or which they chose to do. They were forced to turn into titans, either by the former rulers of the Eldian Empire, or by the Marleyan government, both of which utilized them as weapons against their wills. The Eldian people subjected to this were never meant to be seen as monsters, but as victims. We were always meant to feel sympathetic toward them for being used and forced against their wills to do something they had no say in or wish for. We see their persecution clearly framed as a bad thing, a very bad thing, which ultimately leads to tragedy and untold destruction and death. We see the prejudice against them clearly framed to be something wrong and evil, the very thing which ultimately leads to Marley's own demise. Again, if you want to make some sort of direct comparison to real, historical events, this all clearly resembles what happened with Germany and the rest of Europe after WWI, with the German people being convinced that they were being denied their god given destiny and right to exist through the extreme punishment exacted upon them by the rest of the world. Nazism and the National Socialist Party took hold because the German people felt deeply wronged and persecuted, which they were. The entire country was practically destroyed by the harsh sanctions and restrictions placed on it. The reaction from the German people in real life is something we see reflected in the Yeagerist's eventually coming to power and exacting their "revenge" on the rest of the world through their support of Eren. The Eldian's were, just like the German people, unduly punished and made to suffer for the wrongs of their past government and rulers, and eventually grew resentful and longing for the days when they saw themselves as glorious and powerful. We see this reflected earlier on in the story with Grisha Yeager's extremism and his belief that the Eldian empire should be restored, etc... His and the Yeagerists desire to take back what was once "theirs", spurred on by excessive punishment and cruelty and persecution from the rest of the world. This, again, all resembles Germany, and what happened with Germany following WWI, with the rise of Nazism and Hitler. How people can miss this is beyond me. They're so fucking stupid, and ignorant to boot. The rise of the Yagerists was never meant to be seen as a good thing. I don't care how many dumb fuck Yeagerists there are in the fandom, or how many morons try to make excuses for Eren's actions, the story plainly frames his actions and the Yeagerists taking over Paradis as a horrifically bad thing, one which leads to unspeakable tragedy and destruction, just like the rise of Nazism did in real life. Anyone who's read or watched AoT would know this. But then, I think most of the people that actually believe AoT is some sort of fascist, antisemitic propaganda haven't ever actually read or watched the manga or anime. If they did, assuming they have any, actual functioning brain cells, they would know how absurd and nonsensical such a belief is.

And once more, I reiterate, nothing in AoT is meant to be seen or taken as a direct or 1 to 1 allegory for any, real life historical event. Isayama was clearly inspired by multiple sources and multiple parts of history when he crafted his story. But it's still a work of original fiction, which is it's own thing, and which can't be taken as some sort of political or ideological statement on anything in real life. It's a self-contained work of art which, while it may have some resemblance to real life events, isn't and never was meant to be seen as an allegory for those events.

Anyway, that's all I'm going to say on this matter.

[secret-engima]

I have tea and a soap box let's spill something shall we (Wakfu Rant)

*sips tea*

I've been in this fandom for like. A month? more? Depends on how long it took me to work through the show. I've not actually interacted with the *fandom* at all, just the canon stuff and my own spiralling insanity. But while I'm here I might as well make enemies /s. Therefore:

Oropo is a much more compelling character deserving of redemption than Qilby. Qilby:

Had a loving literal goddess mom and a bunch of loving siblings.

A beautiful planet and thriving culture he could go anywhere and do anything on

The capability of going into space without any technological aids once he got bored of the Eliatrope world and started to suffer the effects of his eidietic memory thing. We know for a fact that Eliatropes and their dragon sibs literally don't need so much as a helmet to vibe in space, they could have gone out there any time, explored the cosmos a bit, found cool things as souvenirs and brought them back to show off to his siblings.

While this is very clumsily and blatantly retconned in s4, in s2 Qilby is very open and blatant about the fact he willingly picked a fight with Orgonax with the INTENTION of forcing his entire people to flee their world into space just so he would have more company than Shinonome. An entire world and no doubt thousands of Eliatropes and who knows what pieces of their history and culture were lost because this man, and I remind you again that s2 Qilby taunts Yugo with this fact no matter how s4 woobified him, wanted to FORCE his people to join him in space rather than just let manning the fuck up and going out there with his sister on a buddy roadtrip.

Seems very convinced that some or all of his specimens in his lab are the last of their kinds, which at best means he intentionally targeted dying species on alien worlds to capture and put into jars for literal eternity which is all kinds of animal cruelty (assuming some of them aren't sentient!!) and at worst means he is the reason they are the last of their kind because Qilby wanted his souvenir to be Unique.

when his people finally found a new world to settle on and be happy and try to reclaim their culture, he instigated a SECOND GENOCIDE, this one taking out not only their home world but literally every. living. adult Eliatrope (and dragon considering the propensity for dragons to have Eliatrope twins as stated in s1). Literally thousands if not millions of people are dead, thousands of children are orphaned and left trapped in a realm where they cannot *grow up*, the vast majority of his own siblings are dead and oh look at that. He's stuck in sensory deprivation hell. Man. If only there was some course of action he could have taken that would not have led to him fighting his own siblings, losing his arm, and getting stuck in the white void of horribleness. Man this truly is a tragedy of fate. Definitely no way he could have gone back into space without the Zinit. Definitely could not have just hopped on Shinonome's back with a packed lunch and gone out there on his own knowing he would have a loving family to come back to whenever he got lonely. Man.

upon breaking out of the White Void Of Horrible he is even more mentally unstable (and yes I know he's mentally ill during the above events, that does not excuse his actions when he is aware enough of them to gloat about them to yugo later) and immediately decides that he's going to kill this entire world in order to leave and he's going to take his siblings and the few surviving eliatrope kids with him by force.

has ANYONE other than me noticed the incredibly dark and horrific implications of him apparently planning to kill Phaerys and Yugo (and Adamai likely). Yugo says he couldn't go through with it and I'll believe that, but the fact he apparently consciously PLANNED it. Am I the only one who saw that scene and went "if he kills them, then they go back to the dofus and hatch without any memories, which means he will be able to RAISE AND GROOM THEM in the Zinit to believe that whatever Qilby says is right and do whatever he wants, like galavant in space for eternity".

S4 can retcon as much as it likes to make the Orgonax thing an accident and Qilby a mama's boy (which I freely admit was funny and I would have enjoyed in any other villain), but going off s2 and moving into s3 I REALLY cannot see why people like him more and hate Oropo.

And even if we DO count s4's retcon that made the first incident an accident the SECOND WAS STILL DAMN WELL INTENTIONAL. And Qilby is still responsible for the death of thousands twiceover on top of the death of an entire culture. All of Eliatrope history, culture, science, medicine, *music*, *STORIES*, it's all gone save for whatever the Emrub kids happen to remember (and the kids will not remember it accurately because they are children). All their architecture is destroyed, all their native cuisine is GONE and so are the ingredients to make them. All because Qilby wanted to force them into space WHEN THEY DID NOT WANT TO GO and HE COULD HAVE GONE ON HIS OWN AT ANY POINT WITH SHINONOME.

Speaking of Oropo! Let's look at what we know about him for comparison!

Was created by accident and is intimately aware of it.

was thrown back in time and lived most if not all of his life perpetually terrified of changing history or accidentally erasing himself and his siblings

Not only saw all of his siblings die off over the years but had their energy absorb into him in something that is no doubt extremely traumatizing to undergo. if any of you have watched the Oropo-centric ova, man for a mastermind manipulator he sure do look like he wanna cry and throw up and curl in a little ball when two of his siblings die in front of him and he is forced to assimilate their life energy.

"Supposedly" staged several key villain creation events which I personally press x to doubt because it's so clunky when mixed in with s1 and s2 lore BUT if we graciously assume that he did then gee. can't possibly be a factor of the third bullet point and his terror of erasing the timeline with his own existence can it? Can't possibly be Oropo falling into Every Heroic Time Travel Trope Ever where the hero ensures a certain event happens in order to maintain the timeline in key points hm? Even if it's a bad idea?

Has been successfully and lovingly married? partnered? mated? to a badass half-dragon wife for literal centuries and every time they are on screen together before the Dramatic Amalia Bullshit they are loving and balanced and give off so many Old Married Vibes and then THEY RESUME that dynamic for the few seconds on screen they have before they both die.

Adopts and raises hundreds of orphaned demigods who apparently were more than happy to live in the Tower and follow him throughout their lives, and in fact show no sign of abuse or manipulation in their behavior until the finale when Anakam decides it's time for everyone to think Oropo is horrible

is actively DYING when we meet him and not just dying but faced with the prospect that there is no happy ending for him. He will never see his loved ones in the afterlife, he will never know peace, he will be assimilated by his creator Yugo and at *best* be essentially digested into raw wakfu and at *worst* be a ghost stuck in the head of a man he has extremely complicated and negative feelings about for the above time travel and sibling trauma.

Adamai EXPLICITLY MENTIONS THAT OROPO IN S3 IS ACTING OUT OF CHARACTER when he goes into his more Blatant Villain Moments. Which sure, could be "the mask" falling to reveal someone "oooo evil" but isn't it far more likely he's acting out of character because he's dying and having a crisis about it.

canonically hates violence, but was so desperate to ensure his loved ones would have a better world he was willing to resort to turning himself into a suicide bomber to "create a better world". Was this a good idea? no. but ppl apparently love to point out how Qilby is mentally unstable to justify his behavior soooooo like. Why is that excuse not applicable to the guy who's literally spent his entire life being uncertain he's even real and has a right to exist but is real enough to DIE and never see the people he loves again and therefor go off the rails in his attempts to make something better for them?

in s4, the same season that makes Qilby sympathetic so if you count that as canon then by gods you better count the Oropo moments as canon, Oropo gives Yugo a reprieve from the literal life sucking torture he's in, helps him get a new outfit, and lets Bouillon play fight him (because again, Oropo hates Doing Violence) to keep him distracted and SANE while his body is being horribly tortured. In the end Yugo even confirms they are real and a part of him which is literally all Oropo wanted in his dying speech if you rewatch the finale and boil down his fury to its bullet points (he is a clone without a future and literally says stuff along the lines of just wanting to be REAL and wanting Yugo to ACKNOWLEDGE him).

For a supposed mastermind villain who wanted Yugo dead Yugo sure does seem Super Duper Alive in the months/two years/whatever timeline Ankama is using this hot second since he created the clones and was therefore *no longer necessary* for Oropo to keep alive.

At the end of the day Qilby actively chose HIMSELF over the wellbeing of others and got multiple siblings killed as well as two worlds and an entire civilization/culture wiped out. OROPO set himself on a path of similar destruction and then ACTIVELY TURNED BACK because he was faced with the choice of his ambitions or HIS LOVED ONES and he PRIORITIZED THEIR LIVES OVER HIS OWN AND HIS OWN GOALS where as Qilby not only did not do that, he didn't do it TWICE. TWICE. Oropo's death count is miniscule and he chose to sacrifice himself rather than lose the people he was doing this for and Echo knew he would make that choice, which means she also knew his love of them was genuine. You cannot compare that to Qilby and tell me Qilby is in any way better.

Okay rant over I'm going back to planning my wakfu canon rewrite and my various Echo/Oropo oneshots thank you and good day.

[thevulturesquadron]

Hi!

I have a question about why everyone keep saying Magneto start the war?( I mean technically is human start it.) And how do u think about it?

Thanks!

Hey there, space cowboy! 🌌

Oh I love this one! Had a couple of thoughts since the episode aired, but didn’t have the time to write them down. 

I’ve already seen a couple of takes online: as usual, mostly on the extremes; either people who refuse to acknowledge that Magneto is capable of horrific things or people who jump at any chance to completely vilify him - and both do the character a big disfavor.

Short answer: yes, I believe his actions can be seen as a declaration of war. Both Logan and Morph were completely right in that scene and they are voicing out the two major interpretations of the events. Magneto did save all the mutants, he also declared war - one doesn’t negate the other. And I’ll try my best to explain:

Least relevant part are probably the human sentinels. During the EMP attack each and every one of them powered off. IF that means they are dead and not just powered off it can be used against him as a crime against humanity. Remember how in the scene with Roberto and Jubilee they were shown as standing down and keeping appearances in front of other people? So if it comes down to the argument of self-defense there are a couple of ways to paint these guys as just ‘protectors of humanity.’ Unlike the metal ones, these were humans, they were someone’s loved one.

Now… well… the consequences of the EMP attack: we saw the entire world go dark. That alone opens up the possibility for millions of deaths (humans and mutants) in countries across the globe. The few scenes we got were enough to paint a picture and leave it to the audience to fill in the gaps: turning off power plants can lead to catastrophic events (they showed a nuclear power plant for a reason); we saw threats that are now released to cause damage at large (Omega Red); the cameos from Spider-Man and Silver Samurai were not random picks either - cities engulfed in darkness will soon turn to chaos. And so many other things in between (hospitals, cars and planes, communication and defenses, all down). So yeah I am inclined to believe that his actions would result in a heavy loss of lives.

Magneto effectively saved the lives of so many mutants that were attacked by sentinels, but at the cost of many others. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

But why can it be seen as a declaration of war and not just an act of terrorism? (And again this show proves to be SO insanely good and planned to the smallest detail.) At this point Magneto is not just some terrorist. He went through trials in front of the world and got absolved; Genosha got recognized as a fully self-governing nation and Magneto was, at the moment of the attack, the de-facto leader of a nation. His actions are now the actions of the entire mutant nation. He didn’t do it to declare war, that was not the purpose, BUT a direct attack on a country is just that: a declaration of war.

I’ve seen the argument that he didn’t start it, that Genosha was a declaration of war. But Bastion played all his cards right - not one nation was officially responsible for the attack on Genosha - there was no proof to connect the genocide to a world power. The robots wore no flags, they were not the creation of one country. Yes, various nations ARE behind the Genosha genocide, but their hands were not the ones holding the proverbial weapons, merely providing the support for building them (sound familiar to anyone?)

That is the game Bastion is playing and Magneto is one of the most important pieces. ‘You were born for this’. Bastion orchestrated everything to the very last detail. Magneto had to be given a chance to be the face of Genosha, and most importantly the world had to see him truly believe in Genosha as a world nation among the rest, so than when he breaks, the world can see how dangerous mutants are, and how it’s a mistake to treat them as equals. It’s a vile and disgusting plan which makes Bastion an exceptional villain.

It’s why Cooper got concerned when Magneto announced he would be ruling Genosha in a partnership: while Magneto’s psychological profile was well documented and easy to break, him and Rogue posed a real problem to Bastion’s plan because they would have been able to provide a balanced form of government. They could have turned Genosha from an ideal to a functional nation. But he was stripped of all of that, of a peaceful future for mutantkind. Magneto knows each and every face and voice that was behind the attack on Genosha. But he is the only one. And, sculpted by Bastion, he is now a broken man with no consideration for consequences, only his and his people’s survival. Which, ironically, might be the final push to ensure that Bastion’s future comes to pass.