#worse in other ways

[millenniumdueled]

Wish of Final Effort: part 1

A great darkness begins to engulf the entire Earth, that band of shadow widening until the stars disappear. Far away from the battle, Duke and Rebecca watch anxiously as lightning flashes against that pitch black sky.

And under the ocean, the Great Leviathan roars.

"Do you hear it?" Dartz asks as the temple and the island it sits on shake. "With Seto's sacrifice, my god is almost ready."

"tell your dumb lizard to spit out my brother, you genocidal freak!!!" Mokuba snaps from his place beside his fallen brother, tears raining freely from his stormy grey eyes. "kill him, Yugi!!!!!"

Dartz rolls his mismatched eyes. "I think we've heard enough from the peanut gallery." As he speaks, an eye appears in the Seal behind him. The Seal pulsates, sending a shockwave of energy rippling through the room that knocks the spectators back, off their feet and to the floor.

Somehow, Mokuba manages to crawl back to his brother before he collapses, unconscious beside his lifeless form, one hand clinging to Seto's arm.

"There! No more distractions," Dartz laughs.

The Other Yugi gasps as he glances behind himself at his friends, crumpled on the floor beside each other. "What did you do to them?!" he demands. His hands shake.

"Don't worry, they're only sleeping. My god has no appetite for their weak and pathetic souls." Dartz's aloof demeanor changes, back to that bloodlust he radiated before, as he fixes his blue and gold eyes on his opponent. "Now it's only you and me, Nameless Pharaoh. Some quality time."

Other Yugi growls as he tears his focus away from his unconscious friends and back to the battle at hand.

Yugi and Joey stare back at him from their Mirror Knight forms, their eyes blank. Still, the Other Yugi can feel something in them, feel his Partner pleading silently with him to head the few words he had managed to utter against Dartz's control.

The Other Yugi takes a deep breath.

Thanks to Kaiba's Wish of Final Effort, he has a second chance, and 4300 Lifepoints. But across the field, Dartz is protected by an unbeatable serpent, the legendary Geh with infinite attack points.

He draws for his turn, plays Pot of Greed to draw two more cards. The first is Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, a familiar and well played monster. But the second makes his eyes widen. The nameless card given to him by the Dark Magician Girl the night he had freed Timaeus! Except now, it isn't blank. Now, the image of three knights, swords raised and crossed, appears to him clear as day, along with the name: Legend of Heart.

He can feel its power radiate inside his heart. His eyes meet his Partner's across the field, he swears he sees Yugi smile and he knows.

This is the card that will save the world.

He summons his Celtic Guardian, just to tribute the elf, as well as 1000 of his Lifepoints, to activate this new card's effect. All three legendary dragons, Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos, appear on the field at once. They let out a mighty roar as they all leap into the air, flying up, up, up into the shadows of the temple's high ceiling, until a burst of bright, white light blinds the Duelists far below.

"After ten millennia in captivity, our time has finally come again, Dartz!" booms a voice that echoes through the chamber.

When the Other Yugi's vision returns, he finds three knights, the spitting image of himself, Joey, and Kaiba, on his side of the field where the dragons had stood seconds before.

The knights stare Dartz down with 10,000 years of resentment in their eyes as they face their enemy. Each knight announces his name, Sir Timaeus, Sir Hermos, Sir Critias, and they raise their swords, crossing them overhead as the art on the card the Pharaoh had played.

"In the name of Atlantis, we have been reborn to defeat you," they announce as one. Their swords strike the ground, and the three layers of Dartz's Seal of Orichalcos are destroyed.

But despite that, Dartz still laughs. "How good to see you all again. But that's some confidence you've got! Have you forgotten our last battle?"

Timaeus raises his free hand to touch his right eye, scarred over. "How could I forget? We have a score to settle, here and now."

Dartz hardly seems shaken by the knight's threats.

But the Other Yugi hesitates. Even if these knights have some effect that can destroy the immortal Geh, those two mirror knights, wearing the souls of his Partner and best friend, stand in the way. Kaiba had destroyed Mai and Rex without hesitation. But how can the Pharaoh attack the people most precious to him...?

His eyes meet Yugi's across the field again and the seconds tick by.

The knight Timaeus looks back at the Duelist who summoned him. His perplexed expression softens as he realizes what's holding the Other Yugi back. "It's okay," he assures his Duelist. "Attacking the mirror knights won't hurt them. You'll only break the spell he holds over your friends' souls."

The Other Yugi searches Timaeus's single blue eye for the truth. Finally, he nods in understanding. His chest hurts, but he orders his knights to attack the ones that shield Dartz and his serpent.

Timaeus and Hermos ready their swords.

[mythtakens]

“these characters should be mentally healthy before they get together 😌” ummm no I actually think we should smash their mental illnesses together like clumps of play-doh and see what colors it makes

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

historical drama/sitcom where two gay best friends (woman and man) get lavender married--and proceed to spend the Fancy European Honeymoon their parents paid for acting as each other's wingman

[redysetdare]

Sometimes...characters being in a romantic relationship is worse.

[suomeen]

Shopping in Finland with Google Translate be like...

[valtsv]

VAL and Shrue dynamic that only exists in my mind moodboard

[brother-emperors]

something. about. the horror of being sent on an impossible (death) quest and obligations and hospitality politics. the trauma of not having a home, and then the trauma of being in a house that becomes actively hostile to you, one that would swallow you whole and spit out your bones if you step out of line. all of this is conditional, your existence continues to be something men want gone.

it's about going back as far as I can with the perseus narrative because there's always a version of a myth that exists behind the one that survives. the missing pieces are clearly defined, but the oldest recorded version of it isn't there! and there's probably something older before that!! but it's doomed to forever be an unfilled space, clearly defined by an outline of something that was there and continues to be there in it's absence.

and love. it's also about love. even when you had nothing, you had love.

on the opposite side of the spectrum, this is Not About Ovid Or Roman-Renaissance Reception, Depictions And Discourses On The Perseus Narrative.

edit: to add to the above, while it's not about Ovid, because I'm specifically trying to peel things back to the oldest version of this story, Ovid is fine. alterations on the Perseus myth that give more attention Medusa predate Ovid by several centuries. this comic is also not about those, either! there are many versions of this story from the ancient world. there is not one singular True or Better version, they're all saying something.

Perseus, Daniel Ogden

Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources in Translation, edited & translated by Stephen M Trzaskoma, R. Scott Smith, Stephen Brunet

[captainkirkk]

I'm a big fan of hurt/comfort tropes where the hurt is ongoing and escalating. Characters trying to cope with their situation and insisting that it's fine, they're fine, even as things get worse and worse and worse - especially if no one around them knows what they're going through.

Characters hiding their illness, even as they grow sicker and sicker. Characters trying to cope as their homelife becomes increasingly abusive or neglectful. Characters ignoring their injuries, only for them to become infected. Characters being stalked/ tormented by a villain and pretending that everything is fine, even as the villain continues escalating. Characters left homeless as winter approaches and their money dwindles.

I could go on. There's something very satisfying about seeing a character frantically trying to pretend like everything is okay until eventually they can't hide it anymore and get caught (and helped) by the people around them.

[gay-otlc]

Actually I think we should talk about how incredibly fucked up it is for sapphic women to say shit like "I'm no better than a straight man 😔" when attracted to a woman in a way that isn't 100% pure and wholesome, or act like men's attraction to women is inherently dirty, predatory, or objectifying.

[turtleblogatlast]

I love Raph and haven’t said that enough so to be more specific I love that Raph is a soft boy who loves bear plushies, a gross boy who eats an assortment of things that are definitely better left alone, a smart boy who is more than capable of taking down villains through planning and fortitude alike, a strong boy who is dedicated to training his muscles and fighting prowess, a teenage boy who loves his brothers but is more than happy to tease and roughhouse with them, an angry boy who sometimes lets his anger take a hold of him to cover the fear, a gentle boy who is generous with hugs and affirmations to those he loves, a capable boy who takes on more than should ever be expected of a teenager, a good boy who just wants to be a hero and slowly comes to realize the cost of that duty, a good boy who has no reservations about putting himself in the way of harm coming to his family, a good boy who’s a great brother and son and person and deserves only the best the world has to offer.

[inkskinned]

you were raised in comparison.

it wasn't always obvious (well. except for the times that it was), but you internalized it young. you had to eat what you didn't like, other people are going hungry, and you should be grateful. you had to suck it up and walk on the twisted ankle, it wasn't broken, you were just being a baby. you were never actually suffering, people obviously had it worse than you did.

you had a roof over your head - imagine! with the way you behaved, with how you talked back to your parents? you're lucky they didn't kick you out on your ass. they had friends who had to deal with that. hell, you have friends who had to deal with that. and how dare you imply your father isn't there for you - just because he doesn't ever actually talk to you and just because he's completely emotionally checked out of your life doesn't mean you're not fucking lucky. think about your cousins, who don't even get to speak to their dad. so what if yours has a mean streak; is aggressive and rude. at least you have a father to be rude to you.

you really think you're hurting? you were raised in a home! you had access to clean water! you never so much as came close to experiencing a real problem. sure, okay. you have this "mental illness" thing, but teenagers are always depressed, right. it's a phase, you'll move on with your life.

what do you mean you feel burnt out at work. what do you mean you mean you never "formed healthy coping mechanisms?" we raised you better than that. you were supposed to just shoulder through things. to hold yourself to high expectations. "burning out" is for people with real jobs and real stress. burnout is for people who have sick kids and people who have high-paying jobs and people who are actually experiencing something difficult. recently you almost cried because you couldn't find your fucking car keys. you just have lost your sense of gratitude, and honestly, we're kind of hurt. we tell you we love you, isn't that enough? if you want us to stick around, you need to be better about proving it. you need to shut up about how your mental health is ruined.

it could be worse! what if you were actually experiencing executive dysfunction. if you were really actually sick, would you even be able to look at things on the internet about it? you just spend too much time on webMD. you just like to freak yourself out and feel like you belong to something. you just like playing the victim. this is always how you have been - you've always been so fucking dramatic. you have no idea how good you have it - you're too fucking sensitive.

you were like, maybe too good of a kid. unwilling to make a real fuss. and the whole time - the little points, the little validations - they went unnoticed. it isn't that you were looking for love, specifically - more like you'd just wanted any one person to actually listen. that was all you'd really need. you just needed to be witnessed. it wasn't that you couldn't withstand the burden, but you did want to know that anyone was watching. these days, you are so accustomed to the idea of comparison - you don't even think you belong in your own communities. someone always fits better than you do. you're always the outlier. they made these places safe, and then you go in, and you are just not... quite the same way that would actually-fit.

you watch the little white ocean of your numbness lap at your ankles. the tide has been coming in for a while, you need to do something about it. what you want to do is take a nap. what you want to do is develop some kind of time machine - it's not like you want your life to stop, not completely, but it would really nice if you could just get everything to freeze, just for a little while, just until you're finished resting. but at least you're not the worst you've been. at least you have anything. you're so fucking lucky. do you have any concept of the amount of global suffering?

a little ant dies at the side of your kitchen sink. you look at its strange chitinous body and think - if you could just somehow convince yourself it is enough, it will finally be enough and you can be happy. no changes will have to be made. you just need to remember what you could lose. what is still precious to you.

you can't stop staring at the ant. you could be an ant instead of a person, that is how lucky you are. it's just - you didn't know the name of the ant, did you. it's just - ants spend their whole life working, and never complain. never pull the car over to weep.

it's just - when it died, it curled up into a tight little ball.

something kind of uncomfortable: you do that when you sleep.

[bunnieswithknives]

Dev this is serious stop beatboxing.

[scarlettohairdye]

PSA to printed zine makers

As a 37 year old who's been running a sole proprietorship for the last 10+ years, I just want everyone who is planning to run a fandom project that involves accepting money for printing & shipping costs to know that you're actually running a small business and you need to plan for taxes. It doesn't matter if you don't make any profit: that is business income and the IRS will see it as such if you get audited.

If you only take enough money in to cover the cost of printing & shipping then you can write that off as a business expense and probably not pay taxes on it, But in order for that to fly you actually have to do business accounting, especially if you're doing it at scale. Like, you can probably skate by without reporting a $500 project; I absolutely would not fucking risk it with a $5000 project.

Back when I was producing shows there were years when I was where I made $20k in ticket sales only to turn around and immediately pay $18k to my performers. I only made $2k for myself, but I had to report the entire $20k, because it was ALL INCOME. (I only paid taxes on the $2000, because that's how writing off expenses works!)

Yeah this is boring grownup shit and I'm getting my boring grownup fingers all over your fun fandom, but boring grownups doing boring grownup things are the reason fandom spaces exist at all (paying for servers is deeply boring), and I'm way more fun than an audit

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

Of the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept 11 attacks:

15 were from Saudi Arabia (a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

2 were from the United Arab Emirates (also a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

1 was from Egypt, 1 from Lebanon.

None of the hijackers were from Iraq.

None of the Sept 11 hijackers were Iraqi.

None of the 9/11 hijackers were from Iraq.

[thehealingsystem]

if you ever wonder why I don't interact with the traumagenic community as a traumagenic system this is why

[chyarui]

I’ve been starving for quinobi content lately, so I made my own 🧡💛💙 (still a wip)