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feroluce · 1 month

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So I spoke somewhat about my thoughts on Emanator Sampo here, but I never really thought of it from a design point of view or what kind of powers he would have until just recently. But I actually kind of love leaning into it from a "stage hand" perspective?

Because like. Aha's body in THEIR official art is completely black, giving attention to all the fun brightly colored things around THEM. And that's so fitting for Sampo! He usually prefers to be a side character. He likes to act from the shadows. His is a much more subtle hand.

So I wonder if as an Emanator, a lot of his clothes are actually very dark? Not necessarily plain, still extravagant and needlessly detailed in things like cut and quality with lots of different fabrics and textures and ornamentation, but dark. Or maybe even his skin itself becomes blackened further down his body; his hands in particular are dark, as a sort of sleight of hand reference.

The motif of a lot of straps wrapped around him like in his canon design is still present, but they're all loose and flowing off of him like paper streamers now instead of restraining him or holding him together. He is no longer contained! Or maybe they're still a bit more rigid/heavy, but just draped more like red stage curtains!

And this is like. Fully self-indulgent, but I love inhuman designs, and there's nothing in canon to say I can't do this, so screw it! Go for broke!! Maybe it's not visible to normal people, but Sampo having a second set of arms would be really cool, as further sleight of hand reference. One set is almost normal looking, but his hands are a bright, attention-drawing white, and the other is dark, set almost in the shadows of the first arms, to act less noticeably.

He also has something of a broken heart design to him in canon (the front of his black shirt with its jagged shape down the middle; his coat looks like a full heart shape in the back), and I actually like him keeping that element as an Emanator, because I think it suits him. Sampo says his taste in aesthetics and views on Elation involve human dignity,

and the story he helps create in Belobog involves the long and winding road of resistance and survival and eventual triumph in the face of some very adverse, oppressing odds. (I'm pretty sure I heard he once called Wildfire "artless" though, plus the man acts like he thinks Shame is some kind of dessert, so like ndkdjzjskkd) But the point being!!

I think Sampo is someone who can appreciate heartbreak and angst and tragedy in a story, because it makes the victory at the end all the sweeter. And this would be another thing he shares with Aha, because I think THEY did bless the Mourning Actors partly just to be a little shit, but also because Aha does recognize tragedy as part of THEIR Path, too, and you can see it in some of the game. So a broken heart motif can still suit him, and I like him having elements of both comedy and tragedy. Like his clothing having a happy sun/sad moon (like the moon in Aha's art) or him having both of the traditional comedy/tragedy masks in his design.

And as Emanator, Sampo can maybe play with the stage settings environment, too. Like lights sometimes behave strangely around him, appearing blindingly bright to someone or dramatically dark. Sampo wills it and suddenly there seems to be a metaphorical spotlight right where he wants everyone to look. And when he doesn't want to be noticed, his face seems to be cast in shadow, he seemingly just fades into the background, no one notices or recognizes him and he sneaks away easily. He can create smoke or fog literally out of thin air without his bombs now, too, the air will just suddenly thicken until his stage is obscured, and Sampo can set the scene as he pleases or disappear without a trace.

And in line with being a stage hand, Sampo can direct attention like no other. He was already extremely good at this as a normal mortal, and becoming an Emanator only took it up to 11, past human limits. Sampo points, and all present feel compelled to follow his fingertip. He looks away, and they all follow his gaze. He can even affect the mood of an audience; he can influence everyone to be calm and placid or he can whip them into a feverish frenzy. Sometimes a crowd will start to become unsettled, agitation stirring until it boils over, until it incites a full on violent mob.

And in the middle of all that chaos will stand one perfectly calm figure, face cast in shadow, until they quietly slip away out of sight.

#sampo koski #hsr sampo #emanator sampo #hsr sampo koski #honkai star rail #hsr #they were talking about Emanator Sampo designs in the Sampard Nation server one night and somehow THAT was what got my mind going fjkdaljfk #there was also talk of him making monsters explode in confetti or making their heads pop off like a jack-in-the-box (my contribution hehe)#which is hilarious but just wasn't super relevant here jfklasdj #(I miss bouncing around ideas like that...if anyone knows another sampard server or even just a sampo-dedicated one hit me up!)#(i would love to join and would probably even have friends to bring!!)#but anyway yes I love Emanator Sampo being stage hand themed haha it's very fun with him #I have a lot of screenshots so I wanna try to use them for things like this more!#I think its in SU where it says Aha isn't as powerful an aeon as some of the others like Qlipoth or Lan or Nanook #so I like Sampo's powers being less direct and not just pure destructive power like a lot of the Destruction Emanators #it lets you get real creative with it <3 #maybe next I'll bring over my thoughts on his mask design? Ooh but I wanna talk about Geppie too...#Geppie protecting his soldiers from Cocolia or the actions he could have taken or his very sweet relationship with Bronya-#-or him being inspired by Serval or his HILARIOUS relationship with Pela...#Decisions decisions...

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mswyrr · 6 months

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I love the comparisons and contrasts between Everlark and Snowbaird (edit: I wrote a meta here discussing some of what I see there and Rachel has drawn the comparison too) because there is no "safe" purely "wholesome" love. It doesn't exist.

I genuinely hate that fandom thinks there's such a thing as a pure ship. Or that we can or should take art and cut it into neat little pieces, use stories to "teach girls" (where girls are presumed to be the most ignorant and worthless of creatures, incapable of the full experience of what it means to be human, but also the only ones responsible for anything bad that happens, creatures so responsible that all tragedies that befall them are their own fault, their deepest shame) how to make love safe. It's a lie. Loving is about people, and people are never pure. Everything good we give each other is hard won with courage in the face of fear.

It is inherently dangerous because humans are. And if you're lucky, you give yourself to someone who meets that trust and courage with their own. And if you're not lucky, it hurts. And there's no way to control it. There's no way to be smart enough or pure enough or notice the right "red flags" (irl abusers are good at hiding and perfectly lovely people can become ill or addicted or just *change* on you). You can be lucky for a time and someone can still change.

Because you cannot control someone else, just love them.

And--here is the great part--it was that very lack of control that drove Coriolanus to throw love away! He was so afraid of what an inherently terrifying thing it is, how it is giving yourself away without guarantees, that he brought that fear down on them. He became the traitor he was so terrified that Lucy Gray might be. He destroyed something infinitely precious because he couldn't live with what a sublime wonder and terror it is to give yourself away with open hands. Love is never pure. It is so much better than that. It is...

I write all kinds of ships and like all kinds of love stories and see no contradiction because even the happiest ones are that too. I am endlessly frustrated by the way Gothic romance and tragic romance and other romances that explore the terror and darker side of that are pathologized because it makes the more joyful, happy endings dishonest. Love is risk, touching the sublime, allowing yourself to be remade.

Every joy we find in life--every single one, not just in romance, but anywhere--is like making love in the lap of death. In the midst of life we are in death; in the midst of death we are in life. The only thing worse than the fear of giving yourself away (in all the ways we can seek intimacy, not only romance) is the truest death, the death of never opening yourself up to begin with, never letting yourself be changed and moved and remade by another. And if we need an object lesson in that, here we've got Coriolanus Snow!

He's not an object lesson in "bad boyfriends." Lucy Gray made good choices from her pov! (I'm writing a separate meta on this). Nothing that happened was her fault! She is not an object lesson, she's a brave, loving girl who experienced a tragedy. She was betrayed. She's a character of the kind of folk ballads Collins was drawing on, which are actually more honest about people and more compassionate toward women who experience tragedy and loss than a rigidly US-centric, individualist, inherently victim blaming, just world fallacy view of control and "teaching girls good lessons." You can drain all the pleasure and joy out of life in the effort to control things and keep someone from being able to hurt you and still not really be safe, just be dead inside - like Coriolanus did.

The only way to truly possess someone is to destroy them and then you don't actually possess them at all! They're gone. The person you wanted to keep you've driven away. And the only way to truly be safe and in control is to kill your own heart. So what are you even protecting?

There is no shame in being Lucy Gray. The shame is in letting fear and the need for control own us like Coriolanus.

As someone who feels torn often in fandom because I ship both love stories that get categorized as "wholesome" and "problematic," the fact that Collins wrote both one of my favorite ships ever that gets categorized (and, I think, often massively simplified) into "wholesome" AND another "problematic" one that IMO is a gorgeous object lesson in why the whole idea of this binary is bullshit--and why love stories can and should explore the terror of being alive and living as well as the joy and genres like Gothic and tragedy are a beautiful part of the tapestry of narratives exploring love and living as a human in fiction--and we should very much NOT be Coriolanus?

I love her. I want to kiss her hand.

#suzanne collins #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #snowbaird #thg meta #my meta

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wonderinc-sonic · 8 months

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I know Espilver week is half over, but the first theme of absence got me thinking about why I find this ship compelling, and one of the few I would actually be happy to see happen in canon. Specifically, it's loneliness.

Where they came from:

Aside from being an uncalled for and fantastically blunt burn from Blaze that I love, I think it's fun that this is an insight that 06 felt to give us into Silver's character. We wouldn't have known this if she didn't idly wonder it - we definitely didn't know Silver well enough to assume. Love you, Blaze.

BUT my thought is there's a lot of characters in this series for whom a core lesson they are learning is accepting others into their lives. Silver is too, to an extent. But he's also inherently needy, and we are told as much by his closest and only friend. Silver's got a particularly raw deal by literally being satellite to everyone. I'm probably not alone in finding that makes me want to solve his loneliness more.

Espio has not (in my knowledge - being not acquainted with the og comics) been through any major character development that has transformed him, as he is presented as quite a mature (comparatively) character, but in my opinion he also has a core dissonance between being a loner and part of a team. He has a fighting style that lends itself to solo heroism, and yet we always see him in a team, and his personality is what makes it work. I like to interpret this as someone who used to be alone and has been through the journey that Silver needs to find his place in a group. Except Silver can't.

Wheras now:

Pulling out two screenshots that sorta give the vibe I'm looking for, but I think in present they're both actually and actively trying to find and be with companions/ allies. Silver's latest arc shows us he's still someone looking for people to guide and ground him in the past. Espio is the most stable and grounded guy you can imagine in the Sonic cast tbh, and although he's pretty self confident, he's never been ashamed to rely on his trusted friends. If anything, he has trouble trusting outside of his team, although we see him try and put aside his misgivings about others judgements and choices.

There's a lot of characters that have or can have chemistry, but this is one of the few pairings - if not the only pairing - where I actually think being in a relationship develops and furthers both characters growth. Which is very appealing to me.

Also, there's very few characters in canon that I actually think would be happy in a relationship in the current time, at current ages. Not that I think relationships all have to make sense, but narratively speaking, I like it for both of them as well as generally just thinking they're cute. Especially because the tragedy bug bit me, and their setting means they're stuck with the most isolating LDR ever ❤️

That's all, ty for coming to my tedtalk

#espio the chameleon #silver the hedgehog #espilver #silvespio #espilver week 2023 #espilver week #espilverweek2023 #wonderincs

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wayfinder · 8 months

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hello my fellow madoka enjoyers, i haven't posted about this show in a good few years but the trailer for the new film has me feeling delusional so i'm here to share some thoughts: i think this "false homura" is walpurgisnacht. (read more for theory crafting).

so the "homura is actually walpurgisnacht" idea has been floating around since the original season was airing -- rebellion discredited it quite a bit! the very existence of homulily makes things feels muddled. but hear me out, because this trailer tosses us a lot of bones (nevermind the literal title involving her name). first thing's first, we have two of homura in this trailer, and in the poster:

homura facing the viewer and smiling is who i'm going to call "false homura", and the one with her back to us is what i assume to be "normal" homura. technically homucifer. madoka is seemingly just madoka in the background, but interestingly, she is wearing her outfit from the concept film! i'll come back to this later because it's relevant; let's talk about false homu.

immediately we're greeted with this behind her, which is the tarot card 'XVIII' -- the moon. "the moon is a card of illusion and deception, and therefore often suggests a time when something is not as it appears to be." deception, fear, hidden things & confusion.

this outfit bares a lot of resemblence to walpurgisnacht. the large, ruffled dress. the mid section. the long bell sleeves with white at the ends... it's not subtle. the silhoutte is very apparent, even more so during this shot later:

^ worth noting that false homura's umbrella has the same, ruffled material as well. and her uniform is different! it seems to be an amalgamation of other school uniforms we see in the show.

walpurgisnacht is described as "the stage-constructing witch"...

... "it's nature is helplessness. it symbolizes the fool who continuously spins in circles. the witch's mysteries have been handed down through the course of history; its appellation is "walpurgisnacht." it will continue to rotate aimlessly throughout the world until it completely changes the whole of this age into a drama."

other descriptions of walpurgisnacht talk a lot about this "stage play", and how it is the ultimate end goal:

"she will flood the earth with magic, and take all of humankind into her play. a moving stage construction. if everything is a play, no unhappy things will exist. it may be a tragedy, but it'll all be part of the script. the play stops on walpurgisnacht, and the earth does not turn even once more. the story will not change. tomorrow, and the day after, is the night of walpurgis."

reading this with a rebellion pov is interesting -- after all, homura did exactly this. she rewrote the world, and everything is "happy" now for madoka, so she thinks. the earth does not turn even once more.

interesting that she drops this line at the end of this new trailer:

i also want to point out that the clara dolls we see in the trailer are not homura's usual clara dolls:

these designs are different & match none of the existing clara dolls. they're also missing the blue eyes they had in rebellion. the lower one in this image seems to have a tail of sorts? maybe a salamander tail..?

there was, however, one missing clara doll in rebellion... the 15th, known as "love".

i wonder if love will show up in this movie... (or if it's already here).

taking a small detour from false homura, there's another character in this trailer that's unaccounted for, and that's this girl who seems to be a mix of madoka and homura:

the bow homura uses at the end of the original show.

madoka's hair ribbons and back bow.

homura's skirt and diamond designs.

madoka's heels and puff sleeves.

her entire design is just. them. even the hair color is what you get when you mix madoka and homura's... so who is she? i keep thinking back to how walpurgisnacht is described as an "amalgamation" of other witches & magical girls... hm hm.

when madoka was having it's initial run, one of the series' designers, inucurry, said that "walpurgisnacht and kriemhild gretchen (madoka's witch) are meant to have pairing sillhouettes." when placed together, they form an hourglass -- or a sand timer. food for thought.

& back to the concept film real quick, because i said i'd mention: though it lacks any context, in the film, madoka is talking to some "fairies":

though we're never told what these fairies are, they reminded me a lot of walpurgisnacht's familiars:

i have to wonder if maybe these familiars and the clara dolls have any similarities...

anyways, there's a lot to unpack! lots to think about! it's very clear that walpurgisnacht and homura are linked, but to what extend we'll have to wait and see... though, one last thing about false homura: she is smiling every time we see her.

you wanna know who else is always smiling?

#puella magi madoka magica #walpurgisnacht rising #pmmm #madoka #well mutuals you may be thinking “ame never posts on this blog”#and to that i'm like “yea i don't” but if i didn't get this out i was going to combust. ten years later and we're back baby

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variousqueerthings · 7 months

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watching a thing that's going through why someone enjoys doctor who, and it's gone on a little tangent about why romance on doctor who doesn't work (in their opinion, and in mine), and how it made s2 and s7b the creator's least favourite -- and while I would need to rewatch s7b to remember that, I do think that the-doctor-and-rose at least doesn't have to be read as romantic if one doesn't want to

which isn't to say it wasn't intended as such, and also that it was somewhat based in dtennant and billie piper and jenna coleman and (to some) matt smith being hot (sorry matt smith, he looks like a teenage boy, the dichotomy is not hot or ugly, it's does-or-does-not-look-like-a-teenager), which is kind of *sigh yeah okay you're appealing to the people who think people are hot so they wanted a bit of that sexy sexy romance (I guess)*

however I don't think that things that are romance-coded need to be engaged with on that level, as someone who's had to make that translation many many times, and I think especially with the doctor-as-character, including and especially ten when one reads ten as being projected onto, it's actually incredibly fun not to/not even really a translation so much as a textually supported read

what's especially good about the doctor and rose dynamic is specifically that the doctor never gives rose the exact thing she's looking for, and that part of the doctor's heartbreak is that he can't -- take that as a "because I'm immortal and you're not," if you want (and that's also a textually supported read), but it's also very very easily read as "because what you want and what I can give is not compatible so that I will always end up letting you down like I do everyone, and I would rather you be happy than assert what I might want, and in the end everyone leaves for one reason or another"

which... the doctor basically says to wilf. they leave. they find someone else and fall in love. they forget. they break the doctor's heart. not just rose, but everyone. rose is simply the first to remind the doctor of this fact after bringing him back after a massive traumatic event

and I think it elevates s2, which I've now seen a couple of people go "oh because of the romance it's one of my least favourite seasons," which is so fascinating to me, because s2 isn't at all about a romance through my eyes. it is for rose, because she's in love with the doctor, romantically, and that's part of her tragedy, as a mortal, as someone who's in love with her doctor and doesn't want that doctor to go or to change or to... be alien, perhaps (now I do reach, but it's open to reaching) -- and who is growing up throughout, as the first person one sees grow up in nu!who

and the doctor is constantly struggling for words: tell rose... oh she knows. and i suppose. if it's my last chance to say it. rose tyler...

rose tyler essentially brought the doctor back, made the doctor fall in love with the universe again, and brought back a childlike wonder that the doctor had had before the timewar, and how do you encompass that into simple human concepts of "romantic" or "platonic" and know

that this person is romantically in love with you in a very human way

that there is an end-point to this, which is something this person will never fully grasp until it's happened (or that person is dead)

that you do not age. that you change. that you are aliene

that you are fundamentally, always, left on your own in the end

that you have put all of your sense of your new self onto this person and it will eventually fuck everything up

so yeah, there's some heavy-duty emotional subtext in s2, but because of the deliberate lack of clarity given to that subtext, it's very very easy to take it in various kinds of directions. of course rose and the doctor are Like That in s2, they're living a little fairytale life that's about to fall to pieces (something the doctor knows, but won't admit, and rose doesn't fully understand or believe)

when rose asks the doctor how long they'll travel and the doctor says "forever," it's absolutely 100% a lie, and that is... very tragic... thinking back to their first scenes together, which were incredibly simply sweet, and you know it's stretching thinner and thinner in ways I don't think you see with any other companion

the thing is I do personally think that rose as the romantic arc makes rose less interesting than she is, and that's a flaw in the show, but I think giving hers and the doctor's run a slightly different eye, that is absolutely supported by the canon, also opens up all of her other traits, that make her so iconic -- only seeing rose through the lens of romance does her a disservice, there is a bunch more going on there in s2...

but like yeah, I get that there was some david tennant so-called sex appeal, which, yeah whatever, and billie piper was a former famous popstar, and people also do ship them romantically (and that's fine), but I think to focus on that aspect in order to say why rose isn't appealing kind of ignores everything else she is and represents on the show for something you can just read in another way easily and more interestingly and supported by the text

like people will throw around "asexual doctor" but I don't think they know enough about aromanticism (which is what they really mean) to understand how to read that in a text. deeply symbiotic relationships can be aromantic, can be platonic, and can be one-sided or messed up or or...

embrace the symbiosis of the doctor and rose in s2 that is inherently also kind of fucked up and doomed because of their deliberate blinkered perspective of the future even after the sarah-jane episode and the madame du pompadour episode which are screaming at them that things are ending soon!!! It's compelling stuff. it's not necessary to read it as romantic

give rose tyler her due as the ghost that haunts the narrative

#rose tyler #the doctor #doctor who #this is rambly and unedited eyyyy

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the-forest-library · 1 year

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Twenty Books Challenge

Hypothetically, you are only able to keep 20 of your books. Only one book per author/series. So what books are you keeping?

I was tagged by @theinquisitxor and @godzilla-reads - thank you for subjecting me to this torture. 😅

They're all favorites and some have lots of sentimental value (additional thoughts included below).

Little Women (I have several copies of this book, but I selected this lovely edition because it's part of the Puffin in Bloom series)

The Wee Free Men (representing Pratchett and gets me both Tiffany Aching and Granny Weatherwax - my favorite Pratchett leads)

The Hero and the Crown (representing Robin McKinley - and it would be impossible for me to pick a favorite McKinley - so I went with this one because it's one of my all-time favorite covers)

Carry On (one of my most-adored copies of one of my most-adored books - it's signed and dedicated with a Wham reference (!) - and is immensely re-readable)

The Naming (I could get lost in the world of Pellinor forever - it had me at talking horses and all of the descriptions of food)

Get a Life, Chloe Brown (representing Talia Hibbert, I could re-read it forever and feel so seen with the disability rep)

Red, White, & Royal Blue (One of the only books I've re-read multiple times and always puts me in the best mood)

In Other Lands (Original and fun, with characters that have stuck with me)

The Left Hand of Darkness (I have prettier copies, but this is the edition I read and annotated in high school)

Three Tragedies: Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear (Got this edition at a Scholastic book fair and used it in high school and college - it's annotated and falling apart, but holds lots of memories)

Lolita (Stunning prose and includes one of my all-time favorite quotes)

Demian (I read this book in high school with one of my best friends, and this is the edition that she gifted me, which includes a lovely note from her)

The English Patient (A wonderful friend got this gorgeous edition signed and dedicated for me)

Jane Eyre (Jane and Rochester live rent free in my soul forever, and I love the cover on this one)

The Time Traveler's Wife (This book was so formative and is why I want to time travel solely so I can attend concerts)

Possession (Worth keeping it for the epilogue alone, but also contains one of my favorite quotes)

Into Thin Air (Started my love affair with non-fiction)

The Wind in the Willows (A gorgeously illustrated edition)

Anne of Green Gables (I was tempted to pick The Blue Castle for my Montgomery representation, but had to stick with AOGG for Matthew Cuthbert, and this edition because it's part of the Puffin + Pantone series)

Black Beauty (I read it just a few year years ago, and it started my adult horse girl phase)

Tagging (no pressure, just fun!): @lizziethereader, @aliteraryprincess, @brightbeautifulthings, @freckles-and-books, @thereadingchallengechallenge, @literarymagpie, @mountainmaven, and anyone else that would like to do it!

#twenty books challenge #books #booklr #bookish #reading #bibliophile

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welcometothejianghu · 10 months

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Hey, you! You should watch Hikaru no Go!

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: Hikaru no Go/Qi Hun/棋魂.

Based on the manga of the same name, this drama is the Chinese live-action adaptation of a story about a boy who plays Go, the spirit only he can see who teaches him how to play Go, and all the friends and enemies he meets along his journey to become a good Go player.

...Wait, no, come back. I swear it's more interesting than that makes it sound.

What it is, is a character-driven tale of a charming young boy who, among a bunch of weird and wonderful people who love him, grows up to be a charming young man.

(You see how his shirt says SWEETIE CUTIE? That is because he is a sweetie cutie.)

It's a sports manga, so you've got Training Montages and The Big Game and all sorts of tense moments like that. But there's also lots of fun, gentle plotlines that are equal parts tearjerking and heartwarming. It is incredibly written, act, and produced, and I can't believe that it's not more popular, because it's so good.

Here are five reasons you should watch it:

1: GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

Word of Honor is merely the second gayest thing I have ever seen a c-drama do. Hikaru no Go is gayer by an order of magnitude.

I think the way they got it past censorship was by saying, oh no, this isn't gay, it's just a sports rivalry! But come on, what do you mean sports rivalries aren't gay, have you seen how all those Canadian and US hockey players keep marrying one another? This is that. This is the tale of two boys who've been in love since they were seven figuring out that they've been in love since they were seven.

(And speaking of seven-year-olds, the kid casting is amazing.)

I mean:

This is an actual still from the show.

So is this.

These are not taken out of context. The context would make them gayer. That's how gay they are for each other.

But you know what the best part is? They're not the only pairing. And I don't just mean this like, oh, here's two other cute boys, you can imagine the times they kiss -- I mean, the show itself has its own ships! Ships you wouldn't expect! Intergenerational gay Go solidarity!

Now here's the catch: You have to wait for it. But oh boy, the payoff had us clutching our heads and screaming as quietly as we could because it was after midnight and we were losing our minds.

That last episode!! You have to see it to believe it!!!

2: EMOTIONS!

Bring the tissues. There are parts where it was kinda hard for me to watch because I was sobbing.

Because it's a sports manga, there are lots of triumphs and tragedies. Not everybody can make it to The Big Game. Not everybody gets to live out their dreams. Sometimes you try your hardest and it's not good enough. Sometimes you play your best and you still lose. Some people have to give up on what they love. Some people who were there with us at the beginning don't get to make it with us to the end.

What really makes it is that the show sits with its emotions. Events will affect people's emotional states for multiple episodes to follow. People who have sadness don't just snap out of it. Loving someone doesn't automatically fix them. Shit's hard!

Of course, this contrast makes the triumphs even more wonderful. I will tell you that the show has a happy ending, but not always the ending you would expect would have been their happy ending. It is overall an incredibly uplifting show. You'll need tissues for that, too.

3: (Nearly) Everything Is Pretty Dang Normal

Part of what I mean by that is that while a lot of the actors are real pretty, they're also done up in ways where, like, if you met this person on the street, you would think, this person is pretty! and not, what the hell fancy-ass magazine cover did you just step off of?

Look at these normal goobers:

There are two exceptions to this. The first is Chu Ying, because he is a ghost energy being from the distant past, and ghosts energy beings from the distant past get astonishing eyeliner.

The second is Fang Xu, because his actor, Han Mubo, is an actual idol. Congratulations on your face, sir.

However, I also mean that the story is delightfully mundane. Sure, there's that one supernatural element to it, but everything else is just a regular story about regular people who have regular human problems. There are characters who disappoint their parents and mentors, struggle to pay their bills, try to balance school and extracurricular activities, have crushes, argue with teachers, flake on responsibilties, get lost in the woods, and do some pretty normal human things. Nobody's avenging anyone or trying to slay anything. It's just people being people.

It's even a bit of a period piece -- the show starts out in 1997, then jumps forward to the late '00s, so everything's just charmingly slightly outdated. Damn, I love everybody's flip phones.

4: Actually Good Television

Okay, if you like c-dramas, you know they can be ... janky. Episodes sometimes end practically in the middle of sentences. CG leaves much to be desired. Obvious cuts and last-minute overdubbing really stand out. You can tell where the censorship mandates got in there and started mucking around with things. That kind of jank.

This show feels different. It feels like someone thought out each episode, start to finish, and then created each piece to fit that vision. Every episode even has a title and beautiful title card. They start and end in dramatically logical places. The cinematography isn't anything particularly artful or experimental, but it's solid and clean and lovely. (And if you're sick of shows so dark you can't see them, you've got no worries here.)

The CG in the show is unobtrusive, and most of it is spent making Chu Ying subtly transparent.

There are a bunch of secondary characters, but to me that never felt overwhelming. Most of them are interesting, three-dimensional characters, no matter how short their screen time is. And while there definitely could have been more female characters, the show itself is pretty open about how sexism in the Go world means that it's mostly a boys' club -- and the ladies that are there are great.

In short, this is a show you can show to people who don't have c-drama brain and thus are less inclined to overlook some of the more cringeworthy aspects of their productions. I bet that your Average American Television Enjoyer Who Can Handle Subtitles would have no trouble getting into the groove of it, which I imagine could be very useful for those of you who have people you'd like to watch c-dramas with, except you don't feel like stopping every five minutes to apologize for one thing or another.

5: Better Than The Source Material?

This is the point where I have to admit that I myself have never read the manga or seen the anime. I came into this with only the vaguest familiarity with the source material. I can only tell you that the live-action drama is good; I can't swear that it's better.

However, @jianghootinandhollerin can speak to this comparison more authoritatively than I:

When I was 20, Hikaru no Go (manga) was my favorite thing, the primary obsession, the source of multiple livejournal themes, custom winamp skins, and a fanfic where Hikaru got a go stone stuck up his nose. Because of this deep love in my history, I was dubious about a live action version and the changes it made, but hey, turns out, those changes were exactly what the 20 years older version of me needed. This version of the story benefits so much from having the full, completed story to work from from the outset. The manga didn't know where it was ending when it started, but this show got to, and the story gets to be richer and the characters' stories get to be deeper thanks to that. And also, very importantly: everyone is older and much, much gayer.

Look, I understand if "but it's not the original manga/anime" is a dealbreaker for you. There are adaptations of things I can't watch because no matter how good the end product may be, I'm going to hold it against it that it's not the source I'd rather be seeing, and that's not a fair standard. That's fine. It happens.

But if you can, give this a go (pun unintended). It does not replace the original thing; it is a different take on the same idea. And yeah, it's one that really speaks to me here, on the other side of forty as I am. Maybe I would have missed it at twenty, but the person I am now really respects its attitude that while Being The Best is all well and good, it is not the only thing, and it is absolutely not more important than being yourself and doing what you love with the people you love. Sometimes you peak and can't advance anymore, so you become a teacher, and you know what, that's better than okay, that's actually pretty great. (Do I overidentify with Bai Chuan? Listen: maybe.)

Have I convinced you to watch it yet?

You can watch it on iQiyi, or you can watch it on iQiyi's YouTube channel. I hope you love it as much as I do.

#hikaru no go #qi hun #棋魂 #rec post #i made this #because I love these go boys #meta

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naeldeus · 3 months

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jjk 251

Megumi is a background character to his own tragedy

Chapter 251 dropped, and a certain character is not coming out unscathed. Our cast is trying to seperate Sukuna and Megumi, and after a few tries, Yuuji finally reaches Megumi. But Megumi denies Yuuji's help, having lost the will to live, allowing Sukuna to launch a counter-attack once more. For this, Megumi is called a bum and slandered all over the internet. Yuuji and Megumi's suffering is pitted against each other by the fandom. Part of it is memes, sure, but it's clearly more than that.

Realistically, Megumi and Yuuji are going through very similar events. Megumi lost his sister and teacher while under Sukuna's possession. Yuuji lost his friend, his mentor right in front of him in the span of minutes. Sukuna killed an untold amount of people in their bodies. Both went fetal after it happened. So why is the response so contrasting?

Yuuji's trauma in Shibuya is front, right, and center. His relationships were developed on-page, the reader is just as shocked by the loss of his loved ones, we're grieving right along with him.

Meanwhile, the events Megumi goes through aren't given the same care. Ever since he got fed the Finger Special, at no point does the narrative slow down so the reader can digest what's happening. Megumi's plot and struggles gets glossed over, skipped, or is a complete tonal disconnect to what's actually happening.

Tsumiki wakes up: the only on-page interaction is Megumi telling Tsumiki to go back to sleep, even though she woke up from a nearly two-year coma. She doesn't show up the entire Culling Games arc even though Megumi's participation was to save his sister

Tsumiki turns out to be an incarnated sorcerer: Megumi's reaction to his sister being dead and possessed is practically non-existent because Sukuna takes over Megumi right after

Tsumiki gets killed by Megumi's own technique: This is the worst one, imho. Yorozu is completely in control during this fight, we learn nothing about Tsumiki. There is almost no acknowledgment on how horrifying this situation really is. The narrative focuses more on Sukuna trying to kill Yorozu, creating this disconnect where Tsumiki is seemingly already dead but she has to die again for Megumi's angst. Does it really matter that Tsumiki's body needs to be killed by the 10 Shadows? Isn't the fact that Megumi will forever remember her dying by his own hand not enough? There is accidental pseudo-incest in this arc and it's completely unacknowledged. The tone is just all over the place.

Megumi takes the damage of 5 Domain Expansions: Is he brain dead? Was his soul damaged? Is he fine? What are birds? We just don't know

Gojo, Megumi's guardian, gets killed while possessed: Megumi and Gojo's relationship is a hotly debated topic amongst fans. Is Gojo Megumi's father figure? Are they even close? Did Gojo hold back from trying to kill Megumi or did he think Megumi was a lost cause? Is Megumi even aware of what's going on?

And the ultimate kicker to all of this: Megumi has shown up for a handful of panels for most of the events described. His story is absolutely horrifying and would cripple any man, but it's all off-screened or shrouded in vagueness.

But to large parts of the fandom none of that matters. If Megumi's friends put aside all their pain, why can't Megumi? Setting aside that Yuuji very definitely did not when it was him, I believe this is a direct consequence of the lack of character work. For months now, character after character dies, and no one reacts to it. Gojo, the biggest hope to most of the current cast, died and the story moves on to the next contender in the same chapter he kicks it. They all just jump into the fight like they're swapping party members in an RPG. It's no wonder Megumi gets disrespected for being the one guy who breaks down to the shit he goes through like a real human being. Why should the fandom care when the story itself does the same thing?

There's a lot of parellels Gege could have drawn between Yuuji and Megumi, and while that might still happen, the way Megumi has been treated as a plot device makes the entire experience incredibly unsatisfying.

#jjk #jjk spoilers #jjk 251 #i posted this on reddit but i also want it here cause this blog is a collection of my thoughts #though i haven't seen the megumi slander on tumblr as much #so it's not as applicable to this platform per se #t

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dreamcaught · 5 months

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So okay, I haven't seen the commentary about Fourteen returning to Fifteen once he's processed his trauma to be "reabsorbed" or whatever, but if that's how it's gonna go, then yeah. Okay, I can see why they did this.

Doctor Who has been such a fucking insane whirlwind of loss and trauma pretty much since Journey's End when the Doctor lost his lover and his best friend. Tentoo and Rose are happily married in Pete's World. That Doctor gets to actively live the happiest he's ever been every single day, but this Doctor had to keep going.

Eleven lost the Ponds. Twelve lost Clara and Bill. These characters effectively die, which is why they're mentioned directly. And exemplified by the Toymaker, these are big losses. Yaz+Co. didn't get even an inkling of a mention because, quite frankly, they weren't. They all just got to go back home like companions used to do all the time. It was kind of a big deal that so many companions had such tragic, permanent, traumatic endings. So yeah, it makes sense that the Doctor would need to take time to process this.

(That and the Flux thing, apparently, which - uh - I guess falls under the same umbrella.)

Fourteen is incredibly vulnerable. He's open and raw, and he needs to be in order to be the Doctor to process these things. It makes strategic story sense to have the Doctor break in half to allow part of him to retire and process while the other part of him keeps going, because (like with Tentoo), the show must go on -- he can't actually stop.

Having David Tennant's face as Fourteen makes a lot of strategic sense, too. Not only is DT a fan favourite, but his relationship with Donna is the most familial of relationships he's had. Some fans may wonder again why Yaz wasn't who he'd go to, but it has to be noted that they made Yaz a romantic interest and that is not what this Doctor wants or needs right now. That's why they've established Fourteen as (likely) gay. That's why he's calling Rose Noble his niece and Shaun his brother-in-law. He's effectively rehabilitating with his sister, and that's kind of cool.

I do understand the tragedy of Donna's ending was appealing to many viewers, but it's been 15 years. That's long enough for her to get a better ending to her story that doesn't just involve winning the lottery. Her family and how she cares for people who need it are Donna's greatest strengths. Having Donna get her memory back but not become an all-knowing DoctorDonna hybrid is sending a kind message of hope that I think this world needs right now, to be honest.

RTD has done this, in part, to allow for the show to return to being more lighthearted and about hope than it has for a long time. It's saying that it's okay to take a break, but also acknowledges that the Doctor - as a show and as an almost supernatural being - has to carry on as well. It's a soft reboot with acknowledgement to the past without having to view it as a burden, so I get that.

I've seen a lot of people immediately compare this ending to Tentoo/Rose, though, and I don't know if I agree. This isn't a Doctor creating a version of himself to be with a lover as a human, to live the one, singular life he couldn't otherwise have. He didn't bi-regenerate out of love or fear of losing his lover. His loss of regenerations and ability to age as Tentoo is really important to their story, and this is not true for Fourteen. He's still full Time Lord - and if the commentary is true - will eventually reunite with himself. That's not at all the same. Instead, this is the Doctor many years after a traumatic experience using a magical way to get his break and travel, too.

As well, the Doctor was in love with Rose. He had to tear his heart out and leave her in a different universe to let her go. That would not have happened with a bi-regenerated Doctor sharing the same universe. The two Doctors would have had to create a copy of Rose (much like these two had to do so with the TARDIS) in order to be happy. It's not like Donna, because Donna can be a sister to two identical brothers and it's not weird.

(That's if you don't count polyamory, but that would never happen in the show.)

I hope that they use this soft reboot to help move on from past traumas in a healthy way. I hope that Fourteen with Donna does help Fifteen become more of a positive Doctor than even Thirteen was, who was secretly dealing with so much angst all the time.

I do adore, absolutely, that the Doctor did acknowledge his favourite people. River Song and Adric were mentioned as important and lost. Sarah Jane and Rose were explicitly said to be loved. It was less than I was hoping for, but also exactly what I think should happen if they're trying to use this special as a way to finally, realistically move on and start something fresh, new and positive.

So yeah, I guess I'll keep watching to see what happens next.

#dw spoilers #rtd2 #the giggle #dw meta #doctor who

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therowdymagpie · 5 months

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The Main 6 as AJR songs(pt.1): The Click

A/N: I have no idea who is going to care about this, but character analysis through songs is one of my favourite activities and combining two of my biggest hyperfixations at the moment seems like a good way to combat seasonal depression so, enjoy this mini headcanon series.(spoiler for all routes of course)

Asra: Turning Out

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Starting off, for Asra "Turning out" really strikes me as the song that could desrcibe how disoriented they must have felt during the first few months of the Apprentice's resurrection.

These two verses could just really be talking about Asra's feelings at the start where the Apprentice doesn't recognise them and the surprise of the ritual not working the way it was supposed to. All of the questions they could have asked themselves:

"Am I ready to be their lover or friend?"

"Do you have instructions?"

"Where do I go from here?" are all things they would be wondering about how to best approach this, how can they go back to the way they and the MC were before.

And of course the themes of unexpected or unrequited love that deviates from storybooks, pop up. This is NOT a fairytale, this is a very traumatic, very fragile situation Asra is in, where they aren't a normal couple with Mc, where this is really anything but a love story, actually slowly evolving more into a romantic tragedy as they don't know how to approach the Mc. Sometimes not even as a friend or lover but simply falling into the role of a "Master" or teacher.

Especially with this part, I can really see it as an entire internalised conversation in Asra's mind, with the version of MC they're familiar with.

Shouldn't they wait before they give up?

Don't they want to see the Mc get better?

Don't they want to wait and see if the Apprentice will love them again.?

And how everything is turning out in the end?

This is a song deep into the frustration and dissapointment coming out of a love you can't predict and at the same time a relationship you desperately want to make work exactly the way you want to, which works pretty well in this scenario.

Nadia: Burn The House Down

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This song specifically i feel like fits Nadia SO MUCH. Aside from the political themes that are spread all around it, I really want to talk about lines like:

Knowing how Pre Red Plague Era, Nadia had this toned down role in Vesuvia, blending behind Lucio's shadow as nothing more than an observer, this would be her train of doubts about her potition and if she herself as a Countess can make actual difference to better the city. It's these doubts that held her behind in fear of people once again ignoring and sidestepping her, much like how in Prakra she felt a similar way with her family.

These doubts later on also follow her throughout her own route, when she has the chance to prove herself to her city and be the leader it deserves.

As well as:

Which just fits fits so much with the Courtiers situation and the corrupt polititians that overran Vesuvia while she was in her coma state. This also fits Lucio and how he was only parading the role of the Count while scheming, hiding, stricking deals while the only things he did for the city were to constanly keep up appearances and throw parties.

Overall the theme of stopping the circle of letting other people rule over your life and deciding to take charge and work WITH others to better the situation around you, whether political or not are all really resonating with Nadia. It's a great "pumping up" motivational song that describes her journey and personal growth as a Countess and a person.

Julian: Weak

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(For those who know AJR or actually have heard this song: Come on.....what did you expect? XD)

The overarching theme of succumbing to your bad habits is LITERALLY indicative of Julian's whole route. How he resorts to drinking, punishing himself, overindulging in bad company and every other coping mechanism he uses are there in the lyrics:

Small mention to how "one kiss, bad for me" could very well refer to the apprentice and how he has to distance himself from them, but at the same time can't seem to be able to fully detatch. He's a wanted man, there is no way that getting involved in a romance that can never be isn't going to hurt him, right?

Especially i feel like this song fits him so well exactly because Julian KNOWS all this, he's said it himself:

Julian understands that he is ruining himself, that he is hurting others while doing it, that he should say no to the dark thougths in his mind and all the bad impulses BUT he also has convinced himself that he's not strong enough for that and keeps going back to the same bad habits.

In the end this is a party anthem and we know Julian to be a party person himself, so he hypes it up. "What's wrong with that?" as well as the whole mood of the song could very well be him actively trying to convince everyone and himself, that...he's "weak", it's just who he is and he can't change. That way he can push people away and scare them off with how " iredeemable" he is and how he's just going to keep making mistakes. All because he just doesn't want to take anyone down with him....

I also want to make quick reference to "Sober Up" and this lyric that's also giving strong Julian vibes with the MC helping him get out of his head.

Muriel: I'm not Famous

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OK while this song doesn't melodically give me huuge Muriel vibes, the lyrics are thematical to his whole hermit situation.

This man put a magic curse ON HIMSELF that makes people forget that they even met him, except the people he gives something to remember him by, meaning the people closest to him.

Like literally Muriel never has to worry about people talking about him, where he lives, what he likes to do, what are his habits or bother him anymore and that's described here like his personal paradise.

Which honestly makes so much sense if you take into consideration what his past used to be like. The trauma he endured by being in the Colissium and having everyone watch the worst version of himself EVERY SINGLE DAY, definetely warrants seeing almost complete isolation as bliss.

(Also noone hates him, he's our gentle giant that deserves the world fandom-wise and he's adored by everyone who DOES know him in Vesuvia.)

Honestly i feel like this song could very well be Muriel's personal diss towards Lucio, which is very funny to think about:

Muriel is a hermit and yet he is more loved and acknoledged for who he is than Lucio will ever be (according to Muriel's route anyway). Lucio was loud, the main attraction for many, the centre of attention and yet people in the majority "judge" him and have seen all of his personal failures out on display because he chose to parade around trying to show that he was the best.

Muriel finds comfort in being unknown and has never been afraid to express that. He apprieciates the people in his life that matter which is exactly why this song fits this well.

Portia: Drama (/Turning Out)

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Maybe i'm cheating with this one but I cannot talk about Portia without refering to both of these songs.

For starters, Drama: Now it's well known that Portia is an undisputed gossip queen. The woman has an entire map drawn out of secret passages scattered around the palace that STILL isn't fully finished, she knows the entire palace staff by name and she's not too unfamiliar about any street rumors or juicy stories. Point being: she goes around.

The song describes how we can become envolved to other people's drama and get caught up in their stories so much it's addicting.

Now regardless of what perspective we see Portia from, one thing is clear: She wants excitement out her life and to get to do adventurous things of her own. Unfortunately though, because of her obligations and role she is instead "addicted" to other people's stories and shines through others.

In every story except her own she is just there, observing, seeing what happens next and contributes as much as she can because she can't be fully a part of it herself.

Only in her own route does she get to actively be an important part of the story and the "Drama", getting out of the mindset of being a background character, take action and voice her opinions.

Tbh i haven't fully finished her route but so far i can at least understand this: Portia needs an opportunity to shine as her own person, and this song perfectly portrays that.

As for Turning Out, I just can't keep out of my head Portia saying these lines to Julian:

I think Portia was so genuinely hurt by Julian leaving her behind in Nevivon and telling him all this would just hit SO HARD, especially since she grew up with and I think really admired him. Nevemind the fact that she was very close to losing him again with the execution , which makes these lyrics sting all the more.

That and the themes of growing up and getting your head out of stories and fairytales you read really sounds perfect for her character.

Lucio: The Good Part

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Well what can i say, The Good Part is loud, energetic but at the same time just so pensive, which fit pretty good on Lucio if you think about it.

The entirety of the song and lyrics keep referring to skipping to the best part of your life and keep wondering when that actually is. Lucio is a complex character which I love but so much is apparent about him: He wants to be respected and he wants power. The thing is he isn't always going to work too hard to achieve it.

His impentience as to when he'll be leader of his tribe is what drives him to the demon bargain that would make his parents sick and supposedly "skip" all of the proving himself as worthy of it and directly place him right on top. That behaviour later on continues with his deals with the Courtiers and then the Devil himself.

And then later on even when he actually becomes a Count he still keeps showing off, throwing over-the-top parties and trying to give all the best things to his court and people. He keeps trying to make every moment the "Good Part" of his life constanly thinking he can go even more respected and loved as a ruler, even seeking to overthrow the Devil in some routes.

Lucio for all his skills and passion lacks patience and the ability to think ahead, jumping into situations that will get him where he wants to be all the faster. The song doesn't wholly describe his motivations and personality but it definetely hits on that particular aspect of him.

ShoutOut to familial issues:

______________________________________________________________

Annnd that's it, hoping to continue in Pt.2.

P.S Please go and listen to AJR folks they have some really deep, heartbreaking and thought-provoking stuff.

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reksink · 3 months

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for the ask thingy, how bout 4 or 7?

4 - Favorite iterator? MOON. NO CONTEST. She's wonderful, sweet, beautiful, and I love her so dearly I do have to say I am a bit bias because I already really love 'Summoned by tragedy but this chooses to be kind' type characters, but Moon takes everyhting I love about them and expresses them tenfold She was already nice to begin with, that's why she named herself Big Sis Moon after all, and even after all the pain she's gone through, if you're kind to her, she'll be kind to you right back. Which I find so very sweet Especially with her conflict with Pebbles. Even after all the hurt he's caused, even when it's in her right to completely cut contact with him forever, she still chooses to care for her brother. And together, while they're both still doomed, they have each other now. They're still family after all is said and done and I love that so much And I just love how sweet she is the slugcats. I did a pearl-quest on my Survivor run, and while getting all the pearl was incredibly diffcult, the pilgrimage to Moon made it all worth it, hehe. Her dialouge is so charming and is such a treat to read, and they way she talks back to the scug while reading every so often melts my heart. And the way she starts calling them little archaeologist after enough pearl reads is perfect ALSO IN GOURMAND CAMPAIGN WHERE SHE SAID 'My last vistor was even sick' I CAUGHT TEAR. SHE CARES ABOUT THE SCUG, SHE TAKES SO MUCH Also another thing I like it how she's responsive to how you treat her. Again, she's kind if you're kind to her, but if you've hurt her/if you're rude she response to that. That just makes her more grounded to me, that she's a person that's already gone though enough and she won't tolerate rudeness especially in her weakened state A run-up for a favoite iterator would be No Significant Harrasment. I will admit I haven't read all of the brodcasts yet, so I could be missing important information about him, but for now to me he's a silly goofball. A goofball that truly loves and cherishes his friends deeply and is willing to do anything to make sure they're okay I think about his Garbage Wastes brodcast a lot. How he sounds so deseprate and broken hoping for Moon to say something. For her to be okay. I also really like he's talks with Red Sev, they feel like such good friends and they're great comforts for each other during Spear's campaign. Also I have a running joke in my head that he's 'Green Zacharie from OFF'. It makes no else laugh but me, and I've expected this 7 - Favorite in-game creature? SCAVENGERS. I LOVE SCAVS SO MUCH!! Again, very bias pick because I absolutely love observing intelligent life without human (or in this case Ancients) interfence BUT LOOK AT THEM!! Scavs are such smart creatures and their animations and gestures truly reflect that these are intelligent creature worth understanding and loving They have personality, moment to moment goals, fun interacts, and I could wish them for hours OMGA I also feel to special when a scavenger/a groups of scavengers starts following me around. I feel like I'm part of a family, that the scavengers are geniunely interested in my slugcat and want just be around me or protect me Sadly my love for scavengers is the reason why I can never play Artificer's campaign. I can't bring myself to hurt scavenger, when I do it on accident I reset the game pfffff. I can't imagine the heartbreak I'd go through knowing I can't even look at a scavenger without being ready to kill it If I ever finally sit down to do it, I'd love to analysis the art around each Scavenger Toll/Territory. My goal would be to pick apart their artwork and camp layouts to see that it means about the region's cultures. Like what they vaule in their art, what patterns certain patterns could mean, what's similar what's different, the works!! I love scavenger so very much, they're so precious to me, and if we ever get offical merch for them I'd buy like 10, hehe

#ask #ask game #liyass #Also I have it cruel how as much as I love both Scav & Moon I can never truly draw them #I just have to many ideas and I want to get down design that perfectly capture my interpretions you know?#That's not stopping me though I'm bound to make design I like eventual #But for now I'll stick to my rough ideas and see if they'll grow on my me hehe #ALSO while I'm at it my first ever Scavenger encounter was a lone redish pink one I named Philly #I gave him a pearl and he instantly fell love #He was such a nice travel buddy and he protects me from a massive frilled green lizard #I miss him but I'm such he's doing fine in my lil old Monk campaign #Also other funfact I have like 30+ scavenger gif saved that I like to post in server I'm in #I call them 'My scarabs' and I plaster them everywhere I'm allowed to hehe #ALSO LAST ONE my certain discord icon is Sliver of Straw #Take that as you will #Man I haven't rambled in a bit this what incredibly needed #Thank you for sending this ask bro!!

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karizard-ao3 · 1 month

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My reactions to Evangelion episode 18: Ambivalence

It sounds like this episode is going to be intense based on the preview from the last episode. It was something like, "It's great everyone got to be happy for a little bit before tragedy struck" and I'm wondering if it's time for the spoiler i saw about Toji when I was looking up his last name :(

Kensuke, you do not want the job.

God, what's he going to do when he finds out his two best bros are both pilots

They mention the second impact a lot at this school.

I'm not sure why Asuka is taking out her issues with Toji becoming a pilot on Shinji. I feel like I missed something in the last episode. Although, thinking about it, Toji being a pilot has made Rei worried about Shinji, so I'm now thinking Asuka is worried about him, too, but is expressing it in a very... uh... vibrant way. I guess they're worried about how he's going to take it when he finds out, since I'm sure he doesn't want any of his loved ones going through that kind of pain/struggle. I thought she was mad about having to share the limelight with someone she dislikes, but I don't think that's really it. When/ if I rewatch this, I'm going to have to pay closer attention when I watch the last episode again.

Kaji talking about not ever really being able to know someone reminds me of the stuff about how many different versions of oneself there are. I do really wonder what effect piloting the Evas has on the selves. I feel sure it's doing something to them, but I don't know what.

Oh, class rep brought the lunch for him :(

Ugh what if Shinji finds out Toji is the pilot after he's dead?

Wait wait wait. An Angel in the Eva or the Angel was the Eva? I'm rewinding.

Are they using the dummy capsule or whatever its called?

I am still mystified.

Did anyone survive?

Oh fuck they're going to make Shinji kill Toji. He's probably going to deliver the killing blow and then find out.

Fuck, Asuka!

She can't do it because she knows him.

Oh, shit! Rei!

Fuuuuck.

Rip the entry plug out, Shinji!

This reminds me of what happened to Shinji's Eva with the sphere. Like, how it was roaring and tearing things up.

Gendo, that is your kid!

Shinji, my beloved!

Switching to the dummy plug, huh? Unit 1 is about to go apeshit

And Shinji, who refused to murder someone, has to sit there and watch.

Did I know Evas could bleed?

Oh, fuck... Toji.

He's alive for now, it sounds like, unless they were referring to a different living pilot and Shinji (and therefore us) thought they meant Toji. Either way, what a gut punch

In Conclusion

I feel like I need time to let this one settle. Like, there wasn't a lot revealed about NERV or anything like that. This one definitely seemed more character driven. We for sure saw Gendo prioritizing the Evas and the war on the Angels against Shinji's well-being, which is like... How are you going to sit there and watch your son choke to death? He was really quick to sever Rei's arm without turning of the nerve link or whatever it's called, but I feel like that could also be interpreted as him being much more quick to save her than Shinji.

Also, the Evas behavior when they are not synced with a human feels very significant. I feel like once I reach all the reveals I'm going to be like, "Oh, duh!" but I'm still kind of turning it over in my head. We've seen time and again through the series that they are erratic and, except for that time with Shinji in the first episode, they default to violence when they are not under a pilot's control. It must be mentally exhausting to control something so alien and feral for sure. Maybe it's because a personality without a heart/soul regresses to the worst parts of itself. Which part of the psyche is the one that succumbs to all its impulses? The id? Anyway, I don't know but I'm wondering if this was the Angels' plan when they vaporised Base 2 (?). Infect unit 3, get it back to Japan, and then rampage.

We got to see a side of Shinji that we usually don't get to see, where he refused to take orders based on his own sense of right and wrong. I'm proud of him, especially since he stood up to his father in the process. It's awful that he had his agency stripped away from him and was forced to watch himself do it anyway. What a violation.

Anyway, I have to get to bed but I'm hoping to get another episode in tomorrow.

Lol what if it's the dark glasses are making Gendo evil and if he put on a normal pair of spectacles again he would become a chill guy. I kid, I kid.

So long for now!

#neon genesis evangelion #evangelion #first watch #thoughts #reactions #shinji ikari #toji suzuhara #rei ayanami #asuka langley soryu #misato katsuragi #ryoji kaji #gendo ikari

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corvidcrybaby · 1 month

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I must know more about Judah and Rabbi Loew! Please tell me who they're all about. What are their connections to Zemira?

EEEEE TYSM FOR THE ASK I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LATE ASS RESPONSE.......!!! I'm glad someone finds them interesting, they're easily the hardest part of Lesions of a Different Kind to write but I find them so deeply moving and fun to explore. I'm gonna copypaste some info from a fucking essay I wrote a friend regarding Judah.

JUDAH

Judah the Hammer is based directly off of the real historical figure of Judah Maccabee, the inspired guerrilla commander who was the mastermind behind much of the Jewish victories during the Maccabean Revolt. This was a real historical event in the 160's BC which saw a Judean revolt oust the Hellenic Seleucid Empire from its control over Judea, and an end to their Hellenization policies which threatened to erase the lion's share of Jewish traditions and identity at the time. The holiday of Hanukkah commemorates this story and the miracle of the oil.

In my Hellsing fic, Judah is the primary antagonist. Rather than dying in his suicide charge at Elasa, this version of Judah was turned into a vampire, and still walks the Earth. This event thoroughly shattered his worldview and his understanding of his role in it. As the antag, he forms an important foil with Alucard, because Alucard did much the same shit that Judah did - guerrilla warfare waged against a larger, more powerful empire, complete with being remembered as a total brute of a man - with the major difference being that Judah's war was victorious. He just didn't get to live to see it.

When I set out to design the prime antag for Lesions it was a tough call. I knew I wanted it to be an 'ancient world' vampire, and I wanted to keep up the trend of a historical figure being a vampire such as with Alucard and Erzsebet - which, yes, I like Hirano's other project Drifters quite a lot, don't @ me LOL. But then I also decided I wanted it to be personal to Zemira in some way, shape or form in such a way that would challenge her in a meaningful way and also be her worst nightmare incarnate. I was really hesitant to go there with this character for obvious reasons, but then I remembered that part of why I love Hellsing so much is that it isn't afraid to go there and tackle the uncomfortable topics in these big grandiose orgies of violence and philosophizing and grand tragedy. And I got to wondering about the dynamics between a medieval warlord like Vlad III and a warlord from antiquity like Judah Maccabee and how they would differ and relate to and from one another, and decided that that topic and the way people lionize historical figures and re-interpret them to fit the needs of their time. I've always found that topic intriguing as a historian because I first and foremost consider it folly, no matter what argument you're trying to make with them. But on the other hand, these were real people whose actions shaped the world we live in now, and I suppose I wanted to explore with the horrific matrix we call vampirism might do to a man like Judah, and how it would highlight and distort his character traits. I also, of course, wanted to make him a foil that Alucard could face down that would enhance his appreciation for Zemira's traits that are so distinctly hers (her rebellious attitude, her tenacious-to-the-point-of-stupidity tendencies, her disregard for power structures that don't respect her, et cetera) while also giving Zemira a "this you???" kind of antag that will make her question herself and grow into a stronger person.

Judah is an embodiment of Jewish rage. All the trauma, all the anger, all the suffering and all the cruel irony of two thousand years of antisemitism coalesced onto the shoulders of a single man. A man who, to his own community, is controversial and complicated. A cautionary tale to some, an inspiration to others. Sometimes for good reasons, other times for bad - but always drawing from the same core story of who Judah the Hammer was and what he did.

So from the time of his turning, Judah took it upon himself to wander the Earth as a foul-tempered arbiter of retribution for the horrors the Gentile world inflicts onto Jews. For every Jew murdered in a hate crime, he would take the life of a Gentile - with a particular hyperfixation on Europeans, as these were his sworn enemy in life, and that hatred extends particularly to Christianity, who he views as the torchbearers of Hellenic influence and outright calls them cultists; he's definitely disappeared plenty of villages throughout the rest of the world, mind you, definitely destroyed some mosques, but his main tunnelvision is upon Europe. I feel like if he were to put forward an insane Old Man Conspiracy Theory, it would be that Jesus was actually a Hellenized Jew or some shit like that and therefore a Greek and therefore the enemy. He is an ancient vampire and every bit the giga-powerful behemoth you'd expect from a being his age, but he chafes at the body he inhabits and has never fully accepted that he is what he is now (meaning he and Zemira both know what it's like to exist in a body that isn't home to them). He exists in the role of a spirit of temptation, but is in fact ace, and generally hates being touched. Oftentimes he wouldn't even kill for food, and in fact, still despises drinking blood and has never truly acclimated to it, only drinking from people he considered deplorable enough to take into himself and weaponize against their kindred, be it as a thrall or as something to simply sustain his existence. He prefers to carry and eat bones, as he dislikes waste and excess, and considers drinking blood to be a gross indulgence.

Is he grandiose, or pathetic? Tragic hero, or petty opportunist? DId he truly take up this mantle of being a spirit of vengeance out of a belief it was G-d's intention for him, or did he window-shop a hypothesis for an event (his turning) that he had no control over and traumatized him deeper than he could ever hope to recover from? Is he to blame for his callous reduction of peoples' lives to political 'gotchas', or is that a product of his time that anyone on a high horse about their morals would have fallen into as well? Does his vampirism make him a monster, or was he monstrous before an infectious Nosferatu's fangs got anywhere near him?

There aren't a lot of clear answers in the text about this because I mostly use him to pose difficult questions to the cast of Lesions, and how they react to him determines much of who and what they are. He's extremely difficult to write well and I've rewritten his scenes more often than any other characters, but I love him.

Yet even with all this grim characterization, Judah is a character that is just an endless blast to write for and daydream about. Whereas Alucard is all pomp and circumstance, elegance and dramatism, Judah is rugged, foul-mouthed just like Zemi, and with a crotchety old man mean streak a mile wide. When he moves about, his body acts like it's being controlled by a drunken puppeteer - very 'HOW DO I DRIVE THIS THING???' energy, because vampirism in Hellsing is often framed in Christian terms. Therefore, as a Jew, it's really hard for him to acclimate to it, and his fight scenes have major Drunk Monk energy. The text calls him "a boulder of a man" as opposed to Alucard's gracile and lanky build, and is shorter than him at six-foot-even (since people used to be smaller in the ancient world, generally).

He's an angry old man, he's a dude who's sad that his little brother died in front of him, he's your orthodox uncle with a bad attitude who tries to corner you at the family function to tell you how you're off the derech, he's Oscar the Grouch in vampire form, and his fight scenes are shockingly violent. Alucard kills people and makes a spectacle of it, but Judah's kills read like you found a video of a guy bludgeoning a fellow inmate to death with a lead pipe in a high-security prison that got released on Liveleak or something.

Also, my voiceclaim for him is Brok from God of War: Ragnarok.

He's a dick, but it's hard to look away whenever he's talking. And I love him for it. <3

RABBI LOEW

Shifting gears here, Rabbi Loew is, much like Judah, the very same Rabbi Loew as the real person who is fabled to have created the legendary Golem of Prague - in my Hellsing fic, he's done just that, and still resides in what looks to be a decrepit old mansion in Prague, but will reveal itself as a safe haven for Jews who are in a bad spot. He's essentially the Prophet Elijah figure of the story - he appears to people along with his golem in scenarios where they are deeply and truly lost and in need of guidance, giving them a comforting nudge in the direction they need. He's a repository for endless depths of knowledge, and opposed to the rest of the Hellsing cast who are so fond of carrying themselves with over-the-top aesthetic maximalism, Rabbi Loew is very simple, very soft-spoken, and although he can absolutely get angry and does so in the story, he hardly ever raises his voice. He's part of an important web of foils that includes Rabbi Loew & his golem (simply named Guard in the text) versus Integra and Alucard, as well as how he represents a defunct, dead-in-the-water version of the Integra/Alucard boss and servant bond due to his complicated and fraught relationship with Judah.

Rabbi Loew actually contributed some of magical binding seals used to tie Alucard to the Hellsing family, which furthers the golem parallel so core to the story. But the elephant in the room here is that Rabbi Loew does not have Judah bound in a similar manner. Judah comes and goes from the mansion in Prague at random. Usually, he swings by just to rest for a bit, and maybe pick a few obnoxious arguments with Rabbi Loew. There is a great deal of uncertainty in how they interact. On the one hand, Judah is four times Rabbi Loew's age, but the latter actually looks like an old man, where as Judah looks around his mid-to-late-fifties, and is found of calling him "Old Guy." Rabbi Loew is, well, a fucking Rabbi, and therefore commands a certain kind of deference and respect amongst most Jews, especially as a legendary figure - but Judah is a figure even more legendary in Jewish history, and comes from a time in which Rabbinic Judaism was not the standard (Second Temple Judaism, to be specific), thus meaning they are separated by time in more ways than one. I think secretly both persons look to the other for inspiration, but are always saddened and frustrated by what they find. Judah finds Rabbi Loew to be overly passive and toothless, despite their first meeting being Rabbi Loew coming upon the Hammer brutalizing and torturing a Cossack to death in a shockingly violent manner, and saying "Not that I'm opposed to cracking a few skulls when push comes to shove, but don't you think this is a bit much?" And despite Judah's dislike for the old Rabbi's attitude, he often finds himself yielding when Rabbi Loew checks him on his brutality. But when his Rabbi isn't around, Judah continues on his usual sporadic outbursts of vengeful violence on Gentile communities, believing that if he was cursed with vampirism, then he must become like one of the Plagues of Egypt itself. HaShem did terrible things in the name of justice then, and Judah sees himself as one of those further terrible necessities, instead of his own person.

Rabbi Loew hates this.

Rabbi Loew looks at Judah and thinks of how much good a person like him could do with the mind-blowing powers of vampirism at his disposal. The lives he could save, the atrocities he could prevent, the connections he could build and foster, if he so chose to do so. But Judah doesn't do that. Judah is resigned to being the Hammer of Israel, the Lion of Judea, the Beast of the Levant. He is so deep in a haze of dissociation that he sometimes believes everything around him is the nightmarish hallucination of a dying man (as though he's on an acid trip that never ended) that he doesn't at all consider that maybe he could make this extended lifespan of his mean something. He doesn't consider that wandering the Earth and murdering Gentiles to "keep the score even" isn't actually helpful. He thinks it's beyond his purview. And Rabbi Loew can't help but keep trying to Uncle Iroh this touchy motherfucker into a healthier headspace, but I think both men know that the old Rabbi doesn't have what it takes to truly get through to Judah. And so, detente. They share space and company and do care for one another, but it's a doomed friendship that can't go much deeper than that.

Because at the end of the day, just like any real Rabbi, Rabbi Loew is just a man. There are bells and whistles that call it into question (such as his unnatural long life, which I won't address here due to spoilers), but he's just an old fellow, doing his best to make the world a slightly less cruel place.

He gets the least engagement, but I love him too.

#THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE ASK I WROTE A WHOLE ACADEMIC ESSAY BAHAHAHAHA I HOPE THIS ISN'T TOO MUCH TO THROW IN YOUR FACE #hellsing #hellsing fanfiction #hellsing oc #my ocs #lesions of a different kind #rabbi loew #judah the hammer #hellsing fanart #ask box

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ipsen · 4 months

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etoken, 001

rubs my silly wittle hands togethew

when I started shipping it if I did

i've always shipped it on the downlow since the re scene (The One), but i started hardcore shipping at the start of last year, when I did a reread then happened upon an old eto meta post. after actually internalizing their similarities and why they were so naturally drawn to/rejecting of each other, i caved.

my thoughts:

they hate themselves, but when it comes to the other, they can never fully hate them, and that scares them. it leaves them at a sort of crossroads where they can either pursue this fear and conquer it, or succumb to it. the former requires a lot of wingmanning, but is worth it, while the latter will simply leave them giving odd stares at each other every now and then. i just want them to be happy together because that would be nice and they would be whole :]

What makes me happy about them:

they're flexible! it's possible to have an arc about them learning to reconcile and love the worst parts of themselves by loving each other. kaneki rekindles eto's empathy, and eto teaches kaneki how to make choices. on the flipside, it can end really badly. a breakup between these two probably ends up with one of them dead (or multiple uninvolved parties dead (or both)), if not both. they have a tendency to cling (cling) to things that love them, to the point that having one more rejection will push them off the edge.

What makes me sad about them:

their interactions are so few :( i wanted to see them talk more, even if it was just in cochlea. i wonder if eto ever sought out reaperneki during the six month timeskip

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

an annoyingly high portion of the etoken fics on ao3 are just multiships ft. kaneki’s harem and i despise it. it’s just disappointing. also there are some bad eto’s in some of the fics and it’s even more disappointing.

things I look for in fanfic:

character studies of eto and kaneki that utilize the other. fics that explore their pain on some level, or their resignation to death, or even a bucket list are interesting.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: that sounds illegal :(

My happily ever after for them:

a quiet, anonymous life in society where they have regular contact with their loved ones (of which they have plenty). a place where kaneki can cook for eto, and eto can provide kaneki with a little snack in peace ;]

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

eto is the little spoon. she gets a power trip out of being clung to like she matters, and also it keeps her grounded when her thoughts wander to the bad places. kaneki needs something to hold onto because he wants to be the reason that someone stays (despite often allowing them to do otherwise). holding onto eto and knowing she enjoys it means that he's needed, and that's all he's ever wanted.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

sexually charged book discussions, often about tragedy, mystery, or horror. there are actually slight differences in their analyses despite their similarities. kaneki analyzes more emotionally and like a reader in the truest sense. he approaches the scales local to the narrative and what is in the text itself + his own experiences ("death of the author", if you will). meanwhile, eto is more macro-scale in terms of thought, approaching the narratives as an author would and accounting for cultural, temporal, and author-specific influences. she effectively tries to distill the author's intention when discussing, and why that's important. it complements kaneki, both because it fills gaps in his knowledge and because there's finally someone who can actually keep up and engage with him.

——-

thanks for the ask <3

#tg #tokyo ghoul #eto yoshimura #ken kaneki #etoken #ask

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fensherohair · 2 months

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Shadow of You (Charlie Weasley x GN Reader)

Words: 1.5k Warning: Grief, Mourning, Mentions of Characters death. Note: Based on the Hogwarts Mysteries mobile game

Charlie could remember when he first saw you. You were one of his closest friends in school. Although your brother had left a rather questionable reputation behind, you had slowly proved, although mischievous and a rule-breaker. You did it for a good reason. You had broken so many curses that threatened the students of Hogwarts during your time there. Just as you lost people you loved dearly, he could still remember you arguing with Ben in the courtyard; you had called his reckless behavior stupid and admitted you missed the old him despite him being terrified of nearly enough everything, including his own shadow.

Even now, when the Battle of Hogwarts had ended, he still remembered how the pair of you were at Hogwarts. He could remember the Valentine Howler he had sent you asking you to be his Valentine that year, just as he remembered how you had gone on to save him from the Hungarian Horntail dragon when he had stormed off in a strop at the Dragon Sanctuary. He wouldn’t tell anyone, but he often went there to remember you. You had changed his life in so many ways; some of it he hated you for, but others things he loved you for it.

“I wish you were here (N/N),” quietly muttered Charlie, his red hair tied back in its normal ponytail. His freckles, which you had loved so much, were still firmly on display, even if some of them were covered by the burns that scattered his body. It wasn’t long before he pulled out the letter Bill had sent him. A picture of (Y/N) and himself stood together with bright smiles. To anyone, you were happy; no signs were pointing to the tragedy that was set to take you away. There was nothing to say his life would change forever. His smile only grew upon seeing a picture of the group he had once been a part of. The Circle of Khanna. Each member had come together to find the final cursed vault, break the curse on Hogwarts, and avenge Rowan’s death. In a way, it was your way of handling the loss.

Hey Charlie,

I know with everything that happened during the war and losing Fred. It would have reminded you of (Y/N) and what happened. I know you loved them, even when you don’t want to admit it out loud. Fleur suggested I send something to you that might help you truly come to terms with what happened to (Y/N) and know that they're at peace.

I hope you put the Resurrection Stone to good use. Harry destroyed the Elder Wand and kept the Invincibility Cloak. We figured you would appreciate the stone and that it would be safe with you. I’ve also got some news for you. Our Ron is engaged to Hermione, George is starting to move on again, Fleur is expecting our first child, and Ginny is celebrating securing a place with the Holyhead Harpies. Oh, and would you believe it, Percy finally figured out there is a world outside work.

You’re going to be dragon-crazy, Uncle Charlie. I hope to see you soon, little brother. Mum, Dad, and the rest of the clan, including the extra members, also hope to see you.

Bill.

Charlie reached into the envelope, pulling out a small black stone, holding up to the light coming from the abandoned cave entrance. He wondered if it would work and show him (Y/N). If it did work, how would you appear? He soon closed his blue eyes, focusing on you. Remembering your beauty, your stunning (E/C) eyes, and ever changing hair. Remembering your laugh when you were amused and your determination to find and break the curses. Yet Charlie hadn’t noticed the person standing at the entrance of the abandoned cave. The wizard who had run away years prior in an effort to stop R once and for all. The person whom Charlie had ultimately blamed for his friend's dying. Jacob (Y/L/N).

“What happened to her?” questioned Jacob upon seeing the small tombstone with your name on it. Charlie could only stiffen upon hearing the voice again, he soon turned around to face (Y/N)’s older brother, with so much un-repented hate and anger in his eyes. He had hoped never to see the older wizard again but knew it was inevitable. He knew eventually Jacob would come looking for (Y/N), although he hadn’t expected it to take this long. To Charlie, it was almost like Jacob had suddenly taken notice he hadn’t seen or heard from his sister for years.

“Rakepick and other members of R,” angrily replied Charlie; even now, all these years later, he could remember when Bill had told him you were gone. He could still remember his heart-shattering and as if you had taken a piece of him with you. “She, Merula, and Ben were surrounded by members of R. They were tortured for information about you. They killed all three of them because you never answered the calls for you,” spoke Charlie through gritted teeth. Your mother had allowed him to take you to Romania with him. There, he buried you in the cave where he had first told you he loved you. Every few days, he took fresh flowers to put on your grave. Just as he would take things that he thought you would have liked there, too.

The second Weasley brother soon returned to his little cabin, a sad smile on his lips at seeing how quiet it was. The picture of you on the mantelpiece did little to help his mood. The red head once again took hold of the Resurrection Stone, thinking of you again in the hopes that the stone would allow him to see you again.

“Charlie” spoke a soft voice. The redhead opened his blue eyes in seconds upon hearing your voice. At first he thought he was hearing things, you weren’t anywhere in front of him. “Charlie,” when he heard your voice again, he turned around. There you stood, next to the window overlooking the sanctuary. Upon seeing the dragons flying freely above, a small smile on your pink lips. A small smile come to Charlie’s dry lips to see you there, exactly how he remembered you when he had last seen you. Tears in his eyes to see you again, even when he knew you were just a shadow of who you were in life.

“(Y/N),” uttered Charlie; his smile grew a little bigger to see who stood at your side. There, right next to you, was Fred. It was almost like you were his guardian now, showing him the ropes of the afterlife. Both of you waiting for him to join you and watching over him and the others you loved. “Fred. I missed you both so much,” stuttered the older redhead. He honestly didn’t believe the stone would work but was happy that it proved him wrong. “Nothing is the same without either of you here,” almost sobbed Charlie. His little brother stood next to the one who held his heart, a sight he thought he would never see. It was almost like his family was whole again, seeing the pair of you stand by each other as if you were working on some secret plan to course havoc.

“I promise she’s taking good care of me,” said Fred, a cheeky grin coming to his lips as he looked over to (Y/N). He knew Charlie had been lost for years, since the day you were taken away by R. The entirety of Hogwarts knew of the murders, Dumbledore having announced it as you were technically a hero for breaking all six curses on the school, saving both staff and students alike. Even now, you stood for what a Gryffindor student should be.

“I tried (N/N). I tried to move on without you. To find love again, but I couldn’t do it,” whispered Charlie as you moved over to him. Your (H/C) braided, the braid hanging over your left shoulder. You could see tears in his eyes whenever he remembered finding out what happened to you. “I don’t want to move on (Y/N). Moving forward means I’m leaving you behind. Something I know I won't be able to do. Not when I love you so much. I was going to ask you to marry me when I saw you again,” confessed the redhead. Pulling the chain from underneath his jumper, where a small engagement ring resided. Tears soon appeared in your (E/C) eyes upon realizing why he had been so excited for the next time the pair of you would see each other. A meeting that never got the chance to happen.

“I’ll always be here with you, Charlie,” whispered (Y/N) with sadness in your voice. “I’ll be right behind you when you're with the dragons out there, smiling with you. I never left you, not even for a second. You’re the one who made me laugh when I was down, helped me find my brother when I wanted to understand him, and always held my heart. From the moment you saved me from injury during that Quidditch game. I will always be walking at your side. Even when you don’t see me,” you add, watching as the realization dawned on him. You would always be there with him even in death. You smiled once more before Charlie put the stone on the mantle piece next to the photo of you. The picture makes him smile as you were laughing at something when it was taken.

“I love you, Charlie Dragon Tamer Weasley. Forever,” spoke a whispering voice in the wind. One last time.

Fens Masterlist

#charlie weasley x reader #wizarding world #x reader #reader interactive #reader insert #wizarding world onshot #wizarding world fanfiction #wizarding world fanfic #hogwarts mystery #gender neutral reader #post battle of hogwarts #cross posted on quotev #cross posted on wattpad #cross posted on ao3

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