Years - The Ones Who Live - 1x01

the face of a man when his fiancee—a GORGEOUS PRINCESS whom he claims to be in love with—stands right in front of him, naked and trying to get him to have sex with her:

VS

the face of a man looking at his "enemy" whom he wants to kill and who constantly beats him in fights:

but i don't blame him, because just look at the "enemy" in question:

that's an angel. a beautiful, murderous angel sweetiepie pookie bear babygirl covered in dirt and the blood of her enemies 🥰🥰🥰

hhappy pocky day 11/11!! here's some self-indulgence ft oreo man///

@nowfallc PICTURE!! FOR YOU!! PLEASE TAKE IT!! <3

Why do you like vampires specifically, what do you like of them?

the sucking and fucking

some Friendly Maintenance scribbles i forgot to post!

so arthur looks at merlin like this EVERY EPISODE and people still don't believe they're in love????

people will be like ‘yeah it’s really relevant that utena is an orphan haha’ and then not even recognise how utena being a character without living blood relatives is hugely significant in a show where almost all of the most atrocious relationships are ones that have been spurred on by the notion of familial/blood obligation. and utena herself clings so tightly to what is essentially a romantic ideal of ‘the family’, ‘the blood relative’, telling anthy she’s jealous of her relationship with akio, insisting to nanami that she should persevere with her relationship with touga because you’re still siblings. in ohtori, family is something you can only be born into. in ohtori, family is the way you gain power. i mean for the love of god it’s right there, revolutionary girl utena is a family abolitionist masterpiece and it makes me claw at the walls!!!!!!!!! read the palace perspective!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! engage more with these aspects of the show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! kill any and all people who go ‘why are there so many weird sibling dynamics i only came for the lesbians’ her NAME is kiryuu nanami and she does both!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Praise no power higher than your own code

I know certain parts of Star Wars fandom are determined to see literally everything about the Jedi in the most bad faith way possible but one of the most baffling examples to me is when people act like they look down on all other force religions and don't take the time to understand them because they see their own way as superior when there is quite literally nothing to suggest that. Like the only other force users they have any actual beef with on principle are the Sith, which I'd say is justified considering the Sith are a bunch of fascist pricks who constantly try to take over the galaxy. Literally all the others are either allies of the Jedi or the Jedi just leave them alone to do their thing.

And this too, is vettonso to me:

who the fuck said Like a Butterfly was japanese Bring Me To Life

Guys stop saying Malon is pregnant- what if she is when the only time Time was at the ranch in the last few months was when he brought the boys

i think bart should be allowed to cyberbully people sometimes. as a treat!! enrichment in his enclosure!!! i think sometimes someone says something shitty about superboy online and impulse shows up in their mentions calling them a string of really ugly swears in interlac. HE'S allowed to call kon's ttk a stupid and useless superpower but twitter user randomdude6875385 you shut the fuck your mouth right now,

Not u promoting shein 😭

not u assuming shit when ive said multiple times i dont buy from there anymore. someone asked where something is from and i told them. get your head out of my ass

So, this parallel, right.

That parallel and the 4x11 shadowpeach fight as a whole:

Macaque: "No that's YOU! You're the one always running off! Looking for more power, more sources of immortality—you're the one who wouldn't quit while were were ahead! Not the great sage, he's got to drag EVERYONE else into his mess!" Sun Wukong: "You're not in this mess, you're still free! Everything I did was for us!" Macaque: "You did it for yourself! You've become like this, obsessive demon! I told you going against the Jade Emperor was a bad idea, but no, Wukong doesn't listen to anyone! He just does whatever he wants! You put yourself here, not me."

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

A large part of Wukong's motivation to keep getting more power was the freedom of it—the more power you have the easier it is to do whatever you want. It's easier to ignore everyone else and focus solely on yourself. It's also easier to ensure yourself and your loved one's are protected and have the ability to do what they want.

So, a punishment where the great Monkey King is imprisoned and trapped for hundreds of years? It's effective and tragic and fitting. Wukong wanted to have the freedom to protect the people he cared about, and in trying to reach for the power to do that, he completely had his freedom removed. He went from the mountain, to then the circlet, and then all of a sudden he had morals and was bound to those.

And then I think about his end of s3 choice to go face the Lady Bone Demon alone. Once again Wukong was trying to protect his loved ones (not to mention the whole reason he went after the Samadhi fire to begin with was to have the power, the freedom to stop LBD (which in itself is another case of SWK believing he needed to be stronger for such freedom)), but he also wanted to make sure MK and himself both had agency. He didn't want MK to have to fight LBD, and he didn't want LBD to end the world.

This is exactly the sentiment he tells Macaque in the 4x11 flashback:

Sun Wukong: "It's so we don't have to worry about anything or anyone ever again! Just living a lazy life, sitting in the sun, eatin' fruit, and doing whatever we want!"

But where does it all lead him?

To possession, imprisonment. Once again Wukong no longer had the freedom to do what he wanted (which is to protect the people he cares about). Once again in his attempts to help his loved one's, he only hurt them.

This can be applied to his relationship with Macaque, to MK in s2, hell, even Wukong trying to get the map in the first place left him powerless, which then led to him and the gang being imprisoned in 3x02. It's a familiar pattern, one we see with antagonist and protagonist alike.

MK in s2 trained to become more powerful, which in the end only strengthened LBD and forced him and his friends on the run. Mei in 3x12 protects MK by letting herself get captured and placed into LBD's crystal. Mei in 4x05 goes to protect MK, breaking her sword and leaving her vulnerable to being captured by Kui Mulang ("How am I supposed to protect everyone without my sword?"). DBK reached for more power and then became possessed by LBD, hurting his wife and son. Azure reached for the Jade Emperor's power and bound himself to that role, jeopardizing Peng and Yellowtusk in the process.

It's a cycle of reaching for power, endangering others, and then being imprisoned.

So anyways, here's why MK is going to lose control (his agency) next season and hurt his friends with his own- *get's shot*