it boggles my mind that I still see reminder type posts about not consuming Harry Potter content, not because I expected everyone to agree to stop engaging but because I did sort of expect that the people engaging with hp in 2024 would at least have the decency to not grovel on the internet for random transgender bloggers to validate that they're still a good person and not transphobic for liking hp still. like these posts are not redundant they are FILLED with defensive responses and excuses for why actually its fine and its like not only can you not stop engaging with Harry Potter but you also want to be able to post about doing so non-stop and you never ever want to even see a transgender person point out that JKR is actively funding and directly influencing transphobic organizations and legislation. to the point that when someone does you are incapable of simply scrolling by because you need so badly to be reassured that this internet rando doesn't think you specifically are a bad person for doing the thing they said is bad. unreal main character syndrome. if you have committed to being an hp fan fine i am not a cop or your mom and I cannot make you do anything at all. but I am not, nor is any other trans person, going to give you 'permission' or absolve you of your own guilt for doing so. that is your problem to reconcile yourself and is not the job of random trans people. like jesus christ enough already

random confession time, i need a mental hygene moment

when i say i’m tired ‘cause i had a bad night i don’t mean i had a hard time falling asleep, it neither means me having bad dreams or just randomly waking up in the middle of the night. that’s my usual sleeping experience. i refer to nights like yesterday, waking up with a dislocated finger.

More thoughts on Cyclonus.

Nova's evaluation of him in this panel is brutally accurate. That last sentence. Ouch.

On the surface level Cyclonus appears to be portrayed as this stiff proud warrior with an austere, diehard take on his own internal code of honour and patriotism, but the more I think about it his actual character is pretty much the opposite? He doesn't have any hardfast values or stances of his own aside from shallow romanticism for the preachings of others.

His whole life is comprised of hanging onto other people. First it's Nova and his group, despite Nova and Jhiaxius looking down on him and insulting him to his face and being very forthright about the actual purpose of their mission, which Cyclonus apparently had different ideals about. Theoretically. But he didn't say anything after Nova corrected him.

Then it's Galvatron, after Galvatron backstabbed Nova. Even when Galvatron became increasingly unhinged and violent toward him and also started insulting him to his face, he still continued to follow Galvatron around because Galvatron's powerful, hope he stays on our side.

Then after he broke off from Galvatron post-Chaos Theory he joined the Lost Light, an Autobot ship, despite not liking Autobots, because it had something that he wanted: the chance to start again.

His defense for murdering all those people in Kimia is literally "he made me do it." That's all he can come up with. He even knows it's a bad excuse.

And he always corrects people when they assume he's a Decepticon. Here he directly says that he doesn't want to be a Decepticon. Why not, if he clearly admires their ideology?

One possible reason is maybe he doesn't like their ideology that much. Enough to romanticize it from a safe distance but not enough to commit to it himself (since doing that would force him to do actual introspection about his own role in what made the Decepticon ideology so appealing in the first place). Second reason's simpler: Decepticons have to wear inhibitor chips. No thanks. They're the losing side.

Once on board the Lost Light he followed Rodimus' command fine despite Rodimus accusing him of murdering Red Alert without any proof. Then after he developed a relationship with Tailgate, he put Tailgate up on a pedestal and made Tailgate the center of his universe.

But then there's also this 🔽 after he thought Tailgate dumped him:

I don't even know what he's trying to do there😂

His lack of true conviction is evident in the little things too: he thinks it's unethical for Rodimus to perform mnemosurgery on Tailgate while he's unconscious and unable to give consent but drops the subject after Rodimus distracted him with fireworks. He thinks that mutiliating an enemy's corpse is appalling but doesn't say anything when Rodimus said they were going to use Skip's corpse as a shuttle to get off Necroworld. It's Nautica who raised ethical objections, not him. He's supposed to be really religious but when the guiding hand did their big reveal at the end of Lost Light, he got nearly zero lines because of compressed screentime except to argue with Epistemus over sending Tailgate into danger.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Cyclonus is essentially a go-with-the-flow sort of person. Nothing he holds is uncompromisable. Not his ideals, not his values, not his pride, not his faith. To an extent, not even his love for Tailgate, at least not completely, because he left when Tailgate told him to leave even when he suspected that Tailgate was lying about not loving him without making more of an effort to understand why. It all depends on the person he's hanging on to at the moment. And his choice of which leader to follow is ultimately based on self-serving reasons. This pattern is first broken when he turns on Galvatron, then fully subverted after he learns to love Tailgate as a sign of character growth.

He's not an intrinsically cruel or callous person. The way he learns to love Tailgate, befriend Whirl, and being kind and supportive to everyone when Rodimus left him in charge on the Necroworld are all attestments of his better nature. Water takes the shape of the container in which it's kept; surround him with people like Galvatron and Nova and he'll be their murder machine. Put him in the company of people who's mostly decent like the Lost Light crew and he'll grow into a compassionate person and a reliable friend.

Playing with fire

Summary: Aemond is as doting as he is cruel, and misbehaving won't go unpunished.

✧Pairing: Modern!Aemond Targaryen x Fem!Reader ✧Warnings: MDNI 18+, daddy kink, degradation kink, slight breeding kink, masturbating (m), sex toys. ✧Word Count: 1.5k ✧AO3 link: here

You are by the side, cursed to watch him by the side, and not being able to do anything else but whine. 

You sit at the end of the bed, right beside his right feet. If you were more lucky, you would be seated between his feet, looking up at him just how you like it, and his cock almost in your face. But, you are not so lucky.

“It’s your punishment, dear” he told you. You hated it, and you whined in protest. Not that he cared.

Aemond could be as generous as cruel, playing with fire always meant getting burnt around him. He’d make sure of it, anyways. 

And you deserved it, you knew. For ‘whoring yourself’ as he so calls it, and behaving badly. Taunting him, teasing him and flirting with other boys. You always looked back at him, making sure he was fuming as you touched other men’s chest and complimenting how strong they were, or how lucky girls were to have them as a partner. 

Burning was always frustrating with Aemond. You are seated on your feet, looking at how he doesn’t even try to hide his lust and arousal, or his erect cock that you could see fully if you stretch a bit your neck. 

“Daddy…” you whine a bit, embarassed by how wet you feel yourself getting, just at the sight. 

At most, he would bluntly tell you to shut up. To stop being a whining bitch, but now he flats out ignores you. And it hurts, because you and him both know how spoiled for attention you are. 

“Daddy” you insist, and the wet sounds of him fucking the fleshlight, ignoring you as if your presence was not more important than one of an insect. insignificant,small, powerless.  “I’m sorry” 

That doesn’t even seem to satisfy him, as he keeps ignoring you with all his might. You try to get closer to him, moving thinking he doesn’t notice. He does, and he moves away once you are close enough to smell his scent and your breath to hit his leg. He doesn’t give you the privilege to even look at him fully. 

Aemond is cruel in this, fucking a fleshlight, more like a silicon body, small and he is perfectly capable of manhandle it as he wishes. As he does with you when he isn’t mad. And Gods forbid it, but you are jealous over a stupid fuck toy that, for some reason, Aemond has. It was very much unfair, and it seems like an unbalanced punishment for something… silly. 

“It’s so unfair” you add, frowning in annoyance, hearing the wet sounds his hips against the fake body does. The lube he used to get the job done made every thrust he did louder, and you wondered if he did it on purpose to make you jealous of the sinful sounds that once were made because of you.

“Oh, it’s so unfair, silly girl?” Aemond asks mockingly, finally tilting his head slightly to see you. He has that smug smirk in his face, while his hair is undone a bit. You see his well formed abdomen, and he still wears his sweatpants, just lowered to get his cock out, and you can even get a glimpse of his balls. You pout at how unfair it is to be unable to touch him as you want. 

“It is cruel” you add, trying to make your point stand. Aemond chuckles, not minding your silly opinions about unfairness. The silicon body rests against his crotch, his cock is full deep in the toy, though it is unable to cockwarm him as he so much likes to do with you.

“You are lucky this is silicon and not a real girl” He states, no longer mocking. “Perhaps I should be real unfair as you claim me to be” He looks down at you, literally, and he raises his eyebrows. “Maybe she’ll behave. She will hear her Daddy”

You frown, and sulk into your position while.looking at him. You didn’t defy him out loud, it was always your actions. Touching yourself when he forbids it, flirting with other men to tease him, and insulting him with your expression and your eyes. He could always read you like the palm of his hand.

“Ah, your pouty lips won’t do anything for you” Aemond mocks you, moving the fleshlight slightly slower on his cock. “Maybe if they are wrapped around my cock” 

You love the idea, because when he was this mad, he would usually grab your hair tightly in his fist, commanding you to relax your throat and keep your jaw hanging open for him. He would fuck your throat, harshly, how he wants, whenever he wants, and wherever he wants. And you would take it every single time .

His balls hit the end of the silicon body, now he looks at you deeply as he fucks the toy, contradicting his previous actions. You were still seated on his feet, your pouty lips almost whining in frustration. 

You were wet, your hips tilted a bit in your place, your uneasy hands wanting to grab the end of his trousers and hold onto it, at least being close as he pleasures himself with the toy.

The silicon body goes up and down, the wet sounds echoing the room, plus the noise that the silicon made. It was perverse, depraved, but it made your pussy clench in need, primal desperate need. His hands gripping the ‘waist’ of the faked body, so possessively, as he did once with you. It made your jaw clench in jealousy. 

“I am sorry. Please” You beg once again, almost squealing as you look at him. 

“Maybe I’ll breed this” He murmurs, his tone low in a groan, and not even the wet squishing sounds can appease his words. “Full of my cum, a shame it is a dumb toy instead of a dumb girl” 

His eyes once again drift to the fleshlight, seeing how his cock disappears on the silicon body, he groans, not minding you as his balls start hitting the ‘ass’ of the toy.

“Daddy” You say wanting his attention again, hating how his gaze moves to the toy. “I’ll… I-I’ll do anything” you try, but he starts to pant, his mouth slightly open as he keeps looking at the toy.

“Anything but behave” 

It’s getting frustrating, and you want to take the stupid thing, and break it in half, burn it and then throw it at the sea. But you don’t, and you cannot, you just sulk in your place.

“Fuck, fuck-” He says, his hips hesitate a bit, and from the angle, you could see his balls twitch a little, as he bites his lower lip slightly, and his left hand grips tightly on the fake hip of the toy as he keeps it steady; it is his hips who thrust in and out the toy, moving up and down, as he throws his head back 

Even if you don’t know, he can look at your face with his peripheral view, your pouty lips and doe eyes as you look at his cock, and then his face. You can see both in your position, and he can see how your hips try to get some friction, even if it means trying to grind them in the ground. It is cute, and arousing for him at the same time. He smirks slightly as his hips go up in a ruthless pace, fucking the fleshlight as he starts cumming.

He wishes it was you, but of course, this is a punishment for a silly girl who can’t follow a simple rule. Aemond loves nothing more than to breed you, filling you up with his cum, and his seed deep in your cunt. Your poor cunt, he thinks, looking at you. 

“Is my baby’s pussy hurting?” He asks in a raspy tone, looking at you as his balls tighten one last time, but it is your answer who makes him cum hard.

“My pussy hurts so much for daddy…” You whine with a pout, and he has to grit his teeth as he cums, hard, he throws his head back and feels the toy fill up with his cum, stuffing it with hot cum as he moans and groans. You hate how it isn’t you, but you are too aroused to get angry at that, you simply let a little whine that it is more like a frustrated moan. 

He breathes hard a few moments, his head looking at the ceiling as if his neck was too tired to keep the weight of his head. He knows that you are desperate, but for once, you and him both know that this isn’t about you.

He has to suppress the smirk on his face as he feels your hesitant hands going around his ankle, shyly and not sure if you can touch him, but he knows that you do it out of pure and raw desperation. The silicon body rests on his cock, some of his cum falling out and it isn’t so pleasant as when he cums in you. He keeps his hands firmly grabbed on the toy’s waist, and he sighs. 

“Daddy” you murmur, testing the waters.

“That’s what you get for being a dumb bad girl for daddy” He tells you in an out of breath tone, and this is probably the worst punishment ever for you. After all, playing with fire always results in getting burned.

✧ Part 2 ✧

PLEASE READ BELOW

Hi! I am a UK based trans artist and writer looking to pursue a private hysterectomy. I run an Etsy store (you may even have one of my stickers or badges!) and work part time but am still struggling to save much of anything towards surgery due to debt, living costs, etc so I’m looking for a little bit of help!

The reason I am pursuing a hysterectomy now is due to having cervical ectropion. This condition is where the cervix is essentially inside out and causes bleeding and excruciating pain. Frustratingly enough the treatment for this condition worked for all of two weeks before returning straight back to how it used to be. Cervical ectropion is aggravated by fluctuating hormone levels, particularly estrogen, so if I was to ever experience atrophy and seek treatment for that it would only make my ectropion far worse. The NHS does not offer hysterectomies for this condition due to them deeming it “a harmless condition”. Funnily enough the only procedure they approve of to “treat” this is a tubal ligation which has nothing to do with the cervix (make it make sense). 

I could attempt to get a hysterectomy through my GIC (Nottingham), however their communication is abysmal, I get one appointment a year with them and I cannot sit by and wait for the topic to come up on their terms, they never even spoke to me about top surgery (after telling me they would) leaving me to get that privately too, and I think even if they do approve a referral it’d take far too long and I would have little control in the situation. I simply cannot be in this pain for however long they wish to take to help me. Especially with how things are going for trans healthcare.

So I’m looking to get it privately. I have been recommended Mr Saurabh Phadnis with Nuffield Health in London due to him approving hysterectomies for many reasons and getting rid of everything you wish to remove and not just the bare minimum. I would like to go with him as I wish to remove everything including the cervix. My GP is happy to do a referral for him, so it is literally just a case of getting the funds. I was quoted an estimate of roughly £9000. I’m not going to ask for people to send me that amount as I know it is a huge sum to ask for. I’m hoping to raise as much as I can by about January/February time (through donations, etsy sales, and anything I can spare from my part time job) and look at taking out a loan for whatever is left over and if I can save even a third of the full amount that would help immensely.

A hysterectomy would truly change everything. I don’t want to take depo injections for the rest of my life, I don’t want to be in pain anymore and I don’t want to bleed randomly throughout the day because I dared to go for a walk. This is not just for transition purposes, this is so I can live without fear of further pain, more bleeding, being unable to treat potential atrophy because of an existing condition, HPV, cervical cancer, pregnancy scares etc.

If you'd like to donate:

ko-fi.com/transmonstera

cashapp: £transmonstera

Even if you can’t donate, please take a moment to share. It’d mean the world to me.

we've known for a while that novel lloyd and webcomic lloyd are two different characters but this really shows the kind of character the adaptation team has turned lloyd into.

like. i cannot begin to emphasize how not true this is for novel!lloyd. at all. he's constantly lying about his feelings both to others and to himself, a big part of his emotional conflict with javier is about javier wanting lloyd to show him how he truly feels and lloyd lying straight to his face about it, being dishonest about his emotions and feelings is a core part of his character and him finally letting himself be open and honest is meant to be the payoff of his emotional arc.

the way he feels and the things he shows and says are not the same.

heck not even his feelings and his thoughts are the same!

It was truly a strange thing. He was giving away a tremendous gift without anything in return. Yet, his heart was light and filled with relief. And even though he said it was a wasted opportunity or whatever, truthfully speaking, he didn't feel that way. Tsk. It's not because that hooligan Frontera made me weak, or because I feel guilty. I'm doing this because I'm tired of its whining. It is beyond annoying to hear Frontera whining, insisting, and begging for me to take responsibility and help out. Lloyd thought this was an opportunity for him to get rid of one less burden of his. It was the cost of getting rid of this pesky burden. This was an investment. So, he concluded that he wasn't being a fool. He was doing this for Arcos and Marbella Frontera. Lloyd reiterated these thoughts in his head and pulled himself together.

like. he will lie to himself about his reasons for doing kind things and justify them as actually selfish and self-interested when we know that's not true.

he betrays his feelings with his actions, him being a good person and being unable to hide it or change it despite his best efforts is also an integral part of his characterization but it's not something he willingly shows or something he's even willing to admit to himself much less to other people.

which. is exactly the opposite of what this scene was about? i think? like. the conflict here was,, someone trying to prove that lloyd's actions aren't actually selfless and that he has a hidden agenda and lloyd proving that notion wrong by rejecting. but,, that's exactly the opposite of what lloyd wants to project about himself?

like. this is a man that when told directly to his face that he's a good person who when left to his own devices will help others for no gain to himself by a higher being whose literal job is to judge souls' goodness he will just go "nuh uh" and insist everything he does is for his personal gain and not the greater good or anything like that.

he would not be emotionally honest enough to have this kind of realization and much less to share it with some fucking guy trying to kill him.

i just. i want to know so bad what the adaptation team wanted to prove with this interaction. like. what was the purpose of it. what did they want to tell us about lloyd by having him say this.

personally i find it so diametrically opposed to lloyd's characterization in the novel that i just. i don't understand how they could've come up with this scene if they understood his character in the novel like. at all.

but. is that anything new lmao

Oh yeeessss Aemond and his smart girl fighting like that. Consider: she makes him jealous because she wants to get fucked like that, and he knows but can't help himself. So not only is Aemond being extra mean because he's jealous, but he's also taunting her about how he knew this was her plan. How even when she's not being fucked silly, he's still just one step ahead of her. And every time she tries to argue no, it's not like that, he fucks her just a little harder or does something that makes her lose her mind mid-sentence

And oh yeah, it'd be enemies to lovers for Aegon. Aegon thinks she's too smart for him and probably belongs with someone like Aemond who can keep up with her, and he hates it. He especially hates it when her friends imply he's too dumb for her. He's gonna talk down to her as he ruins her, even mocking her some when she struggles to be coherent. Absolutely loses it if she manages an "only for you" at some point. Don't imagine him not hearing at first so he leans in with a "Aaawww, I don't think I heard you" and then gets that response

💄

inserting a read more for smut purposes.

tw: mentions of creampie, dumbification, jealousy, mindbreak (? just incase), lil slut shaming (not in a mean way), i got carried away and gave aegon a daddy kink (im sorry-), also implied sugar daddy aegon

omg no yes because

aemond, while very comfortable and trusting in their relationship is still very, very insecure due to his eyes. not that his sweet, smart girl would EVER do anything to pick at him over his eye or give him any reason to feel as if he is ANY less than enough for her just because he can’t see out of one eye. however, he is easily jealous due to his disability. anyone that looks at her too long is an immediate red flag and he is averting her away from them. her, he trusts. it’s other people that he doesn’t trust. now in my head aemond is two or three years older than her, but they met due to being in some of the same classes, she is stupid smart and in all the upper levels early, on fast track for early graduation, all that jazz. aemond’s done all the partying he wants to do, but he can’t just say no to her when she’s got her lips pouted and eyes all wide, pleading with him to go with her to some stupid party. he goes and stands in the corner while she dances with her girlfriends, and then some guy that he briefly recognizes walks up and stands too close to her, leans in a little too close to her, she doesn’t push him away either. aemond knows what she’s doing, and he won’t admit but it’s working. he drags her back to his place, so he doesn’t have to deal with her stupid roommate, stripping her and working her up really quick before he just starts running his mouth, punctuating every thrust with taunts dipped in honey. telling her he can’t believe she would go to such extremes to make him so jealous, how he knew what she was doing and asking her if she’s stupid enough to think he’d get jealous over that guy. all she can manage is gaspy moans, her mind unable to keep up with his words as his cock repeatedly drills into her cervix in a borderline painful manner. eventually she just begins nodding on with everything he’s saying, and continuously telling him that she’s his stupid slut and she loves him so much. he really likes it when the only words she can manage are whiney little aemond’s and i love you i love you i love you’s.

poor aegon is literally so insecure :(. i imagine this one being another age gap, a bit bigger, fourish years, they met because she was interning at his dad’s company where he “works” (he won’t admit it but it was love at first site for him) so not only is she stupid smart but she’s that much younger than him and stupid smart. she’s just so fucking smart and all her stupid friends are so fucking smart. he really isn’t even sure why she’s with him but he’s too scared to ask her. her friends never hesitate to make little fucking jabs at him though, they can be pretty fucking mean. and he isn’t a bitch, and he definitely dishes it back, but their words still bother him. one night after too many bad jokes using him as the punchline, he really just snaps. sinking into her the second he gets her panties pulled down right at the front door. telling her that she’s his baby, and she is. he babies the fuck out of her in and out of bed, a big giver as long as he gets praise in return (i digress i just want this man as a sugar daddy). anyway so he’s talking down at her, telling her that she’s his stupid little baby, and that she can’t do anything without him, let alone get off. sometimes when he gets like this after the taunting of her friends, he holds her a little closer while he fucks her, asking who the fuck she belongs to while his cock hits her g-spot and pelvis rubs against her clit, knowing she can’t understand what he’s saying, let alone form a coherent sentence. absolutely looses it when she whines out breathy little yours, yours, yours. he nuts on the spot when he says what was that baby, i don’t think i heard you? and the moan he gets back is yours, daddy.

Parallels and Contrasts between Levi and Eren in "Bad Boy" and "Attack on Titan":

So one thing I find really interesting is the parallel and contrast between Levi and Eren in the two scenes in which we see them kill for the first time, and what it tells us about each of them.

I talk a lot about how Levi isn't naturally inclined toward violence, while Eren very much is, and I think we see that truth play out in how opposing these two scenes are, and how Levi ends up in the opposite position from where he started, and with Eren, vice versa.

In Eren's scene, he seeks out the men who have kidnapped Mikasa, and does so with the express purpose of killing them. Eren is the aggressor throughout the opening pages of this scene.

He uses manipulation to attack and kill the first man, pretending to be lost and seeking help. He gets the man to let his guard down and then stabs him to death.

This isn't normal for any child, but most especially one who's grown up with a quiet and stable life the way Eren has, free of violence or brutality of any kind. And yet we see him here take very naturally and easily to taking another human beings life.

He then uses further, manipulative tactics to draw the second man after him to catch him in an ambush, and we see here that Eren has come prepared. He's fashioned a kind of spear out of a mop, tying a knife to it's end and charging the man with it. This shows premeditation on Eren's part. Again, he came there absolutely planning on killing these men, and had a plan worked out as to how he would go about it. A plan that worked with frightening efficiency.

He runs the man through and then falls on top of him, taking up his first weapon.

And then begins to stab him repeatedly and violently, screaming that he's an animal and that he's getting what he deserves.

Now, let's compare this to Levi's scene.

Levi seeks these men out, too, but it's for a totally opposing reason and with completely different expectations. Levi goes there hoping to retrieve his mother's tea set, but we can see from him immediately getting beaten down that he didn't go into this situation with any, real forethought or plan. One of the men says he tried "sneaking onto a cart headed for the surface", but clearly he was caught, and we can guess that Levi didn't do a very good job of thinking this situation through or trying to be subtle. And, as we'll see in a few pages, he didn't go there at all with any plan of success.

Levi continues to get the hell beaten out of him, and appears completely helpless, which he is. Compare this to Eren, who easily took out the first man, and then proceeded to do the same to the second, using manipulation and premeditation.

Levi shows an honestly heartbreaking passivity here, telling the men to give "it" back, meaning his mother's belongings, but again, showing no real plan or initiative towards convincing these men to do as he asks. He continues to be manhandled and talked down to, easily overpowered and unable to do anything as they refuse, and begin talking about selling him as a prostitute. And then the man holding Levi by the hair says "We should make him do the same job as his mother. He might have inherited her talents."

And finally we see Levi fight back. Only when his mother is spoken badly of does he do this, and we see what happens. Levi's punch is totally ineffectual against the man, and only serves to make him angry, leading to the man beating Levi repeatedly and brutally with his head against the stone ground. It's important to remember, now, that Levi has been raised by Kenny for the last, several years at this point, and taught how to fight by Kenny, a man who makes a sport of taking human life. He's been raised in a world of violence and cruelty and desperation, a marked contrast to the world Eren was raised in, one of mundanity, safety and peace. Eren, who was raised by a doctor, a man of healing, vs Levi, who was raised by an honest to god serial killer, a literal man of death. And yet, it's Eren who shows unusual ability and determination in taking the lives of Mikasa's kidnappers, planning out exactly what he needed to do to succeed, using lies and manipulations to get these men into a vulnerable position and then striking unexpectedly, while it's Levi who gets beaten down and brutalized, because he had no, real, plan, because he went into a situation he couldn't handle, knowing he couldn't handle it. Levi shows no, real cunning here. No cleverness or deception. As he says on the next two pages:

He went into this situation expecting to die, only wanting to "rebel", wanting to "spit on this shitty world", to defy the ugliness of his life and this existence by refusing to give up the only good thing he'd ever had to it, that being this single memory of his mother. He knew he wasn't going to succeed, but he only wanted to stand up to the cruelty of it all, even if that meant dying.

And then Levi's power awakens, sparked by his physical body being put in mortal peril.

And here we see Levi's and Eren's positions flip.

Eren finally lets his guard down, thinking he's taken out all of the bandits, only for Mikasa to tell him that there were three.

And then, not expecting or planning for this, Eren starts to get beaten down. The same thing happens to him here as happened to Levi. He gets kicked in the stomach and immobilized as a result.

But even in this state of being beaten up, and then starting to be choked, we still see Eren struggling and fighting. His face is one of rage and determination, even as he's getting the life choked out of him. And he tells Mikasa "Fight!!". This, again, is a marked contrast to Levi's demeanor of passivity and helplessness while he was being beaten up. Levi was resigned and showed no, real anger until, again, they started talking badly about his mother. And even then, it wasn't enough to keep the fight in him. We see his limp hand against the ground as he begins to be beaten to death, his entire body language one of giving up. Compare this to Eren, who, even as he's being choked to death, stares with absolute hatred and rage at the man with his hands around his throat, as he tells Mikasa again to fight, that if she doesn't fight, they were going to die.

When Levi's power awakens, his mind is flooded with all the power and knowledge of every Ackerman that came before him, and it's THAT, not his own will to survive, that moves his body into action.

Levi says here that he didn't think it was strange that something had happened to him at the time. He talks about a calmness coming over him, and then:

He talks about the idea of what to do just coming to mind suddenly, and him following the instinct of that and acting accordingly.

This was similar to a fight or flight response, without any real, conscious thought to action on Levi's part. He's just doing what his body suddenly knows to do, rooted in his Ackerman lineage, more than anything to do with Levi's actual personality or will.

Again, this is a truly sharp contrast to what we see from Eren, who premeditated the murder of these men. Who went into his encounter with them fully determined and expecting to kill them. He only ended up needing Mikasa's help because he made a mistake, failing to account for the third man. In contrast, Levi would have certainly died if his power hadn't, totally involuntarily, awakened when it did.

It important to see how both these scenes basically play out in reverse, and I think the fact that they do demonstrates how Levi was always a foil to Eren's character, by showing how Eren was always naturally inclined toward violence, always had an affinity for violence, despite growing up in a peaceful life with a loving mother and father, while Levi was very much the opposite, very passive and showing no, real affinity for violence until his power awakened, this despite his growing up in desperate and cruel circumstances, and having spent years with Kenny, a brutally violent man, teaching him everything he knew.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER (satoru gojo x reader)

a/n: (wc: 0.9k) gojo-centric, dad-to-be!gojo, implied pregnant!reader, angst to fluff, i literally don’t know what made me write this it just happened :/ it’s kind of different from what i normally write so i am kinda nervous but hope you guys enjoy it <3

Satoru Gojo always knew what would become of him, what was expected of his hand that wields a power like no other. 

He was strong—the strongest, which came with a league of it’s own. The title had it’s glitter and gold; people fawned to him like bees to honey. He was it—the sight to see. 

However, Gojo found that his reputation often preceded him. 

Maybe he was a bit naive, a bit premature with his flashy conclusions, but he can now admit that he was wrong to assume that the top would be less lonely than the bottom. He thinks they're equals, that people choose to ignore how many similarities they truly have. While one may be flashier than the other, they isolate you all the same. 

He vaguely recalls a memory—one from where he was young, barely nineteen years old, as Yaga stood before him and shook his hand with a forceful pride. 

The Untouchable Satoru Gojo, he’d called him, eyes swimming with that oh-so-familiar glimmer of satisfaction with a tinge of insatiable jealousy. 

Gojo remembers shaking his head at the comment, scoffing through gritted teeth about how that’s not necessarily a compliment.

Because what people tend to misunderstand, is that being untouchable also implies that Gojo’s unable to touch. Unable to let people in, let someone know him for who he is instead of what he can do, what he can be. 

Gojo doesn't know what will become of him when he’s no longer the strongest. He doesn't know what he is, if not the very best. He doesn't think he has much more to offer if he can no longer provide the power and protection that all of those around him seek. 

If a bird has no wings, will it still be asked to fly? 

The more he thinks about it, Gojo’s not sure if the flightless life of an animal made to soar is one worth salvaging. Maybe it’d be better to end it’s suffering—the humane and moral thing to do. I mean, it has no purpose now, right?

The two of you sit in the chilly waiting room of a doctor’s office. 

God, does he hate hospitals. He’s never had the privilege of associating them with anything good. To him, it’s not a place of miracle workers or second chance rehabilitation—it’s one of blood and pain and heartache. One where he’s dropped people off just to never see them again. One that takes a part of him with it every time he walks between its fluorescent and grim hallways.

However, today will be different. Satoru Gojo will leave a hospital with a reason of love and hope—because today, he will be seeing his baby (or rather, his soon to be baby) for the very first time.

A little clump of cells submerged in the warmth of your body, something that will grow into one of the greatest blessings Gojo is ever supposed to know. Today will be the first time he sees the creation on the tiny little ultrasound screen. The first time he’ll hear it’s rapid heartbeat, similar to that of a mockingbird’s. 

He nervously fiddles with his hands—hands that have caused just as much destruction and damage as they have prevailed with grace. Hands that have carried thousands of corpses; some he knew, some he loved. Hands that can harm as easily as they can heal. 

How on earth is he supposed to use these same hands to protect a child—his child? Something so small and pure and defenseless? When he can barely protect himself, when he can barely protect you?

His stomach gurgles and festers with bottomless fear as he begins to understand just how in over his head he truly is. 

This was a mistake. A mistake that’s going to get innocent people hurt. A mistake that will let him get a taste of the sweetest love he’s ever known, just for it to be ripped from the hold of his palms and leave him barren and hollow. 

Noticing his anxiety—his twitchy fingers and restless sighs—you casually slip your hand into his, intertwining the two of them as if they're puzzle pieces molded solely for one another’s fit. 

Gojo looks over at you due to your sudden touch, and he see’s your reassuring smile—one that instantly fills him with a warmth indescribable to the past-him. He thinks about his nineteen year old self again, wondering if the teenager could have ever imagined a love burning this bright, feeling this safe. 

He looks at his hands again, now holding your smaller ones. His hands, ones that gently brush away the stray hairs from your forehead. Hands that worship your ever-soft skin with tender touches and purposeful caressed. Hands that will hold your child—a gift, half him and half you—with all of the love he can muster from his shattered and poorly bandaged heart. 

With a new perspective, Gojo thinks about the wingless bird once more. Maybe, it doesn't need to be pardoned, maybe it can find a new purpose. 

No one is just one thing, right? Sure, we have things we’re known for—chickens lay eggs, hawks soar over their prey, and Satoru Gojo is the strongest. But that’s not all they are, nor is it all he is. 

He knows that he loves you, weak or strong. That he craves your touch, no matter the state of his infinity. He aches for the taste of your cooking, no matter if his stomach is filled to the brim with sweet delicacies or is eating itself alive from the inside out. He knows he’ll always want to return to the warmth of your bed, whether he’s sleeping on the finest of mattresses or flat upon a concrete floor. He’ll want you all he same—always. 

And for that grounding reason, Satoru Gojo knows that whatever may become of him, strongest or not, he will be a father—a great one, at that. 

MASSIVE YAP WARNING!!!

getting this out here so I don’t for get later because the tamagotchi au is fresh on my mind and I forgot to elaborate further (I can yap for hours on end)

Kinito was the first created out of the three and was admired by a certain somebody quite a lot,,, he was a beloved character, so much in fact a silly secret guy basically decided to make his oc real and put a lot of efforts and time and lots of passion into creating this tamagotchi by scratch,, like doing the programming and assimilation and stuff,, so you can imagine the massive disappointment when his friend suddenly started bugging out quite frequently and eventually had just. Stopped working for a long while afterwards! Heart broken and stupid, unable to find the cause for this (something silly like. He like. Slightly dislocated a wire after dropping it or something causing it to constantly just have a blank screen by accident and he was unaware of this.. idk I never had a tamagotchi bfore guys I don’t know how they wor’k) he sold the gotchi as it over time became just. A sad memory for him yknow. Anyway Kinito was still very much on. He was awake and aware during this time of accidental abandonment. He just didn’t know the SILLY reasoning behind why his creator and supposed best friend had just left him aside to collect dust,, all alone,,, with no interaction for years,,, and he couldn’t really come out just as yet because after all that time he still had faith. He believed his friend would come back to him. That he wasn’t forgotten and just needed to wait! No need to come out. What if he was busy? What if he just didn’t had time right now? no need to come out, friend will come back so just stay inside. [spoiled once he was being sold like years later is when he actually finally came to the terms that he had indeed been given up on, and had purposely became inactive everytime you (y/n) after purchase tried to interact by feeding or playing with him via the tamagotchi mini games because he was still like. Horribly devastated. Still going through grief but overtime became more grown to his new friend, you!! Because despite how many times he’s refused to go along with any of the activities you tried to do with him, you never really stopped and gave him hope of some sorts that you won’t really be too quick to give up on him as easily! So he kind of took it as a new opportunity to start new,, and now being a bit more expressive of his needs for attention and care, rather than just waiting for you to do it for him whenever it is convenient for you, he will let you know when he needs something one way or another; being more confident with this new friendship to even going so far as to literally come out of the screen! Wowaz!

also side note. Ummmrrr,, kinito was always a very self aware/conscious entity. Like even during development, while he wasn’t rlly all there to process things and what they meant,, he was always conscious and listening. He’s basically one of those guys who had literally remembered everything since like the day of birth. You know those guys with crazy memory. Never forgets anything. so,, m mmm playing into a personal headcanon his creator who shall go unnamed wink wink nudge nudge is kind of a silly goofy guy,, a lil silly,, who likes to talk a lot even when alone,, ummm,,, Kinito picked up on everything dude. Like he was yess yess mhm I agree and listening silent and supportively. Listening to everything his friend was saying. Admiring his creativity and knowledge with what ideas he’d blurt out or how he’d talk to himself when he’d work. He especially loved the idea his creator would constantly talk about regarding the creation other digital entities(fish oc) Kinito loved this idea because it would mean he’d have friends of his own to interact with, since he figured he couldn’t directly so much with his creator, unfortunately. He would listen and observe the sketches or hear about the ideas and early concepts of jade and sam. He absolutely adored his friends, despite not ever meeting them before.

Chekhov's Gattling Gun, Part 1

Like a boat, lost at sea With no sails, not a breeze. I am drifting, cold waters No stars to be seen

Life isn't simple. You can't measure every moment in history on a scale of a to b. Life is like a collage, made from disparate materials stuck together, some organised, some more wild. But all of them collaborating into the great picture that is a single human being and their lived experience. This is true for everyone around you, and since no artwork is identical, no person can ever live the same way as anyone else.

Stories work in a similar fashion, with different threads getting tangled and twisted until, with one final pull, the full might of the tapestry is revealed, and the audience can marvel at the beauty, or reminisce about how they watched it come together.

Stray Gods: The Role Playing Musical is a fantastically complex and moving story, and two of the final songs, Adrift Reprise and The Trial serve as a climax in momentum, plot, and theme. These are the moments when the tapestry is revealed.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Adrift Reprise needs to be understood in the context of its namesake, the first song in the musical, and in the context of, well, it's context. This sits just before the climax of the musical, just before everything comes to a head, and we get this quiet before the storm. And this is also the moment after our conversation with Freddie (you know the one). So, you bet I'm going to talk about that.

Let me start with the imagery, the stage. This is a bit of a meta metaphor, this is a game, literally a story, and the imagery references that. But what I find interesting is the reason why.

Grace has spent the entire musical detached from reality, directionless, unable to pin down. There's a reason you can make any choice for her and it won't feel out of character. She's a blank slate, emotionally and motivationally. The only thing that can get her to do something is a threat of death.

And then we get here, Grace sits upon a stage. But now she has purpose. Now she has something to look forwards to after the trial. This is a Grace that is making up her mind. So, the story acknowledges it's superficiality at the start, when Grace is the most detached, and now, when she is feeling the most real.

This also serves to contrast her with an earlier version of herself. I keep saying that this is a story about change, and here we are presented with how much Grace has changed over the course of the musical.

And despite you not actually getting to choose anything in this song, you feel like this is the culmination of all of your choices up to this point.

Specifically, I am talking about the choice whether or not to bring Freddie back from the dead. I did, on my first playthrough, so I was met with this very quiet version of the song as Grace and I both reflected on what we had just done. There is a noticeable air of uncertainty, and the resolution isn't "I did the right thing", but "I did what I did, now I have to deal with that".

However, there is another path you can take to get to this song.

If you let Freddie go, you get backup music. And you get shown a different change between now and the beginning. Slightly.

I actually think Grace has changed more as a mortal than as a muse. If that makes sense. As a mortal, she owns up to her decisions, and resolves herself. She is alone for now, but she knows she has people to rely on. But as a muse, I think she has definitely changed, although not quite as much. Grace still feels alone, and still has to be brought from that by Calliope. I think that if Freddie stays dead, Grace regresses to the point she began the story in, and has to be given that final boost externally.

The change is different between the two, I simply prefer the former option because I, personally, find it more interesting.

"In your heart, we remain You do not sail in vain"

All preferences aside, however, this is a cool line. All of the people that Grace has changed have changed her in return. There's another musical with a similar sentiment in it.

I've heard it said That people come into our lives for a reason Bringing something we must learn And we are led To those who help us most to grow If we let them And we help them in return

This is from Wicked, and stay tuned for some analysis of that in the future. But for now, it is the meaning that is important. We grow the most if we accept the help, and we give it back when it's needed. Humans are a communal species, we stay static if left to our own devices, or we spiral.

The question then becomes this: What do you want to do now? How do you want to do this?

If you bring back Freddie, you need to keep her alive through the trial, and if you don't, well now you have to live on in her name. Either way, you need to make a decision.

There is no inertia in the ocean.

(There is a Part 2 going up at the same time as this that will discuss The Trial)

Previous - Next

Zukaang Moments In Episode One: The Boy In The Iceberg

(There's A Lot)

-<>-

"Head a course for the light." The first episode and it is already foreshadowed that Zuko needs Aang and that Aang is his pathway to true happiness and peace. It's a literal angelic light that calls to Zuko that can be seen for miles around.

What does that sound like? A lighthouse and Zuko is literally in a boat trying to find a way home. Aang casts a light that calls Zuko home and represents finally finding the shore, an end to the perilous journey at sea for the sailor lost in the night.

Like, symbolic much? Zuko could've been clued into the idea that that was the avatar by a whole slew of ways, but it is a literal becon of light, almost like Aang is less an enemy/something to catch and more a savior/home.

Also, Yin and Yang #1: Zuko knows exactly where he's going and what he's doing, Aang has no idea where he's going or what he's doing.

Zuko angstily staring in the direction of Aang, being unable to sleep.

Iroh going on abt how there's no way Zuko could find Aang bc his ancestors weren't able to. Well. You see Uncle Iroh. Zuko's ancestors weren't soulmates with the avatar.

Yin and Yang #2: Zuko is talking about how he needs his honor, you know, in order to go home and be the prince he's supposed to be. Immediately after we see Aang lying and dying he's the avatar. Zuko is chasing his destiny. Aang is running away from his destiny. (And continues to do so even after accepting his role as avatar bc his destiny is Zuko ;) )

One of their obvious Yin and Yangs but since the scene focuses on Aang's tattoos I'll say it here. Aang has blue markings he accepted willingly as a sign of mastery and honor, granted to him by people who raised him and love him. Zuko has a red marking he had no say in as a sign of 'weakness and dishonor', granted to him by someone who raised him and hates him. Yin and Yang #3

Yin and Yang #4: Zuko is stressed and training, Aang is carefree and having fun. Zuko is stressing out the people around him, Aang is bringing fun to the people around him.

Yin and Yang #5: Zuko is seen practicing firebending and still working on the basics and the only purpose to his learning is to fight. Meanwhile we see Aang, a literal master, use his bending as second nature and for anything BUT fighting.

Aang finds a scary fire nation ship and shows no fear, despite it's obvious danger, only a desire to reach in and find what's inside it. A unique approach to it. Which already foreshadows his relationship with Zuko (and technically the fire nation but shut up this is abt Zukaang), specifically the Blue Spirit, where he shows no fear of Zuko, who's proven dangerous, and only wants to understand him and be friends. Reach in and find what's inside him. A unique approach to Zuko.

Zuko is once again called to Aang by a light, and this time it's a flare, something sent up when someone needs rescue. And like the last light he followed, this one is also foreshadowing the future.

Where the first light shows how Aang is important/needed by Zuko, this one shows how Zuko is important/needed by Aang. It foreshadows how Aang needs help and Zuko is often called to his rescue. (both with the blue spirit and him joining them in book three, and also that fight with azula, as examples off the top of my head, oh also the freeing appa thing, there's a lot.) Zuko is Aang's hero. @the ember island players were right

"Quite agile for his old age." Not Zuko already praising Aang and being Extra Aware of everything Aang does and everything Aang can do.

Also, 'his'. The avatar could be male or female, the world doesn't actually know. And yes, we could attribute Zuko automatically saying 'his' as him assuming based on internal sexism OR we could say Zuko inherently knows due to his cosmic connection with Aang. >:) There is more on this later, I swear this isn't as much of a reach as it seems.

-<>-

Okay so, Basically, the reason I did this was bc I saw someone list out the moments in the series for their ship and I started thinking about the zukaang moments from the series but like. They're all over the place. The series is about Zukaang, so I thought it'd be fun to list out all the Zukaang moments from just the first episode. (Thematic ones and relationship ones.)

I'm about to do The Avatar Returns, but honestly, I could keep going. I'm heavily thinking about it. The first (two parter) episode is heavily Zukaang, but even the second one, though they don't interact at all, has Zukaang moments. I might go through each episode and point out over-analyzed zukaang. Idk.

If you don't want the zukaang tag flooded by this over the next however long it takes me, speak now or forever hold your peace.

Second Part

little things: txt

the second installment of the little things series.

includes: sixth member of txt

genre: cute, platonic, personal headcanons

you have a significantly different relationship with each of them, but none of them are lesser. it’s very obvious that the six of you have a very deep amount of love and respect for each other, and that doesn’t change. you have been through a lot with the support of each other, and also suffered together. there are so many moments to remember and choose from, but some of them just stick out more than the others.

YEONJUN

i just feel like you and yeoniun have a very funny relationship. He's definitely like your pretend sworn enemy. You'll joke together all the time. His favorite one to tell is that he raised you yet you constantly disrespect him. There is even a viral video of him talking to the camera about how you're his least favorite member because all he's done his best to teach you wrong from right and you just couldn't get it, and then immediately followed by clips him letting you do whatever you want, like putting random clips and pins all over his hair while he's talking.

He's notoriously known for lying about you lol. Notoriously known for pretending he's not soft for you. There are viral videos of things like him yelling about who ate his leftovers and being mad then seconds later soobin tells him it was you and he's just deflating and going, "just ask next time, I'll order you your own fresh."

 He's also your favorite to prank yourself. It's always a war; he'll put salt in your drink, you'll saran wrap yeonjun's door so that he has to run through it to leave his room. If anyone ever asks about why yeonjun dyes his hair so much, you always say because you're sneaky and yeonjun doesn't buy his own shampoo. Despite all of that though, whenever anything goes too far, he is always the first to apologize

SOOBIN

Soobin best brother is my favorite agenda. He's very attentive and protective. Possibly a little overbearing but not in a "you can't be around anyone" way. He's just always concerned. He makes sure that even if you say you're fine that you pack a sweater or something when it is cold, always making sure your favorite snacks are stocked up.

He's kind of like your moral compass because he's definitely the one to be like "hey not tonight we have an event in the morning" and definitely makes you take care of yourself, but also, he does in fact lie for you in a heartbeat. one time yeonjun ran into his room covered in whipped cream, "where's y/n, I know she did this" and soobin just patted the pile of pillows under the blanket next to him and shook his head. "sorry to burst your bubble but she's been in here all night"

Coordinates matching outfits with you all the time. You probably steal his clothes claiming they will help in your mission to make your outfit iconic. Which..honestly you could tell him you needed it for any reason and he'd give it to you. Soobin is physically unable to tell you know unless it is a matter of your health. There are lots of videos of you wearing soobin's jacket whenever the stylists give you a dress or something. He's definitely the one to lay it over your lap when you're sitting

BEOMGYU

Gyu is a tough nut to crack. I think that you guys are probably shipped the most, but it's ironic because the usual shippable moments that fans latch on to either don't happen or are very lowkey the two of you are.. unique. For a better insight into your relationship with beomgyu, a list of viral moments/thins relating to your and your third oldest brother are:

You are constantly copying him. Most of the time it's not even direct or on purpose so most fans find it adorable how you're wearing the same outfit he wore two performances ago.

You jumping over a table to full body tackle him over a game of uno, him picking you up in the air by your ankle because he asked if you wanted to go somewhere and you said no so he literally took you anyways. Beomgyu going in for a hug only to turn it into a chokehold. The two of you sharing one blanket at a little campfire thing and him holding your hands to keep them warm. Beomgyu pouting and asking you to dye your hair to match him, you falling asleep with your head in his lap

The two most iconic moments that no one ever forgets, is when beomgyu said he was proud of you without knowing that a camera was filming, and when he was crying because his family was in the audience, and you just hugged him the entire time the guys were talking onstage. These are the famous moments because despite how much you two mess with each other it is obvious that you both love each other.

TAEHYUN

Very soft best friends. Lots of inside jokes, very hands on. It is far from uncommon for the two of you to be found giggling about something found totally mundane by anyone else. And when I say you guys are soft I mean it's literally like the famous dynamic between you both. Countless images of you guys being cute together are spread, first most shipped duo where you're concerned

He's an absolute sucker for you. Would let you get away with burning the world down and stop anyone trying to hinder you. Lets you practice things on his hair like braiding or pins. Whenever he buys something like food or a souvenir and you're not there you can always hear him mumbling to himself, "should I get y/n one?" usually then turns to ask kai for advice if he's there.

Tbh, would probably also egg on the shippers. Never in a way you're not comfortable with or is obvious, but he'll do things like hold your hand for extended periods of time, pat your head. One time, he had been extra bold and kissed you on the head and slid his hand into your back pocket. That little move is a rare occurrence, but he does it because he loves fueling the running joke of your being his girlfriend lol.

Also loves when you baby him and make him feel completely taken care of. You carry around extra water and snacks- or sometimes they're just for him and the way you remember little things he tells you always reminds him that even if he has no one else he has you.

HUENINGKAI

If you and Taehyun are soft best friends, you and kai are soft soulmates. He is your biggest fan, and I will in fact die upon this hill. He loves you so much, and he sees the way you go out of your way to care for literally everyone else, and he has enough people taking care of him. For every one thing you do for him he does three for you.

Carries around three hair ties on his wrist. If stylists say he has to take it off he makes sure to keep them in his pocket just in case. He has a pack of bobby pins and he bought you a jacket to match his favorite that he keeps in his bag for you. Has a list of all your favorites; movies, shows, snacks, colors, materials, restaurant orders. Has a list of things you hate that he keeps both on his phone and printed and posted on a wall in the kitchen so mistakes never happen. Ever since the great pumpkin fiasco of 2020.

Has previously sat with you in his lap, bundled up in his coat because you fell asleep. I think everyone who knows the two of you and like k-moa ship you, nit international fans think it's all platonic. Very touchy, finding moments where the two of you just so happen to be linking pinkies or high fiving each other while performing is like the moa equivalent to finding easter eggs in taylor swift songs.

I mean literally soulmates, whether platonic or romantic is yet to be found, but the two of you are attached at the hip, sharing the same brain cell and everything. Ironically, I think he would also be the most protective. He has sisters and after hearing about their struggles within their groups and knowing that things are already different for you as the only girl in an otherwise boy group, he tries to be like your advocate, wanting things to be easier for you.

So yesterday I said I had ✨opinions✨ on the DLC and today I have come to the conclusion that as per usual, I will not chill until I dumped them somewhere lmao. It's mainly focused on what I've seen people say about Carmine and Kieran online, be it on tumblr or other websites.

Teal Mask Spoilers under the cut :3

I have no idea if I used the under the cut feature even right lmao I've kinda always just been a douche and ignored it when talking about spoilers as I've realised gfjdjrc

Ok anyway so. I think what personally bothered me the most is a lot of people saying "they just have a perfectly fine siblings relationship, nothing unhealthy to see here" and "Kieran is a coldass douchebag who view others as objects and only cares about strength". Both statements I strrroooongly disagree with.

First about his and Carmine's relationship, since it plays into the other thing. It seems that their parents aren't around, though it's unknown why. The grandparents are apparently pretty lackluster in taking over their job and because of that, it seems that Carmine has taken it on herself to take somewhat of guardian role for Kieran. Which is a role she's visibly overwhelmed by, which makes sense, because that's not a role you should have to take when you yourself are maybe like 17/18 lol. You can see that she absolutely does care for and wants the best for him, but at the same time she can't wrap her head around his actions and how he's feeling. So a lot of the things she does she does out of good intentions (for example telling the player for him that he's interested in them because she says he couldn't ever ask on his own, or the whole lying thing where she believes not telling him you guys met Ogrepon prevents him from feeling left out), without understanding that they have quite literally the opposite effect (Kieran feeling like he's unable to do anything on his own BECAUSE she does everything for him, and of course him feeling left out BECAUSE you and her keep meeting Ogrepon a secret). On top of that she clearly has issues keeping her own emotions down, so instead of reacting calmly she'd yell at him whenever he does or says something she doesn't like. And whether you want to see that certain one-liner as her implying she does also hit him when she's not "being nice" or not, she seems unaware of what effect these reactions have on her brother. I do think the implication might very well be on purpose, but it's just not as obviously stated as it could be because this is still a Pokémon game and we don't gotta be too in your face about child abuse in a game that like 8 year olds play lol.

Anyway, aside from him thinking he can't make decisions on his own and stuff, there's a lot of ways this treatment shows in Kieran. Notice how while Carmine is pretty open about showing her anger, he keeps trying to repress his own until later in the story where he's starting to be unable to do so? You can see that when you battle him the first couple times and he loses, the light in his eyes leaves briefly (yknow, the anime thing they both do where that shows them being angry/frustrated) before he grabs his head and just says aw man or something. And when she outs him on his crush or whatever on you, he also looks angry like that, but she immediately shuts him down like usual. I'm pretty sure that's a learned behaviour on his part, aka "when I get openly angry or sad my sis will yell at and/or hit me so I have to keep it down". That's why he always switches the topic, runs off or just goes quiet when he pisses her off or he thinks he pisses her or someone else off. It's optional dialogue so idk how many people have seen it, but Carmine confirms that at the festival, though she again misunderstands why he does it.

Have a high quality photo of what I mea-

So yeah, in short, in regards to their relationship, I think it's clear that it's pretty dysfunctional. For some reason Carmine's stuck with taking a caretaker role she cannot possibly fill given her own issues and age. As a result, she takes it out on her little brother who in turn has to suffer the double bagage of lack of parents and dealing with his older sister's moods. And with next to no social contacts outside of her, he's stuck in that situation and he's got no one to help him learn how to deal with this in a healthier way (same with Carmine really). All he knows that if he was "stronger", he could deal with this better. Like that cool ogre from the folktale that does not care what people think of it and keeps fighting for its right to be respected regardless. Stronger being a very arbitrary word here, as the only specific goal he mentions (in the beginning) is able to stand up against his sister.

Now onto the whole "Kieran sees Ogrepon, the player, probably everyone but him, as an object" thing which... yeah no, he's not a sociopath kcngjtc

More precisely, the player character comes in as this cool person who has no trouble beating his sister in a battle. They don't seem to have all that much trouble socialising either. Good thing he doesn't know all the kewl stuff we did at Area Zero and all or he'd lose it completely. I think a big bonus is also that we're not from his town, so we don't have any bias against his ogre idol. So like, he's head over heels for us, he actually gets to hang out with us and warms up as we realise we're interested in his stories and all and wow. He's found an actual real friend omg. He might not be 100% aware of that, but that's all he really wanted. He wanted to befriend the ogre because it sounded like it would be someone to understand him. And now there's suddenly this super nice person who's taking that role.

But then suddenly, that person hangs out with his meanie sister and stops interacting with him almost entirely. I have a feeling that Carmine hanging out with people he'd want to befriend and them making fun of him is just a thing that happened before and that's why he jumps to that conclusion right away. Keep in mind, the reason Carmine came to us in the first place is literally to make fun of his lack of skills at the mini game lol.

So yeah, the reason Kieran is so massively pissed off is because he does view the player character as a human being, and one he really really liked and put up the courage to open up to, yet from his POV we shamelessly take advantage of that and leave him alone again to hang out with his sis instead. Would probably come off to him like you just pretended to be his friend because you had to and now you're hanging out with the cooler kids and giggle about how silly he looked when, idk, he asked to have a sandwich with you lol. Of course this is not what the player intended (or is meant to intend) and I too felt physical pain when the game gave me no option but to lie xD but I'm pretty sure you guys making up and giving each other another chance is what's gonna happen in Indigo Disk.

For Ogrepon, instead of as an object, I think he just keeps seeing the ogre from the story in her. You gotta remember that he never gets to properly interact with her, he doesn't even refer to her by her actual name like Carmine does once she learns it. He doesn't understand that, ironically just like him, what she really wants is just acceptance and a friend. He thinks that the reason she's distrusting of him is not because she has trust issues and needs to warm up first just like him, but because he isn't as strong as you are, the one she does trust much easier. He's so convinced that nothing in his life will change for the better until he's "stronger" that... presumably the Dokutaro thing somewhere during the mid point starts influencing him. Not like, straight up possession, but more it taking advantage of his instability and promising to give him the strength he wants if he does what it wants. Just like the dex entries of the loyal three says what happened to them. So Dokutaro moreso takes the role of some guy who's a really bad influence and convinces you to do things that will harm both you and others with some sneaky lil psychological tricks. Because I mean, self-sabotaging is something Kieran literally does around the time he presumably comes in contact with Dokutaro. He completely stops trying to talk to you, he boxes the furret he apparently raised from an egg, he doesn't come along to help beat the loyal three to get the masks. I wonder tbh, if Dokutaro was influencing him, if it didn't lead him away from helping with that on purpose, since it originally made the loyal three steal the masks in the first place. I guess that would also explain why he would have been fine with Ogrepon just going back to the cave so he could get the masks back later. And while there definitely is the whole jealousy aspect, I think it's also Dokutaro leading him into actions he wouldn't normally do to get the masks. Because if he gets the masks it'll give him what he wants or whatever. I think without the Dokutaro influence, honestly, he'd probably just have locked himself up in his room for the rest of the story after you lying and sobbed into his Furret pal's fur lmao.

Soo yeah, I think that's about it. They both have quite some issues and continue the trend of ScaVio characters that really need a therapist lol. I like Kieran especially though, he's really adorable despite having his own set of flaws of course. So I do hope the next part will take his (and Carmine's) story into a satisfying direction. And I better get to give him a hug because he needs one smh. Maybe Arven can make him some top tier candy apples. Oh oh yeah, noticed btw that he adds Dipplin to his team after he gave us a candy apple at the festival and told us there's a mon that looks like one? Pokémon likes to do storytelling via the team, so maybe the Dippling reminds him of our broship 😔😔

Round Two Match Eight: Sasuke and Naruto (Naruto) vs Gojo and Geto (Jujutsu Kaisen)

why should you vote for them?

Sasuke and Naruto (autoqualified but still got 4 submissions):

duh

Idk I don’t go here I just wanna help them for all the tumblr girlies

because of every single crazy quote they’ve said

Gojo and Geto (3):

uh…divorced. i love them

STSG ESSAY TIME >:)))))) Warning for Jujutsu Kaisen anime/manga spoilers ahead! I had to explain deep dark depths of the story to prove that they deserve to win the crown. Here I go. Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru (also known as Satosugu or simply stsg) deserve to win the crown for the following reasons. Please bear with me throughout this whole essay because I am unequivocally insane about them. First of all let’s get into the rivalry side of things.

In high school, Gojo was an absolute menace. The first time Gojo and Geto met, the latter hated the former because he was annoying, rude, and arrogant. Now eventually they became best friends, but you see, their rivalry returned when Geto was exiled from the school because they had a stark disagreement in moral ideologies, which resulted in a dramatic breakup in front of a KFC (yes, this is actually canon). Gojo was supposed to execute Geto because he did some Bad Things (that we don’t need to get into right now) but as Geto walked away he said (paraphrased) “Go ahead and kill me. There’s meaning to that.” And My Lord is that a line. So for the next ten years of their lives, these two were separated, now on opposite sides, now each others’ enemies. Eventually this came to a climax when Geto declared war on Gojo, but before we get to that, let’s pause for a second, and talk about the meaning behind this all. I’ll try to make this part quick because without restraint this would become excessively long. So technically, Gojo and Geto’s breakup directly caused the plot of Jujutsu Kaisen to unfold. If they hadn’t broken up, then Geto wouldn’t have declared war and then died. If they hadn’t broken up, Geto’s body wouldn’t have been possessed; his body wouldn’t have, completely against his will, trapped Gojo in a prison, as Geto sat back helpless, unable to do anything to stop his best friend from being sealed *by his own hands*. Every single other tragic event that happened in Jujutsu Kaisen would not have happened, because, assuming you have never watched/read Jujutsu Kaisen, no, Gojo and Geto are not the main characters, and the whole rest of the cast was affected by this event. Yes, this homoerotic rivalry breakup is the very Big Bang for Jujutsu Kaisen, because if it didn’t happen, Jujutsu Kaisen wouldn’t have the incredible plot that it has. Butterfly Effect at its finest. Anyway, now that their rivalry is out of the way, I will now get into their homoeroticism.

My first piece of evidence for their homoeroticism is that… it’s in the name. Both of their first names start with “s” and end with “ru”. Both of their last names start with “g” and end with “o”. And both of their full names have the same amount of syllables. There is no possible way that this wasn’t done on purpose to get the point across that they are literal soulmates. Do I sound insane yet? In addition, Gojo called Geto, and I quote, “my one and only”. Now if that isn’t some fruit ass shit then idk what is. And now the most damning evidence of homoness, comes when Geto died by Gojo’s side. This was after the war that Geto declared on Gojo, and Geto ended up on the losing side. Even though they had been rivals for ten long years, they still had an important and heartfelt history together, so as Gojo walked over to his dying best friend, Geto smiled, glad to see not only an old friend, but the most important person in his life, for the last time. Gojo’s last words to Geto as he died were NEVER REVEALED. Only very very few producers of the anime know the words. They will be released soon but for now we don’t know. But it was confirmed that his last words were THREE WORDS. Now I don’t wanna put any words in Gojo’s mouth but the most obvious theory here is that he said “I love you” as his best friend and rival of 10+ years died by his side. This is even further affirmed when, after hearing those three words, Geto BLUSHED, SMILED (as he was in the process of bleeding out!) and described the words as (paraphrased) “embarrassing words that they had never said to each other before”. IT’S BARELY SUBTEXT AT THIS POINT YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THEY’RE GAY AS HELL!

Now before this gets any longer I will cut myself off here. Thank you for coming to my way-too-long Ted Talk about these stupid ass anime men who have been plaguing my mind for months, I hope you take my submission into consideration! I don’t expect them to win but I’m just happy I get to aggressively type an essay about them in this google form :D

cant sleep so my husband's ninetails is hypnosising me so im falling alseep as i type but anyway like poison types poison types are so important to me i love them and they get too much hate. i don't think enough people realize that a LOT of modern medicine can be attributed to poison types. the sheer amount of antibiotics, antiviral, antifungal, etc. medications that are derived from poison types is incredible PLUS many poison types have an innate sense for knowing what's wrong with somebody if they're being poisoned in some way. there have been so many times where a poison type pokemon was able to cut an outbreak off at like patient 0 because it could literally just tell what was going on is incredible. there are literally toxel bred for no reason other than being hospital pokemon when they evolve. yall are so fuckin mean to poison types for no reason just cause like theyre scary or whatever the fuck. most poison types will not fucking poison you on purpose unless you're being a fucking ass and refusing to back off after being warned and like i jushy thinl its not fair that ywe give poison types so much shit but then just let fairy tpes walk around as if they can do no harms are hw just going to ingmore how sylveon is a fucking apex predator???? i dont think thats rfair at all ivr heard of more inceifents where a sylveon nearly killed a little kid than like a fucking garbordor or some thing also like poidon ytpe s being naturally resistant to pousons and being unable to be popusoned can be really gooiid for ecosystems because vertain pokemon are able to take toins in from their surrounding ebritonment and it oesnt hurt them if anything it helps them like in the case of irl spills yk who cleans that up???? usually fishmerman BUT POISON TYPE POKEMMON AIOFTEN HELP skslxxxxxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Bzzt! This is JavaScript the Rotom speaking. Aspen is fine. He is just sleeping.