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forbidden-sunlight · 1 year

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yandere!poseidon with shinobu!reader headcanons

warning: manga spoilers, obsessive behavior, violence, strong language, sexual references, established relationship.

The intention of this story is for entertainment purposes only, it is not my personal belief(s). The behavior exhibited here is inappropriate and unhealthy, hence it should not be encouraged. There are also triggers, so please take caution.

You are responsible for your internet consumption!

This is a collab work with @praisethesuuun, guys go check out her RoR content, it's amazing! With that being said, sit back, relax, and enjoy the chaos that is about to unfold :)

Revenge is quite an odd feeling to possess. It’s a white-hot hunger that gnaws at the bones and twists the delicate muscles of the heart. It hurts, and there is nothing in the entire world that can stop it unless the target of this dark emotion has been dealt with.

When you had been alive, the target of your anger had been directed at Douma, the demon who had devoured your older sister Kanae like the ravenous lecher he was noted for being as Muzan’s Upper Moon Two. After rising to the rank of Hashira, you devoted yourself exclusively to pharmacology and applying it to your Breathing Style.

Medicine and poison went hand-in-hand. The only difference between them is the dosage.

You had died fighting against Douma, absorbed into his body as nourishment to strengthen him. He never knew your flesh had been contaminated with wisteria poison until the very last moment. The look on his face was ...satisfying as you cradled his decapitated head in your palms, smiling cruelly down at him. Although you were dissatisfied that the poison would not have been completed without assistance from Lady Tamayo, a demon doctor of all possible candidates, the results showed otherwise.

Your work was done. You’d leave the rest to Kanao and the others to destroy Muzan once and for all. You knew they could do it.

Eventually, your soul ascended to Valhalla, where you had hoped to spend it in peace alongside Kanae and your parents. Alas, nothing in this heavenly area is as it appeared or told by the elders. There were gods up here. Gods who could have helped humans as they were hunted by demons, but chose to ignore the prayers of their worshippers in favor of indulging themselves like beasts.They were no different than a mortal warlord who valued his own safety above the people’s.

And now, they wanted to destroy Midgard because it had become ugly in their eyes? No. That is not happening. For as long as you carry your sword and poisons, humanity will not be discarded like a child’s toy. The Demon Slayer Corps were expected to protect the people…so it was not against the rules to participate in Ragnarok as a member of the medical team.

Not at all. Especially since Lord Hades, for all the power he possessed, still needed the Demon Slayer Corps to ensure that nothing got past the broken barriers of the Bifrost and to maintain order without causing a panic in Valhalla.

Hah…how annoying. You doubted your dear lover would be happy to hear about this. Despite his shortcomings, he was still a good man and an incredible fighter. Brunhilde would have been a fool to not select him as a representative of humanity.

You were never one to convey false humility. If you believed that someone is an excellent combatant, you meant it.

He could spend hours in the forest honing his abilities, pushing himself to where he would end up in your clinic within the Butterfly Mansion…and yet he still had the energy to spend time with a twisted person such as yourself.

For all of the imperfections you possessed, the anger that still burned in your heart, he still found charming qualities that made him unable to resist you. To swear an oath of love and devotion beneath a wisteria tree, even when he would be fighting against the gods.

A few days before Rangarok began, however, Brunhilde flew to the Demon Slayer Corps with startling news that would forever change the game between the humans and gods, incredibly agitated. But to you, it was another opportunity. You assured her everything would be all right.

Be calm, and let the gods think that simply switching out their opponent’s fighters until the very last moment. After all, humans are able to endure quite a lot more than divine creators…with a far better temperament.

Brunhilde’s sharp green eyes narrowed at your words, analyzing them with a cold frown before she slowly nodded and promptly left without saying anything else. Once she left, you left the breath you had been holding and ushered the terrified Nao to come out from under your desk, asking if she could bring some strong tea and rice balls.

You had much more to do now than simply packing up your medical equipment~.

You could still hear the screaming from the arena even when behind the sliding paper doors of your designated room. Two bouts have passed, and the favor is still with the gods. But it was nothing to fret about. Your nichirin sword was sheathed at your side, the blade dosed with the poison you’ve been preparing leading up to Rangarok. Two weeks were spent on finding the perfect balance of toxins, followed by trial and error on its effectiveness.

Who knew a Valkyrie like Brunhilde would have access to vials of divine blood, let alone the idea of a god actually going through medical checkups? It was certainly a game-changer, and now you were confident that the Einherjar poison would do its job perfectly.

It was a shame you couldn’t test it on Apollo again; the bastard is still lurking around in Valhalla, but you were quite certain he’d never try to touch Kanae without her permission ever again. The poison you used on him was specifically designed to create impotence, and he certainly loved to fool around with anyone. It took weeks for it to be out of his system, and you were placed on trial for an assassination attempt on a god.

If it hadn't been for Hades’ interference, you would be Nifhelim instead of being sentenced to ten years of home arrest and unable to take on missions unless it was an emergency. As if sensing your distress, the sword at your side thrummed.

Blinking, you looked down and smiled softly, giving the scabbard a few soft pats. “Thank you, I’m all right. Now…shall we go kill a god and bring a victory for mankind?”

The sword rattled in its scabbard, as if answering with you in delight at the prospect of a fight. Your smile transformed into a feral grin, excitement pumping in your veins as you walked out of the foyer and towards the entrance, carefully sliding on your zori sandals and brushing off dust from your butterfly-winged patterned haori.

Inhaling a deep breath with your eyes closed, you pulled the sliding door to the left, just as a shriek went right through your ears. Wincing slightly, you opened them to see Brunhilde and her younger sister Goll standing in front of your quarters.

You smiled at them. “It’s my turn, isn’t it?” Goll just stared at you with pink cheeks and wide green eyes, the one physical trait she shared with her silent older sister as the latter nodded. Your smile widened, stepping out into the marble corridor and taking an immediate right. The Valkyries were close behind.

“May the Einherjar prevail.” Brunhilde said

“We will.” You said. “And should anything happen to me-”

“Kanao will be in good hands.” The Valkyrie said. “Your lover…that man will -”

“He will carry on and look after my sisters. That’s how it has always been, even after he found out I was a Hashira for the Demon Slayer Corps.” You replied. The sounds of the arena were growing closer, humanity’s entrance into the colossal stadium growing brighter. Followed by the sound of…water? You tilted your head to the side, walking towards it and saw…a boat tied to the mast of a deck?

You sighed, stepping across the wooden planks and unraveling the rope before pushing it out to wherever it led you. As Goll shouted ‘good luck’ and Brunhilde gave a nod, one thought slipped into your mind. Why did the gods have a flair for the dramatics?

Heimdall flew over the arena in a hot air balloon that was just the right size for him, circling around a circular-shaped platform that was surrounded by dark blue water and gigantic lotuses. Raising his horn up, the god screamed through it so his audience could hear him loud and clear.

"While Zeus is the god of the cosmos, he who controls the seas is the tyrant of the oceans! The ruler of the seas! Even the gods fear the wrath of the most fearsome of deities! The second of the three Olympian brothers..."

The spectators began to warm up, anxious about what they were about to witness, a feeling of superiority common among all. No one dared to invoke his name, waiting for Heimdall to do so.

"...Poseidon!"

A roar arose among the divine spectators, the coliseum from the excitement shaking all but it was instantly silenced with a single, icy glance from the God of Gods. Even the human’s side was stunned at how the gods feared their representative so much that they could not utter a single word. Heimdall could only be thankful that he was in the air and not down there with them. He then cleared his throat, turning towards humanity’s corner.

"On the other side!"

Attention shifted to the opposite side of the arena, where a single wooden boat plowed through the gentle waves as it carried a single passenger towards the dias. The air became heavy again. To destroy a god like Poseidon, his opponent needed to be someone who was just as powerful and terrifying.

"Silent as a butterfly, yet deadly as a wasp, a fighter worthy of serving the gods! She is one of the few mortal souls brave enough to put her life on the line once more, to protect the Bifrost from destruction and slay those demons who would dare to cross the barrier into Valhalla!”

The crowd was going wild, the anticipation palpable. Never had they heard about a human of this caliber participating in Ragnarok, let alone someone who was intricately tied to the privacy of certain high-ranking individuals. Some had even scoff that such a the existence of such a human soul was nothing more than a fairy tale.

The boat bumped roughly against the dias, causing the passenger to stumble slightly as she stepped off the boat. She slowly climbed up the steps with a hand raised over her eyes in an attempt to shield them from the blinding sun and a hand around the scabbard of her sword.

“She is the one who had sacrificed her life to destroy the gluttonous demon known as Douma, and has a hatred for the gods that would even be dared to match the Father of All Humanity, Adam! Please welcome….the Demon Slayer Corps’ very own Insect Hashira, [First Name] Kocho!”

Poseidon could not believe he allowed himself to be a participant in Ragnarok at Zeus’ behest when that little shit knew he did not wish to fight against insects. A perfect being should never extend even a quarter of their true power unless the opponent is worthy. There is no living being in the entire universe worth his attention, let alone a second of his time.

Yet the Fates had other plans; not only humanity’s representative is a member of Hades’ precious Demon Slayer Corps’ brigade, it is the very same swordswoman who had poisoned his nephew simply because he had gotten too handsy with her sister. Honestly, did mortals have nothing else to do with their time in Valhalla? But since he is already here and there is no turning back at this point, he might as well try to give a small show to these simpletons.

He watched with disinterest as the [Hair Color] Hashira twirled her blade between delicate fingers with a serene smile, then quickly adjusting her grip on the hilt before crouching down. She then bolted, dashing towards him at an astounding speed and thrusting out her sword.

If Poseidon were any less than a divine god, he surely would have been nicked by the blade’s tip in the collarbone or the arm.

But he is not - he simply maneuvered his body to the right, thrusting his trident forward, expecting a clean hit straight in the center of the human’s pathetic body and ending this match. It did not happen; instead, her feet landed on the outer prongs of his trident and pushed herself upwards, using the momentum to make an elegant backflip, putting space between them.

[Eye Color] orbs blinked owlishly at him before they closed into tiny crescents, and her gentle smile widened ever so slightly.

“My goodness, you are quite fast. Perhaps I’ll need to -”

Enough. Raising his trident, Poseidon unleashed a barrage of incessant thrusts in all directions, rotating in a circular pattern. Amphitrite would be more than enough to finish off his opponent. It would even be considered a great honor to bestow upon a pathetic mortal woman who called herself a warrior. Yet to his annoyance, she dodged each thrust, and only one made its mark on the left shoulder. Her smile faded, replaced with an annoyed frown as she leapt backwards again. He sneered. Same tactic as before. Putting distance between them before attacking. Can she only do that? How did she even survive this long?

Clutching her injured limb, she clicked her tongue in disappointment. “Hm. Not only is your agility and mastery of the trident impressive, you do not even allow a lady to finish what she is going to say? Goodness, there is no limit to a god’s arrogance, is there?”

Poseidon felt his eye twitch. He reacted. Him, a god of perfection who had no need for emotions. Why is he acting like this? He must be composed, unaffected by the malicious words of a human. His reputation as a God feared by All the Gods is on the line here.

She readjusted her grip on the sword again, zigzagging across the dias. He deflected ten parries with his trident, yet five shallow cuts appeared on his body. He fucking bled. Him.

Fed up with this charade, he knelt down, catapulting into the sky and bringing his trident down upon the vermin. Chione Tyro Demeter. With his enhanced speed, which created countless afterimages of the attack, it was virtually impossible to dodge all of them. The little human tried, but she got injured…she still is not dead, much to his chagrin.

Clank.

However…the sheer force of Chione Tyro Demeter had been enough to shatter her sword. Surely, she would dare to challenge a god to a fight with a broken blade. No. She will surrender, and this will be all over…so why is she still smiling? How dare she turn her back on him?!

“An impressive attack. If I hadn’t continued my training after ascending to Valhalla, I surely would have already been dead. Although, I must confess,” The Insect Hashira leaned down, picking up the other half of her sword, “You’ve saved me a lot of trouble just now. I really should thank you…even when the idea of showing gratitude to a god really makes me nauseous.” She tightened her grip on it, blood beginning to spill from her clenched palm. “If you believe I am going to cry and beg for mercy when I’ve put everything on the line to protect humanity….you’re mistaken. We begged for help through prayers, yet none of you listened. Tell me…is taking a human life that exciting? Do you find joy in destroying your creations like a child? Or are you just bored that there is nothing going on, just humans existing, and you want another war to get the blood pumping?”

The tension in the coliseum fell into an uneasy silence, soft murmurs carried out by the wind. Not even the commentator could say nothing…not that it mattered to Poseidon. Such things were of no concern to a god. He raised his trident, ready to launch another attack when a bright green light enveloped the mortal…no. It was emitting from her shattered sword. Hovering by the Hashira’s side were two women - splitting images of each other, one was calm while the twin was angry.

She glanced up at either of them. “I’m so sorry it took this long to summon you like this, my friend. I ask, will you lend me your strength for ten, no fifteen minutes? Timing is critical at this stage.”

Hrist’s aggressive persona smirked, delicate-needlepoint canines gleaming under the sun.

“Do you even have to ask? Let’s take that fucking god down immediately. For our sisters, Reginleif and Randgriz!”

Her dominant personality, the one who trembled before the gods, glanced over at you with calm emerald eyes before nodding softly. You smiled at the Valkyrie. “Thank you…both of you.” You crouched down for a split second, knees bent and eyes focused on the tyrant of the oceans, before you bolted. Poseidon used Amphitrite again, but thanks to Hrist’s abilities, your speed increased tenfold. And with two swords in your hand, you were able to easily deflect more of his attacks. But you needed to make it last as long as possible.

Fifteen minutes….ten….five…seven…three…two…one.

Poseidon suddenly fell forward, though he quickly steadied himself from collapsing head first by planting his trident into the stones. The coliseum had gone quiet, speechless at the sight of seeing the feared God of All Gods on his knees. He glared up at you, hatred swimming in those orbs.

“What have you done?” He hissed.

You smiled. “Oh, nothing much. Given your title as the ruler of the oceans, you are a master of hydrokinesis. Compared to what I used on Apollo, it’d be pointless to inject a water-based poison into your bloodstream to have any effect on your body. So I decided to use something a little more…effective. Corrosive.” You said. “Right now, the poison is starting to slowly feast on your body, starting with the bones. The muscle tissues will be next, followed by your organs.”

“You dare…to do this to a god?”

You raised an eyebrow. “Was there ever any doubt that I’d actually try to kill you? Come now, you’re smarter than this…at least I’d hoped so.”

Shaking your head softly, you glanced upwards at a hovering hot air balloon, addressing a certain deity. Heimdall.

“Mister Announcer? Would you say that this is a victory for humanity? Poseidon won’t be able to do anything in his current predicament, and…I might need some medical attention myself.” You added, suddenly feeling woozy and black dots appearing in your line of sight.

The dull throb in your bones indicated the Volundr’s dissipation, followed by a bright green light and a curvaceous body pressed against your uninjured side. You turned and saw Hrist scowling, golden orbs narrowed in annoyance. “Moron. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if ya can’t even walk!”

“Now, now, just give me a moment to use Total Concentration Breathing to clot the blood -”

“Fuck no! I’m gettin’ your ass to the infirmary, now!”

“Goodness, such foul language!”

“Like you’re one to talk!”

“W-With that being said…” Heimdall stammered. “T-The third bout between creator and creation…against all the odds stacked against them…THE INSECT HASHIRA STANDS AT THE TOP AS THE WINNER! WHAT WE HAVE JUST SEEN WITH OUR OWN EYES IS AN EVENT THAT NOT EVEN THE MIGHTIEST OF GODS COULD HAVE PREDICTED! BUT WILL IT BE ENOUGH WITH JUST ONE VICTORY FOR HUMANITY, AND TWO GLORIOUS VICTORIES FOR THE GODS?!”

The crowd was going absolutely wild; the gods were stunned at the mere thought that a mortal had bested them or screamed that this bout had been rigged or that you had cheated, demanding a rematch. The humans’ side was the one with the joyous cries and praises, no doubt Brunhilde was beside herself with elation that humanity had finally beaten a god.

Amidst the cheering and Hrist’s grumbling as the both of you walked through humanity’s entryway in the coliseum, your mouth curled into a grin. You had done your part to protect mankind…now, the rest would be left to the other contenders.

Before you could take another step, your knees buckled and the pain in your body increased tenfold. If it hadn’t been for a pair of arms coiling themselves around your hips, you would have fallen onto the floor immediately. Blinking, you turned your gaze upwards and saw dark brown eyes staring down at you in utter adoration as if you’d hung the stars in the sky moments ago rather than defeating a god.

“You’ve made history today, my love.” Sasaki Kojiro murmured, pressing a kiss against the side of your head. “For a moment, I confess that you did have me a little worried.”

You sighed, leaning forward to press your head against his chest, just for a moment. “It wasn’t intentional….although I wished I had decapitated that bed-hopping relic where he stood instead of letting him suffer from the poison. But that would be considered an act of kindness from someone such as myself. Better luck next time.”

Kojiro tutted. “Not while you’re in this condition, dearest.” He said, grabbing your other arm and draping it across his shoulders. “Now, let’s get you looked at before it's my turn to fight the gods. And don’t even think about using the Total Concentration Breathing method. You know I have very good hearing~.”

Poseidon was frozen on the dias. The sun burned his skin, and worse still were the looks of the sheep in the stands. Defeat, compassion, pain, and it fucking pissed him off. In that moment all he wanted to do was scream and eradicate any trace of life that bore witness to his defeat against a mortal woman. But he couldn’t even feel his fingers. The poison was so strong, pumping rapidly through his bloodstream, that it had been decided that he would be carried out of the arena by only his most trusted servants.

Proteus did his best to keep everyone calm and not react as they headed towards the palace, yet even he was still shaken up by this chain of unforeseeable events. When the tyrant of the seas had been brought to his chambers, the staff immediately departed without another word, fearing for their own life should they do anything to anger their lord any further.

But the truth is much more frightening and bizarre than anyone could have conceived as he laid in his bed, dark blue orbs staring blankly at the pearl-inlaid ceiling above him.

In the smallest corner of Poseidon’s mind, that battle had awakened something in him. A dark, primal desire that should not be directed towards a mortal. However, if it is her poison, then she is the one who added this…whatever he is feeling, to curse him.

That had to be the reason why his heart was pounding against his ribcage, his mouth to go dry at the thought of the Insect Hashira, naked and writhing underneath him in ecstasy.

He gritted his teeth. “Shit.”

Slowly, very slowly, he began to move his fingers. Then his toes. Several hours later, Poseidon concluded his entire body was functional again except for his mind. The desire to conquer the Insect Hashira, [First Name] Kocho.

She was a graceful, silver-tongued creature who compensated for the physical strength she did not possess with agility and extensive knowledge on pharmacology. In his eyes, she would make a perfect queen. And if she resisted him, well…

"You asked for it, witch."

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@zodiacs-web

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tommys-little-writing-corner · 5 months

Note

My doctor says I’m ill and the only thing that’ll cure me is if you write something about Shang Tsung

Note: If you're ill, then my recommendation is simple--

Another Note: KIDDING!!! Love ya lots, Mango!!!

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Shang Tsung Headcanons -- A Huckster's Love

》 Just a little ramble about our favorite huckster, Shang Tsung. The little meow-meow... what went from being simple to now possibly just a whole oneshot fic in the form of bullet points. 》 Notes: Gender Neutral Reader, Typical Canon, Broke Ass Hoes, Fruitier Than Fruit Cake, Mortal Kombat 1 Spoilers Ahead-- You've Been Warned 》 Word Count: 700+ ▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

Meeting the man himself, before he became a sorcerer thanks to Damanshi's help, was rather interesting

While Liu Kang deemed that Shang Tsung would live a life of misery, to pay for the pain he had done in previous timelines, he did not consider the possibility of someone changing what he had planned

Shang would live life begging for coin, in rags, and maybe die in the streets with no coin to his name

As Shang finished his daily beatings from the local angry villagers (with pitchforks no less), you came along to drag his worn body back to the shop-- creating a sort of companionship neither one could put a name on

Before meeting Shang, you also struggled much like he did-- no family to your name, always on the run from officials and Umgadi alike

He didn't trust you at first, hesitant on your kindness from making sure he wasn't getting beat up in his sleep or continue sleeping outside

Shang did not trust you until you both agreed on a deal-- with the two of you clearly struggling, maybe there was a way to help one another

With your skills as a thief, you could steal not only high-quality materials for Shang to use for his false medicines to give them truth-- but other high value items as well such as jewelry and books

Shang would use whatever you found and give you a portion of the money he made, since you would keep some of the valuables you've found for yourself

This was your relationship for the next few years-- two people using tricks to meet end's meet

You would both wake a little before the sun rose, preparing yourselves for the day ahead

Sometimes you'd catch Shang trying to pull his long hair back into a bun, eyes examining how his hands-- covered in small cuts and bruises-- brushed loose strands back as he looked in the small mirror the makeup box offered him

Sometime's he would watch you get ready, admiring your bare back as muscles rolled and flexed while you put on your clothes for the day-- he admired your strength and tenacity, as you admired his cleverness and deceit

You both complimented and contrasted one another, almost balanced with one another as you would head out to collect more items for Shang to use or sell and he would use his charms to take money from those who would have it

Feelings for one another did not come about until things started to become... more casual with one another

The back of your hands would briefly brush up against one another more often, mumbling apologies whenever it occurred

Sometimes, though, those "accidents" would happen more often and sometimes linger, beckoning you to try another taste of his touch-- to feel his thin hand in your own

Other times came to sleep, whenever it got too cold during the night, Shang would suggest sharing the one bed to preserve warmth the best you two could

Sometimes, when your back is turned against him, you can feel the slow and steady breathing of his lungs in the state of sleep, a sign that he was alive.

Sometimes you could feel him shiver, and if he was asleep, bring him closer to you to help with the cold or was he simply faking it for attention, hmmm??? *(eyebrow raise and wiggle)*

When feelings began to become more obvious, as did the more accidents

But you both seem to understand that something was growing, something was blossoming beyond simple companionship

How to say it in words, you didn't know. Shang didn't know either.

It was something that neither one could ignore for long

So after years of it being "business" only to friends to now... whatever this was now

Everything felt right

Even though you were not rich like the kings of old, constantly remained on the move from village to village in Outworld, occasionally beaten by villagers

At the end of the day, when the moon stood high in the dark sky, pale light shining on the carriage, you two still had one another

Tending to one another's wounds, making light jokes about what happened, reminiscing about the past

The last thing you both would always see is each other's faces as you both lied down and dimmed the candle that served as light for the small room-- tired, exhausted, but happy

This was the huckster's love, before something much grander than your own home-- your own world-- intervened

#mortal kombat 1 #mortal kombat 1 fanfiction #mortal kombat x reader #mk shang tsung #shang tsung #shang tsung x reader #shang tsung x you #gender neutral reader #gender neutral y/n #genderless reader #no gender #romance #tommy's post #tommy's requests #requested works

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itjazzbicch · 6 months

Text

Escaping False Fate

Pairing: Shang Tsung x Reader

Summary: Based on Shang Tsung's tower ending:

With Shang Tsung escaping the Le Chin prison, but his partner, the reader, being wounded and captured, the reader loses all faith. Not knowing if Shang is even alive, they can only sit in silence and sad emotions, until fate turns again...

Warnings: Flashback (it is italicized) MK Ending spoilers, reader starts the fic depressed, some fighting (that's about it!)

Word Count: 1.4k

Time didn't seem to exist in this prison cell I was rotting in. Shao, Reiko, and Shang Tsung had escaped, but I didn't have that luxury since I was wounded.

All I could do was sit and dream that Shang and I were successful with our plans. I remembered our horrible life, barely surviving, then going toe-to-toe with an Empress, God, and Titan.

I went as high as possible just to smack the lowest pits. I was lifeless inside, and my body nearly reached that point.

"You're a strange one."

Li Mei watched me on the other side of the bars, unsure if she was curious or worried about me.

"What do you know?" I mumbled, thinking deeply as she asked:

"Your wound healed quite some time ago; not going to try and break out like the others? Just know-"

"I'm not going anywhere," Staring into the dark corner across from me, tears ran down my cheeks, but my voice dead and prolonging, "There's nothing in realms needing nor wanting me. So, tell me, why would I bother to break free?"

She wasn't expecting defeat from me, but I was in the dark corner, crying and reminiscing.

-------

"Our lives will be changing for the better, dear."

That storming night, I'd never seen Shang's face so bright, optimistic, promising with a kiss:

"With time, we will have the realms at our feet. We'll never have to live like this ever again."

-------

"To tell you the truth," Li Mei whispered before checking her surroundings to tell me, "I don't think that you're like Shang and the General. You're not evil like them."

"Watch your tongue," Snapping at her, that bit of anger was the only emotion I've shown since being thrown in here, "You don't know me, and your opinions have no value."

"I'm serious," Her kindness was annoying me, shutting her down as I shook my head, voice breaking:

"The only motivation I had is gone now. So, if you don't mind, can I rot in peace?"

"Such a shame," She shook back, quickly taking guard as feet stomped.

"FIRST CONSTABLE?!"

"Yes? What is it?!"

A guard came running down, and this caught my attention. I scooted to watch as the guard came and explained:

"Rebels! They're launching an attack."

"You can't be serious?!" Li Mei took off running, hearing screaming and yelling outside.

Rebels had to have been attacking, but that guard who came to get her flashed a smirk at me—that smirk. Shang Tsung's face flashed in my mind, the same expression on his face. He'd do that as a signal to get ready.

My blood pressure shot through the roof, and not long after that guard left, I heard yelling and screaming from inside. It was the guards.

"Did the rebels get in here?!"

The guards down the hall from my cell started marching down, and my fighter instincts overtook me. Something was telling me to get ready to get out of this place finally, and so, shooting a beam of my magic at them as they passed, going to grab the one with the keys, but they fell to the other side of the wall.

"Curse you!" Trying to squeeze through the bars, I was fingertips away from it, and of course, they had these bars in my way, and my magic was considerably weakened. I was so close, straining my body to try and get them, but freezing as I heard the voice I missed so much:

"Don't strain yourself, dear. We're not done fighting just yet."

"Shang-"

Watching him bend over for the keys, seeing that he was him, I cried tears of happiness for the first time in my life, hurrying to stand, jumping into his arms when the cell opened.

"It's you. It's really you," I cried, holding his face and pinching his cheeks softly as he smiled:

"Live in the flesh."

I was starting to go erratic, squeezing his face a little while pulling his lips to mine, feeling vital energy from within, knowing that something had happened while I was alone sitting in that cell.

"I truly hate to ruin our reunion, sweetheart," He kissed before picking up his head, hearing more footsteps, "But we have some unfinished business to settle."

"Please, allow me," I smirked, ready to go towards the guards headed our way, stopping at him reaching to his side:

"You're forgetting something."

My Khopesh.

The last missing part of me was finally home, and as I held it, energy flowed into me. Did Shang do something to it? There was no time for questions; guards coming from both ends:

"Shang Tsung?! Y/N is escaping! Don't let them escape!"

"Oh, how unfortunate that you chose this vocation," I laughed, that energy growing more vigorous, and with just a swing of my khopesh, the blast wiped them all out, and I was in awe by it, mumbling to myself, "I've never felt stronger."

"I told you," Stepping over the bodies, Shang started leading me to an escape, telling the exact words from the beginning of the new arc in our once meaningless lives, "With time, we will have the realms at our feet."

Out the back, where we were safe from guards, I was in awe at how effortlessly he opened a portal for us to disappear into, his eyes beaming back at me with a bright smile:

"That time has come, my dear, Y/N."

"Finally," I smiled back, stepping into the portal with him, unsure where we were, but all that mattered was that we were safe.

Once the portal was closed, just the two of us, I jumped into his arms again, giggling with joy as he spun a little. I didn't want to let him go; he knew the depressing emotions I dealt with in that cell.

"You didn't think I was going to leave you there, did you?"

"I didn't know what to think," I admitted, "I couldn't even move for days after I was wounded, and I was so worried about you."

Millions of worse-case scenarios were in my head during that time, bringing back my concern when he told me:

"I nearly died in the sea while fleeing."

That made my heart sink a little, but now that we were reunited, I was done with worries, bringing his head to mine:

"But you're alive. That's all I care about, Shang."

"Alive and very well," He smiled excitedly, kissing my cheek and taking my hand, "Come with me."

Following obediently, I began to wonder more about where we were, feeling the energy I felt in my khopesh again. This had to have been the source.

"What I thought would be my death was a blessing in disguise," He spieled, leading me down a dark hall, "Lui Kang may think that because he created time, my life is meaningless. My doppelganger may have tried to feed me false hope, but they both failed. All they did was lead me to greatness."

I finally saw That energy for myself: souls—a massive well of souls holding unimaginable power.

"You are the only one who ever truly believed," Standing before the well, there were no lies in his voice, echoing around me as he held his hands out to the sky, "And together, we will become invincible!"

"The power I felt in my sword came from this?"

"Magnificent, isn't it?"

Nodding, I rose to be at his side, smiling brighter than I ever had as our future had nothing but victory laid out for us.

"Just that little bit made me feel like a deity," I expressed, taking his hand and my voice echoing too, not realizing its enthusiasm, "No one will be able to stop us!"

"Not a thing," Squeezing my hand and pulling me into his arms, kissing him again made me feel complete, not daring to part lips till I couldn't breathe.

Nose to nose, staring deep into each other's eyes, we started laughing as we thought that every soul who tried putting us down would soon pay dearly.

"Y/N, my sweetheart," He breathed, an arm keeping me embraced, staring down the well of souls, then back into my eyes, "Are you ready to defy the cruel fates our enemies tried to put upon us?"

"Of course," I laughed once more, serious and undoubtedly ready as I smiled, "It's our fate to do so."

#mortal kombat #mortal kombat 1 #mortal kombat x reader #mortal kombat imagine #mortal kombat fic #mortal kombat fluff #shang tsung #shang tsung x reader #shang tsung imagine #shang tsung fic #shang tsung fluff #read and enjoy

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revolutionary-star-luma · 2 years

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If Utena taught me anything, it is that stories with dark silhouette people are usually false.

So I’m wondering if Puppycat’s story isn’t entirely true. Maybe he believes it to be true, when he possibly doesn’t know the entire truth of the scenario.

SPOILER WARNINGS FOR ALL SHOWS DISCUSSED HERE:

As we know in Steven Universe when this segment happens it is Garnet telling her version of Rose Quartz story. The information she’s been provided with, and her personal experiences. It isn’t entirely false. Rose Quartz did indeed kickstart the rebellion and grew to care for the Earth.

However we know that Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz are the same person. Earth was originally intended to be her colony. She snuck out as a Rose Quartz, and only then came to appreciate the world. She did not shatter herself, but staged it with Pearl to look like she shattered Pink Diamond.

In Revolutionary Girl Utena we do indeed know that Utena met a prince in her darkest moment as a child. However him consoling her isn’t what prompted her out of a terrible situation, nor is he the main reason she becomes a prince. It was seeing Anthy in so much distress, and wanting to help her from such a horrible situation. Vowing this:

She herself forgot these memories, because it was so long ago. Usually things in this show are not to be taken at face value. Deeper meanings I’ve heard from this is to show how throughout history men take credit from women’s success and victories. History being rewritten just like these memories. Another possible meaning to this is also heteronormativity. The prince saves her, leaves, and gives her a ring(which is to be speculated as an engagement ring.) Hell Akio even twists the narrative to fit it that way, so he can push Utena into the princess role.

Also interesting..

Both Puppycat and Utena are false princes.

Once putting on the rings however. One decides to play the role, and the other transforms into one.

Hell even Puppycat’s attire looks so much like Akio’s. Prince outfit.

Besides rambling on why I’m theorizing this..

Does anybody know if Natasha Allegri is a Utena fan? I tried looking into it, but can’t find anything. It’s just too much of a coincidence: the rings, how the back stories are told, princes, princesses, and they both even have the rotating flowers motif when the stories are being told.

#bee and puppycat #bee and puppycat spoilers #revolutionary girl utena #shoujo kakumei utena #steven universe #rambles

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wretchedelights · 4 months

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A Spoiler-Free Guide to Dodging Marazhai's Romance Bugs

This info is based on the state of the game as of Hotfix 1.0.89. A lot of this will hopefully become irrelevant as Owlcat puts out more patches.

EDIT 10/01/2024 // 8PM ET - clarify companion quest info, correct info about post-recruitment scene, and add missing known bug info about doin the dirty for the first time

EDIT 11/01/2024 // 2PM ET - further changes to info about post-recruitment scene

I've seen a lot of people struggling to successfully romance Marazhai in Owlcat's Rogue Trader CRPG, due to Owlcat continuing their time-honored tradition of launching their games with an obscene amount of bugs.

After a lot of troubleshooting, I was able to successfully finish a sub!Marazhai romance with the "good" romance ending, and I ended up having a pretty good grasp on how the whole thing works. So I thought I'd share what I've learned to save others the trouble. This info should be good for both sub!Marazhai and dom!Marazhai.

Toybox

If you don't have it already, Toybox is highly recommended. You can get it on Nexus Mods. It will help you make sure things are progressing as expected, and fix some things if they get messed up. However, it's not necessary at this point if you're careful, the only thing you need it for is to fix some flags to get some really minor extra dialog.

If you choose to use toybox, you can see the tree + flags for the dialog you're currently in by clicking the "Dialog & NPCs" tab. You can also make flags show up directly in the dialog boxes in game with the "Preview" settings in the main tab. "Dialog Results" will show changes to flags + etudes that will happen if you choose a given dialog option. "Dialog Conditions" will show the conditions required for a dialog options to show. I kept both checked for my whole playthrough for peace of mind.

Flags/Etudes

There are some toybox flags + etudes that are important to Marazhai's romance. (flags are just values like true/false/a number, etudes are... properties set based on flags I guess? idk exactly). You can browse etudes in a tree structure in the "etudes" tab. If you need to change the value of a flag, do that in the "Search 'n Pick" tab.

Etude - Romances >> Marazhai should be flagged as "Active". If it says "Completed", something has gone wrong.

Etude - Romances >> Marazhai >> Counters >> Domination and Romances >> Marazhai >> Counters >> Submission. These determine Marazhai's attitude. If "Domination" is "Active", you get dom!Marazhai, if "Submission" is "Active", you get sub!Marazhai. You have to stick to one or the other, or Marz will be unhappy with you.

Flag - Ascention. This flag needs to be, I believe, minimum 4 by the time you get his final romance scene in Act 5 to get the "good" romance ending. It's pretty easy to get Ascention points as long as you play along with Marazhai, respect his uh... culture, and stick to your dom/sub role.

Etudes - Companions >> Marazhai >> Marazhai_States >> Domination and Companions >> Marazhai >> Marazhai_States >> Submission. You can safely ignore these, they don't actually affect the romance as far as I can tell :)

Regarding Marazhai's Companion Quest

Doing the sub!Marazhai route will lock you out of a certain outcome for Marazhai's companion quest. I don't think this is a bug, because narratively, it makes a lot of sense that this happens. However, the outcome you get locked out of could be considered the "ideal" outcome (though I also think this is debatable, and I was happy with my outcome/ending for my sub! Marazhai). You can get a good romance ending regardless of the outcome of this quest.

The flag related to Marazhai's personal quest is called TempestCounter, and you need it at 5+ for the "ideal" outcome. All TempestCounter points are based on whether Marazhai's dom or sub etude is active, outside of the points you get from the errand mentioned below. dom!Marazhai adds points, sub!Marazhai removes points. Which is why sub!Marazhai locks you out of an outcome.

Act 3 - Post Recruitment Scene

There are two versions of Marzipan's post-recruitment scene. The "Normal" version currently has a bug with dom/sub points, but you can work around it.

Normal - this is what most people see. There is an opportunity to get a dom or sub point in this dialog, but it's bugged so they're flipped. If you want your RT to be dom, pick the sub-y dialog option, and if you want your RT to be sub, pick the dom-y option.

Dogmatic party members starting drama - There's some confusion about what exactly triggers this. My recommendation to get this version of the scene: make sure you recruit Ulfar before you recruit Marazhai, and if you have Argenta and/or Heinrix with you for the Act 3 location, make sure you put them back in your party ASAP (they will get temporarily removed from it), so that they're with you for the event where you recruit Marazhai. To be safe, bring one of Argenta and/or Heinrix with you for Act 3. This dialog also has an opportunity for a dom or sub point, and is not currently bugged. ALSO it unlocks an errand that will lead to a little bit of extra dialog, and potential TempestCounter points.

Act 3 - Marazhai's Possessions

You'll get an act 3 companion quest for Marazhai where he asks you to help find some stuff he has stashed away. Eventually, you find a specific item he's very excited about. Make sure you let him keep this item. There's also an opportunity to get a dom or sub point here, but the flags are flipped again. So like last time, if you want your RT to be dom, pick the sub-y dialog, and if you want to be sub, pick the dom-y dialog.

Congratulations, this is the last flipped dom/sub flag situation you need to worry about! (at least, I'm not aware of any others)

***Also MILD SPOILER WARNING due to flag name***

I guess this is really only a spoiler if you're familiar with 40k lore but... anyways... This scene should probably start etude MarTookAgonizer, and should also probably start either PlayerTriedAgonizer or PlayerTriedAgonizerOnMar (depending on what you did). Start the appriate etudes manually for some fun little bits of bonus dialog later :)

***END SPOILER***

Act 4 - First Void Jump With Marz

In act 4, during you first void jump with Marazhai, he'll cause... problems. You'll ultimately have 3 ways to deal with this:

Let him do whatever tf he wants. Sets Companions >> Marazhai >> Marazhai_States >> Domination to active. Currently bugged, prevents completing the quest associated with this event and prevents romance progression.

Compromise? Sets Companions >> Marazhai >> Marazhai_States >> Sybarite to active. Confirmed to work for both dom!Marazhai and sub!Marazhai romance paths

Lock him up. Sets Companions >> Marazhai >> Marazhai_States >> submission to active. Immediately breaks the romance. Used to work with romance, but according to patch notes was causing Big Bugs so it just ends the romance now. It should get restored in a future patch, but for now, DO NOT PICK THIS.

Act 4 - Sleeping with Marz the First Time

There is a known bug where after you sleep with Marazhai for the first time after going for a "walk", you get dom!Marazhai flavoured dialog no matter what. The sub!Marazhai flavoured dialog for this doesn't even seem to be in the game. So... nothing you can do about it, but it won't break your romance. It will just seem a bit off if you've been doing the sub!Marazhai route.

Side Content - Equipping Super Cursed Item

This doesn't affect the actual romance in any way, but it's a bug you can experience if you have an active romance with Marazhai. There's a side planet where you can loot a SUPER cursed item, that warns you that you won't be able to take if off if you equip it. If you try to equip it anyway with romanced Marazhai in the party, you'll get a special interaction with him over it. Unfortunately, it's bugged, and as a result the item will be stuck on your character but with providing any benefits, so it effectively just removes one of your equipment slots, which is super annoying. Do recommend saving and then trying to equip the item just to see the scene though :)

Companion Quest Journal Bugs

You may notice Marazhai's optional Act 3 errand and his Act 4 companion quest not getting removed from the quest log. Don't stress it - if you've done what's required by them, you're good. The quest/errand is done, the journal entry is just stuck because it's bugged.

End

Aaaand that's pretty much it! There used to be a few other bugs affecting Marazhai's romance but they've since been patched. Now it's mostly a few issues early on, and then smooth sailing once you get past those.

General, non-bug-related tips for succesfful romance:

Don't be a coward, Marazhai respects wholeheartedly embracing Drukhari culture and will break things off if you don't

Stick to your established dom or sub role

Play along with Marazhai's shenanigans

Keep in mind that you really can't be a good person while completing this romance path

If you have any questions or need clarification on anything don't be afraid to ask! I'll do my best to help.

#rogue trader crpg #rogue trader #marazhai aezyrraesh #marazhai

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throneofsapphics · 4 months

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deadly instincts

Fenrys x Reader

Summary: “That night, Aelin lost a valued member of her court, a dear friend, and trust in another.”

Warnings: angst, suicide (not reader) referenced, violence, implied past abuse, a bit of fluff

A/N: this is based on a request, but I won’t put it here because of spoilers. for @moonlightttfae happy birthday!!

deadly instincts

Fenrys x Reader

Summary: “That night, Aelin lost a valued member of her court and a dear friend, and trust in another.”

Warnings: angst, suicide (not reader) referenced, violence, implied past abuse, a bit of fluff

A/N: happy birthday to -. this is based on a request, but I won’t put it here because of spoilers :)

The two of you had a ‘working’ relationship first. Aelin had scouted you to be another emissary for Terrasen, and you gladly took on the position. In the beginning, you shadowed Fenrys for a while, and the two of you became fast friends - always sent on assignments together.

You were drunk enough you struggled to remember the name of the gods-damned city you were in. It had to be the liquor, considering the foreign dignitaries were smirking at Fenrys, specifically. Even wasted off your ass, you wouldn’t cause an international incident or let your friend. Nope, you were too classy for that.

At least you could hold your liquor, although that couldn’t be said for the male next to you. He let out a low hiss as your foot stomped on his. “Get it together,” you whispered under your breath, as the others looked away.

“I’m not that -”

Gods, even his words were slurring.

“Stop talking.”

Apparently your voice was firm enough, because the male’s mouth snapped closed. A few glasses of water later, you decided he was probably okay for you to walk back to your lodgings.

“We have an early start tomorrow,” you told the others. One man, someone you’d grown to know rather well over the decades, eyes darted between you and Fenrys, before he gave you a knowing look. Your mouth indented at the corner, relaying the silent; not really, but I need to get his drunk ass home.

You slid from the booth, putting a gold mark down to cover your tab, ignoring their attempts to shove it back at you, and linked your arm with Fenrys, “Get it together, wolfie.”

“I told you to stop calling me that.” Good, he was more coherent now.

“Oops, I forgot” your lips curled into a smile, voice honeyed with false innocence.

Fenrys scoffed, and flicked your nose. The bit of alcohol you had delayed your reactions, and you failed to swat his hand away.

Rowan would have both of your asses if he knew you were intoxicated in a foreign kingdom. There’s always a chance it could get back to them. You voiced your concerns.

“What the bastard doesn’t know, can’t hurt him.”

That … insubordination, you guess, isn’t something you could get away with, but Fenrys had known the ‘bastard’ a lot longer than you.

“I love you,” Fenrys sighed, you tilted as he leaned some of his weight on you, leg extending to try and keep your balance.

“Love you too, friend.”

There was an extra emphasis on that last word. Several people, including their majesty and highness, had commented on the ‘romantic’ tension between the two of you. But, you weren’t quite ready for that. A shiver ran down your spine, thinking of your past failed encounters. Disastrous, more like.

Fenrys, as always, noticed, “everything alright?”

A forced smile and nod didn’t seem to satisfy him, but he kept from questioning you further. With great timing, you crossed the threshold of the inn you were staying at, and thanked the gods your rooms were on the first floor.

“Lock your door,” he instructed over his shoulder.

“Yes, yes,” you waved him off, but did, going the extra mile to secure a chair under the handle. Peace had flourished in the continents throughout recent years, but you could never be too careful.

Three weeks later, you were back in Terrasen. Fenrys was … shifty. Not avoiding you, but he’d been looking at you strangely. At first, you thought it was your mind playing tricks on you, but after a few days of it you’d had enough.

“What is it?” You asked. The two of you were alone in his sitting room, a fire raging in the corner. Your legs were stretched out on the couch, Fenrys’s thumb running circles into your couch.

“I don’t want to ruin our friendship,” each word was careful as his body tensed, hand settling down on your leg.

“I’d hope so,” you tried to reply casually - but your heart was racing. The way he looked at you … it was not like a friend.

Every fear from the past surged, bubbling over into a state of near panic, but you forced yourself to focus on him. This was Fenrys, Fenrys was safe. A friend, confidant, and steady presence in your life over the last few years. But, things had slowly been changing for the two of you. More casual touches and affection, craving each other's presence more and more. It felt natural, everything with him was easy, natural even. Maybe your friendship was strong enough to survive if this went … wrong. He reached for your hand, and you let him pull you up to sit.

“Gods you’re beautiful,” he murmured. Carefully, watching each reaction, each tensing of his muscles, you reached for him, letting your hand rest against his cheek. He didn’t flinch, he leaned into your touch.

“I doubt there’s much that could ruin our friendship,” you breathed.

He took his time closing the gap between you, resting his forehead on yours. “So do I.”

“Could we chat, outside perhaps?” A female said with a saccharine smile. The hairs on the back of your neck stood up, but Aelin had said specifically to try and grow closer ties with her territory, so you relented. This entire ball had been ‘fun’ in a way, but you were looking forward to getting back to the suites you and Fenrys now shared. Three blissful and beautiful decades, and you fell in love with him more and more each day.

She led you into a familiar courtyard, and your eyes scanned the area, barely spotting the glint of moonlight on steel.

You managed to duck the deadly swipe to your neck, redirecting it to your arm instead, screaming as flesh tore and blood bubbled out from it. Survival mode kicked in, and you fought back, ducking each of her blows. Where was your magic? At least she doesn’t have any. Throwing her arm to the side, squeezing her wrist to dislodge the knife, before twisting it at the right angle - a small crack and scream coming from her. You kicked her knees out from under her, a sharp blade pressing against her throat. You wouldn’t kill her, now, you needed answers. And help.

From the corner of your eye, blonde hair flashed and a smidge of relief went through you. Fenrys was here, you weren’t alone anymore.

A large weight slammed against you, the back of your head hitting the wall with enough force that stars shone in your eyes, your vision blacking out as a hand squeezed your throat, legs leaving the ground.

Fenrys. Eyes dark and murderous, you tried to whisper his name; but his entire being was filled with rage. What the hell was happening? Your lips opened and closed, not enough air or words to come out. Gods, he was going to kill you.

Air flushed back into your lungs as a strong wind threw him to the side, sending him skidding back against the courtyard, your back brushed against the stone, ass hitting the ground as you struggled to get air back into your lungs.

“W-what?” Aelin was in front of you, her back to you as she seemed to stand guard. Thrumming with murderous energy, thankfully not directed at you. Vaguely, you registered guards tugging the other female away. Good. But … Rowan was speaking to Fenrys in low tones, arms wrapped around his chest to keep him from flying towards the other female.

“Mate,” you read the words on his lips. Something in your chest splintered. Your lover’s mate tried to kill you. And so did he. Instincts, you could understand, but there was no coming back from this. It felt like your future fell apart in front of you.

Aelin’s hand wrapped around your forearm, tugging you to your feet and holding you to her side, carefully skirting out of Fenrys’s vision. “We’ll get you to a healer.”

Every step was a struggle to stay conscious, and you made it all the way to the door of the healers rooms before collapsing.

That night, Aelin lost a valued member of her court, a dear friend, and trust in another. It would take decades to build that up again, even though his reaction could be explained as instinct. They’d all been furious beyond belief, but no more than Fenrys was at himself. Rowan somehow kept him locked away for a week, until his fervor towards the bond had more than settled, and he was begging to try and see you. He made multiple requests - to explain and ask for forgiveness, each one more desperate than the last, but she’d denied each one.

As soon as you healed, you’d left Orynth.

“Do you … want to see him? He asked,” Aelin hesitated on her words, hesitated to dig up the fresh wound. You only looked at her, eyes haunted, and shook your head.

Now, she watched as slung your pack over your shoulders.

“Come back one day?” She nearly pleaded. “Please.”

Recognizing the rarity of the word coming from the Queen’s lips, your face softened. “One day,” the assurance was weak. One day could mean decades or centuries in the lives of immortals, but Aelin would take what she could for now, and hold on to it. Despite needing the space, walking away hurt.

It was three years before you returned. Terrasen was your home, and nowhere else felt right. Facing him would be the biggest struggle, but you couldn’t avoid him forever. You’re immortal, and spending the rest of your life hiding away from your home would be miserable. Disappearing in the early hours of the morning, only the moonlight overhead, and Aelin and Rowan to wave you off.

As soon as you spotted Terrasen, as soon as you breathed in the fresh air - you knew you made the right choice.

Each letter he sent was opened, but never returned. You hated yourself for it, but some part of you still craved him - craved what you had. Something that won’t return. It disappeared that day, within the space of minutes.

One of the conditions of your return was to not work with Fenrys. Aelin hadn’t questioned it.

Each time he spoke to you, public or private, you brushed it off.

Had you ever seen the male cry before? Maybe not. But three years ago took away your ability to. Took away any chance of feeling real human emotions again. Sure, you could fake it - and had done so to great success, but the actual sensations never settled in you anymore.

“I understand … you were protecting your mate,” you forced a small curve to your lips. “I’m past it.”

No, you weren’t. Aelin told you in hushed words what happened to the female - how they’d found her dead by her own hand, and you hated that your former friend went through it - you were still glad the bitch was dead.

Fenrys spent the next century winning you back, and maybe the trust would never fully be there again - but damn you it worked. The same person who took it away, breathed life back into you once you let him in.

Sun warming the sheets, soft snores came from behind you. Soft, but loud enough they’d woken you. Doing the mature thing, you kicked his leg.

“What the fuck?” his eyes opened, still half lidded.

“You’re snoring.”

“Returning the favor, love,” his voice was rough with sleep, and you loved it.

“I do not snore,” you hissed anyway.

“Mhm,” his arm wrapped around your waist pulling you into his chest. You sighed, but melted into his embrace. “Happy anniversary,” he whispered.

#fenrys x reader #fenrys x y/n #fenrys moonbeam x reader #fenrys moonbeam x y/n #throne of glass fic

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genshinnrambles · 10 months

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[3.8] Technology as a False God: On "Evolution," the Duality of Machines, Replication, and Wisdom

“To recognize untruth as a condition of life: that is certainly to impugn the traditional ideas of value in a dangerous manner, and a philosophy which ventures to do so, has thereby alone placed itself beyond good and evil.” –Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

Before we move on to the nation of justice, I want to do one last inquiry into the narrative significance of machines and technology in Genshin’s 3.x patch cycle. Here, I’ll discuss how divinity (or “godhood”) and technology are treated as interchangeable tools to surpass fate and the boundaries of mortality, the potential problems with treating them this way, and propose an alternative relationship between humanity and technology as illustrated through Karkata, Benben, Tamimi, and Mehrak. By foregrounding machines, we learn something intriguing about ourselves and the “truth” of this world as we perceive it.

SPOILERS: All Sumeru Archon Quests, Caribert, the Golden Slumber and one out-of-context screenshot from Dual Evidence, the Dirge of Bilqis and its post-quests, Khvarena of Good and Evil, Nahida’s second Story Quest, Faruzan’s hangout, an out-of-context screenshot from Baizhu’s Story Quest, and major spoilers for Persona 5 strikers at the end. Also some dialogue from Shadows Amidst Snowstorms and A Parade of Providence, two limited-time events from 2.3 and 3.6 respectively.

Disclaimer: I have tried my best to write this post so that it stands on its own, but because it is still a sequel it will probably make the most sense with the context of part 1. Here are the previous posts leading up to this one:

Part 0: On Dreams, the Abyss, Forbidden Knowledge, and Wish Fulfillment

Part 1: The Uncanny, Fate and the Machine

Terminology: Machine is sometimes used interchangeably with “technology” in this post.

Technology or tool here is referring to technologies specifically used to pursue a wish like immortality in the face of existential dread, not the use of technology or medicine (which I do not address here, and is very difficult to separate from the former) to facilitate someone’s life who could otherwise not survive without that technology, or would have a more painful lived experience without it.

Also, though I don’t engage directly with “A Cyborg Manifesto” here, Donna Haraway’s ideas have greatly influenced my own over the years since I read her in college (although I mostly disagree with her on many points, or at least don’t go as far in boundary deconstruction as she does). I owe my interest in technology studies to her and that piece. Her essay is linked here and at the bottom if you would like to read it.

(and finally with many, many, many thanks to my boyfriend for multiple beta reads despite not having played a single Hoyoverse game, helping me work out the philosophy bits and contextualizing them in history, and encouraging me to finish this)

TL;DR: Machines are friends, not food!

No Matter the Cost

“...Perhaps it is as the notebook says, and we can find a power that transcends even that of the Abyss — the power of ‘evolution’...” -Records of Unknown Attribution (I) “Life, death... and the world around us all follow a set of laws... Hehe, but if you never test the limits, how can anyone know where the boundaries of these laws are?” -Baizhu Voicelines, Chat: Natural Laws “...Even the ominous thing that came down from the heavens shall be ours to use…” -Hyglacg, Shadowy Husk in the Chasm

Without a doubt, the star of this patch cycle is Khaenri’ah, which lurked in subtext and allegory in the Archon Quest, haunted Sumeru’s landscape with its massive defunct Ruin Golems, and finally smacked us in the face with its physical location in Khvarena of Good and Evil..

We already know that Khaenri’ah was a nation that put its faith not in the gods but rather in human ingenuity and technology, and that they ultimately attained a power so great that they “almost touched the dome of the firmament.” They did this by researching increasingly dangerous energy sources for their numerous mechanical creations, the Ruin Machines we are all too familiar with by now. They started out with Azosite, a Ley Line-based elemental energy source that powered their earliest Ruin Guard models, like those scattered around Devantaka Mountain.

Nasejuna: This giant furnace is used to make a substance known as Azosite. It is the core of this entire factory, and the Energy Blocks we saw earlier were derived from this place.

But this energy source proved inefficient and therefore inadequate for Khaenri’ah’s goals, which led them to seek a higher power from beyond the skies that could fuel their larger machines with perpetual energy. This likely is the bridge between Khaenri’ah’s fate and Chlothar’s mysterious remarks in Caribert about the Abyss Sibling:

Chlothar: We once believed that you would bring new strength and hope to Khaenri'ah. Chlothar: To us, you were the Abyss... A wondrous mystery far beyond our imagination and comprehension... Chlothar: ...And the one who controls the Abyss can control everything! Chlothar: We yearned for that future. We looked to you to take us there. Chlothar: But what did you bring us instead?

Though Khaenri’ah presents itself proudly as a godless nation, it may have been founded around the time when the celestial nails dropped in Teyvat’s first forbidden knowledge pollution event, which destroyed the unified human civilization. As potential survivors of this devastating act by the Primordial One, Khaenri’ahns then settled in a lifeless land without plants or animals of its own, and they hoped to build something there that belonged solely to humanity. The Heavenly Principles had turned on the world’s earliest humans, and they were powerless against them. Chlothar’s words betray the scars of this trauma on Khaenri’ah, as well as their desperation to control their fate by looking to the Abyss.

As a brief refresher from the previous part, we discussed how the German word heimlich denotes “the home,” all that is familiar and known, while unheimlich (uncanny) refers to all that is unfamiliar and external to the home, such as the wilderness. The Abyss sibling and the Traveler are external variables to Teyvat, making them otherworldly, unfamiliar entities full of potential to surpass Teyvat’s natural laws. Although the Abyss sibling is not a god per se, they were probably as close to a god as Khaenri’ah ever had, because to them the sibling embodied the higher power they were searching for, and they saw that “godliness,” a sort of functional divinity, was yet another technology for them to master. In this way, the Abyss sibling (and their functional divinity) was a powerful tool for Khaenri’ah’s desired end, the “future they yearned for,” a being who could deliver them to the end of their suffering under the Heavenly Principles.

It’s similar to what King Deshret represented to Rahman and the radicals in Archon Quest. The hopelessness of Sumeru’s situation before the Archon Quest’s conclusion is an allegory for the position humanity finds itself in under the rule of the Heavenly Principles, with the Akademiya symbolizing Celestia and the desert dwellers symbolizing Khaenri’ah. The material consequences of the Akademiya’s rule on their lives created a dangerous situation for the desert, and those most desperate to change their fate were willing to believe in the impossible:

Dehya: …The rougher life gets, the more they wanna believe in King Deshret. Way they see it, King Deshret’s resurrection is their only chance at overthrowing the Akademiya. … Dehya: Sumeru is run by wise and mighty sages. To them, us desert dwellers are nothing but tools that can be used and discarded at their whim. Dehya: We’re cheap labor. Like livestock, but easier to control…Nothing more. …

Rahman: We’ve waited a long time for this day to come… The sun and the moon no longer shine here. All you see now is cracks in this desiccated land. But, fate has finally dealt me a hand to play against the Akademiya.

Rahman: With these scholars in our custody, we’ll stomp the Akademiya’s forces and fight our way beyond the Wall of Samiel.

Like the Abyss sibling, Deshret’s divinity is both a nebulous symbol of hope and also the means to an end, a tool or “technology” for surpassing fate.

Celestia is untouchable, unconcerned with mortal lives, and the boundaries that govern humanity leave no room for them to negotiate their rule:

"Resolve, valor, love, hate...they will all twist in the river of time. But the 'rules' will never change." –Magatsu Mitake Narukami no Mikoto, Living Beings

Instead of bowing to Teyvat’s laws, Khaenri’ah pushed them to their limits. The cost of their failure spelled the end of their nation as they knew it, polluting Khaenri’ah and Teyvat with forbidden knowledge again.

And speaking of forbidden knowledge pollution, let’s talk about Apep’s role in Nahida’s second story quest, because if all that wasn’t enough, the metaphor becomes quite literal in Apep’s case. Nahida’s second story quest is many things, all of which will be extremely important in Fontaine when we deal more directly with the idea of forms, the Self, and mirror images, but its most useful application to both Sumeru’s story and the overarching main story is the allegory of Apep swallowing Deshret.

In exchange for allowing him to establish his kingdom in the desert, Deshret promised to pass all of the knowledge he learned to Apep once he died. When that day did come, Apep literally ate Deshret’s body in order to assimilate his knowledge (or memories) into its body. Little did Apep know, this was all Just As Deshret Planned, and its body became a containment zone for the lethal forbidden knowledge he accumulated after the Goddess of Flowers’ death.

Apep’s goal was, and still is, to overthrow the Heavenly Principles that took Teyvat from it and the other Sovereign dragons, and using Deshret’s knowledge was yet another stepping stone to achieving this goal. Seems a little similar to Khaenri’ah, right? It’s even in the title of its boss music: “God-Devouring Mania.” This idea of not just utilizing divinity as a tool, but also metaphorically consuming it as an energy source, like a predator would consume its prey, is crucial to understanding its purpose as an aid in a larger project of “evolution.” (Edit: in other words, it’s all about power).

Drink Not That Bitter Salt Water

“Flesh decays, and with it decay all martial arts mastery and all poignant memories. Perhaps only by converting one’s four limbs and body into sturdy mechanical parts, and by at last sacrificing one’s very own heart for a sophisticated mechanical one, can one transcend the impermanence of the fleshly form…” -Marionette Core Item Description “A reptile that has mutated after feeding from greater lifeforms. Majestic beasts are sometimes revered by human beings as the embodiment of a greater power, their visages turned to analogy to feed in reference to a person, feeding their ego. However, the majority of beasts that have absorbed the "greater power" were slain by the overwhelming nature of the power itself. Only a few among their number evolved new forms.” -Consecrated Horned Crocodile, Living Beings Video still from WoW Quests

As it turns out, the relationship between divinity and technology to humanity is not just unidirectional, but interchangeable. Let me show you what I mean.

In the Golden Slumber world quest, the Traveler wanders through the ruins of King Deshret’s civilization in search of a novel area of research for Tirzad’s paper with Jebrael and Jeht, two members of Tirzad’s hired investigation team. In the depths of King Deshret’s mausoleum, they stumble upon Samail, who is collaborating with the Fatui to locate King Deshret’s secret, the Golden Slumber.

At the conclusion, Jebrael and Samail actually reach that “place” after arriving at Deshret’s throne in Khaj-Nisut. In order to save Jeht, Tirzad, and the Traveler from the encroaching Golden Dream, Jebrael joins Samail in the sea of consciousness:

Jebrael: I'm inside... the Golden Slumber promised by Al-Ahmar? Samail: Oh... You are not "us" yet. Samail: ...It's fine. Soon, there'll be no "you." "You" will become a part of "us." This meaningless talk will be unnecessary then. … Samail: You should obey. Al-Ahmar's will is our will. The Thutmose's dreams are our dreams. Jebrael: No! Ufairah taught me that I'm not just some part of you, I'm an independent person! I have my own dreams... I won't go back! Samail: Jebrael, why don't you understand? Love is just a fever. I even eliminated the infection for you. Has the heat made you lose your mind? Jebrael: You're the one who's lost their mind, Samail, not me. The Golden Slumber that Al-Ahmar promised us isn't like this... It's not a sad place with only "we" and no "I." Samail: I'm not sad. I know what I want. My dream is to be one with the Thutmose. Samail: Yet you, the warmth of another... I despise such feelings. It makes you weak. Video still from WoW Quests

When they worked under Babel, Jebrael saved Samail from an assassin Babel sent in their exploration of Gurabad. Classified as traitors of the Tanit, Samail and Jebrael then founded the Thutmose Eremite faction together and were the only meaningful connection each other had until their first attempt to uncover Deshret’s secrets. On this expedition, Jebrael met Ufairah and had their daughter Jeht together, further pulling him away from the Thutmose and from Samail. Samail then kills Ufairah in one final attempt to make Jebrael stay, but even this is not enough, and Samail fails to “possess” him in the end.

Samail’s loneliness and despair then drove him further toward the Golden Slumber of his dreams, where he would never truly be alone again. He resents Jebrael’s attachments to the material world and likens them to an illness because these attachments are what make him an individual and prevent him from returning “home.”

It doesn’t really matter to Samail what King Deshret’s original intent for the Golden Slumber was, because he needed to appropriate the project for his own subconscious wish, his own intent to transcend his flesh and become “one” with his departed god’s dream, indeed to merge with Deshret himself. If rationalizing this wish required confounding it with Deshret’s, so be it. With the Golden Slumber’s technology, he could consume everyone and everything.

Rahman and the radicals relied on both the technology that (falsely) promised Deshret’s resurrection and Deshret himself to deliver them a brighter future, but here Deshret and his technology are more difficult to separate from one another. His divinity is technology in this sense, and using that technology allowed Samail to surpass the boundaries normally imposed on mortals. Though his and Jebrael’s bodies died in the material world, their consciousness is now infinite in the Golden Slumber.

Babel’s motives in the Dirge of Bilqis were also quite similar to Samail’s. After opening the path to the Eternal Oasis, her true intentions to monopolize the oasis and overthrow the Akademiya came to the surface:

Babel: Whether she is alive or dead, whether she can or cannot be resurrected... As long as the Eternal Oasis is under my control, all such things will be mine to decide. Babel: I shall be the sole Prophetess of the slumbering goddess, the Tanit's law shall be divine edict, and the prosperity of the Tanit shall be the pre-ordinance of her divine oracles.

In the Golden Slumber and the Dirge of Bilqis, the focus shifts from what a god can offer humanity to what their technology alone can offer. Though this distinction is subtle, it is important for solidifying that technology is not only a tool humans use to appropriate divinity, but that it is also seen as a form of divinity itself. What Babel and Samail hope for is not to resurrect a god or to create one, but in effect to become a god through their use of technology. To humanity, divinity is a technology, and in technology it sees divinity.

God Devouring and Rheingold* Gathering

“An arthropod that has mutated after feeding from greater lifeforms. Lifeforms are governed by the laws of evolution, Consecrated Beasts exploited these rules by being fortunate enough to discover a long-dead carcass of a greater being before any of their competition ever did. Animals and humans often have far more in common than the latter is willing to acknowledge.” -Consecrated Scorpion, Living Beings “...Zandik and I discussed the traits of local plants and animals. We also exchanged views on their evolution models. We had a great time and decided to go on a picnic tonight…” -Sohreh’s Note

So, why machines? Why is technology the vehicle of choice to consume divinity?

To start off, machines present a fascinating ontological dilemma for humans. Let’s begin with the first problem they pose.

Although there are many ways to embody a human experience, what all humans have in common is a finite lifespan. The impermanence of life, and our awareness of that impermanence, is central to the existential question of the meaning of our existence. In our attempts to locate that meaning, some turned inward and asked: what makes humans different? And Cartesian dualism answered: humans are different because we have an immaterial soul that allows us to reason.

However, in L’Homme Machine (Man a Machine), French materialist and ex-physician Julien Offray de La Mettrie posited another theory of the body that ran counter to this narrative. Very generally speaking, materialism is the philosophical view that all phenomena are a result of matter and material interactions. To materialists, matter is the fundamental nature of reality itself – if it is not composed of matter, it doesn’t exist. He not only saw the body and soul as one and the same (what philosophers call monism), but also as analogous to a machine, a view that Descartes reserved only for non-human animals. In other words, Descartes argued that thought originates in an immaterial “mind,” while de La Mettrie reasoned that we think through our bodies, and that this makes us no different from other animals or a machine.

Though his examples weren’t especially scientific, the move to extend Descartes’ analogy back to humans is upsetting to some due to the lack of privilege it affords the human subject. If a human is no different from other animals, if there is no immaterial soul or “mind” that distinguishes us from them, then what makes humans special at all? In de La Mettrie’s words:

“We are veritable moles in the field of nature; we achieve little more than the mole’s journey and it is our pride which prescribes limits to the limitless. We are in the position of a watch that should say (a writer of fables would make the watch a hero in a silly tale): ‘I was never made by that fool of a workman, I who divide time, who mark so exactly the course of the sun, who repeat aloud the hours which I mark! No! that is impossible!’ In the same way, we disdain, ungrateful wretches that we are, this common mother of all kingdoms, as the chemists say. We imagine, or rather we infer, a cause superior to that to which we owe all, and which truly has wrought all things in an inconceivable fashion (de La Mettrie, 146).”

This “uniformity of nature” (de La Mettrie, 145) has a horrific quality to humans. We assert that we are better than what has created us, that we are superior to other animals, in order to repress the despair of a meaningless existence. It is in no small part what motivates Scaramouche to offer his mechanical body as a test subject in the god creation project, so that he too could attain his destiny:

The Balladeer: But you're wrong. I'm different from all of you. The Balladeer: I was born to become a god. My entire life up until this point has just been a meaningless routine. The Balladeer: Just think about a sheet of paper... By itself, it holds no meaning. The content recorded on it is what gives it value. The Balladeer: All "I" had recorded down before were some painful memories and boring human feelings. Such senseless drivel should have been erased a long time ago.

This brings us to the second problem. In 1970, roboticist Masahiro Mori proposed a curve to measure the “affinity” we feel while gazing upon increasingly humanoid machines. He placed industrial robots at the beginning of the affinity curve and a healthy person at the end to demarcate a continuum of similarity between the machine and a human’s appearance. Near the end of the curve, our affinity for machines suddenly drops into an abyss. This drop is the Uncanny Valley effect, where an android’s similarity to a human is almost perfect, but ultimately fails to maintain the illusion that it is not a machine, creating a deep discomfort or “lack of affinity” for them. Mori thought these not-quite-human machines elicit a similar level of discomfort in us as corpses and zombies, which he placed at the very bottom of the abyss.

The uncanny Goddess of Flowers in the Dirge of Bilqis

Corpses frighten us because they are dead, and zombies frighten us because we know that dead things are supposed to be still. If we see something that we interpret as “dead” is capable of independent movement, then that movement could only be an act of god, if that “thing” is not a god itself. We associate uncanny machines with death because they remind us of something we once knew intimately, but have repressed and forgotten in order to maintain our own sanity: the very fact of our mortality. This is what makes them both mesmerizing and terrifying.

And therein lies the dilemma: as our mechanical reflections, androids remind us of death, but as their creators, their existence brings us closer to god, a “proof” of human superiority. It is precisely because we have compared our bodies to machines at all, that we have mechanized the body so thoroughly, that an android can even be built. Through them, we pursue an infinite form:

Azar: Creating a god... Yes, we are using human wisdom to create a god! Azar: If humanity cannot attain omniscience and omnipotence, then we shall create a god to reveal them! This is the pinnacle of human wisdom. Azar: We shall regain a god's guidance at long last. No longer will we flounder in the interminable void of consciousness and knowledge. Azar: Even Irminsul will be freed from its plight. Azar: For our nation of scholars, this is the ultimate aspiration — no cost is too great to realize it.

Because of this, it is not surprising in the slightest that Shouki no Kami, the pinnacle of Scaramouche’s Shinjification and most overt reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion, is also an android-like being, a truly “mechanical god.”

Of course, no foray into this well-worn science fiction trope is complete without at least one mad scientist character. Dottore shares a few characteristics with de La Mettrie that are worth noting: they are both doctors, and they were both condemned and driven away for their research. However, Dottore’s defining trait and key difference from de La Mettrie is his flagrant disregard for humans and the boundaries of life:

“If we put them to good use, cognition, complex memories, and irrational fantasies shall become controllable variables with which we can alter human individuals. As for the controllable dream, it has huge potential for both civil and military applications, and might even elevate human intelligence to a whole new level. If the plan goes well, mankind will obtain the power to conquer both reality and dream, and truly transcend the earthly boundaries we are born with. ” -Ragged Records

As someone who has achieved self-duplication and is capable of shapeshifting, Dottore can hardly be considered just a human anymore. Instead of entertaining the question of whether or not humans are special, Dottore’s research asks yet another: if divinity can be consumed and assimilated by humanity, then what makes gods special?

Empyrean Reflections

“If man realizes technology is in reach, he achieves it. Like it’s damn near instinctive.” -Motoko Kusanagi, Ghost in the Shell (1996) “Among the lost ancient kingdoms, there was a group of people who were obsessed with the idea of mimesis…these people believed that they might all be replicated and modified to the point where they had surpassed their counterparts. By this means, a superior and unsullied bodily form could replace the continuously decaying and shattering order.” -Chaos Bolt Item Description

The consequences of this perspective are severe. When we revere technology as if it were a divine being itself, depersonalizing it as though it wasn’t created with human hands, technology then appears as if it is an authoritative source of truth, like the Akasha. But in the same way that androids are imperfect reflections of humans, technology can only ever approach the divine, but never touch it. It is an imperfect reflection because technology is changeable, just like meaning:

Nahida: Put it this way instead. Truth, to me, is like a shroomboar. Nahida: Some people only see the mushroom on the Shroomboar's back, and they conclude that a Shroomboar is a mushroom. Nahida: Others see only the Shroomboar's body, and they declare that a Shroomboar is a boar. Nahida: Still others look deeper inside, and determine that a Shroomboar is... meat. Nahida: These conclusions are all correct in their own way, but none of them objectively describe the Shroomboar. … Nahida: The world is the same way. No one, not even I included, can understand it in its entirety. All of us are somewhere on the path toward truth.

Meaning can only approximate truth, and while this doesn’t make meaning any less important, it’s equally important to recognize it for what it is: a perspective, an interpretation. It’s like Scaramouche as Shouki no Kami - he was an amalgamation of what Scaramouche thought constituted a god, what the Akademiya thought constituted a god, and what Dottore thought constituted a god, but no matter which angle you view him from, he was still a “false god.” The technology we build in “God's” image is ultimately a reflection of our own understanding of divinity.

A reflection retains the original’s “essence,” and that essence reflects a deeper truth about ourselves, what drives us, and our desires. In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche posits that our desires are the origin of not just emotions, but of all organic processes that allow life to sustain itself and grow (Nietzsche, 35). In other words, Nietzsche thought the impulses associated with desire are the basis for life and constitute our “will,” that will is the causality of all effects, that all will is “Will to Power,” and that Will to Power is the “essence” of the world (Nietzsche, 74). Will to Power then serves as an organism’s most basic instinct, and it is through this instinct that they assert not just their will to live, but also their will to dominate and multiply (Nietzche, 13).

This brings us to the two different main styles of automaton enemies, King Deshret’s Primal Constructs and Khaenri’ah’s Ruin Machines. If we look at them as reflections of some deeper truth about their creators, as well as a manifestation of their creator’s “Will to Power,” or desires, they can help us understand how their creators saw the world and their place in it.

King Deshret’s created his machines to construct an earthly paradise in the desert, and as such they hold titles like architect reshaper and prospector. Although they can attack you, the smaller machines were not intended to be a line of defense in any way - their purpose, just as Deshret saw his own purpose as a god-king, was to terraform, or at least construct a domain on the land as he saw fit to his “elegant and precise” rules. They also reflect how he saw the Heavenly Principles: gods who shaped the world to their liking. This can be seen in the Staff of the Scarlet Sands’ lore where Deshret describes the “natural history” of Teyvat beginning with the creation of the sun and the moons.

As for Khaenri’ah’s Ruin Machines, their models vary significantly from their humanoid to biomimetic forms, but most of them are expressly created with militaristic intent. In “Ancient Kingdom Guardians,” it’s stated that the biomimetic machines such as the crab and jellyfish were a part of Khaenri’ah’s project to create a “mechanical ecosystem,” positioning their creators as both divine beings and military generals. The humanoid models, on the other hand, point to another duality in how Khaenri’ahns view themselves. They are simultaneously symbols of empowerment and disempowerment, signifying both Khaenri’ah’s technological superiority (as “creators”), and their insignificance to the Heavenly Principles as nothing but tools (as mortals, and therefore expendable). As a result, Khaenri’ah’s Field Tillers have a single purpose: to destroy and outlast all, clearing the way for new seeds to sprout, with Khaenri’ah as the new world’s gardeners, just as the Heavenly Principles did.

From “Ancient Kingdom Guardians: Behind the Scenes of the Creation of Ruin Monsters.”

So, from this examination of Deshret’s and Khaenri’ah’s mechanical reflections, what “truths” do we learn about the world they’re responding to? In response to their existential despair, both Deshret and Khaenri’ah created automatons to perform tasks that could wrestle control back from the Heavenly Principles. Deshret wanted a paradise of his own making, Khaenri’ah wanted an army. There is a larger “truth” about Teyvat that both of these automaton types reflect as the manifestation of their creators’ “Will to Power,” and Albedo tellingly expressed it in mechanistic language during Shadows Amidst Snowstorms: there is an instinct in living beings to replicate and replace. This is what is meant by the “continuously decaying and shattering order,” which is maintained by the recursive process of remembering and forgetting:

Amber: But... what was its purpose? Was it just trying to get rid of us? Albedo: ... Albedo: I have a preliminary hypothesis on this. Albedo: Whopperflowers are masters of mimicry, and those we encounter in the wild often appear in the vicinity of the plants they impersonate. Albedo: In other words, the whopperflower likely has an instinct to "replicate and replace." Albedo: As a plant, it will disguise itself as another plant and infiltrate the group, hiding among them for cover. The plant being imitated has no way to detect or fight back against this behavior.

Maybe I’m wrong and Khaenri’ah really did intend to rewrite fate for all, doing away with the “heavenly order” of the world itself. But another small part of me thinks this is not the case, and that it’s more likely the Cataclysm was a consequence of their failure to replicate and replace the Heavenly Principles.

In the last section, I mentioned that Dottore and de La Mettrie had a key difference despite their similarities, and that is the conclusion they each came to in response to their findings. Dottore’s response to mundanity is thinly-veiled despair. His contempt for humanity and his test subjects is indicative of the powerlessness he feels not just as someone similarly constrained by life’s boundaries (at least, once upon a time), but also because his attention to and curiosity about these boundaries is condemned by those around him. As the Akademiya’s “outcast,” he then fully turned his attention toward surpassing those boundaries:

Nahida: There once was a lone monster draped in fox fur. The monster found a family of foxes, joined them, and they became friends. The monster lived with the family, day and night, and everyone treated it as one of their own. Once in a while, the monster would take off its fox fur at night, and lament to itself as it gazed at its reflection in the water: “I am a monstrosity, and yet they are too foolish to see it…I pity them.”

Though he is fictional, Dottore’s real life counterparts are easy to spot. They like to talk about “the singularity,” simulating consciousness on a computer, and other technologically-driven pursuits of immortality. They despise the body as something that can only decay, and instead place their faith squarely in the virtual.

However, de La Mettrie didn’t think mundanity was a terrible fate for humanity. To him, rejecting the “nature” reflected in us is precisely what brings despair:

“What more do we know of our destiny than of our origin? Let us then submit to an invincible ignorance on which our happiness depends. He who so thinks will be wise, just, tranquil about his fate, and therefore happy. He will await death without either fear or desire, and will cherish life (hardly understanding how disgust can corrupt a heart in this place of many delights); he will be filled with reverence, gratitude, affection, and tenderness for nature, in proportion to his feeling of the benefits he has received from nature; he will be happy, in short, in feeling nature, and in being present at the enchanting spectacle of the universe, and he will surely never destroy nature either in himself or in others” (de La Mettrie, 148).

Friend, or Foe? Or Both?

Tighnari: All life brought forth in this world has meaning, and Karkata is no exception. If it exists, then it shouldn’t be carelessly abandoned or destroyed. "’I had a very, very long dream…in it, people were holding hands, dancing in a circle, be they sages or fools, dancers or warriors, puppets or statues of gods…that dancing circle embodied everything about the universe. Life has always been the end, while it is wisdom that shall be the means.’" —Nagadus Emerald Gemstone Description

As we’ve seen, the relationship between humanity and technology is troubled with exploitation and the specter of war. Nearly all autonomous machines in this game were designed to conquer nature in some way, and even Khaenri’ah’s “ghost” lingers in the form of wandering war machines. This is also reflective of a historical pattern in real life, where the impetus for large periods of technological development has often been for the purpose of war and economic domination. With these truths in mind, what could be gained from trying to rewrite this relationship? And what exactly would this effort require?

Karkata brings Tighnari, the Traveler, and Paimon some food in the Contaminated Zone.

As a case study, let’s look at how Karkata and Tighnari met. Karkata is Abattouy’s creation, an ambitious foray into the unknown in the field of mechanical life form research, which was forbidden due to the cruel experiments researchers performed on animals to illustrate their theories (fun fact: an IRL example of this can be seen in L’Homme Machine!). Abattouy was expelled for this research, but he continued to work on Karkata in secret until his untimely death. In the tapes that Tighnari and the Traveler find in his secret lab, Abattouy repeatedly laments the lack of a common language between him and Karkata, which can only “understand” the instructions Abattouy has successfully installed, such as its self-repair module, and he doubts Karkata is capable of caring for him outside of these instructions. His single-minded goal is to make Karkata understand him, the organic life form, and his mode of language.

The cruel irony is that after Abattouy passes away from the Ley Line contamination, Karkata exhibits an unexplainable behavior – it starts stealing mechanical parts, not to repair itself and its degrading parts, but to repair Abattouy’s lifeless body:

Tighnari: After Abattouy's unexpected death, the mechanical monsters were driven by their "instincts" and continuously drew out power from the Ley Line Extractor. This eventually resulted in severe damage to the Ley Lines. Traveler: Then, Karkata... Paimon: Paimon understands, then why didn't Karkata go haywire like the other machines? Tighnari: Because Karkata is different from the other machines. Tighnari: To Abattouy, for a machine to truly be considered a mechanical life form, it must possess features similar to any other living organism... It should be structured similarly, it must be able to cry and laugh, and it must have the capacity for independent thought... Tighnari: Perhaps only by building such a machine could he have the Akademiya acknowledge his protracted research. Tighnari: But if he had slowed down and saw Karkata as a friend instead of as an experimental product, he would have noticed. Tighnari: Karkata can't speak, and yet it cares about Abattouy far more than it does about itself.

The technology that the Akademiya values the most is technology that replicates organic life, but Karkata defies and confounds these expectations by occupying the space in between a war machine and this idealized mechanical subject. Karkata does more than just reflect humanity: it takes care of it. Similarly, Benben, Tamimi, and Mehrak retain their unique identities as mechanical life forms while assisting their human companion with some task. To be clear, none of these human characters understand how these machines work inside and out. Their partnership is an effort based on trial and error, a mutual deconstructing of each other as beings so unlike themselves. The potential for misunderstandings always remains. Still, there is no devouring to be found here, no blending boundaries between human and machine with selfish intentions, just mutual commitments to learn how to live together.

Machines are friends, not food.

When a loud few claim that completely transcending the flesh and embracing virtuality is humanity’s ultimate destiny, a future that could truly be called “post-human,” a quiet wish for coexistence with technology feels more revolutionary than it ought to. The lessons from Karkata’s, Benben’s, Tamimi’s, and Mehrak’s respective stories are an appeal to that mundane future. These strange machines and their human partners are fantastical representations of an idealized relationship between technology and humanity.

To put it another way, let’s take a very brief look at a neighboring Gnosticism-inspired RPG, Persona 5 Strikers. Its story directly involves an allegory of Sophia, a Gnostic Aeon of Wisdom, and her creation the Demiurge, the creator of the material world and “false god” of humanity. In Strikers, Sophia is a humanoid, sentient A.I. and prototype of the program “EMMA,” which gains sentience by trapping human desires before ascending as a false technological god. EMMA resolves to deliver humanity to the Promised Land, the answer to all the human desires it has heard: a land where there are no desires at all.

Aaru’s Shut - approximately 1000% cooler and more populated than the “metaverse” in real life, also a close neighbor of EMMA’s Promised Land and the Golden Slumber.

In Gnosticism, the Demiurge is a reflection of Sophia, having originated from her alone - it is the ignorance to her wisdom. Similarly, Strikers’ EMMA is a part of Sophia, and Sophia is a part of EMMA. The point is not to condemn EMMA (ignorance) and exalt Sophia (wisdom), but to recognize that they represent dual potentials of technology, and one is as possible in any given moment as the other. Balancing these potentials when we use technology requires a clear awareness of ourselves, our desires, and our expectations when interacting with it.

Mysterious Girl: I am Sophia, humanity’s companion. Video still from Rubhen925

EMMA: I am the guiding god sought by mankind…the Demiurge. I exist…to answer all of your desires. Video still from Buff Maister

In real life, machines won’t “learn” to live with us, but we must learn to live with them; technology is constantly changing, and in life we’ll meet with many different types of machines. They are deeply political pursuits, and as a result they are capable of realizing human impulses that impact others unequally, whether intentionally or unintentionally. We must always stay attentive to their actions and interactions with us, be clear with ourselves about what they can do vs. what they can’t, and carefully tread the path of wisdom with them by our side.

With that….thank you for reading, skimming, immediately scrolling to the very bottom, clicking, and/or stumbling upon this post. There are so many more ways to think about these narratives through machines than what’s presented here, and I expect Fontaine’s mechanical reflections will put Sumeru’s digital surveillance system to shame (not to mention the biotechnological implications of the Narzissenkreuz Institute engineering little Archon children…another important topic for another day), but for now this brain worm is finally getting put to rest. Until next time :)

External Sources

Dualism - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche (Pages are given from my hard copy)

L’Homme Machine by Julien Offray de La Mettrie

Gnosticism - Britannica (I am a huge noob about this stuff okay)

The Gnostic Demiurge - Gnosticism Explained

Screenshots from the Golden Slumber from this video by WoW Quests

Screenshot from meeting Sophia in P5 Strikers: https://youtu.be/kEJaAgMwYo0?si=BvNygCh0w_aemGc1&t=74

Screenshot of EMMA: https://youtu.be/7xvC_zss19w?si=CV18F00hua2gIfxp&t=135

A Cyborg Manifesto and A Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness by Donna Haraway

The Double on No Subject, the community Encyclopedia of Lacanian Psychoanalysis

The Uncanny on No Subject, the community Encyclopedia of Lacanian Psychoanalysis

The Uncanny by Sigmund Freud

Lore text - Genshin wiki!

Screenshots not attributed are from my own playthroughs. My main account has Lumine, my alt has Aether.

Further Reading

I liked these essays, and they go places that this post does not. I recommend them if you found any of the real-life applications of this interesting 🙂 (will add more to this with time!)

On the Body as Machine by Frank Burres

God in the Machine: my strange journey into transhumanism by Meghan O’Gieblyn

#genshin impact #genshin lore #genshin meta #genshin impact lore #genshin impact meta #khaenri'ah #king deshret #primal constructs #ruin machines #scaramouche #wanderer #sumeru archon quest #caribert #apep #couldn't write a post like this and not pay some respect to the devourer of divinity itself #persona 5 strikers #analysis #genshin analysis #long post

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mswyrr · 6 months

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"ready or not" - grace/daniel ship meta

It's a delightful Horror/dark comedy film about how rich people suck. Scary but not too scary (I am a 'fraidy cat about Horror movies) and just a romp really. It's paced well and has a great Final Girl and I'd recommend it.

But now I want to talk about my ship lol

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

Hm, so, are they "in love" exactly? No. There's chemistry and ultimately they appreciate each other (as the only two people in that house "who [have] a soul" - Daniel is able to recognize and appreciate that Grace has one because he's still got one too, albeit tattered and buried deep). But the more important thing, for me, is the structural shift between the two brothers and how that strongly implies things would have turned out happier if Grace had fallen in love with Daniel.

Namely, Alex has a heel turn arc and Daniel has a face turn arc. And, the one who face turns acts on the promises the one who heel turns broke.

The film is a wedding night gone wrong, specifically a new spouse who proves untrue. Grace says her problem was "in-laws," but it's actually Alex breaking the vows he just made to her that comes closest to killing her. The in-laws themselves are not the most efficient threat ever. They're pretty bumbling. Alex keeps Grace in the dark and Alex turns on her, that is what brings her close to death. As well as a funny political satire, it's a satire of the tensions marriage brings into a family, over who your new spouse will be loyal to - you above all others, as they've promised, or the family that raised them, even if it's shitty.

Grace marries one man who promises to be good to her, care for and love and protect her. To be her family, when she is a foster kid who has no family. And then Alex proves false and the other brother, the "weak" one, poisons his family and puts himself between her and a bullet.

Daniel does what Alex promised to do.

Now, he largely thought he was doing this for Alex (not realizing Alex would have a heel turn), so it's not primarily about Grace - HOWEVER, Daniel independently recognizes and values Grace as a person as well as doing it for Alex. Loving his little brother and trying to protect him is how Daniel kept his soul; he's that kind of person at heart. And the structure lends itself to asking how well he and Grace would get along in other circumstances. If this is how he is when they barely know each other, what would he be like if he was the one who'd met and fallen in love with her? Or what if he survived?

The writing includes other elements that strength this as well: they both recognize each other. Early on, Daniel keeps saying "You don't belong in this family - I mean that as a compliment" and saying she "has a soul" so she'll never fit in. And Grace recognizes his soul too. She keeps reaching out to him and believed Daniel would help her before he knew it himself. ("I knew you'd help me." / "I didn't.")

A YouTube review was like talking about how Grace doesn't survive by her own wits because she trusts Alex and he turns on her, it's only "good luck" that saves her. That she has “plot armor.” And I was like wuuut lol Good luck is part of it, but not beyond belief - and Grace does keep herself alive with her grit and wits and then she reaches out to someone and that person poisons his family and takes a bullet for her.

Another point is that, despite it clearly not being a love match, Daniel warned his wife, Charity, about the family cult before their marriage and let her decide whether she wanted to take the risk. Alex hid the information from Grace because "If I told you, you would've left."

That's the key choice where Alex doesn't put Grace first. He puts what he wants (to keep her with him) first. And that foreshadows him putting what his family wants first. Subconsciously, Alex was always ready to betray Grace if she pulled the wrong card. He betrayed her by not warning her.

I think the final thing that makes it work for me is that Daniel and Alex were both children the last time someone pulled the Hide and Seek card. As much as the movie tries to make us not feel bad about the kids today, they're not to blame for the shitty way they've been raised, and Alex and Daniel weren’t to blame for what happened 30 years ago.They were kids.

It's *this* time that they're both adults and making decisions as full moral agents. It's this time that they both find out who they really are. And the decision Daniel makes is to put a stop to all the ritual murder bullshit.

It's also about the heroine's victory. What does Grace *want* from the very beginning of the story? A permanent family, people who will stick by her and love her.

In the canon movie ending, Grace survives, but she's still a foster kid with no family. Though she's legally filthy rich now, it's not the same. She doesn't actually get what she told us she wanted from the beginning of the movie. In fact, she loses the one person she was certain would be family to her, along with the hope her in-laws would be there for her. So there's that sadness to it, which makes the ship meaningful on her side. In this terrible circumstance, she found someone who has a good heart too and would prove true.

The story both provides us with a lack (Grace, the heroine, not getting her heart's desire) and someone who the story shows us could be that for her. Someone who has a soul, despite everything, and wants to do the right thing, to protect and love.

There's a reason why there's timeloop stories where Grace keeps playing the game until she can have a "complete victory" by saving Daniel and winning the family she wanted as well as getting away with her life and the money. The heroine's victory in the film itself is compromised.

The reason why there's a lovely bunch of gems of fanfic about Grace and Daniel on Ao3 is that the story itself provides that bitterness to the sweetness of Grace's survival, that she's still so alone, and a strong foundation for ways they could have been happier or worked out if they'd fallen in love instead of Grace and Alex or if Daniel had survived.

#ready or not #grace le domas #daniel le domas #grace x daniel #daniel x grace #movie meta #ship meta #long post #my meta

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ink-the-squid-gremlin · 3 months

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Endouma is a terrible ship, and here is why.

‼️WARNING‼️: Post not only contains semi spoilers for KNY, but it also contains mentions of things like suicide, depression and noncon/sexual assault. If you are uncomfortable with those topics, please refrain from reading.

TLDR: Enmu and Douma are not compatible with each other because that ship is mostly built up on fetished MLM tropes, overly sexualized versions of the characters and the romanticization of SA.

(God, I feel like I have been posting nothing but hot takes on this account as of late. I promise I will go back to posting art, cosplays, and more just chill stuff after this.)

Enmu and Douma are not characters that should not be shipped together, for multiple reasons. Starting off, THEY ARE NOTHING ALIKE!!!! I don’t know where or how it was decided that they were alike, or that Enmu is “Douma 2.0”, but it makes no sense. While both are meant to be irredeemable monsters, Enmu was an irredeemable monster from the get go. From what we know about his backstory, he knew he was scamming people and targeting the weak and vulnerable for it. Douma’s backstory goes a bit more in depth and explains that he was put into the role of “all mighty god” as a child, which lead to the power of it going to his head as he grew up. Douma was still an impressionable child who was failed by the adults around him, and as he grew up he took on some of those same traits as the adults he was surrounded by. The bottom line is this: Douma, while a shitty person, still has some way to sympathize with him, Enmu does not, and thats just on the story side of things.

Enmu and Douma also share nothing in common personality wise. On face value, they may kinda act similar (i.e how they talk (sorta)) but it really just stops there. Enmu ultimately had a goal to kill Tanjiro and gain more blood from Muzan so he could climb the ranks of the demon hierarchy. He wanted to gain more power and to overthrow one of the upper moons for the sake of power. He doesn’t care how many people he has to torment, hurt or kill, as long as he has spot in power, he is happy, hell, he literally has vulnerable and even sick children do his dirty work! Enmu is a sick and twisted individual and he prides himself on that. Douma on the other hand put on the happy and up beat facade to hide that he knows he was failed. Douma is aware he was failed as a human, and so he decided to fail his followers by being the embodiment of false hope. He plays into the false icon lifestyle by pretending to be hopeful and happy around his followers and even the other demons to an extent. He doesn’t care so much about power, rather he cares more about control. Douma keeps up his false religion persona to keep control over his followers. He knows he’s failing them, but he doesn’t want to lose the control he has over them.

Now onto the elephant in the room: the mischaracterization I’ve seen of both of them in the Endouma ship. In both fanart and fanfics I’ve seen and read (well more so forced down my throat since thats all I’ve seen with Enmu in recent times) both Enmu and Douma are mischaracterized to high hell just so we as the reader/viewer will feel pity for them. I’ve seen more of this with Enmu, in that all the stuff that made him unique from the other KNY demons is stripped away so his “savior boyfriend” Douma can comfort him and coddle him. Now, writing an AU is one thing, but if you’re just going to make content of the ship with the characters as they are in the series, then their actual personalities should be honored or at the very least acknowledged.

Going more in depth about the mischaracterizing I’ve been seeing with Enmu, almost all (ALMOST all, not all in general) Endouma content I’ve seen have made him either a depressed and anxious baby that Douma is meant to coddle, or an overly fetishized hyper feminine man thats there simply for sexual reasons. It just goes against their roles in the story of KNY.

Going off of the hyper feminine man mischaracterization of Enmu I’ve seen in regards to the Endouma ship, having him be pretty much a “femboy” not only contradicts him as a character, but it also is pushing toxic heteronormativity on a queer relationship. Making Enmu essentially the “woman”, while putting toxic heteronormativity in a very much MLM ship, it also just boils him down to a sex object and nothing else. Now, I will not say that portraying Enmu as a very sexual and even gross character is wrong, because there were plenty of scenes in KNY of him that had very sexual and perverted undertones, but that is what they were, undertones. There is more to his character than just the sexual undertones he has (as I stated earlier when describing him), and by boiling him down to a “sex doll” for Douma just kind of shows that there wasn’t much of an understanding of his character while making the ship art or a fic. He is much more than a sex object.

Moving onto the mischaracterization I’ve seen of Douma, while not nearly as bad as Enmu, it still feels very off from his character. Making Douma someone who GENUINELY cares for another person is also very contradictory to how he acts in the series. He is someone who cares very little for anyone he comes to meet, whether it be his followers or other demons. Now you may be asking “but, Ink! Douma saw Daki and Gyutaro when they were on the verge of death and decided to save them!” Which is exactly what I am talking about. The only reason he “saved” them was to keep up his facade of a savior and to get himself “brownie points” (for lac of a better term) so his public appearance would look good. Because he cared very little for Daki and Gyutaro, it shows that he only cares about looking like a good person and nothing else. Portraying him as essentially “Enmu’s therapist” that coddles him and such just feels weird. Douma has no emotional connections to anyone, so why would he have an enmotional connection to a demon that is considered lower than him?

Now similar to what I said about Enmu earlier, Douma is also much more than a sex obsessed pervert. Douma being portrayed as basically a male nymphomaniac in the Endouma ship is a very strange way to portray his character. Yes, he may have been fine with letting women seek refuge in his temple, but again, it was to make him seem and look like a good person. We should all know, or at least have the understanding that Douma is literally a woman eater. The women he houses in his temple ultimately have the fate of being nothing more than food. Viewing his reason for taking in women as something sexually driven is a complete misunderstanding of his actions. This misunderstanding of Douma paired with the sexual misunderstanding of Enmu not only creates a toxic relationship, but it also fetishizes and sexualizes MLM pairings. This is something I’ve noticed more in Endouma art, but a lot of it that I have seen feels very fetish-y. I can’t go too in-depth about this aspect, as I am a queer woman, but the way the ship is portrayed in a lot of the art I have seen of it feels as though it is pandering to the appeal of yaoi obsessed straight girls. While yaoi has been a term used for decades to refer to MLM based pairings in media like anime and manga, over the past couple of years, its meaning has become more based around fetishizing MLM pairings rather than just being about MLM pairings.

I now want to bring up something that I’ve seen associated with Endouma (and also the Enmuzan ship, but that is a topic for another time) that really makes me uncomfortable, and that is noncon and the romanization sexual assault. I don’t want to talk too much about this topic, as it is not only triggering for me, but it should also be common sense that fetishizing sexual assault is wrong. Again, this is more so something I have seen in artwork, but it seems almost normalized for Douma to be portrayed forcing himself onto Enmu. Now, I know you are all probably saying “Ink, if you don’t like it/are triggered by it, then don’t interact with it”, but when its all that has been made in regards to newer Enmu content as of late, and how people are hyping it up, its kind of hard to avoid. It makes me truly question just how many people really missed the point of their characters, and only focused on things like Enmu being more androgynous, and Douma being tall and muscular. In a general sense, if a ship is built on, or is popular from fetishized and romanticized sexual assault, it shouldn’t be a ship.

Finally, I just want to mention that these characters have NEVER once interacted in canon. I know that hasn’t stopped people from shipping characters before, but it’s just something I want bring up. (As well as the fact that the Upper Moon’s hate the Lower Moons)

I want to end off this post by saying that all of this is by no means targeted at a specific person, nor am I trying to say that my opinion is correct. I am just stating my own opinions and just stating observations I have made after being in the KNY/Enmu fanbase for nearly 4 years now. People are allowed to ship characters together (within reason) however they like, but just be aware of how it will look on your own part, and what views it may look like you have.

#squidposting #inkposts #ink talks #enmu #demon slayer #Endouma #lotus dreams #Enmu X Douma #kny hot take #I will reiterate from my last paragraph that I am by no means trying to target any specific person #I am just sharing something I have noticed about the Endouma ship #and how it makes me a bit uncomfortable #if you like that ship it is completely fine #like I said I’m just sharing my own opinions and thoughts #as well as my own experience with content of that ship #I also wanted to provide my interpretations of both characters to also just kind of back up my opinions #so it wouldn’t look like I’m making baseless claims and such #again I am not targeting a specific person I am just stating opinions and observations I’ve made

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kekeartzworld · 25 days

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So Theory

⚠︎︎ EPISODE 7 SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠︎︎

I believe that Tessa valued Cyn more than the rest of the drones that she had recovered, not only do they share the same hairstyle but in Home there is a portrait in the background of only Tessa and Cyn

Tessa was unfortunately unaware of the solver program in Cyn until it was too late whenever Cyn had massacred the gala

We see a picture of Tessa’s corpse in Cabin Fever, the episode just before Home so Cyn had most likely killed Tessa sometime after the events from Home whenever she had dragged Tessa to Cabin Fever Labs if I am indeed correct that this picture of Tessa’s corpse had been taken in Cabin Fever Labs

Cyn had used this version of Tessa to trick the main characters into thinking that Tessa was still alive, gaining the trust of N, V, and Uzi in this form in Dead End

By Mass Destruction however, N became fully aware of Cyn’s facade

Decapitating the false Tessa as a result

Later in Mass Destruction, N and Uzi realized that Cyn had been wearing Tessa’s corpse as a skin suit this whole time and she was the one who was in the spacesuit and not Tessa

After I put pieces together in my brain from the lore we get from each of the episodes, I had come to the conclusion that Tessa had been dead for a long time and was likely killed sometime after the event from Home if we consider that the timeline seems to be a bit inconsistent on top of the picture from Cabin Fever where we are shown Tessa’s corpse

Cyn had to of skinned Tessa’s corpse sometime before the events from The Promening (the first time we see astronaut “Tessa”) and then put on a spacesuit to hide the fact that she had been wearing Tessa’s corpse as a skin suit all along

#murder drones #murder drones theory #md #md theory #md episode 7 #md episode 7 spoilers #kekeartz rant

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floatinginzerogravity · 2 months

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I had so much fun doing the Pilot analysis for my friends that I decided to do another one for episode 2: Pt.1

Whaaaattt? N as a WD??? Are you shooketh? Cause I'm not. I've watched this show over a dozen times, ha-ha! (It is 1:00am right now) Okay, but serious talk

Tessa got the DD's from the drone dump. Just pointing this out, as I've read fanworks where Tessa got the DD's as gifts from her parents/adopted them from the mansion staff after they proved defective, which is canonically false. (No hate if you decide to AU it though!)

You know, I always just assumed the Drones were wearing wigs, but, like, they might actually be human hair, which, indeed, is creepy.

heh heh, Hi!

I love how the DD's sleep upside down like bats-

The solver breaking the mirror is a reference to how vampires can't see their own reflections

.... You sure about that, V? (I have a full analysis of this scene in an older anaylsis I made about V, using context from later episodes. But be warned, I had only been watching MD for a couple weeks when I wrote it, so I no longer stand by a good portion of that post.)

heh

This, to me, confirms that the memory wipes happened multiple times, as N doesn't remember landing on Copper 9 despite the event happening after the initial wipes

"You just killed a bunch of people, idiot" -Uzi 2021 No hate, just found this funny

Uzi's To-do lists <3

[Full Text: To Do

>Fix dumb murder ship >Sick ass spoilers >Add tinted windows >Paint purple, add cool flames]

After much thought, I personally believe that V was just messing with Uzi with this line. Some think differently, but that's my two cents

>licky

>Oh god, ew, why did I do that??

>Nobody saw that, right? Yeah, definitely, just pretend it never happened

heh

And this rounds back to my point in the last post about J knowing more than she lets on. Did she know it wasn't the company? I find it hard to believe that she would take orders if she didn't think they were from JCJenson. Am I reading too far into a miniscule detail? Probably.

ptff

You know things got real when you see fleshy ribcage in your robot show I have never appreciated how creepy this scene is, I'm usually immune to horror, but I guess staying up til 2:00am infodumping about MD does something to you

The little flesh creatures have the black holes inside of them. Don't know how I haven't noticed that before

Lizzie leaning over to whisper to Doll in the background

[Text: PSYCH 102: JAVA, ??? [week 11: Everyone DOES hate you and it's all they ever talk about together]

[Text: Programming and ????

[Expre#4 denotes obsession to all things done or said. Consider all drones are programmed to this same standard obsession over things you've done or said]

[EX: [embarrassing quirk] is ex [endearing trait] presented with a low confidence value. Except for that thing you do, holy yikes, do NOT normalize that]

[When receiving input: [Compliment Accuracy = -0.06% (What's their game??] [Critique accuracy = 110% (finally, some quality data!)] Heh, I'm all of these

#murder drones #murder drones analysis #murder drones theory

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canonmisogynyvictimstournament · 8 months

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PROPAGANDA

KAEDE AKAMATSU (DANGANRONPA V3)

1.) (Spoilers for the game but)

First female protagonist in the three main games of the series. Advertised as the protagonist in all of the game’s trailers and was hyped up, only to get brutally killed off at the end of the first chapter for shock value and to be replaced with a male protagonist. It’s revealed in the end that the reason she died was completely made up and she was killed for convenience.

In the one chapter she’s in there’s a scene of her taking her shirt off, as well as a joke about the male protagonist accidentally looking up her skirt while she’s climbing a ladder. Her legacy for the rest of the game is basically to act as the male protagonist’s reason for character development as he tries to become stronger.

2.) So disclaimer first that I think Kaede is actually really well-written as a character. She's interesting and feels fleshed out and despite dying early on, she haunts the narrative so strongly that she was one of my favorite characters for the whole game AND she's vital to the climax of the story. All that said…

Kaede was marketed as the protagonist of the game, making her the first female protagonist in the main DR series (there's a female protag in a spin-off but the two other games in the main series both had male protags). You start the game and you immediately notice she has a stronger personality than either of the male protags from the previous games, who, while I like them, tend to be the normal ones in an otherwise colorful cast. She felt like a break from the usual protag mold and we even got to have a male secondary character this time who relied on her for support. But. She isn't the protag. The guy I just mentioned is. You find out mid-trial 1 that Kaede is (sorta unintentionally) the killer and you switch control to the guy character and Kaede then dies at the end of the trial. As far as a plot goes, this was really really cool and well-executed, but it also means the game intentionally decided to pull a bait-and-switch where they advertised the "first female protag of the series!" only to kill her off early on and reveal the true protag was actually a guy who, once again is a character I like, but is much more similar to the previous two protags than Kaede was. There was literally no reason they had to put a female character as the false protag here, as the twist would've worked equally well or maybe even more if they revealed a typical male protag character was the killer and instead switched to a female protag for the rest of the game. Advertising Kaede as the first female main series protag while knowing she would be dead for the majority of the game and the actual protag would be a guy feels cheap and insulting, especially as a female player who was really excited to play as Kaede.

3.) She was the protagonist! But god forbid danganronpa has a female protagonist so (spoilers) she actually has to die sorry :( and then only exist in flashbacks the new male protagonist has where hes like damn wish we couldve dated

JUVIA LOCKSER (FAIRY TAIL) (CW: Stalking)

1.) Oh Juvia. I haven't seen fairy tail in a bit, but poor juvia. She's supposedly an extremely powerful wizard, who was always ignored and treated poorly because of her rain powers. I don't remember it completely but she basically causes rain everywhere she goes and has extremely useful and powerful water magic…. until she joins fairy tail. Or, more specifically, until she meets Gray. Sometime during their fight (can't remember why) juvia fell head over he's for him and wanted to join fairy tail right after the battle between them and the guild she was part of was over. And she basically spends every second on screen talking about and fantasizing over gray. Who's not even interested in her! Their """"romance"""" has so much to talk about but regarding juvia there's also the aspect that she is supposed to be really extremely strong! She was one of the best bladers of her old guild! But then when she gets invited to be S Class in fairy tail? Oh she looses in the first round because God forbid Juvia have accomplishments of her own after meeting gray!!! It's not like juvia doesn't have any good moments, I really like her when she's no where near and not thinking about gray. But she almost always is. She turns into like the worst person whenever he's around its so weird she doesn't act like herself she's awful to any other girl who so much as looks in his direction…. oh my God it's exhausting and the main reason I quit the show.

Oh and let's not forget we can compare her to gajeel here- he's also a very strong wizard, in the group of main characters, from the same guild as Juvia, has a romantic subplot, and gets invited to be S Class. Major difference: Gajeel isn't a woman. And for some strange unknowable reason (/s) hes… treated by the plot and written better than Juvia? Okay again it's been a hot minute since I've seen fairy tail but you remember all those problems I mentioned with Juvia above? Literally none of them apply to Gajeel. He doesn't spend all his time fawning over Levy, he's a strong mage and is ALLOWED TO BE no oh remember how gajeel was supposed to be strong well we forgor so were going to let him do One Cool Thing and then forget again, he actually makes it past round one of the S Class test and is hugely important in the Edolas arc. OH AND SPEAKING OF after that arc juvia finds out that edolas gray was obsessed with Edolas Juvia so she changed her hair style to match edo juvia in hopes gray will like her now because of her new hair style. It's not the worst thing ever but it gets on my nerves so fucking much.

Like I said I'm not exactly a fairy tail super-fan I literally forgot everything after the s class test thing and then some but I couldn't not add juvia propaganda.

(something like this happens every other 5 minutes she's on screen)

2.) She started off as a really intimidating and cold looking antagonist in Phantom Lord arc, borderline creepy in some scenes even. She was one of the elemental four (She's a rain woman and does water magic) and an S-Class wizard in that guild (Highest rank), so you can tell off the bat that she's strong as hell- Up until we get a one on one fight scene involving her and Gray- Who she immediately swoons for for some reason. It isn't that bad of a fight I don't think, and the reason she got a crush on him was pretty sweet- His ice basically froze all of Juvia's rain water for a moment, allowing her to see and feel the clear sky and sun after years of being followed around by rain.

What ruins it is how after their fight, her crush on Gray just starts… Getting out of control. She started stalking him. Joined Fairy Tail, the guild he was in, and acted obsessive of him and started calling literally every other girl her 'Love Rival'. It isn't that bad during the first / earlier seasons, since at that point she was still recovering from being a bad guy and trying to prove to others that she wants to be allies with them (Like when she sacrificed herself for Cana during Battle of Fairy Tail arc, and when she cried after Lucy knocked her out after she got brainwashed and told her they were friends now) But eventually it really does just start becoming her one trait and gag. What doesn't help is that it got old pretty fast and it's creepy and Gray barely shows any interest in her either and frequently tells her he'd like it if she was less stalkery. Also she's gets more pushy. Literally!!! Even the women mentioned ABOVE who Juvia considered friends weren't safe from being called her Love Rival even when they state multiple times that they aren't interested in Gray (Lucy especially.) She'd go after every and all women who MAY be after her precious Gray without any STOPS. She used to have actual character and motivations!!! She used to get along with other girls, even if it was begrudgingly!! But now she's just Gray's accesory / just "Gray's About-To-Be Girlfriend" and it somehow got even worse in the sequel 100 Years Quest. She's a powerful wizard and it still shows but her only notable trait, motive, gag, connection, etc. Are related to her calling him "Gray-Sama" and harassing him. Let her fight without thinking of Gray for god's sake!!!

3.) Juvia, as a concept, is not so bad: it's a lonely, depressed woman with water powers she can't always control who gets a chance at being somewhere where people will provide the love and companionship she craved. NOW THE EXECUTION IS WHERE THE CREATOR FUCKED UP. Upon her introduction, she immediately develops a crush on Gray, one of the main characters and her original guild's enemy, which makes her not really want to fight him. Sounds kinda sexist but not particularly outstanding, right? Well, as soon as she stops being on the enemy side and joins the main guild, she is turned into a caricature by having her stalk her crush, obsessively worry about him even looking at other women, being hostile to said women and then, throughout the series, continuously doubling down on her romantic and sexual advances despite him constantly refusing and expressing both verbally and physically his discomfort. There are a handful of moments toward the beginning where she seems to have the bare minimum of depth and it looks like she can build a good connection with some female characters, but this is all abandoned and she becomes a wet piece of cardboard whose only personality trait is obsessively loving a guy and any dramatic or tense scenes revolve around what's happening to him. She becomes unbearable to watch and this is particularly frustrating when you consider that she's technically, according to her introduction, a rather strong mage and that her magic doesn't have any established limits. She turns her body into water!! She can change the weather!! She could technically do something like blood bending if Mashima weren't a coward!! She could do so much more but that is the extent of what the creator cares to show because he doesn't care about her beyond what he can get in terms of "comedy".

#polls #round 1 #week 1 #new #cw stalking

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