#gi: thoughts and theories

[m3ab]

Yugi's duel with Mai is an interesting one.(I'm taking about the one in the finals of duelist kingdom) On a surface level, this is the duel that Yugi finally starts trusting Yami in. But if you look deeper, you'll see that this is the start of Yugi's character growth, as well as Atem's.

Atem starts teaching Yugi to trust in himself(although I don't think that it worked, for reasons I'll get to later). We also see Atem voicing his own insecurities. He feels guilty for meddling in the lives of Yugi and his friends, especially when he put all of their fates in one card. Yugi then reassures him that everyone is behind him. I think that that bit was rushed, they probably could have used a few more episodes of Yugi accepting Atem, but not fully trusting him.

Anyways, it's also interesting to see the different levels of desperation in Yami's voice as he tried to get yugi t let him help. He starts with begging, then he adds "everything is riding on us" and finally he gets sincere and apologizes.

And now for the reasons I think that Yugi didn't trust in himself for a while: sure, Yugi began to trust Atem, but it's shown later on the he has a lot of self doubt still. I think that this is because of this duel. He was doing a horrible job until he let Atem take over, and while it was because he wasn't focused, he probably saw it as "I'm not good enough". Atem's pep talks didn't start to take effect until much later, and I think that it's because Yugi saw this duel as evidence that Yami was better.

this duel was also very important to the plot, as this is the moment we start to realize that pegasus had more going on than a spy in the tower.

We also get the privilege of seeing a completely different side of Mai.

All in all, this duel was the groundwork for the relationship between Yugi and Atem, as well as great insight in what was going on in that season.

#There you go #go #I just wanted to share my thoughts on these two episodes #Meab pukes theories at people #yu gi oh duel monsters #yu gi oh #yugioh #yami yugi #atem #yugi moto #ygo #yu gi oh dm #mai valentine #Yu-Gi-Oh

[4giorno]

not to be a hater again but i really dont get the obsession with making nari have long hair

#in the past like his early years at the akademiya? sure like i dont agree but i get it #the bob is so integral to him like it characterizes him so much #(or rather enhances his already strong characterization) #i do have some thoughts and theories abt why some ppl like to give him long hair :) #along other things they like to do when they depict him :) #but im not gonna get into it. lets again just call this a gi opinion of mine that no one agrees with

[doctor-ciel]

even though i reblog posts of them sometimes never assume I know anything about vo/caloid, co/okie run, gen/shin, or resid/ent evil

#slashes so i don't spam the tags #also some of these i have different opinions on than others. cr and gi i will never play ever #i love love love re in theory but i mostly just listen to my friend infodump about it #and i am the most casual vocaloid fan ever but i enjoy it a lot #chris post #also another that i thought of after hitting post is ace at/torney #which. i SWEAR i will play one day just give me 1-5 years #also pkm. i've only ever played go #ALSO sonic. only ever seen the movies and read the crossover comics with m/ega man

[linkspooky]

The Supreme King Judai vs. Dark Deku: How To Do a Dark Deconstruction of your Shonen Hero!

Think of this as less me complaining about My Hero Academia, and more me taking a closer look at the writing of the Dark Deku arc and why it failed to achieve what it set out to achieve.

I like to look at writing on a deeper level than Thing Bad, and Thing Good. Imagine a story is a car engine that won't start, in order to find the problem you've got to disassemble all the pieces and look at them one by one to see what pieces aren't working. That's the kind of criticism I'm talking about, break storytelling down into different tools like parts of an engine, plot, world, characterization, ideas, actions and consequences and then look if the author is using those tools effectively to sell a story.

In other words we're talking about the difference in ideas and execution. All works of fiction have ideas, even bad anime can have good ideas inside of it. The idea in question is Judai's case is can exploring the dark side of a hero. Can a hero's positive qualities also lead them down a dark path? Yu-Gi-Oh Gx answers this in a satisfying way, and My Hero Academia I'm going to argue does not.

IDEAS VS EXECUTION

One piece of writing advice I heard from Brandon Sanderson of all people that always stuck with me is "Ideas are cheap. You can always come up with more ideas."

All works of fiction have ideas and themes no matter what the Game of Thrones guy say, but some works are better at communicating their ideas than others. I want to quote a Homestuck Ending analysis of all things to explain what I'm talking about.

When you are a writer you can write anything you want. But if you want to write a story that people want to read you have to follow the rules of good storytelling. There are reasons why storytelling rules exist. A story is a bond between author and reader, readers to other readers. It is a communication between humans and humans work in a certain way. Storytelling rules are rules of communication. Rules for handling expectations and saying what you intend to say without it being misheard. Rules for tugging at emotions and pulling heartstrings in a good way rather than a bad way. Storytelling rules are lessons learned by authors of the past that failed to communicate what they needed to. They are not that subjective.

Chief among these rules is buildup and payoff. In fact one of the most basic techniques of storytelling is foreshadowing, in screenplays you usually foreshadow one important twist, then add a reminder so the audience doesn't forget, before finally paying it off.

To simplify build up and pay off I like to refer to it as question and answer. Usually a story will ask its audience a question, and usually by the end that question is answered, unless the point is to leave that question unanswered / ambiguous.

Character arcs are examples of buildup and payoff too, a lot of characters, especially in serialized media are sold on their potential future development. Here's an example, how may people got invested in Dabi years in advance because of the Dabi is a Todoroki Theory? That's an example of good buildup and payoff, because the author sewed just enough hints to build up an audience expectation and then paid it off. People became invested in the story, because they thought their investment and theories would pay off eventually and it did - so hooray!

Both MHA and YGOGX dedicate an entire arc to trying to deconstruct their main protagonist. They also seek to deconstruct the "Hero Complex" or "Saving People Complex" that each protagonist has, and ask the question if those traits are really a good thing.

This post puts it better than me so I'm going to quote tumblr user rhodanum.

‘Hero complex’ or 'saving people complex’ — an obsession with rescuing people in the face of danger, often to the exclusion of all higher thought processes. All too prevalent among shounen main leads, especially hot-blooded shounen main leads. Yuki Judai is certainly no exception. What is interesting in his case is that the writers follow the consequences of his rash, reckless, often thoughtless actions all the way to their heartbreaking logical conclusion. For those not fully in the know, it involves spiky black armor, an army of sycophants and a fall from grace that caused as much damage as a thermonuclear bomb. Don’t make perky, happy shounen protagonists snap, people. First rule.

I'm going to quote another video too, to add onto the above quote. It's from this video, starting at around 39:52

"GX is kind of famous among fans for taking its happy protagonist and stripping him down to all of his worst qualities. And that's fun. So Judai is a character who's really interesting. He's definitely open to a lot of interpretation, and you know we're gonna be leaning on my interpretation of him. Sorry. It's my video. I think he's commonly referred to a "very typical shonen protag" probably one of the most shonen protag of the yu gi oh protagonists. He is headstrong and loud, and (makes punching noises while air boxing), he is a type of character who's like I'm gonna be the best and brings everyone along on the ride. He's the kind of protagonist that everybody loves him they're all fighting over him, and Yu Gi Oh Gx really puts him up on the pedestal, of like THIS GUY. THIS GUY DOES IT ALL. Then season 3 rolls around and dares to ask: but what if that's selfish behavior?"

That's the question both MHA and YGOGX are asking in Dark Deku arc and Season 3 respectively, what if all of those behaviors that make them the typical hot blooded shonen protagonist are actually selfish? Is their hero complex really a good thing?

Each arc is tasked with exploiting the main character's flaws, until they reach their emotional breaking point and lowest point in the story. Let's see how each story treats their main character and from comparing that I want to make a point about what makes effective storytelling.

The Supreme King Haou Arc

Instead of recapping the entire arc to you, I'm going to touch upon what ideas the story setup in regards to Judai's character and how it paid off those ideas. What are the questions the story asks and what answers does it give us?

I'm going to focus on the two questions I outlined above. Is their hero complex a good thing? and What if this is selfish behavior?

Yu-Gi-Oh GX is an anime where instead of using super powers, the main characters fight each other with a magical trading card game. Besides that fact there's a lot of similarities between GX and MHA. They both take place in an academy setting where the main characters learn about using their quirks, and playing the card game better respectively. It is a shonen battle anime where almost everything is solved with a shonen fight, they just use cards instead of flashy superpowers. The main characters are all students who have to grow up and enter the adult world.

Judai and Deku are both characters that deconstruct the "hero complex" of shonen main characters. Judai is themed entirely around heroes, he has an elemental hero deck where every hero is based off a hero that appears in popular culture, he is the best duelist in the school and the one everyone calls on to save the day over and over again. As stated above he is the most Shonen Protag to ever Shonen Protag, he's a warrior therapist who makes friends and saves the day because he's really good at the card game, and will always show up to fight for his friends.

For the first two seasons Judai is built up on this pedestal of the ideal Shonen Protagonist, and praised by basically every single character for being "childish" and "pure of heart" however when Season 3 comes around the narrative stops heaping endless praise on him and starts to challenge him. However, this doesn't come from nowhere there are signs of these personality flaws of Judai, they just get swept under the rug the first two seasons.

There are several moments such as the climaxes to season 1 and season 2 where Judai fails to grasp the stakes of the situation, saying things like "Oh, this card game is really fun" when he's dueling with lives on the line. Judai in fact has a pattern of "only wanting to duel for fun", he fights because it's fun to him not because it's the right thing to do. However, he's continually forced into high stakes situation where he has to fight for others just because he's the strongest character - and constantly having to carry that on his shoulders starts to weigh on him after awhile. Judai will show up to fight and save his friends every single time they need him, and that's the source of his hero complex because after a certain point his friends start relying on him too much.

In general he also doesn't have deep thoughts of what heroes are, he admires heroes but it basically boils down do "Heroes are cool." He's kind of like Goku where he doesn't really fight for any idea of justice or to save others, just for the thrill of fighting itself. He also has a tendency to be insensitive to other people's feelings and take things for granted. For example, in Season 2 like three of his friends get possessed and Judai doesn't even do anything about it for half a season because he's too busy participating in the dueling tournament.

In general though it's a pattern of Judai only wanting to "duel for fun" and him being forced to duel to save others instead, and be responsible for other people. Judai will show up to fight for his friends, but even then he falls back on just "dueling for fun" because always having to fight for others is too much responsibility to put on his shoulders.

There's a lot of hints of Judai's flaws, but they also tend to get brushed off because shonen protagonists are just like that. Like, Judai can say some insensitive things to his friends sometimes and be oblivious to their feelings, well he's just a book dumb shonen protagonist. Judai should be taking this fight seriously, well he's just being a happy go lucky shonen protagonist, etc. etc. A lot of these things are also just swept under the rug as him just being a child, a boy-at-heart like most shonen protagonists are supposed to be.

However, season 3 starts looking at Judai not as a shonen protagonist but as a person, and it all starts with the suggestion that maybe Judai remaining a child at heart is a bad thing, especially when his friends around him are all growing up. It all starts with the introduction of this guy right here - Johan Anderson.

Johan shares many things in common with Judai, he can see spirits, he's a duelist who loves to duel, he has a strong connection with his cards. However, the more you compare them the more you notice that Johan has a lot of things that Judai lacks. They are so similiar that they become almost instant best friends, but even then Johan himself notices there are a few things off about Judai's behavior.

Sho: Bro... I thought you would have something to say to me. Johan: He seems lost. I think he just wanted you to give him some advice. Judai: SHo will be fine. Johan: Judai, you're colder than I thought.

It takes someone completely new to the dynamic between Judai and his friends, who likes Judai but hasn't spent the past two seasons idolizing him to realize that some of his behaviors are kind of off. That Judai isn't really the most empathic, or even that good at understanding other's feelings.

Johan is the one to point this out because he has the emotional intelligence that Judai lacks. We've been told Judai is our shonen protagonist for two seasons, only for the real shonen protag Johan to step up out of nowhere and show them how it's done. Johan is good at seeing other people's emotions, and he becomes a near instant pillar of emotional support for Judai. More than that, he also is the first person to treat Judai like an equal, he never asks Judai to save him like all of Judai's friends do, if anything they both save each other.

Johan also exists to show what Judai is lacking, mainly a reason behind why he fights.

Judai: I do it because it's fun. Or because of the surprise and delight, I guess. Well, I guess that comes down to "because it's fun", huh? Sorry, I guess that's an awkward question to ask out of nowhere. Johan: What's wrong, Juadi? Judai: Nothing, really. Johan: I have a proper goal. Judai: Don't tell anyone. Even if people don't have the power to see spirits, they can still commune with them. That's why, for those people as well... (I want to be a bridge between humans and spirits).

Judai is someone who will always show up to save his friends when he is asked, but he doesn't really have a concept of what being a hero is or the repsonsibilities it entails, he just admires heroes in a pure hearted way. Johan on the other hand has a reason to fight and that's to help humans and card spirits get along, and Judai expresses admiration for Johan because he has a goal.

At the same time this is happening, Judai gets picked apart by two villains for his lack of reason for fighting. Judai has been praised to death for two seasons for being pure of heart, but now the villains are challenging him by saying he has no "darkness of the heart". That without it the reasons that Judai fights are superficial and frivolous.

We have something that you lack. Judai: That I lack? Yes the darkness of the heart that slumbers deep within a duelist. The burden that a duelist bears in his heart. Judai, you have none of that. Judai: A burden in my heart. I have nver, not even once, dueled for myself. I doubt someone like you, who only thinks of himself could udnerstand that. Judai: What would be fun about a duel like that? It isn't fun at all! You must bear other's expectations while remaining strong. That is what it means.

Judai is a bit of a blood knight, he will be dueling with his friends lives on the lines and stop to go "Wow, this duel is really fun" and it's usually just dismissed a shim being a shonen protagonist until suddenly it isn't.

I'm gonna draw a deliberate parallel between Deku and Judai here that I'll reference later on, they both don't understand "darkness of the heart" and they need to understand it in order to grow as people.

There's also the underlying notion that being a hero is not all it's chalked up to be, to be a hero, to fight for other people's sake means also taking on their suffering. As noble as that may seem suffering is suffering.

Cobra: Fortune would never smile on a fool like you who fights while prattling on about enjoying duels. Cobra: You are certainly a talented duelist. But you have one fatal flaw. Judai: A fatal flaw? Cobra: Yes, your duels are superficial. Someone who fights with nothing on his shoulders, cannot recover once he loses his enjoyment. What a duelist carries on his shoulders will become the power that supports him when he's up against the wall! Cobra: But you have nothing like that! Those who go through life without anything like that cannot possibly seize victory. Cobra: But I know that nothing I say will resonate with you... because you have nothing to lose but the match. Judai: I... Cobra: Afraid aren't you? Right now, you have nothing to support you.

In the context of this scene, Cobra has told everyone that he's currently enacting his evil plan out of the vain hope that he can somehow revive his son from the dead.

As insane as "I think I can revive the dead" is as a motivation, fighting for the sake of your dead son is a much stronger motivation than "I think duels are fun."

Judai doesn't have an appropriate answer as to why he fights when he's questioned by the villains, and instead of coming up with his own answer he relies on the answer Johan provided for him.

Johan: You idiot. Why are you so shaken Judai? You think you have nothing on your shoulders? Give me a break! You always bear other's expectations on your shoulders. When you have other people's expectations riding on you, it means they've trusted you with their hopes! Don't you always carry those? If you lose what will happen to us here?

Johan's words snap him out of it, but this isn't Judai coming up with an answer himself it's just taking the one that's provided for him.

This is also the point where we get start to develop an answer to our question. Is Judai selfish?

In action he's not. His actions are selfless. Judai is always fighting for others, even when he only wants to duel for fun. He will show up and fight if you ask him too.

However, in motivation he is selfish. His motivations are selfish. Judai isn't fighting out of some selflessness, but because fighting for the sake of other people gives him a purpose. He keeps fighting for his friends, because he's built all of his friendships around being the one to solve their problems. It's why he Johan's answer suits Judai so well, because he thinks that's how friendship works that he has to keep carrying everyone's burden for them.

Not only does it lead to unhealthy friendships (he sees his friends as burdens) but also it's unhealthy for Judai himself (he can't keep carrying other people's burdens without getting weighed down).

Judai's hero complex, this pressure he feels to save everyone around him arises from two things, it gives him friends when he'd been a lonely child before that, and it gives him purpose. Playing the hero is how he made all of his friends, and now it's how he keeps them.

However, in spite of doing all this to keep his friends, Judai's relationship with his friends is so all give and no take that he's practically fighting alone until Johan shows up. Judai doesn't form a healthy and stable relationship with Johan however, Johan just becomes a crutch.

In Summary:

Judai's actions are selfless.

His motivations are selfish.

Judai's purpose is to carry everyone's burdens on his shoulders.

Judai's friends exist to be saved by him.

The following arc is roughly divided into four sections. Everything I've covered above happens in the first section the Cobra Arc.

Cobra Arc

Zombie Survival Arc

Dark World / Supreme King Arc

Oh Shit, Yubel's Back

The cobra arc is the introduction and it sets up the basic ideas of Judai's character that I listed above, in addition it focuses on the question of if Judai is selfish, and the idea that being a hero is a burden. There's also the third question where Judai is called to understand darkness of the heart, something Deku will also be called to do.

The Zombie Survival arc is an arc where the school is teleported to another dimension and they have to survive for several days with a limited food supply, everyone fighting, and an outbreak of zombies.

The main setup of this arc is to show how everyone is working well together as a team, even in a high stress situation. Alexis, Judai, Misawa, Kenzan, all pull together with the help of new students Johan, Austin O'Brien and Jim Crocodile Cook.

However, I'm brushing over this arc because Judai doesn't actually do much this arc. If you analyze who does what, it's mainly Johan and Austin O'Brien who are in charge of the entire school. Johan demonstrates leadership skills, calls on everyone to pull together in a time of crisis, and most importantly emotionally supports Judai all throughout.

Even when Judai is confronting the main villain of this scenario Yubel, it's Johan who shows up to support Judai, and it's Johan who wins the duel at the sacrifice of his own life. Everyone gets through the zombie arc unscathed, but it's because Johan is the hero of this part of the arc, not because of anything Judai really did.

Judai who having gone on so long carrying other people's burdens to the point where he's made saving others his purpose, has for the first time experienced someone helping him carry those burdens only to disappear and Judai does not react well to it.

This is when the story has finished setting up all the dominoes that are about to fall. We have one mini-arc drawing attention to the dark side of Judai's personality and how he doesn't understand his own darkness, and one mini-arc showing Johan being a much more effective hero and leader than Judai, demonstrating everything Judai lacks.

You Either Die a Hero, or You Live Long Enough...

Yadda yadda you know the rest. A character being undone by the same traits that made them a hero, is classic tragedy 101. It's called the Hamartia or the fatal flaw. A character's greatest strength in some situations can be their greatest weakness in others. The Supreme King Arc is a masterclass in showing how the traits Judai had that led to his success in the first season, can lead to his total ruin, and even to him becoming the villain of his own story.

Hero and Villain are much closer than you'd realize, and this becomes especially true in the relationship between Judai and Yubel. Judai shares an extremely close relationship to his antagonist foil, just like Deku does with Shigaraki.

However, in Judai's case he's the reason that Yubel turned evil. While it's not entirely his fault, Judai's decision to abandon Yubel when he was a child, made Yubel go through ten years of painful torture all alone, which is the reason behind their current madness.

To summarize Yubel and Judai's story briefly. Yubel is a card spirit, the thing that Johan wants to serve as a bridge between card spirits and humans. Judai had an incredibly close relationship with Yubel as a child, but Yubel was overprotective and used their powers to harm anyone who came near Judai. Judai launched Yubel into space hoping the righteous space rays of justice would calm Yubel down (I know that sounds stupid just go with it) but instead Yubel was hit with the light of destruction a corrupting force that made them endure years of torture. They called out for Judai's help in their dreams only for Judai to eventually forget about them with a psychologist's intervention. Eventually the satellite they were trapped in made it's way back to earth, and they almost died burning up on re-entry. When they finally crawled their way back to Judai, they found Judai had been living the past ten years happy and surrounded by friends, while they had been tortured in space and nearly died all alone.

At which point Yubel snaps, hard.

While it's not Judai's fault entirely because he was a child and he didn't know what was going to happen, he still made the decision to abandon Yubel and stuck them in that situation. Judai's actions creaeted Yubel, and now Yubel is here broken and hurt and determined to hurt all of Judai's friends.

Judai doesn't know how to cope with the guilt or responsibility for either of these things. Both for creating Yubel, and for the fact that because of Yubel Johan might now be dead.

I'm the one who made her what she is!

This is where the show starts demonstrating that understand in darkness of the heart is necessary, because Judai can't understand two things, number one the fact he might have hurt Yubel, and two how to deal with the sense of responsibility he feels towards Yubel becoming what they are, and for Johan's apparent death.

He just feels a lot of guilt, and as someone who's only been the carefree hero up until this point he doesn't know how to deal with that guilt.

Judai makes a very similiar decision to Deku. He decides to go out and hunt for Johan by himself, leaving his friends behind so he won't risk their safety. Unlike Deku however, his friends immediately follow and insist on coming along.

This is when the problems start appearing, because the second everyone enters the Dark World to look for Johan, the show starts demonstrating clearly how different Judai's leadership is from Johan.

All of Judai's flaws start popping up, he's tactless, self-centered, and doesn't consider others feelings, and most importantly of all he doesn't look before he leaps. These behaviors that could earlier be swept under the rug, just become aggravated in a high stakes situation where everyone's lives are on the line. Judai came together with everyone to look for Johan, but he keeps acting like he's alone.

Another user's meta post here summarizes Judai's actions in the Different Dimmension, more succinctly so I'm going to quote them.

Shit Judai’s friends signed up for when they went into the Different Dimension with him:

searching for Johan

working as a team

deciding as a group what risks they’re willing to take

risking their lives together, on an even playing field

Shit Judai’s friends didn’t sign up for when they went into the Different Dimension with him:

having their input thoroughly ignored

being left behind while their friend recklessly charged ahead

having essential information kept from them (Judai didn’t tell them about the fatal consequences of dueling in Dark World)

being kept from dueling without their opinion on the matter ever being taken into account

having their physical, mental and emotional well-being be completely ignored by the de-facto group-leader

being relegated to secondary importance in comparison to Johan, in Judai’s eyes

having their group leader outright break the promises he made to them

To name a few things Judai does while in the different dimmension. Almost immediately after entering the dimension he runs away from the rest of the group, forcing Austin O'Brien to follow before anyone has even gotten their bearings or investigated where they are. Make an agreement with everyone to rest and wait for Dawn to search for Johan, only to run off into the middle of the night without telling anyone. Run off ahead of the group leaving several of their members behind, and when O'Brien tells Judai that members of their group are missing and that he should go back and search for them, Judai asks O'Brien to just do it instead.

Judai doesn't see the flaws in this behavior because it's how he's been acting all along, he always runs off into danger head first and he always fights on his own. Judai's never been good at considering the feelings of others though because he's a tad socially impaired, so he just doesn't seem to notice everyone's growing concerns with how he's acting.

Once again we are asked the question, is Judai's behavior selfish?

Judai deliberately abandons his friends three times, and the third time everyone stops to discuss his behavior.

Kenzan: True, we did come to this world to save Johan, saurus... Fubuki: He did find some minor clues as to Johan's whereabouts, so I suppose it's only natural, but... Asuka: But right now, I feel something is different about Judai. Menajoume: That's right. He got us all riled up about this, and now he's totally forgotten the comrades who came along with him. Kenzan: That's really irresponsible, Saurus. Fubuki: I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but I wish he'd realize the anguish he's putting us through. Asuka: Judai isn't doing this for Johan or us now. It's for himself. He just seems to be rushing forward, headlong, to forget the responsibility he bears on his shoulders.

The answer now is yes, his motivation is selfish because it's no longer about saving Johan, but just to stop himself from feeling guilty.

The stress of the situation is aggravating Judai's worst qualities yes, but Judai's always thought about himself first before others, he's always viewed his friends more as burdens / people to be saved rather than equals.

This all leads to a situation where Judai messes up big time. The same way he abandoned Yubel, he abandons the rest of his friends to run ahead and search for Johan.

They are all kidnapped - and it's Austin who notices they are missing Judai isn't even paying attention. Austin says they should head back and look for the others, but Judai asks Austin and Jim to handle that alone so he can keep searching for Johan.

Jim: The others haven't arrived yet. Something might have happned to them on the way. Judai: I see. Sorry, but could you go back and fetch them? Jim: What? You mean you don't care what happens to them? Austin: Don't forget these are the friends that are in this with you. To fulfill our objective in this dimmension we need everyone working together. You wait here until we return. Judai: Okay, I will.

Austin and Jim agree to go back and search for the others, if Judai promises to wait for them here instead of going on ahead. A promise which Judai immediately breaks.

Which is how Judai walks right into a trap.

Judai abandons his friend so they get kidnapped. He doesn't go back to look for them, so he misses out on a chance to save them. He doesn't wait for Austin and Jim to come back, and because of that he wanders all alone into a trap.

That trap is a sacrifice ritual where the leader Brron challenges him to a duel, and every time Judai attacks one of his friends are sacrificed. Judai is forced to attack and each friend dies one by one.

Judai didn't want to attack, he didn't choose to sacrifice his friends, but he did make every decision leading up to that. The trap was easily avoidable if he 1) didn't leave his friends behind 2) went looking for his friends after they were left behind or 3) waited for Jim and Austin to come back.

Judai didn't mean to sacrifice his friends, but it's a result of his own bad decisions. It's the culmination of an arc where he's been selfishly taking his friends for granted. It's a consequence for Judai just choosing to recklessly barrel forward because he can't cope with his guilt.

Judai's lack of darkness of the heart really dooms him here, because he was blind to his own flaws until it was too late. This isn't even the part where Judai does the bad thing, Judai's careless actions lead to four of his friends dying but he doesn't learn from his mistakes. He snaps, hard.

Judai: But at least I avenged them. Sho I'm really glad you're alive. Sho: Those words... they're just lip service. Bro... bro, you're selfish. Before now, I thought of you as the sun. Someone who gave others energy and made the impossible possible. But, I was wrong. All you care about is getting your way. You don't care who you sacrifice. You'll do anything in the name of your goal. Avenging them won't bring back the people you sacrificed. You're just dueling to satisfy yourself. Judai: O'brien! Austin: I thought I told you to wait. Judai: Are you saying what I did was wrong? Austin: Think it over for yourself. Judai: Why? What did I do that was so wrong? I... I did the right thing! And yet... everyone keeps leaving me! What... What is wrong with me? Supreme King: Yuki Judai. To be willing to be evil to defeat evil. This world exemplfiies survival of the fittest. It must be ruled with power. Judai: Power? I don't have that much power... Supreme King: You hold the Super Polymerization card in your hand. Defeat the spirits that stand against you. Breathe their lives into it and complete that card.

After this point Judai decides to sacrifice everything else for power, and to complete the Super Polymerization card he's already sacrificed four friends four.

It's the culmination of an arc where Judai's only been praised for his strength and his ability to win duels. Where he constantly has been called to win duels to solve problems, until that stops working. When everyone is gone, all that's left is his strength. He had to keep winning to keep people safe, but even that wasn't enough, he was still missing something.

He knew he was missing something, that there was something wrong with him and he didn't know where to look.

Conclusion?

He needed power. If he had power, then he wouldn't have lost. If he had power then everything would have turned out alright. He didn't have the strength to carry everyone's burdens for them, that's why he lost, so what he needs is more power. He's been demanded to win, win, and win again so now winning is all that matters.

Now we have our second question: Is Judai's hero complex a good thing?

That's a definite no, because the pressure to always win, to always save everyone and carry their responsibilities has now completely broken Judai. To the point where he now believes that the only thing good about himself is that he's powerful, but he now is willing to sacrifice others to gain more power.

My name is the Supreme King.

Now here's the best part about Judai actively having a villain arc.

He does bad thngs. He does a lot of bad things.

It turns out when you're abandoned and left alone to suffer you do bad things, crazy that, I'm sure Yubel would have a lot to say about that.

Judai is also not being possessed in this scenario. They state it several times. You could say he's Shadow possessed in a Jungian sense. The supreme King is the symbolic embodiment of all of Judai's flaws that he's been ignoring until now. You could say Haou is representative of Judai's subconscious that has been repressed for so long until all those flaws finally surfaced, and that the Judai we see on a day to day basis is his ego, that the relationship between the two is a metaphor for conscious and subconscious.

Jim does a deep dive into Judai's mind, where we're shown a symbolic sequence of what the inside of his head looks like. Judai witnesses his friends appear in mirrors before they shatter one by one, all while he mumbles about how he needs to get stronger.

These are all storytelling devices to show Judai's fractured psyche, but Judai is still in control of his actions. Judai talks and responds to questions when he's addressed. Judai's friends confirm that it's still Judai, he's not a puppet or possessed.

Misawa says later to Judai's face that he and the supreme king are the same person. Judai later is able to use the Supreme King's powers and maintain complete control, because the Supreme King isn't a split personality. Judai even says when Amon is sacrificing someone he loved for power, that he was doing the same thing as the Supreme King, sacrificing everything for power.

We later learn that the ritual that sacrificed four of Judai's friends was a part of Yubel's schemes, but that's the only thing Yubel set up. Judai made every bad irresponsible decision that led to his friends being captured. Judai was the one who snapped and decided to complete Super Polyermization after it was completed. Learning Yubel was behind the sacrifice ritual doesn't take away any agency from Judai at all, because Judai is responsible for his own decisions.

What it does do is create another parallel between them, because we learn the reason Yubel set up the sacrifice was to make Judai walk the same path that they did.

Judai is hurt, abandoned and isolated and in that situation he ends up lashing out at everyone around him in a similiar manner to Yubel. When Judai is put through similiar trauma, he doesn't overcome it in some heroic way because he's an innately good person, no he succumbs and behaves in ways that are incredibly similiar to Yubel.

Even when Judai's friends selflessly try to help Judai, he resists them every step of the way. He ignores their constant calls to him, their comfort, and he even fights them. Judai is eventually reached by the efforts of Jim and Austin combined, but they both die in the effort. Judai is saved because Jim and Austin were way better friends to him than he was to them.

Judai is effectively snapped out of his destructive spiral, but he's left alone with the sobering realization of everything he's done and the blood of two more friends on his hand.

When it's time for our hero to finally face Yubel, he no longer has the moral highground. Now when he faces Yubel it's not as hero and villain, they're just two sides of the same coin. Two people who when they were abandoned, lashed out and hurt everyone around them.

The question is no longer can Judai save Johan. The question now is whether Judai can live with the guilt he's carrying within him, and for that matter can Yubel live with the guilt of what they've done now too?

By this point Judai's been completely deconstructed. He's no longer the hero of the story, he's just a flawed person who needs to fix his flaws. He has the choice to live with his mistakes, and the biggest conflict now is whether he's going to save his villain foil Yubel, or strike them down in order to save the rest of his friends (the three that are left).

This also creates a much more compelling reason for Judai to save Yubel. Not just because Judai is responsible for Yubel's creation, but because they've both made the same mistakes, they have the same traumas and the same scars. Jim and Austin were willing to risk everything to save Judai even when he didn't deserve it, and didn't want it. Now is Judai capable of doing the same thing, of reaching Yubel the way he was reached, not for the sake of saving the world but for helping a friend?

I just want to save my friend. That's all.

This is to me a very compelling setup for the challenge of whether or not Yubel can be saved. Judai's not really saving a helpless victim, he's not acting out of a sense of duty to sacrifice himself for the world, he's being challenged to save someone who suffers from all the same flaws that he does. Judai and Yubel are so similiar at this point it's really just Judai saving himself.

The Dark Deku Arc - Setup

This is the part where I'm actually going to praise MHA. Shocking I know. Season 1 and 2 of Yu-Gi-Oh GX are about 105 episodes in total. The Dark Deku arc begins at about episode 131 with Deku's decision to leave the hospital by himself to hunt down Shigaraki and AFO alone and try to understand villains better.

The 130 episodes up until that point are much better build up, than the first 105 episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh GX. To put it frankly GX is paced like ass. There's far too much filler, and because of that the plot points the anime is trying to make are delivered less efectively. In fact 105 is a good example of what I said above, that ideas are one thing and execution are another.

Season 2 especially is a season filled with good ideas and weak execution due to pacing. Here's one I use as a go-to example. There's a character named Edo Phoenix who's on a quest to find who killed his father. The ending of his plotline is he discovers that in a twist, the man who adopted him is the one who killed his father, and he's been encouraging Edo to investigate because it lets him spy on the police investigation and keep it off his tail.

That's a good twist - however that twist happens in the same episode that Edo's adoptive father is introduced. The audience is given literally no time to even get to know Edo's adoptive father, or get invested in their relationship so the twist doesn't hit at all. A better paced story would show Edo's relationship to his adoptive father early on, get you invested in them, only to pull the rug out from under you so you would feel the shock of that betrayal alongside Edo.

GX establishes its character cast, and yes the filler does give the cast time to breathe and they're all well characterized but because the plot around them is so poorly structured, none of the plot points really hit. Okay, Edo's adoptive dad is evil. Next! You can have good characters, but if you don't put them in a strong narrative framework that challenges them then those characters are just gonna kinda sit there.

The first 105 episodes of Yu Gi Oh GX does succesfully characterize most of the main cast, but it also feels like everyone's just goofing around. In comparison the first 135 episodes of MHA much more successfully builds an escalating conflict. Each new arc either introduces you to a new facet of the world, makes the amin characters more complex, or adds to the conflict.

We basically go from arc 1 "The hero high school is fun" to Arc 2 "The villains are a serious threat" to the Camp Arc "Oh shit, Shigaraki is learning and the villains are getting stronger."

When Bakugo is kidnapped at the end of the camp arc, the tension is ramped way up with the appearance of AFO, and All Might's retirement.

After that point we're introduced to the Overhaul arc, which not only again makes the League of Villains more complex and sympathetic, but also introduces the audience to All Might's more flawed side - the fact that All Might literally worked himself to death saving others and it still didn't work.

Then My Villain Academia -> The Villains are now a threat and they have an army.

Each arc builds on a previous arc, the characters and the world grow more complex, and it feels like you're learning about these complex issues alongside the characters. It just makes Yu Gi Oh Gx look like the silly card games show by comparison, by setting up this very layered world, and conflict, and heroes that challenge the protagonists on what it means to be a hero and what it means to be a victim.

Then all of that great setup.

We are side by side with the proagonist. We, like Deku now want to see if someone like Shigaraki can be saved. We, alongisde Deku want to better understand the villains and learn to see them as people. We want to know if the corrupt hero system can be salvaged.

However, these are too many questions so let's boil it down to two once more, because this is looking at Deku's character.

Deku and Judai are in some ways different as night and day. Deku is an introverted nerd and the victim of bullying, and he starts out with no quirk at all. Judai is a self-confident, charismatic prodigy who instantly seems to charm and befriend everyone around him. Deku desperately wants to be the hero and works his way up there, whereas Judai is just kind of thrown into the school hero because he's the best at dueling.

Judai is kind of a mix of Bakugo and Deku's traits, he's a self confident prodigy who always wins, but he's also someone obsessed with heroes and who has a hero-complex where he's continually forced to save others.

The Dark Deku arc, like the Supreme King Arc looks to take a darker, more introspective look at Deku's character, while also exposing Deku who is a sheltered kid to the a very grey on grey world. It also seeks to deconstruct Deku's suposed "hero complex". Despite the many differences between Deku and Judai I believe the two questions an be boiled down to the same thing.

Is Deku Selfish?

Is Deku's hero complex a bad thing?

These are the questions the series itself is asking in the deconstruction of Deku's character. Deku himself is asking if there's a better way to save villains tha just beating them down or outright killing them, but we'll discuss that later.

Just like Judai there is some setup before this to give a previously very one-note Shonen protagonist mor depth. Deku and Judai are both people who fit the determined, punchy, solve everything fist fight shonen protagonist to a T, on top of being the one to always show up to fight for their friends. Just like in the beginning of season 3, we do have some hints before this that there's something wrong with this attitude. That there's something about Deku that's not entirely there.

There's a flashback of All Might talking with Bakugo where Bakugo discusses that the fact that Deku never takes cares of himself or factors himself into the equation when he always puts others first deeply bothers him and there's "something wrong with it" that's made him always push Deku away.

This flashback also leads into a scene where Bakugo pushes Deku out of the way of one of AFO's attacks, telling him to "stop trying to win this on his own." In an attempt to make Deku see that he's not fighting alone this time.

Deku has also been warned repeatedly about the way his power destroys his own body when he uses it, warnings he's repeatedly chosen to ignore. Saving others isn't just a goal for Deku, you could arguably say it's a method of self-harm and that's what unnerves Bakugo. Bakugo even gave a similiar speech in the past, about how someone like Deku shouldn't take all of the bullying that Bakugo has given him over the years and still try to be his friend afterwards. At this point it's not really like Bakugo's done anything other than tone down the constant insults a little bit, he hasn't apologized or anything but even this early in the manga Deku has a tendency to just let Bakugo's treatment of him go. It's not like they were super best friends forever before the bullying started either despite what the shippers might tell you. Bakugo is saying it's weird that this kid just takes it, and takes it, and takes it without fighting back like he doesn't care about how people treat him and Bakugo is right... that is weird!

Deku either has such low standards for how he's treated that he just lets Bakugo get away with it, or he just doesn't hold a grudge when he is mistreated because his pain and his suffering just always matters less. Either way it's not healthy, and it could be indicative of a deeper problem hiding behind the surface.

Either way there's setup here, because on one hand you have everyone and their grandma praising Deku for his "drive to save others that eclipses all common understanding."

While at the same time he's criticized by Bakugo for having no regard for others. This could be the setup for the character trait that led to his earlier success leading to his downfall later. In Judai's case, everyone praises his purity of heart, but then that purity is later criticized as childishness, naivete and a refusal to grow up.

As for Deku...

How can you protect others if you can't even bother to protect yourself? How can you save others if you can't save yourself? That's the question Touka asked of Kaneki in Tokyo Ghoul when she rightly called out his desire to protect everyone at the Anteiku Cafe as just a roundabout way of getting himself hurt by acting recklessly.

In Kaneki's case he's not trying to protect anybody, he's just picking battles against the doves and getting himself hurt. He's acting out a hero complex in the sense that if he feels like he didn't fight his friends battles for them like Judai then he wouldn't have any friends to begin with. That's why Touka also says "Besides that, everyone doesn't belong to you. You have no business protecting us."

Is Deku fighting for the same reason? Does he harm himself to protect others because he views himself to be worthless and the only way to demonstrate his worth is try and fight to save others?

We don't get an answer for that question. Judai thinks duels are fun, and he's really good at them, and because he's good at dueling he's made friends. He think to keep those friends he has to keep dueling for the sake of others.

Deku's not motivated by the idea of protecting or keeping his friends, that's a secondary motivation. All we have on Deku is that he feels a strong desire to save others, and that he worshipped heroes like All Might growing up but has a naive idea of what a hero is supposed to be. However, his lack of motivation could be the "something that's missing" just like Judai has.

The GX writers did some hardcore digging into Judai's character by focusing on how shallow he was in motivation compared to everyone else, and showing that to be a symptom of his childish naivete.

There's also the potential parallel between All Might and Nighteye's breakup, and Deku's decision to leave all his friends behind to hunt for Shigaraki himself.

Even if Deku doesn't have a deeper motivation than just "an unnatural drive to save others" then you could show the effects of Deku walking down the same path that All Might did, the belief that he has to be the one to save everyone singlehandedly and if he rests for a single moment than someone might die, leads to him not only destroying his body, but also doing permanent damage to all of his social relationships.

Even if Deku's motivation isn't too deep, you could still have the traits that led him to earlier success now driving him to ruin as the story punishes Deku for his excessive selfishness.

This is also where we finally get back to Deku's goal of understanding Shigaraki, and contemplating whether or not it's possible to save villains without killing them.

I draw a parallel between this and Judai's enemies calling him out on lacking "darkness of the heart" and that without understanding that darkness he can't win.

Judai's lack of darkness of the heart means two things, he's not mature enough to understand the reason why his enemies are fighting, and he's also not mature enough to se the darkness in his own heart which is why he ends up blind to his own flaws and making pretty severe mistakes later on.

For Deku, it's mainly a lack of understanding of the motivations of the villains he's fighting again, villains he's only ever really beat down with his fists until now.

However, for Deku lacking darkness of the heart you could also re-contextualize that as meaning because of his idealization of heroes he's never once looked at the darker sides of hero society that might have driven people into becoming villains.

Deku's lack of inner darkness may just come from the fact that compared to the villains he's fighting against, he's gotten to live a pampered life. Without understanding that darkness, he can't be a full person because he'll still be a naive sheltered child, and not an adult wise to the way the world works and the moral greys he inhibits. Either way, it's just as necessary for Deku to gain an understanding of "Darkness of the Heart' as it is Judai.

So here's all the setup for the start of Deku's Dark deconstruction arc. As different as these characters and scenarios you can still boil it down to those three narrative questions about Deku / Judai, is there behavior selfish? Are there hero compelexes a good thing? Do they need to understand darkness of the heart?

Before moving on I'm going to summarize Deku's setup as thus:

Deku's actions are selfless.

Deku's motivations are also selfless (a desire to save others).

Deku does not benefit from saving others in any way, if anything he actively harms himself in order to do so.

Bakugo finds this behavior incredibly disturbing.

All Might destroyed his body and burned all bridges because of similiar flaws to Deku.

So the answer to the first question is Deku selflish? No. Is his hero-complex a bad thing? Potentially.

While Deku himself decides that he needs to understand darkness of the heart in order to better understand villains. Deku is actually more set up to contemplate darkness of the heart than Judai is, because Judai charges into the dark world blindly with only the motivation of saving Johan not even caring for Yubel, while Deku has the explicit motivation of trying to understand the little boy inside Shigaraki.

DEKU LEFT THE HERO ACADEMY

Deku begins the arc by leaving alone to go searching for Shigaraki, with hand-written letters addressed to all of his friends that tell the truth about One for All and also say Goodbye. He makes the deliberate decision to leave them behind so they don't get targeted alongside of him. It's a pretty classical superhero motivation, I need to cut myself out of my loved ones life in order to protect them. Of course this sort of ignores that everyone in his class has super-powers too, but you know heroes they're all such drama queens.

Is this selfish behavior?

This is going to be the only time I'm going to solidly answer yes. Deku clearly did not take his friends feelings into account. His desire to protect them, is more important than their own agency. They also might want to fight alongside him, they'd be upset if they saw him die or get hurt trying to protect them. Deku thinks of his own feelings of wanting to keep them safe and not being able to handle the emotional burden of protecting him, more than he does their own personal feelings.

This is also something that All Might did they permanently burned all of his bridges with his sidekick and friends, and deeply hurt his sidekick who was just asking him to take a break so he did not get himself killed and quit because he didn't want to watch All Might slowly kill himself by inches.

Deku is being selfish here, and later on when he does face his friends he even acts pretty condescending belittling them and insisting they can't fight on their own or keep up with him.

However, I need to ask a secondary question.

Is there any lasting consequences for this selfish behavior?

Besides the fact that it hurt his friends feelings for a little bit, no. I spent a much longer time covering this in Judai's sections because Judai's selfish behavior led to character conflicts. Judai disregarding his friends led to everyone starting to resent him in the Dark World, and their once tight-knit friend group further falling apart.

Judai on three seperate occasions makes impulsive decisions to run ahead without consulting with the group. The second time he outright lies to the group and sneaks ahead without them. THe second time all of his friends are captured when they go after him and try to follow him to give their support because they're worried about him. The third time he makes the decision to run ahead, he knows about the danger they're in and the risk of getting captured and he just blatantly ignores them. When Austin notices they're missing Judai doesn't even go looking for them because they're not a priority at this point - saving Johan is.

This is something that has very real and lasting consequences in the story, they're captured because of his recklessness, and sacrificed in front of his eyes. Even though they technically come back in season 4, the trust between Judai and his friends is all but gone and he's alone for a lot of Season 4.

Judai's decision to abandon his friends has direct and lasting consequences. He is being punished for his hero complex. Running ahead, and fighting alone against the bad guys is what Judai has always done and what's worked before, but now in a more complicated world it's not cutting it and Judai is being challenged for his flaws.

Deku hurts his friends feelings a little bit, but even in that case the focus is on how sad it is for Deku, how hard it must be to be a noble hero fighting alone.

Deku's Mary Jane and Spiderman bullshit never impacts his friends directly, other than the fact that they find it slightly condescending. His "I need to keep secrets from my loved ones attitude" is challenged because his friends want to fight alongside him, but there's never any narrative punishment delivered to him. It's just solved with one fight scene and a character holding out their hands. Whereas, the consequences for Judai's rash actions last two seasons.

I call it "Mary Jane and Spiderman" Bullshit, because Spiderman keeping his identity a secret from all his loved ones is a big conflict in the comics. Something that got Gwen Stacy killed, because Peter Parker never told her his identity in order to protect her, and then that just ended up with Norman Osborne finding out about her anyway and kidnapping and killing her.

You might have heard of the "Death of Gwen Stacy" it's a pretty famous moment in comics. It's also a case where it shows that the Hero's failure to communicate honestly with their loved ones in the name of "Protecting Them" can actually get them killed.

There's even consequences in MHA itself for heroes choosing to sacrifice their personal lives to help complete strangers. Shigaraki literally made a whole speech about it. Kotaro Shimura is traumatized for life over his mother's decision to abandon him instead of giving up on being a hero. Nana Shimura believed she was doing something selfless in sending her child into foster care to keep him out of AFO's clutches, but that was shown to be wrong as AFO just found Kotaro's household and then destroyed him later on in adulthood anyway.

So in the story we are shown scenarios where choosing to abandon your loved ones in the name of "protecting them" can have disastrous and lasting consequences, but as for Deku himself, the decision to leave the school has basically no consequences whatsoever.

Well, Deku making the decision to fight alone is something that might lead to some consequences. After all, Judai's breakdown came about because he always felt the pressure to fight alone and carry everyone's weight on his shoulders until he couldn't.

Perhaps, with Deku fighting alone to protect everyone we'll reach a similiar breaking point. Just as Judai couldn't handle carrying everyone's burdens, looking for Johan, and leading his friends into the Dark World all that the same time and eventually broke down maybe we'll see Deku break down because he just like All Might can't carry the burdens of an entire nation - oh wait nevermind he's working with the Top 3 Heroes.

Even the premise that this is Deku leaving the school, to become something like a vigilante wandering the countryside trying to fight AFO on his own is just incorrect because Deku is receiving government assistance right now.

In the Dark World it was really just Judai and his friends, so every single bad decision Judai made had consequences because they were well and truly alone. Deku has backup so he's not even really "alone" in the arc that's supposed to be about him fighting AFO and trying to understand Shigaraki alone.

ALL YOU'LL FIND IS BLOOD AND VIOLENCE

Let's briefly focus on questions two and three, is Deku's hero complex bad, and does Deku need to understand darkness of the heart?

Judai's hero complex was based on the idea that if he wanted to have friends he needed to fight for them and solve their problems for them.

Judai got in such an unhealthy negative feedback loop, that he had to carry his friends burdens in order to maintain his friendships with them, but at the same time he couldn't receive any help from them because he made their friendship all about him carrying their burdens. He was operating underneath an amazing pressure to always win until he lost. The very thing he did to try to maintain his friendships, keeping his friends at arm's length and fighting alone is exactly what ends up driving them away and leaving him alone.

But, still...! They're all... They're all gone. There really was something missing in me. But what is it? What was missing? What should a duelist burden themselves with?

Judai paradoxically fights alone in order to keep his friend group together, which only ends up with him losing four friends and being abandoned by the rest when they're disappointed for him in his selfish behavior. Judai screams out why, realizing he did something wrong here, that something went wrong because he's been winning duels, he's been fighting the same way he did before only to end up with the worst option possible. The realization that he is truly alone breaks him down entirely.

Judai's hero complex unwravels when simply charging ahead to fight doesn't work for him anymore, because the situation becomes more complicated than that. Darkness of the heart can mean many things. Judai not understanding his own personal flaws. Judai not seeing how his flaws are affecting others. Judai not looking at other people's emotions, he doesn't hear or respond to criticism when his friends start trying to tell him how is selfish decisions making is making them feel.

I can't just stay and wait. All this time I've run on instinct, never second-guessing myself. If I just stand still now... I'm sure I won't be able to start running again. And I won't be able to get to Johan.

Judai's hero complex has a clear source - he believes he has to keep running ahead and fighting for his friends the same way he always has in order to keep those friends and if he stops he'll lose everything / succumb to the guilt he now feels about being uanble to save Johan. His Hero Complex also has clear consequences, him running ahead without thinking gets all of his friends kidnapped and used in a sacrifice ritual that could have been avoided if he had made different choices.

Spiderman kills Gwen Stacy because Peter Parker deciding to not tell her about his secret identity to protect her backfired and made her an easy target to the Green Goblin.

Heck, Spiderman's entire character is about how the burden of being Spiderman and his Hero Complex constantly sabotages any attempt he makes at having a personal life. Miguel O'Hara's catchphrase in the incredibly popular Spiderman movie is that "Being Spiderman is a sacrifice" and he's not wrong either.

SO, is the narrative punishing Deku's hero complex in any way?

Well, the one warning he did receive that if he kept fighting he'd lose permanent loss of his arms turns out to not matter anymore because his body is just stronger now.

So, even the phyiscal toll of fighting alone that's a consequence for Deku doesn't actually apply here.

I keep talking about consequences but what do I actually mean? Am I talking about strictly punishment? Do bad things need to happen to characters in order to get their lessons?

Not necessarily.

When I say "consequences" I mean in terms of actions always having consequences in a story. The best stories are succinct, that means you basically cut down in as many frivolous details in a story as much as possible so everything that happens onscreen is something that matters and contributes to the whole. Therefore, every action should have a consequence directly seen onscreen in story. Stories are all actions and consequences, the choices the characters make should have direct impact on the plots and the other characters because it makes those choices seem like they matter.

If the story constantly draws attention to the fact that Deku is afraid of ducks, but the story takes place on the moon and there are no ducks living on the moon then that's a wasted plot thread because there are no consequences. If a character does something bad, other characters should discuss it, or it should negatively impact them in some way.

When Judai decides to run ahead without all of his friends for the first time after they all agreed on a plan, the result is the next episode they all start talking about their shared doubts with Judai when he's not around. If they all just swept Judai abandoning them under the rug, then Judai running ahead and leaving the others alone doesn't feel like an impactful character flaw.

There's no lasting consequence for Deku's hero complex. It doesn't drive him to any kind of breaking point like it does Judai.

I think the reason why is because there's no real moment of failure for Deku. When he tries to ask Muscular why he fights, and Muscular rejects him and says that he was just born evil and has no deeper motivations, Deku's not frustrated at all.

Deku who feels a "unnatural desire to save others" isn't really bothered by the fact that Muscular insists that he can't be saved and that they can only fight. Despite this technically being a failure, Deku has failed to talk a villain down, failed to find a way other than fighting and also failed to understand the darkness in someone's heart it's of little consequence because it's not framed as a failure.

Deku just punches Muscular, back to the drawing board.

There's another manga called Choujin X running right now, where the main character is on a similiar quest trying to see if there's a way they can save the big bad Sora Shihouhin, and when he is forced to fight against a villain who won't back down, de-escalate, or listen to reason he has a complete emotional breakdown.

This is the reaction of someone who's genuinly invested in the idea of saving the villain, and frustrated with the reality that he might not be able to save her, that he can't talk to the villains or convince them to back down. Tokio's not even characterized by an unnatural desire to save others like Deku is, so why is he the one breaking down and not Deku someone apparently so selfless that he wants to save the mass murderer that's trying to destroy society?

If Deku's desire to save others is so strong why doesn't he show frustration at being unable to talk down, or understand Muscular?

Judai is stuck in a negative feedback loop where he's forced to fight for others, because he believes he has no worth to his friends otherwise. All we're told of why Deku feels the need to save everyone around him is that he's just like that, he just feels like saving everyone no matter who they are the moment they come into view.

If we're choosing to characterize Deku that way, then number one he should be attempting to save everyone, and number two the stress of having to save everyone is something that should get to him. His "Hero Complex" should be what's breaking him down at the moment. The unnatural desire to save everyone around him that led him to so much success should be what's punishing him this arc.

Judai felt pressure from two aspects, first the pressure to carry everyone's burdens, and second the lack of understanding of darkness of the heart. Unlike Judai who doesn't want to understand darkness and who avoids it as long as possible, Deku goes into this arc actively seeking to understand how his villains think.

Deku and Judai also suffer from a lack of darkess in their own hearts. This leads to them having empty motivations. Judai has a childish desire to enjoy fun duels. Deku has a childish desire to save everyone. Neither of them have tried to grow or change or even question those motivations in any way and because of that they're stunted people.

Judai doesn't know why he fights. He doesn't question why he fights. He just takes on the burdens of others to give him something to fight for. This all together leaves Judai blind to his own personal darkness, and also because of that blindness he can't grow in any way because he never evaluates himself, he never looks at himself and tries to change.

When he's on his knees and at his breaking point he screams at the top of his lungs, "WHY? WHAT AM I MISSING? WHAT DID I DO WRONG?" simply because Judai's never thought about these things.

Deku's asked these same questions both in the Dark Deku arc, and hundreds of chapters later he's asked what he's planning on doing as a hero in order to make things better and Deku never materializes an answer.

Pre-Dark Deku Arc, during Dark-Deku Arc and Post Dark Deku arc, Deku always solves his problems by recklessly jumping in and saving others. There's never any point where he's punished or criticized for this behavior in any significant lasting way. He never has to self reflect and develop a reason on why he wants to save others, or eve think about how he's going to save others, he can just keep acting as the rash, impulsive hero.

Judai and Deku are both characters who are empty, and lacking in motivation but Judai is ruthlessly criticized for that until he reaches his breaking point and is forced to look at his motives.

This once again comes from a lack of failure on Deku's part. Deku never fails the way that Judai does. There's a scene where you could have easily had Deku fail. The entire Nagant vs. Deku fight where Deku fails to give her any substantive answers to his questions.

Imagine if Deku's simple philosophy of always extending a helping hand failed here. Imagine if Deku actually got deeply ivnested in the idea of saving Lady Nagant, and did his beset to talk and reach out to her but his answers weren't enough and because of that she just chooses something like suicide. Imagine he has her by the hand, and she's dangling off of the roof and he thinks that his impressive move to save her should have been enough - he's reached out a hand like always. He thinks this should have won her heart over, by showing her that someone still cares in all of her despair.

Then, Nagant in one final spiteful move lets go. The person he heard her entire backstory, the person maybe he once was a huge fan of her when she wasa hero, the person he wants to save the same way he wants to save Shigaraki chooses to let go and fall to her death because dying would be better than living in whatever kind of corrupt world that Deku is trying to build.

This could be Deku's Gwen Stacy moment. Spiderman carelessly webs Gwen Stacy whe she's falling to catch her and for a moment he thinks he's saved her because he's overconfident and has caught people falling like this a thousand times, only to find out he's snapped her spine. His overconfidence, his hero complex making him believe everything magically would work out led Gwen Stacy to her death. This could show the simple act of just offering a hand out to someone in need isn't enough, without empathy and understanding.

Instead, AFO just blows Nagant up in Deku's face.

Except, that isn't even a failure bcause Nagant turns out to be just fine! There's no point in blowing up Nagant except for the spectacle of it, because she turns out to be fine five minutes later and even shows up to fight in the next arc.

There's no consequencs to anything that happens in this scene. Deku doesn't suffer any consequences for being blind to the faults of society. (He's working right alongisde a killer cop just like Nagant and he doesn't even care.) Deku isn't forced to reflect on what saving people or making society better would even mean. He also isn't punished for his lack of understanding the way that Judai is.

Afterwards, Deku denies help to a very mentally-ill Overhaul, who is apparently not one of the villains that Deku wanted to save. There's a whole buch of asterisks on that "Deku wants to save everyone***" goal. This also isn't framed or used to paint Deku in a bad light because Overhaul is unworthy of salvation in Deku's eyes for hurting Eri.

Is this action part of an arc? Is Deku reaching his limit with trying to sympathize with villains only to see people like Overhaul and Muscular fighting him every step of the way and telling him they don't want to change?

Nope, this scene is never brought up again.

Deku never fails, and he never does anything wrong. Even when there are situations where you could argue he does do soemthing wrong, like denying the armless, mentally ill Overhaul help - he's not painted as being in the wrong.

The entire arc is supposed to be about criticizing the protagonist for their hero complex, and their lack of understanding of the darkness of the world but for Deku there's no criticism to be had here.

Compare this to the sacrifice ritual in the Supreme King Arc, where not only does Judai fail to save his friends, but the friends that survive ruthlessly tear into him aftewards for his selfish behavior. THe actions of one protagonist matter, have consequences in the story and are criticized. The actions of another protagonist have no real consequences and are never criticized.

The whole mansion blows up and... nothing happens. No one's injured in the explosion. It may as well have not happened in the story because there are no consequences for Deku just continually choosing to blindly run ahead like his hero complex tells him to.

There's evena moment where Deku winds up in a similiar situation to the dark ritual. After receiving information from Nagant, he blindly wanders into a mansion in Haibori woods believing it to be AFO's base, only to find out it was a trap and AFO was waiting for him to blindly charge in all along.

THAT'S WHAT MAKES US HEROES AND VILLAINS

This is where I'm going to talk about another big similarity between Deku and Judai, and also the biggest point of divergence in the Dark Deku and Supreme King Haou arcs.

Deku and Judai are both character foils with Shigaraki and Yubel respectively. This is where I'm going to praise MHA again, surprising everyone.

The foiling between Shigaraki and Deku is masterful. They both started out in relatively the same place, as boys with dreams to become heroes who were softly told no by their parents. Tragedy struck Shigaraki and he killed his family on accident and wound up alone wandering the street for days until he was found by AFO.

They're both the students of the greatest hero and villain of the last generation. They both end up being surrounded by a group of close Nakama that they want to protect. They're both continually challenged to grow up, and show how they're going to be better than their predecessor for the hero and villain sides respectively. They both have to prove they are worthy successors. Shigaraki has all the heroic spunk and determination that Deku has but on the villain's side, and while Deku loves heroes, Shigaraki is hero society's critic wants to bring down the hero system that didn't save him.

You get the feeling that Shigaraki really is Deku just in a different situation, a same person on the opposite sides of the conflict kind of character foiling.

As the biggest Yubel stan here, in some ways the foiling for Shigaraki works better than the foiling for Yubel because Shigaraki isn't just Deku's foil, he's the foil for all of society. Yu-Gi-Oh Gx takes place in a society run where everything centers around card games, it's not really that deep. In My Hero Academia you have that 100 episodes of great setup where Deku is not only learning to look at the darkness within himself, but also the darkness within hero society around him.

Judai's narrative as much as I love it, is entirety about Judai.

Not only could Dark Deku arc develop Deku's character, it could also say something deeper about the world it's taking place it, because Deku has all these connections to Shigaraki, who also kind of represents the orphaned boy failed on all levels by the society around him.

Shigaraki is the shadow of -> Deku, but also Shigaraki is the shadow of -> all of society.

Yubel is the shadow of -> Judai, and only relates to Judai's personal growth.

Yubel is Judai's personal villain, and was created by his actions as a child. His decision to abandon Yubel into space, led to Yubel being tortured and their later madness.

Yubel is also Judai's shadow. They carry all the same flaws, but those flaws are obvious in Yubel and repressed in Judai. Yubel's belief is that Judai is someone who purposefully enjoys hurting their friends, and that's how he shows his love. While that's twisted it's not hard to see how Yubel came to that conclusion. After all, Yubel loved Judai so much only for Judai to abandon them and turn a blind eye to their suffering. In the Dark World, Judai abandons his other friends continually in order to search for Johan, and they wind up suffering too.

While Judai doesn't sadistically enjoy hurting others as Yubel put it, there's an element of truth to Yubel's criticism. Judai does abandon people, Judai isn't as empathic as he seems to be. When Judai is subjected to the same kind of isolation and abandonment that Yubel has endured for the past ten years, Judai loses his mind a whole lot quicker and starts lashing out at everything around him the same way Yubel has. Judai without the love of his friends starts to hurt everyone around him in his lashing out, the same way that Yubel desperate for love starts to inflict pain on the people she loves. Even before the ritual happened, Judai was unwittingly hurting his friends with his own selfish behavior.

Yubel's stated criticism is "of Judai is "Anguish and sorrow born from loneliness. That is the nature of love as you taught it to me" and further beyond that "When you forgot about me, I suffered. It's hot. It hurts. I am in pain. Why? You know how much I love you? Why did you do this to me, Judai? In that moment I realized that was how you showed love. Because you loved me, you hurt me and made me suffer."

That sounds crazy, but hasn't Judai been hurting the people he loved for his own selfish reasons this entire arc? Is it that crazy then to conclude that neglect and abandonment must be how Judai treats everyone he loves, so surely he loves me.

One of the biggest criticisms of this arc is how Judai's behaviors impact his relationships, so of course his most personal villain and foil is his jilted ex nonbinary dragon lover. On a less joking note, when Yubel was displaying troubling behavior as a child, Judai's first response was to abandon them. Which is ironic for someone like Judai so paralyzingly afraid of being abandoned that he became everyone's workhorse and worked himself to death solving their problems for them. Who when abandoned by those friends finally, snaps just as hard as Yubel did when they were abandoned.

Do you see the parallel I'm drawing here? Judai is slotted into the spot of the protagonist who's friends with everyone he meets, who loves and fights for his Nakama. Yet under closer scrutiny he's shown that he doesn't really understand what love or friendship is or how to give and receive love from others in a healthy way. His antagonist is his former childhood best friend, who is obsessed with love and demands that Judai love them back. Judai's lack of understanding of relationships and love takes a dark twist with Yubel, their shadow, foil and antagonist.

These are once again very personal challenges to Judai, society doesn't really factor into this equation. Though, Judai is somewhat challenged as a hero because there's an irony to Judai plunging into the world to save his best friend Johan who he's known for like three weeks, but not really lifting a finger to save the antagonist of the arc Yubel who he's known since childhood and is personal responsible for putting through torture.

That hypocrisy there too, is a personal challenge to Judai that paints him in a less heroic light. He wants to save Johan and ignore Yubel because it's easier, because saving Johan relieves him of his guilt. He doesn't even know what to do about Yubel, so he doesn't try and falls back on his previously established behavior of playing the hero.

The hero is really just a mask for Judai at this point, something the story has ripped right off of his face by the time it comes to face Yubel.

There are two ways in which Yubel serves as an ultimate foil to Judai.

Yubel acts like a callout post to all of Judai's flaws

Yubel represents a dark path Judai could have taken.

This second one is what Shigaraki and Deku have in Common with Judai + Yubel. There's something deeply tragic about the idea that while Deku was making friends, getting taught by a loving teacher like All Might, Shigaraki was all alone being pushed by a ruthless manipulator like AFO into becoming the worst villain.

Judai and Yubel's lives follow the same tragic parallel path. They began in the same place as childhood friends, but after abandoning Yubel, Judai spent the next ten years growing up, making friends in a healthy and safe envirnoment while Yubel the one who was abandoned was alone in space desperately crying for Judai to come save them only to be ignored because Judai has long forgotten them.

However, there's a striking difference there too. Yubel is created directly by Judai's neglect and actions. Whereas Shigaraki is created by the neglect of all of society, it's not Deku's fault directly.

#1 Shigaraki acting as a callout post to Deku's Flaws

However, this is where Shigaraki's callout post comes in. Shigaraki gives a long speech on how the existence of heroes itself, creates villains like him.

"You heroes pretend to be society's guardians. For generations you pretended not to see those you couldn't protect and swept their pain under the rug. It's tainted everything you've built. That means your system's all rotten from the inside with maggots crawling out. It builds up little by little, over time, you've got the common trash all too dependent on being protected. And the brave guardians who created the trash that need coddling. It's a corrupt, vicious, cycle. Everything I've witnessed. This whole system you've built has always rejected me. Now I'm ready to reject it. That's why I destroy. That's why I take power for myself. Simple enough, yeah? You don't understand because you can't understand, that's what makes us heroes and villains."

To break it down simply, heroes look away from the faults in their society, they intentionally ignore the people they cannot save, and when those people turn into villains the heroes beat them down hard. The villain attacks then convince the common people of the need for heroes, and the cycle perpetuates itself. This is all powered by the people's blind, uncritical faith in heroes.

Deku is a person who has that same blind, uncritical faith in hereoes, and until this point has never thought of Shigaraki as anything more than a villain to be punched until he stops. Which is why this is still a callout post that applies to Deku, because Deku's blind admiration for the Hero System is part of the problem that enables the very flawed hero system.

Deku does not understand darkness of the heart, therefore Deku does not understand that heroes could possibly be bad, and he could possibly be supporting a bad system until he's slapped in the face with it.

However, is there a lasting consequence for Deku's blind support of the hero system?

Nope.

I just described up above what could have been a consequence, if Lady Nagant refused to have faith in Deku since he didn't back his words up with action.

Deku also clearly does not want to break away from the corrupt hero system that created Shigaraki, because the heroes that he brought along to fight with him are Endeavor, Hawks and Jeanist, a child abuser, a state sponsored murderer, and a guy who makes bad puns. He doesn't change any of his bahavior that enables the corrupt system to stay in power.

Not teaming up with the Top 3 heroes, and deciding to go full vigilante would have at least have been breaking away from that system.

This circles around to a big underlying problem in this whole arc in that Deku isn't really doing anything different from what he was doing before, and he's not punished for his character stagnancy either.

So we're left with.

#2 Shigaraki represents a dark path that Deku could have Taken

This is where Judai / Yubel succeeds and Shigaraki / Deku falls flat on its face.

When pushed to his absolute limit after failing repeatedly, Judai snaps. With no friends left he decides that all that matters is power. This path seems natural for him because we've already seen what being abandoned and left alone can do to a person and how it twisted Yubel. The story hints again and again at Judai's blood knight tendencies, and that he thinks the only thing he has of value to offer others is strength by fighting for them.

He loses his friends and the fighting is all he has left.

At the point of despair he decides to just embrace power. If he cares about nothing more than strength, at least that will give him some sense of control over his life after the out of control tragedy that happened to him.

"Yuki Judai. In order to defeat evil, one must become evil. In a world with the law of the jungle at work, one must rule with power." "Power? I don't have that kind of power." "In your hand lies the super polymerization card. Defeat any spirits who may oppose you, and combine their lives into it to perfect the card."

Supreme King is just a villain persona that Judai adopts to as a protetive blanket for all the hurt and pain they've gone through, just like ding, ding, ding, the villain persona Shigaraki Tomura is for Shimura Tenko.

Judai snapping under such intense pressure shows us that if even the faultless hero can snap, then how much can we blame the villain for snapping under similar circumstances? Maybe the reason both the hero and the villain fell is because they're both equally human and to fall down is human.

Deku never falls down as hard as Judai does. He doesn't even fall down and scrape his knee. There's no instance where he fails to save anyone. There's no instance where his actions hurt anyone. There's no instance where he takes things too far and hurts a villain. I kow it's unlikely for Deku to turn into a villain, but he could have at least gotten so frustrated he turned into a punisher style vigilante! Is that too much to ask?

There's not even a single moment where Deku goes too hard in a fight and injures or even kills a villain. They could have pulled an "I thought you were stronger" moment like in Invincible.

I don't know why this is called the Dark Deku arc because there's no darkness in Deku's heart for him to exploit, nor is he actually called to better his understanding of the darkness in others hearts. Judai understands Yubel's darkness because by the end of his personal arc he's been there, he's not the hero he's the atoner. He can either punish Yubel, or hold a hand out to help Yubel atone.

Deku's arc might as well be called the "My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Arc" because he never does or confronts anything dark. His worst crime is not showering. All that isolation and his repeatd failures in hunting AFO down should have worn Deku down, but it didn't because he's just that special of a boy!

Deku's hero complex also is completely uncriticized from beginning to finish. Judai's hero complex is an unhealthy behavior that utterly destroys him. Deku's hero complex is a job interview flaw.

FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC

Just to hammer my point in I'd like to compare these two scenes. One is in the middle of the Supreme King Arc, the sacrifice ritual scene where all of Judai's friends are blaming him for the fact that they're about to be sacrificed while he's still trying to save them.

The second is the climax of the Dark Deku arc, where all of Deku's friends are showing up to fight him and convincing him to accept their help.

Just look at how vastly different these two shows treat their shonen protagonists when it comes to his flaws.

For the ritual sacrifice scene. This is immediately after Manjoume wakes up to find that he has been chained and kidnapped with Judai standing right there.

Judai: Sit tight! I'll save you soon! Manjoume: Wait, is he dueling? JUdai you damned idiot! Weren't you going to save Johan with us!? Getting yourself all flared up. You didn't even stop to think about us at all, did you? Judai: That's not it. Manjoume: That's just how you are! You were the only one in your kingdom from the get-go. We were the idiots for getting all motivated with you and feeling some sense of friendship with you being like that!

Then Judai watches helplessly as Manjoume dies. His other friends don't fare much better.

Kenzan: Big Bro? Why'd you want to save Freed's comrades when it meant sacrificing us-don!? Judai: You're wrong. That's not it. Fubuki: It's painful. This pain isn't just physical. It's the pain of a friends' betrayal that I have tearing my soul. apart. Asuka: I'm being betrayed and sent away by you. To think that I'll have to bear a sadness like this.

All of Judai's friends die spitting on him and telling him what a terrible friend he is and that this is all his fault. Which it is, because his decision to abandon them got them captured and led up to the sacrifice ritual.

Now, what scathing criticisms do our heroes have to give Deku after he left them all behind to fight Shigaraki alone?

Denki: Midoriya! We get that all for one is really importnat but you got something even more important in your life! Me and you we aint'g otta ton in common, but you're still a friend! Even if we gotta force this friendship down your throat. TodorokI: What a look you have on your face. Is this resposnibility so much that you can't let yourself cry? Seems like a burden you should share with the rest of us. Uraraka: The thing is Deku, we don't want to be protected by you and reject who you are and what you're doing, we just want to be with you (this part is narration).

Deku is told that none of his friends are mad, they want to be by his side no matter what, and that it's okay for him to cry.

I should also mention how underdeveloped this supposed nakama group is in the manga itself. The entirety of Season 3 of GX is tha the bond between Judai and his friends are more shallow then it appears, but he's also spent two whole seasons bonding with a group that consists of: Asuka, Sho, Kenzan, Fubuki, Manjoume. That's six people total including Judai who serve as is primary friend group. Their friendship is more unhealthy than it appears, but Judai has spent the past two seasons hanging out with one small friendgroup.

Meanwhile the entirety of Class 1-A shows up to tell Deku how much they love him and how much he means to them, and Deku's hung out with maybe like... four of them?

You have one bond shown to be how shallow it is, and one shallow bond treated like it's the deepest, most loving friend group in all of fiction. Deku doesn't even receive some lgiht criticism for how inftantalizing it was for him to abandon them for their own protection, because no one resents Deku or is capable of holding any negative or critical emotions towards him whatsoever. He's just told how much everyone loves him and wants him to come home.

And yes, Judai also does get two characters sacrificing themselves to try to reach him when he's the Supreme King.

However, as I stated above Jim sacrifices himself to help Judai because that's who JIm is as a person. Austin does it after Jim fails, both to honor his friendship with Jim, and also because of someone who got scared and ran he feels like he has to confront the darkness of the heart.

Jim and Austin O'brien's sacrifice is also a sacrifice. They died trying to save Judai, and Judai has to wake up with the knowledge that not only did he kill a bunch of people in his quest for power, he killed two more friends who were only trying to help him.

At the end of the arc, Judai has woken up with the knowledge that he has done bad things that can't be taken back and he's barely better than Yubel at this point.

At the end of the Dark Deku arc, Deku gets a speech from Uraraka about how amazing and selfless he is, and how he never gives up and how he always pushes forward, and how everyone at the UA shelter should appreciate him more.

The Supreme King arc exists to criticize Judai. The Dark Deku arc does nothing but flatter Deku from beginning to end.

Judai's hero mask is ripped off and he's forced to be a person. Deku's hero mask stays on, his hero complex is unchallenged, and he's praised for being teh greatest hero evarz.

I often get accused of not liking MHA simply because I expect it to be a different story than what it is. That I want it to be darker, when it's a more optimistic shonen manga.

However, here's my secret. I hate edgy superheroes. I don't like watching stuff like The Boys because it gets too dark for me. The oly reason I read invincible is because my friend told me that Omni-Man got a redemption arc. My favorite DC Superhero is Superman. My favorite Superhero of ALL TIME is Spiderman.

The thing about Spiderman though, is that it is hard to be Spiderman. The entire point of Peter Parker's character is that he has a terrible work/life balance and constantly loses people around him because being Spiderman is a sacrifice. The story doesn't bend over backwards to praise Spiderman as being a selfless hero, in fact it points out what a loser he is constantly. Peter Parker's friends are always frustrated with him and he's a wreck of a person.

Yet, the fact that being Spiderman is such a sacrifice and he keeps choosing to make it, shows what kind of person Peter Parker is, and that's just a person who does whatever he can to help out.

Even Peter Parker, the nicest, most well-intentioned boy ever has the Symbiote arc. One of the most famous arcs in comics dealing with Peter is when he lets Venom graft onto his suit, and even though the symbiote makes him violent, and makes his behavior change he spends the longest time not wanting to peel it off because the power boost the symbiote suit gave him made his life that much easier.

Dark Deku is an obvious reference to the Venom Suit, but a completely shallow reference because Dark Deku acts exactly the same as regular Deku the only reason he looks like that is he forgot to take a shower.

Superhero stories don't need to be Dark Deconstrutions, but they do need to be SOMETHING. They need to say something about the character. The problem with the Dark Deku arc isn't that Deku didn't experience a villain arc.

It's that nothing of consequence happened in the entire arc. Nothing changed. The story asked us if Deku's hero complex was a bad thing, and then it didn't deliver any answer. The story asked us if Deku needs to understand darkness better and then didn't answer that.

These are ideas that the audience promised were going to get answered. We were told Deku was going to get his development this arc that he was going to be pushed to the edge. The entire premise of this arc was that it was supposed to better help Deku understand Shigaraki and Hero Society only for Deku to not learn about either of those things.

Deku's learned nothing. We've learned nothing. Nothing has changed in the story itself. The only thing we've accomplished was wasting a lot of time that we could have been using watching Yu-Gi-Oh GX!

#mha meta #ygo gx meta #yu gi oh gx #yuki judai #judai yuki #supreme king haou #supreme king jaden #supreme king judai #yu gi oh gx meta #dark deku #ygo #ygx meta #ygo meta

[honeykaes]

𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐦 𝐈𝐕

feat. tighnari, cyno, alhaitham, kaveh

warning: smut, 18+ content, minors do not interact

disclaimer: afab!reader with no set pronouns, exhibitionism (tighnari), glove sex (tighnari), fingering (tighnari), creampie (al haitham), office sex (alhaitham), consensual filming (kaveh), implied!voyeuristic kaveh

a/n: been awhile! Hope you guys enjoy

𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭!𝐓𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢

As the hired botanist, Tighnari is required to create a garden display every month as an attraction for the Golden Celeste. When he finally had the chance to meet you, all he seemed to ask you were your favorite flowers and plants, only for them to be featured in the garden attraction that next month. He always seems to like leaving cute bouquets in whichever room you're staying in that night, with a little note making sure you’re taking care of yourself properly with all the ‘lummoxes’ around.

When you do finally pay him a trip down to the attraction, some darker thoughts invade his mind, especially seeing you smile and tease him. He’d love nothing more but to drag you to a far corner where many people don’t go by, behind a tree as he nibbles at the softness of your neck fingers beginning to dip down cupping your sex.

“What would they all say if they saw us together…” he’d growl deep in your ear, hearing you squirm and try not to moan loud, feeling his fingers begin to dip inside of you before pressing the pad of his thumb on your throbbing clit. 

His clothed cock would be pressed up against you, grinding himself against the plushness of your ass feeling you squeeze his fingers slowly thrusting inside of you until you finally reach your high. Even then, when he leaves your velvety folds. He pressed his fingers on your lips, urging you to lap up your slick clinging onto his long gloved fingers.

Whenever you get bored of the rest of the harem and want a change in scenery, Tighnari will always be here to give you exactly what you need.

𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝!𝐂𝐲𝐧𝐨

You actually rarely get a chance to see Cyno as he is usually tasked with bodyguarding some of the Golden Celeste’s highest clientele. It was surprising to hear him knock on your door at night, telling you that Zhongli had asked him to watch over you for a select time during a specific visit from some of his investors.

What started as a boring game of Yu-Gi-Oh, to pass the time ended up leaving most of his cards littering the floor as the two of you passionately kissed on the California King Bed. His lips seemed so hot, as his hands traveled throughout your body weaving off the article of clothes and letting them fall down to the floor. Even as his thumb lazily pressed itself against your clit, his stoic face seemed to soften watching your slick beginning to dribble out of your slit.

You couldn’t believe that such a small man had such strength as his cock buried itself inside of you, with every thrust causing the bed to whine. His grunts and moans echoed throughout the room, repeating only your name as his pace never let up on your now-burning clit.

Watching your chest move to his relentless pace, he grabs onto the headboard to sink even deeper inside of you. 

Cyno would want nothing more but to choose him as one of your favorites and his loyalties seems to know no bounds.

𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫! 𝐀𝐥-𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦

The reason why the public seemed to love Golden Celeste so much would be attributed to Alhaitham. Alhaitham makes sure the image of the casino, hotel, and his boss Zhongli is held in the highest regard—working closely with the press and also employing less than savory methods of blackmail when needed. When you finally met the man though, he had some theories to prove why you seemed to smite all his coworkers and bosses.

This led you sprawled out across his desk, your legs spread out and placed on his broad shoulders watching his cock disappear inside of you with every precise thrust. The usually stoic man couldn’t help but smirk feeling your walls flutter down on his length, the tip of his cock nudging against your cervix. Your hair clung onto your forehead, eyes rolled to the back of your head whimpering out his name as you came an umpteenth time. 

He pulled his cock out, observing the white ring around it before he began to pump the twitching appendage. Soon, ropes of cum shot out as he smeared it across your soft folds before dipping his cock back inside of you and thrusting in again. 

Alhaitham merely wiped your tears, as your tired form tried pulling him even deeper before he weaved his hands with your own tightly. Letting himself finally cum again inside of you.

He had proved his hypothesis on why everyone seemed to want you, and frankly, he can confirm that he is no better than the rest.

𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫!𝐊𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐡

If you have seen the Golden Celeste on Twitter, Tiktok, YouTube, and countless other social media platforms, that’s because of Kaveh. He’s usually going to different parties shooting videos of different venues and attractions to get people to book their stays.

Kaveh approached you hoping to film you for a video to promote one of DJ!Venti’s upcoming raves but was quickly shot down by his boss Alhaitham. Feeling bad for him, you decided to accompany him all day helping him out with his job, flashing you a few winks and smiles along the way too.

As the day finally ends and Kaveh has to clock out, he asks if you wanted some company in your penthouse sweet, only for you to quickly agree. The two of you could hardly keep your hands off each other in the elevator as his hands tenderly moved along the curves of your body, pressing his lips passionately against your own. 

You two didn’t make it to the bed either, your legs parted and bare on the couch as Kaveh eagerly dipped his tongue out and began swirling it around your clit. As he pressed his finger against one of your folds, maroon eyes eagerly eating up the way you squirmed and moaned out his name, he asked if he could film you when he gets a bit lonely and his boss doesn’t let him come and see you.

Hearing your breathless ‘yes’s’ was enough for Kaveh’s cock to twitch eagerly as he quickly reached for his pocket to grab his phone. Shimming out of his pants and pressing the record button, the blond pressed his tip against your folds nudging it against your clit as he massaged himself against your soft folds.

God, he couldn’t wait until later when he was longing to be inside of you again, pumping his cock in his hand and watching what he did to you days prior.

#genshin impact x reader #genshin impact smut #genshin x reader #genshin smut #tighnari x reader #tighnari smut #cyno x reader #cyno smut #alhaitham x reader #alhaitham smut #kaveh x reader #kaveh smut

[dballzposting]

OK so long story short the other day I was abusing the computers at my job to look up dragon ball characters and I came across THIS IMAGE of GOTEN that I found out was from DRAGON BALL AF which is a fan-made thing and idk . Dont worry about the details.

I thought it was soooo cool like put my chin in my hands and sigh lovingly. But also it was more of a rant-and-rave kind of adoration. Becasue I couodt beleieve how cool it was. Becasue here is why

Im super bad at deisgns or redesigns and sometimes I have epic ideas but if I don't then I don't. I think it would be stellar if we had a design for Goten & Trunks when they're older than GT and running the sword dojo. And I've tried to cook some up. But it vexes me for two reasons. First of all Dragon Ball deisgns when colored are gaudy and stupid looking. But also sometimes they use neutral colors. And they're eccentric and unique. And I try to mix all of these factors and the result Does Not Work. Becasue despite the plentiful love that I have for colors, I Do Not Understand Color Theory. Definitely not enough to push it to its limits like dragon ball does. My second problem is the actual clothes themselves. There is something wrong with me that makes it so that i eschew research like my life depends on it. I'm sure it's totally possible to gather a minimal understanding of what sorts of clothing / eras / disciplines certain dragon ball styles are based on, and to cross-reference that with what is actually depicted in dragonball, and come up with an outfit that gels. But I cannot do that. So yeah

This outfit featured here is so familiar yet unique enough to turn my head a bit. For an example. The yellow above his shoes. What is that. Don't answer that. I'm in love either way

THEY JUST ... PICKED TWO COLORS? That's it? THAT'S ALLOWED ????? Just TWO COLORS and only ONE of them isn't a dead-tone-neutral-non-color. Well I guess it's four colors, and still, only one (yellow) isn't a non-color (grey and white and black). I'M SO IMPRESSED !?!??!?!!??

The only idea that I had for post-GT Goten was FOR SOME REASON the visual flair of something long and sharply flowing off of him. Like a scarf, or a long sash, or a Dr Drakken style rattail. But I can't do all three. Becasue that's too much. But I like all three. So IDK what to do.

YEAH THEY WENT ON AHEAD AND GAVE HIM THIS SASH ON HIS HEAD. Sure. Go on ahead. Throw it on there. Looks good. Good contrast against his black hair. Makes it to you can draw his eyebrows over it and so he can emote clearly. SO GENIUS. So simple. I'm gobsmacked

HE'S COLORED LIKE A BUMBLE BEE ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!

My conclusion is that this is the best non-canon design of adult Goten that has ever been and we should all adopt it immediately from Dragon Ball AF. I am so stunned and impressed by the fact that he is wearing just grey and yellow. I have tried to break down all of Goten's canon outfits to find a pattern in the color schemes but I could not find one. But I can tell when it works for him or not and I don't understand how or why. I have at various points tried to design new outfits for him. I have experimented with yellow, teal, pink... Never really red because red only appears on two of his outfits in a minor way. More astutely because red is not really Him (like it is for Bura or Videl).

Definitely the most promising color I've found for him is Yellow. It's a sunshine-soulchild color. But I still haven't figured out how to practically incorporate it. For example, is it a predominate color or one of several? I've seen dragon ball outfits go either way. I definitely prefer the former becasue that's how I'm used to seeing it in my silly little western cartoons - every character has a color, don't they? And that's Their color. But this is dragon ball.

If you pull a warm yellow or pair it with orange, you are reminded of kid Goten and his orange gi. If you keep it colder or pair it with green, you get something reminding you of his EOZ "Goten Son" shirt. But what if you want something new? The next step in the evolution of Son Goten, but still unmistakably him? You would want to stay away from yellow and orange, becasue Trunks wears a lot of that himself. What about yellow and not a green bice, but a forest green? What about muddy non-colors? Dragon ball colors tend to be warm-shifted becasue it was the 90s, but you can work within that color range. But exactly HOW? What about yellow and pink? Teal? Aqua?? You can't use lavender (Trunks's color). And to be fair I have experimented with grey before, since he wears grey pants in DBS:SH. But I always tried to find other colors to shoehorn in there because I thought I had to. And what's really left...?

DRAGON BALL AF has the answers.

Yellow and GREY.

....THAT;S IT!!!!!!!!!!!

A mature grey. NO OTHER FLUFF.Just straight up. Yelloew and grey.

And he looks like a bumble bee. I love bumble bees. You love bumble bees. He loves bumble bees. We all love bumble bees.

I will close with a quote:

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see." (Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788-1860).

THIS DESIGN IS GENIUS.

Thank You ALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#JUST. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!! #SOOOOO GOOD.... #dballz posting #goten

[instantbreplay]

HELLO!

I HAVE A THEORY! And this is a theory regarding the newest character of Honkai: Star Rail, the rootin’ tootin’, flamboyant, brash, and trigger happy space cowboy of the Galaxy Rangers—Boothill! This will be posted on both Tumblr and AO3 for those who do not have either or for easier access! By the way, this theory contains mentions of leaks and in-game content, so if you don't want to get any spoilers, I advise not to read this theory at all.

For starters, I will admit that I haven’t played Honkai: Star Rail in a while due to…whatever reason I had, and one of those reasons was because of Twisted Wonderland! I was playing that for a while—still am—I was having a blast insulting Ace and having aneurysms over the students’ antics and methods of breaking people out (I’m lookin’ at you, Rook). It was great! Then, Star Rail showcases two new characters on their Twitter page for their newest planet known as Penacony, one of them being Boothill who a lot of people were upset with due to them wanting the characters, Sam and/or Firefly who unfortunately met her demise in the newest update, and…well, I fell head over heels for him and started saving for him (122 PULLS WITH 20 PITY BABY BUT HE’S MY FIRST FEATURED CHARACTER SO PRAY FOR ME). I kept up with leaks because I could care less about gameplay, stat kit, and character lore leaks since that’s the interesting part and helps me figure out if I want the newest character…like my Al-Haitham theory which did not age well, this theory about Boothill does stem from exhaustion from not sleeping, but I feel like this is a more coherent and sound theory than the last, and I have to say that I have to take this with a grain of salt—and I advise the same for you—because it’s merely a theory. I can be wrong on certain things, but without ado, I’ll start with what really feels like the backbone of this theory, and that is Boothill’s name: Boothill.

The Name

So, just to give a little context, prominently in Asian media—most notably Japanese and Chinese entertainment from what I’ve seen as I played HoYo games and watched a lot of anime—characters tend to have name pun which correspond with their personality, physical design, talents, etc., to give people a little laugh and be like, “Ooooh! I get what they mean!” For example, Zhongli, in HoYoverse’s most popular game, Genshin Impact, written as 钟离 in simplified Chinese, is a pun of his departure—his retirement—as Rex Lapis: 钟 Zhōng being a homophone for the word for “clock” as it’s spelled exactly the same, while 离 Lí is a common word for “leaving” or “away”. Putting it together, it can be taken as “time of departure/leaving” or “off the clock” which foreshadowed Zhongli stepping down as Archon of Liyue.

With that knowledge in mind, I looked at Boothill's name and decided to Google it because I knew it was a pun of some sort! My only thought was that his name could have been a reference to a western (cowboy) film I never heard of which, to me, made sense as Boothill is modeled after stereotypical cowboys, and HoYo loves pop culture references with the Genius Invokation TCG which is a reference to the ever-so-popular card game, Yu-Gi-Oh, and how March 7th and Caelus made a reference to the movie, Fight Club, when the Moles were talking about the first rule of Fight Club…never talk about Fight Club! So, I thought Boothill was a nod to an old movie!

…No! A lot of people have already Googled it, but for those who probably don’t know, Boothill’s name comes from a burial grounds for gunfighters—with headstones engraved with the gunfighter’s name or “unknown” if the identity of the person has not been found—in the Old American West called a Boot Hill, and that name derives from the phrase “those who died with their boots on”, meaning that the gunfighter died rather violently. I did see someone say that the phrase could also mean that they were hanged, and that part is correct as the context of the expression changed in the early 19th century. However, I don’t believe that Boothill was hanged—although it is a possibility that I will keep in mind! Again, I have to take this theory with a grain of salt so I don’t die on that hill again, but seeing Boothill’s situation that he’s metal and wires from the chin down, he most likely died in a very extreme battle in the past since the only thing human about him…is his head!

His body must have been blasted to oblivion to where it was beyond saving, beheading him from the impact of whatever and whoever killed him. Now, some people may think that they probably just beheaded him or he was shot multiple times in the chest: other possibilities I will keep in mind, but that would mean he could have resulted as some kind of Frankenstein instead because if the body was still there, the Interastral Peace Corporation or IPC (the people who rebuilt Boothill) would use that since he has things to salvage like a heart or liver, etc., yet if we look at another Star Rail character named Luka who hails from the Underworld, he is missing an arm which is replaced with a mechanical one. That is because Luka saved a child in a fire involving a monster possibly from the Fragmentum, and his arm was chopped off by the ax the monster wielded, giving him the prosthetic he has today. So, if we compare Luka to Boothill in terms of how bad the conflict in Boothill’s past was, Boothill lost too much of his body from the chin down for the IPC to even save, leaving him with a full body prosthetic.

The Light Cone

Now, the question that we have…why was Boothill killed? Who could’ve had such a grudge against him that they killed him off so violently? Well, that is where his Light Cone description comes in. Let’s focus on the middle of the description where it states:

“Some cruel memories resurfaced as the unforgettable hatred turned into a weak light in the darkness.”

The Light Cone entirely describes when Boothill was regaining consciousness and how he felt while briefly in a limbo before being greeted by a doctor in the IPC. What sticks out are these “cruel memories” and this “unforgettable hatred” that he has which calls back to what happened before he died. I’ll lead into this with another point I have to make this make sense a little bit: Boothill is a bounty hunter. Why do I think this? Well, we get a glimpse of this in-game in the newest update of Star Rail where Black Swan answers the phone to a mysterious Pathstrider of the Hunt who is part of the Galaxy Rangers (a gang who “swore to punish the wretched by any and all means”) who is tracking down Acheron, ready to kill her for reasons unknown as of right now: that was Boothill who has been confirmed to be a Pathstrider of the Hunt along with him being a Galaxy Ranger as he calls Acheron an “imposter” who is also a Galaxy Ranger, most likely hinting that Acheron is going undercover and infiltrating the group. We also know it is him from his line, “My bullets will find you”, since he is a gunslinger with a bullet motif on his hat and actual bullets around his waist and one hanging from his left ear.

Going back to the point I made, he’s obviously smart with pinpointing someone’s location such as Acheron’s and having at least some information on her like her being an Emanator. His Path, the Hunt, is said to “admire determination, ruthlessness, and tenacious behavior”, which fits Boothill’s Light Cone description as well as his possible reason for his alliance with the Galaxy Rangers and why his finger is ready to shoot Black Swan if she was an ally of Acheron stating to “get [her] forehead clean…and wait for [him]”. A bounty hunter would have to be ruthless with their target, showing little to no emotion as they are the person they are after, the person who wronged their client or the bounty hunter themselves, and it is obvious that Boothill is determined to gather any info from Black Swan to continue his hunt with Acheron.

Now, with that in mind…Boothill had to have been a bounty hunter in the past who was wronged as he had “cruel memories” returning to his mind, and he had anger in his heart that was weakening but helped him return to the living world. If I were to guess, he may have had a loved one who died at the hands of someone else and gained the skills to become a bounty hunter in his previous life to hunt that person down because he had “unforgettable hatred”, and that had to be at a level where he couldn’t let go especially if he had “cruel memories”, and those could probably be that he watched that same loved one get brutally tortured and/or murdered in front of him. As to who the loved one of Boothill could have been, it could have been anyone: his father, his mother, a sister, brother, a best friend—Unfortunately, we do not have the information to determine that for sure, but I truly believe that it could be someone he was very close to that was tortured and/or killed for, again, reasons unknown.

The IPC

From what we gathered in the leaks and what HoYo has already established, it was the IPC that brought Boothill back with unknown intentions, but to me for this theory, it’s because of his skills as a bounty hunter since he must have been the best hunter wherever he came from. However, Boothill has a new grudge against the IPC as the his reveal information stated that, “His flamboyant and brash actions were all to draw the attention of the Interastral Peace Corporation — the target of his revenge.” The man is very flamboyant as we can holler back to his Ultimate, his skill…the freaking JoJo poses—

—(somebody in HoYo is a JoJo fan—IT'S BECOME INCREDIBLY CLEAR NOW) so I can see him causing havoc and being flashy to purposely attract their attention so he can properly get his revenge on them due to them making him into a cyborg which he isn’t happy about.

However…if I go back to the Light Cone description…at the very end, it said that Boothill “would no longer live for himself.” Sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? Here he is greeted by the doctor that saved him, and he’s clenching his new iron fists (literally speaking) because he knows what the IPC’s intentions are. If he’s no longer living for himself, that doctor would most likely have a sadistic tone when he welcomed him back because they experimented on him, testing him and his new body and using him for unspeakable things against his will, and why do I believe this?

Think back to Boothill’s gameplay and the leak of his gun’s range. That could be a reason, and a way I can describe it is by using Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier, in the MARVEL franchise. In the movie, Captain America: The First Avenger, Bucky was believed to be killed during a fall off a hijacked train in WWII in an attack against HYDRA, a sub-Nazi group led by the Red Skull, Steve becoming devastated by his best friend’s death. However, in Captain America: Civil War, it was revealed that Bucky was actually brainwashed, gaining a prosthetic arm (like Luka), and became a Super Soldier under HYDRA as they experimented to revive Dr. Erskine’s research for the original Super Soldier serum. Plus, HYDRA knew of his friendship with Steven Rogers and that Steve was alive but was going to expose S.H.I.E.L.D. for their lies, making him a threat. So, they trained and used Bucky as their line of defense since he was the only successful experiment that remotely compares to Captain America in strength and combat.

Because of Boothill’s skills in gunslinging, the IPC possibly saw this as an opportunity to have an effective line of defense in case something were to happen in their facility or if there was someone they needed to eliminate; they would have Boothill who had those qualifications to be their guard dog, but hearing how Boothill talks in-game for the first time, you could hear a hint of insanity in him as he keeps insisting that he will kill Acheron and Black Swan with lines such as “My bullets will find you”, “you best find a casket store on Penacony, and ask the owner to reserve a good quality casket for you”, “I’ll leave a round for you, so get that forehead clean and wait for me”, and “Are you askin’ me to write your will?” He wants to kill anybody who hurts him, still having that anger. That must have been how he felt when he was trapped in the IPC facility, going through experiment after experiment that broke him to the point that he couldn’t take it anymore as he is still human; he still has emotions and a mind of his own despite being 90% iron and wires.

Boothill knew, from the sound of that doctor’s tone, that he would be seen as their Super Soldier, a little toy they could dispose of if he was deemed useless; he was nothing but a heartless, soulless object to them which most likely broke him. Boothill has calmed down since his possible escape from an IPC facility and killing people in order to have a successful breakout, but he still has that pain inside his heart because of the possible abuse he faced that he’s trying to protect himself from being betrayed or used again which is why he’s so expressive and flamboyant.

He wants to live for himself and show the IPC just how human he was. However, he’s still showing off how strong he is as a warning to others of what he can do to them if they ever crossed him.

Now, I cannot stress enough that this is just a theory (A GAAAAAME THEORY), and I have to take this with a grain of salt because there is still a lot we don't know about Boothill regarding his past or his relationship with the IPC. Heck, a friend of mine and I believe that Boothill may not actually be his real name, but there's no evidence of his real name to even prove that point. This is all speculation, and what I gathered and thought about using any resources I have at my disposal to produce this, so please—for the love of the QUEEN OF HEARTS HERSELF—do not take this as actual, confirmed, or leaked information on Boothill's backstory since there are many unanswered questions. For now, I'll stick to what I got until Boothill is finally released!

And hopefully not die on that hill like I did with Al-Haitham...

#boothill #honkai star rail #theory #gaming #boothill hsr #pre-release #hsr spoilers

[oldshrewsburyian]

Hi, I want to ask a question: there are multiple sources stating that "Garderobes" were a room in a castle used as a bathroom but also as storage for clothing, and that people hung their clothes above the toilet so that the ammonia would ward off pests/kill mites.

Example of a source: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1239/toilets-in-a-medieval-castle/

I've seen some people use this to paint medieval people as "dirty and ignorant", implying that they tolerated bad smells, claiming that "they hung their clothes above a toilet to make the stench ward off flies".

Personally I felt that this is weird and doesnt make sense considering that medieval people subscribed to Miasma theory which states that bad smells cause illnesses. I thought that there is probably more to the story so I ask if you know something about this.

Hi! You're not wrong, that would be weird and would not make sense culturally or architecturally. I don't know what your "multiple sources" are, but the one you've linked to is written by a man with an M.A. in political philosophy and a B.A. in politics. Note the absence of any history degree, and also the fact that his claim that "there can be no doubt that a castle toilet stank to high heaven" is based on just... vibes, apparently! This is an example of what one scholar has called dirtbag medievalism. The source he appears to be relying on chiefly was originally published in 1973, and it does not say that. I would also like to call him out for only citing the male half of the husband-and-wife team who wrote it. "J. Gies" was actually Frances and Joseph Gies. This is their book, in which they describe the term garderobe as an odd euphemism:

I mention this not only to show off nice cover design, but also to point out that they include the translated primary source excerpt which Mr. Political Philosophy includes to illustrate his claim about bad smells... and they use it to do the opposite, to show how one (1) instance of subpar latrine construction was corrected, illustrating how much medieval people cared about having their latrines not smell. Now, it's true that these large households doubtless had stronger smells -- of humans and dogs and wool and fur and smoke -- than we're used to, but medieval people didn't like bad smells any more than we do.

In addition to all the methods for avoiding odor contamination from garderobes that he mentions -- fresh air, light, straw, herbs -- running water to carry away waste was more common than he asserts. Although a lot of work on medieval public health has been done in the past couple of decades, that can be verified using an article written almost 100 years ago, here via @jstor. I've looked up the other sources for the article you linked. One is for kids (Philips.) One is kid-friendly, by a curator of arms and armor (Gravett.) The fourth (Pounds) was reviewed as choppy, superficial, and out-of-date at the time of its publication 30 years ago (and that's not counting the review that said it made its major contribution "by illustrating the weaknesses of the field." Ouch.) Anyway, my point is that Mr. Political Philosophy didn't even do 10 minutes of internet searching, let alone research, on the titles he was choosing to use.

Finally, to your main question: did this happen? I can only say I've never heard of it, and I feel as though I would have done at some point if it were A Thing. That said, maybe Le Menagier de Paris wrote about it and I've forgotten it. I know that people in medieval Europe used smoke and combs to get rid of insects in/on clothing. Might they also have noticed that ammonia worked, and gone with it for a "desperate times, desperate measures" flea situation? It's possible. But if that was used as a method, the clothes would then have been aired out and probably sprayed with lavender water or something similar before renewed use.

#medieval #history side of tumblr #bad medievalism bingo #asks and answers #books #i did not previously have animosity for this guy #but i kind of do now!!

[zo0rua]

(Li Hua in his 69th redesign, jk)

Was going to change Li Hua's name so it wouldn't be confusing between the GI and HSR versions until I discovered that there was a Star Rail npc that was mentioned, who had the same name, I thought it was a funny coincidence so I decided to keep it.

New info on Li Hua since I now know a bit more about the Lore, I'll also be going off the theory/headcannoWas going to change Li Hua's name so it wouldn't be confusing between the GI and HSR versions until I discovered that there was a Star Rail npc that was mentioned, who had the same name, I thought it was a funny coincidence so I decided to keep it.n that JY is the youngest of the group (though I'm changing it up a tiny bit so LH is the youngest.):

• Li Hua wasn't an official member of the High Cloud Quintet but was still friends with them.

• Was closest to Dan Feng and Jing Yuan

• Dan Feng was like a mentor to Li Hua

• He uses a sword

• Used to be quite energetic and occasionally mischievous

#honkai star rail oc #honkai star rail #Jing yuan #jing yuan x oc #Li Hua

[daemon-in-my-head]

I DID IT! FLUFF! NOT A DRILL! OK well obviously me being me there's the trademark sliver of angst but, yk, it's brushed aside quick(er than usual). No, despite the name, it is NOT horny. Though Gortash has some thoughts because of course that fucker does. I have no hand left in their characterisation, they're doing it themselves atp. I'm fucking innocent I swear on Gortash's most personal dreams.

Synopsis: Perhaps childcare wasn't as easy as Enver Gortash always considered it. Seeing how the ruthless tyrant now sat defeated and adorned in all sorts of finery before the little girl. The very girl he so smugly proclaimed tending to would be easily doable hours prior.

2,069 words, non-descriptive mentions of violence, big fluff. Read here or on Ao3.

Child's play

"I want to play," The little girl exclaimed loudly as her hands found their way onto the makeshift desk Gortash had created from the ornamental outdoor furniture. She was bravely demanding the city's tyrant's attention, which had been solely intended for the documents before him, all for herself.

"So? You have plenty of toys. Go and play with them." The Archduke didn't even bother looking up, or rather down, at the girl.

Seeing how his dearest companion had been working himself to the bone lately, caring for his day-to-day work in the temple and keeping his daughter safe and entertained, the Archduke had ever so graciously offered to look after her for a day, all so that his dearest Bhaalspawn may rest, and perhaps, if he was fortunate enough, wouldn't reject any advance to as much as a conversation with his usual saying he'd be too tired or that he'd still have some work he needed to tend to.

After all, Gortash thought, money for a nanny had been no issue and considering all his feats so far, caring for a child for a day should be easily accomplished. A worthwhile tradeoff for the rewards the proud lord promised himself. At least in theory. But the little girl had thrown an extraordinary tantrum when he had attempted to leave her with the nanny and loudly demanded to accompany him today, resulting in the never-resting tyrant setting up a temporary office in his companion's garden, all while the girl entertained herself either watching him or playing around with a plethora of toys her father must've obtained for her. Until just a moment ago, that was.

"They're boring," The girl pouted, clearly displeased about his straightforward dismissal of her. "I want to have a party."

Ever Gortash sighed, "we can't simply host a party just because you're bored of your toys, Neala. And certainly not with a hostess that barely reaches up to her guest's hips."

"But Papa always does when I ask him to?" She seemingly couldn't comprehend just how absurd her request had been.

Intrigued by the utter confusion displayed on the little girl's face, he questioned further, finally setting down the quill and facing the girl, now standing next to him, "how exactly do these parties your father holds for you look like?"

"Well," the girl began, her confusion quickly changing into delight, "Papa and Lief sit down, and we talk, and Papa listens and calls me 'Lady'. Oh, we also have tea! Mama used to help me with that but-" the girls expression darkened as she recalled her mother.

The tyrant knew that she still missed her immensely. It had become a reoccurring topic whenever he and his companion managed to find time to sit down and talk, and while he didn't usually care for sentimentality like this, considering his own circumstance, making Fine's daughter cry, even by accident, would certainly not work in his favour.

"Fine," he forced his lips to curl into a crooked smile, "let's have a party then. Tell the servants what you need. They'll help you prepare."

Not even waiting for him to finish his sentence, the girl had already run off towards the garden's entrance.

Whatever she had described was, after all, not a party but simple child's play, entertainment for the mansion's little princess, provided to her by her beloved parents. Though, the proud lord had to admit, even if it wasn't a proper gathering, the idea in and of itself was quite brilliant, playfully teaching the girl what would be expected of her once she came of age. Especially considering she was the offspring of two rather infamous 'families', being a proper hostess and perhaps handling things such as beverages by herself were skills that would undoubtedly be useful to her in the future. Then again, the more he played with the thought, the less sure of whose idea it must've been he became. Both her parents were undoubtedly ruthless enough to make sure she would be well-equipped to use anything she could to her advantage, but on the other hand, at least her father seemed to treasure her dearly and continuously gave his best efforts to keep her as far away and more importantly as unaware as possible of his usually grim businesses.

Perhaps it was indeed her late mother's idea? It would make sense, he thought. She had been a noble drow, and her kind was primarily known for their handiness when it came to poisonings and other cruelties. A woman like that playfully teaching her child from a young age how to host gatherings and, more importantly, how to add unique ingredients to a tea was something he could terrifyingly easily imagine. Perhaps it would be better to refrain from touching any teacups the girl would handle.

The Gates Archduke making headlines because a child managed to somehow temper with his drink would certainly diminish his reputation. Although, perhaps if he framed it the right way, it may yet serve as a way to garner even more support. But then again, challenging the Bhaalspawn for his daughter's sake would work against his most personal goals. A sigh escaped the man as he was weighing the options in his mind. It seemed as though caring for a child was, in fact, not so as easy as he had imagined previously, seeing the conundrum he now found himself face to face with.

"Here," the girl's voice finally tore his chain of thought apart, forcing Gortash to return to the present once more.

"And whatever might this be?" His Eyebrows furrowed as he observed the bundle of fabric stretched out towards him before he shifted his gaze to look upon the girl again.

"Clothes," Neala was equally confused, seemingly not grasping why he would question something so obvious.

"I can see that, Neala. But why have you brought them here?" The tyrant swallowed his sigh. How much he missed conversing with those who understood his words for what they were.

"People dress up for parties, do they not?" She hurriedly placed the bundle on the makeshift desk, disregarding the parchment beneath. Like father like daughter. As soon as she did, a seemingly exquisite hat, alongside a plethora of other accessories, revealed itself.

"Here," she said yet again, this time holding the aforementioned hat adorned with silky fabric towards the grumbling man.

"If you need help putting it on, you should ask the servants. They're more experienced with these things." He gestured towards the garden's entrance where a maid had been stationed, ready to heed her master's every beck and call.

The girl beamed as she proudly retorted, "it's not for me. I got it specifically for you!"

Gortash couldn't believe what he had heard. This big, tedious, carefully decorated hat before him was one of the things the ladies of high society would adorn themselves with whenever they left their comfortable estates. It was certainly not something he would, or should, ever consider wearing. "You're trying to make a fool of me, are you not, little one?"

The girl, however, perhaps fortunately not picking up on either the slight hint of malice or the true meaning of his words, simply continued to beam at him as she responded, "you need to dress up prettily for parties, and this is the pretties one I have."

"I appreciate your consideration, but I'm afraid I can't wear that." He spoke through gritted teeth. Even in a private garden, an Archduke couldn't stoop so low.

"But you have to. It's no party otherwise." The girl insisted.

"Why, you little-" he tried his best to keep his voice low, low enough so that the girl wouldn't hear his cursing, but his efforts were in vain.

"I'll tell on you to Papa." She smirked as she cut him off. The little devil certainly knew what she was doing, he thought.

But before the tyrant could consider his next excuse, another familiar voice rang through the garden. "Oh? What are you going to tell me?"

A white-haired man emerged from the grand doors marking the garden's entrance behind them, promptly causing the girl to drop the things she had been holding onto and rush towards him, only to be picked up and nestled within his arms in one swell motion, sealing Gortash's fate for good.

"Papa! Your back!" She wrapped her arms around the man, obviously overjoyed about his arrival.

"So? What were you talking about that you couldn't help but share?" He was looking at the somewhat defeated-looking lord before him, but the answer he sought came from the girl in his arms.

"We wanted to hold a party!" Neala was still giddy with excitement as she spoke.

Fine shifted his gaze towards his daughter before questioning her further, seemingly knowing what must've transpired while he was gone with just a glance at the two of them. "And he really agreed to go along with what you proposed?"

The girl's excitement died down a little as she appeared caught in her mischievousness. He could guess that she omitted some 'minor' aspects of her proposal, which had led to whatever situation he had barged in on. But before she could receive the imminent scolding, the person who may yet change her fate interjected himself into the conversation again.

"I did." He cleared his throat and promptly continued, leaving no room for any more questions, "in fact, we were just picking out some fancy clothes, weren't we?" Gortash forced a smile. He disliked it, but he'd rather voluntarily discard his pride than be saved by the very person whom he had promised a day of rest. "Now, shall we return to what we were doing?"

The Bhaalspawn raised his brows in surprise but soon enough let go of the girl and allowed her to return to her party planning. As soon as she was freed, she held out the hat towards the grumbling tyrant again.

"Thank you." A brusque reply before he took the fabric of nightmares and placed it on his painstakingly coiffed hair.

"Here," Neala's usual smile had returned as she approached her father, an exquisitely crafted brooch clasped in her hands.

"Am I invited as well?" The man responded with a similar smile. He seemed genuinely happy about this unforeseen development. Perhaps burying one's pride once every so often wasn't too bad, Gortash thought.

"Yes," the girl exclaimed happily. "You'll be the lord, and Uncle Enver will be the lady. And I'll be the gracious hostess!" The tyrant swallowed. Never mind his previous statement. This, most definitely, was hell on earth. The little girl must be a fiend skilled at hiding her undoubtedly existing horns. And that nickname she had conjured up, oh how much he wished he could just curse out loud.

Trying his best to suppress the laughter threatening to break free, Fine made his way over to Gortash, extending an arm as soon as he reached him. "My lady? Shall we head to a more suitable location?"

Biting his lip, still trying his hardest to swallow the laughter, Fine nodded towards the pavilion where the servants had already set the table with a delicate porcelain tea set. The place the child had already dashed off to.

Gortash sighed before taking the hand extended towards him. This father-daughter pair may yet be the death of him, but for now, he'd simply try to delight in the few short moments of undisturbed time together their way would allow them.

And sure enough, after arriving at the furniture set decorated for them, the blissful moments soon disappeared. Their little hostess made sure to torment him for what seemed like hours, chattering away and engaging the adults in conversation about made up circumstance and her little fantasies, all while serving what could only be called discoloured water and endlessly swooning over the beautiful hat the 'lady' had been wearing. Gortash may have had his fair share of dealings with devils, but all of them could still learn a thing or two from the little hellspawn hopping around cheerfully around them.

Still, while Gortash yet refused to admit his defeat for a while longer, it didn't take too long for him to finally surrender to the little demon before him. Perhaps due to the ashen hand holding his own and the quietly mouthed 'thank you' from the man beside him, in the end, and after enough time had passed being held onto like this, even the tyrant's smile seemed to come naturally to him.

#fresh in today from the hell that is daemons mind #is it really durgetash fluff if gortash isnt suffering? #or 'which horrible person takes this hellspawn really after' and other questions gortash asked himself #should i drop some lore regarding Neala? #bg3 #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fic #durgetash #enver gortash #bg3 durge #daemons writing #bg3 fanfic #fanfic #i still have no idea how this happened #or if its good #but yk #for the sake of fake it till you make it #13/10 my most bestest most deranged bit yet

[pluckyredhead]

"Barry is a character who was consciously designed to fit the zeitgeist of America and specifically the comics industry of the mid-1950s in the immediate aftermath of the Comics Code Authority (ask me about my theory on this!)" - here I am, asking (for real, I know next to nothing about Barry so I would be interested to hear more if you want to elaborate)

Yessss I would love to elaborate!

So apologies if this is stuff you already know, but the first Flash was Jay Garrick, who debuted in 1940, during what's called the Golden Age of Comics. There's no universal agreement on what the exact date range is for the Golden Age (or Silver, Bronze, etc.), but a range you'll often see is 1938 (the debut of Superman) to 1955.

However, with superhero comics, when we say Golden Age, we're really mostly talking about World War II, because after the war, superheroes became much less popular. At the time, monthly comics included lots of genres, like crime, horror, romance, humor, war, Westerns, sci-fi, etc., and crime and horror in particular became increasingly popular in the postwar years. Some of them also became increasingly violent, sexy, and edgy, in part to retain the audience of returning GIs from overseas, who had read comics to remind them of home during the war.

However, the primary audience for comics was children. Children who could easily buy a comic for a dime and read it without parental supervision. Children who could be turned into juvenile delinquents by reading comic books!

There was a massive backlash against comics in the late 40s and early 50s, led by parents and other "moral authorities" (teachers, librarians, churches) who thought comics were bad for kids. Most of you reading this will have seen similar parental backlash against whatever the target of the moment is: gangster movies, crooners, rock 'n' roll, rap, heavy metal, video games, Dungeons and Dragons, Harry Potter. (I'm not talking about JKR's wretched transphobia here but the fear in the late 90s that Harry Potter would turn kids into Satanists or whatever.)

There were boycotts. There were bonfires where all the kids in town would have to bring all their comics to be burned. There was Seduction of the Innocent, a book by psychologist Frederic Wertham where he claimed to have proven that comics turned kids into juvenile delinquents (he hadn't). Many people left the industry for good, and a lot of them later talked about those days with genuine trauma. I highly recommend the book The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America for more on this, but it's fascinating, and necessary reading for those of y'all on this webbed site who think we need to bring back the Hays Code and its ilk.

This all culminated in Senate hearings in 1954 to determine whether comics were harmful to children. (Fun fact: these hearings began on the same day as the McCarthy hearings. Political repression and artistic repression always go hand in hand.) In the aftermath of these hearings, the comic book industry created the Comics Code Authority, because that way they could self-regulate instead of being regulated by the government.

The Comics Code was a list of what could and could not be in comics. It was mostly what you'd expect - no sex or violence - but also a lot of conservative 1950s censorship. Like: "Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority." That's...pretty totalitarian.

Comic book publishers would submit comics for approval to the CCA. If they passed, the comic would be published with a seal on the cover saying "Approved by the CCA." They didn't need the seal to publish, but if they didn't have the seal, most vendors wouldn't sell the comic. So most of them pretty much had to comply.

So what does this all have to do with Barry Allen?

As I said earlier, superheroes fell in popularity after WWII, and many books were canceled. Jay Garrick's last Golden Age appearance was in 1951, and he hung on longer than most. But after the CCA, the landscape of comics had changed, and DC decided to see if they couldn't make the superhero work in this brave new world.

So in 1956 they took the idea of the Flash - guy who runs fast - and changed everything else about him. The new Flash was named Barry Allen, and he was a police scientist with a snazzy new costume. He was an immediate hit, DC went on to revamp a number of other characters in similar fashion, and a new era was born. Literally: many scholars date the start of the Silver Age of Comics to Barry's debut.

It's worth noting, I think, that DC was staunchly behind the creation of the CCA. Their stock in trade was superheroes, who were mostly considered harmless. But the backlash against comics and the creation of the CCA seriously harmed a lot of their competitors, and eventually put the ultra-popular EC Comics, who specialized in horror and crime, out of business.

I'm not saying DC had Barry in mind already when they supported the formation of the CCA. But they saw that the field had been cleared and there was an opportunity to bring their main genre back to the forefront. And then they created a squeaky clean, incredibly white guy from the Midwest. Who is a scientist, because 1950s kids need to be inspired to go into science so that we can beat those Ruskies to the moon! But who is also a cop, because kids need to respect law and order, or else. (This was also an era in which former vigilantes Superman and Batman were officially deputized by their respective local police forces.)

None of this means that Barry is a bad character, or that his Silver Age comics aren't good, because they are actually extremely innovative and very fun. But it does mean that he was created as essentially copaganda for children during an era of intense political conservatism in the US and deep fear in the comic book industry. He worked well in the 50s and 60s (DC in the 60s was basically still living in the 50s, which is why everyone older than 10 switched to Marvel) but increasingly less well as the world around him changed, and DC's attempts to modernize him in the 70s and early 80s (killing off Iris so that he could be a swingin' bachelor living in...wait for it...an apartment building!!!) were just kind of embarrassing. Barry's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths is the most noble death I've ever read in comics, but it was also a mercy killing.

I think Barry could be updated for the 21st century in a way that is true to his roots but doesn't make him feel like a relic or a jerk. But so far, DC hasn't really bothered? Instead we get moments like Barry declaring that Hal is the only JLAer who really gets him because "we're both cops" or arresting a Black 12-year-old for graffiti-ing an already destroyed building. Oof, friends. Oof.

In conclusion, Barry was designed for major cultural and industry-wide changes of the mid-1950s but that was 70 years ago and the man desperately needs a makeover that is not putting on his nephew's personality like an ill-fitting suit and saying "How do you do, fellow kids?" The end.

#barry allen #flash

[sweetescapeartist]

MY THOUGHTS ON DRAGON BALL DAIMA

(Wasn't going to post this old draft, but decided to post it anyway since @/puyohero was curious about my thoughts)

Awesome! Love that Toriyama is heavily involved! Love the art & animation and the idea is interesting too.

SIMILARITY TO DRAGON BALL GT

Yes, GT did something similar. However GT sidelined most of the cast. Even Pan & Trunks kinda got sidelined when they were part of the main cast of GT. In this, it seems the other characters will play some sort of role too. Or I assume so. And they will be traveling to another realm/world. So maybe the others will go with Goku.

DB DAIMA seems to be referencing a lot of DB properties & not only GT. As pointed out here...

CAST AS CHILDREN COULD MEAN...

I had hoped it would turn the entire cast into children and glad it happened. Now I hope we get more info about it. Because what I want is for the other cast members to get involved. Gohan & Piccolo are on a similar level to Goku & Vegeta, so then being excluded to only focus on Goku & Vegeta would be stupid. And since it is stated that this series won't be transformation heavy... what if Goku cannot transform into forms he didn't have as a child?? Or it's very taxing on the body if they can. Now everyone can get involved in the battles! Krillin has already returned to martial arts, but we can get my boy Yamcha fighting again! We might even get to see kid Ox King fight alongside kid Roshi. That would be neat!

Now what would be funny is to see a kid version of Buu. Would it be a short chubby Buu or Kid Buu/Pure Buu? Or maybe the magic won't affect him much since he can change his appearance at will. 🤔

Also, I bet there is a joke about Krillin not getting much smaller when turned into a kid again like how there was a joke in OG Dragon Ball that Krillin didn't get much taller & Krillin is upset about the statement.

Also, the chibi reminds me of the Dragon Ball SD manga.

TITLE POSSIBLY ELUDING TO...

Another interesting thing was the placeholder name "Magic" and the current name "DAIMA." Seems like Toriyama is possibly hinting at the Makaioshin. Evil beings with magical power, the Demon Realm being a place where magic rules over science, and the fact that THIS guy looks like a Kaioshin.

So the little guy could be a God of the Demon Realm. Or maybe a God of Destruction of the Demon Realm. Who knows? We'll have to wait and see.

JOURNEY TO THE WEST REFERENCES

I see some Journey To The West/Saiyuki influence in here too which is good cause this is Dragon Ball after all. Goku with a Sun Wukong role, East Kaioshin (Shin) with the monk role. And maybe other characters who are inspired by Saiyuki will play roles similar to their inspirations.

Vegeta having a Sun Wukong role while Bulma has the Tripitaka role

Piccolo having a Tripitaka/Wukong role while Gohan also has the Tripitaka/Wukong role

Krillin with a Tripitaka role (maybe some Wukong role too since he also takes some Wukong inspiration) & maybe 18 takes on the role of Tripitaka in certain aspects?

Yamcha with a role referencing Sha Wujing role

Tenshinhan with a role referencing Erlang Shen

And if the Demon Realm is involved then there is more Saiyuki references. Journey to a dangerous land and fighting demons. This could be pretty cool to see.

GOKU'S DESIGN

And another thing... Goku's gi in Daima. It's becoming closer and closer to his End of Z gi.

The untucked style of Goku's gi in Daima is similar to EoZ, but the colors are still like his iconic orange and blue gi.

MY THEORY FOR THE STORY

In the Demon Realm, the Makaioshin & some Demon God examine Goku & his friends. They speak about Babidi and how he recruited the King of the Demon Realm, Dabura, and still failed. As well as Bibidi summoning & Babidi reawakening the evil beings Majin Buu, then Buu becoming an ally of Goku. Where a sorcerer failed, a Demon God plans to succeed. The Demon God & Makaioshin notice that Goku & company are always victorious due to their strength, transformations, and friendship that encourages each other. So somehow, they are all turned into children to make them doubt their chances of victory. And their power is nerfed too. The Saiyans might have to struggle just to turn SSJ again. I believe it will be through a spell just to be different from GT and not use a wish granting Dragon. The part that shows that a wish was made to Shenron wish was likely after they were turned into kids and they needed help in some way, or they tried to reverse the spell and it was beyond the power of Shenron.

So they venture into this new realm to fix things. Perhaps splitting into groups. Goku & Kaioshin, Vegeta & Bulma, Gohan & Piccolo, Krillin & 18, ect. Some teaming up with other groups too. Get to see stuff like Goku & Tien team up. They learn about the depths of magic & Bulma is surprised because her technology she relies so much upon doesn't matter much in the Demon Realm where magic is their technology.

At some point, they find a way to return to their actual ages and adult bodies. In the end, they confront the Demon God & Makaioshin. Of course Goku would face the main bad guy (along with Vegeta & maybe with Gohan & Piccolo). Godly power vs godly magic. Or something like that.

Now let's wait & see how wrong I am 😂

#Dragon Ball DAIMA #DB DAIMA #DB #Dragon Ball #DBZ #Dragon Ball Z #DBS #Dragon Ball Super #Goku #Son Goku #Krillin #Kuririn #Toriyama #Akira Toriyama

[epickiya722]

Okay, okay, okay. I've been thinking about this for... a while-a while now and I know I mentioned before, but I didn't say why exactly!

(Work with me here, I'm, like, half awake writing this.)

Again, I think it would be wild if Itadori turned out to be Sukuna's reincarnation. You know, a reborn soul.

I know, I know. It's implied that Kenjaku created Itadori for the purpose of being Sukuna's vessel (I don't remember if it's ever been explicit that Kenjaku created Yuji for that purpose) so yeah, in a way to be his reincarnation. Now adding onto that, what if Kenjaku managed to somehow keep another piece of Sukuna's soul to turn Itadori into that full reincarnation? Knowing Kenjaku and anything can happen, hm? (Look, Kenjaku be having a lot of tricks up their sleeves, alright. This is the same story where a sword has a hand attached to it and a guy that swallows curses and uses them like damn... DUEL MONSTERS...)

Again, what if Yuuji Itadori isn't just Sukuna's vessel? But also his modern day reincarnation?

I say this because one of other anime/manga.

Yu-Gi-Oh.

Wait, I know, what does YGO have to do with Jujutsu Kaisen, let alone Itadori being Sukuna's reincarnation? Is it because of the recent YGO reference in chapter 241?

Yes, partly!

It's because of that reference, the "trap card and Kenjaku looking like Bandit Keith" reference that I realized it is possible Gege Akatumi may have already been making references to YGO but for the sake of the story!

(There's also the scene in the anime where Gojo is holding a parody of the YGO crossover movie, Bonds Beyond Time, in episode 6. Also, I just think it's awesome that Megumi Ogata voices Yuta Okkotsu. Ogata is the voice actress of Yugi in YGO Season 0.)

I realized that JJK does share some similarities with YGO when it comes to their protagonists.

Both Yuji and Yugi are high school students raised by their grandfathers and have absent parents (I swear though that you do see Yugi's mom like once in the anime).

Both get possessed by an ancient spirit by coming in contact with a cursed item that houses a piece of that spirit. Said spirits are merciless and brutal (especially Sukuna and season 0 Yami, but in the second anime series Yami got better). Both spirits also hold a "King" title. You got the King of Curses and the King of Games. And they hold up to said titles. In their pasts, they backed up those titles.

Then there's Yuji and Yugi's hair. Yuji used to be a blond! So three hair colors? Black, blond and pink hair? (Yugi's is more magenta, I know.) When Sukuna and Yami take over, there's little differences, but the most notable be the eyes and hair slicking back (some of Yami's bangs are pushed back).

Yuji and Yugi even got similar names!

They also got to collect "pieces". Yuji - Sukuna's fingers, Yugi - Millennium Items.

There's also the thing with souls in both these stories.

That's all I can really think of!

Honestly, this post was written for fun and really, I won't say this is concrete and it's a "hard-core theory you must believe".

I just think it's crazy that there's similarities between JJK and YGO. Could be coincidence, could be Akatumi having fun. And I do think it would be kinda crazy that Yuji turned out to Sukuna's modern-day self.

And maybe I wrote this post as a first half to another... because again, I have thoughts and I like sharing my thoughts sometimes.

#just kiya's thoughts #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jjk spoilers #ygo #yugioh #yu-gi-oh #itadori yuuji #yuuji itadori #yuji itadori #itadori yuji #sukuna #sukuna ryomen #ryomen sukuna #ryoumen sukuna #sukuna ryoumen #yugi mutou #yugi muto #mutou yugi #muto yugi #yami yugi #kenjaku

[novakaiserart]

Rebirth Broke Me

i jusr finished rebirth and oh man i fucking love this game, it embellished the relationships between every character to well. worked on the plot so naturally and beautifully. i especially love how much they portrayed aerith and tifa, gave yuffie more of a connection to the group. i also adore how they explored the gi story and made it so much more relevant. i love how they worked out barret's struggles. absolutely in love with vincent, but i always did so lol. i saw some people complaining about cid, but imo i think he's putting up a good guy front just so he doesn't lose any business after his attempt at being a shinra pilot failed. i fully expect them to cover his story in part 3 and explore it more like they did with everyone else. im soooo happy we got to see cissnei, but so sad aerith and her didnt speak of zack :(. it's also cool we got to see some midgarian faces again even after the crew left. the trials had me actually crying, it was stunning. they really cooked

i was very confused with chapter 14 until I reached the end, but it makes sense to me. spoiler warning ahead ofc i believe aerith died. i also believe cloud is incapable of coping with the fact that she's dead, so he sees her still present with them. but i also believe she won't stay dead either, i think she was really there with cloud when they fought sephiroth. her line of "i'll pray to stop the meteor" tells me she'll come back. being a cetra and all, i think she'll find a way to return to the earth through the lifestream

my leading theory for the trajectory of the games currently goes as following; i believe that sephiroth went back in time to when it all started (crisis core time) in the hopes of changing how events played out, my biggest proof of this is his attempt at killing barret in remake and tifa in rebirth. he underestimated them in the og timeline and only took out aerith as he viewed her as the only threat, but he needs the others out the picture too sooner than later. especially tifa. hence why he constantly gaslights cloud about her being a fake or not being trustable; she's the only one that can help him put his mind back together. without her, cloud will always view the world through clouded lenses. but one thing changed about my theory with the whispers now being white and black; aerith followed him to stop him. she sacrificed her memory and recollections of events to make it back. the whispers were sephiroth and aerith's will fighting to keep the timeline intact, but they evolved and split into two factions. i also think aerith's white materia being hollowed out has something to do with that. i think she saw what he was up to from the lifestream (since shes dead in og timeline), sacrificed her memories to stop him once and for all. for a while i thought aerith was the one going back, but it wouldnt make much sense for her to undo what they did just to save herself and zack. it's possible this is an entirely different sephiroth, but i believe it's the one from the og timeline trying to reunite every world possible to make sure he wins everywhere.

it's hard to say for sure whats going on and we're only going to know once part 3 drops, but i know one thing for sure. neither cloud nor sephiroth are relliable narrators and their interpretation cannot be trusted. cloud's mind is still scattered, he's divided between denial and obedience to sephiroth. anything he says cannot be trusted. sephiroth is bad shit insane, he only accepts his view of the world. his vision is the only valid one, therefore what he says cannot be taken as matter of fact.

one final footnote i want to comment on is the "date" aerith and cloud had. yes, im a big cloti and aerti fan. also believe zack is the only right person for aerith, so maybe im coping but idc lol. i think it was all a dream or at least an altered vision of events. i firmly believe aerith still loves zack. she wrote to him for 4 years while he was taking a mako bath, waited for him endlessly day and night. she loved him dearly. but aerith is also one hell of a loyal person. i doubt she would ever be able to brush off zack like that. she also doesn't know if he died in the remake timeline. i think she projected her love for zack onto cloud; to relive the happiness she found with him one last time. she's been holding on to her grief for years, she still thinks about him. he dropped in one day into her life so suddenly and changed it for the better. as did she for him. he vanished the same way she found him. so when another soldier falls into her life the same way, carries the same sword as him, has similar mannerisms, reminds her so much of the man who she fell in love with; can we really blame her for wanting an escape of how much sadness she felt from zack being gone? i also dont believe for a second she used cloud to feel better about herself, i think she just wanted to feel the love he showed her again before she had to pass on. but cloud isn't zack, cloud could never love her the way zack did. aerith grew up without any real friends, no one that accepted her for being her. everyone viewed her as different or weird; but not zack. he was the first person to show her genuine care (besides her mothers). she misses him, as much as she's happy with all her new friends who also accept her for her; she wishes he was there too. i also don't believe that the real cloud has any romantic feelings for aerith. again, he took on the life of zack in his head. he feels drawn to her because of how much zack loved her.

it's really such a tragic story full of nuance and hurt. i noticed that zack and tifa are great parallels; both of them are the only ones truly capable of reaching inwards towards their respective partner. zack understood aerith much better than cloud ever could. tifa can touch cloud in a way no one could. but that doesn't negate the fact that cloud cares for all of them just as much. they all mean a lot to him and he means a lot to them.

also really appreciate how the devs still kept the canonity of tifa and cloud, but also gave the chance to fans of other pairings to be happy with the outcome and choose their path. its always been a divisive thing in the ff7 fandom, so its cool of them to try and make everyone happy

overall, im super excited for part 3 and i think i might recover from this by the time it comes out

#ff7 rebirth #ff7 tifa #ff7 cloud #ff7 aerith #ff7 barret #ff7 cid #ff7 vincent #ff7 cait sith #ff7 remake #ff7 zack #ff7 yuffie #nova rambles #aerti #cloti #zerith #also dont come for me im too old to argue over whats canon lmao #this ff7 shit really got me yapping my ass off #aerith my beloved #tifa my beloved #i think part 3 should end with tifa and aerith kissing after they kill sephiroth

[magicjesuscup]

Yu-Gi-Oh thought

I'm in a Yu-Gi-Oh mood for some reason and just watched a really neat video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mArpqqJi58A) that argues that Thief King Bakura might not have been been Egyptian.

It's super cool and I love the theory, but I'm wondering if maybe there's another reason why he looks so different and has a name that isn't Egyptian. Although, I am taking a few liberties here. I'm counting being trapped in jewelry for 3,000 years as something of an afterlife since his physical body is definitely dead.

According to Egyptian mythology: "The name was regarded as an essential part of an individual, as necessary for the survival of the deceased in the After-life as the ba, akh, and the preserved corpse. The name of an individual was preserved by its inclusion in funerary texts, either on papyrus or on the tomb walls. Should they wish to do so, later generations could destroy the existence and memory of a deceased individual by removing their name from their tomb." (https://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub403/item1949.html)

Bakura probably wouldn't have had any kind of funeral rites done. He didn't have any family to have taken care of that. He may not have thought ahead to do it himself if he thought he was going to win his fight with Atem. And nobody around him would've wanted him to have access to the afterlife; they probably just dumped his body somewhere to rot.

There's also this moment in the anime:

During mumification, "They left only the heart in place, believing it to be the center of a person's being and intelligence." (https://www.si.edu/spotlight/ancient-egypt/mummies#:~:text=They%20left%20only%20the%20heart,jars%20today%20called%20canopic%20jars.)

Since Bakrua's heart and name weren't preserved, it makes sense (in my head) that his soul wouldn't remember what his name was or what he looked like. So what he does is take on the name and appearance of his host.

It's been a while since I've seen/read the series, but if I remember correctly, the last season doesn't actually take place in ancient Egypt. It takes place on an rpg board created by Ryou under the direction of Bakura.

What's on the board is going to be what information Bakura and Zorc have. All the major players aside himself were high ranking individuals and most likely given good enough burials that would've granted them access to the afterlife. (Which is supported by Atem seeing all these people after Yugi beats him in the final dual of the series, but not Bakura.) So Bakura would've had information on them, but nothing about himself.

Nothing except things that Zorc remembered. Which is liberty number two. Zorc may have only remembered things to keep this fight going like Bakura's motivation, the fact that he lost/didn't get his revenge the first time he and Atem faced off, and what happened in their last fight (so he could learn from it and maybe win this time).

TLDR:

Video theory: Bakura's non Egyptian appearance and name are due to him not being Egyptian.

My crazed ramblings: Bakura's name and appearance were borrowed from his host because he doesn't remember either of those things due to not being given the necessary funeral rites.

#Yu-Gi-Oh #Bakura #Thief King Bakura #NOT FATE RELATED #I'm not bothering with spoiler tags because the series has been over for almost 20 years.

[travelingreportersam]

Summary: Sam, Xavier, and Narcissa decide to explore the caves around town to test Sam's theory about underground tunnels. Instead they find a portal that tossed them into a lake. Xavier shows the other 2 the portal leading from the tree to the bar.

@ghostsbrokenbyfairytales @backmaskcd

As he moved closer to the newspaper office, Sam blinked in surprise to see Xavier already there. "You actually came." It was more of a statement than a question

xavier was on his phone looking at whatever was on it that still worked while he waited for sam. he’d gotten there earlier than he needed to be but he wasn’t risking not being able to go. “course i did, told you i was. didn’t want to miss this.” he said putting away his phone in his pocket.

Sam raised a brow at the other. "And you're just doing all this out of curiosity?" What a weird guy. "Anyway," he pulled out the map he'd already marked, showing it to Xavier. "The marked places are potential caves to check out. I took the time to make sure they weren't just shallow inlets. If you weren't lying about knowing the woods well that could come in handy, since we have no clue where any of these tunnels could lead."

“yeah? why else would someone explore if it wasn’t for their own curiosity? and before you say to find an answer, sometimes things don’t have one so.” xavier answered with a shrug and glanced at the map. it was familiar enough and all the x’s were area’s he’d been around at least from what he could recognize. “oh yeah that’ll be easy, over twelves years of not being able to do anything _besides_ exploring when you’re bored makes it easy to navigate around.”

He looked to Xavier and back at the map, brows furrowing in thought. "Do any of these areas particularly familiar to you? Like that you've visited fairly recently?"

xavier looked over the map and pointed to one of the x’s. “that one, never gone in it cause the thought of going in a cave alone always gave me the creeps but i do know where that one’s at.”

Sam nodded, muttering to himself in Korean. Creepy huh? Often people felt the gi of an area without realizing it. That could be the one. "Alright, that'll be the first one we check then. We'll need to be careful on time. Of course there's a real chance of a breakthrough on some of these mysteries and it has to be the middle of winter."

xavier nodded and pulled out his phone once more. “it’s why i got this thing still, alarms still work, already have a couple set for an hour and two hours before sunset usually happens. just in case.” he could set more if he needed to but for now that felt like a good amount of time, depending on where they ended up by then. “so you’re another person trying to solve the mystery of huntsville then? is that how you ended up here or did that happen after you got stuck.”

Good, they were taking this trip seriously enough, something Sam could appreciate. Maybe it wouldn't be a trial in babysitting after all. "Yeah," he admitted as they started walking. "I noticed a large number of missing person cases leading to rural West Virginia and decided it would be my next big story." Sam glanced back over to Xavier. "I'm an investigative journalist. I usually travel as needed."

“must’ve felt shitty finding out you couldn’t leave again then but hey, least you got plenty of time to write your story, ya know, assuming you don’t die and all.” was that morbid to say? probably but xavier learned that it’s easier to be blunt rather than give a false hope. as they walked next to him they glanced to him now too, “so what other stuff have you written about then? anything i’ve missed out on the last twelve years that’s interesting?”

Sam couldn't help the chuckle. At least Xavier didn't beat around the bush. "Well, I'm going to try my best not to die. I at least have to make sure my sister is safe," his expression dropped at that. "Somehow she ended up in this town too. That's the part that feels shitty." Sighing, he shook his head and looked back to the other. "So are you from around here?" He gave a shrug at the questions. "Human trafficking, child soldiers, that sort of thing. Unfortunately nothing new in our world but something that is still important to give voice to."

“completely coincidental or followed you in?” xavier had heard about it a lot that siblings often got stuck here after going to look for the other or even the off chance of it being random. “oh yeah born and raised, never left this town and never got a chance to anyway. i was only fourteen when the storm hit so it’s not like i ever had a chance to leave even if i wanted to.” and that was something he’d come to terms with a long time ago. all his exploration he’d done wasn’t in hopes to find a way out it was mostly to cure his own boredom. “gross to hear things are still the same out there. somehow all those things make the creatures feel human.”

"Coincidental. She'd actually been here for an entire year before it fell on my radar....I...didn't even know she was among the missing." His expression turned solemn, the guilt still eating at him.

A sardonic smile made it across his lips as at Xavier's comment. "You know, I've said something similar before and you may be one of the first people to agree with me. Monsters are everywhere, these ones just don't hide behind a curtain of niceties."

xavier let his own expression soften and put a hand on sams shoulder. “you’d be surprised how many people are here for longer than a year and family _still_ hasn’t noticed they’re missing. it happens. people just assume they’re out living their life it’s not like we can tell them otherwise.” he hoped that would at least ease him a little bit.

they dropped their hand from his shoulder now and looked around them, making sure there wasn’t any hunter traps around since this was the woods. “yeah? surprised more people don’t agree with that considering there’s a murderer too. or murderers, wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more than one with how things have been lately.”

Flashing a sad smile, Sam nodded. He appreciated the attempt, at the very least. At the mention of murder his smile dropped and a sigh escaped him. "I imagine it's easy to get away with murder in a place like this. A friend of mine mentioned that the number of murderers and sociopaths you could run into here is exceptionally high. Can't help wondering if they're drawn to this place somehow."

As the forest came into view, Sam stopped, a thoughtful expression beginning to form. "Hey, do you mind if we take a small detour?" Not really waiting for an answer, he leads Xavier down a road. "I think we should bring my colleague. She would tear me a new one if she found out I didn't include her on the trip." A few minutes later they arrived in front of a residence as Sam knocked on the door.

She hadn't been expecting anyone - so Narcissa naturally assumed it had to be Lonnie or Sam bugging her. All the same, she pulled open the door, trying her best to maintain a stern face. "I'm an extremely busy woman you know - did you pencil this visit in with my secretary?" Spotting Xavier she quickly shook her head. "I'm just teasing Sam - I'm not that important. What's up?"

Sam raised a brow at Narcissa, a small quirk of his lips. "Oh, well if you're too busy then I guess you don't want to come join me, and Xavier" he nods toward the other, "in testing out my tunnel theory." He held up the map to sweeten the deal.

"Well, I do love a premade plan. Just a second - let me grab some stuff." Disappearing for only a couple minutes as she quickly gathered her camera and put on better shoes, she reappeared with a wide grin on her face. "Okay - fill me in."

“oh i can do that!” xavier moved closer with a smile. “xavier by the way, anyway, i was about to go in the crack, he stopped me cause it was just a rope and apparently you guys had gone in it already anyway. bummer. he talked about exploring the caves and i asked to join, he said yes since i know the woods and we’re starting with this one,” they paused to point on the map at one of the x’s, “because i know where this one is. he can fill in the why, i don’t actually know that part or maybe i do i’m in it for the adventure really and my own curiosity!"

As they started walking Sam nodded to Xavier's explanation. There were a couple details he would fill Narcissa on later, but they at least covered the gist of everything. "Considering some of these caves might open back up to some other part of the forest, I figured having someone who's familiar with the woods here would be pretty helpful. As for this particular cave, it was on a list of potential candidates I already scoped out. Xavier mentioned they never get close to that one because of how 'creepy' it is, so that seemed like a good starting point."

Narcissa nodded as they walked, taking in all the information. She was already getting excited; the more people she and Sam had on their side, the better. "Okay - don't love that the cave is creepy, but maybe that means something. I'm glad Sam stumbled upon you, Xavier - sounds like you're well versed in the caves. We're like a Mcgyvered myth busters."

“well i didn’t say the cave was creepy, i said it always gave me the creeps about going in alone. what if it’s got bats? we don’t have anything for bat rabies. cooties? there’s a word for it that i can’t remember.” at least xavier thought that’s what he said, or maybe that meant the cave was creepy he wasn’t sure, he wasn’t great at reading in between lines. “but yeah, guess it was a good thing he did considering i was already feet dangling in a pit. cant dangle in a pit in a cave… most likely.”

He waved a hand at Xavier's clarification. "Eh, semantics. The gi is off and that's all I care about. Also there's no cure for rabies so try not to get bit." Sam sighed at the reminder of how he'd met the other. All he could hope was that during this exhibition Xavier didn't prove to be a liability, even with their useful geographic knowledge.

Narcissa chewed on her lower lip, but nodded a little. "Okay; let's just be careful where we're aiming our flashlights and try not to talk too loud then; I don't want to deal with bats or get one caught in my hair." All the same, the excitement she felt was evident as she all but skipped along. "So you think it'll lead to the crack somewhere?"

xavier shrugged at sam waving him off. “there’s not really a cure for anything here so you’d be shit outta luck anyway but i’m sure there’s none. probably. i make no promises, i can tell you what’s in the woods but that’s about it.” turning to narcissa they pointed at sam, “that’s a him question i’ll zip it now cause i don’t actually know what his whole thought process is.”

Sam frowned, though a small blush coated his cheeks. Narcissa asked for his reasoning so he gave it. So sue him. He shook his head at the question. "I doubt it. We shouldn't be going that deep into the caves today, plus that was mostly just a hypothesis. I could be completely wrong." He glanced back to Narcissa with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on time. Xavier even set some alarms. Speaking of," looking back to Xavier as they entered the forest. "Do you know about how far we are from that cave?"

"Alarms are a very smart idea," Narcissa felt relieved at this idea, now that they would have time to protect themselves. "I don't know; I guess it's hard to say since they disappear during the day; but I guess anything is possible here, right?"

“why thank you.” xavier said with a proud smile, he definitely didn’t hear that a lot. “you could also be right, we won’t know until we’re there.” he paused now and took a quick look around to see where they’re at to give an answer. “from here i’d say… maybe a twenty minute walk? possibly thirty, just depends on where the hunters laid traps.”

He gave them both a tight smile. "Let's just hope I'm wrong. All I have in my bag is my camera, a little bit of rope, and a flashlight."

"Well, no matter what we encounter, it'll be a productive first day anyway," narcissa insisted, trying to boost Sam's spirits. "That's not a terrible walk."

“i got my fists and a whoooole lotta gusto.” xavier said with a wide smile. it was mostly to try and keep the spirits up for everyone but mostly himself. “nope not bad at all, i know where a couple of the other caves are on the map but they’re farther out. this one felt like the best option especially if we’re in it longer than we intend to be.”

Sam smiled, appreciating the two's attempts at lightening the mood. He could only hope he wasn't leading them to their deaths. The rest of the walk was fairly uneventful as the cave eventually came into view. Pulling out the flashlight from his bag, he offered it to one of his companions as he sized up the dark mouth. "Well, here goes nothing."

The walk was pleasant enough - and honestly the more time the three spent walking, somehow the more sure Narcissa felt about things. As they approached the cave, she pulled a beanie out of her bag, pulling it down over her ears. "Alright - let's see what's waiting for us."

xavier let narcissa take the flashlight and decided if they really needed to they could use the one on their phone, it wouldn't be great but it'd be something. "i'm following you guys so, after you two."

Looking back to the others, Sam took a steadying breath before walking into the darkness of the cave. He glanced around, keeping his eyes peeled for anything as he followed the natural curve of the rock. Rounding the first curve, Sam was about to say something when suddenly he was blinded by a bright light. Stumbling forward, he let out a startled yelp as his next step met with air instead of solid ground and his body came tumbling forward. Before he could comprehend what was happening, ice cold water enveloped his body. Scrambling to reach what he supposed was the surface, Sam gasped for air, looking around himself wildly. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he realized with shock that he was back outside in the forest, treading water in some lake. The cave he was just in was nowhere to be found.

Narcissa crept along behind Sam, not meaning to hold her breath, but it was hard - the excitement and anxiety were vibrating through her bones, and since everyone else was quiet, it was taking everything in her to not talk incessently about all the things they might uncover. However, this didn't last for too long - the bright light and cold water caused Narcissa to scream - though since she was underwater, no one could hear her. Quickly swimming to the surface, she let out a loud gasp, whipping her head aroudn to find her companions. "What the fuck??"

xavier was right, the cave really did give him the creeps and he was half tempted to turn back but having other people around did make it a bit easier. he was quite though, mostly afraid and small noise might do something but he felt like it got eerily quiet and couldn’t see where the two had gone so he continued forward anyway. that was until they felt like they couldn’t breathe anymore, looking around frantically until they looked up to see light so they… swam up? xavier got his head above water with a loud gasp and turned to see sam and narcissa there too who seemed just as confused. “did we just…” he looked down to his feet trying to catch a glimpse of anything off but saw nothing. furrowing his brows he swam to shore and hoped they’d follow behind. “i think i know what just happened to us.”

Following Xavier to the shore, Sam pulled himself up and offered a hand to Narcissa before flopping down to the sandy ground with a shiver. They were going to need a change of clothes ASAP. Looking back at Xavier, his eyes narrowed. "The hell did you mean you think you know what just happened?"

Narcissa followed Xavier, teeth already chattering. This venture had been a bust, and hopefully her camera hadn't been taken out of commission. It wasn't waterproof per se, but it had been through a lot. "Is it a paradox thing?" She managed to stammer out between her chattering teeth. She tried to wring out her hair and clothes as best as she could without taking them off, but it wasn't do much good to dispell the cold.

“well,” xavier had a look on their face like they wanted to admit something but wasn’t quite sure yet but eventually sighed, the longer he stood there the colder they were getting and they needed someplace warm. “i think it’s a paradox thing.. not sure though. i um, im pretty sure that was another portal, as in, i may or may not already know where another one is.” he finally admitted a bit sheepishly.

Sam immediately shot up, eyes widening. "Hold up, there's more of those? Does anyone else know about this?"

"A what?" Narcissa didn't care about how cold she was anymore - her entire focus was fixated on Xavier, excitement, terror and something else bright on her face. "Where's the other one? Where does it lead to?"

“no.” xavier said quickly at sam’s question. he wanted to keep odette out of it as much as possible so she didn’t freak out.. hopefully. “as far as i know there’s one more, it’s a tree. when you crawl through it, it leads you into the basement of the bar. that’s.. all i know but that one you can go back through unlike this one.”

Their reply made it obvious that wasn't true, but Sam wouldn't push the matter. There were more important questions, like "why haven't you told others? This is a massive discovery." He was shaking his head, mind going into overdrive on how he would write this. "Can you show us where the tree is?" Glancing down at himself and his shivering companions, he added "after we get changed."

Narcissa barely even noticed that Xavier was potentially lying - all she cared about was the fact that this was an anomaly that occurred in at least two places. "This is huge - holy shit, Xavier, that's incredible." She wanted to protest that they just go to the tree right then and there, but it would be much smarter to at least change before going. "You've done this before? Go back and forth between this other portal?"

“i uh,” shit he didn’t actually have an explanation as to why he didn’t tell someone, “okay fine. a friend of mine had it happen to them, they’re the ones that originally found it but i promised not to tell anyone because they were freaked out and thought they were going crazy and now im freaking out because i don’t want them involved or their name to be out their because they don’t need that stress and,” xavier took a deep breath in after realizing he was rambling and calmed himself down before continuing, “i just don’t want their name out there so i’m not saying who. that’s for them to say when they’re ready but yeah.. i can show you guys where the tree is.” turning towards narcissa they nodded at her, “multiple times. as far as i know i’ve been the only one to do it, i usually just go back through the vent so i’m not randomly coming out of their basement.”

He gave a nod, experession softening. "I won't add their name to the paper, I promise. You can also stay anonymous if you'd prefer." Standing up, Sam held out a hand to help anyone up that wanted it. "First, let's warm up and then we can take a look at this tree. I might want another look at that cave, but that can wait."

Narcissa easily took Sam's hand, letting out an almost relieved sigh. "Well.... At least we aren't as far away as I thought that meant we were." She admitted, turning to Xavier. "It's okay - I care less about your friend's name and more about investigating these portals - no offense to them, of course, but this is.... incredible. Even if now we're all freezing."

xavier got up on his own and brushed off whatever sand he could that was sticking to his clothes and gave an appreciative smile to sam. “thanks.” glancing towards the water they raised an eyebrow, “this one’s an odd one. i wonder if the other side of the portal is at the bottom of the lake and that’s why we can’t see it. i mean it’d be hard to tell anyway, the one in the basement just looks like a vent you’d never be able to tell if you didn’t know.” looking back at the two now their expression turned sheepish again, “sorry. yeah we should go do we can get changed, it’s too cold for this.”

"You'd think any portal would be odd." He mused with a raised brow. "But I will say it felt like we were thrown in instead of being already inside the lake." He turned back to the water, squinting as he tried to see any sort of difference, a shimmer or something. "Anyway, yeah, let's go. Last thing we need is hypothermia on top of everything else."

Back at Narcissa's apartment Sam paced back and forth in the blanket she's supplied, impatient for their clothes to come out of the dryer. "How exactly did your friend find that tree portal?"

The trip to Narcissa's place felt twice as long this time as the trio were shivering, but Narcissa quickly offered the other two towels and the few bigger pairs of sweatpants she had lying around her place before they got together to try to discuss what the fuck just happened.

"Okay so - portals." She had changed into a different set of clothes, already scrawling shorthand across a notebook. "Two of them - one you can go in and out of, now one that is also in a lake. How did you find the other one, and why did you think this cave would be one?"

xavier was sitting on the couch with the towel wrapped around his shoulders trying to warm up anyway he could. "well with what they told me it was like some alice in wonderland shit, there was a rabbit, they followed it, it went through the tree then so did they and next thing you know they're in the bars basement." taking a quick look at narcissa they shrugged, "i didn't. they're the one that technically did they just showed me. as for the cave i'm not sure, it always just gave me a weird vibe when i'd pass it during my explorations to the point i never wanted to go inside. only went this time because i wasn't going to be alone."

Sam continued pacing in thought, running a hand through his damp hair. "Do you get the same feeling from the tree? That weird, creepy vibe? If there's two in that forest that must mean there's more right?" What if...what if one of them led to outside? He wouldn't voice that thought, the hope it would place too potentially soul crushing. But...it was worth considering. He glanced back to Narcissa, stopping in his tracks. "Maybe we can try asking around, see if anyone else has gotten any weird feelings, canvas potential areas."

"Okay.... okay sure, sure," she was half listening and half taking notes, nodding along as they went - however at Sam's comment, her head popped up. "Look, I'd love it as much as the next person if there was a secret portal out of here, but that seems far more unlikely since literally everything about this town seems to be designed by whatever to keep us in - even transporting us to different spaces inside the paradox. Xavier, do you know how far the bar and the tree are? Like, a ballpark guess?"

"well... kind of? like with the tree it's not as intense but i still get an off vibe, even before they'd pointed it out to me, they basically confirmed it." xavier could never figure out why he got those feelings for specific things but never questioned it and just assumed the town in general probably gave people the similar feeling. "i uh, i don't know how far, if i had to take a guess maybe a half mile to a mile apart? i never paid attention to that actually so i guess that'll be something we take note of when i show you guys."

Glancing down at his watch, Sam nodded, muttering to himself. To the others he said, "our clothes should be dry by now. We should have enough time to check out this tree and snap a few pictures before getting home." He glanced more specifically at Narcissa, "unless there was something in particular you wanted to do."

"No - that sounds good for an initial investigation with the time we have left," Narcissa looked sadly at her video camera, which still hadn't been able to turn on since they got back. "I want to try to get this fixed before we go through the portal, anway. To really document it."

“i know someone who can fix that but he wouldn’t be able to do it in a day. my old roommate cyan, he’s a big tech guy. i can see if he has another camera you can use in the meantime?” it was the closest xavier could offer since he was gonna have to find a way to get his own phone fixed, hopefully. “actually, do either of you still have your phones? could use that to record.”

Sam's cheeks heated as he held up a hand. "Oh, um, actually," he glanced to Narcissa. "For your birthday I planned on fixing your camera. I still can...if you'd like. Uh...surprise?" He also shook his head as he riffled through his bag to pull out his camera. "No need. This puppy is completely water proof. It's been across the world and back and been my partner through it all."

"Well, someone needs to fix it - I'm not too bothered as to who," Narcissa playfully waved them off, an appreciatve flush blooming across her cheeks. "Anyway. Um, no, my phone camera got cracked when Sam and I went into the crack - Lonnie stepped on it. But it's fine, Sam can take the wheel on this one,"

“well in that case we seem set, im gonna put my clothes back on because i’m still freezing.” xavier said with a laugh and disappeared to go do just that. when he came back he sat down again and smiled, “fresh out of the dryer is always the best. i’m ready now whenever you guys are.”

He flashed Narcissa a grin. "Well luckily I could have been a professional photographer in another life, so the prints are in good hands." Sam followed Xavier to get dressed, chuckling lightly in agreement as he pulled on his own clothes. "Alright, let's head out."

Keeping an eye on the sky, Sam asked to Xavier, "how much further are we?" He cursed the fact they were still in the dead of winter. Everything would be so much easier if it was summer and they had ample daylight to spare.

Narcissa was almost jogging to keep up the pace - she wasn't concerned about falling behind, she was concerned about the daylight slipping away from them. "I guess worst comes to worst, we just dive into the portal and spend the night in the bar."

xavier was still walking but started looking around to figure out where exactly they were at. he’d done this so many times at this point he knew the route like the back of his hand. “not much farther away, it’s just past those ones up there.” they pointed to the trees in front of them and chuckled. “funny you say that, i’ve yet to see a creature go into the portal and i’ve tested it before.” it was a stupid test, of course because no one knew he was doing it and it could’ve resulted in negative results. “waited in the vent till the bar closed then just waited in the basement, i kept the vent closed just in case so maybe that was why but,” a pause and a shrug, “just went right back through when daytime came, it was like i was never there.”

Sam blinked, stopping in his tracks as he looked at Xavier in abject horror. "What the fuck dude? That...that might actually be one of the stupidest things I'd ever heard. What would you have done if they *did* go through?" Between them dangling over the crack and now this, Sam was genuinely concerned for the other's well being. Knowing they don't have the time to go into a full tirade of how utterly idiotic Xavier's little test was, he shook his head and continued onward, pulling out his camera in preparation. "We should have enough time to get back," he assured Narcissa. "All we need to do is verify the portal, take a couple pictures of someone halfway through it, and dip."

Narcissa wasn't sure why San was reacting the way he was - she would have done the same thing if she were them. "That's really interesting - maybe the animas know something we don't?" Nodding a little at Sam's direction, she perked up. "Can I be the halfway in person?"

xavier ignored the fact that sam stopped and only started walking backwards instead, "i don't know. die i guess? no risk no reward or whatever that saying is." they shrugged and turned back so they wouldn't trip over any roots. "you can if you want, i've been in it plenty of times. since you want to verify it starts becoming a tight squeeze the closer you get to the bars vent so keep that in mind when you wanna turn around."

Narcissa may have a point. Animals usually caught on to things faster than people, especially when it came to energies. He pinched the bridge of his nose at Xavier's reply. God there was a lot he could say to that, but all he settled for was "that was beyond stupid." Letting go of his nose, he looked to Narcissa with an amused smile. "Sure."

As they came across the tree Sam nodded to it. "You two can go in. I actually want to see what it looks like when someone goes through."

"We all do stupid things, Sam, c'mon," Narcissa pointed. "Rapelling into the crack was stupid, we just do stupid stuff with Lonnie as a lookout." She flashed Xavier a playful look. "He forgets what it's like to be impulsive sometimes, I think."

She examined the tree - it just looked like a normal tree, she didn't even feel any odd vibes. "Perfect - you can just film us like alice following the white rabbit."

“yeah sam, c’mon.” xavier couldn’t help but tease with a grin as they got closer. “well if he sticks around me he’ll remember cause impulsive is my middle name.”

he stared into it for a minute, it still was wild to him how a tree of all things led him to a basement but then again a cave just spit them out into a lake so he’s stopped questioning it. “so pretty much what happened to my friend.” he commented with a chuckle. “you sure you don’t want me to snap the pics sam? i’ve been through this thing plenty of times if you wanted to look for yourself.”

He sighed, shaking his head. Sam would like to argue that they were professionals doing a job, that they had experience and at least some form of a safety net while what Xavier did could have easily been a suicide mission, but it felt like the argument wasn't worth the effort. Not now, when their time outside was limited. "I'd rather be the one to take the pictures if that's alright. Plus now that I know this portal is here I can always come back." Assuming he would be able to find it again." Holding up his camera, he adjusted the focus until it was perfect. "Whenever you're ready."

"Someone has to be responsible," Narcissa grinned widely, but quickly circled aroudn the tree, just getting a good look at it, nodding a little to herself. "Well, it's now or never, right?" Her grin was a little more nervous now, but she gestured for Xavier to lead the way. "Narcissa, and Xavier, signing off. For now."

“yeah that’s perfectly fine, i was just making sure in case you wanted to go in farther.” xavier have a smile and waited while narcissa circled the tree once then nodded before finally stepping into the tree and continued walking forward.

Sam nodded in appreciation, snapping a few pictures of the two, keeping his finger over the button for the right moment.

Narcissa shot a nervous look back at Sam - her face was confident, but her eyes betrayed her actual feelings - before she quickly stepped forward to follow Xavier, taking a deep breath and resisting the urge to close her eyes just in case something bad happened.

“you guys good?” xavier asked as he continued, glancing back only for a moment since he knew they were going to get to a point where the space got smaller.

"Yeah," Narcissa cleared her throat a little as she followed them, face determined. She believed them, of course, but had to see for herself. "I hope we looked cool crawling in here."

xavier held back a laugh. “does anyone ever look cool crawling?” the closer they got to the vent they gave out a warning to sam and narcissa to let them know. “see the vent?” he pointed out and tried to move out of the way as much as he could for them to look.

"Well… probably not." Narcissa admitted. "But a girl can dream." She squinted to where Xavier was pointing since the lighting wasn't the best. "Oh - yeah!! And it's just loose for us to push?"

“yeah pretty much, you just gotta use a little force behind it but that’s it.” xavier said with a slight nod. “i’d show you but i don’t know if anyone’s in the basement right now, i cant tell.”

Narcissa was disappointed, but understood. "Right - well. This just means we need to come back another time to FULLY investigate."

#plot relevant post #musing #self para #but not really #ft. xavier #ft. narcissa #ghostsbrokenbyfairytales #backmaskcd