#or outright demonize me for experiencing them

[theoddest1]

Hazbin Hotel episode 5 is a rushed mess.

May just make this a continual thing where I review the episodes from here on out.

-Right off the bat, the pacing for this episode is probably the worst out of all other episodes so far. Things just begin abruptly (Lucifer's first song with Al for instance), no build up, 5 months have passed in only 5 episodes of barely any progress or focus on Charlie as a character, a random character that didn't need to be introduced but was anyway ruined the flow further, and this stupid ass rivalry all on the basis of who's the "better dad" is legit the most random conflict of any conflict so far. That will get a point all on its own along with some of the other things mentioned. The pacing left no real breathing room aside from 2 moments: Al's rise to power and Husk n Al's convo. I wanna say the second song would be a 3rd but it just resolves an issue that was present for seemingly years and pulled a "Stolas" with having a song or sob story as an excuse for the lack of effort to reach out and be a better dad. Lazy writing and pacing overall.

-5 months....5 months have passed with barely anything revolving around helping sinners or trust built around the main cast SHOWN ON SCREEN. We are told important information opposed to witnessing the progress itself. This is not only lazy but extremely jarring cause it feels as though episodes were skipped and bonds feel unearned. They get easily resolved in what feels like seconds, and we're just supposed to....deal with it. Angel and Husk barely interact throughout this episode, which, after the crazy ride they had, with the knowledge of a SEVERAL MONTHS passing by as well, you'd think Angel would be shown to be more chatty with him....which he doesn't. Nothing crazy, just small bits of them interacting and enjoying each other's company. Nah. We get that next episode, and even THAT'S lacking. I'll tackle that in a separate post. But yeah, 5 months, and we have yet to see the other guests' views and how it has changed for the better or the process of them realizing WHY they would go for redemption. How that has affected them. Nothing of note has come about from any of these. No other sinners have joined. No other demons seem interested in Charlie's Hotel. Nothing. We are told things have been done, yet it feels like we are still at the starting line, or well, a foot away from it and miles away from the finish.

- Lucifer is a joke. I don't mind me a goofy threat, it adds a charm to them but also shows that they take so little seriously due to their immense power....not Lucifer. No, that guy just....is a joke. Dude is in his mansion making fucking toy ducks for some reason and just has depression (show said it outright, not even depression is spared from "tell don't show")

He does literally nothing, doesn't seem to WANT to do anything, and no one respects the guy. Nearly all in the Hotel lack fear, intimidation, or admiration for the guy (Pentious is the only one who seems to exhibit admiration of some kind). The closest we got is being uncomfortable. That's it. Then there's his scuffle with Alastor. Tell me why he feels the need to argue with this sucka again? Cause last I checked, Alastor is a mere overlord, and Lucifer is The Devil. Wtf is this randomass rivalry that just...S T A R T S? Why does Lucifer get intimidated or moved by Al? It makes no sense. Lucifer has been alive far longer than humanity itself, but nah this random fuck who looks like he robbed a blood bank got him weeping insecurities? I'm supposed to take this sad excuse of a character seriously? How many of these carbon copy characters will Viv make until I finally end my suffering???

-Wtf is Alastor's deal? Why is he so pressed and annoyed? One moment he is as cool and collected as a cucumber and showing only SLIGHT annoyance (Vox and His song), then he goes to meetings and speaks with people far older, far more experienced, and/or far stronger than he show no interest and he gets pissy? How insecure is he that people not caring where he's gone or thinking his ideas are wack is what leads to his eye twitching and him throwing a random ass cuss. Seriously, THAT'S what got him to swear? That his idea for the hotel's name is stupid? BFFR! You can not be serious right now, THAT'S what gets him going? You'd think with how witty and chill he was in the pilot, he would find a quick and a effective smart-ass comeback, not essentially bitch at The Devil. This makes Alastor look like a thin-skinned wannabe, too cause these minor ass comebacks are why he has lost his edge along with some randomass song number?? And at the end of the day, Al just couldn't be damned anymore to even care by the end of the episode, he doesn't speak with Lucifer or give any stank looks, doesn't speak with Charlie, does NOTHING pertaining to the issues prior, nah, he just stands there and watches after telling Mimzy to go away. Some say he did this to simply piss Lucifer off, but that doesn't make sense (not saying it ain't true, just saying if it is, it's nonsensical). First off, if that were the case, why was he annoyed even BEFORE seeing the guy?

If he only wanted to get a rise, why is HE getting angry? Trolls usually don't care enough to be this pissed. Second, wtf would he even gain from doing this? What to help push Lucifer to be a better father to Charlie, request by Lilith to Al so that Lucifer can get his act together?? If so, that's the LAZIEST shit I have ever heard. Lucifer is such a joke, he needed a SINNER to get him back on track....

Regardless, this whole father shit by Al comes out of nowhere and ruins the goddamn flow of the episode. Prior to it all, Al has shown NO interest in anyone and has done jack shit. Wtf does he even do? He's done ONE thing so far and that was help for the commercial. Alastor has shown to be completely useless as of now.

-Charlie, why is she treated as tho she isn't a grown ass woman? She's babied to hell and back and despite being the daughter of Lucifer, hasn't shown any of her abilities to help the hotel. So Lucifer can summon shit but not her? Is she that useless? Also, gotta love how she never asks her dad about the Valentino situation to help Angel out. Man...what a great ass friend. She also doesn't find it weird that Al is just suddenly...babying her? She has zero awareness of everything, I guess, which is getting annoying now. You're over 200 years of age (went to high school in the 1800s according to what her comic was about, but guess that's retconned based on what happens in the following episode).

So she doesn't use her abilities to tidy up the place, she doesn't act her damn age, she doesn't do anything to help her sexually assaulted friend. What a damn joke, just like her dad.

-Mimzy shouldn't have been in an episode about Lucifer. Plain and simple. Her character should have been introduced in one of the earlier episodes. Not during fucking this. And we got a repeat of the pilot with Alastor's backstory retold. So they're down to retell his rise to power but not to make at least a proper recap of the events that happened prior? Key word....PROPER.

-Husk caring about Mimzy bringing trouble is actually fucking stupid. Because of the lack of proper build up to him now finding more reason to like the Hotel, it feels forced that he would be worried about what danger Mimzy brought. And on top of that, yeah...ALASTOR IS RIGHT THERE. You know who else is there? LUCIFER. I get it, Lucifer stood by and watched as the Hotel was being swatted, but he also sang a song about providing what Charlie asked for, meaning if she had asked her dad, he woukd be down to help, so WHY TF IS HE WORRIED???? Also , is Charlie just INCAPABLE of fighting for herself?? "She doesn'twanna hurt sinners-" so she had no defensive abilities??? What???? Also, that's a damn lie, she fought Katie Killjoy on live Tv. Are no other damn people capable of protecting the Hotel??? Why did Al need to step in for that? They were just LOAN SHARKS.

Anyway, the scene where Husk is probing Alastor about Mimzy and treating him as a pet is decently paced and the tone was pretty neat, sucks that this feels like their way of showing that Husk is also under a leash like Angel rather than him being treated as a joke, which btw...horrid way to compare the two. Wanna know why? One is subjected to an onslaught of sexual assault whether he was pushing Val's buttons or not, and forced to be assaulted by various men around him, passed around like a thing. The other is Husk, who legit disrespected Alastor and had to push at him to get such humiliation and terror, and guess what....Al still ended up pushing Mimzy away after she did end up bringing trouble, so he did essentially listen to Husk in his own distant way. This is the ONLY TIME we see Al be downright mean to Husk and probably the only time. Angel has been subjected to nothing but horrid assault after assault no matter the situation. So I better not see anyone say, "SEE LOOK, THEY'RE BOTH ABUSED" stfu. Nothing about their situations are even remotely similar. Just cause the chains are the same doesn't mean the users are. EDIT: Ima say this before people act like I excuse this. No, I am not excusing Alastor's actions. I am pointing out what happened on screen. Husk mocked Alastor, Alastor retaliated out of anger(much like how Angel retaliated at Husk in ep 4 after Husk kept arguing and mocking him) by pulling out the chains to shut him up. He didn't even hit Husk. Again, I'm not excusing it, just pointing out how vastly different Husk and Angel's situations are and how one overlord reacts compared to the other....who is a straight-up rapist.

-Both the songs are mid/ok but pulled down by the awful storytelling....shame. I at first was not fond of Lucifer's voice.....it's ok now, I guess. Idk. I'm still not really feeling it, though.

Episode sucked ass

Pacing was all over the place

ALASTOR AND LUCIFER ARE PISS BABIES

#hazbin hotel criticism #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin critical #hazbin critique #Hazbin Hotel episode 5 #vivziepop critical #vivziepop criticism

[paperclipninja]

I can't believe I forgot one of the most significant moments (imo) when I was mulling over duality etc here, and that is when Crowley goes up to Heaven to try and figure out what's going on. Actually, it's more than just multiple layers of truth. Yes there are a couple of truths at play, but as an audience we are given SO much information in this scene that it's almost hard to take it all in so I'm going to try and lay it out.

Here is what we learn in the whole scene:

Crowley knows that Muriel is a scrivener, including that they're 37th class. How?? Up until Crowley tricking Muriel into taking him to Heaven, there'd been no conversation about their angelic status

Crowley has a solid understanding of the way Heaven works and how to get around it (bees/once you're in, that they never change passwords etc)

Crowley has access to high level files

Saraqael seems to have a fondness? towards Crowley and allows him to view the trial, let's him know what happened and tells Muriel off but also not really

We get all the info about Gabriel and what happened

That Heaven wipes memories when demoting angels

When the alarm goes off because Aziraphale uses his halo, Crowley declares 'let's get back there' and directs Saraqael, 'you too' and they follow without question (though Crowley's original plan may have been to go and get Heavenly reinforcement but still, interesting the way he takes control and they just listen)

So the overarching duality in this scene - yes it is hilarious, the way Crowley gets Muriel to take him to Heaven in the first place and of course this whole situation:

but it's also an incredible act of love.

The entire season establishes unmistakably that Crowley has some very real trauma from his experience of being in Heaven as Aziraphale and cast into the hellfire, highlighted through his reactions to JimGabriel. Not to mention his history with Heaven and all that.

So in trying to come up with a solution to the demons attacking the bookshop, knowing that Heaven no longer have any real interest in helping Aziraphale, he willingly goes up there, the place he has made his feelings about very clear, to try and find some answers.

Yes this is a demonstration of Crowley's love for Aziraphale but it's also a demonstration of his love of humans and humanity. He puts aside his own feelings, takes a real risk (because he couldn't have known how any of the senior angels might respond to him being there...could he? Or what if the Metatron had seen him there? That's another pondering for another day...) and goes to the one place he has outright said he doesn't want to go back to, just to try and find a way to protect the humans and help Aziraphale.

THIS, to me, is the entire crux of where this is all heading. It's exactly the same reason Aziraphale gets in that lift. At the end of the day, Crowley and Aziraphale love humanity and want to protect it, even if it means risking themselves.

The multiple truths of this scene actually create a distraction I think. The humour of Crowley's outfit and little prancy toes make us think this is a light and funny moment, while we're also delighted by his subversion of Heavens 'rules' and processes and the revelations about Gabriel. It is both funny and informative. It does give us hints about Crowley's past while moving the current story forward.

But I think it's easy to miss the actions here, and that is that Crowley, who was cast out of Heaven, witnessed the ease with which they continue to cast angels into hellfire, saw the callousness of the Supreme Archangel as he condemned his best friend to no longer exist, put aside all he's witnessed and experienced because of love.

This is a love story. The love story of an angel and a demon, yes, but the love story of two entities, hereditary enemies, who fall in love with humanity and whose love for one another will give them the strength to protect it. At least, that's my take on it anyway :)

#good omens #good omens meta #crowley #aziraphale #I just have a lot of feelings right now #aziracrow #this is a love story

[boots-with-the-fur-club]

DONNIE’S TURN

TW for sensory type stuff and blood. Check the tags as well!

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@phoebepheebsphibs

@daboyau

@littlemissartemisia

@foxolotlfreak

@that0n3shr00mi3guy

Donnie sends weapon after weapon at the hand. It reminds him of a cockroach with its uncanny ability to dodge and survive. He considers the thought that like the bug, this hand was cut off something more powerful as an attempt to keep surviving.

He has to divert those thoughts. One wrong move and he’s spored all over again. Hopefully this has been enough time to give the universe’s new Phonora guest time to escape.

Maybe now is the time for him to get going as well.

Or, it would be, if more people didn’t start walking around!

Hold on, he recognizes one of them. It’s the Mikey who tried to steal from Leo’s Fanny Pack. There’s an alternative Donnie he sees with him that must be from the same universe. He’s aware that they’ve had to deal with the hallucinations as well.

Wait, is that also a mutated April!?

Mikey must have sent out help looking for Leo.

“You three! Get out of here! That hand is still in the area!”

He watches as the hand suddenly springs out at them. The other version of him shields his brother, and Mayhem April moves in front of them both.

No, this is not happening to them again.

That Mikey is small. Even in comparison to other Mikeys, he’s small. Malnutrition stunted his and that other Leo’s growth.

He’s too small to go through this again.

And, though he won’t admit it outright for no good reason, seeing another April further enforces his decision.

He creates and tosses a device at them. It becomes a shield type bubble around the three. The hand slaps against it and slides down.

Donnie smirks in pride.

Not this time, you demon.

The hand lands on the floor and turns back to him.

Uh oh.

Donnie whips around his tech bō, hoping to hit it back when it inevitably comes after him. He takes a step back, only for the floor to sink beneath his foot.

Are you kidding!?

How is a hand smart enough for booby traps!?

Darts carrying spores whiz by him, spraying in his face. He coughs and sputters.

“April! Mikey! Other me! Go back to Mikey! Make sure he’s safe!”

April’s face falling tells him all he needs to know.

He grips his tech bō tighter.

“Then get Raph! Warn him!”

“We’ll get you help! I swear!” April shouts.

They all try to get the ball moving somehow while in the cramped space. Donnie takes a breath, glad that he’s managed to save them at least.

“You’ve come back.” A voice squirms into his brain.

Donnie gets a full body shudder.

So this is what it’s decided to make him think about this time.

“Perhaps we were too hasty to remove you last time. Join us once again, we’ll put your mind to good use.”

The Kraang hive mind.

He takes a deep breath.

They’re long gone. It’s okay. He’ll never have to feel that way again-

OH BANANA PANCAKES, WHAT IS TAKING OFF HIS BATTLE SHELL!?

He moves around as quickly as possible to stop the sensation. His eyes avoid where he left the others. He’s hoping they aren’t watching him lose his mind.

There still some level of pride he’d like to keep.

Or maybe….he just really, really, that’s two reallys, doesn’t want a Mikey and April specifically to see this.

His movements don’t quell his feeling of vulnerability. The battle shell is fully taken away and tendrils start poking into his soft shell.

There’s no way to move from whatever was doing this. It’s a hallucination, of course he can’t.

It’s everywhere.

He’s unable to ignore how well it’s replicating the worst thing he’s ever experienced.

His arms start to feel-

No! Why is it in his arms!?

That did not happen!

No, no no no, it’s in his legs!

It’s all over!

He moves around like a madman, as if they’ll leave his body if he does so enough. It’s taking all his strength not to scratch into his skin to make it end.

His breathing grows heavy, he squeezes his arms tightly enough for his nails to dig into them.

On the verge of shutting down, his thoughts go back to how being the ship felt. It was so much, flooding his senses as he was surrounded by feelings and touch and voices.

The same happens to him now. Being pulled away from reality into a sea of endless consciousnesses where you don’t know where you begin and end. You just exist within everything.

It’s suffocating.

He gets on his knees and rocks back and forth. It’s a useless attempt to self soothe. How could it possibly help?

Why can’t it just go away!?

I hurts!

He doesn’t want to feel it!

Make it stop! Please!

Anyone!

Leo! Raph! Mikey!

Oh Mikey……

What a poor excuse of an older brother he is.

Leo is probably in an as bad or even worse situation than Mikey is based on how long he’s been gone. He has no idea where Raph is.

Why did they separate!?

They should never leave each other’s side again at this point!

He wants to see them so badly….

A small, tiny part of him wishes the other versions of his family were still here.

Would the spores even let him see the real them?

He’d probably see them dead or missing pieces or something equally as horrible.

Does he dare look?

He pulls himself out of the grip of the hallucination just enough to take that chance.

The other Mikey is sobbing, beating his fist on the inside of the ball. April and the other Donnie are mostly successfully holding him back but he keeps wriggling away.

He’s….yelling his name?

Why does he care? He’s not his Donnie.

Maybe for the same reason Donnie protected them all.

Ah, sentimentality. It’s the folly of all of them, and most versions it seems like.

He shakily reaches up but doesn’t dare even think about getting rid of the bubble. There’s danger all around. It’s the only thing keeping them safe.

The other Mikey presses his face against the inside of the bubble.

Donnie smiles slightly.

“It’s okay.”

“No! It’s not okay! Donnie, do something! Please!” Mikey pleads.

“How!? We can’t get out of this bubble! I don’t even know how his device works!” The other Donnie insists.

Mikey gives him as big of puppy dog eyes as he can manage.

“Even your cutest face can’t change reality! He probably doesn’t even want us to try anything. You know why he did this.” Other Donnie continues.

Mikey looks back at the spored Donnie.

His eyes were filled with purple light that had begun changing to a very creepy blue. It hurt to see him so uncomfortable, so in pain. The blue only stopped getting worse when he saw Mikey.

That means Mikey can do something, right?

He quickly turns to April.

“What happened with his Mikey? And-!….Wait, where’s Karai?”

April frowns deeply.

“He got spored, again. Karai….trapped herself with him and Leo to stop him. He went crazy! We couldn’t snap him out of it. His arms-“

Donnie hits the bubble, startling all inside.

“Did he use his ninpo again!?”

He seems a lot more lucid.

April gets an idea. It’s a very painful one she knows she won’t feel good about even if it works, but it’s all she has.

“He did! Donnie, it’s…..it’s bad. Real bad. Leo is covered up by all these viney things too!”

The blue in Donnie’s eyes is nearly vaporized by all the purple. He grips his teeth and stands up, completely ignoring the squirming from before. The feeling is starting to go away entirely.

He grips his tech bō again and sees the hand making its way out of the room. The tech bō turns into a spear he launches right towards it. Black blood drips onto the ground but the hand isn’t still.

It squirms and writhes, trying to get away.

Donnie walks over, the hand removes itself from its arm portion and runs off. He lifts it up and smirks slightly as he looks it over.

At least he knows it could be injured.

“You did it!” Mikey cheers in relief.

Donnie looks back at him, smiling a bit more before a headache suddenly starts pounding in his head.

No!

He won, didn’t he?

A different voice booms into his skull.

“Come to me. Feed me your fear.”

He’s still connected to the hive mind.

The hand scuttles off, knowing it barely escaped this time.

It doesn’t fear for the turtles’ lives as it does not have the capability of fearing anything.

That isn’t to say that it does want them dead.

It simply knows that it isn’t how this story will end.

The tragedy and angst has been so entertaining, but they will be saved. It’s proven already. It’s written in fate itself.

Three(?) down.

One to go.

#tw sensory issues #tw blood #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #no fun in fungus #2018 tmnt #rise of the tmnt #tmnt 2018 #rise fanfiction #rottmnt fanfiction #i’m getting spored now i guess

[cienie-isengardu]

[MK1] Bi-Han & Kuai Liang. Good brother? Evil brother? Nah, just different reactions to trauma, part 1

Author's note: the first part is not directly focused on Kuai Liang and Bi-Han as characters but at the worldbuilding, our knowledge about Lin Kuei and tradition that shaped Sub-Zero & Scorpion, and Liu Kang's acceptance of things as they are.

Lately it feels like Lin Kuei fandom split into either Bi-Han’s supporters or Kuai Liang’s supporters and the dispute over who is a good brother and who is not is an ongoing issue. This is greatly upsetting because both men have their share of flaws that sometimes fans exaggerate to demonize one or another. For me though, the brotherly conflict is not about who is good and who is bad, not even who is right and who is wrong, but about how two men groomed since childhood to be a living weapon deal with the trauma in totally opposite ways. As in, one is rebelling against the tradition and the other willing to uphold the system. 

With Smoke, the adoptive yet no less traumatized brother, stuck in the middle of that.

Bi-Han and Kuai Liang being survivors of a great psychological and physical abuse is the most true for previous timelines, however hear me out - just because Lin Kuei falls now under Liu Kang’s authority it does not automatically erase the possibility of both brothers experiencing things that no child should. To better illustrate my point, let’s take a moment and look at the Empress Sindel and Umgadi system. 

Sindel in general is presented as the ruler who does not seek an open conflict with Earthrealm and whom Liu Kang openly admires. As Fire Lord said himself, Sindel was destined to “rule Outworld firmly, but fairly” and it is her rule that brings peace to the otherwise conflicted Outworld

Liu Kang, story mode: Its past has been difficult. Though the last thousand years of Empress Sindel's reign have been a true golden age... the memories of that strife still linger.

and

Sindel's Bio: Her early reign marked the start of a new Golden Age.

That is what the character's Bio and the main story mode outright says or implies about Sindel. 

But then intro dialogues bring a different side of the beloved Queen. The people infected by Tarkat illness are exiled, their property confiscated by Sindel’s edict 

Kitana: When you became ill, your assets were taken? Baraka: As required by your mother's edict, Princess.

and in result forced to slowly die in poverty far away from healthy citizens. Those who sympathize with suffering infected people and won’t “report them for quarantine” are treated like criminals, as was seen when Li Mei and her men disrupted the Royal Family’s procession while leading arrested and tied up people.

The bad treatment of infected people, according to Mileena and Baraka endings, will improve thanks to the new Empress, who not only reaches a hand to suffering but would go so far to reveal her own illness to reduce social stigma against the sick. Mileena is seen as hot-headed, violent and not the best material for a Queen compared to Sindel, the supposed wise and kind ruler or even compared to her younger sister, Kitana. But it is the brash Empress that would actually make an effort to change her Empire for better.

Similar things can be said about the Umgadi system, which forces Outworld families to give up their first-born daughters for a training that will turn their children into living weapons to uphold the Royal Family’s rule

Liu Kang, story mode: Umgadi, like Tanya, are warrior priestesses... Selected from the first born daughters of Outworld. From infancy, they are trained to defend the royal family."

The daughters in question will never know their biological family or where they were born to ensure their absolute loyalty to the Royal Family, even though not every candidate will finish their training. Once they obtain the title of Umgadi, they can’t marry or be in a relationship, we have no idea if they even are paid anything for their service. So far Li Mei is the only known woman to leave Umgadi, and she did so due to the death of Sindel’s husband for which she was unfairly blamed. And again, the tie-in material implies that the change to Umgadi system will happen because of Mileena, who is willing to reform an organization that is deeply rooted in Edenian tradition, not the “kind and good” Queen Sindel. 

So just because a character is set on the Good Guys Side, it does not mean the said character is crystally good with no flaw at all or that breaking up with tradition is inherently evil, because the tradition alone is just a system of beliefs, practices or behaviors established in the past and passed down from one generation to another within a group of people or society and not a determinant of being good or bad. 

Now, the important thing - Umgadi and Lin Kuei are very similar organizations. The similarities are especially true for old timeline(s) Lin Kuei, as we have more or less idea how training adepts looked through the ages. However, what we learned through sources about Liu Kang’s version of the clan still brings a lot of parallels to Umgadi - and I think we all can agree that objective speaking, the Umgadi system is very unfair to first-born daughters and benefits only the Royal Family.

Through the story mode and intro dialogues, Liu Kang does not question the nature of the Umgadi system. Quite the opposite, the intro between Geras and Tanya suggests that Umgadi was Liu Kang’s innovation

Geras: The Umgadi was one of Liu Kang’s best innovations. Tanya: My order sprung from his mind?

A man who does not see anything wrong with enrolling little girls into never-ending servitude to the Royal Family, logically thinking, won't question the process of making Lin Kuei warriors nor the nature of their duty.

In previous timelines, Bi-Han and Kuai Liang as children were kidnapped and forced into the life of assassins by their own father (original timeline) or unspecified Lin Kuei member, presumably grandfather (alternative timeline). Their choice was to adapt to this hardship or die and so they survived and both became great warriors on their own. The fandom has been torn about their brotherhood for years, as if Bi-Han was a good brother or not. Personally, I do not think this was even a matter of one brother being inherently good and another inherently evil, as both men are the result of the abusive environment in which they grew up. And I truly can’t stress this enough - Bi-Han and Kuai Liang were survivors of great abuse and pathology more than anything else. 

Now, in Liu Kang’s timeline Bi-Han and Kuai Liang were born into a place of power, as both are sons of Grandmaster. Sub-Zero as the oldest was meant to inherit the leadership once his father would pass away, or possibly abdicate. So in theory, Fire Lord improved the living of both brothers. However, the same as the previous, both men weren’t given a choice, as Lin Kuei clan is bound to serve Earthrealm while their existence is kept in secret. 

Liu Kang said: “The Lin Kuei is a centuries old clan dedicated to Earthrealm’s defense” while Sub-Zero’s Bio adds “As the Lin Kuei's Grandmaster, Sub-Zero leads his ancient warrior clan in the defense of Earthrealm from external threats. For centuries, it has been their solemn task” and this is the tradition that will define the whole life of Bi-Han and Kuai Liang. Because they, as sons of Grandmaster, were expected to uphold and continue that service.

We do not have a full picture of how Lin Kuei daily life or training looks like in Liu Kang’s timeline, but the sources give some idea. And so we have an examples from story mode

Scorpion to Kung Lao: We're trained differently. It takes years to master our ways." 

and intro dialogues

Sub Zero: The Lin Kuei are trained from childhood.

confirming both brothers were prepared for their role as Earthrealm Defenders (Liu Kang’s Special Forces) since they were children. Scorpion’s words alone brings another vital clue, as “trained differently” is what distinguishes both brothers from Liu Kang’s chosen Champions. We could see a glimpse of that during the Lin Kuei mission in Ying Fortress, as both Sub-Zero and Scorpion did not hesitate to kill their enemy and Kuai Liang’s “fit of rage” illustrates well how brutal Lin Kuei can be in a fight.

As story mode and intro dialogues point out, Lin Kuei weren’t trained for the glorious yet honorable Mortal Kombat Tournament, as members of this clan have never been chosen to represent Earthrealm

Kitana: Why are Lin Kuei never Earthrealm champions? Sub-Zero: So that Outworld doesn't lose every tournament.

but they were trained to eliminate any threat to Earthrealm’s safety, be it by killing or capturing those whose activity concerned Liu Kang. As could be seen with the Lin Kuei brothers mission to capture Shang Tsung.

Intro dialogue Sub-Zero vs Reiko adds another detail about process of making Lin Kuei warriors:

Sub-Zero: To kill, one must be cold-blooded. Reiko: My veins are as iced as yours, Sub-Zero.

Thus we may assume Lin Kuei training was not just about a physical aspect but psychological one as well. Both brothers were prepared from childhood to kill - while that was never demanded from Earthrealm Champions. In story mode Liu Kang said:

“No tournament participant has ever been grievously injured or killed."

and

“I would never send my champions unwittingly into mortal kombat."

so I assume the reason Liu Kang send his Champions to search for Shang Tsung was A) threat of the sorcerer that wasn’t supposed to learn magic in the first place and B) they were in Outworld, so he couldn’t call for Lin Kuei without Sindel’s knowledge.

Another detail about Lin Kuei comes from Scorpion vs Nitara intro dialogue

Nitara: Had you ever known hunger, you wouldn't judge us. Scorpion: I have, and I will.

and though we don’t have an idea if Kuai Liang was forced to endure hunger due to training - as happened in old version of Lin Kuei according to Mortal Kombat novel by Jeff Rovin:

 Many young people died during training: some could not hold their breath for five minutes and drowned, others weren’t fast enough to avoid the weapons of the masters, some starved or froze or dehydrated when they were stranded, naked, in deserts or on mountaintops and told to make their way home. But those who survived were the Lin Kuei.

Or was that a reference to economic problems of Scorpion’s clan, which at some point faced so great famine that it touched even the son(s) of the ruling family. Whatever the case, it gives us a sense of hardship endured by Lin Kuei members.

This leads us to another detail - father’s teaching (tradition) mentioned by Kuai Liang and Tomas through the story mode:

Kuai Liang: Glory? We fight for duty.

and

Tomas: Our clan doesn't govern. It serves.

while intro dialogues adds

Raiden: The Lin Kuei won't be allowed to govern. Sub-Zero: We will not be frozen out, Raiden.

Furthermore it is important to note that every Liu Kang’s Champion had their own life outside the fighting - Johnny was an actor, Kung Lao and Raiden were farmers, Kenshi was Yakuza on path to redemption and saving his clan. Lin Kuei? Not so much, as Bi-Han’s Bio points out Sub-Zero leads his ancient warrior clan in the defense of Earthrealm from external threats. For centuries, it has been their solemn task. 

After the Tournament, the Champions easily will return to their life - in the case of Johnny, benefit greatly by making his own movies based on the events, while the Lin Kuei would come back to the never ending training in preparation to defend Earthrealm and repeating the cycle by pushing their children into the same service. And it would go like that for generations, if not for the Titan Shang Tsung’s meddling that interrupted the “natural” order of things.

Let’s establish another thing - namely Lin Kuei duty in recent centuries.

Sub-Zero’s Bio suggest the Earthrealm hasn’t be threatened in generations:

But Earthrealm hasn’t been threatened in generations, and Sub-Zero sees no point in limiting his clan to preparing for dangers that may never come. Under his leadership, the Lin Kuei will come out of the shadows and fight for its place as one of Earthrealm’s great nations.

This lack of need to dispatch Lin Kuei to eliminate threat is supported by intro dialogues:

Reptile: The battle against the sorcerers was your first real fight. Smoke: It was a baptism by fire, Syzoth.

and

Kenshi: How is it you haven't been to Outworld? Scorpion: Earthrealm's defense has never required it.

However Bi-Han alone suggest something else:

Story mode: After years of idleness, it pleases me to again face kombat."

And so do the information about their mother:

Sindel: Both your parents were excellent fighters. Scorpion: I can only hope to live up to their example.

Sindel in another intro says, she knew the previous Grandmaster 

Sindel: I knew your father. He was a great man. Sub-Zero: Yet he never understood the Lin Kuei's potential.

So I think it is safe to assume Sindel was familiar enough with Bi-Han and Kuai Liang’s mother to praise her skills and is not just praising her out of politeness. But the thing is, Kitana’s intro confirms the Lin Kuei warriors weren’t chosen for the Mortal Kombat Tournament, so how did Sindel know if their mother was an excellent fighter? That to me suggests she either witnessed it outside the Tournament or it was reported to her and the latter may imply Bi-Han’s mother took part in eliminating the threat on Liu Kang’s order, maybe even in Outworld. We know from source material that Outworlders do not tolerate Earthrealm’s unauthorized activity on their land. However in the story mode alone, Sindel herself admitted that Liu Kang’s “interventions have kept Outworld at peace for centuries”

while the vast tie-in material agrees that Sindel’s Court is full of intrigues and dangers - both to the Queen and her daughters. So, if Liu Kang is a close friend of King Jerrod and Queen Sindel, it doesn’t feel that far stretched to think Lin Kuei could be dispatched to ensure the Royal Family's - and in greater perspective - Earthrealm’s safety.

Now, if there was no need for Lin Kuei service in the latest generations, why a woman

considered to be an excellent fighter - thus presumably in great shape

who also happens to be wife of Grandmaster - thus presumably having access to the best medical care the clan could offer

died in some unspecified time before main story happened? That doesn’t sound like a natural death, as Bi-Han and Kuai Liang are what? In their 30s at the worst? Which gives the chance she was a middle-aged woman, not an old person who dies out of age. The Grandmaster alone, also an excellent fighter, died in an accident, though story mode does not tell us what kind of accident it was supposed to be. Did it happen on a hunting trip? During mission on Liu Kang’s order? 

So again, for a supposedly peaceful time, it seems like Kuai Liang and Tomas are those who did not have much part in Lin Kuei activity - in contrast to Bi-Han and presumably their parents. 

Going further, the sources claims Lin Kuei clan is dedicated to defend Earthrealm from external threats, and indeed Lin Kuei warriors fought against vampires (Nitara’s people)

Bi-Han, story mode: As a boy I heard tales of battles against your kind. I had thought them tall ones.

and apparently their might is know in Outworld

General Shao: Finally, the chance to test the Lin Kuei's mettle. Sub-Zero: It will end with your humiliation.

However Lin Kuei apparently took part in solving the internal problems too, if Sub-Zero vs Kenshi dialogue is something to go by:

Kenshi: My ancestors say they've tangled with yours. Sub-Zero: Has it occurred to you to ask them why?

For a quick summary, through the sources, we learn that Lin Kuei:

were meant to serve, not govern

trained from childhood not just to be an excellent fighters but to be capable of killing

do not have a life outside their duty the way Earthrealm Champions do

endured hardship (hunger)

each generation is trained to perform their duty

and presumably, even in supposedly peaceful times, the fighters may not survive to an old age nor die in a natural way (the fate of mother and Grandmaster).

So I think that objectively speaking, we can agree that Lin Kuei does not benefit much from its service to Earthrealm, while Liu Kang got an excellent Special Forces that kept Earthrealm safe for centuries.

[Next part] Bi-Han and Kuai Liang and how Lin Kuei training affected who they are.

#mortal kombat #lin kuei #kuai liang #bi han #sub zero #scorpion #liu kang #sindel #umgadi #sorry for the introduction to worldbuilding through sindel and umgadi but this is the best example #why characters being on good side shouldn't mean they have never wronged others #and why being a lin kuei is not an easy thing #even in liu kang's timeline

[tumblingxelian]

So @matt0044 tagged me in a good post discussing some of the massive double standards experienced by women in media. In brief:

Men are allowed to be unlikable and even the fucking worst and will get mountains of meta about their emotional complexity and goodness.

In contrast, a woman cant so much as turn down a man she's not interested in, or be negatively impacted by trauma without being demonized.

Unsurprisingly a lot of this plays into RWDE's "Critique" of RWBY. IE, how they'll ignore Qrow and Jaune outright assaulting Oscar, but insist Yang attacked him because she was angry at Ozpin.

It also made me think of a recent 'complaint' regarding the excellent Sousou No Frieren. After the introduction of third main character Stark, someone said:

"To bad the author forgets about him after this."

Which flabbergasted me, as I knew the very next episode/chapter were were gonna get more of his backstory, motives ad emotional depth. I also knew of upcoming battles where he's every bit as much of a major character as fellow MC Fern. Let alone more stuff to come regarding backstory and old foes ETC.

But then it hit me.

Stark isn't somehow getting less attention than the women in the cast, he's getting the same amount. But to this person, this was him being forgotten about and maligned, because he was on the same playing field focus wise as women.

Which is rather akin to how most men perceive women as talking too much or over them if they speak the same amount.

Which also ties back into RWBY and how a lot of RWDE flip out about a female centric show... Focusing on women, and not their favorite male projection character who wasn't even advertised as an MC.

#RWBY #Sousou No Frieren #media #Sexism

[majoliish]

Ok… so here me out…

The main cast x royal reader.

Omg yes I love this idea!! I imagine the Devildom is smaller than the human world in terms of sheer numbers (think millions vs billions) so the demons kind of assume you’re more widely known/a bigger deal than you actually are. 

I had a lot of fun working with this prompt (especially for Diavolo, there's just something about the idea of him connecting with someone else who is royalty that charms me)

Main cast x royal!reader (gender neutral, referred to as ‘you’) !!

Lucifer - He employs a pretty decent amount of respect towards you, though won’t hesitate to make it known that you shouldn’t expect to have the same luxuries in the Devildom that you did back in the human world. He may ask the occasional polite question regarding it all, but won’t go out of his way to question you. He acts with a mild distaste if you try to pull rank or do anything that normally wouldn’t be acceptable within polite society - he won’t hesitate to scold you or remind you of how he thinks royalty ‘should’ act.

Mammon - He mostly cares about the money, jewels, and your previous lavish lifestyle. He’ll ask a million questions, but all of them somehow circle back to those three things. He takes it upon himself to become a ‘butler’ of sorts, but in reality that’s just him making up excuses to give others orders that he’s come up with and demand things that he wants under the guise of it being for you. He does think it’s pretty cool though, and secretly sort of looks up to you because of it. He may also kick up quite a fuss if anyone dares to look down on you in any way.

Leviathan - Totally freaks out upon finding out. Kind of trips up over himself a lot and uses a bunch of weird (and a lot of irrelevant or out of date) titles for you, bows and natters away at you until he catches himself and gets super flustered. His self deprecation is kind of bumped up a notch thanks to this - he’s always saying things about how he’s not worthy of being in your presence and so on. You’ll also get compared to just about every royal fictional character he knows whenever you so much as breathe.

Satan - He’s kind of weird about the idea at first, almost to the point of being outright rude to you - he’s unsure of how to act and covers that up with his usual surly demeanour. It takes some time and work to break his hard outer shell, but once he’s got it through his thick skull that you’re not at all as bad as he assumed you’d be, his interest is piqued. He has lots of questions about the inner workings of royalty in the human world, and wants to know all about the intricacies of your family and their various dealings.

Asmodeus - He thinks it’s a super attractive quality in a person, and is immediately all over you, asking all sorts of questions about what kind of luxuries you experienced back home, how strict the rules were, that kind of thing. He’s just fascinated to know about the lavish life you must’ve lived back home, and also really wants to hear about any deep family gossip. His outfit and accessory choices when he’s shopping for you will also be tailored especially with your status  in mind.

Beelzebub - It’s all pretty much the same to him, really. His only real interest might be in what kinds of food you got to eat, the big meals you must’ve had, being royalty and all. He doesn’t treat you any differently than he would if you weren’t royalty, he’s a pretty straightforward demon for the most part. 

Belphegor - He’s a little apprehensive of it at first - he expects you to be stuck up, full of yourself and not willing to listen to others (much like a certain someone else he knows), so he keeps his distance at first. It’s a pleasant surprise for him to realise that you’re far more down-to-earth than he expected. He’s pretty quiet and shy around you at first, but as time goes on he seems to open up and may even ask you questions about your rank and lifestyle.

Diavolo - He feels a special kind of connection with you from day one - he takes solace in the fact that you must’ve been through a lot of the same struggles he has and seeks to have you as one of his best friends/confidants. Though the vast population difference between the human realm and the Devildom isn’t quite something he understands, he kind of assumes that just because you’re royalty, you must have control over a large swath of the human world, with millions of subjects under your immediate command. Regardless of that, he’s really interested to hear about every detail in which your status differs from his, and will often try to pull you aside for a conversation about it - his curiosity is insatiable.

Barbatos - He defers to you in a way that’s almost comparable to how he treats Diavolo (though of course he gets priority). He’s polite almost to the point of infuriating, always waiting on you and trying to anticipate your needs before you’ve even recognised them in the first place. He fusses and preens and may sometimes even pass light judgements on things that you wear, say or do, ‘wondering’ aloud at whether certain actions would be seen as proper for human royalty, since they’re not for demons. It comes across as passive-aggressive, but he is one hundred percent sincere about it.

Simeon - He’s sort of nonchalant about your royal status - not in a rude way, but it tends to be an aspect of you that he might playfully poke fun at every now and then. It’s a point of mild interest to him, and for the sake of knowledge he’ll ask you occasional questions about things he’s curious about, and may even ask if he might be allowed to visit you some time. Though, he may get a little snippy if he thinks that someone isn’t showing you the appropriate amount of respect.

Luke - He’s not entirely sure how he should be acting around you, and thus tends to subconsciously mimic the actions of those he looks up to. It’s almost funny, watching him cycle through the behaviours of Simeon, Lucifer, Solomon, Barbatos and Beelzebub (sometimes all in one conversation), trying to get a grasp on how best to approach and speak to you. He’ll just keep doing this until you address it with him directly. When reassured (multiple times) that he’s free to act however he likes around you, he’s closer to his normal self, with his usual sense of wonderment and excitement, asking you lots of questions to try and understand you better.

Solomon - Somehow, he knows more about your family, lineage, alliances and inner political workings than you do. It’s almost uncanny, the amount of information he seemingly just has on hand about you, and it can be very off putting when someone asks you an innocent question about an ancestor of yours, only for Solomon to come swooping in with all the answers they’re looking for and then some. He doesn’t often directly ask you any questions, unless there’s a specific gap in his knowledge that he hasn’t been able to fill, so the questions he does ask get almost freakishly specific.

Please don't repost, steal, copy or otherwise plagiarise my writing! I do not consent for my works to be translated and posted elsewhere, or used to teach bots!

#my writing #obey me #obey me x reader #obey me writing #om! #om! barbatos #om! satan #om! asmodeus #om! diavolo #om! lucifer #om! solomon #om! luke #om! leviathan #om! simeon #om! beelzebub #om! belphegor #barbatos #barbatos x reader #lucifer #lucifer x reader #obey me fluff #satan x reader #asmodeus x reader #solomon x reader #simeon x reader #beelzebub x reader #belphegor x reader #luke x reader #mammon x reader #royal!reader

[theinfernalsanctuary]

Let's talk about religious psychosis for a minute.

For those of you who don't know, religious psychosis is a mental condition that causes somebody to believe that their hallucinations (both audio and visual) and their ideas that are coming out of this manic state are actually the word of a God or some sort of Deity. This can be really dangerous in any religion, and it's incredibly common in both christianity and satanism because it's so hard to tell the difference between somebody who is experiencing religious psychosis and somebody who is actually had a religious experience.

This is why it's so important that people pay attention to what they are looking at online and who they are talking to online, you never know if the person behind the screen that is telling you all of this information is experiencing some form of religious psychosis. Many people who are experiencing some sort of religious psychosis also have delusions of grandeur. These people tend to place themselves into a higher seat of power, calling themselves a high priestess or a high priest, calling themselves a profit calling themselves the messiah, ect. They aren't doing it on purpose, it just so happens that this is what their hallucinations are telling them, it's not outright malicious. That's not to say that it cannot cause people to do some horrendous things. I mean, we've all heard the cliche of "God told me to" or the "devil told me to." This is where that comes from.

Unfortunately, someone who is actually suffering from religious psychosis will not be willing to seek help, nor will they respond well to being pushed into seeking help because they don't believe that what's happening is bad, they think that this is their god trying to reach out to them. It's really important not to push these people too far but also to not feed into these delusions.

I say it's hard to tell the difference between somebody who is experiencing religious psychosis and somebody who isn't, but there is one tell all, they tend to be much more grandiose about literally everything. Think the crazy mega churches in the southern United States, but then change it so that they DON'T know that everything that they're telling their congregation is bogus, imagine if they actually wanted to help and believe everything they say but still churned out more extremists the way they already do. This is one of the many ways that cults can start because not everything that they say is something super out there and obvious, and if the wrong person sees the right post and thinks that this person knows what they're talking about, there's a high potential that they'll start to overlook red flags. This won't necessarily cause others to experience religious psychosis, though it can happen, more often the people who are following the original person with religious psychosis are not experiencing any hallucinations themselves, but are brainwashed into the hope that if they follow what they're told that they will either be given special treatment in the afterlife or that they may start to experience what we know to be hallucinations themselves.

Please be very careful if you believe that you are dealing with someone who is experiencing religious psychosis, they are not trying to cause problems or harm, they are sick. I bring this up now because the solar eclipse is coming up and there are a bunch of people online right now talking about how it's going to be the rapture or how you'll be able to see the faces of angels/demons if you look up at the eclipse while you're in the path of totality (the strip of land that the sun passes over where the eclipse is the most complete.) None of that is true, please be safe when viewing the eclipse and when interacting with others on the internet.

Ave Satanas!

#hail satan #theistic satanism #satanism #satan #satanic #theistic luciferianism #ave satanas #the infernal gospel #the infernal circle #the satanic philosopher #religious psychosis

[nonbinarypirat]

Hiii I love your Iruma-kun analyses!! And since you're open to questions I wanted to ask, what do you think about Kirio and his relationship with Iruma and his ambitions?

damn, i knew someone would ask this LOL. im going to try my hardest to answer this but full disclosure, i have autism and for me, kiriro is a very difficult character to understand because of his morals (or lack there of?) and personality. For me, it's hard to understand people/characters that don't seem to be fully truthful. He's not a fav of mine (im sorry, i know people like him but i can't fully get into him at this moment. maybe if we see him interact more with baal's group.). So i'll try my best! (also i hope yall are ok with frequent posting, i am currently on winter break from college so i have nothing better to do but hyperfixate on this series lol)

Okay, so I think kirio is deeply in love and lust with iruma. I think it's farily obvious he is deeply interested in seeing iruma's "look of despair" in a attracted way, the manga calls him out for being a pervert about it. For Kiriro, Iruma is one of the first characters (besides his childhood friend of course) to ever really be nice to him. He was a friend to him and even if he wasn't being fully truthful with Iruma (like about his true motivations to getting rid of ranks) he did trust iruma with deeply personal information about himself. I think from there is where the obessesion began. Because then, he started to seeing them as kindred spirits who (similarly) went through deeply traumatic experiences in their childhoods, weaker than most, and similar personalities. For the first time, it was like he was being seen by someone (outside of baal). And I think he grew unheathilty attached to that idea of having someone so like him.

That's why I think wanting Iruma see his friends die in front of him was such a big deal for Kiriro. I said this in a different post, but the six fingers operate under the belief that people will all fall to their more primitive selves with the right push. And i think Kiriro wanted that from iruma. he wanted somone even more like him, so deeply intertwined with his experiences. Kiriro's childhood can not be understated, that shit was fucked up. And in turn that fucked him up. Not to say that he couldn't have become the way he is now without his childhood (yes i know, nature vs nurture), but I think the trauma plays a major role in this. He experienced something his brain wasn't able to understand at the time (friend being really heartbroken about the necklace + blaming himself) and according to him, THAT was when he started to long for despair. From there, he wanted another person he perceives as like him to also experience something fucked up so they'll cast away morals too, there by solidifying Iruma's place with Kiriro. Forever fucked up together

Iruma outright rejects that and Kiriro's whole world view is destroyed. Why was this person he considered an equal, a comrad, denying his "affection." His way of making sure they could be together. Kiriro projected too much of himself onto Iruma and by doing so, ignored the things that made them so different from each other fundamentally. And Iruma did the same thing to Kiriro. But Kiriro can't give up Iruma just like Iruma can't give up Kiriro. They want the other in their life but think about the world too differently. So in order to stay together, they both want the other to change, believe their way of thinking and being is better. In this way, I can understand why people ship them together even if I don't. Sort of like a tragic love

What i find interesting is that Kiriro seems to have found his space. He found the connection he was looking for. He is honestly himself (in all his fucked up glory), jokes about his pervertedness, and seems happy. But he can't get rid of the idea of Iruma coming to him. I mean, I don't blame him. It's poetically beautiful how much Kiriro is unapologetically a demon and Iruma is unapologetically a human. At odds but so alike. I think in his own messed up way, the idea of eating iruma is a way of keeping iruma always with him because he now sees he can't force iruma to bend to his ways. And he wants iruma the only way he thinks he can have him. But in the end, even this would end in tragedy.

There isn't really a happy ending to this i believe where all parties are happy. Because if iruma gets his way, ok cool. but kiriro is (at least by this point) too far gone in his belief about demon origins. Kiriro could never be happy, he would need to supress so much of himself for the sake of iruma. And if kiriro gets his way, ok cool. But now he no longer has iruma as an "enemy." the person he felt most alike and connected to is now gone. And I imagine he would just feel empty about that because shit, now he's truly gone and i have nothing else besides the memories

As for his ambitions, I honestly don't understand them besides the iruma part. It feels very, the world hurt me and now i want to see the world hurt too which has been cultivated with his trauma. sorry i can't discuss that part much but thats as far as my autism will grasp. hope you liked this despite that!

#iruma-kun #mairimashita! iruma kun #welcome to demon school iruma kun #m!ik #amy kirio #ami kirio #character study #character analysis #i tried my hardest lolol

[thelampisaflashlight]

Milkweed

Some tidbits and rambling about my OC Asclepias/Klee, because he's currently giving me brain rot and I have time to kill before I go to the family Christmas party. Some discussion of dissociation and trauma related memory loss below the cut as a heads up. Let's go.

-Due to the nature of his summoning/transformation into a ghoul, Klee has some memory issues -which is a fairly common side effect of combining a human vessel/soul and a demonic entity into one, singular being- and is prone to forgetting large chunks of his day if he's having a particularly bad episode.

This is the main reason Klee has to remain in the rehab, and why he was brought to the abbey in the first place, because while he is aware of the fact that he has a condition that causes these gaps, it is nonetheless upsetting, if not outright debilitating, for him to not remember what he was doing or whom he was talking to throughout the day.

Thankfully, with help, Klee has been able to go longer periods of time between episodes.

-Oftentimes, Klee can be found roaming around the small courtyard near the ghouls' den along with a few other inhabitants of the rehab, usually accompanied by either one of the siblings of sin or another ghoul, as he tends to do best when in the company of others.

-Klee has only been a ghoul for about a year or so now, and his transformation does seem to be the primary cause of his current issues, however the ministry suspects he may have endured some sort of outside trauma prior to this event that could also explain other aspects of his behavior/personality.

When discussing his life before becoming a ghoul, in regards to his human existence, Klee has expressed that "nothing worth noting" occurred during that time, though he did also feel like, deep down, that his life was "not important" or "interesting" enough to really dive into, hinting that, perhaps, he was already experiencing some sort of dissociation/withdrawal from the world around him before his transition.

-When it comes to food, Klee is not really picky about what he eats, but does lean towards more savory dishes and likes most anything with melted cheese on top, or cheese in general really.

His least favorite food is oatmeal, except for when he has a craving for it, otherwise he finds the texture off putting.

-Overall, despite being a ghoul, Klee doesn't have much of any idea about what that means for him personally, nor does he really know what the church's mission is beyond, "There is a silly man dressed like the pope, who wants people to have fun." which only adds to his overall feeling of not knowing what's going on.

And lastly;

-During the time he's allowed to roam around by himself, Klee likes to explore the abbey's grounds, in particular, he's fond of the gardens, though not overly fond of the woods as it is "a bit scary" and he worries about getting lost while out there alone.

When he's walking around independently, he likes to engage with others and tends to make friends easily.

He is fairly open about his memory problems, and usually appreciates it when people reintroduce themselves to him or start by saying, "Hey, it's -insert name-!" or "Hi, it's me, -insert name-!" because that tends to help jog his memory and help him recall previous interactions he's had with them.

However, with some people, he's able to remember them based off of vibe alone, and he's really quite proud of that, as he's able to recall how and why he knows them

This "vibe check" applies to a select amount of individuals, usually people he interacts with daily or with some regularity, but there are a few notable exceptions, such as Sister Imperator, whom he only met once and recognizes on sight for better or worse.

#lamp rambles #shitghosting #nameless ghouls #ghost band #the band ghost #ghost bc #ghost band oc #nameless ghoul oc

[blackstarchanx3new]

FSR Rambles magic 8 ball-

Here we go again, I feel the chemicals kicking in-

Ah, we've arrived at a scene I literally wanted since I read the manga so I might have some stuff to say. X'D Shadow introducing Vio to Vaati. Like I stated on the posts of these updates, it's heavily implied (And even outright stated in the German translation, thx AK for that info ^w^) Vio met with Vaati directly.

Also his "I can't believe I didn't notice..." line when fake Zelda turns out to be Vaati ALSO leads me to think he knew what Vaati looked like/has met him before....?

In English it's vague as hell but the Viz Translation has a few genuine flubs imo compared to what I've seen of other translations. (The German one seems super accurate from what I've heard? but that makes sense because it was directly translated from Japanese to German apparently. English gives off "interpretation not 1 to 1" vibes.)

Suffice to say: I've REALLY wanted to know how their interactions went down. X'D

Shadow feels he has some leverage with Vaati since TECHICALLY him and Vaati are equals? Even though Vaati bosses him around oof.

Because Creatures of darkness can sense fear, despite Vio putting on a blank face Shadow knows Vio's nervous and kinda tries to subdue it. (He cares aww)

He's really excited to get this out of the way so they can officially work together.

I figure he technically doesn't NEED Vaati's permission but is still getting it anyway: Because he doesn't wanna upset daddy lmfao.

Also the lines about Vaati being "Lazy" and using people: It comes up later

Vaati's entrance here was so fun to think of. Bro was napping or smth lmfao. Loved the idea of his weight being so huge it shoves giant gusts of wind as he rises.

The other 3 in FS seem surprised, I think it's supposed to be Green who shouts "SO THAT'S VAATI!?" during the fight. Already mentioned Vio's "I can't believe I didn't notice" rather than HORROR at the Eldridge monster they're about to take on??? X'D

Figured he got the terror out of the way when he MET Vaati. Because Vio is ya know, not experienced fighting DEMONS and virtually ALONE right now he is obviously shitting bricks at the sight of this huge floating eyeball demon lmao.

He also holds Shadow's hand cause it's cute and Shadow Link is the only person who could MAYBE protect him against Vaati.

I can't with eye contact so maybe I'm just a wuss but Vaati's design is so unnerving to me. X'D Also again: If you know my previous fandom work you know I love creepy/scary scenes. You'll notice I virtually always avoid making characters look AT YOU because I literally hate that so much in manga.

Especially in romance scenes I cannot stand eye contact, don't look at me look at your lover lmfao. So if a character in my comics is looking AT the audience: It's because it's meant to be uncomfortable.

Vio tries to dampen his own fears and Shadow not so casually tries to keep things smooth between them and Vaati. Talking about how great this is.

Vaati can see right through that shit though.

Vio tries to pass off his fear as just being nervous to meet someone so amazing lmfao. Stroke that ego Vio, Vaati's a sucker for that kind of thing.

Vaati wants a moment alone with the hero. X'D Shadow again is very adamant on Vio being on their side because he really thinks they are.

He in THEORY has just as much of a say as Vaati and has MORE of a say considering Vio's fate is up to him because Gannon put him in charge of that.

Which is hysterical considering he's like 14 to 15 here at minimum considering Link's old enough to drink in FSR and Link deals with the curse for 7 years tho their ages are really whatever in the flashbacks. Like the idea of Vaati and a 14 year old having the same amount of say on their evil plans is so damn funny to me lmao. Gannon thinks Vaati is as competent and useful as a literal child and that's HILARIOUS.

Vio is quick to realize Shadow's wording here and that SOMEONE is a bigger player. He assumes Gannon because that's the only name he has to go off of.

Something I noticed in the manga: Despite being Shadow's partner Shadow doesn't EXPLAIN a LOT to Vio. Vio has to ask him things lmao. I genuinely wonder if it's a trust issue thing or if it's a "he didn't ask so I didn't tell" thing. I had to be smart about this scene because Vio and Shadow don't bring up Gannon until like...WAY LATER in the timeline of them hanging out. I really try to take into consideration the timeline of the actual manga while writing in-between scenes. I'd love to do an entire rewrite of FS but I do not have the time or patience for that. X'D

Honestly the most annoying thing about writing in between scenes is just how WEIRD it is from like: a regular ass person perspective.

Like it's not natural to be like "Yeah lol Gannon, I'll wait to bring that up like a week after it was first relevant"

This is done a LOT in media. Lmao literally just experianced a scene like that in JJK volume 0. It's like for the audiences sake, always awkward and ALWAYS done for exposition, and it's ALWAYS weird from like: an actual person conversation side of things? Idk if I'm articulating this well lmao.

So Shadow was told to leave the room because Vio brings up Gannon to gain Vaati's trust and I needed a reason for Shadow and Vio not to bring up Gannon here because they do later in the manga.

But I thought it'd be clever if Vio brought up Ganon because: He's already gambling might as well use the fact he THINKS the bigger player is Ganon to his advantage.

Anyways: Shadow's still a bro and gives Vio some advice on dealing with Vaati.

The panel of Vaati's eyeball/body taking up the entire background behind Vio while he steels his mind miiiiiight have a very special place in my heart. UwU It's just so ominous.

I wanted to get across just how much of a threat Vaati is. Mans is TERRIFYING. He's also HUGE.

Vio's rightfully terrified of this thing. I really wanted to show the struggle Vio went through with this plan because it was A HUGE RISK. I feel kinda snuffed we didn't get to see Vio's struggles with this plan in the manga save a few panels of him looking guilty.

We were robbed by page restraints and I'll never forgive whoever only gave Akira 2 volumes for FSA for that, they did SO GOOD for what they had to work with though so don't think I'm dunking on them for this.

I also get the liberty of giving thought bubbles. Smth I noticed is the severe LACK of thought bubbles in FSA?

Also 1 on 1 convos but that's a whole other thing. Again, time and page restraints would be my assumed reason. Pacing in FSA was rushed so I can't really say "For pacing reasons" imo.

So we get to see inside Vio's head as he goes through this, he uses Shadow's assumptions about him here: "Admitting" he always had second thoughts and admired the darkness.

Vaati is obviously skeptical of this nonsense considering who Vio is.

Vio really hams it up.

Bringing up Gannon which surprises Vaati considering NONE of the heroes should even know about Gannon. He is purely there to distract them while Gannon gains power after all lmao.

The fact one of them KNOWS is not only surprising but kinda scary!

Vio continues to show his "faithfulness" by bowing and declaring his loyalty.

His words hit different for somebody who's been through the same shit as Vio's describing, as Vaati's eyes widen and his wings droop as Vio continues to describe how he would have been despised. If you don't know: Minish Cap manga explains Vaati worshipped the darkness and was a bit of an outcast.

Vio's mind is on one person only at this moment: Princess Zelda! :D

Vio cares about Zelda deeply as we'll continue to see through FSR.

I don't like to see it as romantic (Just because I think Vio is gay but that's a whole other thing), but he is DRAWN to her and wants to protect her no matter what, because well a LOT of reasons.

1. He's apart of Link. And this version of Link and Zelda are childhood friends and deeply care about each other. So just on a personal level he wants her to be alright

2. He's apart of the chosen hero destined forced to save hyryle.

3. I kind of like to think Zelda Gannon and Link have the Triforce in FSR at least, and it's drawn to itself. Side note: Would love for the Triforce to appear on Link/the four's hands at some point. Because I love that design motif on Links.

The moment of truth...Did his plan work? Everything is FUCKED if it didn't...

Vaati just silently stares at him as Vio dares to raise his head to meet Vaati's eye.

But Vio can't even tell if Vaati's looking at him in this moment with that thousand yard stare.

Rightfully: Vio is still shitting bricks.

Lol so that blurred word bubble is Vio stating "Lord Vaati?" but Vaati can't hear him lmao.

He's too busy wrapped up in remembering the time he grave robbed-

Jokes aside: You might have noticed smth a tad ODD about being able to see what Vaati was thinking in this moment. But this point is SO FAR from being relevant I'll just leave you to think about it.

If ya noticed it: You noticed. I'll bring it up when it's actually relevant. Which is a LONG time away.

Anyways also if you don't know: Master Elzo gives Link the hat Vaati used to be magical boy at the end of Minish Cap's manga. So Vaati's just stealing it back lmfao.

He is still a demon with magic regardless of the hat, the hat is just a symbol of his bad boy-ness.

Also the idea he "returned" to Minish Cap Link after the dude died was an idea I just could not leg go of.

I maybe have an idea for Minish Cap Link in FSR but I dunno if I'll end up going with it or WHERE. Stuff has changed in the script before so who knows.

Stealing some of Zelda's light force forever fucked Vaati's mind and body up.

You can kinda assume what went down but the general idea is Master Elzo is fucking dead and Vaati's on a downward spiral. Link is dead because the door between the Picori and the Hylians only opens every 100 years. Also the "Using people" line: Vaati often doesn't use his own striength but uses others to achieve his goals. Ya know like a coward. X'D

Nobody ever fully trusted or accepted Vaati after what he did in the events of the Minish Cap manga. Sooooo.

Bro turns back to the dark side.

That's the only thing I could think of after seeing he was "Good" at the end of Minish cap manga I was like "????????" after reading FSA first. X'D

Like did he just wake up one day and decide to be evil again lmfao.

The Zelda manga's reference themselves so I'm under the impression they're all SOMEWHAT connected. SO like- WHAT'S VAATI'S DEAL???

Presumably after this he went on to do the events in the story told at the start of the FS Manga: where he fights the first incarnation of the four hero.

Which holy shit I'd also like to dive into buuuuut mmghhh- It's wild to me OUR Link from FS manga is the SECOND bitch to do this. Like MMHH So interesting to me...

Insanity aside this is my explanation for "Good" Vaati. He just reverted. Like a lot of people would under that scenario.

Lol looking at the same face he did years ago. That must be weird.

Vaati kinda felt a kin-ship with the purple hero cause...YOU KNOW. EVERYTHING I STATED BEFORE THIS. XD

He's a Link-

He's caught off guard by all this so is just kinda like "Oh...Yeah sure you're a part of the team yeah... Yeah...Whatever" Vio broke Vaati by appealing to his trauma lmao.

Shadow spying on if Vio's okay is very funny to me. Dude's worried about his new friend.

Shadow nervously walking up to Vaati after being caught spying is very funny to me. Bro was just keeping an eye on his new Boyfriend. UwU

Vaati asks for Vio's unput well: Because he was on the Four Hero team at one point lol. If he IS evil getting his opinion is a good route to take.

Which he doesn't fully believe considering he's still sus of Vio but doesn't feel like arguing with Shadow, who is the equivalent to his boss's entitled bratty kid.

Vio of course gets leverage to go to Death Mountain, because he's holding onto the idea he MIGHT be able to regroup.

Vaati's still distracted as fuck from the state of his expression. X'D Like he's kinda just, repeating himself/out of it.

Shadow's just like "Yeah yeah shut up we're great yeah yeah It's fine it's fine"

Shadow takes a moment to just walk ever so casually away from Vaati getting enough distance before showing how happy/excited he is.

I just like drawing Shadow trying to touch Vio in some way he's so starved for attention and positive interaction. Not having a bad word to breathe about Vio before the betrayal was always funny to me from the manga. He just admires this boy so much.

Like, I like showing off that "He's not really EVIL" side of Shadow link half the fandom seems to DESPISE.

Cry harder we sympathize with Shadow Link in this house. UwU

Vio's cracking under the welcoming nature a little by making a jokes, and even thinks "Man I used to be scared of this dude"

Shadow is just a little guy in love and I like that about him moving on-

Vio laughs at his dumb joke and Shadow's like "Finally you're not a tense weirdo" X'D

Vio's coping hard lmao.

He's still just a kid during these events so it's HARD to deal with what's going on. I wanted to write him getting his cracking through because how normal he acts in the events of the manga leads me to think he steeled himself overtime.

Laughing his ass off before going into a state of pure raw emotion of "Holy shit I could have just died" comes off as jarring and unnerving.

Shadow can tell SOMETHING's wrong but guesses the cause wrong.

Shadow assumes Vio's having a difficulty with the heat.

This goes off of TOTK/BOTW logic where sapphires ward off heat because I think that's awesome.

If I were rewrighting FSA I'd have him give Vio a different outfit or smth like that.

I DO love the sapphire specifically though because um: Anyone remember what the Zora Sapphire was in OOT?

Lmao an engagement ring- X'DDDD

From that one frame of Blue yanking out his hammer from his hat we know they store shit in there. Freakin' Link From the LOZ cartoon has a magic bag that shrinks his shit and I find that hysterical. I like to think Link's hat works similarly.

Vio's blushing and not unsubtle heart skipping is so funny to me.

If the fact Vio kissed Shadow first didn't already get ya:

Vio's in love with Shadow Link too lmao.

#FSR Rambles #four swords returns #four swords #four swords manga #four swords adventures #four swords returns au #loz fsr au

[torchickentacos]

You know what? Solidad rant time (again). GOD I WISH THEY DID MORE WITH HER. She has so much potential. Long post but I'm having a weird day and won't apologize for self indulgence /lh. Really trying to remember that this is my blog, my house, my rules, my free time, my hobbies, and you guys actually did follow me for this stuff. Anyways.

Let's take a look at what we know about Solidad. She's from Pewter city and is friends with Brock. She beat Drew in his first ever contest and accidentally made him cry about it. She does this to May, too. Canon: Solidad makes children cry /joking.

But like, that's... kind of it? She's also old friends with Harley? So, her history is almost blank, and entirely tied to other characters (Brock, Drew, Harley).

So, let's look at what we get of her on-screen. All of her pokemon are from Kanto (Lapras, Slowbro, Butterfree, Pidgeot), so are we to assume she's never been to other regions until The Johto Arc (tm)? (ALSO Johto January will be happening. Work in progress.) Or is her bond with her first home-region pokemon all she wants? She seems to be an experienced coordinator. We know she beat Drew in his first contest, so that means either Drew did contests in Kanto OR more likely, Solidad did contests in Hoenn and interestingly just didn't catch any pokemon there. Maybe she's had this same team for years and likes to stick with what works and what she knows well? I wonder how she'd keep her appeals and strategies fresh and new.

We also see that she’s very calm and patient, and can get along with anyone (Drew and Harley are her two main friends that we see on-screen. And Brock, I guess. I like to think she's like my aunt, who knows everyone. She'll be in Trader Joe's and talking to the manager about his daughter's cousin's friend's wedding that she attended).

What else do we have? Not much. She exists almost purely to explain Drew to us a bit more and to win the Grand Festival. We can take from this, though- her explaining Drew. One of the main things she says is that Drew has, quote, 'feelings' for May and, ignoring that on its own (side tangent demons, go away), we can take her actions there and extrapolate. BUT LIKE, the thing about the side tangent demons is that they're unavoidable BECAUSE SOLIDAD DOESN'T REALLY EXIST OUTSIDE OF MAY AND DREW! And Harley, I guess? But back to extrapolation, I don’t imagine Drew gave her the green light to say that, so we can assume Solidad is someone who sees HER IDEA of the best thing to do and just goes for it regardless of other opinions, or regardless of if it's even her business at all. Extrapolation: If Solidad sees somewhere she can help, she WILL help regardless of if it’s even her place to do so.

This is actually supported by the Absol scene (of which I have... opinions on)- Drew's having an anxiety attack or whatever canon wanted us to think that was (him just being mean to his pokemon? something he chides other people for? Drew, who is shown to dote on his Pokémon? Sigh. There’s in-character ways to show flaws or move the episode forward, or whatever that scene even accomplished, that aren’t just making a character be mean to their Pokémon, but TANGENT DEMONS I will get stuck on this if I don’t move on). ANYWAYS Drew’s being difficult, so what does Solidad do? She explains how he feels like he failed in front of May (arguably the single worst person to have been present for this), Ash, Brock, Max, and (unknowingly) Harley.

Now. An ounce of forethought might get you to the conclusion that when someone is anxious/agitated/having a bad time, digging into them in front of their friends (or, uh, whatever Ash, Brock, and Max are to Drew) (or whatever MAY is to Drew at this point, for that matter, though Solidad did sort of outright tell us in the previous episode) might be a bad decision that makes it worse, actually, especially when that person pointedly and intentionally decided to go be alone, away from people. But Solidad saw an opening to attempt to help and she took it, regardless of if it actually helped or made things worse. I think she’s someone who is incredibly oriented towards helping and understanding people, but in an incredibly stubborn way.

This isn’t a bad thing, though. I showed a couple more or less negative examples, but it’s a strength to be so steadfast in your morals and beliefs. I truly believe that more times than not, she WOULD be correct in how she tries to help, but it's a strength and a flaw wrapped up into one.

The thing is... I half-made this characterization of her up. I extrapolated the hell out of a couple cherry-picked scenes that supported my conclusion (Which is not how proving hypotheses should really work by the way), because there's just not much there. She was in three episodes and was mentioned in a fourth. She showed up at the VERY end of AG and existed purely for other characters or the plot.

Which, one one hand, so does Drew. He exists only around May and, semi-adjacently, Harley and Solidad. We know so little about his backstory or, well, anything. The thing is that IMO separates him from Solidad is that he appeared often enough to give a strong personality, interesting actions, and just a good, solid presence. Solidad unfortunately wasn't given time to do this. Harley is similar to Drew. Very little backstory or individual focus but enough of a general focus to leave an impression.

HAF probably helps, too.

But Solidad DID leave an impression. I know people who are shocked when they hear she ONLY showed up for the Kanto Grand Festival and that she wasn't a recurring rival. People REMEMBER and LOVE Solidad despite her shockingly underwhelming presence. I think that the gaps in memory filled in with that potential I mentioned at the beginning.

Do I have a conclusion here? No, not really. This is by no means a well thought out character essay, it's just me talking in pure, unedited stream of consciousness. I'm always looking for ways I can expand on her when we weren't given much to expand upon. I love Solidad, I really do.

But even when writing her, I notice I fall into the same pitfalls I chide canon for- having her only exist tangentially around other characters or as a supporting factor. But she deserves more than that, truly. I don't have any ideas right now, but one of these days I want to really mess with SOLIDAD. As herself. Not as an older sister figure or as a friend or as a coordinator or as a rival, but as herself, whoever that is. Because canon never showed us.

#anyways i am stressed and anxious today so i'll be indulging in rambling #coordinator solidad #taylor talks #pokeani #solidad #there's other random things i didn't fit in here too #like how she must be easy to talk to if she has DREW open up to her #either that or she can just read people and doesn't need them to talk to her. #probably both honestly #anyways tumblr isn't showing some notifs but feel free to reblog with thoughts if you want!!!!

[radiance1]

Abandonment

The scene starts with sun wukong and macaque getting into a petty argument, only to escalate further and further into a full on shouting match. Until macaque, in all his ability to piss wukong off gloriously, brings up how he abandoned him:

“Don’t macaque” Wukong said, with a very dangerous tone.(and looking back on it, maybe this is where macaque should have just left him alone) “Don’t what? Bring up how you abandoned me for some monk and his gaggle of demons?” Macaque said, with every bit of snark and anger to hide the pain he felt.

“ DO NOT ,” Wukong shouted, shaking with rage, “Talk of me abandoning you, when you yourself, abandoned me first!” Wukong finished by throwing his hands in the air. “Aband- I have NEVER abandoned you Wukong,” Macaque shouted, “You’re the one who-”.

“500 years,” Wukong said, with a slight wobble in his voice (looking back on this moment, macaque wonders if he should have taken this last chance to leave),”500 what?” Macaque looked confused as to why Wukong what say that all of a sudden, “500 years macaque, 500 years I was under that mountain” Wukong paused so he could calm himself down, unwanted images of his time under the mountain forcing itself into his mind, “And in those 500 years, I have never seen you once” Wukong said,”Well yea I was trying to lo-” “ CUT THE BULLSHIT MACAQUE ” Shouted Wukong with pure, unadulterated rage, ” YOU NEVER EVEN TRIED TO LOOK FOR ME. YOU LEFT ME THERE FOR 500 FUCKING YEARS, AND DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER TO COME AND VISIT ME ” Wukong shouted, with his rage turning into sadness, ”And y’know what, I get it, I was a terrible person back then, but you still never once, came for me”.

“ Wukong I-” Macaque started, “But you know who did come for me?” Wukong asked, ”Tripitaka, and my friends came for me. Even if all they wanted was to trick and use me, they still came for me” Wukong finished, with a somewhat bitter tone at the end. “And in all those years, the first time I EVER saw you again, you told me to go back with you,” said Wukong.

“Well of course, we were family after all!” Macaque said, as if what he said was more obvious than rabbits having a mating season. “We were ,” Wukong said,”we were a family macaque, but not anymore, not after you left me under that god forsaken mountain for 500 years” Macaque, in all his knowledge of Sun Wukong, never expected him to say such things, “And y’know what Macaque, we could have still been friends, and maybe even family again. If you didn’t turn into me and ruined all the time I spent getting them to finally accept me as a friend,”

“ They took you from me and changed you into someone you weren’t and they didn’t even notice, so that proves th- ” before Macaque could even react, he was sent flying into a nearby wall. “ WHAT THE HELL WUKONG!? ” Macaque looked up in anger, for Wukong to even dare to strike him when he told the truth. His anger turned into confusion, then confusion into concern. There Wukong stood, hand outstretched, breathing heavily, face contorted in somewhere between anger and overwhelming sadness and outright shaking. Looking more broken than Macaque has ever seen him.

“ THEY NEVER TOOK ME FROM YOU MACAQUE, AND THEY HAD TO CHANGE ME, I wasn- I wasn’t a good person back then,” Shouted wukong with his anger leaving him near the end, causing his voice to seem far smaller than usual. “ And y’know what, I will NEVER forgive you for what you did,” Wukong paused for a few moments to catch his breath. “Peaches I-” Macaque started, only to be cut off by Wukong, “ DO NOT call me that name ever again, do you know how it feels, to finally be seen as an equal and part of the family, after years of hard work and learning all that you need to, to just be accepted as an equal?”

“Listen Wukong, look-”

“DO YOU!?”

The question was met with silence from Macaque, as he had not in fact, experienced such a thing.

“That’s what I thought Macaque,” Wukong said, “A-and y’know, maybe you were right, that me and the crew weren’t as close as I thought we were, and that they were so quick to just see me as evil, even with all the good I had done, even with all the pain it took for me to learn.”  Wukong leaned into himself, folding his arms around himself in a sad excuse for a hug,” And y’know, that hurt me more than it should it have, knowing that everything I had ever done for them, could just be taken back just because some person that they didn’t even know, impersonated me, and that was enough for them to just deem me a monster again.”

Silence blanketed the area. Macaque, in all honesty, didn’t even know what to think, this wasn’t how he thought his peaches would react, and maybe past him would jump for joy, knowing that he made wukong break down and finally accepted that those people weren’t his true family. But now, Macaque isn’t quite sure this was what he wanted.

Getting up, he ever so slowly approached his peaches, trying not to somehow make this incredibly delicate situation worse and before Wukong could even react, Macaque ever so gently wrapped his arms around him, like holding the most precious thing in the world. Wukong began out-right sobbing into Macaque’s arms, whispering sorry over and over again. Macaque, in turn, began to ever so slowly rub circles into his back, an attempt to calm Wukong down and one that has worked multiple times before. Wukong’s cries turned quieter, his breath more even, until finally, Macaque noticed, he fell asleep.

‘ Well this wasn’t how I expected this to go,’ Macaque thought. But maybe he could take this chance to properly start over with his peaches? Sure there’s a long way to go until they became as good of friends as they were before, and, while this breakdown wasn’t what either of them expected, this is the starting point on their journey to being friends again.

#lmk sun wukong #lmk macaque #Shadowpeach #if you squint I guess #I guess there's angst somewhere in here #This is actually my first fic btw #so #do with that what you will

[blankd]

I find tumblr's revision of the archetypal evil of demons and "inversion" of it slightly frustrating.

There are some posts I fundamentally disagree with, not for any religious reason, merely "narrative structure".

Examples of this kind of post are "You hear of the fallen angel but never the risen demon" followed by the comments and tags bonding over shared Christian Trauma, which, my condolences to those who have experienced it, but is entirely separate from my point.

Angels are frequently cast as Supernatural Turbo Cops/Fascists oppressing minorities ~*for not conforming*~ and Demons are reduced to helpless gay babies who are misunderstood straightedge dweebs (because they have to be #relatable and #relatable cannot be flawed in any serious way, it harshes the vibes maaaan).

The "subversion" is so common that it feels like the standard. And more annoyingly, there is no intellectual challenge to it. It's watered down to the point that "Demons face oppression just because they look different :(" which spills over to clumsy race allegories that I could personally do with less of.

"But it's boring to play it straight!", I pantomime the strawman to shout, but I point out that this is tumblr, the website that chronically funnels most of its pairings into specific personalities- sieving everything through the same fandom hole. Regurgitating memes AND superimposing the characters on iconic art for optimized fandom consumption.

I would personally enjoy the earnest attempt of exploring how infinite forgiveness meets with infinite cruelty. How do you materially triumph over it? Can it even be done? Or a serious scrutiny of how a force of good could do evil, etc. without falling back on having the teams swap jerseys. Theology is a field, bring out your thesis, not cowardly AU-fanfics built off Paradise Lost.

Tumblr posts won't have this, they probably aren't interested in interrogating it. And I don't expect them to.

But I can still be bored of the ideas.

In these scenarios, it usually boils down to how God is an abusive father, Lucifer/Satan is a righteously defiant teenager, infinitely powerless and a victim, defanged of status and stripped of accountability for action. Or otherwise lionized as a rebel who should be pitied for failure in his Glorious Revolution rebellion. Because what he stood for was not anything as insidious as supremacy, but progressive equality.

Hell is tragic not because it presents what a world void of divinity and virtue looks like, but because Satan was a post-minor commie or something.

The truly maddening part is that even when I attempt to glaze over how eye-rolling this style of "subversive" writing is, I still cannot capture the exact banality of it, my fingers and brain refuse, so I won't try.

However I will point out the quirk that redemption is never courted as an idea in these revision-subversions, it is viewed as a compromise, a submission, a surrender. (Or outright decried as a forgone impossibility, so why try.)

And this vexes me as it perpetuates the idea that when a child tantrums, a parent tolerates.

It further insists that this relationship can never be more complex, nor will its dynamics ever shift.

Despite the natural demand for equality once a child becomes an adult, there is a specific group of people who quietly never want this. They may not even be aware of it. But on some level there is a realization that once they lose the excuse of being a child, they will have to make compromises, and sometimes the difficult reflection that maybe they were wrong. And that maybe they were wrong enough to face a consequence.

But that would be a compromise, an admission, a surrender.

---

Messy Preemptive Responses thing:

"I want to write about my religious trauma" with all due respect, do an autobiography, it is not worth risking burying it under metaphor

"I'm processing my trauma" with all due respect, seek therapy off of tumblr

"Demon hot, Angel hot, wartime fucking" genius work, carry on brave soldier

#blankd's blabbies

[petorahs]

wait actually the star imagery and p5 kinda goes hard even if it's not as obvious as, say, p3 and its moon imagery. as a resident sun/moon/stars/earth imagery h03 this is deeply important to me

from what i've gathered with persona 5 and its stars:

-Hoshi to Bokura to, (with the stars and us) is the final theme of vanilla p5, which sings of stars, obviously. It's essentially about joker and the PT moving on with their past pain into the next part of their lives.

Interestingly, Our Light in p5r continues the "stars representing a bright, youthful, hopeful future" theming with the lyrics:

That pain will guide me / Towards the stars of the sky that shine above me even when it's essentially a grief song lol.

-Persona 5's dancing spinoff titled "Dancing Star Night"

-P5 UI has these flashy black and white stars everywhere when you know where to look. actually theres nowhere else to look. theyre pretty out there.

also the social stats bar

-JOSE.... 😭❤️ everything about him... his shop.... him n joker sitting together underneath a blanket of stars... theyre so ☹️❤️

so far this is all pretty neat! again, i bring it up because you wouldnt think of stars when talking about persona 5. but i feel the devs definitely intended this.

these next ones are more speculatory but;

-Fallen angels like Lucifer or even satan are likened to falling stars. Fitting that the protagonist's initial persona resembles a demon, not to mention his final one outright being satan. Fallen stars are oft deemed defects but they're stars nontheless... in this way i think Joker's meant to be that very fallen star cast away from heaven?

-persona 3 is obviously moon-themed, embedded into its narrative and gameplay as it is, and it could be argued that the game following it is sun-themed too. persona 4, with its flashy yellows fits with the sun and its glory. persona 5 being star, kind of evokes the feeling of being the hopeful child brother of the two? the game was meant to be a love letter that both refreshed the formula and calling back to the series as a whole, for old and new fans alike... that leaves the earth, which pairs with star well. earth's parallel can also be heaven/sky, and p5's later parts kinda hammering down the "taking back the heavens from false gods!" narrative imagery (especially in vanilla's final boss. u be fighting angels as minibosses cmon now) it kinda tracks! so now star-heaven-sky are all synonymous to me. either way it all fits.

this all leads me to think p6 could have earth imagery, actually. if it's also going to be color-themed as green as fans are speculating, that's fitting!

maybe the social commentary this time would be "reconnecting with earth/nature" as the whole world's kinda experienced/experiencing that since the pandemic..? persona games being a product of the technological advancements of their time can also tie into that, since people depend on their devices more than ever, so maybe nature's (forceful) reclaiming can be an intriguing concept for them to explore... not that we'll know anytime soon!

#aishi.docx #persona 5 #persona 5 royal #persona #much to think about #i think i just wanted to talk about akira being star actually. he's My star you see #sending nasa akira pictures cause hes a star #also it was getting pretty long but #higumi togo (the star arcana) originally being intended as a phantom thief member kinda interesting. of all arcanas shes star #makes u think #FVURKC i meant hifumi togo** girl my bad #and kunikazu okumura's palace being a whole spaceship. i always thought it was weird since its not rly thief-heist-setting as the other but #i think the devs just really liked space and stars and wanted to include it anyway! cant fcken blame them ig except i can a litle #(its a guilty pleasure) #but yeahh letsgooo stars are cool #glad my current fav game has themes around it. catered toward me fr

[altargarden]

Demons are sweet when treated with respect and all they really want is for people not to go "oh, demon = evil" on them

okay, so i actually disagree with this! while a good chunk of demons can absolutely have the potential for good, in my opinion i believe it's very christian-esque to approach such complex spirits with the knowledge that they cannot do or be evil. it's placing a christian view of god or angels on them, and in my heart, i don't believe that's fair on the demon, and i don't think it's safe either. approaching a demon with the "love and light" mentality is harmful to practitioners (especially new ones who may not be able to differentiate beginner from experienced, more intense or outright dangerous demons), and again! what if it's entirely wrong about the demon? we don't know enough about demons as humans, even when we work with them, to make a clear judgement on their moral compass or intentions.

let me bring up my dear friend andras. if i dared call him sweet my ass would be roasted right into next week. why? because it's not accurate. he is not sweet, he is intimidating as a tiger, sharp as a knife, and just as cutting. he can bring ruin to someone's world if they so much as breathe wrong around him. if i was to call him sweet, that would be infantilising him in his eyes and it's incredibly belittling too due to the fact he demands much more than just respect. andras is not evil, no, but he is capable of evil, and that's what we need to outline. demons are not your cuddly little friends, they are like befriending a bear - they are capable of giving you love and safety, but they can also bite off your head at any given moment and it would aid you not to forget that.

so, what are they then? i like to compare a demon to a being of nature. more accurately, fire. fire sustains life, and takes life, gives warmth, and burns to a crisp. that's what demons are, not wholly good, not wholly bad. they are capable of all sorts of things for humans, positive and negative. they are complexity incarnate, but it would assist anyone to abandon the notion that they only require respect to be your uwu little itty baby monsters. i've given respect to demons and they've still managed to inject fear deep into my heart, for the fun of it. does that make me revere them less? no. i still think they're marvellous, and worthy of the utmost respect. some demons are intensely aggressive, and i have to say, that it's okay that some demons are like that. some of them cause chaos, some of them don't. to bunch all demons into one category of sweet is just... incorrect to me. it is simplifying a demon to an offensive degree to frame them as "good" or "evil."

plus, shouldn't the demons be in control of how they are seen? if they want to be seen as a little chaotic, let them. don't fit them into a label they don't want to belong in.

#bun talks #demonolatry #demon work #if u agree ur welcome to reblog this! #again nothing against the people who agreed with this anon -- i just needed to get this off my chest

[fallloverfic]

@nnayomaise replied to your post “@nnayomaise mentioned you on a post “i don't think...”:

yeah is definitely more headcanon than something explicity backed by canon, (and i highly doubt they would've said outright either) i actually didn't notice i didn't say its headcanon in there until your reply lol i personally just feel that way because what i said before and that he was essentially thrown away by his parents (seemingly without knowing why) to experience literal otherworldly horrors (demon) and to possibly die

I definitely think there is plenty of room to imagine him as having suicidal tendencies before being abandoned by the demon, particularly because of how his parents have treated him and how he might think he's lost the chance to be with someone he loves.

We know so little about any of his loved ones, that there are just a lot of questions. Does elf society disapprove of his mother having a baby with someone who seemingly wasn't her husband, or were there just awkward whispers? This is additionally fun because elves also have very low birth rates, so how does this juxtapose with "we need to keep our people alive, particularly since so many of them keep disappearing to fuck other races, and their kids can't reproduce" (so probably class and race elements are involved, and it makes me really curious about who Mithrun's biological father was). How do his parents currently think of each other? Was sending Mithrun to the Canaries a way to protect Jacinth from the same fate, and/or just a way to be rid of the awkward illegitimate son everyone kept comparing the legitimate heir to? Or was there anger there and his parents (perhaps his father) sent him off to get rid of the embarrassment? Did they want him to die or did they assume he'd do fine because of his abilities, at least in comparison to Jacinth? Did they have to send one of their kids to the Canaries and chose the one who was more likely to survive the experience? Or perhaps the one they didn't mind losing? Or was it a convenient way to get rid of one of them, and Mithrun was just shocked they didn't choose the one who looked more like the ideal of elfness? Although Jacinth's said that Mithrun is welcome at home, is that wishful thinking on his part, or actually true? As for the lover, what are they up to? Did the brother ever act on his interest? What, if anything, came of it? At what stage of relationship was Mithrun with the lover, and did they stay in contact when he went away to the Canaries, and if not, why? Lots of crunch. I've expanded on it a little in a few fics at this point, and I'm planning to do more.

I'm not sure why they wouldn't say anything about his suicidality pre-dungeon explicitly in some respect in canon, given Mithrun does admit to his later suicidality in canon (and there are lots of extras about him). That doesn't mean because it's not there it's not true, but again, I don't see any evidence for him experiencing it based on what we know prior to the dungeon. The only reason I would kind of expect it to not pop up explicitly is because Mithrun isn't as main a character as some other cast members, so he gets less screentime. It'd be cool if he gets even more expansion in the Complete Adventurer's Bible. He's in at least a couple comics there.

For me at least, it would definitely need more to it, though, because low self-esteem/inferiority complex /= suicidality. While these can be part of the psyche of someone who is suicidal and lead into those thoughts, not all people who have low self-esteem and inferiority complexes are suicidal, just like not all folks who are depressed are depressed to the point of suicide, and same with people who've been abandoned by their parents. But it's nice to imagine all kinds of stuff with him, and how these traits and experiences of his can lead down different paths :3 He's a dude capable of much crunch. And even if it doesn't fit canon, it's fun to do anyway.

#dungeon meshi spoilers #delicious in dungeon spoilers #dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #mithrun #suicidality #suicide #mental health #delicious in dungeon manga spoilers #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #manga spoilers #obviously headcanon away #to each their own headcanon #fallfthoughts