Budgie-lover Rudra

Programmer, reader, singer, movie and cartoon lover, otaku, photographer, sketcher, Bengal. He/him. AO3: Rudra_Ak_47 Reddit: u/Unequal_vector DeviantArt: UnequalVector

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Happy 30th birthday, Misaki-san!

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The Fifth Mizukage has a very underappreciated backstory.

She was the only person to have fixed a village without Naruto ex machina - and unlike Hashirama, Tobirama, Yahiko, and many more, her legacy didn't collapse.

Nagato, Obito, Sasuke - all needed Naruto's solution to make peace last.

Of those who never had the luxury to meet Naruto, only Kirigakure's peace lasted. Mei transformed the Bloody Mist into a cute mist without Danzo or Hanzo sabotaging her reign the way they unraveled Hashirama and Yahiko's legacies.

So, I wonder, what kind of strategist was she? What did she do? There are so many possibilities to tap on.

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Hercules after killing Megara and kids does twelve grueling labors as atonement on Apollo's order.

Ajax ibn Telamon after ravaging Greek tents kills himself to preserve honor and gives his weapons to his son.

Even the virtually satanic Achilles, after losing Patroclus, polluting Xanthus and dishonoring Hector, eventually listens to Priam.

Agamemnon after killing Iphigenia nearly destroys the Greek army twice over Chryseis and over Briseis. To tell you how serious that is, know that even Diomedes, famous for hurting Ares and Aphrodite without hesitation, didn't dare to double cross Apollo.

As if crossing Apollo wasn't bad enough, Ajax ibn Oleus after raping Cassandra and dooming the Greek army with Athena's wrath boasts he's immune to even Poseidon's storms.

Whatever grief Agamemnon may have felt over Iphigenia still didn't make him anywhere near the self-aware man Greater Ajax was, let alone Hercules. Agamemnon is fundamentally a man closer to Achilles and Lesser Ajax than to Diomedes, Odysseus or Greater Ajax.

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My two cents on why Snape began resenting his own best friend, Lily.

Why did Snape call his best friend a slur? Shouldn't his friend be his absolute priority?

It has a surprisingly real but obscure explanation. Snape viewed Lily as a symbol of what a good muggle-born should be. People who suffered like Snape tend to have expectations from friends. When friends "fail" to hold up to that, the disappointment can become resentment, and it's actually very possible for them to deem their friends "as bad" in a moment of fury.

The reason I know this is because I myself have at times wondered whether I would've viewed my American heroes, the likes of Joe Frazier, as perfect had he ever made any comment on Ali or Vietnam that I deemed less than perfect.

Why was Lily a disappointment to begin with? It wasn't solely over dark arts; Lily herself had several misplaced acts, one of the most overlooked but significant of which was Petunia. Lily believes that Petunia is her sister, and all family must be held at the cost of everything else. Snape is the son of an abusive father and sees no point in blood when the relationship is clearly toxic on Petunia's side. While we cannot tell that this specific incident drove Snape over the edge, we can tell that in general, Snape's and Lily's relation wasn't perfect on Lily's side either. On a side note, Lily actually affected more people than Snape by it—her own husband James was insulted by Vernon precisely because of Lily's obsession with Petunia's blood ties.

One of Dumbledore's feats of tolerance is also this: despite longing for his own family, he never guilt-trips Snape into liking students by playing any "But they're orphans" card. It might be partly because of Dumbledore's own guilt over Ariana. Either way, Snape's significantly healthier relationship is likely partly because of this.

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Magneto had three things backing his revenge up in the fandom's eyes at that moment.

Magneto had already deconstructed the inner peace argument typical against revenge. "Peace was never an option."

His opponents were Nazis, first and foremost. No widespread stance against patriarchy and toxic masculinity is a big reason revenge narratives are condemned against abusers. Most abusers get a moral justification of some sort from their audiences. Nazis' reputation, however, is completely different from typical abusers, real or fictional.

The literal Nuremberg argument playing out verbatim didn't help the anti-revenge argument either.

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Liberal Zionism: "The West Bank settlements shall not be stopped. Nor will I leave Israel's safety to chances."

The rest of the world: "But Gaza has a worse situation with Hamas, and you never built settlements there. You blocked their borders but never occupied them until Hamas began the war. Why go preemptive in West Bank?"

Liberal Zionism:

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Your daily reminder that Mustang has canonically stolen many women's hearts from their men.

[riza-hawks-eye]

Okay, but wording it "give me back my girlfriend" makes it sound like Mustang physically took his girlfriend away from him and is still keeping her from him.

Was Bradley holding Riza hostage an-eye-for-an-eye style form of justice on behalf of nameless background soldier?

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New headcanon unlocked!

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Jacques Chirac's ghost is manipulating Macron into not escalating the Iran war.

Just like Eren manipulated his father.

Chirac is at least using his power for something good.

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MHA doesn't truly have a forgiving theme for abusers.

Endeavor seems off the hook only because his family members are staunch conservatives who believe in family honor.

That doesn't apply to the Shimura family, and their fates, namely Kotaro's, are much more straightforward and expected.

There's also the fact that Shigaraki is a far stronger villain who can force a greater number of the audience to look at him than Dabi could. While Shoto can forcefully stop Dabi, drag him to a jail hospital and lecture on reconciliation/crossing paths, Shigaraki is physically too powerful for even All might to attempt that kind of reckless maneuver. You have to weaken Shigaraki emotionally - and defending the heroes/Nana is the LAST thing you should do to weaken his emotions.

Another thing is that Dabi's main foil is Shoto who believes in family honor, while Shigaraki's rival, Deku, isn't really that concerned over family.

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A victory earned with identity

"I think I kind of understand now why you never had your memories back. Dita came into your life for a very short period. You didn't have time to grow a feeling for her. You weren't an ideologue either, which kept you from feeling strong attachment to the watchmaker's life or works. You were also not a homesick man. If you had them, your amnesia wouldn't have been permanent. You could've lived your life like the past by holding to any one of them."

"I went down the tunnel—I was the only one trusted to go—because I was unaware. But why not others? Why not Ark? Any unaware partisan could've substituted... Was there no such person? Were all of them too invested in the mission to remain ignorant? And a stranger... would've never agreed to risk everything for the war. Was I the only one... who didn't ask anything? Because... like you said, I felt attached to nothing?"

"Yes, you're right. The tunnel's junction, which you now know was a macroscopic quantum double slit, needed to remain unobserved by the keeper of the watch to ensure the possibilities wouldn't collapse into something inevitable like a possibly lost war. Secrecy was non-negotiable to it unobserved. And few would’ve dared walk down there uninformed. You were principled enough to not turn away, but dispassionate enough to not demand the secret. Those very traits that made you the perfect person to carry out the job... also seem to be what made your amnesia permanent. I'm sorry, T."

_

Dita's Watch (2012), by Dr. Dipen Bhattacharya

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this dumb website is in need of some love, so reblog this if you like the person you reblogged it from!!!

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Attack on Titan headcanon: Eren in the afterlife never told Carla about his last moments, because he didn't know how she'd take the fact of Mikasa killing him, didn't know what to tell her without breaking her heart, and he doesn't want her to blame Mikasa for anything.

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The time when Wrath was afraid of blood.

A real ambition.

A real heart.

A real fear.

Back when Bradley was a human. Back when his wife wasn't his only tie to freedom left. Back when he was himself.

What a man wrath has made him into now.

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Mikasa is a character you can put in any ethical system, and she'll be a hero either way.

If you want a story about the greater good where she sacrifices her love for the greater good, she's your person.

If you want a puritan story where she'd never forget or get over her one true love, she's also your person.

Her refusal to move on from and find happiness without Eren and her blatant disrespect for Levi and authority in general would make her the perfect character to quench the likes of Frankenstein. And yet, she'd also remain the only superhero worthy of the Soul Stone.

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My Hero Academia is a series that can almost completely turn the notion of greater good over its head.

Endeavor and Nana: "The mark of a true hero is to sacrifice their families for the greater good."

Dabi and Shigaraki: "Are you sure about that?"

It probably doesn't help that Endeavor's act—forcing a woman to have children—is one of the hardest acts to justify with any greater good.

I love the contrast with Avengers: Infinity War—one of the greatest utilitarianism-centric fictions ever, where your virtue is ultimately decided by whether you were willing to sacrifice the likes of Thor, Gamora, Nebula, Vision, your past grudges, etc. to defeat Thanos. If Thanos and Nebula's relationship was written in an MHA-inspired theme, Infinity War might've had a very different ending.

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Endeavor's legacy, in the end, did surpass All Might. That is, Dabi completely erased the public trust in heroes that All Might built up over decades in just one broadcast.

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"We don't talk about Edward, no, no, no. We don't talk about Edward.

But…

It was October 3 (good ol' October 3), The brothers were chilling, and there wasn't a conflict in sight (at least not in Winry's mind). Then, oh, the grief (Hohenheim leaves).

Nationwide circle, You're keeping secrets from Trisha, or am I? I'm sorry, but Hohenheim, come on!

Their mother is no more (but couldn't we bring her back?). One arm and one leg gone (to keep your brother's soul stacked). Winry's wrench keeping him on life support…

An offer so strange given by Mustang,

We don't talk about Edward, no, no, no. We don't talk about Edward.

(Hey)

Rage of Cornello's lies and cheating left Reole rumbling. Nina's father sent Ed's faith in humanity crumbling. Shattered into dust to the sounds of Nina's cries (bang bang bang).

Scar chasing his brother made him fear his life once more. Homunculi stalking them for a megalomaniac's ore, Grasping truths about philosopher's stone they don't understand (do you understand?)

The fuhrer's a homunculus Maes Hughes is dead. The whole nation's corrupt With nothing as lead. And then Hohenheim returns Who you have given up on (hey…).

We don't talk about Edward, no, no, no. We don't talk about Edward.

_

They told me that the philosopher’s stones are made from human lives (NO! NO!). They told me that Ishval was a giant soul factory (NO! NO!). They promised Mustang and Riza a chance to serve the people And look where that led (NO! NO!). We brothers' fates are sealed by metal and joints.

(Van Hohenheim would love If the people kept it on their mind, All of Xerxesian alchemy tells that there's more than one lone alchemy type.)

Oh no, Mei Change is on her way. She told me alkahestry Would be just out of reach. Described by another...

I hear the exchange now.

(Hey Truth, I hate the alchemy now.) I hate it so much (cannot even save a girl with it).

Um, Truth. Yeah, about alchemy, Truth. I really want to help people, Truth. Give me back my normal life, Truth!

Everybody, new mission to save lives is here! Time for me and Al to leave…

(Don't talk about Edward, no, no, no.) Why did I talk about Edward? (Not a word about Edward.) I never should've brought up Edward!"

The original.

The version I listened to.