Qin: I’m Not Saying I Would Make A Better King, That’s Unsaid… Hades: It’s Not Unsaid When You

“what if kids identify with something and it ends up just being a phase-?” good. stop teaching and expecting kids (and adults honestly) to formulate permanent traits and ideas of themselves. everything in life is a phase. that doesn’t make it any less legitimate while you experience it. let people explore themselves and know it’s okay if what you think about yourself changes.

Final Victor lightcone but make it SO much worse

when a ship involves one character being so utterly devoted to the other that its borderline religious????? when the devoted character is written to be seen as a sinner, or damned, or a non believer??? and the other character an angel or god-like???? i simply eat that shit UP how can you not??

twitta dump. don’t have a lot of time for super polished pieces these days

Come on Barbie, lets go party!

Very self indulgent doodle i made a while ago LOL

Round 7 : The Duality of Qin and Hades

I don't think there was any other round conclusion that left me that confused at first. I mean... why did Hades died so tragically when he was fighting for his family and to honor his dead brother's memory, motives that usually tend to be some huge green flags in those kinds of mangas ? And then I realized the answer was right there : Hades was doomed to lost like this precisely because he was fighting for the honor of his family. To understand what I mean, you had to take a look at Hades and Qin as characters

Let's begin with Hades. He is at his core a tragic figure and this well before his actual downfall. From the moment he's introduced into the plot, Hades is defined above all through one thing : Duty. He's one of the most feared and respected gods of Valhalla, someone on which everyone rely and the Ruler of Helheim.

And this is his tragedy because Hades does not assume the responsibilities and duty that come with his status, he endures them and lets them define his entire life.

His whole language is always axed about how he has to do this or how he can't lose that just because that's who he is, never because that's his own choice.

Hades has no desire to avenge Poseidon. He's emotionally exhausted (look at the bags under his eyes), he admitted not having fought for a long time and more importantly : He damn well knows that Poseidon couldn't care less about being avenged. But he has to fight anyway because it's his inherent duty as an older brother, his vow is part of who he is.

He wasn't supposed to fight in the Ragnarok and didn't even want to kill Qin against whom he hold no real grudge. Quite the opposite, he even comes to sympathize with him and admiring him. But he still chooses to fight without hesitation since it's his duty as a god and king of the Netherworld. He can't lose against a mere king of men.

And that's where Qin comes in.

His introduction actually sums him up perfectly : We see him making his own way by breaking through walls into the gods' VIP lodges instead of waiting in his room ; he ragdolled Ares who tried to force him to leave ; and when Brunhilde asks him to follow her to the entrance gate, here's his answer

This is his core character : Qin doesn't care about traditions and expectations. He doesn't follow the path that is expected of him, he traces his own road (literally and metaphorically) and makes no compromises with anyone, whether they are gods or humans.

When confronted to Chi You, a tyrannical demon god who oppresses his country and people, Qin doesn't resign himself to accept it like previous kings did, he actively fights against this status quo and forces it to bend to his notion of duty

It can be long (his fight with Chi You literally take six days), it can be painful but this is how he proceeds and that's his greatest source of pride. He's not defined by his status as king, he's the one who defines what it means to be one

This is an essential component of his backstory and Round 7 writing. When we meet Qin as a child, he's the radical opposite of the one we know : He doesn't try to impose himself as a person and rather immediately conforms to the expectations of those around him.

Chun Yan scolds him for not acting like a child should ? He forces himself to act as such to satisfy her. His guards and the locals of Zhao use him as a scapegoat for the people they've lost ? He apologizes and endures hatred and excruciating pain because that's what is expected from him. That he passively endures

You know where I'm going with this : Little Qin is basically Hades' foil. Both represses their feelings to conform themselves to duty and exterior expectations, which make them utterly miserable (which isn't that apparent for Hades yet but I'm coming to this).

However, Qin grew up from this through his meeting with Chun Yan, which made him realize something that will forge him into a king

A lesson Alvitr will also remind him at the end of his fight by asking him to say clearly what he wants when he started to doubt of himself. Something to which Qin just answered : "I want to win... No matter what !"

One wants to win because he has made a promise from his own will, the other has to win since his vow define him.

Because Hades never learnt that lesson and always suffered from it. I've seen a lot of people praising him for how cool and badass of a big brother he is in his backstory, for wiping out a whole army of titans to protect his siblings but imo this is just sad. Instead of talking to his family about this threat and trying to find a solution together, he immediately assumes that he has to deal with them alone, even tho he knows that they are too much and he might actually die.

And when Poseidon asks him if everything's okay, he isn't even able to ask for help or just look at his brother when he's lying to him

But miraculously this time he managed to win this battle, thanks to his trump card : Ichor Eos. An ability that highlights how self-destructive Hades is when it comes to protect his duty and family. To activate this trump card, he has to hurt himself and bleed. Fulfilling his duty literally requires from him to sacrifice himself.

And despite this, Hades still insists that everything is fine afterwards. No matter how heavy his burden is, he will never be defeated because that's what the world expects from him

Except he did. Sadly this time, his burden was too heavy and he got destroyed in the process. Hades died and not even in a satisfying way. Just compare with the others fighters' death :

Lu Bu died feeling joy for the first time in his life, happy to finally fighting an equal

Adam lost with a peaceful smile on his face, knowing that he did his best to protect his children

Poseidon was bitter in his last moments but held on to his pride until the end

Heracles remained faithful to what he is and inspired Jack to become a better person

Raiden had the best sumo fight of his life and vanished with the woman he loved

Zerofuku finally got to be happy too

Nikola gave the most wholesome speech ever known to Mankind after making science evolved once again

And Leonidas was proud, having proven that Sparta will always be the strongest

But Hades ? Nothing of that

In his last moments, he was convinced of having let his family down and being a failure as a result, apologizing to them for this just before disappearing forever under their eyes.

And the most painful part of this is that Hades was the only one to see himself as such. The members of his family may have admired him for his strength and his willingness to make any sacrifice for the honor of gods but they still loved him first and foremost as a person. Adamas was ready to throw away his own pride as a god (the thing Hades literally died for) by killing a crippled half-dead Qin for winning in a fair fight. Hermes composed a requiem in his memory and Zeus was both heartbroken and sorry to hear his last words. He knew his brother had nothing to apologize for but realized that the latter didn't.

At the end of the day, Hades didn't lost this battle of kings just because Qin was stronger. He lost because Qin was the better king and learn to find worth in himself rather than in what people expected from him, while Hades let his responsibilities consume him throughout his whole life.

What sad songs represent each love interest the best? (please make me cry with them, pleeeeease)

Don't know if they'll make you cry, but I think of the LIs when listening to them and they make emotional :^)

✦ Sad songs that represent the LIs

✦ Amon: La canción — Bad Bunny, J Balvin

✦ Raeya: Without you — Ursine Vulpine

✦ Gael: Shots — Imagine Dragons

✦ Envy: What could've been — Sting

✦ Ara: Corps — Yseult

✦ Xal: Broken parts — Smash into Pieces

✦ Father Pride: Everybody's changing — Keane

✦ Lázaro: Ricochet — Starset

✦ Cécile: Last resort — Falling in Reverse

I don’t know what they were expecting.

the birdkeepers daughter

prints available here

OHHHHH SEYLLLLLLLLLLL I'm here to ask for crumbs of fluffy content as per usual

So let's say the MC is just EXHAUSTED and falls asleep somewhere that isn't their bed (like the couch or at a desk or something), and their LIs come across them. What do the LIs do?

Dracon beloved :^) 💜

✦ An exhausted MC falls asleep somewhere that isn't their bed. What do the LIs do when they come across them?

✦ Amon: Picks the MC up in his arms and carries them to bed. Can't resist the urge to pepper kisses on their sweet face as he does so because his heart is just too full right now.

✦ Raeya: Tries to wake up the MC gently, but seeing how tired they are, she just picks them up instead. "Your back will hurt. Come, let's go to bed."

✦ Gael: Wistfully watches them sleep for a moment. Then he wakes them up with caresses and sweet nothings, leading the MC to the bedroom and helping them out of their clothes if needed.

✦ Envy: "Tsk. This idiot..." Fetches a blanket and places it around the MC. Drops a quick, (hopefully) stealthy kiss on their head and vanishes.

✦ Ara: If the MC is asleep on a couch and she can join them, she does so (not before bringing some blankets along). If the MC is really in an uncomfortable place, she wakes them up and leads them to bed by the hand.

✦ Xal: Joins the MC. No matter what nor where. If they're asleep on the couch, he'll put some blankets on the ground and sleep next to them, holding their hand. If the MC fell asleep on a chair, he'll sit next to them and sleep right beside them.

✦ Father Pride: Would feel bad waking the MC up, but he'll try to make them as comfortable as possible in their current position, putting fluffy blankets across their shoulders and a pillow under their head. Also leaving a glass of water nearby and the bedroom door wide open with a light on.

✦ Lázaro: Wakes the MC up by kissing their forehead. "Now, now; we have a bed for a reason." They will put the MC to bed and massage their hands and shoulders until they fall asleep again.

✦ Cécile: Somehow he wouldn't spot the MC at first because they should be in bed. He would prepare the bed in silence and spend some time watching the MC sleep this way before pinching their nose so they can't breathe. When they wake up with a start, he just stares at them. "You are in the way. Go to bed." He'll then fake he's busy tidying the place up while he makes sure the MC is putting their ass to sleep.