I Feel You 😞

Something that I don't get? Why do some people in the fandom genuinely believe that Kalim's parents are good hearted balls of sunshine exactly like him? I'm not talking about ENG Only people. That could be explained by simple ignorance thanks to the ENG version censoring so much about Jamil and Kalim's backstory. I'm talking about people who are familiar with the JP version and STILL honestly believe that. In my eyes, the canon clearly points at the exact opposite being true, at least in regards to Kalim's father, and Kalim is simply just an unreliable narrator, who is dissociating and living in denial to stay sane. To be more brief, I think Kalim's father is an off screen villain.

There are vignettes where Jamil and Riddle say that one of Kalim's family members poisoned him for him to immediately go into complete denial. Kalim's voice actor even said that part of the reason why Kalim is so generous is because he believes that every day could be his last. (I also suspect it could also be him subconsciously giving people their heart desires to make others stay in his good graces to ward off any similar attempts on his life.) That's a sign that he comes from a super toxic household, and his parents are just giving him expensive gifts to make him happy.

His father also: uses child labour, forces a fucking child to be a poison tester, possibly beats the Vipers when they displease him according to the JP version (the line could be taken a few different ways) and it's VERY heavily implied that he has a harem in the JP version. No one who is genuinely a good person would do any of those things!

Let's face it. There is no such thing as an ethical billionaire. People who become that wealthy always so by crushing a few heads to get to the top. The Asims are no exception.

The fact that his father is involved in politics makes him even worse. If he rubs elbows with the royals there, he could very well be like Jafar and manipulating the sultan of his country in the worst way possible.

That's pretty much my read of it, I didn't know people thought differently.

I understand the idea that Kalim's sunshiny personality has to come from somewhere, but his home life is fraught with trouble. Kalim seems to be the exception to the generally accepted rule that his family is all out to serve themselves. He might have someone in his life that could influence him to be so positive, but it seems just as likely that his disposition is a coping mechanism. He tries to be the person he wants others to be: helpful to a fault, willing to use his wealth and power to make life easier for others, and able to be trusted at face value. The game hasn't made any indicators that Kalim bears a resemblance to anyone at home in regards to his personality. So when considering what we know about his home life, we can say that he's been sheltered and spoiled by his parents but that definitely doesn't mean that they are automatically good people.

Thank you for your take.

God, Palestinians can't have anything

I've often seen this person's posts pop up, he's known for the number of cats he feeds, even before this, hence the username. The other day, I remember seeing that pic of him and that tiny little puppy on the beach and being cheered up by it. It's just so sad... they literally can't have anything.

If anyone wants to help this man, he has links for both an evacuation gofundme and PayPal to help feed the cats:

gofundme.com

Donate to Fundraiser for safe passage from Gaza into Egypt., organized by Mona Chaaban

I am Mona Chaaban, and I am reaching out to you for support in assistin… Mona Chaaban needs your support for Fundraiser for safe passage fro

req

OKAY TRAUMA OLYMPICS TIME!

Ranking every Overblotter based on how sad their backstory makes me: THAT MEANS IT’S VERY BIASED AND SUBJECTIVE!

Waves hands in a manic gesture towards the disclaimer* (Now is your chance to turn around!)

7: Azul Ashengrotto-Got picked on for being different. The thing that takes me out about Azul’s backstory and its connection to his overblot is how basic it feels. I’m not here to invalidate his feelings, I understand those insecurities, but apparently the only thing stopping more people from overblotting is that they can’t accumulate blot at the same rate because of lower magic output. If you ask me, the real tragedy of his character is his inability to acknowledge his own achievements. He says, “I’ll show them!” and, yes, hon, you did. Calm down. You are 17, nothing is stopping you from becoming the person you say you are (unlike half the other people on this list). (0/10 He tried to take advantage of my compassion and took my home away. He can cry harder into his money for all I care. Also bottom tier Overblot design.)

(Slight edit: changed Azul's age to 17 because I put 15 before. That would have been his age before turning human to go to NRC, but that might have been confusing and seemed inaccurate. Thanks to the person who pointed that out! The rest of the statement remains the same.)

6: Vil Schoenheit—Hates being typecast and treated like number two. Bro’s real crime is checking his socials too much and letting it get to him. I feel nothing for Vil and he’s only above Azul because his situation is a little less common as a one in a million super celebrity which can come with outlandish amounts of stress I can't comprehend. Again, the tragedy is his inability to be satisfied with his current state of his career and acknowledge his success because someone’s always above him. YOU ARE 18! YOU HAVE YOUR WHOLE CAREER AHEAD OF YOU! Give yourself some space to breath. He’s the one character you’d think would know and see a therapist. He’s so perfectly managed about every other element of his life it seems almost out of character for him not to be considering his mental health. If you consider he's even taking time away from his career to go to school and have "normal teen experiences" I don't know why I should feel bad. (0/10 Attempted murder. Jealous biotch. Probably, less sympathetic than Azul actually.)

5: Leona Kingscholar—Also hates his life situation and being treated like second fiddle. Leona is above Vil because he DOESN’T have a way out of being “typecast.” Time and talent can't save him. He was born into a situation where he can’t be anything other than the second prince and when he finally got a chance to be number one at something (Spelldrive at NRC) Malleus shows up to put him back down to second place again. Life seems to have a karmic way of making Leona nothing more and I feel that. Honestly, Leona’s state makes me cry but I can’t rank him higher because the canon content for his character is sparse. Most of the elements about Leona are things you have to look into and read out of his actions and backstory and while that’s not bad, it’s frustrating that a lot of people overlook them because they aren’t as explicit as the other characters. Leona’s depression is very real, but because the symptoms manifest as less sad-boy and more tired jackass a lot of people overlook his failing mental health. He’s badly written and I feel like the first iteration of his backstory (Book 2 in game) does the worst job about making you feel anything for him considering his actions. (4/10 Smart character with lots of potential but written like an idiot where it counted. Also attempted murder.)

4: Malleus Draconia (TENTATIVE)—Doesn’t want to be alone. After all, what’s the point of being so powerful when it’s so lonely? Loneliness is a feeling that I think doesn’t get explored enough in the media I consume (maybe I need to look harder), so Malleus can be a little higher for what I currently perceive as his reasons for overblotting. He’s an immortal being constantly ostracized by the position he was born into and suffers from the classic conundrum of having to watch everyone he cares about go before him. For all intents and purposes he’s an orphan. He doesn’t have a lot of people he’s related to and can really consider close, so it hits him extra hard when they can’t be around anymore, and for all of his age, as a fae he’s really very young, immature, and inexperienced. The game is doing its darndest to make sure that he gets as thorough an explanation as possible and actively wants you to understand where he’s coming from and feel bad. So he gets the halfway point because as much as I love this kind of thing, favoritism and getting the longest time to explore his feelings only gets him so high. (6/10 I like that the MC has a personal stake in this one, and he's not actively trying to kill anyone.) (Since Book 8 isn’t over yet, his position is subject to change later.)

3: Riddle Rosehearts—Anal retentive to the extreme. Riddle’s mom is so hated by the fandom she is never getting a face reveal. Is now the time to express how bad I feel about Riddle being traumatized by strictness and rules to the point where he honestly believes that bending the most absurd rules will result in disastrous consequences? Maybe. I appreciate that we saw exactly the inciting incident that made Riddle the way he is now. So much of his character falls back on that one time he broke the rules as a kid, and it HAS SO MUCH IMPACT. He gets a lot of props for being one of the few overblotters to actually have character growth post-featured book. Riddle is a contender for second place, but his potential ability to grow beyond his circumstances makes him less tragic. (7/10 Riddle is a surprisingly strong first antagonist in the main story. Almost killed someone, but that was notably AFTER he broke down and turned into a rampaging monster.)

2: Jamil Viper—Can never be his true self. Jamil is another guy who was born into his lifestyle and has no feasible way out of what’s driving him up the wall. It’s not just about Kalim being naïve and sheltered, it’s about how Jamil himself can’t ever use the gifts he has or escape from that fate. He is better than Kalim at a lot of things, but has to act like an amateur so he doesn’t outshine the guy he’s been sworn to protect and serve. He has expectations set on him, and duties to fulfill, and his best route in life as presented to him is just to be as average and boring as possible despite his innate talent and potential. I don’t know if there’s supposed to be a way for Jamil to get out of his family’s servitude to the Al-Asims that causes him to be so bitter, so at this point I kind of assume he’s stuck and that makes it extra sad. The fact that he really just wants to go on vacation makes it hit harder that he’s not even that bad for a guy at a villains’ school. Book 5 giving him a chance to break out of that shadow is great, honestly. (8/10 I can't hate him. He just wants a break, man. He wasn't even trying to hurt anyone, but loses a point for dragging Yuu/MC into his scheme. [Don't y'all dare throw Kalim hate in here. That's not what this is about. I will fight you.])

1: Idia Shroud—Survivor’s Guilt. Book 6 really went there and we are going to talk about it. He did something he shouldn’t have as a kid and now he has to live with the fact that his kid brother is dead. He wanted so badly to undo what he did that he built a new version of him even though he knew deep down he could never replace Ortho. No. I’m sorry. You’re not beating that. That’s not event including the fact that he’s also stuck as a fracking guardian of the underworld in a family that is supposed to be incapable of overblotting in the first place. Idia has textbook depression, and that’s not a bad thing. He feels just as trapped as everyone else and doesn’t see a point to doing anything the conventional way if he doesn’t have to. Idia is NOT a perfect person or character, but as far as his writing for why he ends up doing what he does, I think he easily takes the cake. (10/10 Will weep again. Character writing, with a little dash of hope that he can find some bright spots in life. Extra points for Ortho telling him to keep living. Also, he has the coolest Overblot design. 100/10 for Technopunk Hades.)

This is a super abridged version of what I have to say regarding each of these characters, so I may have to write out actual essays and character analysis for them eventually. I tried to get out the gist of my rankings in as short a form as possible, but that might not be good enough for some people. Feel free to tell me how I misunderstand and mischaracterize your fave.

today's vetted fundraisers. i know i there are lots of these floating around, but please keep sharing and donating if you can, even if it's a small amount. if we disengage, we dash these families' hopes for a better future

july 7th:

Eyad Sami, his wife Amal Mahmoud, and their four children (CHF6,180/CHF20,000) - @eyadeyadsblog, verified by @/90-ghost

The AlBalawi family of ten, including several children (multiple are sick) and two chronically ill members who need treatment (€8,186/€50,000) - @aboooodsblog, @albalawii, @bisanalbalawi, verified by @/90-ghost

Mohammed Hijazi and his elderly parents, one of whom is severely injured and needs surgery to restore his ability to walk (€1,728/€20,000) - @savemohammedfamily, verified by @/90-ghost

Ashraf Alanqar, his wife Widad Issa, and their little son Bakr (€3,934/€30,000) - @ashrafanqer, verified by @/90-ghost

Yousef (a toddler who needs lifesaving treatment for a blood disease) and his parents (€2,117/€25,000) - @dima96yousef, verified by @/90-ghost

Youssef Hilles's wife and five children, including his young son whom he's never gotten to meet in person (€3,446/€23,000) - @zeinyousef, #206 on @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi's spreadsheet

Basel Ayyad and his family of eight, including his sick daughter who is losing her sight without treatment (CHF2,612/CHF60,000) - @basel-1995, #214 on @/nabulsi and @/el-shab-hussein's spreadsheet

Ramez Hilles and his family of ten, including several children (€853/€37,000) - @ramezderar, verified by @/90-ghost

Ghada Afifi (needs surgery for a heart condition) and her family ($1,720/$50,000) - @lifeasme24 on tiktok, verified by @/lieahsblog (reach out for more details)

Wafaa Alnhal's family of 15, including four children and a newborn (they've already lost multiple family members, including Wafaa's young niece) (€26,148/€50,000) - @wafs-posts, #171 on @/nabulsi and @/el-shab-hussein's spreadsheet

The Al Zaeem family of seven, including four children and their severely ill grandfather ($19,011 CAD/$50,000 CAD) - @yosofzaeem, @malkzaeem, verified by @/nabulsi

Widow Safaa Abubaker and her two little children (€868/€15,000) - @safaamo, verified by @/ibtisams

Ahmed Baalousha, his wife Islam, their three children (one a newborn, he suffers especially from malnutrition), and Ahmed's parents and sister (€14,769/€50,000) - @5735765, #234 on @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi's spreadsheet

Muhammad Al-Habil, his wife, their three young children, and Muhammad's chronically ill parents (€8,850/€50,000) - @mohammedfamily11, verified by @/el-shab-hussein

Helping Siraj Abudayeh, his wife, and their three children to rebuild their beloved home ($4,081 CAD/$82,000 CAD) - @siraj2024, #219 on @/nabulsi and @/el-shab-hussein's spreadsheet

Evacuating Firas Muhaisen's family of six (including three children) and paying he and his sister's medical school fees (needed by next month) ($1,939 CAD/$82,000 CAD) - @firasmuhaisenn, @nisreenameen, @hashem-fromgaza, verified by @/90-ghost

Nael Khalid and family (unknown amount) - @islamgazaaccount2, verified by @/90-ghost

Fiancés Noor and Alaa (both have lost multiple family members already) (€2,823/€25,000) - @nouralaagaza, verified by @/ibtisams

Helping Mahmoud Abu Hamam and his family rebuild their house and their lives ($790/$25,000) - @ma7moudgaza2, #149 on @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi's spreadsheet

not yet vetted:

Amjad Al-Shaltawi's family of 11, including several children and his wife Suha, who's lost her whole family (€658/€97,000) - @amjadshiltawu

Helping Hamed and his family to rebuild their home and livelihood (€643/€70,000) - @hamedkara

any contribution you can make is infinitely valuable, regardless of the size of your following or the amount you can give. let's keep working together to support families like these suffering violence and displacement. your help can save lives.

a whole bunch of gazan mutual aid projects and nonprofits. if the decision of which individual fundraiser to give to feels too daunting, or if you just want to help as many people as possible in one go, these are great initiatives to support.

care for gaza - focuses on providing food and essential supplies. donate here or here.

connecting humanity - securing internet access via donations of virtual sim cards (esims). if you can't afford a whole plan yourself, crips for esims is a communal pool that will use your donation to purchase and maintain esims

gaza soup kitchen - provides food, medical care, and classes for children. also has a gofundme

glia gaza medical support initiative - provides medical care through field clinics and tents at hospitals. donations can also be sent through their website.

ele elna elak - provides clean water, food, clothing, and shelter. they also have a gofundme

life for gaza - raising money for the gaza municipality to repair water and waste management infrastructure

taawon - partners with local civil organizations to provide food, water, medical care, shelter, and basic supplies

the sameer project - running various initiatives providing tents, medical care, and necessities. they have their own encampment project focused on sheltering families with children, sick and disabled members, or members in need of perinatal care

islamic relief worldwide's gaza emergency appeal - provides food, water, hygiene kits, medical supplies, and psychological support

baitulmaal - provides a variety of necessities, including food, water, shelter, and medical supplies

gaza mutual aid fund - distributes food, hygiene products, water, and other essential supplies, including financial support. run by @/el-shab-hussein's amazing friend Mona. updates can be found on her instagram.

hygiene kits for gaza - provides hygiene supplies including menstrual products, wipes, and toothbrushes/toothpaste

anera - provides a variety of necessities, including food, water, hygiene supplies, medicine, blankets and mattresses, and psychological care

palestine children's relief fund - provides supplies and support with a focus on children. also has an initiative for lebanon

certainly this is not an exhaustive list, so please feel free to add on other projects or organizations that i didn't include. and as always, please take the time to donate if you can and share. it truly makes all the difference.

i don't like the growing opinion that people are being 'too hard' on deku for his failing to save shigaraki.

i've seen quite a few people complaining that a lot of the bnha-critical crowd are being too mean to deku for getting tomura killed, arguing that it isn't really his fault, and that hes a 16 year old child soldier who's been failed by almost every adult in his life, why should we be putting all of this on his shoulders? hes just a kid after all?

and the truth is, they're right. deku IS a 16 year old boy whos had the fate of the world thrust on his shoulders. but the story itself just plainly refuses to acknowledge this.

the narrative doesn't acknowledge how fucked up having a school that trains literal children how to be combo cop-celebrities is. it only tentatively acknowledges the fact that a universe having combo cop-celebrities is fucked up, and even then the only people who ever point this out are antagonists, who are portrayed and treated in-universe as untrustworthy. the narrative doesn't care how fucked up dekus circumstances are. the narrative treats deku like hes a fucking messiah here to touch the hearts of the evil depressed villains with his magical empathetic heart of gold before they get blown up or just sent to fucking superhell for daring to challenge the status quote.

deku isn't a person. he's barely even a fucking character at this point. he's a plot device, and a mouth piece for the objectively shitty themes bnha is trying to spout. the themes that tell you that if you're mistreated by society and want to do something about it, you're a villain. that disrupting the status quote and refusing to repent to some random teenage boy spouting empty platitudes at you means you deserve to get sent to fucking superhell. the themes that portray people fighting for civil change as mass murdering supervillains. the themes that look the audience dead in the eye and can call deku the greatest hero to ever live.

deku, who barely spared a second thought to lady nagant telling him the truth about the hero commission. who spouts meaningless platitudes about heroism and morality at nagant, and aoyama, and toga and shigaraki, when even the thought that he should question the world around him comes up. who's constantly talked about as this truly kind, empathetic person, but hasn't spared an empathetic thought to literally anyone who is classified as a villain. who listened to every authority figure around him except the ones who asked him to question his worldview. who saw la bravas tears, shigarakis various breakdowns, himikos plead for understanding, chisakis catatonic state, lady nagants truth, and barley batted a fucking eye. deku, who killed tomura shigaraki.

people don't criticize deku for failing shigaraki because they just hate deku. people criticize deku because of what he represents. because hes a mouthpiece for the atrocious morals and themes of this ideologically rotten manga. because any character he had was chopped up to bits in favor of the incomplete husk we have now. people criticize deku because hes the main character of my hero academia. theres nothing more damning then that.

Maleficent : Bitch give me a fry

(Y/N): Is that how you ask?

Maleficent : Bitch please give me a fry

————————————————————————

Hades: When talking to (Y/N), remember to keep it light and casual. Use our conversation starters if you get in trouble.

Hook: Light and casual, got it.

*5 minutes into at date with (Y/N)*

Hook: IM GOING INTO LABOR

*Jafar watching from the bushes*: He’s pulling the pregnancy card THIS EARLY?!

*Hades watching through binoculars next to Jafar*: If he U-turns the conversation back to cardboard manufacturing we might clutch this

————————————————————————

The other villains: BEHOLD! The town goth has left their house!

(Y/N): Bring me the country music loving farm boy

Alameda: NO! NO NO YALL LET ME GO

————————————————————————

Gothel: Can’t a poor woman like me ever have a little fun?

(Y/N): Yeah, everyone likes to have fun.

Gothel: You like to have fun too~?

(Y/N): I mean—you’re asking about me? I mean, yeah I like too~

Gothel: Oh, yeah~?

(Y/N), annoyed: I already said yes.

————————————————————————

(Y/N): I have 3 dollars and 24 cents. Do something to me

Maleficent: *spits on them*

(Y/N): I love you. I wanna take you away from all of this

————————————————————————

Bill Sykes: They hate to see a bad bitch from New Jersey win

Had to throw my hat in the ring.

Credit to the maker of the OG meme: https://x.com/sweepswoop_?s=21

Hey *crashes out*