HHover

Gold, Silver, and Bronze!🥇🥈🥉

Mon cadeau ce soir ...

ALSO REAL AND VALID !!!!!! i kiiinda like romantic 2011 kizetto??? sometimes??? i have conflicting feelings on it that boil down to "i Think They Could Work but they'd Really have to work on themselves individually before they get together" but i Looooove seeing other people make romantic stuff with them even if i personally see it as a onesided thing that fizzles out as the series progresses, it's cute :-) (and also VERY intriguing/good and inspiring for angst. yummy)

i agree on the "only otp for zetto" part as well though i cannot see him with anyone else and that is Also a part of what i love about them as a duo- they're literally ride or dies in every continuity. except the rpg i think . i havent seen it yet fully but from the ONA it does Not sound or look like tigerlily fucks w rpg zet like that. as she shouldnt. kill him

I have many shared neurodivergent fears of being misunderstood while speaking, but since I run THE Zetto Protection Squad blog, I wanted to take the time to clear this up out of appreciation for both of their characters.

Because... I do think Zetto and Kizuna can work out! Romantically, even! They're doomed, but still saveable!

Truthfully their dynamic IS pretty mutual! I can totally see them either being in a postion where their respective traumas make both of them closed off, but deep within, they care a lot about each other and just don't know how to say it properly.

Even though the A2Z trilogy came out AGES after the main bulk of the series, it didn't disapprove any headcanons of mine and in fact strengthened the idea that they BOTH care so, so much about each other.

The way that Kizuna at the beginning of A2Z stares at Zetto's remaining arm, the way she was the one to take care of him during the *exact* moment it got cut off. The Netkings were the one who saw SOFDTI seal it away, but it's Kizuna who probably had to handle Zetto screaming his lungs out and calling medical help.

But also, the fact that this scene is Zetto visiting *Kizuna*. The fact that he's being a dork and doing his best to compliment *her*, to check in on *her* sleep schedule. I feel like at this point Zetto can tell she's getting colder, but he still knows what she's like on the inside and wants to appeal to his closest companion, the way they shared jokes with one another back in Beta.

And he looks so sad when she doesn't respond to him!

Even though it's season 2 where her unhealthy obsession with the virus becomes more apparent, this reframes Kizuna's involvement with the virus where she's been losing sleep since the beginning of their mission.

It starts off a trend that we see happen in season 2, where Kizuna is dedicating EVERYTHING she can in order to hunt down the virus. It means THAT much to her. I won't deny they're both a lot colder to each other in Season 2 than Season 1, and definitely, the events of Episode 10 probably did put a strain on them, but like...

"You almost got killed, and now the virus is out there somewhere waiting for some poor sap to pick it up. Just like your friend did."

She's getting spicy with Zetto because *he almost got killed*. While we see the events of Episode 10 quite clearly, it's still a pretty gnarly episode for what must have happened to Zetto. The virus takes over *him*. His biggest fear was experiencing the pain it caused him again, but now it's *him* who had to face what the possession must feel like.

I get too much mileage out of this screenshot of the fact bubbles, but either way, the virus' psychological impact is so bad that Zetto asks Alpha to kill him out of desperation.

Kizuna's feelings are valid, but even when she tries taking potshots at Alpha's gang, Zetto still wants Kizuna there, at the anniversary event, having fun in the game like he has.

Even if Zetto would've gone with his own friend group anyway, he still wants Kizuna there in spirit so she can let loose a little bit and have some plain ole fun. And this is after she mocked Alpha for getting the virus! She's stressed, probably isn't thinking straight, and backtracks immediately since she's just angry that Alpha's gang made their mission harder. He still wants her there.

Now I did briefly muse about this in someone's Discord DMs, but I still think it rings true.

My friend put it best: "Without Zetto, Kizuna has nothing."

I think Kizuna, this entire time, has really just been secretly jealous that Zetto has been spending so much time with his friend group. I've mentioned how she's mocked Alpha for releasing the virus, but once again, A2Z helps reframe my already preexisting headcanons where...

"You goin' off to play on that alternate account of yours tomorrow?"

...She's been asking about his alternate life since the very beginning.

She dedicates so, so much to him, even losing even MORE sleep in season 2 when the hackers get more and more desperate.

"You're late."

"Yeah, and you're UP late."

"What else is new?"

She has been losing sleep over the mission since the very beginning. She CONTINUES to lose sleep over it in season 2. She joins the Gemini Tournament for Zetto, she goes hard on him BECAUSE he nearly DIED during the events of Episode 10.

And we know full well by Episode 15, that she joined the mission because...

"You could've taken him away from me."

She specifically ENDS on that line. She finally spills out what's laying deep within her heart and it's still about Zetto. She ends off about how much she just genuinely, didn't want Zetto to get hurt ever again. Everything she's done up to this point, has been for him. But because she keeps her emotions so locked up, because she can only hang onto him by a thread, he has to step in before she does something she truly, genuinely regrets.

I think in Zetto's Resolution, Zeke is still AGONIZING over what he did to Kizuna.

"No, no... she hasn't talked to me since... the day everything happened."

It's this mention of Kizuna that begins to set off his lingering anxiety, fears, and self hatred over everything he's done as Zetto. It's such a damned good scene showing an even more juicy conclusion to Zetto's dual identity arc, and he spirals because of that first mention of Kizuna.

Let's face it, Kizuna wouldn't reach out herself. She's grown cold, jealous, stressed over what she's done for the virus mission. I feel like Zetto betraying her just emphasized how much the world has burned Kizuna in return; she cut ties with the Netkings, she refuses to interact with Zetto's friends, or even the game that he holds so dearly. All she's focused on is trying to finish a mission fueled by her genuine care towards Zetto; without him, she has nothing.

Which is why it probably means so much to her that HE is the one to reach out. Time and time again he's always tried to melt that cold heart of hers, and she's so focused on the mission that it probably feels like she CAN'T let loose like that ever again.

But I think the most damning piece of evidence towards how much Zetto and Kizuna care about each other is the tail end of Zetto's Resolution:

I feel like he's been waiting for this moment for ages. I feel like he's always kept open arms to the possibility of introducing Kizuna to his friend group. The possibility of Kizuna letting go of the mission like he finally has, and letting loose. The way that they stare at each other, or at least, specifically Zetto, just reads to me as "Finally. Where have you been?!?" after so many failed attempts to get Kizuna to branch out and be socialable again.

And it's such a damned good arc for Kizuna as well.

For the woman who has dedicated SO many countless, stress-filled hours to the cause, one that she probably joined for Zetto's sake only more than her own, for the one who'd burn the world if it meant keeping Zetto safe. The fact that she would've shut SOFDTI down for good if it meant zero chance of any harm ever coming to Zetto ever again?

The fact that she can finally branch out and meet new people. The idea of opening her heart to others again. She may not be willing to be all buddy-buddy with the Netkings again, but Alpha's gang would still *understand* the exact pain and journey it's taken to get to her position, and it's one they can all share together.

And it's all because Zetto really, truly did not give up hope for her, ever.

I think it's a byproduct of how Zetto and Kizuna are said to allude to Roy and Riza from Fullmetal Alchemist; two people who are so dedicated to one another, that they'd burn the world to keep each other safe. Two people who can't see a life without the other. And above all else, two people so genuinely infatuated with one another, that you don't have to see them kiss on screen, or say "I love you" to understand how deeply in love with each other they are.

the fact that in the final scene its Kizuna who is reintroducing Sofdti to the group with her new model, is a perfect way to show exactly how far shes come from the ending of episode 15.

December 1997

DOI:10.1136/bmj.315.7123.1685 Authors: Ikechukwu Obialo Azuonye (Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust)

Introduction

A previously healthy woman began to hear hallucinatory voices telling her to have a brain scan for a tumour. The prediction was true; she was operated on and had an uneventful recovery.

No previous illnesses

Born in continental Europe in the mid-1940s the patient settled in Britain in the late 1960s. After a series of jobs, she got married, started a family, and settled down to a full time commitment as a housewife and mother. She rarely went to her general practitioner as she enjoyed good health and had never had any hospital treatment. Her children had also been in good health.

In the winter of 1984, as she was at home reading, she heard a distinct voice inside her head. The voice told her, “Please don't be afraid. I know it must be shocking for you to hear me speaking to you like this, but this is the easiest way I could think of. My friend and I used to work at the Children's Hospital, Great Ormond Street, and we would like to help you.”

AB had heard of the Children's Hospital, but did not know where it was and had never visited it. Her children were well, so she had no reason to worry about them. This made it all the more frightening for her, and the voice intervened again: “To help you see that we are sincere, we would like you to check out the following”—and the voice gave her three separate pieces of information, which she did not possess at the time. She checked them out, and they were true, but this did not help because she had already come to the conclusion that she had “gone mad.” In a state of panic, AB went to see her doctor, who referred her urgently to me.

I saw her at the psychiatric outpatients clinic, and diagnosed a functional hallucinatory psychosis. I offered general supportive counselling as well as medication with thioridazine. To her great relief, the voices inside her head disappeared after a couple of weeks of treatment, and she went off on holiday. While she was abroad, and still taking the thioridazine, the voices returned. They told her that they wanted her to return to England immediately as there was something wrong with her for which she should have immediate treatment. By this time, she was also having other beliefs of a delusional nature.

She returned to London and I saw her again at my outpatients clinic. By this time, the voices had given her an address to go to. Reluctantly, and just to reassure her that it was all in her mind, her husband took her by car to the address in question; it was the computerised tomography department of a large London hospital. As she arrived there, the voices told her to go in and ask to have a brain scan for two reasons—she had a tumour in her brain and her brain stem was inflamed. Because the voices had told her things in the past that had turned out to be true, AB believed them when they said that she had a tumour and was in a state of great distress when I saw her the next day.

Brain scan requested

In order to reassure her, I requested a brain scan, explaining in my letter that hallucinatory voices had told her that she had a brain tumour, that I had not, personally, found any physical signs suggestive of an intracranial space occupying lesion, and that the purpose of the scan was essentially to reassure the patient. The request was initially declined, on the grounds that there was no clinical justification for such an expensive investigation. It was also implied that I had gone a little overboard, believing what my patient's hallucinatory voices were telling her.

Eventually, after some negotiation, the scan was done in April. The initial findings led to a repeat scan, with enhancement, in May, revealing a left posterior frontal parafalcine mass, which extended through the falx to the right side. It had all the appearances of a meningioma.

The consultant neurosurgeon to whom I referred AB noted the absence of headache or any other focal neurological deficits related to this mass, and discussed, with AB and her husband, the pros and cons of immediate operation as against waiting for symptoms to appear. In the end, it was agreed to proceed with an immediate operation. AB's voices told her that they were fully in agreement with that decision.

These were the notes of the operation, carried out in May 1984: “A large left frontal bone flap extending across the midline was turned following a bifrontal skin flap incision. Meningioma about 2.5” by 1.5” in size arose from the falx and extended through to the right side. A small area of tumour appeared on the medial surface of the brain. The tumour was dissected out and removed completely along with its origins in the falx.”

AB later told me that when she recovered consciousness after the operation the voices told her, “We are pleased to have helped you. Goodbye.” There were no postoperative complications. The dosage of dexamethasone was halved every four days, and then it was stopped. She was on prophylactic anticonvulsants for six months. Antipsychotic medication was discontinued immediately after the operation, and there was no return of the hallucinatory voices or the delusions which she had expressed.

Discussion

AB telephoned me last Christmas to wish me and family a merry festive season, and to tell me that she had been completely well in the 12 years since the operation. It was this telephone call that brought this case to mind again.

It is well known that intracranial lesions can be associated with psychiatric symptomatology. But this is the first and only instance I have come across in which hallucinatory voices sought to reassure the patient of their genuine interest in her welfare, offered her a specific diagnosis (there were no clinical signs that would have alerted anyone to the tumour), directed her to the type of hospital best equipped to deal with her problem, expressed pleasure that she had at last received the treatment they desired for her, bid her farewell, and thereafter disappeared.

I presented her case at a conference later that year. AB attended and was closely questioned by several people about the various aspects of her experience. The audience was split down the middle. People who would be called X-philes today rejoiced that what had happened to her was a clear instance of telepathic communication from two well meaning people who had, psychically, found that AB had a tumour and sought to help her.

The X-phobes had a very different formulation. According to them, AB had been given the diagnosis of a brain tumour in her original country and wanted to be treated free under the NHS. Hence, they surmised, she had made up the convoluted tale about voices telling her this and that. But AB had lived in Britain for 15 years and was entitled to NHS treatment. Besides, she had been so relieved when the voices first disappeared on thioridazine that she had gone on holiday to celebrate the recovery of her sanity.

I truly sacrificed to create this ridiculous mug. biting clay is a bad sensory experience 😔 who would have guessed

From a whiteboard i did with my boyfriend,