#There are so many things that sound so insane without (and with) context - like the canonical M!preg

[chrollosnenfish]

I know I haven’t posted in a hell of a long time

but I just wanted to say that I finished the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint almost a week ago and I am in my ORV era. I have been perusing the ORV tag on tumblr, the ORV subreddit, ORV art on Pinterest, ORV stuff on AO3 (mainly Joongdok and Sangsoo, with some YooHanKim thrown in there), and I’m so glad that it feels like I’ve only scratched the surface on what ORV content there is out there.

This story was one of the greatest works of fiction I’ve ever read, with amazingly written characters, great relationships between each of the characters, a plot that’s to die for, and twists that made sense (that didn’t seem like they were just for shock-value). Hard topics are covered in a tasteful way, and it’s the best found family dynamic I’ve ever read.

Just wanted to go on a little ORV rant and recommend it to anyone who is thinking about reading it. It takes up a bit of time, but you’ll breeze through it when you really get into it. I think it took me a solid two weeks cuz I was reading it during all of the free time I had, but if you’re reading casually, then it’ll take you longer.

Also, if this is the first time you’re hearing about ORV, then I would recommend catching up to the manhwa, then either starting again from the start of the web novel, or starting from where the manhwa ended (there’a usually a comment on webtoon telling everyone the chapter of the webnovel that the manhwa chapter ended)

I also made this matching Lock Screen and Home Screen pair

[herrscherofmagic]

innocent, unsuspecting me, starting the Black Shores quest, unaware of what's about to happen:

"Alright, looks like this is the last main quest before the Rinascita stuff! This seems like it'll be a sort of interlude chapter, probably pretty short, maybe a bit of exposition, so I may as well go ahead and see what's about.

Oh. oh no. oh god. holy shit. OH FU—" [the transmission abruptly cuts as I'm splattered by a runaway Mach-5 emotional rollercoaster]

okay for realsies though I was NOT expecting all that. and I ain't complain', far from it, that was absolutely mind-blowing!!!

I have to get up early for work tomorrow so I can't afford to stay up all night writing a massive essay about how much I love the Black Shores story (and Camellya's story quest)... but I do need to share some quick thoughts:

vistas: gorgeous

characters: fascinating af

music: divine

plot: fucking awesome

Shorekeeper's identity and story was WAY more interesting than I expected tbh, and ditto for Camellya. I was a bit worried about it being slightly waifu-baiting, but the way the Rover grew close to each of them felt surprisingly natural.

I'm kinda impressed by how well WuWa has handled this, where nearly all the character relations so far feel organic and well-founded given the circumstances that they've met under. There's a lot of deep bonds, but they all feel believable to me ^.^

It's also kinda funny how ordinary Aalto and Encore feel in contrast, too, and I can't stop thinking about how Aalto must've felt when he realized that the random interesting person he found ended up being the 30,000+ year old (at MINIMUM) founder of the entire Black Shores organization lmfao

and tbh I quite enjoy how Rover has a sort of air of authority about them, I felt like it was there fairly early on (maybe appearing sometime in the middle of the Jinzhou arc), but in this chapter it really was plain as day. the way they just took command??? and the respect they received??? simply astounding. fantastic.

Tethys Deep is also such an amazing map design! Easily one of the most beautiful places I've seen in any media. It's such an interesting mix of deep-sea imagery and sci-fi design, and tbh the thing i love most is that it's *INHABITED* and alive :D

[mariasont]

So I've been thinking of pre-show prosecutor!Hotch and I was wondering if you had any thoughts?

i do have thoughts. so many, in fact, that i had to exorcise them through a poorly proofed, probably terribly written blurb. i blame hotch for this. and also myself. mostly hotch. anyway, enjoy! pretend it's intentional if there's a typo

“Miss, could you repeat where you said you were standing?”

“Um.” Great start. Really strong. Definitely doesn’t sound like someone about to lie. You cough, try again, and this time manage a passable sentence. “On the — the corner of Sixth and Elm?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“Oh! Telling you,” you blurt, practically elbowing your hair out of your face in a rush to clarify. You fumble with the mic, an awkward little shuffle-and-scrape as you drag it closer, before contributing a more certain, “Definitely telling you.”

You try for a smile. You think it lands.

The prosecutor, Aaron Hotchner, if memory serves you correctly, gives you a look. Not a mean one, not even really skeptical, just the level thing that knocks you clean off your axis.

His face is just… offensively handsome. Sharp, classic, serious. And he’s a lawyer, which means he’s smart. Not just good-at-crosswords smart. Real smart. The kind that studies latin and knows what the word precedent means in actual context.

You bet he went to Columbia. Or maybe Stanford. Someplace that required essays and character references and three different recommendation letters.

“Did you notice anyone else there with you at that moment?”

You like his voice, too. It sounds like it should be narrating audiobooks you fall asleep to, or whispering Supreme Court cases in your ear or —

Focus.

“There might’ve been — um, I mean — maybe?” you offer.

“Miss,” he says, closer now, “I need you to be sure.”

“Yes.” The word leaps ahead of you. You clamp your lips shut for half a beat, then add, “Sorry. You’re just — um, sorry. I’m sure.”

He raises an eyebrow then, tilts his head, just a little. That lawyerly squint, halfway between confusion and curiosity.

“You’re just very… persuasive,” you say, scrambling. “I mean — clear. I meant clear.”

You laugh nervously. He doesn’t. The mic picks up everything.

“Thank you,” he murmurs dryly, though there’s a glint in his eye now, the smallest twitch of his upper lip before it evens out again. “Did you observe the defendant exiting the building at approximately 9:15 that night?”

He turns back toward his table — his bench, you think it’s called — and you catch a full view of him from behind. The lines of his back flex beneath his suit, tapering down into a waist that is frankly slutty. Your gaze dips, entirely involuntarily, to where the fabric hugs his nicely-shaped ass. You know it’s wildly inappropriate to be noticing any of this in a courtroom, but, I mean, you’re only human. 

You think about what it would be like to feel that strength over you, not legal, but physical. Hands braced on either side of your head. Jaw clenched. Voice low.

The judge coughs. Loudly. Your eyes shoot forward. You’re ninety percent sure she knows. You’re ninety-nine percent sure everyone knows.

“Yes,” you say quickly, “Yes, I saw him leave at 9:15.”

You manage to survive the rest of questioning without further incriminating yourself, verbally or otherwise. You nod when you’re supposed to, speak when asked, and somehow resist the urge to faint.

And when he finally thanks you and releases you from the stand, you rise with all the grace of a newborn deer on a frozen lake. You practically stumble down the steps, heart pounding like you’re the one awaiting sentencing. 

You don’t meet the judge’s eyes. Or the bailiff’s. Or God’s, for that matter.

But then right before you find your seat, because you are weak and hopeless, you glance back.

The prosecutor is already looking. And for one completely insane, possibly legally compromising moment… he smiles.

[alchemistc]

"When was it for you?" Buck asks, chin tucked over the nice rounded edge of Tommy's left pec, turning his eyes up through his lashes because every time he does that Tommy's eyes do something soft and sweet that Bucks still a little obsessed with. Tommy's fingers continue twisting into his curls, but he raises the 'need more context' brow. Buck obliges. "The - the spark. Like - I mean you had to kiss me for me to get what was going on but uh - I mean subconsciously I was in it to win it from like, the moment I saw how smiley you got seeing Cap and Athena reuniting. So. I'm wondering. What was it for you?"

There's still times when Buck feels like he's going too fast, too hard, pressing and pushing and reverting back to the neediness of yesteryear, but Tommy does this thing - this insane thing that shouldn't comfort Buck at all but somehow manages to both bring him back down to earth and make him feel like he's not alone in this: he takes his time. A measured breath, a quiet look, pressure on his scalp as Tommy thinks the question through without looking like he's being rushed at all. Measured. Processing both the new information he's been given, the little snapshot into what had first drawn Buck in, and the question he's been asked. If Buck had realized thoughtfulness meant so fucking much to him he'd have learned some patience years ago.

Tommy tips his chin, scratches at his cheekbone, stares at Buck like he's measuring out each word in his sentence recipe and setting up the ingredients of his response before he starts mixing.

"The handshake," he says, with a bashful little purse of his lips, like he hadn't expected he'd ever have to admit to it but he doesn't want to lie. "Just couldn't get a read on you for a while after."

Buck sort of wants to hide his face in Tommy's chest in response to the feelings that bubble up in his chest - the right-awayness of it, an immediate connection Tommy had felt even before he did, it feels like there are a thousand little pipe bombs bursting in his chest. No one's ever given him butterflies quite like Tommy Kinard.

"So it was like a physical thing for you," Buck says, fully fishing because Tommy has dated actual models and no matter how many minutes he spends each time they're naked together admiring the belly Buck's unwilling to dehydrate himself to get rid of, he likes hearing that his boyfriend thinks he's hot.

Tommy surprises him, though. "No, actually. You could barely get your name out but you wouldn't let go of my hand while you gave me five facts about helicopters you'd clearly googled on the ride over. Sorta made me want to stick you in my pocket and keep you there so you could provide me a fact-of-the-hour for the rest of my life."

Buck can feel his face going red. It's a mortifying observation, but it feels a lot like all the affectionate teasing he gets on the daily from Hen and Chim. Feels like Tommy knows him well enough by now to know he likes being read for filth when it means he's being paid attention to.

"You want weird facts, I'll give you weird facts."

Tommy chuckles. The hand in his hair tugs, just a bit, like Tommy wants Buck's face closer to his face but doesn't feel like asking. Buck shifts his weight up into an elbow to oblige, gets a thumb sliding along his cheekbone for his efforts and a primetime view of Tommy's serious face as his eyes flit across Buck's. "I didn't expect you," he says, in the serious voice, the teasing edge falling away. "I didn't expect butterflies and second chances and -." He cuts himself off, thumb slipping towards the curve of Buck's nose. "I didn't expect any of it."

Which is a bit of a revelation, if Buck's being completely honest. Tommy'd taken his hand and smiled while Buck did his level best to break the sound barrier with the pace he set at the beginning of all of this. "You thought I'd be an easy lay?" he teases, and Tommy wrinkles his nose.

"Thought you'd be bored with me before I paid the check if I ever managed to get you on a date with me."

It's actually laughable, with the benefit of hindsight, how terribly wrong that assumption had been. Laughable that Tommy thinks he could ever be boring. Buck could spend hours just staring at the subtle changes in his expression in complete silence and still not be bored with Tommy.

"That's stupid," he tells him, and Tommy thumbs at his bottom lip.

"Well I know that now. You're easily entertained. I've told you the Yellowstone flyover story six times and you still laugh at the punchline every time like it's the first time you've ever heard it."

"Moon moon," Buck repeats solemnly, and has to bite his lip not to laugh about it again.

"I like you a lot," Tommy says, and - they've exchanged I love yous, but there's something about this particular phrase - like Tommy's dug into the very heart of all of Buck's insecurities and learned the exact phrase to burn all those question marks to the ground.

"Ditto," Buck says, because Tommy had been insistent on trying to find a romcom that Buck didn't fall asleep to and Ghost had actually kept his attention decently well. Or. You know. Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore had.

Tommy rolls his eyes. "Howie keeps giving me shit for all new movie quotes you keep bringing out at inappropriate times."

"Quoting Clerks at Captain Fuckstache is always appropriate."

"We'll watch Dogma next. See if you can find any gems in that one that'll drive that asshole into an early grave."

"Are there dogs in it?"

"Are there -." Tommy's expression is so offended Buck thinks his eyes might explode. "Evan, even if you don't know the movie I know dogma is one of those SAT words you've found yourself on a Wikipedia black hole about."

Damn. And Buck had been hoping he'd get worked up enough to rant about Buck's serious gaps in knowledge in regards to pop culture. He hams it up a bit anyway. "It's when all the dogs are trying to get into heaven."

Tommy digs three fingers into Bucks side, and if they dissolve into a tickle fight five seconds later, Tommy has no one but himself to blame for the elbow to the face that nearly breaks his nose.

[gaylordscooter]

Kept Awake at Night

He never thought he could care about anyone else again, let alone care about Killer.

Yet here he was. Lying in bed, wide awake because apparently he's a child again who can't sleep without someone else in the room.

Why did he even care about him?

He was obnoxious. He was probably annoying on purpose.

And he hated things about him. Like how he paid close attention to what made people tick just so he could play his cards right when he felt like it.

Could he even name anything he loved about him?

Love? Was that the right word for describing what he felt?

Yeah, but what kind was it?

...Romantic?

He isn't sure what that kind of love felt like anymore. In all honesty, he never knew what it felt like. Ever.

Butterflies in his stomach? No.

How else did people describe the feeling of romantic love?

Ah, right. "You'll know it when you feel it."

Well. He sure didn't know, but "romantic love" didn't sound right.

But also, it was different from how he felt about Horror—Sans. Stop being a coward, just call him Sans.

Sans was his friend. He cared about him too. He knew he could rely on him.

Whatever his relationship is—was? With Killer. Is different. He's friends with Killer too, there was a difference though. It was hard to describe; Killer's avoidance of intimacy didn't help with that.

Back up, why did he love him anyway?

Because he was the first person in a long time to feed him after years of touch starvation?

That could've been anyone. Killer could've done that with anyone else. He just happened to be the one to accept it first. And to be one of the other people kidnapped by Nightmare.

WHY WOULD YOU LOVE HIM FOR USING YOU LIKE THAT, YOU SICKO?

What does using someone even mean in this context?

Say Killer "used" him. He "used" him to feel better. To temporarily get away from the hell they were trapped in. It wasn't one-sided either, it helped him too.

He found solace in him.

Now that he thought about it that way...

I SUPPOSE YOU USED HIM, THEN.

Again, what does that even—

YOU ACCEPTED HIS AFFECTION BECAUSE YOU WERE DESPERATE FOR SOME. ONCE YOU HAD YOUR FILL, YOU TOSSED HIM ASIDE LIKE HE WAS NOTHING.

That's not what he did. They needed to take a break. He was too dependent on him.

HE WAS TOO DEPENDENT. TOO DEPENDENT FOR YOU TO JUST LEAVE HIM LIKE THAT AND BE FINE.

He will be fine.

YOU DON'T ACTUALLY TRUST THAT RANDOM STRANGER TO TAKE CARE OF HIM. HE CAN BE DUST ON THE GROUND RIGHT NOW AND YOU WOULDN'T EVEN KNOW.

he will be fine.

YOU WOULD'VE DRANK YOUR WEIGHT IN ALCOHOL IF THEY DIDN'T CUT YOU OFF. IF YOU THINK HE'S DOING ANY BETTER THAN YOU, YOU'RE MORE INSANE THAN I THOUGHT.

he will be fine.

How many times did you need to tell yourself something until you believed it?

[mulletmitsuya]

Sano Groupchat (and closely affiliated)

Warnings: swearing, suggestive, the word necrophilia is mentioned twice, mentions of kidnapping, mentions of drugging, also a "description" of a penis (it's not what it sounds like i swear)

Side note: i've realized that my warnings without context, make me look like a crazy person so please bear with me 😔🙏

Desc: Mikey gets kidnapped by a crazy fan and so forth (i'm so bad at these, might remove them 💀)

Shinichiro: Mikey, we're glad to have you back. i'll release a statement saying you need to recover from the traumatizing situation you've just been through. just rest up okay?

Emma: yeah, we're here if you need anything :((

Izana: you're alive, so

Emma: Izana ☹️

Izana: ...

Izana: we are here to support you through difficult times

Izana: as your "siblings" 🙂

Shinichiro: what are the quotation marks for bud 😞✊?

Izana: my hand slipped

Shinichiro: oh okay then!

Mikey: guys

Shinichiro: Draken, how's the arrest going?

Draken: the girls trial is in a few weeks from now and she can't afford bail so she's locked up

Mikey: guys it's not that deep

Mikey: like, it's not as big of a deal as you're making it out to be

Izana: see? he's fine

Emma: YOU WERE MISSING FOR 2 WEEKS

Emma: YOU WERE LITERALLY KIDNAPPED BY A CRAZY FAN. IT'S A BIG DEAL

Mikey: but they didn't hurt me?? they made all my favourite snacks and food and tucked me into bed every night. which maybe was a little weird but i still liked it. i had a very good time actually. so why are we arresting her? she's chill fr

Draken: that's all she did?

Baji: how do you know she didn't drug you in your sleep and do things to you 🤨

Mikey: bro?

Shinichiro: Keisuke, that's a very sensitive topic for some people, so let's not say it so casually okay?

Baji: what?

Baji: is it a long shot to say Mikey was touched or something?

Baji: i mean, what other motives did she have

Baji: and you guys saw her tweets right? she's obsessed with you

Baji: wasn't she the one who calculated the circumference, length, girth and colour of your penis??

Draken: no that's another one

Baji: nvm

Baji: that was Haruchiyo

Haruchiyo: fuck off

Mikey: Baji we literally go to onsens together with Haruchiyo. you've all seen my penis 😐

Baji: hard and soft are two different things

Baji: you pervert

Haruchiyo: it wasn't me, what the fuck?

Haruchiyo: i'm too famous to be risking my reputation like that

Haruchiyo: i'd need a burner account no one could access, which i don't have

Haruchiyo: so no Baji, i don't have a Mikey fanpage

Haruchiyo: that would be crazy and weird and bordeline insane

Baji: i didn't say any of that?

Baji: and you are all 3 of those things🤨

Mikey: well whatever cause everyone was wrong. it's small

Mikey: you know what it's not even small. it's average for my size, actually

Mikey: i mean i'm 5'3 yk. what did people expect

Mikey: like, it would look weird if i had a big one

Mikey: it would be disproportionate to have a big one

Mikey: i see people saying "i know it's big😍" or stuff like "i wanna gag on it"

Emma: gross

Emma: why are you telling us this 😟

Mikey: which i find really flattering

Draken: flattering isn't the word i'd use

Mikey: yeah thats cause you're a fucking prude, Ken-chin

Draken: it's cause i have a wife, jackass

Emma: 😊❤

Mikey: but seriously it wouldn't make sense for me to have a big penis

Baji: excuses excuses 🙄

Mikey: my penis is fine

Baji: they gave you dick dysmorphia

Mikey: whatever it's not like i'll use it anyway

Baji: bottom?

Mikey: i just don't like sex 😐

Izana: are we here to listen to Mikey talk about his small dick or what

Shinichiro: yeah maybe we should... not

Mikey: well, yours is skinny so whatever

Shinichiro: no it's not 😕

Shinichiro: i've had many people compliment me for my size, actually

Izana: "many"

Izana: "people"

Mikey: we know it's not girls, just say you fuck men (Wakasa) dude

Baji: no girl wants you bro

Baji: (isn't it Takeomi?)

Mikey: (Takeomi is violently homophobic)

Baji: (oh yeah)

Haruchiyo: what are you guys doing

Mikey: (whispering)

Haruchiyo: you guys are texting

Haruchiyo: we can all see this

Haruchiyo: are you fucking dumb

Haruchiyo: not you, Mikey

Mikey: thanks Haru 😋

Baji: he was doing it too???

Baji: i get why Takeomi was homophobic 😒

Baji: (when are you going to address his crush on you, Mikey)

Mikey: (it's not a crush, you ever heard of bff's, Keisuke🙄?)

Baji: (that's like saying me and Kazutora are bff's)

Mikey: (you are?)

Baji: (i'm in love with him)

Mikey: (oh yeah)

Mikey: (but Haru isn't in love with me)

Baji: (he probably creams his pants when you use that nickname)

Haruchiyo: i can see this

Haruchiyo: you aren't "whispering"

Haruchiyo: IT'S A FUCKING GROUPCHAT

Draken: does this matter?

Draken: we were talking about the fact that Mikey was kidnapped

Draken: Baji is right, something really bad could have happened if they have you longer

Draken: along with the statement, we need to talk to your fans man

Draken: this is a line crossed

Baji: no shit

Baji: also, why didn't you, i don't know, fight back and escape or something?

Mikey: i didn't want to hit a girl 😔

Mikey: like i said, i enjoyed my time there

Mikey: knew you guys would find me eventually so it was like, a side quest

Draken: of course you'd call a kidnapping a side quest

Emma: how'd she even kidnap you?

Mikey: she saw me at a convenience store and they'd run out of my favourite sweeties

Mikey: and i was whining about it to the cashier, so i guess she overheard

Mikey: and she said she had some in her car

Mikey: so i go there with her

Mikey: then she asked for an autograph

Mikey: then i'm pretty sure she drugged me with chloroform or something cause i was out

Emma: chloroform isn't like the movies. it takes a while to knock someone out, so that's not really likely unless you stood there and took it

Mikey: ...

Mikey: ok fine, do you want me to say i fell asleep in her car? huh?

Mikey: cause that's what i did

Izana: it's like you *want* to die or something

Izana: nvm

Baji: are you stupid or something

Draken: Mikey

Draken: you are 25 years old

Draken: and you're telling me

Draken: that you fell for the "hi kid, want some candy?" trick

Draken: are you fucking serious

Shinichiro: Mikey...

Shinichiro: you could have gone to another store 🙁

Shinichiro: i almost lost you

Shinichiro: because of jellybeans? really?

Mikey: they're my favourite sweet okay ☹️

Mikey: and i was lazy and tired

Mikey: hence, falling asleep

Baji: he has to have necrophilia or something

Shinichiro: i don't think that's the word buddy

zana: "necrophilia"

Izana: didn't you graduate?

Baji: working on it 💪

Izana: ah alright

Izana: what's your IQ?

Baji: below average

Mikey: Baji, don't tell people that ☠️

Izana: ...

Izana: wow he actually answered me

Emma: *sigh*

Draken: what's the point of tying out your physical actions

Emma: shut up a little babe

Draken: ok

Emma: what Baji meant, was necormancy

Draken: that's incorrect, babe

Emma: omg can we just wrap this up

Izana: both of you are wrong 💀

Izana: what is wrong with you people

Izana: necrophilia= sexual attraction to a dead body

Izana: necormancy= communication with dead people

Izana: narcolepsy= condition characterized by an extreme tendency to sleep

Izana: i'm assuming you guys meant to say the third one, for Mikey

Izana: holy shit

Emma: no need to be mean about it 😒

Baji: i'll add those to my "new words" list

Mikey: maybe i do have that

Mikey: i do fall asleep in very odd places

Emma: you know what we can talk about this tommorow. time out

*only admins can send messages*

[mad-not-disappointed]

so i finally got around to watching Kpop Demon Hunters, and here are my thoughts on it!

overall, i loved the movie! it had a really interesting premise, it was well-paced and of course the animation was just top tier! also props to the VAs because the voice acting in this movie was INSANE.

Rumi was a really interesting protagonist, her struggles with accepting her demon side could be an analogy for many things — queerness, disability, neurodivergence, ethnicity (being mixed race or an immigrant), etc etc etc. i like that they made her a skilled fighter without making her the tired Perfect Girlboss™ trope.

same with Jinu. i like how he's actually flawed but is still overridden with guilt about what he did to his family. and the movie doesn't try to justify it or baby him, even though he's the epitome of the conventionally attractive antagonist with a tragic backstory. he's sympathetic but not innocent.

Zoey and Mira were also interesting characters but i wish the movie had gone deeper into their stories. Zoey also very much reads as neurodivergent, especially the “you're too much but not enough” and her general hyperactive nature. Mira's identity as a problem child and her relationship with her family was barely touched on, i wish they had given us more context. but i get it, this movie was mainly about Rumi and Jinu.

as a k-pop fan, i worried the songs might be too corny or stereotypical kpop but nope. it sounds like real k-pop, something a group like Blackpink or IVE might release. also the songs actually match the mood of the scene. i haven't mentioned this before but y'all remember that one k-pop scene from Amphibia S3? they really used a cutesy love song during a BATTLE scene i was cringing so hard 😭

Rumi and Jinu had great chemistry and i was surprised to find that i actually like the idea of them as a couple. i like that they're both powerful but also soft and vulnerable. there isn't any power imbalance and i really like that both of them help and heal each other, it's not one-sided.

often times in straight ships, you see the male character being the “protector” and the female character doing all the emotional heavylifting, comforting the male character and helping him become vulnerable, etc. here, Jinu is the one who helps Rumi open up and be vulnerable, and she does the same for him later on. it's a really sweet dynamic.

now onto the critiques, which aren't many but i still have a few concerns. for one, i feel like the ending was a little too vague. i had so many questions.

like what happened to the people in the audience? they basically watched one of their favorite groups murder the other on stage. did their memory get washed after the demons were taken down? because otherwise, that would be a WILD thing to witness and react to in the way they did, which was “omg Huntrix is back together yay!” but then, there are no indications that the people don't remember any of this happening.

secondly, Rumi accepted her demon side, which is good for her. she found out through Jinu that demons aren't just pure evil and that they have struggles and feelings. but then she still kills the other demons and reinforces the Honmoon?

obviously i'm not saying that the demons should be let off the hook, they were still presumably murdering people. but i feel like the nuance of the situation wasn't explored as much. the movie kinda leads us to believe that Jinu and Rumi are the only demons (or half-demon) who deserve sympathy, when all of the demons were canonically being controlled and abused by Gwi-Ma.

idk what exactly a good resolution to this would have been, but i feel like it shouldn't have been “defeat the demons anyway, they're not as important as Jinu”.

also, what about the missing people? are they just.. dead? did the Saja Boys canonically murder a whole train full of people and more???

another thing that's a bit of a nitpick is that.. why are the Saja Boys the only conventionally attractive demons? i'm not talking about their k-pop idol personas btw, i get that as idols, they have to be good-looking in order to attract fans.

i'm talking about their demon forms. all the other demons have comedically monster-like features — big teeth and tusks and everything, but the Saja Boys are the only ones who look like regular men, just with different skin color/pattern and eye color.

and we know that all of the demons can disguise themselves as regular humans, as seen in the beginning of the movie. so if they can all shapeshift, any of them could have been part of the group, not just the conveniently human-like demons.

apart from the fact that it kinda perpetuates the idea of “conventionslly attractive = morally good”, it's also a missed opportunity because i would have liked to see more interesting character designs. even with these current designs, they could have added something to make the guys look more demon-like and therefore, more interesting.

i would have loved a plot similar to Shrek, where the love interest's true form is not conventionally attractive but the idea of what is classified as attractive is challenged (because let's be real, Fiona was still beautiful in her ogre form).

despite all this, i still enjoyed this movie a lot and the songs are such earworms! my favorite is probably 'Your Idol', it's been a while since we've gotten a good villain song! it reminded me of Monster by Exo. my favorite character would be Zoey maybe, and also the tiger and the bird lol they were iconic. great movie, i highly recommend!

[ceilidhtransing]

I feel like so much shitty discourse could be avoided if people more consciously bore in mind the fact that Mainstream Society and The Queer Community are, you know, meaningfully different spaces that often have different social phenomena and different issues.

Random example, there'll be a discussion about femininity often being prized over masculinity, especially transmasculinity, in some queer spaces. And there'll be a bunch of transmasculine people talking about being made to feel unwelcome once they came out, feeling pressured to identify as nonbinary rather than as a binary man as that receive less hostility, being increasingly isolated and othered once they started T, feeling pressured to act more feminine and GNC, being told that their presence as a man makes others in the space uncomfortable, etc.

And then inevitably someone will respond with something like “OP what fucking planet are you on. You're fucking insane if you think femininity is prized over masculinity in society. And the idea that nonbinary people have privilege over binary trans people - what is this fucking enbyphobic bullshit? God, some people are so stuck in an echo chamber of terminally online tumblr queers with their invented problems that they've forgotten what it's like in the real world.”

But was the discussion about wider mainstream society? Or was it very particularly about the queer community and issues that these people have faced specifically within that community?

The queer community is a subculture (arguably many subcultures but let's try to keep it simple), and it's totally, utterly standard for subcultures to - even deliberately, as an act of pushback - value different things from the mainstream culture. Aesthetics thought of as “weird” or “[insert slur here]” by the mainstream can be highly prized in the queer community. Identities that are all thought of as equally “fucked-up” and “cringe” by the mainstream can find themselves organised into some weird hierarchy of validity and oppressed-ness within the community. Politics which are considered extremely fringe and radical by the mainstream can be considered the default norm, even a necessity, in the queer community. Gender expressions that are seen as the most basic “normal” thing ever in the mainstream can be devalued by the queer community for “not looking queer enough” or “being straight-passing”. And none of this is a contradiction because this is pretty much how subcultures operate! They assert different values and cultural norms from the culture they exist within and that's partly what makes them subcultures.

So if someone's pointing out “I face this issue specifically when I'm interacting with queer spaces”, it doesn't do the conversation any good to assume that they're talking about mainstream society and attack them for “being deluded about how the real world works” or “inventing fake problems to sound more oppressed” or something. (And the inverse - someone pointing out “I face this issue when I'm interacting with the mainstream” and someone else responding with “I don't know what you're talking about; I never face that issue at all [in my exclusively queer friend group and support network]” - is far rarer, but it does still happen, and it's just as unhealthy for the discussion. Probably the most common example of this I can think of is when cis gay and lesbian people discuss homophobia they've faced, for instance to do with their gender expression, and someone goes “but that doesn't happen, because actually cis gays are a privileged group and I've never seen anyone attack their presentations” - yes, because the frame of reference you're using is the queer community, where being gay is pretty much the expected default, and you're forgetting that in mainstream society, even cisgender gays and lesbians are by no means “a privileged group” that experiences no oppression ever.)

People need to be able to discuss issues in the specific social contexts they're talking about without it being basically guaranteed that someone will misinterpret them and start jumping down their throat in anger at something that wasn't even said or implied. It is so bad for the community when people seemingly can't fathom that the dynamics at play might be different within queer spaces versus out in mainstream society and it leads to so much pointless toxicity and aggressive misunderstanding.

[ghoulfuckersincorporated]

More assorted Joshua Graham x Edward Sallow/Caesar thoughts that didn't really fit in with my post about them from the other day:

Spend a lot of time early on discovering that they share a lot of similar interests and ideals despite their very different backgrounds. Very much the sort of connection where you're pretty much instantly spending all your time together and only talk to one another. There's conflicting information on how many people were in their original party, three or nine, but I hope it was nine purely for the sake of Bill Calhoun, who otherwise would've been the only other person there while these two losers sat up all night, talking about languages and anthropology and falling in big, gay, angst-riddled love with each other. However, both Graham and Sallow claim in-game that there were only the three of them, so I find that more believable than the official game guide's claim of nine. Poor Bill.

In a funny, but sort of tragic way, the qualities that they admired most about one another when they met eventually become the things they hate most by the time their relationship (whatever kind you'd call it) ends. Edward's tenacity and confidence become the foundation of his pigheaded stubbornness and egomania, both of which fuel the fire of his totalitarian mindset. Joshua's dedication to his beliefs and sense of decorum become a shield, a means to keep a hard, cold distance between them that cannot be bridged…at least, not in the way Edward would have it. And with a literal dictator like him, there's no other way for things to pan out.

A solid percentage of Legionaries of all ranks have at least one story of being present when the two devolved into an argument that both felt and sounded like when your parents fight at the dinner table. Graham hates to argue, as he finds it unseemly, but he's also one of the only people willing to stand up to Caesar about almost anything, let alone without it provoking a response from others. This tends to evoke anger in Sallow for multiple reasons, among them being that it demonstrates how many of their charges see Joshua as the more practical (maybe even more respectable) of the two of them. After all, he might be a weirdly religious and terrifying man, but he doesn't spend all day yapping about Hegelian dialectics and the Rubicon to a bunch of guys who (by and large) barely know how to read and are all in pain because he refuses to let them have non-traditional medicine. In response, he often tries to make Josh seem more volatile by needling him into lashing out in anger, which isn't all that difficult when you know someone so intimately.

They both have wet dreams about one another and they have radically different reactions to it. They make Edward feel a deep sense of longing, the empty spot in his bed all the emptier. He'll spend all day staring at Joshua openly, burning every detail of his face and body into his mind and letting himself indulge a bit too deeply in fantasies of what it could be like if things magically worked out between them. Josh, on the other hand, wakes up in a cold sweat and feels like he could cry out of guilt. He's not especially worried about (or even thinking of) Edward in the moment, far more concerned about himself and God. The Malpais Legate already skirts or outright defies plenty of God's laws, and he worries that if he throws this particular "infraction" on the pile, he'll be struck dead where he stands or something. Avoids Sallow like the plague, which only makes the other man clingier in response.

Even if they had decided to fuck each other, it wouldn't have worked out. They're both insane-level control freaks when it comes to sexual intimacy, and neither of them is willing to be vulnerable enough to allow someone else to "dominate" them in any way. Hence, they would both absolutely insist they're tops, and no one would be folding on that front. Edward would expect Josh to bottom because he's in charge in literally every other context already...why not this? Josh would think he was out of his mind to even suggest he'd allow it. They would get into serious arguments about this dynamic multiple times and never resolve anything. The most they'd get around to physically is probably a few super angry mutual hand jobs. Also, joke's on both of them, because they both actually lean bottom and just won't ever know it.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for criticizing the way my(27m) boyfriend(22m) compliments me?

It's a matter of how often (too often, imo), and the manner of "compliment." He calls it "being nice to me" but on my end, it simply feels too vague to really be about me, and more specifically it's the kind of thing that a fictional character would say about their loved one while delirious on cold medicine or something, except my bf is usually awake and sober when he does this, and it's every single day.

More specifically and objectively: "You're beautiful to me." "You're like an angel." "You're so important to me." etc. A lot of "to me"s. And quite genuinely, it's basically always said like someone kinda high on morphine? though at absolute worst he's kinda tired, and he'll still say it like that if he's perfectly awake.

It's this sort of thing every day, with this sort of jokingly lofty language, always when I don't feel I've done anything in particular to warrant it. Like, *I* never say stuff like this in a situation that isn't already deeply intimate and significant, but he says it seemingly just in response to me existing next to him. And for a while I smiled along and said thank you and I love you too but after some time it just started to run together so much that I got deeply annoyed by it and started telling him to stop. When I do he becomes upset and starts to say that he's just trying to be nice, and I try to explain that it's just the same thing every day and it feels kind of meaningless. But he just goes on about how it's insane that i'm critiquing his compliments.

From what he tells me, it seems on his end of things he's technically being genuine and it's just a kind of limited vocabulary that makes his communication of his love for me Like That. I just still kind of can't stand hearing the same sort of fake-sounding "compliment" every single day at random times where they don't feel like they belong and I feel like I'm going crazy. I feel like I can't even explain my side with more depth to him without him getting more seriously upset, but he doesn't seem motivated to actually stop at all even though I've brought it up many times.

Some added context: We've been together for about 2 years and these sort of compliments with the frequency that I'm complaining about is relatively recent, for the past maybe 3-4 months. I am in fact his first partner, and I definitely see how that factors into him wanting to say things like this to me. It's just the like... continuing to do it.

AM I crazy? I really can't tell who's the normal one here. But like... I just want to actually earn it if I'm gonna get told something like that. And I feel like it would inherently mean more if he saved it FOR those moments that I earned it. AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[sass-ruby]

okay. HOLY FUCKING SHI-

Sun² (dark sun) looks like he's thriving LMAO 😭

Let me just say, THANK YOU MOON FOR BEING SO CURIOUS

I'm curious too, so this satisfied me so much

We got A LOT of information, and one VERY jaw dropping one

So.. sun² created a paradise for himself and others, most likely suns but not every sun. That- that honestly sounds so sweet 😭 I'm pretty sure by psychotic, sun² meant like- do things without thinking, go insane, kill for no reason ect ect.. since he doesn't like violence from what I've been able to gather. The violence he has probably committed, I am guessing was necessary because sun² thinks reasonably

But I wonder- do suns go there when they die? Like, heaven? There are already people there.. but are those people suns or random people??

His dragon is there to be a protector so, it's most likely dead suns I think..? To protect them? That'd be so sweet, I hope that's the case

Goliath died, oof 😭 I never cared much about him but that ONE THING he said to sun once;

"You..might be pathetic, but you're so much more than them."

The fact that EVEN goliath, someone so egotistical, sees sun's morals.. yet others cant and just see it as being cowardly

Our sun has been proven to be the most empathetic among all suns. He HAS done bad, but hasn't continued to do so, he tried his best to make it right. I love him sm I swear

But oh goodness. There is one MOST important jaw dropping lore we got out of sun².

Oh my fucking gosh.

Oh my.

The fact he chose this sun specifically.. BECAUSE HE COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT HIMSELF.

We already knew he was like sun, but moon broke him. Just like how it usually goes in dimensions, here's the thing, though. Even if he did the same back to him, he could NEVER kill him.

Now there's more space to understand why he did it. He couldn't do it, he wanted to give other suns a chance.

Holy shit. Holy shit.

This is too shocking for me I'm sorry

I did not think that SUN² COULDN'T KILL HIS MOON

I guess that was a thing that truly connected all suns before sun's² whole thing

The fact our sun was the first, THE FIRST WHO WAS ABLE TO AND THAT IT WASN'T AN ACCIDENT.

Finally. FINALLY IT'S BEEN PROVEN HE'S SPECIAL IN SOME SORT OF WAY

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG

The "I hate him, but couldn't kill him" thing reminds me kinda of my mother and I, just with different context 😭 like- I hate her but can't hate her completely. I have mommy issues QwQ

I literally sometimes get so mad at how she treats me that I hope she dies.

Although- lets not get into that

The point I was trying to make is, even when you swear you hate someone close to you... ESPECIALLY YOUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD, you can never completely hate them.

That is only what I've been able to gather from other things like that

ALSO ALSO ALSO aLsOoOoooO

Why did sun² sound so unsure.. at that one part.

"I suppose nexus could sure try, if he was still around. Mumbles if he was still around..."

WHY DID HE SOUND SO UNSURE.

I wouldn't be surprised if he said it like that because he's seen how many times villains come back in this dimension ☠️☠️

LITERALLY I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED

But if nexus comes back, SHIT.

A part of me believes he will. It's after Christmas, and the new tradition is that shit happens after Christmas because the October takeover tradition ended

AAAAAAAAAA

I'll be kinda happy about it, ONLY BECAUSE THE ANGSTTT

YAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAA

Another also and another woa!! >:D

"why does EVERYTHING have to be US"

"you think I have that answer? Heh, even with my intelligence.. I can never answer that one."

EVEN SUN² ACKNOWLEDGES IT

Because the show runners need to feed us, that's the answer <333

Their lives are something else 😭 they have to deal with something new everyday. They can never catch a break

That would be all. BUT HAHSHHDD I LAUGHED SO HARD SEEING SUN² FLY HELPPPPP

He had his "I was a fairy" moment 🎀 NDNDJSJMS

okay now it's all :3

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[delta-lethonomia]

ok depresso week is over, back to deliberate hyperfixation on bg3:

It is absolutely wild to me that people take Astarion to the foursome with the drow twins (romanced, spawn, post-cazador) and are shocked, shocked I tell you, that he has a bad time. But it leads me to think that there's an interesting conversation to be had here about morality applied to video games. I'm going to be using what's a bit of a strawman tbh, what I would consider an archetypical, "good person" gamer for this niche example.

(3k essay under the cut about irl morals vs video game behavior, my take on why Astarion agrees to the orgy, beating the dead horse of Astarion discourse now that the fandom has cooled off enough I might not get flogged for it, and all my election stress being translated into an increasingly bitchy narrative voice that I hope is at least mildly amusing.)

"Good Person Gamer" romances Astarion. They're probably female, which I am mentioning exclusively so I can turn that into "Good Girl Gamer" 😏, or G3. G3 picks nice dialogue options. G3 tries to support their companions, and finds diplomatic and moral solutions to problems. G3 saved the tieflings. G3 still romances Astarion because he's hot, and vulnerable, and it's not like he forces you to be evil - he just complains a bit when you save kittens stuck in trees, but you get that approval back anyway just by being nice to him. Talk him out of Ascension and you've proven to yourself he's got a good soul under all that attitude anyway. He'd healed! You banged on his grave! It's all good now!

The brothel is fun. The drow twins are hot. It's always fun when games lets you do spicy things like have threesomes and orgies! We're sex-positive! Look, the drow twins said they love their job! It's totally fine! G3, as most people, probably does not do these things in real life, but that's the fun in video games: you get to be someone you're not.

And then Astarion noticeably dissociates. He throws himself in the center and lavishes everyone with attention; he's a professional, you know. Even an unromanced Tav/Durge notices something's off, and Astarion replies something along the lines of "you don't have the right to look at me like that," presumably with worry, distress, or sympathy.

G3 is upset. They did everything right - they didn't want to hurt him, and Astarion himself said he wanted this. Why couldn't they stop midway through and remind him that he doesn't have to hurt himself? Why couldn't they talk about it afterwards, and clear the air? LARIAN WHY DO YOU HURT ME

Now, to all the G3's out there: if you were dating a person with extensive sexual trauma, having been raped literally thousands of times, would you suggest having a threesome/orgy? With prostitutes, if that's better or worse? Putting them on the spot before your mutual friends? Would you wait a few years to mention the idea, or would you do so only weeks/months into a relationship? Your first "I love you" might have only been yesterday.

And most people, I think, would say "No." Writing that scenario outside of the lens of a video game makes it sound insane - of course you wouldn't! I'm not saying that they should never have group sex or that it can't be done, but I think most people instinctively get how that would be a shitty thing to do in that context, especially without discussing it in depth beforehand and making sure you're both on the same page.

And this is the meat of the issue. Most gamers play good-aligned characters: there's a strong culture of wanting to play the hero and saving the day. But tied into that cultural monomyth, in society itself, is the idea that sex is a reward at the end. You get sex at the end of the romance arc. The date where you have sex is one of many milestones, and you're not really dating if you haven't done it yet. Some people don't have sex until their wedding night. Threesome scenes especially are a video game classic: old-school God of War, for instance, had a hidden room in every game with scantily-clad women just waiting for you to button-mash away, a little treat for the player's keen puzzle-solving abilities.

Not all romances in BG3 have sex or end with sex, (some even start with sex), but that is because BG3's character writing tries to ground itself in reality despite being a medium people utilize for fantasy. Role-playing a "good" character is mostly easy: you typically know which dialogue choice is the ethical choice, can chide Astarion for being racist, can save the numerous children with moral ease - and BG3 rewards this: a good playthrough is more fleshed out, because you haven't killed off half the cast. You get better gear. You have more allies, better allies. You know what to do.

Or, well, mostly. BG3 is kind of special imo because even the good choices have a lot of nuance, where two people can make different choices but still feel like they both picked the most ethical one. Take Shadowheart's parents, for example: they beg for her to let them go so they can die and save their daughter. Saving them leaves Shadowheart in Shar's clutches - she will experience pain for the rest of her life, but regains her parents, and with luck, Selûne will claim her soul when she dies. Kill them, and Shadowheart is free - truly free, to live her life on her own terms, free from Shar and Selûne both. Both can be the ethical choice, depending on your morals.

"But if Astarion didn't want to have the threesome, the game should have let me stop midway through/made it clearer that this would happen. He said no before Cazador - why couldn't he say no again? Why would Larian put me in this position and make me feel bad when I thought everything was alright? I wanted to be good and have fun, not feel like I pressured my boyfriend." - Strawman G3.

Because BG3 treats it's characters like people. Multiple companions make choices outside of what the player character decides for them - Shadowheart's decision to save or kill her parents, kill or save the Nightsong, or Gale, to go for the crown or not depend on what events they are there to witness personally, or can be informed by conversations you have in camp about unrelated issues. You can fully let them make their own decisions and be surprised each time as they develop into different people with each successive playthrough. A lot of people are surprised when Gale goes for the Crown of Karsus without their input. In my last multiplayer playthrough, we could not prevent Shadowheart from wanting to kill the Nightsong, and so we were forced to kill her.

Astarion is not like that. The way he talks about Ascension changes depending on your relationship. If you're merely friends, he acknowledges it's probably a bad idea, even, in direct contrast to the somewhat obsessive and frightening way he pursues it in a romantic relationship. But Astarion can't decide what to do at the end: he has no hidden point system, no hidden flags - he will always pursue Ascension even if he knows it's a bad idea, because Astarion does not trust himself, has no experience trusting himself, and needs help. As counter-intuitive as it may sound, he needs support to make his own decisions, because in that moment, he cannot be objective.

(If Astarion is ever objective is another story....)

So much of Astarion's reactions and opinions are instinctive and unthinking. "Don't let the pixie out of the lantern, are you an idiot?" -> "A pixie! And honest-to-goodness pixie! *giggles*"

"We don't need a urchin hanging around." -> Astarion approves if you help Yenna

etc. etc. etc. There's so many times he says one thing, the cruel thing, the "fuck everyone else, I've got mine"-thing, and then approves when you do the good thing. Astarion does not live in line with his values (besides pursuing a growing need for freedom) and he frankly does not really know what his values even are.

Astarion doesn't react with glee to finding all the people he seduced - who inadvertently raped him, though they didn't know, some lowlifes and scoundrels and people having a bad day and even some sweet, naive virgins like Sebastian, who took that smoking hot Elf on his word and followed him home, probably in disbelief someone so gorgeous would pay them any attention at all - tortured and locked in a dungeon underground. He's crushed by guilt. He's in pain. Astarion delights in you causing others pain (the torture scene) because it aligns with his worldview, the joy of seeing someone else suffer for once. But he's not a cold-hearted murderer. (And yes, I am differentiating between "adventurer kills a bandit" murder and "deliberately killing someone you know for reasons/no reason" murder.) He doesn't hurt anyone in camp - Shadowheart and Lae'zel are far more dangerous than him. You never have to stop him from drinking anyone else to death. Even if you never feed him again, never use his bite attack, he never bites anyone in camp. Despite being a vampire, Astarion is, effectively, harmless. (Bite night was about checking whether or not Cazador's old command's still worked. It's his first real attempt at freedom, proving to himself that he's free from compulsion. Hence why the roll to get him to stop is a 5, giving you a 75% likelihood of succeeding. He doesn't actually want to kill you. And you get two chances!!!)

Astarion doesn't enjoy death for the sake of death. He's terrified if you side with the goblins and kill the tieflings despite goading you into doing it. I don't doubt that he could hurt others (god knows he's got enough feelings to work out that way), but there's a significant difference between a little knife play and condemning thousands of people to be tortured in the Hells for all eternity. Sacrificing his siblings is different, because they, like him, are guilty, and deserve their deaths. He agrees to sacrifice his fellow spawn as an act of self hatred, of self harm. But all those other people stupid enough to want to sleep with him? Given a day to think about it, I think Astarion would agree that that's not right - and that's why he thanks you for preventing his Ascension. That much murder isn't him. He can be thoughtless, cruel, and unkind, but Astarion isn't a psychopath.

Take him to the brothel, and slipping back into that role, the seductive rake, it as easy as breathing. I don't think Astarion has ever thought about if he's the type of person to enjoy group sex, or even if he wants it. I don't doubt that Astarion enjoys sex, that he wants to have sex (he is, after all that, still shockingly horny), but he's just discovered the idea of having sex with someone he loves. He's riding that high. Of course he says yes: not only is he a different man now (he's free!), it's something he's done a thousand times already - maybe it'll be different this time, maybe something has changed - or maybe, an orgy was on offer, so of course Astarion is there. It's his purpose. He's been doing it for 200 years. Where else would he be?

What I'm saying is that Astarion didn't think about what sleeping with the drow twins meant for your relationship, or how he would feel about it at all. He just went for it. He had a bad time. You then don't discuss it because that would mean admitting that he finally made a choice by himself and it backfired. He didn't think, or maybe he did, and it turns out he just doesn't know himself. Why discuss it? A relationship with G3 apparently means group sex. They probably asked twice. They backtracked all the way to Wyrm's Crossing post-Cazador. Will they ask again? How many times can he say no?

In reality, in the real world, the act of asking can be the problem in and of itself. If your significant other/spouse/lover asks you to do something you don't want to do, be it a threesome, anal, opening the relationship etc, these actions have consequences. The act of asking doesn't happen in a vacuum like it does in video games: there is a cost associated with it, a gamble, and while it may pay off, it may not. Some people get worn down and agree to things they don't want to do. Sometimes you break up because the act of asking is so inherently disrespectful you can't reconcile your differing wants and needs. If you're dating someone who has experienced the gut-wrenching pain of being cheated on, you don't ask 2 months into a new relationship if you can fuck other people. This should not come as a surprise to you, to G3, to anyone. It's common sense.

BG3 giving you the opportunity for a foursome with Astarion not only to give the player their hot'n'spicy sex scene (then playfully bops you on the nose by making it a fade-to-black, you naughty little perverts, you), but also to continue its theme of treating the player like a mature adult, who is dealing with other mature adults, and who can and should live with the consequences of their own actions. Subsequent patches have watered this down, I admit, but I do believe that that was the ethos guiding their work from the beginning. BG3 wants you to interact with the characters like people. If you roll over and tell them what they want to hear, you will Ascend Astarion, and he'll enslave you in turn. If you agree with Gale on everything, he will kill himself and you - or, he'll become a god, becoming the exact sort of god he used to rail against. Agree with Karlach, and she will rather die than go back to the Hells. You get my point.

"But Larian could have let me check in on Astarion midway through. Maybe it was a mistake to ask, but they should have let me check on him and stop it all if he wanted. I was trying to trust him to make his own decisions." - Strawman G3

Ok. We add a dialogue option. "Astarion, love, are you alright? We can stop at any time if you want."

Astarion disapproves (-5)

He's not backing out. Thank you for asking, darling, but fuck off. (I don't think he'd actually say fuck off but the implicit message would be there. I can't see Astarion stopping midway through, nor appreciating you doubting him. Nothing changes.)

"But I still feel bad." - Strawman G3

And I completely understand that. It's a video game. Don't worry! Of course you should get your sex scene - it's a reward! You got their approval high enough! You have enough charisma points! In DA:O, you can also have an orgy, unlocked by giving your companions enough gifts! It's a game! You have enough points, you get the thing!!! You killed Cazador - you win! Have your cake and eat it too! Congrats, you unlocked your hot slutty vampire elf who's basically a trained courtesan, who needs you to be his moral compass, who will never leave you so long as you don't actively rape him - enjoy all the fun orgies in your future!

Your actual choice - the choice the game gives you - is to realize that taking what's essentially a human trafficking victim to a brothel is a dumb idea, but they didn't want to punish you for it.

"Well, Astarion should have said something then. He said no before, he can say no again." - Strawman G3

If you go through life pushing peoples boundaries and expect them to verbally tell you what you're doing wrong, you're gonna be friendless and have a bad time. This ties back to both Astarion having difficulty knowing and defending his own values, BG3 trying to let you make your own decisions without setting out a clear "good or bad" path on occasion, and the hope that you'd use your own morals to make decisions. G3 would never behave in this way irl, and that's where the shock comes from, the guilt from committing an action they thought was without consequence in a risk-free fantasy scenario, and then feeling unpleasantly surprised when called out.

But it's a video game, and you didn't get the little zap, the little sting of an Astarion disapproves in the corner that told you you made the wrong choice. In fact, because he doesn't disapprove, it's not actually the wrong choice!

It really was mean how the Narrator made G3 feel bad, wasn't it. They didn't mean to hurt him. Astarion doesn't mention it, so it's probably fine.

... have you talked to Halsin yet? Surely he had a good time. Right?

CONCLUSION

People think they're good and moral and will typically behave "heroically" in video games. Games support this and reward players for doing so. The "good path" is expected to be clear. However, video games are not real life no matter how much they play at immersion, and multiple games have trained players in a linear "do x, receive y" type fashion. Sex is a reward in games, and is treated that way in real life as well, so players expect the Sharess' orgy scene to be a reward, and are then shocked when Astarion/Gale/Halsin etc reveal during or afterwards that they had a bad time. This is because Larian wants you to treat BG3 like a role playing game and interact with it seriously, and isn't afraid to boop you for your actions in ways that mimic real life relationships. This ethical dissonance makes people uncomfortable especially when they play games to role-play as someone better than themselves, and are surprised when they aren't herded down predetermined "good" paths via instantaneous approval/disapproval mechanics or unlockable "ideal" dialogue.

It is absolutely possible that someday Astarion might be into meaningless group sex with prostitutes for fun and pleasure. However, that is the sort of thing you'd probably either wait for him to bring up by himself organically, or discuss in a long-term trusting relationship after he's had potentially years to process the idea of not immediately hopping into bed with someone, as well as disentangling his instinctive "beaten-in" sexually available behavior from his actual desires. People much more emotionally mature and undamaged than Astarion have destroyed their own relationships by inadvertently pushing a partner (or themselves) into various forms of group sex or other sexual acts. It's not something you do on a random Tuesday on a whim.

Or maybe it is, and I'm just chronically boring and surrounded by boring people lmao

TO THE POSTER THAT INSPIRED THIS: I'm so so sorry if you ever see this, not trying to call you out at all hence no linking, I just wanted to pick apart why I think you felt that way. The thoughts just finally bubbled over after a year+ lol

[drenix004]

𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝 part2

Valeria Garza Headcanons

Part 1 here

Note: I plan to do headcanons of Valeria as chapters of Valeria's fanfic are published! besides, I also want to do the same with 141, Alejandro, Rodolfo, Valeria,Horangi and koning in different situations and contexts, especially if they are shapeshifters or hybrids feel free to ask for a headcanon, one shot or drable, I'll be happy to do it! And they'll be all soft, comforting and light angsty themes! Life is already too cruel and hard to make them suffer here too :)

Sadly there will be no smut or nsfw, I'm really bad at writing that kind of content, sorry. But, there will be slight superficial mentions of that as a reward.

Pairing: Valeria Garza x fem!Reader

Summary: You work at the bar of a night bar in Las Almas, you knew the menu backwards and forwards so you had a certain fame. One day you draw the attention of a certain narco when you kicked an idiot out of the establishment just as the armored van was passing by, not only did you draw attention because of the commotion, but also because not a sound came out of your mouth, not a whimper, curse or insult, nothing. Just a death stare at the man.

━━━━━━━━》❈《 ━━━━━━━

Valeria has always had women at her disposal, it was nothing more than something carnal, just physical. I had never had any other contact than that with people of the same sex.

●Until you came, you opened the forbidden door that The Nameless One kept in the depths of his being; their feelings.

●You reached to the depths of his being without realizing it, you were not a one-night stand. You are more than that to The Nameless.

●Now the consequences had to be paid.

●Valeria didn't let you go when you had already walked through that damn door, oh no.

● That's not how the game was played and Valeria was very clear about it, since you opened her forbidden place you were doomed.

 ● You were hers, as well as the consequences of having fallen in love with her to the point of insanity if possible.

●You calmed her inner demons, but you also teased them if she didn't have you around.

●Same as now.

●His office was a shit after a fit of rage, they hadn't heard from you for more than three days.

● Many bad scenarios had been generated in his head, did the rival cartel kidnap you?

●That couldn't be possible, even among criminals there was a code: never mess with one's family or partner. Something that could be very simple, but that was essential to avoid generating conflicts beyond the territory or the product.

 ●Although you were not Valeria's official partner, by now she had made it clear that she was very interested in you. 

 Valeria was getting tired after searching with no results, so she decides to investigate everything about you. She didn't want to do it because she wanted to respect your privacy, but that had already moved to another level.

●She found out that the name you gave her wasn't your real name, so she couldn't find you that easily... With your real name he was able to access your credit card records, he realized that you did not stay in the same place for more than two days in inns or small hotels.

 . ●Valeria recognized that pattern, you were running away. But what were you running from? It couldn't be her because she never gave you a reason to do it.

The more I researched about you, the more things came to light; you were three years younger than Valeria, you had gardening experience, years ago you had been admitted several times to the emergency room for assault injuries, but they never mentioned a neck injury.

●That fact became interesting to her, Valeria had noticed the scar on your neck that you tried to hide with chokers.

Valeria went to every hotel and inn you were in, looked at the security footage, and then left without saying a word. He had to admit that you were cunning, a challenge he liked.

●Unknowingly, you entered a hunting game, where you are the prey and Valeria was the hunter.

●Valeria followed your steps closely, the chase becoming more and more exciting, the beast within her moving violently every time it got closer and closer.

●But she was aware that she wasn't the only one chasing you, there was a man who was also looking for you; your brother. The man had complaints of domestic violence, and also had an arrest warrant and a restraining order.

●Valeria understood why you were running away, you were afraid that your brother would hurt you again. that's why you ended up in Las Almas.

●Valeria would help you escape your brother's clutches... to end up in his.

● Valeria was no saint, but at least her claws would be more careful and gentler than your brother's. She could not and would not change what she already was, but she could take care of you in his darkness. ●When she knew where you were, she left immediately. Your brother had also found your whereabouts.

●It was a race against the clock, who would get there first? ●Which demon would get to you first?

●You were the ray of light that the darkness wanted out of selfishness, to envelop you completely so that you could not escape, you were its complement… because without light there is no darkness.

Part3?

I had planned to upload this for hallowen, but I couldn't because I had an anxious crisis :) why do I feel this looks more like a one shot than a headcanon? anyway I liked how it turned out, I hope you do too. likes and reblogs are much appreciated!

[thecoolerliauditore]

saw a post that's actually making the gears turn in my head a bit about how Scott shouldn't cop so much blame for Pearl's social isolation in DL when he only recounted things she did and that Ren should be the focus because he was out there calling her a witch/demoness and I don't necessarily disagree. but I think it's worth saying at least for myself that Scott didn't Lie about Pearl's behaviour but he did purposefully leave out details that change things dramatically e.g. the axe crits happening Before Pearl started freezing herself thus him starting the cycle of abuse in the first place (not to mention this all stemming back to the nether thing).

and this is something you see a lot IRL with toxic relationships probably I'd argue more than just outright lying and insulting the other party, because "look at all these crazy things pearl did, isn't she bad" is a lot more easily agreed with than "pearl is crazy".

This is not me saying that like. Scott's not allowed to be freaked out about Pearl's more extreme behaviour like her breaking into his house. but it stands that he went out of his way to maliciously refer to her and isolate her when he and Cleo were her entire world.

The Missing Missing Reasons article is about parental abuse specifically, but I think this pattern of behaviour can also be applied to other relationships. I know this is an insane thing to source in mcyt posting but I really do think it's a good read everyone should experience at least once regardless of context.

"Witch", "demoness" and "crazy ex girlfriend" are all the same in that they are labels used to villainize a woman specifically. And I'd even go to say, in Pearl's case, they are all equally abstract since she and Scott were never in an actual relationship, he's just decided to call her that.

I never want to make it sound like I think Pearl is entirely angelic, she very much plays into the role she's given, but it remains as a role she was given rather than something innate to her character. But I think it's important to look at a power dynamic and identify what's actually going on because I've heard "they were toxic to eachother" too many times when one party was left completely without her entire support system with no explanation (her relationships pre-DL were pretty much just Scott, Cleo and People Who Try To Kill Us) while the other party did everything in his power to actively harm her without indicating himself as the bad guy.

As for Ren, I'm not a massive Ren guy so I can't pretend I can begin to understand exactly what went on in his head other than that I think DL Rendog was probably suffering from many diseases but the Rendog misogyny post would go insane. There's something madonna/whore complex about him. There you go guys whoa a freudian concept I'm keeping my branding going

[soulsdontbreaktheybeeend]

Free and yet so trapped. Part 1

Summary: this takes place some time after the end of folie a deux. If you're wondering how that is possible... stay tuned and find out. :)

It's Arthur Fleck x y/n, or is it Joker x y/n? Hm. :)

I'm a bit rusty. So pls forgive me.

words: 1,528

____________

The stillness of the night accompanied you on your way home. The light from the street lamps shone faintly over the walls of the buildings. The wet streets reflected a blend of the lanterns, yellow-orange light combined with the red and green glow of the traffic lights.

The clacking of your boots on the worn asphalt of Gotham's sidewalks, the only sound to be heard. The rain from earlier in the evening had left puddles on the potholed streets of the city.

Your attention was focused on the few cars that were passing you. Attention that they were lacking. They would just drive through the puddles as you pass. They're not the ones who would get hit by a wave of dirty water from the road. They wouldn't have to rush home soaking wet for the remaining minutes. Crossing your arms, you hugged your coat closer to your body to provide you with more warmth and ward off the cold autumn wind.

You sniffled, as the cold, wet weather made your nose tickle.

As you turned the corner, a cab pulled up on your side of the street. Three doors opened.

There seemed to be a heated conversation going on, their voices grew louder as the three people got out of the car.

“And yet another day of this crap.”

You sighed as you saw them take up the entire sidewalk.

“It’s unbelievable!”

The cab drove off, you walked closer to them. Your eyes narrowed to slits, as if it made you realize more clearly that you knew these three people in passing.

As you got closer to them, you greeted them briefly with a hey, released your hand from your folded arms for a brief, casual wave, but kept walking. In the turmoil of the discussion, they didn't even acknowledge your voice nor the small movement of your hand. They had simply stepped aside to make space for a stranger on the sidewalk.

Their conversation continued and you picked up on their words. You became more aware as you had walked past and formed contexts. Now fully able to process the statements.

“That other psycho at Arkham should’ve done a better job.” He was referring to the stabbing. The others laughed and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, they can't even pull that off. They're all a bunch of lowlifes.”

„I mean, this Joker guy is completely insane. Celebrates himself as this clown figure, then whines about it in court, wants nothing more to do with it and now he's changed his mind again? How many times is this guy going to do that? How many buildings is he going to burn down? They should have just let him bleed to death, instead of bringing him to the hospital.”

All three of them laughed.

Apparently there had been a new report on the car radio. About him. About new riots and havoc in the city.

___________

Arthur leaned against the facade of a building. The light from the street lamps failed to illuminate the narrow alley. Leaving it completely in the dark.

He took refuge in the silence and darkness. To just be. A few minutes to himself. Without the constant hustle and bustle, without the noise, without his followers and the chaos they brought with them. Even without her. Or especially without her?

Arthur became aware of the small group right at the start of the intense conversation. They pulled him out of his rest. In a way that couldn't have been worse. Every word hit him like a punch in the gut. The scars on his stomach itched.

He let the back of his head drop against the cold wall of the building.

He would have been more than willing to blow up the conversation. To tell them that things were completely different. Tell them the truth. But would they really care?

They wouldn’t.

He slumped to the ground.

His red suit jacket pushed up his back as it rubbed against the bricks of the building. A mixture of damp dust and grime rubbed into the soft fabric. His head hanging down, his gaze cast downwards, hands folded over his head in shame of the chaos he has to cause for one reason only.

To stay alive.

To shield himself from any more goddamn harm. Though it’s not a life. It’s surviving. Like it always has been for him. They only thing that had changed - he has men around him who protect him. One fear less, but more alone than ever.

At least alive.

It were moments like this, in which he wondered if it was really fair to be alive when all this was happening for it.

___________

“Yeah! And now all this crap is a burden on the whole city and its people."

As if the city wasn't eating itself with its corruption, you thought. You struggled to keep walking. Every further statement you heard slowed you down. Every step filled you with more and more anger. You could feel it creeping through your body. Building up.

“The amount of shit this guy fabricates just because he's an absolutely terrible comedian and had had a bad childhood.”

“Who says it's all true anyway...”

Your eyes widened in disbelief of what you just heard. You scoffed. Loudly.

“Oh for fucks sake.”, you mumbled and rolled your eyes in disbelief of what you were about to do.

“You weren't there when God distributed brains, minds and hearts, now were you?”, you turned.

You defended him. You were surprised at yourself for getting involved in a conversation that you have nothing to do with. It was unlike you and you couldn’t think of a time you’ve had ever done that before. Especially not when it had been such a stupid bullshit talk. And now you did that for Arthur Fleck.

A man you only knew from television. From police reports, excerpts from the news and above all from the court hearing that was broadcast on live television. Which was still a disgusting thing to do, you thought. You remember the judge admonished Fleck and reminded him that the courtroom is not a stage.

You remember even more vividly how you almost jumped off the sofa when you happened to see that clip about it on the news. What else could it be with all those cameras? You thought the judge was a total idiot. It made you feel infuriated. When you then saw how he stared wordlessly for what felt like an eternity directly into the filming live camera, you immediately realized. He's thinking the same damn thing. And he is so helpless and lost in this society.

It wasn't the first time, and particularly not the first time that day, that you’ve heard people talk about him like that. You grew sick of it because almost every human being in this city seemed to be blind. Everyone failed him. When all he needed was someone to really attentively listen to him.

And the ranting here on the street just broke the camel's back.

____________

„Who the fuck do you think you are, one of his-, wait.. y/n.. is… is that you?!“, one of the men realized as you slowly walked back over to them a few steps.

The woman also had something to say. “She's probably turned into another Harley Quinn knock-off.”, laughing hysterically.

“You are all so self-limited.”, you exploded. “Just because he’s had a terrible childhood blah blah.”, you imitated him with a stupid man like voice. “Are you even just a little bit aware of what this man had to endure? But no wait, I can answer that question myself.”, your facial expressions and gestures took the piss out of them. “No, you are not. Because everyone of you has got such a limited mind and are most concerned with yourselves.”

They didn't take you seriously, “Pff.. who cares man. All he can do is tell a lot of bad jokes. He's a total fool.”

„Yeah, and now that he’s got that freak bitch by his side, he thinks he’s the King of Gotham. They’re just losers wearing clown costumes.“

„Okay.“ You leave fast. Full of anger, but in loss of words. This whole argument drained you of whatever energy you had left.

____________

Arthur got pulled out of his negative gnawing thoughts, by your defending words. He released the firm grip of his hands on his head to search for the owner of the voice. He peered over, the streetlights shone a decent light on the three former cab passengers, but he couldn’t see the fourth person who was arguing with them, defending him, obscured by the corner of the building's wall.

He heard your shoes clacking on the asphalt. Arthur immediately felt the urge of his body wanting to follow you. The three others had a quick laugh about you and then went in the other direction.

Perfect, Arthur thought to himself. As he stood up from his crouch, he straightened his suit jacket and sneaked curiously to the end of the building to take a look around the corner.

Hoping you hadn't already turned the next corner.

____________

Part 2

[furiousgoldfish]

My parents have always told everyone that I'm unstable, dangerous, and troubled. I used to lash out in retaliation when they would abuse me and they told everyone about what I did without giving context and turned people against me and got them to perpetuate the abuse too because they thought I "deserved it." Sometimes they just told straight up lies. They even lied to psychiatrists and got them to diagnose me with "oppositional defiant disorder" and I was sent to a school for "troubled teens."

Everyone around me knows me as the angry, unstable, mentally ill one, even though I've never acted in such a way anywhere else- not at school, not at work, not with friends or other family members. I have no problems getting along with other people and I almost never lash out, even when I'm upset.

But even though people have no proof I'm actually like that, they believe everything my parents say. I'm trying my hardest to prove people wrong, but it doesn't matter what I do. My parents have completely ruined my reputation and turned everyone around me (except my best friend) into their flying monkeys.

Are there any magic words to get people to stop believing everything they say with no proof??

Lashing out in retaliation when you're abused is such a normal and healthy thing to do! Even an animal would bite you and attack you if you're abusing them, how could anyone expect a human being to just stand there and take it, it's absolutely ridiculous. However it seems that what your parents wanted was to convince you that you should do exactly that, not defend yourself, not fight back, not retaliate, and if you do, you're dangerous and unstable. It's very clear they wanted you to be without any defense, without being able to even stand up to them – which, how sick is that? It's not enough for them to be able to abuse a child, but the child should not be able to even defend or fight back? It's sick and disturbing, and shows how dangerous and unstable they are.

Telling people about you defending yourself, and even getting you falsely diagnosed, sounds like a horrible smear campaign and setting you up to not be believed, respected or trusted, so you'd have nobody to tell about abuse who would believe you or side with you. It's another awful thing abusers do to kids in order to keep them in abuse, unable to escape or get help.

I don't think there's a way to stop people from being flying monkeys, especially if they're so gullible to believe abusive parents on their word. I never managed it anyway, every person my parents managed to manipulate to their side, would not change their mind whatever I told them. I had to cut all of these people off and find a new environment where nobody knew of my parents or anything they lied about me, and then people treated me normally.

I guess in theory, you could ask people 'hey why do you believe I'm unstable and dangerous, have you ever seen me act in such ways?' and when they go 'your parents said you did x' you could tell them 'but did they tell you why I did that, and what they did to me first?'. But in practice, I can see how this could be dangerous as people are likely to believe you're lying, and side with your parents anyway, or even tell them that you outed  their abuse, putting you in even more danger. So yeah it's just not looking good.

I'm sorry that all I can do is tell you that your situation is serious and nobody could find an easy solution. I did so many insane things to retaliate to my parents abuse, it's normal to do that! And they also reacted as if I'm insane and dangerous, and shamed me for it, and failed to see how they're insane and dangerous for hurting a child and evoking that kind of reaction in the first place. You are not to blame, all you did was be a child. Anyone would have retaliated. I'm so sorry your parents are trying to destroy your any hope of having a social circle, it's devastating. I hope one day you're free from all of this.