#// just to clarify i made it post endgame

[mr-tony-stark]

// closed starter for @siberianwarriors

Tony had felt lost ever since waking up from his coma. The last eight years had worn him down, and he felt like a raw nerve. First there had been the break up with Pepper. Then there had been the whole Accords and Avengers break up. Then there had been the snap. Then Natasha and then the fight against Thanos where he'd snapped his fingers and turned it all back.

He thought he'd died in that moment. Part of him had wanted to. He was tired and sick of losing everyone. Only he'd woken up a few weeks later, his right arm amputated and burns up his right side. He thought he might be relieved? It was hard when there so much pain to feel real relief. Mostly he was just exhausted.

He'd designed himself a new arm using his nanotech, and he'd moved back to the Avengers Tower. The only problem was the person who he had blamed for so much of what had gone wrong, the person who had killed his parents, who he had seen choke the life out of his mother with his bare hands, was living there too.

Tony had been avoiding him. Partially because he was a little worried about what he'd do if he actually saw Barnes now. But partially because he knew that the super-soldier unlikely wanted to see him as well.

You see, the worst part of all of this - the absolute fucking cherry on this shit sundae, was that Tony knew it wasn't Bucky's fault. Tony knew that Bucky had just been a pawn in some fucked up universal game of chess. He knew that his reaction during the fight in Siberia where he'd just wanted to hurt Bucky and Steve as much as he was hurting, was an overreaction. He knew that Bucky was probably blaming himself. But that didn't change the fact that seeing him didn't hurt. And it didn't change the fact that Tony needed someone to blame and Bucky was the easy choice.

Tony had been self-medicating a lot since he'd got home. He'd been drinking more than he had back before becoming Iron Man in the first place. When he'd emptied his bar upstairs he went down to the common floor to see what was stashed down here. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only person to have the idea. When he stepped into the room, Bucky was already there.

Tony froze and clenched his new metal fingers against his side. "Didn't know you'd be here," he said.

[carigm]

About Dyersfilm’s “leak”

For all of you who don’t know, dyersfilm is an insufferable individual who used to go by the name of swiftlynatalia. She is racist, homophobic, transphobic, and even made fun of her supposed favorite actress’ eating disorder. However, people on Twitter (especially mlvns) entertain her because she had reliable sources during the filming of S4, and after during post production. She had some true leaks, many being the same that Reddit got right, while others only she had. She was also wrong about quite a few things, but generally she was reliable.

It is worth noting though that she is extremely biased against byler (many of the leaks she got wrong for S4 were pertaining their storyline) and absolutely hates the ship.

This time around, she was getting some leaks during the first couple of months of filming to her curious cat, but she herself claimed that these were not reliable leaks whatsoever and that she was pissed because this time she doesn’t have access to the real sources she had for S4. She has complained about this repeatedly for these past few months. The leaks she has gotten tho, many she has mocked and made fun of because they don’t align with what she wants from the show. She also made a “disclaimer” when the show started filming again that she would not be posting leaks about Byler because she hates us all, and yet every single one of those most likely fake leaks she got she posted, and many of them talked about Byler. She would post them and mock them for “clearly being untrue”. She has barely gotten a single Mlvn positive leak this whole time, and when she’s gotten at least something that alludes to them having scenes together she immediately ran to post it and alert all her friends, even tho she herself knows all of these are most likely fake.

For weeks now, her curious cat has been dry af because I guess nda’s are stronger this time, or no one wants to leak shit to her (she’s rude as hell). she posted the following ask 10 days ago. Someone asked her if she knew about any Mike and El scenes and she said no. Keep this in mind for what’s coming next…

Then suddenly yesterday, she alluded to a Jonathan spoiler she’s supposedly pissed about, but refused to post it like she’s done for everything else. People quickly thought it might involve Byler because she said she wasn’t going to post “leaks” about it, even though she had already lol. So they asked her and she said that ��yes, it has to do with Byler.”

Then shortly after this someone asked about Mlvn again, this was just today. Again, note how she proceeds to say she knows nothing about Mlvn 😭

Bylers on Twitter noticed her answers about Mlvn and her comment about a supposed byler leak involving Jonathan and started speculating. She ofc noticed this, and not even after an hour of her saying she knows nothing about Mlvn she goes on to say this.

….

She knows nothing but somehow she knows Mlvn is stable? The bipolar disorder of these answers could rival my own bipolar.

Mind you, we all know that she would’ve jumped up at the first opportunity to post any leak that implied Will was pining and miserable, her and her friends would’ve had a field day over it. And yet, she only clarifies this after…

Not to mention how utterly ridiculous this all is. They’ve filmed stuff up until episode 4 (from what we know), why the hell would Will be pining and hung up over Mike if Mlvn is endgame? That makes absolutely no fucking sense. They would have him immediately fully patch things up with Mike and move on, not be hung up on someone he can’t have in the middle of an apocalypse. Especially not after the Duffers said he’s getting a happy ending. Will getting a happy ending but still being in love with Mike halfway through the last season with Mlvn being endgame is absolute lunacy.

Especially when you consider the fact that narratively, in a sense, Will has already moved on. He doesn’t expect anything from Mike, he doesn’t think Mike can like him back. He saw Mike confess his love in front of El, he helped that confession happen. Will literally has no problem with Mlvn anymore pls 😭 He saved them!!

This is the most ridiculous shit I’ve ever read.

Will is somehow upset at Mike not feeling the same way…when Will already believes Mike doesn’t feel the same and doesn’t ever expect any reciprocation 😭

Either she’s wildly twisting this supposed leak out of context to fit her own perceived narrative of what should happen, or she’s straight up lying about this.

And we know she’s lying about Mlvn so…you people decide what you think of this buffoonery lol.

Wait for Reddit leaks y’all. This woman could get a legit leak saying Byler is endgame and dig her own grave before posting it.

[wrentholomew]

Something Important I Think People Are Overlooking About Max and Chloe (MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING FOR DOUBLE EXPOSURE)

Just to clarify, I haven't really been paying attention to the reaction to this on tumblr. This is just refencing what I've seen on the other social media websites I use. Sorry if this isn't reflective of the expirence on tumblr, but I think this is something I wanted to share here.

There is one big detail about Max and Chloe and their breakup I haven't seen people talking about.

I've seen a lot of comments and posts talking about how the outrage about Max and Chloe's breakup is just angry shippers, upset about the fact their OTP isn't endgame. But it does go a lot deeper than that.

We live in 2024, and in the last decade, queer rep has gotten a lot better. There are a lot more games that have really good queer protagonists and stories, and a lot of these games are made and published by big studios, and get a lot of attention. But, that wasn't really the case in 2015.

Queer representation definitely existed in video games before 2015, and we should all really appricate all the strives made by indie developers. But, one of the first queer games to reach a mass market was Life is Strange. For a lot of people, Chloe and Max's relationship was the first time they've ever seen themselves in a video game. The first time they've ever felt seen and heard. A lot of people learned who they are because of Life is Strange, a lot of people gained the courage to come out because of Life is Strange.

Chloe and Max aren't just characters and their relationship isn't just a ship. They represent a whole lot more.

So to throw that all away, especially how horribly it was done in Double Exposure, feels really shitty. They took a relationship that a lot of queer people hold dear and that is important to queer gaming history, and had them break up off screen.

That's why a lot of people are very much upset about this.

[sadly-never-after]

I don’t have any real preferred endgame ships for Daring. I like Darabella more than the average tumblr EAH account and I love Dizzie but in a very different way than most shippers, I think.

Whenever I’m in my comfort place (my post canon extension based on Athena-xox’s amazing timeline (all time fave post. Truly an amazing accomplishment)) I like imagining that Daring will consciously decide to stay single and NOT mingle for a while, until he has come to terms with certain things. And I like imagining that Rosabella will be there for him, but rather as a friend with some unacted romantic chemistry. I want to believe that everything that happened since Legacy Day, culminating in his abrupt change of imagined destiny will trigger a more pensive side of him. And here’s when Lizzie comes. I want him to slowly become aware of how much he hurt her, even when it was never his intention.

I know this is a franchise made to sell dolls at tweens so it’s weird to get this dark about it, but let’s do this for the sake of my fantasies.

I feel like Daring has been hypersexualised and objectified through most of his life. His place as the most Charming of all the Charmings has turned him into a figure of lust and of status even before he was really aware of what those words meant.

The hypersexualisation can be seen through the recurrent jokes about girls fawning over him, following him, his dashing smile, and I honestly feel like Sparrow’s dare that lead to the entire thing with Lizzies was also based on that etc., etc., etc.,

When it comes to the objectification I think Duchess obsession with him is a good example. In NTV it becomes clear that she is not truly in love with him and when he scorns her she even daydreams about being the one able to reject him. Daring is not much of a real person to her. He is a symbol. He is the best of princes who saves his Princess and gets the two to live happily ever after. Everything that Duchess longs for and is denied.

To a lesser extent I also think that Ravens reaction to him (apparently) writing her a love poem could also be an example of this. Even if she has never been interested in Daring and has actually described her type as his opposite she still takes this as an accomplishment of some way.

Just to clarify: by no means do I blame neither Duchess nor Raven for this. They aren’t really at fault. This is more of a societal issue.

So, as he now realises all this things about his life, I want him to remember Lizzie. In my Sparchess heart the two are talking and Sparrow asks him about that one date Daring & Duchess had and after that a rush of unprocessed memories come at Daring and he can’t stop thinking about what he did to Lizzie for at least a week.

I want him to stay up away at night and cringe at himself wondering if an actual apology would be welcomed or not. It would make him feel better, sure, but is it Lizzie or his guilt conscience whom he wants to console? I want him to remember things about Lizzie that he otherwise didn’t think of very often. I want him to suddenly tell all of this to Rosabella only for her to feel disappointed and conflicted. I want Lizzie to catch him looking at her during lunch with a strangely contemplative expression and to turn away in apparent apathy only for her to be weirdly sad for the rest of the day and remember how isolated and betrayed she felt not only by Daring but also by Duchess.

[offtorivendell]

On Elain, Gwyn and their apparent romantic worthiness.

TW: mentions of death, violent or sexual assault, infertility and pregnancy/childbirth related trauma. Please do not proceed if these topics bother you.

Disclaimer: please, please engage with this post with kindness. I promise I am not writing it to stir the pot, but because I - and many others - are fed up with seeing hurtful and harmful rhetoric spewed by the fandom, yet having no back up when dealing with it. Word vomit incoming, I'm sorry. This has been bothering me for a while.

My love to everyone who has been hurt by things they've read in this fandom. 💜

It's 2024 and I cannot believe we are still seeing posts, almost daily, about both of these women; all giving reasons why they cannot possibly be with Azriel. And I don't mean the debatable but utterly harmless discussions about Elain not looking good in black or Gwyn blabbing to Merrill when asked not to. Whatever, go nuts. I mean the truly horrific takes based around things these two women have had no control.

Now, my post history makes it very obvious where I stand in terms of ships, and yes, I'm well aware I've spoken before about the inherent power imbalance - that I perceive - which would exist if Azriel ever became involved with any of the priestesses in the women's shelter he is charged with protecting (to be clear, that's not me suggesting that Gwyn and her story isn't powerful, or powerful representation to those who see themselves in her, nor is it personal to Gwyn, or indicative of any of the sheltered priestesses and their ability to heal; it's purely a function of Azriel's position of authority over their sanctuary). I want to reiterate that my stating my feelings about this was never done with the intent to shame people who do ship them; we all ship who we like, and real world ethics should rarely come into it.

That being said, the following, in my opinion, is one of those times.

Firstly, I just want to say that lived experience informs how we interpret fiction, so please let me clarify something: the people who have said that they don't think Gwyn is ready for a relationship yet, and that NSFW fan art of her with anyone makes them uncomfortable, are not in any way in the wrong. They're simply the other side of the coin to those who find it empowering, and both are valid responses, often related to personal trauma. The problem lies with those very few who say that Gwyn could never have a romantic relationship, and call those who talk and/or post about it "gross." Some have called her "damaged goods." This is absolutely wrong and whoever is doing it needs to stop.

The entire fandom, even those who find romantic or NSFW content involving Gwyn uncomfortable to consume, frequently acknowledges that her trauma doesn't define her, and of course she should be able to enjoy love whenever she feels ready for it. Those who say otherwise are readily condemned from all corners. I've seen it happen and called the people out myself, as have many other Elriel shippers when necessary. However, Elriels are still very regularly and very publicly blamed for the actions of a few (some of whom I truly believe are burner accounts wanting to cause chaos, with their Elriel themed usernames and no post history), despite our largely collective action to call them out when we see it.

Could we do better? Absolutely, but so can you!

Because, on the other hand, I've noticed that, whenever I or others have tried to explain why the pliable bones "theory" - which attempts to reason that Elain could never be endgame with Azriel, as she and any baby would die during the course of pregnancy or childbirth - is equally as harmful, we are met with people publicly and wholeheartedly refusing to understand why (especially recently). Some horrific comments have been made to my friends, not to mention all of those I see well after the fact, which are never widely condemned by any but us. People will argue back that we're wrong, and have even suggested we're weaponising infertility! On Mothers' Day, of all the fucking painful days to say that.

Some of the push back I've seen recently includes:

"Nobody has said Elain is infertile."

No, nobody has, and that's not what we're saying or have ever said. We know you don't think this, as the Elucien fandom loves to write and draw Elain and Lucien's hypothetical future children (which is super understandable, as this is a romantasy fandom after all - no shame, enjoy your warm fuzzies).

What we are saying is that, if it's true that Elain's anatomy wasn't changed as Feyre and Nesta's was - and to be clear I cannot stand that entire plot, I wish SJM had chosen literally any other reason why Feyre's pregnancy was dangerous, as it is simultaneously degrading and doesn't fit with her previously established lore - then Elain and Azriel, together^, would be functionally infertile. Yet it's only ever framed as Elain's body not being able to work with Azriel's, never the other way around.*

^Why didn't the bat boys have to sacrifice their wings to keep their wives/mates safe? Why did the women have to change their anatomy? Because it would make it harder for them to be all powerful? Well Nesta sacrificed her powers! Why not just have Feyre be cursed by an enemy or something, and Nesta found a way to use the Dread Trove to save them all. Ugh. I love SJM's books, but this was such a miss.

*HOSAB/HOFAS SPOILER: funnily enough, this was never said about Ruhn and his eventual mate, even though he actually did think he may be unable to father children, thanks to the Oracle's prophecy. People shipped the hell out of him and a couple of different women throughout the CC series, despite the chance he could never get them pregnant.

"People haven't called Elain damaged goods, so it's not the same. We're allowed to not like her."

My faerie porn* lover in christ, what the fuck do you think the pliable bones "theory" is actually doing? It is suggesting that Elain's hypothetical inability to survive having children with Azriel, and for those children to also survive childbirth, is impaired. Ergo, she's damaged.

We don't care if you don't like Elain, we're allowed to have different preferences in characters and ships. That has never been the problem.

*I use this term with affection as a great lover of the genre.

But "damaged" vs a functionally "impaired" uterus? It's the same damn thing, and sorry, it's misogynistic af, not to mention ableist and homophobic at a minimum. In the same breath you are also reducing your favourite to her apparently functional uterus (even though the pliable bones argument is medically inaccurate, by the way - this is really damning of the state of health education across so many countries).

"Hahaha/lol."

Yes, I have seen people laugh and treat this as a joke. As recently as tonight, in fact. It's disgusting.

Regardless of your lived experiences and shipping preferences, both of these takes about Elain and Gwyn are equally degrading and horrific and need to stop, but if you're only calling out the comments that hurt you/your friends/your ship and not the others, then you should maybe attempt some basic self reflection and analyse those double standards you're carrying.

This entire fandom needs to do better. I'll say again, for the umpteenth time, to any of my fellow Elriels that if you think mocking Gwyn's past is funny, then you're not mature enough to read an adult series. But this works both ways, and if you think mocking infertility is funny/use it as a win, then you're just as immature. I would really and truly appreciate it if we were not left alone to argue over and over again why discriminating against someone who couldn't "have a man's children" is wrong, and why many, many people in this adult fandom - that is largely comprised of women! - might find such a theory, and the resulting discourse, incredibly upsetting.

Infertility hurts; not having a kid when you want one can be viscerally painful. Besides that, I know very few people who have given birth who don't carry around some sort of emotional or physical trauma from doing so. Treating a character's hypothetical infertility with one man as a joke is gross.

Please don't call Gwyn "damaged goods" or suggest that Azriel would choose somebody else over Elain because she couldn't have his kids.

They are the same thing.

It's not hard to be kind. Pain is not a competition.

We should all do better, and take care of each other.

[bylrlve]

Warning! Potential leaks for season five of Stranger Things!

Alex (aka @dyersfilms on twitter, used to be swiftlynatalia) is the person who successfully leaked most of season 4 due to her knowing a source. She did, however, insist Byler was entirely platonic that season and they fought for most of it and only made up at the end in the pizza van, so…

Here’s her saying she won’t post any byler leaks this time around, which she has said previously.

She got a message saying they’re all fake, and she thinks they all are, so keep that in mind.

Here’s a short one: Will distancing himself from the party bc it’s too hard to be closeted and to be around Mike. If real? Endgame fr.

A ‘leak’ from episode one where shit goes down after the opening scene of Will singing SISOSIG, Will falls, and Mike helps him up,

Here’s an extremely detailed one that casually drops Mileven breakup, Robin-Mike bonding over Vickie and Will, Will trying to avoid Mike ‘confronting him about the painting’, Mike and Jonathan fighting over Will’s safety. Nothing here is debunkable but…. Yeah. God, would it be nice, though.

The two most interesting ones. First, an ask that’s almost entirely plausible except for the mileven part - and that part, specifically, I’m calling bullshit on bc it claims that Hopper is still on the Mike Hate Train. It was made abundantly clear, after their talk and their awkwardly long hug at the end of season 4, that that’s in the past. Besides, it just wouldn’t fit tonally. S3 was the heterosexual-cliché, silly filler season. S5? Nah. Can’t 100% say it’s fake, but even Alex agrees this one isn’t real.

Lastly, an interesting one that’s plausible throughout which claims Mike gets seriously injured and spends some time in hospital. Will stays by his bedside after everyone else leaves and kisses Mike on the forehead. Mike wakes up after he leaves - I think the insinuation is that Mike does a Half-Blood Prince and wakes up knowing that someone he felt safe with was there, but he doesn’t know who it was. If that’s legit? As I said, endgame fr.

I do want to note that both the mileven and Byler asks word the ‘main character getting injured part’ as everyone being ‘shaken up’ so there are a few options: it’s the same person with legit leaks, and Byler isn’t endgame. That, I’d be more willing to accept, cautious as I am, were it not for the Hopper part, which sticks out like a sore thumb. Second option: it’s the same person messing around. Third: it’s two people, one building on the other.

Cannot emphasise enough that these are most likely just bored people having fun, but I figured I’d share them all. The last one is getting passed around the tag sans context, and I wanted to clarify everything else Alex has received. Do not get your hopes up about Byler based solely on these.

Letting my imagination run absolutely wild here for just a moment, however: Maya and Vickie are confirmed to be filming at the hospital set, presumably visiting someone. There’s also a pic of someone with bloody shoes. Imagine if Robin visits Mike in the hospital, witnesses some Platinum-Tier Will Byers Pining™️, and ends up talking to Mike after he wakes up - no mention of how long he stays there.

Lastly, it is fun comparing these to the more doom-and-gloom (re: Mike) leaks Sapphicjopper on twitter got. The awesome @solgmorell has a post explaining those in detail.

Oh, and an interview came out today where Shawn Levy said something insane but, you know, water is wet.

[sunflowerdigs]

Just to clarify, this post wasn't about Buddie. I still very much think Buck and Eddie should be endgame and I'm hoping they finally get together no later that s8b. I just want to see Buck being happy and bisexual outside of a relationship before then because I think too often in media the joy of coming out is conflated with the joy of a first queer relationship and they aren't the same thing. For representation's sake, I think it's more important that we see Buck (who has a habit of ending up in relationships he isn't particularly passionate about just because he's afraid of being alone) happy and comfortable in his own skin because of something that he did (coming out to himself) rather than because of a relationship that he's in. I think the conflation of the two might be the reason some fans are having a hard time seeing B*ucktommy for what it is (a pretty casual new relationship where neither party knows each other that well) rather than what it isn't (a committed relationship that is definitely endgame just because it's canon). The narrative which anchors queer joy in a relationship (that, 9 times out of 10, is modeled as closely off of a monogamous heterosexual relationship as possible) is pretty pervasive and not necessarily a 100% positive thing for coming out stories. The success or failure of Buck's first queer relationship is not a reflection on his queerness itself and how Buck feels about that and I just think it would be nice if the show made that very clear before starting Buddie.

[oristian]

I won’t generalize, but do you think Gwynriels are as bad as E*riels too? What I mean is can the things we believe in also be mocked by them and are we not as critical as we thought we were? This isn’t about who is meaner or anything it’s just the fact that as Gwynriels, we see E*riels as delusional and believe their theories have no basis whatsoever. Do you think they feel the same way about us or do they actually know that we generally like Gwynriel because our reasons are legitimate, but they choose to ignore it?

No matter what, someone is going to think that they are right and the other is wrong. I have seen my own analysis posts and commissions mocked and spread around as if they are jokes, not to mention the indirect posts made about me. It happens. They seem to believe that Gwynriel was created by one singular person and not the author herself, and that we only exist online—not to mention, they believe we only ship Azriel with Gwyn because we all somehow hate Elain—so they most likely believe that we do not genuinely ship Gwynriel.

I will say, there have been some amazing Elriels that I have become friends with who do understand where Gwynriel comes from and talks about theories and such with me, so it’s not all!

I also want to clarify that I understand where and why people have come to ship Elriel—I have seen all of the scenes and I get it. People who ship Gwynriel have seen the scenes between Azriel and Gwyn and just believe that they are written in such a way that shows clear endgame intention. That is all. If I believed that Sarah would make Elriel endgame, I would find a way to ship it (I do it all the time with main couples). If I wasn’t confident in my ships, I would not create content for them. As a person, if I feel as if I have any basis of being wrong, I would avoid any means of embarrassing myself and I would be the first to say that Azriel and Elain are supposed to be endgame.

[princessofmerchants]

Hey ! first of all: I recently discovered you blog & totally fell in love with it🥺, especially after my "Nessian Hangover".

I know this might be a bit off-topic from your usual content, but there's something about Cassian's relationship with Mor that really irks me...and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

His actions, like pulling away from Nesta's hand in ACOWAR, left me feeling frustrated and sympathetic towards Nesta. And then there's that whole thing in Wings and Embers where he's all secretive about Nesta with Mor and doesn't wanna tell her about Nesta, which gave off major mixed signals?? I mean, describing Mor as something between a lover and a friend, while also being like family? That was so confusing, how can she be all three to him? it just felt so ... inappropriate and I felt so bad for Nesta bc obviously she deserves someone who has only eyes for her.

But then in SF he says all romantic feelings turned into familial bonds after the incident so what was that about then in WaE and pulling his hand away in ACOWAR?

Also in WaE it sounded like he primarily slept with Mor out of jealouy but in SF it does seem like he did had romantic feelings towards her ? :/ ...

And when he thought in SF about how hauntingly beautiful Mor is and how it takes his breath away and that she is lovely and perfect .... it just drove me mad tbh because this sounded very romantic coded to me which made me feel so bad for Nesta.

it has been all so confusing and inconsistent to me and also just frustrating how he talked so poetic about a woman he slept with (or did he also call Nesta also hauntingly beautiful or lovely or perfect and I'm not remembering it?), or how he didn't wanted to show Mor that he has feelings for Nesta?? :/ - so I just wondered what you thought about all of that, in hopes to calm me down or clarify bc it really almost ruined him for me (maybe I was misinterpreting stuff?).

hope that's not a weird question bc of how spesific it is haha

BTW I love your love for Nesta bc same🖤.

I love this ask, Anon, and how detailed and specific it is. It is a question after my own heart! My response is long so it's after the break.

Thank you for saying you love my love for Nesta - that means the world to me. What I especially like about your ask is, it is about canon Nesta, who is the Nesta I most treasure, and by extension about canon Nessian. I sometimes feel like a lone voice in the drafty moors of Tumblr with my deep and abiding love for canon Nessian, so the fact that this ask lets me talk about them in canon makes me happy!

I have given this a lot of thought since receiving your question, and I'm not sure how satisfying parts of my answer will be, so my apologies in advance for the fact that I am not actually going to offer an explanation for how and why all the details you listed can co-exist in a single, utterly comprehensive whole for the Cassian-Mor relationship when Cass is unquestioningly Nesta's by the end of ACOSF.

Instead, here's why the lack of things utterly lining up for these three doesn't bother me in the long run, and only slightly bothered me during the pre-ACOSF / post-ACOFAS era.

It is clear to me as a reader that SJM pivoted in a significant way between ACOMAF and ACOWAR when it comes to Mor.

I came across a post recently that explains exactly my thoughts on this. The post focuses on the current ship war but the evidence in it describes how during ACOMAF it was clear Moriel (Mor and Azriel) was likely to be endgame, but then SJM shifted Mor's arc to where she was more attracted to women, which meant needing to retcon a lot (and unfortunately a lot of Mor's charm and nuance was collateral damage that I am still hoping SJM repairs).

I think Cassian in ACOMAF needs to be read in the context of a planned future love triangle of sorts between Azriel-Mor-Cassian, into which I do think SJM planned to throw Nesta as a big bomb that beautifully blows up Cass's corner of the triangle. But the parts in "Wings and Embers" where Cass says to the reader he is worried about what Mor will think about his fixation on this human woman, I think were meant to preserve some kind of angsty triangle for the next book, which SJM (thankfully) jettisoned. I hate love triangles so I honestly would not have been a fan if that had been where SJM landed.

Now, in ACOWAR and ACOFAS, I think the Mor stuff with Cassian gets a bit more confusing, so I agree with you there. Cassian doesn't know for sure Nesta is his mate until she screams for him during the Battle of Hybern at the end of ACOWAR, so the stuff before that - e.g., him removing his hand from hers - I read in a few ways. I think being buffer to Mor with Azriel all those years messed with his head a lot, and in a way, Mor finally coming to terms with her sexuality is a really solid catalyst for her beginning to distance herself from the triangle dynamic she was a part of for 500 years, which I think was more healthy for everyone involved.

But remember, Nesta is still proud and surly in ACOWAR, not in any inherently bad way but in a way that probably didn't signal to Cassian she was particularly interested in him, even as he was drawn to her like a magnet and couldn't keep away because part of him loves her claws so much. Cass rightly protects his own heart when he has the foresight to do so in ACOWAR and ACOFAS. I always knew they would work their shit out eventually, but during the messy process of doing so I don't begrudge him a little distance when Nesta, in her trauma response to what was happening to her and around her, sometimes lashed out at the strongest individual in her vicinity who she knew could take it like a boulder weathers the storm - that person was always Cassian for her.

When I first read ACOSF, I absolutely assumed going in that Mor was going to be catty about Nessian finally starting to get together. When she wasn't, it was jarring to me. But once I finished my first reading of ACOSF, I came to a striking conclusion about Mor, ACOSF, and SJM:

The story SJM needed to tell in ACOSF would not have been aided or forwarded by Mor intervening in the Nessian dynamic in a catty way, or being a foil to anything about Nesta in that story's arc.

In other words, SJM could have written a version of Nesta and Cassian's book that included Mor challenging Nesta's right to be with Cassian, but that was unequivocally NOT the book SJM wanted or needed to write (hopefully my double negative landed correctly here, lol).

So, SJM pivoted, and sent Mor to Vallahan, so SJM could write the story she needed to write. As a writerly choice, I adore everything about it - Nesta didn't need to be fighting with another woman over rights to her mate, she needed women friendships that were pure and gloriously blank slates upon which and with whom to write and tell her and their collective story - so SJM introduced Emerie and Gwyn. SJM even brought in Mor later to teach Nesta the waltzes, and their brief exchange in which Nesta called her Morrigan and Mor invited her to call her Mor, and Nesta accepted the invitation to do so, is another breathtakingly vulnerable moment for Nesta that fills my heart right up. To this end, the promise that Mor will begin to train with the Valkyries in the next book has me so excited.

Now, there are two lines in ACOSF I still want to comment on (then I'll reign in this very long post, lol). First, I agree that Cassian's observation in his pov of how breathtakingly beautiful Mor is at the cafe toward the start of the book can come off romantic coded, though for him at this point I don't think it is. But whether it is or not, we need to remember he and Nesta still have a whole book's worth of stuff to work through with their romantic relationship.

I suspect SJM included that moment in part to set up some stakes for the Nessian arc - that, although Cassian hasn't had sex since he met Nesta, he is still a man who is drawn to admiring a beautiful woman inside and out. If Nesta had already won his exclusive attention in this regard before any of their arc began in that book, what would be the point of the book? (By the end, I do think Cassian only has eyes for Nesta, and it is absolutely because they claim each other - I don't think in the long run he would have been able to settle for less, and nor should he have.)

And, since Nessian aren't in a relationship at that point in the cafe at the beginning of the book, I'm not mad at him for admiring Mor's beauty per say. I think if Nesta invited it then, he would admire hers a lot more, and with a much more deep seated attraction. ACOSF is about them both letting their inner barriers down to allow the other to love them, so that kind of attraction still needs to be earned between them at that point in their story. His observation about Mor's beauty is in a different category entirely from where Cassian eventually lands with Nesta, so there is nothing threatening about it for me.

The other line that feels weird to me most times I read it, is when Mor baldly tells Nesta early in ACOSF that she would have sent Nesta to live in the Court of Nightmares. The only explanation I have for this moment and exchange is that for SJM it was more in service of Nesta's arc, and less about making sense coming from Mor. What I mean here is, at that moment Nesta feels wretched and all things terrible about herself, and it's a feature of that kind of disordered thinking that others around you either seem to echo what you're thinking about yourself, or sometimes do echo it in reality, if through a trauma response you've hurt those around you (*she says from personal experience*), or if through their own trauma response those around you respond in kind (as I think may have been happening with Mor in this scene).

Do I love that Mor says something so cruel to Nesta in that moment early in Nesta's healing journey? No, I do not. Do I see why it helps to heavily charge these early scenes for Nesta as she truly hits rock bottom regarding her feelings about herself? Yes, I do.

Which leads me to how I'll conclude this. I hope SJM intentionally develops Mor's story so she isn't just a device in the story arcs of others. For better or worse, some kind of reckoning between her and Az needs to happen, likely in the next book, for either to truly move on. But I hope Mor gets the attention a character like her deserves in future books.

I am A-OK with her mostly-absence from ACOSF because I don't think she would have been a productive part of Nesta's healing arc, and at the end of the day that is the heart and soul of ACOSF for me - Nesta healing.

The reason ACOSF-Nessian has my whole heart is because, it's so clear to me the ways Cassian supports Nesta's healing and is the catalyst for a lot of her growth into a person who loves herself and sees herself as worthy and deserving of love and happiness.

If he was a bit of a hot mess in the period between first meeting Nesta and getting to finally be with her as accepted mates, I don't begrudge him that.

[suchine-toki]

hello! I read your Tae meta from last year and just wanted to say it was great and really gets to the bottom of the problems with how Sorachi handled Otae. My (unasked for ;)) two cents is that I think he was going for GinTae endgame but then changed his mind somewhere before Lesson 238 which I read as his way of giving a 'this is how it would happen but I'm not going to do it' resolution for GinTae. And it's fine to drop the romance but knowing he's not going to make any couples endgame and 1/2

Hi! First of all, thanks for reading and taking your time to send this to me, I really like hearing other people's thoughts! I hope you don't mind that I combined both asks, given that they've points in common and I already had a draft of the one I received a while ago 🙈 This made me realize that I hadn't thought about it too much before… Even if I've talked about this topic with other people before, usually, the conversation ends with us agreeing and moving on to other topics lol so I think this is the first time I'm analyzing it. I'll try to do it from both the characters' perspective and Sorachi's intentions as the story's author. Before continuing, I want to clarify that my intention isn't to convince anyone to stop liking it, I just wanted to explore this topic and wow, did I explore it, because it ended up being much longer than expected 😂

That said, I think one of the biggest reasons why many of us thought Tae was going to be Gintoki's main love interest is because of the setup. Tae is the first woman from the main cast to appear in the series, and her dilemma kickstarts the story and allows for the formation of the Yorozuya as we know it. Moreover, she's Shinpachi's older sister and also develops a strong bond with Kagura, so it was expected that she would also develop a strong romantic bond with Gintoki, connecting her to the main trio of Gintama.

However, as I mentioned in the previous post, things started to change with the introduction of Kyuubei, which solidified the Kondo-Tae-Kyuubei love triangle, and then with the introduction of Tsukuyo. I watched a video by Abbie Emmons titled "7 Deadly Romance MISTAKES Writers Make ❌ avoid these chemistry killers!" to help identify some points in the relationship between Gintoki and Tae, although I must mention that I don't think these were mistakes on Sorachi's part, quite the opposite, they were very conscious decisions. I won't go point by point; instead, I'll summarize the intent of the message.

Half of the video is about the development of intimacy between two characters. I think most of us can appreciate that at least until the Benizakura arc, it was clear that Sorachi still had in mind to develop the relationship between Gintoki and Tae romantically because they'd a scene where they were alone, had time to talk, and showed that they cared a lot for each other. However, as the series progresses, we stop seeing these kinds of scenes between them, as well as scenes where they're seen thinking about each other or having physical contact.

And although at the beginning of the series Tae participated more actively in the Yorozuya dynamics, after the introduction of Kyuubei, they're seen spending most of their time together, even when they're with the others. Tae remains an honorary member of the Yorozuya until the end, but it's clear that Sorachi wanted her to represent stability, emotional support, the place they can return to that will welcome them with a smile. So, even though Gintoki and Tae still care a lot for each other, their interactions will continue to be framed within the context of the Yorozuya for the rest of the series.

That said, I couldn't say exactly when Sorachi stopped considering a romantic relationship between them. I'd to look up chapter 238 because I didn't remember what it was about lol (for reference, it's the one where they're at a stall and there're only speech bubbles, in which other characters who look like Gintoki and Tae confess they're in love), and I think your interpretation is certainly interesting. The placement also makes sense, which is shortly after the arc introducing Tsukuyo, and it also follows the trend of other characters being the ones who tease them, and not themselves.

The other half of the video is about how the characters' relationships with the rest of the cast are shown. It's highlighted that there needs to be an emotional reaction from a character to the idea of the other being interested in someone else, something Sorachi showed in many different ways but not with Gintoki and Tae. In her case, at most, she was shown getting annoyed at Sacchan, but only when she was provoked first. When it came to Tsukuyo, there was no reaction. Similarly, Gintoki has no reaction when Kyuubei or Kondo demonstrate their love interest.

The last point of the video, but not less important, is when characters have more romantic chemistry with other characters. In Tsukuyo's case, I think Sorachi was already a more experienced writer who knew his characters better and knew what his story needed. In particular, I think he wanted Gintoki to have someone close with whom he could relate but who wasn't directly connected to his past, among other things. And as I mentioned before, most of Tae's emotional energy in the series is with Kyuubei, followed by Kondo.

But why Sorachi didn't continue developing Gintoki and Tae's relationship romantically? The most obvious reason is simply because he didn't want to lol, but the explanation behind this, I think, is due to two main reasons. The first is that he wanted to keep the relationships within the Yorozuya platonic, and since Tae is an honorary member of the Yorozuya, it felt wrong to establish that there were romantic feelings involved. By comparison, it would be like confirming a relationship between Kagura and Shinpachi. And yes, Sorachi did some ship-teasing more than once between them too, but at the end of the day, he chose not to pursue it, and I think maintaining the familiarity is a cause.

The other reason is that as he wrote the story, he realized that Gintoki and Tae didn't fit well together. Tae can give Gintoki a sense of stability, but what can he offer her? Tae clearly values stability as well, hard work, having money. But Gintoki, due to his circumstances, doesn't meet those standards. If you think about it, the only two occasions when Tae unequivocally showed interest in Gintoki were when he lost his memory (Memory Loss arc) and when Hijikata was in his body (Soul Switch arc). Two occasions where Gintoki wasn't himself. But she liked that he seemed more serious and diligent, which implies that Tae's type is different.

It's also worth mentioning that Gintoki isn't shown making the same gestures towards Tae that Kondo or Kyuubei, the other two characters who are canonically in love with her (which is why I think they're a good benchmark) do. For example, while Sorachi chooses to show Gintoki teasing Tae about her breast size, in contrast, he shows Kondo buying her a kimono that will look good on her regardless, you know, like a supportive partner would. Even with all this, I understand that het shippers might've felt uncomfortable with the idea of pairing Tae with Kondo, and the other viable option was Gintoki. I think Sorachi was also aware of this, which is why he decided to develop Kondo and Tae's relationship in the final arcs.

While we're at it, I prefer kyuutae by faaar. As I've also expressed before, although I think Kondo is a great character, his persistence doesn't sit well with me. But whether it was due to heteronormativity or because Sorachi identified with him as a fellow gorilla, it's clear to me that he decided to emphasize Kondo and Tae's relationship much more. Even when gintsu and kyuutae were stagnating, he continued developing kontae as much as he could (probably because he'd already done the heavy lifting with the other two ships, tbf).

Sorachi didn't plan many things in his story, which I think is both a strength and a weakness. One of the things that reflect this is, for example, that Hasegawa was originally going to be part of the Yorozuya, an idea he later abandoned, but the remnant of Hasegawa's presence in the series remained. In the same way, I think his initial idea was to pair Gintoki with Tae, but eventually, he didn't. It seems that he also had the idea at the beginning to end the series with certain couples, but later decided to leave an open ending in that sense, although some of his inclinations were clearer than others.

I've seen people say there're subtle hints throughout Gintama that they fell in love, and while I don't want to say those interpretations are wrong, I think Sorachi is quite straightforward when it comes to these kinds of things. Even with unrequited loves, like in the case of Katsura and Ikumatsu, he showed that there was love. However, in the case of Gintoki and Tae, during the 15 years he wrote the manga, he didn't, probably because he felt it no longer fit the story after a certain point. That said, I think their relationship works just fine without the need for any labels.

Thank you again for stopping by, if you've another point that you would like to discuss feel free to message me or send another ask 🤗

[diningwiththeasquiths]

I’d love to see that “Daniel catching Kreese and Johnny in the act (Lawrusso endgame, sub!Johnny)” wip 👀

Oh yay, thank you for the request anon! ❤ I guess I'll finish the ficlet and post it here below, otherwise it will stay in my drafts forever.

For context: Johnny and Daniel are co-senseis here.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Daniel is much too furious to announce his arrival at the Cobra Kai dojo by calling out, instead taking angry strides towards the office, where a strip of light shines from underneath the door. It's after hours and the rest of the dojo is deserted. When he pushes it open he freezes in the doorway instead of barging in like he was planning to, his anger quickly replaced by shock.

For a millisecond, he thinks that the two men in the room are in the middle of a physical altercation, since Kreese is gripping the other man's blond hair in a tight fist. Johnny's blond hair. It's Johnny on his knees in front of Kreese, uncharacteristically not putting up a fight.

Then he realizes Johnny's completely naked, with a very noticeable erection poking up between his thighs. A wave of lightheadedness hits Daniel. His heart pounds in his ears and he's frozen to the spot, unable to look away from the sight.

Johnny doesn't notice him at first, his eyes trained on the man before him, lips parted and chest rising and falling like he's been sparring. Kreese, however, turns his head towards the door almost immediately, surprise and then smugness flashing across his furrowed face.

After a few long moments that seem to drag on forever, Johnny notices something's up and looks in Daniel's direction. It must be painful for him to do so, with the way Kreese's fist still tightly grips him. Johnny's eyes grow wide. Seeing his own shock reflected back at him releases Daniel from immobility. He does them both a favor by stepping back and slamming the door shut. In a daze, he walks back to his car. When he zones back in again, he's halfway to Miyagi-do. It takes a second ping of his phone before the sound registers.

[Johnny] whre are yuo

[Johnny] i cna explain

The texts contain more typos than Johnny usually makes. Daniel imagines a frantic Johnny, fingers shaking as he types. The thought makes him pull over and respond, telling Johnny that he's willing to meet at Johnny's place and hear him out. His brain is already coming up with possible explanations, trying to makes sense of it. Perhaps it was some sort of deal, and Johnny was only cooperating so that Kreese would leave their kids alone.

Johnny is already two and a half beers deep when Daniel sits down across from him in the small living room. He doesn't talk. Just stares at the table with a clenched jaw, like the empty bottles hold all the answers.

"I thought you hated Kreese," Daniel says, breaking the silence.

"I do! It's just... It's complicated."

"Try me. Are you doing it in exchange for something?"

"What, like money?"

"Is your financial situation that bad?" Daniel asks, eyebrows crinkling, horrified at the idea.

"No! He doesn't pay me. He just... He knows what I need."

"What you need," Daniel repeats blankly.

"Yeah." Johnny flushes, struggling to clarify himself. "What we do has nothing to do with our dojos. I still hate his guts and want to defeat him. But every once in a while we meet up and..." he trails off and makes a vague gesture.

Daniel's eyes darken.

"And he gives you what you need," he finishes for him. "What I just walked in on, that's the sort of thing you need?"

"...Yeah."

It's the easiest, most obvious decision Daniel's ever made. But first, he has to know if Johnny's on board. That's the most important thing right now. And if he is, Daniel will see to it that he never has to turn to Kreese ever again. They can figure out the rest later.

"And since you're willing to get it from a man like him, am I right in assuming that the person doesn't matter, provided that you get what you need?"

"Uh. Yeah, I guess so."

"Alright. From now on, you come to me for that. Do you understand?"

When there's no immediate reply, Daniel gets up to stand in front of Johnny. Grabbing a fistful of hair from the back of Johnny's head, he yanks it down so that Johnny's face turns up towards him.

"I said, do you understand?"

Johnny swallows. When his eyes meet his gaze, Daniel can see his pupils have dilated so much that the blue of his irises has nearly disappeared.

"Yes Sensei."

[frenchkanna1808]

hello! i thought your breakdown of midori and why he sucks was really neat. I am curious: why do you dislike ranmaru?

(sorry for the wait, my boredom plus the strike made me not post for a while.)

FIRST OFF I WANNA CLARIFY! This is not to send hate to any Ranmaru fans or ransara shippers, while I don't really like ranmaru or ransara, i don't want them to thinks that this is hate in the slightest. If you like ranmaru that's great, I can't, I think he is boring. But good for you honestly that you can find enjoyment in the character. I just don't like ransara, my opinion, okay, okay...

There is actually multiples reasons i dislike ranmaru. First off I'm gonna start with the obvious.

First off, you must know something deep inside of my psyche, i really REALLY hate the yandere archetype. I hate the fetishisation of it. there is nothing cute about a psycho being obsessed sickly with someone, it's called codependency and it's not a good thing. Which is the reason why i hate shit ass rancid ass soupshit. There is nothing cute about killing people for others, because you wanted them to yourself, that is not endgame couple behavior that's i'm calling the police behavior. And i'm not saying that you can't use this idea wisely, i mean soupshit s shown has bad. My problem is the view that a relationship like this would realistically be cute. And ranmaru literately is a yandere. That's already a problem. Well let's say ranmaru is not really a yandere, okay, let's say that, then he is still bad.

Ranmaru only known Sara for three hours, and he became insane over her because reminder she was just nice to him. of course sara manipulated him, i'm not stupid but, she didn't say "kill people for me bro", anyone who is sane wouldn't do what he did.

Let's take in example emotion route because logic route is another cans of worms, ranmaru knows sara for only three hours, sara is polite and nice to him, so now he whipped over her, when sara tells him to not do stuff he does it, because he believes that he is doing the best for her. he doesn't take into consideration sara own thoughts only his. He feels like he has to protect her not in a caring way but in a way to impress her. When sara has males friends and important relationship with others males, he feels threatened, because in his mind, sara will obviously fall for them. He doesn't like keiji only because he is an important figure for sara, godforsaken guys he kidnapped keiji. he doesn't like sara hanging out around other men who he feels are superior than him, because then he is nothing compared to them. So he takes out his anger on them just because he feels like they are the reason why he can't get with the girl. Like he really an idiot because in the freaking highschool au he gets jealous because sara talks to fucking SHIN, like just once. Then he tries to attack him later. Because he feels threatened by other mens being around sara, he feels as though keiji is superior since he is strong and he feels inferior to shin because shin is smart (he actually compliments the shin ai in the game, like he said that he was actually smart). What is that, what is that huh? Possessive behavior, despite everything he could say or think that is possessive behavior. Because he has lack of confidence in himself and his masculinity (show by the fact that he is insecure about his height for example), he acts possessive toward woman or in this case Sara. And coming back to logic route he freaking kill someone for a girl who doesn't even like him in like three hours for her.

And do you know what this all qualifies for, possessive obsessive behavior towards woman, not being able to take a no, insulting other men to feel better about yourself (or in ranmaru case trying to kill the lmao), seeing women has their little object, confusing romance with kindness, doing stuff thinking that you are doing whats right for women despite them not explicitly saying anything all of that.That's """""nice guy"""""" behavior, ranmaru is a "nice guy". he acts like the average Reddit user who claims that they are a nice guy while being the biggest asshole on earth. ranmaru acts nice, but really he views sara like an object of desire instead of seeing her like a person especially in emotion route. In emotion route reminder he tries to put the joe ai inside of him because he wants to be somehow sara ""love"", which is EXTREMELY CREEPY OH GOD THAT'S SOME CREEPY BEHAVIOR. He says that's its so that sara will be able to be with joe, but that's just terrible. first off imagine the dismorphia joe would have felt, and second thinking that to please a girl you should end yourself is just terrible, ranmaru doesn't need sara he needs a therapist.

But let's say we try to forget all about his 31b behavior and focus on his behavior in 31a okay then....

Ranmaru is just Shin without the positives nor the funny. Ranmaru and shin are both pathetic asses jealous of other strengh, they are both mostly quiet and content guys who actually have a darker side, they have no actual social capacities. This repetition in personality was actually noted by nankidai.

Of course having similar themes or idea is okay, i mean even though shin and sara are similar never in god's name would i call them samey. What differentiates characters are their flaw and distinct personality right, right? Well that's the root of the problem Ranmaru without his incel simp yandere behaviour IS JUST SHIN, BUT LESS INTERESTING. LESS COMPELLING AND MORE OF A BACKGROUND CHARACTER. That is the problem, ranmaru is freaking walmart shin!

Shin is a bad person, but when i think about it shin is just a person. Ranmaru is a bad person, that's it.

And my final point is this, sara doesn't give a single shit about him, especially in logic route, she was just being polite and nice, acting like a normal person. In logic route she quite literally uses him for her own gain. So yes it's bad behavior and toxic on both sides, they are the toxic yuri.

and that's why i dislike him, ranmaru only interesting traits don't particularly make me like him as a person and i think he is pretty one note has a character. I like making fun of him but i mean i love making fun of the entire cast. Compared to my mortal enemy or keiji i can't say i really like him as a character. wow that was long. i had a lot more to say about him than i thought. But realistically i would probably put him in the no opinion case of the tier list. he doesn't interest me or anger me enough for him to get higher or lower.

Also he lead to the most bullshit scene of all time, the yabusames death was the stupidest way to get rid of them.

(maybe if someone sends me an ask about what do i think of the treatement of the yabusame in chapter 3)

[pridepoisoned]

CHARACTER NOTES: JUPITER/ERIS EVANS

[I've been meaning to do this for a while and I have it on the brain right now, so why not? With the information below, I'm hoping to open new doors for interaction while also clarifying some of Eris's motives and the core influences behind the character. She deserves a deep dive. 😊]

Pokemon Platinum is my favorite main series game, I love my supporting characters, and I wanted to try a villain, which is why I initially picked up roleplaying JUPITER around 2017 in a closed Tumblr group. However, the experience left me feeling bitter--the Cyrus player at the time was very possessive, and Jupiter and I couldn't escape his shadow (or the community's view that Jupiter was a mere Galactic lackey, victim of the 10,000th spacesuit joke.)

ERIS EVANS was born from the ashes of that blog when I went indie in 2020, inspired by the questions: what would a post-Galactic Jupiter do, fully independent and freed from Cyrus's influence? What if she was 'worse'? and what would today's unethical sciences, corrupt politics, and greedy corporate behaviors look like within the Pokemon world?

Four main themes inform Eris's portrayal: (excess) hunger/greed, masks, poison, and resilience/survival.

More than anything, Eris Evans has an insatiable appetite for knowledge, willing to cross almost any unethical lines to satisfy her rampant curiosity. This hunger has been present all her life--from when she was gazing at the distant stars, entranced by Cyrus's fantastical vision for a new world, searching for her father, and even more so now. (Her hunger for knowledge is all-consuming and spills in every direction. If you have something cool, she'll want to figure out how it works. Take it apart. Tinker and probe.)

Importantly, Eris does not want to usurp any existing leaders or organizations...

The spotlight is stifling, and she is most at home working away in the background shadows. Above all, power, influence and control are things Eris craves because they allow her the time/resources to experiment as she pleases. While she's currently under Devon's employ right now, Eris will happily work with/under anybody who can provide her with freedom, resources, and a lofty goal to work towards.

With this being said, Eris's appetite is designed to lead her into trouble. She's woven an intricate web thus far (which I am pumped about), flitting back and forth between various conflicting organizations--a day will come when her multilayered façade all comes crashing down.

So, how does Eris manage to survive under the spotlight, juggling all her connections? She's an expert mask-wearer, ultimate deceiver, interchanging her personality to best fit the mood and get what she wants. She can't help herself. With her disarming looks and unmatched charisma, Eris excels in the world of big business, concealing her darker side underneath. A total wolf in sheep's clothing.

I made Eris a poison-developing expert because it fits in with her curiosity and the idea of soft power, an advisor whispering shadily into a leader's ear. Poison corrodes, corrupts, and is often used in deception, which makes it Eris's perfect symbol of choice. She uses poison in many forms--ranging from the sadistic physicality of her 'enforcer' Seviper, Anje to the gentle suggestion of her mind-warping Kirlia, Felisa. Eris and poison are all about damage over time, infecting and collapsing bigger foes from the inside...

All of this being said, Eris's endgame is unclear right now, even to her. Galactic gave her an ambition to sink her claws into, and Devon is currently satisfying her with full access to Pokemon bioenergy development, but she's always on the lookout for the next big step, always working, worrying about her legacy. Survival.

She helped leash Dialga and Palkia atop the Spear Pillar, spat at them. Soon after, Cyrus disappeared, just like her father had aboard the Sea Mauville all those years ago. That fateful encounter (and abandonment) helped her realize that time and influence are fleeting. In order to thrive in this new, post-Galactic life, she must fill the void with as much knowledge as possible, as many answers as possible. Rules are restraints. Above all, she must survive, no matter how terrifying/twisted she may become. Mortality hangs over her head like a hungry serpent, always demanding tribute.

Always demanding more.

TIDBITS

ERIS is the second (not first) largest dwarf planet in the solar system, maintaining Galactic's cute planetary roots. Eris is also the goddess of discontent and discord (not that Discord.) EVANS was chosen because I wanted an unassuming last name for her to blend in to society following her expulsion from Sinnoh. Also, alliteration always goes hard.

I chose DEVON as Eris's landing spot because they are very similar. Smiling exteriors, shady interiors. I view Devon as the consummate too big to fail company of the Pokemon world, doing whatever it can to maintain PR and get ahead of the competition. (Once again, Eris is looking out for herself and isn't beholden to Devon, though the corp does spoil her...)

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Why I believe the dumb prince had nothing to do with Endgame by u/raccoonsondeck

Why I believe the dumb prince had nothing to do with Endgame Because it was obvious that he was blindsided with his malignant wife's accusations in the Oprah interview. It was TW who made the statements - first as though she heard them, directly, but when pressed by Oprah admitted whatever was said was in Harry's presence, not hers. Even that exchange showed what a lying manipulator she is. It was carefully crafted innuendo which Oprah, of course, ran with. TW also said there were several conversions and Harry said there was ONE. That part of the interview was with TW, alone. When Harry later rejoined and Oprah confronted him with it, he looked caught off guard but he's so stupid and such a cuck that he would never have dared to correct anything TW said and clarify that it was an innocent remark. It was TW who, when Harry told her about the remark, who framed it as racist and Harry is so impressionable, as we have seen when he repeats her woke buzzwords, that he just accepted her spin on it. It was TW who planted, in his pea brain, that shit about "we never said anyone was racist, that was the British press who said that". You can bet your life on all of that.She's the one in control and he's just a spoiled moron who never did his own thinking in his entire life. As we know, with narcs, isolation of the target - and of themselves when exposed - is part of how they operate. She has said she will never go back to the UK (and we know why!) and driving this final nail in the coffin of Harry's connection to his family eliminates any threat of Harry trying to convince her to go. Finally being able to smear Kate with the racist label, as she wanted to back in the Oprah interview, was the icing on the cake. She smeared Kate (Charles was insignificant, imo), destroyed any possibility of any reconciliation, destroyed any possibility of Kate acting as peacemaker, and took away any pressure for her to visit the UK, for any reason, ever. Harry is a total loser of a man and while he resents his brother, I don't believe he would ever have said a bad word about his sister in law. TW did all of this behind his back and she knows he doesn't have the backbone to do do anything about it. post link: https://ift.tt/QHtw4KU author: raccoonsondeck submitted: December 07, 2023 at 02:39AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

[esther-dot]

I sent the show!Jonsa ask! Yeah, I was toying with it because one of the sticking points for me is figuring out why the show did or didn't do Jonsa and why that may or may not happen in the books. That to me is really some of the most damning stuff, and I can't point to Dany's arc in the show or Stannis' etc. (many of the examples you use) as argumentation for what makes sense in the books but have yet to have happened without, too, including Jonsa.

Anon asks are limited by length (and I would not want to waste your time with adding caveat after caveat lol) but I do also have complicated feelings about D&D; on the one hand I think there were serious problems on set and I have a lot of capital F feminist problems with them, but that doesn't belie all the creative work they put into the show (I do think there are Choices they made about how to portray romance without the source material at hand, and even before that honestly, but I already wrote that ask lol).

You're definitely right about the heaping of romantic parallels; one or two of those relationships alone could be written off, but the Sam/Gilly one is very weird, and Kit's acting choices are... very weird lol. Re: Sansa's jealousy, I had read that more as Dark Sansa foreshadowing as opposed to Jonsa jealousy, so I don't know???? When it comes to show!Jonsa I mostly only like the S6 dynamic anyway, so that might be down to some of my bias.

Basically I'm trying to entertain alternative ideas that might explain things as opposed to genuinely arguing for show!Jonsa being an accident, and I was thinking about this as well because it is an issue I've encountered with shipping/romance/fandom in general before. The male-gazey tropey dynamic ends up feeling off, but by virtue of the romance goggles of the author not being applied to another dynamic, it ends up feeling more mutual and less objectified and more interesting lol. A good example off the top of my head, given you've just watched the MCU films, is that I shipped Steve/Natasha (yes...) because the dynamic in Winter Soldier was above and beyond any other M/F pairing in the films. Naturally everybody goes on about ~platonic soulmates~ but I love good guys with sad/evil/redeemed ladies so I can't help it. Not saying it's at all canon though, I think they absolutely stumbled into that one.

I'm glad your nephew enjoyed the MCU films! I remember when I rewatched Endgame with my best friend, her dad came in and we had to keep explaining who the 'blue one and the green one' were. It made the film much better.

Anyway, thank you so much for entertaining my ask, and as always, being such a good sport. 🥰💝

(continuation of this convo)

You have no idea how much I sympathize with the caveat issue. I write answers and then delete entire paragraphs because I have such a tendency to try to clarify everything that it makes things less clear because I bury the point, but then I regret it when the vague blogs start. We all have limited time though, and every answer can't be thousands of rambling words! Sometimes I've literally just said "insert caveat" lmao!

I do also have complicated feelings about D&D; on the one hand I think there were serious problems on set and I have a lot of capital F feminist problems with them

I read this article about Emilia's experience on set for GoT (I have not been able to relocate it, but I did actually read an article with her quotes--it wasn't just a tumblr post), and I felt that she was taken advantage of when it came to the nudity/sex scenes. I actually think she meant for some of the stories to be amusing, but I felt sick reading it. She didn't say it was D&D, but apparently when she wanted to do less nudity going forward, she was told her fans expected it and it became a fight trying to move away from it, and....I just worry about the power dynamics with all these young actresses and what they're told they "need" to do. The fact that even if they ultimately agree to certain things, it still may be a result of coercion or they aren't actually being taken care of/feel safe when doing it...it left a very bad taste in my mouth regarding the behind the scenes stuff. And obviously, we all noticed the changes they made to the story, what they did to Sansa...plenty of things we can take exception to purely on what made it to our screens.

Basically I'm trying to entertain alternative ideas that might explain things as opposed to genuinely arguing for show!Jonsa being an accident

I enjoy doing that too! Groupthink is boring! I don't expect everyone to think the same way/come to the same conclusion, and I've changed my mind on a few things which only happens if we're willing to entertain different ideas instead of shutting people down. I mean, I'm not easily persuaded to a different way of thinking, but I try to be open to it. With the condition that someone interprets Sansa in a way I can live with which excludes most of the fandom/their theories tbh.

I basically work myself to one position and then back to where I started when it comes to show Jonsa. If it was an accident, I don't love it any less, if it wasn't, I'm curious what the hell happened. I didn't get what I wanted there, so it really doesn't matter to me what people conclude. I genuinely thought it was amusing when Kit acted surprised when he was asked about Jonsa because it was his face that was saying "not normal sibling feelings here." Silly man. 😂 And, D&D fucked up enough I don't like to take them too seriously, so I can't say, "this doesn't make sense therefore it was an accident" because, uh, a lot of their choices ultimately made no sense.

it is an issue I've encountered with shipping/romance/fandom in general before. The male-gazey tropey dynamic ends up feeling off, but by virtue of the romance goggles of the author not being applied to another dynamic, it ends up feeling more mutual and less objectified and more interesting lol.

I certainly agree about the general male v female view of romance. I found that a problem when I said that they didn't write a romance for Jonerys, and the guy I was talking to was like, "they had sex tho???" There was just...a massive gap between what we were looking for when talking about the characters/relationships. Although, he did know what I meant when I said "well, they filmed Jon and Sansa like a ruling couple." He immediately understood that. And, considering what they did to the sandsnakes (I'm not saying the line), I do understand the argument that if they meant for there to be a romance, they would have done it in such a way that we would have objected.

I think part of the reason I believed Jonsa was intentional was because I don't ship non canon pairings. My brain isn't one to think, "oh but what about those two" as I wasn't even involved in fandom before, and I generally just took what a story was and reacted to it, rather than re-configuring it. Obvy, having been in the fandom for so long now, that's changed somewhat, but for me, s7 was a total puzzlement, and Jonsa / some variation of poljon was the only way it connected to everything we had established before. In a bizarre twist, we didn't get the story that would make it coherent, but we still got the endpoint: Jon betraying Dany for Sansa. It's still weird to me, all these years later. Now I'm mainly bemused rather than angry though.

[tobiasdrake]

A Comparative Look at First Cases

Okay, before moving on to 3-2, I want to take a moment to go over the First Cases. I feel like I should break this down into categories to make it simpler.

Okay, let's start with the motives. Motives are a lot of fun. They can be captivating and mysterious, with overarching effects that may not be clear at first glance but ultimately compel the murder.

I need to clarify that we're talking about capital-M Motives provided by Monokuma and not necessarily the specific, individual rationale for murder that the killer interpreted from it. That will come up when we talk about killers.

Best Motive: 2-1 - The Missing Past Sometimes simpler can be better than overcomplex, and that makes 1-1's Motive fairly strong. "Your loved ones are in danger; That sucks." Straight to the point. Who will be driven to murder by this?

But 2-1's Motive manages to take that simple Motive and mold it into someting that's intriguingly esoteric. Taking the grand reveal from 1-6 and frontloading it into 2-1's Motive disguises its true menace. It keeps the sequel plot moving without having to retread too much, while still delivering a rationale for murder that nonetheless ends up being every bit as hard-cutting and personal as 1-1's.

Worst Motive: 3-1 - The First Blood Perk I already went on a tirade over this but suffice it to say, the First Blood Perk is one of the most interest-terminating Motives in Danganronpa. A good Motive should make you wonder which character's particular psychology is going to interact with the Motive in a way that moves them to murder. This Motive just makes you wonder how they're going to cop out of it.

Ah, but what's a Motive without the rest of the events leading up to the case? Hanging out, being sociable, and trying to defeat the Mastermind. Let's talk about best build-up.

Best Build-Up: 3-1 - A Plan to Thwart the Mastermind All three build-ups center around two major things: Learning about the Killing Game and our fellow players, and getting to know the character who's about to betray us in a big way: Sayaka, Nagito, and Kaede.

Of the three journeys these sets of characters undergo together, Kaede and Shuichi's plan to undermine (and, secretly, assassinate) the Mastermind is immediately investment-grabbing. And while you can spot signs of Kaede's impending plot if you're observant enough, it's not quite as obvious as Sayaka's meltdown and plot to frame Makoto.

Worst Build-Up: 2-1 - Entering the Neo World Program To be honest, this was a toss-up between 1-1 and 2-1. The time we spend getting to know Nagito hits a lot harder given how much more important of a character he's going to be than Sayaka.

But the clincher for me was actually the opening minutes of the game. One of DR2's biggest reveals is that we're in a simulation, but they front-load the game with a lot of Matrix effects that give away the trick immediately as you begin playing it. The opening minutes are the disappointing 11037 clue of DR2, but made worse for being too obvious about a major endgame reveal.

Best Blackened: 3-1 - Kaede Akamatsu Okay, I know I've spent multiple posts complaining about this and it still does piss me off from the perspective of overarching game design choice. But given how intricate and fascinating her murder is and the way it plays so hard on established character traits and relationships, I'd be remiss not to acknowledge her here.

The best murders are the ones that are rooted in characters. That stem entirely from the way the character's identity, personality, and relationship to other characters interacts with the provided Motive. You should always come away from the killer's identity reveal feeling like it not only was this person, but that it could never have been anyone else. It was always going to be them.

Kaede's well-conceived but poorly-aimed plan to kill the Mastermind is a perfect example of a masterfully executed interplay of personality, motive, means, and opportunity coming together in a way that feels true to character and heartbreaking to discover.

Worst Blackened: 1-1 - Leon Kuwata

It's hard to choose between Teruteru and Leon here, because they're in a similar boat. Teruteru has an interesting motive for his involvement, but one that doesn't get examined until the very end in a bid for last-second sympathy. Saving the killer's interesting character traits for FTEs and a last-second revelation is a recurring problem in Danganronpa.

Conversely, Leon doesn't have much motive at all. He's a strong candidate for least developed character in Danganronpa. He was selected more or less arbitrarily by Sayaka to be her intended victim and then killer. He is so utterly divorced from the events of the crime that she had to scrawl his name on the wall for the sake of creating any reason in the world to suspect him. The only reason he's even here is because he thought she was hot. Which also doesn't get examined much outside his FTEs.

But between the two, I feel like Teruteru has more going for him. His fear for his mom makes for a stronger motive, even if we don't find out about it until the very end. He's only slightly better developed than Leon, but his integral role as team chef also plays into the mystery a bit more strongly than Leon "can chuck things through the grate" Kuwata's did.

Leon is Danganronpa's first attempt at writing a killer. And while his switcheroo with Sayaka is interesting, it nonetheless shows.

Best Victim: 1-1 - Sayaka Maizono This is another one that's very hard to call. Sayaka and Imposter Byakuya are both strong contenders for best victim.

As characters, all three first victims coast on external expectations that you carry into the game with you. Expectations of a Maya Fey type character, expectations of Byakuya Togami, expectations of an Ultimate ??? mystery.

What puts Sayaka above Imposter for me is that ultimately, Imposter never feels like more than an archetype. He's the leader, he's brave, he's valiant, he's selfless... He's, honestly, unlike his namesake in the way he takes charge and cares for others. But he lacks any sort of personal connections to the other characters. When he dies, his cause of death is simply "being too heroic".

Sayaka is more interesting because her character writing is deeply personal. We spend a lot of time not only developing who she is but her relationship to protagonist Makoto. She compares more to Kaede than to Imposter or Rantaro, because we get to watch her make an emotional journey over the course of the setup.

When Byakuya turns up dead, he dies fulfilling both his archetypal identity as the heroic leader and his horror role as the Horror Ace who must be killed in order for the story to begin. But when Sayaka turns up dead, it's a genuine twist... Whether you "knew" she was going to commit a murder or not, it's still shocking to see her show up as a victim.

For the short time we had these characters, Sayaka feels like she managed to do more to concoct an interesting character journey than Imposter or Rantaro did, and that's why I have to give this point to her.

Worst Victim: 3-1 - Rantaro Amami Rantaro's the other major candidate for least developed character in Danganronpa. There are things there to enjoy if you're willing to put in the work to find them but, for the most part, he's just. Sort of. There.

He's a nice guy surrounded by a lot of question marks, some of which will be explained far later in the game and others that won't be explained until post-game bonus modes. Wreathed in similar secrecy to Imposter, but lacking Imposter's captivating exterior intrigue. Rantaro has the energy of a random person who accidentally wandered onto the set and now everyone else has to roll with it.

He has a cool character design and he's nice, but he isn't here to stay and he's written like it. The others have complex and fascinating over-the-top characteristics and Rantaro is nearby, smiling politely. He likes bread.

In a similar fashion to how Nagito was a dark reflection of Makoto, Rantaro is. Like. Hajime, if he wasn't written to be an important character of any kind. You can become invested in him if you put in the work to do so but there are tons of other characters who are right there.

Meanwhile, his involvement in his own death is "Wrong place at the wrong time. Whoopsy-doodle."

Best Use of Other Characters: 3-1 - Miu, Gonta, and Shuichi (plus Kaito's mob) This is an easy win for 3-1. A Danganronpa game features a lot of characters, and the more involved they get to be in the crime both before and after the body is found, the better. 1-1 and 3-1 both offer Makoto and Shuichi a key role of adjacency, making them unsuspecting accomplices while the crime is being concocted and carried out. But between them, Shuichi has a more proactive and complex relationship to the crime taking place, while Makoto's simply a patsy.

On top of that, we have Gonta for a false lead suspect, plus the whole complicating factor of Kaito's mob forming right next door to the crime - one member of whom would become the victim.

And we have Miu, who is intricately woven into the case. Miu created the cameras and knows key information about them that becomes important to the case. She also builds a sky-camera drone which becomes supremely important to unraveling the mystery. None of this could have happened without her; Either the setup of the crime or the resolution of the mystery. V3 uses its large cast to great effect here.

Worst Use of Other Characters: 2-1 - Nagito, Peko, and Ibuki. Plus Mahiru and Mikan's investigative skills.

Nagito is an extremely back-and-forth character. Sometimes he's fascinating and other times he's a cackling ball of plot contrivance, doing ridiculous things for ridiculous reasons and getting away with it because plot contrivance is literally his Talent.

2-1 may be Nagito at his weakest. Though the drawing of straws is a fun bit, Nagito contriving 85% of the mystery and pulling it off through sheer Luck Powers for the sake of setting up Teruteru for the remaining 15% feels forced. Nagito's involvement feels like the personification of "Writer's hand moving pieces into place."

Like, the trick with the blackout seems like it'd be difficult to pull off without any testing but Nagito has luck powers so it doesn't matter. The timing of everything going down seems unlikely but Nagito has luck powers so it doesn't matter. Every over-complex detail was perfectly planned 100% by Nagito and it all went exactly according to plan, because it could only go exactly according to plan, because Nagito has luck powers preventing any unexpected complications from ever arising.

This is a toxic influence on a mystery (though it makes 2-5 fascinating). Mysteries are actually more interesting when they don't go exactly according to one brilliant mastermind's flawless foresight.

Aside from Nagito, we have... Peko being in the bathroom. An entire subplot is dedicated to the mystery of Peko's extended bathroom visit. This is a character who will be revealed to be a deadly assassin next chapter, and her sole contribution to the story prior to that point is a joke about diarrhea embarrassment.

That leaves us with Ibuki, Mikan, and Mahiru who play key roles in the investigation. Ibuki has exact photographic memory of every person who spoke during the blackout (which also feels a bit like plot contrivance), Mahiru's photographs provide critical evidence (that's fine, no notes), and Mikan... Mikan's autopsy is useful (that's good) and also the running joke about her tripping into compromising positions is critical evidence (okay, game).

2-1 suffers from a bad case of 4-D Chess Mastermind syndrome and is more interested in poking fun and ogling its cast than it is in having them do interesting things rooted in their characters and personalities that contribute to the story in interesting ways.

Best Mystery: 2-1 - The Table Stabbing 2-1 and 3-1 have a lot of moving parts. The mechanism of Kaede's trap is complicated, but not so complicated that you can't see how it worked - or, at least, was intended to work. The same is true of Shuichi's own plot to capture the Mastermind, which runs adjacent to and interweaves through Kaede's.

Like Nagito, Teruteru, and Imposter, there are multiple conflicting agendas running through Shuichi, Kaede, and Rantaro's collision - though with the intriguing and emotionally gripping complication that they all wanted the same thing. Meanwhile, 3-1 does not run afoul of All According to Keikaku the way 2-1 does.

If you don't know, on sight, who killed Rantaro? Then 3-1 can be a shocking mystery to try and solve, as no possible candidate seems to fit the bill. But if you do know? Then. Well. It's a lot like 1-1, spinning your wheels and waiting for the game to catch up. Worse, if you happen to be too observant and catch things that they don't want you thinking about until 3-6, 3-1 can be pull-your-hair-out frustrating as the game gaslights you about details that are plain in front of your eyes.

2-1's mystery isn't quite as captivating as 3-1's, but it doesn't suffer from these drawbacks either. It's less likely to have been spoiled for you by hanging out with the key figures while they were setting it all up. There's still a bit of bullshit in how it's carried out, but ultimately it simply presents a clever mystery and asks you to investigate and solve it.

Worst Mystery: 1-1 - Murder in Makoto's Shower 1-1 was the first case in the series, and you can tell. While getting to watch Sayaka undergo her emotional journey and developing her crime alongside Makoto is interesting, it does give away many of the details that are going to be Huge Reveals later down the line.

By the time her body is found, you're already 95% of the way to solving the mystery. And she wrote the remaining 5% on the wall for you to find.

Kaede and Shuichi took a lot of notes from Sayaka and Makoto on how to do something like this without flat-out explaining the plan to the audience as they go along. Though I do think that sometimes simpler cases are better than complex ones, 1-1 suffers tremendously from being too obvious about key details, leaving little to discover during investigation.

So, where does that leave the Case 1s? Tallying up their scores, we have:

DRV3: 13 points DR2: 12 points DR1: 11 points

Neck and neck in quality but V3 takes a slim lead. Featuring the strongest build-up portion, best Blackened, and best use of Side Characters, V3 edges out the competition with careful, creative, and entertaining use of its cast as a whole.

DR2 thrives on its plot details, with a great Motive and the most well-constructed mystery to spin out of the events, but suffers from poor use of its characters as well as a middling killer and victim.

While DR1 coasts by on the strength of the Sayaka twist, having a harder time establishing itself than the sequels that followed in its footsteps and learned from its mistakes.