#//The book was not about safety

[messiahzzz]

it’s been almost a year now… is the bg3 fandom finally ready to talk about how gale’s “hubris” is the sole product of actively feeding his insecurities further and straight up denying him help & guidance when he was at his lowest and needed it most. it’s not one of his core traits and never was. he isn’t some closeted power hungry monster that is just waiting to be enabled. what he wants is admiration, recognition and acceptance. which is also what he sought from mystra before the orb disaster happened. he had no desire whatsoever to become a god himself or challenge her rule, he simply wanted to be seen as sufficient in her eyes (“to serve her better”). to be as equal as he could possibly be in a relationship with a literal deity. he has a deep passion for magic and knowledge that affects almost all areas of his life and enjoys the display thereof. he wants to be the smartest person in the room and enjoys when his work is recognized. he may be perceived as arrogant when it comes to his skill, but he IS NOT hubristic. it truly takes so little for him to be wholly content.

[confused-stars]

shoutout to Jake Animorphs for being kinda uninteresting for like forty books and then hitting you so hard when he fully snaps and steps into his role as a hardened military leader at the age of sixteen

and then suddenly that sweet, stressed-out kid is just gone. he only exists to win wars anymore. it makes you realize too late what was lost

[bitchthefuck1]

I feel like people sometimes have a tendency to paint Inej as a little too wide-eyed and borderline naive and I feel like that's such a misread and disservice to her character, because her faith and hope for a better future isn't some misguided assumption that everything will be okay or that the world isn't so bad. She knows exactly how bad things can be and exactly what kind of evil people are capable of, and she's saying "fuck you, you can take my autonomy and my childhood and maybe I'll never see my family or home again, but I will literally die before I let make me think that the shit I've been through is all there is. The beauty and love I experienced was real and valuable and nothing you do or say will make me let go of that or believe it's not possible for me to have again," and it is genuinely the most incredible and real thing in those books.

Inej has fought tooth and nail for every ounce of goodness she has and she'll keep wringing it out of the world because those things are real and possible no matter what, and there's nothing naive about it.

[glorious-spoon]

the thing about buddie that no one wants to admit is that they are exactly the kind of wholesome couple who would earnestly fill out kink negotiation worksheets together

[twstjam]

Book 7 Spoilers ahead!!!

hmmmmm Lilia x Reader where you're a member of the Silver Owls but you have no loyalty to them so you betray them by secretly playing spy for the fae in exchange for peace, quiet, and safety if you help them win. The fae don't really trust you, especially Lilia, but he knows opportunity when he sees one. They just have to be careful about how much they trust you.

Because of the nature of your agreement you end up meeting up and exchanging letters with the Phantom General of the Briar fae a lot to relay information. At first it's just that and your meetings are all really just pure business, but then Lilia complains about Princess Malenoa and everyone pushing jobs onto him. This spurs you on to complain about Henrik and how all he does is order people around and lounge around all day. The two of you end up bonding over your demanding and tiring jobs and gradually grow closer each letter.

Aside from exchanging information, the two of you begin to exchange stories and tales and knowledge. You begin to know each other on different facets that no one else knows and confide in each other your deepest thoughts, fears, and insecurities. The two of you have a lot in common and understand each other so well that it just makes it so easy and natural and comfortable to be open like this. No one else have ever made either of you feel safe enough to share your most deepest secrets (not even Malenoa and Revan in Lilia's case. They're his best friends but they're also his superiors. There's just some things he can't talk about with them.) so it's so nice to finally find someone that does.

The two of you fall slowly, but you fall hard.

Neither of you admit this to each other of course. A war is no time for something as silly and trivial as love and romance and you both know that neither of you have time for a relationship. So you both pine and yearn in silence, either from your fortresses miles away from each other, or several feet apart on the rare occasions you meet up in person—so close yet still so far.

In one of your letters you relay to Lilia your worry that someone might be catching on. Lilia's heart twists in fear and his mind races with paranoid thoughts and possibilities. He doesn't show any concern in his response aside from acknowledging your worry, but he does tell you to be careful. He reasons that it would be unfortunate for the fae if their most valuable informant were to be discovered. (he activated tsundere mode to cope)

He sends the letter and goes about his duties. Days pass. Weeks. He realises during some off-time that he hasn't heard from you in a while. More time passes. No sign of a response from you.

Lilia says to himself that it's fine. It's nothing. It's no big deal. You're probably just occupied, or finally realised how dangerous it was to keep associating with the enemy. It's fine. The fae forces have managed before without your assistance. It's fine it's fine it's fine

he's not fine

(Part 2)

[sweetcherrysourcherry]

vive la france bitchez

[cienie-isengardu]

"If you're going to make a habit of abduction, Kal, we really need to invest in a jail."

Walon Vau, Republic Commando: True Colors

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Well, at least Fukuzawa got his wish granted, I guess.... he's finally inside Fukuchi <3

[rjalker]

"but we can't free these slaves, what if they want to get revenge on us?" Will always be a racist argument, no matter what. It doesn't matter that you have robots as the slaves or orcs or literally any other allegory at all.

[vampire-lord-garfield]

Thinking about that scene where Sebastian was impaled by the Undertaker scythe and then collapses in the boat after fighting off strange dolls.

Imagine if (for some reason) the roles were switched and it was Claude and Alois.

Ciel was shaken but handled the whole situation pretty good for a thirteen years old.

Absolutely won't fly with Alois. He would have like three brakedowns in the span of 15 seconds.

[extrasweetcoffee]

K so I just got the twst anthology manga and like:

I totally forgot THIS specific moment was in this volume.

[fictionadventurer]

"If the structure of your world ever evaporates, I will still be here."

I think The Q might contain one of the greatest declarations of friendship/love ever.

[nonokoko-draws]

Starting the year with Riddle hcs 🌹

I feel so proud that the semi realistic headshots still look good if you flip the canvas... 😤✨ More hcs ↓

Similarly to Epel he has insecurities regarding his body. Unlike him he doesn't go nuts when the spotlight goes to his feminine features, only when his age or mental maturity is questioned due his looks Floyd is an exception because anything he says makes Riddle explode.

He used to take great pride in his idea that he is mentally more prepared for adulthood than most boys his age, that he knew better than his childish classmates, before he was humbled in book 1. Post OB he still thinks he is book smart and mature but does he know how much he has yet to learn, though he still finds rather insulting to underestimate him for age or looks. Summary: call him a child and the effect would be the same as calling him short

Whilst Epel is focused on the conservative sense of masculinity, Riddle aspires to be a gentleman. To be exact, he has taken a liking to victorian etiquette on how to be proper during courtship rituals.

I think he would find tips such as "don't flirt with every lady you meet and don't assume every (young) woman is eager to fall in love with you; maintain a dignified reserve"; "be ready to act the knight if a lady in your company is attacked"; "don't get a innocent woman her hopes up" or "neither party should make the other jealous" quite tasteful. Of course, he's sensible enough to know which habits of 200 years ago he should cross out

Mr Roseheart is probably the one Riddle got his Japanese inheritance from, as it is weird to believe Mrs Rosehearts would chance her last name if she is a big name in the magical medicine industry. Unless his husband was the most prominent figure and she got more prestige with this marriage, unlikely in my opinion as controlling people like her usually take a dominant role in the relationship. So I suppose it's either a case in which each pattner keeps its surname or Mr Roseheart was who changed his

Riddle is autistic but his mother didn't make him go to any tests because she wants to believe his son is "normal". I'm under the impression she could be the type to be ableist just because (sadly many doctors are this insensitive and out of touch despite the irony of their fields) OR she doesn't discriminate neurodivergent people but doesn't want hers to be because she firmly believed if little Riddle knew he was autistic he would use his diagnosis to avoid facing the things he could struggle with or excuse "lazy" behaviour with it or she knows how ableist others can be and wanted to disguise him by making him a functional, well-adjusted neurodivergent individual.

Her reasoning? If he is capable of adjusting and is unaware of his autism he won't try to use "the easy way out of" when confronted about his struggles and he won't be bullied by his peers; don't mistake this as a kind gesture from a mother with good intentions but terrible execution. She believes if he was bullied during his studies he could drop out off medicine and she hasn't been preparing him to be a doctor like her for all his childhood to get her plans frustrated by an external factor such as how his classmates perceive him.

Therefore making him believe he is like the rest + homeschooling would "prevent" this outcome because neither he would interact with possible bullies nor he would know what's "normal" for kids his age so he wouldn't feel different because he didn't have a chance to interact with other children.

Plus interacting with adults and certain kids deemed intellectual enough would enhance his possibilities of "growing out of any annoying habits inherently from young kids" (emotional outburst and "childish stuff" she doesn't like). Which I think is way worse than if she was simply an ignorant ableist doctor, but also makes her a more manipulative and calculating character than what we know of her so far.

It could also make sense as for why she was so mad his son made friends she didn't approve of beforehand, because the only way he could have had external interactions would be handpicked by her.

Anyway that's all for today rambles, follow me if you wish to know more about my downfall in the spiral that is being a twst fan to not lose track of my delusions 🫡

[stromuprisahat]

The first thing they'll tell you, when teaching you first aid, is that you always have to keep yourself safe first.

Don't jump for a drowning person, when torrent's too strong or you can't swim. Don't touch person touching live wire. When helping after car accident, make sure nothing's gonna hit you and put on reflective vest.

So yeah, giving us details about Zoya's aunt just made me less sympathetic.

“I … She tried to help me when the darkness came. She pushed me out of the way so that I could run. If not for her—” ... Brave Liliyana. Of course she had run toward the docks when the screaming began, ready to help. Why couldn’t you be a coward this one time?

King of Scars Chapter 25

Liliyana's basically a civilian running inside unstable, burning building, when even trained firemen with protective geat would be in great danger. That's far beyond the line of brave/stupid, pretty clearly in the stupid area.

If the author wanted me to feel for Zoya and her loss, she should've keep it vague. Or at least refrain from further deductions, because either Zoya's jumping to conclusions, or she's right and her aunt's an (brave) idiot.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Maybe the truth at the heart of Shadowstruck is the importance of family. Because the most compelling stories in this universe are about what happens when you tell parents that some of their children have no right to their love, care, and protection. It destroys what should be the strongest and most natural bonds of love, and that simple horrible thing leads to all the complicated problems in their oppressive society.

[whateverafterhigh]

Thinking about Dexter and how his parents thought there might have been a chance of him being the Beast, and wondering what about him growing up must have made them think that it was him (opposed to Daring or any of his many cousins).

Like, I know his “I’ll help anybody who needs it” approach was presented in a “I’m not like other girls” kind of way to Raven, and his agreement that it is unfair that there are people like Raven who never get a happily-ever-after is also framed for Raven’s benefit, and that both these things are there to establish him as a potential love interest. But what if that was expanded on to give him more depth, instead of just being to flag him to the readers as the male love interest?

What if Dexter was already taking this kind of approach to how he goes about solving problems as a hero at home?

For example, what if Dexter’s first reaction to seeing a mob of goblins or orcs walking up the main entrance of Charming Castle was to go out an talk to them? (Which is potentially stupid if they’re armed, and he was almost certainly yelled at for doing it) And while he’s out there he starts thinking, “hey, maybe these people have a point their conditions aren’t fair” but he’s still got to do something about the mob to at least de-escalate the situation somewhat, and so he just... helps them unionise or form a guild? And now the group are protesting legally so you’ll have to negotiate with them instead of attacking them, dad.

This will almost certainly cause friction between him and his parents because a) he’s just walking up to a potentially dangerous group of people who are armed and angry without back-up or a weapon and that’s going to get him killed one day, they’re allowed to be worried for his safety and sanity they’re his parents, and b) that’s not how you’re supposed to heroically solve this kind of thing why can’t you be normal.

Headmaster Grimm will hate it even more because he’s probably not paying the goblin and fairy cleaning staff. He knows full well that one of the differences between Kingdom Management and Kingdom Mismanagement is whether or not you should support your employees unionising, or pay your employees a living wage. Something, something... Grimm doesn’t want people to be too good because it’ll start making him look bad.

But given Rosabella is said to be supporting a new Beast-related charity or cause every week, maybe Dexter’s destiny will be the Beast?