#“he doesn't talk about things” yes this is considered a flaw; something all humans are allowed to have??

[alrightbuckaroo]

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[manicpixiedreamedwins]

Alright. I've been talking about writing a meta about Charles and jealousy for a while, so here it is. It's a mess. I tried to make it more concise than it was, if you can believe that.

Be forewarned, below the cut we'll be diving into some canon compliant content like Charles' home life. Please, please, please note that now is the time to leave if you are not in a good space to read about those.

Okay. First I want to establish a few things before I get to analyzing the scenes, because I think it is important that we have empathy for Charles here. This might be a bit of a long preamble, but if you could stay with me I'd appreciate it. I promise I am going somewhere with all of this.

I think a lot of us have been told, perhaps by a parent or a friend, that jealousy is unbecoming or bad. Think about it. I know growing up that is a message I heard frequently even though I saw adults exhibit it. This was actually pretty confusing to try and work out. Anyway, now with this almost puritanical obsession with good pure and healthy relationships in media, it's gotten worse. We're told any human flaw we have is something we have to fix or we are not deserving of love. Yes, including jealousy.

Only if that's the case, Charles is fighting uphill here. Here's why:

For reference 41:30 -42:00 in episode 4 is the flashback that The Night Nurse shows Charles of his home. If we unpack this we can learn a lot of things, but there are two that I would like two draw your attention to today:

Charles' dad clearly isn't someone Charles could form a secure attachment to. He seems to only be acknowledging Charles when he's angry, and only acknowledging him in a very violent manner. He's also not really communicating with him, and expecting Charles to know what he's upset about I guess? Truly, this man is terrifying. He knows his family is afraid of him, and he knows they'll scramble to try and fix whatever his issue is.

Charles' mom doesn't intervene. Now, I do not want to hear any vile junk in my notes. She's a battered woman and has probably been in the same position that Charles has, considering Charles himself is worried about her once he is dead. He's worried enough that he checks in on her every week. It makes it all the more heartbreaking that Charles is the one who has taken it upon himself to try and "make it better" (although this is not uncommon among kids who grow up in abusive households, alarmingly).

It definitely drives home that there is a clear hierarchy in the home (everyone tries to please the most volatile person), and you're at the bottom of the pyramid. Even if it's just because you and everyone else in the household is too terrified to do anything about the most abusive person's behavior, you still feel the weight of never being put first. You will never be put first, because how could you be? "You never made it better than you died" (via The Night Nurse) holds a crushing amount of meaning here.

Alright. Now we have established that Charles had some messed up stuff happen at home. Let's take that a step further. Adverse childhood experiences can lead to a variety of attachment styles that are not secure and... you guessed it, jealousy can get thrown in the mix. (This link leads to an abstract of a very interesting research article. If you request the full test directly from the researcher they will provide it for free, but it takes time. The basic idea here is that if kids aren’t able to form secure attachments to their parents, then they will struggle to feel secure in their relationships as they grow up. Sometimes that can manifest as jealousy).

Still with me after all of that? You are god's strongest soldier, lmao. Now let's get into the good stuff.

Charles dies, but there in the attic he meets Edwin. Charles chooses Edwin over the blue light without a second thought. He comforted him when he was dying, and that tenderness is foreign for Charles. The choice is an easy one.

He enjoyed it, and he enjoys Edwin. Edwin, in turn, turns out to be is someone who unequivocally, continuously, puts Charles first. He also does something really important- Charles seeks reassurance, and Edwin gives it ("You ever think, what if Death did catch us? She'd force us to go to the afterlife and split up" Charles asks. "I will make sure that never happens" Edwin answers, all while they're hanging on the side of their office). This is one of the first things we learn about them in the pilot. Charles knows he can count on Edwin. This wasn't something he had from anyone in life.

So things go fine for Charles for a long while. Edwin hasn't given him any reason to feel insecure in all that time it seems. He’s done a great job making Charles feel safe. Charles even feels secure enough that it is his idea to try and integrate Crystal into the agency, although Edwin clearly hates it. Crystal isn’t a threat to his friendship with Edwin, so it would appear Charles still feels reasonably secure in their relationship at this point.

Charles even explains or excuses a lot of Edwin's reactions to try and smooth things over. He tries to mediate between them during their first plan to rescue Becky from Esther's house the best he can. He allows Edwin to have a leg of the case with just the two of them, but he tries to frame it as protecting Crystal.

But then it's Edwin's turn to shake up the foundation that their relationship is built on.

Edwin had a lot of issues to attend to this season, and he tried to deal with most of them alone. Most of the problems Edwin had to handle put definite distance between him and Charles- how couldn't they? He was being hit on, which was a very new experience for him. He probably didn't even know how to talk about that at first, as evidenced by his description of the CK speaking closely to his ear (oh sweet summer child). He also learned about his feelings for the first time, which Monty had to finish spelling out for him.

This all, however, is where we see a shift in the dynamic. It's significant.

Edwin uses magic on a cat and has to go and meet with the Cat King. Whoops. 🙃 Charles slides easily into his role as a protector, but… Edwin stops him.

Honestly, Edwin had a good reason to do this. He pointed out that cat scratches can cause serious harm to ghosts, and they were surrounded. As endearing as this was, this wouldn’t have been an easy fight. They can just talk this out, right? He gets whisked away for a few minutes to do that (and then winds up opening a bigger can of worms).

From Charles’ perspective though, Edwin doesn’t allow him to help him, and then vanishes for a long period of time. Then he absolutely won’t tell him anything about it when he does come back. Charles knew Edwin was a little mad at him in the pilot, but they were still communicating for the most part. The secrecy is a shift, and it’s not one he’s coping well with. He tries a few different ways to reconnect.

First he tries gentle. He just asks what happened from a place of concern. This might have worked actually, only I’m not even sure Edwin knows how to fully describe what happened during their encounter. He rushes through a description, and Charles still feels like something is missing. He doesn’t like that someone else has a secret with Edwin— for thirty years they’ve been connected. This feels frightening to him, and Edwin doesn’t seem particularly worried that they’re not on the same page.

He tries to pick the conversation back up later when they’re searching for the dandelion shrine, but Edwin doesn’t give any additional information. So he slides back into his role of being a protector again and defends him against the ambient skeletons, because at least he can protect him from that easily. For a moment, things almost seem normal again, but this resurfaces in a later case.

Edwin meets with CK again in episode 4. Charles is still raw after the events of the Devlin House, and now he’s just pissed. He’s hurting, and Edwin is still keeping this weird secret. They end up bickering back and forth. The bickering tells us something interesting about Charles’ concerns.

Charles: What did he want? He didn't whisk you away again? Got that bracelet off?

Edwin: I'd be back at the office right now if the bracelet was off. He wanted to know if I counted the cats, and my guess was unsatisfactory.

Charles: Thinks he can come and go... He can't show up in the middle of cases. Did you tell him that?

Edwin: Matter of fact, I did.

Charles: Can't believe you didn't tell us. I've had enough of secrets about that wankеr.

Edwin: Why are you getting so angry?

What stands out to me here is Charles is upset about a few things: he hates that Edwin is getting taken away from him by a being they can’t control (a logical fear, considering they’re running from death together). He hates that this is happening in the middle of case time that is supposed to be for him and Edwin (and their friends, who Charles trusts). He is still really upset that Edwin has a secret with someone else (I really don’t think he’d be bothered if the secret was with him).

That’s why he’s upset. Charles isn’t feeling secure. He doesn’t feel like their relationship is on good footing right now. Whether or not he knows how to phrase that or ask for support is a different question.

Onto Monty (sorry these are a bit out of order— I put them by character for this part).

Charles wasn’t aware of Monty. This probably already bothered him a little, considering the mystery surrounding the cat king, but he tried to be a good sport. Monty wasn’t outwardly threatening. He came with gifts. He seemed friendly. Charles tried to match that… only to get snubbed. Ouch.

Charles likes to claim he’s aces with other people, but he ultimately died because his friends turned on him and killed him the second he stood up for what was important to him. I think peer relationships are a particularly sticky situation for him. I think he knew how to fit in the same way he knew how not to rock the boat in a volatile home. With Edwin it was different though— Edwin just liked him. Edwin was special.

But of course yet another boy their age doesn’t like him (probably a little upsetting, considering how he died). The only thing that’s confusing to him here is he didn’t really do anything wrong— he was polite. He followed along with all the little niceties people do, even when they don’t want to. Maybe this wouldn’t have bothered him so much in another situation, but now Edwin is wrapped up with him instead of Charles. He's picked him instead (in Charles' mind).

He can’t even shake this when Monty isn’t there.

Charles tries to get Edwin's attention... and fails. so he begins to have a conversation with himself. Perhaps he was trying to make Edwin laugh. Perhaps he was trying something over the top. Still, he fails. Ultimately, he goes the broken record route and asks him the same question a couple of times.

This moment probably really hurt- there's actually no reason for Edwin to be ignoring him, in Charles' mind anyway. They're alone together. Usually they'd be talking or bantering or at least Charles would be able to get Edwin's attention. It's just that he can't, because now Edwin is stuck on that fucking book from that fucking bloke who blew him off earlier.

This was probably a little activating for Charles. Even if he didn't completely put together why it upset him, Edwin putting someone who just treated him poorly right in front of his face first is a dim reflection of what he went through in his home. Now, I am not saying Monty is anywhere near that level of bad- he's a literal cream puff. He could not kill them when his life depended on it.

What I am saying, though, that Charles perceives a subtle threat here. He's also not sure what to do with it, because he never overcame that hurtle in life. No one else ever put him first, and he never figured out how to fix that. Edwin kind of just centered Charles automatically when they met. Now he's not doing that anymore and it’s jarring and uncomfortable for him. He’s feeling this loss of stability, on top of the fact that Edwin still won’t tell him what’s going on with the CK.

"...try not to forget that we're trying to leave" is what Charles comes up with after that exchange. Edwin makes an attempt to console him finally and offers to talk, but Charles shuts it down and tells him it's that he wants to leave town. They start on a case after that.

(Note that I did this a little out of order for organization’s sake— some of their CK arguing happened during the case they went on next).

Charles does finally catch a break here. In spite of all of this, he’s missing something very important: Edwin has feelings for him. That’s probably the most pressing issue that’s gone unspoken between them.

So Edwin dresses nicely, catches Charles attention, and finally tries to initiate a conversation. Charles seems relieved.

He does assume Edwin is just trying to come out by telling him about his time with Monty, before the teethface incident. Charles isn’t bothered, since Monty isn’t really in the picture anymore as far as he’s concerned. Things are fine, it’s just the two of them again and Edwin likes boys. Wait…

... Fuck. Forgot about the Cat King.

He resorts to threatening the CK. I know lots of people have lots of different theories on this, but consider this perspective also: Monty is no longer a threat. He’s abstract. He’s a memory. The Cat King is still very real and is a thing that can come between them, has done so, and has successfully taken Edwin from him. And as accepting as Charles was trying to be in that moment, he just can't handle that (from the perspective of this meta).

Anyway, this is all interrupted by their foray into hell. Charles does rescue Edwin, Edwin confesses, and honestly I feel like that just needs to be a different thing entirely but I did type a little bit about how I think Charles interpreted all of that here.

They return. Charles is processing Edwin's confession on the roof. This whole scene mystifies me a little because yes, he didn't seem to know exactly what to say to Edwin's confession in hell (I think he did not want to ruin it by saying the wrong thing). The more rewatches I go through the more... satisfied he looks to me? He might be processing, but also he might be a little giddy that Edwin has feelings for him specifically. I'm still trying to figure out how to read this one because the lines seemed rushed but the microexpressions say so much.

Then he starts blatantly flirting with Edwin. Honestly Charles, what the fuck?(afffectionate) Truly I’m still trying to work out if he’s just testing out how Edwin reacts or if he is working through his own feelings here, but I really want more of this in S2.

That’s about all the thoughts I think I can organize on this for now without it getting obscenely long (it already is pretty long for a half baked idea that turned into a meta). Thank you for reading 🖤

[average-mako-enjoyer]

Bigots and Failed Promises of Mass Effect games

(I had this thing in my drafts for almost a month, and it would have stayed there if not for the wonderful post by @androidtrashfire, because I saw it, and I was like: "Fuck it, I have to rant about these games." I love Mass Effect, and I really think we should critique it. We should criticize things we love because silence = compliance.)

So I was talking to @liss-art recently about the bigoted fans in the Mass Effect fandom, and I think I need to make a post about it because it's something that really, truly bothers me, and it needs to be addressed.

Canon

Mass Effect is a story about deeply flawed people with a lot of problems, and through them it touches on issues like xenophobia, sexism, corruption, elitism, morality, identity. That's why we like it, right? But why are there so many bigots in the fandom? My theory is that it happens because Mass Effect, for all its supposed complexity, only touches on these issues without giving any meaningful commentary on them.

Here are a few obvious examples:

The Quarians are a distasteful allegory of the Roma people (right down to their accents). They are persecuted and ostracized for creating Geth, but the game never gives us any socio-political reasons why the Quarians did that. They just developed real AI because they were naive and stupid? Or because they were the only ones smart enough to do it? Did they do it in secret? Why did other races not make the same mistake?

Same with the Batarians. Yes, the game mentions tensions between humans and Batarians because humans try to claim territories that Batarians think are theirs, but that's about it. Batarians are all racist slave traders and they're bad, don't think about it, here's some memes about 300,000 of them dying, good job. And yes, I know you can read more about their history in the Codex (why is it an Asari who writes about Batarian history,btw?), but it's basically the same thing as saying D*mbledore is gay (I really am sorry for this reference). If no one ever mentions this rich Batarian history, then it doesn't exist.

And please don't get me started on Hanar. They "mercifully" saved the Drell by inviting them to their planet, immediately assimilated them into their own faith and also put them in conditions where they have to train as assassins from the ripe old age of 6 and eventually die of sci-fi lung cancer. But don't worry about it, Drell actually love to serve the Hanar, they do it willingly and consider their servitude an honor. Do you really want to criticize some stupid jellyfish who talk funny? Do you really want to talk about why the so-called Council races do nothing about it? LOL

Another thing the trilogy does is present entire races, including humans, as amorphous blobs. Do all Asari believe in the same "goddess"? Do all Turians obey the same Primarch? Well, what's important is that all humans in this bright future speak English.

But what about the genophage? That's a profound story, right? Well, not really, and it raises more questions than it answers. We hear a lot about how brutal, aggressive, and short-tempered Krogans are, but every single Krogan we meet is extremely well-mannered, and they only resort to violence against other races in dire circumstances. So why not save them? Does the game really present you with this moral dilemma or not?

And can anyone tell me why Salarians are allowed to abduct and experiment on sentient beings, and why Turians are allowed to wage wars? Why does no one talk about Asari in this context?

I really want to say that at least the characters are well written, but I can't because they're not.

Kaidan is a good example of this. We are told about his implant, we are told that he has chronic pain, but do we see him suffer from it? Do we see him in those moments of weakness and vulnerability?

The scene where he gets annoyed with Jenkins acting like he's a circus monkey who has to do a trick and biotically throws a cup at him was cut from the game. We occasionally hear him mention some of the side effects of his migraines ("Too many lights, too much noise"), but that's about it. What has happened to "show, don't tell"? And no, I'm not saying that the writers should feed me the story or walk me through it. What I am saying is that if you gloss over your characters' mistakes, flaws, and circumstances, you're getting people to ignore them. Do people who call Kaidan "boring" and insult him think about how his chronic pain, his trauma from Brain Camp, and the loss of Jenkins and Ashley affect who he is? Hell no.

Thane is another great example. What Mass Effect is telling us as a story is that you can completely abandon your family and your child and be forgiven if your reason for doing it is good and heroic enough. Like avenging your dead wife, because of course there has to be a dead woman thrown somewhere.

Everyone's favorite Garrus (mine too) is a cop whose character arc basically consists of deciding that he is above the law (since the law forbids him from killing people he thinks should die) and then involving his squadmate/friend/partner (depending on your playthrough) in the public assassination of his former squadmate, whom he never even bothered to confront first. Are there any consequences for Garrus for his actions? No. Again, it's all glossed over, and that's unfortunate because it removes the conflict and therefore the character development and depth.

And if you're going to tell me that ME is just a space opera, and that I should just enjoy the spectacle and the romance, then I'm going to tell you that I know that, and that I think it's a wonderful spectacle, and that some of the romance subplots are absolutely amazing story-wise, but the superficial commentary (or lack thereof) on the most important issues that ME covers actually harms the audience.

Fandom

On the one hand, we have people making mods that remove all the clothes from all the female characters (or remove all of femShep's organs and replace them with giant tits). We have people reposting that horrible, horrible art of Miranda and Jack fighting, tearing each other's hair and clothes, and maleShep smirking and saying "I should stay". We have people who say ME2 is the best game in the series because "there are no f*gs". On the other hand, we have people saying things like "there are two Commander Shepards - female and the wrong one". We have people who say "only weird people play as dudebro in 2024". We have people who think that simply playing as a female character is some kind of feminist statement, and that it makes them better and smarter than everyone else (the same people who use the term "dude gamer" as an insult). And all of those things are kind of the trilogy's fault.

Both maleShep and femShep have the same story. The only differences are the romance options, sexist remarks directed only at femShep, and flirtations from various NPCs directed only at femShep. What this tells you is that sexism exists in the Mass Effect universe, and only women suffer from it. It also tells you that only women are worth flirting with.

Another thing this game does (and modern games like Cyberpunk do the same thing) is equate the female experience to the male experience by giving both femShep and maleShep the same lines.

So there are some mixed signals here. Sexism exists and doesn't exist in this universe, Shepard is both genderless and very gendered, romances with underdeveloped characters are all over the place, and bigots thrive in this kind of environment.

The lack of commentary, the lack of perspective, the disastrous worldbuilding allows you to freely choose your sexist, racist adventure and not be punished by the story in any way.

Mirrors

There's a passage from Solaris that I absolutely adore and think about often.

"We don't want to conquer the cosmos, we simply want to extend the boundaries of Earth to the frontiers of the cosmos. […] We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is."

I think that perfectly describes what Mass Effect is as a universe. And in a way, it's a reason why it's so compelling. It's just empty enough for us to invest in it, to fill in the blanks of that narrative with the stories of our own. And it's also a reason why this fandom is a fucking hellscape.

[belowzion]

Adam and Why I Felt His Character Disappointing

Sooo, I have watched the first two episodes of Hazbin Hotel! While I did really enjoy Status Quo (The song, the fact that Vox loses his first match against Alastor in the show is quite sad.) the rest of the show, I had a lot of problems. Especially the way they handled Adam.

(Look at this lil' shid.)

The dude-bro thing is just too much. It feels like his entire character is just Mammon but Angel.

Now, I've been working on rewrites for months now, slowly turning it into my own piece of fiction. Funnily enough, me and Vivzie had the same idea of taking from Paradise Falls. I feel like the book is great and can have many different ways of interpreting it. However, I am not here to talk about Lucifer, so lets instead get back to Adam.

So, let me tell you all about Adam in Below Zion and how he is in a bit of an odd spot considering Angels...:

Adam is in his luxury spire, pacing around, phone in hand, another hand flailing, disappointment, sadness and anger is felt in the presence of his holy living room.

"You hold the keys to the Well of Souls, you lead an army of an entirely new species of Angels! And you're letting these absolute nutjobs beat you!? Adam, come on! You're better than that! I mean for fuck sake man, you have the name of the first human! He got like... 100 percent of woman in his time!"

"Good on him, but i have 0 percent. I'm telling you, there's something wrong with women. They Never go for a nice guy like me, only for douchebags who probably don't even treat them right!"

"Well, Adam. Do tell me… how would YOU treat your woman?" "Well, i treat M'lady like a queen, of course! They don't know how good they would have it with me!"

"... M'lady...M'lady? Adam... you don't treat woman like... oh my... Mrghhh! Look, this is the third time this week. Why don't you just come over to me and... we'll talk bro to bro. How does that sound, hm?"

"...I don't know what you have, the Virtuosos (opposite of sinner, worships angels despite flaws) tell me it's Top gentemanly behavior of the century. And yes... I'd love that. I'm coming. And i'm bringing my emotional support Lute."

"... Just... just come over here and we'll fix you up... or attempt to at least..." Adam sighs, and hangs up. Lute comes out of Adams room with a suggestive smile, like she always does.

"Mmm, we're visiting Master Lucifer, sir?"

"We are, my dear Lute."

He says, kissing her forehead.

"Just a trip for a talk between bros. Sounds lovely, doesn't it?"

"Indeed, sir... Would you like me to transform?"

"That would be preferable for the way... yes. Makes getting out of town easier."

She nods... and folds into a brilliant lute! And then... Adam is off... taking flight to meet with Lucy...

Adam is an agent of Lucifer whom is... okay, lets not beat around the bush here. He is an incel. The odd thing here is that, Exterminators are an unofficial branch of Heavens military. So unofficial that even Arch-Angels don't know about them. They are robotic angels, made by Lucifer and a dear friend of his, trained and maintained by Adam. Adam is also not the leader of the Angels. He works at a very high position, that being that he guards the Well of Souls that leads to the conjuration of all the souls on Earth. All Exterminators are made for Lucifer and Adam. The marks on their eyes are the Mark of Lucifer. They belong to him. They do whatever HE wants.

This makes Adams girlfriend a robot.

He has an AI girlfriend.

He objectifies women to no end.

He is also very good at his job as being Lucifers mole in Heaven. While Sinners do pacts with each other, Adam allows Lucifer to have a foothold in Heaven, years after he got kicked out...

Adam is in his luxury spire, sitting at his computer, with a plate of pretzels on the desk, phone in hand, screaming wildly to it!

"What you're suggesting is ABSOLUTELY ludicrous! I will have NONE of it! You will deal with the Brightwing family until next week or I'll make sure to put that pact to good use!"

From the phone, a rather paniced individual speaks!

"Hah, BITCH! You think you have any say in here!? Killing the guys children- what don't tell me YOU have any children!? You do?! Well, uh, thats the thing! Noooot anymore you don't! I'll see you again soooooon~

The other angel on the phone seems to speak in an extremely agitated and afraid tone! Pleading!

"Oh! Changed your mind have you!? Great, GREAT! NOW! I got the whole thing planned out for you, so YOU can't mess this up! Sending you the docs. DON'T. MESS. THIS. UP! BYE, ASSHOLE!"

He hangs up and grins triumphantly…

He continues to deal with the usual fluff. Lucifers extend into heavens business. Angels need a good amount of convincing to stay in line sometimes, but it's good work, and… dare he say it, fun~ With how he feels life is treating him, it feels Great to be able to make the lives of others even worse. It having such a positive impact on the work of his best bud is of course a wonderful bonus!

He is a lonely asshole that lives off of the misery of others and finds purpose in serving someone like Lucifer.

He is a villain, but he is a lot more complicated than just being a dude-bro.

[karlachismylife]

Halsin for the character game ask please lovie <3

A person of a fine taste here ^^

If anyone else is interested, I'll be glad to talk about someone else from COD and BG3. The game itself is here if someone wants to reblog!

So, Halsin, the bear man himself!

favorite thing about them

His unwavering connection and loyalty to the ways of nature. It's something that has always been important to me, and yes, I probably am romanticizing living as primally as possible big time since I am an absolutely city gorilla, but well, what can you do? Following the balance of nature, striving not to disrupt its ways, accepting life, death, love as parts of it - as something separate from morals, yet still staying on a good path; this is obviously something Halsin was not only born into, but nurtured in himself as a druid, and honestly, wish he taught me too.

least favorite thing about them

I do feel like Halsin sometimes tends to bee too stubborn/unwilling to consider something outside of his beliefs (Minthara would be one of the most striking examples). Yes, on one hand, he is probably able to see things more nuanced, because nature doesn't outright define good and evil, but sometimes he gets blinded by what he considers right in his own system of values. Which is not something you would expect from an elf of his age and wisdom, but hey, flaws are good for a character. Still, he is kinda stuck in his path and very much convinced it's the only way, which is always frustrating.

favorite line

I actually really like the overexaggerated way he speaks, you know, Halsin talk with all the constant references to nature and druid stuff. It's cute. The winner line is, however, "I like ducks". For someone who is constantly aware of the Oak Father, the reponsibility, the duties, the deeper connections of everything intertwined this is so simple. It might be one of the most straightforward lines he has, and it's precious.

Under all that regalia, wisdom and years of experience he's just a man who likes duck.

brOTP

Halsin x Shadowheart. The way they roast each other yet still are undeniably fond of each other without it spilling too much over the friendship boundaries (even when in polyamorous relationship/sex with them) is just heartwarming. Also the whole plot stuff, you know. They actually do have a nuanced dynamic an isn't this what we need in a brOTP?

OTP

The companions polycule :D But also Halsin x Astarion as a separate dynamic. And Halsin x Ghost because I will never shut up about it. Sure, polyamory is what's the most natural to him and it's a comforting thing for me to think about, but there's obviously the whole sexual trauma they all went through and have very different ways of coping (or not coping). I actually think if Halsin was willing, he would also benefit from watching someone much less nature-driven go through it. But mostly of course it's him with his already resolved past and blatant sex-positivity guiding some traumatized men back to having power over their own bodies. Halsin + body worship + anyone = the best ship dynamic.

nOTP

None at all. Not only do I, as I said, reject the whole concept of nOTPs, I also can't imagine Halsin finding himself in a toxic relationship, and that would be my only "no". He just won't be there, lol. So yeah, Halsin love for everyone!

random headcanon

He struggles to climb trees not only as a bear, but as a human too. He can, of course, but if he can just take advantage of his height and avoid it, he will. He's just too big and is used to completely different types of movement. Makes it hard to hunt for honey sometimes tho :(

unpopular opinion

This one's hard as always, too, because I don't know what's a popular opinion... maybe this one: he doesn't have a breeding kink. Not because he does not enjoy it (very much does), but it's just not a kink, it's what nature intended. Just a normal Thursday (nature did not intend for Thursdays to exist btw) afternoon to him, nothing special.

song i associate with them

Actually, a recent release by Faun, "Tamlin and the Fairy Queen". Sure, it's not exactly about Halsin's situation, but there certainly are parallels. And also love.

favorite picture of them

I actually really really like this moment. Despite everything, we don't often see Halsin be just... calm. Peaceful. Nothing bad about him always being caring or laid back or witty or battle-ready, but there is something special about the serenity of him soothing his anxiety about his date with his connection to nature. He is constantly taking on a pretty leading/providing role, it's easy to forget that he needs to be provided for too, like any living being.

I love Halsin very much and it's absolutely my daddy issues showing, fucking sue me (my dad is kinda hippie-adjacent, do you understand how bad it is). But also give me any shapeshifer/werewolf and they probably will be my favourite.

Jokes aside, he is a special character, thank you for asking about him <33

[thunder-jolt]

These are the two and only digital artworks I have for my Legacy of Kain OC, Alycian. Though I might make more art of her in the future, we'll have to see how I might go.

To those in the Legacy of Kain fandom and in general, I'm sure I mentioned her to someone when "The Dead Shall Rise" was revealed, but basically, let me just dump her lore real quick.

ALYCIAN'S LORE:

Daughter of the vampire lord, Kain, and a human woman named Elizan, Alycian is a young wanderer of the now barren Nosgoth, she carries many secrets on her shoulders like how she carries many things on her back.

How she came to be is something saved for some other time, but to put it in a nutshell:

"Elizan unknowingly enters the palace, where Kain is, in hopes of shelter, while warming her hands by a fireplace (strange, I know, but it's for the aesthetics), she encounters Kain, who initially hostile at her, drawing his blade at her. Elizan begged Kain for her to stay, stating that all she just wanted was a place to live after wandering for so long. Kain, taking slight pity for the woman, lets her live and lets her stay at the palace, living together but not having any attraction yet. Then, the two became close, before falling in love (well, if we were to put it that way), and soon had Alycian! Kain's first daughter and blood-related child!"

Her relationships with other characters, overall, are either her having a relatively healthy relationship, or someone just having a one-sided beef with her, either because of her connection with Kain, or because. Such as her relationships with her relatives; her relationship with Kain is like any other father-daughter relationship, a daughter who thrives in knowledge and adventure, and her proud father.

In her relationship with Raziel, at the start, Raziel just finds her annoying, with her following him around Nosgoth and telling him things he already knows about, but didn't bother doing anything as there's no other way to get rid of her, at least, anything that doesn't involve killing or eating her soul.

But as time goes on, the two would sympathize with each other, about how Nosgoth wasn't as great as it was before, or how it was never great in the first place, which evolved from Raziel thinking Alycian as an annoyance to being like a protective brother to her. Funnily enough, when it's revealed that she and Kain are related, not only does it shock Raziel that he was friends with Kain's daughter for all this time, but also shocked that she is, technically, his sister, the only sister he could've had.

= = = =

At first glance, she seems like an ordinary human girl, a simple, thin, boring human girl, and might also be considered annoying to some, especially when she talks to someone about a fairytale or about Nosgoth's secrets, but deep down, she's a sweet girl who wants to learn and connect with other people. She's not as bloodthirsty as her father (she doesn't even drink blood due to her human DNA, evident when she tried drinking a goblet of blood, only to spit it out after the attempt because of how bad the taste of blood is), nor as "justice-driven" (or so to say) as Raziel, she's herself, half-human half-vampire, yes, but still herself.

And, spoilers, she sacrificed herself not only for Nosgoth's sake but also for her family's sake, to protect her father, Kain, and her adopted brother, Raziel. (She isn't as selfish as her father, she's selfless.) But she did come back to play a big role in my Tomb Raider x Legacy of Kain crossover, but that's a whole other can of worms.

Anyways! I hope you like her! She might be Mary Sue-ish to some, but unlike most Mary Sues, she has flaws, such as being annoying without intending to, not having any battle prowess in a world that is "Fight or Be Forgotten", etc.

But that's on me, this is purely self-indulgent, so yeah.

[lightofraye]

Oh for...

Without naming names--because, folks, for like 99.9% of the time, I don't name and shame my haters, the annoying AAs who need to stop acting like immature children who can't abide to hear criticism of their favorite and precious "Kween" (spare me). I think I can count on... a handful of times when I have. And I've written over 1000 posts. That's a pretty nice small number.

Oh, not my main... problem person, of course. Danneel is a celebrity and therefore not granted any kind of protection.

Oh... what's that?

I said what I said. Celebrities in this country (United States) are free game to tabloids, gossip columnists, speculation among fans, even (not my thing at all) real people fictional-shipping.

The Ackles are not safe from such speculation. Neither are the Padaleckis. Nor is Misha or his ex wife or Samantha Smith or Jeffrey Dean Morgan or... Hell. Not even Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. There are other websites that talk about it.

Hell, Gossip Boy (dunno if it's still standing) went wild on speculating about Jensen's sexuality back when he was on Days of Our Lives and afterward. Remember Ted Casablanca? He stated that Danneel had to be a beard for Jensen and she flipped the hell out.

The only time such speculation can be considered libel and/or slander (there is a difference) is if the person can actually prove damage to their reputation and career. Given my reach is absurdly minimal, the Ackles would not have any right to a lawsuit.

Here's another thing.

It's my opinion. If others are finding my opinion has valid evidence, maybe take a long and hard look at your Kween and her behavior, hmm? Stop ogling and objectifying Jensen. He is more than a perfect god for you to touch and manhandle just because you can't stop drooling over.

He is imperfect. A person with flaws and imperfections. He's done some wrong in the past and will continue to do some wrong in the future. He is human.

Danneel is also imperfect. I will not say more than that here.

If you do not like what I write, why are you seeking it out? Why torture yourself over and over like that? If you don't want to hear anything bad about your favorites, may I recommend not looking?!

Is the fact that I'm writing this hurting you in some way? Like literally? The answer had best be "no".

Is it having any personal affect on your life whatsoever that a single person on a tiny corner in Tumblr writing some thoughts on life, celebrity speculation, and facts about abuse? Again, the answer had best be "no".

If it is "Yes! You're doing something I don't like!"

This is my answer: "That is the logic of a child. I'm going to tell you exactly what a parent would tell you when you try to use that logic on them: Suck it up, sweet cheeks. The world doesn't revolve around you."

Don't shit on someone for having an opinion you don't like. Just don't read it. Don't sic your followers to try and report me because you don't like it.

In so many ways, you're doing what so many abusers want you to do: look the other way. Hide in ignorance.

Grow up.

[aquaburst3]

The thing about me being in my late twenties is that I'm at a point in my life where I look at the Helluva Boss characters as peers instead of older adult figures. Exactly like a lot of the Marauders Generation of Harry Potter. Honestly, Blitz and Stolas are both immature assholes, being on par with Ted Mosby from HIMYM.

Blitz is a self-sabotaging tsundere who pushes his loved ones away whenever something is bothering him to protect his own self image. He's overly controlling. He often spies on Millie and Moxxie while they're out on a date, sleeping or having sex to live out vicariously through their loving relationship. Seriously, who does that? He also uses Stolas to spy on Millie and Moxxie's date. His relationships often go up in flames due him ghosting people and doing shit like stealing someone's car for a joyride. (He actually reminds me a lot of Ace from Twisted Wonderland in that sense, considering he ghosted his ex girlfriend instead of breaking off the relationship himself. Only difference is that Ace is a teenager and Blitz is an adult.)

Stolas is a self-absorbed narcissist. He loves throwing himself a self pity party at the drop of a hat, but he doesn't care about how his self-gratifying behaviour affects those around him, including his own daughter.

Octavia clearly tells Stolas how his cheating was taking a toll on her and he apologizes for it, but yet Stolas’ overall behaviour doesn’t change in the slightest. In Seeing Stars, Octavia asked Stolas about going to see the stars like he promised, but he ignored her in favour of arguing with Stella. So instead of putting the phone down and focusing on his daughter, he just brushes her off to focus on his own problems. Also, why is Loona the one to do everything in her power to find Octavia and not Stolas? Stolas could have simply transported them both to a different location to get away from the showrunners to find his daughter instead of watching Blitz be in a sitcom. Objectively, it tells us Stolas is prioritizing this affair between him and Blitz over his relationship with his daughter, which is awful in every way.

Worst of all, he's using his power and status to strong arm Blitz into an agreement where he has to have sex with him once a month in order to use the Grimoire for his business while Blitz is running for his life. Blitz only agrees, because that's his and his employee's source of income on the line. Even if this arrangement was just dinner dates instead, it would still be sexual coercion, which is a form of SA, since he's still someone in a position of power taking advantage of someone who can't say no. Hell, Stolas even guilt trips Blitz into pity sex with him for their first time together! (Again, Blitz was in the wrong there as well, since Stolas was drunk and not in the right frame of mind. But that still doesn't excuse what Stolas did either, especially since Blitz was uncomfortable with the whole ordeal and didn't want to sex with him before he manipulated him into doing the act.) He constantly belittles and talks down to Blitz instead of talking to him as an equal, which visually makes him very uncomfortable. Honestly, if Blitz was a girl their relationship would be super uncomfortable. Hell, their relationship is exactly like Val/Angel, except with them it's viewed as toxic while with them it's true love.

Yes, Stolas is trying to get a device from Ozzie that would allow Blitz to traverse the human world freely. But, that still doesn't take away the ickiness of where their relationship started out, especially since he's the one who came up with it in the first place.

Blitz gets a pass. While he's a dick, it's due to his past trauma, including believing that he caused an accident that killed his mom, and those things are treated like flaws that he has to overcome to become a better person. That is how you write an effective character arc.

But Stolas? Not so much. He's the textbook definition of a woobie. Whenever there is a chance to call Stolas out for his actions and hold him accountable in order to make him grow, it's immediately dashed in order to let him completely off the hook and make us pity him. While I know that Stolas was originally intended to be a villain and that was changed midway through production, which is why he suffers from contradictory writing, it still doesn't excuse the writers dashing every opportunity to have him face the music for his actions now that he's a more heroic character. Actions have consequences, and that even goes for him.

(Said this before and I'll say it again, he reminds me of A LOT of Malleus from Twisted Wonderland. Both are powerful princes, who take interest of someone lower status than them, even if in Malleus' case it's in a platonic sense in canon. They constantly do some very fucked up actions that affects those around them, but the narrative never has the balls to call them out and hold them accountable for their actions. Worst yet, anyone who does call them out is treated as the bad guy. They are both prone to being selfish. The only things that makes Malleus more tolerable compared to Stolas are that he actually does care about his loved ones and he's not using his royal status to SA someone.)

Honestly, if they were real guys around my age, I wouldn't want to be around them thanks to them being toxic douchebags, especially Stolas. Which isn't automatically a bad thing. I love plenty of characters that I wouldn't want to befriend or be around in real life. Hell, Blitz is one of my favs in the show, despite him not being the best person. But the way the narrative bends over backwards to excuse Stolas' actions makes him not only a bad person, but ungodly annoying, since it feels the narrative is gaslighting me into believing he's likeable.

I think the reason why the fandom doesn't look at them this way is because it's mostly made of up teenagers. (Which is kinda disturbing since this show is for an 18+ audience. Considering I watched South Park and read spicy fics when I was their age, I can't really judge. xD) These younger fans are looking at the show from the perspective of a child watching adults much older them instead of the perspective that me and others my age are viewing it. They don't understand how immature they are, because they are young and have a lot of growing up to do themselves.

It makes me wonder how these younger fans will view this show once they are the same age as me and are adults out in the real world. Would their life experience make them dislike those two as well? Or would they go the Yana Toboso stan route and find ways to make excuses for the shitty writing due to the story meaning a lot to them as teenagers? I hope it's the former, but it's more likely gonna be the latter.

While I'm taking inspo from this series for an original idea I'm brewing, I want to read some fix-it rewrites fic of this series. This series has a lot of potential, but it's being all dumped in favour of stupid writing choices.

[cruyuu]

I fear Sukuna's background might be similar to Angra Manyuu from fate hollow ataraxia, some poor kid chosen just to blame everything on him and hurt him. It would explain why Sukuna said he was hated as a kid, just because he looked like that

Hi anon!

I haven't played that game so I don't really know who you're talking about but did do a Google search and gotta say that the character design is quite beautiful.

As for Sukuna, well... yes. His true form is one with four arms, four sets of eyes and a stomach mouth. Anyone seeing him in the Heian period would most likely have a stroke (thinking they saw a demon). What remains of interest to me, however, is just how casually he brushes everything off.

Yes, I was born unwanted. Yes, my mother died and I ate my twin while in the womb to survive. Yes, I had no one but I don't need anyone. Yes, I look like this.

Like any human being in Sukuna's position would lament his situation. Still, we can imagine that Sukuna- by getting rid of his humanity- stopped crying over who he was and the situation he was in a long time ago and instead embraced it. Worn it like armor. Stopped caring about what other people think of him and hence stopped considering himself human but embraced himself as a monster. He technically started loving all his flaws.

He chose to embrace himself over society which had probably shunned him because of how he looked. Thus came the legends. Thus came the title.

It's totally logical to come to that conclusion based on his behavior and what we know (even though it is still little).

But yeah... some parts we can only assume about. Sukuna doesn't appear that bothered by it? but that could be because he had grown into a monster and had cut away any feelings. Still, negative emotions such as grief and anger are the foundation of cursed energy and knowing Sukuna is the King of Curses... you can put two and two together and say that even though he's quite dismissive of everything, he is very much burning with hatred and pain. Knowing that he was unwanted first by the world (starving in the womb) and then by the society (after his birth) does make his behavior quite self-explanatory. He may be dismissive of everything but he's definitely hurting.

From that pain came incredible strength, though, which is why I really love him as a character. Even though he does terrible things to others, it's quite logical why he would do so. As someone who had only felt pain from humanity, it makes sense why he would abandon humanity and instead turn to seeing himself as anything but a human. A curse. A jujutsu sorcerer. Whatever.

I always found his speech to Yuuji in 215 quite interesting. He insulted Yuuji (and humanity) by calling them "weak creatures that cling to life" even though he, himself, had also once clung to life. But then, to Sukuna, Yuuji's suffering (as well as humanity's) dwarfs in comparison to his. After all, while Yuuji (and humanity) were complaining and crying over the times they are living in (which aren't that terrible), Sukuna did something about it. He was weak? He became strong. He was unwanted? He became something akin to a God. He was shunned by humanity? Curses came and accepted him.

You could say, if Sukuna truly is the reason why this cycle is happening (and why curses even exist), that Sukuna had invented a world where he was accepted by doing something terrible such as eating his twin brother and that's... quite sad, really. The resulting pain coming from separation (and such a brutal act) could've been the reason for why he is as strong as he is and why negative emotions are tied into everything (precisely because of Sukuna's origin).

But, I'm still going to acknowledge the fact that he could've done all of that just because he wished to (which would explain why he vehemently rejects pity) but if he was born human and not born as a curse then... nope. Hell, with 268 in mind, with Yuuji cradling him and telling him that he will accept him no matter if the world doesn't, I do believe that he truly didn't choose to be a monster nor to eat his twin brother. He was, as Yuuji puts it, just cursed. Forced into that position. And because Yuuji understood him and told him what he needed to know, all those negative emotions (cursed energy) disappeared which is why he evaporated and why he is portrayed as just a little blob. (Love you blob Sukuna <3)

Because when you feel happy, you can't really create cursed energy right? You can't really fight. You're losing control of the body you're in. The best you can do is feign to be angry but your state is quite telling.

I hypothesized some time ago that love would kill Sukuna and that Yuuji would be the one to do it because a positive emotion cannot be a negative emotion. I'm ofc, referring to the famous "Love is the strongest curse of all".

Love can be twisted into a negative emotion (unrequited love) but it's usually associated with a more positive one. Yuuji genuinely connected with him. Sukuna was trying to hide behind Megumi but even that failed him. He still dug him out and told him everything he wished to hear since a long, long time ago. Makes you think, then, that perhaps this was what he had wanted all along? Someone who'd understand and release him.

Now as for if he'll return or not... I'm quite hopeful. I do have an ask sitting that needs answering (and I'll get to it soon!) but I do think that Sukuna (as someone cursed from birth) definitely deserves to be happy and deserves a second chance. If all others get it, while he (the inventor of pain) doesn't, then I seriously don't know lol

[extasiswings]

Omg I know what you mean and agree 1000%. By the time I reached the third book I couldn't care less about Richard's happiness, especially after the humiliating way he spoke to Dom. He doesn't want Dom, because he can't accept the man's desires but at the same time he does seem to want anyone else to want him. Honestly I'm surprised my kindle is still in one piece with the way I gripped whenever Richard said he loved him while treating him like shit.

Luckily, Dom found Silas, who not only treats him with respect and care, but also isn't afraid to tell Richard where to shove it.

Honestly, A Seditious Affair is my favourite of the series, and it's not usually my cup of tea, kink wise, but Charles didn't such a great job of making me care about Dom and Silas (as well as not being too graphic on the sex) that I just fell in love with it.

Exactly…exactly…in A Fashionable Indulgence, Richard is high-handed and obnoxious at points, but to a point where I could be convinced to give him a certain amount of grace with a well-crafted backstory. But once you hit A Seditious Affair and actually see his interactions with Dom in detail and get more of their relationship background…OOF.

And the thing is, once we do find out his backstory, it’s definitely more understandable why he’s uncomfortable with the things Dom is into, but even so, that personal discomfort doesn’t give him license to constantly tell one of his best friends and a man he claims to love that he’s perverse/depraved/disgusting/that there’s something wrong with him. There’s no excuse for that, and if I were in Dom’s shoes, I probably would have told him to go fuck himself ages before the point when they finally have it out at Quex’s over Richard planning to make Silas disappear (which…that scene…everybody cheered). Hearing in Dom’s own words and POV how he basically internalized that and felt ashamed of himself and his own desires for years because the first man he ever loved was so repulsed by them really makes it hard to come back from as a reader and not hold that against Richard forever (and I say this as someone who is a big fan of KJ Charles and appreciates authors writing characters who are very flawed and fuck up in very human ways).

And especially since Dom’s kink (with Silas at any rate) is????? Not even that intense as things go??????? Like it’s clear that Dom previously had a period where he engaged in incredibly unsafe kink (about which Richard was in fairness right to be concerned), but at least with Silas their scenes are so much more mental than physical? Yes, they’ll play rough and he’ll wind up bruised and sore but since Silas won’t touch toys (whips, floggers, etc), their scenes are like…occasionally some light bondage, dirty talk, occasionally some light CNC. The only time Silas ever actually injures him is that (deserved) punch to the face, which is not done in the context of a scene and they don’t have sex afterwards. All things considered, what they’re into isn’t that freaky, Richard is just a grade A prude. (And yet, I really do like David so one must make do…)

Totally agree that A Seditious Affair is the best of the series though. It’s just so good.

[aftg-stuff-lol]

Quick rant: there's a big distinction between critiquing a book and bullying an author.

Lately I've seen more and more people shutting down any criticism of the All for the game series because they automatically equate it to people being assholes to Nora.

If you don't want to engage with criticism and you just want to enjoy the books, that's completely fair, but it doesn't mean that criticism is to be forbidden or ridiculed. That doesn't even mean that people being assholes to Nora is not a thing.

And being able to recognise flaws in something you like, doesn't have to diminish your enjoyment of it.

I honestly don't care much when people say "I don't understand why people say these books are badly written", cause that just means you don't know a lot about writing, and that's FINE; but when people try to say that there's nothing at all problematic about these books, that worries me, because that's about critical thinking, and about judgment of stuff that might impact you in real life.

So here's a list of problematic aspects that I've noticed, or that I've seen people point out over the years (and promptly getting shutting down and ridiculed because HOW DARE YOU talk shit about my fave?)

Torture porn: some of the most intense events are used for shock value, don't actually further the plot or impact the characters beyond what had already been established by the narrative, and that's considered problematic because it undervalues the importance of that traumatic event.

Demonization of drug use and drug users

Misrepresentation of psychiatric drugs, how they work, what they do, and how a sensible psychiatrist would assign one to a patient

Demonization of psychiatric drugs

The only POCs characters (Riko and Nicky) are the two guys that get no redemption.

Alternatively, and in opposition to the last point, people argue that Nicky's kiss with Neil was never really condemned by the narrative, making it look like "it's not that important, it was just a drunk kiss"

Except for the POCs characters, the ethnicity of anyone else is not specified because white is treated as a default.

The books messing up between psychopathic and psychosis is a huge fucking deal (I will die on this hill), considering that people with psychosis are probably one of the most discriminated groups on Earth, and the books associate them with what in the common immaginary are dangerous criminals with no empathy.

Misrepresentation of alchool abuse (as in, these characters drink their livers away every other day, and still win championship)

The ending doesn't really dwell on wether Neil understands or cares that him funding the Moryamas means that he would be funding murderers, drug trafficking, human trafficking, rape, pedophilia (you know, the stuff mafias do?).

You might not agree with the points above, not with all of them, or you might not see these traits as problematic. I know I don't agree with all of them, but the point is that a healthy fandom should be able to have a conversation without resorting to insults and ridicule.

(and since I woke up petty, the reasons why people say these books are badly written is for multiple unfinished storylines, multiple set ups are left with no payoff, there's infodumping every three pages or so, most secondary characters have little to no depth, the most important villains are killed by characters that were barely even mentioned before. If none of this bothers you or doesn't strike you as bad writing, that's fine. I still think these would be some of the same parameters by which any other book is critiqued, and All for the game is not above criticism).

Now that being said; do I love these books? Yes.

The characters work, development, the relationships between them, the pacing, and the dialogue is masterly ctafted.

Those are reasons enough for me to fall in love in a book, and it's what I care about the most.

[momentomori24]

Ok, so I just finished chapter 4 of Master Detective Archives: Rain Code a day ago and I absolutely LOVED it. There's so much to talk about in this chapter but what I want to dive into is the book of death, the rule of the Mystery Labyrinth and Shinigami and Yuma both in this chapter and in general. My thoughts are inevitably going to be all over the place and I haven't proof read it so bear with me here (also I haven't seen anything about chapter 5 yet so no spoilers for that please).

MAJOR SPOILERS WARNING UP TO CHAPTERS 0- 4 UP AHEAD:

The Mystery Labyrinth and Shinigami are, to me at least, one of the most fascinating aspects of the game. The purpose of both is to uncover the absolute truth on a higher power; cut and dry, no morality or consideration for the circumstances needed. The Book of Death grants whoever has their hands on it to-- best described with Number One's mindset-- discard all emotions to reach a perfect deduction. Murderers, regardless of why, who and how, are punished as such, recieving the death penalty for their crimes every time. But not only is that logic deeply flawed, but also extremely hypocritical and put in the hands of humans with no right to wield it.

Throughout the game we see Yuma clear Labyrinth after Labyrinth and even though he exposes the absolute truth each time, he clearly struggles from the weight of his own power and the damage he causes. Yes, he's able to save others like Kurumi and the Watchmaker by solving cases, however he's forced to deal with the guilt of killing the culprits as a consequence. Take those Aetheria girls for example. The Labyrinth condemned them as murderers for killing Karin. By its rules, that is the absolute truth and only they will solely be punished. But we know the actual truth is that they resorted to what they did because of Karin killing Aiko and with Kanai Ward being the way it is, her death would be swept under the rug with no justice served. They're guilty, that doesn't change no matter what the motive was, but we as people can empathise, try to find a solution appropriate for their circumstance based on real world discernment. Same with Yakou. Led by the nose and egged on by Yomi, he killed Huesca, the man who murdered his wife for nothing more than a way to keep her quiet because she posed a risk to his position. In the Mystery Labyrinth, he was deemed the perpetrator and killed (if he wasn't already dead). That is what it considered the 'truth', but what it blatantly ignored was Yomi's involvement in whole thing. How he instigated Yakou's crime by sending him that letter and the items he needed, knowing full well he'd take the bait. He hired Fink the Slaughter Artist to stab Yakou and cover his tracks. All the atrocities and immoral acts he's commited long before the case even. In the face of higher power, he was deemed innocent, solely for not having the blood of Huesca directly on his hands (nevermind everyone else he's most likely killed). Yakou and the Aetheria girls have done something terrible, but at the end of the day they were people placed in difficult positions with no other options to get the justice they so desperately needed in a place like Kanai Ward. And yet, they're still judged the same as Icardi, the Nailman, the Worshipper and imposter Zilch-- hitmen and serial killers and traitors and inspired murderers that have taken the lives of others for less justifiable reasons behind their actions.

And Shinigami's perspective up until chapter 4 is no different from how the Labyrinth functions. Minus Yakou, a person she grew to care about, she enacted the same execution on every culprit because to her there is no difference between them. What we see as tragedy she sees as entertainment. What we can understand to be a desperate, broken-hearted victim she only views as another dangerous criminal. She isn't a person; she's a Death God on a much higher plane of existance, so she doesn't feel the need for compassion or empathy or understanding because it's all below her and unneeded to clear the Mystery Labyrinth. Her purpose is to seek the truth and truth only, emotions would only get in the way of that. She understands those principles better than anybody, which is why she can reap the souls of the culprits without regrets. But unlike her, Yuma is a person with an overwhelming amount of empathy and compassion, even towards culprits that didn't deserve it. And because he's human, because he's on the same plane as everyone else, the thought of killing them haunts him because he knows what conditions these people are living under, knows how limited their options were, knows that under the right circumstances that he could've ended up the same. Heck, in a way, he is the same. Where three girls kill their classmate as revenge for killing their friend, he kills three highschoolers to find the truth and save his friend. Where a man takes matters into his own hands before his wife's killer can escape his consequences forever, he exposes the truth at the cost of his life. Regardless of his motive, Yuma has killed people in his pursuit of the truth-- a motive lacking the emotional weight and connection like revenge, or justice, or self-preservation. It's not as if that's Yuma's only reason; he does it because he wants to save others. That's the conviction he needs to see it all through to the end and that's great, but the same goes for every other culprit (except Icardi , the Worshipper and Zilch). They don't kill for themselves, they killed for others and that's what led them down the road they took. And still, he can pass judgement on them in the Labyrinth for an act he himself is committing by solving those cases.

All in all, when it comes to solving cases, making a pact with Shinigami and clearing the Mystery Labyrinth to obtain the truth is a double-edged sword. It allows you to reach the truth of the case and punish the culprit in one sitting, sure, but that's all it is. Humanity and morality are the price for that kind of power. The culprit will never be tried for their crime. Regardless of the motive, they will only be punished with death and you can't get out of the Labyrinth alive without commiting to ending their life in exchange for the truth. You get the truth of the case, but there is no justice to be had because only the one who did the deed is considered guilty without taking all those other factors into account. Yomi is a psychotic, immoral and downright evil piece of shit, yet even the Mystery Labyrinth-- this higher power far above our own-- couldn't punish him because he gets others to do his bidding for him, making THEM the guilty party instead. The Master Detectives with all their Fortes and abilities couldn't do anything to stop him because he's the director of the Peacekeepers with the entire city under his thumb. Martina couldn't do anything to stop him even though she's both his lover (and I use that term very loosely) and the vice-director. It took Makoto, the guy who's literally only one position above him, to take him down. As satisfying as it was to see that scumbag taken down by the system he created with own two hands only to have it turned upside down and be treated with the complete opposite philosophy of what he put on others, what his idea of justice truly was, it just goes to show how the Labyrinth isn't always the solution. The rules it abides by and what it considers the absolute truth don't always correlate with the real world.

Discarding emotions and staying professional is important to reach a perfect deduction removed from bias, but compassion, empathy and good judgement are what is needed to decide on how to handle the people involved in the crimes. Some people are just bad people, others trying to adapt to their environment because they can't do anything else, and those should be treated appropriately and separately depending on what they've done and what their reasoning was. The book of death is far from the correct solution, but here in Kanai Ward it's the only way for mysteries to not be lost with how corrupt the system is. Shinigami has a point and Yuma does too. The Mystery Labyrinth is hypocritical and a power he should not have in his hands, but he has to do what it takes to protect others while still holding on to his humanity and understanding for himself and everyone involved. Both ideals are what it takes to make a great detective and I think does the game does a good job at not making this dilemma all black and white, rather more of a 'necessary evil'. I wonder where he's gonna go from here...

[disproportionatelysculpting]

Have you ever had a relationship with GOD/YHWH? Have you asked HIM things, for help/understanding?

What is stopping you from pursuing a life w/ someone WHO will never leave you and has your best at heart?

𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱: 'If you do not know where you want to go, then it doesn't matter which path you take.'

I'm always saying I don't know what is happening or why I'm feeling despondent

— so I agree we don't know how to live.

We're all unique snowflakes, but I think divorce & drugs and alcohol exists so we can try to calm down from all the anger and rage we feel when 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 — or the way we want to be treated or remembered.

1.]  If 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿,       Hell is basic entry level for everyone, &

2.]  If GOD sent HIS SON to die on the cross in our       place to avoid this Hell and lead us thru life by       HIS HOLY SPIRIT; &

3.]  HE says there is only 1-way forward & JESUS       is the way/truth/life, that no one comes to       the FATHER except thru JESUS. [John 14:6]

Why would we ever avoid HIS easy yoke? Why wouldn't we ask HIM in to show us the way?

We clearly don't have life/truth/way to GOD, unless we accept JESUS, & life/death begins forever after we're ejected from earth.

I wonder if you were to die in your sleep suddenly: Are you ready to be drop-kicked into eternity?

Case in point...

Rose you say you think about your mentor Albert a lot that he passed away suddenly [5:37] maybe that's the take away lesson here:

In the Bible it says there was a rich man who had so much money/wealth that he was thinking to himself he had more than enough to retire & live at ease for the rest of his life.

The problem was,

Luke 12:20 | ²⁰ But GOD said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

this is gonna be long, cause i have been wanting to write over this for a while*deep breathes*

lets start from 1st fact that I, am NOT Christian or into it by any means, I am a HINDU and I do not think I am the religious enough to fit in the criteria.

now lets talk about my relation with God, I do appreciate the "good" teachings of every religious texts and things, but I do not think GOD/ GODS are the place for help, when they could not answer me as a kid who was like helpless and lost, I dont think they every could. One can say to each their own, I see the theory of GOD more like a friend, a choice(will discuss later) . So no, i do not seek any relation with the GOD, i do not want to ask anyone anything anymore, if they REALLY had the best it WOULDNT be like this?? yk? its kinda fucked up to think but they are the ULTIMATE GOD so why are they doing this? iykwim. just my way to view tho.

now all the stories (yes i consider the teaching of bible, geeta, and other holy books as stories nonetheless)- i wouldnt say anything cause its not about my religion, i dont want to come offensive cause i have not enough information to make an opinion for now

FOR MY POINT OF VIEW on how i believe on god, its very simple

once a teacher of mine said -i dont believe in god, i just know there is a true good spirit showing you the right ways

and to add to that , i think, god is a very flawed concept, they wont pay your bills or heal your trauma or anything, they dont even talk lol, but THEY DO GIVE PEACE, like they are just a figment of my imagination that give me an idea of what kind of personality i want in me, Gods are someone i trusted and still do to share my life issues cause they are more like A PERSON WHO IS TRYING TO KEEP THINGS BALANCED to me than something divine, If you read Indian mythologies, mostly God mess up too, and then they solve it, they teach humans how to manage mess and how to not fuck up things in wrong proportions, not to lose humanity, even god are helpess in many situations sooo you know. I do love the religious festivities, stories, the peace being in a temple and things but i cant just be all devoted to them, thats toxic in my point of view. To me god is just a friend, i can talk to and have no other expectations, just hope that they know whatever they are doing is okay. God to me is just a teacher who gives me options and in the end its me who decides and makes my life how i want, and they do this to all humans, thats why things get bad its not the God choice, but the people. And this made me feel a bit better cause if you are just like the end is god and he is gonna be all healer and stuff, you will meet disappointment, i did not once or twice but so many times. God isnt going to help you, ever, they will only give you options, SO WHY MAKE THEM THE ULTIMATE WHEN IM THE ONE IN CONTROL?

IDK if this made sense to you anon, i know you mean well (hopefully, this is not a cult thing or something) and im not saying your way to trust god is wrong, it just doesn't suit me and its okay

thank you haha

[brooklynislandgirl]

"Would you ever make a dirty video for a guy? If he was away and missing you?"

Things That Make You Squirm || Accepting

"For any guy? Absolutely not. Despite my abject hatred of mos' clothes, I'm not da kine girl who go round offering my body to jus' anyone, wheddah t' touch it, or look a' it or any variation." It's taken a long time for her to get comfortable in her own skin, and she still uses a good deal of mana to hide what she considers her flaws, like her leg. No one is allowed to touch the scar, not Andy. Not Frank, no one. And despite all of that growth, she still prefers to shed her skin and be something, anything other than...just *Beth*. But that isn't something she really talks about and she doesn't know if Frank would look at her the same way if he knew how easy it was for her to change. He might see her as a monster, as something less than human- which isn't far from the truth- and a thing to be rid of. "But for you? Yes. Migh' need a lil...direction, some idea of wha' you might wan see. Eiddah before you leave or in some lettah, which is a dyin' art we should all get back into. I'd turn it into a whole Vegas floor-show for you, too. A slow reveal, close ups for..." The look on her face though, when she realises she's saying these things outloud. Her heart beating so loudly and far too quickly, her hand coming up to splay across her chest as if she could force everything to be still. "I didn't mean to...I normally don't...oh, God, Frank."

[vilelittlecritter]

Mf's really play a video game about the complexity of human emotions, grief, that bad actions do not define us as people, that we can grow and change as people and that ultimately honesty and loving with all your heart is vital to living life to its fullest.

And then proceed to demonise characters that are severely mentally unwell and in dire need of ALOT of therapy.

There's a post on this website that says something along the lines of "Fictional characters are vehicles for the story and therefore shouldn't be held to the same accountability as real people" and I feel that especially in Omori NOBODY CAN FUCKING GET THAT.

Yes what these characters have done is bad but does it justify the abuse and pain they have received? Fuck no!!! Basil is a mentally unwell child put in a situation he should have never got into in the first place! Sunny was nothing more than scared and wanting to escape a stressful situation! Mari was having to deal with the constant stress and pressure of performing at her best or she'd be considered a failure! Aubrey is a girl who has been nothing but kicked to the curb her entire life and has the world out to get her! Kel has been ignored and considered a problem child his entire life and has only had himself as support so resorts to repressing his emotions as to not be a burden! And Hero like Mari is so burdened by expectation and performing alongside having to grieve over the love of his life seemingly taking her own life and him having to deal with the earth shattering guilt that it was his fault!!!

THESE CHARACTERS ARE FLAWED AND THAT IS THE POINT OF THE STORY!!!

THE STORY IS ABOUT HOW MENTAL ILLNESS, DEPRESSION, TRAUMA, ANXIETY, GRIEF, ANGER AND THE EXPECTATION TO APPEASE OTHERS AFFECT US AS PEOPLE AND THAT THEY CAN CAUSE US TO ACT IRRATIONALLY AND HARMFULLY BUT THESE ACTIONS DO NOT DEFINE US AS PEOPLE!!!

THIS IS A STORY ABOUT ACCEPTING FLAWS AND THAT WITH TIME AND EFFORT WE CAN OVERCOME THESE EMOTIONS.

HOW DO PEOPLE NOT UNDERSTAND THIS IT IS LITERALLY THE MAIN FUCKING THEME OF THE GAME. IT IS REALLY NOT THAT HARD TO UNDERSTAND!

FUCK

NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS ARE 100% MORALLY GOOD OR BAD BECAUSE THEY ARE PEOPLE. THEY ARE FLAWED. IF THEY WERE JUST GOOD OR BAD IT WOULD BE A PRETTY SHIT STORY.

THIS GAME ISN'T ABOUT WHO'S THE MOST AT BLAME IT'S ABOUT LOVE.

LITERALLY MY FAVOURITE LINE IN THE ENTIRE GAME

"Just because you've done something bad, doesn't mean that you're a bad person!"

IT'S LITERALLY SAID OUTRIGHT.

IN TIMES OF PAIN WE DO BAD THINGS TO OURSELVES AND OTHERS, BUT THAT DOESNT MEAN WE ARE INCAPABLE OF LOVE OR FORGIVENESS.

THIS GAME GENUINELY CHANGED MY LIFE BECAUSE I PLAYED IT WHEN I WAS AT SOME OF THE LOWEST POINTS IN MY LIFE AND HELPED ME UNDERSTAND MYSELF ALOT BETTER AND SHOWED ME THAT ALTHOUGH ITS HARD LIFE IS WONDERFUL AND WE ARE CAPABLE OF LOVE AND KINDNESS.

ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS DESERVE LOVE AND IF I SEE ANOTHER BITCH TRYING TO SAY "well actually basil is evil-" or "aubreys a giant bitch-" I AM GOING TO LOSE MY SHIT.

DO NOT HAVE AN OPINION ON THE COMPLEX NARRATIVE IF YOU ARE UNWILLING TO UNDERSTAND SAID COMPLEX NARRATIVE...

Anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk

Sorry for ranting but I hate how some people interpret these characters as just "good or bad".

Whether you forgive these characters for what they've done is up to you but you absolutely must understand why they did what they did.

If i see one more take about Basil deserving to be bullied by Aubrey because "covering up a murder is worse than bullying someone" (even though Aubrey was bullying a clearly depressed and suicidal person for years and she was one of the reasons along with the other ones Basil killed himself in the neutral ending) i'm going insane

[cindydahlwrites]

Just me musing about Kaz Brekker's name

So I may or may not have written (I have. I definitely have) a fic about this already BUT the idea still has not left me so I'm going to address it again.

I don't know why Kaz was named Kaz (I have read somewhere it was supposed to be Baz but it might have just been a joke that went well over my head), but if it was an accident, it was the happiest accident of all time for me.

There aren't many theories concerning Kaz’s name, most of the fandom just thinks it was either just Kaz, or Kasper and a really small part wholeheartedly believes it was Kazimir.

It could just be Kasper, which is one of the Dutch variations of this name as far as I'm aware (Kerch is based on Dutch), and it loosely translates to or means Treasurer. It would make sense, with Kaz’s character, being in control of the finances and keeping track of them and those are just the obvious reasons.

Kazimir would make sense too. I've read online it can be Dutch, but I'm not sure how much it's really used, because in many countries, it's meaning prevents it from really being used much. Kazimir means the Destroyer of peace (literally: kaz- is the base of the verb meaning "to ruin/destroy" and mir translates to peace) or also alternatively the one that establishes peace, mostly in older literature though. I'd be here for hours had I tried to explain all reasons why it makes sense, but consider this: he destroys peace of the people that he steals from (and yes, kills), but in a way, he establishes peace for the people that had been terrorized by his victims. He also brings peace (in the form of protection and money) to his gang, and in a more comforting way to Inej.

For me, however, I like to believe it's just Kaz. As I have mentioned above kaz- is the base of the verb meaning to ruin or destroy. HOWEVER, kaz in itself, as translated by Google translate, is a fault, flaw, malformation, scar, defect, stain or (a bad/ugly) spot. And it can also be used when talking about a bad tooth but we are NOT going to talk about that.

Tell me that wouldn't be perfect. Kaz talks about himself as a person that is broken in every place imaginable. Don't get me wrong, I know he does not consider himself weak or pity himself, but I think the way he talks about himself in his head and how there are subtle hints that despite making his disability something that other people would fear, he is not completely alright with it just shows that he would see his whole being as a kind of fault. From those words, malformation hits me as something that he might use for himself when feeling low or frustrated.

It is wholly possible that Leigh just really did not know what to name him and she picked the first name that fit his character (because it really does - clipped, sharp, just Kaz), or that she wanted to make it into a subtle joke. Kaas is the Dutch word for cheese so it's entirely just possible she did it for shits and giggles.

But I just don't believe that. Like - from what I have looked up, most of her characters are named in a really meaningful, thoughtful way. Inej, for example, sounds kinda like Inez, which means faithful. That fits, right? And it's like this with most of her characters, so it's just hard to believe Kaz’s name was a coincidence. If it was, however, it is a really fortunate one in my opinion.

Maybe this is only important to me, but I love names and looking up the meanings behind them. And I really, really loved the implication that Kaz’s name would literally mean a flaw, and it doesn't have to signify a thing about him, just strengthen the opinion we were supposed to have - that he is broken, barely human and amoral.

For the record, I don't believe the name would dictate his life or character. I don't believe he'd never be happy or that he'd never heal - in fact, I will always think that him and Inej have a really glorious future together and that he'll finally see again what it is like to be happy. I just feel like his name meaning what it does is... Somehow really powerful.