"after what you've put me through here i deserve this" armand says about killing the crying, exhausted boy in his arms and it's not about a meal or cleaning up the mess, really, it's about how this boy's been brought to the edge of accepting death; he's right there, longing for it, and armand can give it. and while he gives it, he feels it too. armand has been drowning for centuries, but he keeps himself afloat this way, by tasting death and feeling just the smallest respite, chasing his victims' slowing heartbeats right down into the dark until he backs away at the last moment. "the comfort we all long for." the comfort armand longs for -- the end.
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You know what's interesting to me? For all people keep claiming at every juncture that perhaps Bells Hells will come around on the gods and see the harm they do (which, as discussed extensively, is, half the time, simply not intervening) not only have they never done so, but also they never quite cross the line into saying the party should join the Ruby Vanguard or aid them - and indeed, they defend against it - so what does this achieve? It feels like they're asking for a story in which the party stands idly by, which isn't much of a story nor, if I may connect this briefly to the real world, a political stance anyone should be proud of.
That's honestly the frustration with the gods and the "what if the Vanguard has a point" conversations in-game. What do we do then? Do we allow the organization that will murder anyone for pretty much any reason that loosely ties into their goals run rampant? The group that (perhaps unwittingly, but then again, Otohan's blades had that poison) disrupted magic world-wide, and caused people who had the misfortune to live at nexus points to be teleported (most, as commoners, without means of return). While also fomenting worldwide unrest?
Those were the arguments before the trip to Ruidus; with the reveal of the Vanguard's goals to invade Exandria, the situation becomes even more dire. Do you let the Imperium take over the planet?
And do the arguments against the gods even hold up? If Ludinus is so angry at them for the Calamity, what does it say that he destroyed Western Wildemount's first post-Calamity society for entirely selfish means? (What does it say about the validity of vengeance as a motivator?) What does it say that Laudna told Imogen she could always just live in a cottage quietly without issue before the solstice even happened? (Would this still be true if the Imperium controls the world?) What does it say that when faced with a furious, grieving party and the daughter she keeps telling herself was her reason for all of this, Liliana can't provide an answer to the question of what the gods have done other than that their followers will retaliate...for, you know, the Vanguard's endless list of murders. (That is how the Vanguard and Imperium tend to think, huh? "How dare your face get in the way of my boot; how dare you hit me back when I strike you.") She can't even provide a positive answer - why is Predathos better - other than "I feel it", even though Imogen and Fearne know firsthand that Predathos can provide artificial feelings of elation. Given all the harm Ludinus has done in pursuit, why isn't the conclusion "the gods should have crashed Aeor in such a way that the tech was unrecoverable?"
Even as early as the first real discussion on what the party should do, the fandom always stopped short of saying "no, Imogen's right, they should join up with the people who killed half the party," it was always "no, she didn't really mean it, she just was trying to connect with her mother." Well, she's connected with her mother, and at this point the party doesn't even care about the gods particularly (their only divinely-connected party member having died to prevent the Vanguard from killing all of them). So they will stop the Vanguard; as Ashton says, the means are unforgiveable. As Laudna says, it's not safe to bet on Predathos's apathy. As Imogen says, she's done running; the voice that she used to think of as a lifeline belongs to someone she doesn't trust. So I guess my question is: if they're stopping the people who are trying to kill the gods (and defense of the gods isn't remotely their personal motivation)...do you think the next phase of the campaign is Bells Hells personally killing the gods? Reconstructing the Aeor tech and hoping none of their allies notice? How does this end? Does your ideology ever get enacted? Or is this entirely moot and pointless and the story ends with Bells Hells saying "well, I'm really glad we stopped the people who [insert list of Vanguard atrocities from above]; none of us follow the gods or plan to, but honestly, the status quo we return to is preferable to whatever nightmare Ludinus had concocted in his violent quest for power and revenge"?
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Henry's whole deal to me is that he is selfish in his inaction, his self preservation, his desire for closure. His self hatred is all consuming in such a way that it harms those around him but he is so consumed by his own misery he does not recognise their suffering. His anger at himself, William and the world animates him but also gnaws at every inch of his being like a virus. Spreds from him into the world. Seeps and harms and burns the way Will's actions burned him.
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can never really stop thinking about the core difference between zoro's sacrifice at thriller bark vs the other major crew sacrifices (robin and sanji) but i can never really articulate it either like. idk. despite all three coming from a place of 'you mean so much to me that im willing to die in exchange for your safety', robin and sanji are both clearly acting under the influence of decades of self-worth issues and being told the world would be better off without them in it, and wanting to be useful in their final act, whereas zoro is...something else entirely.
it's in the way zoro's is an act of defiance right until the end, vs robin and sanji's capitulation. and thats not to say that their sacrifices were lesser or that they just 'gave up' or whatever. robin and sanji were both in awful situations where they were undoubtedly boxed in and had to make snap decisions, but there is something to be said for how they both feel like they have no choice but to shoulder the burden alone and in silence, without giving the crew even a chance to have a say. conversely, zoro makes the offer to kuma when every other avenue has been exhausted and the crew is totally out of commission (though they all made it explicitly clear theyd rather die themselves than hand over luffy).
there's something about luffy (and the crew)'s life being as important to zoro as his ambition, vs luffy (and the crew) being more important than robin/sanji's own lives. as in, the most important thing in zoros life has always been his goal, and he raises the crew to that same level (and luffy even higher) of value, which speaks volumes given his character, as opposed to the others who have never really learnt how to value themselves, thinking of themselves as the outsider that can be easily cast off for the greater good. like...bringing someone up to stand where you are vs pushing someone up above yourself yknow...
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Say what you want about SNW but I REALLY loved the way in the episode where Pike sees the future where Jim is not the captain of the Enterprise lil glimpses we get of him having just insane professional chemistry with Spock.
Like across realities and in different universes, Kirk sees Spock across the room through a video transmission and calls him impressive. It's like a jolt, bullseye, and laser focus towards eachother before they even meet in person.
They instantly agree and see eachother's point of view. There's SPARKS. I genuinely felt watching this as if they were the only people in the room (and I feel like the camera work in that conference room helped with that - purposely).
Not to mention Jim's full body turn he does when he watches Spock leave, which to me definitely betrayed some kind of interest on Jim's part.
I get being mad at comphet Spock, (though TOS did comphet Spock also so 🤷) and I think if snw went in a slightly different direction with Chapel they could do something interesting and canon-compliant, which is a shame.
But after finishing the 1st season I really do feel the show only gets better (when they lay off the one liners a bit and focus more on the honestly pretty cool episode ideas they have), and it looks like it's done with love, attention to details and understanding, overall, what star trek is. (Which I can't say about some other star trek media cough cough).
But most importantly, at least for the sake of this post and for the sake of the ship that started modern fandom culture, I feel like they understand the gravity of K/S.
Now, I'm not deluding myself that they're going to 'get together' within SNW, if it's to keep with the tos timeline even in the slightest. And as much as I enjoy the show, it doesn't seem likely for it to be breaking any new grounds. Besides, at this point in time it would make no sense, considering there's no space for them to be together in TOS until season three at best. Any alternatives would either be either out of character, or simply upsetting (such as an on and off relationship, a breakup, things I don't want to think about 😞)
HOWEVER. They already made a hint Chapel is bisexual, and while they do try to generally keep with TOS canon - they diverge from it only when they think they are the point A from which they can get to point B, which is TOS. I don't always agree with their vision, but I can respect it. So I wouldn't be that surprised (though ecstatic) if they hinted at at least at Kirk being bisexual, here and there.
And in TOS canon Spirk is inescapable. If we ignore the romantic interpretation, which is already pretty hard to ignore, then in their capacity as soulmates - a part of canon that's impossible to ignore. And with as little Jim and Spock as we got so far, I think they understand that.
In SNW keeping Kirk and Spock apart messed up the whole timeline! You could say that Spock dying is what really messed it up, but we can clearly see the episode we've seen in TOS from a different perspective and things went south the moment Chris started to act. Both Kirk and Spock are there - both the same as in the regular timeline, in their respective duties. But they're not together and them not being together is so bad for the universe that Chris has to go back in time to tell himself to die (well not die but suffer from a horrific accident).
And if it doesn't feel extremely monumental, soulmate level shit idk what to tell you
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after my last job that left me suicidal constantly, it took me literal years but im finally at a place where i feel like i can do work and try and go through stressors without hating my work and my life and idk, maybe this is dumb but no matter what happens, even if right now things feel like a mess, i hope that one day things will feel right for you. you are strong, it doesnt always fucking feel like it when you're breaking down and its going to be so much work (and sometimes that work is learning how to destress and setting boundaries and slowing down) but i love you and i have faith in you.
Thanks :-]
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