#BUT YEAH. THIS SCENE DESTROYS ME. this scene is the one that changes their dynamic for the rest of the film

[aclockworkreader]

all my arcane thoughts because i’m feeling entirely normal about this show:

the storytelling!! the foreshadowing!! the parallels!! the pure artistry!! arcane is a masterpiece!!

it has everything: trauma, found family, the corruption of power, complex sibling dynamics, queer relationships (sapphic rep!!), more trauma, social and political commentary, beautiful animation, and even more trauma!! it reminds me so much of so many of my favorite animated shows (avatar: the last airbender, she-ra, fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood) all mixed into one.

the animation was actually something that originally kept me from watching the show because i’m not a big fan of most 3d animation. but my GOD was it beautiful!!! the way they were able to mix art styles and switch between 3d and 2d worked so well! it was incredibly creative and artistic and i’ve never seen anything like it. the fight sequences were STUNNING and easily some of the best moments in the show. every frame was truly a work of art, i’m obsessed.

from the characters to the plot, every element of this show is so well written, it’s restored my faith in modern tv writing.

would absolutely recommend if you’re prepared to have your heart torn from your chest 💔

spoilers below with all my in depth thoughts

okay please bear with me, my brain is all over the place:

- JINX!! MY PRECIOUS JINX!! YOU DESERVED SO MUCH MORE!!! 😭😭 oh i knew it was coming and yet i still cried so much!!! she’s easily my favorite character. i support her in all her rights and wrongs (of which there are none actually, she had every right to do everything she did). all that’s keeping me sane is knowing she’s alive and well in another timeline 🥲 with ekko 🥲 dancing freely and engineering to her hearts content

- i also loved vi so so much. the prideful eldest sibling overwhelmed by the responsibility she feels to her family….yeah that hit hard. these sisters, doomed by the narrative, have DESTROYED me. all the parallels of their relationship throughout the show, down to vi grabbing jinx before she falls in the first vs last episode!! it’s all too much, i’ll never recover 😭

- my biggest complaint is that we didn’t get to explore vi’s grief after losing jinx. i know they jumped forward in time, so it seemed like she just kinda moved on and we didn’t get to see the aftermath of arguably the most traumatic thing she’s ever experienced?? watching her sister die and her father die (again) would have changed her forever so it felt a bit rushed to just….gloss over that.

- and i’m so sorry to the caitlyn stans but…..she’s not my favorite 😬 i don’t even dislike vi/cait as a ship, i just feel like caitlyn as a character is the least developed out of everyone on the show. and also her dictator arc was…something. i feel like we moved on from it so quickly that we didn’t have time to fully explore and address everything there.

- my other favorite character (second only to jinx) is ekko!! a true hero!! every fight scene he’s in is my favorite fight scene—he’s just SO GOOD 🤍 and what he does for jinx??? yeah, that was pure love

- the jinx/vi/isha/vander dynamic was easily my favorite part of the whole show. them as a family hurt me and healed me and UGH i cried so much 😭 isha and jinx too my GOD their whole relationship was so beautiful and jinx getting to be the older sister she never had 😭 i’m still crying over it!

- and sevika???? LOVE her. imagine being that right all the time….she has to be a capricorn.

- also mel!! she took some time to grow on me but i especially loved her arc in season 2! her as a mage is iconic and i wish we could have seen her use her magic more!

- oh and silco?? the most unexpected favorite. i didn’t expect to side with him so often, but that’s what makes him such a great villain. and the tears i shed when he told jinx “i never would have given you to them. not for anything”??? oh i SOBBED

- while i did love the jayce/viktor relationship by the end, i just find jayce to be so….boring, i’m sorry!! maybe upon rewatch i’ll feel more attached to him but (especially compared to nearly every other character) he’s so uninteresting. but the show needed some normie representation, so i’ll let him be.

- but viktor though!! yeah he was an incredible character. i called the plot twist of him being the mage who helped jayce pretty early on, so that wasn’t a surprise. but i did not expect him to have a full on jesus arc?? that was wilddd and i feel like i need more watches to fully process it all.

those are most of my thoughts for now. i’m just in awe of how wonderful this show is and surprised by how much i enjoyed it. i definitely need more time and more rewatches to say for certain if it’s an all time favorite, but it’s definitely up there 💙🩷

[morsmortish]

i think we as a fandom need to stop villainising barty crouch senior. that man was put through HELL and back. imagine doing nothing wrong your whole life and then getting everything blown up by your sociopathic son. you lose your family, your career, then your life! poor, poor man.

it’s a common consensus within the fandom that barty senior was some sort of monster, controlling and abusing his son to the point of insanity, and whilst i acknowledge this is a compelling and accessible way of constructing barty as a morally good character who did Bad Things because of this traumatic childhood, i personally find it so much more interesting if bcj is just. a bad guy. there is equal amounts of canon evidence to the idea that that barty had a good childhood and that he had a bad one (none). sure, it’s easier to gravitate towards the latter, but for me, the idea of barty being raised in a loving??? environment makes his character so much more interesting. imagine these two well-to-do, respectable members of wizarding society who have followed all the rules, done everything ‘right’ their whole lives (including the way they raised their son), and yet. and yet they end up with this morally drained, completely unredeemable sociopath of a son. and it’s no one’s fault, he’s just Born That Way.

reducing a character down to their Trauma is such a limited way of thinking about it. saying that every evil character is actually inherently good, just desolated by circumstance, is not that interesting! humans are all flawed, and some more than others. thinking of barty as someone who is just a Bad Person, for me, makes him so much more powerful. and therefore, thinking of barty senior as less of the villain, and more of a victim, also makes him, and the father-son relationship, much more interesting. we know barty senior isn’t perfect- absent father is probably the most reasonable read of his parenting skills- but in my opinion, if there is any character in this dynamic who IS the inherently good one corrupted by circumstance, it’s not bcj, but his father. to me, it’s not plausible that the man who went against his entire belief system out of love for his wife (and to some extent, his son) is the same man who abused his kid. barty’s trial scene becomes so much less interesting if he had been harmed by his father prior- to give him a ‘reason’ for his actions, to say he was lashing out or rebelling against his abusive father, is changing the core of his character! he did it because he felt like it! he’s simply just Not A Good Guy!! and whilst barty senior might also not be a good guy, it makes much less narrative sense for him to be the one assigned the role of ‘villain’.

yeah, he kept his son under imperio control for years, but who can really blame him? the dude was an absolute menace. and even if we do acknowledge his actions as morally wrong, surely the logic that barty joined the death eaters and committed horrible crimes because of things that happened to him in childhood, surely that logic can also be applied to barty senior? let’s say he controlled his son BECAUSE of the things that happened to him- barty betrayed him, turned out to be a monster, destroyed absolutely everything in his life. the trauma of that is surely enough to justify imperio.

i’m rambling on now, and so. to conclude. barty crouch junior as a much more two dimensional Bad Guy, and his father as the unsuspecting victim of his son’s betrayal, reprehensible actions, and complete heartlessness, makes BOTH of them more interesting. argue with the wall!!

[my-dress-is-on-fire]

devastating, beautiful, or devastatingly beautiful fanfiction: an incomplete and hopefully ever-growing list.

Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof

Quietbang (130.3k series)

This series begins with a bildungsroman - Robby is Jewish and bisexual and grows up in the 80s - and follows Robby’s life in five books through explorations of identity, family, religion, mental health, grief, and love. This series will absolutely fucking destroy you. I cried more times than I can count, 13/10.

Everyone Has Learned to Move Carefully

wegoodandevilthings (15k)

This is about dying and about making amends. (This is about love and survival.)

I was not a fan of Hanahaki. I also didn't really like Jack/Robby/Frank. This fic - along with everything by wegoodandevilthings, holy fuck, I'm putting this fic here because I firmly believe that it's where you should start but all of their Pitt fanfic is pure art - changed my mind thoroughly on both points. Masterful characters, masterful writing, 12/10 (for this and for all of their Pitt fic, I am so fucking serious)

Defibrilation

mballyntyne @thewildballyntynesgrow (19.4k)

This is all just—all just a bad dream. A really fucking bad dream, the sort that happens in movies and those in-between episodes of the crappy daytime TV shows he sometimes watches when he’s stuck on nights and can’t sleep.

They’re all waiting for him to fuck up. They’re all sitting there watching and waiting for him to fuck up, god, he’s so fucking stupid, they know, of course they know—

Frank dies. And then he’s back in the Pitt. And then he dies, and then he’s back in the Pitt. And then he dies… I cried at least three times while reading this one. 12/10 but maybe don’t start it at 0100.

86 Days, 87 Nights

spqr @andthepeople (24.3k)

“Maybe this really is like Lost,” Samira muses, later that night. “Maybe we all died and this is some sort of weird purgatory.”

It could be morbid, but luckily Robby just laughs. “Sure,” he says. “Why not.”

“Maybe — ” Samira starts, planning to finish that sentence: Maybe Abbott’s the one who survived, but then she shuts up because that’s a cruel thing to say.

“Yeah,” Robby says, heavy, like he knows anyways. “Yeah, maybe.”

Their flight crashes on an island. Devastatingly beautiful character writing. I keep running through scenes in my head, even weeks after reading, 11/10

except for breath, except for everything

sawdustdiamonds @sawdustandstardust (7k)

The cold—an absolute shock to the system, like a thousand little sewing needles pricking her skin—reverberates now, in the present, when the WTAE Breaking News notification hits her phone:

Pittsburgh Doctor Sentenced to Five Years in Drug Diversion and Theft Case

At 6:30 PM on a July evening, everyone in the city knew about Dr. Frank Langdon

Frank doesn’t get a second chance from the world, from the hospital, from the medical board, from Robby. Only from Mel. Masterfully woven, almost made me miss a meeting at work, 11/10

if you want to love dr robby:

nothing good happens after 2 am

cicak @cicaklah (33.4k)

Robby leaves, and Jack watches him walk away for a pensive, long moment, watching the way Robby holds himself, how he’s clutching his bag over one shoulder like it's holding him to the ground.

read this while in a one-on-one meeting with my manager. i do not recommend doing that. top-notch characterization and wonderful turns of phrase, 11/10

if you want to hate dr robby:

hidden curriculum

cicak @cicaklah (14.4k)

two works exploring an extremely fucked-up dynamic between robby and whitaker. this is very much a dead dove series, but it delivers insanely fucking hard and does a remarkable job of building dennis whitaker. 11/10 my heart is literally racing

[knickynoo]

Well, I was sufficiently enabled for the idea, so here it is: ✨Alex P. Keaton's Top Neurodivergent Moments✨

The funny thing is that the amount of time I put into scrolling through my encyclopedic mental inventory of Family Ties scenes, compiling these moments in a list, making gifs, and finding past gifsets/analysis to link back to makes creating this post one of my most neurodivergent moments. Good for me.

These will be organized by season (easier for me than trying to rank on a scale) and are in no way ALL of the moments. I'd need like...15 posts for that. Also, tumblr only allows 30 images/gifs per post, so I'm going to include links to past posts when possible.

ENJOY!

• Alex gets his first-ever failing grade and immediately decides to quit school

Exactly what it says. Alex strolls into college all bright-eyed and confident and ends up a broken shell of a guy just a week or so later. The prototypical Gifted Kid from the moment he learned to speak, Alex cannot handle anything less than perfection. Getting the first F of his life shatters his entire self-image, and he wants to drop out of college entirely.

• Alex's friend Doug announces he's getting married, and Alex spirals into despair. As one does.

The entirety of the "Best Man" episode is one big Alex displaying neurodivergent behaviors moment, honestly. There are a whole lot of Alex-centered plots that are set into motion because A Change happens, and he just cannot deal with it, and this is one of the best examples. Alex is so distraught at the suddenly altered dynamic that he wanders the house like a lost soul—sad and confused and needy. He walks in on Steven's shower just to give him a hug, offers to go shopping with Mal and play dolls with Jen, and also draws up a seven-year contract for his other friends to sign to ensure they stick to their regularly scheduled card games, lest they also run off to get married and destroy his life.

• Alex P. Keaton: child development expert

When faced with the news of another sibling on the way, Alex has some very nurturing advice at the ready for when the baby is crying.

• The Keatons all laugh at a funny story. Alex is not amused.

This is one of my favorite Alex scenes of the series. Uncle Rob shares a memory of the time Steven was young and got in trouble because he started rebelling against the system and refused to write his name in the designated spot on his school test papers. The family shares a hearty laugh. Alex, king of black-and-white thinking and lover of rules, is deeply upset.

I love him so much. He genuinely cannot see how they're enjoying such a story. The Name Spot is for names. And his father dared to write in the Not For Names Spot?? Jail for Steven.

He's so ridiculously autistic.

• Alex's favorite childhood toy

It was a cardboard box. I can't quite put into words why this sets off my ND radar, but it does. Maybe it's the being attached to unusual items thing that's common with autism? The intense fixations that make other people go ????

The Alex and Ba-ba plotline provides some wonderful Alex Lore.

• Mr. Mustache

Yeah, those intense fixations? In the "Fool for Love" episode, Alex grows a mustache and legitimately cannot speak about anything else for the several days that follow. He's asked to present a speech at Mallory's homecoming dance and centers his entire speech around his mustache. He's unable to have a conversation that doesn't involve mustaches. It's incredible.

• Everything in "Matchmaker"

Alex is so sweet in this one. After Mallory comes home crying after a bad date, Alex promises to help her find a great guy. Unfortunately, putting someone who struggles socially and with processing emotions in charge of your love life isn't exactly a great fit. Alex uses the power of science to craft a formula to find Mallory's perfect match (he isn't), then tags along on their date and helps foster a very natural environment (it isn't) for the relationship to flourish (it doesn't).

The episode ends with a great scene between Alex and Mallory that shows just how well Mal understands the inner-workings of her big brother's head.

• Divorce is tough. Alex has some advice.

The Keaton kids are shocked to learn that their Uncle Rob is divorcing their Aunt Maureen. As Jen and Mallory reel from the information, Alex helps to reframe things.

He then pulls out the Special Interest Card and compares the divorce of their aunt and uncle to a "failed merger, not unlike the breakup of the phone company—although obviously less emotional. Nothing more than a natural fluctuation in the marketplace of love and marriage."

And the thing is, he IS impacted by the news. He just hasn't the slightest clue how to actually process it. So, a simple failed merger it is!

• You had one job

Mallory needs some croissants for a fancy get-together she's having with her poetry class. Alex helpfully offers to go pick them up.

Now, I debated about this one because there's part of me that's like, "Hmm, did Alex purposely do this to annoy Mallory?" Is this just a jerk move? But you know what? It stays on the list because the whole "I personally don't like this thing and struggle to see how anyone else could. Therefore, I will get the thing I like" is (for me) a relatable aspect of being ND.

• Every single second of "A, My Name is Alex"

For real, though. This episode is a deep dive into how Alex became the person he is, and it is FILLED with "flashbacks" of an intensely neurodivergent child whose issues were made worse by the people around him. (Mostly teachers and peers. Steven and Elyse did their best with him, but I do also have some critiques of the way they parented him). Anyway, he represses his emotions to the point of a meltdown

And then there's this

Full coin gifset here. Also, I made posts on the full episode, which can be found here and here.

• "Alex has a weird body"

That's Mallory's explanation to Andy as to why Alex can't help her when she needs someone to model one of her latest clothing creations. She says Alex's head is too big for his body, and those words, unfortunately, find their way back to him. In a mini plot reminiscent of the mustache one, Alex proceeds to obsess over the comment.

And I mean, I think being told your head is too big for your body would make anyone insecure, but it's the way Alex handles it. He's unable to have regular conversations for a while because he can't stop fixating on the size of his noggin'.

Both of the "Read it and Weep" episodes fit in this list, to be honest

• An accurate statement by Lauren

I've got to include this because it really does neatly condense a lot of who Alex is

So true, bestie.

And then, to wrap this whole thing up, there's all of this

And this is just what I can fit in this here post without going over the limit lol. Obsessed with the way MJF played Alex.

Thanks for reading ✌️

This is me with Alex, btw

[nolongernyny]

1:23 a.m, oh lord this is my brain turning off.

As an Alutegra shipper, I am annoyed with how people treat us like fucking weirdos or sort of pedophiles and lesbophobic and also transphobic for some reason I won’t even try to understand.

I mean, I get it if your principal headcanon on Integra is that she’s a beautiful gnc butch lesbian, I might even like it to certain point, but , you gotta understand that doesn’t make you have the right to shit on people for different headcanons.

I do not see Integra as a lesbian, but if you do, that’s very great! I love seeing people relate to characters and also make them part of important representation (in this case, gnc lesbian woc). However, don’t try to call me or any other alutegra shipper a lesbophobic scum for something YOU took as canon.

As a lesbian myself, I truly cannot comprehend what is it that make you perceive Integra Hellsing so much as a lesbian to the point you gotta try and hate anyone who disagrees with you.

“Oh but the finger scene with Seras..” oh, please, lord. Did we forgot what fan service is? I could even take this for granted if Alutegra wasn’t so HEAVILY implied in all Hellsing.

Personally, I dont care about Serastegra, the fanarts are cute ofc !! But it’s just me who sees them rather than grumpy mom who deep inside is depressed and needs helps recovering but is too stubborn to admit it x sunshine daughter who is completely aware of her mom’s mental health and tries her best to make her laugh.

The curious thing is, people who hate alutegra also sees Alu and Tegra’s dynamic like some sort of father figure x daughter. And.. you know, as much as I respect it, I don’t really like it and think you should get checked if you believe Alucard and Integra are the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a father-daughter relationship.

Allow me to elaborate. Many people argue that watching Integra grow into an adult makes Alucard the man who raised her—which is funny because it seems you guys are blind towards the existence of Walter— and how him being a blood sucking bastard doesn’t mean he can’t be a good dad —kinda agree with this, keep it in mind for a minute!— but, aren’t we missing something?

Please, please, please. Just remember what Alucard did say to Integra after she confronted him about killing his uncle’s guards “I feel such a rage swelling between my legs” , first this is such an inappropriate thing to say to a teenage girl but again, this isn’t some sparkling vampire, this is Alucard, a morally grey character, not only that but also how the thing about vampires is them being very.. yeah, morally grey and inhuman, their reasoning is outside of human ethics and morals even if they were one on some point. And second of all, how could you.. call Alucard Integra’s father figure after that ? Do you really think that’s the man that raised her ? And not the human butler that probably changed her diapers ? Lord have mercy.

So, okay. Let’s give you the benefit of the doubt and think “That’s because they were just meeting” alright, alright. Let’s see.

Do you think that, do you honestly think that this man who is getting all giggly when this woman yells at him that he needs to kill —which she knows is something that gets his blood boiling, mind you—after hearing how his servant literally begged her for her orders, specifically her command to search and destroy everything just to satisfy her need of justice? And, why not, his thirst for violence as well? Come on, you can’t hear Sir Integra panting and Alucard asking her if she’s getting wet by all the atrocities that’s happening and say “mm, yes, completely father figure behavior.”

Oh? Not enough? What about her softening her voice when Vladcard appears on screen, calling him “My count” on the sweetest tone possible, while he kneels down to her and addresses her as “My countess”?

God don’t get me started on Hellsing Ultimate end, it might be the solid proof of Alutegra being basically canon.

Oh, and yes, do you remember what I told you to keep in mind? That Alucard regardless of being a monster can be a good dad? Well, I agree with it. Just not with Integra, allow me to introduce you to Seras Victoria.

Alucard might not be Integra’s father figure, but do you know who is seeing him as that? Seras. All the time they spend together, it’s as heavily implied as Alutegra.

Alucard trained her, showed her everything about being a vampire when she had no guidance, allowed her to have a second opportunity to “live”, and was there to show how proud he was of her upon seeing Seras after consuming Pip’s soul, addressing her by her name for the first time. And also patting her head.

That scene was so adorable.

Yes, here ends my rant. Might write an essay on this topic when I get to university lmao, but yes, here I am, entering into shipping discourse like tiktok mfs.

And no, this doesn’t mean I hate Aluseras or serastegra shippers.. I just hate how some of them imply so many ugly things about us Alutegra shippers. Also, might be off topic, but I really feel uncomfortable around AluSeras shippers.. am I the only one?

Anyways, enjoy your year, enjoy your life, and let others enjoy it too!

[jaymber]

Alternative Final Arc: There should've been 3 factions!

So, I've finished season 7 and ooof, that season is a toughie. There's some stuff I loved, some stuff I hated, but mostly... choices that made me go "huh?" and "they would never do that!" and "since when?" and "is there a scene missing for it to make sense?".

So, I thought it over and realized I'd have a LOT more fun watching the season if it wasn't All for One vs. One for All, but a three factions war between Peace, Anarchy/Liberation and World Domination.

I totally based this idea around my other "well let's change canon" ideas, with Shigaraki leaving the last war early and LOV keeping AFO away from their leader, and Hawks' questioning of the status quo after hearing what Endeavor did behind closed doors during his entire hero carreer.

Here's the schema, with explanations underneath the cut.

Biggest change

So, the main difference between the canon timeline and the one I made up is that Tomura doesn't become a mindless puppet, mostly cause LOV won't allow it. I want them to become his new family that keeps him anchored, no matter if it's because of the power of love or shared hatred. There's still a connection between AFO and Tomura, and despite the latter's body & quirks not being complete, he manages to keep him at bay as long as they don't get too close to one another. He's pissed to realize he's been used and wants revenge WHILE still willing to destroy the world. AFO becomes just one more thing that has to go with the old world.

LOV still breaks into Tartarus, but to free Stain this time. AFO manages to take over Tomura's body and frees himself as well. Mr. Compress (Tomura left the last battlefield before the rest of the gang arrived on Machia's back here) marbleizes his leader when Spinner realizes that's not Tomura right now and they gtfo.

So, while Deku trains (the Dark Deku Arc was meh so, let's just make it a montaaage! Montage 🎶), it's a cat and mouse play between AFO and Tomura. LOV is used to run around Japan with barely any food or sleep, so they're tenacious.

So the final arc starts with:

- AFO sending his forces made of Nomus, Machia and jailbreakers to capture Tomura, while keeping an eye on Deku in case there's an opportunity to steal One for All;

- Deku learning to use all his quirks in hopes to stop AFO, until the Heroes realizes AFO and LOV don't work together and focusing their attention on the latter, since the group should be easier to take care of;

- LOV being their natural chaotic selves and just running around not to get caught, aided by the PLF, waiting for the two other factions to fight each other before finishing them off... expect none of them can follow the plan.

Izuku's side

Starting with the good guys, I wouldn't change much from the story. The plan to separate the bad guys is awesome and the hiccups along the way keep things interesting. Izuku would still want to save Tenko, but from himself/Tomura this time and stop his need for destruction without ending his life. He wants to keep the peace, like All Might wanted before him, even if that means leaving the system corrupted for some time. Peace before equity in a way, which, yeah, suits his character.

I will however REFUSE TO ACCEPT that Inasa teams up with Endeavor! Don't tell me this man didn't watch Dabi's revelation and gloated about "being right all along", c'mon!

Also, listen... Let's keep Bakugo's death impactful here. No magical ninja technique we never heard about. It's super sad cause he had finally realized he had to stop being so lame, but war's a b- after all.

League of Villains' side

Basically, I want true chaos out there, and not just "I pretended to be dead/incapacitated but sikes!" plotwists and I feel adding LOV as its own faction would achieve that, mostly cause I've been missing their dynamic this season. Gimme back the found family of weirdos already!

I see them as the most unstable team. Not because they don't care about each other (boring 🙄), but because they're unstable people fighting for a vague cause. Apart from Mr. Compress who does as he's told, which is mostly protecting the faction, they should be all over the place.

And yeah, even their reasoning for fighting should be all over the place. Shigaraki just wants to destroy everything, but Stain wants a world with more justice. It's pure anarchy, no one knows if something will be built after they tear Japan down, but they still want to make a change. They've got nothing to lose but each other, after all.

They're not even sure who their leader is. I love the idea of Tenko still being within Tomura, the person he would've been if AFO hadn't taken him in. Tomura, raised to destroy and Tenko, who just wants human connection. I think if he's rid of AFO sooner, he'd go with both names during the fight, since he's both (so even if Star tries New Order on him, not knowing AFO isn't there, it still wouldn't work). Well, he'd go with either Shigaraki (allies) or Tenko (close allies). Tenko would still stop himself from using decay at times. I love when that quirk is unreliable!

Stain wouldn't attack, or at least try to kill, anyone he sees as a true hero, and Spinner might chose to follow his lead at any moment. Shigaraki has become a friend to him by now, not his leader. And sometimes your friends make super dumb decisions 🤷

Tōya and Himiko are unstable in the same way. They will listen to Tomura's orders... until a certain point. Himiko still resents Hawks for Jin's death and might attack him at any moment no matter which faction he's in (I'll explain later).

As for Tōya, he's just as volatile. Tomura might promise him he can personally end Endeavor once the war's over, but Tōya will obsessively fight him and Shōto if their paths meet, even if that means leaving AFO get to Tomura, or the heroes stop his leader.

In this timeline, Tōya didn't get to do his little dance (sorry, king 😔). They leave the previous war before it happens in canon. He just releases the video. Despite Endeavor wanting to make amends for what he's done, he persuades himself Dabi is lying just to hurt him and the credibility of pro-heroes. We know the commission lie to the civilians to keep them from questioning their decisions, the pro-heroes would go with the story that Dabi made it all up so Endeavor can stay #1 hero until peace is reestablished. It's not a "let's pretend it never happened 'cause Endie said he was sorry 🥺" but a "even though Endeavor is sorry, and even if Dabi says the truth, the heroes need the support of the civilians rn, no matter what." I would've liked that kind of reasoning better then 🤷 well he's sorry so 🤷.

Even though Tomura just wants to destroy it all, teaming up with Stain and the Liberation Front means many hope something else will be built from the ashes, a better society, so whatever horrible thing that happened to (almost) everyone in the faction never happens again. This is the reason why people like Hawks are tempted to join LOV's faction, they're tired of the status quo (especially with Endeavor still "in commands") and are optimistic that this revolution won't be total destruction, but the dawn of a new age.

All for One's side

I wouldn't change much either. The whole "I have so many plans in my mind I cannot fail" is interesting. I wasn't a big fan of him not dying out of nowhere, but with the explanation it makes sense, risking to rewind himself to death is bold though. I love it!

BUT! It feels weird to me that OTHER nations chose to join AFO's side and their no mention of the Japanese government in all this. Is there still an emperor is this universe? No one in the police force is like: "maybe if I join his side now, my family will be spared" ? What I mean is: let Japan be corrupted as well! Let the heroes' plans fail because they trusted everyone on their side to be as fearless as they are of AFO! Let "being a hero" mean more than using a quirk (or a quirked mecha-suit) to fight off bad guys!

The ones in-between

Again, I want chaos! BNHA keeps talking about the gray areas, so I want some people caught in-between factions.

- Kurogiri: Tomura isn't on AFO's side anymore, but Kurogiri still has the directive to protect him WHILE obeying to AFO. In this timeline, both AFO and LOV want to free him (AFO to control the nomu, Tomura to steal his quirk cause they know Kurogiri cannot be fully trusted). AFO gets the information on Kurogiri's location thanks to corrupted people, and breaks him free. He tries to send him to retrieve Tomura, but Kurogiri still wants to protect him and wrap him away from AFO. He's pretty much caught in between them both. I want Kurogiri's quirk to be almost overused by AFO commanding him and Kurogiri trying to protect LOV by switching their location.

-Hawks: Hawks didn't support Endeavor in this timeline and starts to see the similarities between himself and the members of LOV, finally realizing through their files and Endeavor's reveal that they could've been him if they had "better luck", he could've been one of them if one moment had turned out differently so many years ago. He stops wanting to be a hero as the word has lost its meaning after losing his idol. He relates to this wish for freedom and the possible better future with siding with LOV, but he's not so sure about fighting his former colleagues. He mostly protects everyone from AFO and his allies, while trying to maintain his double alliance. Buuut mostly, I want Himiko to just decide to fight him at some point, especially if Hawks has sided with them at that moment 😌

- Chiraki: I didn't like how Chiraki was brought back. It doesn't bring much to the story. It might be an unpopular opinion, but if Endeavor gets a redemption arc, what stops Chiraki from TRYING to get one? AFO uses Chiraki to toy with Tomura, giving him quirks, but Chiraki wants to make amends with his father and respect his rules to stay away from villainy. He might join the good guys to respect this wish. Let's just keep Eri away from all this, please.

Conclusion

Tbh, with this 3 factions idea, I wouldn't even mind the heroes winning and keeping the status quo for a while for the sake of peace, with slow gradual changes hinted in the final chapter. LOV would lose cause they're their usual chaotic selves missing a sense of direction, not because they "don't love each other the normal way". I wouldn't even mind them to not survive the war, if they can go out together, on their terms.

So yeah, anyway, really want to write this fix-it fic now from LOV's pov 😌

[xoxo-ren-xoxo]

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE GRUMBO MONSTER AU AGAIN??? OH BOY I SURE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT!

Is there anything you want to share about the AU that people haven't asked yet? Like certain events or details mayhaps?

If not what got you thinking about it again? Was it a certain scene? The Dynamic? Or did the brain chemicals just decide it was time to refocus on it?

hello hello :3 hehe ok good question! my answer ended up being long so more under the cut

I don't think I've talked very much about Xisuma and "Evil" Xisuma yet, though they are somewhat important characters. I've mentioned that Xisuma runs a human safe zone, which Mumbo eventually finds and lives in for a while.

Grian doesn't join the little survivor's camp for the first few weeks, but eventually he puts together a convincing human form and joins. Mumbo is happier living with humans, and Grian can live with the pain of staying in a human form unnaturally if it makes Mumbo happy. There are signs everywhere explaining how to spot an 'outsider', how to kill one, how to avoid being killed by one, etc.

The humans at the camp are mostly mutated themselves. Mumbo seemingly avoided the strange refraction of genetic material that hit every other human. Some have small differences - strange eyes, clawed hands, basic and complex disabilities - while others are more deeply changed, their genetics scrambled. Xisuma himself can no longer breathe in an earthly atmosphere, requiring a mask to help him. Despite any and all changes, the survivors still call themselves human. Pure. Different from the monsters.

Mumbo talks to Xisuma about outsiders - suggesting that maybe they aren't so bad - but Xisuma is very adamant that the monsters are murderous, evil beings. He says he was almost killed by one, and it took his form in order to hurt the people he cared about. The unnatural thing escaped into the wild before Xisuma could kill it, and it's probably still out there roaming. He won't let a monster get the best of him again.

Things are alright, for a while. Grian lets his form change very rarely, when he is sure there are no cameras or people watching. Mumbo seems calmer in a familiar environment, like he can almost pretend everything is normal and okay again. Grian sometimes gets frustrated with this. Nothing is normal. They've both been forced into the apocalypse. How come Mumbo gets to act like this is okay?

Of course, eventually, Grian is found out. It's very dramatic. An angry mob of humans surround him as his form shifts and changes. They go after him with weapons and fire and back him into a corner. Mumbo tries to reason with the crowd, but isn't listened to. Grian gets hurt.

Mumbo pushes through the crowded bodies, pushing them aside with as much force as he can muster. He can't let Grian die. Not for his sake. Not because of him. Heart pounding in his chest, he gets between Grian and the mob.

The deal takes a lot of shouting and pleading to work out. A lot of force. The crowd is disgusted at Mumbo's affection for Grian, holding him and shielding him with his smaller, human body. But, by some miracle, or perhaps an appeal to Xisuma's need to find out more about the monsters, he manages to calm the people enough to agree to keeping Grian alive.

Imprisoned and studied, but alive.

(yeah, that doesn't last long. soon grian and mumbo escape the place and head into the destroyed city - this is where they finally run into cub and scar, and then, later... a certain 'evil' xisuma)

---

To answer your other question - I was listening to some music and some songs really reminded me of the AU. I thought I should return to it :3

[leejenowrld]

what is bty about? i followed you a bit ago for another fic but i always see all the asks about bty and it sounds like a VERY detailed and developed story but i dont think i even have the attention span to read it all 😭 i think i might tho!

back to you (bty) is honestly such a beast of a story, but i swear it’s worth every minute you spend in it. i do recommend reading the first fic in the universe ‘love me back’ first, it’s mark lee’s story, i’ll get into that at the end, back to back to you: the quick answer: it’s a deeply layered, high-stakes, insanely emotional and detailed fic about jeno and y/n (and their chaotic, gorgeous, messy circle of friends), where love, rivalry, ambition, and betrayal are all tangled together through college and beyond. at its heart, it’s about soulmates who break apart, destroy each other, and slowly fight their way back—messy, flawed, sexy, healing, real. every character has depth, secrets, and a whole life, and every romance (there are a lot of ships and entanglements) feels like its own universe.

you can just read the actual synopsis too if you want (i have a masterlist for everything! the links are below the paras in this post) and yeah, it is long—no hiding that. but there’s a reason it has so many lovers: on average, i get over 100 asks a week about it, there’s a whole discord channel where people literally lose their minds, and i’ve made some of my closest friends through sharing and discussing this fic. people constantly tell me it’s the best story they’ve ever read, that they got lost in it, cried real tears, smiled, blushed, and laughed out loud. it’s hard, sometimes dark, very sexual, and unafraid of pain or vulnerability, but it’s also full of hope and found family. honestly, the world is so developed—through the writing, the behind-the-scenes posts, the answered asks, even all the in-universe references—that it’s easy to sink in and feel like you’re living right alongside them. the best part is, people say it’s changed their lives, that it gave them comfort or company, that the characters felt real in ways nothing else did. i get the most incredible, emotional love letters about it. so i say: go for it! just start. it never feels as long as it looks—people always tell me they end up reading way more in a sitting than they planned because the world is that immersive. and if you ever want to chat or scream or sob about it, you’ll always have company, i promise.

back to you (and the whole “love and games” universe, including love me back) really started as a love letter to the feeling i got from one tree hill. a lot of my earliest inspiration came straight from that show: the intense sibling dynamics, the generational friendships, the way basketball and small-town drama shape so much of the story, and all the messy, tangled, beautiful love stories that unfold across years. if you’ve ever loved the brothers, the rivalries, and the sense that the basketball court is the heartbeat of a whole community—that’s the kind of energy you’ll find in lmb and bty.

if you’re a little intimidated by the sheer size or intensity of back to you, there’s a perfect companion fic set in the same universe called love me back (lmb)—and i always recommend starting there if you want something a bit lighter or more direct to ease you in. love me back is mark and areum’s story, and while it still has all the emotional depth and detailed worldbuilding (plus plenty of the familiar faces and easter eggs and clues for back to you, as i write lmb first), it’s definitely shorter, softer, and a bit less chaotic. think: childhood friends to lovers, healing from grief, lots of slow-burn yearning, comfort, and the sweetest family moments as they grow up and build their own safe little world. people always tell me it’s more straightforward, easier to binge, and leaves you feeling warm and hopeful by the end, even when it gets tough. so if you want the full experience, start with love me back—it gives you all the background on the found family, the roots of the friend group, and introduces you to a gentler, more everyday side of the universe before you dive into the rollercoaster of back to you. i always say: together, the fics make each other stronger, and the emotional payoffs hit even harder. and don’t worry, i have masterlists and plenty of navigation help if you want to jump between them or just get the highlights!

love and games universe

love me back

back to you

[nalyra-dreaming]

aah, I wish Jacob had been allowed to talk more about 'truth and falsehood' on the show. I know he was never gonna give specific spoilers, but it seems some fans are still in denial about Louis being an unreliable narrator at all. The fact that these kinds of discussions were happening behind the scenes suggests the cast knew from day 1 that something about season 1's narrative was false or misleading, they just didn't know exactly what.

Yeah.... I saw some posts around^^. (And the podcast host also pointed out that Louis was an unreliable narrator...)

I mean, it kinda feels like some kind of "gag order" has dropped away, because Jacob (and Sam) have been very blunt about that (and the Loustat relationship) in the last few interviews, but actually the fact that they all were discussing (and therefore knowing) what was true, and not is, actually, nothing new:

"Whenever I talked about something that Louis had said or that was in the script, because this show is Louis’ recollection of events, Sam would just be like, “Lie. Lie. That’s a lie. Did that happen? Is it real? Didn’t happen that way.” Very unhelpful for my preparation. [Laughs] I got really icy about it a few times. “I don’t want hear this. I have to believe something is true.” It’s nice be able to believe what you’re saying."

That's from October '22.

So the fact that he is, in fact, an unreliable narrator (or misremembers) and the reason why he changes some things stands in the room with him...

Like, if you watched the first season, and heard Daniel calling bullshit again and again, and saw him literally destroy the narrative of the last part and did not get any of the hints that are strewn throughout the show... then you simply haven't been paying attention.

And I know, there's so many layers. So many other - important! - stuff to focus on. Racial conflicts, patriarchy, power dynamics, cheating. The list goes on. But ultimately... this will be their - Lestat's and Louis' - love story, and this has been re-iterated in these last interviews, as well as that they're following the books, and... well.

POV changes, revisits and changes of perspective (and being called out for lying, too) are part of the books.

It's just that some fans don't want to apply this to Louis, for representative reasons I believe.

But... as Jacob put it so nicely in one of the last interviews:

"Something that can get misunderstood about representation is that all representation has to be good representation. It's important actually that we don't show a queer couple as a monolith or a Black character as a monolithic thing. I love that the show is willing to explore the multitudes of that relationship."

A lot of fans don't want to see the "bad" in Louis, or Claudia for that matter (and I use "bad" here very loosely, because there are no "bad", or, for that matter, "good" vampires in the chronicles). The hate I've gotten for pointing out weaknesses or simply flaws in the narrative, or when their behavior didn't make sense to me - or when I interpreted it differently in the light of later books... was off the charts at times. And I fear a lot of people will have a very hard time with the shifts that will come in soon.

But... they've been hinting at that since the beginning. And yes, they've obviously known, too. (And I would argue they would have needed to know which scenes would be revisited - and, honestly, Jacob's comment above does hint at that, imho.)

[yakuzabrainrotlive]

Did start Yakuza 5 yesterday! I played for 6 hours, had a BLAST. Finished chapter 1 and got a good amount of time put into chapter 2. I enjoyed going around town, grinding and doing side content. Had to gather my thoughts so posts had to come later. Yes, this is a two-parter.

My stats at the end of my little session:

Some thoughts below! I made NOTES for myself on characters and such this time around. This post is gonna be more plot and character speculation-focused; the next post will be more about gameplay mechanics, side content, general thoughts etc.!

Small-ish rant/monologue about protagonist numbers in the last section, though. Could have gone into part 2, but wanted it off my chest asap lmao

This title screen is sooooo not ominous!! I did not shiver in fear of what's to come when I saw it!! I'm sure Kiryu will be having a BLAST this game!

....🥲😭

SO! We're in 2012. Two years, huh. Seems like everything has kinda gone the opposite way from my wishes after the end of Y4, especially in regards to Kiryu.. or should I say, Suzuki's character. I really wanna know what happened in these past years to make him run away like this. He seems MISERABLE!! I feel bad for him😭

Daigo infodumping to Kiryu about Tojo business while Kiryu was just trying to get his paycheck was kind of funny to me, not gonna lie. But also kind of sad. Kiryu seems to be trying even harder to cut off anything Tojo from his life, even as Daigo was trying to reach out. I'm so curious about this time skip era!! Give me the tea!!

Okay. I was kinda assuming Morning Glory was gonna be left behind or kind of in the background (based on Kiryu's outfit), but... Haruka as well, huh. That's. Yeah. And he (debatably) hasn't straight up just abandoned them 100%, he's putting SIGNIFICANT and harsh distance between himself and the people he cares for. Ouch. Feels eerily similar to what he did in Y0 with Nishiki, Kazama, Reina and Kashiwagi.

This is all very... drastic. Changing his name, moving away and leaving EVERYONE behind? Including Haruka? This is exactly the opposite of what Kiryu was vowing to himself, to Daigo and even to Saejima in a way back in Y4. Either the writers changed their minds about his arc or something is off. I'm dreading finding out which one it is. Currently I feel like he's either actively in major danger right now, and hence decided to resort to such measures, OR something happened that he blames himself for.

I love Nakajima. He's so good! In general as a person (at least it seems that way) AND to Kiryu. Which probably means he's gonna die. RIP in advance, King🫡🫡

This dynamic is either gonna be absolutely insufferable, or maybe kind of okay. I have no predictions on how this will turn out, I was completely wrong about Kiryu's possible character arc in this game so... idk. Kiryu has blindsided me. But for now I don't think this will become a romance.

What I find interesting is the tidbit Nakajima gave about the situation where Kiryu saved her, where Nakajima also met him for the first time - Kiryu was getting DESTROYED in a fight. Kiryu, destroyer of whole clans, the one-man army, getting his shit kicked in by random local yakuza? Was he trying to refrain from using any sort of violence (even in self-defence??), or... was he recovering from significant injuries he got before the fight?

Now, I'm just assuming, based on Mayumi's character profile section and Nakajima's description of the woman Kiryu saved (she was very pretty) that Mayumi IS the woman Kiryu was defending when Nakajima first met him. I'm quite sure it was her.

What I wouldn't give to hear his thoughts in this scene... I was very conflicted the whole time; on one hand I wanted to SHAKE Kiryu and side with the Tojo guys. Why abandon Daigo? I understand it's probably just so he doesn't get stuck in another Tojo mess, but... it's Daigo!! Come on!! But I can also see that Kiryu feels... guilty?? Conflicted?? There was a storm of EMOTIONS brewing in his eyes. What a mess. He clearly doesn't like the situation but he also really wants NOTHING to do with it.

Kinda off topic, but massive props to those two for taking Kiryu on so boldly despite knowing who he is (was? I have no idea). They are Tojo men, they've heard the stories. Yet, they still tried. The balls on these guys!!

As for the man of the hour... Daigo. MIA - conveniently right before this alliance (opposed by some important people) gets to fully come to fruition, as the current leader of the Kansai group is dying soon🤔

I feel as though Daigo knew something would happen. He sought Kiryu out and was quite insistent to talk to him. At the beginning of the game I found the lore dump he dropped on Kiryu's unwilling mind weird and almost amusing, but looking back on it now... it almost feels like he was giving Kiryu information he'd need to solve the case if he happened to go missing. He even named possible suspects.

Why not go to a trusted clan member? They'd probably throw a hissy fit and wanna call everything off, maybe even start a new, very bloody conflict. All just because Daigo suspected something might happen to himself. This whole situation stinks.

Current theory: one, or all three, of the Kansai leader hopefuls are in cahoots with the uhhh *checks notes* Yahata(?) dude. The Yamagasa family captain. Why? To stop the alliance because they all hate the Tojo clan. They probably have Daigo locked up. Or maybe Daigo is dead already.

One final thing: was NOT thrilled to see "Part 1: Kiryu Kazuma" 😬 I was kinda hoping for a single-protag game, tbh 👉🏻👈🏻

Okay, hear me out! IF the other protag(s) is/are the Yakuza 4 lads, I'll be okay! But if there's a new guy (or, god forbid, 2 of them), I don't know if I'm gonna like that. I liked Y4 a lot, but it was also a lot to keep track of, and it felt like everyone got very little time in the spotlight - especially Kiryu and Saejima.

I'm almost suffering from... new protagonist fatigue after 4. I'm okay seeing many new side characters, but new playable characters with their own fighting styles that I have to learn, human relationships, backstories and motivations... Getting to know and to "bond with" another batch of new playable people seems like a very tiring task to get through at this point.

If we have 2+ protagonists, I want them to be from Y4 or earlier, because I already know them in a way and I'm not opposed to seeing more of them because it doesn't seem as overwhelming. I wanna see more of Saejima at least, if we HAVE to have alternating protagonists.

[it-came-autumnally]

don’t play Hundred Line. you will gain a condition known as Eito disease and it will do this to you :(

(finished Box of Blessings last week... took me a while to get around to this, but general thoughts under the cut)

Got the endings in the following order: 027, 028, 030, 029, 026, 025, 032, 031. Um. I’m very glad I got 27/28 first and 31/32 last.

Overall: kind of interesting route? I’m glad I ended up getting this one kind of early (this is my 2nd set of routes), because in many ways it felt like it was teasing you about plot threads that’ll get expanded on in other parts of the game. While I don’t think any of the endings were all that satisfying (even the “happiest” ones are kind of empty)… I have to concede that it may be the point?

If there was one unifying thread in this route, I’d say it was probably the idea of “finding purpose”. I mean, Hiruko basically blatantly says that the search for the Box of Blessings is to give the SDU an additional focus once they blow up V’ehxness, and it’s especially applicable to Kako, Ima, Shouma, and……… sigh……. theoretically Gaku. But it especially clicks into place on the 31/32 branch, with the secret documents and Eito’s resulting fate.

Probably my favorite bit about this route is how it took the time to show you the planet Futurum, and how it had been ravaged as a result of the war. An empty house belonging to a fallen commander; a ruined hospital; an art gallery showcasing a planet landscape that can never be seen again -- all of it is truly grim and tragic, and to add insult to injury, the SDU only goes to these places to ransack them.

There's also this idea of their lives being nothing more than tools -- nothing more than weapons -- nothing more than just being sentient bombs. And like... that's extremely harrowing. For Kyoshika, that's literally what she becomes as a result of the sacrifice decision required to get onto this set of endings, but at least her death had an additional consequence of allowing for Nozomi and Kurara to reconcile. But for the rest of them... is there really any meaning to be found in fighting for a war they barely know anything about, to destroy a planet that's not theirs? The problem with "finding purpose" in a situation like this is basically that any meaning found will naturally be a little bit empty.

As for some more ending/branch specific thoughts:

027 / 028 : the “Gaku” branch

full disclosure: I already did not care that much about Gaku. But when I noticed that he was getting scenes focused on him (like the campfire scene with Takumi) I wanted to at least give him a chance.

…after ending 027, I’m afraid my stance has not changed. I still do not care about Gaku, and he’s firmly my least favorite character at this point. The thing that frustrated me the most is that he doesn't change? I understand what they were going for: someone who is insecure in how the people around him perceive him. That's a very relatable struggle!!! But by concluding his arc by having him make a wish that changes how other people see him -- not by his own merit, but by a magical blessing? Come on man :/ he just falls flat for me personally, sorry

In comparison, 028 is funny; like yeah Takumi basically gets tripped by Eito and fails because he “didn’t trust Gaku” or whatever but I mean it’s a little comical how he jumps in at the last second and walks away with all the boxes

^ like this CG is so funny to me. Eito you look like you're about to deliver some food to someone why are you making that evil face LMAO. It's also a little funny that in this branch, V'ehxness sees Eito as like a cowardly little bug more than anything, which means she doesn't even get to see him double cross her when he ultimately takes the boxes for himself. It's also fascinating to see how their dynamic shifts in the other branches but I think I may save that for a different post

029 / 030 : the “Shouma” branch

after the previous two endings I decided to go back and see what happens if you decide to stay at the school on the “defense team”, because the first branch was so exploration heavy. It was a little funny to realize that they quickly just make you the new exploration team again LOL. This route certainly had a formula to it with the start the search -> make a bit of progress -> eito runs away -> search -> realize that v'ehxness is still alive -> search -> meet dahl'xia -> search -> fight dahl'xia -> search and encounter with eito -> final boss. I didn't hate it, but coming from the Killing Game route and how the decisions are structured in comparison it was interesting to see how the different writers for this game approached the idea of multiple endings

In comparison to Gaku, I admit that I had more patience for Shouma -- his self-depreciation is a bit much but I think his empathy is a much needed counterbalance for this cast, especially given the information that they learn in this route.

(I should have taken a screenshot of the log rather than each screenshot but... alas. I am too lazy to go back now.)

The last bit here especially.... as Takumi himself notes, averting their eyes from the truth is the easier path but it is the cowardly one. It may make it easier to continue doing their duty, but especially given that they now know that THEY are the true invaders? It’s good that at least someone is pointing out that it doesn't quite seem right to continue on as they had before. The SDU don't have the moral righteousness they assumed they did, and even when searching for the boxes to stop the war, they still have to continue killing and stealing to attain those boxes.

The "we're not so different, you and I" exchange that Eito and Shouma have is a little cheesy, but it's neat that this is reinforced by the fact that their fates are basically tied in this branch (where V'exhness will absorb Eito in the route where Shouma sacrifices himself, while in the other one he instead shows up for the boss fight but gets spared). also it was nice to see Eito actually show up again as a boss, even if he got taken out by two uses of Azure Blitz (lol. lmao even)

Ending wise I guess I don't have a whole lot to say? The endings are both really vague and open-ended, but hey. At least Shouma gets some time to shine, even if he dies in one of them.

025 / 026 : the “Kako” branch

The thing that I was honestly most excited about for this route was how it seemed to start off by focusing on the twins; and honestly? If this route was entirely about them I wouldn't have complained -- honestly, if anything, I kind of wanted more of them.

Part of the tragedy of turning back the clock is that any growth these kids make gets undone; in the case of the twins, at least they're both alive, but the strides towards independence they both made in route 0 have been reversed. But the one thing is that Takumi tells them that they have the capacity to change. They don't have to stay codependent forever, and in this route, it's Kako who takes the first step towards that growth, even if the step she takes is a little drastic.

Early on in the route, Kako does correctly identify that her brother ties his identity to her, but she misunderstands one minor thing: she does not exist in Ima's shadow. Ima is her shadow. Because while she has her own hopes and aspirations, Ima truly has no purpose beyond being a tool for his sister, and doesn't see.

There's this scene on the bus, where she points it out again. Admittedly none of these scenes are exclusive to the "Kako" branch (which is what I'm calling the set of endings where you choose to go with the "girls" team in the penultimate choice) but it felt most apt to include them here, in the context of the later end of the route, where you go with Kako, Hiruko, and Tsubasa. By the end, Kako has proven herself to be capable of operating without her brother

I almost wish we did more with the set up for the twins? Kako does manage to "prove herself" by being so instrumental in the search for the boxes,

^ This also gets replayed in basically every ending in this route but. It's really something that the purpose Ima gives himself is to extend himself into being a tool for everyone in the SDU, not just his sister. And while that technically fulfills the criteria of him giving Kako some space, he's still not at the point where he can really say he's grown into his own person like Kako has.

This being the only branch where you get to open the boxes at all is kind of interesting? But the choice itself is a little silly because Takumi can't count in the "wrong" option.

Aside from my minor annoyance here of Takumi only opening 6 boxes (like.... he knows there's 7 boxes of blessings. they've been told his) I will again admit: it's so funny that Eito shows up at the last second just to stab him. He didn't have to do that!!! Takumi probably would have either died or killed himself anyway!!! But Eito still finds a reason to get involved anyway. Ok king

There's also the obvious irony of when you do succeed, and Darumi talks about wanting a killing game -- well, Darumi, we kind of did have everyone kill each other but you were still dead in that route. Sorry queen (admittedly she would have been doubly dead if she had been revived)

031 / 032 : the “hey wait wdym Eito kills himself” branch

And the last two endings. Because truly, what do you mean. this caught me so off guard. Having already gotten 6 of the endings by the time I got to this branch, I had basically expected Eito to act somewhat similarly this time around — but nope. The primary difference is that we read those documents from those human researchers, and so does he!

But for him to react like this.... just how much deeper does the truth go? What Takumi and co found in the art gallery did vaguely hint at them all being created solely for the purpose of being soldiers, and that even their search for the Boxes of Blessing could have been pre-programmed into them, but even if Eito hates humanity so much, surely there could have been other ways to defy his fate. But alas, the tragedy here is that they won't know.

This branch also has slightly different dialogue during the final V'ehxness fight, where the rest of them all presume she's gone a little mad. I wasn't too sure what to make of it given the additional context of this only occuring on this branch in particular but also I was a tad bit checked out by having to skip through all the boss fight dialogue again

Concluding Thoughts :

Coming back to why I don’t mind the endings being kind of empty:

Clearly the game is punishing the player for killing Eva. From the one “Kill Eito” route that I’ve played, it was apparent that the narrative favors certain choices over others; you can do XYZ thing, but you should be prepared to suffer for it. And in this case you do! If you kill Eva, you kill someone who is defenseless* and begging for mercy — even in route 0, when you can’t talk with her, you don’t do that. You can argue that it’s avoid having the whole situation with Ima getting fused happen again, except this time: 1) Eito is jailed and 2) Eito is jailed!!! You decided to keep Eito alive despite his capacity for murder and betrayal; why is your choice any different for Eva? Because she’s an “invader”? Kako may be the one to kill her, but Takumi is the one who makes the call. I haven’t seen how the ramifications of this come into play for Box of Calamity yet, but the decision to kill is misguided and made as a result of incomplete information. And the route points this out. It’s why majority of the endings here basically end with “we aim to do better in the future” because even with the power of a miracle, can you really undo all the damage that humanity has done?

What I do mind a little bit more is how this route did seem to need an additional revision or something; there’s just a few tiny continuity errors and while that’s honestly forgivable given how big this game is it kind of made me go “huh?” every time one of them showed up.

Early on in the route, Takumi calls out to Hiruko despite her not being in the scene and him having no reason to mistake her for the old man

In one of the branches, Takumi somehow knows who Dahl’xia is despite it being their first encounter?

Ending 026 has Takumi open boxes that are coincidentally, odd AND prime. This is objectively really easy to fix -- just include a box numbered with either 9 or 15. Combined with the fact that Takumi only opens 6 boxes in this ending, it feels a little silly that it goes against the pre-established rules of the boxes.

There's also a mislabeled choice in the flowchart in the 029/030/031/032 branch

Really I am kind of just nitpicking here, and since I haven't updated my switch in a while it's possible some of this has been patched as well. It’s not as though I hated this route or anything; I still found a way to have fun despite it being so repetitive (both gameplay and narrative wise. I get why the constant story-mandated expeditions may annoy people but this route really did feel like it was about the journey) because having the chance to actually learn and see more about the planet this early on in my playthrough was nice. And even though it was kind of something that happened by complete chance, I think the order I got the endings in really helped my opinion from being overly negative: Gaku’s Harem ending is by far the worst thing in this route, but immediately getting the Eito CG right after where he just takes the boxes away was so funny to me that it avoided souring me too much. Similarly, I'm glad I ended up doing the 31/32 branch last; it shook up the formula that I was expecting from the previous branches and finally gave some new lore even though the endings themselves felt too similar to each other and were relatively unsatisfying. Knowing that I still have like more than 80 endings to go, however — I’m not terribly bothered, and I trust that the game will go more into detail about the things later.

[demonsofoda]

"To create something new, you must destroy." - Nobunaga Oda

An original/canon multi-muse rp blog for Jujutsu Kaisen and other fandoms, focusing on action, adventure, and dark themes within the supernatural and shonen genre. Multifandom. ( not limited to Wind Breaker, Devil May Cry, and Sengoku Basara )

Featuring Rioto Kirin & his shikigami Miryu ( Read )

His gang ( Demons of Oda )

Canon Muses ( Members of Oda AU) Verses

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All written and protrayed by Dani/Deamon, 25+

blogroll: @chunibyo-x-sorcerer ,@demon-blood-youths

If you don't like reading google docs, check out the carrd

Please read rules Under read more

Hi everyone! This is Dani, mun of this blog. I am 25+ old.

So here are the rules

No hate or drama – I don’t follow people who stir up either.

I usually follow back when it’s a fellow RP blog.

I do not rp smut with Minor RPERS ( That is illegal )

Warning: My activity is active. So active that I rp a lot! Like a lot! So I post replies within minutes or seconds with mutuals whose also active. So if that bothers you, that's okay! But if you want to interact but don't want to follow if you want to keep your dash clean, please let me know! I am aware that some rpers want to keep their dashes clean and it's completely understandable. Heck, shoot me an ask if you want to interact even if we aren't mutual due to that specific reason!

I don’t mind OCs or any fandom, but if it’s a fandom I don’t know about then I might send you an ask so you can help me fill in what the fandom is about if it’s confusing. It will help us both! Or maybe surprise me!

As for OCs! I love OCS. After all, I am rping OC. That said, I don’t mind characters that seem like “sues”. So if you're a rper who is worried about your OC being 'sue', please let me know so I can help out. After all, I know the feeling when starting out as OC rper. I think building an OC is a starting point, what they need is a journey. By 'journey' I mean by threads to see how your OC reacts with their surroundings and the world in general. I believe it's a good way to build character development. OCs never stay what they are at the beginning. They grow. After all, OCs are like our babies, right?

That said, if the several threads, I can’t follow you or RP with you any longer if it's not working out. Things like pushing your OC muses on me for smut and such without no build is a no-go.

Godmodding is not permitted. I won’t do it, so don’t please do it either.

When it comes to combat roleplaying or fighting rps, I prefer to plot it out (especially in a fight scene) before your muse does anything to mine ( like who wins or loses or ending in a draw or the fight is interrupted by external factors). I treat fighting rps as a way to develop the dynamics and realtionships between our muses. It can be palatonic, rivalary or romantic. Therefore, fighting is for fun if you want to practice. It's okay to mess up!

As for the font sizes, I can change the font size to match your writing style in a thread if you wish. If my font or format is hard to read or the opposite, just ask! But I do not do fancy fonts or anything complicated. I believe in legibility.

I have some trouble with my grammar, but if we’re writing together, I invite you to correct it. Sometimes I get overly excited and write as fast as I think and even after double-checking, I might miss a few things like typos or a few grammatical errors. My apologies and please let me know if I have a typo or is there anything confusing to you, I make sure to fix it right away. On one side, I am forgiving towards grammar errors. Most rpers here want to practice their writing, yeah? To me, it's not a big deal as long as I understand what you're saying.

Please message me or inbox me if you have ideas for plotting. I love plotting threads and planning them.

If I made a mistake in the thread, or if the reply is at all confusing, please! Just PLEASE tell me in IM or ask and I can fix it! If there’s a need for any clarification, please ask me and I will answer right away.

I might not get to every one of my threads every single day. I am sorry for any delay, but I can’t write if I’m stuck and I can’t write if I’m pressured. I won’t pressure you, so please don’t pressure me. This should be fun, right?

I create supporting characters or NPCs ( characters that are part of the story thread to move the plot along, like think of it as a mission or case.). If you need clarification, please hit me up.

As an artist, I draw my own icons! This includes members of Oda. Please, please, please do not take them without permission. I put a lot of effort into them by drawing these characters.

------ Now that's for general rules, now let's move to these rules for the blog. If you gotten here so far, thank you so much for reading! You're almost there!

Interacting with Demons of Oda

I love fighting and serious rp, as well as crack! So I’m flexible!

I have no qualms about writing problematic and dark themes. I mean this is JJK, right? Things get crazy.

The canon characters presented on this list are part of AU I developed ( they are members of Oda ) so they're canon divergent. Their personalities are the same but they have reasons for joining Oda. But do not fret, I can also rp them in their canon timelines!

I don’t mind RPing action, gore, dark or anything! (romance is rare)

Speaking of romance, romantic relationships are rare for me. If you request one, it needs chemistry and time between our muses ( it can be slow burn or throughout multiple threads or it can be pre-established if the vibes are right) especially if they have incredible dynamics. I don’t like when relationships between our muses don’t develop and go straight to romantic without any reason. I do not mind if your muse wants to date my muses but you must ask and see what we can do from there. I recommend a good story with a reasonable plot ( doesn't have to be complicated, it can be a small prompt ) that can possibly build up a romantic relationship between them over time. That said, I have the right to disapprove if I feel if it doesn’t work out.

As for other ships, I mostly prefer platonic, rivalry, mentorship, friendship, enemies, frenemies, dependence, familial, sisterhood, brotherhood, and bonding. Again, romance is rare for me but I’m not against it, it just needs development between our muses to get there. Heck, it develops from one ship to that one. I will be so happy to do that!

That said, I do not ship adults with minor muses in romance ships.

You have  FULL permission for your muses to hit mine, if they do something stupid or says the dumbest things. It is allowed and encouraged. Sometimes most of them need to be humble ( especially Rioto, Hayato and Sakura ) and it’s a way to pull the reins on them if they does something crazy that is dangerous. So if your muse has the urge to smack them upside the head or bonk him because they does or says something stupid, please feel free. 

Also one more thing! I can also rp canon characters from other series on this blog ( Jujutsu Kaisen, Wind Breaker, Mob Psycho 100 and a few obscure series. ) however these muses are canon-divergent as they are part of AU called Oda Members meaning they are members of Oda due to certain circumstances but doesn't mess with the canon timeline. I made sure to rp them as close to their canon as possible.

[thesilverlady]

Judging by how Ryan love to show his feminist ideals by making female characters go through unspeakable amount of non-canon abuse and violence. And the only way for Rhaenyra's story to be a progressive/feminist tale is by making her get abused by the men around her. I am going to assume it's wouldn't be that far for Ryan to change Rhae's death and makes her gets raped in 4k scene by aegon (who should be disabled but we know Ryan loves to ignore source material) like show Rhaenyra's got zero respect from the writers. Like even her relationship with Daemon which wasn't healthy in the book to begin with , is now not really about her but because Daemon got the hots for Viserys (some leaks implies it for Aemma) he started projecting into her and entered a relationship with her bc it's the closest he can get to Visussy 🤓 f&b was already bad for me personally but Ryan is such a talented mf he managed to come up with much worse

*sorry for the rant I don't really ship daemrya but I really hate watching a female character get non-canon abuse just for the writers to prove a point about a male character *

Edit: My answer became very negative so for the pookies who want to avoid discourse and negativity pls scroll past ♥

it's alright! no need to apologize! 🫶

tbh with you I do enjoy daemyra very much in the book but I fully acknowledge their dynamic has its toxicity (tbf it's super rare to find a wholesome, sweet, "healthy" asoiaf couple and I probably wouldn't even get that hooked compared to how I get with the dark ones)

That being said, the couple lost me already by s1 ep4, so it terms of shipping I've given up waiting anything from them

Now about the writing, hotd has been misogynistic from the start so I'm not exactly waiting for a transformation to happen in s2.

in s1 Alicent’s character was rewritten - in such a way that the new version of her doesn't even experience a moment of happiness or a second of having autonomy or power. She's always someone's punching bag while also her being hypocritical and nasty to Rhaenyra

Laena's way of death was completely unnecessary and brutal, similiar to Aemma's. And the fact they made getting burnt alive being "a dragon rider's death" already gave a hint about how Rhaenyra's death will be seen if it follows canon.

asoiaf established how brutal dragon fire is when Rhaegal bathed Quentyn after he tried to tame Viserion. It's not "honorable" as hotd tries to make it be, it's torturous. And my concern with Rhaenyra's death is that it won't be seen for its brutality.

To continue Baela & Rhaena were barely given any lines, their role as kids was getting dismissed but their dad and as adults they were just standing silently - you'd think they were background characters.

Mysaria's character was brushed off by erasing the child loss she went through due to Viserys - which debatably worked as a trigger for the events she also did in the plot.

Rhaenys was downright written as an idiot who was envious of Rhaenyra and instead of supporting her, she was trying to "humble" her by being an asshole. When she got the opportunity to destroy the greens during the coronation she walked away because.... *check notes" she made eye contact with alicent and the power of motherhood won? her granddaughters being engaged wasn't enough for her to act I guess.

Then there's Helaena, who while she did have an extremely tiny role in the book, it doesn't justify making her extra passive. I've talked about this before but making her having "dragon dreams" is useless and a waste of time and it's also a great excuse to have her be dismissed and ignored.

Helaena in the book was said to be pleasant, motherly, patient and calm. I won't mention the leaks I've read about b&c but if they're true they paint her in a very weird light.

Rhaenyra deserves an entire post of her own. If alicent was the punching bad Rhaenyra is the bing bong boll being tosses from one person to another each second.

So yeah, the issue isn't about shipping or even which teams anyone sides with. The writing is atrocious to all the female characters, and what's the cherry on top is the showrunners constantly patting themselves in the back for being "feminist" and GA falls for it!

I'm so burnt out 😩 This is why I've decided to attempt turn off the media analysis for the show 'cause it's like kicking a dead horse. My goal for this season is to try to vent less and enjoy whatever I can put of context without thinking too hard about it.

[toon-tales]

What’s your opinion on Clay x Viva?

It’s a cute ship but I’m quite not sure about that one, they’re more of best friends, I don’t mind if it becomes cameos but their little siblings are dating.

I don’t know if Clay actually has feelings for Viva or not, I mean he had that look during looking at Viva at the golf course, I would be wrong.

What’s your opinion on John Dory x Delta Dawn?

I don’t know why, I’m just curious. It’s fine ship but I’m not sure if they actually met each other during between 20 years because John Dory has been by himself with Rhonda. Poor my baby. :(

Do you think John Dory went grey? I would like to think he might have because he thought everyone died including his brothers. I’m pretty sure he didn’t know his brothers left because he was first one to leave so yeah.

Clay x Viva

Ok, so, I REALLY love Cliva, because, I love their dynamic, you know? We haven't seen much of them, too, so they could be best friends. Either way, I really love them as a ship

We don't know if they have feelings for each other or not, that's for sure, due to the lack of interaction (or the lack of required interaction). When you look at them, they do seem like best friends, but when you look at it from a different view, Broppy could also be seen as best friends if we hadn't gotten enough scenes; like the one time when Branch destroyed Poppy's invitation in the first movie. Some people would've seen it as a friendship, others as a ship. But we got to see more of their dynamic and interactions, making us ship them from the beginning, before it evolved into a canon ship

So maybe if we saw more of Clay and Viva, we would be able to determine their status

John Dory x Delta Dawn

One of my otp's as well-

Just like Cliva, we didn't see them interact much, or, at all. Heck, we don't even know if they know each other! But the reason I ship them is because I think they would be perfect for each other. Delta is a country troll, used to sad songs and sympathy, and John literally lived alone for years, and would need someone to understand. They're perfect (in my opinion, of course). Further more, if anyone can scare John, then I headcanon it's Delta (off-topic but I think it's cute). So if they had had met, like some like to imagine (including me), I think John left because he was scared of the responsibility of a relationship, like I imagined in my 'Perfect' fanfic, because, it makes sense! He left his brothers because they were a lot of responsibility, maybe he needed more time

But still, we don't even know whether they met or not

Now, we also don't know if John went gray or not. On one hand, he spent his life thinking his brothers are dead, and he had to live with the fact that he was the one who left in the first place. And on the other hand, his ears aren't droopy like Branch's. Floyd's are, so that made us believe he was gray at some point, but that's Floyd we're talking about, so he could also be forcing them down for his emo look (I know it sounds unrealistic, but pop trolls can change their hair color, why not their ears position? Ears sound more difficult, I know, but Floyd's colors aren't dimmed like Branch's, sooo). Same for John, maybe he's forcing his ears to stay perked up? Their ears can perk up sometimes, Branch's do when he's startled or listening to something. Like in this scene

So it's hard to tell. But let's not forget that John barely talked about his past

Okay, uh, hope you like it, Anon! Thanks for the ask, and, as usual, feel free to add or comment on anything!

[theerurishipper]

Felix and Kagami dating is way too out of the blue that Adrinette dating can't even compare. Kagami went from "You kidnapper!!" To "He's the same as me just socially inept kid!" In less than ten minutes top and I always wonder what the heck is happening. But the last scene where Felix give back Kagami's ring make me wonder if he slipped a command to make her change her mind about him. He's an oportunist thorough and thorough and also despite his claim that creating and destroying a sentimonster is cruel act, he didn't seems to have big moral flop after the red moon incident. So what's the chance he didn't do it, especially if he think it will works in some way?

Yeah like, they speed-ran enemies to lovers so quickly and both their characters suffer for it. It makes Kagami look pretty awful for siding with the guy who betrayed her friend and hurt her so badly, who is the reason their city is in danger, and Kagami goes ahead and lets Felix know her identity? What the fuck Kagami?

And I don't like how Felix is considered to be redeemed just because he's dating Kagami. He hasn't changed, he still justifies himself and doesn't apologize for the hurt he's caused Adrien and Marinette.

And literally, Kagami apparently falls in love with him a few days after he kills her mother in front of her. Sure, he brought everyone back, but he had to be talked into it, and yet she's so chill about trusting and defending him. This all also after he's just kidnapped her violently and admitted to having spent the past few days stalking her. It's played off as endearing because Marinette also does the same thing, and she just goes "you're so bad at social interactions" instead of calling Felix deranged and trying to get away from him. And apparently it just takes Felix giving one hint at a sob story and one speech about Senti-rights to convince her that everyone was wrong about him and that he never did anything wrong and that he was just misunderstood and couldn't express himself. That's some BS if I ever heard any. Kagami with the strong sense of justice who held a grudge against Adrien for not being a good boyfriend (she had the right to hold a grudge, I'm not blaming her for that, just pointing it out) just... instantly forgives Felix and defends him, and agrees with his justifications for betraying Ladybug and the people of Paris for selfish reasons? Kagami, who hates liars and manipulators, goes behind Marinette's back to reveal her identity without her consent to the last person she'd ever want knowing that information. Feligami as a ship thoroughly assassinated Kagami's character in every single aspect, and I hate what they did to my girl so much. The moment she started a relationship with Felix, her character just became so insufferable.

And Felix goes from being a wild card villain to just "sad boy uwu" the moment he meets her, and the writing just starts pretending his negative qualities, like his manipulative ways and his tendency to lie and take advantage of other people don't exist anymore. Because if they acknowledged those, then they'd have to acknowledge that Kagami "I hate liars" Tsurugi would despise him. Their personalities do not click at all, and for them to have any kind of dynamic and to speedrun their relationship, the writers wrote out their qualities that oppose and clash with the other person and just made them so OOC that it would enable them to get together in a few days. Kagami is saying shit about how Gabe and Tomoe won't allow them to "love each other freely" with her whole chest after she's known this guy for less than a week. And like, the way Kagami now just cares about her love with Felix instead of about anyone else around her, especially in the season dedicated to her friendships with others is so... bleh.

And I don't think Felix can be considered redeemed just because he's now just focusing on his obsession with this girl instead of trying to ruin his cousin's life again. All that talk about how he's doing this for Adrien and how he wants to fight for Senti-rights, and it all goes down the drain the moment he meets Kagami. Apparently, those things don't matter to him anymore, because he never mentions or speaks to Adrien ever again, outside of bringing him up as "the boy who Marinette loves." And he's perfectly okay with killing the Senti-projector, so I guess the drive to find freedom and justice for his fellow Sentimonsters was just a silly phase that he gave up on once he found a girlfriend? Okay.

And the implications! Felix just loves her because she's a Sentimonster like him, Kagami just confessed to still being in love with Adrien and he has Adrien's exact face and is similar to Adrien and Marinette (because they are both stalkers apparently). It just seems like their projecting their feelings onto the first person who seems like they meet their expectations instead of liking them for who they really are. Felix doesn't know jack shit about Kagami, and Kagami doesn't know anything about Felix other than that he's a massive jackass, and they are apparently in love less than week later? Sure Jan.

I don't think Felix used her Amok, honestly, but I also can't help but think it makes so much sense as to why Kagami does a complete 180 about him, like, she went from hating his guts to defending him against Ladybug and Chat Noir in less than a few hours. That ain't the Kagami I know, and it would make sense if she had been commanded to do so with her Amok. I used to think that Felix wouldn't do that, at least, but given how willing he was to give Adrien's free will back to Gabriel and how willing he was to kill his Senti-projector, I don't put it past him honestly. He's a massive hypocrite.

I have plenty more thoughts on these two and not enough time to write it all down, but I have written a long critique of Felix and Feligami here, if you're interested. But yeah, they suck lmao.

Thank you for your ask!

[broodwoof]

People keep insisting that Solas ‘killed Flemeth/Mythal’ in that last scene but I don’t know if that’s actually true? I feel like what happened in that scene was more ambiguous than that.

We don’t actually know how involved Flemeth/Mythal is with his plans, only that she’s deffinetely in on it. We know the because Flemeth herself insists that she intends to avenge Mythal in ‘a reckoning that will shake the very heavens.’ Idk about you but to me that implies very violent intentions.

It contrasts directly with what Solas intends. He wants to restore the world to its natural state for the sake of his people. Whereas Flemeth simply wants to punish. She wants to punish The Evanuris. And there’s some dialogue between her and Morrigan which implies that she wants to punish Solas as well, she just needs him to complete his task first.

Flemeth is basically unkillable. She knows that, and there’s every possibility that Solas knows that, too. The way I read that scene, I think this may have always been the plan. At the very least it was a contingency, one the two of them were both aware of, and which Solas clearly wanted to avoid. I think the reason he was so upset when The Orb was destroyed may have been because he knew he’d have resort to that contingency.

Flemeth isn’t stupid. And she’s not particularly selfless either. In fact she is explicitly very selfish, as well as being a manipulator. Whatever went on in that scene—I have my theories—Flemeth was well aware it was coming. She was counting on it. It somehow benefits her that this took place, otherwise she’d have never allowed it.

Before it happens, she says, “I’m sorry, too.”

What is she sorry for? We don’t really know, but my interpretation is that she’s apologizing for what’s about to happen. This was her plan. Solas didn’t want to do things this way, but the events of DAI have forced his hand.

One of Solas’ greatest flaws is his assumption that he has more control over any given situation than he actually does, and I think that applies to his relationship with Flemeth/Mythal as well. Again, Flemeth is a manipulator. She’s been manipulating the people and events of Thedas for centuries, maybe longer. I think Solas is no different. When I look at that end credit scene I don’t see two equals. I see one person who clearly has the upper hand, and another with a deeply mistaken idea of what their relationship actually is.

I agree, although for a long time I definitely thought he 100% killed her, but she has a way of surviving and is just... too big to have just been quickly killed in a brief epilogue?

oooh I didn't know about/catch that dialogue! that's so interesting... changes the dynamic a lot if she actually wants him to fail on some level. running with that, one might even go so far as to assume she aided corypheus' surviving opening the orb. letting him wreak brutal havoc across thedas and tear open the veil (vs. solas' pulling it down) is a good way to 'shake the very heavens'.

yeah, her apologizing doesn't really fit as a response to letting solas kill her, but apologizing for what she's about to put him through? the chain of events she may well have incited somehow? that seems more apt. and I do believe she cares for solas to some degree, but not enough to not use him for her own ends. as you said, she's a master manipulator, that's a core part of her character. she's not going to drop all that just because a sad wolf comes to her door.

and I love your point about solas' assumptions of knowledge and control, because that's so accurate. he always assumes he has the power in a relationship because of his knowledge, his age, his experience... he thinks he knows more, understands more, and sees more, and he trusts his interpretations of events, but even within dai we see him have to face that those interpretations are flawed a number of times. he didn't expect the inquisitor to care about spirits - understandable, considering the general opinion of them, but still an assumption. the whole balcony scene, whether or not you romance him, is about confronting his assumptions not only about the inquisitor, but their entire species - and by extension, all people. the banter between him and the companions, particularly the man on the island banter with varric... there's so many times he's forced to confront his assumptions, but he continues to subconsciously hold that he still knows more, that his initial interpretations are right unless/until they're plainly proven wrong

he's so interesting i love him so much... and ty for this! such a thought-provoking ask, i love talking about him <3