#I don't think i'm up to par with /her/ and being on such a high level of being even in the BOOK OF RECORDS BUT GODAMN????

[ot3]

just more of me talking myself into circles about the election again since i got my ballot in the mail and i need to sit down and try and put my thoughts in order.

like ok no trump is not going to start rounding up lgbt people and put them into camps. categorically, logistically, that's not going to happen. it's ridiculous how many people are acting like the imaginary camps they could theoretically get put into is a treat to their wellbeing on par with the actual, already existing camps we have in this country for latino immigrants.

i think a lot of people are forgetting that we had 4 years of trump before and for the vast majority of americans life was more or less normal. the real problem the trump presidency has to offer is the gradual chipping away at hard won regulations that the dems seem to have no interest in reinstating once they're in office. yeah trump's presidency saw a lot of stripping back of food protections. but the massive listeria outbreaks currently happening are happening in Year Four of biden's presidency. I've done some cursory looking around and it doesn't seem like the dems have had much to offer in terms of protecting the basic health and safety of american citizens

covid is still ripping through the country and permanently disabling huge swathes of people, who have no choice but to infect others because our right to not be exposed to infectious diseases is trumped by the right of business owners to maintain a coercive workforce. not only that but state mask bans are going uncontested with federal action, denying people some of the only means of protection against covid they have access to. similarly, they're doing extremely little to grant federal protections to abortion and transition as individual states crack down further on that as well. remember how protecting roe v wade was one of this administrations most significant campaign promises? and like i mentioned earlier, putting brown people in prisons and camps has always been part of the dems policy but we're seeing truly staggering amounts of anti-immigration rhetoric that is borderline indistinguishable from what was considered hardline rightwing talking points for most of my life.

but ultimately. at the end of the day. even if the dems were perfect on literally everything else i would still be a single issue voter on genocide. that's the bottom line for me. it doesn't matter what other logistical or material concerns may be on the table, i can't bring myself to care about any of it when slaughter the likes of what we're seeing in palestine is occurring. even if i truly believed that the first action donald trump would be taking in office was bulldozing my house and making it illegal to be gay i still could not justify voting for kamala harris when her stance on israel remains as it is. i am willing to give up whatever concessions must be made in order to avoid consenting to genocide.

a lot of blue no matter who types have had the talking point that this mindset is just to instill in people like me a sense of moral superiority, who value our own perceived purity over any material reality. they say that this is not the time for trying to take the moral high ground. and i just don't understand that? for me my sense of morality is the baseline for all of my decision making. i'm not sure what criteria people are using to make their actions if right and wrong don't factor into this. why can we allow our politics to be separate from our morality? i just can't wrap my head around it.

not once have i ever told people not to vote for kamala harris and i'm not even saying that now either. ultimately everyones choice is their own. what i HAVE said and what i still stand by is that people need to at least be willing to pretend they wouldn't vote for her. the fairytale of pushing a candidate left once theyre in office is for children. the only leverage we have against our politicians is the means to deny them power, and in being unwilling to even threaten to use that leverage, regardless of whether or not you actually meant it, you have consented to the full suite of policies that comes with the administration. a vote for kamala harris is a vote for her stance on israel regardless of how personally torn up you feel about it.

a lot of people are quick to point out that there's not any chance of the situation in gaza improving under trump and that's absolutely not a point i have any interest in contesting. but what i do find interesting is that the people who are most vocally concerned about the integrity of the US political system don't seem to be of the opinion that successfully running a 'progressive' campaign with full untempered support for an ongoing genocide does anything to threaten this perceived integrity. having the only two viable candidates for president be actively genocidal is business as usual, but having the wrong person carrying out that genocide is the real threat to the fabric of our nation. Why?

obviously the answer is, whether or not anyone would admit to it, that they see arab lives as an acceptable bargaining chip in domestic issues. That's an Over There problem. Trump is an Over Here threat. Throughout my entire life, the overwhelming US sentiment towards arab nations and arab people is that they are at best disposable and at worst something that needs to be stamped out in order to Protect Freedom. there is no way for any severity of political turmoil in the middle east to reflect badly on the american people no matter what part we may have played in it because the presumption is that these conflicts just happen to spontaneously generate there as a result of whatever unfavorable characteristics Must be immutably present in the arab race if you're a conservative, and their culture if you're a progressive.

there isnt any takeaway here. it's horrible. it's all horrible. once, god willing, this all ends, i don't think im going to be able to look back and feel like i did anything to meaningfully help anyone. i dont even know what i Could do. but i do want to be able to look back on the actions i am taking now and be confident that i was not ever willing to give any ground to normalizing what we're currently seeing, even for a single moment.

[pokedawriter]

winged!reader x Inazuma!Men

Gn!reader

Prompt: You (literally) crash land into Inazuma boys' lives

Itto and Gorou

content warning: asleep for long time/coma, injuries (no vivid descriptions)

Arataki Itto

He's out in the rain looking for the fiercest Onikabuto ("only the strongest beetles will be out during the rain! That's how we know they're the best"). He thinks he's found a good one and is about to grab it when...

*SLAM* You fall out of the sky and crash land onto him

He's thrown onto the ground and he's about to yell at you for "your deal" when he realizes you are completely out and smell a little... smokey?

Damm, you must have been cooking something good (you were zapped by lightning mid-air)

He takes you to Granny Oni and she helps nurse you back to health

When you wake up, Itto is playing with your wings, which earns him a feathered and an actual slap

Granny Oni eventually explains the situation and you apologize, saying you are in their debt

Itto decides to take full advantage of this and drags you to meet with his gang to help them out with "gang stuff" as the newest member of the Arataki Gang (you have been awake for maybe an hour at this point? You have no idea what's going on)

Gang stuff is pretty simple - wander the street playing with the kids, competing for candy

You return to Granny Oni's house that night exhausted from a full day of laughter and fun

Granny Oni invites you to stay for as long as you like and you happily take her up on that offer

Over the next few months, you and Kuki try (and fail) to keep the gang out of trouble (you got arrested once or twice too)

You enjoy your days of eating ramen with the boys, taking odd jobs to earn mora and messing around until sunset

Once you're able to fly again, Itto has you help him find the best Onikabuto and you learn the art of Beetle Battles

You're also a fan-favorite among the kids, as you're great at tag thanks to your birds-eye view

You even take the kids and the gang flying (you don't go very high above the ground, just holding their hands in yours as you glide down a hill)

Several times, Kuki has found the gang nestled under your wings, everyone peacefully sleeping

You can't help but fall in-love with Itto's carefree yet kind nature and you try to flirt with him but he's completely oblivious to it

"I'm looking handsome today? I look handsome everyday! Thanks for noticing. You look great too! Hey, by the way can we reach that Onikabuto up there?"

Kuki eventually takes pity on you and tells Itto straight that you like him romantically

He's never really thought about anyone that way before, but now...

You laughter makes the butterflies in his stomach flutter, your smile makes him blush furiously, and his heart skips a beat when he see your stretch those pretty wings in the morning

Oh, he's got it bad

You've given up at this point (you still love him, but you think he's too oblivious to ever notice), so when he's stumbling over his words while his face his complete red... it's now your turn to be oblivious and confused

Kuki can only smack her forehead with her hand

Eventually, he musters up the courage to get you a bouquet of flowers (wildflowers that he carefully picked) and confesses to you (with the rest of the gang hiding in the bushes near by for moral support)

You, of course, say yes and the gang jumps out of the bushes to celebrate

"It's time to PAR-TAY!!! Let's go get ramen to celebrate!"

Gorou

He's on a patrol with his men when they see something fall from the sky and crash into the shrubbery ahead

They rush over and find you, unconscious with one wing bent at an awkward angle

Gorou and his men carry you back to base carefully, making sure not to run into any specters on the way back, and leave you under the careful care of the medics

Since he found you, Gorou feels responsible for your recovery and well-being, and will check in on your everyday after he's done with his duties or during meals

He'll brush your hair and feathers (he hates it when his fur gets messy, so he bets having nest hair will help you feel more comfortable when you wake up), and he'll always correct the blanket if it has slipped at all

Maybe it's because you're asleep, or maybe its because you're a stranger but he feels like he can tell you anything. He'll chat with you about his day and vent to you about his problems. He knows you're not listening, but it's nice being able to talk with someone

Except... you are listening. You're not able to respond but you can hear him

A couple weeks go by and your eyes flutter open. You have a bit of a headache, but you manage to sit up despite feeling quite week

You look down and Gorou is asleep, sitting next to your bed, hand holding yours

Despite never seeing him before, you recognize him as the voice that spoke to you while you were unconscious (not many people talk about their tails and ears after all)

You gently pat him on the head and he slowly stirs awake

Both of your hearts flutter when you first make eye-contact

He'll shoot upwards and run to get a medic to check on you while he gets you a warm meal

He's a bit too busy (embarrassed) to visit you the rest of the day, but he does check in on you the next day, bringing you your meal

Finally, you're able to chat while you're awake and he's very embarrassed now that you tell him you remember what he said (but he's also very touched that you remember too)

When you're well enough, he'll take you on walks around the camp and introduce you to his soldiers

You even train with him a bit to get your strength back and he helps you come up with a routine to exercise and strengthen your body

You become one of his men and they welcome you whole-heartedly, helping you train (a pack sticks together after all)

When you finally can fly again, the whole camp can hear the joyful yells and hollers of your squad mates celebrating

Though you can't pick most of your team members up, you can carry Gorou on your back, which gives him an amazing birds-eye view of the battlefield

You get the nickname of "the pointy-eared general's wings"

You help him realize that his smaller size can be an asset on the field, since you can pick him up, allowing his men to see him more easily and for him to see the battle better

The more you practice together, the more in-sync and closer you become, the high altitude preventing anyone from possibly hearing your conversations

He loves those flights with you, his tail wagging rapidly (despite his embarrassment and attempts to stop it)

Eventually, you meet Kokomi and she sees the way you look at each other (Gorou's tail will always wag when you come into view)

Gorou will ask her for help coming up with ideas on how to confess to you and they draft up an idea

He takes you mountaineering (he climbs while you fly) and at the top of the mountain peak he pulls out a bouquet of flowers

With a very red face he asks if you will be his partner

You of course say yes and his tail wags uncontrollably

"Thank you for helping me to find the best in me! I promise to take care of you"

[absolutebl]

There was a surprising amount of sex in Be Mine Superstar! I really wasn’t expecting it…. Similarly, Love Syndrome had a LOT less sex than I was promised by the trailer…

Are there any BLs that had either many more or many less NC scenes than you were expecting before you started watching them?

BLs that exceeded (or underperformed) sexy expectations

Interesting question. So far, not that many Thai BLs. But I think that's just because I pay attention to the pairs and the actors in Thai stuff, and you sort of get a feel for what they will (and won't) take on. So in your examples: I know JaFirst did high heat so I expected the producers to lean into that advantage as part of BMSS because, frankly, it didn't have much else going for it.

I haven't watched Love Syndrome III yet but knowing Frank I wouldn't expect it to go super high heat in terms of actual physical contact.

I guess the ones that have surprised me are mostly out of Thailand are pulps that I knew nothing about going in. Let me see...

Thai BL that ended up being way hornier/better than I expected

Secret Crush On You - such a weird show but BillySeng brought IT, whatever IT is, they got it.

Love in Translation - yeah, what happened in that sauce isle boys? Very saucy. Whatever pun, more please.

2 Moons 3 - about on par with ForthBeam from 2 Moons 2 but nothing else in the previous 2 series would lead one to expect the horny we got in this show on the main.

Second Chance - yeah it was a throw away pulp and this studio is hit or miss on chemistry but it had one of the best kisses of its year.

Big Dragon - I don't know what I expected form the trailers, but it wasn't as good as it turned out to be. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the show is naff, but the chemistry/heat levels are scorching.

Ghost Host, Ghost House - generally the horror stuff doesn't do chemistry well, but these two have some of the best chemistry EVER put into a pulp. I really hope we see more of them.

KinnPorsche - It's no secret I'm not as wild about this show as most, but I did think the VegasPete stuff was unexpectedly killer in all ways.

Oh My Sunshine Night - yeah it was exactly what one expects from OhmFluke but THE SIDES!!!! I mean... WHAT? I'm not mad, just pleasantly surprised.

TharnType - Okay but remember at the time what we'd had from Mame was LBC (relatively low heat) and other Thai stuff I was familiar with at the time was Make It Right, Love Sick, SOTUS, and UWMA. TT was way higher heat that I'd seen from Thailand before. And then...

Why R U? - ZeeSaint's "away trip to the beach" full on sex scenes plus repping for verse was just crazy at the time. Especially since Saint played Pete in LBC before this and Zee was new to BL. Add that to the very odd and disjointed (and miss-matched) SaifahZon counter story and WRU? was this insane all over the place viewing experience, including the heat levels. There was this "what will they do next?" kind of tension over the production. Not the story (because who was following that?) but the PRODUCTION. At the time, it was welcome, but truly bonkers. What a way to drive narrative tension... pure high heat chaos.

Thai BLs where chemistry failed meet my (relatively low) expectations

My Ride - honestly, if they had just gotten the kiss right this might even have earned a 10/10 from me

Unforgotten Night - ugh

Bite Me - double ugh

Friend Forever - I know I'm the only person who watched this but why could we not have gotten ONE kiss from the leads?

Nitman - studies have since shown us it is entirely not Noh's fault... see Oh My Sunshine Night

Wedding Plan - the leads were fine, but Mame usually fails me in every way except chemistry, so "fine" is not up to her usual standards. Those standards being predominantly "they hawt together" and nothing else. There wasn't even a side dish couple to pick up the slack noodle... so to speak.

Korean BL

For most of 2022 I was consistently getting surprised by Korean BL's chemsitry when it was good but now I've settled into half expecting it yet still being delighted when it happens and is well done.

I do think Semantic Error was a bit of a seed change for them.

The problem is, now we know they can do it, we are starting to get pissed when it's bad or entirely absent.

Taiwanese BL

Taiwan is the opposite of Korea.

I expect good chemistry and almost always always get it. I struggle to think of a time when they've disappointed me (in this arena). Maybe a few? But I tend to cut Taiwan more slack than other countries because they have so few BLs and they are generally so consistent. If they falter at all, at least the side couple will pick up the slack.

Japanese BL

I have no expectations of Japan. Life as a BL fan is a lot easier that way.

(source)

[super-ion]

The Voyages of the Padua

Chapter 4

(1, 2, 3 | next)

The second time in her life that she woke up was significantly gentler than the first.

For one, she was warm. At some point, she had acquired a blanket. It was rough and scratchy where it touched bare skin, but it provided comforting weight on her body.

For another, she seemed to be surrounded by all manner of whispering noises. Clicks and beeps and hisses and a distant bass hum that she could feel more than hear. They were good noises. As long as those noises were going, it meant the ship was alive.

Ship…

Her eyes snapped open and she sat up with a gasp.

She was in what appeared to be a small cramped med bay. Most of the paneling was white with a high contrast red stripe around eye level. Well, white was a bit of a stretch, most of the paint was chipped and worn, with the most egregious damage painted over with what she assumed was available at the time.

Shoved into one nook was a collection of apparatus, all folded up, bearing the label “Auto-doc”. It was the sort of generic medical robot that could be found on most starships too small to have a dedicated medical team. The only difference here was that someone had glued a pair of googly eyes on it.

The mattress underneath her crackled as she shifted her weight around to get a better look of the room. Not very comfortable, likely waterproof.

“Good morning, sleepy head!”

She yelped and toppled out of the bed.

Something tugged painfully - an IV line plugged into the port on her arm. Except hadn't she been forced to bite that one off?

Panic flared. It was attached to her. She needed it out. She needed to…

“Hey! Whoa! If you break that, you gotta pay for it! Also, please don't break yourself!”

The disembodied voice cut through her panic. This wasn't the Eosphorus. She wasn't waking up alone this time.

“You good there?” the voice asked.

She let out a breath and disengaged the port with slightly shaking hands. Unlike before, it slid out easily and she dropped it on the bed.

“Yeah, I think so…” she replied.

She looked up to see someone floating in mid air. No, not floating, it was a projection on a sheet of plex, one of those holographic displays that created the illusion of space. She noted the black strip on top of the plex that probably housed cameras and microphones and whatever else was needed for this interaction.

The person was watching her with an expression of intense, playful curiosity. Wild bushy hair framed a round youthful face and an oversized pink sweater obscured most of her body except where sparkly leggings poked out.

“Um… hello?” the woman said.

“Hi! I'm Ria!” the hologram replied with an impish grin. “I use she/her usually, but anything’s good.”

Ria, or the image of Ria, stood up straight and offered a hand to shake in a show of mock solemnity.

She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. Obviously she couldn't shake, seeing as Ria was technically a two dimensional projection of a virtual being. She settled for an awkward wave.

“I don't know what my name is,” she admitted.

“Huh… auto-doc did say there were some anomalous readings in that brainpan of yours. I really thought you might be a Cassidy, seeing as your jumpsuit says Cassidy right there on that patch there.”

She glanced down at the patch.

“Oh… this isn't mine. I'm just borrowing it… I'm sorry, what do you mean, anomalous readings?”

“Ooooh… yeeeeaaaah,” Ria let out in a long breath before sucking on her teeth. “I'm not really qualified to discuss medical diagnoses. You're gunna have to take it up with Aela, but she's defragging right now. The drift kinda scrambles her up for a bit, takes her platform a while to recover.”

That answered exactly zero questions and raised so many more… which in all fairness was about on par with her short life so far.

“So, if you're not Cassidy, who are you?” Ria demanded. “I mean, you literally just said you don’t know, but that just means you can be whoever you want. We gotta call you something... I mean, going around referring to you as “mystery woman” or whatever would probably get tiring after a while, you know?”

“Oh… I guess not,” she replied.

Ria was watching her expectantly. Oh, did Ria want an answer right now? She felt a sudden intense pressure to get a good grade in self actualization, something both normal to want and possible to achieve.

The seconds dragged out in awkward silence as her mind raced. She needed to say something, anything.

“Uh… call me... Cass?"

"Cass? As in short for Cassidy?"

"Yes... I mean no... I mean sort of. Maybe," Cass replied.

“Alright, Cass it is!” Ria replied clapping her hands in excitement. “Oh, by the way, all your stuff is over there.”

Ria gestured to a duffle bag in the corner of the room. Cass stared at it for a long moment before finally recognizing it. Somewhere between terrifying creatures and security androids, she had lost track of it. By all accounts, it should still be back on the Eosphorus… unless someone picked it up and carried it here? Who or why she didn't know.

“Tre wanted to ransack it and see if there was anything valuable inside,” Ria explained, “but Mina wouldn't let them. Whatcha got in there? Is it gold?”

Well, that answered a who… maybe. But it didn't exactly provide a why. But then, why had she packed it full of things in the first place?

Cass approached the bag and pulled the zipper open, letting out a tiny relieved sigh at the sight of the teddy bear and everything else.

“Awwwww,” Ria gushed. “That's so cute!”

Cass glanced back at her to see an exact copy of the teddy bear clutched in Ria's arms. How has she…? Oh right, hologram.

“Can I keep this copy?” Ria asked, holding out the holographic version. “I mean, you're allowed to say no. I don't want to make things weird or anything. People sometimes get weird about personal stuff like this.”

“Yeah, sure,” Cass replied tentatively. “Hey… um…”

She wasn't sure how to ask this next question politely.

“Are you… I mean… why are you…?”

Ria let out an affronted gasp.

“Cassidy! You can't just ask someone why they're a hologram!”

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean-”

Ria burst into laughter.

“Your face! Oh my gosh! No, it's cool. I'm the ship AI. Well... sort of. My official primary function is navigation. I'm not technically integrated with the Padua, but I interface with a lot of her lower systems. She's really friendly, like a big fluffy dog.”

Cass looked around the room, trying to imagine the starship as a large friendly dog.

“Hey, so…” Ria said. “Please don't take this the wrong way, but you really look like you could use a shower. Do you want a shower?”

Cass very much did want a shower.

Unfortunately the shower booth that sat across the hall from the med bay was nearly as tight as the cryo tube and the reality of being trapped in a tight wet space somewhat soured the experience.

Aside from that, the water was warm and it was still quite literally the most luxuriant experience of her life.

At least until she discovered the small patch of shaved hair at the base of her neck, and the slightly raised edge of a surgical scar that had been hastily cauterized shut. It was fresh… or had been fresh whenever Cass went into the cryo pod. She still didn't even know how long ago that had been. Days? Years? Longer?

“Anomalous readings,” Ria had said. Someone had clearly been inside her head, relatively recently in terms of biological time.

She didn't even realize she was crying until the water shut off abruptly at the end of her allotment and she found herself leaning her head against the tile, shoulders shaking slightly from the emotion.

She couldn't remember anything. That fact had been more of an abstract academic fact while the wake up drugs swirled around in her bloodstream, when staying alive and reaching safety was the only thing that mattered. Now the reality of her situation hit her full on, bringing a profound sense of loss.

She depressed the dryer mechanism and closed her eyes as assorted vents blasted her with warm air from all directions.

She was alive. She was safe (probably).

As the dry cycle wound to a finish, she opened her eyes and once again, she found herself on a strange ship, staring at a reflection that she didn't recognize. She looked better, slightly less haggard and the self inflicted scratches were healing. The cheeks were still sunken and the eyes still ringed by dark circles.

She needed a meal or three and a proper night's sleep.

And she needed answers... if there ever were any. What if there weren't? Or what if there were and she didn't like them?

The face in the mirror looked even more bewildered and lost than before if that was possible.

Maybe Ria had been right and she really could be anyone she wanted.

“Well,” she told her reflection with a weak smile. “I guess it's time to figure out who Cass is.”

[aristaspark]

Shipping discourse (Kenlynn/Dinostar)

Ok, so two days ago I commented under a youtube video the reasons that shows, at least to me, why I think Kenlynn still has very high chances of being endgame (I might post my reasoning later).

I was happy because a dinostar shipper even replied to me, agreeing with a lot of my points (love that kind of interaction).

And then another person replied, saying that they doubted I was right and that there was no way they would have made Darius fall in love with Brooklynn for nothing or throw him under the bus like that.

I'm talking about this because, replying to them, I was finally able to put into words what the problem in the reasoning of a lot of people who are sure Dinostar would be canon for the simple fact that the writers had introduced the storyline was. In the end, I'm thankfull for that comment. So here's what I answered to them:

What I meant is that it's possible they will go with Dinostar, although what I have observed tells me it's very unlikely, but it's also largely possible they will go with Kenlynn, and broke them up to better bring them back together (that's the conclusion my observations have led me to), or even that she'll end up alone, idk. I try not to look at this from a shipping standpoint, but from a story standpoint, because I think that's what the writers are doing with the characters. The ships and how popular they are isn't their focus (Or we would have gotten Dinostar a long time ago and Benji back in camp cretaceous), it's clear what's more important to them is to tell an interesting story. I don't think they see Darius having an unrequited love as "throwing him under the bus", but as something that can happen, even to the most deserving of love people. In Chaos Theory, they are clearly tackling very mature and human themes and are putting the characters in very uncomfortable situations, (death wish, amputation, family death, paranoia, attempted murder, conspirations, depression...), so I don't see why they would stop at showing what happens when you fall in love with one of your best friends, but as much as they love you, they just can't ever love you that way. It's totally on par with what the show is, so it wouldn't have been "for nothing", actually I think it's a lot more probable than Brooklynn getting with Darius. Although I'm a Kenlynn shipper, I think I only pointed out what was in the show in my reasoning, what made me think they're going for Kenlynn. What I meant by that is that, unlike what you said, "there's way", at least when you look at what's in the show (and the promotional material, to me that letter is one of the most compelling piece of evidence, because like... why did they do that?) That's not to say I'm not biased, I totally am, but what I don't do is think they wouldn't write a storyline just because it's not satisfying for the character. Brooklynn lost her arm, Kenji thought his girlfriend of six years died and saw his father get killed and is now very unstable, Ben is paranoid... but Darius having to come to terms with his romantic feelings not being reciprocated is unimaginable? I think that's where I'm coming from.

[yolatirra]

Okay, with all the Game Informer information I'm going to take a stab at some speculation for where the story is going & what's going to happen.

This turned out to be... a very long post.

---The Evanuris---

First of all, I was right that the male figure is Elgar'nan! Not that it was an uncommon theory, but I still haven't seen anyone else pointing out that his symbol is an eclipse, so I'm still running with my Elgar'nan - God of Darkness/Eclipses theory. But I'm still not sure exactly what to say about it other than that.

We can now make a pretty solid guess that the final voice in the Thedas Calls teaser trailer is Elgar'nan. His dialogue suggests that he's trying conquer the world, which makes sense. He was the leader of the elven pantheon, and likely kind of a tyrant. Ghilan'nain, on the other hand, I suspect cares more about doing her weird experimental stuff than ruling the world. I suspect each one will be causing different problems for us.

-Ghilan'nain-

Ghilan'nain might be attacking places and/or sending monsters to attack for her, in order to collect material for her experiments, meaning people, animals, lyrium, red lyrium, and other stuff. She may have particular interest in Seheron, Par Vollen, and Rivain, because of the Qunari presence in those places. There's also the tentacle monster we see over Rivain in the Thedas Calls trailer, and the voice associated with Rivain saying "Glory to the risen gods, they come to deliver this world".

I've always suspected she has some connection to the Qunari, because they seem to be a created race, and she's the most likely candidate for having created them. If a Tevinter magister was responsible for creating the Qunari, it may have been the Augur of Mystery, aka the high priest of Razikale, who is almost certainly either Ghilan'nain herself or a dragon who is closely connected to her.

There are also the thaigs. In Horror of Hormak, we learn that there were 12 mountains that (probably) Ghilan'nain sent elven prisoners to. There were also 12 great Dwarven thaigs. With the creepy lyrium pool in Hormak destroyed, that leaves the 3 currently inhabited thaigs, Orzammar, Kal-Sharok, and Kal-Hirol (which was only recently reclaimed). Of these, Kal-Sharok I think is the most likely for us to visit, since it's furthest north and we've heard of vague weird stuff happening there. So I suspect Ghilan'nain will be up to some shit over there.

I'm also wondering now if the lyrium pools are directly powered by titans in some way, which would explain why they are seemingly in the same places as the thaigs. Or maybe they just need to be built near titans for better access to lyrium.

There's also the Scaled Ones. If they end up being relevant, they're probably connected to Ghilan'nain.

-Elgar'nan-

I have fewer guesses about Elgar'nan, but I expect he'll go after Tevinter. He might kill the Archon or the Black Divine, or both. I could see him convincing many magisters to follow him, just by offering them power. The Venatori in particular would probably be happy to follow Elgar'nan, since they're already familiar with red lyrium, and Elgar'nan probably knows how to use red lyrium far more effectively than anyone else in Thedas. I wouldn't be surprised if Elgar'nan fully takes control of Tevinter at some point in the game.

---Locations & Companions---

-Seheron & Par Vollen-

We don't have any confirmation or even strong hints that we'll be visiting these places, but it wouldn't surprise me if we do. We should at least be learning a lot more about them. I think with Ghilan'nain in the picture, we may even learn where the Qunari actually came from, or at least get some clearer hints about it. It would be cool to finally learn what the Fog Warriors are.

We've been hearing about the Qunari less than I expected in recent news, but they may just be choosing to focus on Solas and the Evanuris for now.

-Rivain-

Taash is probably from Rivain, going by her being a Lord of Fortune and her location in the reveal trailer, so that's one connection. There's also the "glory to the risen gods" voice from the Thedas Calls teaser, which is probably either a Qunari leader or a Rivaini spiritual leader of some kind. Or, if the Lords of Fortune have a leader, that's another option.

-Antiva-

The "the crows rule Antiva" voice from the Thedas Calls teaser is probably a leader of the Crows. I'm going to guess this is Caterina Dellamorte, grandmother of Lucanis. It would make sense that we have some connection to her through Lucanis. Either he gets us access to Caterina, or Lucanis joins us because we talk to Caterina. That said, the world seems to think Lucanis is dead according to "The Wake", and something weird is going on with him, with all the weird purple eyes and wings symbolism, so who knows.

-The Anderfells/Weishaupt-

I'd love to see more of the Anderfells besides Weishaupt, but I'm guessing Weishaupt will be a very important location in this game. I suspect the blighted forest we see Davrin in in the reveal trailer is either south-east of Weishaupt in the foothills of the Hunterhorn mountains, or north in the Donarks.

Really hoping we go to the shore of the Volca Sea at some point, but there's no particular evidence for that.

I think Weishaupt is going to be pretty much destroyed in this game, and we may visit it more than once.

-Nevarra-

The Necropolis is going to be important somehow, but I can't even guess at how. Maybe there's some old artifact buried in its depths and we have to find it? Maybe there's a particular spirit living down there we need to talk to? Maybe, like much of Thedas, the Necropolis is actually Old As Fuck and there's elven stuff at the bottom.

Emmrich, of course, will be our guide.

-The South-

I doubt we'll be going anywhere we've been before. Skyhold seems to have gotten its farewell in Callback, so as much as I'd love to see it updated in pretty graphics, I don't think we'll go there. Though maybe we could see it in a flashback, and find out why it's called Tarasyl'an Te'las. I could also see a quick visit to Val Royeux to talk to the Divine or whoever is on the throne, but I think it's more likely they'd come to us in the north or we'll just talk to them via letters or through the Inquisitor.

-Tevinter-

Okay, I think there are going to be some BIG changes to Tevinter by the end of this game. I expect Elgar'nan to kill most of its existing leadership, so by the time we take down Elgar'nan, Tevinter will need a completely new government.

I think the Tevinter-Qunari war will be resolved in the first half of the game, because both sides are going to be taken over or destroyed by the Evanuris. "Peace" via conquering.

---Plot---

-Prologue Predictions-

Here's my guess for "where the hell is Varric when Rook & the others are in the fade?"

While I, like most people, agree that Varric's death has been HEAVILLY foreshadowed, I don't think he dies this early on in the game. The devs and the community council members keep saying he's a major character, and I don't think they would keep emphasizing that if he dies a few hours into the game. At least a couple community council people have even said they do not know Varric's fate, and they've played a good bit further than the Game Informer article described. I do, however, think Varric will die at some point in the game, either at the midpoint or sometime during the second half. I doubt all the foreshadowing is purely a red herring.

I also think a part of the ritual site scene was cut out of the gameplay trailer. After Solas blows away the statue, I think Varric tries to take the dagger away from him while he's distracted, and probably succeeds. Either Varric has the dagger, or he gets it away from Solas and it falls off the platform (which I think is more likely). He then falls down the stairs, which is why we maybe see him in the background in that one shot. I doubt Solas attacked him or hurt him intentionally, but he may have used magic to pin him in place, which would explain the green glow & why the blurry figure seems to try to get up, but can't.

What I'm not sure about is how Rook's blood gets mixed in with the ritual. Maybe Rook helps Varric get the blade away from Solas, and ends up getting cut by it? Maybe there's some kind of fight between Solas and the Evanuris and Rook gets caught in the middle?

Moving on past the gameplay trailer, I don't think Varric gets sucked into the fade with the others. Either he manages to hide from Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan, or they dismiss his presence as unworthy of their attention and leave without hurting him. A few things could happen after that.

Varric goes back through the eluvian and arrives back in Tevinter as expected. He goes to the Inquisitor or to Dorian, seeking help from old friends because he has no idea what happened to Rook, Neve, Harding, and Solas.

Varric goes back through the eluvian, but it takes him somewhere else, because it's not working right with Solas stuck in the fade. From there Varric still finds his way back to the Inquisitor or Dorian, or he ends up lost somewhere.

Varric gets picked up by other Veil Jumpers, and we meet up with him soon after the quest with Bellara. This could also happen if he tries going through the eluvian and it doesn't work.

If Varric ends up lost somewhere but isn't picked up by the Veil Jumpers, I think he'll end up back with the Inquisitor or Dorian regardless. I doubt we'll spend multiple missions trailing after Varric.

While the idea of Varric getting stuck in the fade with Solas is funny, I doubt it would actually happen. One, I don't know if anyone but an Evanuris could survive the fade prison Solas has created. Two, it seems like a waste of Varric as a character. Presumably he wouldn't be able to communicate with Rook the way Solas can, so he'd just be absent from the story until he and Solas are freed. That doesn't line up with him being a "major character".

Could the Evanuris capture him? I guess, but... why? These are elven gods, and we know the ancient elves didn't really see the dwarves as people ("witless, soulless"). What information would they expect to get from him? They likely wouldn't consider using him as a bargaining tool either. They'd be more likely to kill him than capture him, but even that I think is unlikely. I think they'd just ignore him, or not even notice him.

When Rook leaves the Lighthouse and ends up meeting Bellara, they're trying to get back to the ritual site. Why would it be important to return there? Two reasons. One, figure out where Varric is and if he's dead or not, and two, retrieve the ritual dagger. I doubt it ended up in the fade with Rook, because that would be way too easy. We'll have to search for it. That'll be the first big goal of the game.

If we meet up with Varric after the quest with Bellara, either he has the dagger or he doesn't. If he does, cool, we have it now. If he doesn't, we have to keep looking for it. I suspect he wouldn't have it.

From here, Bellara acts as a guide to get us back to the ritual site. The dagger is likely still here, and I suspect that recovering it will allow us to travel through the eluvians accurately. It's possible we'll have to keep searching for the dagger, but if I'm right about it acting as something like a key for the eluvians, we'll probably have access to it pretty early.

At this point, if we haven't met up with Varric yet, we'll probably seek him out. I would assume Harding knows how to get in touch with him and/or the Inquisitor, so this may be where the Inquisitor gets introduced. It seems a little early to introduce the Inquisitor, but maybe the pacing of it works out. Besides, I don't think Rook at this point would feel they have the authority to start giving orders or leading people on missions. They aren't a leader yet, so they're going to seek out leadership.

I kind of doubt we'll have a full dual-protagonist thing with Rook and the Inquisitor, but the Inquisitor may be playable for specific story sequences. The possible specializations for the Inquisitor are mostly not present in this game, so trying to transfer their abilities and playstyle to Veilguard wouldn't make much sense. They could have a very simplified playstyle in comparison to Rook, but I think it's more likely the Inquisitor just won't be playable in combat. They could join the party as a guest though, like Varric does in the gameplay trailer.

So, we might meet with Varric and/or the Inquisitor here, and this might be where our group gets the Veilguard name. Together we decide on our next mission.

With Bellara, Neve, and Harding in the party, we need a warrior, meaning we'll probably go to Rivain or Weishaupt next. I think, considering that darkspawn showed up in the Arlathan Forest during Bellara's intro mission, Weishaupt is more likely. Either we hear of something going on there, or we choose to seek out the wardens for help/advice/information.

It's also possible we meet Davrin somewhere else and go to Weishaupt later on, but if so I can't really predict where. Maybe Varric or the Inquisitor are already aware of Davrin and introduce us before we head over to Weishaupt.

-Major Plot Threads-

I think we'll have three major plot threads through the story.

Elgar'nan conquering and Ghilain'nain experimenting

Solas being trapped and us finding a way to free him (if we choose to)

The Tevinter-Qunari war & conflict between Qunari factions

There may also be a fourth one involving the titans but it's hard to guess at that with how little we know about them.

-Misc. Guesses & Theories-

From here it's a lot harder to speculate about anything specific, so here's a list of my guesses for future events:

If I were to guess about the order the rest of our companions will join in, I'd say Lucanis > Taash > Emmrich, mostly just because of their classes. I could see them joining in any order though.

Bellara manages to repair the housing for the archive spirit that we find in the veil bubble during her intro quest. It ends up living in the Lighthouse and either acts as our crafting/upgrade person or is a source of elven history.

Elgar'nan will fully take over Tevinter at some point.

The big circular building hovering over Minrathous will be involved in the final conflict somehow, though I doubt it's where the final battle will be. It might even crash down on the city at some point, leveling a good chunk of Minrathous.

Final battle will be in the black city.

Over the course of the game, Solas will try to convince us to free him. We might be able to choose whether or not to listen to him.

We are able to free Solas in the last 3rd of the game. Or, something happens that results in Solas being freed. The Inquisitor is present for this event and this is when their reunion happens.

Dorian & Maevaris show up in the story when some shit goes down with the Magisterium, maybe Elgar'nan convincing the other magisters to join him.

Either we meet the Inquisitor first and hear the Dorian's voice for the first time over their communication crystal thing, or vice versa.

Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain are both against us, but not necessarily working together. They may even end up fighting each other. We know the Evanuris often fought amongst themselves, after all.

The old gods Lusacan and Razikale are to Elgar'nan and Ghilain'nain, respectively, what Corypheus's red lyrium dragon was to him. In Trespasser Solas says Corypheus "discovered the secret of effective immortality". Since the Evanuris were already immortal, I would assume this refers to them coming back from being killed, as Mythal can.

Lusacan and Razikale are ancient great dragons, not just high dragons, and are thus incredibly difficult to kill in their own right. They are also more intelligent, possibly capable of speech.

Elgar'nan is the one who murdered Mythal.

Mythal shows up in dragon form toward the end and fucking wrecks Elgar'nan, maybe saving Solas from dying/sacrificing himself in the process (okay this one's less of a prediction and more "what if!" but still)

I think the Titans and Sandal will be relevant to the story but I can't even guess at what their roles will be at this point.

And that's a long enough post. I'm sure I'll have more theories as we learn more.

[laughhardrunfastbekindsblog]

Okay, I've finally collected my post-rewatch thoughts on the CX clones, and have two major points. Allow me to state in advance that, while my thoughts are... mixed (to say the least), this is NOT intended to bash the show's creative teams.

First, let's tackle the subject of CX2.

Let's make one thing perfectly clear: there were clear indicators that CX2 could be Tech. I went into season 3 NOT wanting CX2 to be Tech, AT ALL, so the fact that I left "Point of No Return" thinking chances were high that a Tech-X reveal was coming really says something. Even rewatching with the understanding that CX2 was apparently intended to be a shadow of Crosshair (per Jen Corbett), the Tech parallels couldn't be ignored. Others have spelled out exhaustive lists of the parallels; for me personally, the things that stood out and STILL read as Tech-coded to me are: 1) the dude moves like Tech, 2) looks like Tech with all his gadgetry/pouches that also link directly to his ship (Crosshair never had pouches nor is he ever shown to be the primary pilot, of course he has some level of flight training but he even gives the flying reins over to Omega), 3) there are at least four instances where he sounds just like Tech to me (Tech says "Who are you?" twice with the same cadence in season 1, so the fact that CX2 uses the same exact speech pattern... well, let's just say if I had a nickel for every time...), and 4) some of his word choices are precisely what Tech would say (it might be cliche by now but I am telling you, CX2 dropped the word "Domicile" and that was THE moment that I squinted at my screen and literally said out loud "Tech, is that you?" [insert Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme]).

Thing is, there are also several times where CX2 sounds like Crosshair to me, and most of the time he sounds like a reg under the distortion. In terms of sniping skills, he really is more on par with Crosshair compared to Tech (precise though Tech may be), and all regs seem to have some level of the other physical/weapons skills CX2 possesses.

My point? During my rewatch, all these details ended up coming across even more strongly to me as purposeful misdirection to ramp up speculation and interest. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using red herrings. It was actually really fun to speculate and even joke over whether CX2 was Cody or Soup Clone or Dogma (back when we were young and naive and thought the CX's might actually be redeemed). What I personally DON'T care for in the slightest is the trick of not only allowing the fate of a fan-favorite character to be left ambiguous all season long (and some would even argue it remains so now) but ALSO including several prominent hints that make said character (who is supposed to be dead) a red herring, especially considering that some of the fanbase (including me) was truly hoping for a comeback for the character for various reasons. And now, part of me is glad that CX2 wasn't specifically revealed to be Tech after Hunter skewered him, but I'm still screaming into the void over the fact that they didn't even bother to make THAT point crystal clear!

(I'm not going to touch on the gaslighting that has occurred within the fandom (cough Reddit cough) over the CX2=Tech evidence. That's on the fans, not the creative team, especially since I know the creatives are very limited in what they can talk about and how they can word things.)

As it stands now, frustrating though it is that Tech was used as a red herring, and much as I think there might have been some odd rewrites regarding this plot point, I'm taking the firm stance that the CX2 we saw skewered was NOT Tech. If Tech comes back, I want him to either have been living with amnesia or been kept in stasis somewhere on Tantiss. Preferably amnesia, with Omega or Echo finding him and bringing him home.

Second, my thoughts on the CXs as a whole.

I... am not sure what the overall point of them was supposed to be, besides being cool-looking baddies (and we already had plenty of those). Prove how awful the Empire is (as if that point hasn't already been made abundantly clear)? Prove how awful Hemlock is? Prove that Hemlock can do even worse to clones than even Palpatine was able to do? But if we're talking about how awful Hemlock's experiments are and the absolute horror the clones go through, why are we ultimately supposed to be glad/relieved that the CXs all die (including via suicide chip and assassination by fellow operative) and the CX-Batch are defeated in a boss fight? And it gets even muddier since the little characterization we have for the CXs is all over the place.

Let's take CX2 as an example again: he is a big meanie, a bigger meanie than CX1 who tried to kill our favorite senators Singh and Chuchi. He disobeys Wolffe. He kills CX1. He gets Nemik and other clones killed. He tries to drown Crosshair. He tortures Cid (mixed feelings on whether that actually makes him a meanie...) He obeys Hemlock's order to get the kid or else... But then he disregards the order to terminate the other Batchers if they get in the way (HE SHOOTS HIS OWN PILOT INSTEAD OF HUNTER), only targets the citizens' "means of escape," is borderline civil to Shep, and actually heeds Omega's plea to leave Pabu alone. So maybe he's not as much of a meanie...? (If he's supposed to be a brainwashed Imperial shadow of Crosshair, may I remind you that Imperial Crosshair murdered civilians and a member of his own team when they proved the slightest bit refractory and/or didn't have the intel he wanted.) But then he chops off Crosshair's hand. And after that - well, doesn't matter much anymore if he's a meanie or not. Apparently everything he did meant he was irredeemable.

Maybe we're just supposed to root for the "regular" CXs. It's the regular CXs Rex talks to when he offers help and a way back to the clones he manages to capture. But we only meet two of these "regular" shadows and hear of others alluded to, and these shadows die before we really get to know them. So maybe we're not supposed to have had enough time to care about these shadows after all. Maybe Rex's line is meant to illustrate how far gone they are (except CX2 kills CX1 before that plot point can really be explored), or to illustrate Rex's stance on wanting to help any and all clones (as if this had to be clarified any further).

And then... Well, there's not much to say about the CX-Batch. They have super cool character designs. The one CX-Batcher getting unhelmeted is admittedly the one and only solid bit of in-show proof I have that CX2 was a regular clone. They are evil and killing people left and right and must be put down. I guess they're meant to be shadows of what the Bad Batch might have been had they joined the Empire, but I can't help but see the message as: if the Empire tortures and experiments on you long and hard enough against your will, you're irredeemable, which is kinda odd in a show which has choice as a main theme (I mean, come on, we start with clones who were born to be soldiers with no choice in the matter, to ending with Omega choosing to be a soldier of her own free will after other clones had the choice to stop being soldiers). Maybe if it was clear that the CXs had volunteered to become CXs, the message would be different.

In conclusion: to say that my thoughts on the CXs are complicated is an understatement. Frankly I would have no trouble overlooking the confusing handling of the CXs if the show had just handled Tech's death better rather than allowing him to become inextricably linked with the CXs (even if only in speculation/theory). Despite this, I still love the show (including season 3) and still applaud the overall brilliance of the creative teams.

[existslikepristin]

Lol, I forgot this week was release week at work. That was busy.

Anyway, I'm still thinking about how to run this S.M.U.T. and I decided I'm going to start using a different picture for each part. Just some low effort cropping/resizing so it's consistent, so you will not see the above image anymore. Don't worry, it's still the same story. Example:

Tags: NSFW, S.M.U.T., genie, anal

(Story Index)

You're already there

You smirk to yourself. You're in control here. You already made your (heavily suggested) decision to fuck Joy’s ass. You’re going to see it through to the end!

With a few extra pushes, you explode but not literally that should be specified in a story like this holy crap, no, like, you just cum like a normal person sheesh. Or rather, it would be a normal orgasm if you weren’t being milked by Joy’s inhumanly soft and seemingly prehensile asshole. Sure, the thought is strange, but the physical sensation is resplendent. That sensation quickly takes over your thoughts and, for a moment, Joy’s asshole is your world. The feel of her hips in your hands and her butt splayed against your pelvis comes into focus as well, and your eyes take in her back, gorgeous hair, and gasping lips. Only one of her eyes is on you, far as her torso must twist to do so, but it’s all she needs to pull your attention in, urging you to feel it all at once. It’s a symphony of sensation, a storm of emotion, and a feast for your whole-ass soul.

Joy must be feeling something similar, because her gasp turns into a scream of pleasure. She pushes up on her toes, her fingers clasp uselessly at the flat table surface, and her eyes flutter shut, snapping your concentrated lust back down to a more reasonable post-orgasmic high. “O-oh f-f-fuck yeah!” she belts out.

Blinking as if to wipe the sleep from your eyes, you pull yourself out of her ass and watch a super-par torrent of cum follow you out. It doesn’t look impossible, but it’s certainly more than what you usually produc—You clearly shouldn’t just be watching it! You grab the butt plug, press it to Joy’s leaking ass, and push. It shouldn’t be quite so amazing (but it is) to watch the thing spread her hole out and then close back up, sealing what’s left of your cum inside.

Slowly, Joy lowers herself back onto her heels. Her body still tenses and twitches every couple of seconds as she pushes herself up to stand tall again. She spins to face you with a wide grin and a bitten lower lip. She squeezes her tits repeatedly as she Joyfully™ chirps at you. “Phew! Master! Talk about starting off on the right foot!”

Options:

Was that an orgasm? Ask if she just had an orgasm.

Wish for infinite sexual stamina so you can go again!

Time to move on. Wish for something practical: Money.

Actually, wish for something cool, like the power to fly.

[atopvisenyashill]

i swear i am not trying to be annoying, i think my ask got eaten so ill ask again and the last time as well, ask getting eaten be damned

who do you think would win in a gc between rhaenyra and aegon?

i never got any ask like this so yeah i would assume this one got eaten so sorry!!! tumblr if i catch you!!!!

that's honestly really tricky. let's break it down a bit.

clear votes for aegon ii:

House Lannister -> and they're bringing most of the Westerlands with them

House Hightower -> bringing about half of the Reach with them but not, crucially, House Tyrell nor House Tarly (currently powerful due to Lady Sam)

House Baratheon -> again, they get about half the houses here

House Tully -> probably a quarter of the Riverlands, if that

clear votes for rhaenyra:

House Arryn -> Jeyne brings with her most of the Vale as well. Very notable here that Jeyne gets the Sunderlands (generally considered Arryn opps on par with the Reynes, Yronwoods, etc) to break for Rhaenyra as well

House Stark -> the North falls in line in a huge way here

House Tully -> the thing is most of the Riverlands break for Rhaenyra so even if old Grover makes it alive to the GC, he's got Elmo agitating the fuck out of everything

House Tyrell -> I do not think the Tyrells like the political machinations of the Hightowers and are sure votes for Rhaenyra, as are several other notable houses in the reach like the Tarlys, the Beesburys, the Costaynes, and the Oakhearts

Lady Fell/Lord Buckler -> these are very minor, barely countable Stormlander houses but notable that both TG and TB are shown to have two (2) houses from the Stormlands

Crownlands -> most of the crownlands winds up breaking for Rhaenyra, with a few only going over after TB commits a few war crimes

now the thing is.......votes are likely to shift and change as a GC is called. some "swing houses" i think stand out-

House Manderly -> they're the ones with the money and the fleet

The Stormlands -> we don't get much information on them besides borros being a noxious chauvinist so I think a lot of them would count as swings

House Marbrand -> Lorent Marbrand is on Rhaenyra's Queensguard

House Tully -> for obvious reasons

House Sunderland -> they're a "trouble house" and the other Arryns might want to vote against Rhaenyra/Jeyne on spite alone!

So the thing is......and this is something I should whack her for more often but Rhaenyra imo should have been planning & pushing for a GC once her father dies in order to gain control peacefully because she has a real, genuine, nearly guaranteed shot at winning. Outside of the Reach and the Westerlands, Aegon has at best conflicted support, and if you could win a war with only the Reach and the Westerlands, well, the Lannisters and Mace wouldn't be fighting for their absolute lives in the modern day would they? Can Aegon say "fuck that noise I'm King and idc about the GC"? yes absolutely! But he looks like a supreme asshole if he does, especially if he loses and tries to coup anyway. And there's honestly not a real downside to the GC because the thing is - if Aegon wins, he has the exact same argument that Rhaenyra can make here which is "the lords picked me & I tried to do this peacefully."

I think Otto Hightower has it in him to win over more houses, especially the Tyrells if Rhaenyra can piss them off first, and probably in the Vale as well. I think he'll have a decidedly hard time in the Crownlands where Valyrian supremacy attitudes are high, and a hard time in the North who love to support women as long as they're Over There. He could win the Manderlys though and that's nothing to sneeze at!

"well it doesn't make sense that so many lords break for rhaenyra because" im sorry i think this is a stupid argument. a lot of the crownlanders support rhaenyra because she has included them on her councils, in her friendships, or are valyrian. viserys is popular with the crownlands and riverlands because he kept them out of wars. the vale goes for rhaenyra because of aemma. the north already preferred rhaenys and rhaenys is on rhaenyra's side. "oh well andal law" you are lying to yourself if you think any of these dudes actually give a shit about andal tradition. they want aegon in charge because he is a man and they're from the more religious, chauvinistic areas of westeros like the reach and the westerlands, and have also been included on aegon's councils, and in his friendships. that's what in the text. it doesn't really matter if it doesn't make sense because that's what george wrote. and for that matter it does make sense why so many would support rhaenyra when they didn't support rhaenys - she had support from the outgoing king and rhaenys didn't!

anyways i don't think it's necessarily a slam dunk for rhaenyra. daemon is still unpopular in a few places, misogyny is alive and real and rhaenyra does little to help herself combat it, the silent five thing was a misstep of epic proportions regarding the velaryon boys, and otto knows how to schmooze. but i do think the odds are stacked in her favor, if she can at least keep up this energy going into a vote.

[q18au8lt2op3idl]

A short fic

"Angel Dust &"

Episode 4 was great. I wrote this story with respect and with passion…! (Forgive my poor English translation.)

—

"Cut—--!"

—Oh, it should have been the call I've been waiting for, but I'm not happy at all.

Angel Dust thought vaguely.

The males above him got up and moved away. The too bright lights dimmed a little, and Valentino approached Angel, saying good job to the actors. Likewise, don't expect him to say, "Good job.”

"'Hmph, I'd say today's shoot was just about up to par, bitch rad actor. I hope you haven't forgotten that you still have some work to do."

"...... of course, Val."

The voice was scratchy and the speech was a little slurred. He's still on meds, but he thought 'I'll be more comfortable with that.'

"Then open up those loose crotches quickly."

Red eyes peeked out from behind those badass heart sunglasses. There is no way there is a bright red burning affection there, I know, but I can't look away, so Angel opens her legs as she is told, and out of the corner of her eye she sees his fluffy collar coat being tossed away.

The end of hours of work would be capped off in the arms of his master.

—I realize there is no love, no salvation, and yet I cannot escape its poison. I know that there is only my death by your poison.

"...... you're mine, you haven't forgotten, have you, scumbag?"

"...... yes, Valentino ......"

＊＊

The days clinging to Angel are still the same. The only difference is that the bar, which used to be a convenient bed accessory where he only went for a strong drink, has become a much more comfortable place than before.

"...... I don't know whether I want to be bored and discarded earlier or not,...... whether I hate it or love it, which is it really... ..."

　It is late at night in the Hasbin Hotel with the lights dimmed. Only the bar counter still glimmered with a warm light that enveloped Angel. Angel muttered as he plopped down on the counter.

"......hey, aren't you getting drunk too fast?　You're worn out again today, good job."

The owner of the low, eardrum-shaking voice quickly replaced the glass in front of Angel with a pointed nail. A moment ago, it would have contained Angel's favorite pink vodka. Now it must have been replaced with pink peach juice.

Angel opened one eye and saw Husk's fake-looking wings. Husk turned away and wiped his glass as if nothing had happened.

"Every day really sucks."

Then he pressed his cheek against the counter and mumbled.

"But when I see you, I'll probably think you're a little better."

"........... you drunken bastard."

Husk mutters after a pause.

—I'm not drunk, it's just an act you don't like, I'm fooling you.

Angel whispered to himself, covering his face with his arms to hide the smile on his lips.

He hasn't forgotten that night of drinking.

"We're BOTH losers."

"That's fine by me."

"A loser, but just maybe if we

Eat shit together, things will end up differently."

　

He wasn't even on drugs, but it was a time when he could genuinely say that he was a little high and having fun, not with false emotions.

After a few moments of reverie, Angel lifted his head with a start.

"Do you like me, by any chance?　Hey, I'm drunk......Hey, here's your chance, you can do whatever you want ......."

The reply was a cluck of the tongue.

Angel bowed his head again and got down on the counter.

ーI knew it, let's call this drunken nonsense.

"...... Yeah, you're still a drunk. You wake up and you don't remember anything. ...... You're still drunk enough to say that here. You're still not good enough."

Husk's loud sigh reaches Angel's ears.

"...... but well, you're doing your best. I don't hate that about you."

Husk stroked Angel's hair, enjoying the feel of it, and Angel almost jumped out of his skin, forgetting to pretend to be asleep.

－What is this mushy warmth in my chest, not because I hate that, but because I want to fuck, which is also different.

The party, Husk, gently draped a blanket over Angel's shoulders and began putting the glass away as if nothing had happened.

As he contemplated what to do next, Angel became really sleepy.

He thinks idly that it is not so bad, even though he will probably only be able to sleep for a little while anyway.

－Will there be a happy ending to the dream I am about to see? Surely there will be a happy ending? I don't think it's a waste of time to hope for that now.

Hey, Husk, I wonder if you will come to me in a dream with a happy ending.

That would be nice.

[aurorialwolf]

hwhhehehehehehhehwhw guess who has another redacted next gen oc to shareeeee :D This time, it's William's daughter!! Exciting stuff Rest below the cut so I don't spam anyone's dashes

- Her full name is Emilia (aka Emma / Emily) Solaire

- She is William's only child, and heir to his throne, as Alexis has shown disinterest in ruling and Vincent has split from the clan

- I'm not sure who here remembers, but the fandom once had made up a listener name for William's 'listener' (he doesn't and may not ever have one, but we all thought that it would be cute to make one), who was unempowered, and that's sort of who I think her other parent would be, though this current rendition of her doesn't have as strong a connection to her other parent

- Unlike the other vampire children, she was not turned by her own blood when she accessed her core at puberty, but was instead born vampiric, due to her dad's Old Blood status (the turned by own blood thing was made up by me and is not canon, vampires prob cant even reproduce in canon lmao)

- So; imagine a toddler running at vampiric speed into the most dangerous part of your backyard. This is how William feels. He should be thankful he's an old blood and can keep up lmao

- I imagine William being a somewhat good parent, but I also think he wouldn't be up to speed, and would raise his children in a more old-timey fashion (he wouldn't beat his kids at all though because I say so), which means Emilia is very,, old soul seeming. Would fit in with the bingo ladies /j (she is a littleee bit modern but doesn't have a lot of tech and is out of the loop, acts a lot different to those her age, sort of distant? learned from William how best to be regal and stuff, so she's diplomatic)

- She has a very difficult time making friends because she had vampiric status since birth, and is not able to make friends with kids her own age easily (I mean, think about trying to introduce your vampiric 8-year-old to a normal 8-year-old.. thats scary as shit)

- She's the youngest out of all the Solaire kids, being two years younger than Adrian (the oldest) and one year younger than Vivienne (not Solaire, but associated)

- She's hella bossy because she's always had high status and has a difficult time seeing others as equals because she's literally never been at their level.. Portia (Porter's kid) and Adrian (Alexis's son) are her personal guards, and she makes them entertain her

- Portia is much less afraid to speak her mind, and does so regularly, to the point that Emilia reprimands her for saying treasonous things, lol, much to the chagrin and fear of Adrian, who has been taught to revere those in higher levels of the hierarchy than him, and begrudgingly goes along with all of Emilia's orders

- Emilia also has a hard time seeing mortals as important, or at all on par with herself, as she's always been immortal, vampiric, and she sees her and her typical peers (all vampires) as eternal, or at least veryyyy long-lasting, and simply views mortals as a blip in her likely long life. She grows out of this, with Samuel's (Sam and Darlin's kid) help, as he is part mortal, and helps her see the importance and power of mortals via the Shaw Pack, who is still aligned with the clan in the future (in my mind at least) though she's always still a bit high-and-mighty

Now onto the interesting plot for her personal storyline :3

- Once she reaches ~18, she decides she wants the throne, and conspires to overthrow her father. She recruits her guards and outside players to help her, so there's herself, Portia, Adrian, Samuel Jr., and Vivienne.

- Samuel only agreed because she promised that, if she came into power, she would ensure the safety of the Shaw Pack by devoting some of her people to protect them, instead of just using the reach of her power to imply protection (cough cough William), and yk, she certainly knows how to get Samuel under her thumb because it immediately worked lmao

- Vivienne agreed because Samuel did, and she harbours more loyalty to the Solaire House than she would generally let on, secretly desiring a place among vampiric peers, having been denied that since her turning.

- So, their plan goes as such; (let me clarify they are totally underestimating him and are overconfident lmao) - Samuel will take out Porter early, to prevent interference - Alexis will not be around on the day they plan to execute this, so she isn't factored in - They will catch William while he's doing his usual walk through the woods in his remote estate, when he is unlikely to have a way of contacting help with him, and is too far away from Dahlia to escape to safety - Samuel will be the first to attack, given his general magical prowess, granting him an advantage in distracting William, and a better chance to evade initial parries. He also has a source of daemon / demon blood, and will coat the edge of his sword in it, which will severely weaken William - Adrian and Portia will come up next, them and Samuel forming a triangle to contain William in the area, slowly weathering down his defenses - Vivienne will be taking her time throughout this to charge up a strong burst of electro magic, and will wait until the perfect opening to unleash it directly on him, hopefully immobilizing him, given that he already has da/emon blood in his system. - Then, they will surround him, and Emilia will come up, manipulating blood magic to keep him disadvantaged (since I hc William has formed the ability to control Solaire blood, and his daughter has also learned to do so) - Then, she politely asks for the crown, and should he refuse, they kill him (atp, if everything goes right, he will be severelyyy weakened by the da/emon blood and the lightening strike, making this somewhat possible) - Bam! Throne is taken easy as pie There's multiple possible endings;

1. She gets the crown without fuss because William doesn't mind granting it to her (after he's been defeated)

2. He gives them a run for their money but eventually agrees, but is not defeated at any point

3. They somehow manage to kill him, and she ascends to the throne with blood on her hands

4. He defeats them, and imprisons all of them, granting mercy but insisting on rehabilitation of some kind

5. He defeats all of them and is not merciful, only sparing Emilia and possibly Vivienne (given she's the least dangerous and not in the clan), he's a bit biased lol Number 5 is unlikely, 2 and 4 are most probable (depending on how well things go) Taglist: @vegafan69 @darlin-collins @kxemii @professionallyyappin @sereh624

[liskantope]

I of course agree about disliking this thing where people go "X political opponent of mine is weird and awkward, haha", including when it comes from Democrats. In addition to it simply being ableist and hurtful to people who have struggled with social skills - I'm certainly no fan of J. D. Vance, and I imagine you aren't either. But I think there are lots of very intelligent, thoughtful people who would make great policy decisions but aren't especially socially charismatic. (1/2)

(2/2) I really don't think it's a good idea for liberals to reinforce a norm that such people should be disqualified from office.

(This is regarding this post from 10 days ago -- I've been really busy with the new academic semester and so am struggling to find time and the right mindspace to respond to stuff on Tumblr.)

You're right that I'm no fan of Vance: his book that made him famous might have some merits for all I know (I haven't read it), but at least since then he seems to be a completely phony chameleon, and, worst of all, he's chosen to run on a ticket with Trump, which is pretty automatically disqualifying for my respect. That, and all his vitriol towards childless people and cat ladies and so on is much worse than any of the specific examples of ableist undertones I see from the other side.

I'll also say that all the ridicule of Walz's son for standing up and tearfully shouting "That's my dad!" a bit non-neurotypically after Walz's words of love for his children (ugh! God forbid! actual exemplary family values are just dumb and cringey, at least if they come from Democrats!) made me far angrier than any kind of ableism that would come from David Pakman. The only reason I didn't go on a rant about it here is that I already got it out of my system on Facebook. And there's plenty of other garbage coming from the Trump/Vance side about Harris laughing a little strangely (supposedly? her laugh seems pretty normal to me) which makes her intolerable and so forth.

Still, two wrongs don't make a right.

And anyway, I agree that social skills shouldn't be considered such a huge factor in what makes for a qualified politician -- it does need to be somewhat of a factor, but I wish we didn't live in a world where most public support for politicians is based on vibes and most vibes come from superficial mannerisms. It wasn't true 150 years ago and is an unfortunate product of our modern technological world.

Also, if Pakman and his ilk want to point out that Vance was very awkward in the donut shop by typical politician standards and this doesn't bode too well for him because that's how politics works, I wouldn't really have a problem with that. (That's essentially the treatment they gave deSantis.) It's the "ha ha ha, nyah nyah nyah" -flavored mockery, which comes across as being independent of the context of politicians being held to extremely high standards of charisma, that gets to me.

I also might as well mention (though this is less in response to your ask) that this came somewhat in the wake of an earlier Pakman clip that I mentioned in the other post that I was even more annoyed by, didn't bother to post about it at the time, but I just recovered it. Seriously, Pakman, in an uncharacteristically halting way, says the following in anticipation of showing Vance issuing a few kind of evasive and sub-par answers at an event and being a little awkward by politician standards but still less awkward than most ordinary people in their everyday lives:

The only -- uh -- how can I even say this?... The only people I know personally who are this uncharismatic-seeming... Man, it's just so hard to say this without sounding so offensive. There's, like, some explanation, um, that sometimes is... medical in nature... uh, it just sounds so horrible to say... I-I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's... it's a personality that he seems to have that is really an edge case. It's a fringe personality of some way to be this unappealing as a person, some traits of which sometimes connect to medical explanations -- I don't believe they do with JD Vance -- I think he's just really a horrible person, is what I'm trying to say. I hope I'm being kinda like sensitive and not offending anybody.

He can worry as much as he wants about coming across ableist, but, well, what he says is still what he says.

[littlewriterfullofwords]

Hi hi hi :) I saw your requests were open and was hoping you could possibly write a fluff scenario/fic/headcannon (whatever you’re comfortable with) for Tsukasaxdancer!reader? No worries if you can’t get to it or aren’t comfortable! I really enjoyed your other H&L works so I thought I’d put an idea out there :3

Hello, Anon! Thank you for the request. I'm really sorry it took so long, I hope you understand.

I am grateful for the compliment, I hope this one will be to your liking

Too Late

Parring: dancer!fem!reader x Takajo Tsukasa

Summary: You love dancing, but you find out someone else does too

Warnings: fluff, friendly bickering

A/N: I'm alive hihi.

You met Tsukasa after one of your performances at school, where Madoka’s orchestra was accompanying your dance group’s performance. 

You were friends with Madoka due to those practices and performances. She was so outgoing and open, and she didn't let you stay in the shadow, she “grabbed” everyone and created a big friend group. You liked spending time with her and her orchestra, she always brightened up the room, and you were never bored with her. You two started meeting after practices. She even introduced you to her friend group, which welcomed you so warmly. 

You didn't expect them to come to today's performance, you didn't even think about the possibility of them being there, but here they were! At the back of the hall, five figures were waving at you and Madoka, but next to them, there were two more you didn't recognise. Short guy with black hair and this tall, blond boy with mesmerizing eyes and….woah! Hold your horses, Prince Charming! Focus on the performance!

The end came quicker than you thought. And you were glad. 

“You gotta meet my other friends.” Madoka grabbed your wrist and, against your complaining, she led you to the back where all seven boys were standing. 

“It was perfect! You guys are the best!” Shinya high-fived Madoka with a smile and did the same to you. 

“Amazing!” Fujio clapped a few times with a big, bright smile. “The pir….pier…. You know, this one” Hanaoka tried his best to explain he was talking about piruet, but he failed, so he did the move himself, making everyone in the group laugh. 

“Piruet?” For the first time, the words left blond’s lips, and you were sure you gasped.

“Exactly!” Fujio nodded happily. “Thanks, Tsukasa.”

So Tsukasa was his name.

You looked at the blond and smiled softly when your eyes locked. You wanted to say something to him, but you didn’t have time for that, because Fujio rushed everyone out for the planned food after the performance. Maybe later.

The food was so yummy, but the atmosphere was a lot better. Everyone was laughing, giggling, and enjoying the meeting. You were seated next to Tsukasa, and you weren't complaining, you two found common interests and enjoyed the secret conversation you had. About what? Everything you two liked. In those 3 hours, you’ve learned a lot about the boy, and he’s done the same about you. His voice was soft and warm, giving you this comfortable feeling of safety. 

“Hey, you two!” Masaya pointed at you and Tsukasa enjoying the conversation more than the whole meeting, which made everyone look at both of you. “What are you whispering about? We feel excluded.” He pouted jokingly.

“What are you guys talking about?” Madoka nudged you with a smirk and wiggled her eyebrows. 

“About a movies we've watched lately.” You explained with a shy smile, even though you were a performer, you didn't like too much attention. “It's more interesting than who will drink more beer.” You let yourself jokingly insult the group, knowing they wouldn't be mad.

“Crossing the line, young lady.” Madoka ruffled your hair with a smile, causing everyone to laugh out loud at the table. 

You didn't realize when she leaned closer by your ear and whispered:

“Don't fall for the guy.”

Your answer came quicker than you expected.

“Too late.”

After long hours at the restaurant, you all packed your things, paid, and left. Masaya and Fujio were singing on the way, making everyone laugh.

You were walking slowly at the back of the line, the soft, almost motherly, smile was present on your lips, eyes following every member of the group except Tsukasa who was right next to you. 

“I don't know how you're handling every one of them at once.” Joked Takajo, his eyes focused on Madoka creating new dancing moves. “It's hard to handle Fujio alone.”

“I don't know who's worse.” You giggled at Shinya tripping over his own feet. “But for sure, the combo here is dangerous.”

“Oh no, we have to separate!” Hanaoka yelled, falling to his knees when the time to split came. 

“Love you guys!” Madoka sent you, and Tsukasa, kisses before she, and the boys, went right.

Tsukasa waved at them and joined you a second later.

“The performance….” Started blond. “It was amazing. I think it was your best.”

“My best?” You chuckled and looked at the boy. “How do you know? Won’t that be the first one you’ve seen?”

“Not really.” He shook his head and smiled. “I’ve seen your every performance. I’m friends with the violin player.”

“Oh.” You nodded slowly, everything was making sense. “That’s why he was always rushing first from the performance.”

“Maybe.” Both of you laughed, the sound of laughter filled the air on the quiet street.

The moon was shinning above you two, showing the way home after a performance, after which you met Tsukasa. 

[dedalvs]

Regarding the valar-Valyria question and patriarchy, I always thought that "valar" should be more properly translated as "people/humanity", as Daenerys in the book does believe Missandei's "valar morghulis" applies to her (vs the "we are not men" quip in the show) -- and that it was only translated as "men" in Common Tongue because Westeros is patriarchal. Your dārys/dāria answer the other day seemed to lean that way.

But I see that there are different words for people (issarori) and humanity (ābrar)? Are those words also adaptations of HV to describe Westerosi life? Or maybe valar used to be more gender-neutral and changed later?

The presence of one word doesn't necessarily change the definition of another word. When I'm coining words in High Valyrian, there are a number of checks I go through. For example, āeksion is "gold". That's the first word I created. There are a number of ways, both regular and somewhat irregular, that one noun can be turned into another of a different class. So, for example, āeksion is "gold", deverbative agents end in -io, so, somewhat irregularly, I created āeksio "master" (has to be irregular, since the two nouns have nearly the same declension pattern)—one associated with gold. I also check to see if there are any obvious derivations that can be made. So, for example, if āegion is "iron", then āegenka is "made of iron". Another check I make is to see if there's a paucal derivation that makes sense. Most of the time the paucal is simply a number (so qulbes is "chicken", and qulbin is "a few chickens"), but sometimes it can derive a new word (for example, sȳndor is "shadow", and sȳndrun is a few shadows gathered together, that is "shade"). Along with the paucal, the collective is also a potential for derivation. We already had vala and valar. So I created thew word for "woman" ābra. I thought if valar is something, ābrar is likely to be something, too. It has a number of meanings, among them human beings or humanity, in general. This is on par with riña being "girl" and riñar being "children". If you want to talk about any child in general, you use riña. You can do this with adults with ābra, as well, but it's more common with children. In referring to children, their age is remarkable; when referring to adults, generally, their age is not. If you look out at a busy market place, that's ābrar.

Importantly, nothing about ābra or ābrar and the way they're used has anything to do with vala or valar. Think about the words "hoodie" and "sweatshirt". They can technically refer to different things, but they don't have to—and if someone says to you, "Oh, can you grab my sweatshirt?", and you're like, "Where is it? I don't see one. Do I need to go to the closet?" because you're passive-aggressively thinking, "THAT'S A HOODIE, NOT A SWEATSHIRT!", then, well, aren't you just precious! But for most people, the existence of one word doesn't require the meaning of a previous word to change. It may change, but it need not. And, in fact, even if there is technically a difference between two words, that doesn't meant that everyone will acknowledge it. A bit of a different type of thing, but consider "We need less chairs in the dining room". Technically it should be "We need fewer chairs in the dining room", but especially in a casual environment, most English speakers will accept either with no difference in meaning between the two.

Anyway, when creating a language, it doesn't make a difference to me if a word for something already exists. Why not create another, if it makes sense? Maybe some people will use it and others won't. Maybe it will end up having a specialized usage. Maybe one will be regional, or one will be common for many years, and then the other becomes more common. I don't worry too much about it. It's nice to have a sizable vocabulary—a lot of paint on your pallet.

I hope that makes sense!

[pyroreadscomics]

What are your thoughts about Howard's Catwoman run?

The run being really gay doesn't save the writing from being really mediocre.

(More nuance below the cut)

Well that was snappy, unfortunately my thoughts are many and complicated and probably won't be entirely ironed out until a few months after she leaves the book or I reread the run again, or both. That phrase was something I said while reading through the series for the first time a some months ago that I still mostly stand by, but now feel the need to caveat and add nuance.

(Also, it feels weird that, because I put off answering this for months, the end of Howard’s run is just a few months away now, but I’m just going to assume the ending is neither so good it retroactively makes everything better or so bad it tanks the run with guilt by association)

When I say mediocre, I very specifically don't mean bad. I'm using mediocre to mean it's average, ordinary, of moderate quality. Not bad enough to hate, or even particularly dislike, but not good enough for me to shed a tear if it was suddenly canceled (which… seeing as it’s end is now on the horizon… I’m actually filled with anticipation as to what comes next.)

And like many multi-year runs, Howard's Catwoman has had it's ups and downs while it's low points are i think widely known: Her dialogue tends towards what i can only describe as AO3 generic, the plotting itself is sub-par, Gotham War disappointing even though there was no way to go into it with high expectations (joint effort i know, but even taking only half blame for it Tini Howard doesn't come out of that event looking remotely well), and I have an entire rant ready for how I dislike how Black Mask is used in that series.

1. The reintroduction of Eiko

But, that said, at this moment I do feel like calling out some highlights of Howard's run (or at least, the bits of it I really liked.)

Also yes, alot of this could be considered fanservice, but I’m at least acknowledging that things that make me happy don’t inherently make a run good. (but at least more enjoyable to slog through than Tom King’s batman or most of her New 52 stuff)

Okay, let me be clear, Eiko in this run is a shadow of her debut in Valentine's run but Selina's supporting cast has a worrying tendency to disappear without a trace after one, max two runs, so damn if it wasn't nice to see Eiko suddenly reappear in a major role in the Catwoman run after a 6 year absence and not have her confined to the dustbin of comic history alongside other Catwoman supporting cast members such as Gwen, Alice, Zee, Clutterbuck, Wilder, Arizona, and Cassandra Cartland (If you knew every single person i mentioned without having to check, I like you, and you like me also know too much about Catwoman)

If nothing else, if Eiko's appearances in this comic, and her guest appearances in other current Gotham stories (like Punchline: Gotham Game or Ram V's excellent Gotham Nocturne) manage to cement her as a persistent part of Catwoman's cast, this run will have done enough for me to earn a passing grade.

Also I like Eiko's new catsuit and not just because it makes it easier to tell her apart from Selina

2. Catwoman #43 & #44 (The Harley Quinn two parter)

Judging by the mood in the room, If anything gets me an angry response it's going to be this.

It's fun, it was a fun two parter, and honestly there are times when I wish more writers would stop trying to do the high drama stories they're kinda bad and instead write fun inconsequential side stories.

Also yes I do ship it. What of it?

Actually speaking of

3. The queerness.

It’s not a lot, but for a character who’s been out as bi since 2015 Selina is never written that way (at least in the main comics, I understand the HQ show and the recent movies have either explicitly or implicitly had bi Selina). Like it’s so bad Selina doesn’t even get pride tie in stuff, no appearances in the pride anthologies or even pride variant cover. JFC Nightwing gets one every year and last time i checked he was still canonical cishet. And… a bit like Eiko, but less important, it’s nice to have another run where Catwoman is canonically queer. Selina acknowledging Eiko as an ex, flirting with other women, that Selina and Harley sharing a bed scene. It’s just nice to have that part of Selina’s character acknowledged.

Also it’s so minor but the gay bar called Conroy’s got me just a bit.

4. Knight Terrors

On balance, despite me having criticisms of it, I did like it as a version of “What does Selina’s worst nightmares look like”. It’s not quite as good as Devin Grayson’s take on the matter (and ain’t that a sentence) but I’m a big fan of Selina’s mind dark fears conjuring force a lot of catholic imagery and doing something actually interesting with the Sister Zero concept. (It’s really just a shame that this story is clearly setting something up for Gotham War that never actually gets paid off, which is wild considering that was literally the month after Knight Terrors)

Lastly:

5. Valmont

Look, I really liked Valmont for two reasons, one of which is superficial, one of which actually had thought put into it.

Superficially: Selina deserves a whipped subby bisexual twink, as treat. Sure he's a cocky asshole, sure he looks like pirate au ghostmaker, sure he's ready to murder anyone who looks like a threat to his dom love (and honestly anyone in general), but honestly that's all part of the charm.

Because Bruce, as the whole wedding thing shows, is big on these concrete declarations of affection, even as he’s really bad at actually expressing his affection in more casual ways. And Eiko, as she says, is “comfortable with these declarations, names. Things like titles and vows.” So in dating either of them Selina would be consenting being put into a box and labeled, even if it's a box as unconstrained as “dating” and a label as loose as “girlfriend”.

But, putting a bit of thought into things, Valmont has this really interesting role in the story. He's the obviously incorrect choice in a love triangle, but also the one who Selina would pick anyway.

Like, the issue before he dies the story teases a bit of romance with Bruce and Selina, and earlier there were some teases (or.. maybe acknowledgement is the right word?) between Selina and Eiko. There's two existing love interests for Selina, Bruce, who's the moral and safe choice, the wedding bells and gaggle of step kids choice. And there's Eiko, who's a major crime lord, one who's conducting business with some of the worst in Gotham. If it was just the two of them (especially if Eiko was closer to her Valentine personality), it'd be a pretty classic "the good boy and the bad boy girl" love triangle but Valmont is here, and he adds an interesting angle onto that love triangle(?) (is it still a triangle when there's three potential lover interests?).

(A reversal on Eiko and Selina’s very undefined relationship in Valentine’s run, which could be seen as divergence for the character but also kinda makes sense. With Eiko ending that run by shedding Catwoman (and identity that embodied personal freedom and also rebellion against her father) to become the head of the Hagisawa family (an identity marked by responsibility to the family and her place as her father’s heir) that going forward she’d be a lot less likely to engage in a nebulous undefined relationship when her life is now, by choice, very defined. It’s still however one of those things that assumes a non-zero amount of character development happened off screen.)

But Valmont? Valmont doesn’t ask anything *of* Selina.

Sure he does initially, “hey here’s this cat, I know where you live, join my thieves guild”. But this tactic gets him shot down by Selina and at best relegated to “untrusted ally” status (and more likely “useful but dangerous”). But after this, and after a brief break during the CatQuinn two-parter, Valmont’s back with a new tactic called “I’ll do literally anything you ask of me, including stopping killing people, and ask for nothing in return.” Which… with Selina being somewhat adverse to long term commitment (or commitment in general depending on the writer) this works.

Valmont’s hardly a healthier romantic option (he might not be the worst person Selina’s ever dated, but he’s still at the end of the day an arrogant invasive assassin) but he puts a spin on himself that makes Selina let her guard down around him and they do eventually become some vaguely undefined item.

And then in his final issue, Bruce accuses him of still being loyal to the league of assassins and of manipulating Selina. Then he kills again in the process of undoing a problem he caused, and gets in a big fight with Bruce about it. And when Valmont goes to kill Bruce, she kills Valmont which… It’s a weird moment for Selina, she’s normally very reserved about killing people and while yes needing to save Bruce could theoretically push her far enough. But also, it’s the best thing this run could do with Valmont.

Because Bruce’s accusations (along with Valmont’s general sketchiness) lead to this question with Valmont: does he genuinely love Selina, or is he using her for some unknown end? Because he know what he’s naturally like (down with murder) and we know he’s changed his behavior, but we don’t know whether it was because he wanted to be with Selina enough to change himself for that chance (which… understandable) or, if he was on some deep cover mission to manipulate Selina towards and he changed behavior in order to further his own covert ends. And… imo the possibility of it being one or the other is more interesting than any story you could get out of committing one way or the other.

And by killing Valmont, the run gets out of having to answer this question, which, again imo, is the most intelligent narrative decision this run made aside from bringing back Eiko.

That said, If in the last two issues Howard answers the question of “what really was up with Valmont” I’m retroactively taking back all of this praise and will be downgrading this run to "of poor quality but at least Eiko's here"

[hurlumerlu]

Extending the same level of courtesy: 9, 12 and 22 for dragon age

Sorry about the delay, I started to think about my answers and promptly went insane. Then the trailers for DA4 droped and despite having 150 grievances and 236 fears - or maybe because -I went insane some more. I did get a few somewhat coherent thoughts out, though !

9. worst part of canon

So I typed like half a LibreOffice page on why the way Inquisition deals with the mage/templar conflict was an incredible example of setting things up for almost no payoff, and then I went on a tangent about my frustrations with how Orlais in general is written, and then half another LibreOffice page on the fact that so much of canon is in supplementary material and how that does negatively impact my enjoyement of the games, with a long parenthesis on how Alistair being a half-elf makes the lore actively worse, all the while taking numerous breaks because I was not being normal about all of this and I wanted to be normal about all this, but clearly I cannot be normal, about any of this. Anyway, worst part of canon is still the use of the term Tranquil Solution in DA2. Pretty sure we already talked about that but it's just. It's so bad. Why.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Well, as you pointed out this fandom is big enough and discoursey enough for pretty much all characters to have their ardant defensers - which is actually a good thing I think. I also think that the nature of the games necessarily means that a playthrough can never cover every aspect of a character and that you might easily miss an interaction that could nuance or improve your opinion of them. Vivienne is kind, warm and extremely straightforward with her goals if you take the time to befriend her. I didn't like Blackwall in my first playthrough, and never brought him anywhere, but his romance turned out to be my favourite of all Inquisition. It's pretty obvious Fenris and Sebastian don't fear all mages if you have Bethany in your party. If you don't blame Aveline for your mother's death, she gives you a speech on grief that I personaly find deeply touching. Sten often approves having his views challenged. Oghren is not just a walking crude joke, if you try to view his character with just a bit more grace, etc. So rather than pick one character people should like more I'll just say that if someone ever replays the games, they should try to put aside everything that annoyed them about whichever character they dislike the most and spend some time interracting with them with fresh eyes. It's often worth it. (I did write a love letter to Aveline, though)

22. your favorite par of canon that everyone else ignores

DWARVEN SOCIETIES. okay, i'm exagerating a bit. Idk that it's my absolute favrite part, and I know the dwarven lore is enjoyed by at least 20 people worldwide. But the fandom as a whole does not seem to care about the dwarves, except to ask if Varric is fuckable (no judgement, I get it). But there is so much there! Their rigid cast system and conservatism that are fucking everyone up, their disconect from the fade/lack of dream (and yet they can be made to dream, as shown by a dwarven warden or inquisitor), how that helps them handling lyrium but only to a point, their especially high resistance to the taint because of their proximity with the Darkspawn, their proximity with the Darkspawn, THE LEGION OF THE DEAD, the paragons and the Stone, the Titans, Sandal? And surface dwarves are also deeply compelling. Cut from their roots, otherized by what everyone else around them insist on calling "their people". When Varric tells a story of his brother blowing up at him for breaking a plate and ends with something like "that plate was the whole city of Orzammar to him", does that get to no one else? just me?

Chose violence ask game (I did not particularly chose violence)