#I have some thoughts about their relationship in canon

[livelaughlesbian00]

A rambly addition to the list:

🔵 I do know abandoning social/ class commentary for alien & robot battles is common for sci-fi. In Arcane they set up a scifi world with an attempt at class/ systemic injustices commentary in season one. They ultimately abandoned that style of storytelling that mainly focused on the characters Vi, Cait, Jinx, and the people & relationships surrounding them in favor of leading up to a massive magical alien robot crossover showdown by the end.

I get that it's LoL so it was likely that a massive fight is how it ends, but the way season 1 went, I thought it would be a Zaun vs Piltover revolution battle, as opposed to an Ambessa vs Piltover & Black Rose at the same time as Viktor glorious evolution fight. For a show that seemed to be so character driven, they put too many new season 2 eggs in their basket while simultaneously having their focus dart around different plotlines and characters.

🔵 Vi having extensive canon trauma from enforcers pre and during incarceration only to easily become so head over heels for one. Even back in season 1, I had some concerns with this CaitVi oppressor x oppressed dynamic. Their power disparity is so large that i wanted work to be done to address that if they got together. In season 2, Despite the microaggressions, Cait taking advantage of Vi's loyalty, and breach of trust, Vi still clings onto her without any apologies from Cait or serious conversations with her, occasionally abandoning her own desire to protect family & community for the enforcer woman she just met. Given the backstory, values, and trauma they set up for Vi, her motivation didn't always make sense and it seemed like they gave up on diving into Vi, making her more of a side character. I say all that as a fellow protective older sister butch lesbian. Having static characters that don't evolve is completely fine, especially when Vi was in jail during her formative years, thus missing the opportunity to develop social skills and values. A big part of her character as a fighter is also searching out self punishment for sure. However *some* significant parts of her character also felt self contradicting in season 2.

🔵 Cait had multiple scenes detailing her rise to and beginning of doubts during fascist puppet leadership. The arc of her fall was pretty damn well documented, even if her climb out of it wasn't done amazingly well. Meanwhile, Vi got an emo 2 minute alcoholism and fighting as self harm montage. That montage did symbolically represent that destructive cycle of self harm and self pity well. But when that montage was done, there were no lingering remnants from her depression fall other than her new emo look. Any signs of her alcoholism vanished and she bounced back to working with Cait very easily, even calling her cupcake when they first meet after Cait attacks Vi again in that valley. Vi's transition out of her slump felt very sudden, especially watching the lack of resistance from Vi during the valley scene where she meets the largest reason for that fall- Cait- again for the first time since she abused and abandoned her.

🔵 Vi having an emotionally vulnerable moment about her sister after it clearly comes across like Jinx is gonna off herself, just to transition within seconds to wanting to fck her toxic enforcer girlfriend in the cell right after was such emotional whiplash. I also hated that there was a strange almost Vi apology to Cait before they fcked. Cait was the one in the position of power and privilege and who committed serious crimes and personal harm to Vi warranting an apology. Cait never actually apologized let alone seriously acknowledged any of her multiple harmful actions. It didn't make sense seeing an older sister who fixated on and wanted to be with her sister for years watch her sister walk away to potentially kill herself and suddenly shift to deeply wanting to fck her on & off again new-ish toxic enforcer gf.

🔵 Jinx said "I'm always with you even when we're worlds apart" for her and Vi's last battle together, but the last conversation they had together before this was Jinx telling Vi to move on, forget about her, and that she deserved happiness. Speaking as a sister, siblings very rarely just bounce back into "you're my sister forever 🤗" after a serious exchange like that. For me, the line came across as a weirdly placed, inorganic "power of friendship" sisterly moment that wasn't necessarily built up to. I've heard that some important scenes got cut leading up to that, but still...

🔵 Writers dedicated almost a whole episode to AU timebomb in the 3 part series finale when there wasn't groundwork for a timebomb *romantic relationship* in season 1 or 2 other than fans shipping them. It was clear that Ekko cared for Jinx, but it didn't necessarily come off as romantic until act 3. I'd argue it didn't need to become romantic. Ekko already had a moment in season 1 where he realized Powder was still there and you don't need romantic love to care for other people's well being. I will say that episode was written pretty well out of all of act 3 and it was a fun AU watch. But in comparison, the writers kept creating conflict for CaitVi in the Acts 1 & 2 scenes they had together with no actual reconciliation or repair work in act 3 to make relationship progression feel real. While timebomb got a whole romance developed in the finale, the romantic relationship that DID exist since season 1- CaitVi- only got 5 total minutes of screentime in the finale.

🔵 Vi's last line being Cait's "dirt under her fingernails" pissed me off. Season 1 Vi was determined that Piltover would respect them one day and throughout season one it was made clear that Piltover saw Zaunites as subhuman. I get the meaning behind that phrase in general is the dirt under your nails keeps you humble or grounded. Except Vi didn't do that at all in season two... there was no discussion over Cait's behavior or microaggressions early on. Cait beat and discarded Vi the moment Vi tried reasoning with her and keeping her accountable following the fight with Jinx. There was no sustained and serious discussion or argument about Cait's fascism atrocities, from Vi or anyone else after the fact. No, that single vague line "we can't erase our past, none of us" was not enough. It felt like the writers wanted Cait to have a long fall from grace, then recover. But there wasn't an actual redemption arc. If they actually wanted her to have one, it felt half assed or not fully thought through. Even if they wanted to redeem her, given the distance they made her fall and how long she was stuck there, there truly was not enough time in the season to pull it off well. If anything, Cait was rewarded with exactly what she wanted (Vi / happiness) at the end without much actual redemption work beforehand. How could Vi be the dirt under her fingernails when they had so little shared screentime or discussion specifically "keeping her humble"? Vi repeatedly crawled back to Caitlyn, all without new boundaries or expectations set. If that phrase was about keeping Cait humble, it's not accurate at all. But if it's solely about Cait not being able to get rid of Vi, it's accurate but it sucks to see Vi follow Cait like a puppy when she microaggressed & attacked Zaunites, mistreated and took advantage of Vi so much with little signs of progression or redemption.

🔵 Ekko and Mel deserved better. I love both of them a lot.

In Ekko's case, he didn't have as much screentime in season 1. It was lovely to see more time for season 2. However a good amount of the most meaningful screentime he got in the finale of season 2 unfortunately felt like a shift to involve a Jinx/ Powder childhood or AU crush, rather than focusing more on his original intent of making Zaun what it could be. The whole tree corruption arc was not revisited and I was sad that I didn't get to see much of him trying to actualize his plans with Zaun in this universe. Him stopping Jinx from killing herself was an alright scene, but some fans found what was meant to be an emotional scene funny because of its reminiscence of that joke "babe don't kys / OMG stop this isn't you". I wonder how that scene would have landed if it were Vi instead. He was the GOAT in that final fight scene though.

As for Mel, the Black Rose plot could have been really riveting. I actually thought it would be the segue into the next project because it didn't feel like it would have enough time this season. But it all felt so rushed and Mel didn't get the screentime she deserved for her scenes to feel fleshed out or to truly explore her relationship to her mother & black rose. She also got sidelined by Jayce or treated poorly by him in favor of Jayce screentime or development with Viktor. Mel really came in clutch at the end, saving Cait and beating Ambessa. But it sucked that she didn't have the screentime or attention to back up that badass main character energy at the end. She deserved more time for relationship and motivation development!

🔵 Netflix advertised a Sevika poster with the caption "Sevika's story continues in act 3" only for her to end up with maybe 20 seconds of screentime and no speaking lines.

🔵 Sevika's ending on the council made no sense. The way they wrote her in season 1 and 2, she would not have accepted a seat on the council. She would have not wanted to be a puppet for Piltover or a puppet for oppressing Zaunites, at least not without *serious convincing*. Especially after her trying to rally people in that square earlier this season. This is a serious values shift that was not shown on screen.

🔵 The Zaunites felt like they were treated as plot advancement devices. All of the characters who did noble sacrifices or died for their people were Zaunites with very little or no speaking lines. Yeah that could have been intentional and symbolic, but it still didn't sit right. The majority of the deaths meant to be seen as noble or viewed as martyrs on screen in the finale were Zaunites. Yes they existed as symbols for the demographic that are sacrificed or impacted most during war, but it felt empty. Zaun really easily joined Piltover given the years of oppressive history from Piltover and despite the ongoing division among Zaunites. People can come together for the sake of survival. However having that happen in Arcane so easily between oppressor and oppressed classes following depictions of Zaun with very similar imagery to West Bank and other occupations with little conflict in the process felt like a strange message to send out given current events.

Arcane was still a fun watch and it paved the way in terms of unique animation quality in the animation industry and animated series. But I won't lie I'm pretty disappointed in the finale because their social commentary, pacing, and balance of their multiple plotlines really fell flat.

This isn't an issue of "show don't tell" because they didn't commit well to either. It's not an issue of "media literacy is dead" because historical and modern social factors inform the media you consume and for many, cannot be removed when watching a series in the time that we currently live. Art impacts the audience in different ways and has the ability to seriously disappoint some people where others were content. It's also not *entirely* Netflix's fault for shortcomings. There is a level of responsibility for the writers to recognize when they were ambitious and cut back or change parts of their story.

We should be criticizing the media that we consume. It helps writers improve. It helps studios like Netflix see that eight 45 minute long episodes are not enough to do your story justice and you shouldn't be regularly cancelling shows or failing to give them more than 1-2 seasons. Arcane clearly needed more time and the writers needed to prioritize their storytelling goals.

- Zaunites dying to help Piltover in battle while wearing enforcer uniforms, even though Piltover did nothing to earn it

- Silco, one of the few pro-Zaun/anti-Piltover characters from season 1, reduced into a mouthpiece for "forgiving those who wronged you" and letting go

- Jinx, one of the few anti-Piltover characters, becoming redeemed by sympathizing with Piltovians, being apologetic for killing Councilors, and feeling like she should die to allow her sister to be happy with her enforcer girlfriend

- Vi not having any problem with her Piltovian enforcer girlfriend gassing Zaun, and reduced to kneeling for Caitlyn's pussy in a prison cell, where she was locked for years as a child by an enforcer

- Jayce telling Viktor that his disease was never a weakness to be cured even though the disease was caused by Piltover polluting Zaun

- Ekko never calling out Heimerdinger's failings as a ruler nor Vi for joining the enforcers (even though he does in the game), and also risking all the Firelights' lives to help Piltover

- Sevika not having any lines in Act 3, never interacting with Jinx or reacting to Isha's death, and also risking her life to help Piltover, a decision which was made off screen

[celtrist]

This was a planned thing I had around the time I had this little rant (appreciate everyone who's bothered reading that thank you!)

Seeing as we have three canonically Asexual characters, I thought each of them having a different romantic orientation (and varying asexuality on the scale) would be fun and neat to show the variations to the orientations! But I was really stumped on Mammon since I was pretty set on Alastor and Octavia, but Mammon not being any form of aromantic didn't feel right, not terribly ooc, just definitely felt a bit more like "he's the leftovers" sort of thing when divvying up the romantic orientations. But lo and behold, the new episode of Helluva came out and helped solved that little quandrie. So here are my thoughts below on each!

Alastor (Loveless Aromantic) If you've seen my rant, you probably have a good idea why I labeled him as a "loveless aromantic" (meaning in this sense I'm talking about, he just wouldn't have any form of romantic affections or go into something like a QPR or the like). And I do genuinely think he would be! But I know there's A LOT of bias for Alastor NOT being aromantic (or at least open to some sort of relationship), and I will admit I might've been a bit biased here too! I've just seen a lot of love for only specific parts of the aro spectrum that "allows" Alastor to get with someone, and I wanted to give some love to the aro spectrum that gets little to no appreciation (plus I do just genuinely think he'd be this). If you don't agree, all is fair ദ്ദി（• ˕ •マ.ᐟ The point is, I realize I'm probably in the minority here. Plus, it's all a guessing game more or less until something is officially stated, which probably will never happen for any of these three.

Anyway, like I said, I just don't see Alastor really getting as close to anyone even as a QPR. At the VERY LEAST, not in a QPR that has a lot of romantic parts to it (kissing on the lips, cuddling, etc.). My man wouldn't have any interest in marriage or anything romantic, he's very happy on his own and probably gossips about OTHER people's love lives. Then again, he seemed pretty close to cracking when he heard Charlie ranting about her own love life... With that said, I do think he DOES like the company of others, he's VERY social after all. But actually, getting intimate with someone? Mmm, that doesn't feel right for him to me. A kiss on the cheek or PERHAPS a cuddle here and there at most, but nothing like bathing with someone or kissing with tongue. He's also a man of the roaring twenties, so you KNOW how he thinks about intimacies that might have no romantic/sexual connotations by themselves (like bathing with someone) are romantic on their own just because being that close to someone was seen that way in his time. Plus again, I just don't think he'd be interested in that stuff as is (potentially he could be both touch-starved and touch-aversed. And oh boy, wouldn't that be a conundrum!) On one hand, I like and can see Alastor being sex-repulsed, on the other I can also see him just feeling nothing towards it. Considering Angel's "advances" in both the first episode and the pilot, he does have a bit of a strong reaction towards sex, but nothing crazy either. I can see him being lukewarm to the subject (so he could read a book or read a script out loud with sex in it), but he could be repulsed when it actually INVOLVES HIM. I can definitely see him somewhat annoyed with the subject for how everywhere it is though.

Octavia (QPR Aromantic) It's a little hard to pinpoint, but I can personally see Octavia getting into a close QPR sooner than Alastor, but maaayybe only be a hair. Octavia could possibly get into a platonic relationship with someone that would have remnants of seeming romantic. I do think she's probably the most sex-repulsed of the three, if in part because of her father's inclinations that he doesn't seem to hide even when she's around. Honestly, I feel like we still haven't seen enough of her to get a good grasp on this aspect of her character in if she would be interested in getting as close as to a QPR with someone. But I'd certainly like to think so, because damn does our girl need it. Her falling into some sort of relationship would probably be hard seeing as how her parents' relationship was so awful. So she could be hesitant about doing something like that.

Mammon He was the big toughy! And while his advances on Leviathan might have been meant in a more platonic way or just for show to go against Ozzy's and Bee's romantic relations, I'm going with what's there! So Mammon seems like he could be straight or bi/pan. But I don't have a hard grasp on which so I'm tossing that in the air. I don't think he'd be sex-repulsed just because of how "sex makes money". Like, there's no question that sex appeal is a big part of business even if something isn't even that sexual. So while I think he's not largely interested in doing anything sexual, I can see him being okay or even lukewarm to the subject, maybe just not getting the appeal entirely. Maaaayybe he's sex-favorable? Of the three I would imagine he would be the most likely to be sex-favorable, but I dunno.

I like the idea of Octavia being the only one aware as to what her orientations are. Alastor is... well he's Alastor, and Mammon doesn't seem like he'd be too interested in the details of things. Just that "there's straight, gay, and the between area".

[cloudcountry]

SUMMARY: you are forever grateful that mr. chopped is safe.

COMMENTS: some domestic fluff with a side of ambiguous relationships & mutual pining :3 this fic takes place post canon!! i have not actually played the full game yet LOL only the demo so pls forgive if its inconsistent

It’s a morning just like any other, one were you wake up with Mr. Chopped sleeping soundly by your side. Raising from the bed, the blankets slide off your body and crumple around your form. The head beside you furrows his brow at the movement and loss of warmth, groaning as he moves ever so slightly in his sleep.

You smile softly and tuck him back in, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. The creases of the blanket curl around him protectively, a testament to your affection.

You spare a moment to stare lovingly down at him before you start getting ready for the day. The crowbar propped up against your nightstand goes virtually unnoticed as you slip off the bed and out your bedroom door.

Fixing breakfast is quick as always, a light meal for you and a little something for him. You’re not sure how he eats, being just a head and all, but you don’t question it. It’s okay if you don’t know things, just so long as he’s safe and sound.

As your knife slices through the fruit of your choice, you stare at the utensil and purse your lips. It’s about time you and Mr. Chopped go back and visit Mr. Silvair and Mr. Crawling. Both of them must have missed you so terribly, even if the former doesn’t show it much.

It’s always been easy to lose yourself in your thoughts whenever you’re alone in the mornings like this, but it hardly ever lasts long. Soon enough, you hear the sleepy whining and cooing that could only come from your favorite person.

Abandoning the fruit on the cutting board, you make your way to the bedroom with purposefully louder steps. It’s a habit you picked up ever since he told you he doesn’t like surprises, especially not when he’s sleepy and vulnerable.

Safe. You want that for him.

He lights up when he sees you, shouting a jumbled mix up of greetings and I like yous and want carry, and so you scoop him into your arms and hold him close as his voice becomes muffled in your sleep shirt. Your heart expands, eyes and hands softening at the familiar weight on him, his dark eyes staring up at you over the fabric of your clothes.

“ Precious. ” you say, and he blinks because he does not understand.

You kiss him, brushing your lips over his forehead, and then he does.

He’s quick to yap about the kitchen, repeating words like fridge and fruits and voicing his excitement over your breakfast. You set him gently on the counter and he pouts, but when you feed him a slice of fruit he seems rather placated.

You finish cutting the fruit with practiced strokes and gather together the rest of your breakfast, occasionally responding to Mr. Chopped’s comforting chatter. Every time he opens his mouth, wide enough that it’s almost a bit ridiculous, you end up giggling as you feed him. Each time, those fruit stained lips twist up in a frown. You assure him you’re not laughing at him, that you’re just happy, and he smiles again and proclaims that he is happy, too .

It’s easy to settle at the table and prop your phone up against the vase in the center, pulling up whatever mindless content you feel like watching that day. The vase is full of flowers he picked out just for you, colorful and bright and oh so happy. You’ve found that he’s fond of brighter colors and flashier patterns when you did his hair with your collection of hairclips for the first time. He gravitated towards the ones you barely ever wore, since it was just so hard to find an outfit to match them with...he was delighted when you offered to let him wear them whenever he wants.

A gift. From someone who just wants him to be happy.

“Precious.” you say again, looking over him fondly, brushing his hair away from his face with the tips of your fingers.

He seems pleased, preening under your attention, and you can’t resist scooting closer so he can lean against your thigh. He takes the invitation gratefully, rubbing his cheek against the bare skin he finds there, only gnawing on the flesh a little bit.

You laugh because it tickles, because you adore him and he adores you, because you are happy. And the most lovely thing about it all, is that he is, too.

[would-they-listen-to-that]

How to Make a Self-Ship Playlist (when you're too afraid to ask)

hey there! you! yeah, you, lurking in the f/o tag, i see you. so you wanna make a self-ship playlist but don't know where to start? welcome to "would-they-listen-to-that" radio, ran by a self-shipping veteran! this post is a special request from an anonymous caller, so let's get into it! how do we make a self-ship playlist when we have zero idea what we're doing?

‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡ STEP ONE: BLORBO ROULETTE ‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡

The first step is to pick someone who catches your eye! Who's that fictional character lurking in the back of your mind? Who have you thought about snuggling with to distract yourself from the monotony of a three-hour geometry lecture? Whose tag did you take a "casual stroll" down last night? If you've got someone in mind from those questions alone, there's your target!

‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡ STEP TWO: DATING ‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡

No, not that kind of dating. I'm talking about historical dating! The time period your character comes from influences the music they listen to! Are they a vampire from the late 1980's? Try some early trad-goth bands and hair metal! Are they a magical girl from the early 2000's? Try some y2k girl groups and rnb! "But mod, what if my character is anachronistic, and their whole shtick is they act like a 1940's jazz singer yet they live in 2020?" If you somehow catapulted Ella Fitzgerald into the nowadays, don't be afraid to be anachronistic with your playlist! Billie Holiday can go right next to Billie Eilish!

‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡ STEP THREE: SOUNDING IT OUT ‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡

If your f/o has one, listen to their soundtrack for inspiration! What genres are present in their soundtrack? If they sing, in what style? What do they sing about? What kinds of music reflect their environment? If the character has any musical inclination or is a fan of certain musicians, take that into account! If your blorbo is a canon Weezer fan or sings along to Frank Sinatra, that gives a strong basis of what they listen to.

‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡ STEP FOUR: ULTRASOUND ‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡

That's right, you gotta look inside yourself. You're a character in this self-ship too. It takes two (at least) to tango! Find songs that are meaningful to you. What types of music do you enjoy? What songs do you believe are integral to your relationship with your blorbo? What songs describe your feelings towards them? If you have an enemies-to-lovers relationship, look into songs that have a similar theme. Don't be afraid to explore new music too! Who knows what you might find? There's always an opportunity to hear your new favorite song!

‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡ STEP FIVE: BE FREE ‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡

Seriously, cringe culture is dead. If it's not, I'm giving you and your f/o hammers so you can kill it. You're allowed to have fun with fiction. The FBI isn't gonna swarm your house because you wanted to give Batman a kiss. It sounds cheesy, but the first (and only step really) to making a self-ship playlist is to have fun and be yourself. You don't need to listen to this post! I'm not the be-all end-all of self-shipping! Whether you take my advice is totally up to you! There really are no wrong answers here!

If you made it this far into the yap session, thank you so much for reading! I hope this advice serves you well! If not, that's okay too! As always,

thanks for dialing in!

[ominium]

scrambled eggs

character : gojo s. context : you watch satoru make eggs for the first time pov : second person (you) content : fluff (angst if you squint) note(s) : this is pre-marriage but established relationship, if you read my farewell, and this also dates to their high school jujutsu days :) 

also this is obviously not canon :x

—

“Have you ever wondered why I like them scrambled?” your white-haired boyfriend asks, grabbing the eggs from the fridge. You’re sat on top of the counter, watching the tall figure move around the kitchen swiftly. It’s a bit before noon, as the two of you had gotten up late sleeping in on your day off.

“I thought it was because you hated the texture of the runny yolk,” you quipped, as he cracked an egg into the pan—one handed, of course. You hear a low chuckle from him, seeing a quick nod before cracking another. “Heh, that too. But there’s another reason.” You hop off the counter, walking up to him to watch him stare at the eggs crackling in the heated pan. 

“Take the amplified and the reversal…” He grabs the spatula and breaks the yolks, letting them trickle over the egg whites. 

“Then, smash together those two expressions of infinity to create and push out imaginary mass.” He breaks apart the egg whites to let it mesh with the yolk, now hardening from the flames.

You turn your head away from the pan, looking at his expression, confused. “Right…English please?” He just chuckled, tossing the pan a bit to finish scrambling the eggs. “It’s how I tried to practice the purple technique. Ya know, red and blue?” He transferred the eggs onto two separate plates, one for each of you guys. 

“I tried envisioning it as eggs…just couldn’t get it right. Although, I did learn that I made some pretty good scrambled eggs. It’s been my favorite ever since.”

You let out a giggle, grabbing the plates and taking them to the dining table. He follows in suit, taking a seat across. 

“Hm, well maybe you’ll get it eventually. You are the strongest after all. Maybe you might unlock the big secret on your next mission! It’s with Suguru, right? I wonder what it’s all about.”

[epickiya722]

Ok, i think there was a bit of a misunderstanding here? Katsuki apparentely was talking abt recruiting Izuku as a sidekick since that was the topic of conversation i think, and Izuku refused bc he is already a teacher. Kirishima makes fun of them both for being dense dumbasses.

I think ppl were upset bc they thought Katsuki was inviting him to run the agency together instead of just working there.

Still, Katsuki mentioning how he hasn't accepted no interns bc none of them meet his Deku standards, and looking so tired after Izuku refused is still pretty painful to look at ngl. And the thought that they considered mentioning it in canon just to say "it ain't happening" is also kinda painful.

I thought that Katsuki was doing just that, asking Izuku to be an intern/sidekick there which is why I was confused that some were acting as if Izuku pulled the meanest glare to Katsuki and went "No, I hate you, I despise you, I curse you till the end of time".

This is why we WAIT before jumping to conclusions and cursing someone's existence.

Like, he turned down being an employee at an agency. Which I'm sure Izuku would have done to anybody else in their class had they offered the same.

I still don't have a recollection of Izuku and Katsuki ever mentioning running an agency together though. The most I remember is them wanting to be heroes together when they were kids. I do feel like the "running an agency together" aspect is fanon.

By the time Izuku and Katsuki were old enough to even though what an agency was their relationship was still rocky.

As sad as it is, I don't think Izuku deserves to be bashed for it by the fandom. He isn't the only dumbass here.

That was just sprung up on him and yeah, Izuku would want to continue being a teacher. Interning at an agency would be extra work for him. How he's even managing as a teacher and a Pro Hero?!

(Looks at Present Mic having about 50 occupations.)

Also, maybe just me, but I felt like that was something Katsuki could have asked in private.

I don't know... it was just something simple, but still giving how the scene is seemingly framed, that felt like had Kirishima not have been there, that could have been a conversation for Katsuki and Izuku to have instead of "hey, about you work at the agency" "no".

And wait, ain't no way Katsuki is really turning down interns because they're not Deku standards? No, Katsuki, honey... listen... there can only be one Izuku 'Deku' Midoriya. I adore him, you adore him. But... how can interns ever be up to Deku's level... IF YOU DON'T GIVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GROW AND LEARN?!

He is such a disaster...

Just a thought though, it would have been so funny if on a later date, Katsuki tries asking him again and Izuku just goes "no" but that time Katsuki is just like "WHY?! YOU'LL HAVE YOUR OWN WORK SPACE AND THESE BENEFITS AND..." He goes on and on and then Izuku is like "Kacchan, try asking me again but in a different way".

And at first Katsuki doesn't get it until much later and then asks "would you like to run the agency with me" and Izuku says yes and that whole time Izuku knew Katsuki wouldn't settle for Izuku just working under him as an intern, but couldn't bring himself to ask Izuku to be his partner. So Izuku had to give him that push.

[hikarielizabethbloom]

Thoughts on TROP and Galadriel and Sauron

Since things have finally returned to normal (or perhaps I simply blocked the people who were annoying me; I’m not sure), I want to address a few issues I commented on last week. This time, I want to do it properly—no more replies while multitasking. I will be brief (I admire brevity) and hopefully pain-free. 

Let’s get started.

Galadriel and Halbrand's relationship in canon

Season 1

The showrunners have expressed that their vision for Galadriel and Halbrand's storyline was not meant to emphasize a romantic angle, reflecting their creative intentions.

"Gennifer Hutchison, an executive producer in the first two seasons, [and] writer on the show, she said 'everyone's gonna ship these two!'" McKay reveals. "We're like, 'that's crazy. They're enemies. What? What are you talking about?' So, Genny, you were right."

I believe in the concept of the "death of the author," so to me, it doesn't matter what the author's intentions were; I perceived the relationship between Galadriel and Halbrand/Sauron as entirely romantic—complicated, but romantic nonetheless. 

Payne adds: "I think whenever you have two talented, thematic people like this in scenes together it's very natural [that] people [are] gonna pick up on the chemistry that they have between them. It's just part of the nature of their drama, and so it's not so surprising."

However, I also recognize that interpreting Galadriel and Halbrand/Sauron as mere enemies is just as valid as my interpretation (maybe more). I simply choose not to let others dictate how I should enjoy fiction. We should learn to distinguish between antis and people who have different opinions. Everyone deserves the right to share their views in the ship tag. Respect is the key.

Season 2

In season 2, the relationship between Galadriel and Sauron is presented with more subtlety than in the previous season. Some (myself included) see this as a positive development. Throughout the season, Galadriel and Sauron seem to carry the weight of each other’s absence, adding a poignant layer to their connection. The themes of longing and absence resonate deeply, reflecting the complexity of their experiences. As we reach the final confrontation, we see Galadriel in a state of vulnerability that we’ve rarely witnessed before, especially when she comes face to face with Halbrand once more. Yet, this Halbrand feels off, as Sauron has transformed in ways she/we (the audience) can't fully grasp. In that moment, Galadriel steps up to fight for herself, and it’s beautiful.

But the question remains: was it definitive?

What to expect?

While I don’t believe the creator’s intentions should dictate how we interpret canon, it is impossible to forget their intentions when it comes to what to expect from the show. 

"And I think that will endure as long as the show endures, because they represent good and evil, right? They haven't fought their last battle yet.”

I believe that the story of Galadriel and Sauron is still unfolding and will likely be a recurring theme throughout the series. However, I am curious about how this will be portrayed in future seasons. Based on what we’ve seen so far in Season 2, it appears their relationship may continue to develop, though I don't foresee numerous romantic scenes, love declarations, or physical expressions of affection such as kisses or intimacy. A tender moment like a forehead touch might be the extent of it, but even that could just be hopeful speculation. I like this approach, though I can understand that it may not resonate with everyone, particularly those who are invested in the romantic aspect of the story. 

I want to add that it’s great that Charlotte confirmed Galadriel's feelings for Halbrand! However, if the show had plans for a significant love confession later on, they probably wouldn't have talked about it in interviews, right? Nonetheless, I truly appreciate her for recognizing this interpretation and sharing it.

This brings me to another important point.

Is Galadriel and Hilbrand’s relationship the most important one on the show?

Thematically I’d say yes. They represent the two major forces in this conflict. Light vs Darkness. Good vs evil. That will never change. 

However, narratively, I don’t think that perspective is accurate. Other relationships are just as important, if not more so. Not to be controversial, but especially in Season 2, the relationship that the writers seem to find more interesting is between Galadriel and Elrond. This makes sense, considering they are the ones who survive in the end. Although I often joke about Elrond being exasperated by Galadriel's feelings toward Sauron, that dynamic never actually occurs in the show. Their conflict is not about Sauron; it revolves around the broken trust between Galadriel and Elrond.

It is essential to recognize that while some may consider G/S to be the focal point of the show, that perspective doesn’t justify feelings of anger toward those who appreciate different aspects or have contrasting views on the canon. Everyone has their interpretations and preferences, and it's perfectly valid for fans to connect with various elements of the story.

The demand for more scenes in the show because "that's what the fans want" is really absurd. Just because one person's experience differs from another's doesn't mean everyone feels the same way. I watch the show because I love Tolkien and the world he created, and I want to see more of it. Reducing the show to just "The Ballad of Galadriel and Sauron" is simply not accurate.

And reducing Galadriel’s story to just her relationship with Sauron doesn’t fully capture her character's depth. She is much more than a romantic figure, and her narrative goes far beyond just grappling with her feelings for Sauron. That relationship is just a small part of her overall journey, and there’s so much more to appreciate about her story!

There are so many wonderful stories to tell! While I absolutely adore these two characters, I think it would be a bit of a missed opportunity to limit the show to just their love story. Exploring a variety of storylines will make the whole experience more enjoyable for everyone, rather than just focusing on what a few fans might wish for.

There is probably more but right now I’m fused so… 

I won’t post this in the ship tags because I don’t want to upset others or cause emotional reactions to fictional characters. Perhaps I should share this in the silvergifting tag, as I was advised to do. According to the lore, good H*ladriels belong in the h/s tag, while the "bad" H*ladriels go to silvergifting heaven! (Just a joke—hope that's okay!)

[alexthebordercollie]

I know this definitely wasn’t the point of your post but this line “I think he gets shipped with Stanley by people who want to see Stanley get that kind of overbearing love that Fidds showed to Ford. I do understand wanting to give him that kind of partner but Ford deserves love too,” in your Fiddleauthor comic post made me think… what about aro/ace Stan. It seems like a lot of Fiddlestan shippers only ship it because they want Stan to have that overwhelming love or whatever, but do these people ever consider that maybe the only overwhelming love Stan wants/needs is familial? The most important relationships in his life are all family, and considering his repeated mentions of failing at romance/the implication he engaged in sex work, I can totally see him just straight up having no interest in romance or sex at all. In my opinion, the most realistic scenario (and probably the best for everyone involved) is Stan being aro/ace and happy for his brother and his brother’s partner, being supported and loved non-romantically and being perfectly content with that. It certainly makes a lot more sense then breaking up Fiddauthor which has so much canon basis and taking away Ford’s support system.

Ok so I've got a lot of thoughts here, but it's a great point to bring up. I'll start by offering up some art of Stan and the beans then dig into my thoughts.

Nikola is speech delayed while Newton is an early yapper.

So I think the point about Stanley being happiest with familial love is a fantastic one. He's clearly someone who values family a lot and they seem to be his most consistent source of happiness. I think lot of people undervalue platonic love next to romantic love and I think that's a waste.

That said I don't see Stan being aro/ace, like it's a fun headcannon and I can understand the logic behind it. It's just I think something else is going on. I think Stan's issue is that he's terrified of emotional intimacy. Something backed up in the show by repeated examples of him avoiding being vulnerable in front of people. I think what happens with Stan is he tends to self-sabotage his relationships anytime they get too close out of fear. The sort of thing that likely stems from the trauma of being abused and rejected by his own family. He doesn't want to get close enough to someone new for them to hurt him. Avoidant attachment style

Family is different though. I think he has an easier time being close to family because there's this built-in connection and he isn't pressured to be vulnerable in the same way a romantic partner might pressure him. Instead, he has more of the space to open up at his own pace.

Speaking of, by that same metric. I actually think if he and Fidds ever happened, he'd probably sabotage the relationship pretty fast. Fiddleford loves rather aggressively and with an open hand and I actually think Stan would find it overwhelming. I feel like he would panic having someone shower him with gifts and bail.

Personally, I might ship Stan with someone else in this AU later on down the line though I'm still not sure yet if I want to fully commit to the idea. For now either way I see him spending at least the first few years of his nephew's lives completely single so he can focus solely on being a good uncle. He loves these boys like his own and he's just as involved in their upbringing as Ford and Fidds.

If I do ship Stan with someone at some point it's not because he needs a romantic partner. It's just because I found a ship I think could be fun to explore. Stanley doesn't need a girlfriend or boyfriend. He is perfectly content being the bachelor uncle and helping raise his brother's kids.

[call-me-copycat]

BNHA Spoilers:

(Also this is just a complaint post, I'm not very good at explaining my thoughts so please don't try to argue :⁠-⁠( Feel free to add on thoughts but I can't argue )

I have to say I'm not too happy with the leaks, which is hard for someone like me to admit!

As an AceAro person, I was thrilled with the original ending and the fact that no ships were confirmed nor denied, because it left enough for the fans to work with while not shutting anyone down outright

I'm not really a fan of ships, I'll be honest, and I don't really like romance in anime (hard to avoid! I know!), but I never really saw anything wrong with people and their ships and whatnot, and I never minded analyzing some of them for some friends - it was all in good fun after all!

The pairs in the leaks felt like something out of character almost, it didn't feel very... Horikoshi Style I suppose

I do enjoy getting extra MHA content, I always always will, but it isn't a good feeling to me seeing these characters in this anime that focuses on motivation and inspiration and becoming Heroes eventually getting together and dating - I'm not sure, I guess it's the unfitting themes? Something about it unnerves me

I don't know, I've always been adverse to romance my whole life, I always preferred plot and writing instead of two characters getting together (if the plot and writing lead up to two characters getting together? I'm fine with that)

I've seen people saying Uraraka and Deku are canon and I have to say... I don't really feel comfortable with that

I can see it as cute, yes! But I feel that he didn't have as deep a relationship to her as he did with Bakugo (they're always themed around each other, and I found whatever relationship they have with each other very profound, as it ran very deep for a very long time)

Same goes with Toga and Uraraka - it happened over the course of the series, I got to see them learn and struggle together, I got to see them talk about their problems and desires and it felt overwhelmingly different than when it's Deku and Uraraka

I may be biased in the end, I have friends who ship Deku and Bakugo and I have friends who ship Uraraka and Toga, but I've seen some very informative takes that explain it a lot better than me why I think they're such good parallels to each other

I like that Deku and Uraraka are good motivators to each other, Uraraka inspired him in the beginning when he really needed it and he returned it to her as well - but I can't really see it as romantic? Then again, ignore that because I can't see anything in MHA as romantic

I dunno, I feel the romance really overtook the whole plot away from the ending and I'm devastated - that's all what everyone's talking about right now, no?

Deku and Uraraka

Denki and Jiro

The rumor of Bakugo being married (?)

Kinoko and Kuroiro are dating

That's not even all, there could be more that I easily missed

It feels very unsatisfactory, it makes it seem like Love was the entire meaning of the series My Hero Academia when it was not! I'm a big full-circle person, I would have adored a call-back! Something that alludes to the beginning of the series, like what they did with the cover

I want to see how Hero Society is, I want to see Deku and how he coped with the loss of OFA, I want to see Aizawa, I want to see Present Mic! How is he doing, I want to know if he's okay? Is Nezu still the principal? There are less demand for heroes since there aren't as many villains, I want to see that change and its effects! I want to hear more about Vigilante Heroes, and I want to see other Underground Heroes, I want to know more about the Quirk Doomsday Theory, and more about what the world was like when quirks first formed, and I would like to see Hisashi Midoriya! There's so much, see? I would rather talk about that and more over who's dating who ( ･᷄ὢ･᷅ )

It has its good moments, I will always love seeing the (former) class interact with each other, and I really liked seeing the new Hero Rankings, especially with some of the aged up designs for the characters - I can feel how much love Horikoshi has for these characters no matter what's going on in the series

I don't know, don't take me too seriously because I am a biased person after all - I've dropped one of my favorite book series as a kid because my favorite (the most competent) character died, and then every person in the book had gotten together with another person - it was a similar disappointment because it ignored the plot (it was a post-zombie apocalypse series) in favor of looking towards romance once more

Fairy Tail recently came out with their 100 Years Quest, and I know I dropped the anime early on as a kid (in favor of MHA ironically), but coming back to it only to see almost (if not) all characters together in a relationship, some with kids? I know, don't go near anime if you don't like the tropes, I've been told that before - I'm just complaining a little because I didn't expect to see it in MHA so I'm a little shocked

Nevertheless, I'm still looking forward to seeing the rest of the epilogue, I'm always a fan of Horikoshi even if I don't like some things (⁠；⁠^⁠ω⁠^⁠）. It's still a treat for me to get more MHA content, I love the art and I love being a part of the fandom -

I'm sure some time in the future I'll even miss the shipping wars that went on lol

[privatebooth]

In Mark of the Assassin DLC Fenris grumbles about Hawke putting himself at risk and then openly talks about how frightened he was by the possibility of loosing him.

So, the logical conclusion...

After completing MotA Hawke finds Fenris brooding by himself.

In his usual cheerful manner he inquires if something is wrong. Fenris ponders for a moment, and then replies that yes, something is bothering him.

He explains that he's been thinking about some of Hawke's words.

When they got back together Hawke told Fenris

"You are mine as much as I am yours" But if that is so, why is Hawke so casual about putting himself - something of Fenris's that he treasures - in danger. If Hawke really considers himself Fenris's shouldn't he be more mindful about his own wellbeing? He points out that as things are now it feels like Hawke sees himself as his own person and doesn't seem to consider how his reckless behaviour affects Fenris.

Suppose Fenris also could elaborate on how great his fear of loosing Hawke was. After all those years alone he finally has that sense of belonging he craved so much, and now that he had a real taste of it the idea of loosing it is paralyzingly terrifying.

This takes place between "Nothing could be worse than the thought of living without you" and "I can't bear the thought of living without you", so Hawke has not yet fully realized the intensity of Fen's feelings.

Hawke is at a loss. Everything worked out fine that time, they solved all problems and saved many people... But Fenris has a point. Hawke really acted on his own without a second thought. What if something had gone wrong? He never seriously considered that.

He was so used to always being the frontline for any trouble, being the one who deals with any issue...

Hawke needs to understand that them being a couple doesn't only mean that they get to smash heads together and fight side by side and have each other's back (they've been doing that for years), but that they must always be there for each other. Like, alive.

Hawke apologizes to Fenris and admits to not having thought it through. He explains that their relationship and the status of a no-longer-his-own-man is fairly new to him. Loosing most of his family also may have made him somewhat careless about his own safety.

It will take some getting used to, but he promises to change, now that they are committed to each other.

Still, he makes sure to tell Fenris that his heart belongs to him entirely.

And some time after this conversation Hawke gives Fenris the family ring!

Maker, the way they actually talk to each other and discuss things (in canon!) makes me feral.

[penguin--nipples]

truly nothing has affected me the way that reading the wicked years this past week is affecting me I have a million disorganized thoughts and I'm only partway through son of a witch:

Glinda and Elphaba's relationship is so much more fleshed out in the books than it is in the musical - the yearning and the pining and Elphaba showing up at the cloister of St glinda over and over again

Elphaba has two soulmates and that affects me deeply what do you mean someone who feels like they could never be loved has two soulmates

Why the fuck did Gregory include a line about Fiyero shitting his guts out right before dying?? Did the guy at the bar poison him?? Did the guy at the bar purposefully show him the bears being killed/hurt and then poison him?

Elphaba and her son both being bisexual disasters is actually my favorite thing

Elphaba and Fiyeros deaths both occur somewhat 'offscreen' and there is no evidence of their bodies

BOQ in the book is such a loveable character I despised him in the musical

Glinda is absolutely bat shit but also some kind of intuitive genius, the way she sees Fiyero after a decade and immediately deduces he's fucking somebody and minutes later says something along the lines of "send my love to elphie". And the way she interacts with Liir for the first time is also absolutely insane, but she also instinctively knows by the end of her conversation with him that he is Elphaba's son

Why is Nanny immortal? And how did Chistery learn to talk so well with her as the only human around?

As much as I hated watching Liir get bullied I loved the chapters at kiamo ko with sarima/her sisters and Nanny randomly showing up to terrorize the group, nothing like a found family of mostly women

I understand the queer reading of Elphaba's character obviously, but I don't understand why people think she is intersex. The book literally states "Only after a second and third rub was it clear that the child was indeed feminine. Perhaps in labor some bit of organic effluvia had become caught and quickly dried in the cloven place." - I always read this more as an acknowledgement of what Sarima explains later on as hot and cold anger and Elphaba having both. I feel like this is more of a trans allegory or that Elphaba has elements of being male and female (2 Spirit?)/a dissolution of gender, than her being intersex. and yet this rumour persists among discussion posts and boards, making it feel like a real life propaganda trail for the book since I've seen it said in the context of "woahhh the book is so much freakier than the movie omg". Although I guess it could be androgen insensitivity syndrome as well

What the FUCK is Yackle? She is described as the opposite of a guardian angel but idk what that means

Did gelphie fuck or not I'm so confused, they "spent a night together" and I see people saying they canonically had sex and maybe it's the nature of the book enjoying switching perspectives every time something interesting happened but I feel like they didn't? Or it's something I haven't read yet?

I feel like Liir becomes an audience surrogate when he goes into Southstairs guided by Shell - this is genuinely how it felt reading the books sometimes, he saw Shell be sketchy multiple times before putting it together like 'wait are you having sex with them???' which is basically me every time Gregory implied a sex scene subtly, making me not super sure if it happened or not

[asoulwithadream]

Proof of why Hozier pre-read the Good Omens S2 scripts and made Unreal Unearth based on it.

The song is very obviously "Crowley", as will be explained in this analysis that was very much not fueled by overconsumption of sugary pastries. You may believe that there is one line that does recall Aziraphale more than our loveable sad demon, however I do have a theoretical explanation for that to maintain the strictly demonic narrator. This song, much like its original meaning, is about how he feels betrayed and tricked, or at least, deluded by his own hopes.

You know the distance never made a difference to me. This is the metaphorical distance between them, as angel and demon. They’re considered the opposite of each other. Good and bad. The locations of their respective headquarters, (the basement and the top of the building) is also a physical show of the distance between the two in management and creature type.

I swam a lake of fire, I'd have walked across the floor of any sea The lyrics say that he “SWAM” past-tense, so this would refer to actual things Crowley has done: he did step into a whirlwind of Hellfire disguised as Aziraphale, right? And he did run into a burning bookshop for him. Metaphorically, he did swim through a lot of fire. Ignored the vastness between all that can be seen and all that we believe Crowley believes that what he thought their relationship was (“us”), in the end, was just his own imagination or fantasy of what he wanted them to be. So I thought you were like an angel to me This is one of my favourite parallels in the song, due to the changing definition of “angel” throughout the song, and how it’s used in the phrasing. Here, “angel” becomes the goodness and kindness that Crowley sees in Aziraphale; how angels are traditionally viewed by humanity. Then, he adds “to me”, alluding to their special relationship, different from the usual angel/demon relations between Heaven and Hell. He thought that Aziraphale had been, was, and would be, good and kind, to him.

Funny how true colours shine in darkness and in secrecy To not only Crowley, but most beings, the secrecy here is God’s Ineffable Plan™, and the darkness is the Metatron’s manipulative meddling. In light of fulfilling it (through the Second Coming), Aziraphale shows his true colours by siding with the angels. If there were scarlet flags, they washed out in the mind of me Crowley justifies putting Aziraphale on a pedestal that “he didn’t deserve” (because of said betrayal) because he was so blinded by love and hope, that he couldn’t realise the extent of Aziraphale’s religious trauma and character. Where a blinding light shone on you every night and either side of my sleep In the Divine Comedy, Dante is blinded by light in order to see God. Aziraphale has been systematically coerced into siding with Heaven, and this blinding light is what he sees as his destiny and responsibility to the world and to God’s Plan™. I wouldn’t doubt that Crowley would have nightmares of this, considering that he canonically does sleep. Where you were held frozen like an angel to me Here is the second parallel of the term “angel”. Angel has now become what demons see angels like: cold, callous creatures, only different from demons by look and power. Aziraphale trapped himself (or “held” himself “frozen”) in his vision of a grander future, encouraged by the Metatron, which made him become distant and cold to Crowley in the time-span of a poorly-timed confession.

It ain't the being alone (sha-la-la) Here begins a part where Crowley seems to try convince both Aziraphale and himself that some of the consequences of the divorce don't really affect him, to emphasise the LAST effect, as will be explained below. Thus, being alone is a big part of being Hell’s representative on Earth, so that wouldn’t be the biggest hurt that Crowley experiences post-divorce. It ain't the empty home, baby (sha-la-la) Though I can imagine that the bookshop without Aziraphale is not the same, he could still find some nostalgic comfort in the place. And after all, it's as cold as his own apartment now. You know I'm good on my own (sha-la-la), sha-la-la, baby Crowley repeating the fact that he's alone. He reminds Aziraphale that he really doesn't care being by himself, maybe trying to get a jab at the angel by showing that "Us" can just be Crowley if h wants to. You know, it's more the being unknown So much of the living, love, is the being unknown What I believe hurt Crowley the most about the entire situation is that he thought that they knew each other and shared an incredibly special relationship given their circumstances (even if it was just platonic, and never ventured further). However, through choosing Heaven, the entire worth of their relationship seemed to shatter into pieces, as if Crowley never truly meant anything to Aziraphale, as if they were never friends. And that hurts particularly, because to Crowley, Aziraphale was the only one to ever truly know him.

You called me "angel" for the first time, my heart leapt from me You could very clearly read this as from Aziraphale, however, it doesn’t make as much sense in the context of the song (as being predominantly Crowley coded), so I have another theory that could explain this line, that I, truthfully, like more: - Aziraphale has, through the history of their friendship, called Crowley a variation of “nice” due to different occasions (2500 BCE, 1793, 1827, 1941, 2019, and so on…) This calls back to the first usage of angel in the song, synonymous to the traditional qualities of holy beings (nice, kind, etc). Whilst Crowley does react negatively every time Aziraphale refers to him as such, imagine being seen for the first time in a positive light by someone you thought was your enemy after being condemned and judged as pure evil forever. Maybe this was what solidified Crowley’s feelings: the realisation (or, the fabrication of a delusion) that Aziraphale was different, that he was like him, that he could see through the pre-set prejudices. You smile now, I can see its pieces still stuck in your teeth Even in the end, during the 15 Minutes, you can still see Aziraphale smile, and I believe that Crowley recognised that Aziraphale in the one that was ultimately "betraying him". Of course, now there's this entirely new side of the angel, but I believe that in these moments he’s realising that both the angel he knew, and the angel he’s meeting now, were both Aziraphale all along. And what's left of it, I listen to it tick, every tedious beat Crowley’s hanging on to the last memories before they vanish completely. Their dying relationship is like a heart about to fail, a clock saying goodnight, and whilst I can imagine that Crowley would want to distance himself to avoid getting hurt any further, he would be able to completely, especially because of the lines after the next one. Going unknown as any angel to me Aziraphale, by becoming Head Archangel, has ceremoniously become the authority of Heaven itself, one of the many things that Crowley hates the most. By doing so, Aziraphale is now part of the group of angels that Crowley has as the second definition of “angel”. The ones that never knew him.

Do you know, I could break beneath the weight Of the goodness, love, I still carry for you? I know that even though all of this happened, Crowley still has his feelings for Aziraphale. If he didn’t the 15 Minutes wouldn’t have been so painful, especially considering the weight and length of their relationship: they’ve been through Hell (literally) and knowing someone for so long can not be erased within a day. And I think that despite Aziraphale’s actions, Crowley still loves him, and with time will come to understand him. That I'd walk so far just to take the injury of finally knowing you The "ironic" line delivery is very much a testament to Crowley’s character and how he behaves, and most importantly, the betrayal which he feels. Anyways, Crowley has sacrificed both material and emotional value for Aziraphale. Not only did he give up God’s Ineffable Plan™ (not only for the angel, but he was a part of the reason), but he abandoned his position and allies in Hell and completely isolated himself to be on his and Aziraphale’s side, and helped the angel with the Gabriel crisis and its implication all throughout Season 2. And not only that, but confessing is also a pretty demanding and difficult task. Everything he’s done was for the person he imagined Aziraphale to be, only to be hurt by who Aziraphale actually is and what he’d actually do. Sacrifices thrown to the side.

It ain't the being alone (sha-la-la) It ain't the empty home, baby (sha-la-la, sha-la-la, la-la-la) You know I'm good on my own (sha-la-la), sha-la-la, baby You know, it's more the being unknown

And there are some people, love, who are better unknown Another jab at Aziraphale, trying to convey that Crowley regrets ever taking the time to know, befriend, and fall in love with the angel. He’s trying to convince the both of them that this was a waste of time, and that it was never truly worth getting to know each other, if heartbreak was the only conclusion of their relationship.

[mahou-furbies]

First impressions on Mermaid Melody Encore

(The fanmade sequel webcomic)

I had checked this out earlier, but back then there were so few chapters out that I wanted to wait a bit more before writing my thoughts, and then I of course promptly forgot about it. But now while trudging through Aqua it resurfaced in my mind and I knew I had to read it for comparison. And it's really good!

Encore is also about the next mermaid generation dealing with magical girl battles and love troubles (including an arranged marriage), but this time it stars Luchia's daughters in plural. The twist is that the main character, the older of the sisters, has been cursed since birth and thus can't transform into mermaid or idol forms. She says she doesn't mind because now she can do things like surf, but also has to deal with other mermaid's murmurs about being cursed. I like how she's more frowny and assertive than the usual magical girl heroine.

The art is great and I'm especially a fan of the soft colours. It also introduces a lot of cute mermaid designs which is always a plus in my book, though in some cases I have had some trouble remembering who is who. But I don't think it affected my enjoyment too much.

I think Encore stands on its own perfectly fine and isn't just worth mentioning simply for being better than one of my least favourite manga ever, but the comparison is inevitable given the similarities to the canon sequel. Now that I think about it Encore fixes just about every problem I had with Aqua: the protagonists are likable and have agency and a personality, the male characters aren't forceful jerks and the romances feel more balanced rather than the boy controlling the whole thing, the girls have meaningful relationships outside their love life, the og cast doesn't suffer from character assassination (or more accurately they aren't really present), the art is good and not weirdly fanservicey, the story has an interesting hook with the curse... the difference is night and day.

[luckyarchivist]

What do you think are the LI'S sexual orientations ??(from touchstarved)

I think the easy answer is "they're all bi/pan" because that's canon! Like, you as MC can be any gender and the LIs, ostensibly, either are or will be attracted to you.

Unfortunately, because I am bi/pan, that is also the answer I agree with most. I do this thing where if someone in fiction doesn't strike my gaydar a certain way, I just assume they're bi. Something something assuming others share my personal experience. And none of the LIs in TS strike me as being definitely gay or definitely straight, so...

I could (and did) elaborate more, but the ultimate answer is, yeah, I think they all like everybody! So feel free not to read below for my more yappy answer, which goes into my specific thoughts about each LI's sexual orientation.

Ais: Oh, yeah. This guy is bisexual in my head and I cannot imagine him being anything else. I think he probably very slightly leans towards a preference for men, but has definitely had partners of all genders.

Vere: Although I don't think Vere has a gender preference as far as a partner, I have this idea that he prefers people who present very strongly on one side of the spectrum or another: either very masculinely or very femininely. Maybe he wants to be the only androgynous-looking one in the relationship? I think that's a little selfish, but whatever.

Kuras: Asexual for me. He's done it, okay? He's danced the horizontal tango. He's been alive too long, and loved too many people, not to. But he doesn't feel attracted to people, sexually. As far as gender preferences for romance... I don't even think Kuras is working from the same page when it comes to human gender. Like, he's probably got some angel gender that got simplified by humans into "he/him" and he's just going with that.

Leander: Literally the king of the pansexuals. This man doesn't care what you identify as or what you look like, and different things on different people make them attractive to him. If you're hot in a way that strikes him right — a cute, crooked smile; a sturdy, sensual body; a keen, sharp mind; a naive, innocent outlook on the world that he can take advantage of — he'll like you, and he'll probably tell you, too.

Mhin: Demisexual and it's so important to me. They will not be impressed by your hotness; you will have to break past their chilly exterior first and only then will they want to bed you. As far as gender preferences, though, I think Mhin generally prefers women and nonbinary people to men.

And, of course, I can't forget my DLC love interests:

Sen: What's the sexuality where you just ignore whatever you're attracted to? Yeah. That's her. She's definitely feeling something! And while she's not a lesbian, it's definitely something that she feels around more women then men! But not only is she not going to act on it, she's not even going to think about it. Or, she's going to make an attempt, at least.

Elyon: I just feel like, as a brothel owner, this guy's gotta have a complex relationship with his sexuality. I'm not sure what the problem is, and I feel like if I try to explain it I'll sound like an idiot? But it has something to do with his position over all these hot people who are pawning sex for money, and his own warped interpretation of himself.

If you got all the way down here, anon, I hope that answered your question! And if not... I still hope I answered your question!!

[elav-exo]

My hero epilogue leaks...

Ok, there's a lot going on, many emotions and opinions. There are ppl speculating that these leaks may not be drawn by Horikoshi as certain things don't line up with his previous work, etc. This post will be talking about the leaks as legit work from Horikoshi to just save us from any further heartache.

I'll be as honest as possible: did anybody truly believe that BKDK would be canon? ... because I did. Call me stupid, delusional, whatever idc. I truly believed that each chapter we got that further delved into their relationship that Horikoshi might just be actually writing a love story between two boys.

Again, call me stupid or whatever, idc. I haven't felt this way about many shonen manga, but I genuinely thought BKDK could've been it. There are so many ppl, especially dudebros, that get so offended when they see an mlm ship because "why can't they just be good friends?" - they can, Jared, they can but it's a combination of underwhelming female characters as their own person and then even more so as a love interest that it drives others to pick the 2 dudes angsting over the other

Though, bkdk wasn't that

There are also many jokes referencing the Naruto ending, more specifically about Narusasu and I'm curious - did anybody who witnessed the Naruto ending believe, truly did, that Narusasu would be canon? (Also, I am aware there are many reasons why people disliked the ending, I have my own gripes, but I was not there)

I'm mentioning Narusasu because from the BKDK bubble I'm in, I've observed that many of us truly believed in the possibility of a canon mlm relationship from a shonen story - again, call me stupid, but is it so wrong to wish for some queer rep in a genre that's so cishet oriented?

The closest I believe that bkdk treatment reminds me of is Klance and that was genuine fucking queerbait, so yes, I feel queerbaited. I dislike the leaks for many other reasons as well, don't get me wrong, Ochako deserved so much better, Toga deserved better, Katsuki as his own person deserved better, I-

I'm crashing out lol, Horikoshi must've been held at gunpoint to not use Ao3 as a reference...

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Ideas #11: DA, but make it Warden!Inquisitor!Hawke 2.0

Or: Having finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard and having a lot of thoughts about it, I decided to update this terrible fic idea to include the events of DA4.

So: How would DA:TV change if were the Champion of Kirkwall and the Hero of Ferelden and the Herald of Andraste?

As background:

Everything goes the same as above, with Fereldan apostate and shepherd Edmund Hawke being mistaken for his Circle-trained second cousin Gregory Amell at Ostagar, running to Kirkwall the moment the Fifth Blight ends, and being shanghaied into saving the world again because of the Breach for the Inquisition. He is thus Hero of Ferelden, Champion of Kirkwall, Herald of Andraste, Inquisitor... and a whole host of other titles he does his best not to think about.

He is also very, very tired of having to save a world that doesn't want to be saved. It's an awful job, but somebody's got to do it and nobody else is stepping up. What started out as genuine love for his home has gained a lot of sunk cost fallacy over the years - though it doesn't help Hawke's case that he's endgame long before DA:I ever starts.

Picking up the extras from the time I tried to write this plot bunny: 1) Bethany learned spirit healing from Anders but could never quite forgive her brother for executing her lover in the hopes of saving the mages at the Gallows. She continued Anders' work in Ansburg, acting as a local agent for the Inquisition but nothing more; 2) Carver joined the Templars, dragged all those he could find unwilling to follow Seeker Lucius to Skyhold, and ended up third-in-command of Inquisition forces; 3) Carver and Merrill started a relationship c. Act 3 of DA2 (with Isabella a frequent casual third) and learned Merrill was pregnant shortly before the Conclave; and 4) Merrill, an actual elf, is the one to drink from the Well of Sorrows.

Which brings us to Trespasser.

The Inquisition's political, social, economic, and military strength at the start of the Exalted Council is breathtaking - easily 10x what it is in canon, given Hawke's extra heroics. Many established powers fear that he'll use this power to turn conqueror, building an Ancient Tevinter-style empire in the south. Those closest to the Inquisitor know Hawke is eager to disband his forces and return to as normal life as possible. (He gives serious thought to taking a leaf out of Cullen's book and raising Mabari on a farm in the middle of nowhere with Fenris.)

Now, when Solas disappeared following the death of Corypheus, Hawke didn't think much of it, as fleeing a Chantry-run organization is what any self-respecting apostate should do once the bad guy is dead. Besides, Hawke found him a little too condescending for someone who's supposedly also a self-taught mage. Learning Solas wants to tear down the Veil feels like a bad joke.

("How about you stop trying to end the world for one minute and try living in it! It's not perfect, but we're trying, and maybe if we got five seconds peace from madmen trying to burn it all we could try to fix some of it!")

Their conversation turns into a terrible 1v1 boss battle.

The sky darkens. The earth quakes. Hawke and Solas rain fire and brimstone down upon each other and neither walks away unscathed (Hawke looses his left hand at the wrist; Solas is blinded in one eye) - but they do manage to walk away.

Hawke vows to stop Solas from tearing down the Veil.

He intends to do this by disbanding the Inquisition and carrying on as he did in the years before the Conclave - running about the Free Marches with a small band of friends and doing what's needed where it's needed. But even at his most optimistic, Hawke knows that's little more than a pipe dream.

King Alistair names Hawke teyrn of Haven, Skyhold, and the surrounding lands. Empress Celene, not to be outdone, names him marquis of the corresponding lands on the Orleasian side. Though it's not his official title, Hawke becomes known as The Lord of the Frostbacks.

And so instead of chasing after Solas directly, Hawke is forced to play politics - converting Skyhold from a war footing to a noble seat, rebuilding Haven, and managing the madness of holding the borderlands for two nations that historically haven’t gotten along. He delegates the business of stopping Solas to his friends.

Varric - now Viscount of Kirkwall - is not his only agent. Pretty much every companion still living from DA:O on has a part, big or small. Varric is just the one that happens to be on hand when Solas starts his ritual.

Rook stops Solas from tearing down the Veil, but releases the last two remaining Evanuris from their prison.

The events of the game largely proceed apace in Northern Thedas, with Rook and their team working to stop the risen gods directly.

(Dealer's choice on Rook's background, but I find myself imagining a tiny, cheerful, ice blond dwarf with a Mourn Watcher background and thick Nevarran accent. Her name is Portia Ingellvar, but Hawke calls her Cassandra and Varric's necromancer love child. This is even funnier if Cassandra named Divine.)

In southern Thedas, things are a different story.

From his seat in the Frostbacks, Hawke leads the fight against the Sixth Blight on two fronts.

Denerim is lost in the first wave, but they hold the line east Redcliffe along the Imperial Highway for months before Elgar'nan brings his dragon to bear. King Alistair dies, heirless, on the same battlefield that took King Calian in a cavalry action that echos the Charge of the Light Brigade in futility, bravery, and cultural impact. The living fall back to the Frostbacks, where only Hawke's lands west of Lake Calenhad remain free of Blight.

Orlais has less Blight but more Venatori. Pockets of cities hold out, but only The Dales and a strip along the coast stretching just past the Imperial Highway remains reliably free of either. Gaspard, a brilliant tactician for all his bluntness, leads a brilliant march north from Val Royeaux. He makes it all the way to Andoral's Reach before Elgar'nan is forced to bring his dragon to bear. Gaspard is gravely injured in the battle, but manages to guard the retreat with his last breath, only dying after the last of his forces are behind Churneau's walls. Celene and Briala's efforts are less openly heroic, but they defend sieges, move supplies, and refuse to bend the knee to the risen gods.

Much of their success is made possible by Hawke, whose lands no Blight can touch - think the Girdle of Melian. The Frostbacks provide a refugee and a staging ground, and Hawke himself is a figurehead that unites armies in a way that no other leader possibly could.

(It helps that Hawke himself is a powerhouse. The one time the gods try to send a trio of Blighted dragons against Skyhold, Hawke almost single-handedly strikes them from the skies while his ballista teams are still reloading.)

It also helps that Merrill has much of Morrigan's DA:TV storyline - having drunk from the Well of Sorrows, she now controls the Crossroads from Skyhold, allowing the Eluvians to ferry soldiers and supplies between distant places. She also holds the shard of Mythal that Solas killed - though prefers to fly about as a barn owl rather than a raven.

But for all Hawke's strength, southern Thedas is still waging a long defeat until the risen gods are killed and Solas convinced to tie his life force to the Veil. After that, however, everything changes.

Using Skyhold as a base, Hawke retakes southern Thedas.

He marches east first. (It only makes sense. After Alistair's death, Ferelden is leaderless and all those with any claim to the throne either dead or Venatori sympathizers.) Along the way those Hawke helps remember how it was he who led the effort against the Fifth Blight, he who dueled Loghain and allowed him the mercy of becoming a Grey Warden after his loss; he was the one who saved them in the Sixth Blight also; he who Alistair called the brother of my heart. And so by the time they retake Denerim, Hawke is proclaimed King of Ferelden by the armies he leads.

At the same time, all of the various city-states are going we owe Hawke a lot for helping us during this Blight and he's clearly building an empire; let's send him tribute and hope that its enough. At least he's likely to be a benevolent overlord. Acting Viscount Aveline of Kirkwall openly pledges the city to Hawke and begs him to send some other poor soul to rule it. (Hawke sighs and sends Carver, who's never sure to thank or strangle him for it.)

And while all that is going on, the Mortalitasi effectively keeping Nevarra from breaking out in civil war by keeping King Markus "alive" decide the gig is up and have Markus will his kingdom to the man who was obviously going to come along and take it anyway a la Attalus III. The king promptly "dies", has a grand funeral, and his crown is sent off to Denerim.

Add in the fact that the new Archon of the Tevinter Imperium, Dorian Pavus, is an old friend of Hawke's and he has ties to most the other factions and powers in Thedas - Divine Victoria, formerly Cassandra Pentagast, of the southern Chantry; Grand Enchanter Vivienne of the Circle of Magi; Admiral Isabella of the Lords of Fortune; Prince Sebastian Vael of Starkhaven; King Bhelen of Orzammar; the new First Warden; the new Knight-Vigilant of the Templars; several Crow houses; &c - and very suddenly Orlais finds itself in an uncomfortable position.

Empress Celene is the last Valmont standing. She has no heirs and is long past childbearing. Her closest kin are either dead or Venatori sympathizers. She owes her throne to Hawke, who stopped her assassination, ended the civil war, and funneled troops and supplies into Orlais when the Sixth Blight was most dire. Moreover, in one fell swoop he seems to have brought most of southern Thedas to heel and allied with most of the rest. Seeing herself as having no other options, she adopts Hawke as her heir a la several ancient Roman emperors.

And so in a very short period of time Hawke goes from Lord of the Frostbacks to ruler of everything south of The Silent Plains and east of Antiva. They call it the Neromenian Empire.

Hawke, naturally, does not take it well.

But what can he do? Who can he turn power over to? There is no one else. House Theirin is spent. House Valmont is nearly spent. House Pentagast is large but, as with the Free Marches, turning power over to one would ignite civl war from the others. Moreover, everyone from every layer of society seems to want him to rule.

Eventually Hawke settles into ruling, if only because every other option is worse. He ends up ruling over southern Thedas for quite a long time, turning power over in his old age to Carver and Merrill's second child. Although he tries to encourage home rule as much as possible, the truth is the population of his empire is less than a fifth of what it had been prior to the Sixth Blight and a continent-wide spanning relief effort is needed more than petty kingdoms and infighting.

Throughout it all Hawke lives scarcely more lavishly than he had as a minor noble in Kirkwall. His only indulgence are the many Mabari pups he raises in his palace, much to the exasperation of his loving husband, Fenris.

Bonuses include:

As much imported world state as possible, assuming a purplish-blue, mage-friendly PC throughout the first three games. Alistair and Anora ruled Ferelden together, Loghain became a Grey Warden and was left in the Fade in DA:I, a three-way peace between Celene, Gaspard, and Briala was forged; &c. Hawke should know and have connections to - and is owed debts by - nearly everyone. And they should all make appearances.

At least a few people assuming Hawke is not so much the Herald of Andraste as the son of Andraste, sent by the Maker to save Thedas. A handful of others believe that he absorbed the soul of the archdemon at the end of the Fifth Blight and is thus an incarnation of the Old God Urthemiel. Their arguments should be just convincing enough to make certain parties pause and mostly used to amuse Hawke.

Hawke being the last person to realize he's in an Accidental Warlord AU - or, rather, he very much realizes he's a warlord, but thinks someone better is going to come along he can give the crown to until it lands on his head.

Hawke being known alternately as The Mabari King, for the many pups he raises in his palaces, and The Shepherd King, both for his pre-Blight career and his encouragement of many in the Hinterlands to take up sheep farming after the Sixth Bight - the wool trade providing much needed economic security in the aftermath. Nearly every statue of him in the future has at least one mabari at his feet.

While the main events of DA:TV are important, they're shown about as much on screen as the events in the south were in the game. Even so, Hawke should reward Rook for taking out the gods the same way he was rewarded: with more responsibility. (A Mourn Watcher Rook is made Count of Nevarra City; a Crow or Shadow Dragon Rook becomes a marcher lord on the borders of their homeland; &c.) But their story is very much in the background.

...and that's it. I think. I have truly an absurd number of thoughts about what any Inquisitor gets up to during/in the aftermath of the Sixth Blight and even more when it's my Warden!Inquisitor!Hawke. As always, feel free to adopt, just link back if you do anything with it.

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Terrible Fic Ideas #11: DA, but make it Warden!Inquisitor!Hawke

I have conflicting feelings about each game in the Dragon Age series having a different protagonist. On one hand it's great because it is terribly unrealistic to expect one person to be required to save the world multiple times. On the other, the only DA protagonist I can say I honestly would want to see more of is Hawke.

So: what would it take for Hawke to believably be the Champion of Kirkwall and the Hero of Fereldan and the Herald of Andraste?

Imagine it:

Mage!Hawke goes to Ostagar with Carver and runs into the Human Mage Warden, Greggory Amell, before his joining. As canonically the Hawkes are second cousins to the Amells, this is something of a comedy of errors as there's more than a little resemblance - especially in armor, and especially if Hawke shaves his default beard.

Regardless of the exact circumstances, Hawke becomes friendly with Greggory and Alistair, and is therefore devastated when his cousin dies during the joining. Hawke agrees to help Alistair light the signal tower in his memory...

...and gets dragged into the events of DA:O.

Crucially, enough people mistake Hawke for his newly dead cousin early on that he decides to run with it in an effort to protect his family. (It means a lot of shaving, because half the reason he has the beard is that he'll have a five-o'clock shadow by noon if he doesn't, but sacrifices have to be made.) It's beyond strange for him to be openly using magic after a lifetime of hiding, but no stranger than going by his cousin's name or pretending to be a Warden. Only Alistair and Morrigan know the truth.

After the Battle of Denerim, newly crowned King Alistair helps Hawke escape the attention by telling everyone that "Warden Amell" has gone to report to Weisshaupt about the Blight. In reality, Hawke goes to Kirkwall to track down his family starting with his uncle and is pleasantly surprised to find them already there.

...the events of DA2 go apace, with a few exceptions. Mainly, 1) Carver and Bethany are both alive, as Hawke's absence in the prologue led the family to flee earlier and faster, and 2) Hawke tells his family that he was captured at Ostigar and held in Arl Howe's dungeons until being released by the Hero of Fereldan. The gold he brought home was "reparations" from the king and goes a long way towards funding the Deep Roads Expedition.

Eventually he does come clean to Carver, who thought his brother looked awfully healthy for a man who spent a year in the dungeons of a notorious sadist, and to Fenris, because it's only right he tell his love interest the truth after they start sleeping together. As for everyone else? He regrows his beard and acts insulted anytime anyone mistakes him for his obviously less handsome and talented cousin. It's quite the act.

After the Chantry explosion, he goes to ground in the Free Marches with Bethany and Fenris while Carver stays in Kirkwall with Varric and Aveline trying to restore order. These three years are vaguely Robin Hood, with the trio moving between the Free Cities doing the job the Templars should be doing - that is, protecting the mages that don't want to hurt people and hunting those that do. Occasionally they'll meet up with Merrill and Isabela for their help ferrying people to safety, but for the most part it's just the three of them.

When news of the Conclave comes, Hawke decides to go - just to watch from the shadows and make sure nobody tries to do anything stupid, like order the deaths of all surviving mages or blow up the Conclave to make a point. He even shaves his beard with the vague idea that if things look really bad he can pop in, shout at people as the Hero of Fereldan, and disappear back into the Free Marches once the talks finish.

...and then the Conclave explodes.

At some point between waking up chained to the Chantry floor and running into Varric again, Hawke decides not again. He is not going to spend the next however many years shaving and answering to a different name, not when his siblings are old enough to protect themselves and he has a life to go back to. He tries to explain but only manages to get across yeah, I'm the Hero of Fereldan before Cassandra drags him out to deal with the Rifts.

Cassandra spends the journey to the first Rift asking where "Warden-Commander Amell" has been all these years. (Hawke tries to explain, but gets tripped up trying to figure out how his alter-ego got promoted when he's been AWOL for the last ten years, not to mention what the hell is going on now.) He doesn't manage it before they run into Varric, who of course greets him with "Hawke!" So he spends the first trip to the Breech trying to explain yes, I'm the Champion of Kirkwall, but first I was the Hero of Fereldan but back then I was pretending to be my dead cousin for Reasons; Fenris, Carver, and King Alistair know and now you three and I think Bethany might've figured it out? I never really was a Warden but I did kill the Archdemon, it's a long story.

It is, of course, a ridiculous mess.

It gets more ridiculous when he wakes up after The Wrath of Heaven and has to go through it again with Liliana and Cullen. (And maybe has a minor breakdown in the process because no, I am not the Herald of Andraste. I refuse. I will send the next person who tries to give me another title straight into the Fade.) Variations of this happen every time he has to go through this conversation, which is an awful lot. (It happens once during battle against a High Dragon, culminating with Hawke summoning a massive lightning storm that kills it dead in three strikes. It's terrifying and impressive and doesn't help things at all.)

...and so Hawke gets dragged into the events of DA:I.

Inquisitor!Hawke is just exhausted by this point. He's still humorously charming, but he's also so very tired of trying to save a world that doesn't want to stay saved. This leads to him coming across as a tired schoolteacher whenever he's not casually raining down destruction upon his enemies.

(There is at least an hour of ranting when Corypheus appears on scene along the lines of why doesn't anybody stay dead these days?)

A week or so after they arrive at Skyhold, Carver shows up with pretty much all the sane Templars left in the Free Marches - along with the remaining Kirkwall crew, minus Aveline. And so Hawke ends up having to mediate the Mage-Templar War.

Things get awkward at Adamant because by the Maker, I never actually was a Warden but fuck it all if I'm not going to use the rank they gave me to march into that fortress and take command. No one is more surprised than Hawke that it worked, though there are still a few jerks that fight and Hawke still falls into the Fade, because that's how his life goes.

Hawke spends all of Halamshiral dealing with questions about what he's going to do with the all Inquisition forces, mages, Templars and Wardens at his disposal - plus the friendship of the King of Fereldan and Prince of Starkhaven. If he ends up snapping, "If I have to end up conquering all of southern Thedas to fix your messes, I will," at the lot of them, who can blame him?

Throughout the entire fic, Hawke gets progressively more tired and jaded but still tries to put on his best face as he tries to clean up all of Thedas' messes, I swear to the Maker. It should also be incredibly hard for him to take most threats seriously after killing an archdemon, once leading to him giving everyone in the Inquisition grey hairs by going off to kill a High Dragon by himself.

He also starts out being very careful to hide his magic (he's something of a self-taught Arcane Warrior, channeling his magic through a sword-and-dagger combo), but gets progressively more casual about it. This isn't helped by the fact he's at his endgame long before DA:I starts. (It takes a powerful mage to flick their fingers to light a fire, but it takes a ridiculously powerful one to wave their hand and shoot a fireball that can kill an ogre.)

This is predicated on the beard making all the difference, but could be even funnier with a female!Hawke who makes no effort to disguise herself at all.

And that's all I literally have room for. Let me know if you adopt this bunny, I'd love to see it.

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