#Lmao and the tragedy created itself

[angievores]

PIT BABE, The hot mess.

I feel like the story was just adapted from novel on surface level and they didn't really creat much changes except giving some screentime to side characters. Way was the same friend as novel but they write flashbacks so people would feel little sympathetic about his death. But things got turned how they turned because Nut acted too fabulously out of his character. His eyes always expressed a sadness that it created a past story which wasn't written in script and made people feel for him more.

On the other hand ( don't hate me for this) ,Charlie actor didn't delivered his character on the same level. And so in the end people end up sympathizing with Way more. Like whenever Way looks at Babe, anyone can believe this man is sadly pining after his 10 year one sided love. Whenever Babe looks at Charlie, love droops from his face and it's in his sparkling eyes that says Charlie means world to him. Whereas, Charlie most of times he appears as.... yk reading the script.( swallow the bitter pill) . Even in supposedly emotionally charged scenes like in ep 7 confrontation or in ep 9 him saving Babe, his expression just doesn't appear as much compelling or convincing. At most he was just a prop while Pavel carried their whole love arc emotions. ( It might be different for novel readers as they had context but I as just series watcher felt so. Tbh, I see more chemistry in PavelPooh bts scenes or events and interviews than on screen. Their visual slays. ). That might be why I couldn't get into main cp scenes and was about to drop at ep 3, but then restaurant scene of Way and Babe in ep 4 caught my interest and the chemistry ( even as friends) was spotted there and I continued to see more of how Way character or his dynamic with Babe is gonna turn out. ( And AlanJeff happened and so saved the show for me. Sorry not sorry. )

But actors acting skills doesn't really make that much difference as most of the times script compensates for it by NOT writing any chemistrying scenes with any other character.

So, I don't understand where the directors were going with when they gave so many emotionally charged scenes to Babe and Way. These two were fabulous prettiest criers as ice on cake. And their toxic codependent homosexual friendship/relationship was very well fleshed out. Babe got a new boy, and we saw all of Way jealousy, pining, manipulation, loneliness. Babe going to him after Way is upset, their fight, his constant ' you're my best friend, I love u. ' Their slow falling apart, ugly betrayal, past betrayal relationship and apologies and end death.

Like after finale there might be something we felt we didn't got from fixed pairs , whether BabeCharlie, AlanJeff, NorthSonic. But there isn't anything that could be felt lacking from Babe Way relationship ( whatever more than friends less than lovers, toxic but wanting, torturous/ codependent / possesive friendship not friendship their relationship was ) . This relationship arc was fully delivered in all of it's gloriously doomed tragedy.

So it kinda felt like Way and Babe were main characters and their tragic story was main focus. But since tragedies doesn't attract people, they pretended Babe and his love for Charlie was main focus. ( yes, Change lied till the end).

Yeah, i also don't wanna believe this, but there wasn't any step we didn't see of their relationship. Way pinning after his friend for a decade, doing everything to separate him from other lovers but never confessing himself. Taking care of him, by his side always, waiting , snapping when finding himself at the edge and with one decision ruining everything, ignoring the love of another men, then dying saving his only love.. Like can you see MY LOVE MIGHT BE TOXIC BUT IT WAS TRUTH AND MAYBE WAS TOO MUCH FOR YOU And Babe crying, forgiving other of everything in instant, , saying I won't be angry at you anymore. Crying I love u three times at the end when Way was taking his last breadths, if that was what all Way wanted to hear Babe would say it, in desperation for other to not leave him anyhow. Even after receiving worst and most hurtful betrayal of his life, still not letting go of other. Wishing to meet in next life. Can you see this MY LOVE MAYBE WAS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU BUT IT WAS TOO DEEP FOR ME AND TRUE TO ITS ENDS.

Did you see it? THE CINEMA. 💀

I mean i also get that sloppy writing mess, illogical death instead of good redemption arc, undigestable instant forgiveness from Babe, pointless Pete Kenta triangle. But if we take what show delivered, that's what ( Way Babe) they served us on gold platter. We just ignoring it bcz our fave ships. Trust me I was also too immersed in pete way myself but you see when Way got shot Pete didn't come running to him and was holding Charlie while Tony delivered that monologue. Pete ( the man who is supposed to have good body balance and never missing his targets) couldn't shoot Tony and was listening the blabbering while Way was bleeding on floor. Like 🙃💀 I'm sorry, His death scene was written so bad. 😭. They all cried but no one pressed on his wounds, neither anyone called ambulance. He was alive for like ten minutes to talk to Babe. Atleast they should have given him a good death scene 😭. Way deserved that much atleast.

[critterishere]

Postal Demon in Postal 3 au INFOBLAST!!! + some demon headcanons bc I’m evil

WARNING!!! This is a poorly written au that was created just to house this AWFUL crackship…… This au is held together by really thin strings,, the strings are that the first game’s Paradise is the same as the rest of the other games. (I just have to ball with it⛹️)(Despite the au taking place in one general universe that compiles the other games,, I don’t think that the postal dudes from each game are the same person!🧨 idk what all these dudes are doing around eachother but we ball)

Small postal demon info before I start the au summary:

I call the postal demon “Pamorrgus” a lot in this,,,, fake demon name I made up for him… sigh… you can tell how much of a blorbo he is to me…💔 

I also refer to the demon with he/it pronouns, just a heads up bc I don’t want to cause confusion with the pronoun switching. (Woke demon?!?!😨😨/silly,, I don’t think Pamorrgus gives a damn about pronouns and all that stuff,,, not his problem man. It’s got better things to worry about like getting a meal that day or 100% not being gay about some guy LMAO😭😭… You could technically use any pronouns for this guy,,, it just does not care.)

Basic “summary”(its really long):

Pamorrgus wanders to wherever there’s tragedy/disaster/suffering. If there is no human suffering near by, he’ll make something happen. Demons feed off of emotions, primarily on the negative side. Yes, Pamorrgus tells its victims to harm others for its own amusement, but the pain and distress of humans is also how he sustains itself. The earth is indeed hungry!!

After the events of Postal 1, Pamorrgus feeds off of the town’s anguish and grief. This lasts around maybe 10 years or so. Throughout the years, most people that been around during the game’s events have moved on from the event, moved out of town, or just passed away. The town’s grief declines little by little, and the demon’s power is weakening. Around 2003, Postal 2 Dude moves into town. Pamorrgus watches him from afar, not interfering with his life. Unlike with P1 dude, P2 doesn’t need any encouragement in order to start slaughtering people, the town is already driving him mad, so there’s really no need for the demon to interact with him. Pamorrgus just sits back as hell breaks lose. 

After Paradise got blown up and p2 dude gets the hell out of there,,,, the demon wanders into Catharsis and hides itself inside the walls of an apartment building, hibernating to digest its meal. (they’re more like depression naps to me😭😭 but sure boy go sleep). 8 years later, P3 dude finds himself in Catharsis and stays in the same apartment room that the demon is currently inhabiting. (uhhhghh,,,,,, i still don’t know how the freak p3 exists man😭,, you now understand my warning about this being not very well thought out.. But he ends up in Catharsis at some point!) ((Also ignore the fact that P3 dude probably wouldn’t have enough money to get an apartment or something,, since the whole goal of the game is to get money for a tank of gas,,, which is expensive… The economy is not doing good 😭😭…. My excuse is,,, like,,,, look that game start up menu screen gotta take place somewhere!! Idk man😭😭lol). Pamorrgus wakes up to discover that P3 is living in its current place of residence, and starts watching over him to learn more information about him and to figure out how to convince him to do what it wants. In the au, I think the dude leans more to the good path version, so the demon has some convincing to do.🫢

And then they properly interact at some point then later yaoi happens somehow,,, and like😭 SCARY!YAOI!!!!

demon and p3 dude stuf yay yay yaaaay:

They’re like,,, “Strangers + accidental roommates” to “acquaintances” to “murder buddies” to “AAAHHH I NEED TO EAT MY SKIN” to “I’m not gay lmao💀” to “AUUGGGHGGHH [sounds of a man drowning in acid]” to [redacted] to [data expunged] to “@#&$*%;,,:#&#&,@& (starts frothing at the mouth)” to “kinda lovers” to “I’m ngl I would rip off my skin if you asked me to❤️”…. Or something,,,,, Waow….. don’t really know how to properly explain the development of their relationship….🧚 I imagine Pamorrgus is pretty distant at first,,,, with every one of its victims, it likes to have some level of distance. Like yes, he has to get its victims to trust it and be (somewhat) comfortable around him (sometimes,, comfortability is not required lol) in order to get what it wants, but forming any attachments to a victim is like,, gonna make things complicated and might get in the way of his goal,, yk? This never really was a problem for Pamorrgus before though (not like he has to worry about some freaky bisexual weirdo… Haha right guys? Imagine if that happened? Just crazy mate, crazy!),, this guy does not care about humans. I imagine that before his fall from heaven, he used to be a guardian angel! He’s probably sick of humans after having to take care of them for years and years. Although… I don’t think he really liked humans to begin with,,, but he never expressed this until his fall… (He’s like Patrick Bateman the way he pretended to be some normal ceo guy or something,,, ((and the way he denies the fact that he’s gay—COUGH🗣COUGH🗣)) idk I never watched or read american psycho I’ve only watched a yt analysis on it!!😭😭)

He eventually warms up more to P3 dude,, (since dude just can’t stop yapping😭 and the demon is kinda bored and wants to get more information on him.) but only by a little bit… It’s gonna take a while for the demon to see him as an equal. Pamorrgus sees P3 just as a pawn to take control of. Sigh….. soon the gay microchip will be planted into his mind…

I imagine their banter would be very entertaining to listen to,,,,,, sometimes the demon will say some edgy poetic nonsense similar to the p1 loading screens and P3’s like “oh shit fr😮🤨😏?”😭😭😭😭😭 tho most of the time the demon just talks like the regular p1 voice lines when around P3,,,, these guys just go around saying the most stupidest crap imaginable to each other while they blast peoples heads off.💕 Sillymaxxing joyous pilled…. Gross!!🤢blehhgh!!!!! I also think Pamorrgus can be so mean to him sometimes,,,😭😭 it can get really sarcastic and petty if P3 dude doesn’t do something it wants.. Dude don’t give af though ,, he just keeps annoying it back. They do become slightly nicer to each other later on.

I’m not quite sure when they will realize that they have fallen for each other, but I know the denial would be crazy😭……. Pamorrgus got his whole ���humanity means nothing to me lmao” sigma grindset going on,,, so it would be pretty pissed about this new development… Absolutely not happy about it. He’s screaming and breaking chairs and mauling people over that man. And around this time I don’t think P3 dude has accepted the fact that he’s probably bisexual. (Sighs really loudly…..) What’s up with these guys?

Anyway some off topic stuff,,,, related to the drawing on the right,,,,,, for some reason I keep getting this visual of the demon pulling guns out of the apartment’s walls,,, how did you fit all those in there??

And while I’m bringing up random stuff I want to add this image in (ignore my server name)😭😭 I think it’s a silly visual,,,, sigh,,,,,, I hate this awful stinky shapeshifting immoral old fart and his loser boyfriend /aff /silly

Anywaaays,, Thanks for reading!🏌️‍♂️Idk what I was doing but I like thinking and drawing and writing about them!! Yay!!!! Yaaaay!!!!!!!!!

[quinngefail]

You can answer this privately if you want but I wanted to know your opinion on apprentice Lawrence? Very so valid if you don’t like it coz different strokes for different folks and also coming from a place of genuine curiosity :0

Coz I got my idea of the whole Saw universe but I defo LOVE to hear others on their thoughts and ideas of the universe 👀

Okay lmao time to be a little hater on main

Putting a cut coz this got to be a bit long HSKS

But yeah uhhh. I completely despise it, I've said it across scattered posts here but truly and genuinely there is nothing in this franchise that I dislike more. It just makes my eyes glaze over so fucking fast, man 😩

Like. Putting aside any attachments I have to the character, the concept in itself is just so forced to me. Like ermmm wouldn't it be freaking crazy if we brought Lawrence back, but he's like kinda fr*cked up and evil now 😱 regardless of if it makes sense for his character or not 😱 it'll go hard fr, coz like dude HE'S FROM THE FIRST MOVIE!! and now we're on The Final Chapter so we have to do something crazy, so GUY FROM THE FIRST MOVIE IS BACK and you won't see it coming but he's evil now 😱 that'd be crazy fr!!!

And I know I'm much more biased towards stories of redemption, + I'm not gonna act like my opinion is fact or anything. But to me, it's just so frustrating that he has this whole arc in the first movie only for it to be thrown away in favor of something that feels so fucking abrupt and jarring for him 😔

And people can call me 'Too Ship-Brained' all they want, or that I'm into 'sanitized' content, but it's just. 1) I would feel this way regardless of chainshipping 2) I'm just personally way more interested in seeing someone trying to recover from the situation he went through; trying to grapple with the trauma and his new reality, while also taking the initiative to become a better person.

And idk people may look at that and be like "Oh so you're validating John's methods, then" but I feel like the statements "yes this did help me wake up to my flaws and how my actions affect others, and now I want to work to become better" and "but no one else should go ever have to go through what I went through" can co-exist, and I personally just. Do not see Lawrence taking the route he does in canon

Obviously he's made some horrible decisions (as we very clearly see in the first movie), and no amount of personal inner turmoil should excuse that. I do feel like he is a good person at his core though, but he had lost sight of how to be that person. And I'm just way more interested in seeing his journey to becoming that person and living as happily as he can over whatever the fuck is happening in canon lmao 😩

And like I don't doubt that there is an interesting story to be told with his canon self, and I also don't want to make anyone feel bad or belittled for enjoying canon. I also know there are also people who have put a lot of thought and care into headcanons and characterizations based on his canon self, and I don't want to just dismiss all that effort,, it's just not my cup of tea at the end of the day. And I'm very fine with people feeling that way about the way I prefer to characterize him :]

Idk. I see the whole tragedy that canon presents, but I'm just way more interested in exploring a different kind of tragedy with these characters 😩

I do try to keep this to myself, coz it's like. I'd rather just focus on creating what makes me happy vs. stewing over shit that frustrates me and taking that out on other people in petty ass discourse, y’know-

I've said it before but ultimately I'm just here to have a fun time, and even if I don't fuck with Apprentice Lawrence at all, I will still fall asleep and wake up all the same. At the end of the day these are fictional characters and my life will go on lmao

But yeah uhhh. Don't expect to see any Apprentice Lawrence content around here, I truly just cannot fuckin stand it so I choose to look away 🙌

I'm also a diehard Luke Skywalker fan in a world where that fuck ass sequel trilogy exists so like ignoring canon + entire movies is nothing new for me HESKGRKGK

Those are my thoughts though, thank you for reading if you made it this far :]

[swordsandarms]

i know you just tend to lurk (me too) but your fandomised rhaegar thoughts are very validating lol. ive always thought blue roses are symbolic of a child born from love, not symbolic of a woman. like lyanna has the roses cause she's jon's mother and rhaegar's love, not because they're her "thing"? never thought that was far fetched til coming online lmao.

OK, this was in my drafts for like a decade.

The roses aren't really the child or the woman, but a representation of the (tragic, but bittersweet) love itself. Though, of course, Jon as the "fruit"/"proof" of it is still at the centre of it all.

Used to hate the concept of "tragedy" and not understand how that can be compelling/satisfying. Turns out a lot of tragedy is badly done, hence the feeling of meaningless/pointlessness of it all some of them give you. Look at HOTD. The problem with the writing is that everything is made meaningless, not that your "favourite" isn't winning everything. It is the fact that it's all bitter and no sweet at the end of the day. (Not the book version, which is also a matter of how much better ASOIAF handles the "continuation" of the tragedy better than GOT).

I see Rhaelya as a representation of the concept: "The love was there. It didn't save anyone, it didn't change anything, but the love was there."

Once you get to look at it like that, it becomes very annoying when people in the fandom sound like a broken record of "what's nice about this?? EveRYoNE dIeS". Yeah, that's how tragedies work, but look at it as such and you'll see the nice, too.

It's not about how "oh, why would you think the author is trying to paint Romeo and Juliet as a romance when he liked Rosaline before, and now suddenly her overnight?"/"oh, it's all about how they are dumb teenagers messing up"/"oh, isn't Orpheus the dumbest for turning round".

Romeo and Juliet are young people finding a shiny thing in a shitty society that creates generational cycles of pain and hate for stupid reasons. The ending is satisfying not because the love is successful but because the characters - and readers are meant to - finally get that. Orpheus turns round because he loves Eurydice and if you did you would, too.

Westeros is a hellscape of ambition, heartlessness, and corruption. Everyone is stabbing everyone's back for a bit more of land, a bit more of wealth, a bit more political influence. Selling and pawning their loved ones for a corn chip. (Controversial opinion, neither Elia or Lyanna should have been in that position, but that's the reason why, "loving families" and all. Even more Controversial, Rhaegar shouldn't have been in that position also. And that's the "good" people - as Controversial as people might think that statement is for Rhaegar. But also OH, you mean selling off Cersei didn't work out well cause she was meant to be a pretty object and didn't have to be taught about armies and resources, just vanity? Or Lysa for some reason wasn't all that grateful to papa to give armies to the great alliance when they needed them, for reasons of keeping the one "trueborn child" she had sheltered, cause that's the one thing you promised her she could get if she did your bidding?) Looking away from what is fair when it is "lawful" according to the status quo (and fandom finds it easy to pinpoint it when it's someone deemed hateworthy, but will be 1000% lenient towards a Ned Stark, and will even hold characters they hate accountable when putting FAIRNESS ABOVE LAW).

And the thing about ASOIAF fandom is THEY LOVE THIS SHIT. They love to romanticise it all. But there's the paradox of it all. Romanticising comes with this idea of unrealistic wistfulness, I guess. If a character lives in "the cruel real world", the romanticised ideal is nice to think about. If they actually reach for ideals, they are fools who should get real about living in the "cruel real world".

Oop, I ventured far from the point. But I just love the whole CONCEPT of the blue rose at its roots. 💙 It literally means just that at its roots. Something wistful but unattainable.

[moonlitenvyillust]

just a fun little question, if each Telemachus was a song lyric(like a singular lyric). What would they be?

Let me think... Please forgive me, my dumbass never got much music on me and i had a gacha phase🙏😭 (also half of these are just concept ones i made at two AM)

"I wanna be LEGENDARY!"

-canon Epic Telemachus, obvi

"We are hated by life itself, we who thoughtlessly say we want to die" or "Im a mess Im a loser Im a hater Im a looser-"

-Svicidal!Telemachus

"Shut up, shut up, shut the fuck up! I am much healthier than you think!"

-Went insane!Telemachus (he isnt)

"BITCH! They like the way i grind they like the way i flirt"

-NMM Telemachus (lmao)

"If our love is tragedy Why are you my remedy?"

-Bodyguard Antinous AU (they were lovers, but Ody didnt know and killed him anyway)

"No i cant see"

-Blind!Telemachus

"Although it’s a very lovely flower Indeed, there are too many thorns to touch it"

-Persephone's disciple! Telemachus (reffering to the first flower he created from her blessing)

"beat that boy with a bat SLAP!" Or "in another life... I would be your girl" (Antinous)

- @bright-side-of-the-moon-tele (in my opinion idk he's just a baddass to me)

[shellem15]

So I mentioned in another post that I had issues with Bells Hells' conversation with the Matron, and I thought I'd expand on that here:

Aside from the obvious "Bells Hells took the completely wrong conclusion from what the Matron was saying", I have some… gripes…with how that convo went.

To preface, I fucking CALLED the "Matron and Old God of Death (OGOD) had a thing" SO long ago!!! As soon as I heard fucking Purvan Suul say "none of the primes have felt challenges to their domains" I was like oop-- HOLD ON A MINUTE! The brainworms were COOKING can I say.

The only thing I didn't expect was that the Matron and OGOD worked on the rituals of ascension TOGETHER. I figured that they had a close (possibly romantic) relationship, I figured that he knew she was gonna replace him ahead of time and ultimately okayed it, I figured it was terribly tragic. I just didn't expect that he was an active participant in the process.

(If you want to see the full extent of my original Matron-OGOD theory/headcanon, you can find that post here.)

Anyways, I have mixed feelings about this reveal. I like most of it, for sure, and nothing about it is specifically problematic, but it just feels *off* to me for some reason. (Maybe because I had a whole ass headcanon laid out already lmao).

I think it's the part that he actively helped her create the ritual that bothers me. I remember another post discussing this more than me, about how it almost devalues her accomplishment, y'know? Almost implies that she *couldn't* have done it without his help.

I'm sure that wasn't the intent, of course, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. It's just not a necessary detail to have, I feel like. She could have her own ambitions for godhood, and could have loved him and wished to give him peace, and could do all of that without him *actively helping* her.

Now, we don't know what her ambitions for godhood were before they met, so we don't have all the context surrounding the situation. But that in itself is a problem: Why *don't* we know those ambitions? That feels important to mention, even briefly, so why was this part of the conversation *solely* focused on her relationship with the OGOD? BELLS HELLS DON’T CARE ABOUT THE GODS, this didn't really sway them either way.

Actually, I do know why there was so much focus on their relationship, which leads into my major issue with this conversation: The Raven Queen survived her ascension because of her love for the OGOD, and Bells Hells can do the impossible (contain Predathos as a vessel) through the power of ~love~.

*Big Sigh* Okay, here's the thing: I would be perfectly fine with this plot point if we HADN'T JUST COME BACK FROM DOWNFALL. AKA "LOVE WAS THERE, IT DIDN'T SAVE THEM" THE SERIES. WHAT DO YOU MEAN "You can do the impossible through the power of love"??? (The spirit of Arthur Aguefort possesses me) WE LITERALLY JUST SAW THAT NOT BE THE CASE!! Unless what we saw in Downfall was WRONG, apparently!? I guess the gods just DIDN'T LOVE EACH OTHER ENOUGH to reconcile huh? Pack it up, folks! We've solved the riddle! The gods just need to LOVE EACH OTHER MORE to fix all their problems!

(If I was one of the gods, and I overheard this shit, I would SMACK HER. The AUDACITY of this b1tch)

*Ahem* Anyways, now that I've calmed down, let me reiterate: Normally, I would be perfectly fine with this plot point. I quite enjoy a good "the power of love" story. But here's the thing: You cannot do this "power of love" thing immediately after you've *already disproven it* in a whole ass flashback-miniseries. Not only have you undermined the tragedy of the previous storyline, you're also setting yourself up for future plot holes and inconsistencies! Why bother playing out Downfall in the first place if it's major themes are just going to be immediately undermined?

It's just, the gods are beings of pure conviction. They are defined by their domains, and cannot act outside of them. The tragic thing is, when they fled Tengar so long ago, it WASN’T love that saved them, that made them real. The ACTIONS they took are what made them real, and they are bound to be ONLY those actions FOREVER. Whether they were motivated by love or not is ultimately irrelevant, because love didn’t define them, their convictions did, and still do.

They were doomed from the start, the actions that made them real are what damned them in the end. Because as beings of pure conviction, compromise is impossible. The Dawnfather HAS to be a guiding light and the Ruiner HAS to destroy and the Lord of Hells HAS to burn and the Everlight HAS to reach out to him and he HAS to lie and burn her in return because that’s *all they are*. And if their convictions are fundamentally at odds with each other, there is no room for reconciliation; it’s as unattainable to them as suddenly sprouting wings and flying is to us. That’s just not something we can do; no amount of love will make wings sprout from our backs. No amount of love between the gods will change their natures.

(And this logic applies to the gods and mortals as well! Aeor didn't fall because the Prime deities don't love mortals! It fell because the Gods' natures apply BOTH WAYS: The Dawnfather HAS to be a guiding light so Ayden HAD to try to save both Aeor and his siblings, he can't just selectively choose his nature when it's most convenient. And that ultimately doomed Aeor, because saving mortals and saving the Betrayers are inherently at odds with each other. Conversely, Asmodeus HAS to lie and lies hurt people so he will ALWAYS hurt both his siblings and mortals, so he was ALWAYS going to drop Aeor out of the sky. There was no other course of action. Love or hate was never going to change anything.)

The love was there, and it didn’t save them. In many ways, it just made things worse, desperately clinging to each other and hurting each other and the world in the process because the thought of separation is too painful to even consider. They love each other deeply but the love they have cannot outweigh their convictions, so the conflict of this inherent contradiction ends up destroying themselves and the world. Isn’t that what Downfall was trying to convey?

Bells Hells are seemingly the exact opposite of the gods. What conviction do they have, really? Except Orym and maybe Ashton, they all seem to just be along for the ride. No strong opinions either way. Which makes me question why Downfall was even included, because (ignoring the obvious in-text reasoning), a flashback sequence like that is, narratively, supposed to parallel your main story. It should highlight flaws within your main characters and show them what NOT to do. It should serve as a cautionary tale that motivates them and encourages character growth and self-reflection, not draw them into more indecision. Downfall didn't really change anything about Bells Hells, it didn't really influence their decisions much at all.

(This sucks, because I fucking LOVE Downfall! Why didn't it have more impact??? Why was it seemingly just forgotten about except to be used in cyclical debates that ultimately didn't go anywhere anyways???)

As Downfall established, love isn't a saving grace. Love is a motivator at best, a hindrance at worst. Love is second to conviction, to tangible action, which is what Bells Hells has been severely lacking. The gods failed Exandria and each other because their natures make them incapable of compromise, not because they didn't love each other enough. What should have been taken from this (in my opinion), is that Bells Hells MUST have strong convictions when taking any sort of tangible action, but they must ALSO have the flexibility to cooperate with others and compromise on certain issues for any actual positive change to occur.

The conversation with the Matron should have supported Downfall and helped guide Bells Hells towards this conclusion. It didn't actually have this effect, however, because although she did call out Bells Hells' indecisiveness (good) and encouraged them to decide for themselves (also good), this effect was immediately undermined by the whole "power of love" thing. Which only served to exacerbate Bells Hells' indecisiveness, which has ultimately culminated in the disappointed responses to the Big Button Push which just happened.

So yeah.

[redflagfan]

I played the “Shattered Souls” demo, and you should too! (Mini review)

TL;DR: I am so excited for the full release of this this fun dark fantasy isekai otome game!

Shattered Souls is an upcoming game by @eternallovestudios. They just launched their Kickstarter and you can check out their short demo (one to two hours) on Steam or on itch.io.

In the words of the studio...

Celeste finds herself fighting for her life after enduring a betrayal that no one should experience.

As she nears her final breath, she is whisked away to a different world: Remoire.

Things are not as they seem, though. She’s not a mortal. Her past is as vast as the ocean. Her soul is fractured and barely holding together from the traumas she’s faced and forgotten. She must heal herself or even the tiniest tragedy could shatter her. But she’s not the only one who is broken.

Join Celeste as she fights not only to save her own life, but to change the lives of those around her. 

Will you traverse worlds, realms, and even time itself? Will you test your fate? Will you try again?

I played the demo, and I can't wait for more!

In this game, you play as Celeste - a mortal (?) girl determined to seek revenge, but also tied to seven different men (the romanceable characters). These are:

Marris: Literally God

Lance: The Actual "White Knight"

Shiro: Tsundere Demon Hunter

Ezra: Warrior Priest

Aizen: The Emperor

Karver: Childhood Best Friend

Eternal: ???

Basically, in the demo, you get introduced to Celeste's world and meet all these men. While this demo was short, it left me wanting more!

Here's what I liked:

The voice acting!! I love that this is a fully voice acted demo. It added so much to the game. Marris had me honestly laughing out loud!

The soundtrack! The music in this demo was beautiful. I can't wait to hear more of it.

The atmosphere! There was some tonal whiplash just in this demo, and I thought the devs did a great job of having me laughing but just a few minutes later, creating a dark, creepy atmosphere.

The art! Beautiful backgrounds and character design, especially on our MC, Celeste. She was so pretty I found myself just staring at her sprite the whole time!

And of course...the men! Seven is an ambitious amount of LIs, but I appreciated that each of them came off as distinct and unique. Plus, as someone who is a sucker for tsunderes and the childhood best friend trope, I can already tell who I'm going to go for first hahaha.

Basically, this game immediately sucked me in. I really enjoyed the world the demo set up and it left me wanting more - especially because there were a lot of questions raised that don't have answers yet. It feels like a lot of work went into building this fantasy world and I want more!

The writing is really good too and some of the lines were kinda silly, but the VAs said them with their chest lmao so it was good. I really liked the story. I feel like isekai is everywhere these days but this seems like it'll be something different from the usual.

I really recommend checking out this demo, and if you can, supporting the Kickstarter! I already have lmao. Please do because one of the stretch goals is a NSFW DLC.........

[swallowtail-ageha]

2 and 3 for Miquella!

2 Favorite canon thing about this character?

His character even his pre sote arc

He is (was) genuinely one of the kindest demigods around and did factually care about making a safe haven for other races because he did see in their plight what he and malenia went through. He cares so much about malenia to literally split off from his main faith and go live outside the continent.

And yet even then even at what might have been his possible kindest he was still willing to sacrifice people or manipulate them. The haligtree suicide bombers (i do not think they were mind controlled, but i do think their willingness to blow themselves up to begin with shows how the behavior was at least tolerated in elphael), the charm (which tbh in cases like leda aren't that egregious since it significantly makes them less dangerous, but in cases like ansbach, and mohg it is. Uh well. You Know).

He was someone who had a savior complex (which by itself wasn't even born out of arrogance but trauma) and put too many expectations onto himself, which combined with his empyrean status and his possibility to become a god created this... absolute monster of a mentality that ended up in him becoming more and more ruthless because he is the only one who can help those people, you see?

He is so sweetly tragic in the hero-of-a-greek-tragedy way. His fate was fucked from the start by being an empyrean and cursed, but his obsession to cure himself (and malenia) from his afflictions is what truly brought him to his end

3 Least favorite thing about this character?

I will be a PCR hater until i die. I hate it way less than i did when it was revealed canon (i remember fucking. Coping oh so hard in an unrelated discord server's voice chat LMAO) but i just think it's very. Shitty of a plottwist and a blatant retcon that ends up being the wish-ordered version of the twin princes from dark souls 3. Just... uuuugh. The thing is that i can *see* an interesting dynamic born out of this thing but the blatant add in just spoils everything for me

(And yes yadda yadda miquella/radahn paralleling marika/godfrey but sometimes parallelisms just aren't enough to make a story choice better, and while i am a huge parallelism fan myself i think its too heavy handed for me to enjoy lol)

Also not really a big fan of him apparently being at aeonia because its just a huge ??? timeline and logistic headache that might as well be called a plot hole

Thanks for the ask!

[a-shower-of-stars-and-madness]

a collection of secret life thoughts

So a bit late, but the secret life finale(which was amazing) has gotten me thinking abt the canary curse again.

As a writer and artist that loves the tragic possibility of being doomed by the narrative i have several ideas as to how jimmys death plays into the canary curse. While its totally possible that its been broken, these are just some thoughts/sorta explanations that have been running through my head. (Def includes inspo from the eyes and ears stream)

-canaries are heralds of death, but miners often became attached and attempted to save the birds even if it put them in danger. Lizzies death might have come first, ‘saving’ him, but it was still futile. Possible tie into the parallels to last life where mumbo dies right after jimmy and dies because he tried to save/mourn his friend

-jimmys death and the canary curse are a token prt of the series and the watchers and listeners are aware of this. The watchers want to uphold the curse throughout the life series to create tragedy and yada yada. The listeners want to disrupt the watchers plans and lizzie dying first represents their efforts to at least complicate the lives if the watchers. The struggle between the two groups is ongoing and a casualty of that struggle for the watchers is an inability to kill jimmy first, but they recover swiftly enough to ensure he dies second. This one is pulled from the eyes and ears stream and i like the idea that we have no way of seeing the watcher/listener conflict other than through the impactd it has on the players

-I absolutley love Lizzie, but i also like th idea that her death came as an oversight. She was a quieter player to the point where some of her failed tasks came as a result of people ignoring her (like with her slumber party) and her final death came as a result of failing to kill scott. Scott doesnt even fight back, and in the end its a game mechanic thst takes her out, not a player. obvs the idea that the watchers/game itself forgot she existed is tragic, but its a series about death games so it fits the vibe, and i kinda like the thought that the watchers let her die because she didnt make enough of an impact on them. (i mostly like this take because its dramatic and fits with the idea of the canary curse bringing death/tragedy lmao)

anyways, just some thoughts since having feelings over block characters is a totally normal hobby. any other thoughts/comments/new ideas?

#

[madraleen]

Seraph of the End - Takaya Kagami/Yamato Yamamoto Vol.30: The one where every single speculation I make is proven wrong in the next volume

-is yuu the eye on the cover? 

-AHAHA FREAKIN' DINOSAURS, YES!! YES!!! one of the reasons i love this manga is that over the course of the volumes we've naturally come to a point that this makes complete sense, that everyone's reactions make complete sense, that everything's organic.

-"am i a dinosaur then?" "on a mental level, probably" AHAHA MIKA

-i'm betting on yuu either being the essence of life/matter itself, or the opposite of whatever the first was. the devil or whatnot.

-ANGEL MIKA!!! WHAT!!! I DIDN'T EXPECT THAT!!! IN THE FLESH!! (real story, on the "found you" i was expecting some rugged tarzan-like yuu version). okay but now i want that lizard-thing to be yuu for real

-there's sth really heartwarming to me about yuu popping in and out of the memories. it's like all those years when he and mika didn't get to say "see you later!" and actually see each other later, they're doing it now. idk.

-are those angel ice creams. sensei, how dare you (i love it)

-what about HIS VOICE, boys! does angel mika's voice sound like mika's?! i will assume it does

-babel project to return you to paradise? why are you out of it in the first place?

-you could tell me they’re aliens at this point and i'd believe it. what is this technology, dude. in the age of dinosaurs no less

-yes, yuu is indeed the eyeball, cool. what are they. a homunculus? huh. what is their purpose

-i was JUST thinking that, mika, that angel mika acts more like present yuu than present mika

-could it be that eyeball yuu and subsequently yuu adopted angel mika's personality 'cause that was his true north. an "empty" homunculus (OOOH!! OHHHHHH!!! didn't the first call yuu an empty vessel that one time a million volumes ago, what!) that acquires a heart after being named/loved by mika and fills himself with mikaela's personality because that's all he knows.

-why did the first think yuu can help resurrect mikaela though, what happened when mikaela died, omgggg the questionsss

-okay. sika madu king of the earth. doesn't solve any questions, but sure.

-bael and paimon- GENSHIN HAS PREPARED ME FOR THIS! I UNDERSTAND THE REFERENCE! but that's urd and rigr, isn't it? how did they become humans with no memories? ARE WE UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OR THICKENING THE PLOT. but see, if this weren't *a* kingdom, i'd say it's fallen angels trying to get back, but the first said there's other kingdoms too, so what gives

-OMFG IT'S ALL OF THE DEMONS + VAMPIRE MAINS! THEY'RE ALL HERE, ALL ANGELS! WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM! WAS IT PART OF THE PUNISHMENT!

-oh so mikaela was also created as an experiment for a cure. oy vey

-i really like this. how from the very beginning everyone had similar connections to what they have now. i think there's a very clumsy and overwhelming way to do that that can make you roll your eyes, and a gradual, delicate way that makes you embrace it and find it natural, and this manga's way is the latter. it feels right. it's established a present that's so strong, with characters with strong relationships, that when you see it was also like that in the past, it just reinforces the world-building.

-rigr's wingies are wilted, awww :(

-ah. rigr and urd. another "if we die, we die together" pair

-"who would you back, mika?" lmao the angels are living a tragedy and there's the chibi peanut gallery

-"we can worry about the thinky stuff later" THE THINKY STUFF

-ah. i don't wanna see it. i don't wanna see rigr kill mikaela, that's too sad. do we have to

-so either way, from the very beginning both mika and yuu were the first's creations

[slutcore-starships]

i think the most dangerous part of reactionary sentiment is the appeal of autonomy that it so frequently gets molded around . whenever someone on the right starts making appeals to the past, 4/5 times theyre gonna use extremely specific examples (i.e. the elite soldiers of x empire, a notable middle-class profession, a period of peace and prosperity ~that tends to come right before the inevitable crash~, etc.) that serves to conjure a vision of the world where one has near complete control over their circumstances with a comfortable security net and disposable income, which will inevitably get folded in with new age myths about how much healthier everyone used to be (which is always just snake oil salesmanship and eugenics). regardless of the numerous fabrications inherent to the world they create, its all built around the real and omnipresent nugget of truth that so many people do lack the freedom to dramatically change their lives, better themselves, and live comfortably without having to make extensive sacrifices (or being born into it) and its appealing to imagine that the lack of autonomy has a single source, a target who bears all responsibility, and that defeating xyz entities will take things back to how they used to be (giant asterisk) . trying to convince someone that the world they picture never truly existed and that their appeals to traditionalism are completely unfounded and counterproductive first requires the person listening to be . open to having their mind changed in the first place - a. lmao no and b. the same lies thatve convinced them of this world are the same lies that tell them that the people most likely to try and dissuade them are the people responsible for the current state of things (racial minorities, queer people, etc.) which frequently just reinforces their beliefs . trying to deradicalize someone from romanticism is so difficult because it has to be prompted from within and the revelation itself externally reinforced before others around them can persuade them back to reactionary sentiment . its a vicious beast with far too many heads and the capacity to regrow whenever any distraction or tragedy leads someone to the perception of lost status or lifestyle, true or not

[spike-dearheart]

Hello! I am very I retested in hearing your thought on characterization for the Dearhearts, especially pertaining to your „meeting the parents“ fic. What personalities do they have? How do they like Moist?

YO I'm sorry this is kind of a late answer, anon! I had things happening all last week SO HERE WE ARE

The thing about this question is... well, frankly, I'm also still deciding all these things for myself lmao, I'm the sort to kind of start with vibes and then organize them better as I write

Right now a lot of it comes down to grief, and the ways it manifests itself for this family. Adora turned all her grief into action, she turned it into fighting for other people who got fucked over by society (to an even more extreme degree than the Dearhearts), because she knew what it felt like to be overlooked and ignored. (She also turned it into a lot of chainsmoking and a hard outer shell so thick you'd be lucky to get through it with an axe, but that's besides the point.)

For the Dearhearts themselves, the only things we really know for sure in canon are that Robert Dearheart founded the clacks, was better with engineering than he was with money, and that he fell into a huge slump when John died. As for Mrs. Unnamed Woman Dearheart, meanwhile, we know that she has a sister who lives in the Dolly Sisters district (who let the family move in when they went bankrupt) and we know she was VERY excited about Moist and Adora getting married.

So far the Vibes that I want to go for, at least in my writing of the Dearhearts, is like...

Robert Dearheart is a perpetual tinkerer. I think the only thing that stopped him from tinkering EVER was John's death, and even then it couldn't stop him long term. He's an inventor, the drive to create is in his bones. I think, though, after everything that's happened, he's lost his confidence. He makes things, invents them, tinkers with them, but he's not convinced any of them are any good. The clacks was his baby, his ultimate brainchild, and having it taken away is one thing, but watching it crumble? Watching it get worse? That's painful. Even after the Dearheart family gets it back in their name, I think he quietly lets Adora take over as CEO (though she insists he have a seat at the table to represent the engineering interests, but he never wants to deal with the finances, and Adora does him proud). Robert Dearheart is a brilliant man who doesn't think he is, who carries around the weight of losing his son to the clacks towers that he invented. The main emotions I want him to embody are like... exhaustion but also he is where Adora got that "I won't believe it's impossible until I've tried it" trait she carries.

And Mrs. Dearheart is like... she's inventive, too, and she's tenacious. She managed to keep the family on their feet when they lost everything to bankruptcy and that requires grit. She's excited about Adora getting married (even starts planning the wedding), and I take that as a sort of relief, right? She's so relieved that Adora's found happiness and some sort of slice of "normalcy", despite the fact that "normal" for Adora looks very different than other people's "normal", and so finding a partner who looks at all that and goes "yeah of course I want that" has to be like... a Big Deal. I sort of landed on this idea that Mrs. Dearheart is where Adora gets that... edge. Like, the eyes that see straight through you, the sheer willpower, except in Mrs. Dearheart it's been tempered out by fewer early-life tragedies. And a love of birds (because I decided she likes birds, but since there tend to only be pigeons in Ankh-Morpork, she has specific pigeons that she likes and knows). And the fact that Mrs. Dearheart doesn't wear all black and shoes that can stab a man through the foot. All the same, the main emotions I want her to embody are (like I said) tenacity but also this deeper sense of...

I don't know how to explain it unless you meet someone like this, but there's people who've been through really awful shit and sometimes you scrape some paint off the surface and you go "oh my god this is really tragic" and they nod and they smile and they go "but I painted it yellow... like sunflowers, you know?" and it's not that they're hiding it, they know it's sad but they've managed, somehow, to keep hold of the sadness but still re-contextualize parts of it?? AM I MAKING SENSE??

Anyway lmao they do like Moist, but he's exTREMELY emotions about it all because I don't think they know? about what he did? Adora knows and she's decided (for better or worse) not to tell them! And this makes Moist Definitely Feel A Way at first, but once he gets told off for putting up a front partway through the first meeting with them, he relaxes bit by bit. I do think they see how good he is for Adora (and how good Adora is for him), although they're maybe a little bewildered at first because despite his pretty eccentric public image, Moist is... very nearly normal when you sit him down and talk to him at a dinner. A bit odd, maybe, and sometimes he's got funny ideas about what's common knowledge or not, but otherwise? Normal.

LMAO anyway thank you for the ask and I hope you enjoy my extreme rambling! And I hope that actually answered it for you, I know it's kinda VAGUE but... I'm still cooking

[llycaons]

final ch lb reposted bc it's not showing up in the tags???

AUGH THE CHAPTER IS CALLED DUNGEON MESHI. it's simple but I love it when they do that. perfect for dm, which is pared-down in themes but applies itself perfectly to what it wants to say

wow, damn, guess that makes sense, it's so amazing that laios brought so many people together with the simple promise of something that unites all living things - nourishment - and they in turn brought their own food to add to the communal pot. I would have liked to see more exploration of this community-building through food, but this is literally one of the only things I would change about dm it's so impeccable crafted

damn marcille

JESUS LAIOS

aw man, that's genuinely an awful thing to live with. this might be a happy ending, but laios lives with the consequences of his defeat of the demon

this is an actual medical condition too...people can get really sick

celebratory panel!!! ofc senshi is stoic (though without ever being unkind! he's unruffled without being cold) and izu doesn't rly care

sorry but 👀

THIS IS SO FUNNY. senshi being like 'I'm politely staying out of this' and everyone else being like 'yeah there's no way he's that selfless'

damn, what a step for marcille, who was so terrified of losing the people close to her

she's so hot here ugh

OHHH this visual is so cool

mmm tasty! her face says hehe she's so cute I missed her so bad. real babygirl material

yayy!!! and standing up suddenly able to walk, and TAKING the dragon with her??? that's so cute like a little plush

it would have been an interesting ending for her to maybe not recover the use of her legs? ending the story with a disability wouldn't have been a tragedy, and it's been done really well in other stories. like, I'm still me, this is a change that happened because of something I've been through, and it's something to adjust to and keep moving forward with. sorry to bring up tgcf here but sqx's storyline is truly so compelling like she DID that

SHES SO CUTE I CAN'T STAND IT. farlyn are you free friday I can take you to a movie and buy you dinner

really incredible how she's hot in one panel then charming in another then ravenous in the third. her range...

this is such lover behavior <3

AHHH SIBLING LOVE!!

marcille love!!! her legs lmao

😭😭😭 not many stories end this straightforwardly satisfyingly and honestly it's really really nice. a more bittersweet ending or a more 'mature' one might have had farlyn not come back at all a lesson abt death or w/e but fuck that!!

ohhhh sexy

STOP THIS IS SO FUCKING CUTE!!! LOOK HOW HE'S SMILING. CRYING OVER THIS!!! character who barely know each other and have met like once before but will absolutely be friends for life. this might be my favorite panel in the chapter and maybe even series

PEACE AND LOVE ON THE PLANET EARTH

aww she's trying to reach out to izu. she's not someone who warms up to people easily but farlyn is just so lovable and sincere and weird that I can def see a friendship potentially for them

STOP STOP THIS IS SO CUTE. im so glad farlyn didn't get paired off or even god forbid MARRIED to that guy who likes her can you fucking imagine. maybe farcille isn't confirmed but they're real in our hearts and nothing disproves them

damn, pizza? I don't remember that

of course she does!!! she's outgoing and adventurous and loves to eat!

you know this story wouldn't have worked half as well if farlyn wasn't legitimately a charming and lovable character who was easy to get attached to and root for. if they tried going the jerk with a heart of gold route, it would have taken a lot longer and been harder to create sympathy for her. like how cql's appeal rests disproportionately on you liking and rooting for wwx, dungeon meshi's driving plot relied on you WANTING this woman to come back to life, to eat and see her friends and do her magic and get into her weird hobbies. and she's perfect! the writing doesn't rely on one cliched line or scene to get you to realize 'oh they're a good person despite their harsh exterior' to get you to root for her (even tho that's an underutilized technique for writing women), it just presents this oddball and lets you love her. rk is so good at writing women who feel like real people, it's a reason adore marcille - for her awkwardness, her judgement, her readiness to blow things up without thought. she's just a deeply uncool person who's very endearing

not to be a monarchist or anything but this is probably the best they could have gotten given the situation so I'm not going to complain too much. it's not like I read dm for in-depth and realistic political engagement

and this is like the easiest way to be a good leader. just care about your people getting the food they need. that's enough, really. I don't think laios is capable of much more anyway. it's not like he's a politican

also what does the succession line look like? I know he's not having a kid. omg kabru!! his face is so ajshdksad. and yayy marcille and farlyn staying to advise him together!!

oHHH SHIT. thesis statement of the series! also these babies are so fucking cute I can't deal. ik that one of them is a dog person but the other one??? is that an orc??? well take back what I said about just food being important. integration is happening here too - it's clear that laios's kingdom is welcoming of people like orcs who have historically been expelled from other places and violently targeted by other races. idk how he managed that but like, well done, laios!

you know I adore cql but it's such a relief to step into other stories that aren't quite so much about Good (TM ) in a vague and all-encompassing sense and also have characters who aren't laserfocused on one person and who you can envision making connections to and becoming close with other characters 😭 loving lwj is so hard sometimes loving farlyn is so easy always

[vilonnie]

I have distracting brainrot + this is the brainrot website here are some vague key points of VW which I could probs write an essay on but I need to get it out of my system (mostly claudethoughts):

two protagonists who don't know what's going on fighting for what is thematically a misfit underdog nation that nobody else respects who don't share the theatric tragedy of the tormented fodlan royals born into high esteem, which I think is why the as previously stated misfit-underdog route may appeal to some people more than a classic tragic hero (dimitri) or martyred chosen one (edelgard) route

^ reworded this several times to avoid sounding derogatory towards dimi and el because I like them too I just want to go through the obvious reasons why g'deer feels so tonally different

golden deer has the closest and most consistently strong/positive relationships + dynamics between classmates as opposed to the other houses whose secondary characters tend to have more complicated and loaded feelings toward one another, but I think the reason that the consistent power of friendship writing works so well for me here is because when the deer reconcile so lightly and easily again and again it's a response to the route's overall themes of isolation. golden deer found family forever etc etc

they have the power of god and anime on their side

the notable association of claude with edelgard and vice versa is probably for heterosexual reasons courtesy of the writing team or someone on it lol which I don't mind because they're both bi to me anyway but while the sexual tension is compelling I think it's more interesting to think about it as a friendship-that-could've-been dynamic because even though they have similar ideals and could've worked together with better communication/compromise of course the golden day protag and the blackest night antag are doomed to kill each other over and over and can never reconcile lmao. also contributes to the scarlet blaze bad end being my favorite route in that game

there's a slight note of bitterness when claude speaks to or about the other lords which I think is probably is more to do with either his own self-image or the way he's perceived than anything else. yet he was still the one the writers chose to insist that he and the other two were friends in the cindered shadows story and to staunchly (and explicitly naively) claim that war between them was impossible. which is interesting to me

claude and rhea vs khalid and seiros. you know?

no matter what you have to strive for knowledge and understanding of each other and of our world

no matter what you have to strive to cultivate and cherish your bonds of friendship even after a life of loneliness

thinking also about how even though ultimately it is vital to sympathize with and humanize seiros it can still be said that nemesis vs seiros, as well as seiros and wilhelm's initial conquest that created adrestria, is a cycle that repeats itself in rhea vs edelgard, as well as the reunification of adrestia. edelgard ironically becomes seiros here in that she is a "chosen one" fighting to be strong enough so that the trauma they experienced when vulnerable can never happen to their people ever again, though it can be argued that when they come to power over the land they will inadvertently perpetuate other injustices themselves

so if crimson flower is about exploring cycles then verdant wind is about breaking them, hence it being the only route that brings the game full circle with its opening cutscene, and why relations with almyra are brought up so frequently in concurrence with the foundational history of fodlan (i.e. the timeline regarding the construction of fodlan's locket and garreg mach)

and to do this you need KNOWLEDGE and FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!!!!!

in the end, again, it is always about understanding

claude and byleth is about how if you feel like you're all alone and the only freak of your kind among your peers do not worry! there is a circle of ride-and-die weirdos just waiting for you to become attached at a truly unnatural pace <3

hilda and claude is actually one of the most fascinating relationships for me because I love their whole rose-colored boy vibe they have going on like with the "hand heart even my neck" quote which is unironically my favorite and I think has a lot of implicit nuance, the relationship has a lot of risk/danger to it inherently but snowballs into such casual trust it leaves you breathless, even though the environments they were raised in would suggest they should be afraid of each other and each other's natural enemy, I think it's because they cultivated such a lighthearted, mundane, fun-loving teenage friendship that the weight of their absolute devotion and loyalty to each other later on feels meaningful, the "imposter complex gf who sucks (affectionate)" and "deranged workaholic bf who won't let up" dynamic is so fun and I think just as hilda allows claude to relax and open up claude motivates hilda to expect more from herself and be her best self, I love how despite his self-image hilda sees so much kindness and integrity in claude and despite her self-image claude sees so much strength and brilliance in hilda, also since I have problems I like how they die in crimson flower lol

aaaaaaauguughgh. sword lord

ok thats enough for now

[searchingforserendipity25]

"The look of a thing, the thing itself" is just a god title! Would love to know where this is goin

Thank you @melestasflight! The title happened very early into writing it, and while it's going very very slowly, at least the title is there lmao.

Mostly, it's about Maglor's return to Aman. It is (ideally) going to be divided in acts and each one focused in a different confrontation, but tone wise it's absolutely a farce masquerading as a tragedy, since Maglor is masquerading as a tragic figure while having reached his saturation point on that role, and is aware of it, and thinks it is a little funny.

So it is very much about how, of course, life is not a play, and no one is only a role in someone else's life or a cog in the narrative, however convenient it might be to create emotional distance or closure like that. It's about holding up a ruse and how to set it down, and also what it means to go from severe cultural isolation to intense assimilation, because there is no possibility where Maglor is not so very, very weird after so long away from elvenkind.

I've talked more about the goals of it here. But really it's pretty slow going! I want too much for it to be perfect, and I think it's time to just write and set that aside.

[thelanor-s-astame]

You're generally incredibly lgbtq+ friendly, so I have to ask, why is it that you consistently misgender the vessels?

I promise I'm asking in good faith. You trust me, don't you? I'm random anonymous person on tumblr, your most trusted confidant!

Very good question! And unfortunately with a good question the answer is a little complicated. But I'll do my best to try and explain Now I'm amusing that you're talking about how the Vessels are non-binary, if it's not, then I'm not sure what you mean. And if that's the case it's because I did not know I was misgendering them and legitimately do not know what you mean lmao But assuming the former is true. The answer is, because, at some point, I couldn't tell you when, but HKR became a different story then Hollow Knight. And quite a bit of that story is about the Dude Currently Haunting The Narrative, The Pale King In HK proper, The Pale King was *correct* about what he was doing. Moral implications aside, he did create void vessels that could trap or even destroy the radiance, he was trying to save his kingdom, no strings or frills or secret plots. That's what he was doing. The vessels are nb, because they are Void. They Were Built For A Job kind of like a machine. The Pale King just chose the wrong one. When The Hollow Knight started feeling, even if it was a little bit of love for his father, the machine broke. Despite it all, he was a good enough father that one of his kids loved him, and thus into downfall, and horrible tragedy. The Main Character Vessel, especially after turning the kings soul into the voidheart and being able to capture the Voids essence, was proof that the plan did, actually, work, it just took some more time. In HKR the pale king, spoilers, is kind of a Lying Bastard who is mostly interested in continuing his hegemony at any cost. He created children who he beveled were empty vessels that he could put anything into, that would continue to grow his empire. Charlie is not that. He chose a name and a gender for himself (and did for his compatriots too, even if they didn't entirely like it.) He was a person even if the world saw him, and constantly told him that he was a tool for his father's plans. (Big reason I'm lgbtqia+ positive is because I'm queer as shit myself, and so I got daddy issues that go STRAIGHT into the fanfic lmaooooo). when he got out of that he met several men that were kind, and caring, and honorable and he wanted to emulate them. Hornet did the very same thing except there were women around her, and that's who she felt most conformable identifying as. They're both extremely similar in that regard, but, like the siblings they are, took very different roads to the same destination. That's why I voice both of them! As for everyone else essentially immediately assuming Charlie and the rest of the vessels are male, That one is easy. Hallownest is a patriarchal society that used to be a matriarchal one, is bordered by matriarchal societies, many that it has subsumed into itself, and is, even after it's death, trying to assert cultural dominance. You know how it is. This sort of didn't really come up as a thing in the game, because the game wasn't terribly interested in that aspect of it's world and didn't really need to be. I'm just a freak about that sorta thing. So, I guess the main answer is, due to the theming of these two stories and how I sorta divested from cannon somewhere along the way The Knight is Non-bianry Charlie is not Now, does that mean that the other vessels might've been non-binary if they were given the same opportunities as charlie?, and charlie might be jumping the gun a little by just gendering them all as male? Yeah. But he's not the brightest bulb in the box. Or even thinking about any of this consciously. The only one who is, is Hornet. And she's only thinking about it in, like, an early 2000s girl power sort of way.