#The Initial Insult
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Title: The Initial Insult
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Series or standalone: series
Publication year: 2021
Genres: fiction, mystery, thriller, horror, contemporary, retelling, suspense
Blurb: Tress Montor knows that her family used to mean something...until she didn't have a family anymore. When her parents disappeared seven years ago while driving her best friend home, Tress lost everything. She might still be a Montor, but the entire town shuns her now that she lives with her drunken, one-eyed grandfather at what locals refer to as the White Trash Zoo, a wild animal attraction featuring a zebra, a chimpanzee, and a panther, among other things. Felicity Turnado has it all: looks, money, and a secret that she's kept hidden. She knows that one misstep could send her tumbling from the top of the social ladder, and she's worked hard to make everyone forget that she was with the Montors the night they disappeared. Felicity has buried what she knows so deeply that she can't even remember what it is...only that she can't look at Tress without having a panic attack. But she'll have to look; Tress has a plan. A Halloween costume party at an abandoned house provides the ideal situation for Tress to pry the truth from Felicity, brick by brick, as she slowly seals her former best friend into a coal chute. With a drunken party above them and a loose panther on the prowl, Tress will have her answers...or settle for revenge.
#the initial insult#the last laugh#mindy mcginnis#series#2021#fiction#mystery#thriller#horror#contemporary#retelling#suspense
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Felicity I reviewed Mindy Mcginnis's duology on youtube! live as we speak! it was really fun and I spent really long on this piece and I'M really happy with it!!! ah hee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlLZCzix04Q
#the initial insult#the last laugh#the initial insult duology#mindy mcginnis#book#book review#booktok#review#short positive review#youtube#youtube video#art#art piece#cw blood#blood#eye contact#torture#video live#artist#i liked these books a lot! second piece gonna be posted soon!#gabiio
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C-mancers always catching strays from C 💀 Will they ever stop insulting us? Not that I'm complaining too much bc TBH I'm slightly into that...
honestly, MC gets the least heat from C when it comes to creative insults 😭 you can already take that as a sign that they don’t nearly hate y’all as much as they’d like to.
and as far as stopping them completely, i can’t see them doing that ever. however, the insults will get more and more soft to the point that you’ll begin to wonder if it’s even meant to be offensive anymore.
C: “you look really pretty 🥺”
MC: *obliviously* “hm? did you say something?”
C: “uh i said you look shitty 🙄 goodnight.”
#lmao i’m glad at least some of you lot will enjoy the initial back-and-forth insults#ro: c lacroix#if: the ballad of the young gods#interactive fiction#interactive novel#interactive story#twine wip
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wE wAnT cOmPaNiOnS tO bE mEaN aGaIn!!!!!!!!!!
my siblings in the maker, you can't handle Taash calling Emmrich a death mage couple times or [checks notes] ...asking Neve about her clothes [?????????????]
#him yapping about death&corpses and making Taash uncomfortable MULTIPLE TIMES with no fucks given about it is A.OK.#but them telling him he's a “death mage” which technically (whether he likes it or not) HE IS to most people outside Nevarra...#is a crime deserving worst insults... OOOKAYYYY.#“skull-fucker” is mean sure. but ain't that what you want?? companions being mean???#BUUT i just saw someone calling them “judgemental” & an “ass” over asking Neve about her clothes??? EXCUSE ME?#do you really read their initial comments as MEAN SPIRITED???#they have such a lovely banter about the meaning of appearances and clothes. like.#what in the sweetest hell are some of you even talking about.#you fuckers don't want “mean companions” you can't handle “meanness” AT ALL.#all you want is pretty boys bickering behind your back. being catty and shit. lets call things for how they are.#every time female/female presenting characters do that they are insufferable in their bitching (see Aveline & Isabela)#men tho? hot. desirable. funny even. (see Anders & Fenris)#this stupidass fandom man#y'all need to sit down and think about yourselves for a moment. or a year. maybe longer.#and don't tell me i'm wrong. 'cause i've seen enough stupid posts to know that i'm in fact right.#Taash critical posts are basically blocking lists to me at this point.#UGH.#blah blah text post#irregular tag ramble#lady whines#fandom critical#negativity#dragon age babbling
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i've seen model steve harrington aus. i've seen child steve harrington aus. i present: child model steve harrington
note: this came from my own desperate need to see this conceptualized and i SWEAR i've searched, i just can't find any content with child model steve so. :(
bc little steve harrington was remarkably cherub-like. his large brown eyes and soft pout ensured endless cooing and fussing from his mom's friends. and when he blushed and ducked his head in shyness, they only complimented him more. when he got home that day, his mom smiled at him.
so steve decided that he would put up with the cheek pinching and the squealing. he sat upright in his chair, sitting on his hands so he wouldn't fidget and ruin the image. because he'd do anything to keep his mom smiling at him. if he was being particularly good that day, she'd let him lay his head on her lap on the drive back home.
but everything changed at his father's birthday gala. a nearly eight year old steve harrington sat prim and proper in his seat, but a smile lit up his face--his cheeks round and his dimples showing up. he raised his hand up to cover his giggle, but he couldn't help but laugh at some silly old man with a loose toupee. then he sees his mom approaching, and his face quickly smooths over, going back to the more polite smile he usually adopted when it came to these events.
he'd ruined it. he hadn't continued being the sweet boy his mom wanted. but then, she smiles at him. and introduces him to the man behind her, who says he's a designer. the man holds out his hand, but when steve puts his hand into his palm, he doesn't shake it. the man simply holds his hand, his eyes scanning steve's face. steve tries not to squirm under the attention. but the man nods and smiles at his mom, and he gives two brief cheek kisses to steve, whispering in his ear "you're going to be a star, darling." steve looks at his mom, confused, but she waves him off to continue talking to the man.
a few months later, steve's mom whisks him off on a trip to france. and steve is so excited to go, nearly vibrating in his seat as the airplane prepares to take off. but instead of the eiffel tower and the seine, steve is taken to a studio. he's posed and changed. once again, he's being fussed over, but instead of wealthy socialites, gossiping make-up artists squeal over him. he's "perfect for the shoot" and "the most darling little boy." steve doesn't understand, but his mom is still smiling, so he lets the nice ladies brush powder over his face.
and he looks in the mirror. his hair is a little more tousled and his lips have a slight tint to them and his eyes seem to take up much of his face. he's put into new clothes, and he feels like a doll in their hands. and when he's put in front of the camera, he simply follows the photographer's directions. afterwards, he's bundled into the car and his mom can't stop gushing about how good he was.
apparently, he's a natural. and then she goes back to fussing over him, focusing more on appearance than his behavior now. but she takes him out shopping and they eat at an upscale restaurant along the champs-elysses. and steve is happy.
and then they go back home, and his mom is so much stricter than before. she has him try out all kinds of different hair products, determined to find the best combination to keep it looking shiny and soft. she controls his food intake and what he wears and makes him use weird creams and serums on his face. but this is what makes his mom happy, so he's happy to let her.
his mom is also on the phone a lot more lately, whispering harshly about the quality of brands and steve just assumes she's being picky about the clothes she buys. later, his mom picks him up and holds him, and asks if he'd like to move to italy. she looks at him intently and it's obvious what answer she wants, so steve nods. she smiles and holds him close, and it's the most loved steve has felt in a while.
so they move to italy, and suddenly steve is a lot more busy. he's put in front of more cameras for more people he doesn't know. but he's smiling and pouting and doing whatever they want him to do. his compliant attitude and polite nature have photographers and designers alike singing his praises, and steve always looks to his mom for approval. but she's been arguing with his dad a lot lately, so she's upset more often than not. but that's okay, the make-up artists are always kind to him.
but then one day, his mom takes a phone call in the middle of the shoot. and when it finishes, she's gone. steve goes back in, close to tears, but the make-up artists still hanging around look after him until a car is sent to pick him up. this becomes a trend. and eventually, steve goes alone to his shoots. he's always taken care of by the crew and someone is always there to pick him up, but it's not fun without his mom there.
but he knows that she's always enjoyed him taking pictures, so he continues to do so, hoping that she'll come watch him again sometime soon. and he busies himself with befriending the chatty make-up artists and the bossy photographers and the eccentric designers. and he's such a cute little thing that they can't help but dote on him.
steve is never catapulted into child stardom, as his mom is picky with his jobs, only choosing luxury brands and well known designers for him. but within the industry, they call him the "little prince."
and then steve is catapulted into puberty, but his intense skin regimen prevents him from getting acne, save for the occasional zit. and his diet and religious exercise schedule help maintain his look. and he's still doing remarkably well, especially now that he's fully aware that he is a Model.
and steve has truly grown into his looks. with time, he's grown more comfortable in front of the camera and made numerous friends. nearly all of them are older than him, but they're fun and loud and it fills up the space that normally surrounds him. and they're the ones who get him hooked on american movies. steve remembers living in america, but he's been in milan so long that everything he recalls is vague.
but he watches them and falls in love with the american high school experience. so when he finally catches his mom off the phone and actually in the house, steve asks if he can go to school in america. and his mom laughs. but steve keeps asking, which devolves into begging. and his mother snaps, slapping him across the face and calling him ungrateful. she cries and begs for forgiveness, cowed into shame by steve's desperate attempt to hold back tears.
and so she lets him go to school in hawkins, indiana. an odd choice, but his parents just so happened to own a property there. (in truth, both of his parents expected him to change his mind within the year). but steve finds his place at hawkins high, because even though nobody in hawkins has ever heard of versace, steve is pretty. he's pretty and charming and he knows the right thing to say. after all, he's spent his whole life perfecting his mask.
and even if his mom ended up moving back home with his dad, leaving steve all alone in that big empty house, steve is happy. he's finally hanging out with people his age and high school is so far removed from the glitz and glam of the fashion industry. and he's settled and content with tommy and carol by his side. while he misses his friends back in milan, steve finds himself longing for the clothes more often. hawkins was certainly the opposite of milan, what with the nearest mall being two hours away and only equipped with a macy's and jcpenny.
through it all, steve is determined to be normal. he laughs along with jokes he doesn't quite get and rolls his eyes at carol's cue, and he joins the swim team. and he joins the basketball team. and he goes to parties and kisses girls and wears dumb little polos with his letterman jacket and does everything that he saw in the movies.
but nancy wheeler is different. steve can't forget his time in italy and who he is and was, and he's reminded of his old life in everyone and everything in hawkins. but not nancy wheeler. she's all hawkins and all his. and then the upside down happens.
and then nancy wheeler breaks his heart.
even after three years, his parents continue to ask when he'll go back to modeling, but he's different now. the upside down and billy hargrove beat that starry eyed little kid who thrived in the spotlight. and nancy wheeler proved that adoration and love is fleeting, so what would even be the point of trying anymore? his dad was a little more approving of steve's retirement/hiatus, saying that steve must want to go to college so he can take over the family business.
but when steve doesn't get into college, he's once again badgered by his mom to go back. but he's grown and changed and he's not sure that he can pretend anymore, so he says no. and they cut him off. enter: scoops era.
the measly scoops salary is not nearly enough to cover all of the new bills and expenses steve has, but he's not willing to leave hawkins. so he reaches out to his friends back in italy, and they refer him to their american connections. steve doesn't model at the same level as before, but he poses for a couple of zines and one artist who got a little too handsy at his exhibition. but he's able to make it through until the mall blows up.
this routine continues and he starts working at family video with robin at his side, but he keeps his side job a secret from the kids, using the excuse of visiting his parents to leave town for his shoots. he's not ashamed, but he knows he wouldn't "be normal" anymore if they found out.
but how does he explain his near mental breakdown at the sight of his healing demobat scars. they're raised and ugly, ruining what should have been a perfect body. and even though he uses scar cream everyday, they refuse to fade away completely. and how could anyone stand to be near such an ugly thing when all his life, steve was meant to be pretty? after all, love and adoration is fleeting.
#steve harrington#give me grace i literally do not know how to verbalize all of my thoughts about this#child model au#imagining them finding out bc jonathan or will was interested in some photography art exhibition and steve is literally the centerpiece#everyone FREAKING OUT#robin knew bc OFC robin knew#steve feeling too self conscious to keep his old ads but he knows his mom keeps a record in her office#dustin screaming crying punching the wall YOUVE BEEN FAMOUS THIS WHOLE TIME... AND DIDNT TELL ME....#mike wheeler feeling ill bc is steve actually kind of cool....#italian steve harrington#because OF COURSE italian steve harrington#eddie munson asking steve if he'd ever consider doing playboy#steve going into a very serious answer about his career projection and actually that's an insult eddie. do u know who i am#and eddie is like yeah ur the centerfold in my heart baby#and then steve gets it#to be so clear. steve's mom DOES love him but she's also extremely selfish#that's why she feels bad when she slaps him and concedes to his request#but once she gets over the initial guilt she's like but he was a STAR i was the mother of a STAR
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inspired by a comment from phaerlax (who i shall not @ out of consideration for the lack of awooo in this pic 😂):
#eiden be like#AND *THIS* is for blueballing me on exactly 363.58 days ago#and *THIS* is for the that OTHER time u blueballed me on--#and THIS is for the time u------#well ok. not really. eiden doesn't keep petty score like that .#but i WANT him and dante fighting over stupid stuff#dante wants the obedience and deference of kuya's eiden#but he will not get that. he is too young and bullyable for that. he gets Brat Mode#how many times have i heard eiden let his sassy retorts slip out#before kuya goes 'oya?? did i hear the young master say something???'#and eiden immediately puts on his placating smile like#no!! of course not!! nothing suspicious here at all oh venerable and gracious kuya!!!! 😅#whereas if eiden were to snipe at dante#dante would go WHAT DID U SAY?? SAY IT AGAIN TO MY FACE#eiden does a 0.04second calculation of whether this alteration will be worth the satisfaction of insulting dante to his face#if yes?#then eiden tacking on MORE insults to his initial snipe just to rile up dante#eiden does not shrink back. they will get ALL UP in each other's faces. they WILL be stupid together#pushing and shoving and headlocks and biting imminent#still thinking about desert island knockout and how eiden casually calls dante a stinky fiend#canon event: eiden calls dante stinky#i will hold that interaction close to me forever#nu carnival eiden#nu carnival dante#nu carnival kuya#enei#danei#kuyaei
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okay so like. mizora
im pretty sure we're in agreement that the conditions for wylls pact were sus as fuck right? like there just happened to be a fully formed cult to tiamat rarin to go right outside baldurs gate mid ritual, and the home of high harper and nosy grandma JAHEIRA didnt notice shit?? nobody saw anything and no one could confirm wylls story despite baldurs gate having an active enough night life to sustain 7 actively hunting vampire spawn for at LEAST 200 years AND a sewer murder cult committing covert assassinations and murder sprees??? with a cult of bane conducting weapons trade deals and the knights of the shield operating a smuggling ring??? the flaming fist didnt even see anything to pointedly ignore??? not a single chickenshit recruit filed a report about observing a dragons head in the night sky with a filed dismissal by a senior officer claiming they probably drank too much. Saitama_Okay.jpg
im personally of the opinion that zariel didnt stage that particular incident but DID utilize agents to provoke tiamats cult into action while also stifling potential witnesses. we know raphael does similar because of his stupid chess themed letters to his own agents, so its not unreasonable to suspect zariel is doing the same. but i think the REAL prize of that particular operation was not the destruction of an active tiamat cult, but instead something more subtle and with a potentially higher payoff: the ear of duke ravengards son. a dragon cult getting annhilated was a bonus, and a convenient call to action besides
mizora, by karlachs admission, was part of zariels personal inner circle (by choice, as devils are ambitious creatures with a drive to climb the ladder). this means that, through mizora, zariel herself took direct personal interest in wyll ravenguard. wyll himself was only 17 years old by this point: he had yet to achieve anything of note and was drifting through noble highborn society as the odd man out, son to a lowborn duke who rised through meritocracy and raised to appreciate the down-to-earth rural pasttimes his father grew up with, like fishing. wyll himself had nothing to offer to a devil besides his heritage; baldurs gate is full enough of self sacrificing do-gooders to keep the harpers regularly staffed, and The Urge regularly sated. for mizora to target wyll specifically makes the most sense if the real target was his connection to the current grand duke of baldur's gate, a city home to a practicing diabolist, several evil cults, and itself has been a hotbed of planar activity thanks to the dead threes meddling for YEARS. that ulder also commands the flaming fist, the gates de facto policing force, is also a point to consider.
this is also reflected in wylls pact, and the terms we experience of it. wyll specifically states that the terms of his pact primarily target the evil, the monstrous, and the heartless. remember, this is BEFORE he was the blade of frontiers. he became a warlock 7 years before the game, but only became the Blade five years prior to the plot. thats a two year gap of being a warlock but not the blade, where his pact STILL primarily targeted monsters. this is. a REALLY weird pact for a devil to offer! like firstly, its overwhelmingly in wylls favor. there is very little wyll does FOR mizora, and the targets she assigns to wyll near exclusively align with his moral code. he sees no reason to doubt mizoras portrayal of karlach, and has to be prompted into sparing her even as he hesitates, because past experience has told him that mizoras targets DO deserve to be slain as judged by HIS beliefs, as indicated by his line of participating in a mummers farce, and him playing his part all too poorly. wylls upset at himself for not thinking to question mizoras target and considering his hunt of karlach to be just. clearly thats because, in every other instance, wyll believed that to be the case!
thats REALLY FUCKIN WEIRD for a devil! like yes mizora gets to take down political rivals using wyll, because wyll knows devils are evil, but. thats a really weird pact to sign in return for destroying a cult mid god summon? like you could extort a LOT more for that and be assured youd get it, cuz its ALL OF BALDURS GATE and the RETURN OF TIAMAT on the line. and it doesnt seem to be a case of poor dealmaking, unlike raphael, whos every deal overwhelmingly reeks of desperation. he'll translate astarions back if you kill yurgir, because he really really really needs you to kill yurgir before he figures out raphael played him and he gets out because of it, and the clock is rapidly ticking down on that because balthazar is already in the temple, interacting with the dark justiciar skeletons, and actively looking for yurgir because the orthons annoying him. we are literally a single step removed from balthazar casually dropping the fact theres a dark justiciar hivemind in the bodies of 100 rats and raphael getting his ass beat for setting yurgir up. raphael really really wants you to hate the emperor and free orpheus because the only bargaining chip he has is the hammer, and in the midst of THAT deal literally spells out its location for you and why youd want it, for free. raphael the crown of karsus is almost in reach but to defeat the absolute ill need the plastic card you dad keeps in his wallet, make sure you send me the 16 numbers on the front, the 3 on the back, and the expiration date! hurry raphael we dont have much time!
comparitively mizora only ever bargains from a perceived position of strength. she can afford to make demands of wyll because he has no way to stop tiamats summoning without her. then, later, she has the easiest and most accessible source of information for wylls father knowing his life is in danger as a political prisoner. these are very strong bargaining positions! shes only ever undercut by the players presence bargaining on wylls behalf. its a quick and easy way to show that her inflated opinion of herself isnt entirely without merit, although her second pact is framed as choosing between two potential agreements, save wyll and kill ulder, or save ulder and damn wyll, when in reality shes proposing a new pact that has no authority over wyll OR ulder until signed (which is why you can save ulder because she doesnt actually have the pact given authority to insta kill him the way she implies, she can only throw thwartable assassins at him like anyone else with a grudge). shes a manipulator with plenty of skin in the game and a good amount of success behind her that justifies her position within zariels court. the point of this is make a point of highlighting how *little* mizora actually fucks with wyll *as enabled by the terms of the pact*. mizora is cruel, she is manipulative, she is condescending and rude, and she makes wylls life awful with her presence, but takes very few ACTIONS towards those ends, and relies primarily on verbally demeaning him. when he violates a clause in their pact, mizora utilizes a loophole to make karlach qualify by its terms and then punishes wyll by infusing his soul with infernal essence. thats... really it. you can watch wyll backtalk her, but she doesnt even do that leash yank she does in act 1. if you blenderize her, wyll dies by the pacts terms, but like. mizora literally also dies, and is REALLY upset by it to boot. you break wylls pact, tell mizora to fuck off with her second one, and she just kinda stomps her foot and fucks off for a bit before loitering in your camp still. as a warlock you can even mention to wyll that she very easily could have snatched his soul about the karlach thing but she doesnt.
in terms of "classic warlock struggles" we barely see mizora do anything beyond being an Unpleasant Person wyll is forced to interact with. theres none of the classic "being compelled to do something evil for self serving ends at risk of suffering The Horrors", mizora barely even tries to corrupt him. wyll is never forced by mizora into circumstances where he has to evaluate his code of ethics against an action he needs to take and decide what parts of his moral code he needs to capitulate on and what to keep, wyll keeps almost every single line in the sand he ever draws! his biggest character conflicts are actually between his OWN ideals, whether to live within the heroic persona of the Blade of Frontiers, or to accept his own capability of failings and live as Wyll Ravengard. like. being a warlock barely factors at all into those decisions and the closest it comes to mattering is choosing whether or not wyll breaks his pact or saves his father, which you can expose as a false choice by just rescuing his dad anyways. mizora exerts that little influence over wylls interior world. for a literal devil on his shoulder, bargaining from the greatest position of strength a negotiator could ask for, that is so fucking WEIRD.
okay thats a whole lotta post pointing out that mizoras motivations for even makin the damn pact in the first place needs examining, so now several paragraphs in let me actually get to what i MEANT to talk about. so firstly weve established that 17 yr old wyll doesnt have anything unique to entice a devil beyond his connection to the grand duke. weve established that the pact is weirdly in wylls favor, and that its pointedly not a Skill Issue but seems to be intentional, and furthermore that the POINT of the pact doesnt seem to be corrupting a good soul into the embrace of the Hells to make a new devil, because the pact seems to be made to allow wyll to just Be Himself comfortably without much internal conflict or moral sacrifice. we know that wyll made the pact before he became the blade of frontiers, and thus the pact was not made with the Blade of Frontiers persona in mind, which removes another layer of potential justification for the extremely loose terms of the pact. we know zariel is interested in wyll through the usage of mizora as his patron, and we know that stopping the summoning of tiamat without any external aid from the myriad conflicting interests within baldurs gate almost definitely necessitated a good amount of smokescreen work behind the scenes, but also that it most likely wasnt staged in its entirely because it benefits zariel to thwart tiamats ambitions. so. why is wyll ravengard a warlock pacted to mizora? i suggest the following hypothetical: that mizoras goal, and by extension zariels, was to have a morally agreeable framework within which to make a pact with duke ravengards son, such that hed be guaranteed to agree to it, and then to hide the evidence of the pacts circumstances to allow themselves greater reign to act within baldurs gate. that the goal was to have a devil on the shoulder of the dukes son, to push their relationship into strain so as to make ulder ravengards behavior more predictable and thus vulnerable to manipulation, and that through mizora (through wyll), zariel would have a first hand source to the inner political workings of baldurs gate, and the movements of the flaming fist and the goals they were pursuing. through the fist, zariel could keep track of the cult elements they were investigating (and thus what rivals need deposing), and through wyll and his father, zariel could monitor the movements of the gates upper class and utilize mizoras skillset to ingratiate wyll further into high society and put him in close proximity to those capable of mustering meaningful resistance to an influx of infernal influence. wylls relationship to his father prior to his pact was good, we know ulder was a firm but loving father and that wyll was generally well liked in baldurs gate in general, and that wyll openly admired his father and sought to follow in his footsteps. it is in fact extremely reasonable to suspect that such a good relationship was more than a single incident away from breaking. its in fact more reasonable to presume that a major political figure would be aware of the adage of keeping ones friends close, and enemies closer, such that you could monitor their movements. its reasonable to believe that one would assume good intentions on the part of ones son, who himself has made it known that he desires to be like you. to assume, in good faith, that even with all signs of dragoncult activity removed, that ones son clearly lost his eye and gained new scars *somehow*, through *some* kind of incident related to his new fiend pact. all of these are logical and reasonable things to assume and plan for, when you have made a point of manipulating people, of reading their intentions and catering to them like a monkeys paw.
that ulder ravengard would not just chastise wyll, but banish him from baldur's gate entirely, must have been a horrible shock, not just for wyll, but for mizora. i doubt the uneventful two year gap between taking the pact and becoming the blade was purposeful. it makes more sense to interpet that as mizora simply having no fucking idea what to do with her warlock now, as the pact she dictated (designed so that wyll never felt it was unjust enough to make a point of breaking it, no matter how often he thought of doing so, because it was so in favor of him and aligned with his moral code), simply had no vehicles for any of the usual courses of action. cant force wyll into tricky moral quandries, because she can only ask him to kill evil, infernal, monstrous, or heartless beasts. cant ostracize him through the pact to isolate and grind him down, wyll cant talk about it. what do you even do? now your both stranded in the middle of nowhere with nothing but the pact to show for it
and heres where i veer into hot take interpretation country. i think mizora genuinely likes wyll. when you blenderize her in moonrise towers (before reloading a previous save ofc), her screams are oddly... genuine? confused, frightened, upset. its odd than an otherwise vindictive and catty individual isnt angry upon being killed, but confused and hurt sounding. i think in a lot of ways mizora both relies on the consistency of wylls moral code, while also considering it a hinderance, not to her plans (thoroughly derailed thanks to one ulder ravengard) but to wylls own personal development as a person. shes a devil, she doesnt have the kind of personality where she can be genuine and vulnerable and kind. but she was stuck as the only authority figure wyll had to rely on, for seven whole years, after being kicked out of the only life he ever knew and the only home he ever had. i think in a weird fucked up way, she really does want whats best for him, its just that her opinion of that is filtered through the lens of Literally Being A Devil. none of this is to say she was *good* to wyll. how wyll feels about mizora is pretty blatantly stated, and would be a much shorter post, and im not here to interrogate that or question it, because being stuck with a devil who can use your eye to spy on you is just an awful experience even without regular verbal degradation on top of it. im mostly just intrigued by the other end of that relationship. mizora clearly cares enough about keeping wyll as a warlock to go as far as trying to make a second pact with him if you succeed in negotiating the first one to be broken. which, as weve established above, is really weird because Wyll himself brings next to nothing a devil would value to the table. Mizora isnt trying to corrupt him into breaking his ethics, really the only thing she pushes is sacrificing his father instead, a decision a recruited minthara finds value in as "patricide is often the first step to greatness". i think mizora might have ulterior motives for wanting ulder ravengard dead, and i think its because she believes that wylls love for his father is holding him back. any time wyll is selfish in pushing back on her, mizora indicates some measure of being impressed on wylls behalf. if you encourage wyll to not sign the second pact, mizora taunts him with his fathers death but still says shes genuinely impressed that hes choosing himself over his father
genuinely i think what mizora wants is for wyll to become a more assertive person. a more selfish, self interested, less heroic, less self sacrificing individual. i think mizora considers wylls tendency to bend over backwards to help people to be actively detrimental to him, and i think shes invested in his growth as a person by virtue of being a guide and companion for seven of the loneliest years of wylls life, and in a fucked up devil kind of way i think she invests her pride into it. that, with her plans so thoroughly mangled, the LEAST she can do is forge wyll into a warlock worth the cost. wyll has so much potential he refuses to take, as minthara (another ambitious prideful character) will note, and its explicitly because he would rather give something up than take for himself. i think thats part of why mizora is so cruel and demeaning towards him, to try and push wyll to be pettier or more spiteful, instead of endlessly self sacrificing for the benefit of others, and this is even consistent with her punishment of wyll! she turns him into a devil and specifically notes that he wont be able to be the heroic persona The Blade of Frontiers anymore! ie the facade thats swallowed up wyll ravengard completely at the beginning of the story! i think her investment in wyll as a person is why shes so upset if you kill her at moonrise, because i think she genuinely thought that wyll would always save her and turning him into a lemure was a kind of bluff she didnt expect to cash in.
this would also explain why the terms of her second pact are so comically extreme. eternal damnation and serving zariel forever in return for maybe possibly getting to save ulder from a dangerous situation where he might die anyways from the absolute crisis and WILL die in a few decades from old age even if all goes well? its almost like shes taunting wyll. give it up, give up everything youve ever worked for and sacrifice everything you want to achieve to lock yourself into the worst evil you can think of for someone who banished you who might not even survive anyways. make this overwhelmingly stupid self sacrifice because thats just what you do wyll, never think of yourself or whats best for you, only other people, trade away all of eternity for the CHANCE of someone else getting another day, if THAT. this contract is so blatantly overwhelmingly unfair i DARE you to think so little of yourself youd agree to it. of course she wont congratulate him for choosing himself over his father, shes a devil and she has to rub salt in the wound, but that doesnt mean she disapproves of the choice. the only way wyll ever gets away from her is by thinking of himself and mizora takes every chance she gets to punish him for sacrificing himself and i think its because she knows he can do more if he just takes it for himself instead of passing it up. its the only kind of affection a devil can have. and every time i sit there and talk wyll through breaking his pact at moonrise and bully mizora into giving him a rapier (one of the best in the game, made specifically for wyll, made specifically out of his pact, when she doesnt have to give him anything and least of all something good, how its a reward specifically for wanting more from her and demanding it and not letting a circumstance where you have power over her go), i keep seeing hints of it underneath the surface.
a genuine devilish compassion for a warlock who rightfully loathes her, a loathing she encourages whenever she can. does wyll need an enemy to keep him from getting complacent? something to strive for thats just for his own benefit? it doesnt benefit anyone else for wyll to break his pact. most people benefit from him keeping it. its why he HAS kept it, all these years, despite hating mizora. i think mizoras taken it upon herself to do what the duke refuses to, and thats making sure Wyll becomes someone who can thrive in the world as she understands it. someone who has the ambition to reach higher, someone selfish enough to step on somebody else to get what they need, someone who refuses to get themselves killed just for somebody elses sake, somebody who doesnt give unless they receive in equal or greater value. someone who sees a situation where they have power, where someone needs them, and gets all they can out of it. and if not for people they want to protect, then at LEAST exploiting the people they HATE. does mizora demean him so much so that wyll is more comfortable firing back? so that wyll doesnt have to feel like hes becoming a worse person if he treats her as bad as he gets? if he treats his help as conditional, for her and only her, does he get to walk away feeling like he hasnt done anything wrong because he knows mizora does worse, and more often, and at least wyll will eventually help?
when he breaks his pact, and tells her no, he wont sign another, when he saves his father anyways, when he tells her off and gets everything he wants without sacrificing a damn thing, underneath the bluster and rage, is mizora proud of him?
things to consider sometime.
#bg3#wyll ravengard#bg3 wyll#mizora#bg3 mizora#a LOT fewer tags than my usual spread!!#anyways. i like mizora a lot more than raphael. if you can tell.#i think her relationship with wyll has a lot more going on under the surface that whats initially shown#and thatd contribute to why shes constantly in his character art despite not really doing a lot TO him#like. idk. something something the way a dragon is possessive over even the smallest part of their hoard#like thats HER warlock. he has to be Something. she wont let him be nothing#i think if wyll hunted her down in the hells and killed her. i think shed congratulate the vengeful spirit he had. and be genuine#and i think itd be a deeply confusing experience for wyll. and hed hate her even more for robbing him of the catharsis of her death#weird confusing toxic relationships everyone!!!!#anyways. i think mizora is riding the ''fuck ulder ravenguard'' train harder than anyone and thats why she summons exploding spiders#i think he just pisses her the fuck off for being everything wrong not just in HER plans but in wylls life#and i think she takes PERSONAL insult in ulder banishing HER warlock for not being trustworthy#when wylls pact literally has a hero clause BUILT IN#LIKE GODDD YOUUUUU D E N S E MOTHERFUCKER. YOUR SON IS THE GOODIEST TWO SHOES BOY SCOUT IN THE GATE#THE PRIORY OF ILMATER SHOULD FUCKING SAINT HIM. AND YOU THINK HES EITHER LYING OR *STUPID*???#GET FUCKED. TEN MILLION SPIDER BARRAGE.#if your all the way at the bottom of these tags and your still thinking wyll ravenguard is boring. you can try: AGAIN.
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wip lol
you know where this is going
edit: finished version
#i dont normally post wips but this one is going to be colored#spent like a friggin' hour on the lineart#finished version tomorrow i gotta go eepy#a classic#tadc jax#tadc gangle#ribbun#work in progress#i initially intended to do this traditionally#but it would be tedious redrawing the same thing for a couple changes#boy did i struggle on the jax anatomy#lanky ass bastard#I CANT INSULT THIS MAN WITH “YOU LOOK EASY TO DRAW” NOW#womp#the amazing digital circus
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fun fact: sunflowers are incredibly resilient to radiation, and can actually absorb radioactive elements
no flowers under cut:
#salem speaks#super giant robot brothers#sgrb#oc#sgrb oc#sgrb netflix#mech#mecha#robot oc#robot#art#artwork#fanart#illustration#digital art#clip studio#csp#> yeah unfortunately both sparks and loom died in battle prior to the events of the show#> loom specifically died to an unfortunate series of events. first he was blasted. then like 6 buildings collectively fell on him at once.#> and to add insult to injury. the kaiju went and walked right over him#> which unfortunately cracked his core and initiated a meltdown#> he was far too radioactive to bring back to base (and his metal hull was falling apart due to radiation as well)#> so they had to leave him there and the city still remains uninhabitable#> yippee 🎉#// death#// ask for tags#// trypophobia#< cuz of the flowers#undescribed
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I don’t blame the skull for anything tbh because I was already annoyed listening to my classmates talk about their middle school crushes, if I was psychically third wheeling their obsessions with the Jonas brothers I would’ve been praying for their tour plane to go down over the Andes.
#and to add insult to injury he reminds him of his shitty boss#initially at least#then he’s like nvm he is a danger to himself and others for entirely different reasons#mgmlb#lockwood and co#I am unfondly reflecting on how personally offended my classmates were that I did not care about zach efron
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it IS weird that the general consensus on twelve is that peter capaldi is an excellent actor but his episodes are bad (esp in comparison to the general consensus on series 5 being that it's some of the best the show gets) bc i am overall really enjoying series 8, a lot more than the last 3
#eleven had a bunch of episodes that were just hard to follow and thus hard (for me) to emotionally engage in#twelve is awful to people and this does deeply suck sometimes esp when it's just very unneeded#like insulting danny's intelligence or being randomly mean to courtney (what would i give for her and twelve to be given more time#and fleshed out a bit. why does he initially take her into the tardis? can we see more of that?)#but god. is mr capaldi bringing his 1000% everything to this role#those monologues ohhh yeah baby. all the episodes are leaning into the doctor feeling their age and the weight of the universe#w not much left to shield themself from that. so like. i buy it. he's just so fun to watch#and i know he gets like. progressively nicer as his era goes on so i have that to look forward to#dr who#i am being picky abt how clara is written bc im now measuring her against the standards of martha and donna#two of my fav characters in the whole show. by m*ffat standards s8 clara is blowing everybody out of the water#12 era
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When Emmrich says a good teacher should never make any student feel inadequate? Swoon (again).
#emmrich volkarin#datv#i'm sure so many players never take him on their team#and don't even know how great he is#the way he always tries to make taash feel better#even when they're insulting him after he kindly asked them to stop#several times#he still finds the kindness and patience to be the better person#i really like how he understands taash's struggles and never judge them based on their initial behavior#it's good for taash to be around him
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maybe it’s just me being nerdy about mortuary practices, but i hate that the only way you can negatively react to the mortalitasi in datv is by being grossed out instead of actually engaging with the ethics surrounding necromancy
#not that you would be able to regardless bc the game brushes away nuance by deciding all the spirits/corpses are consenting#i still hate that when emmrich asks what you’d like done with your remains your options are basically#‘never thought about it’ ‘burial’ ‘don’t touch my bones’ and cremation#but the tone for cremation + emmrich’s reaction come off like it’s meant to insult him#i was initially excited to have a necromancer companion but emmrich’s so convinced his way is Correct that i hate him#veilguard critical#hell brain hours
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DANG. Absolutely cold-blooded.
#I’d expect a zinger like that outta reggie any day but dilton?#did not see that coming in a million years#he’s choosing an insult OVER answering a question in class correctly?#what did archie DO to motivate this??#archie comics#dilton doiley#archie andrews#mr. flutesnoot#really though you can’t answer the original question without knowing exactly how many gallons archie’s horrible car can hold#my real question is where dilton got 8.342 from#I was expecting it to equal some natural number like 1 or 2 but when I did the calculations it equaled 2.2072932 gallons#I double checked my work with the internet and recieved 2.2037233 gallons instead#I’m almost certain this is a result of mr. flutesnoot rounding his provided number of gallons by several decimal places#so that I calculated the conversion with one liter equaling 0.264 gallons rather than 0.264172 gallons#of course when I checked it again with my own calculator I got 2.203722824 which is closer to but not quite 2.2037233#because even if you rounded it so that a three would follow the two you’re still left with ‘230’ rather than ‘233’ at that one part#so the more accurate values I found must still be rounded by some amount to cause the discrepancy#at ANY rate: unless I have missed something in my calulations the number 8.342 has no particular significance#this isn’t lightning-fast mental math. dilton just made that number up on the spot#and the specificity only exists to make him sound smarter#(and it kinda worked because I did initially assume there was some meaning behind the number)#the joke might have landed better if he’d have said ‘3.785 liters’ (exactly 1 gallon)#UNLESS the gas prices at the time happened to work out so that 2.2037233 gallons equaled exactly one dollar or someth—
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After rewatching the battle of Starcourt eps (again) for fic purposes, I always forget that while we, the fandom at large, love it when Murray get’s Murray’d by Steve or Eddie, the person who does it in canon is Erica.
She marched right up and set him back on his ass (and then Dustin swooped in and backed her up lol. Their friendship is the fucking best its so damn cute.) within two seconds of meeting him.
Someone look me in the eye and tell me the INSTANT Murray tried to...Murray (lol) she wouldn’t be all over his ass.
#two seconds and shes insulted his baldness#his name#and that they all would die if they followed Murrays initial plot#also Hopper is a hilarious parent in these episodes#like at this point he has the dad no voice DOWN#not plot brain#PLAN
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Since we didn't get to have multiple Khajiiti furstocks in older games, I think we should get crazy with headcanons at every chance
I already made J'Ghasta a Cathay-raht in DearB, but now I'm making M'raaj-Dar either a Dagi or Dagi-raht because I think he deserves to be competing with Zath for the "Tiniest Hater Ever" award. Bro's the temperament and height of Gollum. You're walking in the Sanctuary halls and look down to see this Sonic the Hedgehog sized motherfucker roasting you. Straight up three poisoned apples tall and wants to kill you dead.
#somehow he and zath actually get along#their initial introduction was rude as hell but it canceled out into respect#zath all 'aye that fuckin goblin from the tenmar. real shitter that one. he's my pal.'#and m'raaj like 'the red haired imga with the stupid accent yes. he is good at insults.'#anyways i love furstocks i love seeing them in ESO#M'raaj-Dar#dark brotherhood#tesblr#khajiit
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