#all you need to know these are not morally good people but the demon lord is much more benevolent then the military officer

[beastcouture]

alfyrrha and saai for the tags since i have no pics of them here lolz

[neuroticboyfriend]

some disabled & neurodivergent side of tumblr safety & etiquette:

dont: dump negativity on positivity posts. if you dont relate to a post, it's either not aimed at you, or you're not ready for its message (and thats ok!)

do: make your own posts expressing how you feel; your feelings still matter and your blog is just the place to express them.

dont: speak over people with different experiences than yours, or speak on things you don't know about.

do: have an open mind and educate yourself on things you don't know much about - uplift the voices of people with direct experience.

dont: send unprompted vent or advice asks to blogs that dont have that as a stated purpose.

do: check out a blog to see if they take vent/advice asks; if you dont see anything, ask if you can vent/seek advice first - or add a disclaimer at the start of your asks, with TW.

dont: engage with triggering content. dont post your triggers publicly either, my lord.

do: engage with content that helps you express, process, and cope with your health. take breaks when you need them, too.

dont: treat bloggers like celebrities or like they owe you a response.

do: treat bloggers like regular people; respect boundaries.

dont: demonize ANY condition. including paraphilic disorders, sexual/moral OCD, personality disorders, addiction, or factitious disorders

remember: we're all dealing with our own stuff, and we're all in this together. if anyone acts as if this isnt true, they're probably not in a good place themself.

(feel free to add on!)

[jotun-philosopher]

Discworld/Good Omens parallels ramble

Exactly what it says on the tin! These are some fun little Discworld/Good Omens parallels that my brain picked up on at various times (usually 3 a.m. or thereabouts... Thanks, mum, for the persistent insomnia...)

Mild-to-moderate spoilers for Wyrd Sisters, Lords And Ladies, Men At Arms and Carpe Jugulum below the cut.

In A Life With Footnotes, the official biography of Terry Pratchett, Rob Wilkins mentions that when he was in school, a young Pterry wrote for English class a story (sadly lost to the mists of time) about orcs attacking a vicarage in full Jane-Austen-spoof fashion. Now, given how the Whickber Street Shopkeepers' Ball turned out, it seems reasonable to assume one of two things: a) this story was not a factor under consideration when writing S2 and the parallel is an ineffably delightful coincidence (a bit unlikely) b) this story *was* an inspiring factor in the writing of S2, and the nod to Pterry happened to work really well with the plot (seems a bit more likely). Either way, the parallel is there and giving me all of the warm fuzzies <3

There's an idea in Discworld, forming a significant part of the moral backbone of the series, that's very succinctly summed up by Granny Weatherwax in Carpe Jugulum: "[S]in [...] is when you treat people like things. Including yourself." This is absolutely at the core of what's wrong with Heaven and Hell and God and Satan in Good Omens; the leadership and culture of both organisations/cults treat everyone -- angels, demons and humans alike -- as disposable things to be used and toyed with and discarded or destroyed if they start having the temerity to be imperfect or form opinions or thoughts of their own.

There're two characters in Discworld who parallel Aziraphale surprisingly strongly: Magrat Garlick (of the Lancre witches) and Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. -*Magrat is viewed as a bit of a soft, soppy 'wet hen' by the other witches, but she is still a witch, with all that that implies. She also has at least one scene in every book in which she appears where she does something extremely badass and witchy; for example, turning an ancient wooden door back into a tree, or (very pertinently to GO) delivering a literally iron-clad punch to the face of a villain who's mentally torturing her with her own insecurities. Likewise, Aziraphale seems to mostly be viewed as a bit dull and wimpy by the other angels we see (though Magrat still has the genuine respect of her witchy peers) but he is still an angel -- a Principality -- with all the powers, steadfast guardianship and bloody-minded stubbornness of that rank. The Metatrash might not be vulnerable to iron in the same way as Discworld elves, but you can bet that his attempt to break Aziraphale and bring him into line is going to backfire just as spectacularly! *For the parallel between Aziraphale and Captain (well, Corporal, at this point in the Discworld timeline) Carrot, the novel I have in mind is Men At Arms. At one point, Vimes is being held at crossbow-point by a villain, and has a bout of internal monologuing about how, if someone has you at their mercy, you'd better hope they're evil, because that way they'll take time to gloat and mock you so you'll have an opportunity to think of a way out; a good man will kill you with barely a word. Carrot does exactly that at the climax of the plot, putting his sword through the villain and the stone pillar behind said villain without saying a thing. Now, Aziraphale might not quite have Carrot's 'incorruptible pure pureness' tendencies, but he is -- for all his flaws -- a good person. If he knows that something needs to be done to prevent an evil outcome, he will DO it without hesitation. He knows how to use a sword, too, and if That Frickin' Elevator Smile Of Tranquil Fury is any indication, the Metatrash is in far deeper doodoo than he realises! Related to the above, The Smile also reminds me of the old adage, "beware the fury of a patient man." (Well, man-shaped being in this case...) Very appropriate for our careful, thoughtful angel -- it would not surprise me (much) if Metatron were to depart the plot of S3 with a flaming sword pinning him to one of Heaven's columns (probably won't happen, but I can dream, eh?)

Hope you enjoyed reading all that :D

[illegiblewords]

SOME ILLEGIBLE RAMBLES AND REFLECTIONS: THE DEAD THREE

Finished my first/main playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3, and it’s had me turning over all sorts of ideas tied to Dungeons and Dragons lore. A bunch happens to be about cosmology so I'm slapping together one post about the Dead Three and a follow-up about deities more generally. Buckle up if you decide to proceed dudes. This is chunky and opinion/interpretation heavy. CW for mention (not extensive) of graphic violence and sex crimes during discussion of Bhaal and Yeenoghu.

MYRKUL

I get that there are multiple death-affiliated deities in DnD. Our buddy Jergal is the end of all things and the original incarnation of the concept. Myrkul stands for the experience of dying, decay, necromancy, graves, bones, and the fear of mortality. Kelemvor rules over the dead. Orcus is a demon lord and quasi-deity of undeath. Could prob go on.

I've read many different incarnations of death over the years. To set the stage on my Myrkul read, it bears mentioning that Terry Pratchett's Death is probably my favorite. I don't have it in me to see death as something totally malicious. It's very natural, and I tend to imagine that if there were to be an incarnation embodying it this persona would have an intimate view of all the love and grief, vulnerability and intimacy, ugliness and solitude, etc. that mortals deal with. Death has witnessed the end every living being faces, from the dawn of creation until now. Even if it isn't consciously accessed at all moments, death is ancient and experienced and not likely to be shocked by what mortals are capable of anymore. Mortals are small. Uncountably numerous though we are we are far outnumbered by the unliving. What are lives next to planets, to stars? Here I'd argue against assigning value according to how big or small something is, how eternal or how brief, how simple or complex. Everything that is, is a universe unto itself and deserves the gravity of that. It is also very mundane at the same time. To me, death needs to be able to balance the preciousness and commonality of life, of existence, on the tip of its scythe. Death needs to be able to deal with the most depraved beings to exist, but also with every beloved pet put to sleep. Every lost child or parent. Everyone who dies surrounded by loved ones and everyone who dies alone.

Initially, even knowing Myrkul in particular had been a mortal necromancer and not of particular moral standing--I had mixed feelings about him being the evilest of evil skeletons. He worked it well, but the idea of any aspect of death (or any character tbh) being flat evil felt off to me. Especially with 'we're all the protagonists of our own stories' being at work. People don't often look at what actions they'd consider to be evil then go 'I'm going to make myself that on purpose'. Disregarding morality maybe, but being evil on purpose is weird.

So I looked into further lore about Myrkul. One spot that gave me pause was that Myrkul as death (rather than the adventurer Myrkul Bey al-Kursi he’d once been) revels in inspiring fear of death and driving home experiences of loss. From what I found he isn't focused on the name of the individual holding the office of death, but for the force itself being feared. He can be bribed, and he will allow for necromancy/resurrections--but the fear and gravity of death is a sacred thing to him. Disregarding that is a pretty good way to get onto Myrkul's shitlist. I want to take a moment to emphasize the importance of Myrkul focusing on his portfolio over his own ego. That is far from a given in the DnD pantheon, and like I said he's a former mortal himself. It wouldn't be out of the question for him to be a petty and insecure deity. He could have been the sort of guy where becoming a god of death by itself wasn't enough power. If Myrkul was a different person, he might have wanted people to stroke his ego and say how strong he is. He might have been someone who felt inadequate as a god without that affirmation. He could have (as a character) been unsatisfied and forever wanting/dependent upon the views of others to define himself. The fact that he DOES focus on death and decay as forces rather than himself is a big deal in reading him imo.

Anyway. Myrkul's emphasis on death as something feared got me thinking about what would cause a person to put such weight on death being understood in its negative aspect. It struck me that this is actually a very common and even important thing. You don't need to demonize death to see it, either. If you value life as sacred, the idea of life being treated as cheap or disposable is horrifying. When you love something dearly, the idea of that beloved thing being defaced is beyond outrage. It's a kind of sacrilege. People who kill as casually as breathing, who revel in the permanent destruction of someone else, become a source of horror. The absence of love creates a sort of cruelty that can't even perceive itself. And it's not uncommon for human beings in particular to partake in this. Humans dance on the graves of those they deem enemies not because they're relieved to be safe, but because they glory in the end of other lives. They don't recognize that anything of value was lost. There is no tragedy in death anymore. Every gentle moment, every vulnerability, every tragedy in their opponent's life is something to be crapped on and gloated over. There is no greater insult to life itself. Myrkul stands as a reminder that such behavior cannot stand. You can't treat life or death as cheap. To see something horrific and fail to realize the weight of its horror is itself a form of horror. The idea of a death that demands to be acknowledged for what it is, particularly by the living, imo actually denotes a level of care for life too. It might be harsh or ugly, but I don't know about evil. So while Myrkul is certainly flawed and often serves as an antagonist, I’d argue the function he performs is not only important but necessary.

And while it might vary between players, I found Aylin's enthusiastic executions and body defiling pretty uncomfortable. I understand she went through a lot and am fine with her as a character. But I think Myrkul's point stands if the audience feels even a moment of disquiet seeing her celebrate over the corpse of a broken person.

Some things are meant to be ugly.

BANE

Of the Dead Three I find Bane the most disturbing and dangerous tbh—but not for how Gortash invokes him. Way I see it, the other word for tyranny is authoritarianism on a macro-level, abuse on an individual level.

I’d argue that in life, we can only healthily control ourselves and our own individual actions/choices. We can try to persuade others or appeal to their judgment, but we can’t MAKE another person think or act how we wish. When folks attempt otherwise (individually or more broadly) it involves fear, force, deceit, or other forms of pressure. Coercion, enslavement. These fall under the umbrella of tyrannical practice to me. You treat another person as subhuman and strip them of agency.

We don’t live in a pure and ideal world. If a tyrannical person is committing crimes and denying others their free will through force, I wouldn’t call defense through force tyrannical as long as it wasn’t needlessly excessive. Power struggles exist. But the whole practice of using fear, force, deceit, or pressure to control another person is dangerous imo. They're to be utilized as little as possible.

In DnD I don’t think the fringe evil cults would be the ones most at risk for corruption by Bane. I don't think individuals or groups who prioritize self-indulgence would be most at risk, either. The most dangerous and frequent disciples of Bane imo would be within good alignment. This means followers of benevolent gods as well as the nations or groups that consider themselves to have righteous causes. ESPECIALLY those with chips on their shoulders.

When someone assumes they have and always will have the moral high ground, that they are incapable of committing injustice, that their end justifies whatever means, that it doesn’t count as abuse with the 'correct' target… that, to me, is where tyranny festers. The person convinced of their own moral infallibility is the one who sees no need for brakes and so cuts them without concern.

I’d argue everybody has a seed of tyranny in them that can be fed or starved. We feed that seed with our own indignation to become a tyrant victimizing others while still seeing ourselves as powerless. The person who first victimized you can still also be victimized by you. There isn’t a target that exists where finding joy in cruelty gets a pass.

Bane, I think, thrives on the idea that it's no problem if you're enforcing your will. Especially on people contemptible to you.

For DnD purposes, imagine you have zealous followers of idk Tyr. They are willing to do whatever it takes to enforce and spread their definition of justice. They believe in making examples of people at every opportunity. They torture, isolate, rob, and shame those they consider to be unjust or dangerous. If their victims are falsely accused—well. It’s for a noble purpose so the sacrifice is not in vain. And imagine Tyr abandons these followers as hypocrites. He no longer empowers clerics or paladins no matter how they cite scripture or brand ‘heretics’ with his symbols.

Bane doesn’t enter calling himself Bane, god of tyranny. Bane claims to follow a higher justice. Maybe he uses an avatar, maybe he chooses a Banite disciple, maybe he finds a true believer. But he argues that Tyr as an individual was never ultimately what those zealots stood for—it was justice itself. And if Tyr has turned traitor to his own portfolio, mortals need to go over his head to the core concept and implement that. Bane offers a name that suits his purposes and begins sourcing power to clerics and paladins instead. And throughout, as the zealots commit increased atrocities against those they deem dangerous or evil they fail to realize they’ve spiraled into evil alignment after all. They’d think they were either just as good as they’d always been OR BETTER. The compassion of Ilmater is spent on the depraved and corrupt as far as they’re concerned.

I think the real threat of Bane is that he should be 100% capable of corrupting an otherwise heroic party member if they aren’t wary of that capacity in themself. You suddenly find your friend who listened to your problems and supported you through awful shit mocking a person sobbing on the ground as they kick them. And that friend looks betrayed and hurt (or outraged) if you challenge their actions, because they think you should know exactly how disgusting this piece of shit is and how much they deserve the abuse. And even if you concede that individual case—it’s not the only one. The slights worthy of torment become smaller and smaller. A thought or word out of line betrays the ideology of an evil alignment, with the only solution being to beat thoughts and words out of the target until they can only repeat approved ideas back. And even then, it may not be enough.

If it was explicitly confirmed that the deity the zealot followed was Bane all along, the zealot might genuinely not believe it. They might get pissed at the very suggestion. What they do against the wicked isn’t tyranny after all. They’re righteous.

Denial doesn’t serve to disempower Bane in the least if tactics remain unchanged.

BHAAL

I’m holding off on more detailed Bhaal thoughts until I complete a dark urge run, but I’ve listened to lore on both him and the demon lord Yeenoghu recently—and I think there’s room for a really cool potential contrast.

Yeenoghu Lore

Providing this particular video link for the curious, as a way to help illustrate what I’m drawing from.

Yeenoghu holds the title as demon lord of slaughter. He glories in filth, rape, excessively graphic murder, torture, violence, and playing with corpses along the way. He’s meant to come across as a bestial, self-absorbed, remorseless desecrater. And when I say bestial, I want to draw attention to a particular IRL factoid that might be worth considering.

I love animals to bits. I don’t think animals generally contemplate morality the way humans do just due to cognitive differences and limitations. I also think it’s important to remember that humans are ALSO animals, so certain things umbrella’d under ‘human experience’ would probably apply to at least some animals too. If there are human altruists and human serial killers, we should be able to expect that animals likewise have some altruists and some serial killers within the scope of individual variation.

Cruelty is not exclusive to humans. Orcas will essentially torture smaller animals to death by flinging them into the air with their tails repeatedly like balls until repeated beatings and suffocation kill them. Dolphins commit rape and chew on live puffer fish to get high off the toxins. Chimpanzees are a horror unto themselves with cannibalism and mutilation and basically whatever atrocity they can commit. Wolves and cats sometimes hunt to excess just for the joy of it and don’t eat all they kill. Hannibal the swan (as a specific and notably homicidal individual) beat and drowned any other swans visiting his pond and showed his signet how to do it. I could go on. Some cases it might be a matter of the animal not having theory of mind to recognize that they are inflicting pain on another conscious creature. Other times, like with pissed off chimpanzees, they know EXACTLY what they’re doing and it’s on purpose to cause maximum suffering.

I think Yeenoghu should embody a little bit of both propensities. He’s just utterly self-absorbed and doesn’t give a fuck about the experiences or perspectives of other living things except insofar as they impact him.

Bhaal I want to research more like I said, but one thing I remember from my initial play through was finding a note from the Dark Urge to Orin.

Little sister, whatever in the Gray Wastes are we going to do with you? Bhaal will never care that you waste your time, posing your corpse-dollies. Bhaal doesn’t care whether you give him the corpse of a pauper or a king. At the end of the day, all Father wants is death in droves, death in numbers. To sap away the life of this dull world as swiftly and widely as we can. You plan, you plot, you prevaricate, and you waste his time. Bhaal doesn’t need us to think. He needs us to kill. You kill beautifully, and have talents in your shapes’ magics that I never will. But you do not understand Lord Bhaal. Perhaps it is a failing of your diluted blood, as a mere grandchild. I am his sole living pureblood. I will accept no challenge from you, until you show some damned respect.

To be honest this is interesting af to me because it positions Orin a bit more in-line with Yeenoghu’s modus operandi in some ways. But what sets apart the principles of Bhaal from Yeenoghu or Myrkul?

The Dark Urge suggests the goal of Bhaal is the extinction of all life, but to be honest I’m a bit skeptical. Seems like short term thinking. Even if Bhaal pulled that off, once it’s done there is no more murder or god of murder for that matter. If Bhaal is aiming for a cessation of existence and wants everyone else along for the ride maybe that’s what he’s after, but I dunno. That seems like something fans/players/loremasters would have touched on before.

I’d like to invite this possibility for foiling instead:

Life consumes other life by nature. Animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, so forth—it isn’t just a matter of philosophy. One life cannot exist without destroying another. We need to eat. If we don’t, we die well before reproduction enters the picture. But it’s more than that… you take a step, you kill countless tiny organisms you aren’t even aware of. You swat a fly. You hit something with your car. You move gracelessly or touch carelessly, and catastrophe ensues. Etcetera.

It is inevitable that your existence will mean the end for the life of another living thing. That’s just how it goes.

It could be interesting on a LOT of fronts (both as members of the dead three and as former adventuring companions) if Bhaal acted as a kind of philosophical opposite to Myrkul the way I previously described.

If the Dark Urge’s note is to be trusted, Bhaal has no interest in ritual or glorified death per se. Bhaal would be more about the mundanity that comes through the act of killing. Life is fragile as-is and often ended by accident. Killing in its most common form is thoughtless and unconscious. To Bhaal, if every life is a universe then the universe looks meaningless. There is no importance or fanfare to any of it. If one side is ‘everything matters, give weight to life and death’, Bhaal would be ‘nothing matters, we are not capable of affording reverence to every single life and death we encounter’. More specifically, the mass deaths Bhaal favors would be a kind of illustration of the uncaring and casual relationship living things have with killing other living things. The more casual and effortless it is, the more I’d imagine it serves Bhaal. Sadism and revelry miss the point—there is no hierarchy. Suffering is inconsequential. Fear is inconsequential. Instinct is inconsequential. To live is to kill by Bhaal’s logic.

It isn’t limited to murder in the sense of a member of one species killing a member of the same species. It’s more Bhaal is the god of killing. He’d gain power from murder too sure, but also hunting, harvesting, and butchering. With these interpretations in-mind, we can actually figure out how the Dead Three might have answered Jergal's question about what worth a mortal life holds. With the disclaimer this is very much conjecture. I think Myrkul would likely be "Each life is of infinite value and merits sacrificing everything for." That lends life a heavy weight and makes death a fearful force for all. It would also mesh with Ketheric as his chosen. Bane would lean into "That depends on a person's deeds", "The only life that matters is mine", or "Depends on the mortal". From those positions, the speaker argues for a hierarchy of life where some is more expendable than the rest. It's easier from that position to slide into adopting a role as judge and executioner, and from elevating yourself into a role of authority where other voices and experiences count less than your own. Bhaal I think is reflected in "Life’s only value is as currency. Doesn’t matter to me otherwise", "The only life that matters is mine", or "No one life is worth more than any other. We are equal." Bhaal has the implicit question in-turn: what is the blood-price of your own life? How much have you claimed in your own name to keep moving? It's kind of the belief that while "The only life that matters is mine" is Bhaal's answer, every other living thing should be answering the same way. There's more nuance than that of course, and likely truth falls somewhere in the middle. We aren't mentally capable of giving reverence to every death, but we can recognize in general terms and do our best case-by-case. We have a right to protect ourselves and what we love, but others share that right.

Feel free to offer different stances or thoughts though, and if you made it this far goddamn thank you for reading this monster.

[bi-hop]

coming back to the kabru is like jesus if he was judas comparison. I think it's interesting that kabru always knew that he couldn't be the one to conquer the dungeon so he wanted to find people who could and support them, because he knows he's an excellent judge of character.

but the thing is, he still wants to be the hero. he still has a saviour complex. he's still envious that laios of all people is the one who has the potential to beat the mage. i think he wanted to be the one™ in some way . he *needed* to be needed by laios, he wanted to be like hermes, a psychopomp, or maybe charon, the ferryman that guides laios. so when laios /ignored/ him (not laios' fault truly he just . bad timing. sorry kabru) he felt resentful and yet even more determined to get in laios' orbit, to be the light. to be important in his eyes, like, judas when he said to the woman who used expensive oil to clean jesus ' feet. he said "why not just give it to the poor?" because he wanted praise. he wanted his teacher to look at him and go "look, i listened to you! i know what you teach!"

thats why laios rubbed off on him and he used a nutrition metaphor even because hes like. he wants to be jesus (the one to sacrifice himself and save the world from the dungeons to prevent another utaya) but hes judas (the adversary. the supporter from the shadows. the one who shows the soldiers (canaries) who jesus is. the one who " reported " him in the first place)

anyway yeah I think he has. a Jesus complex and when he met Laios he got mad with envy because he realized he was Judas help me

this is so good, turning it over in my head.

an element of kabru's character that grabbed me early on and is reinforced as he begins to bet on laios is his preoccupation with morality. people complain about the murder (bc people are lame BUT I DIGRESS!) but don't typically focus on the justifications he gives. even without knowing about the demon's nature, he is able to understand that greed and violence will only beget more of the same as those who can adapt will turn worse and those who cannot will be exploited or flee. for him, it's like ripping out weeds from a garden to protect what he cherishes.

I agree that he feels very self-critical when he finally admits that he can't be the knight in shining armor that he wants to be, due to his inability to survive as long as he wants in the dungeon. even without the motivation of going back to save falin, laios and his party had already went further on a regular basis than he has.

(shake me if I'm remembering wrong, but when we first meet kabru's party, isn't it one of their first times ever successfully making it to the third floor? lmao.)

and so the point to me was always that, yes, kabru wants to be the guy and yes, his party supports him as the guy, but realistically? he'd need someone else to at the very least support him. but he's very practical so it made immediate sense to me that he'd start looking for someone who he can either trust to take on the role or who is capable enough to get to a point where kabru could then take over. (again, all pre-finding out what being a dungeon lord truly means)

despite the latter being an option though, kabru's preoccupation with morality still stands. if he was truly the cold rational being some people seem to see him as, it would have been simple to simply throw his lot in with the first strong yet horrible person he observed. but he's picky selective. even with laios as his choice, he's CONSTANTLY fighting The Demons about it. his nightmare alone makes it clear that he has extremely well-rooted doubts and fears about what laios might do.

^ funniest page ever to me btw

but despite that, he still continually does the work of supporting him, albeit with a lot of setbacks and complications OADSJDODSOJD

i don't necessarily think the lens that we're currently taking is what ryoko intended but to conclude it is funny the themes of betrayal because technically kabru does betray laios' trust once lycion's like "ayo, he hates monster food btw, he's a SNAKE" and then he fumbles his way into... sort of regaining it? kinda? of course, by post-canon, he has it fully back, but speaking exclusively of the main story here.

[mamashenanigans]

Now that the Official English translation is out for Chapter 410…

It’s very interesting how the final thoughts of AFO really harken back to his backstory chapters. It confirms how unreliable of a narrator AFO was. He wanted to convince himself that he didn’t have any emotions and that those were crocodile tears. His smile really was a way to mask his emotions(referring to Hawks’ and Best Jeanist’s conversation about it) and that thinking about his childhood and losing Yoichi brought all of these intense emotions to the forefront.

Him finally stating that he NEEDS Yoichi/everything is for nothing if he doesn’t have Yoichi by his side, is sad. For once, he finally admits that he didn’t just want Yoichi as a possession, but as his actual twin and only family member. All that talk about ruling the world and having everyone look at him is nothing without Yoichi.

And him “talking” to Yoichi about wanting everyone to look at him is a direct nod to him seeing how the Demon Lord had a bunch of followers and his need to finally be paid attention to unlike when they were orphans trying to survive on the streets of a collapsing society. All his memories of his childhood are terrible because of that and so he wants everyone else to feel as awful as he did.

Yes, his death is “pathetic”, but that word means “having pity”. You pity AFO because he was born to an incredibly shitacular life up until he realized he could use his metapower to gain followers and thus pull himself and Yoichi out of poverty and living in half destroyed stores. You pity AFO because he was born with his metapower activated and had all the instincts associated with it. You pity AFO because, even as a baby just barely able to crawl, he still tells himself he can get to Tomura, that he can take OFA back and have his brother who he admits he NEEDS. You pity AFO because he really never got over killing Yoichi in a possessive rage. You pity AFO because, as Yoichi says, his power could have been kind and done so much good, but they were born with no one to take care of them or teach them morals. You pity AFO because the twins had to learn morality through a damn comic series.

All those plans. All his cockiness. All of it means NOTHING without Yoichi. So Yoichi was always the reason in the back of his head regardless of his excuses. Once you’ve been working towards getting your brother back for over a century, I guess it makes sense that you’d convince yourself there is no other conclusion than you succeeding.

This dude was the GOAT and it took an army of heroes to whittle him down enough for Bakugo to finally get him to the point he’ll blip out of existence. And his emotions and thoughts over Yoichi and that narrow goal of needing him by his side was what ultimately defeated him because he wouldn’t give up on it.

I think it’s sad, but a memorable death of a main antagonist.

But in addition…

I find the Official translation concerning the AFO vestige very interesting. It seems to hint that the vestige DOES still exist somewhere within Tomura, which makes sense because Tomura still has the AFO Quirk. Given what we know about the vestiges AND what occurred with Danger Sense and 4th being taken, Tomura shouldn’t have the AFO quirk anymore if the vestige is dead.

It would be great to have AFO’s vestige make one final appearance that allows him to interact with Yoichi. It was very disappointing to not have Yoichi appear at all during this chapter and I know a lot of people are hoping the AFO vestige will allow for one final talk between the brothers. It would be cool, if and when Tomura steals all the other OFA vestiges except Yoichi that the AFO vestige appears to keep Tomura from having him or something like that.

[12pt-times-new-roman]

c3e79

They have some convos in Morri's manor, and Orym does not seem happy that they've decided to run away into the Feywild. But he's rolling with having been mostly silent, brooding, and working out over the past day.

Fearne goes to talk to Birdie. She and Ollie were able to escape to the Feywild gateway, but Hondir took off toward Ashanadoor instead to reconvene with his allies.

Upon mentioning Tevon, Fearne -- apparently the party's lie detector -- can tell that Birdie isn't lying about not having had dealings with devils or demons, but she's still being guarded about something. "Fearne, you may not know how your father and I met, but know that he is a good man in his morals, and I've met no man greater than him. We met because we were both briefly entangled with the Unseelie Court; Ollie was a prisoner of theirs, and I was once enthralled by the wiles of one among them. This gentleman of whom I was romantically entangled with promised much, and delighted in my darker impulses... I was whisked away into the arms of this dark lover who danced with me, he waxed poetic about taking the moon from the Moonweaver herself, and he was beautiful as he was terrifying... I was in an odd place, and I do not like who I was then... my Unseelie suitor talked of the importance of our union, and when it was time for me to give birth to you, he brought me to a hilltop on Exandria beneath the red moon Ruidus, as he had planned and we had discussed."

Fearne's biological father is Atheon Zathuda, the Sorrow Lord of the Unseelie Court -- the person who chased them from the Malleus Key, who Morri fought for them as they fled. He had dealings with Otohan and Ludinus, who promised him that he'd be freed from the Moonweaver's imprisonment if he helped them make the key. Birdie notes specifically that Zathuda spoke with an "Exandrian high magus" to plan Fearne's birth so that she would be Ruidusborn.

Once Fearne was born, Zathuda stopped giving attention to Birdie and treated her badly, so she fled, taking Fearne and Ollie with her. When Ollie had his vision years later, they did what any parents would do: they kept Fearne safe. They knew that the Unseelie and Zathuda would be looking for Fearne, so they left her with Morri. "I don't ever want you to think that I'm asking for forgiveness, I know you can't give me that, but I'll try to make it up to you in time."

While that happens, Orym goes to talk to Ashton. "I realize that I didn't say a lot yesterday. I've just been thinking. To be honest, Ash, I was as freaked out as everybody else by what happened, but that's not what I want to say to you right now. I just want you to feel what you're gonna feel -- be angry, sad, confused, questioning, guilty, shameful, whatever. But we do care about you. I care about you. [Yeah. I think I believe that now.] Well, time, right? Whatever you're gonna feel, we're all going through it, and I get it, I do. You and your dad, Imogen and her mom, and me with everything I carry around -- it's hard not to let it be personal, and of course it's personal, but we can't let this be about our every little hidden heartbreak right now. [No. I mean, I'll admit that the positive reinforcement after jumping into a pool of lava may have been... I can see the escalation, the more I think about it.] I listened to everyone lay into you yesterday, and that's not what this is about. I care about you, and with everything that's coming, feel what you're gonna feel but also don't let perfect be the enemy of good. This group, as fucked as it is, this is the play. This is the angle, there are no legends coming in to save us -- it's just us, and we gotta pick up and do. When we leave, it's gonna be hard, but try not to spend all your time grappling with your demons, because I need your hands free so you can pick up that hammer and fight." Orym gives him a kiss on the forehead.

Allura assures them that every group of people who cares about each other falls out from time to time, sometimes drastically.

Imogen takes off the circlet because if she hadn't been wearing it, she would've known what Ashton was planning. Which is a massive fucking invasion of privacy and such an overstep that the people around her definitely need to interrogate her on

They start putting the pieces together between Zathuda, Otohan, and Ludinus, and decide to ask Allura about Sammanar (the leader of the Unseelie Court). "Sammanar is one of the five major archfey of the Fey Realm, Keeper of the Sun's Shadow (a region), master of the Unseelie Court. They are a moody entity, a rare sight out amongst the rest of the realms; they are the watcher of the twilight, the stiller of violent emotions, a bit of a prick." Archfey collect titles like rotten fruit. Zathuda himself is a brutal warlord who finds poetry in violence, and he has no other children; and he is the wielder of the Dusk Hunger, Blade of the Black Flame.

They show Morri the fire shard, and Laudna has to walk away into another room. (There's a point to be made here, I just don't have the bandwidth to make it.)

Allura speculates on why the Unseelie Court might want to depose the Moonweaver. It could be that they want to create a power vacuum, because the Moonweaver has significant influence in the Fey Realm — being generally good-aligned, she's definitely not a favorite of the Unseelie.

The leaders of the Fey Courts control who can and can't pass through fey gates, but some powerful archfey can mess with that "permission" — including Morri.

From what Allura knows of Morri, she is a "stalker of dreams, a voyeur of insecurity, a promiser of many things and a robber of others. There are stories that say she is an entity of balance, and others that say she is a reaper of sadness... in scholarly circles, she is a dubious and dangerous entity, in the sense that there are few that can even attempt to ascertain her true nature."

And thus, we begin the scavenger hunt. Morri gives them drinks, and says she has chosen three items from her collection, and has devised three different adventures for them: communciation, truth, and honesty. For each adventure they succeed, they gain an item. For each they fail, they "know what they have to work on."

They choose Honesty. Smoke fills the entire chamber, the temperature drops, and they feel a breeze — they're no longer inside the Manor, and instead find themselves in a dense fey jungle. In front of them is a massive cliff with no visible bottom, with broken stone and ruins across it. Morri gathers them and procures a brass monocle with a deep viridian lens — a veilscatter lens. "This, my friends, is the first item: the monocle of true essence. It will be your job to find this." She throws it into the ravine, and it disappears. "You all must work together to find it. The chasm is unclimbable, but it listens, and as our agreement, it only listens to honesty. Speak of your secrets, speak of your truth about each other, reveal something about yourself, and the land may show you a path forward." She puts all of them into a giant fucking hamster ball and tosses them into the chasm, like those levels of Super Mario Galaxy, and we go to break!

As they hit the bottom of the chasm, the magical shield dissipates, and they land in a muddy bog.

FCG is the first one to try "honesty," and admits that they like eating silver more than copper. Stone platforms move into place for about 15 feet — the bigger the truth, the bigger the gain.

Imogen's turn: she's genuinely scared to meet Liliana again. More steps appear.

Chetney attempts to argue that wood is fundamentally better than metal. Leeches start eating them.

Laudna: "Deep down inside, both Delilah and I kind of want the shard!" A jut of stone forms a 30-foot spike up to a vantage point.

Imogen: "I love Laudna deeply, but I'm disgusted at the idea of Delilah watching us all the time." A crumbled city begins to push out of the mud at the bottom of the chasm.

Orym: "I'm super lonely, even at night, and it doesn't matter if I'm bunking with one of you guys."

FCG: "Sometimes I pity some of you, because you have beating hearts and opportunities and you don't do enough with them." (bonus 4th-wall breaking Travis: "We're still in the game, right?!")

I actually fucking love this so much, because it's the fact that the Bells Hells fundamentally want to be honest with each other and to trust each other, but they've never done that outside of dire consequences, and this is giving them an opportunity to be honest without direct consequence.

Also Orym: "I guess I've always laughed it off, but I do kind of wonder if Chetney is my dad!" Laudna's vantage point that she climbed up to extends another 30 feet.

Ashton: "Oh, fuck it. I am the reason that the Jiana Hexum robbery went wrong, and the reason I got thrown out of that window!" Remnants of this ruined city's culture continue to emerge. This truth is the reason Ashton believed the Nobodies were right to leave them.

Fearne: "I feel like we are very ill-equipped for this job and we're gonna fail at saving the world."

Chetney: "I do fear that children will find my toys and thereby myself obsolete with every year that I grow older."

FCG: "Every time I hurt or kill something, it feels really good. It makes me relax a little bit, and some of my stress goes away." (hold up do we have BG3 dark urge characters in BOTH ongoing CR campaigns right now??)

Imogen: "I know we're supposed to save the gods, but none of them will ever respond, so I think I'm tainted. I don't know if I want to save gods that don't love me." *sigh*

Laudna: "You know we could all ripcord right out of this whole 'saving the world' thing any time, right? And I fantasize about it all the time."

Amidst the rain, Orym spots the lens and points it out. He leaps toward it, Laudna gives him a feather fall, and he lands on the roof where it is. He retrieves it and tucks it away, but they still need to get up to the top of the chasm.

Fearne: "Sometimes I do stuff to you guys while you're sleeping. Not weird stuff! I just look at you. You're so content and comfortable, and I can look at your faces real close and twiddle your hair."

Ashton: "Any time it's too quiet, I start worrying that one of us is going to end up killing another of us accidentally. Except for Orym, you're the one I worry about the least." Orym, in response: "I have all the faith in the world, all of you. And I have also thought about how to neutralize each of you."

FCG: "I kinda worry that I put all my eggs in the Changebringer basket and that she might betray us all. I had a weird conversation with her and she seems out for herself, and she might not really care about me, but she might and I'm saying awful things, and I'm sorry!"

Imogen: "Fearne, I was disappointed in you for running away from your power! You should take the shard!" (This one isn't enough of a truth.)

Orym: "I really miss Dorian, and sometimes I think that's okay but sometimes I think it isn't!"

Pate, out of left field: "I'm barely alive! What do you want from me?! I don't have feelings!"

Ashton: "I feel worse because I just fucked up Fearne's live way more than mine, and I should've died instead of that happening!"

Chetney: "I grew up in the Bramblewood, and when I was a kid, I came back and realized my whole family had left. All they left behind were toys. They left because oft he Rimelord, so I'm afraid of dragons — I had five siblings, and I was so angry I never looked for them so now I think they're dead, and I'm afraid that any family I have will leave me, so that's why I don't get attached to anybody."

Chetney's last confession bridges the gap. Zebra-striped manta rays, flying, with hands where their head would be, grab the Bells Hells and drops them at the top of the chasm. Morri waits for them there. "Well! It looks like you succeeded. Congratulations on your first team building exercise. I hope you got a lot out of it."

The monocle they got can cast detect magic once per day, arcane eye once per day, and see invisibility once per day, and gives advantage on insight and perception checks. It also doesn't require attunement.

They choose the Communication trial next. Morri brings them to a barely-lit, underground chamber with a tall rock ceiling that goes endlessly in all directions. There's a glowing yellow orb in the middle of a round platform; it's textured and odd, almost organic. There are three thin walkways that curl away from the platform. "Welcome, friends. This is a thunderwasp hive. Be mindful not to panic or speak too loudly; they get riled." She asks for three volunteers: Chetney, Ashton, and Imogen. The three of them are blind as the skin grows over their eyelids, and Matt has them put blindfolds on. The three of them vanish, and are placed on the ends of the three winding platforms.

OHHHHH I SEE

Each of the blindfolded players has a small map with a path drawn on it, and a mini they must guide along that path. The non-blindfolded players must guide their hand using instruction alone along that path. If they get too close to the edge, that player rolls a dex save to avoid falling into the pit below. Then, if the instructions get too loud, the wasps create an obstacle.

I honestly love that Orym/Liam is taking the lead here. It makes so much sense — Orym was a soldier. He knows how to command, knows how to communicate, knows how to make sense to people. In challenges like this, a leader will always emerge, and here it's Orym.

Chetney succeeds, and the two major contributors — FCG and Orym — are silenced for Imogen's trial, while Chetney is able to contribute. And yes, the interplay between Travis directing Laura as her husband and Laudna directing Imogen as her in-game girlfriend is exactly as entertaining as you'd think, but it's also working far better than I thought it would

Imogen succeeds, and Chetney and Laudna are silenced because they were the two major contributors. Only Imogen and Fearne are left to communicate with Ashton. Somehow, this is the calmest group so far, but because a single failed saving throw that had absolutely nothing to do with either Ashton or his directions, they fail the trial — a planned outcome.

Morri gives them an ultimatum. They can try one more time, all-or-nothing: if they fall, they die, but they get to choose who is being directed and who gives direction. Orym volunteers to go, and chooses Chetney and Imogen to give directions. (This is, objectively, the correct choice. Orym has the best dexterity, giving him an advantage on every check associated with this test; and Travis and Laura proved themselves to be the best direction-givers in the previous trials. I'm honestly amazed at Travis here, because he's giving directions like "lift up your 3 fingers" because he knows that makes it easier to maneuver.)

"Go, go, straight line, put your arms out to Nana Morri, you are there honey!"

Morri claps, congratulates them, and gives them their prize: the scarf of intrusive intent. The bearer can cast suggestion twice per day, magic mouth twice per day, and fear once per day.

Lastly, trust. The cold gives way to warmth, and the sound of birds, insects. They find themselves standing in a deep fey forest. Above is an enclosed canopy, and they are surrounded by runes, archways partially crumbled, extremely sharp thorns. In the center is a large well, filled with mirror-like water.

"Well, friends. We're here at your final test. Here, in this interesting site of lost fey history, you all learn to trust one another. There are three altars somewhere in these surrounding ruins, and upon each of these altars lays a section of a blanched ivory branch. I need you all to work together to bring all three of those back here and lay them into the water. Do you think you can do that?" "What's the catch?" "Let me introduce to you some friends." Two figures step out, humanoid but not, elongated and gray. "These are two doppelganer friends of mine, and they've been studying all of you, in and out. Two of you will be removed, and doppelganer taking their place, but you have to figure out who that is before they ruin this for you."

It's a literal game of werewolf! Two of them will get doppenganer cards, their objectives, and clues to the map.

Matt is out here playing mini games within mini games within mini games, I swear to god–

[itsagrimm]

Reading Letters

Medieval Price X she/her princess

CN: mentions of death. technically Price breaks the Confidentiality of letters, drinking, mentions of alcohol

Notes:

salt is a great way to preserve food and as such important to maintain a travelling army which is why checking for salt prices and buyers was a medieval way of checking for signs of war

printing as a trade in Europe is a late medieval invention by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439. Previously every piece of writing was hand-written. With the Gutenberg letter printing press texts could be reproduced on a much quicker scale.

Masterlist

----

In a lucky turn the winter brought heavy storms over the sea, pushing the princesses date of departure into spring. If Price ever had believed in gods he would have thanked them now for buying him time to save his princess.

His princess?

The Lord of War shook his head, surprised by his own possessive thoughts, and continued reading military reports and an awfully detailed article on salt prices. He had a job to maintain after all. Saving princesses did not pay the bills.

Gaz, the librarian entered the room without knocking. His face twisted into a displeased mask of barely contained anger.

"I have news, Lord." The man pressed out between his teeth as if ready to explode.

"Door." Was all Price replied, reminding the younger man that having an unwelcome audience was less likely with the portal closed.

With a barely contained curse under his breath the librarian closed the door before making his way to Price' desk and fishing out a rolled up piece of paper from out of his sleeves.

Instead of rushing the General carefully unrolled the paper and started reading. It was a letter from the king of Angeles to the King of Thuida. The kings seal on it had been broken but Price did not worry much about it. He could arrange to forge any seal with enough time if necessary.

What worried him much more was the letters contents that could enrage Gaz so much.

The first lines started off surprisingly. The crown prince had drowned, lost in the winter storms while sailing back to the capital. A piece of news not yet known to the people of the kingdom.

Idiot should have walked, Price thought to himself and continued.

As the princess was the only remaining surviving child of the old king, she was the sole guarantee of keeping the bloodline on the throne.

Price nearly smiled reading those lines. She and her future children were now the only ones who could inherit the throne. Good news. Maybe there was no need to steal away the princess after all and she would stay. Before the feeling of victory could settle in, his eyes already jumped to the last lines of the letter.

"My conviction of giving you my daughter in marriage for an alliance remains as long as your conviction of giving me a fleet for her continues."

Sold for a couple of ships. You were sold for a couple of ships.

"The king has lost his marbles, sir. We need to do something!" Gaz whispered as if invoking the General like a demon. "She is the heir now. With the prince gone and the princess shipped off we are facing civil war and then invasion. The princess must stay!"

"Calm yourself, son." Price hissed back. "You are speaking too loudly of treason."

"Sir!"

Gaz face fell from anger to surprise to something akin to relief.

"So it's the too loud part you take issue with, sir. Not the treason itself, I gather?"

Price shrugged, unsure of what to say. Young educated men with morals and bubbling out emotions were not his usual crew.

"Copy the letter and then bring both to my wife." The general ordered instead. "She will take care of the seal. And you - will keep this to yourself. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Gaz confirmed with an eager nod. "I trust that you will fix this."

He would, he had to. He had promised long before this letter came to be.

The lord of war got up and left Gaz to work. Instead, Price closed the huge portal behind him and made his way to the princess chambers.

Did you know already? Did you know that your brother died? Should he tell you before Laswell could confirm the news?

His purposeful stride stalled and he came to a stop at your door, his arm lifted to knock for entrance only to question what exactly he wanted to say. Audible words and wails made it through the massive wood. Had you heard? Were you crying?

Price lowered his hand.

What was he to do about it? And who was he to you to offer comfort?

He was a general, an administrator and strategist. Sometimes a spy master and politician if necessary. And often a murderer. But to you? He was no one to you. Just someone you had asked for help once.

Price shook his head thinking about his foolishness and turning away from the door.

A few unsteady steps and he had caught himself again, straightening up as a general should, marching away from the wails that were not of his concern.

----

Laswell confirmed the news of the princes death. She also arranged for a print of the letter in the secret printing press Price had bought from a Thuida merchant a couple of months ago.

It would take a couple of days but spreading the letter among the common people as not everyone could read. But once the news spread they might cause enough uproar for the king to reconsider the marriage and keep the princess here. Yes, it would destabilize the the kingdom. But that was a new problem. Price could deal with a mob of angry peasant who feared being taken over by a foreign kingdom like he could deal with a displeased king.

What he could not deal with was breaking his promise to you.

The general stretched out in front of the fire in the library, thinking about the past day. Gaz had called it a day some hours ago. And Laswell had left to visit her lover for the night. So Price was looking forward to a delightful night of pondering and brooding on his own.

He reached for a glass and the bottle of whiskey from under the table Price had gotten as a gift from a northern diplomat some while ago. Yes, maybe this was a perfect night of lonely thoughts and a bit of light report reading. Unsure if he should indulge in some overdue manifests or merchant gild requests a shuffled around his papers, nearly missing the soft knock on the door.

The lord of war paused.

The soft knock repeated itself and Price eyed for his emergence knife before calling out for the visitor.

"Who is it?"

His voice was rough, maybe much rougher than necessary. But then again what unsavoury character lurked and wandered around at night in the castle?

"It's me, John."

The princess voice was shaky and pleading as you asked for entrance with those unspoken words.

He sat down the bottle and papers, making his way to the door and letting you in.

"Your Highness." He asked as he ushered you to the seat at the fire. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?"

You shook your head, upset and with red eyes from crying.

"My brother..." You managed before sobbing and gasping for air.

Price pressed your hands, turned to his desk and filled the prepared glas with a bit of whiskey before passing it to you.

"Drink this, dear." He ordered softly. "Don't spit it out. First time is not for quitters."

You gulped down the mouthful in one go and grimaced from the burning taste running down your throat.

Price sat down in front of you, waiting for you to finish stomaching the taste and bringing order to your racing thoughts.

"My brother..." You started again. "...is dead."

Price nodded.

"So you have heard, John?"

"Yes, word is out to the people and as such word is out to me. My condolences, your Highness."

You nodded, grabbing a hankerchief from out of your sleeves and audibly blowing your nose.

"Sorry." You murmured. "Not very ladylike of me."

Price shrugged and grabbed the Whiskey bottle for a refill before taking a sip himself.

"Who cares, my lady? I certainly will not judge you for having heart and crying for your brother."

You sniffled and attempted a smile at Price.

"Sometimes I feel like you are the only kind person in this castle, John."

He sat up straight.

"You flatter me, princess. I am many things. But kindness is not a quality I can claim."

A sad look overcame you, unmeasurably sadder than how you appeared before.

"You always do that. You always deny my words, deny me."

He crooked his head.

"Deny you? Never, dear."

You looked down at your fingers, at the hankerchief between them.

"Pardon me, John. I will encroach no more." You got up, nearly stumbling over the hem of your dress. "Far well, lord."

Price rose from his seat, confused why you made such haste to leave.

"No, wait. Stay my dear." He managed but you had fled already.

[fantasyinvader]

I keep thinking about how people want the Agarthans to be victims. Not so much that people are saying they did nothing wrong, but a lesser evil compared to Rhea and the Nabateans. I'd ask myself why people would want such a thing, as even in the route where you side with them they're made out to be evil that will be exterminated, but I wouldn't have to think about why that as. The answer is simple, they validate Edelgard's killing of Rhea.

And, really, it fits with stuff I've seen since the game came out. The people claiming that despite Silver Snow and Verdant Wind being routes where big reveals to the lore are given to the player they, alongside Azure Moon, lie to the player and that Edelgard is the only one to tell them “the truth.” Or that said lore pops out of canon once the player decides to side with Edelgard. They want to ignore that the same route not only paints Edelgard as a liar often enough that a chapter titled “Lady of Deceit” begins and ends with her lying to her army, but also reveals that Edelgard herself knows that her source was an Agarthan puppet yet she is still clinging to that narrative. They'll claim it's all a matter of what the player believes to be true and tell people to disregard the game's creators saying that they built Fodlan to support the story of Silver Snow, and that while Flower is about believing something else, how that leads to not only mowing down everyone who stands in your way because of those beliefs but also ends up with tyranny and oppression under the path of supremacy.

Or we'll get people who ignore that Claude's route talks about how we need to let go of misconceptions we may have about others by getting to know them, and how Claude's misconceptions about the Church may have been caused by the Agarthans feeding him info to turn him against Rhea. No, instead Claude is a manipulative schemer who should have killed Rhea as his final boss after learning about her past and how his ancestors profited off the slaughter of her people, and that Golden Wildfire is who Claude really is and his good route.

Because people want to believe that Houses is this morally grey game, where everyone is a hero from their POV. But let's look at that. As mentioned, Claude's POV blaming the Church is ultimately framed as him having misconceptions, and once he got to know them he realized that Rhea didn't have to be his enemy in achieving his goals. Not only that, he realizes the Agarthans tried to manipulate him like he says they did to Edelgard, and ends up taking them out before finishing off Nemesis. Dimitri's POV is based on his survivor guilt and belief that he needs to live for the sake of avenging those who died. He grows out of this thanks to Byleth teaching him he needs to live for the sake of the living and for himself, all while taking the Agarthans out by complete accident while Edelgard's ideals are presented as demonic while Dimitri's beliefs make him a savior. Meanwhile, Edelgard's POV is based on what her father told her despite her knowing he was an Agarthan puppet. She can't be swayed her path as she tries to lie and manipulate those around her, and the world supports the route where Byleth leads the Black Eagles away from her influence (making it so that the Black Eagles are the only class who can get their story-related character development joining any other class). It's either that, or you ignore the world building to walk a path that is based around hadou, which has negative connotations especially when contrasted with oudou, which is what Dimitri's route is supposed to lead to.

You can ignore this growth if you play Hopes, but Hopes is supposed to show how much of an influence Byleth has on their class and is not supposed to replace that experience. Shez can't give Dimitri or Claude the character growth they would have gotten to see the problems with their POV, nor can they stop the Eagles from supporting Edelgard. Shez just seems to go with whatever the lord says, adapting to the route being played, and as such enables each lord's behavior. Not to mention that Shez is hinted to be from Agartha himself, and even then the Agarthan POV doesn't paint them in a positive light.

So, really, what are people saying when they want the Agarthans to be the sympathetic villains rather than the game wanting us to feel sorry for the Nabateans? That they feel the game not doing so is a flaw despite the Agarthans being so racist that they view everyone else as non-human animals and therefore it's okay to experiment on them? That we should support their genocide of the Nabateans because Edelgard said things used to be better despite the reveal that they're the ones who gave mankind Crests while making themselves out to be gods? We should still think that the Church are the bad guys when the Agarthans are the ones behind the experiments, Duscur, the death of Claude's uncle, and so much more? Or that Nemesis was a good king who was demonized by history rather than the power-hungry asshole he's depicted as, the only real misconceptiont here was that he ever was a hero in the first place rather than the tyrannical bandit he actually was.

In the end, it's just people not wanting to let go of their own misconceptions about Fodlan. They don't want to see Fodlan for how it really is. If anything, Houses can serve as a deconstruction of the idea of Death of the Author. It's a game with some very direct messages, but the routes where the player diverges away from those messages (Flower and the entirety of Three Hopes) it leads to bad endings because, at the end of the day, Fodlan was built around those messages. It was built about the need to see people for who they really are rather than who we think they are, as Edelgard being revealed not to be the heroine but rather the villain is the twist of the game who needs to be removed from power. Also that people supporting each other is a far better outcome than everyone being left to fend for themselves, especially when the people at the top use their power to benefit others. But it's up to people to do that themselves, to figure things out for themselves rather than fall into the trap.

Otherwise, we're left with people defending the likes of the Agarthans.

[rarepears]

I secretly like to imagine that one of the unnamed peak lords of SVSSS is Irish. How did they get to the four kingdoms? No one knows. But they're red-maybe-blonde, pale as fuck, and very "from ye olden emerald isle, don't question my anti-fairy wards and just give me more salt and iron please"

The reason I like to imagine one of the peak lords is Irish is because Ireland has no native snakes and only one lizard.

I really, really like the idea that there's this one peak lord that's mortally and morally offended that Zhuzhi-lang exists, on pure principle.

"There is no need for there to be so many scaley things and what do you mean this one doesn't have legs, kill it with fire immediately!"

That seems like the sort of misunderstanding where all the demons think that Zhuzhi-lang has a very passionate admirer.

Irish peak lord telling people about how gold is to be found at the end of a rainbow, guarded by an angry short person in green - no, that's not a reference to Shen Jiu's green robes, sorry Liu Qingge. He comes off as hot-tempered next to the more stoic Shen Jiu - particularly with how easily his face flushes red with anger.

The Irish peak lord if really good at brawling and fighting (as a result of having to fight off curious peers / adults who want to touch his red hair.)

And then there's also his need to fight all the weird animals who shouldn't exist. Like the one snake who keeps appearing like every month, trying to slither in his hair...

[More in #if Cang Qiong had an Irish peak lord AU]

[joprompts]

sweeney todd: the demon barber of fleet street lyric starters. act one. starters from the musical. adjust as necessary.

what happened then? well, that's the play.

i have sailed the world, beheld its wonders.

but there's no place like london!

i feel home again.

you are young. life has been kind to you. you will learn.

alms! alms! for a miserable woman/man/person on a miserable, chilly morning.

hey, don't i know you?

off, i said. to the devil with you!

there's a hole in the world like a great black pit and the vermin of the world inhabit it and its morals aren't worth what a pig could spit and it goes by the name of london.

at the top of the hole sit the privileged few, making mock of the vermin in the lower zoo, turning beauty into filth and greed.

she/he/they/you was his/her/their/my reason and his/her/their/my life.

there's somewhere i must go. something i must find out. now. and alone.

wait! what's your rush, what's your hurry?

you gave me such a fright! i thought you was a ghost!

did you come here for a pie?

do forgive me if me head's a little vague.

there's are probably the worst pies in london!

if you doubt it, take a bite.

is that just disgusting?

here, drink this. you'll need it.

well, pity a woman alone with limited wind.

i don't go near it. people think it's haunted. you see, years ago, something happened up there. something not very nice.

what was their crime?

my, you do like a good story, don't you?

you've been locked out of sight all these years, like me.

well, i've come home to find you waiting.

and we'll do wonders, won't we?

i'm your friend, too.

always had a fondness for you, i did.

you shall drip rubies. you'll soon drip precious rubies.

at last, my arm is complete again!

how is it that you sing?

are you screaming?

have you decided it's safer in cages, singing when you're told?

my cage has many rooms.

nothing there sings, not even my lark. larks never will, you know, when they're captive.

teach me to be more adaptive.

if i cannot fly, let me sing.

but not even in london, have i seen such a wonder.

look at me, miss! oh, look at me, please!

favor me with your glance!

i feel you.

i was half convinced i'd waken, satisfied enough to dream you. happily, i was mistaken.

ladies and gentleman, may i have your attention, please!

do you wake every morning in shame and despair to discover your pillow is covered with hair what ought not to be there?

you are about to see something that rose from the dead!

pardon me, what's that awful stench?

glad, as always, to oblige my friends and neighbors.

who says the week is out yet? it's only tuesday.

easy now, hush, love, hush. don't distress yourself. what's your rush?

i've been thinking flowers — maybe daisies — to brighten up the room. don't you think some flowers — pretty daisies — might relieve the gloom?

wait, love, wait,

oh, can't you think of nothing else? always brooding on your wrongs, what happened heaven knows how many years ago. 

slow, love, slow. time's so fast. now goes quickly— see, now it's past! soon will come, soon will last. wait.

half the fun is to plan the plan.

gillyflowers, maybe. instead of daisies.

gillyflowers, i'd say. nothing like a nice bowl of gillies. 

what shall i do? i'd rather die.

i have a plan.

oh, dear, was that a noise?

kiss me!

oh, sir.

ah, miss.

'tis Friday, virtually sunday. what can we do with time so brief?

we fly tonight!

behind the curtain quick!

it was the gate! it was the gate! except, we don't have a gate!

i feel a fright.

i did love you, even as i saw you.

marry me, marry miss, miss!

you're looking less than your best, my lord.

and ladies, my lord, are weak.

ladies in their sensitivities, my lord, have a fragile sensibility.

i mean another noise!

what shall i wear?

i feared you'd gone away.

you see a man infatuate with love: her ardent and eager slave.

but, first, i think — a shave.

you're in a merry mood today.

'tis true, sir, love can still inspire the blood to pound, the heart leap higher.

revenge can't be taken in haste.

and who may it be said is your intended, sir?

pretty as her mother?

all this running and shouting. what is it now, dear?

i had him!

why did i wait? you told me to wait!

there's a hole in the world like a great black pit and it's filled with people who are filled with shit and the vermin of the world inhabit it— but not for long!

they all deserve to die!

there are two kinds of men and only two. there's the one staying put in his proper place and the one with his foot in the other one's face.

because the lives of the wicked should be made brief. for the rest of us, death will be a relief.

how about a shave?

welcome to the grave.

i will have vengeance. i will have salvation.

i'm alive at last and i'm full of joy!

seems a downright shame.

these are desperate times and desperate measures must be taken. 

here we are now, hot out of the oven.

what is that?

how gratifying for once to know, that those above will be serving those down below!

we'll take the customers that we can get.

we'll not discriminate great from small. no, we'll serve anyone. meaning anyone — and to anyone, at all.

[ganymedesclock]

50 and 55 for Taylor because they're juicy!!!

[meme]

50. What belief / moral / personality trait do they stand by that you (mun) personally don’t agree with?

A big theme of Chiaroscuro is essentially that there's no such thing as "good" and "bad" traits- in that virtues can be maladaptive and vices can be beneficial, and it's a lot about how you observe and think about them. Part of that is that all the heroic characters have stereotypically Villainous Traits- and since Taylor's playing on the dark tyrant / rpg final boss Lord of Demons kind of archetype, their personal trait is tyranny.

They are a very controlling, pushy person, who's got a natural impulse to kind of weave themselves into other people's lives and try to help fix them. This creates a lot of problems and tends to tick people off, but at the end of the day, it's because Taylor genuinely deeply cares about people. If you earn their sincere trust, they will be one of your staunchest defenders.

The actual trait that's quieter and sneakier- and that makes this more maladaptive than not- is that Taylor tends to assume they know better than other people. This is a very fifteen-year-old vice; Taylor's smart and astute and thinks they have a real shot at changing up the world, which is very comprehensible, but they're weakening their genuine love and fascination for other people by propping up their ego about it. They're also dishonest with themselves about it- if pressed or asked, they don't see themselves as in charge, it's just that Good Ideas (their ideas) can occur to anyone and really anybody who should be in charge should agree with them, right?

(They will grow out of this a bit, but in other regards, well, a leopard doesn't change his spots)

55. What’s something they’re expected to enjoy based on their hobbies / profession that they actually dislike / hate?

The easy thing to go with would be their magic aptitude vs. their witch training, but Taylor doesn't precisely understand why their mentor is so pushy about it. It's not actually that Aunak thinks the only possible thing for Taylor to do is follow in her footsteps (though she does lean towards the idea it'd be good for Us All, a 'needs of the community' mindset looking at their immense natural talent), as much as Aunak is trying really, really hard to force the fifteen year old fleshsculptor mage to sign some equivalent of the hippocratic oath before they piss off to go Find Themselves in the big world out there, because she's perfectly aware of how stubborn and pushy they are, and if they have no reason to hesitate they could easily start doing things like "you were mean to me so I grabbed you by the heart until you behaved"

Perhaps a bit closer to the question- they come from a culture of elder worship (vulnerable members of the society get a bit more credence because survival's difficult!) but Taylor's general argumentative nature and [gestures above at their inclination to see themselves as The Smartest Person In The Room] means they have a tendency to bicker with prospective authority figures unless said authority seems to listen to them most of the time.

[beevean]

The more I read of your analysis on the main timeline of Castlevania, the more I'm thinking that Gabriel isn't a counterpart to any of the Belmonts or to Dracula. I'm starting to feel like he's a counterpart to Hector and Marie is a counterpart to Rosely. Especially because Marie and Gabriel's relationship is so similar to Hector and Rosely's, while Inner Dracul (the Entity that possesses the castle) and Gabriel have a similar relationship as Hector and Dracula. I need to do more information gathering on it, but I thought it was an interesting parallel.

You may be onto something!

Hector is written to be a foil to Dracula, similar to Alucard himself but not quite in the same way. Hector has been hurt and rejected by humans, and he fled to live in Dracula's castle, but he never wished to harm them. So, when he was forced to, he was appalled, and chose to flee risking death.

Dracula: Why did you betray me? Hector: Why did you unleash your hatred upon the humans? When you began slaughtering them indiscriminately, I had no choice but to disobey you. Dracula: You side against me... for the sake of humans? (angrily) Humans are not worth the air they breathe. I was simply cleansing the world. Hector: It is not your place to judge the worth of humans. Dracula: The powerful always judge the weak. The humans made their judgment of me, as well. Thus I sentenced them... to extinction. Sympathy is merely a form of weakness.

Hector clings onto his humanity after being considered a demon most of his life, when Dracula infamously cast his own humanity aside to spite God and his "decree of limited life":

"Please, I beg of You, I am human too!" "My nourishment is human life and mistakes. I will disappear when humans perish…"

Rosaly is absolutely meant to be Lisa's counterpart. Both of them, gentle women mostly dedicated to aiding the sick and those in need, fell in love with dark, morally questionable men and brought out the best in them:

And Isaac was uniquely cruel, in how he manipulated a mob to falsely accuse Rosaly of being a witch and have her executed, the exact same fate that befell Lisa and pushed his Lord to madness. Hector doing the same would have been the key in his and Death's plans: had they succeded, and had Hector killed Isaac in a fit of rage, he would have literally become Dracula, as the vampire's curse would have fully consumed him and his body would have been used to resurrect Dracula.

But while Dracula blamed the entirety of mankind for the actions of few, Hector ignored the role of the mob (again, no harm on humans), immediately understood that Isaac was the one behind it all, and focused on killing him and him only. And even then! Seconds before skewering Isaac for all he did, Hector connected the dots and realized that the thirst for revenge that had guided him throughout the entire game was not even his! He had fallen victim to Dracula's curse, which darkens people's hearts. Dracula himself had corrupted him from beyond the grave. So he managed to save himself... what Dracula couldn't do.

As a bonus, they kinda look alike :)

It's intriguing how Alucard, Dracula's own son, resembles Lisa most of all, because her heart lives on in him, and then as Arikado he changed his appearance to look nearly identical to Mathias, Dracula as a human.

Hector, though? Pretty much a young version of Dracula as a vampire specifically. Sure, it can be because Kojima has the hots for one kind of man and loves to draw him all the time... but you know :)

And, funnily enough, in English both Hector and Mathias were voiced by Crispin Freeman! So I believe the parallels were fully intentional.

Ehm. I may have gone on a tangent :P anyway, the point is, Hector is a "good" Dracula, similar to Alucard in that "suffered the same trauma, reacted better, humanity is kinda important actually" way but IMO more poignantly because Hector skirted close to villainy multiple times (and is kind of rougher around the edges lol) while Alucard is more heroic.

I don't know nearly enough about Gabriel to draw more conclusive parallels. From what I know from the most surface level of summaries, Gabriel seems to be Mathias if his grief and his rejection of God had been given more focus in LoI. Marie also sounds to me more similar to Sara Trantoul, Leon Belmont's fiancée whose soul is sealed inside the Vampire Killer. If you find some similarities with what I said here, feel free to explain them <3

[phantomram-b00]

I feel Aziraphale is not talk about as much as people would talk about Crowley (whether it about season 1/2), so as this show will have me on a chokehold for who know how long, I wanna talk about my favorite character, Aziraphale or Mr. Fell if you will. Now warning I will say stuff regarding season 1 or 2 (so spoiler warning ahead)

I not going to pretend, when I first watch the show all the way back in 2019/2020, my first favorite was Crowley, because his personality: he say it what it is, cunning and above all is very complexing to analyze between his deep love for earth by encouraging a eleven year old boy to say “fuck you dad” in order to save humanity to how he still doesn’t consider himself to be a morally good person, he very much fit in the realm of a grey hero or anti-hero if you will. I still very much love Crowley, I do say, David Tennant absolutely kills it for his range of being a sly cynical demon to an immortal who just willing to risk everything for the sake of humanity and for Aziraphale in a drop of a hat. However this isn’t about best boy, this is about the other best boy, the Angel with the heart of gold: Aziraphale. As now in retrospect, Aziraphale became my number one favorite character and he need his spotlight just as much Crowley.

When we first see him, you can see with the mannerism that he isn’t like any of the other archangels. You can see all the archangels are stiff and rigid whether that is their posture or their attitude towards everything and how blasé they are about armageddon. (Or even when they tell Job that they going to have seven more kids after their other three died for the sake of winning a bet against Satan.) with Aziraphale he more expressive, like he literally maybe the only Angel besides Muriel that smiles as much as he does. He still is rigid like them, but I feel that is him trying to blend right in with them and trying to mask himself for not trying to be the odd one out even thought no matter what, he still is shown to be different than the rest of him. The very first scene is when Gabriel comments on how Aziraphale eats despite angels not having the necessary to eat (Season 1 Ep 1) or even the biggest one: the garden of Eden. He gave away his own sword just to make sure Adam and Eve are safe, even Crowley didn’t see that coming as angels would even dare try to do so let alone interfere with whatever God’s planning in their agenda to fuck with humanity. Plus that, you can tell that as Crowley talk how “why is it so bad for mortals to know the difference between good and evil” you can see him question it before responding with “so they don’t get tempted into it”.

Aziraphale was rule-breaking everything since day one (on earth); yet still is trying to convince everyone plus the audience that he’s really is “the good guys” until he’s blue in the face. Buddy, Aziraphale, you’re quite literally the only morally good besides Muriel about everything. Hell him befriending Crowley is probably the biggest risk he toke, and he doesn’t regret a thing about it. Probably saying “But Phantom, why you say that even after what happen with season 2?”, Because my good ole Good omens enjoyer! It because Crowley treats Aziraphale like an person rather than his adversary even thought their hereditary enemies. Something that Aziraphale never even knew he needed until they had the conversation at the garden of Eden. Aziraphale just wanted someone who constantly remind him that he’s different, he already knows that, you can tell by his body language and expression.

Prime example, when they meet again was when the world was going to flood (season 1 episode 3) when Crowley meet with him again, he still is rigid but as Crowley asked about the flood, you can very much tell he’s against it. Especially when kids were mentioned. He absolutely hates this idea, but he can’t say anything about it since he’s an angel and giving the implications might have fear that if he show any disagreement with the Lords plan will ostracized more than he already is by his peers or “worse” he falls. He even tries to hide his feelings by telling Crowley that “oh don’t worry, God will make a rainbow and it’ll all be better” to then say “we can’t judge for it is ineffable” and there’s great hesitation as he say this. His face is readable like an open book but if that book had brightly colored words written on his forehead to tell how exactly he feel and he was just say “oh don’t worry it fine. It fine!”. He want to hold on to the fact that this all have some purpose for the greater good; despite that he looking at everything with rose color glasses. Hell he does this again when it come to Job (Season 2 episode 2) when the archangel said “oh yeah, Crowley have all rights to kill off his goats, house, and his three kids. But! We going to give him new goats, house, and kids. Did we mention seven more kids” which like….I don’t know about y’all, but them being all chill about replacing their three kids very much is telling. Aziraphale is mortified about this, and even try to speak out against but of course, the archangels told him to not worry about it and don’t question it. But Aziraphale just can’t do that, he have a plethora of question and even doubts of all this, he can tell that this is not right, he the type to follow his moral compass and heart, but also nearly cry when he think he going to Hell.

Which, speaking of that last part, the conversation might possible confirmed one or two things. One of them being that this might have been the first time, Aziraphale toke off his mask if you will and two, confirms just how alone he is at his own side. You see him in a way question everything that happen, and when Crowley come immediately jumps to say “I’m ready to go now.” only for Crowley to say “I’m not taking you anywhere because you wouldn’t like it there” and then, we got to see Aziraphale wall break; he think just because he saved kids was him disobeying God and you can see he want to desperately cry but is still holding on to his mask. Crowley then comfort him as to say “well I’m not going tell anyone, nothing going to change” and you can see his expression whilst still perplexed is relieved. He then asked the most heartbreaking question, “what am I” and ask Crowley said, “You’re just an Angel that goes along with heaven as far as he can” any Angel would’ve said “well that’s what the lord want me to do” but instead Aziraphale said “that sound lonely…” can you imagine just how agonizing that line is? The fact that he’s suppose to be “good” yet he following them despite his qualms which also that giving that this might be the first time Aziraphale not only was confront or even toke of his mask for this moment just confirmed the third thing, he’s a tragic character who I am just hoping he get hugs and therapy after all of this. He and Crowley both have their conscience but Aziraphale is pushing them down as it deemed as treasonous behavior. That how Crowley most likely fell, and he just doesn’t want to fall but he knows that he still have to do something. This conversation alone was clever to convey Aziraphale’s inner conflict with himself and Crowley is there being the voice of reason; Aziraphale truly never felt lonely until this and it just shows just how much he needed this conversation; because deep down, he knows that he doesn’t have anyone to talk to about this besides Crowley. Which broke down his wall, and a realization that no matter how much he tries will always be alone.

But I feel what is captivating about him is that, even after everything he still chooses to be ignorant and follow through. Even also showing kindness to the archangel despite the archangels expecting him to fail at everything, hell Gabriel insults Aziraphale tell him to “lost the gut” back in season 1 episode 4. Hell Gabriel literally tell “Aziraphale” (air quotes because it was Crowley during episode 6 for the bodyswap) to “shut your stupid mouth and die already” which while show just how much restraint Crowley got in him to not absolutely punch the shit out of Gabriel also shows just how good of heart he must be to still smile in their face and play nice despite them not caring about him. While sure, if this was Crowley, he would not hesitate to tell them to go kick rocks but with Aziraphale, he rather swallow his pride. He truly the most humble character I’ve ever seen in the history of television; his willpower and patient is what make him almost the bigger person in a way, since while I think he should’ve told them to go kindly kick rocks, he can’t. He rather be the bigger person rather then give them the satisfaction that they got under his skin. Which if that not the best definition of killing them with kindness, then shit I don’t know what it is. This is one of the reason he’s my favorite, he’s still acting like an angel and frankly they don’t deserve him, because if anyone had to be kind to you despite you still acting like a dick just tell you how much of a dick you are.

But then when he’s with Crowley, he can be his own person. He much happier and more comfortable to express himself, I mean look at season 2 episode 4, how happy he got after nearly getting his head blown off from an magic show, you can tell this is truly Aziraphale. Not the one that is rigid or pretending to be; aziraphale the expressive and bubbly angel that just need to express this and Crowley is the person he could do so and you can tell just how much Aziraphale and Crowley loves this. Crowley never judged him for his interest/hyperfixation but instead he in support of it and even indulges with him. Crowley can say how much aziraphale sucks at magic but because it makes Aziraphale happy; he happily accepts this part of him. And I absolutely love this about aziraphale and how free he is with Crowley, Aziraphale can go in depth about what book he read today and Crowley would just smile and listen to his favorite angel enjoying something. Hell, Episode 3 of season 1, Crowley went inside a FUCKING CHURCH to save him and even save his book because Aziraphale was devastated that his books was gone. Aziraphale just want to be his own character, himself, not the image that heaven model for him which you can say is another example of him being a rebel/rule breaker. Plus that I love all the moment where he’s a bitch (as in him being unapologetically sassy), because while yes, he sweet and kind hearted but he can and will through that energy right back at you while still killing you with kindness at the same time. He’s an adorable sassy theatre nerdy person and that is the true aziraphale. Which the fact he was almost willing to give it up (season 1) just to please the lord make him once again tragic as you can tell he doesn’t want to lose his autonomy, the first episode show that as he cringe of the very idea of God’s favorite musical being Sound of Music and Even when his face lit up when Crowley mention Alpha Centauri, he want to run away with Crowley just as much as Crowley want to run away with him but given Archangel and Heaven’s influence and just how much trauma he have, he decline it due to the overwhelming stress that his side put him through.

Now what make me love Aziraphale the most other than his characteristic is his flaws, and now you’re gonna ask “what flaws specifically Phantom?” Oh don’t worry, imma say it right now: his selflessness. Let me explain:

As the definition states, it typically means to care for other’s well-being and needs over your own. Which fits Aziraphale to the T as he is shown to put others, prime example(s): Aziraphale giving away his sword despite God giving it to him (S1 episode 1), helping Anathema get home despite needing to look after the Antichrist (S1 episode 2), Aziraphale giving Crowley the holy water despite that he could get in serious trouble (Season 1 episode 3) and you know there more but those are the highlights, but the biggest one, is Season 2 episodes 1, helping Gabriel (or Jim). Now when I first watch season 2, I was bewildered of the fact that he was willing to help him out even after all the thing Gabriel have either said or done. I know Gabriel had zero memories buttttttttt it’s still intriguing as he still willing to help him, but he also not ignoring the fact that Gabriel used to be awful, he even said it in episode 2 of season 2. Even Crowley was shocked, and give Gabriel the most terrifying speech of all of seasons about how horrible he was to aziraphale. Aziraphale still, being the courteous angel he is still helps him, which while this isn’t the most tragic thing, still shows just how damaged he is. “but phantom? Why damaged?”, because this shows that he will still put everyone needs above himself even if it’ll bite him in the ass. Just like how he trusted Greta in episode 3 thinking she was on his side when really she was working with Glozier and Harmony. And I feel in season 3, it going to bite him in the ass again given how season 2 went down. And now imma make this very clear, being selfless is not a bad thing, it an honorable trait you can have, however there a point where you have to put yourself first, and that something Aziraphale have to learn as sure he changed from season 1 to 2, he still is concern about others than himself.

Now I can talk about so much of season 2 and how it ended, but given a family member is watching it, I will have to restraint from spoiling it any further, but I would have to say, as much as the theory’s (if you know you know) are fascinating to dive into and maybe make things less sad; the theories does diminish aspect of character. As the purpose of the character was to show that even if you try to be free, the trauma is still there, and most of Aziraphale’s action is because of his religious trauma and guilt. He want to make thing better and be free yet he facing his own demons of his own. And it only a matter of time before he loses it, since unlike Michael, Uriel, and even Metatron, he have a conscience, a conscience that is very integral to him and what make his gear going, what make aziraphale well aziraphale. He’s a flawed character, he may be “the good” guy, he still have his flaws. He a tragic angel that just want to be loved for who is us instead of complying with the norm; and I love that about aziraphale and I’m hopping season 3 will give him (and hopefully plus Crowley) the happy ending and healing he needs. Michael sheen does a fantastic job as Aziraphael, and the fact he almost played Crowley truly is astonishing, and frankly while it would be cool to see how he would’ve played Crowley I think he’s the perfect actor for aziraphale and I can’t see anyone else playing this character, he absolutely killing it with David Tennant with their characters.

Now I’ve talk probably long enough, I just love this character so much and I see myself in aziraphale, you can I guess at I kin aziraphale lmao. So I just wanted to find any excuse to hyperfixate on my favorite character and talk about him. He’s my favorite flawed character and I can’t wait to see where his character goes. You have all rights to disagree with what I have to say, or if you agree, that cool I mean hey, both are valid. 😊 here a picture of smiling Aziraphale to maybe help heal you after a bad day or the aftermath of season 2. I love smiles.

[jedimasterbailey]

Hello, friend. 🖤🤍📖💀 for the ask game, please. 🙏

Hello there friend 💙💚 Thank you for the ask and thank you for choosing some questions that really make me think 🤔 let’s do this!

Link to the original ask questions below if y’all wanna play along which please do because I love to snoop 👀

🖤- Which character is not as morally good as everyone seems to think?

Dooku and yes I know he’s a Sith Lord and not considered a hero by any means but since the Tales of the Jedi episodes (which I love btw don’t @ me there) but I feel that fandom kinda looks at him like they do with Anakin. That even though Dooku and Anakin have done HORRIBLE INEXCUSABLE crimes that killed so many people and betrayed their loved ones that just because they “had their reasons” then that makes them worthy of sympathy when in reality that shouldn’t be the case. Dooku didn’t do what he did for the greater good or to serve others; he did what he did to serve himself and what he wanted. Dooku knew what the Empire was going to be (I.e. an all human regime that oppress alien races) and yet still went along with it thinking he could rule that regime himself one day. I don’t care that he was hurt by losing Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan; he still hurt and betrayed them regardless. If you ever read the Master and Apprentice book by Claudia Gray, you would come to find out Qui-Gon was 1.) terrified of Dooku because of his very dark actions 2.) Overlooked him for his first Padawan (Aveross I think his name was?) and 3.) Fixated on his own interests over being a proper teacher for Qui-Gon. In short, Dooku is a pretentious self serving privileged man of status and power and that’s that. The moral compass he has is whatever benefits him.

🤍-Which character is not as morally bad as everyone else seems to think?

Mace. Windu. For fucks sake y’all he is NOT a bad man! Had it not been for Anakin’s choices, he would have ended the Clone Wars once and for all and brought peace to the galaxy avenging every single soul who have lost their lives or sacrificed so much in the war that never needed to happen. Anyone who has read the Legends Shatterpoint novel or pay attention to Mace’s actions/words in the Clone Wars show and in the movies can see that Mace is a very admirable Jedi that anyone should look up to. His fighting style is all about using the Dark Side against those who use it which means this man has had to master his own demons for sake of doing good. That is a very rare quality even amongst the Jedi. He stays true to himself and Jedi philosophy within reason despite others trying to sway him. He also raised Depa who we all know is a wonderful woman who went on to teach Kanan who was a great Jedi. So yes, Mace was more than deserving of his rank and if he was such a bad man who come no one in his lineage ever turned to the Dark Side or left the Order? Clearly he was doing something right. And don’t even go down the tone deaf “he was mean to Anakin” route because Mace was always understanding, trusting, and respectful of Anakin, he was just trying to save Anakin from himself. We love and respect Mace Windu in this house 💜

📖-If you had to remove one book from the series, which would you choose?

The Ahsoka book for sure, sorry to those who like it but it’s not for me and that’s okay since not all books are gonna be everyone’s taste. As a Barrissoka stan I can’t stand whatshernuts constantly being up Ahsoka’s ass and causing her problems. Ahsoka was doing just fine on her own trying to survive after very traumatic events, losing everything she knew, and learning to survive in a galaxy that wants you dead for who you are until of course the stupid ass village needed saving. The book could have had a much better plot. The only parts of the book I liked where when Ahsoka was alone in her thoughts processing and trying to decide her next move. We could have had a very healing story much like Obi-Wan did in his show but nope. Furthermore, I’ve got beef with E.K Johnson for many reasons, the major one being that she’s a very ignorant person that tries to be the “white savior” so… yeah not fond of her work, her views of these characters we love so much, or the story she made for Ahsoka.

💀-If you had to choose one major character to die, who would you choose?

Palpatine of course because without out him the entire galaxy would be spared from mass genocide, destruction, pain, suffering, and pure evil. All of our favorite characters would have a much happier ending 😭 we also wouldn’t have dickheads like Tarkin rising to any position of power.

Link to original unpopular opinion asks

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

yknow, a lot of people say that they wish SJM had just invented a new character to be Rhys' love interest for the Acotar sequel or paired him off with Nesta or something, but I actually think she shouldve gone further and just made Feyre get with a different high lord every book. Just imagine:

ACOTAR 1: Feyre/Tamlin, Feyre recovers from her childhood trauma but then oopsie, UTM happens and now shes got a bunch of new trauma oh noooooo

ACOTAR 2: Feyre/Rhysand, Feyre recovers from her UTM and also learns about feminism and how to fight good, I would prefer if instead of ignoring the part Rhysand played in her trauma like in canon, they actually leaned into it and made it so that Feyre reconciling with Rhysand and even falling for him was somehow symbolic for her reconciling with her UTM trauma

ACOTAR 3: Feyre/Tarquin, Feyre learns how to politics and maybe she learns about the injustices that the common faeries have to deal with as well, maybe there couldve been some seeds planted for this in ACOTAR 2 with the illyrians but she was too busy wth her trauma to deal with it at that point, but now shes ready

ACOTAR 4: Feyre/Eris, Feyre helps Eris with his political machinations culminating with her helping him kill his dad and become high lord, and its kind of a foil to the previous book where Feyre was doing like normal politics with a good guy but now shes doing fucked up and evil politics with a morally gray guy. Also, i havent met Eris yet but I do know that hes racist in canon so maybe we could have a subplot where Feyre helps him with that idk. helps him get over his racism i mean, not helps him to be more racist

I dont know enough about the other guys yet to come up with potential plots for their books, but in my perfect world they would all definitely get one

The final book would be Feyre getting together with one of the super powerful non-court fae like one of those freaks who lives in the middle like the weaver or something, except it has to be one of the male freaks because its a SJM book and we cant have a queer MC. So I guess that limits our selection to Koschei maybe? I actually dont know anything about that guy other than he exists, is he hot? cuz if hes not hot then we can strike him out imo. Then theres that demon-god that sent Nesta a horny vision in ACOSF I think his name was Lanthys, and I know for a fact that hes conventionally attractive so thats our first candidate. I actually quite like the idea of Feyre getting with Suriel and the way that would work is that it would be this reoccurring character that appears atleast once in each book when Feyre needs some information and she goes to catch it, and at the start of this last book shes just broken up with her latest high lord and shes like "that suriel has helped me so many times, I should do something kind for it" so she does that and theres this very fairytale-esque moment where it turns out this is the first time someone showed it a genuine act of selfless kindness to the suriel, and that causes it to transform into a really hot guy. And then Feyre and the Suriel start their grand romance

Also, I just realized if we wanted to keep with the theme of Feyre falling in love with a powerful fae* from a specific court, the capital p Prison island is described as almost being like its own court, so maybe Feyre could get with the Bone Carver which would be great because he can transform into like, the hottest of hot guys if he wanted to

So yeah, thats my pitch for an alternate ACOTAR Series. Would it be good? No. Would it be fun? Yeah, I think so. Certainly more fun than the series we currently have where we mostly just hang out in the same boring city with the same annoying guys

*the bone carver isnt a fae but you get what i mean