#and most of them are evil or inclined toward evil or evil acts and i love how julian is just. there. sweating probably

[daedrabela]

broke: still caring about an ex's opinion

woke: not living by anyone's opinions

mental illness: tailoring your life for THEIR opinions

[endiermun]

Hi! I saw your headcanons for EAH and they all look so cool! I especially love Apple’s look because it’s the same headdress as the lady in A Knight’s Tale!

Can I hear more of your headcanons?

Hello!

Thank you sm!<3 that's really sweet! I think Apple's graduation look speak for itself, a stern look for a stern queen

I think i can post here some headcanons bout main four designs

Before starting this, I would like to say that for me EAH is something like a rethinking of this whole theme with “fate” that underlies the plot as I grew up, as well as thinking about how these rules influenced the characters. Something more lyrical and somewhat tragic

Raven

Here she is, as in the canon, in her first and last years of study at the Ever After High, at the end of which she was already pretty worn out by constant pressure and problems. and her motherKHM she has an unenviable future and according to the canon she was quite wayward, but a good-natured and open girl who was ready to do a lot for the sake of her friends and valued herself.

Perhaps her development branch is a protest. Her eternal confrontation is against society and traditions, and she wages this struggle all her life. Therefore, her “punk” youth in the look does not go away much, becoming darker

She has elements of a hunter in her final outfit, something symbolic and related to her fairy tale where the hunter went against evil stepmother's orders.

Madeline

It would be nice to keep her dad's teeth in her appearance (in the case of her story it actually sounds terrible), and add more of that same carelessness and madness

Her branch is freedom. I won’t throw around joker quotes, everything is clear

Maddie has adopted some... jokes from her relatives and is generally quite free in her statements and actions, and therefore has endless freedom that even following in her father’s footsteps she is on the side of the rebels. My personal opinion - she is the strongest character in terms of energy and capabilities, but she does not fully control or realize this. By the end of school, her inner madness finally manifests itself in the look

Briar

Her fate is the most tragic, in fact, she must literally sleep through all her friends and life, “coming to life” in a new time (in the original, the sleeping beauty falls into sleep for a hundred years) and in fact, following the path of the heir, she accepts it such a decision.

Ever After Lore has an open ending, so in my head I'm inclined to think that she followed in her mother's footsteps, even though she threw the book down the well (oops, spoiler) she rushes about in choosing her fate, deeply disagreeing with the original plan, but in the end, at the last moment, she makes... such a decision. She also doesn’t want to lose her friendship with bestie Apple, even if such a decision would separate them for essentially a hundred years. Not all fairy tales have a happy ending, so her branch is humility.

Apple

It’s not easy to get the title of “most-most”, it’s even harder to keep it

Apple did it.

Her branch is stubbornness. Having a lot of responsibility, she adheres to the rule of “sacrifice one for the sake of all” and is generally very categorical towards the decisions of those who go against fate. Over time, perhaps this misunderstanding will only grow, causing her to eventually become more distant and adamant.

Towards the end her clothes will become more closed and restrained, from a cheerful, positive girl she will become calm and calculating, retaining the idea of acting for the good

Sorry for my English, hope for your understanding:)

[iamnmbr3]

Severus calling Lily a slur in a fit of rage and humiliation while being bullied - obviously very bad. James publicly sexually assaulting Severus - obviously much worse?!!! That was some serious sadism on display. Yet for some bizarro reason the narrative wants me to judge the words said in this scene more harshly than the deeds done, because at this point Lily - an author self-insert and the Holy Mother of this saga - cuts one off for their crime and falls in love with the other. I do not like that Lily’s romantic choice is treated as some sort of absolution, but it’s what JKR implied. Despite paralleling James’ actions with the Death Eaters ‘sick’ ’torture’ of the Muggles at the Quidditch World Cup! Idk, I was never satisfied with the lack of follow through on the implications of that scene, nor with the textual idea that Snape’s fixation on the Marauders is petty childishness, rather than a quite understandable trauma response.

Yeah. I have a huge issue with the way James is framed by the narrative. It's also weird because in-universe everything works fine. The problem comes when we look at the jarring disconnect between what was written and the way the audience is cued to react. James's characterization - and the characterization of the Marauders - is well done and consistent. They all act and react realistically given who they are. The problem comes when we look at how we the audience are supposed to react. Because we are supposed to see their actions as bad, but not THAT big of a deal. And uh...yikes.

The Snape's Worst Memory sequence is one of the most horrifying and sadistic moments in the series. I find it particularly visceral and upsetting because it feels real in a way that some of the more fantastical scenes just don't. It's so horrifying and personal in a way that Voldemort punishing his minions or a snake coming out of a lady just isn't. The way James and the others so obviously delight in tormenting and humiliating Snape is just horrific. And the fact that they do this out in the open and face little pushback and no consequences makes it even more awful.

Even worse, everything we see in the narrative suggests that what they did wasn't even that unusual for them. The behavior and dialogue we see from Snape and from the Marauders makes it very clear that doing this sort of thing to Snape is a regular pastime. The reason this is Snape's worst memory is because of the effect this particular incident ended up having on his relationship with Lily, not because of the horrible treatment he endured which was horrifyingly routine.

JK Rowling seems to like Snape. But at the same time I think she tends to have a view (common among TERFs btw) that discounts men as victims of assault. Because that's what this was. And I know if a woman had been stripped and exposed by a group of boys JKR would not have treated it as lightly. Yes she thinks what happened was bad, but not THAT bad. And listen I don't have a problem with the story depicting this and I think the way it is viewed subsequently by the Marauders, wizarding society and Snape all work in the story. My problem is with the framing and the way JKR has talked about James in interviews where it makes clear that she doesn't view this with the gravity it deserves.

James shows more of a natural inclination towards sadism and obvious enjoyment of cruelty and violence than young Tom Riddle does. And this is never dealt with. A lot of the real evil people of the world are more like James - people who aren't the way they are because of some dramatic backstory or because of trauma or whatever. They just aren't kind. James wasn't raised without love or forced to suffer privation in an orphanage or anything like that. He comes from a loving home with parents who spoil him rotten. He has a lot of privilege due to both his wealth and his blood status. And he is cruel and delights in tormenting someone weaker than him for sport. Not because Snape did something to him. Not because they quarreled and James went too far in retaliation. But rather because, as James himself puts it, he exists. Which is so typical of the bullies of the world.

I actually like the fact that Harry's father turns out to be this kind of person. It think it adds depth and complexity to the narrative. But I don't think JKR fully understood or intended what she wrote. She meant to show James as flawed, but not to the extent that she ended up doing I think. And I agree that has always bothered me too.

[sabrgirl]

things that aren't inherently islamic but have improved my deen ♡

practising mindfulness

mindfulness meditation (focusing on my breathing for 10-15 minutes a day and bringing my attention back to my breath every time my mind wanders) helps with concentration in salah. through practising this every day, you're able to bring your attention back to the moment much better as you train your brain to do so with your breath.

helps to ground myself in the moment rather than stress about the future and past - allows me to surrender to Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ much better and have tawakkul and sabr by learning to enjoy each day as it comes

journalling

shadow work

islam is fundamentally based on disciplining and self-regulating the nafs/ego. if you do not discipline your nafs, you will end up inclining towards evil: '‘And I do not hold my own self (nafs) to be free from weakness; for, the soul is surely prone to enjoin evil, except that whereon my Lord has mercy. Surely, my Lord is Most Forgiving, Merciful.’ (12:54). it was a saying by many elder islamic scholars and early muslims that 'he who knows himself knows His Lord'.

shadow work is when you address the hidden parts of yourself that we naturally and/or subconsciously suppress inside because we don't like them. the ego/nafs does this. you can find journal prompts on google, for eg 'shadow work prompts for anxious attachment' or 'shadow work prompts for male validation' etc - whatever it is you know is a problem about you. or, if you don't know where to start, just type in 'shadow work prompts' on google and you'll find something for you

through understanding in more detail what my ego does through addressing my fears in life and hardship/trauma i've experienced, i'm able to let go of those parts of myself, make an action plan to do things differently and become a better person. as a result, i'm able to make better decisions based off of righteousness and what pleases Allah, rather than acting based off of what scares my ego.

for eg - something happened when i was young that made me have an internal fear of being replaced which i had *no* idea i had. yet, i was acting on this fear subconciously, as i've always wanted to be original and i've had such distinct/original things that other people don't usually have so that i can stand out and it can become impossible to replace me. i was doing this so subconsiously but my nafs/ego was scared inside. when people asked me 'where is that from?' i wouldn't want them to know and would become very upset if they tried to 'copy me'. it wasn't until my best friend wanted to know where my perfume was from and i didn't want to tell her and ended up arguing with her that i realised i have a problem. i did shadow work and journalled about it to figure out why i'm acting this way. after doing this shadow work, it led me back to that big change in my life when i was a child and i realised that it hurt my ego a lot and resulted in me having a big fear of being replaced, with the outcome being i want to stand out and have things that are my own that it becomes so hard for someone to be me. after addressing and realising this, i've now let go of that fear and that part of me. i'm much more kinder to the creation now when they ask me where something i have/am wearing is from and, as i feel much more peaceful inside, i tell them where it's from with genuineness and sincerity. doing this can help with so many internal behaviours like jealousy, anxiety, being unhappy when other people get something you want, anger, attachments to people, love etc.

shadow work helps me get rid of attachments to worldly things and people (as the ego gets attached easily) after understanding why i am / why i act in a certain way too

gratitude

gratitude journalling helps me be thankful to Allah for what he has done for me. in hardship, i'm able to recognise the good that i still have. i've written more about how this has helped my deen here.

writing my feelings when i'm angry and/or upset

helps me process my emotions better and not act on my feelings by being rude to others in the moment

prevents me from backbiting and gossiping bc i just journal about how people have made me feel. backbiting is when you slander someone behind their back to someone else. through journalling, if i'm upset, i can write down my feelings, i can call people losers and get it all out of my system because it's just to myself, no one will read it. after this, why do i need to go to someone else and gossip? i don't need to. i've already released it all.

yoga and pilates

the physical body, mind and soul are all linked. as shown in the book, 'the philosophy of the teachings of islam':

this means that exercising our body affects our mind and soul too. science has shown that trauma and stress is stored in the shoulders and other parts of our body. having movement and especially exercises like yoga that focuses on stretching, flexibility, breathing and regulating blood flow in the body releases this emotional baggage.

islam is a religion of discipline that requires effort. when you feel good inside, you're more likely to be more disciplined and put in the effort, as opposed to when you feel bad inside which can often lead to laziness and fatigue. doing yoga and releasing my stress through exercising and stretching helps me feel positive and good inside, enabling me to fulfil my religious duties better with a positive mind and body. in islam, maintaining physical health is highly encouraged and our Beloved Prophet ﷺ emphasised having a strong and healthy body.

[dreamingofthewild]

I feel like people often misunderstand why Gale chooses to stay behind after you side with the goblins. And to an extent, why he also stands by a romanced character in their evil ending.

Gale choosing to stay doesn’t imply that he is easily corruptible, secretly evil, or weak-willed. Given the limited time he has to find a secluded spot to avoid collateral damage from the orb when ceremorphosis hits, he doesn't really have much of a choice but to think about survival.

Gale has been living with a death sentence due to the orb, one he has been trying to mitigate, so he has had a long time to think about his mortality and he doesn't want to die—especially not while he still hasn't been forgiven by Mystra. His decision to stay with the party, even under morally dubious circumstances, underscores his pragmatic approach to survival rather than an inherent inclination towards evil.

Gale is undeniably drawn to powerful individuals. However, beneath this attraction lies his tendency to see the good in people and rationalise things.

Gale’s capacity for love is profound and intense. His love isn't just affection; it's worship. His romantic devotion is incredibly passionate yet self-destructive. It places Gale in a position where he might find himself in an unequal power dynamic again without him realising it.

His tendency for romantic idealism can prevent him from recognizing toxic patterns. Ultimately, Gale’s decision to stay with such powerful and potentially evil figures is not about compromising his morals but rather about being blinded by love, not wanting to give it up easily and a deep understanding of the complexities of human nature.

In the events of the game he still doesn't fully recognise that his relationship with Mystra is problematic. It stands that he might not realise that he is getting himself into a relationship with another unequal power dynamic.

It might also be that he doesn't want to abandon his loved one, just like Mystra abandoned him. This doesn’t mean that he is going to compromise his own morals, however. He chooses to support and stand by the person he loves, as long as they stand by him. He will challenge them, but he will act with the empathy and consideration that Mystra never afforded him. Once again, his own experience and desire for agency are most likely guiding his choices.

His devotion and hope are beautiful yet tragic, making him a deeply romantic character prone to repeating past mistakes in his quest for love and acceptance.

He does have a darker side which is attracted to knowledge and power. But it's easy to forgot that his intentions are never immoral or malicious.

When it comes to love, knowledge, and power, Gale has a significant blind spot (moral blindness maybe?). Ultimately, he just wants to love, live, and be accepted for who he is, rather than what he can do for others. His desire for happiness and to see his loved ones happy often drives his decisions. As well as a confidence in his own abilities and ability to handle situations.

So, yes, Gale might stay with his romanced partner even in an evil ending. But this doesn't mean he is evil himself. It simply reflects his humanity and the depths of his devotion. Strong emotional bonds can lead someone to remain involved with a deeply flawed and morally ambiguous partner.

It will be a toxic romance, but Gale's willingness to stay with a morally ambiguous love interest reflects not in his morality but in his approach to love. If he'd had a normal relationship and didn't have the orb then his reactions might have been different.

[aihoshiino]

chapter 160 thoughts

Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 17

Aqua Hoshigan Status: Incomprehensible

144 held out strong for nearly 20 whole chapters but 160 comes in like a beast to take its crown as Oshi no Ko Chapter That Has Baffled And Confounded Me The Most. The way it talks about the characters and arcs it's trying to convey to the reader is just mind boggling - some of this stuff just feels completely disconnected from the character arcs it's supposedly commentating on. It almost feels like an Oshi no Ko chapter from an alternate universe version of the manga.

I kind of suspect this is actually the case, in spirit at least. Akasaka has previously stated that he's had at least an ending for OnK planned at least since midway through Tokyo Blade based on when this interview was given. You would think the amount of time between then and now would have given Aka the time to organically work towards this but I think the opposite is true here - because the story has organically drifted and grown in the telling, as is natural for a serialized work of this length, the story that Akasaka ended up telling does not naturally lead into the ending he wanted to give it. And rather than compromise he's just… going ahead with it without making any adjustments, which leads to this bizarre sense of whiplash that's come from the last handful of chapters.

It's definitely possible that some of the stuff in here will read better when we're not getting this stuff bit by bit across however many break weeks but… man. I ain't getting my hopes too high.

To my relief, we start off on a note of confirming that Nino and Ryosuke were, in fact, both freaks about Ai way before Kamiki ever got involved with them. Even so, the story's framing of how he influenced them is just… weird. Based on the little flashback panels we see of their supposed friendship I'm inclined to think Kamiki is being truthful here just because whenever we see on-panel flashbacks in this way, they tend to be more-or-less factual accounts of events. Aqua tries to say he's lying, that he definitely intended to do harm but this is really hard for me to swallow, given that this 'intent to do harm' ball would've had to have started rolling back when Kamiki was fourteen at the oldest and long before he and Ai broke up.

Not only that but I have to stress, again; Nino and Ryosuke were already freaks about Ai at this point!!! They tracked down one of her loved ones under false pretenses and entered his life presumably for the purposes of crowbarring info about Ai from him!!! Wil from the OnK Brainrot server pointed out that this comes off much more strongly like Ryosuke and Nino taking advantage of Kamiki's naivety to prey on Ai, which I agree with and think lines up way more straightforwardly with the Kamiki we saw leading up to 154 and its conclusion.

It almost feels like there's two Kamikis; the victim of circumstance Kamiki who embraces monstrousness as an act of reclamation, who knows he can never again be good so he will surrender to being bad and the flatly evil Light Yagami ass Kamiki who's bad because uhhh he just is ok? It probably goes without saying which of the two I find more compelling and overall more consistent with what the story has been building up so far, but the way the story keeps abruptly switching between the two makes it almost impossible to get a coherent read on him.

At the end of the day, I simply find it very hard to swallow the manga's attempt to almost sweep Nino and Ryosuke's culpability under the rug or to transfer the weight of their actions to Kamiki and hold him accountable for them because of this supposed manipulation. A healthy, well-adjusted person with no tendencies towards violent or antisocial behaviour does not suddenly get mindbroken into a misogynistic murderer overnight because they saw that the subject of their parasocial obsession keeps a toothbrush at her boyfriend's house. I can believe that Kamiki certainly didn't help but the idea that he is solely responsible for turning Nino and Ryosuke into violent murderers is a stretch.

I feel like I'm kind of talking in circles on this point a lot because I'm struggling to articulate why it bothers me so much so I'll end this section by paraphrasing a section of Higurashi YouTuber Bess's deep dive post-mortem on the GouSotsu anime duology. that I think sums up where I'm at.

In it, Bess quotes the original author in describing the actions of the overarching antagonist as "giving a gun to someone who is being bullied and getting emotional" and says that she agrees but points out that if the victim chooses to fire that gun, they are the ones who hold responsibility for their actions and that being the victim of manipulation does not suddenly rob them of accountability for their violence, whereas the framing of GouSotsu is that the overarching villain is the sole person who bears responsibility.

I feel like this is the dynamic at play here with Kamiki and Ryosuke/Nino too - except Kamiki, in this metaphor, didn't even fucking give anyone a gun because both Ryosuke and Nino were already armed to begin with. BUT I'LL MOVE ON NOW I SWEAR…

Aside from ^ ALL THAT ^ I also feel like this chapter's attempt to define the white/black hoshigan dichotomy is also just kind of a flop. It's so overly specific that it doesn't actually match with how the black OR white hoshigans have been portrayed symbolically before (was Aqua using his super special dark and evil star powers to dominate and manipulate others when he was eating potato chips and pumping up a pool floatie? come on, man) but it's also just so on the nose and overly dramatic that it comes off as kind of goofy and hard to take seriously.

It's also really funny and kind of frustration to see this dichotomy established seemingly for the purposes of just propping Ruby up some more. Aqua insisting that Ruby is ~just different~ from him and Hikaru REALLY flops because like… IS SHE REALLY THO???

Understand that I don't say this to shit on Ruby but like. Ruby literally had a whole arc about going black hoshigan and using her talent to manipulate and use people for her own benefit! She effectively utilized girl power to put the jobs of an entire TV show's worth of people at risk so she could clout chase a little more efficiently!!! Literally everything Kamiki tries to assert about him and Aqua are also perfect descriptions of how Ruby behaved during that leg of the manga until it flipped off like a switch and she faced literally zero consequences and learned nothing from it.

This is another indication to me that this conversation is an artifact of Akasaka's originally planned ending because this whole bit gassing up how Ruby is just ~so different~ from Kamiki and Aqua simply does not cohere with a story where Ruby had an entire arc of her just being Aqua 2.0 that was never really resolved and she never really learned anything from. If the framing here was just a LITTLE different, I think it could work - maybe instead of Aqua acting like Ruby is just intrinsically, arbitrarily Pure of Heart or whatever, a point could be made that Ruby is actively choosing to be a good and loving person even after all the shit she's been through and especially after an accidental taste of the dark side. But as it stands the accidental implication of the story ends up being that Ruby's BH era was Good, Actually and the actions she took during it were also good lol.

I continue to have all the same issues with the B-Komachi concert as I did in my previous chapter review so I won't repeat myself on that. I will, however, point out that the song Ruby namedrops in this chapter is a reference to Spica (where we translated it as 'When You Wish Upon Your Star'), in which this is a song written and performed by Ai as a message of support for her fans. That is to say, we are once again seeing Ruby, from a narrative perspective, not being allowed to stand on her own as her own idol but relying on the imagery and legacy of Ai's idolhood.

Not only that but… again, I must ask: why is Ruby the center and narrative focus of Kana's graduation concert? Like, obviously, given that Aqua and Kamiki are talking about her the framing is going to focus on Ruby but why is this conversation happening during a moment that had been massively built up to be about Kana? Why is Aqua talking about Ruby as an idol like the rest of B-Komachi just doesn't exist? Why is the narrative unironically indulging in all the same favoritism and coddling of Ruby that, in-universe, tore apart the first generation of B-Komachi?

I guess at the end of the day my problem is that I'm just kind of fed up with Ruby as a character and the way the story has been bending over backwards to coddle her so it's hard to me to get invested when the story goes YEAAAAHHH WOOOOOO RUBY!!!! Especially when, like it has been for a while now, this coddling comes not just at the expense of other characters but also at the expense of Ruby herself and the coherency and consistency of her character arc. It sucks for Ruby as a character and it sucks for me, as a reader, who used to rank Ruby as one of their top three faves but now just feels kind of exhausted with her.

LOOK OUT KAMIKI HE'S GOT A KNIFE

God this whole bit with Aqua getting double white hoshigans while he pulls a knife on Kamiki is just kind of too goofy to take seriously lol. I have some thoughts about how this potentially recontextualizes some of Aqua's actions through the Movie Arc and during the previous confrontation with Kamiki but. I just keep coming back to Aqua being like "white hoshigans means love r something which i'm going to prove by killing you in cold blood" and just shaking my head. It really feels like a moment written just to be a cliffhanger so, like I have with the last three damn chapters, I'll hold back any commentary on it until we get a continuation of this thread next week.

honestly the part of this chapter I enjoyed most was that creepypasta ass full page panel of Kamiki's fucked up smile. that genuinely really alarmed me when i first saw it and even now I don't like looking at it for too long or i get the willies lol. Genuinely fire horror imagery from Mengo as usual. Can she PLEEEEEEEEASE do a horror manga next i'm BEGGING to get spooked by mengo-sensei

no wait i lied. the best part was that cute panel of ai and her babies. <3

justice for memcho and kana, tho, for real

And I'm sure as none of you will be shocked to hear……….. break next week.

[dork-a-doodle]

Cringe is dead and I’m redesigning my old UT/DR OC/Self-Insert: Echo (she/they)

Info dump about them below the cut!

So I originally made them in the wake of Deltarune’s release, when the whole “we, the players, are possessing Kris 😱” thing was very fresh and the whole Undertale Multiverse was still going strong. So naturally they started out as basically a self insert, the version of me that played Undertale and later Deltarune.

So a quick rundown of their lore (btw I make no apologies for the Mary Sue aspects of this):

They originally controlled Frisk, doing several different Runs, endlessly curious about the world

At the end of their most recent True Pacifist they find their way back in the True Lab and into a part of it they hadn’t seen before

While exploring they accidentally activated a machine from before Alphys’s time and get Gastered

…kind of

Instead of being fully “shattered across space and time” they’re just… slightly fractured across space and time

Tbh I like to think of it like they got hurled full force at the 4th wall and got stuck in it like jello

Not really breaking the 4th wall so much as jiggling it aggressively and gaining an new kind of perspective

This had some interesting consequences, including (but not limited to):

separating from Frisk (who runs out of the Lab in fear) and gaining a physical form of their own

the ability to slip into different universes at a whim

the inability to talk normally, now effectively “speaking” in text box noises (lmao get Animal Crossing-ed idiot) and thus can’t be understood by most people (with a few exceptions)

the ability to posses objects and other people (which they do feel the need to sometimes as their true form is off putting to most, though they try not to possess people if they can help it)

others probably? haven’t quite figured that out yet

Which these newfound abilities, they decide to explore the multiverse and see all the interesting things it has to offer

But first, they decide they want a traveling companion, so they don’t get lonely

And they know the perfect candidate, someone who understands what it’s like to have unfathomable power and the want to explore all possibilities with that power for your own entertainment and curiosity’s sake

Someone who really doesn’t have anything left to seek in this world

And damn it if Flowey isn’t very interested in that offer

This arrangement is a strangely balanced symbiosis

For Flowey:

traveling the multiverse gives him a kind of clean slate he could never achieve on his own, especially with the loss of his reset powers

the multiverse is also very interesting and fun to explore

they know what he’s been through and what kind of a person that’s made him better than anyone else. they understand it, and they know to judge him for it would be hypocritical

For Echo:

so long as Flowey is attached to them in some capacity he can understand their strange “speech” and frequently acts as a translator (they are also learning sign language to ease that burden)

he’s far more experienced in battle and frequently acts as protection in more aggressive universes

re: the point about mutual understanding

Flowey is also unable to absorb their soul, which means his power over them is limited and if he crosses a line they’re fully able to ditch is ass in any universe they want

It’s notable that while Echo’s curiosity can occasionally override their morality, they’re still more inclined to chose the kinder option

I consider them to be chaotic neutral, leaning towards chaotic good

(I also personally see Flowey as somewhere between true neutral and chaotic neutral, occasionally slipping into chaotic evil. What can I say, he’s a nuanced guy)

Anyway, they travel the multiverse together, experiencing new things, seeing interesting sights, causing chaos

Eventually they find themselves in the Deltarune side of the multiverse

The universe they end up in is one where the entity possessing Kris is an incredibly malevolent one

Or I should say, the entity that was supposed to be possessing Kris

As Echo senses the Bad Vibes approaching this random human child, they say “absolutely the fuck not” and possess Kris themself to block the entity

This does mean they have to drop Flowey to do this, so he’s just kinda in the background for the time being

From there it’s basically just Chapter 1 until the point when Kris rips out the soul and goes to eat some pie

While they’re distracted, Flowey climbs in and breaks open the cage so Echo can unpossess the soul and leave now that the malicious entity is gone

They do decide to stick around and check out these Dark Worlds

Luckily for them, while they were busy dealing with the classroom Dark World, Flowey took the time to explore the town and found this perfectly good empty vessel that someone seems to have discarded

Deciding not to question it, they possess the vessel and wait for a new Dark World to open so they can explore it together

And that’s the basics of their story (or as much of it as I have ironed out lol). Hopefully this hyperfixation stays with me cuz I’d love to explore their character a lot more 😁

[cosmicjoke]

At what point do we have to accept that Isayama could’ve done a better job at portraying what Eren did was wrong when more than half the fandom think Eren was right and that he did everything for his country and friends? Isayama said he wanted people to sympathize with Eren. But by doing so, he created this whole issue where people dismiss what he did and say he is a hero for committing genocide all because he did it to free his country. It’s not a small group of people either. In fandom spaces the minority has come to be the people who think what he had done was wrong. The majority of the community on tiktok, twitter, instagram all think he was a selfless freedom fighting hero. Every AoT fan I meet think Eren was correct and justified and if you argue against that you get dogpiled.

It's not Isayama's fault that there are so many morons in the world. It's not Isayama's fault that the education system in this country is so horrible that people's media literacy is all but non-existent. Isayama did all he could to impress upon the audience that what Eren did was wrong, down to Eren himself admitting it was unjustified and horrible, admitting himself that he didn't do it for his friends or the island, but for his own, selfish desire. If people still don't get it after that, then that's on them, not on Isayama. At all. There's always going to be idiots who twist art to fit their own agenda, too, that use it to represent something which it was never intended to represent.

Eren is a sympathetic character for numerous reasons, most of all because there's a deep tragedy inherent in his own nature and his inability to escape it. Turning him into a heartless monster with no redeeming qualities, who cared for nobody and nothing, would defeat the entire premise of the story, which is that people are capable of monstrous acts, and understanding the danger in labeling people as monsters, of dehumanizing people, when human nature itself is inclined toward horror and violence. Eren is a character who was born with a monstrous nature, but he's still a person, and it was the monstrosity of others that allowed Eren to grow into a monster bigger than them.

If you're looking for a cartoon villain who does evil for evil's sake, and there's no more complex, motivating factor, then maybe you should go watch a Disney movie or something. AoT is a complex story with complex characters, all of whom have complex motivations. If people aren't willing to engage it with a more than surface-level effort, if they aren't willing to actually use their brains and think, then they don't deserve anyone's consideration, least of all Isayama's. If they can't understand what the story was about without someone holding their little hand and explaining every, single thing to them like one would a two year old child, then, again, they aren't worth anyone's time. They're just idiots and that's all there is to it.

And no matter how many people you see online, you have to understand, the vast majority of any fandom isn't represented by online communities. Most people don't spend their day scrolling around on message boards or social media apps. What you see in online spaces is rarely, if ever, reflective of the general consensus, on anything. Not understanding that is why you see so many people, for example, surprised by the outcome of the latest election in this country. But that's another issue altogether. I promise you, most people understand that what Eren did was wrong and that AoT was advocating against genocide and persecution, not for it. You'd have to be mentally deranged or mentally disabled to think otherwise.

[blackjackkent]

Raphael waits until Voss has left the room before turning fully towards Rakha with a wide, almost ingratiating smile. "I'm glad you came," he says mildly. "Not to my door, not yet, but to the final reckoning." He tips his head, studying her thoughtfully for a moment, then raises one hand.

"One more thing before we begin, though."

Rakha starts to argue, to tell him that she is not here for him, that she doesn't want anything he can possibly offer her - that her aim was to bring Lae'zel here to talk to Voss, and that Raphael's presence here is nothing more than an annoying flicker out of the corner of her eye...

...and then he snaps his fingers.

...and Rakha's mind goes blank.

Narrator: For the first time since the nautiloid, your mind is clear. It's... unsettling.

(A/N: Hahahahaha. So. Okay. I straight up forgot that this was a thing that happened, but damn if it doesn't come out of nowhere and completely bulls-eye the target.

It's become pretty clear to me over Rakha's journey since Act 1 that mental peace is the only goal she has that is stronger than the murder urge. It's stronger than her desire to defeat the Absolute, stronger than her love for Wyll, stronger than anything. And she's had a couple places where she's been able to get fleeting moments of it to varying degrees and in varying ways - the myconid spores, sex with Lae'zel, dancing with Wyll, channeling the Weave with Gale, sleeping cuddled up with Scratch and Buddy, and - most recently - the moment of "ecstasy" granted to her by the nymph in the room next door.

But most significant by far has been the Guardian/Emperor and her time in the Astral Prism, either in dreams or reality, as those have been the most complete and extended moments where both the tadpole and the beast have shut up in her head. And those experiences have driven most of her biggest recent decisions - particularly the decision to treat the Emperor as an ally despite its illithid nature, and to consume the Astral Tadpole.

One of Raphael's primary goals in this conversation is to convince Rakha that what he has on offer - the Orphic Hammer, and therefore a means to stand against the Emperor - is worth giving him the Crown of Karsus. And he opens the conversation by casually, literally with a snap of his fingers, proving that he can provide Rakha with the most important thing that she values about her existing partnership with Empy.

And, in fact, given that the narrator specifies for the first time since the Nautiloid, I'm inclined to say that Raphael in fact does it BETTER. I might have assumed that the game only means that the Emperor is no longer present in your mind, but there is a Dark Urge specific dialogue option here indicating quite directly that the murder urge is ALSO quiet in this moment.

This is such an in-character bit of smooth manipulation on Raphael's part that it is hysterical to me that the story has developed such that it happened by complete accident.)

Rakha goes completely still, as if she has been struck to stone. Her breath feels frozen in her lungs.

Silence. Everything inside her is quiet. The sound of the brothel fades to a distant hum and then out of hearing completely. The worm is unmoving in her temple. The beast sleeps. Everything is calm, and the only thing inside her skull is... her.

She opens her eyes - not having realized she closed them in the first place - and stares at Raphael in undisguised wonder. "The tadpole is slumbering..." she whispers. "And my blood... isn't boiling..."

Raphael smiles slowly. "I gave you back your privacy by shutting that illithid in your pocket out of your mind. It can't hear us."

Rakha shifts her weight uncertainly. This is Raphael, she reminds herself. A devil, like Mizora who tore Wyll's life apart. An evil not to be trusted. A creature she hates.

But the quiet is so deep, so impenetrable. Even the Guardian - the Emperor with whom she has thrown in her lot - has never silenced the voices in her head so thoroughly.

Does he know the statement he has just made to her? Or is it merely the luckiest of lucky guesses?

"Then speak freely," she growls. "Tell me why you brought me here."

Raphael relaxes, looking pleased, and lounges back on his heels. "I brought you here because I'm true to my word," he says smoothly. "And I can make all of this tadpole business go away - which means you and your lovely friends can remain blessedly free of tentacles." He smirks. "Unless some have already sprouted in places I can't see."

Settling his weight forward again, he hooks his hands behind his back with a businesslike attitude. "Let us speak plain," he says, his tone now crisp. "I'll admit - you've impressed me. I wasn't sure you'd make it this far. But no matter how far you come, you're still on the road to ruin - a road that leads directly to a confrontation with the elder brain."

His head tips forward, his eyes fixing on Rakha's. "At best, it will kill you and everyone in this city. At worst, it will assimilate you, and you won't have enough free will left to even wish you were dead." His gaze flicks to the pack on her hip. "You have the key to destroying it in the palm of your hand, though."

"The Astral Prism?" Rakha says slowly. What he describes doesn't exactly spark fear in her; none of it is anything she doesn't already know. What she doesn't understand is his angle, and the unexpected silence in her brain makes her thoughts feel strange and uncoordinated, as if she is running a few seconds behind the conversation.

Raphael shrugs. "In a manner of speaking. But it's the one inside the Prism that you need. Not the illithid - the gith." He spreads his arms dramatically. "I can give you the means to break him free."

Rakha frowns. This clarifies nothing - in fact, it increases her confusion. Why does Raphael want Orpheus freed?

"Speak, devil," Lae'zel says abruptly. Her eyes are narrowed with intense attention, her fists clenched at her sides. "We're listening."

Rakha hesitates. Yes - of course Lae'zel will want to hear more, if this is indeed what Raphael is offering, regardless of his reasons. And in truth, Rakha has been fairly conflicted on this point ever since they learned the Emperor's true nature.

The Emperor has been her ally up to this point, has granted her mental peace on occasion, guided her, advised her. Confided in her, even. But so has Lae'zel - and Lae'zel wants Orpheus freed. Which of them does Rakha owe more loyalty to?

Until this moment, it had seemed a moot point, since only the Emperor could protect them from the Absolute's influence; it stated quite clearly that Orpheus, if freed, would not provide the same service. Raphael, though, seems to see things differently.

"Orpheus's guards tried to kill me," she points out slowly, thinking out the statement word by word. "He's dangerous."

"To illithids - yes," Raphael says dryly. "But despite your reckless embrace of the parasite and recent mutations, you're no mind flayer... not yet. Orpheus would gladly execute the Emperor, but to you he will be a friend. After all, you're at war with an elder brain."

Rakha cocks her head to one side. "The Emperor is the only reason I'm still alive," she points out.

"No," Raphael says patiently. "*Orpheus* is the reason you're still alive. The Emperor is abusing the gith for its own ends. And it's doing the same to you." His lip curls. "You're nothing more than the beast of burden that will transport it to the elder brain. An ox requires food, and the occasional beating to keep it moving. You are simpler - the Emperor's words serve as both carrot and stick."

Narrator: Perhaps it is true that Orpheus would ally with you against the elder brain, but if he proves uncooperative once free, you may have to kill him.

Frustrated rage scratches at the back of Rakha's head - and absently she feels a flicker of wonder at realizing that just for this moment it is her rage, not the beast's anger but her own, grounded entirely in her own thoughts.

Raphael is, she has to admit, making a certain amount of sense. But there are only two interpretations here - either the Emperor is manipulating her or Raphael is. To agree to Raphael's manipulations would be to help Lae'zel - but it would mean siding with a devil, a tacit betrayal of Wyll. To stand with the Emperor would honor something of what she has learned in the past months about loyalty, friendship, honor - but it would mean abandoning Orpheus to his fate, a tacit betrayal of Lae'zel.

(A/N: I legitimately don't know wtf to do here. XD Raphael and the Emperor have both played Rakha like a fiddle so deftly, and Wyll and Lae'zel have both wormed their way so thoroughly into her life and thought processes, that she is now effectively deadlocked between them. This would actually be an easy decision if it weren't for MIZORA of all people, who isn't even in the room.

This is one of the few times when it would actually be awesome if Lae'zel just made an executive decision to do something dumb without my input but unfortunately there's no "defer to companion" option in this conversation.

I can't even very easily pick based on what I haven't done before, because I haven't either agreed with Raphael OR allied with the Emperor; Hector rejected Raphael's deal and then broke into the House of Hope on his own.

Jeez.

Ultimately I think we're going to stick with the Emperor because Rakha is, in her own way, oddly loyal to those she's decided have earned it, because I'm curious how the game plays out if you're on good terms with it, and because no matter how complete the mind-silence Raphael can provide and how much Lae'zel wants Orpheus to be free, I can't see Rakha agreeing to make a deal with a devil, particularly this devil, with Wyll right there in the same room.

Sorry, Lae'zel. :(

I'm going to slightly tweak one line of this conversation, however, in order to be able to get more info on the hammer before Rakha makes her decision, because she always wants more information.)

"Perhaps it's worth taking the risk,"(*) she says slowly. "How do I free Orpheus?"

"The Orphic Hammer," Raphael says matter-of-factly. "An artifact capable of shattering the chains that hold Prince Orpheus is held securely in my House of Hope even now."

Rakha lifts an eyebrow. "Perfect. Give it to me."

Raphael laughs brightly. "Such an eager little pup!" he says, a touch mockingly. "Surely you realize there is an exchange to be made. You scratch my back, I scratch your parasite."

Rakha's jaw works. "Just tell me what you want."

Raphael's expression hardens. "I want the Crown that dominates the elder brain," he says flatly. While Rakha absorbs this revelation, he looks past her, towards Lae'zel - perhaps seeing that she is the more willing listener. "And you, Lae'zel of K'liir... want to free the forgotten prince, do you not?"

"I want nothing more!" Lae'zel agrees earnestly.

Again that cool smile drifts onto Raphael's face. "Then it is settled, is it not? A Crown for a Hammer. A bargain of a lifetime, Lae'zel of K'liir..."

Rakha ignores his attempts to draw Lae'zel into the conversation, too focused on the information at hand, struggling to force her brain to process it. "What exactly is the Crown?"

"Power," Raphael purrs. "Ancient and full of wonder. I have craved it ever since the archwizard Karsus created it, long centuries ago, and brought doom to the empire of Netheril. That was the great age of humanity, and Netheril's flying sky-cities were the apex of civilization."

He smiles coldly. "I was there the day it all fell apart. Entire cities plummeted from the sky, like angels with broken wings." His eyes flick half-closed with a beatific expression. "The screams, oh the screams - hundreds of thousands of people watching in horror as the ground came up to meet them. It was not a happy meeting."

Then his eyes open again, and he is once again cool, matter-of-fact. "And Karsus was responsible. Not driven by malice, but by ambition. He forged a Crown imbued with all the powers of magic, a Crown that would make any who wore it a god." He snorts dismissively. "Men cannot contain so much power. The Crown destroyed its creator, and his empire fell with him. Karsus' Folly, the bards and scholars call it. I call it hope. The hope of creating a better world, and the perils of unchecked hubris."

He clenches one fist, a fiery light flaring in his eyes. "I knew then that the folly of mortals could be the triumph of devils, and that I could use that Crown to unite the Nine under one Archdevil Supreme. Me."

So that's what he wants. Power on a grander scale than ever conceived, in the Hells or anywhere else. "What makes you think," she asks, "you'd succeed in using the Crown where Karsus couldn't?"

To her surprise, that light in his eyes suddenly flares from satisfaction to rage.

"I AM NO MORTAL!" he roars. "And I do not fail."

Rakha squints. "If you don't fail, how come you didn't get hold of the crown then?"

It's a factual question, not a gibe, and surprisingly enough, he takes it as one and simply shrugs. "The Archdevil Mephistopheles snatched up the Crown and squirreled it away in one of his vaults," he says bitterly. "So much power and potential kept inert. He made a miracle into a museum piece." His eyes narrow. "I raged, but only for a decade or so. Then I waited, ever watching, for more than a thousand years, for a mistake, a mishap, a misadventure."

Again that slow smile. "And these Chosen who have caused you so much trouble accidentally did me a favor. They brought the Crown back into play."

"How did they come to have the Crown?" Rakha asks.

He scowls. "Through the aid of a diabolist, someone capable of opening a portal to the Hells -- *deep* in the Hells. They must have raided Mephistopheles' vault. Impressive, I must admit." A dismissive shrug. "But they'll be dead soon. If you don't kill them, the elder brain will. It doesn't have feelings in the way you'd understand them, but it seems rather angry."

His expression settles, his eyes fixing on Rakha's again. "It is inevitable. When you destroy the brain - and you will, because you must - the Crown will be yours for the taking. ANd when that moment comes, you give the crown to me. In exchange, I give you the Hammer now."

"Tsk'va!" Lae'zel snaps. "We should do as the devil asks. The Prince of the Comet must rise again!"

Narrator: A simple transaction, it seems. But it's more than that. He's offering you an alternative to the mind flayer in your head. Take Raphael's deal and you could free Orpheus. With Orpheus free, you would have no need to rely on the Emperor. But there's no guarantee Orpheus would be on your side. And if you take the deal, you'll have to fulfill it. You'll have to deliver the Crown of Karsus to the Devil himself. He claims his ambition is to unite the Hells. But can he be trusted to stop there? Do you trust him more than you trust the Emperor?

For a very long time-- Rakha says nothing at all.

This, then, is what they mean by temptation, what she is being offered right now. Wyll has said it is the domain of devils, and there is no question that Raphael knows her, and what she wants, with a depth she would not have anticipated. He has dangled an unsubstantiated promise of peace and victory in front of her in exchange for his own power, and the part of her that is made up of animal instinct wants to grab at it with both hands.

But she is more than that, isn't she? When the beast is silenced, there is more to her than that.

She can feel Wyll's eyes on her as this devil offers her an alliance against the thing that saved her over and over again. And she knows - thinks she knows, hopes she knows - what he would do, in her place.

"No deal, Raphael," she says abruptly. "I'm leaving."

All the warmth drains out of Raphael's expression instantly and his smile turns brittle. "I won't stop you," he says coolly. "But time is running out, so don't stay away for long. If you see reason, I'll be here waiting, right up to the moment the world ends."

-----

(*) The line in game is a flat "It's worth taking the risk" (and the other two lines are "i'm convinced" and "goodbye", so there's no actual uncertain option here).

[paxopalotls]

RAHH i just read both your tue danny / phantom / dan centric works, and how does it feel to be so correct and compelling and correct? more seriously - what about TUE / TUE Danny do you find most interesting to explore? do you have any characterization / headcanon that isn't necessarily canon compatible? and free space (please ramble about them as much as you want)

Sorry it's taken me so long to go through my inbox! I hope you don't mind the long text; TUE is one of my favorite episodes and Dan is a character that I find very fascinating.

Thank you for the kind words aahh! I don't often write so it means a lot that you liked my works. For context if anyone else is reading this, I wrote a couple IB fics about Dan/Phantom, and my thoughts about him, which I'll elaborate on here.

I have a lot of feelings about Dan, especially since he as a character is so tragic. It's strange to me that no one ever mentions the fact that when Vlad performed the removal of Danny's human half, it was Phantom that betrayed Vlad, not the other way around. I always thought that meant there was something wrong with Dan after the accident also. I delve into it a little in my fic, but I do have more thoughts about his attitude. It's interesting to me that the comic portrays his actions as being motivated by Vlad's self preservation and selfishness, and I don't necessarily disagree, but I do think it's more complicated than that. I personally believe his actions have a very complex motivation, more than just "Vlad is evil so fusing with him made Danny also evil".

It's difficult to deal with grief, and from the few scenes shown, it seems Dan dealt with it by shutting down. I also think he had a lot of conflicting feelings of grief and rage; Danny was the one who regularly defeated the ghosts, but he was also the one protecting them from the human ghost hunters, releasing the ghosts back into the GZ rather than allowing them to be taken for experimentation. I think it would anger him that his lenience towards the ghosts was taken advantage of, leading to the deaths of his friends and family. Vlad never showed an inclination towards abusing the ghosts, so this is what I believe caused him to do such uncharacteristically violent things like paralyze Johnny 13 from the waist down, permanently damage one of Box Ghost's eyes and one of his hands, and destroy Ember's vocal cords.

Something I touched on in my fic too is that I believe Danny has a weird relationship with death, due to the fact that he managed to come back from it, and also due to the general existence of ghosts in his life. AGIT states that all ghosts are people who've died, as well as that some lose their humanity over time. Due to this, I have a belief/theory that Dan expected his friends, if not family, to come back, and when they didn't, he dealt with his loneliness through anger. In TUE, he acts like he doesn't care about any of them, but I think he actually cares too much. He is caustic and taunting towards them, his parents especially, because his anger at them for hurting him is compounded by his grief at their loss.

In addition, the interference of Clockwork probably also contributed to his anger; there are two timelines that exist, the one where Danny lost and the one where he didn't, and the only reason that he won was because of the interference of Time himself. I think this is a lot of what motivates Dan's actions in TUE; he's trying to prove to Danny that the timeline is "inevitable" because he's trying to prove it to himself. His loved ones have already died, and he's angry that this alternate Danny gets a second chance. The only moment of true vulnerability we see in him during TUE is when he realizes that Jazz, his Jazz from his timeline, had always known who he was. It's obvious that despite his efforts to seem unemotional about everything, all of his actions are due to his turbulent emotions, and this is even more evident in canon due of AGIT confirming that ghosts are beings of emotion.

I do think Vlad's emotional state also compounds with this, since Vlad as a character is more prone to hiding his hurts than Danny, which is a large part of what makes up Dan's personality. In addition, Vlad's character is largely driven by a desire for family and affection, but he responds to this insecurity with a need for control and self-aggrandizement. Vlad's goals throughout the show are to amass power, largely to prove himself to those he cares about - Danny and Maddie - as well as to spite those he hates - Jack. His feelings for Jack seem more complicated than that, however; he is upset at what he sees as a betrayal by someone he obviously cared about; the two of them were best friends and roommates before Maddie was in the picture.

I think both Danny and Vlad center a lot of themselves on the people they love, though it's more evident on Vlad's side, and Dan as a combination of them does as well. His tendency is often similar to "splitting" in BPD, where he responds to a perceived betrayal or personal weakness with volatility, which is something Vlad does as well, with Jack, Maddie in some ways and especially with Danny. Dan as well responds with hostility towards people he is attached to who he perceives as hurting him, something that is complicated by the fact that part of what he blames them for is the fact that they died. He is especially ruthless with people he sees as betraying him or his lenience, like Valerie and the ghost rogues gallery; this is also a combination of Vlad and Danny's personalities. Vlad's hatred tends to be more long-standing than Danny's but he also tends to be more methodical with his actions. Danny on the other hand responds to his own anger with immediate aggression, but lets go of slights relatively quickly. Dan, as the combination of the two, holds grudges for a long time, but tends to rely on brute force rather than long term plans like Vlad would have.

He also has a lot of self-loathing, which he projects onto Danny and Vlad from this timeline, Danny especially. As I mentioned earlier, a large factor in this is Clockwork's direct involvement in the current timeline, which superseded his. In addition, I think that Danny and Vlad's interpersonal dynamic might have fed into this; both of them can't bring themselves to permanently harm the other but they do both hold some level of resentment for the other, Danny more-so since Vlad has an attachment to him. Danny's hatred for Vlad especially seems to derive in part from his own fears about himself and his selfishness, and I think that influences the way Dan interacts with both of them.

TLDR: Dan's specific concoction of mental illness derives from both Vlad and Danny, which affects a lot about how he acts and feels. There's a lot to explore about his trauma and how that relates to his new place in the current timeline, and I have a lot of feelings about him. (He makes me sad!!)

[inbarfink]

Okay, so that previous post was a bit of a goof but also… kinda not?

I mean, I already did a silly rambly post trying to figure out my thoughts about an Ineffable Husbands Petrigrof AU. And specifically about the idea of how an Aziraphale-as-Simon-as-Ice-King would even work and what he would be obsessed with. By that I mean that books seems like the obvious choice but also that might be too well-suited for Aziraphale? You know, when the whole point of the Magic Crown’s curse is that it made Simon into a totally different person. Like, it’s not like Ice King liked collecting ancient artifacts… or books for that matter. Simon loves books too!

And it’s really just recently that it hit me that I was looking at it from the totally wrong angle! Like, Simon was not just generally inclined towards princesses from the get-go - he became obsessed with princesses and romance because he was missing Betty! That’s like a whole Big Obvious Point in ‘Holly Jolly Secrets’!

So what I need to think about isn’t just the Magic Crown exaggerating and twisting Aziraphale’s general personality and behavior - it’s the Magic Crown exaggerating and twisting Aziraphale’s behaviors and emotions when he feels like he lost Crowley forever. The question here is ‘how would Aziraphale cope with losing Crowley’ and then twisting and exaggerating it until Aziraphale feels like a wholly different person.

(or, well, nearly so. I mean, like I said the chasm of difference between Simon Petrikov and Ice King are a very important thematic point I would like to preserve but also… given as this IS an AU, I would also like every variation of Aziraphale to read as Recognizably Azirapahle on some level. So that means the difference between ‘Ezra Fell’ and ‘Snow Angel’ might not be as extreme as the original Simon and IK but… it should still be a Difference!)

So… well… this might be yet another case where Good Omens S3 would end up being very instructive to an Adventure Time AU. Like, how would Aziraphale act if he thought that he lost Crowley forever? Well, just Wait and See in S3! Buuut… S3 is still a long way away (and also the circumstances between the Ineffable Divorce and what happened with Simon and Betty are very different so whatever happens in S3 might not be a perfect match), so let’s see what I can think up right now…

Does Snow Angel just kidnap random people to try and make them his drinking buddies or take them out to dinner? Does he try to go after, like, ‘bad boys’? Maybe he tries to make Evil folks good with the power of his ‘love’? You know, that’s not what the Aziraphale/Crowley dynamic actually is but it is the misconception Aziraphale seems to have about it sometimes - so it can play into the whole ‘whoops turns out my view of our relationship was totally biased and wrong!’ thing Simon goes through in ‘Fionna and Cake!

Or maybe instead of kidnapping people… Snow Angel is infamous in Ooo for putting himself in perilous situations and looking for some romantic rescue that never quite comes? 

Or maybe Aziraphale’s longing for Crowley makes him fall even more into his hedonistic streak. You know, Crowley loves to tempt him, enjoying Earthly Indulgences together is their most common pastime… If Aziraphale was trying to chase the Feeling that Crowley Made Him Feel while the Magic Crown was also eating away at his sanity and his actual memories of Crowley… maybe the thing he ends up chasing in a futile attempt to fill the hole Crowley has made in his life is just more and more mindless hedonism? (And you can actually bring the Book Hoarding idea back into it, it’s just that Snow Angel would be hoarding a lot more than just books)

Or maybe Aziraphale would go in the total opposite direction, maybe he’ll cope by totally turning his back on Crowley and his questions and their mutual love of life and instead start embracing Heaven-like ideas of coldness and discipline and an incredibly black-and-white, self-righteous and self-centered view of the world? On the one hand it feels very thematically appropriate for the Magic Crown’s effect on Aziraphale to be counterpart to Heaven Propaganda…. But on the other hand, I feel like it kinda leads Snow Angel into being a more Serious type of villain than an Ice King Counterpart should be?

I still need to think which of these options I like best, but I feel like I’m finally going at the right direction for this AU! Right now I am leaning mostly to the hedonism focus, especially as it seems like a good way to balance out the whole thing where Ezra Fell and Snow Angel can have seemingly totally different personalities but also on some level are both recognizably a version of Aziraphale Goodomens?

[fantasyquests]

Rewatching Season 1: Some thoughts on episode 6 1. Orcs, Humans and Elves. In this episode, two storylines come together as the Numenoreans come to aid of the Southlanders and join in the battle against the orcs. The same as in the previous episodes, I love that the orcs are presented as complex, three-dimensional beings, in addition to being vicious and terrifying. A case in point is their motivation. It would have been so easy to simplify them and show them fighting as mindless automatons in service of some master, or to show them attacking the villagers just because they like the taste of man-flesh (though they probably do!). Instead, the scriptwriters give us the orcs who are fighting to win themselves a home. This is very a convincing and relatable motive, and very similar to what Arondir expresses in his conversation with Bronwyn. He encourages her to persevere by promising her that if they win the battle, they and Theo will live together in a new home and plant alfirin seeds in their new garden. Some of these seeds are planted before the battle by both Adar and Arondir, who observe the same elvish custom symbolizing a belief that the new life will spring "in defiance of death". However, Adar has to be aware that, in his case, planting the seeds will remain just a symbolical act, or just a relic of his previous life as an elf: because, at a physical level, he is creating a sunless place covered in volcano ash where no alfirin could possibly grow.

There are several other ways in which the writers toy with the idea that the orcs, humans and elves cannot be clearly separated from one another, and that the line dividing them constantly needs to be re-examined. For instance, when Arondir discovers that the blood of some of the attackers is red, and then unmasks their faces to find out that they were not orcs, but humans. And most strikingly, in the conversation between Adar and Galadriel, which is possibly my favourite scene in the entire season. Adar says to Galadriel: "Perhaps I am not the only elf who has been transformed by darkness" and indeed, some of Galadriel's actions and intentions suggest that she, too, has been touched by darkness. It is interesting that she resorts to almost the same strategy as Adar to make him talk. She does not threaten to torture him, but his "children", by exposing them to sunlight. In the same vein, Adar tried to exert pressure on Arondir and make him reveal the location of the hilt key not by threatening to kill him, but by threatening and killing the villagers. This entire scene is a wonderful homage to Tolkien and the dilemma he expressed in his letters, on whether the orcs are worthy of life and can be redeemed. I also love Adar's mention of a mirror -- because, the same as the alfirin seeds, it works at both symbolical and physical level. He tells Galadriel that she should search for Morgoth's successor in her own mirror, whereby the mirror symbolizes introspection: Galadriel needs to become aware of her own capacity for evil. But it could also be a prefiguration of Galadriel's magical mirror, which we will encounter in The Lord of the Rings. I wonder if it's possible that this was the original purpose of the mirror: not to show the future, but to enable the person looking at it to gain self-insight.

2. Redemption. Not knowing who Halbrand is, Galadriel tells him that by participating in the battle against the orcs, he has redeemed himself. "Whatever you have done in the past, be free of it." This is another sign of her immaturity, something that I expect she will outgrow in the course of the series. I would characterize it as a flip side of her judgmental attitude towards Adar and the orcs: just as she sees them as completely evil, she seems inclined to see Halbrand as completely good and is convinced (without any evidence) that whatever he has done in the past cannot be terribly bad. Admittedly, this is partly due to Halbrand/Sauron's masterful deception and manipulation. But while Sauron clearly deceives Galadriel when it comes to his identity and his past (mis)deeds, it's interesting that he seems to be completely honest when it comes to his feelings. I don't think that he deceives her when he talks about the bond he has felt while fighting by her side. In his twisted way, he clearly feels inspired by her and encouraged to start developing new plans for Middle Earth. Perhaps he even hopes that, with Galadriel by his side, he can turn to Light.

In connection to this, I wonder why he prevented Galadriel from killing Adar. Was it for a pragmatic reason (because he needed Adar to create Mordor for him)? Was it to pretend that he was good and noble, by helping Galadriel check her rage and her vengeful feelings, and reminding her she should not strike at a prisoner who is chained and unarmed? Or was he really good and noble for one brief moment?

Links to previous analyses:

Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5

[nothingtherefornow]

Thomas Astruc on Chloe:

Really, the best lesson that the character of Chloé brings is this deleterious bias in humans that we find in many relationships...

You can behave like the worst garbage, all you need is a micro-good deed and all of a sudden, many will forgive everything. Let the oppressor give the oppressed a treat and we will praise their humanity...

On the other hand, you can be the best of people, and it will only take a tiny gap for the same people to nail you to the pillory. Like some do for Marinette. It's a phenomenon that we see everywhere. In politics, but even in abusive relationships...

Fascinating, really. I wonder how we can do to counteract to that.

And there is not so much in the character of Chloé that is interesting, but the reactions it provokes.

On the one hand, there are those who cling to these good deeds, which would be supposed to show that she is kind, deep down, without ever questioning what motivates these actions.

A bit like in abusive relationships, in which, when we are dealing with a monster, we often convince ourselves that they will change, not only because we are driven by the desire to help them, but also not not lose everything we have emotionally invested in the relationship.

But the important thing is not that the monster is capable of good deeds from time to time. That's why they do them: to be able to stay in control. They let go of the ballast to be able to better remake the evil behind. Carrot, stick, carrot, stick. A hellish spiral.

On the other have, we have convinced those who don't even see how problematic it is. Those who think that at least she has character, a personality. Not like that water bottle of Marinette. The one who deserves the title of heroine is Chloé!

Well, sometimes she abuses a little, but it's not that bad. A magnanimity towards a character, which they obviously don't grant to Marinette.

Hyper-classical process in politics.

If a homeless person steals a packet of dough, or a young suburban man rides a scooter without a helmet, we will accuse the judges of laxity if there is no firm prison.

On the other hand, if a politician gets stuck for having embezzled millions, then suddenly, the same people who accused the judges of laxity, will accuse them of being inquisitors.

And of course, these are the first ones to draw the worst of insults. All this to defend a cartoon character.

Or rather to defend themselves, actually.

All while claiming to be the protectors of children: Think about it! What a message to send to young people, that a person cannot change!

Except that this is to ignore the obvious: children do not identify with the bad guys. They appreciate them as characters. They can even understand them if some backstory is given. But that's all.

The best proof is that toys of villains sell very poorly.

In any case, for my part, what I love about this character, beyond the pleasure we have in playing her in the stories by her caricature side, is what it reveals of those who "stan" her, as they say now. Angelism for some, toxic inclinations for others.

Not sure that if, they learned a lot about themselves, but it taught me a lot.

And you know what, he’s right!

YOU NAILED IT FELLOW FAN !!

I would also add that currently in France, we have a big part of our people which prefer to defend criminals and delinquents, rather than the people they hurt who are most often harmless citizens who pay their taxes and don't piss off anyone.

behind the excuse of right thinking they like to tell themselves that people who have committed horrible acts can change and that it would be too cruel to want to punish them, while as soon as a victim opens their mouth to denounce the injustices they suffered and demand that their executioner pay for their crimes, these same people do not hesitate to insult the victim with all the names.

[greyswarden]

ok so here are some of my thoughts after some hours of playing the veilguard if anyone is curious 🙂‍↕️

- rook definitely has a restrictive personality from what i have seen. fun protagonist either way but they’re kind of locked into the good character role which doesn’t leave much room for more complex personality traits because they narrowed it down to mostly three again but it tends to happen with voiced protags 😭 they just get less dialogue options because of resources. it’s the same with da2 + inquisition, i personally don’t mind it because i don’t play evil characters in video games but i don’t like to play intrinsically, flawlessly good characters. i tend to be more inclined towards good-aligned characters with complex traits and tendencies do u get me. i feel like the warden was able to have the most complex personality BECAUSE of how many dialogue options there was and they weren’t voiced but those were just my observations. all this to say i don’t necessarily mind it it’s just something i noticed

- the companions are interesting! i have neve, harding, bellara and lucanis. i haven’t met taash, davrin and emmrich yet :( + i think my fears of how b.ioware is retconning the crows to be the Cool Edgy Assassins were not unfounded because what i’ve seen so far……. :/ so i’m very very scared of what they’re going to do with them + lucanis but i will withhold judgment until i’m further in

- the first act is kinda all over the place, i get that they were trying to fit three games worth of lore into an exposition for new players but like 😭 it was noticeable!!! also very slow-paced but i heard that things will start picking up soon. it’s been a few hours and i’m really nowhere near finished 😭

- there were some dialogue options that make absolutely no sense with the class chosen. i remember getting the option to ask “don’t mages get possessed?” as a MAGE 😭 shouldn’t they know this already it makes NO sense

- all of the places i’ve been to were sooo pretty 🥹

- after hitting flirt with basically everyone because i can’t decide which companion to romance first (my plan was to flirt until i get someone’s romance scene and then commit to that) i think the game is pushing me towards the lucanis romance because his bond level is the highest out of all of them 😭 so i guess he’ll be my rook’s first romance and i will see this through

[libbee]

Why are Scorpio placements eccentric or unconventional?

This is in reply to a post by @astroismypassion and about Scorpio placements in general.

1. It intrigued me to know that scorpio placements strive to be unconventional and subjective in terms of academics, romance, hobbies, friends and even thoughts, ideas, opinions. They actively want to be different from the herd walk and frequently use the metric "Is everybody doing it? If yes then it is not worth doing. I will do what nobody else is doing." There is also the tendency to enjoy time by oneself alone and be very self aware of their behaviour, words, actions, emotions, thoughts, reactions. Once you identify what a scorpio looks like, you can start seeing a pattern in how MATURE scorpios think, act and live. They are all quite the same or similar.

2. Scorpio is the sign that falls on 8th house and is ruled by Mars and Ketu (vedic) or Pluto (tropical). Almost all mature scorpios have inclination towards self actualization because their feeling function is dominating. Since their method of relating to others is feeling based, they are very aware of how other people act and behave. They reflect upon themselves and find if they have the same qualities as others. It makes them yearn for originality and being unique, especially if their ego and self esteem is weak. One can say that scorpios have the predisposition towards being initiated in terms of spiritual and psychological development.

3. Since 8th house also deals with sudden, tumultuous and catastrophic events in life, scorpios are deeply affected by life events and strive to transform themselves in ways that they can control their life better, avoid pitfalls the next time catastrophe happens and fear losing control or being powerless. They cannot just take it lightly because it is about their power and power is a necessary evil in life.

4. My next theory is that all of us are acting on our active complexes. Carl Jung said about emotions that they are the involuntary reactions from active complexes. He said that emotions and feelings are not synonymous but different. Feeling, sensation, thinking, intuition are psychological functions while emotion is the fire that fuels the behaviour in the native. What it means is that a self aware person knows that their behaviour stems from a core complex and they yearn to solve that problem rather than live in neurotic state with intense guilt, shame, regret and self criticism. For example, they can identify mommy issues in themselves and others; once they identify, they try to outgrow the complex and overcome embarrassing behaviours.

There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion.

5. Scorpio can also be said to have primitive tendencies because of their preoccupation with the collective unconscious. They are always reading, judging, thinking others and doing self reflection. They are thinking of why people are the way they are, what is their shadow side, insecurities, weaknesses, psychological issues? With high self awareness comes also the awareness of karma or action/reaction. They are moved by the suffering, sickness, poverty, problems in the world and fear they might face the same fate if they do not live in high morality and ethics.

6. For most of the air/fire signs, it can be said that they are so insecure in so many ways that they do not even know how much they are lacking, but water sign's sensitivity gives them ability to read the room and actively work on their psychological development. As for the claim that scorpio placements look down upon others as being superficial, I think this happens because of their life circumstances and bitter life lessons that make them go deeper, psychoanalyze themselves and others, find deeper meaning in life and deal with intense complexes constantly.

7. As to why scorpio males and females act differently, we might have to look into places outside astrology like how society works, culture, how society treats men v/s women, what kind of behaviours are rewarded and know that behaviour is not proof of inner life. A promiscuous scorpio is not like that because they like sex so much or they like to charm others, it might be because they feel so powerless in other area of their life that promiscuity gives them power over some people & makes them feel important. The opposite of Scorpio is Taurus which is concerned with stability, rigidity and loyalty. Loyalty is about self preservation, not wanting to lose what they have invested in, emotional security and expectation that "if I stay loyal, my partner will also reciprocate too".

8. To conclude, signs and houses should be viewed together in opposites because they exist like that in consciousness and shadow. As I have matured, I begin to see that people cannot be viewed in polarities and indeed scorpio placements will display the traits of taurus even if is it an empty house because they are trying to understand themselves through people and events.

🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼

[ardentpoop]

I am halfway through a frozen espresso martini, and unable to stop thinking about how much the framing of season four of Supernatural hinges on the audience having a Christian cultural background, and thus being inclined to accept the premise that the angels that keep doing awful things and have been clearly withholding information are inherently more trustworthy than the demon that gave the main characters the only tools they had to fight demons.

the show - at least in its earlier form - is light on the angels being inherently trustworthy (crucially, dean doesn’t trust them) compared to how heavy it is on the demons being inherently untrustworthy. yet we have “the righteous man” vs “the boy with the demon blood.” many viewers uncritically accept that sam is tainted in a way dean is not and that dean’s behavior towards sam throughout s4 is justified, because of the framing of sam’s Monstrosity. honestly I wouldn’t even say that the writing here is relying any more strongly on christian ideas of good vs evil than the rest of the show does as a standard ingredient; the crux of the conflict btwn the brothers in s4 - the reason that ruby isn’t to be trusted - is that sam’s powers (nourished by ruby) scare dean. s4 sam outgrows his role too quickly and too dramatically, and that’s a problem that needs correcting. if he dies at least he dies human.

^ if you look for this in the text you can see why the framing of s4 was as convincing to the majority of the audience as it was despite the show’s intentional subverting of traditional expectations for the angels and its portrayal of ruby for most of s4 as One Of The Good Ones - she mirrors dean’s role after all; of course we’re supposed to buy her act except when it directly opposes dean’s wishes and until the final rug-pull in 4.22.