#at least for my portrayal

[twilightichor]

By the time I will post this I'll already have completed 「Bedtime Story」, meanwhile here are some thoughts as I go through the quest without delving too much into each of them:

✧ It's very interesting to see how this quest is foreshadowing right from the very beginning Natlan in a way, with the thematic of someone without a name vs the importance there seems to be in the [Ancient] name in that nation.

✦ I keep talking about how level-headed Dain is, but I was amazed once again by this when he asked Aether if he thinks Lumine has betrayed him. Considering that he himself is in the position where his own brother actually has and that their relationship is apparently irreparable (there might be some relation with the fact that he figured out the whole truth of what happened with Vedrfolnir, whereas Aether still didn't), it would've been quite easy to spill some venom not necessarily to cause harm and shit talk Lumine behind her back (and even still, they had that dispute hundreds of years ago and still have) and still he not only doesn't, but he cheers Aether a bit by saying that their relationship isn't to a point of no return. The capacity this man has of staying logical despite being the emotional individual he is at times is genuinely outstanding.

✧ Without reading too much into it due to lack of information, the way Dain makes sound that the five sinners betrayed the nation and him seems to suggest that perhaps all six of them shared something in common until they didn't (this beyond the fact that it seems like they were the pillars of Khaenri'ah) or that they gave him their word that they were going to do something which eventually they didn't. We only know a little more about Vedrfolnir, Rhinedottir and Surtalogi so far, but presuming that the missing two are just as powerful in their respective fields as the former three seem to be, it is quite interesting to think that Dain might've been similar if not an equal to them enough to earn their respect beyond the fact that he's Vedrfolnir's younger brother.

✦ Special vengeance talk bullet point. I talked about this recently, so I won't go deeper into it again. However, it's quite ironic to see that Dain's stance on the gods so far was one of bitterness at best to describe it somehow, meanwhile he looks and sounds very angry when talking about them and claiming that he'll never forget their names. Even though he's been affected by the memory erosion, it speaks to lengths that his drive for vengeance against them is so high that, if we were to imagine a what if he were to become say a Black Serpent Knight fiend with no more intelligence or memories, what would persist of him would most likely be his wish for vengeance against all five of them.

✧ More talk about the six: besides five of them being described as carrying the hopes of Khaenri'ah (while Dain put himself out of this, it remains uncertain if it's because he didn't consider himself that important or because he doesn't want to be associated to them in a group together beyond the scope of stopping the Vinster King to prevent the disaster + protecting Khaenri'ah), it's quite telling how powerful they are to become like some kind of regulating system of the monarchy at the time, either by the people's desire or as a thing they attributed to themselves precisely due to that power / influence they had over Khaenri'ah.

✦ The transcendent being notion is heavily interesting if we think about Jakob and René, who became such themselves and if we think about how Vedrfolnir used this exact terminology himself. Suffice to say and just judging Gold alone (and potentially Vedrfolnir too, considering the prophecy of Fontaine and that those stone slates were quite ancient in olden ruins), it's not surprising to believe that all five of them pushed the limits of mortality that would've corresponded to them as humans (?) before the Cataclysm. Given that this seems to be linked to the five of them sharing among them the power of the Abyss, it's quite intriguing to think if Dain himself is a transcendent being or if his mortality limits were nuked strictly by the curse.

✧ Assuming that the power of the Abyss is equal to the world-shattering power he speaks of, it's very interesting how this serves as a contraposition (or maybe not so much contraposition) to the power of beyond Skirk mentioned, supposedly wielded by Dain to defy this world.

◜The six of us, together... We should have been the ones to prevent the disaster, the ones to stop the Vinster King from continuing to rock the foundation of the world. [...] And when the cataclysm occurred, not one of them stood up in defense of their nation, not one came forward to prevent the tragedy... And for that, they shall never have my forgiveness.◞

✦ This here makes me a bit confused as to what to think. By the way this is worded either out of convenience (HYV has a long track record of making Dain's speech be purposefully blurry / uncertain, it's never a matter of hearing him say that the sky is blue and the reality being like that— there is always more to it), it seems like if they stopped the Vinster King, they would've prevented the disaster (unless these two are different things). I say this because later he mentions that the sinners didn't lift a finger to prevent the tragedy nor defend the nation during the cataclysm, supposedly a result of not preventing the tragedy when something could've been done about it time before the cataclysm erupted.

✧ To conclude with the Sinners talk, the notion that if they're left unchecked they could do irreparable damage to the world which... considering it's related to the power of the Abyss and what was caused in Fontaine alone because of Narwhal, hence because Surtalogi, it wouldn't be all that far-fetched to even think about.

✦ Perhaps this is attributed to Dain's intellect and no more, but for someone who is struggling with erosion and how it affects his memories, it's quite intriguing that he'd know what is something that was falsely implanted in his mind if up until that point he had already lost some of his memories.

✧ Ironically I've been talking recently about his capacity of looking at things from a broader perspective / having a very down-to-earth mindset and I think this is yet another example of that: there could be other things Dain could be focusing on just at the notion that someone could implant memories, but not only he doesn't do that, but he realizes on the spot that they're still after the eye of the first Field Tiller and thinks ahead of time to lay a trap for the Abyss Order, as there is something quite clear that makes him think it's impossible for him to have given the eye. And yet Caribert makes him believe that he handed over the eye to Aether and Dain is fine with that wtf.

✦ How does that eye even make it inside Dain's body hello?

✧ Following the miscellanies alongside other subtle details about him throughout his quests, it was abundantly clear to me his connection to Irminsul. But to see him grunt in pain because the Ley Lines were being tampered with to implant in him a new memory really seals the deal for me that the connection he has with Irminsul must be considerably deep to even experience pain. As that is some big sentience that even Paimon points out and that I don't think was seen before except for Rhukkadevata— and she was a divinity and Irminsul's avatar.

✦ I'm positive that I mentioned how "coincidental" some of Dain's actions during the 「Caribert」 quest were, so I won't get back to those. But to add one more as a genuine follow-up to that quest, it's surprising how eerily similar the ruins where he leads the Abyss Order and Aether in are to those where Vedrfolnir was. And Dain hasn't experienced that memory Lumine had 500 years ago... apparently. Locations are different, that's for sure. But there is an undeniable level of excitement at seeing how these ruins mirror the others that makes me wonder how deep can Dain look into things (aka Ley Lines? Irminsul? Some connection to his brother because brothers™?).

✧ To add to the sus from before, the Cryo Abyss Herald was also introduced during the 「Caribert」 quest and he was guarding the entrance to a larger room where Vedrfolnir was.

◜The Abyss Order is putting something in motion. If you return to Vimara Village, I suspect you might finally have the opportunity to locate the missing villager.◞

✦ I've discussed in the past about Dain's foreseeing abilities but sir, what the heck— (I say as this is what exactly happens after Aether leaves the ruins lol).

✧ Although it would be easy to think that his grunts are signs of memory implantation in his mind, the fact that Caribert implanted the last false memory before they entered the cave refutes this. This is because Dain's last reaction (and the most painful one, as even his voice was intertwined with the pain he felt) was when they were already in the last chamber of the ruins they were last together. This concludes that his sentience isn't just on himself and to figure out what said false memory is (as he does notice that), but it's a genuine sentience on the Ley Lines and the disturbances they're suffering.

[welcometogrouchland]

[ID in ALT] I've made posts before about Talia/Dick co-parenting Damian moments (will never happen but let me dream) and this came to me in a vision. Took me ages to finish for some reason 😭 and then even longer to post

[greywoe]

child ward in search of belonging indulges in juvenile fantasies as a coping mechanism. sad!

[scarameownya]

modern (?) haitham doodle on break...

[varreblogger]

i’m going to be honest the real enemy is people who saw a grown adult man using feminine speech/mannerisms and were like oh well that means i have to draw him soooo thin and tiny and waifish. obviously

[dizzydoctor]

IM NOT THE ONLY PERSON IN MY SOUL

[reachhforthestars]

Sonic 3 spoilers!!! Talking about the mid credits scene/what people have been saying about it under the cut

feeling like the only one who doesnt want reverse sonamy for the movies </3

or more accurately, fine sonic can have an obvious crush on her but i dont want ‘reverse sonamy’ to mean ‘amy doesnt have a crush on sonic.’ she can be lowkey about it or whatever (like sonic is sometimes in the games/other media) but to me part of Who She Is is that shes this super cool, super strong, intelligent fighter but shes also still a young girl who has crushes and believes in fate and is guided by her compassion, not by her strength or her mission or her love of adventure.

shes such a good character because while she is physically strong and possibly slightly magic, those are equally as important as her love and compassion and care for the world and people around her. preserving amys girlhood is important to me like loving sonic isnt her single defining character trait bc she ‘has to have a crush on a guy’ but it is a main character trait because thats just who she is. a loving person who sees the good in the world and wants to protect it and loves sonic because she sees him as the embodiment of that

[thecoolertails]

hiii im still not shutting up about marble hornets. yet

[charlieconwayy]

Top 50 OTPs Of All Time ☆ #45. Paige Michalchuk & Alex Nunez

"I said you were nothing to me, which is a total lie, because right now, you're pretty much everything."

[kacievvbbbb]

Maybe it's just me and I just don't understand the arc. Or maybe this arc will get some grand conclusion I'm really starting to doubt. But like I'm sick and tired of Tashigi being used as Zoro's misogyny proxy. Like the "a woman swordsman could never beat a man" belief and trauma made sense for both Kuina and Tashigi and was a very valid fear way back in the East Blue when they were still fighting relatively normal people and had no scope of how big the world is

but at this point where there are literally 20 feet tall dudes and people can blow up a whole city with just Haki the only reason Tashigi is still weak is because she is being written that way. Which is really hard to understand because it seems now more than ever One Piece has been getting more and more strong female characters so I don't know why every time Tashigi is on screen with Zoro we have to rehash this. It's even worse cause all she does in the scene is prove Zoro right by getting in a fight that she can't handle and needing saving. It's such a confusing message and honestly doesn't really apply or come up anywhere but with Tashigi and Zoro (outside of that one time where Zoro yells at enel for blasting Robin because she's a woman which was weird because Robin's been in a lot of fights before but seemed there just so enel could point out just how ruthless it is.)

Hell with the exception of the G5 all being in love with her. She is treated like a regular character and not just "the woman"

It honestly feels like both Tashigi and Smoker got lost in the narrative and Oda just doesn't know where to put their arcs. It feels like she was being written to help Zoro overcome whatever mental block Kuina's death instilled in him about facing female opponents with his sword. But she is just sooooo far behind him it renders the point moot and strengthens his convictions (it's weird that he will literally crush a woman's face rather than use his sword and is the only reason I won't say he doesn't fight women he does he just seems to have a mental block about cutting them down especially if they fight with anything blade like) but also we've only ever seen him face female character he knows can't challenge him it would have been interesting to see what he'd do in a fight against someone like big mom, tsuru or smoothie doubt that will happen though. But here's to hoping for Tashigi to have an actual arc.

[welcometogrouchland]

I miss them so bad (Dick and Damian)

[lunaetis]

rin ( phaethon ) from z.enless zone zero had been added to test muses !

[maliro-t]

replaying dav act 1 and the way i instantly prefer the minrathous route is wild sorry antiva 💀💀💀

[right-there-ride-on]

Gyjo in the fandom

cw: light discussion of ableism

Gyjo… what am I thinking about gyjo…

I like them. I like them a lot, actually. They have paralleled narrative arcs, they complement each other nicely, the romantic subtext is incredibly obvious to the point that even the most homophobic fan you know will admit they understand why people ship it… so why do I also have a problem with it?

There’s a lot of good fanart. Hell, I’ve reblogged plenty. Maybe it’s just something that’s more pronounced in fic.

I’m trying to word this correctly. My issue with gyjo has nothing to do with the text itself. I think my problem is just how people portray it in the fandom.

Maybe it’s because it’s so popular, or maybe it’s the sheer prominence of applying ‘Character A’ and ‘Character B’ dynamics without considerable regard for the characters involved, but I feel gyjo is very prone to flanderization. I believe the intersection with how ableist people are toward Johnny (intentionally or not, subtly or not) and the old tropes these two get shoved into makes it so I have trouble enjoying fics in the fandom.

I’m not saying it’s bad to enjoy certain tropes. I’m not saying headcanons are bad either. What I am saying is that writing is hard, but if you’re going to write fanfiction please have consideration for the characters you’re writing. The arcs of these two are complex and multilayered, which is why I think they have such staying power, but I also think they also provide a good opportunity for us as writers and artists to examine our biases when it comes to the portrayal of certain groups, personality types, mental illnesses, queerness, disability, etc. and maybe come out better people for it.

[airenyah]

HI YES I'M GOING TO ROME TO SEE JOONG AND DUNK IRL

[milfbrainrot]

admittedly we do not know anything abt most of the new characters yet and assuming she's not in LoL that includes Maddie but it is... a lil odd to see infantilization of her at this stage.

I get she seems like a ray of sunshine character so far but "girl has no idea what martial law means 💔" kind of jokes are making me think abt how if maddie IS just a naive enforcer thinking she's doing good for piltover, she'd still... know what martial law and fascism etc entail. She'd just think those things are Good and Just!

Idk not to take jokes too seriously but there's something interesting abt what makes a character complicit in horrors esp when they seem so nice, and I feel like that's kinda being brushed aside w the interpretations that she is just an oblivious kid... esp since those jokes are about the scene where she's supporting Cait's dictatorship promotion which is after she's literally been in Zaun with her gassing people lmao.

She knows what's going on. Her framing of it is just extremely biased. Maybe a bit naive of her if so, but not stupid yknow.