#but she's an enjoyable character and I'm interested to see the dynamic she might develop with the rest of the family

[isfjmel-phleg]

I appreciate this panel of Bart introducing Judy Garrick (who has been lost to time since the 1960s) to video games...

(Jay Garrick: The Flash #6)

...because it's an indication that they will be friends. Gaming together has always been the way to this boy's heart.

(New Titans #118 / Impulse #12, 20, 22, 26, 46, 89 / The Flash 1987 #139)

We never see him and Max playing video games together, which is indicative of how difficult it can be for the two of them to understand each other. They care about each other a lot; it's just that they tend to struggle to speak each other's language.

[thekingofwinterblog]

The Importance of Banter: Varric Tethras

So one of the more interesting takes I've gotten on my breakdowns of Dragon Age characters is the argument that Varric in terms of character development is one of the lesser characters in the game.

He stays the same, doesn't change much from beginning to end, and while enjoyable, his inclusion doesn't add nearly as much as some of the other characters in the game, and relies way too much on the goodwill from da2 to do most of the legwork for his inclusion in the game.

Now this isn't an argument without merit, I might agree a lot with this take... If it wasn't for the inclusion of one Dragon Age's staples, and one of the aspects that Inquisition arguably does better than ether ADO or DA2.

Character Banter.

Character Banter is extremely important because it gives us an insight into how characters think, how they interact, and showcases the more subtle elements that aren't always on display in the game itself.

Compared to the rest of the Characters, Varric is a bit different in that because he was a companion in the previous game, we can see how he's changed since the previous game.

Cassandra Pentaghast

So it's not an exaggeration to say that Cassandra and Varric has what is easily the most dynamic relationahip between any of the companions, having far and away the most interactions together out of party(And thats not even including the fact that all of DA2 is technically them talking to each other.

And this is reflected in their banter as well, where the two of them go back and forth like a married couple.

The thing that most be understood about Cassandra and Varric's banter though, is the fact that Varric is way, way smarter than Cassandra, who isn't dumb, but is not a genius by any stretch, which is reflected in the Dwarf's tendency to run rings around her all the time.

Cassandra: Have you heard from any of your Kirkwall associates Varric?

Varric: You're asking me? So you don't read my letters?

Cassandra: You're no longer my prisoner, much as you like to act like it.

Varric: Yet I still get all the suspicion.

Cassandra: I am not without sympathy, especially given recent events.

Varric: Why, Seeker, I would never accuse you of having sympathy! By the way I tend to refer to my "associates" as "friends". Maybe you're not familiar with the concept.

Cassandra: (sigh)

---

Varric: You know, Seeker, for someone with your tact and charisma you assembled a... pretty good little Inquisition. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you didn't drag them all here by force.

Cassandra: How kind of you.

Varric: I mean, you never know, you could have kidnapped Ruffles and she'd be too polite to say anything.

Cassandra: Leliana recruited Josephine. They're... friends.

Varric: So there's a rational explanation after all. Just when I thought you had layers.

---

Varric: It makes sense that Leliana did the recruiting when the Inquisition started. Not everyone can be intimidated into signing up after all.

Cassandra: I recruited Commander Cullen.

Varric: Lucky him.

Cassandra: He has made no complaints about my manners.

Varric: His last boss was a raving lunatic who turned into a statue. That's not a high bar.

All of these three bits of banter is from early in their shared chain, and illustrates their dynamic very, very well. Varric reads Cassandra like an open book, and is able to completely take control over a situation just by playing the role of the ass who is just sniping at her because he feels like it, when what he's actually doing is maneuvering the conversation so it can end on him having the last words by playing on the things Cassandra knows she cannot refute without lying.

That takes a lot of sponanous wit and an ability to think on the spot, something cassandra does not possess, but Varric has in plenty.

Of course this dynamic is only at the start as they have plenty more as the story develops. One innparticular is their relationship regarding Varric's liturature, which is one of the more entertaining side quests in the game, but it does tell us more about them in the followup banter.

Varric: Seriously? Swords and Shields? How did you find that serial? Scrape it off the bottom of a barrel in Dust Town?

Cassandra: It was research! I thought I might learn more about the Champion.

Varric: I did write a book about the Champion. You might remember it. Had your knife stuck through it last I saw.

Cassandra: I already read that one. Twice.

Here we learn how much Cassandra actually loves to read Varric's work, but more importantly we get something we rarely see in Varric. Him talking about his own failures.

Varric likes to pretend he's this amazing writer who always produce masterpieces, as he himself says to Bianca, as if he'd write about his own failures and mistakes...

And yet there is swords and shields, a book that Varric has deemed an abyssmal failure. A joke, a mediocre piece of trash not worth the paper it was printed on... And yet it has it's fans. This work that varric despises still managed to find an audience, and despite how much satisfaction he had smugly giving it to Cassandra, that still grinds his gears.

People shouldn't like his bad work. It should be forgotten in favor of his masterpieces. A very dwarven way of thinking.

Varric: I can't believe you picked the absolute worst of my books to read. Why not Hard in Hightown?

Cassandra: I have enough mysteries and investigations of my own.

Varric: What? You don't want to solve more in your spare time?

Cassandra: Then you killed my favorite character in Chapter 3, so I threw the book across the room.

Varric: Ah, a critic. Say no more.

In this one, we get Varric both genuinely questioning Cassandra, as he seems to have assumed she actually does like investigating mysteries(she does not), but also tries to nudge her over to read High in Hightown instead.

Cassandra: Varric, how could you let the Knight-Captain be framed for murder?

Varric: Well, I did spent three entire chapters setting it up.

Cassandra: But she didn't deserve it! You'd already put her through more than enough!

Varric: Look, Seeker, if you love a character, you give them pain, ruin their lives, make them suffer. Maybe even throw in a heroic death.

Cassandra: That makes no sense!

Varric: You care enough to argue. If she had a nice afternoon and took a nap, you'd stop reading.

I could deconstruct this, but basically it's just a bit of meta commentary on what makes a good story. Not only will it not be the last, but it's not even the most blatant. After all, this one could apply to other people besides Hawke.

Cassandra: What made you write about Hawke? All your other books are complete fiction.

Varric: Someone had to set the record straight about the Champion.

Cassandra: Yet your book is still full of lies.

Varric: But true ones. That's important.

Varric loves stories... But he understands what stories are at their heart. The difference between a Recounting, and a Tale. That's what history is after all, the Tales everyone passed down.

And what good tale doesn't have a bit of exaggerated bullshit?

Cassandra: Why is the second Hard in Hightown so completely different from the first?

Varric: (sigh) Because I didn't write it. Shit, did you pay actual coin for that book? One of these days, I'm going to find the duster who wrote that garbage and introduce him to my editor.

Cassandra: By "editor," do you mean your crossbow?

Varric: No, my actual editor. Best in the business. She runs half the Coterie in Kirkwall. Stickler for grammar. She once killed a man over a semicolon. I'd never print anything without her.

This one is more meta commentary, but it does have a bit more meat to it. Varric's whole spiel about his editor being super powerful in the Coterie could be the truth, it could be complete bullshit. Or it could be something in between.

That's not the important part. The important part is that he wants Cassandra to guess, to assume, to speculate, because that is far more powerful than just laying it all out could ever be.

Cole: She has to reach the other side of the hill.

Cassandra: Who does?

Cole: The Knight-Captain. But she's injured.

Varric: (sigh) Good job, Kid.

Cassandra: Is she alright? Is that how the book ends?

Varric: Not anymore.

Cassandra: Cole, what happens to her?

Cole: I don't know. The hill went away.

So here we see that Varric is one of THOSE authors. You know the kind, the ones who will rewrite an entire storyline because the big twists was leaked ahead of time.

It's not that important in the grand scheme of things, but it's interesting how through the game we see a very consistent picture of how Varric likes to write. He's a gardner variety writer, but unlike GRRM he's not the kind thst sticks to what he had in mind and sets up if the big twist is learned before it's finished.

As for His banter with Cassandra related to Hawke, it's entertaining, but not exactly that enlightening. Except for one.

If you chose in DA2 to save carver or Bethany by making them grey wardens, you get this bit when Cassandra Questions him about them.

Varric: Aveline took him off somewhere when the Calling started going nuts, but he'll tag along. He always does.

Varric: Aveline took her off somewhere when the Calling started going nuts, but she'll try to keep Hawke out of trouble.

Cassandra misses the obvious, but you probably didn't.

Varric knew about the calling from the start. Oh he didn't know the details, and he didn't know why... But he knew there was something up with the calling from the very start, and probably figured out this was the key reason from day one.

And he didn't share it. At all.

That speaks volumes of where his true loyalties lies, and it's something a lot of people miss.

Cassandra is right. Varric's heart will never truly belong to the Inquisition so long as Hawke and his Kirkwall friends exists outside of it.

There is also a turning point in their conversations, starting around the point where Varric's personal quest with Bianca happened.

Cassandra: Am I to understand your Bianca is married?

Varric: Oh, have we reached the stage where we gossip about each other's love lives?

Varric: Did you hear that, boss? Don't worry, I'll tell you whatever she says.

Cassandra: Forget I mentioned anything. It was a simple question, Varric.

Varric: There was nothing simple about it.

Varric actually blatantly questions wheter they've reached the point where they are now talking about each others love with each other. The truth is though, they actually have.

Varric: You brought up Bianca, Seeker. Does that mean I can ask about your conquests?

Cassandra: I would rather you didn't.

Varric: No tantalizing secrets to divulge?

Cassandra: None.

(If the Inquisitor is in a relationship with Cassandra)

Varric: So no one within, say, a five foot radius has caught your eye?

Inquisitor: Really? No one at all?

Cassandra: This... is not a discussion I want to have here.

Varric: (laughs) Are you blushing, Seeker? Maker, the world really is coming to an end.

Or

Inquisitor: Perhaps Cassandra—and her conquest—would rather not discuss this in public.

Varric: Spoilsport.

Or

Varric: Nothing? You do know he's standing right there...

Cassandra: I... have no conquests.

Varric: How about dalliances? Liaisons? Illicit affairs?

Cassandra: No.

Sera: Enough poking, Varric.

Varric: Is it, Buttercup? Is it?

It a rather humorous affair, but it does show that Varric at this point is comfortable prodding Cassandra's love life, figuring out how far he can push.

Which speaks for itself at how close these two have gotten at this point.

Cassandra: Very well, Varric. If you wish to know about men I have known, I will tell you.

Varric: Look, Seeker. I was only...

Cassandra: You are right. I pried first, and fair is fair. Years ago, I knew a young mage named Regalyan. He was dashing, unlike any man I'd met. He died at the Conclave.

Varric: Oh.

Cassandra: What we had was fleeting. And years had passed. Still, it saddens me to think he's gone.

Varric: I'm sorry.

Nothing to add here, just that Varric sorta gets sad when he realizes that was friendly prodding touched a very bitter and sad point from Cassandra's pain.

For which he apologizes.

Varric: Look, Seeker, I didn't mean to make you talk about your mage friend.

Cassandra: I know. I was not trying to make you speak of Bianca. If I was, you would know. I would yell, books would be stabbed.

Varric: (Chuckles.) I'll keep that in mind.

Also as the game reaches the end section, Varric and Cassandra begin to really banter in a much more friendly way.

Cassandra: I still don't understand how drakes take that hand.

Varric: ...Hmm. Maybe we should start you on Shepherd's Six.

Cassandra: Isn't that a children's game?

Varric: Yeah.

When trying to teach Cassandra card games at this point in the story, Varric has the perfect set up for a punchline like he did in the early game, but he doesn't use it, because he isn't mocking cassandra here, he's genuinely trying to teach her how to play cards.

And so he suggest starting her off with something simple, like a card game for children, cause he understands thats where she has to start at her level.

There are plenty more, but most of it is just well written, engaging or funny back and forths. But before moving on, i wanna highlight two of them.

Varric: Did you really think the Conclave had a chance of making peace, Seeker?

Cassandra: You do not?

Varric: What was the Divine's plan? Bring everyone together and hope really hard that they would all get along?

Cassandra: Most Holy did not confide her plan to me. Perhaps she thought they were tired of death and conflict.

Varric: Oh, when is that ever been true? For Templars or mages.

Cassandra: I will not mock a dead woman, Varric. She did what she could, and that is more than most.

This conversation is very important for one simple reason. It showcases how much Varric has changed since DA2. Varric used to be one of the big believers in compromise in that game. He didn't come out and say it out right, because in that game the Templar far and away were the more evil faction, and so there was way more chances for Varric to stick up for mages, but Varric really, REALLY didn't want the mages and Templars to go to war.

He had so many friends in both factions, friends he knew would die if it ever did come to true blows.

I would say that varric was probably the best example of what neutrality in such a situation should have been. Someone who is neutral because he understood thst fundamentally, both sides even at their worst, were people. Not demons, not monsters, but human beings or elves. But unlike many others who clamor for neutrality, Varric wasn't stuck up his own ass about it.

If he saw one side go over the ljne, regardless of which it was, he would not just stand by wheter it was power hungry necromantic blood mages, or Templars like Ser Alrik.

But here, he mocks the very idea of neutrality. He has completely given up on it, and he's accepted that the only solution here, is for one side or the other will have to decisively crush the opposition.

Of course he doesnt come out and say it like that, but that's the message to take away here. So long as there is a templar or mage on the field, this war will continue. He doesn't like that fact, but he has accepted it.

Cassandra: I hear reconstruction is progressing well in Kirkwall.

Varric: I know things are bad there.

Cassandra: I wasn't trying to...

Varric: You weren't trying to remind me how bad is it in Kirkwall? So you decided to talk about it?

Cassandra: About its recovery!

Varric: What you're talking about are the buildings, and even that will take years. People don't recover so easily.

Kirkwall, that is to say, the Kirkwall Varric was born in, grew up in, and spent the happiest years of his life(When he was running there with Hawke), is dead and gone, and never coming back.

He is never getting it back.

Which will be very important for the next companion's banter.

Blackwall

Blackwall is different than the rest of the crew in that he's utterly reliant on the Banter to have any sort of presence. He has no charisma in the actual game, but he does showcase a much more entertaining character in banter.

In regards to Varric though, his mian purpose is to showcase aspects of Varric we don't often see.

One of the most important comes very, very early into their relationship.

Blackwall: I once met a dwarf who made the best home-brewed ale.

Varric: I once met a Grey Warden who got possessed by a spirit and then blew up a Chantry and killed a hundred people. What makes people think you want to hear what others of "your kind" have done, anyway?

This is a moment that is:

1. Very uncharacteristic of Varric, who usually loves talking about other people if he gets any excuse to do so, and will be demonstrated in a very similar moment in his banter with the Iron Bull, only with a different reaction.

2. It's here to showcase Varric's hatred for Anders. Other than Sebastian, Varric misses pretty much the entire DA2 cast, his true best friends... Except for Anders.

Varric LOATHES Anders for his actions, for kickstarting the Mage Templar War and getting lots of his friends killed, but also for destroying his home and making his own worst fear come true.

Varric's biggest fear as shown in the fade is becoming his parents... And that's exactly what he has become in DAI. The depressed exile from a home city that he can never return to, and if he does, it won't be the same life they miss so dearly. Varric misses Kirkwall. He misses it's people, the Hanged man, and always thinking back on the glory days of his life.

And he misses Hawke.

All lost to him and never coming back, all thanks to Anders. Varric can never return back to that time, that place, that era, that friend group that was the highpoint of Varric's life, because the city of Champion Hawke and Varric the sidekick is as dead and gone as his parents.

The hanged man will never be the same, Hawke will never be the revered Hero they were after act 2, and every single one of the countless friends that Varric misses will not come back.

And so he hates Anders with a level of hatred he reserves for very, very few people.

The rest of Varric's starting relationship with Blackwall is about him trying to figure out what makes him tick, innitially pegging him as another Sebastian. Boring, safe, droll.

He also has more banter where he shows how depressed he actually is about Kirkwall.

Blackwall: I've been to Kirkwall. The Hanged Man, actually, probably been twenty years now. It was a dive if I remember correctly.

Varric: It's the dive. Filled with the best and worst people in the world.

Blackwall: Yes, I heard it was a haunt of yours.

Varric: Haunt? It was home.

He finally clicks with Blackwall, as they get into a shared passion nobody else in the party has. Jousting. The sport consistent of knocking people of horses with pointy sticks.

As a Free Marcher Varric has grown up with the Grand Tourney as a focal point of his identity, and loves the sport, so he and Blackwall bonds and argues over the sport, with the most notable part being their disagreements over who is the better jousting knight, where he also gives his own cents in the form of a meta commentary between who is the better protagonist, the Hero of Ferelden or Hawke.

Blackwall: You can't really think Reeve Asa is a better knight than Honorine Chastain. Her record's flawless. Four hundred jousts, never unseated. No one's ever come close to it.

Varric: Oh, she's easily the most skilled. That's a fact. It's just "scrappy" is better than "flawless." I like heroes who try their damnedest, even if they fail a lot. It's easy to be valiant when you always win and everything goes your way. There's nothing great in that.

The rather unsubtle meta message here, is comparing the protagonists of the first games.

The warden is the stronger, more skilled and more competent protagonist who ultimately always triumphed, changed the world, and became heralded far and wide as the greatest hero of her age.

Meanwhile Hawke is the scrappy underdog hero who always gets back on their feet regardless of how hard they fall, and never actually suceeds in anything. Hawke is a failure Hero who couldn't save their mother, their city, at least one of their siblings, maybe two, Ketojan, couldn't prevent the Qunari attack, and constantly failed to save the day through DA2.

Now i don't really agree with this rather simplistic reading of the Warden, but it's a good scene, because it shows that Varric is more than capable of overlooking all the work, effort and time it takes to produce a "perfect" result, as well as show that Varric has a very hard preference for underdogs, and the stories they produce.

Which leads into his reaction when Blackwall confesses his sins.

Varric: Maybe I've been too hard on you.

Blackwall: Oh, so you don't think I'm dreadful now.

Varric: Actually, I thought you were boring before. Completely different. We're all dreadful. Every one of us, fundamentally flawed in a hundred different ways. That's why we're here, isn't it? Take all the risks, so the good people stay home where it's safe. With the whole "Blackwall" thing, you told a story so compelling even you started to believe it.

Blackwall: That's much nicer than saying "You're a dirty liar.", I'll take it.

Varric: A story-teller's got to believe his own story, or no one will.

Here we can gleam a sad fact. Varric very pointedly notes "we're all dreadfull", as Us, as in, him included.

Varric doesn't really consider himself a good person anymore, if he ever did.

It's not like the Varric of Yesteryear considered hinself a saint or some knight in shining armor, but there was a sense that he was happy with himself during that game, in a way he is not in DAI.

Something has changed, and that something is guilt over unleashing the red lyrium on the world, and probably guilt over killing his own friends.

It's not really focused on as much as it should be, but Varric had plenty of friends amongst both the mages and Templars... Which meant that when Anders blew up the chantry, regardless of which side you picked, Varric was forced to kill people who genuinely mattered to him.

Hence why he's so quick to forgive Blackwall for his lies.

For the most part this generally manifests itself in regards to Red Lyrium, which he blames himself for bringing into the world. I would argue that the more subtle parts you get to see in Banter though, is far, far more interesting and better told than the stuff in the main quest.

Because despite his flaws he "takes all the risks, so the good people won't have to.", just like Varric and Hawke.

This is in large amount what Varric in Inquisition is for the most part all about. Guilt, self loathing, and wanting to be a better person.

He just masks it with his usual wit, charm and charisma.

Kinda like Blackwall, only he doesn't really have much charisma or wit to hide behind. Hence why he is so accepting of, and willing to give him another chance without question.

On a final note before we move on from Blackwall, we also get to see varric try to play matchmaker between Blackwall and Josephine which is cute, but not exactly surprising, or give us further insight into Varric's character.

Cole

Now, I'm not going to cover Cole here, not because the banter isn't interesting, or we don't learn anything, but that's all from the way we learn about the world, or Cole himself.

Varric's side of these banters can be summed up in one sentence, for pretty much every single banter.

Varric is Cole's dad.

Rinse, repeat.

Dorian

Similarily, I will not be covering the banter with dorian, not because it's bad, far from it, it's some of the most entertaining in the game, but it doesn't exactly add much beyond the fact that both Varric and Dorian love to gamble, and share witty banter.

Also nugs has some creepy ass feet. The stuff of nightmares.

The Iron Bull

Far more to be dissected, can be found in Varric's banter with the Iron Bull.

There is so much to learn from this banter, from Spy work to how the Antaam is viewed by the other Qunari and so on, but we'll focus on the stuff relating to varric, as he and bull talk about a lot of things.

Varric: You're not the first Ben-Hassrath I've run across. Hawke and I went on a caper with one named Tallis.

Iron Bull: You don't say.

Varric: She caused us no end of trouble. You wouldn't know her by any chance?

Iron Bull: Hey, one time I ran into this dwarf on the road. Short, grouchy. You think you might know him?

Varric: I'm in the Merchant Guild. Ten royals says I not only know him—he owes me money.

Iron Bull: Oh. Well... no. I don't know Tallis. Sorry.

In stark contrast to his talk with Iron bull, when not involving Anders or other people he hates, Varric loves to talk about people. To the point that in his comeback to Iron Bull, there is an invitation here for Bull to specify who this random dwarf was, because chances are, he actually might know him, and could elaborate on the guy.

Varric: How could you possibly be a spy?

Iron Bull: Well, it's a pretty easy job. I do some fighting, and drinking, and then once in a while I tell Par Vollen about it.

Varric: Heh. Where's the sneaking, the plotting, the subtle machinations?

Iron Bull: If you do that, everyone knows you're a spy. Drinking, fighting, writing notes, that's all it really takes.

Varric: Shit. You're either the worst qunari ever, or the best. I can't decide.

He also showcases great frustration with the way Iron Bull pokes holes in his Bond like spy writing, in favor of the mundane realities of Cloak and Dagger stuff.

Because for all that he prides himself on tall tales, varric does like his writing to somewhat be plausible. Its why he gets pissy at the inquisitor when he tells him how stupid so many parts of DA2 were writing wise, cause Varric wrote it how it happened, and while embelishing it, it was mostly true.

And if his spy writing isn't realistic enough that it might plausibly happen... Then it's not as good as it could be.

Iron Bull: By the way, Varric, you write some nice fight scenes.

Varric: Well, thank you. I'm surprised you think so. They're not exactly realistic.

Iron Bull: I figured that out when the good guy did a backflip while wearing a chain mail shirt.

Varric: And that didn't bother you?

Iron Bull: Back in Seheron, I fell on a guy who tried to stab me in the gut. I felt the blade chip as it went through my gut and hit my back ribs. But I was alive, and on top. I sawed through the armor on the rebel's neck, back and forth, until it went red. I don't need a book to remind me that the world is full of horrible crap.

Varric: Impossible swashbuckling it is.

Meanwhile, this bit is surprisingly layered.

First off, there is Bull's retelling and describing the way he dealt with the Vint while bing impaled as "realistic". If this was not a world with magical healing such as potions or poultices he'd had died from this incident, due to infection if nothing else. That's meant as a bit of meta irony.

But the actual meat of this, is that Varric is just letting Bull rant.

The whole "Backflip while wearing chainmail armor" is something Hawke can literarily do in DA2, Provided you are a rogue Hawke and has high enough stats. If so, when hit by a trap, Hawke will simply backflip out of the way, even if wearing chainmail armor.

It is the kind of shit that for a long was normal for Varric, and he writes it into his fight scenes(Which he has a self dig at calling them not realistic, despite having seen shit like that for himself all the time).

But he doesnt say any of that.

Instead he just lets Bull rant, get it out there how shitty he really feels, because varric knows when to talk, and when to listen, and here is a time to listen.

Varric: So, Bull. You and Dorian?

Iron Bull: Mm-hmm.

Varric: "Two worlds tearing them apart, Tevinter and Qunari, with only love to keep them together."

Dorian: I don't see how this is even remotely your business, Varric.

Iron Bull: Could you make it sound angrier? "Love" is a bit soft.

Dorian: Please stop helping the dwarf.

Varric: How about passion?

Iron Bull: Yes, that's better. Love is all starlight and gentle blushes. Passion leaves your fingers sore from clawing the sheets.

Dorian: You could at least have had the courtesy to use the bedposts.

Iron Bull: Hey, don't top from the bottom.

Varric: Passion it is, then.

Also, i wanna highlight his banter with bull, if he and dorian hook up, and if both are with him in the party. It's really the only bit of Dorian varric banter with real character meat to it, as it puts Dorian's rarely seen tsundere side on full display, and why he makes such a good match with the easy going, yet equally passionate iron bull.

Iron Bull: Hey, Varric, I was reading your stuff... Where do your bad guys come from?

Varric: Well, some of them come from Tevinter and some are Ben-Hassrath spies... but I like the stories where the villain was the man beside you the whole time. The best villains don't see themselves as evil. They're fighting for a good cause, willing to get their hands dirty.

Iron Bull: All right, that's really deep and all, but I meant where do the bad guys come from literally? The way you write it, it's like they just fall from the sky and land on top on the hero.

Varric: I like to leave some things to the reader's imagination.

Also, final bit i'll cover of these two here. It's both a meta hit of writing in that it's supposed to be about solas, but can also apply to Iron bull, and is a self depreciating dig on the single worst gameplay mechanic from DA2.

Sera

So, as with Cole and Dorian, im not covering this sequence of banter as it doesn't really reveal much about Varric as a character. Its generally just Sera trying her usual bullshit, and Varric taking the piss out of her, much to her frustration.

Im not exactly a big fan of Sera, and even here, where most of their dialogue is about Varric basicaly running rings around her, don't really makes me smile.

There is one bit of banter though, that i do want to highlight.

Sera: (sing-song) La la la la la, Sentinals are shits.

Varric: Like it or not, Buttercup, that’s where you come from.

Sera: Says the undwarfiest dwarf ever!

Varric: Fair enough. Paragons can be shits too.

So, this one i feel is extremely important, for the reason that it goes to showcase that 1. Sera doesn't understand Varric in the slightest, and 2. Really goes to showcase Sera's complete and total lack of self awareness, and just how out of touch she is, raiding other people's homes, and calling them shits for defending themselves.

But that second one i'll save for Sera's banter review.

For this one, I want to highlight how Varric, just like Dorian understands and more importantly loves the Culture he originates from. He knows how shitty dwarven culture can be, and will never avoid taking the piss out of it for all it's flaws, but he also admires it. He admires their ability to create marvels, their grit and determination that has seen them take on the Darkspawn for a hundred years and still stand, and the individuals that stood up and above the rest to serve as legends, just like Hawke and the Inquisitor.

There is a reason his hangouts in both games are decorated full of very traditional dwarven furniture. Because he wants to live in a home that looks dwarven.

Because the past is important.

It's a bit of wisdom he tries, and fails to impart to Sera, that you simply trying to pretend your roots don't exists never works. And he's right. Even though Sera never admits wrong on her own part, she fully admits she burnt out on this spiteful hatred in Tresspasser.

Solas

Solas and Varric's banter though, is far, far more interesting.

Both of them are tricksters, both value the past greatly in their own way, both understands the power of a story, both of them lie to the Inquisitor, and both would rather remain the side character than step up to take the spotlight.

And yet they are different. Opposites almost.

One of Varric's defining feature as a person is that he cares about all his friends and how those friendships transcends the chains of status, having become friends with dwarves, Qunari, kossiths, humans, elves, templars, mages, seekers, antivans, fereldens, kirkwallers, orlesians, tevinters, anders, revains, avvar, and so on.

Solas single defining feature is how he sees everyone he does not knows except for his own, very small list of what he considers countrymen, as not things, and is willing to destroy the world for them to prosper.

Varric stays out of the spotlight cause he likes being the power behind the throne. Solas does it because as the Herald's Judas, he doesn't want anyone to question the many, many questions about him further than they have to.

Varric lives in the present, but respects the past. Solas in the past, and is terrified of the present.

Which leads to some of the most interesting banter in the game.

Solas: By the end of Hard in Hightown, almost every character is revealed as a spy or a traitor.

Varric: Wait, you read my book?

Solas: It was in the Inquisition library. Everyone but Donnen turned out to be in disguise. Is that common?

Varric: Are we still talking about books or are you asking if everyone I know is a secret agent?

Solas: Are there many tricksters in dwarven literature?

Varric: A handful, but they're the exception. Mostly they're just honoring the ancestors. It's very dull stuff. Human literature? Now there's where you'll find the tricky, clever, really deceptive types.

Solas: Curious.

Varric: Not really. Dwarves write how they want things to be. Humans write to figure out how things are.

Solas questions Varric about the to him, alien Dwarven liturature, trying to figure out what the new, "lesser" dwarves might write about when no longer part of a hivemind.

Varric gives it to him straight, but there is a deeper bit of character here.

Varric is able to explain this to Solas, because as a man who understands Dwarven culture, strengths, flaws, and weaknesses, and how it ticks, as well as undoubtedly having read a lot of dwarven literature, Varric is able to point out all it's shortcomings, or more accurately the way Human and Dwarven literature trends differentiate due to different cultural values.

Varric: You really spend most of your time in the Fade?

Solas: As much as is possible. The Fade contains a wealth of knowledge for those who know where to look.

Varric: Sure, but I don't know how you dream, let alone wander around in there.

Varric: Especially when the shit that comes out of the Fade generally seems pretty cranky.

Solas: So are humans, but we continue to interact with them... when we must.

Here Varric pries a bit into a topic he(If you took him with you in night terrors) only has experienced once before for himself, from someone who knows more about the fade and the veil than anyone.

Solas ends it on a much darker note than Varric assumes though, as what he means is, we have to tolerate them "for now."

Solas: Is it true that the entire dwarven economy relies upon lyrium?

Varric: Mostly. We've got the nug market cornered as well.

Solas: And the dwarves of Orzammar have never studied lyrium?

Varric: If they have, they certainly haven't shared anything up here. Why?

Solas: It is the source of all magic, save that which mages bring themselves.

Solas: Dwarves alone have the ability to mine it safely. I wondered if they had sought to learn more.

Varric: The folks back in Orzammar don't care much about anything but tradition.

So here we have Varric flat out bullshit Solas in several ways. He knows way more about lyrium than most, having studied red lyrium himself, and yet he does not give that information to Soals, the way he does with the Herald, showing that deep down, Varric trusts you far more than Solas, if not as much as Hawke.

He also knows that both surface and underground Dwarves have deeper knowledge of lyrium than any human, being it's the source of all the enchantments and magic, and that while they might not know it's origins, they understand how it works, and how to use it, transport it, store it, and so on.

If there is one thing Orzammar is good at, and not stuck in tradition, it's exploiting Lyrium to the hilt.

And yet he bullshits Solas about it completely. Because this is an early banter, the likely reason is simply that he does not trust him.

Which given his other important lies is not surprising.

And solas later recognizes this.

Solas: I find the fall of the dwarven lands confusing.

Varric: What's so confusing about endless darkspawn?

Solas: A great deal, although that is a different matter. Dwarves control the flow of lyrium. They could tighten their grip on it.

Varric: It's hard to get the attention of the humans when the darkspawn aren't up here messing with their stuff.

Solas: You're active in the Carta. You know your people could tug the purse strings. You could claim sovereign land on the surface, or demand help restoring the dwarven kingdom, but you don't.

Varric: You're not saying anything I haven't said myself, Chuckles. Orzammar is what it is

Solas Attacks Varric's arguments from adifferent angle here, without directly calling him a liar from the banter before, as he points out just how much power Orzammar has through it's economic might, how even if they know how to use Lyrium so effectively, they haven't been wielding that might to effecrively hammer out an anti Darkspawn coalition to crush the darkspawn in their own dens and wipe them out from the source.

Realistically, the dwarves are rhe only ones who could see it done, and yet they havent. Because before Bhelen, there was never a king willing to upend the entire system to get results.

Varric doesn't actually give his direct thoughts in this bit of banter, but it goes into future ones. Before that though, im gonna quickly cover another bit of banter.

Solas: Do you ever miss life beneath the earth? The call of the Stone?

Varric: Nah. Whatever the Stone - capital S - is, it was gone by the time my parents had me.

Solas: But... do you miss it?

Varric: How could I miss what I never had?

Varric: But say I did have that sense, that connection to the Stone. What would it cost me?

Varric: Would I lose my friends up here? Would I stop telling stories?

Varric: I like who I am. If I want to hear songs, I'll go to the tavern.

Solas: You are wiser than most.

Solas worships the past, to such a degree that he thinks being part of a hivemind under the titans, must have been better for the Dwarves, because of what it allowed them to accomplish by magic, and more importantly that it's what they used to be.

And what they used to be, must be better than what they are now, because the past is better.

Meanwhile Varric is content with the present. He never had stone sense, so why worry about it? Why dream of it, why become his parents? That would be absolutely awful, so why not embrace what you have now.

Though Solas doesn't know it, his backhanded praise here is actually even moreso than he knows.

Its backhanded by intention, because he acknowledges that varric is wiser than those who would wail about their lost glory... But as we'll see in the following banter, he regards all Dwarves, regardless of wheter they are like Varric, as lessers and fools. So varric is better... But he is still a fool.

Meanwhile, on Varric's part, it's even more backhanded than Solas intends because Varric is doing exactly what he's saying he isn't here.

Dreaming of glory days when all was simplier and he was a happier man. He's not dreaming of stone sense itself, but the sentiment is the same.

And he knows it. That's one of the saddest things about Varric in DAI. He became his parents, his worst fear, but he's very much aware of that fact.

Solas: Is there at least a movement to reunite Orzammar and Kal-Sharok?

Varric: What is it with you, Chuckles? Why do you care so much about the dwarves?

Solas: Once, in the Fade, I saw the memory of a man who lived alone on an island. Most of his tribe had fallen to beasts or disease. His wife had died in childbirth. He was the only one left. He could have struck out on his own to find a new land, new people. But he stayed. He spent every day catching fish in a little boat, every night drinking fermented fruit juice and watching the stars.

Varric: I can think of worse lives.

Solas: How can you be happy surrendering, knowing it will all end with you? How can you not fight?

Varric: I suppose it depends on the quality of the fermented fruit juice.

Solas: So it seems.

---

Solas:: I am sorry to have bothered you with my questions about your people Varric. I see so much of this world in dreams. Humans, my own people, even qunari. Dwarves alone were lost to me, save scattered fragments of memory where some spirit cared to watch. Now I know why I see so little.

Varric: And why is that?

Solas:: Dwarves are the severed arm of a once mighty hero, lying in a pool of blood. Undirected. Whatever skill of arms it had, gone forever. Although it might twitch to give the appearance of life, it will never dream.

Varric: I'd avoid mentioning that to any Carta, Chuckles. They might not take it the right way.

---

Varric: What's with you and the doom stuff? Are you always this cheery or is the hole in the sky getting to you?

Solas: I've no idea what you mean.

Varric: All the "fallen empire" crap you go on about. What's so great about empires anyway?

Varric: So we lost the Deep Roads, and Orzammar is too proud to ask for help. So what? We're not Orzammar and we're not our empire.

Varric: There are tens of thousands of us living up here in the sunlight now, and it's not that bad.

Varric: Life goes on. It's just different than it used to be.

Solas: And you have no concept of what that difference cost you.

Varric: I know what it didn't cost me. I'm still here, even after all those thaigs fell.

---

Solas: You truly are content to sit in the sun, never wondering what you could've been, never fighting back.

Varric: Ha, you've got it all wrong, Chuckles. This is fighting back.

Solas: How does passively accepting your fate constitute a fight?

Varric: In that story of yours—-the fisherman watching the stars, dying alone. You thought he gave up, right?

Solas: Yes.

Varric: But he went on living. He lost everyone, but he still got up every morning. He made a life, even if it was alone.

Varric: That's the world. Everything you build, it tears down. Everything you've got, it takes. And it's gone forever.

Varric: The only choices you get are to lie down and die or keep going. He kept going. That's as close to beating the world as anyone gets.

Solas: Well said. Perhaps I was mistaken

This entire banter line is about Varric and Solas.

On solas part it's about his very well spoken and articulated racist opinions on the modern dwarves compared to those who came before and trying to rack his brian around them not going to the lengths he himself would have gone to save their race.

Also the fact they are no longer part of the Titan hivemind. He's really stuck on that for reasons we don't really fully understand.

However, far, far more importantly this is about Varric's entire storyline in DAI.

Varric talks about Orzammar, about the loss of the deep roads, and yet they are all still there, still fighting, still marching on, rather than laying down and dying.

That is the true strength of the Dwarven race.

The ability to keep going even after losing everything. The original dwarves lost the titans and their magic. They marched on.

The dwarven empire lost the deep roads, and all but two thaigs. They marched on.

The surface dwarves lost their caste the last remains of their magic, and their status in dwarven society. They marched on.

Varric lost kirkwall. He lost his entire friend group that was the people who he loved more than any other group of people he has ever know. He lost his home that he grew up in and loved. He lost his parents and he lost Barthrand, the only remaining family he had, and who despite it all deeply, deeply loved. He lost Bianca, a teenage infatuation he never was able to get over.

And he lost Hawke. Either to Anders kickstsrting the war, or to the fade.

He lost everything he loved.

And yet He. Marched. On.

Varric's story in DAI is an understated one, one that isn't really given story focus, but unlike all the rest of the attempts at telling a more subtle story with the companions, this one actually worked.

Varric's story, is about his march onwards.

He lost everything due to Anders actions, and yet here he is. Marching forward through life. He hasn't laid down and died. He's still here. He's still fighting.

He still has hope.

And so he marches on through the twilight of his life, and keeps going, even if he loses Hawke forever... He keeps going, and he makes it through his depression, and grief to make a new life for himself in Kirkwall.

A new Kirkwall, but Kirkwall nonetheless.

Solas: That crossbow is remarkable, Varric. I am surprised the dwarves have not made more of them.

Varric: The woman who made Bianca would rather that not happen. Wars are bloody enough as it is.

Varric: A crossbow that fires this far and this quickly with so little training? Every battle would be a massacre.

Solas: Indeed. I am surprised, not disappointed.

Here we get a lot of insight into Varric... But also a moment of great moral ambiguity.

Everything Varric says here is true... But it would also mean his people finally, finally being able to destroy the darkspawn for good and all. Such a tech advantage would allow them to wipe the blighted Creatures from existence with ease.

Varric is more than brilliant enough to understand this... But he chooses not to think about it, or wheter it's a good course of actions, because he is shackled to Bianca even now, even still.

Bianca wants this crossbow not to be on the market, so he doesn't put it on the market, regardless of good or bad.

Varric: Hey Chuckles, do you ever play Wicked Grace?

Solas: I'm not much of a gambler anymore.

Varric: You don't have to play for real coin, that's just for keeping score.

Solas: What do you play for?

Varric: Conversation mostly. That way I win no matter how the cards fall.

This is a followup to Varric's original introductionary short story from way back in the day.

From that one we learn that Varric doesn't actually drink anything served at the Hanged man, he just orders a wine glass or beer mug, because he knows people get nervous if you don't drink in a bar, so he crafts an illusion to aid him in his rogue life.

Vivienne

So like a number of these I'm not gonna cover them in full, as while good, and well written, and paints a very clear picture of Vivienne, they're not exactly deep character pieces for Varrix... But I do wanna cover a few.

Vivienne: Am I to understand, Varric, that you knew the apostate who destroyed Kirkwall's chantry?

Varric: Unfortunately, yes.

Vivienne: What could he possibly have hoped to accomplish with such madness?

Varric: Exactly what he got: a whole lot of innocent people killing each other.

Vivienne: I take it he's no longer on your Wintersend gift list.

Varric: Depends. Does a flaming sack of bronto dung count as a gift?

Vivienne: Only if you tie it with a silk ribbon, my dear.

More Varric hating Anders, and laying all the blame of the Mage Templar Wars and ruining his life on him.

Vivienne: Tell me, Varric, who is the protagonist of this serial?

Varric: You know, we're so far into spoiler territory right now, I think I better stop talking.

Vivienne: Come now, darling. You can tell me.

Varric: Not on your life, Iron Lady. The best way to ensure a book's nevered finish is to tell someone your entire plot.

More Varric showcasing he cannot stand spoilers coming out, and it destroys his entire ability to write.

Vivienne: You know, Varric darling, I read your Hard in Hightown.

Varric: You did? Seriously?

Vivienne: Most of the Imperial Court did. It was in fashion a few winters ago.

Varric: Just how much gold is my publisher stealing from me?

One detail i really like about Varric, is that he tries to create this image of himself as always bring in control and all that... And then he has moments like this where his regular ass publisher swindles him for a shit ton of money.

Vivienne: How many chapters will this book be, Varric dear?

Varric: Well, the first one will come out in twelve chapters.

Vivienne: The first one?

Varric: I've read enough Orlesian fictions to know you never tell a story there in fewer than three complete books. They think you're just warming up after one.

Vivienne: And what happens to the scheming duchess in the first book?

Varric: Are you asking for spoilers, Madame De Fer?

Vivienne: Hints, darling. Not spoilers.

More Varric showcasing he understands other cultures and how they write stories.

[pochapal]

32! Do you like HS^2?

i...genuinely do! i think sometimes there's a half-conception that based on the mere premise of my fics that i don't like postcanon all that much (omelette route was misconstrued as an epilogues fix-it fic in certain circles and pickle route is still sometimes seen as a "better version" of hs^2) even though everything i write is in direct conversation with and comes from a place of admiration for hs^2/the epilogues.

with hs^2 in particular i think it had some really electric ideas that we only got to see the very first brushstrokes of (thinking most pertinently here about whatever was going to go down on deltritus that we never saw) that, if they'd been able to get off the ground, probably would have eclipsed the epilogues as the most interesting part of homestuck. from the bits we saw the meat timeline stuff was definitely the weakest. outside of the jade/altcallie possession chapter a lot of that half of the story was fairly unsurprising character-driven extrapolation of the same angst we departed the epilogues with - and i largely agree with @hms-no-fun that some kind of timeskip here would have helped it feel a little less repetitive (although arguably there might have been? three years definitely passed with dirk et al but it was very up in the air as to how long it had been for the pursuit spaceship crew). i get why that never happened - both meat and candy were being told in tandem and candy ended on a buildup to an immediate conflict that needed to be followed in real time versus meat's meandering slingshot towards something more nebulous, so for the sake of structural symmetry that limited things a little.

i think i'm more amenable to a lot of hs^2's storytelling decisions because i wholly and entirely loved the epilogues from the getgo and it was so good to see that theme/tone be carried through to a more "traditional" mspa space, even if i wonder if the comic form damaged the story more than it helped it. i remember a lot of people getting weirdly mad whenever we'd get an extended prose scene instead of visual panels despite hs^2 being a continuation of the text-based epilogues. then again, the mainstream hs fandom as a whole fucking sucked when it came to postcanon and that's even more evident in how they've collectively memoryholed the whole thing so talking about audience reception is maybe not the most useful thing to talk about here lmao. idk i think people forget that homestuck is largely a story about people who suck and then who get better from sucking. it's just that nobody really likes it when that lens is turned inward onto the alphas/betas who outside of a small handful of exceptions in canon never really had any ethical issues that caused problems for them and others so i personally think it was very interesting and refreshing to explore how the kids' complacency wrt their baggage and trauma allowed them and their world to backslide so disastrously! roxy lalonde enabling jane's fascist ascension is fascinating storytelling actually! (side note: read through shadowed eyes)

hs^2's original characterwork is probably where the story shines the most. the fucked up dynamics between the theseus crew was super fun to read because there's honestly nothing more enjoyable than Supremely Divorced people deciding that makes them irredeemably evil now. the egbert gender stuff was really nice! i particularly enjoyed how, even though it came after the june egbert renaissance, it still managed to be its own unique take on egbert's gender arc that i think really encapsulated the originality driving the project. also forever shoutout to the candy kids my beloved candy kids my children who i will die for - for me in particular hs^2 was a fun time because i was developing my own versions of harry/vrissy/tav for pickle route in parallel to hs^2 and it was so enjoyable seeing all the overlaps and divergences with each upd8. also yiffy fucking rules on every level and even though she never got to be more than a promise she sure was one hell of a promise.

that said i do not think it's that surprising that hs^2 ultimately died before its time. the conditions of the story paired with the most demoralising and vicious iteration of the fandom meant the odds were stacked against it in a big way. you can particularly see the strain of that starting to manifest in the final ~6 months worth of upd8s where people were leaving/being pushed out of the project and every part of hs^2 was a completely hostile environment and the quality of the art and storytelling began to get a little shaky - which i can't really blame them for all things considered! it's hard to want to make the best version of a story possible when the overwhelming reception is a bunch of sanctimonious redditbrained weirdos screaming that you're evil and foul for making characters in a piece of fiction do unexpected and surprising things and also being sympathetic to trans women. there were of course issues with the production conditions of hs^2 that would have probably led to some sort of reckoning at some point, but it's very obvious that the traumatic pressure cooker of a fanbase that wanted nothing more than the death of this project and the ruination of everyone that worked on it threw this whole thing off the rails much faster. despite that, you still have to infinitely admire the team for daring to make something challenging and original in a sphere dominated by people who are content to regurgitate the same babybrained 2013 content ad infinitum - for just a brief moment, homestuck was truly allowed to be the literary masterpiece it's been all along. now people just treat it as more fandomslop to consume and that's perhaps the biggest shame of all.

in the end i think hs^2's legacy is best felt in the places haunted by its premature absence. i'm talking about the comic itself of course but also other spaces and people and projects. stuff that really engaged with the meaty thematic frameworks being thrown up in postcanon that now no longer have a mirror to talk back to - stuff like pesterquest and godfeels and the aforementioned through shadowed eyes that all massively are in conversation with the deeper artistic and philosophical principles underpinning this era of homestuck. if anything else hs^2 will continue to serve as a useful prerequisite for getting into some of the best stuff homestuck fans have ever made. we might never see what could have been, but at least the torch is still being carried by people who care.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hey Raven! 👋🏻 I just went through your #my art, and i wanted to tell you that i really really really like your artworks of Miss Raven and Co. You truly put a lot of effort into your artwork, and it shows! With each new drawing, you seem to be getting better! ✏️💕

As i mentioned earlier, i really liked your Miss Raven drawings! they're so cute! especially when you drew Miss Raven in alternative clothing. I also like how much detail you put in your designs for Miss Raven, like the ones for the Fairy Gala or Masquerade Ball are so beautiful 🥺 and still fit her character!

The one you did with her wearing different dorm uniforms from each dorm was such a cool idea! it was interesting to see how she may have appeared if Miss Raven was transferred to said dorms! call me biased, but i liked the octavinelle design the most 😂 but poor Miss Raven. If she had to work part-time in Mostro lounge, she'll have to avoid two predatory Eels 😭 One wants to tease her while the other either wants to squeeze her or dump all his work on her cuz he isn't feeling it today, then there's Azul who takes advantaged of the fact that Miss Raven is close to headmaster Crowley and makes profit 📈 Run Miss Raven Run!!!

Anyway, I think i'm going to steal her away and fight off a certain dangerous and manipulate Eel, a Skilful Hunter, a Lazy Lion, and a dude with the power of christ (idk is Rollo x Raven even a thing?!).

I always look forward to seeing a new artwork of yours truly~

[Referencing this tag!]

Wehhh 😭 I’m glad you find enjoyment in my silly little doodles! Art is definitely an area I’m less comfortable with, but I do like dabbling in it when the mood strikes.

There’s something therapeutic in designing a new look for your OC! You take the time to consider their individual style, the overall theme, and how you can marry the two to create a cute outfit~ I’m really happy with how Raven’s Fairy Gala Couture came out; it’s definitely one of my favorite looks for her. The Masquerade outfit was also fun for me to assemble, but it seems a lot less cohesive in hindsight (probably because I didn’t line + color it, so it’s harder to distinguish individual elements??).

The NRC dorm uniforms (+ the sequel with RSA and NBC uniforms) was another cool project! I think my favorites from those are the Heartslabyul look (just because I’m a sucker for the Alice in Wonderland aesthetic + Raven is twisted from the raven in its infamous riddle), the Diasomnia look (it gives “fairy tale princess turned knight” energy), and the Noble Bell look (because the extra fabric is nice and flowy). You can see how the environment and the personality of each school/dorm influences her, right? ^^ It’s also interesting to think about how differently Raven might have turned out if each of these places had more of an influence on her life.

Bruh 💀 I think she’d die if she worked at the Mostro Lounge, dealing with customers and shady coworkers and employer… though that’s not to say that any of the other dorms would necessarily be better! Miss Raven would have gripes with or rivals in each of them somehow. It’s the Night Raven College way, I guess??

One of these things is not like the other… Looking back on it, 3 out of 4 of those are basically predatory-prey dynamics there there’s a type developing and I don’t know if I like it/j 😂 I’d say Jade’s the “main” love interest, while Rook’s the “oh, he’s cute” one… L*ona kind of started as a crack ship but now I think it’s more of a one-sided thing?? Like, Miss Raven still sees L*ona as sort of a rival, whereas he’s grown a little fond of her but knows he can’t do much to sway her… It’s the eternally “second place” syndrome… 😔

Rollo has the most complex relationship with her (sure, call it a ship if you want 😂), built primarily on a strange savior complex. He did some heinous stuff and dislikes her because she’s very pro-magic—but I think there’s a part of him that feels like she’s a lost lamb that’s been led astray by Draconia and therefore he needs to “save” and “correct” her. Problem is, he’s bad at Emotions so his anger gets redirected at Miss Raven herself. Meanwhile, Miss Raven realizes the similarities between herself and Rollo, so she wants to be a friend to him. She sort of forces him to be her pen pal (thinking that writing down how he feels will help him cope with what happened). So weirdly enough, Raven wants to “save” Rollo and Rollo wants to “save” Raven (but both suck at communicating well).

Who knows, we’ll see how things play out from here Nd when the whim to draw strikes next 📝

[flower-boi16]

The Ghost and Molly Mcgee is cute

Recently I just talked about the current era of Disney TVA, and I mentioned that I'm going to make a review of The Ghost and Molly Mcgee in that post. Well...here it is! I don't really know how to make an introduction here, so...let's begin.

1. Art Style and Animation

First, let's talk about this show's visuals. I like how this show looks, it does kind of look like it was made in some kind of tweening software like Flash or Toon Boom, and I think the art style looks quite nice here. The character designs look quite nice too, they look bouncy and expressive. The colors look nice and there are some really good-looking scenes in this show as well.

2. The Songs

The Ghost and Molly Mcgee is a musical series, so it's going to have songs in it. The songs in this show aren't half bad; They're pretty nice and catchy. Some of them are mildly cringe-inducing but most of them are nice to listen to. The songs I liked the most were "You've Been Jinxed", "Enjoy Your Afterlife", "Ghosts Aren't the Enemy", "If You Believe" and "In Your Mind". The songs are pretty short but they are still nice. The show doesn't have the best soundtrack of any cartoon I've heard, but it's pretty solid.

3. Characters

Alright, now we've talked about the superficial elements of this show; let's talk about the characters.

Molly- I like Molly. She's one of those "optimistic and joyful" female characters that we've seen throughout the media. But that is far from a bad thing, and I actually like this character archetype a lot of the time. Molly isn't any different; she's a good protagonist. She's a likable and fun character that I enjoy watching on screen.

Scratch - Scratch is Molly's ghost-best friend who's the usual cynical friend to the overly optimistic protagonist. I also do like Scratch as a character, he's just really funny and his development throughout the series is nice. And also I like the plotline with him discovering his past in season 2, I hope they start exploring more of it (or maybe that mind episode was the end of that plotline but maybe they'll explore Scratch's past more idk). Also, Molly and Scratch's friendship is pretty cute, they have a good dynamic and chemistry with each other.

Libby - Libby is kinda like Willow from The Owl House; the shy girl being best friends with the bright-eyed and optimistic protagonist. She's fine. I like her dynamic with Molly like Scratch, they also have good chemistry with each other and her whole story with her neglectful father in that one episode was pretty sad. Don't have much to say about her other than she's fine.

The Other Mcgees - I decided to lump these guys into one section because I don't have much to say about them individually. First we have Molly's father Pete, Molly's mother Sharon, and her little brother Darryl. Like all the other characters, they're fine. Pete and Sharon are good supportive parent characters and Darryl is a mischievous boy who still cares for his siblings and friends. They, like most other characters in this show, are fine and enjoyable to watch.

Ollie - Alright, I might get some hate for this but...I like Ollie. Sure he's not an amazing character but his relationship with Molly is cute and I like the development he got in the episode The Haunting of Brighton Video, where he feels guilt over hunting ghosts. That's good development for him, so ya, Ollie is a good character.

The Other Chens- Like with Molly's family I decided to lump in the rest of Ollie's family into one section due to me not being able to say much about them. They are one of the main antagonists for season 2, they are a family of ghost hunters who came to Brighton because they detected ghostly activity there. They work pretty well as antagonists throughout season 2, and I'm interested to see where the show goes with them.

Andrea - Andrea initially looks like the generic "Mean girl overly obsessed with smartphones" type of character, and she does admittedly kind of start out as that, but she does actually develop into a nicer character who is a good person but just has a REALLY shitty pair of parents, who neglect her to the point where she has to sell things to herself in order to try and get their attention. Once again, Andrea's a good character with a fun little personality and good dynamic with Molly and the other characters.

So the characters aren't amazing or anything, but they're all fun and likable and have really fun and interesting relationships with each other that keeps me engaged with them.

4. The Comedy

The jokes in this show are pretty good. There were a lot of things I laughed at and the slapstick is pretty entertaining as well. But my biggest issue with the comedy (and the show overall)...is the use of toilet humor. Like, there are WAAAAY too many jokes that revolve around the characters stepping on shit and I remember there being a few fart jokes in this. Don't remember what episode it is, I just remembered that the show did have at least one fart joke in it. So ya, the only major issue with the show is its use of toilet humor in some points, but aside from that, the show's comedy is pretty solid.

5. Conclusion

The Ghost and Molly Mcgee is a pretty good show. It's not a masterpiece or anything, but there's a lot of entertainment value you can get out of this show that makes it a fun watch. It's a cute show with good characters, great-looking animation and a decent soundtrack.

Score: 7/10

[reachexceedinggrasp]

Yes the Twelve/Clara stuff I specifically heard is that there's the travelling together/personal enmeshment/the presence of a third love interest representing the mortal world she tries to balance with the new world type of thing, but there's not (yet) the burn-down-the-world investment you have with that pairing, which as I can glean from your posts is very necessary to understanding Twelve/Clara hahaha.

But yeah, I, too, have been trying to resist it, Because I Don't Trust Like That Anymore, and I'm still preoccupied with another pairing eating up all of my fandom energy, but I would never turn my nose up hearing more from people with good taste. I also played New Vegas when I was a teenager, which is considered the best of the Fallout games, and I think it's probably more hopeful than the others? It's also going to be most relevant for the next season, so there's that. You probably know that it needs fan-made patches to run properly without crashes (actually one of the developers released his own patches for it as mods, but they're obsolete now).

It's really funny to see all the fantasy romance enjoyers now being lured into the post-post-apocalyptic setting, lol. When there's a will (a Beauty and the Beast ship) there's a way.

I was initially very hesitant about the show because of the established media property mill, and having watched Westworld, the bad man/nice lady ship was straight-up dark, and after the second season descended into total nonsense. My hope is that the different writer for Fallout doesn't let Jonathan Nolan ever do that again. But it's pretty faithful to the games and one of the original creators, Tim Cain, gave it a pretty glowing review, and that's actually nice to hear. I watch his videos on the YouTubes (they're no frills and actually pretty good) and it's so funny that he doesn't like romance in RPG's because he feels like they're never done very well. Now we put romance in your television show, how do you like that

I'm personally extremely ambivalent about the likelihood of the Fallout pairing evolving beyond flirtation with evil, but who knows? I would love to hear your thoughts on it if you get around to it!

I thought it might be something like that. Yeah, I wouldn't say they were really comparable because the dynamic is very different, but there is the immortal/mortal aspect and him as the knowledgable and hyper-competent native of the larger world versus her more sheltered and ordinary experience. There's the inherent B&tB conflict over power dynamics and emotional vulnerability. But yes lol, part of the essence of Twelve and Clara is us-against-the-universe, being all things to one another, deeply entwined in each other down to the foundations of their identities. Unconditional and unhinged devotion. Which isn't where Ghoulcy is (yet? :D? one can dream).

Oh yeah, just to get further than the menu and actually start a game for Fallout 3 I had to install a mod lmao. My brother was also telling me stop playing that, play New Vegas, it's the best one. But I didn't have NV sitting free in my gog.com library. I got a PS3 version from ebay coming. Hilariously, it's easiest to play the original game, the oldest one. I had zero problems with that on a modern PC.

I know, man. So many times I've sworn off getting invested in anything with such high likelihood of going south or otherwise being disappointing, but the temptation is real. I mean if the second season drops and it goes in a direction I don't like, I would just not watch it, but if they set up something super interesting and squander the potential that's always so frustrating. At least there will be a lot of fic before anyone can rain on the parade.

People are calling attention to the parallels between the characters, but I think we can take for granted they will have a significant relationship going forward, the question is more if it having a redemptive, healing, and/or romantic component is something the writers have considered. If it doesn't hit the first two, I wouldn't want to continue with the show, because that's what's appealing to me about it. If there's a flat token romance with another character for Lucy while her most important and transformative relationship is with Cooper, whom her influence helps reclaim his humanity/decency/hope, that'll annoy me as a missed opportunity but won't make me as sad as if he just stays the same or dies getting revenge or something.

I, too, would have dismissed it as unlikely to be canon (even in a foyay way that doesn't go anywhere) except for how much the creators have emphasised that they wanted him to be attractive and how he's framed very romantically, even heroically by the cinematography (I've seen gifs). That isn't, like, hugely compelling evidence the ship will happen, but it does make it seem like a possibility. It makes me (perhaps foolishly) hope his arc is going in an optimistic direction. If he's literally still wearing a white hat, it's just dirty? I'd honestly put a lot of stock in that.

And maybe I'm basic, but I want my ships to be canon. They don't have to be, I have some that aren't even close, but I do prefer it lol. I like the relationship to be a formative part of the character arcs. If it seems like a good/interesting/satisfying place for the narrative to go, I want it to go there.

[tadpolesonalgae]

hi!! honestly I'm so utterly obsessed with CBMTHY and how you portray that anxious filled scattered brain of our girly pop cause like... relatable lmao💀 and her relationship with elain 🥺🥺 it's do precious how hard she tries to connect with people, though unwilling, but she tries, how she tries to build something for herself even though she kinda doesn't have a will to it (now understable why), how she finally went out of her way to do things on her own under her conditions, how she grows more backbone. I know she feels a lot of guilt right now but honestly would love to see her stand up to ic finally. and also... kinda wish it took a turn to become eris story😶😶😶 they just always have the best, dynamic and interesting scenes, their chemistry is off the charts and it seems like he knows and understands her more cause she is more comfortable to talk to him when with azriel it's so... awkward? and kinda forced ngl. literally started to read it because of him and the angst and stayed for the reader and eris. I get that her power matches azriel's shadows and everything but fiery couple eris x reader?? HOT DAMN!! they just make so much sense. anyway how about making them all three a poly👀 hahaha

hope you're having a great time of a day!

I’m so happy you enjoyed that aspect of reader in cbmthy!! With her trying to connect with people but simultaneously being unsure of herself and uncertain if that’s what she really wants, then also struggling with the conflict of wanting company but feeling undeserving of it :/

‘I know she feels a lot of guilt right now but honestly would love to see her stand up to ic finally.’

I don’t want to say too much since I’ve yet to start chapter 17, but I’m hoping to write a scene where reader does/says something that’s a little out of character? In terms of how she generally shies from confrontation and desires to be as unproblematic for other people as possible? I just hope it’s enjoyable for you to read and doesn’t feel needless? Hopefully it will show a little more about what kind of person she is and how she might choose to resolve a conflict when forced to? I don’t know, I guess I just hope it doesn’t fall flat when it actually gets written! 🧡💛

‘and also... kinda wish it took a turn to become eris story😶😶😶’

😭😭😭 i can’t really blame you honestly since Az and reader I don’t think have had many good interactions? Then comparing that with her and Eris? I can see why you want her to end up with him instead, though them swapping rings is likely as far as it will go—I feel any further than that would be out of character for reader since she’s spent so much time being in love with Az it would be odd for her to suddenly develop feelings for someone else :)

‘they just always have the best, dynamic and interesting scenes, their chemistry is off the charts’

Thank you so much!!! I’m honestly kind of surprised(?) I guess by how many people seem to really be on Eris’ side? I suppose I interpret that as people genuinely engaging with reader more as a person than a character and wanting things to go well for her which is such a high compliment to receive? 😭🧡💛

‘anyway how about making them all three a poly👀 hahaha’

I hadn’t considered making them all poly 👀

Unfortunately that won’t happen in cbmthy because it is strictly Azriel x reader, but now you’ve put a throuple idea in my head I might have to write something else 😭 (thank you for the suggestion 🤩)

‘hope you're having a great time of a day!’

I am, thank you very much! I’m thinking it might be time for supper soon! 🎊

I hope you’re having a good day too!! 🧡💛

[rinyaskyline]

Don't mind me just writing an essay that I've had sitting in my brain since mid season 2 haha please hear me out

It's the character arcs for me. During the "crushing on her" phase of lumity, Amity went through a bit of character assassination (please don't attack me I love Amity fr that's why I'm mad). Had they kept the dynamic similar to how it was in Enchanting Grom Fight, I might have been more enthralled with them as a couple. But they had to change quite an amount of Amity's presentation to make it believable that she had and obvious crush on Luz, which also almost completely went away once they actually started dating. Time constraints may have impacted it but it still didn't start off very strong in Wing It Like Witches, which was before the season 3 cut was announced, meaning that it was intended to be this way. (Personally, I think it would have made more sense for Luz to be the first one to fall in love, and then work off that dynamic up until that scene in Escaping Expulsion. Change a few things in Knock Knock Knocking on Hooty's Door and bam! The Grand gesture date was all LUZ and Hooty just helped. I mean, she's literally a romantic at heart, missed opportunity for her to do elaborate grand gestures and have things get foiled continuously through the episode)

But what I found was Hunter is that even as we learned more about him as character, he more or less stayed fundamentally the same. He was still that same snarky but genuinely caring person we met in Hunting Palismen. Luz and Hunter's dynamic stayed pretty much the same every time they met, and they didn't have to change their personalities too much to make it enjoyable to watch. They seemed like a real pair, romantic or platonic, who shared similar interests and bonded over them.

I think that's why they're canonical communication is so different. Amity and Luz were written to be "the soft sapphic™️ couple" (apparently according to some interview¹ she wrote them as an lgbt couple from the getgo and as someone who does story writing let me tell you that it's really hard to reverse engineer two characters fell in love story when you already had them as a couple in your head) so they didn't really get a good opportunity to develop that necessary character communication. Meanwhile, Hunter and Luz got plenty of one-on-one time where they just talked about things that only they had interest in (wild magic, Palismen) because they weren't set up to be a thing, but rather to bounce off one another.

The TLDR of this is basically while Lumity definitely does what it's designed to do, that being the cute Instagram girlfriends you love to see for the sake of wholesome², Lunter (again platonic or romantic³) works better because they feel like a real, fleshed out pair that really understand each other.

¹No, I don't know what interview it is. It was in a Twitter thread I read a time ago. But I do know that representation was a MAJOR factor in how the Owl House was structured so I'm confident that it's true, please inform me if not.

²If this show was marketed as Fantasy Rom-Com I would be all over this dynamic and I'm not even joking. But if you're gonna make a generally darker toned Fantasy Action Coming-Of-Age story I don't want the main couple to feel like they were made for the Insta story aesthetic tbh.

��My fav genre of ship is "this is my closest friend who knows all my secrets and they complete me. oh also we're dating lol"

You know as much as I love lumity I am seeing a lot of flaws I can't excuse

Luz and Amity don't have the best communication skills both times when Luz was struggling wit something Amity had to pull it out of her

She had no trouble telling eda what was wrong even if she tried to down play it Eda read between the lines and knew something was wrong meanwhile it took Luz being pushed to a corner for her to open up to amity.

Amity questioned Luz on Eclipse lake when she was sending her messages and she act like she couldn't ask what was wrong it took King showing her she was wrong

There's a lot more but thats the basic hell even at the end of thanks to them Amity couldn't comfort her girlfriend when she was blaming herself for what she did

But when I look at Lunter I am reminded how Hunter had no problem opening up to her and in return her how Luz and Hunter despite being enemies still tried to help each other when it was necessary hell Hunter didn't have to help Luz wit the palasmins hell he could've told Belos or even go after them again but he didn't he actually tried to keep Luz as safe as possible

The two of them {lunter} have better chemistry and have moments that show how healthy together they are the two of them opened up to one another better than her and Amity

Hunter was able to show he cares and is thankful for her and not once did they doubt each other like at all but yeah that's about it ^^;

Why I love lunter and don't like lumity

[sussux-zel]

So I made something (Part five-Sonic Boom)...

Well, that was fun. Thank you so much to the people who liked and shared these things. Never thought they would be good, but I tried my best.

I find it extremely hilarious that, of all of these characters, only two are adults (Vector, being canonically 20, and Eggman, whose age is not clear). We could spend years talking about Shadow's age, especially in Sonic Boom, but on my point of view, he's 15, just like Sonic (also canon). Amy, Tails and Knuckles are also the same age they are as their main counterparts (8, 12, and 16). I headcanon Sticks to be 11 because she seems to be close in age to Amy and a little older than Tails, but younger than the rest of them.

Literally, two children asking a bunch of teenagers and two adults where do babies come from.

I'm not such a fan of Amy, but her boom version is quite enjoyable. She seems to be okay in hanging out with Sonic and only getting nervous when the thing is on the table.

Sonic is both "acts calm" and "brain.exe" because he's a dork.

Shadow doesn't know how to act when you have a crush, and denies being interested in anyone.

Eggman screams drama to me.

Didn't fill the last two because I believe all of them deserve to have a nice day at the amusement park, despite Shadow and Sticks almost dying on the rollercoasters.

Somebody get these hedgehogs to therapy. Grab Eggman too on the way.

Warning: the following part contains ideas for an AU and the implications of Shadow and Sonic being romantically involved. If you don't like the couple or are not interested in the AU, that's okay.

Thank you.

Now, this is the chart where I'm implying something.

You see, I liked Sonic Boom, and despite his portrayal, I loved Shadow. However, I believe he deserved more character analysis and development. That, with also my desires to see a little more of Vector, more characters, and frankly a new season, result in creating an AU on September that maybe will be published this month (January). I don't promise it will be in English because it isn't my first language, but I will try my best to translate it.

So, here's the chart.

I don't know how much the Sonic fandom has changed. I was away for five years, and then it was still kind of "weird" to talk about Shadow and Sonic being romantically involved: I like to think that the couple is kind of nice when things like acknowledging problems and mutual healing are on the table. Not just violence and +18 (which wouldn't be a part of the AU since they are both 15). I know it is difficult to write Shasoni, due to the clash of personalities, the dynamics and how the Sonic Boom franchise portrayed them. I'm not perfect, but I will try my best. It's been a while since a wrote Sonic fanfiction.

Hope you guys might like it...

[onewomancitadel]

Day 4 of rereading The Distance Which Fools Tye Skimming Eye until Chapter 13.

How did you get so good at writing dialogue? Like is it natural or super practiced? The dialogue flows everywhere and it feels so incredibly natural. I've read actual books that feel so stiff when two characters interact let alone a group. Also the awareness at where the characters are at and what they are doing is so good. I've read stories where the writer has a group of people together and only two people are ever actually doing anything and I had no idea who was actually a part of the 'group discussion', where as you have been able to deliver a full cast completely in enjoyable character time after time again.

I could go on and on about how good this writing is.

Every time I reread these last couple of chapters I find myself trying to predict what the endgame is for the Summer Maiden. Because she put herself in quite the troublesome predicament making an enemy of our main characters and Salem. I can't help but see an undeveloped version of Cinder in her to be honest and I really like that parallel. Was that intentional?

The hardest parts to read or rather reread are Cinder's perspectives. Not because they hurt to read because I don't like her. They hurt because I want her to get a happy ending and her life has just been so... unimaginably terrible. I just want a happy ending for everyone to be honest.

Hi again anon! It's lovely to hear from you again. (: Hope you are having a good day! <3

That is such high praise about the dialogue, I'm blushing. XD I can only tell you that I really love dialogue generally. I love dialogue as action, and I love tension and release, and it's really just some of my favourite stuff to write - book dialogue is what makes books books, in a lot of ways. I love when characters are concealing things or revealing things, I love the way ideas are grown and developed, that's all of my favourite stuff. My favourite romances are dialogue-heavy, I love the thematic idea of 'talking, not fighting', so everything's wrapped up in it.

I really appreciate the feedback on the group dynamics in particular. I've tried to do it as well as I could, especially given that R/WBY is an ensemble cast show. Though Skimming Eye is about Jaune and Cinder, it would be remiss of me to exclude other characters - I just try to really ham up the theme of the show with 'little heroisms', everybody else has their own story going on. It's why I've ended up writing some sidefic set in the story which are from the perspective of characters like Emerald and Mercury, or some others in most recent chapters. I am very trying. I try very hard to organically juggle the cast of everybody. There is a particular structured way I do it, but I would hate to reveal too many of my sekrits. XD XD I mean, I could elaborate more if you're interested, but there is definitely a reason why I'm interested in Jungian psychoanalytic storytelling (it gives structure!) and also I think individual characters representing individual challenges and ideas is the way to juggle a cast and tell an interesting story.

I also couldn't avoid the ensemble cast and group settings because character drama reasons and social scandal of the romance lol.

Thank you so much for enjoying the dialogue, once again. (: I think I myself am definitely a proponent for the importance of dialogue, and the importance of dialogue as action. It's as serious, if not more so, than anything else.

Every time I reread these last couple of chapters I find myself trying to predict what the endgame is for the Summer Maiden. Because she put herself in quite the troublesome predicament making an enemy of our main characters and Salem.

Carmine is having the time of her life! That's fun it's a source of speculation for you, it's fun to think about people trying to figure out what I'm doing. XD You might note, that quite unsubtly, the 'enemy of Salem, enemy of the heroes' arc is already covered in canon; like the show goes over its own footsteps in poetic narrative, I did revisit it here, particularly for what I think it does thematically in respect to Salem and who the true enemy is. I also like leaning into the 'fannish' element of my fic - that is, this is a work made in respect to canon. I couldn't do this in an original work, for instance, and have that same sense of poetic narrative. It's a lot of fun.

I can't help but see an undeveloped version of Cinder in her to be honest and I really like that parallel. Was that intentional?

Not to sound up myself, but calculatedly so. I did borrow a lot from the show's style of foiling (which I'm a fan of), and gave her a lot of bad!fanon!Cinder - which is very cathartic, admittedly. Take all of the most uncharitable and ridiculous interpretations and put it into an actual character, basically, but then also try to make her a real person in the same stroke - that was my goal. I have sort of ended up loving bad!fanon!Cinder and all of her quirks, so I remain convinced that even if bad!fanon!Cinder were actually Cinder, I'd still love her.

But yeah, that was what Gillian was for, who is also a foil for Jaune, and you might be able to read exactly what I was going for in Chapter 12 (Gillian and Carmine chose each other over everybody else - and everything).

I took some canon stuff from Before the Dawn - I really tried to source from the canon material - but like, I don't mean to be rude but the book materials really don't interest me. Despite this, once I got the parallels of Carmine with Cinder, and Gillian with Jaune (in the canon material) I really couldn't help myself and so that's how Skimming Eye really took off.

If Carmine and Gillian appear in the show proper, it's likely that Skimming Eye's Carmine and Gillian may not be as canon-relatable, but that's also a product of given fic characterisation - Carmine has gown more desperate (like post-V3!Cinder, actually) and so too has Gillian, and there's more direct Salem-side influence on them. So, nevertheless, I hope it holds up. I could've gone with my own characters, but that would have been less interesting, I think. I tried my best to account for future show canon, but ultimately Skimming Eye is the Great Lovesong of Jaune and Cinder, and I want to see how that story plays out.

The hardest parts to read or rather reread are Cinder's perspectives. Not because they hurt to read because I don't like her. They hurt because I want her to get a happy ending and her life has just been so... unimaginably terrible.

There is one time I have cried writing this story and it's a Cinder chapter. It moves me a lot that you are so moved!

I did really try to preserve her character in the story - that she's a villainess protagnist, a Byronic heroine, a bad wizard herself - but balance that with what she's been through (especially given the fact we have her direct perspective... something intentionally concealed in the show, from other characters, and only shown to us when she lets us in. That's why even her perspective chapters take a bit to turn up). Trauma doesn't turn you into a non-person. That's why I like that she's a villainess in the story - she's a 'Bad Victim', some of us are 'Bad Victims', but we're still people, with motives and perspectives and opinions.

I just want a happy ending for everyone to be honest.

I have talked a few times on my blog about why I think cathartic happy endings are meaningful... sorrow too, pain, the deepest pain and the deepest sorrow... also define joy. Pain alone and evil alone can simply just be banal; what a lot of pseudo-intellectual 'tragedy' gets wrong is not understanding exactly why tragedy is itself powerful, and what makes tragedy tragedy. Pain is not intellectual and pain is not sophisticated, it's just part of the human experience. So too is joy. I'm not sure why there's a conception that sorrow is more profound, that it's more honest, that it tells you the truth, and that happiness is just concealment. I don't know if it's to cope, or if it's a product of narrative illiteracy, or what. It's really quite ridiculous.

The reason why I'm so compelled about the idea of Salem losing Ozma is that this idea of loss and grief is all throughout the show, but in ways that make it meaningful. Salem losing Ozma is not a good story, and she doesn't let it end there... a show about stories has to have a story, yes? With meaning? Nothing happens for no reason. Ozma didn't die for nothing, it's leading somewhere, and to be quite truthful l think it's leading somewhere happy. I'm pretty determined that Salem and Ozma will end up together forever, wherever they go.

So, I'm not spoiling 'the ending' of my fic - lol - I think it's how you get there that matters anyway, that's the fun of the bad witch and the bad wizard in love, it's such a long journey - but giving you my opinion on what I think makes happy endings meaningful.

Now let me give you one of my favourite Joseph Campbell quotes (yes, it's Power of Myth, how did you know):

BILL MOYERS: So there’s joy and pain in love.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: Yeah, there is. Love, you might say, is the burning point of life, and since all life is sorrowful, so is love. And the stronger the love, the more that pain, but love bears all things. Love itself is a pain, you might say, but is the pain of being truly alive.

[lady-griffin]

I'm curious, who do you ship in Otome Game no Hametsu Flag?

Oh Boy, get ready for a lengthy answer, that’s a lot longer than you ever wanted. 

I pretty much ship Katarina with everyone in the harem, except Keith and Sophia.

Even though Keith is in love with Katarina, they have such a pure sibling dynamic. I would hate for Katarina and Keith to lose their sibling, even if they gained a romantic partner out of it.

Sophia and Katarina have such a wonderful platonic relationship that I just adore. I know Sophia loves Katarina like the rest, but their whole dynamic is the most friendship based, especially for a certain big reason. I prefer their friendship with one another than a romance.

Here’s who I ship and in what order.

1. Katarina x Geordo

I love their dynamic and relationship and just everything about them. The setup for these two works for me on every level. Their scenes are my favorite and I’m always looking forward to seeing them interact with one another.

The juxtaposition of Geordo clearly being in love with Katarina and her having contingency plans in case he exiles or attacks her is just amazing. It’s so goddamn funny.

Plus, that juxtaposition provides such wonderful tension between the two, which is very enjoyable to see and explore.

It’s also interesting that their dynamic was established first, which makes me think that the rule of first guy/girl might apply to the story. Especially, since their engagement is a factor to a lot of the other love-interests’ feeling towards Katarina.

While it hasn’t been developed that much (at least in the Manga) something about Geordo being a black-hearted prince and not the fairytale prince he presents himself as is, for me, a very rich mine that has yet to be explored. The fact that Katarina is also very aware of that side of him, because of her secret knowledge, makes it all the more intriguing.

There are just so many possibilities for these two.

While this might ruin the harem aspect of it all, I think there could be a very interesting new dynamic if Katarina returned Geordo’s feelings –

(1) But she was completely unaware of her own feelings.

(2) If she were aware, would completely think Geordo is not in love with her.

(3) Katarina wonders and panics if her wanting to be with Geordo confirms that she is the villainess. Is she getting in the way of him and Maria or him and someone else? Is she just sealing her own doomed ending by being in love with him?

OR what if Geordo did break off his engagement with Katarina, because he has to be engaged to someone else (or thinks he does). And Katarina, to her own surprise, became sad.

Because then I can imagine a whole Ouran Highschool Host Club like-scenario, with Katarina going after Geordo but some other group or force tries to stop her.

Then whole harem helps her get to him, each letting her go in the process, because of their feelings (not despite) they all want Katarina to be happy.

There are so many possibilities for these two, so even if it’s not what I imagine, I’m just excited to see what is to come for these two. 

They just won over my little shipper heart.

2.  Katarina x Mary

I greatly enjoy Mary and Katarina’s friendship and whole dynamic. I love their scenes together. Seeing them together as friends, an unrequited love, a couple – is perfection for me.

They have such wonderful chemistry together and I’m always hungry for more. 

I love Mary having that bit of an edge to her (apparently more so in the Light Novels). And combined with Katarina’s density you have the makings of a great comedic dynamic.

In the game it seems like Mary was just the perfect lady – outside and inside. There wasn’t a darker shade or ulterior aspect to her (though that could just be the game’s limited view of the world).

But our Mary, she is more than willing to fight for Katarina.

That girl has an extensive profile on all of her rivals and is closely monitoring all their relationships with Katarina. Mary would cut a bitch is what I’m saying.

Which is very similar to Geordo, which is why I think Mary is so appealing to me as a love interest for Katarina. What I like about Geordo and Katarina, Mary and Katarina also have that factor.

Also, since Katarina is best girl and Mary is also best girl then clearly the two should be together (I’m sorry, Sophia and Maria – I love you two as well).

If Mary got the girl in the end, I would be over the moon.  And that’s what shipping is all about.

3. Katarina x Maria

I enjoy their relationship, whether it be platonic or romantic.

I was curious when I began to read the Manga if Maria was going to become the villain, since Katarina became the heroine. I was pleased that was not the case – hell, far from it as Katarina romanced her too.

They’re just so cute and sweet. And I love that when everyone else is exasperated with Katarina, Maria is just smiling all lovey-dovey, not even bothered. That’s great.

It also seems like Katarina saved Maria from her loneliness in a way that the game never really explored with the four main love-interests, so there’s that whole aspect to their relationship, which I am intrigued by and really like. 

If I’m being honest, though, I do think they are missing that good romantic tension that I think all good romances need. I want more of a bite to them and their relationship. So, they’re not quite there for me as a couple, at least not yet. 

Nonetheless, Katarina is lovely and wonderful. Maria is lovely and wonderful. So, the two of them together would be lovely and wonderful. 

4. Katarina x Alan

I guess with the kind of character Alan is, I thought we would have gotten more of his relationship with Katarina than what we actually get (in the Manga so far).

When I started reading the manga, I just assumed he was going to be the main rival to Geordo. So, when that didn’t happen, I was surprised. A part of me feels like there’s something missing with these two that I’m not being shown, which piques my imagination.

I like that the anime has elaborated on Alan and Katarina’s relationship, with what we’ve been given so far, because their relationship was lacking.

I love the drama of Alan falling in love with his brother’s fiancée and all that jazz. They also have a unique dynamic as friends and once rivals which is nice.

While Katarina is dense as all hell, Alan is not too far behind – especially when it comes to feelings and how to act on them. So, their combined density might just kill everyone else if combined– which would be a lot of fun.  

Overall, I do ship them less because of what we’ve been given so far, but more because of their potential.

5. Katarina x Nicol

Unfortunately, for Nicol there’s not all that much of him in comparison to the others.

I like his and Katarina’s relationship from his side - he’s cool and reserved to pretty much everyone (except Sophia), but quickly loses all that calm when it comes to Katarina. 

I do love his whole I’m prepared to walk an appropriate distance behind you, while you become the wife of my dear friend and prince and maybe my future King. That’s just some good romantic angst there.

It’s also nice how they both love Sophia and that is the basis of their entire foundation. 

There is something so underrated about a person falling for another, because of how they interact with their family. 

Oh, and Sophia rooting for these two, is just too cute.

6. Katarina x Raphael

Honestly, these two just comes across as though Katarina adopted a new little brother – even though he’s older. But I’m not opposed to their dynamic if it got more development. I’m really more in love with their friendship than anything else, though. 

Non-Katarina Ships (Gasp, can it be?)

7. Alan x Mary

I really like their dynamic as it currently is – and it would hilarious to me that while these two are engaged and both in love with Katarina – that somehow amongst all of that mess they started to develop feelings for one another.

In the game, Alan didn’t have any feelings for Mary (which how is that even possible - she’s Mary).

But, boy did he get jealous in this timeline when he thought Katarina was stealing away his fiancée when they were kids (which, yeah, that was 100% the case).

It feels like there could definitely be something between these two, which I’m not oppose to, as long as it feels organic and not just them being paired off together to tie up loose ends. 

8. Maria x Raphael 

I don’t know why, but I just really like the idea of these two together. Maybe because it feels like opposites coming together with their magic.

I think it would be fun if one of Maria’s romance-targets became a romantic possibility for her in this time-line. I just like them - romantic or not.

9. Keith x Maria

I think they would be sweet. Out of the four main romance-targets these two just work the best with how they are in the current timeline, in my opinion.  

10. Keith x Nicol

I saw a fan comic of these two and I liked it…

Keith being charmed by Nicol (as we have seen men are also affected) is nice. They also have the whole, I will do anything to protect my sister thing, going for them.

So, that’s some nice shared ground between the two of them. 

11. Keith x Sophia

They’re both very sweet and adorable younger siblings. It would be cute.

12. Mary x Maria

Honestly, why not. There’s not a real reason here, other than – why the hell not?

 --

And that’s who I ship in Otome Game No Hametsu Flag. 

This is just my personal opinion of who I ship. No judgement on anyone else or what they ship or who their favorite ship is. 

Also, sorry for the length. I have a lot of feelings and opinions on Hamefura. 

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

hi, shannen. it's been a minute, but i was reliving some buffy nostalgia today and wondering if watching tvd for the first time at 28 is worth it lol. and by this i mean that i remember you saying a while back that tvd is one of those shows that might not hit for you the same way if you saw it for the first time now. i realized today that at the end of the day i'll always kind of be "meh" about btvs since all the platonic relationships (i.e. buffy and giles, dawn, faith, etc.) always grabbed me more than the love triangle. is it worth it starting tvd after liking but not necessarily loving btvs? is it worth it just to see what everyone on this site is talking about (i use the word is because of legacies lol)? some of it looks interesting but i'm not looking forward to the love triangle.

Hey Fatmia! It has been a while. I hope you’ve been well.

Tbh, there’s no simple answer to your question because there’s so many factors to take into consideration when deciding whether or not to watch TVD. So please bear with me whilst I break this down.

Reasons to watch TVD

TVD has a lot of great aspects to it:

A strong cast of characters

Well written character arcs

Interesting plots

A great setting

A distinct TVD aesthetc that I just love in terms of music, tone, setting and production

Lots of great relationships (platonic and romantic)

Intruiging lore and perspectives on the supernatural

If you’re a fan of the vampire genre, TVD is well worth a watch because it plays with the genre in a fun way and does some interesting stuff with it. Although it’s commonly perceived as a typical “teen” show, it goes beyond that. @sulietsexual​ watched TVD for the first time two years ago and it was interesting to see her views as someone going in to the show with a completely fresh perspective. She made a great video essay on this topic and spoke about how her perceptions of TVD changed after she watched the show. She also addresses the triangle and how she felt that it was written and handled well. Although I don’t necessarily agree with all her views, my history with the fandom and attachment to Stelena as a ship is so entrenched that this hugely impacts my perspective of the triangle so I’m really not the best person to ask. So if you don’t mind spoilers, I’d recommend watching the video to get an idea of the redeeming qualities of TVD.

Reasons not to watch TVD

But like any show, for all its good, there’s also bad:

The quality goes downhill from Season 4 onwards

A lot of the original cast (and best characters) leave

Some characters are done a huge injustice

Some poor relationship choices

If you are a big shipper and strongly dislike triangles, that in itself might be a reason not to watch. Although there’s a triangle on BTVS, it exists more within the fandom than on the show itself. When Buffy is with Angel, they’re exclusive and Spike is a supporting character. By the time Buffy and Spike become canon, Angel has moved to L.A and has his own show, so the two relationships exist separately from one another. In comparison, the triangle on TVD is established in Season 1 and continues until Season 4 and there’s a lot of emphasis on it, particularly in Seasons 3 and 4. The triangle is used as a way to provide the Salvatore brothers with character development and is very central to their relationship with each other. Whereas the BTVS triangle is never really part of the narrative or development of the characters in the same way.

However, I do feel that the triangle in TVD is handled well in a lot of ways. I just personally didn’t like the way it was handled from Season 4 onwards. And that’s not just because my ship wasn’t endgame but for a lot of other reasons. Putting that aside, it is an interesting, well-built triangle and the dynamics between Elena, Damon and Stefan are fascinating and believable. I actually really liked the triangle in some ways (and wrote a whole fanfiction about it!) but there were some choices were made that I disliked.

Comparing TVD and BTVS

In terms of comparing TVD and BTVS as a whole, they are very different shows and your feelings towards BTVS won’t necessarily have any impact on your enjoyment of TVD. I like both shows but for very different reasons. BTVS is an older show (it aired in 1997 and TVD in 2009) with a more comedic, young and simplistic tone and premise. TVD feels like a more mature, complex show to me. It also has a more developed lore and nuanced perspective on morality and vampires. Overall, if you’re looking at the two shows in their entirety I’d say BTVS is stronger because I really dislike the later seasons of TVD, but I think that Seasons 1-3 of TVD are better than the whole of BTVS. There’s genuinely not a single thing I dislike about the early seasons of TVD but with BTVS, I love a handful of episodes and the rest is just a middle of the ground “good” for me.

Conclusion

I still think TVD is worth the watch. The fandom soured a lot of things for me back in the day, but it has changed a lot over the years and is a generally positive fandom to be part of. Watching it now so many years after it ended and when the fandom is less active will all work in your favour. Although the triangle might be off-putting, it is one of the better triangle’s I’ve seen in terms of the perspective it brings to the characters and their relationships. There are also a lot of other things to love about the show. Despite not enjoying the later seasons, I’m glad I watched the show if only for the great characters like Katherine, Klaus, Rebekah and Stefan. There are also a lot of incredible platonic ships on the show, so if you’re a fan of platonic ships, there’s a lot of them for you to enjoy. If you dislike it or the triangle becomes too much, you can stop watching. But if you’re curious about the show I say give it a go and see what you think.

[sugarcarnation]

okay this is sooooo random but I'm curious so

1) how would you rank the nds as of season 2? (sorry matt)

2) what are your top 5 rachel solos?

3) what's your opinion on puck?

💖

xx

hiii!!! thanks for the ask 💛💛💛

1)

soo im not totally sure if i’m only supposed to rank the season 2 new directions here or also the people who join later. idk i think i’m just gonna do the ones from season 2 (and hope you didn’t want me to do more of them lol). im also gonna try to rank them for specifically this season so this should be fun

1. kurt - i don’t think anyone is surprised by that. i just love him and season 2 kurt in particular

2. rachel - hear me out! i love her. and i personally think that she was great this season. it was also the beginning of hummelberry and what can i say? i love them

3. mercedes - it’s mercedes

4. tina - i love tina but she’s really just spending a lot of time in the background here so im putting her a bit lower than i usually would

5. sam - he’s just so great! but i didn’t really enjoy any of his (romantic) relationships this season. except the two seconds of samcedes we got. loved those

6. santana - this santana might be my favorite. i loved her character development. and season 2 is my favorite brittana season as well! and she wore a lot of great outfits after quitting the cheerios and i appreciate that (and there were some really good pezberry moments as well but i’m getting off topic)

7. lauren - we needed more of her because what we got from her this season was great. but then again she was way too cool for anyone else in the new directions

8. quinn - i appreciated her drama this season but there was just too much cheating and her dating finn involved for me to put her any higher

9. brittany - season 2 brittany is my favorite brittany so i feel kinda bad for putting her this low. but a lot of the time i’m not the biggest fan of the way she’s written (although i totally blame the writers for that) and overall i enjoy brittany in fanon a lot more. but again brittana this season was amazing and i loved it a lot

10. mike - idk he didn’t do that much. i like him but he still needs to wait one more season for his one (1) storyline

11. finn - let me start by saying that i actually like finn a lot. but season 2 just forgot pretty much all of his character development and i just think he could have been a lot better this season

12. artie - i think this might have been the most focus artie ever got in any season but it just wasn’t that enjoyable. i actually thought him and brittany were kinda cute but it wasn’t memorable at all.

13. puck - well someone has to be last i guess. and i felt the least bad about putting puck here. even though he had some good moments this season but still this is a subjective ranking and i can do what i want

2)

1. wake me up

2. don’t rain on my parade

3. torn

4. go your own way

5. my man

3)

okay so i just put him at the bottom of my list but i do think that puck is an interesting character. like i can’t say i particularly care about him but i think his overall character arc was really well done. you can see his character development from season 1 to 6 and i think it made a lot of sense for him. but yeah he’s not one of my favorites. most of the time his scenes were kinda boring to me or just plain uncomfortable (looking at the puck/shelby storyline. wtf was that??)

and i personally don’t like quick at all and i don’t really care about his friendship with finn so it doesn’t help that about half of his scenes are related to either of these things

but i have to say i absolutely loved every time he and coach beiste interacted. that was a dynamic i would have liked to see more of

[notthatiwilleverwriteit]

I don't know if I'm the only one, but I love she li character. I'm totally against what he's done to mo and he should be held accountable, but I still love his character and want to know more about him. His first fight with he tian, I was so curious to know why he seemed to enjoy it and even licking the blood from his lip, from then on I wanted to know his story. And I dont think he should be paired up with someone in the story it would ruin his whole esthetic. what are your thoughts about him?

Hello, dear anon!

This answer could weird out some people, so...Uh. Consider yourselves warned, I guess? It’s pretty much downhill from here on.

I’m sorry it took me so long to get to your ask. Thank you for your patience!

Do I have thoughts about SL? ...Let’s just say “a lot” is the answer:

My favorite 19 Days character(s)

My favorite 19 Days chapter(s)

SL’s bracelet

SL’s lip piercing

SL and ships:

My 19 Days NOTP (why I don’t ship MGS and SL)

My thoughts on SL and JY

My thoughts on SL and JY (vol. 2)

My thoughts on SL and HC

My thoughts on SL and Cuntou (Buzzcut)

My thoughts on SL’s sexuality

SL and MGS’s story:

Backstory revelation

SL and MGS’s development (the beginning vs. the train station scene)

That’s quite a reading list, but if you’re interested in my SL-related thoughts and mullings, I recommend checking out those previous posts. It���s possible I will repeat some things I’ve already talked about but this time I’m not going to give an overall brief summary. It would probably end up being anything but brief.

“I'm totally against what he's done to mo and he should be held accountable, but I still love his character and want to know more about him.”

This is partly why I’m hesitant to say I love SL’s character because I feel like I have to follow that with a small disclaimer that no, I don’t condone his behavior. I find him endlessly intriguing, complex, and layered. Every time he appears I never know what will happen and he always instantly steals the scene for me. I’m drawn to his darkness and disturbed, impossible-to-predict ruthlessness.

In addition to that, my “love” for him also goes deeper. I always feel like a weirdo talking about this but I see some of myself and my own shortcomings in SL’s character. Jealousy and envy. The misery loves company mentality. I don’t go around manipulating and threatening people but on some morbid level, his character allows me to go to that dark place and almost relish in all the disturbing thoughts I can muster. To me, some of the rawest and primitive parts of human nature are embodied and amplified in his character.

“His first fight with he tian, I was so curious to know why he seemed to enjoy it and even licking the blood from his lip, from then on I wanted to know his story.”

SL almost enjoying the fight and licking the blood are interesting notions that I haven’t really thought of before (ch. 184):

I’m glad you brought this up because I’ve been wanting to talk about SL and fighting ever since MGS mentioned how SL had a reputation of being “very vicious in fights” (ch. 319). I saw people thinking that was because of his Guillain–Barré syndrome. And sure, I’m not saying that couldn’t be the reason or a part of it. After all, we don’t know how far along his treatment was by that time. If you don’t feel pain as well as others, I can imagine you’re more fearless in fights.

However, I think his “viciousness” was more about SL’s overall nature. I mean, he picked up a heavy whiskey bottle and smashed someone in the head with it and didn’t seem to even blink. He was unpredictable and didn’t shy away from taking things further than probably most kids his age. Nothing was really off-limits for SL and whoever opposed him could never know what his next move would be. If you’re fighting someone and they lick their own blood - looking like they’re almost savoring the taste - I think you might want to start coming up with an exit plan. SL has a disturbing, cold-blooded aura as a fighter, and cruel, dirty violence is his style.

I’m also interested in MGS mentioning SL had transferred schools. We don’t know if he already had group-affiliations in his new school but imagine if he didn’t. Did he take over a group as an outsider by vicious violence? Did he make his own group from scratch?

“I dont think he should be paired up with someone in the story it would ruin his whole esthetic”

I don’t personally ship SL with anyone “in canon” as in I don’t think he has canonical romantic/sexual feelings for anyone in the comic. I don’t interpret his possessive behavior with MGS as romantic jealousy. Nor do I think he’s interested in JY in a romantic way. That being said, I do believe anyone is free to ship whatever they and however they want, so I don’t know about “shouldn’t be paired up with someone”.

But I think I get what you mean. I think if he had romantic feelings for someone we’re familiar with in the comic it would skew his character. “Interrupt” him, in a way. I’m not saying SL couldn’t be in a romantic relationship or even love someone but I’m not sure if that kind of “side-track” would quite fit how his role in the story has been built up so far. I would love to see more sides to him, but romantic love would feel too forced. It would kind of make me tilt my head and go “huh?”.

I feel the same way about his redemption. Again, I would love to know more about him and what’s going on in his head and heart and life general. What made him like this and what makes him tick. But I don’t know if I want him to be redeemed that way in the boys’ eyes. I kind of want him to stay as the villain to them. If they somehow started to see SL from a different light, it would kind of make his character “hollow” and crumble in on itself.

As far as my ships for SL go, I ship him with Cuntou (MGS’s Buzzcut friend) and HC. However, those ships are purely “AUs” in my head in a sense that I know they have no base in canon. I basically run with the characters and the scenarios build for them are for my own self-indulgence.

Because I couldn’t really give you any new “thoughts” but a reading list instead, let me try to make it up by raving about some of my favorite SL panels:

“We are here” (ch. 178):

I’ve always wondered what kind of an underling SL is. He might be the leader of his own group at school, but even SL must have a boss. Especially given that organized groups are heavily based on hierarchy and seniority.

But I can’t help but wonder how that kind of power dynamic works with SL. What do his superiors think about him? Do they know about his disturbing, unpredictable side? Do they feel like they have control over him? Have they ever taken advantage of his vicious side and kind of “let him loose”? Does his boss know how to handle him? And what about SL’s POV: Does he respect his superiors or just does what he’s told? What could make his obedience stop? What he would do if his superiors insulted him or somehow screwed him over?

Either way, I’m fascinated by seeing SL in a submissive position, taking orders from someone else.

“Jian Yi? Is it...” (ch. 179):

The thing I love about this panel is the tempo/rhythm/whatever-you-call-it of SL’s words. I can hear how he said them in my head. Where he paused and let there be a moment of silence that kind of rearranged the dynamic of the situation. JY had barged in and momentarily stolen the flow and control. He went all out talking back to SL and pointing him and being all JY-y. That little tilt of SL’s head, that short pause he had kind of flipped it back SL being in control. When he says “Jian Yi? Is it...” it has a dangerous vibe. As in, “Are you really sure you want me to notice you?”. That is a question asked by someone who’s mentally in control of the situation.

I can hear those speech bubbles in my head.

“Lick it clean for me” (ch. 203):

Do I even need to justify why I love this panel?

Aside from the obvious, I love this panel because it gives me strong “zero fucks given” vibes. I doubt SL was expecting JY to obey him but saying that kind of stuff fits his character perfectly. Unpredictable and difficult to tell if he’s being serious or not.

Thrown out (ch. 249):

This panel will never not amuse me. Every time I see them being thrown out like that, especially SL, I hear a “Pew!” bing in my head. Like the nurse had flicked them with her middle finger and thumb and shot them out of the room.

Pouring Coke (ch. 267):

Another panel that makes me think about SL being in a submissive position, overpowered. The idea of overpowering and submitting his kind of crazy fascinates me. A part of me wants to see him dominated, sullied, and made to take it. (Just to make sure I’m not misunderstood, I don’t mean “it” in a sexual way.) Like, I imagine the carbonated Coke stinging in his eyes. It’s more foam and fizz than actual liquid as it pours down his face. It makes him uncomfortable and wanting to try to wipe it off with his shoulder when the trickles slide down the side of his neck but he can’t. When Coke is spilled like that it goes from a nice, enjoyable beverage to a sickly sweet, sticky substance that kind of grosses you out.

This is a panel that always makes me think of shipping SL with HC.

[...I warned you it would get weird.]

Wandering in the hospital (ch. 294):

If you weren’t weirded out enough yet...

Every time I see these panels I’m reminded of being like that as a child. I remember my grandparents sometimes had to stay at the hospital when they got sick. When I went to visit them with my mom I had this habit of wandering off by myself. I could walk the ward through multiple times and just...kind of...be morbidly interested in watching the sick people in their beds. And of course, as a kid, I had no problem with openly staring at them, too. The sicker, the better. I wanted to see tubes going in and out of body orifices, wounds and stitches, bandages that have that faint shine of blood seeping through on the back when they’re due to a change. If you gave me an old person just laying in bed with their mouth open and not even being in this world anymore because they’re so old and ill, you could just sit me down and go take care of whatever parents need to take care of.

I’m not saying SL was like that but him silently wandering off always reminds me of how I was a kid.

Encounter (ch. 294):

I’ve talked about this panel quite a lot already, so I won’t go into it more in this answer. But I will say it’s probably my most favorite panel of the whole comic.

“I almost forgot” (ch. 317):

As weird as it sounds to point this out when talking about SL’s character, but I think SL was lying in this panel. Although, I guess a better way to put it would be to say it wasn’t his “usual” lying. I think he was lying about forgetting he had given MGS the piercings to make it look like he didn’t care about such trivial matters. That violating MGS like that and basically marking him as his property hadn’t meant anything to him. Seeing MGS wear HT’s earrings irked him but he’s lying about it. MGS inching further and further away from SL’s grasp is getting to him but I think this was the first time he’s trying to hide it.

Because I believe he remembers piercing MGS. I bet he remembers it vividly.

I think this panel and the way he lashed out at HT with the knife without having any regard for the consequences are interesting details that maybe SL’s mask is slipping. He’s getting more out of control. Almost desperate, I would say.

So yeah, I would say I have a few thoughts about SL.

Thank you for your question, dear anon! And for your patience as well.

[itsclydebitches]

So growing up I had a friend and knew of others who were very much the hardcore fangirl with certain VA and actors. I'm talking would read and write smut. Fantasize over people like Crispin Freeman, Vic Mignogna, and other VA's in anime. Plus huge Supernatural fan, really into Jared and Jensen. All this while she was 16. Would unironically fuck them if given the chance. She's in her 20's now and is probably not as a rapid fangirl, but I haven't seen her in forever.

It’s admittedly a complicated topic (aren’t they all?) but on the whole I think that interest is healthy going one way, but not the other. Meaning, it’s natural for young people, particularly teens, to fantasize about celebrities, especially celebrities that are older than them. Because they’re at a time in their life when they’re trying to figure out how to be adults themselves and there, in all that glory, is a perfect adult. Look how handsome or beautiful they are. Look how talented. Look how perfect and put together. I’m admittedly speaking from my own memories of being a teen, but for me it was a potent combination of wanting to be with them—or rather, with this persona they’ve developed in public places that isn’t really them—and wanting to be them. The “rabid fangirl” stereotype is a mix of a whole slew of different emotions. When someone latches onto a “pairing” like Jared and Jensen it’s “Wouldn’t it be amazing if I were loved and adored like they are?” and “It must be so great to have someone care for you in the way he does for him,” and “Isn’t it fun to do something a bit taboo like imagining these real people together?” and “It’s so much more comforting to explore complicated things like my own sexuality with people that are removed from my own body and troubles,” and “I draw great support from this fandom community who just happens to ship them so why wouldn’t I join in?” and “My adoration for this fictional show needs to spill over somehow” and yes, also “I honestly just think they’re hot.” RPF is its own complicated and morally fought thing, but I believe that the initial emotions that stem from it—fan adoring actors, often actors who are older then them—is normal. Teens want to imagine being with someone who is hotter than all their current choices (out of puberty), who is charming (more mature), and who thinks that they’re something special (you’re not like those other 16yos). They want to model themselves off of the people they see on TV—other “teenagers” who are really 25+ year-olds in perfect makeup, lighting, wardrobes—and to be validated. Imagining someone as amazing as Jensen or Jared falling for you, the 16yo “nobody” is a powerful fantasy.

But it is just that: a fantasy. A comfort and an enjoyment that, for the most part, stays within private and semi-private spaces: your own thoughts or fan communities (which is just ONE of the reasons why people are upset when other fans foster smut fic off on actors. It’s highly inappropriate towards both them and the community; an extreme form of fandom-ing that threatens everyone else’s more innocent fun). And eventually teens outgrow that. Not that you outgrow fandom, but you come to more easily identify the fantasy as a fantasy; something you enjoy with caveats and in moderation. It’s why we don’t necessarily discourage those fantasies, but we teach young people howto recognize how dangerous they’d be if you were given the chance to make them real. Yeah, it might seem like that 50yo thinks you’re so mature for your age… but he doesn’t. He’s preying on you. Stick to writing fic about the character he plays and don’t go near him if given the chance. So you (hopefully) end up with less “rabid fangirl” and more professional women laughing with her friends about how this show is banking on us thinking the actors are hot as hell and oh, honey.. it worked.

The problem is when that interest is reversed. When the actors in question start praying on that naivety and enjoyment. You’re quite right, anon: there is a power dynamic and it cannot be ignored. Any celebrity has a responsibility to acknowledge that they cannot, under any circumstances, take advantage of their position. A 16yo claiming she’s in love with you does not give you the right to sleep with her. A young fan who wants your autograph hasn’t agreed for you to touch him with unwanted hugs, kisses, etc. People like Mignogna are predators who have used their status horrifically. Adults everywhere have the responsibility of maintaining appropriate boundaries because minors cannot do that themselves. Fans are interacting with a plucked and shined and generally unrealistic persona that has been deliberately given to the public for them to consume and adore. They express that adoration in numerous ways, often semi-private ways, and are using these celebrities as a kind of emotional outlet. Heading to a sleepover and talking about which actor you’d straight up die for is a pretty normal part of growing up. But just because young fans are doing both what comes naturally to people and what companies encourage them to (more obsession with actors means more interaction, which means more money…) doesn’t mean the adults involved get to betray that dynamic and use it as an excuse to harm them.

[thesummerstorms]

Hi! Do you have more headcanons, writing snippets, anything about Koa? Do you have any specific hcs about her relationship with Darman? I'm really loving her character! Also, the more I look at your ideas for her, the more I feel like she might get along with Boss pretty well. :D

I’m sorry this took so damn long to answer. Thank you so much for all the Koa love! She’s one of my faves, tbh.

Truthfully, I’ve been in much more of a fantasy/vaguely period setting mood for a while and haven’t been as RepComm invested so I haven’t been writing for it recently. No new Koa snippets other than what was written already on the blog, though I’m always taking specific asks to help me develop the character!

I hadn’t thought much about Koa with Delta, tbh. I’d be interested to hear your take?

I do have a few head canons below the cut though:

One

Dar generally takes to hydroponics in a way that Etain doesn’t, and one of his bonding activities with Koa is taking care of the plants, a parent-child activity for them that Kad sees as a value-neutral chore and that Etain is neither allowed nor interested in involving herself in. 

When she was very little, Dar started talking to her about it mostly in the context of his cooking, teaching her which plants he would use in which dishes, which spices to pluck when she helped him in the kitchen, how to look after a certain vegetable and tell if it would be ready for eating soon. 

Koa has an intensely inquisitive mind though, and as she got older she started to ask a million questions Dar was unprepared for and would conduct her own “experiments”- either with or without Dar’s help, so it behooved him to be prepared.

Koa had a lot of scientific influences- Mereel is her favorite uncle; she’s the child the least afraid of (or annoying to) Uthan- but some part of that first memory of realizing this was a thing she liked is rooted in the memory of her father’s calm voice and patient hands guiding her tiny ones.

Two

Koa’s teenage years were odd and exhausting in that they were her very long chrysalis from child who’s emotive and loving with her family but has to be afraid of the larger galaxy to the kind of woman who becomes an environmental scientist slash leader of a planet and tells her Mandalore to fuck off when her data says they’re wrong. 

She didn’t necessarily rebel in a typical North American “oh my god you don’t understand me!” way. Her family dynamic is massively different, and she grew up in the shadow of an oppressive regime that wanted her specifically dead or tortured on multiple counts- for being a Force-user, for being the child of Rebels, for being a Mando allied with Mandalorian independence rather than the alliance with the Empire. She knew from childhood that she wasn’t safe- so she gets why her parents are protective.

But man, that did not stop her from being sharp or sarcastic. She was always sharp and sarcastic, but as a teenager she started to become self-aware of her own intellect and experiences and somehow she asked more but why questions as a 14 year old than as a small child. Those often developed an edge to them, and it was a means of self-protection as she realized that the system she had always taken for granted as part of the background of her life- the Empire and her parents’ resistance to it- wasn’t actually automatic.

For a little while she’s angry with her parents and older siblings for taking the risks they do (as the baby of the family by a lot- she’s 8 years younger than Kad and 22 younger than Scout- it’s affected her normal perhaps the most spectacularly), but that doesn’t last long. It’s not in her nature.

Then she shifts into wondering why she can’t change more things, if this whole Empire thing is dramatically altering her life anyway. She has ideas and arguments about systems, and she’s always collecting data and floating hypothetical about how things could be if she just applied the right change, the right tweak, if the Mandalorians would just-, if the Rebellion could only-,

A lot of them are pigheaded because she’s just a teenager figuring out her own limitations, but sometimes Dar and Etain have to remind themselves that they were both trained for deeply serious responsibility by Koa’s age and that in some ways this was unavoidable.

Three

One of Dar’s biggest regrets for Koa is that no matter what he swore when he held her as crying, angry newborn he couldn’t entirely stop her from growing up afraid. It still eats at him, even though by inheriting Etain’s Jedi powers she was always going to be more open to the truth than he ever wanted her to be.

He did everything he could. Cuddling with her on long, lazy afternoons, singing to her as he taught her how to cook, tucking her into sleep after spending the evening helping her govern her parliament of stuffed animals or run experiments on the spice garden. 

Cheating to help her win some foolish game she’s playing with her Uncles while his brothers pretend not to notice. 

Ordering her next set of armor six months, a year too early because he doesn’t want her unshielded in the midst of a growth spurt he didn’t see coming. 

The deliberate slice of his knife through the neck of an Imperial agent who never saw him coming, never thought the father, the only one with out Force powers, could be the threat in a family full of Jedi until they made the mistake of threatening Darman’s little girl.

It isn’t always enough, and it’s one of the hardest things Darman ever has to learn to accept that. The galaxy would eat his daughter alive if it could, and eventually he can’t keep that from her. The Force would tell her even if he lied. So would the blasterfire, eventually.

But he gets her holos, smiling and full of singing when she goes off to study music and science at an aruetii university. Sees her name on the Mandalorian holonetwork, recognizing her accomplishments. Goes to visit her home only to have her cook a dish from her childhood, one he tweaked and perfect purely for her enjoyment.

And he thinks of the little curly-haired girl at play, surrounded by soft toys, or puttering in the garden, or being doted on by protective ba’vodu’e. Her gap-toothed smile and her tantrums, because she never had to hide her emotions the way her mother did, much less the way he and his brothers had on Kamino.

He has given her everything he could, and if she couldn’t grow up perfectly unafraid, then she has grown up as safe as he could make her, and loved in a way he never could have dreamed of on Kamino. Never once in her life did she ever have to doubt she was a person.

That’s not nothing, either.