#either way they share horrible fates by killing them

[shokosriver]

persona 3 and twewy spoilers but

i just need to ramble about how the hypothetical bad ending of twewy (neku shoots josh) is basically what happens to ryoji and makoto at the end of the year. neku and makoto both discover that the weird guys hanging around them are actually supposed to be in some way battling against them. and because fate is cruel, they have to choose whether to kill them or spare them for the sake of having brighter lives. joshua tells neku that he’s going to “erase shibuya” while ryoji says killing him will make makoto and his friends forget about the coming fall to save some stress. (interestingly enough these motives range from judgement to guilt)

joshua and ryoji are related to destruction in some way. joshua is trying to see if shibuya really isn’t worth erasing and ryoji is literally death/thanatos and nyx’s messenger. despite knowing this, neku and makoto still struggle to choose because to them, the care and love they have for their friends hasn’t gone. alongside that, their motives to keeping them alive is also because of the fear of losing the bonds they’ve built together than simply just saving shibuya or protecting your peace from the fall of the earth.

there are differences between joshneku and ryomina, but the similarities are still there. i love joshneku and shuake comparisons, but I find that ryomina is also very fitting.

okay what I’m saying is this dynamic makes me ill

[yuri-is-online]

The sheer untapped angst of Jamil in the fyuuture au is haunting me so it's your problem now /hj. I'm trying so hard to be normal right now ugh take my thoughts please they need to get out of my skull so that I can articulate to others how much the fate of Jamil in the first timeline just haunts me. It's like a weeping angel I can't take my eyes off of it and the moment I do it just kills me to fathom the possibilities.

But god imagine being Jamil and you have someone who for the first time is solely on your side, no other reason than that they chose you because they like you and want to stand by your side. I imagine Jamil must have had reservations about potentially dragging yuu into the job of servitude but like hell that was gonna stop them. And then he's happy because he has an actual life outside of Kalim, they've matured over the years and Jamil has more freedom from him than he ever had. He once couldn't fathom condemning a child to share his last name but he is going to be a father and he's so excited.

Then it's just gone. Yuu isn't next to him when he wakes up one morning and the front door of the house is still open. It's a surprise he didn't wake up from the smell of the food burning in the kitchen but he can't think straight because something is so clearly horribly wrong. All of their things are where they left them, their phone is still on the kitchen counter and they didn't take their keys. Neither of them were working in the months leading up to the birth of the child, a gift from Kalim he hadn't refused. He's panicking and in his panic he does something he never would have fathomed himself doing, he reaches out to Kalim for a help.

By the time he gets a response it kills him. He will never know what happened to his spouse or child, Kalim will never get his message, the next time Kalim sees Jamil after the latter's baby shower and paternity leave, will be when his corpse is being dragged along by the sorcerer of the sands. It will ironically be, the last thing he sees.

There is a lot of tragedy in this ayuu, but with Jamil specifically it verges into horror in a way I didn't fully appreciate when I drafted it.

Jamil is essentially a feudal vassal who wishes for the freedom to be a normal member of society. He also, and this is so important to his character even though it often gets overlooked, wants his family to be respected. His parents, his sister, his first memory is them kneeling to a different set of parents and that kills him inside.

For you to come from a world where his situation is somewhat of a foreign concept and still choose him, choose to throw your support behind him because he is worth reforming the world for- it is everything to him. He got his happy ending through hard work and he deserves it, so why is it being taken from him? Why is Kalim's mess of a family taking from him again?

I don't think Jamil ever realizes it has nothing to do with him; the idea that he was collateral damage isn't really something that computes with how his life has been up until that point. The behavior of his phantom certainly doesn't help anyone realize that either, the way it hunts down the Al Asims and controls the people of his home you would assume that was all the corpse that birthed it wanted. That it would have been better off for everyone if there had been no baby shower planned, no paternity leave, no child to begin with. But that's not true. It was never about Jamil, he was just there and it was convenient to blame him for it.

Something that child will realize he has been doing too when he's forced to see just how happy his father really was, once upon a dream.

[captain039]

PART 3 Big bear

Halsin x reader

Warnings: AOB, feelings, tav insert, Angst, trauma, abuse, sexual abuse, hurt/comfort

Previous part <-

You awoken in a horrible state, your body didn’t move and you felt paralysed. Sighing you just laid their memory’s coming back from yesterday. Gods you felt horrible, Halsin didn’t deserve your anger and now he was gone. You heard footsteps outside your tent and heard Tavs voice.

��Hey you ok? Do you need anything from the market?” They called.

“I need a healer” you said and they suddenly opened your tent worry in their face.

“What’s happened? Are you hurt?” They asked worried as they knelt by you.

“I don’t know” you muttered and they just nodded.

“Ok, can you walk?” They asked and you shook your head.

“Karlach!” They yelled and the teifling came running.

“Oh gods, what’s happened?” She asked quickly.

“We need to get her to a healer now” Tav said and Karlach nodded. She helped you up easily and carried you. You felt stupid, but her warmth was comforting as she took you to the towns healer.

You laid down in the bed staring at the ceiling as the mage nearby talked with the healer.

“It’s the suppressors I’m afraid” the healer said sighing and you tensed.

“I can’t not take them!” You snapped thankful the others weren’t here. You’d told them to leave and you’d be back by night. Gods these cursed things, curse being an omega.

“Please sir you can’t-“ you froze seeing someone familiar, Halsin.

“What happened?” He asked worried ignoring the poor dwarf behind him.

“Nothing” you quickly said as the healer went to speak. She huffed at you annoyed making you flush a bit, she wasn’t having your attitude.

“Is she your omega?” The healer huffed standing up.

“My-? No” Halsin had reddened cheeks as he shook his head.

“It’s nothing Halsin, please just go I said I’d be back at night” you sat up with the strength you could muster.

“Lady give me strength” the healer muttered pinching the bridge of her nose.

“The suppressors are ruining her body, they’re attacking her muscles, they’re going to kill her!” the healer turned to you raising her eyebrows as you looked away to the floor.

“Kill her?” Halsin muttered in shock.

“Yes! Slap some sense into her for all I care! Just, she cannot continue like this” the healer said sighing as she left with the mage. You laid back down on the bed not so gracefully and felt tears in your eyes. You can’t be an omega. Halsin was processing the information before he sat down in the bed nearby. You rolled over so your back was facing him, you’d be happy to die here if you were honest. You trembled a little trying to force those memory’s away.

Your father was the first to show you how cruel the world could be to an omega. He’d beat you, leave you in the basement for weeks, denied you food, water and baths. Your mother shared your fate of beatings, being an omega herself. When you escaped you found yourself suddenly forced into a pleasure house. A woman one of the workers found you, said she could offer you a good life in exchange for your body. You were too young to know what truely meant, you figured nobody would want your body seeing how you looked. The head mistress fed you and bathed you till you were a sparkling prize, then came the sternness. She’d force you in revealing robes and made you dance on stage. You’d get disgusting looks and aroused smells. The first time a man, an alpha took you to bed you panicked, punched him onto the floor and fled into the night. The mistress sent forces after you, all alphas again, seeking to use your rank against you. It worked, but the alphas had other ideas, they used you in the alley way, laughing as they tore your robes and touched you. An elderly woman had turned them into rats and squished each one under her heal. She tsked helping you up and healing you with magic.

“Come dear”

Her voice had been so kind, she had no smell either and nobody dared look at her. She lived in a hut outside the village, she fed you and bathed you, you were skeptical, a little afraid to leave. She raised you back up, told you how cruel this world was and cruel how alphas truly were. She gave you a suppressor, it took the omega away, you were nothing, yet everything. You didn’t know what the evil glint in her eyes meant though. She sent you into the city brining curses into alphas, you killed fifteen before Tav had found you after a prickly fight. The group had been shocked by the scene, the man’s guts were practically across the floor, his head on the other side of the room, you were covered in blood also.

“I think we should leave” an alpha in a purple robe spoke first your eyes snapping to his as he gulped. Most of the group was alphas, your sworn enemy.

“What happened?” Tav had asked you and you flinched at the kindness in their eyes like a switch flicked on in your mind.

“I don’t think this was truely her” the alpha teifling had said her eyes sad.

“Gale?” Tav had asked the purple robe man who nodded muttering a spell. Something left your body and panic flooded in. You stared at the knives in your hand and threw them on the ground looking at what you’d done. You had fallen to your knees in too emotions to name as you cried. Tav was the first to approach hand on your shoulder, helping you up and giving you the first real hug you’d had in years.

That’s how you met the group and now you were here, lying in a bed to die. Maybe it was for the better, all those people you killed.

“Thought you’d be here” your whole body shivered at the voice of the elder.

“Who are you?” Halsin had demanded anger in his voice.

“Keeping company of them now?” She tsked as you sat up. She went to cast a spell on him, but he deflected it quickly.

“Don’t!” You snapped at her and she huffed rolling her eyes as she came closer.

“How did you find me?” You asked glancing to Halsin who was on edge.

“Please, think I’d forget you so easily, let you off my leash so easily?” She scoffed.

“When my spell was lifted I had someone follow you, waiting till you were down to this” she gestured to you with disgust.

“Now you need me again” she smirked.

“She doesn’t need you” Halsin spat.

“Oh but she does, lump of meat” she said crossing her arms.

“What is this anyway? A bed warmer?” She looked him up and down.

“A friend” you said quietly seeing Halsin glance to you slightly in shock, but held up his stern expression.

“Alphas aren’t friends” she huffed looking back to you.

“These suppressors aren’t working because they need my magic” she said and you froze.

“You’ve just been poisoning yourself really” she shrugged and your heart jumped.

“Only I can cure you” she smirked that same evil glint in her eyes.

“I can cure her” Halsin said and she laughed.

“You think so? Stupid alpha” she waved a hand throwing him back into the wall. He groaned, but quickly got up.

“Stop!” You yelled throwing a hold person on her. She looked surprised and scoffed breaking free easily.

“Learned tricks did we?” She cackled her body turning into a true hag. Nobody else in the healers house noticed like you were in a pocket of time. Halsin growled transforming into his bear form charging quickly.

“Halsin!” You yelled as he began to fight with the hag. You groaned trying will your energy, she sent a spell your way though and you were stuck to the bed. You could only watched in panic as she transformed into many and kept attacking Halsin. He was suffering under the many and you cried trying to break free. He snarled though going through her images before he suddenly had her on the ground. He changed into his human a dagger to her neck.

“You won’t have her” he sneered anger in his eyes as he slit her throat. She cried as she turned into a puddle of muck into the ground. He stood up healing himself as the stepped back and panted. Your bonds broke free and you groaned sitting up. Halsin was quick to be by your side again making sure you didn’t get up. You had tears down your face as he hushed you, kneeling in front of you and wiping your eyes. You cried out for a moment the other healers glancing but ignoring.

“What happened?” The elder healer asked.

“Not now” Halsin snapped and she flinched, but nodded going to tend to the mess, you’d never seen Halsin truly angry.

“Take a breath” he whispered as you struggled to breathe with your crying. His thumb stroked your cheek as you took a shaky breath and apologised.

“Don’t apologise” he shook his head and you sobbed quietly.

“I-“ you struggled with words as you saw the rest of your group.

“We heard ruckus, got worried” Karlach said looking to the puddle of flesh making a disgusted face.

“What happened?” Tav asked.

“I’ll tell you later” Halsin said briefly and they nodded.

“I just want to go back to camp” you finally found your voice and he nodded quickly standing. You went to stand on your own, but the alpha picked you up easily, holding you like a child. You tensed briefly, but he wasn’t going to make room for argument. You sagged against him arms going around his neck as you cried into your arm.

Next part ->

Taglist:

@aeryntheofficial

@vinithechocolatevampire

[yanderes-galore]

Can I request yandere Michael Afton with Henry daughter that was protected by platknic yandere lefty?

Sure! Lefty is Charlotte in this, so Lefty is referred to as (She/her).

Yandere! Michael Afton with Henry's Daughter! Darling protected by Lefty

Pairing: Platonic/Romantic (Michael)/Platonic (Lefty) - Rivalry

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Overprotective behavior, Rivalry implied, Violence, Jealousy, Violence, She/Her Lefty, Trauma/Trauma bonding, Michael is a corpse, Death, Attempted murder, Forced companionship.

Alright, you were the sister of Charlotte.

You, Charlotte, and Henry were originally an okay family.

However, William ruined your life.

William killed your sister and your father became obsessed with revenge.

So, honestly, you and Michael already have similarities.

Dead siblings… horrible dads… life ruined by William…

You'd get along.

You probably both met due to Henry, too.

Henry assigned you to help Michael with luring the animatronics into one place to end this.

Which, of course, allows you to meet Michael.

It's weird and slightly nauseating for you though due to Michael's… state.

He's a corpse that tries to hide that fact with too much cologne, makeup, and a strange bear mask.

The way he talks is raspy, too.

This is where the story takes place.

You work with Michael and you soon lure Lefty/The Puppet into your Pizzeria.

You no doubt know what Michael is even when he tries to hide it.

Despite this you still strike up conversation about your past and how the job is going.

Michael probably begins to have a soft spot towards you due to your shared trauma.

You're more closely linked than you think, y'know?

This makes Michael begin to see you not just as a coworker… but a friend, maybe even more.

Although he probably tries to hide such feelings due to what he's become.

So while you “bond” with Michael through your shared past and the job, there's someone lurking in the darkness.

Lefty, who in this concept is indeed possessed compared to my other ones, remembers you.

To be more specific, Charlotte remembers you as her sister.

She still hates Michael… but not you.

She remembers you in a good light.

You and her father were no doubt devastated about her death.

I also think Charlotte has missed you since she's died.

What she doesn't enjoy is the fact Michael is with you.

Charlotte, who I will now call Lefty, associates Michael with William.

She wants him dead.

Even more so with him so close to you.

The sight of Michael trying to bond with you more than her, or the possibility that you can get hurt, sends her into a rage.

So while Lefty tries to kill Michael, she is actively doing it to try and protect you

She doesn't want you falling prey to a similar fate to her.

She still cares for you too much for that.

I can see the dynamic of this being Michael trying to protect you from Lefty, with Lefty trying to protect you from Michael.

It's like a game of tug o'war between you.

Michael assumes since Lefty is after him, Lefty will kill you too.

Meanwhile Lefty thinks Michael will hurt you like William did to her.

You have a hard time trusting either of them.

Michael seems to have a strange fascination with you due to shared trauma while Lefty keeps trying to isolate you. 

You're caught in the middle.

They both probably mean well, but you don't trust it.

You also might not know Lefty's true identity.

Which only concerns you more when the black bear keeps trying to get close to you.

The rivalry between the two only makes this whole job harder.

During the day you work with Michael to gain money.

During the night you end up tracking Lefty.

Lefty would probably tell you her identity once she has a chance, which shocks you.

Yet Michael wouldn't take it well for a few reasons.

One, Lefty may be your sister but she's still trying to kill him.

Two, Michael wants all of your attention on him.

The fighting no doubt continues right up until Henry's plan hits its end.

Michael keeps trying to keep you in the office with him while Lefty/Charlotte is trying to coax you to stay with her.

Lefty knows of the dangers in this pizzeria.

Michael does too.

So, it's just a decision of who will protect you each night.

Does your choice even matter in the end?

You'll probably all burn by the end of this.

[magicpotatothoughts]

SV Sha Hualing is tragic AF

There is something so tragic about SV Sha Hualing's hatred for the other "harem wives". OG SHL may have actively hated on them in PIDW but it was mostly out of jealousy for LBH's attention.

SV SHL hates the other women because they all have a freedom and comfort that she doesn't seem to have. She, who is from a noble background with the earthdefying fearlessness to infiltrate a major sect as a tween ...has now fallen so far as to become a whimpering slave who's "soul almost flees her body" everytime Luo Binghe speaks. LBH has SV SHL under his complete control and she feels like she cannot escape from this horrible fate.

SV SHL hates Qin Wanyue

for "failing to seduce the lord many times, yet [she] shamelessly refuses to leave.” SHL stopped trying to throw herself at LBH because she has seen the way LBH reacts to women and moreover, the corpse that he keeps in his pavillion, so she tries to help LBH in her own way by forging a SQQ.....only to have her cave demolished and survived with her tail between her legs. SHL is clearly thinking that QWY is operating on negative brain cells for either trying the same useless seduction tactic or for not taking the chance to escape from LBH.

She also hates QWY for not being able to "even keep a proper eye on a single person" when QWY couldn't stop The Little Palace Mistress from gatecrashing. SHL is projecting and self-loathing here because it is she, who couldn't keep an eye on a single cultivator that night when they all escaped.

SV SHL hates The Little Palace Mistress

for not being a real prisoner - "other than the occasional house arrest, [LPM] suffered no real mistreatment" yet LPM is still screaming and complaining about it. Then LPM tries to insult SHL for being a "vixen seductress" when the real slut QWY is STANDING RIGHT THERE and ALL SHL has been trying to do this whole time is to not die from LBH's explosive anger.

And when LPM complains once again about LBH imprisoning her "like a kept pig", SHL gets triggered to say "What else can she do other than eat and sleep like the animal she brought up?" This is the only time that we hear her insulting LBH out loud. SHL hates the LPM for having the opportunity to have changed LBH but now it's too late. She is having another self-loathing moment because she probably wished too that she killed LBH when she was in a better position of power than now. SHL is definitely the type to lash out when she's feeling physically and well...emotionally attacked.

---

The thing is, she cannot afford the luxury of running away. As the successor of her line of demon line and probably lots of demon territory treaty, our previously almighty demon saintess is stuck as LBH severely underplayed employee. The two other women listed above have no power but they don’t share the same political pressure as she does.

SV SHL hates Liu Mingyan

Interestingly, it is said that OG SHL hated LMY for having better looks and being the "main wife" in the harem. SV SHL hates LMY because of her growth from being a weakling, someone who lost to herself at the Qiong Ding Invasion, to becoming someone who is so grounded that she is "eyes closed, impervious to outside matters" even in a dire situation of life and death. Emotionally, LMY represents everything SHL wants to be (calm, tenacious, unperturbed just to name a few) so that's why she was so triggered.

When SHL removed LMY's veil, a small part of it was to probably see if LMY was prettier than her but I think a larger part was to get some reaction out of her. SHL is so deprived of commanding power that it physically hurts her to see how her current self having so little effect on humans to this point where they barely lifted their eyelids to look at her. She wanted to break this calm facade of LMY only to discover upon seeing LMY's face that it wasn't a facade at all, her face was really expressing genuine fortitude. Which is why I think she got so annoyed she wanted to slash that annoying face with her nails.

(yes I know the fandom prefers the interpretation that when the gay feelings hit SHL, she doesn't know what to do but attack LMY's face. It's canonically how demons show love) Another theory is that she saw the resemblance of LMY's face with Liu Qingge's face, the one who single-handedly 180ed her invasion into Qiong Ding Peak all those years ago and killed most of her demon underlings. Whether it's automatic reflex on her part because it's years of buried hatred and grief exploding all at once or if she just wanted to harm anyone who was related to LQG, I get it SHL, I honestly get it.

AND THEN LMY also got rescued and freed by some random who infiltrated her home and that random also freed her entire harvest of the month! SHL is so freaking pitiful like 😭😭😭

---

All in all, it’s just really tragic that OG SHL was fighting for LBH’s attention just like his other wives but SV SHL was not blessed with this ignorance and recognises that shes in an incredibly abusive relationship (not even a romantic one) that she’s trapped in and she WISHES for the love of god that LBH will just leave her and her demon underlings alone.

One thing, SV SHL is still kind of innately good??? She says she doesn’t care about other people’s lives unless it’s related to her own survival but the moment she arrived on scene and noticed that LBH was in a rage post Liu Qingge taking away SQQ's body, "She rushed to the front, but Luo Binghe sent her flying the moment she arrived, and she coughed up three liters of blood." SHL could have chosen to cower behind the Huan Hua disciples or even use them as body-shields but she instinctively rushed forward to calm LBH down, indirectly protecting the disciples who would have stood no chance against LBH's rage. I mean...she didn't either but it's cute that she thought she would!

My heart aches for SV SHL, I hope she enjoys a stress-free life in fics with LMY <3

[magic-hcs]

✨Underfell lore✨

Charon: warnings; mentions of torture, not explicit. Mentions of mercy killing, not explicit.

Back underground when Charon became the Captain of the Royal guard, the mad king Asgore made Charon hunt down ‘traitors’ - monsters who Asgore in his paranoia thought were secretly rebelling and planning to backstab him - and bring them back in front of the mad king.

Which Charon did, only to find out about the terrible fate that would befall said monsters: Enduring a horrible torture in view of the entire inhabitants of New Home, kept alive for days in their horrific state as a warning to any possible traitors that wish to rebel before being dusted.

Horrified by this, Charon found an ultimatum; offering the ‘traitors’ he captures a choice. Either be handed over to the mad king and the merciless fate that awaited them there, or dust painlessly by Charon’s hands, have their last will fulfilled and their dust spread out at a location of their choosing.

He hid his actions from the king by pretending he was merciless and didn’t hold back, often causing a dusting instead of a capture. The king believed this ruse. As did most of monster kind. Meanwhile Charon kept the dust of monsters who wanted to be spread on the surface in urns kept safely in the basement. The urns labeled by names of the monster and their wills.

Disclaimer: this is based on my version of the skelebois and their AUs. This is in no way claiming this is true for other people’s version of the AUs and skeleboys. This is me having fun worldbuilding my AUs and boys and sharing it.

[muffinrecord]

Somethin' kind of interesting about Mikoto is that she's this evil gal who is like. Well. I mean, she's trying to end the world, right.

But you see stuff like this and then you look at her quote video,

and like, you start to realize that this is just her way of wanting to stop pain and suffering.

One thing about Magia Record is that it doesn't have straight up evil characters (well playable characters). Everyone is redeemable. Everyone can become a friend.

This can be frustrating sometimes. Promised Blood lead to deaths in Kamihama. Himena tried to commit fascist genocide. Oriko tried to kill Mitama (and totally killed a bunch of people through Kirika before her respective event). Alina is Alina. Like, some of these girls committed heinous things, but at the end, everyone is saved, redeemed, and made into friends.

I think additionally, one can argue that it's out of capitalist desire to do this, not necessarily out of a desire for good writing. You want your girls to have some likable traits, right? Otherwise who the hell would roll for them? You want your precious blorbo to have enough good qualities that people aren't just completely turned off on the concept of them. There are people on tumblr who believe that Alina fucking Gray was in the right the whole time; this is strategic shit on their part. Even if you don't give them enough good to outweigh the bad, you want to give the girl the best kind of ending possible for her (yes even for the girls who died).

That means Alina isn't going to get killed and forgotten about, it means that Himena gets saved before turning into a witch, it means that Yuna doesn't ultimately give into her hatred and become a kimochi monster, it means at the very last moment Oriko won't go through with killing Mitama. Everyone stops just short of crossing that event horizon of punishment and retribution for their actions.

But to be honest, I also kind of like it about Magia Record too, even if can feel "weak" writing-wise. I feel like there is a message behind the story-- that all of these magical girls have a shared suffering, a shared trauma, that only they have ever experienced, and that's why they need to work together. Even if some of them have done horrible things. Because truthfully, the worst thing done was done to them by the society they live (aka Kyubey). Their sacrifices are used to power change that benefits the universe at their expense.

I think one can easily use this as a metaphor for real life issues regarding marginalized people. Magical girls perform invisible labor that doesn't get acknowledged outside of their community as part of the inherent system. I think it's pretty easy to relate this to women as a whole for large parts of history. One reason that men historically have been able to accomplish so much is because their wives were helping them in the background-- either in assisting in the actual research or "simply" by taking over all the household labor and tasks, freeing up their husbands' time to study the universe or whatever. But I don't think you can "just" relate this to women's issues; I think it can definitely be argued that it can relate to a bunch of other marginalized groups.

And with that in mind, I kind of like that all of these girls are able to get along. Every single one shares this one piece of trauma. There are many different ways that trauma can look like-- sometimes it's knowing that you sold your soul for a wish you didn't really want. Sometimes it's knowing that you have to fight for the rest of your life. It might be knowing that your fate is to become a witch. It might result in loneliness. It might result in fights amongst your fellow magical girl peers, because there aren't enough resources to go around. It might be from watching your friends die and become a witch, aka magical girl food.

The really evil characters who are always presented as such are non-magical girls. Yeah, that's again because you want your playable characters to be likeable and sellable-- but it's also fascinating in it's own right. Mikoshiba gets almost no kind displays on her part. One could argue that it's a poor writing attempt to make a villain. One could also argue that she's perpetuating the system and trauma that these girls face and using it for her own advantage, with no regard for the tools she's set up to sacrifice. Acting out and trying to fight back isn't irredeemable. Knowing better and taking advantage of these girls is.

Then we come back to Mikoto, and why I think she's actually compelling, even if she's probably the most "evil" playable character. This girl has suffered a hell of a lot-- in addition to her own horrible homelife and schoollife, she becomes a witch and then a parasite-- but that parasitedom is really just another way to hammer in her suffering. She can't affect the world while she's in Hanna's head, she can only tell Hanna what to do and hope that Hanna follows it-- and sometimes Hanna does. Sometimes she doesn't. And then you have Mikoto seeing all of the various bad ends that magical girls get when they turn into witches. Doom, despair, suffering, and failure are burnt into her psyche. And when Hanna dies, it must feel like Mikoto really doesn't have anything at all, but a cruel universe that toys with her and shows her nice things, only to take them away. The world and all its beauty feels like its a mockery of what she can't have for herself.

With that in mind... yeah Mikoto is like, not a great person or anything, but we see how her problems stem from society's treatment/neglect towards her. It's like the game is saying, "by not protecting our most vulnerable, we make monsters. And that's our wrong, not theirs."

IDK. Maybe I'm really overthinking it? Very possible. But I like that the game points to some of these poor girls and says that they need help, not condemnation. They need understanding, love, and friendship. They need hope. The world can be an unkind place, but it can also be a beautiful one, and they deserve to feel that beauty and love too.

Anyways thanks for listening to my long rambling rant.

[darkonekrisrewrite]

The Lov’s bonds with each other are all they have + Dabi Recovery Theories

(Second Side Meta) (Spoiler warning, short meta + theories)

It doesn’t really matter if the Lov inner relationships are unhealthy or if they encourage their worse traits because they don’t have anyone else but each other, even at this current point in the manga.

Excluding Dabi, maybe.

Shigaraki’s family is dead, Toga’s parents were horrible and Spinner’s family was presumably close to the same as he never mentioned them or at least they’re not present in his life.

And while we don’t know much about Compress’s family other than his Grandfather being a “peerless Thief”, the fact that he wound up in the Lov implies that he doesn’t have much, if anything, going for him either.

The individual members of the Lov have nothing to go back to and no one from their pasts that they could depend on in any circumstances.

So the small and pitfall ridden bonds that they share with one another are their only human connection and what connects them to their own humanity.

(I don’t really have any concrete proof that this ^ scene isn’t a manipulation on Dabi’s part but the art framing and overall plot relevance of the scene heavily implies that it isn’t a manipulation but genuine in its sentiment.)

Showing tears for others (Toga), their loyalty to others (Spinner and compress), and that despite everything they’re still themselves (Dabi and hopefully in future coming chapters Shigaraki too).

(Forgot to put this scene in earlier Meta, Spinner loyalty ^ here)

Whether these sentiments and actions have a good result is nearly irrelevant, as the actions and feelings themselves drive the Lov on the only path to survival that is currently available to them while at the same time showing that they do still have many forms of Love inside them.

And the path that they’re currently on is still definitely the only path that could have a chance of them surviving, because the Hero Kids are not where they need to be in the saving department yet.

(This ^ does not inspire confidence.)

Unless it’s made clear that when the hero kids say they intend to stop/save their respective villains, they mean not only from death but also from being locked up to rot in prison forever, and they’re willing to actually fight in anyway that’s needed to make sure that doesn’t happen, the hero kid’s intentions don’t mean anything.

Because obviously throwing the Lov in prison isn’t saving them, there’s no way the hero kids can save the villain’s hearts from outside of a metal box (a key theme of saving in Bnha is saving the Heart).

That’s not even saving the Lov’s lives either really, because that’s just another form of killing them slowly and depending on perspective, with even more cruelty.

Dabi is both different and similar, as he does still have his family that does care about him but his future with them is still very uncertain.

They all came together to save Touya and each other which is good but Natsuo then saying that things will be “Hell” from now on, whatever that means, leaves Dabi’s fate on pretty much one of only two paths.

With Hero Society or with the Todoroki Family.

It can’t be both, because after everything that’s happened and the parts Dabi played in trying to take down the current system, Hero society won’t let him be saved in any way that could really count as saving.

Dabi Recovery Theories

Personally, what I think should happen, if the Todoroki’s are really intending to follow through on saving Touya and making sure that he can make a full(ish) recovery, is fake his death.

Someone as connected/wealthy as Endeavor must have access to private medical facilities, someplace they could stash Touya to keep him alive.

And with some heroes loyal to Endeavor or Shoto, or if they’re capable of exiting the area themselves with the help of the rest of the Todoroki family, take Touya and escape, hiding him there while saying that the villain Dabi fully incinerated himself in the near explosion.

Dabi is dead to the world but Touya can live and heal.

It’s pretty clear from the framing that Touya will live but for how exactly he would survive with his current injuries and fully recover, I have three theories.

The first theory being that with the right medical attention, Dabi could simply survive more or less as is.

A simple thought but plausible, because excluding one of his arms and some outer muscle lost, Dabi’s injuries aren’t so much worse than what he already went through and survived as a child.

As long as his insides aren’t burned up (which they aren’t thanks to the appearance of his dormant Ice Quirk), he should be able to survive with medical attention.

And for making a full recovery (maybe not exactly a ‘Full recovery’ in this case as while they could feasibly replace his lost skin, the burned muscle might be different story) prosthetic limbs are pretty common in Bnha’s world, with even Compress being able to get his hands on a metal arm while on the run with the Lov.

The second theory is using Eri’s rewind Quirk, using medical equipment to ensure Dabi survives long enough for Eri’s horn (her power) to regrow and rewind Dabi to a state before he was so severely burned.

This is another simple solution (personally not a fan of this one) but entirely possible, although the heroes continually using Eri to solve their injuries/problems is a bit sketch (even the heroes admit that), so there is one very interesting theory left I can think of.

The Third theory: The heroes (specifically Endeavor) could try to use the imprisoned Doctor Garaki and the high-end Nomu to save and heal Dabi.

By transferring the high-end Nomu’s regeneration quirk (something all the high-ends have, implying that the power can be replicated and transferred) to Dabi, using the doctor’s knowledge and previous experience of “grafting quirks” onto other beings (the Doctor said he could accomplish this action even without the AFO Quirk).

As for how this scenario would be possible, Endeavor would finally have to step up as a Father instead of as a hero, in fact risking his life/status as a hero.

Either by forcefully taking the Doctor and the Nomu from Prison himself or by leveraging his status as the Number one hero (what’s left of it) to force this plan to happen for Dabi’s sake.

And I personally think that this would be a great ending to Endeavor’s story as a hero, if he truly does regret everything he did.

Endeavor risking or sacrificing everything he personally has left (his hero existence) in the present to help the Son he chose not to show up for in the past, finally putting Touya first to fully save him from the flames.

That seems like good narrative storytelling to me.

[skymagpie]

The War Within SPOILERS and the discussion around [redacted]'s death

This will be spoiler heavy and below the cut I will not be censoring [redacted]'s name so proceed with caution. I am mostly going to discuss theories, reactions, wishful thinking and the such. Feel free to add or discuss!

As a lot of us who saw the leaks know, it is implied that Khadgar dies in the opening of The War Within, in the pre-patch story. The implication comes from the fact that we see Dalaran destroyed and the placeholder for the cutscene says that the rest of the cast takes a moment for Khadgar.

Now I expected Khadgar to die in the World Soul Saga. They kept hinting how they will make us sad, Chris Metzen has been taking classes from the Game of Thrones writing school in the late years and the community was out for blood because Dragonflight was Oh So Disney!!! To add to that, Khadgar kept acting like he is on death's door in both Shadowlands and Dragonflight, which is the weakest form of foreshadowing a character death possible. Also he is 54, he isn't even old.

However what I didn't expect is to be right at the opening quest of The World Within. I expected either here or maybe in the following expacs, maybe at the last fight, but not at the opening. And the death being here is actually my problem with it.

Theory on how it might go down ->

If you watch PlatinumWoW's video on the alpha, it seems that Magni Bronzebeard goes into another coma and we bring him to Dalaran to nurse him back to health. There are some other characters present.

Afterwards we end up on the shore with The Chamber of the Guardian (where we nursed Magni back to health) in pieces. And we fight Xal'atath's nerubians. Afterwards comes the screenshot from above where the main cast seems to mourn Khadgar.

The most obvious and cliche way this will go down is that:

We tend to Magni

We learn something about Xal'atath from Alleria and/or Khadgar

She suddenly attacks

We defend the city and fail

Khadgar does a heroic sacrifice, ensuring our escape and losing his life in the process. This plays in a pre-rendered cutscene much like Varian's on Broken Shore.

Once we arrive at the beach there is a Animated Real-Time Cutscene as described above where everyone mourns him.

Alleria makes it her mission to hunt down Xal'atath because Khadgar is one of her closest friends. Their beef is personal (and I get it, I am with Alleria).

Theories and wishful thinking

-> Now for the theories, please do know that Khadgar is my favourite WoW character and there is a lot of bias in what I hope might happen, so I will list them just in case.

The death might be a fake-out. We might not see him die on screen (though this depends on the pre-rendered cinematic I believe is missing) and we assume he has died in the explosion or whatever broke The Chamber of the Guardian. We mourn him and near the end of the Expansion he will appear just in the nick of time. Here he might actually die, but that is another discussion.

Khadgar openly decides to port Dalaran elsewhere or we see him be swallowed by the void and ported elsewhere himself. He is not dead, but we do not know of his fate and neither do the main characters, so they take a moment to mourn. This also adds to Alleria's personal beef with Xal'atath even if Khadgar doesn't die. Saving him from whatever fate befell him can also add to this.

They actually take a moment for him because he is somewhere and not dead (not likely, but I have to throw it in here).

Discussion

I won't lie, I think if it goes down how I suspect it will, it will be horrible. I don't know if Chris Metzen and the writers are under the impression that Tirion's and Vol'jin's deaths were good because they weren't. They were pointless Game of Thrones-esque shock value so people will not whine that this game doesn't kill enough characters.

This game has had it's fair share of good character deaths and it's fair share of horrible character deaths. Varian, for example, had a good death. His death was given the weight it deserved, he went out as a badass and he got a whole rendered cutscene. Not to mention he had narrative build up, he learned the lesson his son was trying to teach him right at the end and he knew that his time as leader is over and this world needs a king like Anduin now. Tirion was disrespected. Metzen and the writers must be out of their mind if they think the community found Tirion's death as anything other than stupid and funny, because that's all it was.

So if Khadgar earns this death, it will truly be stupid. I have no problem with characters dying, I have a problem with pointless deaths just so annoying youtubers will think that we are finally having AN EPIC STORY because you know, the years are 2011-2019 and we still think Game of Thrones is peak writing.

Khadgar's death here will not have any narrative build up - let's be real, Khadgar wasn't a character in the previous 3 expansions so killing a character that is narratively "cold" is not going to have an emotional impact on people. Varian was very present in the story when he died.

I think a far better way to handle this is if we have this scenario, have Khadgar's death be a fake out and then have him die in the 3rd act of the expansion. This way there will be narrative build up and it will lull us in the false sense of security that Khadgar cannot die, only to then shock us when he does. This will really break the feeling of "hope" we might build up and truly achieve a feeling of dread and defeat.

They already tried writing death at the beginning of a story and just rehashing Broken Shore won't make Tirion and Vol'jin's deaths any less stupid. Khadgar is a beloved character, he isn't someone you should kill at the start of a story. No matter how symbolic you think it is that he dies along with The Chamber of the Guardian, none of it ties back to any of his previous and good stories, from The Last Guardian and all the way to Legion.

So while as a writer I want to remain realistic and know that probably my favourite character will get bagged, a part of me hopes that the writers are a bit better than this and that they won't give us another Broken Shore, but give us a meaningful character death and a worthy farewell.

It's too early to speak, so this is all speculations and I am probably not right about many things.

[king-of-wrath]

Here's how to remove any need for "God", any god-like character or supreme deity to be in charge of Heaven while still answering all the big world-building and lore questions

1.) The universe wasn't created by the will of any super-powerful entity. Instead, a cosmic event like the Big Bang just happened and among the first intelligent beings were the elder angels. Whether they became sentient at the same place and time or would find each other, it could go either way

2.) These elder angels didn't create every single thing in the universe, from the smallest electron to the largest galaxies. Instead, the elder angels built upon the foundations already laid by nature---according to what they wanted the universe to be

3.) As time went on, the elder angels created servants to carry out their will across the universe. The elders had set instructions on what these servants were to do, how they would do those things and where. This is where named angels such as Sera and Lucifer would come in

4.) After countless other planets and solar systems were formed and/or given life, the elder angels created Earth---which was to be both their masterpiece and the finishing touch of this universe. By coordinating their servants and combining their powers, learning everything they did across the aeons, they made Earth to have all the right conditions for advanced life to prosper

5.) In the original plan, humanity would grow and learn on Earth until eventually outgrowing this cradle and spreading across this vast universe. Heaven would lend some assistance when needed and offer guidance, but stay out of everyday affairs and keep themselves semi-anonymous

6.) This just did not sit well with roughly half of Heaven, for various reasons both ideological and personal. Rebellion happens, but the elder angels and those loyal to them won---banishing the rebels to Hell and deciding that any humans who go against their designs would share the same fate

7.) With the opposition banished and the remaining angels submitting to their "betters", the elder angels became convinced that everything they did was right and that their orders had to be completed to perfection. As time went on, the elders would recluse themselves from managing both Earth and Heaven and leave their servants with more responsibilities

8.) As this sorry state of affairs continued unabated---especially when the elders rarely gave instructions---the different groups/departments of Heaven came to be increasingly reliant on their direct superiors for leadership. This would result in departments not working together and the leadership exerting more control over their subordinates

9.) Eventually, Hell began to greatly surpass Heaven in terms of earthly influence and population. Heaven's actual management begged the elders for a solution, but the council was completely deadlocked and no one on the council was willing to compromise (such was their arrogance). Knowledge of this crisis was kept secret for fear of causing panic and potentially weakening Heaven before an outright invasion

10.) With no decision after so long and no sign of one coming soon, either Sera herself or her superior decided "Kill them". Obviously, someone must have thought "Hold on a sec. If we just barge in with guns blazing, we might actually provoke a war. How do we know if Lucifer and the Sins are actually responsible for this or if humanity's just gone astray?" and negotiations with Hell for a "temporary solution" would take place

11.) TL;DR Lucifer could not give a rat's shit about mankind after seeing all the horrible people being thrown into exile with him, but demanded that Heaven strictly limit the "population control" to sinners (since that was apparently the Big ThreatTM rather than Hellborn demons alone)

12.) While Sera would attend these initial negotiations and however many afterwards, she came to the (wrong) conclusion that nothing could be achieved by them and that the exterminations were the ONLY solution. Instead, she would send Adam in her place---knowing he wouldn't ever agree to anything Lucifer could suggest. As a massive cope and to sleep each night, Sera kept telling herself "I did what I had to". Nothing changed for many centuries and no one challenged Sera about this because no one but Sera knew

13.) Now, Heaven has zero idea of what makes a person "good" because they were never told because only the angels reviewing people's lives knew and their standards were as outdated as they were near-impossible to meet, but they never questioned it because they are blindly loyal. This became very apparent to everyone when the Princess of Hell showed that a sinner was actually making progress. When Adam did his sing-songy fucky-wucky of SPILLING THE GENOCIDE BEANS, the angel in charge of keeping Heaven blissfully ignorant (Emily) said "Hold Le Foque Up" and directly challenged Boss Sera on her bullshit

14.) In the aftermath of Charlie's appearance in court, ripples in the stagnant pool that is Heaven grew to become waves. As more and more angels heard this news, it became increasingly difficult for Sera alone to contain---prompting her to seek help suppressing what she called "dangerous rumors". Eventually, the story of Angel Dust was whispered into the ear of one angel tasked with reviewing the many thousands of lives ending each day. This angel began to question everything they were told, eventually deciding to look into the life-stories of the Hotel Gang (because they thought "If my leaders can do something wrong, maybe I DID do something wrong")

15.) Eventually, this "judge" would read Pentious' permanent record and deduce that yes, he did indeed deserve to go to Hell. But given that Angel Dust was shown to have improved, they decided to peek down at his soul from Heaven---right when Pentious did his heroic sacrifice (however anti-climactic it was). This judge then decided "Well, that surely doesn't seem like a Bad Guy thing to do! Maybe Hell's Princess is onto something! Redemption APPROVED!" -Stampy stamp stamp-

16.) Now Pentious, A SINNER, is roaming around Heaven (presumably with Emily's support) and telling every angel who will listen the story of his life, that of the other Hotel guests and Charlie's mission. Those waves I mentioned earlier? They're making Noah's Flood look like splashes in a kiddie pool

17.) Still, Charlie has to keep proving Heaven wrong. Sera and whoever else might think this is Rebellion 2: Hotel Boogaloo will try to stop her and Emily's efforts before outright riots are happening inside the Pearly Gates. Should enough of a fuss be kicked up or a number of lead angels be convinced to support Charlie's cause, the elder's bickering might be interrupted by some powerful revelations and truly revolutionary ideas

And that's how we can go from there: no Jehovah, no problem! Heaven isn't bad because Big Boss YHWH is a prick, but because Heaven is run (incompetently) by a bunch of bureaucratic assholes who are full of themselves and surrounded by Yes-Men without the spines to question their leaders!

You're welcome, Vivienne Medrano and Jeff Bezos' gluttonous wallet

[choices-binglebonkus]

I'm not a Jocelyn fan either. She's toxic and vile, but I find her more compelling in a lot of ways than say, Lily Ortiz – especially when the writers want the readers to see Lily as this pure as the driven snow angel who can do no wrong. Jocelyn is horrible, but she did put her life at personal risk to save others at Homecoming paid a steep price for it. She was also hit hard by Cody's death, so there's some humanity there too, even if it's just a drop.

There’s a lot to this ask so I’m going to tackle the littler bits first, starting with the ILITW cast and their weaknesses.

The It Lives characters are all incredibly flawed in their own ways. Their stans don’t think they’re innocent: they acknowledge and embrace those flaws because those are what make the characters so human.

Ava’s biggest flaws are that she’s kind of reckless, and that she’s sarcastic toward people who are easily angered which endangers her.

Andy’s biggest flaw is that he gets angered very quickly, though he has good reasons for it, he still does fly off the handle at times. Anger leads to rash and not very well thought out decisions, which can very easily get you hurt or killed, especially in a horror series.

Stacy’s biggest flaw (which we do see going away as the book goes on) is her fixation with appearance and status.

Lucas’s biggest flaws are unwillingness to ask for help and biting off more than he can chew, which are also behaviors that are dangerous enough in real life, but potentially deadly in horror series.

I can’t really say what Dan’s biggest flaws are because we get so little interaction with him in the series, and all of Noah’s flaws can be attributed to the trauma he’s faced throughout his life, as even before Jane died, his parents had a lot of issues with their marriage, which was something he was aware of and tried to shield his sister from.

If Noah dies and takes Jane’s place, the ILITW crew is shown and stated to be completely unaware of it, the MC being the only person who knows of Noah’s true fate. Given this, the same could probably be said if the MC dies and takes Jane’s place. It’s not that the ILITW crew used the MC: they simply aren’t aware of the true nature of their death.

And given all the chaos and trauma that took place in the book, it’s perfectly understandable why the ILITW crew would want to move on in their lives without revisiting the ordeal more than they need to. I’d probably do the same. However, they’re more than willing to help out in ILB, and they still meet for pizza every year so they never fall out of touch and never forget what happened and those they lost.

It also makes sense why the MC can’t and won’t let go of their supernatural experience. Jane, their best friend, died right before their very eyes, was stuck as a shadow monster for a decade, and then Jane’s brother Noah (who arguably becomes MC’s closest friend as a result of their shared loss) dies and takes her place. The MC probably feels some survivor’s guilt and feels as if they’re to blame for what happened, and wants to make it right by “fixing” things if they can, which is why they’re devoted to becoming a monster hunter/tracker.

None of these characters are perfect. Absolutely none of them. But what person is? To have a flawless, completely innocent character who has done absolutely no wrong is completely unrealistic.

Moving onto Lily, who I’ll admit isn’t my favorite of the bunch.

It is true that the ILITW crew is dealing with some heavy shit. Abuse, blackmail, estrangement, familial neglect, PTSD, struggles with identity, struggles with ostracism. That is very true.

However.

Lily’s big life-or-death issue isn’t merely that her crush doesn’t like her back, that’s kind of an oversimplification. She’s mercilessly bullied because she’s fat (and maybe there’s a bit of homophobia thrown in there too, I’m not actually 100% sure) and she’s preyed upon by her crush and her crush’s friend who think manipulating Lily and humiliating her on homecoming night is funny.

Lily is not a physically strong character. She can’t fight, she runs away, and is generally no help in a fight. But not every character can realistically be an action hero and badass. She also suffers from low self-esteem from the bullying (which she mentions occurred throughout her childhood as well) and has little to no confidence.

To be frank, to say she thrives off of playing the victim comes across as victim-blaming.

Lily does shove Ava and yell at her for almost killing Jocelyn in the fight, and I’m not trying to excuse that because that’s pretty harsh, but I’d probably chalk her reaction up more to adrenaline and fear than trying to pin all the blame onto her. Lily did foreshadow early on in the book that the monster could enthrall Ava using her powers and was probably aware that the monster had some form of control over her during the fight.

Additionally, she doesn’t seem to give Jocelyn a free pass either: she was visibly scared and upset during the fight where Jocelyn had the upper hand and after all is said and done, the principal is the one who tells her (and Stacy) to help Jocelyn to the nurse’s office.

Lily doesn’t blame Ava and doesn’t hold any rancor over the fight after everything has settled down. Her reaction is pretty much on par with everyone else’s emotions in the ILITW crew after the fight: fear, helplessness, and guilt. I mean, she almost watched someone get strangled to death in front of her.

She does acknowledge the possibility that Britney changed and began treating her better because of Redfield, but doesn’t want it to be true. She acknowledges it and probably deep down knows it’s true, but still wants to give Britney a chance because they used to be close in childhood. She even states at one point that Britney used to defend her from bullying when they were young. Lily wants to give Britney a chance to change because she remembers all those fond memories as kids, but also, her confidence is so depleted from the years of bullying that she just wants someone, anyone to show some semblance of care for her, even if it isn’t completely genuine.

Hell. I’ve been bullied throughout my whole life, and I’ve dated people who treated me like absolute shit just because they paid attention to me. Lily is absolutely the type to do the same. I empathize.

Should Lily survive the events of ILITW, she goes on to create a successful indie video game with a sequel in the works. That didn’t surprise me because she mentions having gone to a coding camp, and she also had a 4.5 GPA in high school. She’s used her wildly smart brain and incredible drive to find her own success and further her own life, just like everyone else from the ILITW crew.

Which is why your statement about everyone else bettering their lives “while she gorges on pizza” comes across as incredibly and unapologetically fatphobic.

Lily is not my personal favorite. She’s actually my least favorite of the ILITW crew. But every character brings something to the group. Lily is timid, meek, and suffers from a lack of confidence. She’s not a fighter and she’s frequently terrified throughout the book.

But she still helps the group. She helps research, she helps obtain the hospital records when the group visits Dan, she risks life and limb to go into the woods and perform the binding ritual, and she does it again to save Andy. She faces her fears time after time after time.

So in a way, though Lily is fearful and afraid throughout the book, she’s actually the bravest character of them all.

[wanderinghedgehog]

Okay, so Javert is dead. Time to do a line-by-line commentary/analysis of Javert’s Suicide in the musical with some book comparisons. Yippee!

“Who is this man?

What sort of devil is he?”

I think this line would feel more appropriate right after Valjean frees him at the barricade. This will begin a trend of Javert’s suicide being very focused on Valjean here. Also, in the book, this is the chapter where Javert compares Valjean to an angel, so it’s interesting that he is called a devil here instead.

“To have me caught in a trap

And choose to let me go free?”

This was Valjean’s choice. He didn’t really have much to gain from freeing Javert. In fact, it’s potentially detrimental to him. This is an act that you can’t see for anything but what it is, kindness.

“It was his hour at last

To put a seal on my fate,”

Javert truly believes that Valjean could have killed him. For an audience who is aware of Valjean’s nature, it’s a bit strange to imagine.

“Wipe out the past,

And watch me clean off the slate.”

Valjean literally gives you his address so you can arrest him. I don’t think he’s looking to just get away.

“All it would take was a flick of his knife.

Vengeance was his and he gave me back my life!”

He’s not happy to not be killed. It kinda ruined his day :(

“Damned if I'll live in the debt of a thief”

I don’t know if the musical gives this context really, but I interpret this line as a rejection of his changed opinion of Valjean. At this point in the book, he’s started referring to Valjean more respectfully. But here, he denies any semblance of that.

“Damned if I'll yield at the end of the chase”

This deserves a quote from the book. “Enormities such as this can happen and nobody should be punished? Jean Valjean, stronger than the entire social order, should be free and he, Javert, continue to eat the bread of the government!”

“I am the Law and the Law is not mocked”

This line will be relevant again later.

“I'll spit his pity right back in his face”

The oddest thing about this is Javert is meant to be pitiful. The book literally describes him this way, but in a moment when he is very sure of himself, when he goes to arrest Valjean in M-sur-M. Javert is pitiful because he is horribly wrong and oblivious, not because he is helpless. Valjean helping him when he is in need of help is not the sort of pity you’d expect to be shown to a man like Javert.

“There is nothing on earth that we share”

On the one hand, are you sure about that? On the other hand, this really speaks to how Javert’s worldview allows for two types of people: superiors and inferiors. When Valjean is seen as a criminal, he is nothing like Javert because Javert couldn’t possibly have something in common with a convict. oBvIOusLy. But when Valjean has proven he’s a good man, he is nothing like Javert because he’s better.

“It is either Valjean or Javert!”

I told y’all the “I am the Law” thing would come back. This is Javert’s ultimatum that he’s given himself. He must choose between Valjean (the reality of humanity) and himself (the reality of the law). He doesn’t give himself the option to become something other than the law.

“How can I now allow this man

To hold dominion over me?”

The musical speaks much more of debt than the book. In the book, Javert doesn’t worry about the debt he owes Valjean for saving him because he’s already been repaid. Javert showed him mercy in turn.

“This desperate man that I have hunted”

I think this is an oddly sympathetic way for him to talk about Valjean.

“He gave me my life. He gave me freedom.”

The key word here is “gave.” There was no trade or deal as Javert had initially assumed.

“I should have perished by his hand”

He was too willing to die then. That’s not noble sacrifice, buddy. You just don’t value your own life very much.

“It was his right.”

It was also his right to not kill you.

“It was my right to die as well.”

Time for another book quote. “To have called the other insurgents to his aid against Jean Valjean, to have forced them to shoot him, that would have been better.”

“Instead I live -- but live in hell.”

Yeah, I bet suddenly having to think about things when you’ve gone the rest of your life with your mind as blank as printer paper isn’t exactly a fun time.

“And my thoughts fly apart.”

Same

“Can this man be believed?”

Javert in the musical is much more confused than Javert in the book. In fact, in the book, sudden clarity is arguably part of the issue.

“Shall his sins be forgiven?

Shall his crimes be reprieved?”

I will once again refer you to the line “nearer angels than men.”

“And must I now begin to doubt,

Who never doubted all those years?”

This is my favorite line in the song. It’s similar to my favorite line from this chapter in the book, “to be granite and to doubt.” Both lines really express the scale of this emotion so well.

“My heart is stone and still it trembles.”

This reminds me of a misconception I’ve seen a lot. For whatever reason, some people think that Javert intends to be emotionless. I think that referring to his heart as stone is not to say that he doesn’t feel, but that he is unshakeable. Hence the line “and still it trembles.”

“The world I have known is lost in shadow.”

Well, what exactly is the world he has known? That seems to be a difference between the musical and the book. I’m sure a lot of other people have explained that difference better than I could.

“Is he from heaven or from hell?”

And another quote. “…this monster, this infamous angel, this hideous hero, who made him almost as indignant as astounded.”

“And does he know

That, granting me my life today,

This man has killed me even so?”

I’ve found that this song has trouble really communicating why Javert would want to kill himself, but this line brings up a certain sentiment from the book that I think explains it pretty simply. While it can’t be said that Javert had only one reason for committing suicide, the book does say, “He felt that he was emptied, useless, broken off from his past life, destitute, dissolved. Authority was dead in him. He had no further reason for being.” He kinda thinks of himself as already dead.

“I am reaching but I fall”

Despite the fact that this song already had the same melody as Valjean’s Soliloquy as well as some similar lyrics, this is where I notice this parallel the most, at the moment when the two narratives really begin to differ. In Valjean’s Soliloquy, this verse is where he talks about the death of his former self and how this will allow him to start again. This verse is far more literal in Javert’s Suicide. He does not intend to start again and redeem himself.

“And the stars are black and cold”

Stars callback! Yippee!

“As I stare into the void”

Another line shared with Valjean. It’s really interesting to hear these shared lines sung so differently in the same show.

“Of a world that cannot hold”

I think I like this line for a similar reason as “and must I now begin to doubt.” I’d have trouble explaining it though.

“I'll escape now from that world”

Often, antagonists are given the chance to redeem themselves through death. Javert does not do this. He doesn’t ignore these revelations and be wrong knowingly, but he certainly doesn’t become a better person outside of his own head. By taking himself out of the equation, he has remained static, something he’s been doing his entire life.

“From the world of Jean Valjean.”

I’m not sure how I feel about this one. This isn’t Valjean’s world. Valjean just lives here.

“There is nowhere I can turn”

Not the line itself, but the music. Maybe the chaos of it does work well for the musical. I don’t know. But I always preferred the quiet of the scene in the book. You get so used to hearing his really noisy thoughts, but then he’s just some guy standing on a bridge in the middle of the night.

“There is no way to go on...”

I want a portrayal of this but that isn’t silly. This isn’t the line’s fault though. “There is no way to go on” had nothing to do with some of the goofy staging I’ve seen.

[runningfrom2am]

LTPF THEORY OF THE DAY!

the very first hunger games was a cruel punishment for anyone who happened to be district in any point of their lives. both sejanus and lucy gray must’ve felt threatened by the horrible experience of witnessing the games from the beginning because for lucy gray, she might end up in the arena one day and for sejanus, he could only protect himself from the horrors of the arena. however for someone who was born and raised in the capitol, the games are not really disturbing because they aren’t important in their lives, there isn’t much too see. most people probably don’t even question the benefits of them. but that doesn’t mean the competition and drive for survival isn’t as real as it is in the arena, for them. coryo and r are leveling the playing field because the race is there and they don’t want unfair advantages over each other because they are friends. while the academy may seem like an arena to sejanus, with no one agreeing with his opinions and only two friends, r and coryo view it as a straight line to carry them forward.

this unfortunately changes with the 10th annual hunger games.

as they set foot in the arena, the way of their understanding of their world starts to change. after the games, sejanus and lucy gray move on because even though their trauma is now personal, they have been freed of the games. r, on the other hand, displays change in both on the inside and outside. when she decides to take revenge on coryo, she refers to it as “a game”, she is quick to resort to violence and most importantly, she uses the games to show her power when threatening lucy gray. coryo’s explanation for dr gaul’s question shows that the change happened for him too.

they are no longer the winner of a race. they are the victors.

as per effing usual you are spot on babe-

i feel this could go one of two ways with the way they were raised:

1. her parents (particularly her father) really loved the games as a source of entertainment and i feel like their house would be the venue for many a live watch party. coryo, of course would be invited by r bc she got to invite some friends too and even tho his parents had both passed, they would just kind of hangout together while the adults watched. this could be a viable source of his ideas for the games later on that he shares with dr. gaul. building on the knowledge he gained that morning that people were there to get to know lucy gray, his mind goes “hm… what would make the games better for the adults at that party. betting. r’s father would be all over that.”

for them up until the point that they were directly involved, that big party was all the games meant to them.

OR

2. her father didn’t care for the games either, similar to highbottom. maybe because he knew, maybe because he was there when casca drunkenly pitched the idea and then the next morning when crassus submitted the idea as their assignment. did he try and fight him on it? is that why they were comfortable enough to work together and not feel bad about what they were doing particularly to people in the capitol, desperately searching for something to help them through the devastation after the war, and landed on drugs as a solution? people who were okay with the games, even watched children getting killed year after year, were the men profiting off of them and not feeling remorse because of what the capitol was doing? i don’t think that wholesome excuse would hold up forever, though, considering they’re both more than willing to kill his daughter over exposing them, i feel like it became much more than they intended and greed played a great role in that.

controversial take: i think r is a lot like her father in a lot of ways, and regardless of how her father treated the games, she was never free from that fate.

thank you for coming to my ted talk 🫡

[mx-lamour]

Ezmerelda d'Avenir

Ezmerelda was our fated ally in the tarokka reading. Described as a lone traveler, Ezra couldn't help but feel a sort of kinship already.

When we finally met her, it was Ezmerelda who questioned Ezra about his potential link to the deity of the same name. We had just found Van Richten's tower and managed to get inside, when we heard a pack of wolves howling in the distance. They grew nearer with the stamping of hooves, and Ezmerelda came galloping on horseback out of the woods with werewolves on her heels. We opened the door for her, yelling, "Come on! We're friends!" In a very cinematic move, she leapt off her horse, still in motion, and ran into the tower.

We managed to defend the tower against the wolf pack and convince Ezmerelda that we actually were who we said we were. We learned a lot that night. (Not least of which were the contents of I, Strahd we unearthed.) And Ezmerelda shared a theory that there might only be one god in the Domains of Dread, either intentionally or through misattribution, going by many names. Ezra was just one of these. Some call them the Traveler.

Ezmerelda and Ezra have kind of a sibling-esque relationship regarding Van Richten. When Ezra and the guys first met the bitter old man, Ezra was immediately... petulant is probably the right word. Their vibes seemed to be just similar enough to clash horribly from the outset.

Ezra likes his rose-colored glasses, though. He's hopeful. He needs to believe things can get better. But Van Richten, for his own reasons, was unwilling to divulge too much information to our group of rather green adventurers. Ezra was indignant in the face of his withheld wealth of information.

Ezmerelda is more practical than Ezra in many ways. She doesn't get attached. But she agreed to join our cause, and that was the important part. The two of them can bitch about Van Richten together, which is kind of cathartic. In the time since that first encounter, Ezra has grown to understand Van Richten, but he still views him like the kind of father figure he doesn't want to become.

Our two other party members developed a pretty solid brotherly relationship with each other from square one, so it's nice that Ezra has someone else to relate to.

Or he would have, if he hadn't been so busy hovering around Ireena.

When Ireena was taken from us, Ezra sought out Van Richten. Asked him through a haze of shock if he knew any way to cure vampirism. Van Richten looked like he'd seen a ghost. He was softer than he'd ever been when he told Ezra the only way to cure a vampire was to kill it. (Ezra refused to accept this, of course.)

So, nowadays, we're making our way through a few of the other Dreadlands. And Ezra has a fresh opportunity to get to know Ezmerelda in the meantime.

. . .

↓ Link to my Hero Forge model of Ezmerelda d'Avenir! ↓

[theknitpotato]

There is a question going around the internet, the original question is would you rather have your daughter in the woods with a random unknown man or a random bear. Its been morphed a bit now that its been shared to would you as a woman rather be in the woods with a random unknown man OR a bear.

Almost without fail posed this question the answer of the women/mothers have been a bear and it has men feeling some type of way that women almost universally trust a bear more then a strange man. But here are the top 10 reasons woman have given for choosing a bear over a man:

10- No one would question me about what I was wearing if the bear attacked me.

9- No one would accuse me of liking the bear attack

8- A bears motives are easier to understand.

7- A bear won't accuse me of leading them on by being nice to them.

6- I would not be forced to carry the bears babies to term in 27 states.

5- The bear will either kill me or leave me alone there are not 400 other horrible ways a bear can hurt me.

4- Bears do not traffic women.

3- A bears friends won't come out to say how nice the bear is and how attacking me is ruining its life.

2- No one will question if the bear attack really happened.

1- The bear sees me as a human being.

But here are a few others that are sad but true:

If I survive the bear attack I will not have to see the bear at family reunions.

The bear did not torture me for years.

A bear would not film it and send it to his friends.

A bear would not apologize to me and promise never to do it again.

NOW lets talk. Soooo many males are mad about this. I have seen some comments replying to a woman choosing the bear that make my skin crawl. Most of them give off vibes that tell me they are literally part of sect of men that are the reason we chose the bear. When this question was posed, man or bear, to woman 9 out of every 10 chose the bear. 9 out of every 10. We cannot agree about hair color, makeup, or Taylor Swift but we almost entirely as a gender agree about this. In fact when asked 7 out of 10 did not even take time to think the answer was instantly bear.

We understand the bear may kill us. We understand there are fates worse then dying. A bear will simply kill us or ignore us.

Statistically women are safer with bears then men sorry not sorry. In the last 4 years 7 women were killed by bears and 15 were attacked and survived. Do you wanna know the rape/murder statistics for the same time range of men killing/raping women?

We are safer with the bear.

Sorry, not sorry.

[dark-elf-writes]

Okay so I was rereading WSTS when I saw your answer to that anon and here’s a quote that stuck out to me

“He loved Albus for giving Harry a place that, while not always safe , had always felt more like home than the bare white walls dotted with plaster patches that made up Dudley’s second bedroom. Loved him for, even knowing what he did, never treating Harry like he was something different. Something other. (A freak .) Loved him for the quiet moments where they had shared tea and stories; just two dreamers who had been forced by circumstance to become warriors.

He hated Albus for much the same reasons. Hated him for, either out of ignorance or something more sinister, sending Harry back to his own personal hell year after year even after he had begged not to go back. (Harry had not been the first boy to beg.) Hated him for hoarding that knowledge of what made Harry so damn special close to his chest even though it was the very thing that Harry needed to hear to know that he wasn’t going insane. (That he had kept that secret until Harry was ready to die for it.) Hated him for those same quiet moments over tea when those glittering blue eyes would go distant and sad, realizing that Albus himself was the very circumstance that had forced the blade into Harry’s too small hand.

All of it a mix of pain and love and betrayal that ached years after the man’s death. All of it made fresh again as Harry faced down the door to another Grandmaster.

Feeling a bit like he was trading one puppet master for another, Harry squared his shoulders and nodded to himself.

For Teddy, Harry would allow himself to be owned again. To give them a chance to break the cycle started nearly eighty years before with yet another orphan left at the whims of fate, Harry would crawl over glass. To give them the choice of whether or not they wanted to fight when that time came, Harry would sell his very soul.”

Like, god I feel the same way with people. You love them and hate them because of the same thing. They were both dreamers, but the way they approached their dreams are so different. Dumbledore wanted control. Harry just wanted to be loved.

God. Reading Harry be fully prepared to just give up everything for Teddy is just such a thing. Harry might mess up sometimes, but this. This is why he is the best dad.

Harry’s relationship with Dumbledore and his relationship with Teddy are two of my absolute favorite things about WSTS.

His feelings about Dumbledore are the very definition of “it’s complicated”. Harry has grown enough to know all the horrible things Albus has done and how those things directly affected him and is understandably a bit angry about that, but at the same time Dumbledore was the person who “saved” him for so long and those feelings aren’t quick to disappear.

And then Teddy. Sweet baby Teddy. Harry would give everything for them. Would kill for them. Would die for them. Would willingly hand over the freedom he fought and died for and allow himself to become a lap dog once again.