#even though that doesn't fit the timeline either

[skyward-nerd]

Okay so I'm almost done with Mad Men. There's only one episode left. All I have to say is WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH THE CREDITS IN THE PENULTIMATE EPISODE WHAT THE FUCK HOW DID THEY DO THAT THE TIMELINE DOESN'T ADD UP WHAT THE FUCK???

[makishimu]

Just some observations I made about Megane's latest Rota Fortunae crumbs after going back to it over and over again (if you haven't read it yet, go check it out first). Maybe you'll already have noticed most of it, but hopefully not everything. Either way, I really just feel like rambling.

First of all, this is clearly set before their trip to Sunday's shelter. In fact, it's most likely the earliest part of the timeline we've had so far. It's noticeable through the fact Aven just got the glasses and doesn't appear to have the earring he has on his ref sheet and during the animation.

About the earring, if you look at this panel:

You'll notice that Human!Aven (let's call him that for now) has a peacock feathers earrings. It's not exactly the same Android!Aven has, but it's a similar style. Now, there's two conclusions you can make of that: either Android!Aven bought it himself because it fits his style and he most likely subconsciously remembers his past to an extent, or Ratio gave it to him because it reminded him of the one Human!Aven used to wear.

Now, onto this Human!Aven if you will, because how do I know he's human? It's somewhat easy to guess, but there are still some signs: first, his eyes. As an android, Aven's eyes become magenta and cyan when behind glasses, but here it's a reflection. It would seem his human appearance naturally had the Avgin eyes (if Avgins even exist in the Rota Fortunae lore). But there is a second sign that this Aven is human: his wrist.

If you look at this panel, you'll notice Aven's wrist has a joint (weirdly enough, there doesn't seem to be any joints on his elbow, but it's hard to see so maybe Megane just didn't feel like drawing it?) that isn't here on Human!Aven. Now, how did he go from being a human to being an android? We can only speculate on that, but the general guess seems to be that Aven died and Ratio transferred his consciousness in an android body. I love that theory, but only time (and Megane) can tell how right it is.

But I'm not done with my observations! Let's talk about Ratio! Though, I'll keep aside all the speculations about why he refuses to repair Aven himself. It's most likely out of guilt, but we can't know more than that for sure.

Just a silly little thing I noticed about him is that his hair curls when wet. It's such a small detail, but it's really adorable.

But what I mostly wanted to talk about is his tattoo (or whatever it is) because there's something really interesting about it. Let's take these two panels:

If you look closely at how far the tattoo reaches up his neck in the second image, you'll most likely notice that it doesn't appear to be there on the first image. Of course, maybe he just had it tattooed later, and it's a plausible explanation. But there's just something odd about the way Ratio uncovers that specific shoulder in that scene:

Maybe I'm just over interpreting. It's entirely possible. But the way he uncovers his tattooed shoulder like that kind of makes me think that it might be uncomfortable to keep covered. Kind of like when you have a healing scar and you don't like the sensation of the fabric rubbing against sensitive skin. In that case, maybe it's more than just a tattoo? Maybe it holds more meanings in relation to the Android rebellion? After all, there are some laurel symbols on the walls of wherever they are in that scene:

It's most likely linked to a faction such as the Intelligentsia Guild or the Genius Society (I'd lean more towards the former) as Megane suggested in the comments of that thread, but it's still interesting to note that tattoo wasn't there before the rebellion.

Now, a final observation about Aven and his eyes and it's that the brightness of his pupils seems to change depending on the situation:

Funnily enough, it appears to always brighten whenever he looks at Ratio (smitten much) at the exception of that one panel where he plays with Numby. This leads me to believe it might be some sort of emotional response (bright red eyes mean positive emotion and dark red eyes mean negative emotions. If I recall, the androids in the Rota Fortunae animation had dark red pupils) and it's just kind of cute to see how differently he looks at his Doctor.

Anyway, that's enough rambling for now (if only I could come up with that many words when I write my essays). I was supposed to be writing my fanfic's next chapter but I guess that won't be for tonight lmao. Of course, credit for all the images used in that small analysis goes to Megane. Go check out their work if you haven't already, it's definitely worth it.

Thanks for reading!

[glitter-stained]

The thing you need to remember about comics ages and timelines is that yeah it's messy there are retcons at stuff and it will never be clear and perfect. But also, DC has an interest portraying age the way they do. They have an interest in aging Barbara down so she can be Dick's pretty girlfriend with whom he raises a cute dog (and maybe a cute little family next perhaps?). They have an interest in trying to keep Tim young and draw him younger than he looks so they can milk his Robin's popularity for as long as possible. They have an interest in drawing Jason to make him look 40 when Bruce slits his throat, to make him look like a grown man fighting a teenager when fighting Mia even though they're the same age (though i mantain that mia is a little bit older), in having him call Tim kid even though they're the same age, in having him offer Tim a drink and Tim pointing out he's not legal when Jason isn't either. They have an interest in Jason looking older in Jim Aparo's art style in ADITF than he looked in precrisis or in 308. They have an interest in Steph magically looking older in War Games, where she gets tortured and brutally murdered, than the fun colourful round and much more youthful art from her Robin run. There are probably many more examples but bottom line it's not fucking innocent. DC knows how to hire artists that know how to draw children it's really not that hard. Characters who look young, characters who remind you that they are young, create more empathy; which is good when you want the public to continue to root for them, and bad when those characters challenge the status quo or that excess of empathy might create pushback after you decide to have them brutally murdered. DC can't have Batman grievously wounding and causing the death of his underage son, but if he looks as old as Batman? DC can't have Jason making a valid point about vigilantism being unsafe for Mia and relating with her with childhood sexual abuse subtext because it makes the heroes (and especially Batman) look bad, but if it looks like this is a grown ass man harassing a teenage girl, then it's clear who is the villain, it's okay, no problem. DC needs Barbara to be younger so the power dynamic between her and Dick fits their idea of a perfect little nuclear family much better and they can shove Barbara back into the role of Batgirl even though she is very much a girl rather than a woman. DC needs Steph to look older when she's tortured so they can be edgy without people being too horrified at them doing something horrifying, DC needs Jason and Steph to look older on the day they die because young looking= innocent which makes it so much harder to victim-blame. DC needs Mia to look younger than Jason so they can make it look like the good old "good victim/bad victim" dichotomy and even though that's not what the story is actually about, regardless of how much it disrespects Mia's character to do so. DC needs Jason to look ugly because it's harder to empathize with ugly people and it makes it so much clearer who is the bad guy and who is the good one, and it's a much easier dichotomy, so much more comfortable than challenging the whole mythos around which Batman is built. DC needs Barbara to be sexy in their traditional male-gaze way, because this is the audience they're trying to appeal to.

So like, I know that I'm nit-picking when I say "actually according to any and all logic Jason is younger than Tim by a couple of months and than Mia by around three years". Or when I say "they should bring back Dickbabs' old age difference" or even interact with Dickbabs as if they still have that difference and refuse to interact with Tom Taylor's version of the ship. I know comics are incoherent and the timeline is messy; but just because it's messy, just because it's always been, doesn't mean it's innocent. So I'm gonna keep nitpicking, and I'm gonna stay an annoying bitch, because I refuse to allow comics to manipulate me out of my empathy. And because I don't see everything and am very aware of how easy it is to be manipulated even when you're careful, I encourage you to add to this with things you've noticed whether it's in portrayal or in art about character age, appearance, or any other device they might use to manipulate our perception of the characters -and what narrative these resorts serve.

[radiance1]

Danny owns a ship.

A giant, wonderous piece of technology he is even! He made his ship from scratch!

Well, with a bit of help here and there from his parents, mom with the blueprints, him and his sister with design, and his dad showing how to fit certain pieces with each other that he couldn't do himself.

All of that resulting in the birth of his son, Tempest!

He did wonders on open water, a great ship all around that really only need him and him alone, usually at the very least. If he wasn't inviting a few friends on board, that is.

His ship was also fitted with some very good tech, wouldn't be of Fenton design if it weren't! Ghost shields, ectoplasmic canons, an engine running off of ectoplasm, etc, etc.

After he well outlived his friends and family (discounting Vlad, but that fruitloop would never die on his own anyway) he decided to sail Tempest into various waters, and by various, he meant various. Tempest, a ship unbound by time and able to sail along the timestream as long as he doesn't accidently fuck things up, lest Clockwork get on his ass about that.

It took a while of pleading for him to even agree to allow him to sail a ship as advanced as Tempest into the past, but he managed to do so. On an agreement that he would sail over to changes in time and fix them, which he does, and in the future it's pretty rad he won't lie.

Of course, then everything got kinda fucked up. You see, he was going back to his timeline via the timestream, and was going to drop by Vlad's place to drop off a few of his more recent spoils-

And yes, he dumps various things from his adventures on Vlad, least he could do after that whole trying to get with his mom and kill his dad thing. The dude's chill now, or as chill as he can get anyway, and has quite the interest in appraising the stuff he drops off, so a win-win for both of them honestly. Also, he uses the guy and his resources to upgrade Tempest here and there.

-When he uh, he well. He kinda, fucked up. Now you see, it wasn't his and it obviously wasn't the fault of Tempest either, but something outside the timestream (That Clockwork told him specifically not to look at) dragged his attention for a mite too long and suddenly he wasn't in the timestream at all.

Okay, so maybe it was his fault.

So now he was outside his dimension's timestream, and oh boy was trying to get back to it far harder than he was expecting. No wonder Clockwork constantly told him to be careful and pay full attention to navigating the timestream.

And he kinda, lost his...

He isn't a Master of Time like Clockwork is, though he does hold a good knowledge of the timestream he isn't as capable as Clockwork. So now he's lost navigating... wherever the hell he is, and is kinda hoping Clockwork would realize and find him.

He does manage to get back on a timestream though. He doesn't recognize it, but hell he only recognizes his because it was the only one he's ever entered so far. So he pops off to the present time of this timestream, and thinks that hey, yea, this definitely isn't his timeline.

Because there was a fuck ton of heroes, supervillains, magic, you name it, its here.

So, what was one eternally young-looking captain the Tempest, a time sailing ship, to do?

Explore of course!

[mrs-monaghan]

Tbh I'm a jikooker, but I find it incredibly difficult to fit a healthy long-term relationship into the same timeline as all of jimin's solo work. It's not the pronouns or taking one lyric very literally, its the entire thing, plus comments from him and his producers. To me, you'd have to do some serious olympic level mental gymnastics to make that make sense. I don't doubt that jikook have a special bond, I've definitely seen things between them that definitely look like sexual attraction to me and things that surpass friendship boundaries, but I can't in good faith say that they're together in some official long-term way if I actually listen to jimin and his work.

I've seen some jikookers think they broke up for a while, but I have to question if those people have ever been through a breakup because the little bit of distance/separation/awkwardness we did see from them during chapter 2 is nothing compared to the type of tension that would be there if a relationship that intimate and intertwined had separated, especially considering the dark feelings jimin was feeling. He wouldn't have been cutely commenting on jungkook's lives and jungkook wouldn't have been asking to hang-out or getting excited to see jimin in his comments.

Idk, I'm sure someone could twist everything a certain way and only take certain things at face-value and then make everything else abstract, etc. to make the case that they are together, but I don't really see it. You look at face-off, alone, and just his general dark feelings during Face, then look at the creation of Muse and how him and his producers said he couldn't relate to the love-dovey beginning songs, which is how they ended up making Who (despite the fact that jikookers try to distance him from the song since he doesn't have writing credits even though he sat in the recording room telling them what he wanted and saying it felt like reading his diary). I think jimin could have very well gone through a pretty awful breakup along with the inner turmoil he was going through post-covid, but I don't think it was with jungkook if he did. I still enjoy jikook's bond either way at the end of the day, but yeah I don't really get how anyone can take an honest look at jimin's work and his words and think he was in a long-term healthy love-of-his-life relationship during that time or into chapter 2.

Not trying to change your opinion or anything, honestly I don't really see it discussed much in jikooker spaces (besides bad-faith stuff like tkkers stirring up shit over pronouns in lyrics which is just dumb) and when it is, some jikookers are pretty pick-and-choose about what they deem to be true to jimin's feelings and what isn't. Which I get being nuanced, but sometimes it does feel like a "well this fits my beliefs so clearly this is true to jimin and this doesn't so it means nothing because he didn't write it" or whatever. I honestly get annoyed with the bad-faith arguers because it prevents being able to have actual discussions about some of this stuff in our little jikooker corner of tumblr. Like "he said her, he's clearly straight! he danced with a girl, straight!" stfu.

I don't have much to say to you anon. Not really. Not anything that hasn't been said anyway. Which you've seen and decided its jkkrs doing mental gymnastics. "I'm a Jikooker but..." its never a great way to start a sentence. It just gives major insecure jkkr vibes which i just 😬😬😬😬😬😬😬 you either believe in them or you don't. There is no if, and or buts.

I will leave you with this; over the years, antis and (insecure) jkkrs alike have always found a way to conclude Jkk aren't as close anymore or they broke up or some other bullshit. But what happens everytime Jikook resurface and we see them together again?

NOTHING HAS CHANGED!!!

Nothing ever changes with these 2! They come back closer, more in sync, happier, more in love and their relationship more established than ever. This happens every👏🏽damn👏🏽time👏🏽 Everytime!

Then the insecure jkkrs will be like "jkk is real" again.

And then we will go without content for a while and once again we are back here with the jkk aren't as close argument. Once again. It is an exhausting cycle that I refuse to be a part of.

You can try and nit pick various reasons as to why Jikook aren't in an established rlship, but I will chose to focus on reasons why they are definitely 130000000% in a relationship. Like the fact that they are enlisted together rn, the fact that they could have done AYS with other members but chose eo. Or the fact that Jimin wrote his name on JK's chest with sunscreen and I dont even want to imagine how he did that. What position they were in that would justify people calling them brothers 😂

You do you anon. I'mma just be over here enjoying Jimin promote the hell out of his favourite JK song.

Tweet

Look at him so proud of his man 🥺🥺

[demon-country]

The fact that I have already seen a good number of people complaining about how mean Stolas was supposedly being to Blitz in his song and thinking that he legitimately believes that Bliz is a wretched little worm that he owns is just. Utterly baffling. I'm genuinely unsure how anyone could miss the fact that it was an act. It was all a ruse he threw together on the fly in an effort to protect Blitz, wherein he pretended to be a big, bad, masterclass manipulator who was just using Blitz as his pawn.

For anyone who doubts it, here's the truth straight from the song writer's mouth:

This is literally the same exact ploy he pulled in Truth Seekers. He came in at the last minute and put on a big show to convince the people threatening Blitz and the rest of I.M.P that he was a big, scary demon who was so much more powerful than them (which he is) and practically owned them as his minions used to carry out his evil deeds (which he doesn't).

Though, perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised, since pretty much everyone I've seen talk about that scene fails to realize that that and his "who dares threaten my impish little plaything?" and "what's the matter, demon hunter? Never seen a real demon before?" comments were nothing but an act and he didn't actually believe any of it, too.

In Mastermind, he was trying to make sure that all of the blame would be put on himself, so that, as shown above, they would give Blitz the same treatment the others got when Blitz claimed they had nothing to do with it and were just following his orders.

In Truth Seekers, he was trying to intimidate the humans and make them so scared he wouldn't need to resort to violence to stop them. Why else would he put on that whole horror movie display and announce himself and his relationship with Blitz at all, if his entire goal was anything other than to incapacitate them with fear? If all he wanted was to get I.M.P out, he could have quickly and easily killed them without saying a word. Calling Blitz his plaything and saying that he was a real demon served to a) establish that he was the kind of person who had playthings, because that's the kind of cruel, domineering creature that most humans expect demons to be, and b) further intimidate them by implying that he was exponentially more powerful than the demons who just decimated their whole entire team.

He didn't mean any of it either time (except for when he called Blitz an idiot, maybe); those weren't things he actually believed. Why would he legitimately think of Blitz as his plaything and someone he owns when in both cases it was far enough in the timeline that he was already in love with Blitz and wanted a real, genuine romantic relationship with him and not just the fleeting taste of one he got while restrained by the full moon deal?

Those were classist/racist things to say, of course, and that was the point. That was language he deliberately used because it fit the persona he was using to appear villainous. Where he went wrong the first time and how his actual internalized racism came into play was in how he didn't for even one single second think about how those statements would look to the members of I.M.P, because he'd never once had to think about the fact they must get those kinds of demeaning comments all the time and had no way of knowing that he was faking. Calling them "little creatures" while he was scolding them probably wasn't part of the act though, and he didn't realize that it was classist/racist to say those things at all, regardless of intent, so he never apologized or reassured them that he didn't actually believe Blitz was his plaything or that they weren't real demons.

But with the power of hindsight and a more omniscient view of the characters that we get later on, it's so clear to see that all of these comments were only said as part of his theatrical portrayals of a villain, rather than things he truly believes, because he doesn't talk like that after Ozzie's when he realized just how much he had unintentionally been hurting Blitz. Don't fall for his ruse, guys, especially not when it's as blatantly obvious as it was in Mastermind.

[nymph-ette111]

hiiiiiii!! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)(⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠) could you do a simon cof x sweet, feminine reader headcannons? made my own headcannons to share with you because ily and i love this prompt(⁠*⁠´⁠ω⁠｀⁠*⁠)

♡ i imagine reader and simon would go out, hes wearing the same crusty ass grey hoodie while shes dressed up all cute and pretty >.<

♡ he reeks of nicotine while she smells like neapolitan marshmallows<3 hes obsessed with her scent. he literally loves using her bodycare/haircare products over his 3 in 1 men shampoo (if he even showers that is) because he'd smell more like her.

♡ she shares absolutely everything of her purchases. she'd do little mini hauls to Simon, showcasing her new pink ballerina flats, sugarbunnies plushie she had to fight a war for in mercari, too faced chocolate bar palette, cute japanese stationary, and a lot of new clothes. Simon loves it. he loves seeing her happy. (may even buy her things he thinks she would love if he didn't have a smoking addiction<3)

♡ she doesnt only share that though she also loves talking his ears off about anything and everything<3 at first he was annoyed with her constant talking but when he spoke of it, she stopped talking so much and he got guilty and missed her overtalking. he tried to bring her spark back in talking and it worked

♡ shes compassionate and kind, understanding his struggles (but not condoning his actions) and helping him to get better. (he really wants to be saved by her but feels that he just cannot.)

♡ he really doesn't get why she's with him. Hes depressed, miserable, and difficult to be with. His low self esteem sometimes gets the best of him and he starts believing that he's not worthy of her, often leaving her on read, missing her calls, and ignoring her. (im sensing attachment issues) reader clutches w communication though :3

♡ they'd explore abandoned buildings. Simon's there to smoke blunts while readers there to get awesome fit pictures<3 they would go a long way travelling and reader the most practical girl you know has her feet hurt from walking on platforms. they either take lots of breaks or Simon just carries her on his back (unlikely)

♡ talk about taking fit pictures, Simon's technically her photographer. She has a blog where she posts fashion and besides the mirror pics, Simon's always the one taking the pictures. He's quite good at it too.

some of these headcannons probably won't work in his time but who cares(⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ) hope this prompt isnt that hard to write for..(⁠ᗒ⁠ᗩ⁠ᗕ⁠)you can always ignore if you want!! thankkkkkk you x3 xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxooxoxoxox

WARNINGS; MENTIONS OF SMOKING, MENTIONS OF DEPRESSION

AUTHOR'S NOTE; WHOEVER REQUESTED THIS JUST KNOW I LOVE YOU!!! probably inaccurate for both the character and the timeline... listen, I don't know what swedish people were up to in 2012 leave me alone. also not very happy with this, still trying to figure out how to write Simon :3

-he looks comically out of place in your room. just imagine a pastel pink room filled to the brim with cute plushies, shelves full of little trinkets and books, floral bedding and lace curtains. a wall full of movie posters, magazine pages, and little polaroids of your most treasured moments, and then there's a depressed smoke addict.

-you know those videos where it's a boyfriend sleeping in their girlfriend's girly room with a bunch of plushies on top of him? yeah, basically same situation.

-his sleep schedule is fucked up. either he pulls an all nighter or is passed out till 3 pm. when it's one of those times where Simon feels tired, you just let him sleep in your bed whilst you do whatever.

-it's also a great opportunity to gather the perfect pictures for black mailing.

-he just looks so stupid in your room I love him.

-doesn't care about your plushies but will learn to treat them nicely after you yelled at him for 15 minutes straight about how it's unacceptable to throw rilakkuma off the bed just so he could sit down.

-punches the plush when you aren't looking.

-he definitely gives you that pink hello kitty hoodie to wear. or he wears it instead so you two could match. that's probably your idea and he obliges because it's something you love and enjoy.

-really like the idea of him being your personal photographer. he's always the first to leave a like on whatever you post, especially if it's he who took the picture.

-doesn't know anyone besides you. his followings on social media just contain a bunch of his favorite bands and your account.

-a bit sad but I can see him borrowing your money (with permission) to buy cigarettes if his mother refuses to give him any. he wants to buy you stuff you might like but he's too busy spending it on his addiction :(

-he instead draws you your favorite characters so you can put it on the wall alongside your other pictures.

-has never been in the vicinity of a woman without being an awkward shit. moral of the story he doesn't know anything about girls. his knowledge of things is pretty vague, so please don't be surprised if you see him just poking around your vanity and asking a million different questions on what certain products do and why.

-his mother is very happy her son finally found a girlfriend. she approves of you and thinks you're an absolute sweetheart. always asks Simon when you will visit them again.

-you two definitely earn a few stares in public because how did such a sweet and pretty girl end up with a guy like Simon.

-it pisses him off endlessly but can't help his thoughts and feelings. thinks he doesn't deserve you or any of the kind shit you do for him.

-like nonnie said, he probably isn't the greatest boyfriend... there are times where he cancels your hang-outs without further explanation or simply doesn't acknowledge any of your calls and messages. he feels pretty shitty after it and apologizes for his behavior. you forgive him even though you both know he'll do it again.

-he is low-key obsessed with your smell, he smothers anything you have in the shower all over his body without caring what it's for, just simply reads the labels and puts it on... with big amounts. this man is making you go bankrupt. you could literally see the outline of his fingers left in the product..

-his camera is full of pictures of you, he likes looking at them when he feels down. which is pretty often.

-shows you all of his favorite places in Stockholm or even Kirkvile (where does this man live I don't get it) ones that aren't usually full of people, just overly adventurous teenagers from time to time. something tells you that you two have trespassed into private property multiple times but Simon doesn't want to answer that question clearly.

-ugh imagine clipping cute little hair clips into Simon's hair and he just lets you do whatever you want because if you're happy then he is happy and he wants to see you smile :(

-in exchange, you let him do corpse paint on your face.

[galedekarios]

Not sure if you still do Gale meta asks so if you don’t, feel free to ignore me, but after replaying BG3 recently and getting to Gale’s third artifact explanation, I realized I’m actually a bit lost on his character on that slot.

I am of the opinion that Mystra groomed Gale and their relationship was unhealthy (I’m pretty sure you’re on agreement with that.) For a long time I thought Gale sought out to bring her the Netherese orb in an act of love and because he did not feel worthy or equal to her, but when he explained to me again I noticed at first his motives seemed to be based in the fact that Mystra closed veils to him despite how close he was to them while with her. So it leaves me a little lost because he also swore it was to serve her better, which I don’t get how that could be.

My current personal understanding is Gale, being with Mystra, was constantly looking into the “precipice” others could not access, and Mystra restricted that as she did with others. Gale, feeling like he wasn’t enough, desired to instead prove himself worthy in her eyes to access this knowledge. Perhaps it was still an effort to feel equal to someone he could not be? I’d love an explanation, ty!

thank you for your message!

yes, i am still doing them. i apologise for the wait, but they do take a lot of time, with the amount of research and time that goes into them (outlining, writing, putting together quotes and screenshots if needed). i hope you are still seeing this! 🖤

as for your confusion as to gale's motives:

i think the fault doesn't lie with you. i think the fault lies with larian.

the problem with re-writes and purging

i don't think your confusion is down to you not understanding, but rather it's larian's fault for their at times sloppy re-writes of early access in general to re-work it for the full version based on the fan feedback they received, as well as fitting the story they originally had planned within the scope of the possible.

they rewrote characters (gale, wyll, shadowheart, astarion, etc), they rewrote entire plotlines around factions and npcs while cutting others (halsin's and ketheric's relationship and how it pertained to the shadowcurse and isobel, cutting candlekeep and the astral plane, etc).

they softened up a lot of characters -- gale included -- and, important to your question, they sought to largely remove any dialogue that hinted at lingering feelings or had too many mentions of mizora from wyll and mystra from gale to placate players who felt upset by those mentions made -- even though it (imo) harmed the overall narrative for these characters -- both of which larian discussed prior to release and after release in their panels from hell and interviews, for example:

What is, in your folks opinion, is the funniest (and non-spoilery) addition or story that’s occurred because of either fan reception/feedback? Baudelaire Welch: We mercilessly purged any references to Gale or Wyll being hung up on their exes.

the fandom in general has talked many times about larian and their tendency to adopt popular fandom narratives and/or compromise their stories and characters over fan feedback so i won't rehash it at this point once again, although you can be sure i do have some less than charitable thoughts about it all.

however, i'm of the opinion however that these "purges" often left scars in the stories and character, and they left old traces that lead to a poorer characterisation for it, they messed up timelines, motivations or caused inconsistencies in characterisation and lore -- especially because in gale and wyll's cases, these "purges" were not substituted with new scenes.

things were only taken and scrapped, and nothing new was added in its stead.

the "purging" and re-write of gale included not only changing aspects of his personality, but removing scenes that were very much integral to his character and to understand not only what happened to him and mystra, but also the direness of his situation, the sheer loss of power and status he suffered -- from a waterdhavian archwizard able to wield silverfire to a, essentially, level 1 adventurer struggling to hold onto a fraction of the control he once held over the weave.

these two "purged" scenes are the loss scene and the deer stew scene, as well as a rewrite of the first romance scene, which then took place during the tiefling party.

i have detailed many of these scenes and cut dialogues in my series re: early access gale's cut content. if you wish to read it, you can do so here.

early access gale vs full release gale: why did he seek out the orb?

the loss scene and the tiefling party scene revealed early access gale's intentions: he sought the orb to proof his love to mystra and to win her back after she abandoned him.

it was the actions of, as he puts it, a very young and very naive man, who was in love for the first time, lost that love and tried to win it back.

i think it's very important to keep in mind here also that originally, gale's entire story was set on different premise than the full release version storyline. i, and others, have speculated that he was physically even more affected by the netherese orb housed inside of his body to the point of where auntie ethel was able to smell the rot on him. i have written another meta on that original storyline here.

but back to the dialogue explaining why gale sought the orb as it was in early access:

i have written down and edited here a part of the tiefling party scene after the protag and gale spent the night together, which is when he would reveal the full extent of what happened mystra, after having hinted at it in the loss and in other smaller dialogues before:

Gale: Once upon a time, not quite that long ago, there lived a wizard in a tower. The wizard was what one might call a prodigy, who from an early age could not only control the Weave, but compose it, like a musician or a poet. Such was his skill that it earned him the attention of the mother of magic herself. The Lady Of Mysteries, Mystra. Protag: What did Mystra’s attention feel like? Gale: Love.  Gale: Perhaps it was not quite love, but you see, the wizard was but a very young man. It was most certainly love to him. Mystra showed him the secrets behind the veils. The gossamer veils first, draped across the Weave. The delicate veils next, draped across her body. ‘Chosen One’ she whispered, as she slipped them off completely. Protag: The veils draped across the Weave? Gale: Indeed. What most wizards perceive is but the ripple of the Weave’s surface. Untold wonders lie beyond. I enjoyed them for a while, as we enjoyed each other. Gale: Alas it was Mystra’s interest that didn’t last. One day all too soon, the whispers stopped. The goddess spurned the mortal. The veils were drawn once more, and the wizard was left behind heartbroken. Protag: Poor wizard Gale: Poor wizard. Silly wizard too, for he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Protag: What happened next? Gale: Like so many of the heartbroken, he did something infinitely foolish. One has to think big if one seeks to win back a goddess. So the wizard thought big. Protag: Define big. Gale: Here goes; once upon a time, very long ago, a mighty lord lived in a tower. A flying tower to be precise. I’ll save his story for another time, but the gist of it is that he sought to usurp the goddess of magic so that he could become a god himself. He almost managed but not quite, and his entire empire – Netheril – came crashing down around him as he turned to stone. The magic unleashed that day was phenomenal, rolling like the prime chaos that outdates creation. A fragment of it was caught and sealed away in a book. No ordinary book, mind you; a tome of gateways that contained within it a bubble of Astral Plane. It was a fragment of primal Weave locked out of time – locked away from Mystra herself. ‘What if’, the silly wizard thought. ‘What if after all this time, I could return this lost part of herself to the Goddess?” Protag: What was the answer to his question? Gale: The answer was to try, and the outcome was to fail. Here. Place your hand over my heart. Let me show you. Narrator: You feel the tadpole quiver as you realise Gale is letting you in. Into the dark. You see through Gale’s eyes, staring down the corridors of a dread memory. A book, bound, then suddenly opened. Inside there are no pages, only a swirling mass of blackest Weave that pounces. It’s teeth, it’s claws, it’s unstoppable as it digs through you and becomes part of you. And gods, is it ever hungry… Protag: Yank your hand away. Gale: Terrifying isn’t it? And that is only the beginning This Netherese taint... this orb, for lack of a better word, is balled up inside my chest. And it needs to be fed. As long as it absorbs Weave it remains stable – to an extent. The moment it becomes unstable, however... Protag: You will die, obviously.. Gale: Rather worse, actually.  It will erupt. I don’t know the exact magnitude of the eruption, but given my studies of Netherese magic, I’d say even a fragment as small as the one I carry… It’d level a city the size of Waterdeep. Gale: It is my truth, finally revealed. It is this folly that led Mystra to abandon me completely. I can only hope you won’t abandon me as well. After all we’ve been through... After the night we spent together. Surely we can brave even this side by side.

the reason for the full release version of gale is curiosity and thirst for knowledge and wanting to feel equal to mystra:

Gale: Such was my skill that it earned me the attention of the mother of magic herself. The Lady of Mysteries. The goddess Mystra. She revealed herself to me and she became my teacher. In time, she became my muse, and later, even my lover. Protag: Are you telling me you made love to a goddess? Gale: Oh yes. We enjoyed each other's company - body, mind and soul. But even so, I desired more. You see, no matter how powerful a wizard we mortals can become, we never scratch more than the surface of the Weave. Mystra keeps us in check. There are boundaries she doesn't let us cross. Yet every time I was with her, I stood on the precipice, gazing into the wonders that lay beyond. I sought to cross her boundaries. Protag: How exactly did you try to cross those boundaries? Gale: I tried to convince her. I pouted, I pleaded, I swore my ambition was only to serve her better. But she only smiled and told me to be contented. As inconceivable as it seems to me now, I shared a bed with a goddess and yet I wasn't satisfied. So I sought to prove myself worthy to her instead. We come now to the crux of my folly. Shall I share the story behind it, or would you rather head straight to its sordid finale? Protag: I'm intrigued. Tell me all. Gale: Very well. Here goes: Once upon a very long time ago, a mighty lord lived in a tower. A flying tower, to be precise. I'll save his history for another time, but the gist of it is that he sought to usurp the goddess of magic so that he could become a god himself. He almost managed, but not quite, and his entire empire - Netheril - came crashing down around him as he turned to stone. The magic unleashed that day was phenomenal, roiling like the prime chaos that outdates creation. Even the Weave itself could not withstand the onslaught. It fractured, then shattered, and all magic was lost to the mortal realms until the day Mystra returned. She restored the Weave, reuniting all its scattered shards. Or so I thought, until in the course of my studies I learned of a book. A Netherese tome in which a piece of the fractured Weave had been sealed beyond her reach. 'What if', I thought, 'What if after all this time, I could return this lost part of herself to the goddess?' Protag: So your grand plan was akin to emptying a cup of water in the sea. Brilliant. Gale: I certainly thought so. Sometimes there is great strength to be found in symbolism. I was certain that this deed of raw power draped in romance would convince Mystra to take me by the hand and welcome me into her hitherto forbidden domains. I was mistaken. I obtained the fabled book and took it into my study. As for what happened next... Here. Place your hand over my heart. Let me show you. Narrator: *You feel the tadpole quiver as you realise Gale is letting you in.* *Into the dark.* *You see through Gale's eyes, staring down the corridors of a dread memory. A book, bound, then suddenly opened.* *Inside there are no pages, only a swirling mass of blackest Weave that pounces.* *Its teeth, its claws, it's unstoppable as it digs through and becomes part of you. And gods, is it ever-hungry...*

in conclusion, early access gale did it out of love for mystra as a young man, as a chosen, and as a romantic trying to win back his lost first love, however naive and grand (and ultimately doomed) the gesture was, which was then cut to appease those who thought gale was "too hung up" on mystra, and changed around, purging some scenes and dialogue while keeping others.

(on a tangent: this also once again shows, imo, how ultimately it's completely futile to try and appease these sort of demands/complaints since this is still very much a big complaint that is levied against gale's character.)

it's now more about power, curiosity, knowledge and a desire to be equal, while the new narrative of the full release version still to some extent kept the relationship with mystra intact.

with the removal of the deer stew scene, of the loss scene, and all those little dialogues, purging and cutting away to re-write gale's devotion to mystra as the embodiment of weave and his first true love, while still leaving in some of that, with lines from those very conversation, is where your (as well as other's) confusion is coming from.

i'm only rambling now so i will stop and say that i hope this was at least somewhat helpful for you!

[markantonys]

3x02 - 3x03, let's go!!! (i didn't rewatch 3x01, too excited to move forward! also, i like to watch each episode only once as the season is airing, and then do a full rewatch a while after it's all out)

my mind is whirling with all the content, so there will probably be a lot i forget to comment on! i'm hopping all over the place out of order and also mentioning full book spoilers as i'm mixing in speculation with reactions.

first, of course: GAWYN!!!!!! he's here, and he's perfect!!!!! recalled as shouting thank god it is my boy!!!!! i can't believe he fucks djkfjgj was not expecting that, and galad fucks too! this is wild. i guess all the trakand sibs are horny as fuck in showverse, good for them.

i loved the family dynamics we got here! every single character constantly dunking on how annoying galad is was specifically designed to cater to me, thank you rafe. even a literal forsaken will take the time to dunk on galad! (mat finally bursting out "mate HAVE a day off" was the hardest i laughed in all these episodes, truly the most perfect expression of the way galad makes a person feel)

it is interesting to me that galad is established as the stronger personality with gawyn more of a sidekick, since i'd assumed it would be the opposite in s3 due to the coup storyline being more important for gawyn, whereas galad's whitecloak stuff might not come into play until s4. as of now, both brothers are only credited on imdb for eps 2&3, so either the imdb credits aren't fully accurate or this is all we see of them this season and they aren't involved in the coup. we do have ep8 filled out with 40-something castmembers now (initially only the first 7 eps had gotten updated), so i'm inclined to think imdb is now more or less accurate (bar potential surprise castings that are being held for spoilers like moggy was in s3 - more on that later) and we will not see the brothers again this season. pretty surprising given how important the coup is for book!gawyn, i'd thought it was a surefire opportunity to flesh out his character by showing more of his coup involvement than the books did rather than less, but we'll see how it goes! if we don't see either of them again this season, then that definitely lends weight to the criticisms of the show buckling under the number of characters it has and some of them not getting the attention they need this season; hopefully by the end of the season, we'll have gotten a fair amount of deaths to clear out the stage a bit (and the good news is we don't have a TON of super-important new characters left beyond everyone who's arriving in s3, mostly just tuon and the rest of the forsaken).

it's also possible that maybe ep8 will only show siuan being deposed in the hall and it ends on a cliffhanger, and then the actual coup and tower battle takes place in 4x01, although splitting it up like that would feel like an odd choice structurally so i don't think it's that likely (unless they just really could not fit a whole battle into ep8 and had to punt it off til 4x01).

re: the family tree, galad was introduced as "galad of house trakand" and he was a pretty young child (maybe even only a toddler?) calling morgase mom in the flashback, which made me think he might just be her bio son, BUT i see in the end credits he is named as "galad damodred". so maybe they've kept him as her stepson - i know he does call her mom in the books too, so it was more his age in the flashback that was noteworthy, since book!galad was.......i think somewhere in the 7-9 range at the time of taringail marrying morgase and gawyn & elayne being born, but maybe they've just condensed the timeline and said there was only a few years between tigraine disappearing and having rand (who is around gawyn's & elayne's age, so the gap between them and galad would indicate how long tigraine was in the waste, IF she is galad's bio mom in showverse). it's also possible the credits just goofed a little and gave him his book name even though he doesn't have it in the show, because there wasn't any indication in the actual episodes that galad is not morgase's bio son and E&G's full brother, and i'd think they would've made a passing mention of it if they wanted to set up the reveal that tigraine was his mom. hopefully, whatever rand learns about tigraine's story this season will make it definitive one way or the other as to whether she had another child before him!

back to the trakands! i was not expecting cutthroat morgase, but i dig it. it really emphasizes the instability and high stakes of a succession - the books allude to morgase's succession being very tumultuous, but this cold open makes that extremely clear, and will set us up to understand why elayne is in such a precarious position when she finds herself involved in a succession of her own (and i'm sure the book!succession arc haters would be glad if the show injects a bit more GOT-style backstabby violent politics into it lmao although, i wouldn't be surprised if morgase adopting that type of politics here will end up being a contrast to elayne doing her best to take the higher road when she rises to the throne, similar to how we need to see siuan making bad calls as amyrlin so that egwene will truly feel like a better amyrlin when she succeeds her).

i really loved the look we got at elayne's and morgase's relationship and at elayne as an individual character. we can feel the weight of expectations and duty upon her, but also see the genuine love between mother and daughter and how much elayne looks up to morgase. it's a great depiction of a mother-daughter queen-heir relationship, where we get to see both the familial and political sides of the dynamic. there's clear familial love there, but it's also not as straightforward as normal parent-child relationships are.

gaebril played me so well, i truly thought he was a longtime part of the family and rahvin had only recently assumed his identity, but no! he really did only show up a month ago but is using compulsion to make everyone remember him as a longtime part of the family! it took my breath away, it was so diabolical. the fact that the show took the time to give him and elayne a one-on-one scene makes me hopeful that elayne will get to be involved in defeating him and taking back caemlyn in showverse (s4 avimatrandlayne battle polycule taking caemlyn together PLEASE i need it for my health)

our forsaken meeting was so much fun! love Scottish Sammael and the dynamics between the three we see in this scene, plus evidence of all the inter-scheming when rahvin hints he's working with graendal and semirhage while scheming with lanfear and sammael and THEN talks to moggy afterwards.

on that note, putting on my clown shoes after my speculation last week that semirhage was cut! she's in! this means that demandred is out (SOB i love him), but i mean, we can't one HUNDRED percent rule out asmo either, yes that one statue looked like it had a guitar but maybe it's something else, or maybe covid rewrites ended up having long-term impacts such that their original forsaken plan as of 1x06 ended up changing. i will wear my clown makeup for as long as i can before accepting that we won't see taimandred! but if it is indeed asmo in the last slot, how will we see him? still as rand's one-on-one tutor, or will he be involved in the black tower storyline? as of now it's not clear how much saidin training rand actually needs at this point. will he be able to be self-taught and asmo/demandred would be solely reserved for the black tower rather than rand's personal tutor? if they use asmo but give him a black tower storyline instead of his own book story, it would be strange that they didn't just use demandred as taimandred. but who knows what might happen!

as of yesterday, ann ogbomo was one of the only leaked actors who isn't yet credited on imdb, so now that we have confirmation of semirhage, i think she's going to play semirhage in a 3x08 surprise stinger scene that they're keeping off imdb for now - maybe showing up to nab the male a'dam as a Surprise Tool For Later. if this is the case, then i might expect a seanchan storyline in s4 so that we can get a look at what semirhage is up to, similar to s2 introducing moggy in the stinger and then having her be a big presence in s3. we'll definitely have to wait to see how the tanchico storyline ends, but i'd have two predictions for a potential s4 seanchan & semirhage presence: 1) structure for fewer total seasons - tanchico falls to the seanchan and mat gets stuck there and meets tuon with the invasion, so basically skipping to WH for him (though he'd probably also form the band, but in tanchico and in the context of trying to fight against the seanchan invasion). 2) structure for more total seasons - mat rejoins rand in s4 for his dragon's general plotline and forming the band, and we possibly meet tuon at home in the seanchan court in a made-for-the-show plotline involving semirhage, and they launch the second invasion in s5, at which point mat leads the campaign against them on rand's behalf and meets tuon then. i think as long as we get minimum 6 seasons, structure #2 (which is much preferable to me, for cauthor reasons) would work just fine, so structure #1 would probably only be if they're told they will only get 5 seasons and need to really hop to getting the endgame set up.

on the subject of mat, i love him in these episodes <3 donal continues to deliver such a charming and endearing performance, while also getting at the vast emotional depths mat has below the shallow-seeming surface! in the books, mat ranks around #4 fave for me (elayne #1, rand #2, egwene #3), but whenever a new season of the show comes around, i often find myself enjoying and looking forward to his scenes the most of everyone because donal just brings so much vibrance and depth to the role (as did barney before him!). i loved his convo with siuan, her persuading him to hand over the horn by being like "i'm sure you're not an idiot, riiiiight?" was so funny, and then we get the word-for-word book convo about her comparing him to her uncle.

i already posted about it, but mat being surprised but game at what he thought was a suggestion of a bi orgy!!!! he is not beating the allegations!!!! also pretty sure he had a line like "your brothers know how good i am with a staff" to elayne at the end lmao and meanwhile, the Nobody Wants Mat Carnally saga continued in full force, i was howling. poor mat! he's like, the ONLY character who hasn't fucked yet djkfjghj rand come fuck your man, he's begging for it! new biggest question for s3: will mat ever get laid successfully?

mat blowing the horn 🤝 mat dueling the princes: scenes i didn't care that much about in the books but got emotional watching in the show. it's because the same arrangement of mat's theme from the horn scene was used again at the start of the duel! it always gets me!! i think it's the most beautiful and emotionally-affecting piece of the show's musical landscape so far.

the music in these episodes ROCKED oh i really really hope we'll get a second album of in-show music later on to add to the themes album that released today! i love the new rand theme, and i love how perrin's new theme includes familiar bits from the original s1 goldeneyes theme and expands on it. all the andor music in ep2 was absolutely incredible, a particular standout of the season's music so far.

back to mat, his relationship with min is quite fun and i like that they didn't just instantly make up after their big fight in s2, but i am starting to lean on the side of "okay, this relationship doesn't need to be THIS big of a focus" haha but now that they're headed for tanchico, i'm sure we'll get more of each of them interacting with nynaeve and elayne too and not just each other, and likewise of nynaeve and elayne getting to expand their social interactions from just each other. i look forward to some mingling! though we did get some great mat-nynaeve scenes already in the first 3 episodes.

the redstone doorway in the 13th depository was just an easter egg after all! so we're back down to just the one doorway visit by mat in tanchico, and we know he is 100% getting hanged, but who will rescue him? at this point i feel like it's going to be min, since they had her foresee it and they're building up her and mat's relationship...........ngl i would be soooooo mad if cauthor cpr went to min instead haha i'd rather nynaeve be the one to save him if it can't be rand! but we'll have to wait and see.

elaida is making inroads at the tower! and most importantly, i have finally unlocked a Favorite Minor Aes Sedai with tsutama. my girl!!! i'm guessing we won't see her again this season, and maybe not for the rest of the show, though i'd really love it if she does come back to the tower eventually in a future season to restore a reds-who-oppose-elaida presence, which could be handy depending on whether the show is going to include pevara and/or silviana.

over to perrin's plotline. i love faile!!! very excited to see more of her. "i've never seen someone try to give themselves up and fail" and in doing so perrin captivated her instantly, she's so loser-sexual haha they have a great vibe between them so far, just kind of a curiosity on both sides and some fun banter, with hints of a deeper connection to come but nothing too overtly flirty yet. i look forward to seeing how the show will manage to get them into a position of kissing by the end of the season - we'll probably get some good development in ep5 with the rescue sequence.

otherwise, not too much from me about the two rivers stuff. it will still be the plotline i'm least interested in like it was in the books, but this time i AM still interested in it rather than finding it boring like i did in the books! i agree with @butterflydm's thought in her review post that us seeing alanna keep a handle on herself after one warder's death makes me suspect maksim will also die later this season, and the double-loss will make her go over the edge and do The Thing in s4. i really loved her and perrin's conversation about grief, i choked up a little! and we get confirmation that perrin does have a family and they're alive haha but conveniently offscreen since there's no time to deal with them (same with tam and abell, i'm guessing that at least with tam they couldn't get the actor back this season because i'd imagine they would've wanted to include him if it had been logistically possible).

now on to the waste crew. not a ton going on for them in these episodes, which i expected, since ep4 will be huge for this storyline. no further avirand interactions, much to my sorrow!!! i really hope they get some good relationship development in the second half of the season (and maybe some interactions in ep4 if avi comes to rhuidean with moiraine and rand to do her own trial). the reveal that egwene's renna dreams aren't only PTSD, but also lanfear deliberately doing that to her constantly in TAR: diabolical and heartbreaking! lanfear's speech to rand about wanting to kill the dark one so she can be free of her oaths is so convincing that it's good we also have the scene of her tormenting egwene to make us remember that she loves being evil and maybe isn't being honest with rand here and/or has ulterior motives for wanting him to kill the dark one. but she puts on such a good performance that we can't help but be taken in!

i believe we got confirmation that there are no choedan kal in showverse, and the strongest male sa'angreal is callandor and the strongest female sa'angreal is the sarkonen (aka the orb moiraine will find in rhuidean). definitely a good move to cut down on the number of Super-Powerful Magic Toys that exist, i think.

randgwene continues to drag on, but it did give me the vision of rand cuddling and soothing someone after a nightmare, and that was very wholesome and made me happy haha i am curious how they'll frame the breakup because right now it feels like there's still a TON of love and long-term intentions there on both sides and feels more like we're watching a rough patch in a strong endgame relationship than the final days of an ill-fated relationship, but we shall see.

moiraine and lan both trying to wingman each other with melindhra was so funny djkfjg (also, if we don't get at least 1 rand sweat tent scene, i will hit the roof! i want that man objectified!) and we've set up an interesting look into lan's backstory and his feelings on malkier & kingship. not a storyline or character arc that ever interested me particularly, but happy for the lan enjoyers getting to see him fleshed out more this season!

okay, that's everything i can think of off the top of my head! loved the multi-episode drop to sink my teeth into the season, but very glad it's only one a week from here on out so i can absorb each individual episode more.

[yanyandam]

I saw your Hanma backstory's post and it's so fitting, I've been guessing for long about his past, for me he's just such an interesting character 😩😩

I got a request for Hanma btw, do you think he would get along with an introverted reader? (i'm into opposites attract lmao i need to know if that could even be possible w him) I mean, he gets along with Kisaki who's very introverted too, but yk Kisaki is evil so that entertains Hanma LMAO So I talk about reader being a good, kind, introverted person ykyk, if so, hcs about it plspls?🩷

OMG this is so much yap from me, hope it fits your expectations!

If I had to be realistic, I'd tell you that Hanma wouldn't give a shit about an introvert. Although he hates social interaction too, but for him it's just because he hates people but himself. 

As you said, what attracted him to Kisaki was the fact that he entertained him. (That's one of the reasons why I think the final timeline doesn't make sense on some points, like... Hanma would never have met someone like Kisaki if he hadn't been evil at first sight, though we know that at one point he saw him as a true friend)

So no, at least not at first. Hanma doesn’t give a shit about most people unless they serve one of three purposes:

-They’re fun to mess with-They’re strong enough to keep up with him-They’re a nice senior who feeds him

Basically, either you entertain him or fill his stomach.

So when it comes to a real introvert: like, not the cool, mysterious or evil loner trope, but someone who’s actually quiet, socially awkward, avoids attention, maybe even flinches when people raise their voice? Hanma would most likely find them boring at first glance.

He thrives off reactions. If someone doesn’t give him that, no sass, no resistance, no fire, he’ll either: lose interest instantly or poke and prod at them just to see if they’ll break

If he does choose to mess with them, it wouldn’t be in the romantic teasing way: it would be disruptive, maybe even cruel, just to test limits. Think: 

“What happens if I say this?”

“What face do they make if I take this too far?”

“Do they cry? Do they run? Do they crack?”

Like you’re some experiment smh

BUT If that introvert, even once, shows a glimpse of something unexpected… Like suddenly snapping, saying something savage under their breath etc etc… That’s when Hanma’s interest would shift.

Because underestimation turning into surprise is his kink.

Suddenly, they’re not just boring, they’re interesting. They’ve got layers. It’d take one deep ass convo with him to realize you’re actually interesting as hell, and he’d maybe grow some sort of attachment. 

To sum up: Yes, you could get along, but only if you get past the hardest part, i.e. ACTUALLY managing to get his attention for more than a few minutes without his mind hovering somewhere else, and it's THIS interaction that will be decisive in how he sees you for the rest of his life (a bit like Kisaki, all he had to do was drop a “Be my pawn” for Hanma to see him as the coolest guy in the world).

And once you two are close...It's not that bad. When shit’s too much, even for him, he finds you. Because no one else shuts the world up like you do. He won’t say it, but he appreciates the quiet more than he lets on. he'd also threaten anyone who talks over you like that panel where he punched draken for interrupting Kisaki talking!!

[daenysx]

Can you please write about Aemond doing Alyssa’s bedtime routine and them really loving the time together?

thank you for requesting ♡ i hope you enjoy

modern!aemond targaryen x fem!reader

aelyx targaryen was born three weeks ago today.

he's a lovely baby, you can't keep your eyes off him. you need to spend the majority of your time with him, of course, but he's not hard to take care of, not at all. aemond says he resembles you, it's a bit hard to believe when he shares your husband's hair and his eyes.

the thing with having two kids, which didn't take any time to figure out for both you and aemond, is that you need to divide your time and attention perfectly to not upset either of them. aelyx is still so little and he needs you to be with him all the time. with alyssa though, you are still trying to spend time with her no matter how tired you are. she's three years old and she misses you, she doesn't understand there will be changes in your routines now that there's a new member in your small family.

thankfully, you have a hero who never gets tired. that's what he says at least. aemond made himself a perfect timeline to spend his awake hours for his work, you, his girl, and his new baby. you know he actually took his time to plan most of the stuff; meal times, sleeping times, shopping times, how to run the office from home. he's trying to help alyssa get used to the new routines by being with her most of the time. she loves all the attention she gets from daddy, of course.

her favorite time is bedtime. she always liked sleeping, ever since she was born. now, she has her own bed, it's a perfect fit for her. she likes the soft, blue blanket and having all of her fluffy toys on it.

"time to brush our teeth." aemond comes into her room. "come on, princess."

"lyx?" she asks, always curious of her brother.

"he's sleeping." her dad answers. "mommy will put him in his cradle and she'll come to us, okay?"

aemond helps her brush her teeth with the strawberry flavored toothpaste that's specially for kids. it's not really brushing, of course, but you want her to get used to it. she plays with water just a little bit before her dad picks her up to carry her to the bed.

she's nicely tucked in by aemond when you walk inside the room. you give her a smile, her eyes immediately lighten up to seeing you. "hi, baby." you say, touching her hair. "did you brush your teeth?"

alyssa nods. she's tired, aemond took her to the park today. you kiss her soft cheeks, her tiny hands. she kisses you back as you bid her good night.

"i'm gonna clean up the kitchen, my love." you say when you meet aemond by her door.

"i'll meet you there." he says with a slow kiss on your forehead. "she won't take long to fall asleep." he says with a smirk.

"daddy, story!"

"i'm here." he sits down on the floor, right next to alyssa's bed. it's low so he can reach to her if he wants.

"so, which story shall we read tonight?"

"rapunzel!" it's her new favorite.

"rapunzel, it is."

she has her teddy bear next to her, snuggling close to the fluffy toy as she listens to aemond. his voice has always been soothing but when her tiny body is tired and her eyes are droopy, she falls asleep even sooner, when he just gets to the middle of the story.

aemond still finishes reading it, though. he waits until he's sure she's sleeping. the faint sounds from kitchen can be heard now that both kids are asleep. he needs to help you, but he can't help having a selfish minute watching his girl. she's perfect. he can't believe she's his.

he fixes her blanket, her pillow, her teddy bear. he brushes kisses on her cheeks and her forehead. she lifts her head in her sleep, her lips touching his cheek. that's good enough for a good night kiss, aemond thinks. he leaves the room.

"i'm almost done." you say when you see him standing by the kitchen door.

"let me do the rest." he insists. the rest of the work is done by two minutes.

"do you have any energy left for a cup of tea?" you tease, arms around his waist. you miss him in all these chaotic days.

"i prefer going to bed with you." aemond answers. "now."

"yes, please." you say. he holds your hand, leads you to bedroom. slow steps inside, you make sure the bed doesn't squeak as you lay down. when aemond gets in with you, you drift off. he kisses you good night.

[rizzanon]

One thing I love about Undoing Fate is that, while you give us the batfam's perspective about the situation, it shows us that the mc isn't a saint in this whole conflict either. She has flaws, made mistakes, and it's so refreshing. And we can clearly emphatize with the batfam more, understand their actions but STILL see it's their fault.

I love you gave us their pov that they're not bad people on purpose, they don't fuck up consciously, but it's still so painfully their fault that we can understand them but not justify them.

Barbara is a prime example. Yeah, she had problems too. She had responsabilities, a decision to make with Gotham's best interests on her shoulders, but the way she made that decision was so fucking wrong. She didn't choose Steph because it was the best decision for the city, but rather the easiest for herself. She admits to pick her over MC because she recquired more patience and care that Barbara was willing to give. That's pretty fucked up, and I really hope Batsis doesn't forgive her quickly.

Dick is another example. I almost felt sorry for him, but then I remember batsis was a CHILD grieving too and going through a very hard time and he was the ADULT. Granted he was stressed out too, but he could've handled that better. And then we see him constantly prioritise everything else over her as he himself says that's the reason he can't bond with her properly. Even though, with his reasoning, you can understand his motives, he's still in the WRONG here. There were moments he could've chosen her at least for once, and didn't.

I'm not getting into a debate about Damian because he was a child too. Still is. His behaviour should be handled by the adults in charge of him. And he's clearly making progress, better than all of them. The youngest of the family is the one making the right decisions first.

From what I've seen, Steph is the only one who really can't be blamed for her situation. In here, it was more batsis's fault than anything. Steph didn't really ask for the mantle, it was handled over to her. She just adapted and accepted what was given to her by the others, not knowing what it meant for batsis because she didn't know her as well. This fell on the batfam's responsability, handling this in a way it wouldn't hurt batsis so much, and they failed. And Steph paid the price of Batsis's wounded feelings. Also, i love she's seemingly the only one who saw Batsis's efforts and recognised her for it.

And in general, Batsis's flaws and "inadequacy" for being a vigilante is also their fault. They should've helped her, trained her, guide her, instead they inmediately concluded she wasn't fit for this and didn't lift a finger, and then act surprised she wasn't that good nor improved. Ofc she doesn't, idiots, she has NO ONE helping her. Not like you help each other, or helped Damian. It's frankly a miracle she didn't die sooner in the og timeline.

sorry for the rant i just really needed to get it out lmao

@seleneprince

woww

i literally couldn’t have said it any better. i think you captured every single aspect of the characterisation i have for barbara, dick and batsis

ty for your analysis 🫶🫶

[stormblessed95]

Tbh I'm a jikooker, but I find it incredibly difficult to fit a healthy long-term relationship into the same timeline as all of jimin's solo work. It's not the pronouns or taking one lyric very literally, its the entire thing, plus comments from him and his producers. To me, you'd have to do some serious olympic level mental gymnastics to make that make sense. I don't doubt that jikook have a special bond, I've definitely seen things between them that definitely look like sexual attraction to me and things that surpass friendship boundaries, but I can't in good faith say that they're together in some official long-term way if I actually listen to jimin and his work.

I've seen some jikookers think they broke up for a while, but I have to question if those people have ever been through a breakup because the little bit of distance/separation/awkwardness we did see from them during chapter 2 is nothing compared to the type of tension that would be there if a relationship that intimate and intertwined had separated, especially considering the dark feelings jimin was feeling. He wouldn't have been cutely commenting on jungkook's lives and jungkook wouldn't have been asking to hang-out or getting excited to see jimin in his comments.

Idk, I'm sure someone could twist everything a certain way and only take certain things at face-value and then make everything else abstract, etc. to make the case that they are together, but I don't really see it. You look at face-off, alone, and just his general dark feelings during Face, then look at the creation of Muse and how him and his producers said he couldn't relate to the love-dovey beginning songs, which is how they ended up making Who (despite the fact that jikookers try to distance him from the song since he doesn't have writing credits even though he sat in the recording room telling them what he wanted and saying it felt like reading his diary). I think jimin could have very well gone through a pretty awful breakup along with the inner turmoil he was going through post-covid, but I don't think it was with jungkook if he did. I still enjoy jikook's bond either way at the end of the day, but yeah I don't really get how anyone can take an honest look at jimin's work and his words and think he was in a long-term healthy love-of-his-life relationship during that time or into chapter 2.

Not trying to change your opinion or anything, honestly I don't really see it discussed much in jikooker spaces (besides bad-faith stuff like tkkers stirring up shit over pronouns in lyrics which is just dumb) and when it is, some jikookers are pretty pick-and-choose about what they deem to be true to jimin's feelings and what isn't. Which I get being nuanced, but sometimes it does feel like a "well this fits my beliefs so clearly this is true to jimin and this doesn't so it means nothing because he didn't write it" or whatever. I honestly get annoyed with the bad-faith arguers because it prevents being able to have actual discussions about some of this stuff in our little jikooker corner of tumblr. Like "he said her, he's clearly straight! he danced with a girl, straight!" stfu.

All of this is just like okay fine whatever. Here is your platform for these opinions. You don't really want me or my thoughts, you want my platform and my validation. Here ya go. (Mostly a general you here for all the asks I get in a similar nature to this, sorry)

I'm really only posting this because I'm tired as fuck of people going just look at face off, alone, all his dark feelings, how could he be in a happy lovey dovey healthy long term relationship? Which I'm paraphrasing anon, I know, but this was the gist of your point in that section.

When I'm living breathing proof that it's possible.

Personal time: I have the best partner in the world. I love him with my whole being. I have been with him since I was a teenager. We have gone through all sorts of changes and self discovery together. I also STILL occasionally struggle with self harm and wanting to kill myself. In fact, the only reason I'm still alive and not actively TRYING to off myself is because I don't want to traumatize my children and husband. I have crippling depression. I related to some of those darker feelings from FACE immensely. So you are inadvertently invalidating my own relationship by saying this, which I do kinda take offense to. And anyone who struggles with their mental health, all their relationships too.

So that's all. I just really needed at least one person to realize what an unfair and unnuanced take that part is. Everything else, sure. Agree to disagree friend. I'm all for it. You think Jimin is single but still love Jikooks bond, that's literally all I care about and I can coexist with you happily in a Jikook/bts bubble. ��

(sorry this maybe got dark and triggering. I promise I'm working on dealing with my shit)

[quibbs126]

have you done elder faerie and dark cacao…

So I ended up getting on this because I saw an announcement for an eldercacao week, but it also means I got through this design, so here we are with Silver Clay Cookie

So Silver Clay here is supposed to be a weaponsmith, though she specializes in silver weapons. She's got a noticeable amount of silver in her dough, and it makes her have a particular attunement to metal, as well as being able to shape it out of clay. It makes her pretty important around the Faerie Kingdom

She's also a bit of a germophobe, and hates stains. They don't really get on her, but she's got a bit of a compulsive need to get rid of germs and such when she sees them. She also instinctively does not like the yeast creatures around the Faeriewood, for the same reasons (it's because silver is antibacterial)

She generally lives in the Faerie Kingdom, and is expected to take up the mantle of Guardian if something ever happens to Elder Faerie. She does visit the Dark Cacao Kingdom, but not often with the Licorice Sea being a barrier. The metal powers make her more important to the Faeries than the Dark Cacao Kingdom

She has a tendency to be rather high strung, and has inherited some of her father's (Dark Cacao's) traits of not really letting loose and relaxing. If you see her at a party outside of the start of it, it's because someone's keeping her there or because she's multitasking. It makes her odd among the Faeries, but she doesn't pay it much mind in favor of more work

She also doesn't really have wings, due to only being half Faerie. She says it doesn't bother her, but it always kind of has, at least in the back of her mind. She wonders if things would be better if she grew up and lived in the Dark Cacao Kingdom, but she usually shakes it off as it doesn't really matter, she's living in the Faerie Kingdom

Where she stands post Beast Yeast Episode 2, I don't really know. I haven't put much thought into where she fits in the timeline, since I don't know when Elder Faerie and Dark Cacao would have hypothetically met. That's also why there's no mention of Dark Choco here either

I don't think I have much else to say on her, so let's move on to design things

So I actually didn't spend much time on picking a name. Her name's Silver Clay because silver is associated with the Faerie Cookies, and I know someone used it in a chocolate knife once. Silver Choco was also a consideration, but I went against it because I feel like I give too many Cacao kids the name "Choco". That's about it

I probably could have come up with a better name if I had spent more time on it, but I didn't, so

Silver clay (idk I couldn't find a good picture of the clay itself):

To be honest, I don't really know what to put here

Her design's me trying to mix Elder Faerie and Dark Cacao design elements. Though I do also feel like she ended up being too plain at the end

I mean she is supposed to be a weaponsmith, with that being her primary role outside of her princess status, so I guess it works? But also I still feel like she's plain looking. Maybe she needs an alternate outfit

I'm gonna be honest, my main takeaway from Silver Clay is that she's underbaked. I did not spend much time at all fleshing out her concept, or in general the concept of an eldercacao kid. I didn't really even have a name and I went with the first idea that popped into my head. She has not been marinating

I feel like I feel this way with a lot of recent fankids. I guess I really don't have as much time to think about them as I did before, but in general I feel like I haven't been putting as much thought into them. And their designs just come out okay to me. But maybe I'm just being too hard on myself?

It doesn't really help that if I do wait, I get even more backup than I already do. Like, the 100+ unfinished requests will never be done. And even at this rate, it'll be forever until I finish one. This person's lucky I happened to have something force me to do this request

But yeah, I don't know. I guess Silver Clay isn't terrible, but she's undercooked in my opinion. I feel like I could have done better

But I hope you at least enjoy her

[suzukiblu]

Ko-fi thank-you sentences for Jan behind the cut; mistaken identities and interdimensional refugees. ( + non-chrono link for mobile users )

The hour goes pretty quick, either way, and Kon mostly keeps the kids distracted, and even a little bit entertained. He’s a performer at heart anyway, so he figures it’s his responsibility. 

If it's not, he's gonna make it his responsibility, at least for the next hour. 

A lot of people clear out of the camp in that hour in erratic fits and spurts, with alternate versions of their families or friends or just themselves, and Kon feels a little better about the idea of clearing out himself. He'll keep an ear on the camp until it's all cleared out, for sure, but at least he thinks it should be okay to leave it. 

Jon needs–somebody, yeah, before something happens. Something always happens, when you're wearing the “S”. 

Or you just find something that you have to happen to. Like, ethically speaking or whatever.

Kon figures he can keep an eye on Jon until either they all get home or this reality's Superman notices he's got an extra kid around. Assuming he's got a Jon here to recognize the heartbeat of, anyway. He probably does, if Kon's around and recognizable in the tabloids. Like, the timeline should be to that point, is all. And obviously Lois is gonna be a thing, so–yeah, he's gotta have a Jon by now. Maybe actually an older one than this one, come to think, but it's not like Clark wouldn't recognize his heartbeat anyway. Perfect recall and all, and he's had Jon's heartbeat memorized all his life. 

Kon's pretty sure Clark still doesn't know his, but . . . 

Never mind. Not important. Stupid thing to think about. 

To care about. 

Kon swallows. Keeps grinning for the kids, keeps coming up with new games for them to play, and waves goodbye to each one who gets collected by an aid worker and taken to whoever’s come to take care of them. 

He wonders, again, if Ma and Pa would've come for him, if . . . 

Stupid. Really, really stupid. 

He wouldn't bother them with something that stupid anyway. He's a superhero. And he can take care of himself. He always has, hasn't he? 

He'll take care of himself here too, even if . . . 

Even if . . . 

Kon tries not to think about . . . Kara. About Karen. Or “Paige”, or whatever she's going by now. 

If she's still alive to be going by it, anyway. 

If he isn't currently following in her footsteps, and won't ever see his reality again. Or her. Or . . . anyone he knows. 

People who look like them, sure. People who came from the same concept of a person as them. 

But not his own versions of them. 

Not the versions who he belongs to. 

He doesn't know what he'll do, if he can't get home this time. 

He doesn’t . . . 

He feels Rita approaching with his TTK–recognizes the shape of her body and the cut of her hair and the specific chip in the corner of her clipboard–and glances towards her, and is mildly surprised by who she’s with. It’s someone he definitely recognizes, but it’s not anyone he expected. At least not here and now, anyway. 

“Your ride’s here, sir!” Rita says, looking as relieved as every aid worker who’s come up with a local host for somebody. Well–understandably, he figures. 

“Hey, Rita. Hey, Alfie! No rest for the wicked, or just too many cooks in the kitchen again?” Kon greets with a grin, which is the easiest code phrase to use here that Tim gave him to start off with if he ever ran into an interdimensional Bat and the local Tim’s obviously gotta be the one who sent him, and Jon grabs onto his sleeve and blurts: “It’s dark this morning!” 

Okay, Kon doesn’t recognize that one, but it’s definitely a Bat-phrase too. Jon was not particularly smooth about making it smooth, for one thing. 

Alfred–impeccable as always in the full buttling uniform that Kon has maybe only seen him out of twice, and both of those times were blood-drenched emergency situations–smiles at them both without visibly reacting past that, though Kon hears his heartbeat spike in recognition. Since he was presumably expecting to see the pair of them, or at least him, Kon can only assume that’s code-phrase-related.

“Hello, Master Bruce,” Alfred says, smooth and pleasant, and Kon . . . blinks. “Please allow me to escort you and your young charge to the manor.” 

Wait.

What? 

“Uh,” Kon says slowly. “O . . . kay? Uh–thanks, Alfie.” 

“Of course, sir,” Alfred says, and his pleasant smile turns just a little less polite and a little more sincere. “Interdimensionally displaced or not, we’d hate to leave you out in the cold. No matter what time of night it is.” 

Well, “out in the cold” is what Tim told him to look for in response to “no rest for the wicked”, and he’s betting the “time of night” comment is meant for Jon from the way the kid perked up at hearing it, so . . . yeah, alright then. This is apparently just what’s happening now. 

[fancyfade]

2009 era Damian reading

As I've been doing my 2009 era Damian reading, I'm trying to condense the good stuff and bad stuff, and things I believe are relevant for his character. These are in addition to what I assume is obvious (Batman and Robin 2009, the comic where he has a starring role).

Battle for the Cowl: this has how Damian becomes Robin. It's not necessarily good. Daniels really does not understand Damian, especially this early in his writing, but it does have some important context for things going down b/c Damian helps Squire save Tim's life, and we can see Dick viewing training Damian as something he is responsible for.

Secret Origins (2014) #4: This is a much more in character Damian becoming Robin, though fit for a condensed new 52 timeline that leaves some stuff out (like Damian's rocky intro with Bruce).

Batman #688 (Long Shadows part 1): Winick seems one of the early writers who does a Damian as he lines up with later characterization (views himself more as a professional assassin), so I think this one's good.

Batman: streets of Gotham #1-6: damian makes some minor appearances here.

Batgirl #5-7: Always take Damian's guest-starring stuff with a grain of salt, as often times writers just go with "how would an obnoxious 10 year old boy act here" without understanding he's a specific kind of obnoxious 10 year old boy... that said I do like some of his interactions with Steph, and I think it's incredibly important that we see Damian defends his competence based on his training, not on his blood.

Like he'll sometimes justify why he belongs based on his blood (which like... no one acts like they want him around), but he isn't going around saying "I'm better than you b/c I'm batman's son". he was trained intensely since birth (and that's why he should say he's better than you :P)

Batman #692-697: not a ton of Damian in this, and it is Daniel's writing, but he's a little better than he was in Battle for the Cowl. We see Dick training Damian some.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #7, #10-#11: love this plotline for him. Good show of competence and characterization.

Blackest night: batman: More focused on Tim and Dick, and Tomasi sucks at writing Babs, but at there is some Damian content that I remember enjoying.

Red Robin #11-15: as long as you read this one with your brain turned on, it's good for explaining some Tim and Damian stuff. Sadly some fans are like "woooo arrogant 10 year old gets beat up". Nicieza makes some missteps (frames Tim's thinking around Damian as coldly logical, when it is anything but and he is reacting from a place of emotion), but one can ignore those.

Batman #703: shows Damian's character pretty well in a default Batman and Robin adventure, and his relationship (or lackthereof) with Bruce and his dynamic with Dick and Alfred

Teen Titans #88-92 (including Red Robin #20 in a crossover plot): surprised by how well I liked this one. I think it portrays Damian pretty fairly, and we can see that he is trying hard, but hasn't been given a lot of support up until now (or even now, Dick kind of just drops him off with a bunch of older kids who all also have issues and are predisposed to disliking him XD). His dynamic with rose is fun and I think it is notable how quickly he does acquiesce to following Cassie's orders when she's like (at first) the only Teen Titan who is OK with him being there and assures him its not personal when she makes a comment he doesn't like.

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Batman and Robin: Has some nice Dick and Damian banter, showcases how they've worked together well

Batgirl #17: more damian and steph interactions.

I will probably add more (either editing this post or in a reblog) as I keep reading.