#i personally think he did kill them but its ok i support him

[kocch]

ngl i'd be more excited about st if thinking about n**h wouldn't make me think of zionism and how uncomfortable it makes me feel

[vaguely-concerned]

My two cents on how much of Mind!Varric is Rook’s mind trying to fill the blank space and how much is Solas actively talking through a convenient blood magic paper doll of the mind: I think it's a mix of both, a truly collaborative psychosocial horrorshow if you would, but waaaay more towards the second. It feels too directed and tactical at times to be anything else. Rook's mind is willing to go along with the denial phase as far as it can fucking carry them to not have to face the grief and regret and does its part in papering over details that don’t make any sense, the way brains will strive to create coherent meaning even out of deeply confusing input, but to my understanding it's a collaborateur in how that plays out, not the instigator or control center. Solas is using it as a path to agency and to gather insight into Rook as a person unguarded as he can't count on in his own guise. (That stoic option that leads to him being like 'oh I see you're cautiously denying me access to your inner life. well. at least you still have Varric to talk to. y'know as an outlet :)'. You absolute BITCH Solas! That alone convinced me that he HAS to have an active hand in it on some level.)

My guess is that it takes considerable effort on Solas’ part to make Mind!Varric do anything more involved or complicated than seeming to sit up in bed and give casual commentary, and that’s why he keeps having eerie five minute shallow pep talks with you before he announces he conveniently needs a nap aaanyway good luck kid you got this haha. When he’s just spouting NPC lines from his bedrest, I’m ready to believe that could be Rook’s mind being allowed to improv lines for him more freely because it’s less about Solas trying to get something out of them or working an angle and more ‘Still here! Still totally alive and fine and the mentor figure you know and love and trust :) don’t even worry about it! Thankfully there is no war in Ba Sing Sei, as we all know’ upkeep work lol. Rook’s mind is allowed to set the tone of Varric, the outlines, but not always the content. 

AND, on a (beautifully fucked up) character psychology level, I feel like Solas is indulging in actually getting to be the good supportive mentor figure to Rook with one hand to assuage the guilt he feels about what he's done -- and what he's going to do -- to them with the other. Same internal logic as he uses in Trespasser about the Qun. ‘Almost everyone is going to die from the course of action I’m doggedly pursuing eventually. But at least I can make their last years happier and freer and kinder than they would have been otherwise. and that kind of makes up for it right. a little bit. doesn't it. doesn't that make it better at least. I need that to make it better)'. Did I really take your beloved mentor and friend from you if you don’t know yet that I did? Some philosophers would argue not really! So it’s probably almost ok actually. Isn’t it even a little noble that I’m taking all this grief and guilt on myself and shielding you for now. With undertones that I’m not sure he would realize himself (and might be mortified by if he did) that he is so incredibly lonely, and even a dishonest and indirect emotional connection is more than nothing when you’re that desperate. In this setup he gets idk. Both the control he craves so incredibly badly in relationships and over himself, and the scraps, the fading afterimages, of intimacy and warmth and companionship, even second hand. The one thing Solas and Rook agree on deep deep down is that they really wish Varric weren't gone. They're handshake memeing this in the saddest and most creepy way possible.

I think an important element too is that Solas needs Rook and their team to *succeed* —  up to a certain point. He needs someone to hold the two other elven mean girls off until he can get out of here. Ideally, in a perfect world, even do all the hard work of killing them so he can swoop in at the end and do his thing when both sides are exhausted and out of resources to stop him, and then Bob’s your uncle! Same logic as he was using with Corypheus, and after that worked out so well, too! King of choosing to never learn from a single solitary mistake he’s ever made even though i fully believe he could have the capacity to Fen’Harel <3 The underlying idea isn’t flawed, you see, it was just unforeseen circumstances getting in the way. This time for sure it’ll all work out the way I cleverly imagined it in my head beforehand. Cue By Talos this can’t be happening etc. in the form of a statue almost crushing him like a bug. 

So he's providing guidance and forging Rook into a leader from two angles: one Rook might not trust, and one they probably will. Shaping them into what he needs slowly and carefully. He’s helping you hone your team into their most effective state, as he might have done with his own agents back in the day, setting up his chess pieces even if he has to squint through two glimpsed realities to do it haha. Pincer maneuver of an insidious stealth mentor you never asked for. Also… at one point mind Varric gives you a whole little monologue about how Solas' problem is that he’s always seen his interpersonal connections as flaws and see where it’s landed him, all alone and the worst part? it hasn’t even worked. it’s all been for nothing he’s back where he began with nothing to show for it but his mistakes. Like...that has such strong 'uh okay happy to play your therapist from two rooms away here what the fuck kind of traumadump is this' energy to me, I’m not sure Rook like. Thinks that much about Solas as a private person. So much of Solas' self-loathing and futile insights into his own flaws seem to shine through in Mind!Varric's dialogue all the time — I just can't believe that there's no guiding hand behind it as it were. 

Most of all. I feel like people underestimate the degree to which Solas is incredibly funny. As in, he has a very consistent and recognizable sense of humour. It’s one of my very favourite things about him. We must remember — it is crucial that we always keep in mind — Orlesian accent and wig Solas from May The Dread Wolf Take You (my beloved, the explanation for why I love this dude even with the. All of the everything else. No one does it quite like him). He is not at all above doing things or adding little flourishes for his own obscure amusement, in fact that seems to me to be one of his most consistent traits. The Randy Dowager Quarterly comment Varric has? The ‘Maybe this is the Dread Wolf’s revenge. Forcing us to house sit for him’ thing? To Me this is 100% Solas amusing himself in his boring Fade jail surrounded by the screaming hellscape of all his regrets. Source: it came to me as divine revelation through pure vibes trust me bro 

If nothing else I find it much more narratively interesting personally if the connection between Rook and Solas really is that defenselessly intimate and entwined (and so unbalanced!), and the sense of violation and invasion and betrayal afterwards consequently all the more nauseatingly intense. Even if you kept him at arm’s length in the open, he’s been under your skin the whole time, looking around, gathering what he needs to destroy you, wearing the face of a friend. Regretfully, probably, but choosing to do it every step of the way anyway. (Sound familiar, Inquisitor? Solas doesn’t have that many tricks when you actually look at it, he keeps returning to old tried and true ones like a dog with a bone haha.) Maybe he even genuinely meant some of it as mercy, which only makes it so much worse. It makes his sin against his own core principles of autonomy and the freedom of all beings in mind, spirit and body so much more juicily grave if it’s something he pursues actively and consistently, rather than it half-falling into his lap as a happy accident mainly orchestrated by Rook’s own subconscious. Solas, too, is at his very lowest point, the closest to giving in and becoming his own antithesis fully that he’s ever been, and it makes the choice of whether you still reach out your hand to him one last time or not all the more impactful and difficult.

[suzannahnatters]

Let Your Knights Weep

One of the big things I've had to train myself out of when writing medieval historical fiction?

The stiff upper lip.

This used to really bewilder my editor, who for some time attempted to nudge me away from having my grown men weep and wail and blubber, but for me it's an essential part of the setting. Whether in grief or fear, medieval people did not hold things back.

Here are some of my favourite quotes to explain.

First, a couple from two great 20th century medievalists:

CS Lewis in his Letters put it this way:

“By the way, don't 'weep inwardly' and get a sore throat. If you must weep, weep: a good honest howl! I suspect we - and especially, my sex - don't cry enough now-a-days. Aeneas and Hector and Beowulf, Roland and Lancelot blubbered like schoolgirls, so why shouldn't we?”

Dorothy Sayers, in her fabulous Introduction to her translation of THE SONG OF ROLAND, speaking of Charlemagne discovering Roland's body on the battlefield:

Here too, I think we must not reckon it weakness in him that he is overcome by grief for Roland’s death, that he faints upon the body and has to be raised up by the barons and supported by them while he utters his lament. There are fashions in sensibility as in everything else. The idea that a strong man should react to great personal and national calamities by a slight compression of the lips and by silently throwing his cigarette into the fireplace is of very recent origin. By the standards of feudal epic, Charlemagne’s behaviour is perfectly correct. Fainting, weeping, and lamenting is what the situation calls for. The assembled knights and barons all decorously follow his example. They punctuate his lament with appropriate responses:

By hundred thousand the French for sorrow sigh; There’s none of them but utters grievous cries.

At the end of the next laisse:

He tears his beard that is so white of hue, Tears from his head his white hair by the roots; And of the French an hundred thousand swoon.

We may take this response as being ritual and poetic; grief, like everything else in the Epic, is displayed on the heroic scale. Though men of the eleventh century did, in fact, display their emotions much more openly than we do, there is no reason to suppose that they made a practice of fainting away in chorus. But the gesture had their approval; that was how they liked to think of people behaving. In every age, art holds up to us the standard pattern of exemplary conduct, and real life does its best to conform. From Charlemagne’s weeping and fainting we can draw no conclusions about his character except that the poet has represented him as a perfect model of the “man of feeling” in the taste of the period.

OK, now let's dig into some quotes that I found just in Christopher Tyerman's Chronicles of the First Crusade and Joinville's Life of St Louis:

Truly you would have grieved and sobbed in pity when the Turks killed any of our men....

As for the knights, they stood about in a great state of gloom, wringing their hands because they were so frightened and miserable, not knowing what to do with themselves and their armour, and offering to sell their shields, valuable breastplates and helmets for threepence or fivepence or any price they could get....

When Guy, who was a very honourable knight, had heard these lies, he and all the others began to weep and to make loud lamentation....

They stayed in the houses cowering, some some for hunger and some for fear of the Turks....

Now at vigils, the time of trust in God’s compassion, many gave up hope and hurriedly lowered themselves with ropes from the wall-tops; and in the city soldiers, returning from the encounter, circulated widely a rumour that mass decapitation of the defenders was in store. To add weight to the terror, they too fled…

In the course of that day’s battle there had been many people, and of fine appearance too, who had come very shamefully flying over the little bridge you know of and had fled away so panic-stricken that all our attempts to make them stay with us had been in vain. I could tell you some of their names, but shall refrain from doing so, because they are now dead.

I could go on looking for quotes in all the other medieval literature I've read, but that would be beyond the scope of this Tumblr post.

In the meantime, this leads me to make some comments on how trauma was perceived.

In Jonathan Riley-Smith's The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading, the author discusses the mental breakdowns suffered by the first crusaders during the second siege of Antioch, which caused many of them to flee at the moment of direst need:

In these stressful circumstances it is not surprising that the crusaders were often very frightened. At times, indeed, they seem to have been almost paralysed by a terror that they themselves could hardly comprehend. … When the crusade was bottled up in Antioch by Kerbogha's relief force it was gripped by such blind panic that there was the prospect of a mass break-out and on the night of 10 or 11 Juney 1098 Bohemond and Adhemar had the gates of the city closed. It is worth noting that many of those whom later chroniclers, writing after the events in comparative comfort in Europe, vilified for cowardice and desertion seem to have been treated more charitably by their fellow-crusaders, who must have understood what pressures they had been under.

--

In conclusion: the way we feel about things today in the English-speaking isn't necessarily the way people felt about things in the past (and this goes for other cultures, real or imagined, too). I'm continually catching myself writing people with stiff upper lips and emotional reservations, and having to remind myself that the culture was different back them. If a grown man wanted to weep, he could. That's a good thing. (Oh, and my medieval historical fantasy? Check out the Watchers of Outremer series on Amazon or wherever books are sold!)

[scen7rage]

CHAGGIE SWAP AU DESGINS!!

As I was redesign the designs I think of Vagatha have a more alt look on her, as it shows her chaotic nature n chaos as her being swap as Al, vaggie have a personality of no care of anyone and will laugh out loud if you done something wrong, but have a canon behavior of she can do things when things r tough 4 her

Charlie haves a more in a 18th century era style as it shown of her royalty and her duty’s as one, she is nice but more mature than the canon, and yes it’s based on the 18th era on her ok.

CHARLIE MORNING STAR storyline: ever since her rehabilitation dreams were never refilled by the lack of support of it, she left it behind and went 2 do her duty’s as a royalty since everyone needed a powerful leader 2 depend since her father never do his duty’s and been on his sorrows in his palace. Which lend of Charlie and Lucifer have problems and cut off ties from him. Lucifer usually calls Charlie’s or text her 2 see his daughter is ok but never get a response or just a text message of “I’m ok”. Charlie become mature based of being a royalist who has a job 2 do n trying 2 not corruption of hell. She attends court cases, events, charities and so other more that the hell r happy 2 have a ruler like Charlie 2 b around. In around the times Lucifer miss his daughter and seen how she busy of her life and cleaning up the mess of her father by his lack of maturity and very ignorant of his job. But on episode 5 of Hazbin hotel swap, Charlie had a break day chilling her place , while Lucifer was struggle what 2 do of the hotel and needed 2 do this b4 the extermination happens. Alastor Suggest of call his daughter and help him out 2 call her. Charlie look at the call and sigh 2 see what he needs now so she can get this over with, she answers and hears Lucifer by his awkwardness of hearing his daughter again. As he mentions heaven and the hotel she deny it. “Oh no, I do anything but that dad. You know I don’t associate of that anymore.” Charlie thought its a waste of time but Lucifer beg that she should come and see how it’s going 2 see the potential it is. She finally accepted and went 2 the hotel.

As she was enter the hotel, Lucifer gave her a big hug with a “Charlie!” As Charlie see the place of this “develop hotel” she introduced herself of the guest of the hotel. That’s when she met Vagatha. Vagatha and her did not came a great start, Vagatha Develop a Crush on her since she saw her events. But Charlie seen her as a edge lord that her teenage self would behave which make Vagatha shatter and get a payback from that, throughout the episode she was making her and Lucifer relationship as a dad and daughter which anger Charlie since she has a complicated relationship from him.but throughout the series they both see how they not bad and get along and began dating after that. vagatha is a her knight but Charlie sighs knowing that she very powerful and protect herself but let Vagatha have this confidence.

VAGATHA STORYLINE: born from heaven n served the angel military, became one of the best soldiers 2 battle and defend her own homeland 2 the disgusting demons from hell. Vagatha had an instincts and will fight anyone who gets her way or do something that is in heaven, during extermination, she will kill most of the sinners out of joy with her bsf lute. Lute and vagatha had things in common, they protect the ones they love, they defend heaven which any cost, they h8 sinners. Which they became best friends 4 life, or so they thought. During the times of all lute have developed this obsession of power and control and wanted 2 be a leader of all the power she wanted. Over the years it gets worse that vagatha have 2 stop lute 2 do break any rules. Till one day lute break a rule which vagatha try 2 claim she innocent.heaven seeing them two have a history and how they disrupted the peace of heaven by their actions and sins which lend them fall down in hell. When they fall in hell, lute and vagatha had a huge fight which she lost an eye and wings, and lute having a missing arm and a broken wings which she can’t fly anymore and made aid 2 help her fly. And then so on, vagatha work alone and became a chaotic women who likes destroying stuff. They call her the “mad women” and become an overlord making her a 1st angel who is an overlord then lute being the second. She disappeared all the sudden in 7 years and came back out of the blue. She saw the hotel of Al and Lucifer made. She become entertained.

That’s when she came 2 the hotel and join there. And rest is history

[mohntilyet]

i’m having illario dellamorte thoughts. what if instead of knowingly betraying lucanis he did it like, unknowingly. idk how this would work but i’m intrigued by what it gives us. illario ‘i accidentally caused my cousin’s death & can never tell anyone’ dellamorte. genuinely grieving. blaming himself. does he take advantage of the year before lucanis comes back?? does caterina still ignore him the whole time?? how different is the canon plotline once rook shows up with lucanis post-rescue…..

anyways i would love your thoughts!!

95% of what i do with illario operates on the idea that he is frighteningly competent so you can see why the way the crows plotline plays out in the game might frustrate me. it’s also this reason why i don’t actually think too much about “illario got lucanis killed, but didn’t mean to do it”, because i like the idea that everything illario does in his life is planned to the second and that he’s too well trained to mess up this badly, if that makes sense. with that being said. 5% of my brain power does sometimes go towards “and what if he just sucked actually” and it was a theory i enjoyed before the game even released. so i have in fact been thinking about this anyway LOL . maybe he tries to honeypot zara, accidentally actually reveals lucanis’ next assassination job, and zara gets rid of him as a ‘gift’. illario is horrified and that gets even worse when lucanis’ body shows up, and he assumes this must be because he spurned zara by leaving her and not having the guts to seize power.

i think we could make his inferiority complex worse. illario’s worst fear confirmed: he is as worthless as his grandmother believes he is, botching something so badly that he accidentally sentences his cousin to death when what he wanted was lucanis just… out of the way for a bit (maybe while he kills caterina. LOL. i still think his resentment of caterina trumps his jealousy for lucanis though those two things are very intertwined its hard for him to differentiate them). so incapable that he got the only person who actually supports him killed, and now he’s dreading the idea of becoming first talon. he doesn’t want first talon without lucanis backing him, and now the only person left is caterina which is suffocating and makes him even unhappier. at least he hadn’t lived through her alone, and now through consequences of his own decisions, illario has no choice but to.

i think that would affect his plans for talon because of how horribly he’d fucked up, and tries to mask it because if he suddenly actually doesn’t want to be talon that would be a red flag for everyone. lucanis coming back would delight him (talon is within his sights again if lucanis comes back!) and freak him out. i think the plotline would actually be pretty similar because of this freak out, so he still shows up to zara’s fight to cover his tracks. lucanis can never know, caterina can never know, because what little faith they have in him will be lost. like he committed fratricide and didn’t even MEAN to😭 ...corpse whispering still happens, and zara is like “ohhh that coward. he can never finish what he started, can he?” + “elaborate.” + “i gave him what he most wanted in the world and instead of being grateful, he ran away.” so lucanis finds out about what happened but feels a mix of “illario, you idiot” + pity because turns out he didn’t even mean for it to happen, and keeps his secret for now, otherwise he’d probably have to kill him.

i also think not meaning to kill lucanis would sour his feelings towards the venatori, who are a reminder of how badly he failed, so the alliance wouldn’t happen. this does mean if the story goes on as it does in canon, he has to take desperate measures another way and kidnap caterina for some other reason but i can’t think of why….. maybe a thing where illario is like “ok. lucanis is distracted by the elven gods. this time i just have to kill nonna for real and then nothing is in my way” and recruits disgraced houses or houses that don’t like caterina to do so? not sure tbh but i don’t believe caterina made it so far without making enemies lol. this would happen post bloodbath + corpse whispering— lucanis leaves his cousin unchecked because while he knows illario didn’t mean for him to die, he has no idea how far he would go to have caterina dead. teia could find out about this and send word to foil the kidnapping and assassination attempt

so ‘murder of crows’ is still about saving caterina, the illario-lucanis fight still happens, but it’s a little more hesitant and lots of “why won’t you just let me kill her? i’m doing this for the both of us”. he’s had to live with being the un-favorite, but never would have thought lucanis would actually pick caterina if it came down to it. with all of his missteps here, i think the final decision (and i think it should be like this in canon anyway) would be to imprison illario or kill him. imprisoning him is just a lot of “i can’t kill illario as much as he couldn’t kill me”, vs killing him as is expected from him as talon, and what he knew he would have to do after finding out about illario's failures. unlike canon, where illario is actually meaning to kill him and can be seen as a 'good crow' despite the sloppiness, here he's like. just bad at everything. the allied traitor houses that went against caterina would also have to be imprisoned or killed. no happy ending at all here, and lucanis still becomes first talon. now that i’ve written it out this is actually probably the worst ending LOL

the above sticks a lot to what is canon to the game (plot points, choices, etc) and i didn’t go very far away from it so it's like canon 3 inches to the left. tho my thoughts on this are not fleshed out* because i think illario works better as an antagonist character that sets things in motion !! not necessarily the villain in a cain-abel story, but a character who opposes lucanis while still not wanting to hurt him. that kind of discipline where he finds a way to get what he wants (first talon) without compromising what he also cares for (family) is so much more fun for me than a man who apparently just loses it and decides to enact a bad plan to get rid of his cousin. if he waited 20+ years to become talon i think he’d be more careful when it came down to it. if i had my way illario would be playing insane 5d chess to rival solas (insert black sails “i once thought that to lead, to be liked was just as good as feared. and that may very well be true. but to be both liked and feared all at once, is an entirely different state of being.”)

[yuikomorii]

// Ok I didn’t want to go this far but at this point, you guys are hating on Ayato just for clout and it shows. It’s okay not to like a character but straight up spreading misinformation about him is not okay. If you lack reading comprehension, just admit it.

What makes Ayato’s past so sad isn’t only the fact that Cordelia was mean towards him. She mentally and physically abused him, yet what genuinely hurt Ayato the most was the way Cordelia treated ALL the triplets. A part of him didn’t even want to kill her, given that he CRIED in the MB flashbacks because, despite being a huge abuser, he STILL felt sympathy even for someone like her. No matter how horrible Cordelia was, Ayato still wished for Karlheinz to reciprocate her feelings only to finally see her happy.

Don't even get me started on the Adam curse. He was practically used as bait and abandoned to death by his own brothers, but he still hoped for their safety after escaping. That curse literally destroyed his entire life because its purpose was to make the person who ate the fig drown in despair and go insane. That's why he was sooo obsessed with Yui's blood. Heck, he's cursed in routes other than his own, as he goes insane in Ruki's MB one, to the point that his brothers had to lock him inside the dungeon. In addition, in his MB Vampire Ending, he falls into a coma because he refuses to hurt Yui and keep drinking her blood.

Other than that, Laito was the one who made him believe that he wasn’t special, hence he adopted the “I will never make someone special again” mentality. He also wanted to kill him when he was younger (no hate towards any of his brothers though). Kanato was the only one who never did something bad to him, considering that when Ayato was a child, Reiji called him the disappointment of the family after failing a test.

Ayato did twisted stuff too; no character is a saint, but he always tries his best to fix things. Even when not dating Yui, he’s capable of showing compassion, support and a desire to improve his relationship with his brothers BY HIMSELF. Check this analysis for example.

Other than that, despite every time being hurt when trying to show kindness, he still became a very selfless guy who’d sacrifice himself for anyone at any given time. What makes this even more admirable is that according to Karlheinz, he’s literally the only one who actually VALUES his life. This guy who loves life would risk it all for Yui, even when not dating, or for any of his brothers.

Credit to: dialovers-translations and tournesolia on Tumblr

On top of that, he's incredibly empathic?? He forgives everybody, no matter what they do to him, and seeks to maintain good relations with them. In Kino's LE route, for example, he tortures and burns Ayato, but Ayato is the first person to recognize him as his brother because he wanted Kino to feel that he, too, belonged to a family.

Last but not least, nobody silences Karlheinz as good as him. He was also the only one who connected the dots by himself about his dad being the root of all evil (Laito too but that was after the letter), including being the only one who didn’t want to kill him only because he didn’t want to fall into his plan. Check this post.

Oh and, Ayato is actually really big; it’s not that only his fans make him that way! This post basically proves that he’s the IT boy of otome games and I should also mention that he’s the character that sells the most in Japan and China! Just look what Japanese fans think of him. ;)

You can dislike him as much as you want but nobody can deny how brave and pure-hearted he is. He’s the definition of from zero to hero.

As I mentioned earlier, it's fine to dislike him, but don't become obsessed with it, lol. At the end of the day, he's merely a fictional character with endearing characteristics and the male lead. It's really not that deep. Besides, it's embarrassing when the hate comes from Yui stans because she definitely wouldn't be happy of any of you talking about her man in that way.

[windypuddle]

ok portrait of a father also drives me crazy narratively because bsd has a lot of themes of like overcoming your past, personal growth & finding strength from within, finding a reason to live, that kind of thing. which this chapter does touch on but in such a strange way.

i think honestly something that comes up a few times is that old people like the headmaster had it really tough & horrible during the great war so they expect the next generation to also deal with that hardship, but the war is over. and it makes perfect sense that the headmaster believes he did all that to (a) make atsushi hate the headmaster instead of himself and (b) make atsushi able to overcome hardship. and from a view of physical suffering point b is absolutely true but mentally emotionally psychologically it can absolutely be argued & there is SO MUCH evidence that the headmasters treatment of atsushi affected him SO badly. he has ptsd he has so many scars literal & emotional. he feels paralyzed and helpless when he's alone against an enemy because it feels like hes alone again in the orphanage. so the headmasters view of "torture him to make him stronger" makes sense personally for him to do BUT i dont believe it fits in the themes bsd actually wants to tell.

Dazai comparing him to a father figure for atsushi does fit with the headmaster's good intentions. and akutagawa when he shows up on the boat says "when that weretiger is backed into a corner or defeated, he will come back as a much more troublesome foe" which also supports that. But this overcoming suffering through strength of will stuff is not what bsd is about. its about trusting allies to have your back and fight alongside you . like dazai said, the reason fyodor "lost" the race out of meursault was because he didn't have one thing: allies. he only has pawns; nikolai is the only person who truly cares about him and thats. well. nikolai. and in the fight on the boat, atsushi and akutagawa only lost because they didn't trust in each other fully. mostly atsushi actually. fukuchi even SAID that if atsushi had trusted akutagawa to have his back with Rashomon from the start, they could have killed him and won. so the most important thing is not personal strength but having allies & trusting other people to support you because for atsushi, the worst thing is being alone.

anyway this chapter acknowledges that the headmaster had good intentions but that doesnt necessarily mean that everyone else would agree with them. and dazai even says atsushi doesnt have to forgive him. so they WEREN'T actually the best methods for making atsushi better But they were done out of like love and care . and thats the important part & what this chapter is about (evidence: the ending where atsushi cries)

[starmocha]

HELLO I've read a few comments here and there implying current Sylus /wants/ to die? That resonating with MC will kill him and thats why hes so adamant that she do it? Is that interpretation even kind of accurate?

I hope its ok to ask this, I'm still new to lads and trying to piece together more Sylus lore before I personally dive into the angst of his new myth. ;w;

I'm always happy to answer questions if I can! This is absolutely OK 😊

OK, I can see how other people have interpreted it that way after reading the myth, and my answer may lean a little in that direction (however I disagree with the resonance part - MC's resonance Evol is meant to support others' Evol, not kill them), but I feel it is more nuanced than a simple yes or no answer.

This interpretation you see definitely stemmed from the myth, so I don't know how comfortable you are with spoilers (and I also don't want others to get spoiled while scrolling on their dash), so I will leave a more detailed response under the cut that will include caps as well, and you can decide to read it now or come back later after you finish the myth. 🙂 (I suggest the latter. This explanation will tie directly with the ending, and I don't want you to get spoiled. 😭)

(btw, prior to the myth release, I did search through most of Sylus' main story and memories for any references to his past, feel free to go through this tag if you're looking for Sylus lores!)

SPOILERS FOR SYLUS' MYTH - BEYOND CLOUDFALL & MAIN STORY

At the end of the myth, after Sylus had died from his injuries, MC, in her grief, cursed Sylus' soul to never fade away and always be tied to her. He can never die by any other means, and only she can grant him a true death.

In my Things That Fucked Me Up post, I did make an allusion to the main story about Sylus wanting MC to shoot him.

In the main story, MC threatens to kill him, and originally in the scene, it seemed like Sylus is calling her bluff by procuring a gun for her. Prior to the myth, there's been many allusions to Sylus not being able to die, and now we know why. With the revelation of his curse, this scene takes on a whole new light.

Prior to the myth, we had assumed that he knew he couldn't die so he called her bluff.

However, now that we know he can only die by her hands, this scene is a lot darker and seems to portray him as suicidal. We don't know how long this Sylus has been alive for. He could very well be hundreds or even thousands of years old, we can't verify for sure as of now. At the very least, we can assume he had lived for far too long. This could very well be the trope of immortals living for so long that they are now death seekers wishing for peace.

The only reason Sylus didn't die in this scene is 1) he forced her to pull the trigger and 2) MC does yell out "no" in the scene.

The condition for his death is that she must willingly want to grant him his death (note: this does not mean that she needs to be filled with hatred. Mercy killing is a possibility.)

As for the resonance part: In the myth, while Sylus and MC was resonating in one of the last scenes, Sylus had her hand over his chest and the claymore that was inside her was summoned against her will and pierced him in the chest. People are probably theorizing this based on this scene.

I disagree that resonating will kill him. In the storyline, MC's resonance Evol is meant to support/enhance others' Evols. Her Evol can also, on occasions, heal others (Zayne in his branch story, and I think Raf, too but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet shhhhh).

Don't forget that when we're battling in-game, our resonance Evol helps us take down wanderers, so I don't believe it is a means that will kill Sylus. As of now, we just don't know why he is adamant about needing to resonate with her.

I do agree that main story Sylus may be leaning a little on the suicidal part, but more in terms of being tired of living for so long. While he can't die, he does still feel pain if he is injured, but other than that, he is pretty much indestructible.

Sylus has also accumulated vast wealth, infamously known, powerful...I imagine he feels there is nothing worth living for (until now with MC 🤭), so death is what he desires now. This is my opinion, though, so don't take it as fact. We've only had two parts of the main story with Sylus, so there is plenty more to be discovered about his character in the future 🙂‍↕️

I hope this read offered some insight and perspective on this topic! Feel free to ask me to verify anything or ask anything else on your mind 🙂 (anyone else reading, also feel free to chime in with your thoughts or counter anything I said. 🙂‍↕️💖)

[noctilu-uca]

Rei Amayado and Love.

fgghhgggghhh....

Ok so ik there are a lot of unknowns about rei and honestly im no where near qualified enough to talk about ANY of the hypmic characters in the detail im about to go. But i like to think i know a decent amount of info and lore to make a good assumption. I could be totally wrong about some things soo pllleeeaassseeee dont take me entirely seriously

But the conversation between rei and nayuta confirmed a lot of things for me. A lot of things i was speculating that i havent really seen anyone else talk about

In the drama track, rei comes to the realization that he lets himself shoulder everything despite having the support that he could turn to rely on. Even when nayuta was still awake and with him, he had the bad habit of pushing everything onto himself.

The line that really stood out to me was nayuta asking if he was going to play the villain, to which he responds with a curt "yes" and this. Right there. Is exactly what ive been thinking this entire time.

Its really nothing new that ohhh rei is the bad guy hes morally grey hes hurt people You Shouldnt Really Trust Him. And rosho denounces all of that with pushing sasara to think "who is he really?" now i know that whole portion was supposed to lead sasara into his own growth but seriously. Who is rei? They knew he was a conman, they knew he was shady, unserious, and pushed things off. But rosho says that it was just a persona he built up, and hes correct.

We all knew rei was a deeper character than they let on, it was obvious to us, but not to them. Though its still kinda funny sasaro just said "yeah we guessed" when he said he was bb's father LMAOAOAOAOA not slick at all... but anyways where am i going with this ?

Rei has quite obviously put up a persona to the people around him. He doesnt want to be suspected, he doesnt want people knowing too much about him. So he pretends. That whole comical uncle spiel was just a means of hiding from everyone, and most importantly, himself. I dont think he really wants to face his reality. Of course he takes responsibility and is *painfully* aware of it, but he doesnt seem like he wants to accept it. Now im mostly talking about nayuta here, in the dt he said he would do basically whatever it took to keep nayuta by his side when she mentioned her not being there anymore. And what is he doing now? Keeping her comatose body on publicly unknown island to protect her, and watch over her state.

What about his kids? As far as im aware theres no reason we were given for him leaving bb. Hes accepted the fact hes nolonger an important part of their lives, sure hes important to a degree, but not in a parental way. Im sure its fair to assume he left bb around the time nayuta was sent comatose. So what i think: he left for their own safety.

He left them to make sure they wouldnt get wrapped up in the politics he did. Their mother got hurt, whose to say chuuohku wouldnt target his children next? They knew what was important to him, so he forced himself to think of them as unimportant. He left them so they wouldnt meet the same fate, nayuta is gone, he cant have her children following.

But that was when they were young. Now that they are more grown, things have changed. They are drb participants, and isnt the whole point of the drbs to train potential true hypnosis mic users? Those mics? The mics that kill users? Why would he allow that? I personally think that its just a matter of "they are grown, they can make their own decisions." mixed with "they could possibly survive it and help me create nayutas ideal world."

Even before the 2nd drb, dont you think it was odd how he randomly came to jirosabu one day and revealed that he was their father? What were the motives? Ive always interpreted it as him helping them in his own odd way. He knew their bonds were strong, so maybe if he gives them a challenge, he could strengthen those bonds while simultaneously pushing himself away. Which woah !! Exactly what he did. Jiro got some really good character developmemt out of that one, and bb started resenting him even more. Keeping them together is his goal, afterall its all they have.

So he got what he wanted. He pushed those that he loved and cherished away to protect them from his issues. So... Whats up with sasara and rosho? Notoriously, he told them almost nothing about himself. But with this new dt he revealed EVERYTHING. A new level of intimacy for our current time rei. He was vulnerable with them, when he was so used to makimg other vulnerable.

I think his relationship with sasaro is very healing for him. For all of them, actually, both he and sasara have a tendency to push others away for either their protection, or his own protection. And rosho is a catalyst of "thats so stupid wtf" and is essentially helping them find themselves after he found his own self.

Of course human growth is always happening, rosho is no where near done growing. As we see in the dt he is growing right in front of us, gaining more confidence in himself. And sasara and rei are still so far from really allowing themselves to grow. In a way, they are ashamed for their lack of growth. Sasara getting antsy over the fact rosho pointed out his habit of never getting involved. And rei reflecting back on nayuta when he just got done actively pushing sasaro away. Nayuta was the only person who *actually* forced him to think of different perspectives and not rot in his own.

While nayuta is gone, sasara and rosho are good stand ins. Will he love them like he loved her ?? NO !!! That man is a wife lover through and through. But theres one thing about hypmic that i absolutely adore, and its their utilization of platonic love. Rei is slowly learning to cherish sasara and rosho just as they are him. Its obvious sasaro already cherish and love each other on some level, with sasara immediately thinking of roshos dreams when met with his own to start comedy with him again. He didnt want to enroach on roshos new found identity. And rosho, pushing sasara to find his own new identity. And so many more examples.

But with rei, he stopped himself from cherishing and loving, keeping himself in the past where the only person he has ever, truly, loved with his whole heart resided. So when met with two people who had a bond like he once did, he stayed stagnant and kept himself where he was. That was, until they forced him not to.

So who is rei? Rei amayado, Rei yamada. I think he is a man that loves, truly loves.

Everything that he does was done from a place of care. Was he perfect? No. Not at all. Ramuda exists now, but to him that was a side point in getting nayuta back, and creating their shared world. He did it for nayuta, everything for nayuta. Because he loved her. And absolutely still does. He did it for his children, because in some way he still cares. Even if he acts like he doesnt. And now he is continuing on for his strengthening bonds with sasara and rosho, because they are giving him a chance to recount himself, and find out who he wants to be in his future. He isnt done living despite his old age, he has so much more to do and figure out, things he thought he could only do with nayuta by his side. Of course he wants her back, desperately, he truly thought she would never leave him. But now she has, and even though she isnt with him, he has the opportunity to restart with sasara and rosho. And hopefully be a changed man when nayuta comes back.

Rei, no matter what name he takes, is a man who loves, and will continue loving.

[steeltwigz]

Ok I've been getting a lot more Taco II discourse on my timeline recently. NOW I see what you all mean.... I gotta be honest, a lot of the posts to me still read as fans making up things to be mad about fhdjf what do you MEAN "Taco is irredeemable and doesn't Want to be redeemed and forcing her down a traditional redemption arc is Impossible AND you're a misogynist for misinterpreting her character" OKAYYY. Sit down buddy, Cool IT. What in the WORLD are you talking about. Did you miss the last minute of the episode where she says "no more running" and decides to face her fears head on, with the support of MePad. Did you miss all those letters she sent to Pickle, or her reaching for the portal for "another chance" at season 1, so she could fix her mistakes and wouldn't have hurt her friend? "But she wanted to kill Balloon that one time!" ONE she wanted to taze him, relax. I mean like if he pops he pops, but that's pretty Par For The Course for an object show, ESPECIALLY when II2 was still developing its more serious, less hyper-violent slapstick tone. TWO part of her problem is that she doesn't change w the game, she's still running (at least partially) on season 1 rules and in season 1 killing people was pretty normal, sorryy. Like a HUUUUGE point of her narrative arc is how she's still making a lot of the same mistakes she made with Pickle, but she doesn't realize until it's too late bcuz she's still too focused on the game (until it all comes crashing down a second time and she hates herself about it, and tries to End The Whole Show (THROUGH NONVIOLENCE MIGHT I ADD)). The whole show, she's wanted nothing more than to be redeemed and to undo her mistakes becuz she REGRETS HURTING PEOPLE AND she doesn't fully believe she can or that she deserves to, until MePad begins to help her out. These two things can both be true!!

Also, come On man. Sooooo many characters in this show are "bad people" or can be mean or hurtful. (Honestly, Id argue that a huge theme of the show is realizing people are multi-faceted and that people aren't only their worst traits, or their stereotype personalities but are in fact just as complex and personable as anyone else. That the show and the game and the challenge bring out the worst in people for Drama or Views or Money, but that doesn't mean that's all there IS to the competitors, and even the hosts, and you can't judge them based solely on their worst traits, which are getting exacerbated and unnaturally worsened due to the harmful exploitative nature of reality TV). That doesn't make ANY of them "irredeemable". Taco can have a redemption arc just as much as MePhone or Knife or Nickel can, who IN MY OPINION have done similar, and also Way Worse Things than she did, that no one ever brings up in these conversations. And NO that doesn't make you a misogynist for misinterpreting Taco or for thinking Knife is fine and she isn't, it just makes you have poor plot comprehension skills and you're predisposed to hold bias against the antagonist character becuz she's the antagonist. It's Whatever.

[wildwinterlunas]

Talon and Manipulation

Alright, the people have spoken so here you are. An analysis on the manipulation found in Talon. Specifically the inner council.

(Note; Ramattra will not be included in this because he is getting his own separate analysis, not only that but he is working with Talon, he is not a member of Talon)

Baptiste

Now you might think I'll start with the obvious choices like Reaper, Sigma and Widow, but no, I want to start with Baptiste. Specifically the manipulation used to bring in regular people into Talon.

In the Liberation mission if you play Baptiste when the Ramattra's speach comes on Baptiste will say "I recognize propaganda when I see it", meaning Talon most likely doesn't personally pick out their soldiers, they use propaganda. Which means that there is likely more people like Baptiste who joined Talon to make the world a better place and are now lying to themselves to keep that vision going.

This is only the beginning of the analysis and we already see that the foundation of Talon is built on manipulation, on the altered vison of what Talon is.

Widowmaker

Ok, let's get into the meat of it.

Widow, the manipulation Widow faced is probably the most commonly talked about, but only in context of her brainwashing and being forced to kill Gerard. No one really talks about what happened after. After she killed Gerard she was left without anyone to turn to and no where to go, she was terrified of how the kill made her feel. So she went to the only place she thought she would be safe, a place where she could chase the high she got from the kill, she ran back to Talon. Widows motivation for joining Talon isn't just to get a adrenalin rush, but it's also out of survival, and I think that's why she's so hostile towards Baptiste.

Baptiste got out, he survived, and now he's being helped by Overwatch. He's living proof that what happened to her, what she's doing, was unnecessary, that there was a possibility that if she stayed with Overwatch she could have gotten help. So she's hostile, she's angry at the world and at herself, but she can't leave now because she's in too deep, she's done too much. Widow's loyalty to Talon is literally programmed into her, though she did seemingly make the choice to fully join Talon, she can't make the choice to leave.

At least not yet.

Sigma

Sigma is probably the most simple, he's broken, he was broken before Talon captured him, and the only people who seem to care are Overwatch associates and Sombra. Sigma is incredibly unstable and Talon uses that to their advantage. Sigma goes through constant experimentation, though we don't know what this experimentation is, considering it's Moira conducting them we can assume it's bad.

Sigma is honestly the most tragic out of most of the Talon members, unlike everyone else we know who was in Talon, he's the only one who genuinely didn't have a choice. He was taken by Talon to which he was then used for his research and powers. We can assume that Sigma hasn't gone on any field missions, or at the very least ones that included the obvious harming of other people.

The only reason Sigma hasn't left Talon left is because he is genuinely being sheltered from the harm that Talon is doing, to the point where when they do do questionable things he either thinks it's normal, or he's oblivious to it.

Reaper

Gabriel Reyes is probably the epidemy of the affect Doomfists manipulation, he's honestly the reason I wanted to make this analysis. At the point when Reyes first interacts with Doomfist its after Ana's death and during the point in time where he and Jack couldn't be in a room without fighting. If you have also seen my Cassidy analysis you would also know that I think he and Cassidy drifted apart by this point as well. When Gabriel first interacted with Doomfist he was without a support network, and as we've established, Talon uses that to take advantage of people.

After the explosion and after Moira "saved" Reyes (I'll get to that in a minute), it stated that Gabe did mercenary work by himself for a year before he officially joined Talon. A year where he had to deal with constant pain, the trauma of the explosion and the lack of a support network. Reyes becoming Reaper was destined to happen the moment he shot Antonio. Like Cassidy himself said, that was the moment Overwatch truly started to fall.

And the longer Reaper is with Talon, the less and less of Gabriel Reyes we see. Reaper is in constant pain because of Moira's experimentation, and we see that she refuses to help. This brings me to my next point, Reyes would have survived the explosion, with or without Moira's help. Presumably Gabe and Jack where the same distance away from the explosion, now we don't really know what happened to Jack but we know he survived. Yes, Reyes went through more experimentation but we see that it didn't have as bad of negative effects until after his "death". The constant pain and the struggling to keep his form is a result of experimentation after the explosion.

Why do this? Because Gabriel Reyes has proven to be an asset. So spin the narrative, make it so it seems that Reyes couldn't survive without Talon. This is something that Reyes himself sees through, but he's too broken to leave. He needs something to fight for and Talon gives him that so he doesn't leave.

The Inner Council

Doomfist and Moira are probably the biggest manipulators in the Inner Council, followed by Sanjay. Both Moira and Doomfist use subjective facts to get into their targets heads, making them question what exactly it is that they're doing, if what they're doing is working. They like to make people reliant on them, to have control over them, and it works most of the time. Most of the time Moira uses it to get under peoples skin, to make them squirm, she is manipulative but that isn't her main tactic. Dommfist on the other hand, most of his voicelines with people is him trying to manipulate them in some way.

Sanjay is an interesting case because to me it seems that he genuinly believes what he's saying and unlike the other two he seems to be swayed by others, able to recognize when someone else has a better methodology. Meanwhile Max seems to only really use manipulation and bargaining as a way to save his own ass.

And I've detailed this before but Reyes in the later years of Blackwatch was also manipulative but it seemed almost unintentional.

Where the manipulation fails

Doomfist and Moira both tend to target those who are loosing/lost their support network. People who are prone to emotion and tend to not think things through because of it. What this doesn't account for is the people who can handle that. Let's talk about Sombra.

Sombra is a member of Talon but unlike every other member she isn't loyal to it. She's only in it for the resources. It honestly seems that she doesn't like or get along with most of Talon. She's been pointed out both in universe and out to be the most likely person to betray Talon, the problem with that is Doomfist seems to underestimate her, not seeing her very likely betrayal as a threat. Reaper being the one to bring up his concerns. Sombra is a person with no support network yet she is unaffected by Talon's manipulation. This is because the way you get to her isn't stripping her of a support network, it's giving her one, and that's something Talon can't do. The two people she's loyal to are Sigma and Baptiste, they are the people she tries to help.

Sombra is a victim of the Crisis like Baptiste is but unlike him it seems that she knew exactly what she was getting into. So when Baptiste finally stopped turning a blind eye and lying to himself, Sombra got back in contact with him and helped him escaped. It also seems that Cassidy trusts her enough to still trust Baptiste after fining out that they're in contact. Not only that but Sombra either already is, or is going to become Jack's informant on Talon information.

Talon's manipulation failed on Sombra so bad that she is now playing them like a fiddle.

[marvelling-at-marvel-blog]

The thing about S1 Jamie that I think is interesting is I think on rewatch there is some insight as to why Jamie went so hard on the bullying of Sam. (Not gonna be defending Jamie's treatment of Sam just looking into maybe why). Because out of all of the things Jamie did is season one. The one that seems hardest to understand or really forgive is his treatment of Sam. The first time around, you couldn't understand it. Sam is legitimately the kindest man in existence. (I know as a stroyteller it was the easiest way to really get us to dislike Jamie and really make us more understanding of Roy's treatment of Jamie which to be frank is not great and understand Ted's fruatrations with him) and Sam just keeps trying with Jamie.

But know I think it far to say thay S1 Jamie was jealous of Sam and his easy going, happy, postive nature. I dont think he was aware of it though.

Season 1 Jamie is so interesting because on paper, he had everything he thought he wanted. But I dint think he was overally happy. But yeah it seemed to be all his way

1. He played for the team he grew up supporting and dreamed of playing for. I imagine his first time stepping on that fiels in that uniform would have been monumental. Sure, maybe he wasn't a starter, but he got some minutes and the unspken agreement that in a few years, he would be a star.

2. I imagine he was initially disappointed to be loaned out, but then he learns he is being loaned to Richmond. Yeah they suck, but he gets to play a full 90 minutes, is basically going to be the best player, kick most of thier goals and he gets to be team mates with Roy Kent (he dreamed of playing against him one day, with him is a dream come true, I really think pre show Jamie would have been so excited to play with Roy Kent and was so disappointed in how it turned out). Plus, it has the added advantage of getting him away from his dad. And once his done his loan, he can come back to Manchester. This is his chance to get away from it for a while and be the star

3. He meets and gets to date Keely Jones who his always had a crush on. Dhe is literally a dream girl for him

So he should be happy right. His got everything he wanted, but it's not going the way he expected because.....

1. Roy Kent hates him (in my mind Roy was standoffish from the start, heres come this whizkid who was everything he used to be and slowly losing. I think Jamie came in at 100% and immediatley put Roy on the back foot). Jamie tries with Roy but the more it doesnt work the more Jamie goes OK, if I cant make him like me I will show him I am better than him. Hence the beginning of that relationship.

2. Yeah his away from his dad and his killing it at Richmond, scoring their goals, winning them matches but it only seems to be winning over half the team (he can't see yet his attitude is what is stopping the other guys from liking him). And the team still isn't doing great even with him. Plus he may be away from his Dad but his relationship with his mum feels like it in a werid place which sucks cause she is his favourite person ever.

3. And Keeley seems to be where its going right but sometimes it feels like his a bit of a project for her. And I think he has heard people (like Roy) question why she is with him.

And let's face it, he is still likely hearing from his dad when he doesn't perform up to his standards.

And then heres Sam. Who (at this point in time) isn't playing well, isn't scoring goals, not massively contributing to thier wins and yet he seems so genuinely happy all the time and everyone loves him, Roy Kent seems to like him and is friendly with him, complimenting him (which he has never done to Jamie). Sam is so open and kind he has probably talked about his dad in the locker room, and his relationship with his family seems perfect and that must gnaw at Jamie because all he ever wanted is to make his dad proud and his pretty sure he will never achieve it because the man is a d***k who is impossoble to please, yet Jamie never stops trying and things are werid with his mum which he hates. But all he hears when its brought up from Sam is how great his family is.

Then along comes the new gaffer who Jamie can't even understand why he is coaching, but he also seems to love Sam and wants him to be the decoy so Sam can kick the goal. Even though Jamie knows if he kicks it, it will go in.

Now we all know the reason Sam is liked is because he is an amazing, kind hearted, dedicated person, but I think S1 Jamie is so jealous and does not even know it.

Because S1 Jamie is still living with the notion that being the best in the most important thing ( thank you James Tartt Sr) so to Jamie he is out here busting his ass at training to be the best, scoring all the goals yet Sam seems to be the one who is living what he thought his dream time at Richmond was going to be. And I know I mention it but I think it is a big thing for Jamie, the harder he tries the more Roy seems to despise him, and take enjoyment in his embarrassment.

And S1 Jamie in all maturity handles his jealously by trying to make Sam feel as bad as he is feeling. Which Jamie, baby. That's kindergarten mentality. And poor Sam actually thinks Jamie is a great player and would love to learn from him in the beginning and isnt having a great time either.

But yeah. I dont think Jamie ever disliked Sam. I think he was insanly jealous of him all the time and didn't know how to handle that or even admit it himself.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. Apologies for my rambles.

[wutheringheightsfilm]

Jumping in on the Merlin thing for a second and his awful, upsetting character arc from beginning to end... like I fully get where the bootlicker accusation is coming from, but I do think the show is actually like borderline horror if you start taking the destiny thing into consideration. My personal view of Merlin as a character is that he comes to Camelot in s1 completely unaware of what he's stepping into. Truly unprepared to come to The Anti Magic Capital that Classism and Genocide Built and witness a public execution within the first 5 minutes. His WHOLE deal in s1 is him like dangerously stepping into situations he doesn't fully understand because the social rules governing them are so nonsensical to him.

But by the time s2 starts he is Very Aware of how much Camelot is actively a terrible place for him to be and also he is in some deep and frightening level bound to that place and to Arthur. He is genuinely desperate to get out in s2 (he's a little angry and reckless throughout) and every attempt he makes to go against Destiny* ends in tragedy. Freya is the biggest example, but (wait sorry this in the back of s1) I also think a lot about how Will was pushing him to go against the grain only to get killed saving Arthur's life and to have Merlin's own mother tell him he belongs at Arthur's side NEXT TO WILL'S FUNERAL PYRE. It's a really scary moment if you concede that some element of Fate is at play and is working to keep Merlin in place.

Anyway, anyway I think by the end of s2 Merlin has been forced to accept "his place" (he betrays Morgana and is so furious that he acts out and let's Kilgarrah loose which I mean a lot of people probably died right??) so you get him being more cheerful in s3 because he is has to be happy right? He can't ever leave so he Has to believe in the prophecy and Arthur. It's a sunk cost thing, right? People have died for this. Merlin is killing people over it.. Morgana is lost forever. So it HAS to be leading to something beautiful. Merlin will keep supporting this regime because The Future will be better (undefined when or how and who cares that Arthur never really gets better). And the end is s3 is so hopeful and Merlin probably really believes it's all coming together at that Round Table they are really on the edge of something and then... and then.

Well Lancelot dies. And Uther dies in the worst possible way. And Arthur never, EVER gets better. And Merlin's world gets smaller and smaller and his ability to imagine anything but the path he's been stuck on forever goes away completely. And in the end the only thing THE ONLY THING he has is Arthur's life. Arthur staying alive, the thing which will mysteriously lead to the perfect future that makes all the previoys atrocities ok, is the only thing he can believe in. He will sacrifice anything and anybody for that one fact. It is the entire crux of his tenuous personhood.

Sorry I'm getting carried away here and not even talking about Fate very much here, but like it is absolutely chilling to get to the last episode and have Merlin confront Kilgarrah** over the fact that Albion did not in fact happen and have his answer be roughly "all has happened as it was meant to, this has been the story the entire time, you've done everything you were meant to". And so of course Merlin is going to spend the next millenia still on the same path, still forced to wait for The Promised Future to make good.

AND LIKE TO BE CLEAR its all bad writing. Genuinely, the first half of the show did not set up the back half. The writers were going for something in s4 and s5 entirely beyond their means. The politics of the show were abysmal (see: never knowing how to handle the genocide or fucking picking a side with Uther) and ultimately the writers were too in love with the status quo to tell a functional story. Like I am not in anyway suggesting that Merlin's relationship to fate and possible lack of conplete free will is something they did on purpose (if only because I'm never convinced the show fully understood how bad Merlin's situation was... one too many jokes where the knights played keep the food away from him, you know?) but I do think it's a necessary talking point to see what does happen to Merlin or to others in the first two series when he makes these attempts to act outside of his circumscribed role (like his attempt to free Morgana from Camelot that gets a lot of Druids killed).

*On the topic of Destiny I do think the show plays coy on how much of what happened was truly inevitable, but ultimately the viewer is meant to believe that Mordred and Morgana's fall and Arthur's death were all things that could not be changed because that's Arthurian Legend and also because, well, everyone starts to look pretty indefensible if Morgana wasn't always going to turn into a "villain" (as dubious as the politics of positioning her as such are). (Though actually I do think one thing that people let slide when people talk about Morgana is YES she correctly wanted to kill Uther and those who supported the magical genocide, BUT ALSO she was ultimately unable to break away from her class allegiance as a noble woman who believed she was entitled to a hereditary crown. Those two causes were inseparable for her. THAT'S why people kept telling her she took after Uther so much.) So anyway I think it's valid to say that if Merlin could have brought himself to completely ignore Gaius and Kilgarrah in s2 then maybe Morgana wouldn't have gone evil, but well. The show (for the much worse) simply wasn't built that way in-universe or out of universe (because, again, the politics of bbc Merlin Are stunningly awful).

**Kilgarrah has the avatar of Fate is also such an interesting question. I think the first two series kind of play with he idea that Kilgarrah is, well, certainly self-serving and looking for vengeance and that possibly he is misleading Merlin to that end. But then the show doesn't really do anything with that idea and in his subsequent appearances has Merlin treat Kilgarrah's advice and wisdom with complete good faith (though in-universe this is obviously partly the result of his never to be resolved grief over the sudden and violent loss of his father and becoming the last dragonlord). So I do think the writers intention with him by the end of the show is, unlike Gaius***, that he really was a mentor/wiseman figure for Merlin and was Truthfully communicating the prophecies.

***Gaius can go kick rocks truly. He is so terrible and like I get why Merlin feels like he's the only permanent, stable (parental) relationship in his life (I love you Hunith! I'm so sorry the show hates mothers!!!!) but genuinely Gaius should have died by the end of s3 at the latest this is LITERALLY Hero's Journey 101 to have the mentor/parent die. If we're taking my No Free Will Conspiracy Theory at face value then the fact that Gaius didn't die is all the proof you need that he was toxic to Merlin's well being and development of self hood outside of the prophecy.

Ok ok. I'm done for now, but literally I am always down to talk bbc Merlin, I am so upset about it all the time.

HI!! Okay I had to reopen my laptop in order to answer this because the mobile app was shitting itself lmao. Let me go point by point here because you said a lot of compelling stuff

your destiny + sunk cost fallacy theory is really interesting, and i really wish the showrunners/writers had realized this for themselves--and if they did, actualized it in the writing of the show. that would have been so interesting if we had gotten true moments from Merlin of him regretting where he has gotten to in life to that degree. god if only bbc merlin was actually a psychological horror about how you can't avoid your fate that's been predetermined for you. honestly if bbc merlin had grappled with predeterminism at all beyond a shallow skim of the surface of the idea it would have been 10 times more interesting

"Though actually I do think one thing that people let slide when people talk about Morgana is YES she correctly wanted to kill Uther and those who supported the magical genocide, BUT ALSO she was ultimately unable to break away from her class allegiance as a noble woman who believed she was entitled to a hereditary crown. Those two causes were inseparable for her. THAT'S why people kept telling her she took after Uther so much." <- this is actually incredibly true and honestly i do think it is a side effect of the show refusing to grapple with class dynamics as a whole because it lets the audience ignore it as well unless you're purposefully thinking about it, though i do still think her arc is what a previous anon said: the stereotype of someone who's Too Radical and Goes Too Far, and i'm not a fan of that at all. I'm not saying you're saying her arc isn't that, but it's just so badly written like you said 😭

"but genuinely Gaius should have died by the end of s3 at the latest this is LITERALLY Hero's Journey 101 to have the mentor/parent die. If we're taking my No Free Will Conspiracy Theory at face value then the fact that Gaius didn't die is all the proof you need that he was toxic to Merlin's well being and development of self hood outside of the prophecy." <- WHAT I'M FUCKING SAYING!!! Gaius should have died and it's a crime he didn't!!!!

Anyways overall I find your fate conspiracy theory to be super compelling and it has a lot of implications i didn't consider... ugh if only Merlin (and the writers of the show) had like an ounce more of self awareness and then it would have truly been horrifying for him to realize the cycle he's stuck in... ugh we could've had it all.

[arliedraws]

I find it many things weird in Harry Potter, in general the plot holes are everywhere and things when you think about them just don't make much sense, even in storytelling perspective, and consistency.

One thing that I find appalling is how Sirius didn't notice the scarring on Harry's hand, from Umbridges lines. It's established canonically they're lasting scars. Sirius already had to watch from the literal shadows how Harry was enrolled in that tournament, already fearing for his godsons life bc he suspected Voldemort was involved. How couldn't any responsible guardian, not notice Harry was physically abused, again, under Dumbledores nose, but away from Sirius direct influence to be able to do anything. Then on top of that, Snape is gonna to do the occlumensy lessons, and while Sirius knew that was necessary, I mean, he was outraged when he heared Snape stopped it, but ok, he let it all slide? If I were Sirius I would have pulled Harry out myself for that year, enough is enough. If Dumbledores presence didn't prevent Harry's suffering, in fact his choices add to Harry's real physical abuse (Dursleys, certain teachers). Sirius could educate Harry theoretical until Umbridge was gone. Harrry was save enough in Grimmauld during christmas and the summer so why not.

Its like those I mustn't tell lies scars only are there when needed and then forgotten during times of the plot supporting characters might have reacted to them, like Sirius or whomever. Sirius is a genius wizard but can't turn into an unassuming anonymous figure to go outside, like Hermione did to Ron's features with just her wand and spells in b7, negating need for polyjuice, it's his dog form or permanent housearrest (which leads to disintegration of his mind /character and then he dies)

At some point I'm really suspect this is character driven anymore and just JKs incompetence to consistently implement Sirius's character. Like you already said somewhere here, he is a miracle character. Too clever, too bright, too loyal to continue in the story JK wanted to tell like you said somewhere before. I have a feeling JK didn't know what to do with Sirius, denigrated him and his character and then killed him off. His best role at the end to fulfill is to reinforce Harry's suffering and loneliness it seems, while Sirius actually was the main hope of Harry in the heart of the series. So meaningless!

While I love character metas, I think JK is a meanspirited woman, I always had that notion bc she reacted in some ways, even before the whole modern eh, shenanigans. And that meanness, pettiness and inconclusive attitude reflect in hps worldbuilding.

I agree with several points here!

If Sirius had been in a better mental space, I agree that he would have noticed the scars from the blood quill. However, we could also interpret this as Sirius being exceptionally depressed. Now, I’m not defending JKR here, but one thing we do have to remember is that Sirius was a convicted murderer and Harry’s legal guardians were the Dursleys. Sirius literally has no say in what Harry does. Sirius is not a person with rights—in the eyes of the law, he is due to have his soul sucked out. Anytime Sirius makes a decision on Harry’s behalf, it’s a courtesy thing, not a legal guardian thing. Unfortunately. It’s gross to say, but legally, Molly has the same rights as Sirius to tell Harry what to do—which is, gross.

Also, sure, Sirius could go out of number 12 in disguise but he’s in hiding because he knows he can’t risk his own safety for Harry’s sake. Dumbledore has made it very clear that Sirius is not to leave, and frankly, by the way Harry believed he had to rescue Sirius, this was actually probably the right call. Sirius is the most important person to Harry (and likewise), and if Sirius were taken captive by either the Ministry or Voldemort, Harry would done something unwise (which…he did). I’m not arguing that this is how it should have gone down, but theoretically (if you ignore the importance of mental health and stability lol), this should have been the right call.

But the point is, Voldemort’s ability to manipulate people and destroy friendships is what killed Sirius. Voldemort manipulated Dumbledore who thought he was smarter than Voldemort; Dumbledore prioritized keeping Harry alive but sacrificed Sirius in the end. I do think JKR punishes Sirius for being smart and attractive (lol), calling him rash when he’s really…not, but I think it’s important to recognize that even the smartest, most caring people can make mistakes and overlook the pain of the people they love most.

I think Sirius is partially in denial about some of Harry’s struggles. As a man of action, Sirius’s inclination is to fix things, and when he cannot fix in the way he believes is necessary, he shuts down. He comes alive at the end of OotP when he is able to help in the way he wants—and then JKR kills him for it lol.

Anyway, just some thoughts. I don’t actually think Sirius was behaving out-of-character, but I think JKR was unmerciful in putting this fictional character into situations that brought out the worst in him because it served the plot. Just my two cents though!

[oleworm]

🔥 aegon ii

I'm going to talk about the show version only because I tried to read Fire and Blood and I didn't much care for it. I'm going to speculate that George published it because of pressure to get the last two ASOIAF books out and that's why it reads like the notes you write before the actual story. Moving on.

Surprisingly I have a lot to say about Aegon II, especially comparing what he actually does and how it is presented by the narrative vs. what Rhaenyra does and how it is presented by the narrative. I am aware that TGC was fighting to develop Aegon's character beyond being a rapist and a drunkard, so that already shows a bias by the writers. I don't know if you agree, but when I watched the series I thought that the audience is meant to find him foolish and ineffectual. He supports measures that alleviate the burden on the smallfolk and that's seen as bad--we can't do that, Aegon, we've got a war going on, they're going to have to get used to austerity. Let's ignore that, geographically, the blockade doesn't make sense because they should be able to bring in supplies by land, ha. OK! Maybe he doesn't have all the logistical details, but the principle was correct, if he is to govern these people he is also responsible for them--only, this is considered to be too naïve of a view. But I don't know, it could be giving the writers too much credit to assume they were trying to make a contrast between the ideal of a king, that is, the fiction that is sold to the people so that they accept his authority, vs. what a king actually does, which is funnel state resources to cement his political power and that of his kin-group.

Then he goes out on his dragon and gets burned to a crisp--we're supposed to think that he's emotional and stupid, but he sets Sunfyre on Meleys when he sees that she's burning the soldiers and no one on their side is doing anything about it. If anything, Criston and Aemond's plan was to let Rhaenys think it would be easy, let her kill a bunch of people before they bring out Vhagar. It was an impulsive decision to come in the first place, but it cannot be denied that he risks his own life in trying to protect them. It was significant to me that when Sunfyre was wounded it flapped its wings as to not to crush the soldiers that were running away in fear, and later Vhagar tramples them to death like they're nothing, the same way that Daemon and Caraxes did in earlier episodes.

I don't know what the show is trying to say in writing them the way they do. It is very inconsistent. Here you have Aegon, who threw in his lot with his people and exposed himself to many of the same dangers, even if it wasn't the most effective way, but that is supposed to be a bad thing because he is a ridiculous person? And you have Rhaenyra, who is queen because she said so, who starves her people and sends weapons of war while sitting comfortably in Dragonstone. In real life it would not be like that, we have different laws, but in their world outside of Dorne there is no precedent for a daughter passing over a legitimate son. It's like, in-universe Rhaenyra has the odds stacked against her for being a woman, but in real life we are supposed to root for her for that very same reason, and it has very little to do with either of their actions.

I read your reply to my ask and I agree that they should have kept that part about him abusing women that have no recourse, it adds complexity to his character that a lot of people don't like!