#i'd rant about this too

[alevens]

zolu is maybe one of the easiest ships i've ever liked. they're dating, except when they're not, they're best friends even when they're kissing and they're still captain and first mate when they aren't. they hold hands, they hug. they have sex. they don't.

Luffy can hold Zoro's katanas and Zoro can hold Luffy's strawhat and no one bats an eye. one says "You're so cool!" and the other says "You're strong" and it's just another way to say "I see you, this is why I follow you/this is why I trust you". it's not seeing each other for a long time and still knowing how the other's steps sound like against wood and sand. the captain runs and the first mate follows. it's always "Zoro and the others" and "Where's Luffy?"

if they're just friends, if they're something more, if they don't have a label for it, at its core, it's just about how they get each other. they understand how the other's mind works. however you view them, it doesn't erase they fact that they love each other in a way they don't love other people.

[endlesslytired]

Penacony.

more from the post looooop:

[ogachukwu-the-freak]

Can't fucking stand Black Butler antis, YES my favorite scene was the fucking asthma scene bitch AND???? I'M WEIRD? WHY DID YOU WATCH AN ANIME WITH CLEARLY SUGGESTIVE SCENES LIKE THAT HUH???

SPEAK UP.

[starrysharks]

i want to delete my twitter account so fucking bad

[m-a-r-i--c-h-a-t]

maybe it's lust cat noir! can't you just let a girl have her kink?!

[socially-awkward-chocobo]

Happy Kagepro Day!!!

[honestlyijustfindhersocharming]

A Needlessly Long Analysis of Every Single Cat King Scene in Dead Boy Detectives and Why I Want to Throw Him.

After many, many rewatches of Dead Boy Detectives for the sake of trying to get another season, I've found myself with increasingly strong feelings about a certain feline so... Can we talk about the Cat King? Yes? Great. Forewarning, I'm about to absolutely ream this shapeshifter because he's complex, confusing, horrible, and has so much potential that I need to talk about it.

Please keep in mind that this is my personal take !! I love the Cat King as a character, I just don't like a lot of his actions given the context.

Introduction to the Madness ...

The Cat King is a wonderful antagonist for so many reasons, but I feel like a lot of people have forgotten that he's an extraordinarily flawed person and can be incredibly creepy at times. Lukas does a wonderful job portraying the Cat King's charm, as does George in portraying Edwin's brief moments of falling into his traps, but the Cat King is not a good person. Let's go down the list.

The Cat King's Introduction: Episode 2

Episode 2 starts off with the consequences of Edwin's rash actions in Episode 1, something that I'm fully here for. It gives Edwin's jealousy real weight outside of just causing tension between Crystal and Edwin. However, I think people forget that the Cat King's "punishment" is (almost) completely selfish. Yes, while he claims that it's a consequence for harming the other cats, the punishment doesn't actually reward the cat Edwin used magic on, instead only benefiting the Cat King himself. It does force Edwin to distinguish between the cats, something that I figured out after another watch of the scene, but... I'm not sure if that was his main motivation when he blatantly says later that he wanted more time with Edwin.

The two options Edwin is presented with are sex and counting all the cats in Port Townsend. Option one is mildly horrific, even if Edwin is to consent it could still be considered coercive as the Cat King is in a position of power over Edwin. I personally don't think it'd get to that point - the Cat King sees the Edwin is a repressed Edwardian boy and wants to test that boundary - but... the implication is hard to swallow. When Edwin is given the option of counting cats, he emphasizes that he is a "fair and consensual Cat King", which we'll get back to later, but the offer itself is still - essentially - a move on Edwin as it forces him to stay in the Cat King's vicinity for longer. The task itself is stupid, but it again doesn't benefit any of the cats besides the Cat King. The only reason Edwin's stay is prolonged is because the Cat King is fascinated by Edwin. That's it.

While this interaction does contribute to Edwin's eventual sexual awakening, that does not make the interaction itself good. And this dichotomy between the Cat King starring in Edwin's journey of self discovery but doing so in the literal worst way continues in Episode 4...

The Cat King and Exploiting Emotional Attachment: Episode 4

I'd like to point out that this interaction starts out with the Cat King scratching Edwin, something that he explains by referencing "rough play". Now, this is obviously a joke, but it still brings up issues with the continued lack of Edwin's consent in something that the Cat King frames as sexual. What really kills me about this scene though, is how the Cat King exploits Edwin's other crushes - or potential crushes - to get a reaction out of him. The funniest thing about this to me, is that the way that the Cat King shapeshifts into people that Edwin cares for ends up paralleling him to Angie, our monster of the week. Angie also exploits the emotional attachment of someone to their loved ones for personal gain, but in her case it's to actively seek out food. What separates the two to me, is that the Cat King does not need Edwin to care for him, nor does he need Edwin to survive, he just wants Edwin, therefore making him kind of worse that the monster that we go into this Episode trying to slay.

Again, this does end up assisting Edwin in his eventual realization that he likes Charles, but it's the entirely wrong way of going about it. The scene ends with me just feeling like Edwin got thrown around like a mouse by this cat in the middle of something that's genuinely important to him. And then the confession of why Edwin does the casework. Sweet Jesus. Yes, it's good that Edwin gets that truth out for the sake of the audience, but the knowledge that the Cat King gains out of it is chilling to me. It's another display of the power the Cat King holds over Edwin because while you can argue that he uses the binding spell on Edwin as payback for what happened to his cats, forcing the truth out of Edwin was nothing but for himself. I think he believes it's for Edwin's sake, to make him feel more comfortable sharing things now that the first hurdle has passed, but it... really doesn't? The way that this backfires really emphasizes the way that pushing Edwin's boundaries like this isn't a good way to gain his affection.

The last thing to point out in this specific interaction is the last couple of lines of the scene, specifically the way that the Cat King taunts Edwin about the cat count of 142 being "way off". We know this is a bluff because later, he confirms that there are 147 cats in Port Townsend, including himself of course. The irony to this scene in my opinion is the fact that the Cat King just said to Edwin that he wanted him to be more honest, and then immediately lies. The double standard is insane, and I can't tell if the Cat King realizes it or not.

Something I feel important to note as well is the way that Edwin, in the same episode, when asked if he'd like to kiss the Cat King answers painfully fast. Monty he at least considers, but the Cat King isn't even an option to him. To me, this just displays further how horrifically the Cat King has fucked up any chances of a meaningful relationship with Edwin.

The Cat King Becomes an Incel for a Hot Minute: Episode 6

Episode 6... Oh boy Episode 6. Episode 6 is hard because he doesn't stop being a boundary pusher, but it's also ever the more evident just how much this stupid cat cares about Edwin. I would love to defend him and be like "oh actions speak louder than words" but his actions STILL suck in this scene. So, let's break down those action one by one.

First off, he goes to the forest. That's a big one because he mentions that he's been looking for Edwin the entire night, seemingly for no other reason than to explain to him the situation with Monty being an essential double agent. The first bit of the interaction between the Cat King and Monty isn't much to note, in my opinion, because it's mostly just taunting. But, in this case, the taunting is kind of warranted. Though I personally empathize with Monty's situation, he is still leading Edwin into a trap that could kill him. Where the Cat King pushes boundaries again is the goddamn kiss. It feels... icky. Predatory.

Again, there's no consent in this situation, and though it all comes from a place of worrying for Edwin's safety, I'm not sure that excuses it. I will grant the Cat King the fact that he's extraordinarily honest with Edwin throughout the scene, exposing Monty's identity and the case without beating around the bush much. The way that the Cat King ends the interaction, because though I'm not exactly sure what to think about the Cat King's approval of Edwin lashing out at Monty, I know exactly what I think about what follows.

Edwin, rightly, immediately thinks to take the information he just learned to Crystal and Charles, the two people who could still be in danger because of this now pointless case. The Cat King takes this time to make yet another move instead of just... accepting the fact that he helped and that could build Edwin's trust later. The way the Cat King says "I believe I'm at least owed a little thank-you" threw me off the first time I watched it, but I accepted it. I suppose Edwin could have been more polite. And then the Cat King said "By the way, the second kiss is always much better."

Dude. What. So, to break this down, the Cat King comes out to help save Edwin from a potentially life threatening situation only because he believes that he will get a reward out of it. When Edwin refuses (rightfully so, what the fuck) the Cat King asserts his power again by saying that he's "not someone to be dismissed". Edwin's words are harsh when he states that the Cat King is nothing more than the chain linking him to Port Townsend, but I don't feel as though he's entirely wrong to be upset in this situation. The Cat King, instead of making me feel bad for him afterwards, goes full Nice Guy™ on Edwin afterwards by yelling at him that he'll stop playing nice. Instead of taking literally two seconds to introspect, he threatens Edwin like that's going to keep his stubborn ass from doing anything.

Hello? What happened to fair and consensual Cat King, dude? He's so out of touch with how to actually express his affection for someone, and it's honestly insane.

Alone: Episode 7

Episode 7 is the third to last time we see the Cat King, and it's the first time that he's not in the presence of Edwin. We see him be more vulnerable here, and get a better understanding of how he acts when he's cornered. He starts off haughty, continues his antics with innuendo to offset tension, and then continues to taunt Ester until he gets literally killed by her. After his death he expresses his fear through anger, and continues to attempt to defend Edwin. First by trying to remind her that he's not going to give her the youth she desires, then by telling her to "keep your paws off of him".

It's somewhat heart warming to know he does truly care for Edwin, but he's still in it for himself, ultimately. He doesn't attempt to go against Esther again out of fear that he'll die for it, and his values of his survival above else. It's great character building, and a great flaw, but again annoying that he only expresses this level of care without Edwin around.

Redemption?: Episode 8

Episode 8 is meant to be his, sort-of, redemption Episode in my opinion. He is vulnerable with Niko and Crystal in regards to his fear of Esther (kind of, he does confess that he was killed by her), gives them information on Esther's background, and also gives them a tip off on something that could help stop her - black salt.

After Niko's death, when he presents Edwin with flowers, I believe he is meant to be at his best. He does not demand anything from Edwin in that moment, only apologizes for the loss of Niko and compliments her bravery. It's interesting to note that the lilies that he gifts to Edwin are toxic to cats, potentially a symbol of his attempt to be less selfish when it comes to him. And that he doesn't ask for anything more from Edwin when he is given the kiss on the cheek.

Of course, he still maintains his bravado and teasing nature, but that - it seems - is meant to be the Cat King's redemption arc.

But... is it enough?

Is it Enough?: Conclusions

I don't think so, personally. I think that in a Season 2, the Cat King could've become a better, less selfish, person. But at the moment, I think he's still stuck in the same middle ground that Monty ends up in where the one good deed he does ends up being a small drop in the bullshit that comes before that. While I do think that Monty is ultimately more forgivable, there is still a lot that would need to happen to truly get both of them to a point where they can be forgiven by those they harmed (and me, tbh). The Cat King may have done better eventually, but he still never really apologized for his contributions to everything that happened in Port Townsend, or the bullshit that he did to Edwin personally.

All this to circle back around to this: Fuck Netflix for depriving us of Season 2 and potentially truly redeeming the Cat King and having him actually learn to care about Edwin in a way that doesn't push his boundaries immeasurably. And fuck Netflix for not giving me a chance to see the Cat King start to accept the fact that he is fucking lonely and does way too much to cover it up. I need him acknowledging his fuck ups, becoming a genuine protagonist and not just someone who could be good! He has so much potential to be more than a mere predator playing with his food and Netflix took that from us.

Tldr; Netflix is the real villain here, but the Cat King sure does a good job of trying to be the best, most complicated, most annoying, most horrifying antagonist.

[luna-loveboop]

Error 404 Luna.exe has stopped functioning

Sorry guys the account is going down now, you've overloaded me

...

Ok fine I'll be serious. Follower milestone time!! Four hundred hehe.

It's been under two years since I've joined tumblr and I don't have a good frame of reference to know if 400 followers in that time is impressive or not. It feels impressive tho, so it counts as a follower milestone for me :))

Its wierd to me cause like. I don't post art. Or writing. Everyone following me is just here because you like my rambles? I make insane rants with a ton of pictures of my favourite characters, and I've never had a group of people I'd rather share my thoughts with. You guys are so cool and every time I get an ask, or an ask game, or tagged I slightly explode inside. Gosh, yall will literally ask just me for my thoughts and opinions and that's. A huge honour for me. I love you and you matter <3 thanks for chilling in this little corner of the world with me.

Here's a more satisfying number of 400 for everyone who likes round numbers, I just wanted to make a joke about 404 XD

Thanks guys <33 keep going because it matters and you matter- yall are some of my favourite people on the planet /gen

:))

[silvertsundere]

other people have made posts and theorized about it (and I too blame tw culture bleeding onto here) but I do miss old tumblr and how much more people would interact with one another. Maybe it's just cause of the circles I'm in and it still happens outside of it but I just feel I interacted with people a lot more back in the day

[aeolianblues]

Aaahhh, I'm so nervous, I'm packing for London, and my whole family has spooked me out about the cultural differences between dressing in North America and the UK, going all 'oh Brits and Europeans, they really don't appreciate North American slacker dressing, they dress less casually than you guys so you better pack your best clothes especially for when you go out' and I'm like... ?? Are you thinking of Victorians, European socialites or telling me that Brits don't wear jeans and a tee, what's going on.

Like my look for the last few weeks has been 'rockstar at a photoshoot' (kinda taken from Razorlight's mid-00s shoots ngl), the look of mildly interesting graphic tee with jeans or trousers tucking in the shirt and a sorta smart jacket on top, which works great with the weather getting colder. And just because people rarely ever see me without one, a scarf (I just think they're neat). I'm not sure I'd call that slacker, like I sure as hell shouldn't need to go for 'jaw dropping backless strapless dress with rhinestone-encrusted pencil heels' in order to look formal, UGH. I am 100% cis but I really struggle with 'smart' dressing expectations for women.

Being away from home for a few years for uni was one of the best things I did because suddenly there was an option, that I could set a hard boundary that wearing dresses wasn't for me, that I didn't necessarily need to turn up in perfectly smooth, waxed legs and a skirt, masterfully pulling off some impressive heels and smiling the right way with a big smile on my playfully, youthfully sparkly lip-glossed lips. Suddenly, I could simply exist outside of that if I wanted to. The push and pressure to have appropriate 'evening wear' and an evening wear-appropriate body have been guns to my head for like a decade now. And I have never once looked comfortably, confident or happy in one of those.

Being on my own, going out to shops without my family, slowly my own taste began to emerge. I found my styles, I found my layers. My 'bad, slacker American' look (we're not even American). I found the scarves, the quarter zips, the military-style/Libertines jackets, the open shirt tied around your waist, a neckerchief, cargos with a billion pockets, bell bottoms, cuffed jeans, bold coloured jackets. Long sleeves under tees. Cool sunglasses. Boots. I've been approached by actual strangers who have only come up to tell me that they love my look (thankfully when my friends were around because I could literally never talk about this unprompted) (cheers 'Graham'!!) I can't or won't talk about it, but after 25 billion lectures by my mum, my grandma, my dad occasionally, like of course I'm going to remember someone saying that and it's going to be a big counterpoint in my mind!! Is that not 'smart' enough for you???

It's unfair, really. I'm not a fashionista. I'm not a stylish person just like that. I have actually had to think about what to wear, and I'm sure I've made like, colour faux pas and fashion no-nos, but that's the best I can do! I do not give a fuck to do more! It shouldn't be my job to do more than this! I should not have to be a fucking princess-in-training with my graceful walk and red-carpet-woman-dressing sense available on speed dial. That's not my world. Why are the expectations on women so fucking high.

Or just absurd, I think I could show up in a cute lil black dress, my legs horribly red in places from imperfect and probably painful as hell attempts to get rid of any semblance of hair, untoned as you were, odd colourations and probably even dry ngl, and look very awkward and uncomfortable, and my grandma would beam at me approvingly for 'attempting to look like a girl' but I could be the fucking coolest person in the room absolutely killing it in trousers and a smartly layered white band shirt that's the conversation opener that I'm just winning the room with, and still my grandma would take me aside, point to my cousin in a cocktail dress and go, look at her, can't you at least try to make an effort? For me? Look, girls look so nice :) in a dress, you should wear one too. And it'll be so awkward and I'll want to die in that moment and I'll be thinking, did you not see any effort in this?

And it won't fucking matter, I'll be dealing with this shit until at least one of us is in the ground. It's going to be this non-stop for the next two weeks that we're on holiday. All I was largely mindful of was that the UK (for some reason) seems to despise the puffer jackets that North America (on account of being COLDER) cannot do without. Now I don't own a coat of the sort a chic Londoner would wear because it was 0 degrees here last night. When do you want me to wear a thin, formal coat, two days in October? It'll be -3 soon enough. That coat won't do, I'll need a sweater, I'll need a windproof jacket on top that's not wool. By mid-November, it'll be -7 that gets colder as the wind blows. Your coats from even up north in the UK would be useless there! You've got to dress for where you live, it's much too cold up here for that, unless you're gonna add another layer over that. It's not 'slacker American casualness', it's that the closer you get to the Arctic, it gets colder...

So like. Apologies, United Kingdom. I have to bring my ugly puffy jacket with me, when I go back home in January it's gonna be -21 degrees. I can't care what five people at the airport think then.

I'm just nervous about the packing, but it's possible I'm also just nervous about my family's expectations. I am pretty confident you'll find the word 'jeans' in the Oxford English Dictionary.

[steelthroat]

First time staying at the hotel of a theme park (against my will, but that's a long story) and... it's so weird??????

Like I feel like I am not supposed to be here, how do I put it... it screams luxury but I a... childlike/childish way????

And I feel restless, like something is wrong. Uncanny.

[trophyposting]

this is an extremely unpopular opinion in the osc and like everywhere actually but i hate it when people excessively hate on "mean" characters. like especially when the characters are otherwise well-written and they just hate them because they did some bad shit. its legitimately so annoying

[crystallizsch]

hi ian i come bearing angst fuel for the yuusha as twsted elsa (maybe an idea for her possible overblot idk she kinda reads to me as someone whod preemptively isolate in the case she feels...blotty)

(also seeing that art of her playing violin totally didnt fuck me up im still nursing my bruised heart 🥴🥴💕💕)

https://youtu.be/NDldNaEZTt8?si=Wm71pgTltuJLjFvk

^^this is from the frozen musical where they gave a song to elsa to explore her emotional turmoil and it just fleshed out her character so much more than the orig movie (ok i havent seen frozen 2 oops) but just this section here:

Is everyone in danger as long as I'm alive?

Was I a monster from the start?

How did I end up with this frozen heart?

Bringing destruction to the stage

Caught in a war that I was never meant to wage

anyways lmao i jus think the song is neat i think yuushas neat (i wanna see more of her ahehehe i love seeing infodumps abt ur yuus)

-diodellet

(throwback to this “what if yuu had magic” ask where i had a ✨realization✨ and this more recent yuusha lore drop that i gave zero elaboration on 🙃)

very rough ob yuu design??? idk i came up with it on the spot ;;; and it’s kinda based on disney’s concept art of elsa when she was supposed to be the villain.

evil ice queen vibes :3

also i know the ob monster is supposed to be based on the villain— which is elsa in this case— but lowkey. an ice monster is way cooler.

also also i just realized after i drew this i couldve done a grim/yuu tandem overblot ough 🤧🤧 (next time I'll do that instead if i ever go back to this concept)

(read more below because it got SO long)

AAH anyways hi hi dio!!! when i saw your ask i went —

— with this entire post

AAGH HOW MANY MORE UNINTENTIONAL CONNECTIONS ARE GOING TO BE BETWEEN FROZEN AND YUUSHA

i guess watching the movie everyday when it came out when you’re like 9 does something to your brain chemistry (and still haunts you at least a decade later) 💀

but anyways the angst ;;; overblot yuu ;;;;; my brain is rotting and the worms have taken over

also i didn’t even know that there was a frozen broadway musical so im gonna have to check it out later 🏃💨💨💨

(also dont worry frozen 2 is a nice watch for the most part but the way they concluded the characters did not feel 100% satisfying to me 😭 BUT i love some of the songs tho ;;; kristoff’s goofy 80s ballad song is one of them specifically, i need everyone to listen to it)

hfgnnfhfgv anyways thank you so much i’m chugging that angst fuel as i expand more on a possible ob yuusha with another infodump 💪💪💪

⚠️⚠️⚠️ ALSO IM SORRY BUT mentions of taking one’s own life so please proceed with caution ⚠️⚠️⚠️

i had to reread what my initial thoughts about it bc it was months ago??? and after rereading im just like, huh what was i on— (just that feeling when you just cringe at your old posts ;; but idk i think the insanity/cringe sometimes can loop back into being a genius and the cycle just continues)

anyways i’ve been on and off writing yuusha’s bio and overblot yuu was just at the back of my mind chilling but i didn’t really do anything with it.

but now that i have the opportunity,,,, im gonna go on the magicless route this time bc i feel like I've said all what i thought if it was an overblot due to her own magic.

so uh from what i gather overblots are a mix of overuse of magic + intense negative emotion.

since it’s magicless yuu, i guess the one of the general headcanons around the fandom is that they’ve been too exposed to overblots and then intense negative emotions suddenly just triggered their overblot.

uh anyways onto the elsa parts

Is everyone in danger as long as I'm alive? Was I a monster from the start? How did I end up with this frozen heart? Bringing destruction to the stage Caught in a war that I was never meant to wage

THE LYRICS ARE SO GOOD ;;; i really love how some broadway interpretations expand on the source material

and yeah you're right 🤧🤧🤧— yuusha would try to hide and escape, especially as she overblots bc she would try to avoid hurting people (and like elsa, it'd only hurt others more trying to escape bc of probably how she leaves destruction in her wake trying to make others stay away from her 😔)

(this is a small tangent but i remember thinking about an overblot kalim and i imagine him to be similar, like he would not hurt anyone intentionally in his overblot.)

anyways so the way it would go is that i imagine her friends got fatally injured either because a) she feels that she’s too “useless” without magic to help and wasn’t able to do anything OR b) her attempts at helping to try and prove that she can help without magic made everything worse.

and then she just goes into a guilty spiral then boom — overblot.

ALSO in the song, the way elsa briefly contemplated taking her own life but then realizing there’s no guarantee that would solve anything hnghgh (<- another unintentional parallel to my yuusha lore because that’s actually how she ended up in twst except she did NOT have the latter realization)

there’s this “yuu is dead” theory i’m just using and that the black carriage actually just caught yuusha’s soul after she took her own life from all the burden.

also some bonus angst context for that violin post :3

yuusha back in her homeworld is raised and known to be a gifted musician. people can feel the life and soul in her music but when people interact with her, they are usually met with an ice-cold (heh) personality.

the dead family member was the one who taught her music and the only one who was kind to her.

there’s always an expectation from her family to perform well and to keep up appearances as to not be a humiliation since anything she does can reflect on her entire family. (also hi, slight yuusha/jamil parallels maybe???)

the way she presents herself also stemmed from an incident as a child when she went apeshit on another kid bc she was defending a friend.

so from then on she was taught taught to conceal don’t feel those emotions — which just unfortunately extended to any positive ones, not just negative ones like rage.

so when she is brought to twst, there’s no memory of her being forced to hold back her emotions so she’s just unapologetically affectionate and open with everyone bc that’s how she really is.

but every now and then, memories of her breaking down haunt her in her dreams or as subtle reminders in the waking world.

then yuusha just goes on her day like she just wasn't reminded of her past.

(unnecessarily tragic lore my beloved, but anyway—)

another extremely brief tangent and bonus -> the two songs i had on loop while drawing pre-twst yuusha

lindsey stirling my beloved i love her music

the songs are such a vibe

her instrumentals in “lose you now” especially makes me feel some sort of way 😖

[lecoindecachou]

Character/ship playlists that are just 45 Taylor Swift songs in a row are a special kind of evil

[eggsistential-basket]

thinking about the person i could have been if i tried a little harder to find my own way

[aureliaen]

On redemption

Inspired by @sequesteredbhaalspawn: honestly it really irks me the way bg3 seems to push this idea that you/your companions/"the heroes" are the only ones worthy of healing and/or redemption, sometimes to the point of absurdity. Cw for negativity and criticism.

Durge, of course, being the perfect example. They're evil beyond belief. Cartoonishly so. They eat babies, fuck corpses, torture people for fun, kill purposefully, kill accidentally, and their endgame is taking over the world only to slaughter every last living being that inhabits it.

Obviously this comes down to personal morals, but it's an interesting argument to make, that losing their memories somehow turns them into a brand new person and a victim of their own past. They're never held accountable, not even when the extent of their atrocities comes to light. The narration during their final stand-off with Bhaal sounds promising (to die: to rest, to save the world from yourself) but ultimately turns out to be meaningless. Even after choosing death, the main character has plot armor so strong they get resurrected scot-free, evil wiped, a clean slate that no one else gets. Even though the only thing that separated them from becoming another corpse at the party's feet was Orin's betrayal.

Many of the villains have severe trauma and/or are victims of abuse in ways that mirror the companions' backstories almost to a T. The game is all about breaking cycles of abuse anyway, and it's not really an issue, the way I see it, that not all characters get to have their happy endings. What's strange is the way it's exclusively the characters you're allied with that do. What's stranger is the way the fandom uncritically accepts it or acts as though the villains were somehow more deserving of what happened to them than your companions.

Moral relativity is a human thing and not wrong at all, but let's not pretend the MC's tadpoled friends aren't all ruthless killers chasing their own personal agendas, whether that's vengeance, power or simple self-preservation (with Wyll being probably the only exception).

I feel like it's a disservice to the work of Larian's writers as well as our own understanding of the complexity of human experience to interpret characters as one-dimensional and operating strictly within specific dichotomies: victim/abuser, good/evil etc. Astarion, Gortash, Durge and Orin are the worst offenders from what I've seen, but like, in general. Come on.