uh, rise and shine, doctor freeman. oh—! not to imply you've, eh, been sleepin' on the job. oh, no, sir, no one's more deserving than you of a good long rest. and all the effort in the world woulda gone to waste until... well, uh... let's just say, y'know, your uh, hour has come again. y'know, my wife always says the right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. so, uh... do with that what you will, mister freeman. uh—doctor, that is. i'll get outta your hair now. have a good rest of your day.
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Something I think is extremely interesting thematically when it comes to connecting what Downfall and the ideas it tackled to the overarching narrative of campaign three is that the things Downfall made a point to showcase of Aeor—Cassida, Hallis, the visual of an aeormaton proposing to her partner, the specific and intentional decision to shed light on a far from insignificant amount of the population being civilians or refugees—is that it plays in perfect parallel across from what is happening (and, really, has been happening) to the ruidusborn on Exandria in present.
Bear with me for a moment. Aeor is ultimately a city that was collectively punished for the decisions of its leadership. We could (and, judging by the amount of discourse around this particular topic already, probably will) argue about what the Gods’ motivation for all of this was—whether it be that they could not, in the end, bear to kill their siblings or that they were terrified at the prospect of mortality—for me it is a very healthy dose of both—but for this I am much more interested in the latter. They were scared. That, really, is the driving force behind both this arc and their role in c3 as a whole.
Why I point this out is: It is far more interesting to me, especially as we go back to Bells Hells this week, to dissect the Gods and their decisions not purely on sympathetic motivation alone but as beings in the highest seat of power in the highest social class in Exandria.
So, having established that the Gods (in relation to mortals) are more a higher social class than anything we could compare to our real life understanding of divinity and that Aeor was eviscerated largely because of their fear—what is the difference between those innocents in Aeor caught in the trappings of their autocratic government leadership and a divine war on the ground, and those of the ruidusborn being manipulated both by Ludinus and by the very thing that inspired such visceral fear in the Gods to start with. I would argue very little.
I think of Cassida, doing what she genuinely thought was right and good and would save people, her son, and the object of her worship—and how that did not matter enough to any of them to spare her because of the fear they held at the very concept of mortality. I think of Liliana and Imogen, one of which we know begged for the gods to help her or send her a sign for years on years, and how every single one of their largest struggles could have been avoided had the gods loved them, their supposed children, as much as they feared what they could be. I think of how the thing that did save Imogen, in the end, was a woman who herself existed in direct defiance of the gods will. I think of that young boy, sixteen years old, that Laudna exalted on Ruidus.
I think it’s completely fair to judge Aeor’s overall society as deeply corrupt—it was!—but its leadership and police force are not a reflection of every one of its citizens. Similarly, it is fair to judge the Ruby Vanguard as corrupt—it is!—but its multiple heads of leadership and even the god-eater further are not a reflection of every one of its members.
Notably, and what I think the Hells will latch onto, this did not matter to the Gods. It did not matter that Cassida was trying to help. She was still too much of a risk. Will it matter, what Imogen does? Will it matter, if that young boy is in the blast radius when they decide to take no further chances?
I’ve seen a lot of people say that the Hells will side with the gods and I don’t think I agree. Especially as Imogen has been scolded and villainized over and over for daring to try and save her mother—who herself has been seen by some as an irredeemable evil in spite of her drive being the exact same—her family—but when it’s the Gods it’s justified? When it’s the Gods, it’s sympathetic? Too sympathetic to criticize further than “they’re family”?
I obviously do not think the Gods should die or be eaten or what have you, and I certainly don’t agree with Ludinus (though I find him much more compelling than just a variation of hubris wizard), but when talking about the Gods in Aeor and in present it isn’t really at all about their motivation or their family. It can’t be. Too many people, including our active protagonists, lives have been effected for it to be as cut and dry as “they’re family”. These are your children. They are your family, too.
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Last one for today and I'll stop yelling stuff in the tag but this moment made me go 'uh, maybe he is up and ready to murder people after all'. That face is scary. He looks ready to cry, but more than this, he looks determined and full of anger.
Those boys have no idea what's about to happen to them. And whatever Tan's business is, I'm sure he's got the same unbending will and cold anger. You know, the kind that can simmer for three years without ever losing its intensity.
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I’m gonna get absolutely slaughtered for this one but it’s been bothering me for ages so I need to say it 😭😭
I cannot see eddie being gay, like,,,at all
I mean, there is obviously the possibility of bi or pan etc, but I just cannot see him being gay (or tbh even liking men - STAY WITH ME HERE OK READ THE REST BEFORE YOU GET MAD 🙏)
like you’re gonna sit here and tell me that the man who just got walked in on with a woman cosplaying his dead wife is a homosexual and is in love with his best friend?
like do not get me wrong at all, I love buddie, and if they were to ever become a couple I would be ecstatic - but I genuinely cannot see eddie being romantically or even sexually involved with a man (especially not at the minute with where he’s at) 😭😭
I could definitely see buck and eddie having a queerplatonic relationship, but at this point I don’t know if I could see them being in a romantic relationship, at least not right now. Eddie is going through it as of the end of season 7, even if they were to decide to make buddie cannon, eddie isn’t in a good place right now, and realistically it wouldn’t be happening anytime soon (and if it did I Imagine it would be slightly unhealthy)
I know some people are gonna be like ‘oh, he can have a revelation like buck’ but (although I am aware lou said it was initially gonna be eddie x tommy, meaning yes that is entirely possible and I completely understand why people think this will happen) the difference is that Oliver has being playing into buck being bi for years, this has been a widely accepted headcanon that even he has agreed with, so it made sense that it happened, and wasn’t just something that came out of nowhere. Ryan has consistently said that Eddie is straight (and while I understand that he isn’t the one who decides that + he has limitations on what he can say publicly) I feel like him having some form of revelation might not work (similar to why it was buck x tommy instead of eddie, as ryan didn’t think it would work for eddie + the whole marisol arc). And, as I said earlier, eddie realistically isn’t in a good place right now, and trying to push buddie after everything that happened at the end of s7 will likely cause it to fail before it truly starts, especially as it’s likely that it could be seen as Eddie using Buck as a rebound of sorts, rather than truly wanting to pursue a relationship
I have been a buddie shipper since late s3 so yall better not come for me for saying this 😭🙏 (Before anyone asks, yes I am a bucktommy shipper too - I am simply happy because BUCK is happy, I think they are cute and Buck is clearly doing well. And no, I am not ‘jumping ship’, I am doing this crazy thing called multishipping, which is common fandom practice 🥰 so if I have anyone trying to call me out for abandoning buddie or whatever I might actually end it cuz there is no way 😭)
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