#if this does well i'll also do a post about why i banished him

[shallowseeker]

hi shal i think maybe you talked about this before in a post, but could you say a little more about why rowena let michael in? It's a little confusing to me how he says of course he had no intentions of honoring his word, and how she knew that???

Me frantically realizing it's #SamwenaWednesday and I've done nothing to celebrate so I dig through looking for this ask specifically.

This is the scene from 14x14:

Sam: Rowena never would have let you in. Rowena/Michael: She didn't want to say yes, but... EARLIER: Michael: Hello, Rowena. This is all in your mind. Rowena: You're not Dean. Michael: I was for a while. But it didn't work out. It was him, not me. And now I'm looking for a new home. Rowena: A-And you think -- Michael: If you say yes, I'll make you this promise -- I'll leave you alive. Rowena (evenly, goading): I'll live either way. Michael: Excuse me? Rowena: Fate says Sam Winchester's going to off me, which makes dinners a bit awkward, but does give one a certain sense of security. So whilst I'm flattered, I think we can both do better. Michael: Fine. Then how about this -- I'll leave you alive, find another host, and then I'll kill every one of the people in this bunker, everyone you care about. And you do care about them, no matter what you tell them, no matter what you tell yourself. So say yes. Choice is yours. Rowena/Michael: I had no intention of keeping my word, but I think she knew that. If only Dean had used that coffin when he had the chance.

///

DANGER TO OTHERS

Rowena knows that there are several attractive vessels in the vicinity: Michael could take Dean again, Sam, Cas, or even Jack. Despite their bravado, it's fairly easy to get TFW into a chokehold where they say yes to save a loved one. (Like how in 11x10, despite Sam's "feisty" comment, Lucifer is seconds putting "the "real" pressure on Dean, that is, until Cas body-slams Lucifer.)

The AU hunters are ALSO vulnerable to this pressure. They're easy to corner here. They'll likely say yes if their friends and loved ones are threatened. (And they'd prooooobably start exploding left and right as Michael moved through their fragile bodies unsuccessfully.)

Could she try an angel-banishing sigil? Maybe. But Michael's already cornered her in her mind. If he moved on, could she do a banishing in time, before the bodies started dropping?

///

HERO INSTINCT

Rowena/Michael: Oh. Please. She's much sturdier than she looks. Must be the hundreds of years of magic.

Rowena knows Michael won't keep his word: that is, he's going to kill her. Like how Lucifer immediately killed her for her loyalty in season 11.

So here, it's not self-preservation that's driving her. It's her newly blossomed hero instinct. Rowena is powerful and she knows it. Her body is sturdy, honed by magic. She likes to think her will—her belief in magic—has become damn near unshakeable.

//

And— last time she tangled with an archangel, she froze, and that haunts her. So maybe she wants to redeem herself, not just in her personal relationships, but to herself:

LUCIFER: Oh. I mean, I even wanted you to put up a fight. I wanted a little bit of a tussle, but...you froze. [Rowena is obviously distressed, forced to listen and relive those terrible memories.] LUCIFER (seeing her distress): You choked. So I choked ya. What was that like, burning to death? You know, I can’t get that smell out of my nose, that ashy reek of burnt up ginger ass! (laughing)

Here, Rowena resolves not to choke. She's the best they've got. Maybe she can do it: hold off Michael the way Dean did.

Maybe she can be their hero. THE hero. For once.

Alas.

///

EDIT: Do you guys remember how pleased she was to be the hero to the AU hunters? I mean in in 14x07, we got this: Jack's "You saved all of us from Apocalypse World." And her little pleased, "Well. That's true." She was preening!

[informaltorching]

tell us about vesper gaining humanity 👁️👁️ i've never witnessed this in a game myself

Okay so, huge disclaimer: This is not how you gain humanity RAW. So, I apologize if that part is a bit of a let down. Sometimes we do things that just narrative-wise feels good because we are all just friends playing a game of imaginary vampires. I am gonna write a lil about some ooc / personal stuff as well. TL;DR: Owen's player schemed.

So, I don't know how closely you may follow my chronicle, but if you aren't aware, Vesper is the cringe fail loser vampire of all time. He kind of has had almost only bad things happen to him every day since before his embrace lmao and this has definitely continued on in our chronicle. The chronicle itself is also just kind of heavy. It is taken a little too seriously (by all of us) and we definitely embrace that there is darkness in World of Darkness. I think that is why I have a little bit of a tendency to post more about silly things / jokes than the game itself. I LOVE the game. Do not get me wrong. I enjoy the atmosphere and the intensity. It is more my speed, which is why I play in it. This is the best table and game I have ever gotten to be a part of. That being said, I think recently we got a little too overkill with it. We had to kick a player and then a lot of sessions after have been a bit overly dreary. Normally not a big deal, but it adds up when you get into that rhythm a bit. Vesper has kind of taken it hard. Like the others have problems, too, but it has become a bit of a theme that various characters both PCs and SPCs are afraid Vesper is going to say fuck it and get himself killed. He is very reckless as is. ( And I'll admit I've been having a lot of personal issues and very sad recently. ) Owen has a pigeon named Drone. Whenever Owen talks to Drone, I have a little joke going that Vesper gets envious. He wants to talk to birds, too :( So, Owen's player got the idea to talk to some thin-bloods to get a counterfeit discipline of feral whispers for Vesper. And they kept this as a surprise. Only, Owen had to really earn that shit because the thin-blood they spoke to tasked them with a very over the top fetch quests. Where Owen kept being like "we need to go to this dangerous ass place to get this weird ingredient and I am not telling you guys why". (This was over the course of multiple sessions.) They finally got everything they needed and was given the potion last session. So, Owen hit up Vesper to meet them at the fucking zoo. And Vesper literally just finished watching the tremere banish a possessed demonic statue meanwhile... and the fucker tells Vesper it is an emergency...

And well, we spent the end of the session fucking losing it because Vesper and Owen were at the zoo talking to animals. Our ST does the funniest fucking red panda voice. We had a blast. Owen gave Vesper basically a heartfelt I love you, you're my best friend, and I want you to stick around talk. Then ST dropped the "Vesper add another dot of humanity." Which was a big shock. He reasoned that Owen did way too much just for Vesper to only heal some WP from that and it just felt really fitting. It was a really nice breath of fresh air. We ARE going to resume the themes of tragedy, death, and gruesomeness next session. But yeah... It was very sweet.

[bloodyfries]

TGCF x Epic au

This might be incoherent and not make any sense because I'm just trying to get this down. For now all I have right now is just Xie Lain and not any other tgcf cast but I'll deal with that later.

Sometime during the end of Xie Lian's 2nd banishment he ends up in the ocean. Originally the plan was just to help some fisherman in exchange for food but a storm hit (just his luck) and he got thrown overboard. Next thing he knows he's waking up on the shore of an unfamiliar land

Logically this makes no sense and considering the world building differences in gods and monsters (ghosts too ig) that tgcf and epic are two separate worlds that Xie Lian just so happens to cross over.

Now for convenience I'm just going to say that Telemachus finds him when returning from some diplomatic mission (not the one from hold them down, we're not that far). Now while I do want XL and Athena to meet, Athena hasn't met telemachus yet. So, Telemachus (somehow) recognizes that Xie Lian is some kind of swordsman (even though he stopped using a sword after what happened in Yong-An, just role with it) and asks Xie Lian if he will train him in exchange for a place to stay. Xie Lian reluctantly agrees because, well, it's been a while since he had a decent meal

Cut to a little bit later (little wolf), Telemachus can hold his own a bit better then in cannon but Athena still steps in and along with quick thought and the bit of training from xl, Telemachus holds his own for a lot longer... though of course some other suitors step in because why would they ever fight fair. So, in steps Xie Lian and they actually win the scuffle (we'll say it wasn't a big group of suitors).

I don't think XL has been there long enough to already get into a fight and I think he knows that if he does try and fight them that it will end pretty bloody

Athena talk to both Telemachus and XL, intrigued by this mysterious fighter who looks to be younger then the prince yet masterfully skilled. I think Athena and Xie Lian would 100% get along, feeling rather similar in the failed teacher aspect. I do also believe that they would exchange information about each others worlds and Athena would convince XL that he should pick up a sword again (I like swords and I like Xie Lian, sue me)

Somewhere down the line XL is able to convince some suitors to become guards instead. They're faith in Antinous bruised after seeing him get beat up by the prince and some random teenager. Perhaps XL even convinces them that Penelope won't ever love them.

Hold them down and Odysseus still happen except they're a lot less because one, Ody has allies and two, less suitors

You might be wondering how XL gets back to his own world. Well, after OdyPen is reunited and safe (no more naughty suitors), Xie Lian’s work is done, he's not exactly needed, which becomes the catalyst first his third ascension (Don't worry about the logistics of Xie Lian ascending to his worlds heaven while in another world.)

For now that's all I got, perhaps more things happen that cause other tgcf cast members to end up in Epic, perhaps the story just goes on as it is without anymore mention of it outside of how it affected xl (and hence affected cannon)

I totally love the idea of this greatly affecting cannon somehow bur it not even coming up until well into post cannon

Hua Cheng trying to get out of calligraphy practice (xl isn't letting him flirt his way out but he knows how much his husband loves talking about swords): The craftsmanship of Gege's sword is very unique, would he perhaps te me where it's from?

Xie Lian: Oh, a goddess from another world gifted it to me

Hua Cheng:

[melmedarda]

In the name of overriding the nasty anons,more Medarda headcanons!:

Mel's full name is Melody, but she stopped going by it once she moved to Piltover and just used her nickname. She thought it sounded a little too childish (you know how teenagers are), so she became Mel and it stuck. (Kino still calls her Melody though, as does her dad).

Kino actually did try to make contact with Mel once she got exiled. He never agreed with Ambessa on that particular choice of hers and he never really forgave her for it. But he was forbidden from actually going to Piltover to see his sister in the flesh, so he had to be content with whatever pipeline Elora created for their correspondence.

Ambessa was pretty certain that Mel was going to be a boy when she was pregnant with her,because of all the old wives' tales she was told (you know,about how women either carry high or low depending on the child's gender). Imagine her shock when a bouncing baby girl was born instead.

Kino thought Mel was a doll when she was born. When their dad did the whole "you're a big brother now" spiel while holding Mel, he didn't process that Mel was well,real,until she started squirming and of course,he was shocked like most kids would be. But he got over it pretty quick and damn near became a second dad. Mel couldn't do anything without him stationing himself nearby to "monitor the situation". ( I really like the idea of Kino being very protective of Mel and then being super close knit)

Ambessa never really came fully out to Kino and said that she banished Mel. Instead,she claimed that Mel was just "attending a prestigious school overseas" and that she would be back once school went on break. This,of course,never actually happened. When he asked why she wasn't back for whatever holiday/festival, she would make an excuse or threaten him until he stopped asking altogether. Elora told him the truth a year or so into Mel's exile. When I tell you hell broke loose once he knew.........oh boy.

Elora was meant to act as a companion/ au pair for Mel initially so that she wouldn't miss Noxus. (And also to prevent her from attempting to return home on her own). But in the way of all things, Mel grew up and into the woman she is and Elora found herself stuck with another Medarda woman. Tall, beautiful, exceptionally charming when she wanted to be. And safe to say, Elora didn't know what to do with any of that.

Thank HEAVENS Finally some good food. I'll tell you right now, and my friends know this well. I am never not thinking about the Medardas. Like, as a family. I know I'm always yapping about Mel (as I should), but the family dynamics of the Medardas make me positively unhinged. I spare you all and put it elsewhere. But it is there. Always. So this is GREAT. More of this!!!

I love the idea that Mel is just a nickname! I think so too, personally. There's a post I made a few years ago when we were speculating what her name could be, and I think Melody was one of them! I'll see if I can find that post and reblog it.

KINO AS A SECOND DAD!!!! I could see it. I love it. I love him. I love Them. I so wish we could have gotten a flashback with Kino, if only to see how he, Mel, and Ambessa interacted. I know he would miss Mel. I like to think that the way they viewed themselves is sort of like, us (Mel & Kino) against the world, and everyone else. And the way the Not-Kino spoke, I think that he and Mel both believed that they were a disappointment to Ambessa, so that was a bonding point between them.

SO I know we (the community) were talking about Mel & Elora being like Ruth and Naomi, but one of the parallels I had for them as David and Johnathan (for lifers). I say this because I'm hoping that if Elora did have family back in Noxus, that we could at least see Mel interacting with them, informing them of passing and mourning with them. I hope she will be kind to their family just as Elora was kind to her. (unlikely that this will occur but i can dream)

[thatswhatsushesaid]

I have a MDZS question and consider you an expert on all things JGY (he did crimes, good for him) so I hope you have some insight into this: I read that NHS found the Sacrifice Ritual in JGY’s Closet of Wonders, but how did JGY get it? Was it in WWX’s Burial Mounds “library,” and if so do you know where WWX found it?

Thanks, I very much enjoy your content!

hey there anon, it's very kind of you to consider me an expert, but i really am not 😬 i've certainly read, reread, and re-reread both the EXR and 7seas translations of the empathy flashback sequence many, many, many times, in addition to the guanyin temple sequence, because those are the parts of the text where jgy's actions are most frequently criticized and taken out of context. for details like the ones you're asking after, i've got to revisit other parts of the book again because my memory is a tea sieve, and i'm also not immune to medium bleed (no one is). so please bear with me, and keep tabs on the notes of this post for any discussion that follows since my pals often chime in with details i've missed.

first point of contention tho: it is never confirmed how novel canon nhs comes by his knowledge/familiarity of the summoning ritual, though wwx does speculate extensively in the guanyin temple denouement that he hears about the ritual from mo xuanyu himself. i don't think he gets his hands on the ritual himself, and i don't think he has access to the jin sect treasure room either. from vol 5 of the 7seas translation:

So yet another person came to [Nie Huaisang's] mind. Mo Xuanyu, who had been banished from Golden Carp Tower.

In the past, Nie Huaisang might have chatted with Mo Xuanyu to glean information from him. From the mouth of the dejected Mo Xuanyu, Nie Huaisang had clearned that he'd read one of Jin Guangyao's fragmented manuscripts of forbidden magic, in which an ancient, evil ritual was recorded. He had then incited Mo Xuanyu to exact revenge for the humiliation he'd suffered at the hands of his own clan members--to use the forbidden art of the sacrificial ritual to seek retribution.

in vol 1 of the 7seas translation, this is what the text tells us about the sacrificial ritual mo xuanyu uses to summon wei wuxian:

The nature of this "sacrificial ritual" was a type of curse. The caster was to harm themselves with a weapon, making cuts on their body and using their own blood to draw the array and write the spells within. They would then sit in the center of the circle and give up their mortal body to evil spirits, using the annihilation of their soul as the price to summon a nefarious, malicious ghost. This was all done in order to request the fulfillment of a wish. Thus, it was the opposite of "possession."

While both were forbidden magics of ill repute, the difference was that the former was much less popular than the latter. After all, few wishes were so strongly desired as to make someone willingly sacrifice everything they had. This was why the technique had been nearly lost after centuries of disuse. The examples recorded in ancient books had only a handful of cases that were backed by reliable evidence, and every single one of them had been for revenge. Every malicious ghost summoned by the ritual had fulfilled the caster's wishes perfectly, in cruel and bloody ways.

i've been thumbing through the rest of the 7seas volumes as well as the EXR translation, but i don't think there's anything more concrete about where the ritual comes from. i think it is entirely possible that the jin sect found copies of something like this ritual in the burial mounds, sure, but i also wouldn't rule out a ritual like this being contained in the treasure room entirely independent of wwx. there's canon precedent for it; case in point, recall the collection of turmoil in the gusu lan's forbidden section of their library.

anyway that's what i've been able to find today, but i'll keep poking around in the books to see if i trip over a passage that neatly answers all of our questions lol.

[ancrchy]

hey y’alllll, jay here with jeon jiwoong — spoilt brat and trust fund baby banished to daegu after repeated fuck-ups back in seoul! his dad got sick of him spending his trust fund on partying and reckless endeavours so he removed his access to it and made him live with his grandma in daegu. more info about him will be below the cut! i also have an about page up. like this post if you’d like to plot, i'll drop you a message! i’m available on discord too if that’s better for you.

₊˙ ◌ ⁎˚ 〇﹒﹙kim sunwoo. cis male. he/him.﹚guess who was almost late for their shift at lapis roasters again?? that’s right, it was jeon jiwoong! it’s a wonder their job as a/an barista isn’t in jeopardy. the 23 year old has been working at sunset galleria for three months, and is well known for their outspoken nature. on bad days, they can be rather arrogant, though. when the mall is dead at night, they can usually be found flirting with customers, but don’t tell their boss!

001. BACKGROUND

his dad’s side of the family comes from old money

they have a family business, which jiwoong is expected to inherit one day

his paternal grandparents had set up a trust fund for him, one he gained access to once he started college (he is in his final year and is currently on leave)

big mistake, because he took it as an excuse to do whatever he wanted

he went out partying every other day and dabbled in illegal activities like street racing etc.

what really did it for his dad was when he had gotten into a small accident after one of those illegal street races

his dad removed his access to his trust fund and sent him to daegu to live with his maternal grandmother

his mother had fallen ill and passed away when he was in high school but he had never healthily processed it; his dad was also too busy with work to realise that

this is also why he turned to bad company as he got older, because all the fun distracted him from the loss he never properly dealt with

he used to visit daegu during holidays when he was a child, but has never been back since his mother passed on

his dad wanted to send him away to reflect on his mistakes and have a taste of hardship, so he would understand the value of money and the responsibility that came with having a trust fund

so he decided it was best for him to live in daegu with his maternal grandma, who comes from a more humble background than his paternal family

his dad also figured that in order for him to inherit his family business one day, he has to understand the importance of hard work, which is why he insisted he get a job and not live off his grandma

i imagine this to be a time of reflection and learning for him, where he has to work for the first time ever and kind of returns to his roots, or his mom's roots, whom he avoided thinking about the past couple of years

002. PERSONALITY

a spoilt brat who has never lived a day of hardship so you can expect him to be struggling with this whole job thing

in the beginning, he most probably would be complaining or whining about how he wants to go home

but he's your typical softie whose bark is louder than his bite

might cause trouble for you and end up feeling really bad about it but doesn't know how to apologise because it makes him look "weak"

he's honestly just a child at heart and a lot easier to please than you think (just buy him some ice-cream and he'd be grinning from ear to ear)

seemingly doesn't take things seriously but it's only because he struggles with being vulnerable

is very prideful and might stay up all night perfecting his latte art just because you made a comment about how it sucked

very outspoken and not afraid to speak up about how he feels, certainly does not believe in the saying that "customers are always right"

frankly isn't the best barista out there (before this job, he didn't even know how to make 3-in-1 coffee lol) but he has a way with his words so customers often come back for more

misunderstood bad boy trope in a nutshell

potential redemption arc in the future as he loses his spoilt brat tendencies and start to come to terms with the loss of his mother

003. WANTED CONNECTIONS

enemies to lovers/enemies to friends: could be someone who thought of him as a spoilt brat at first and started to realise that he wasn't as bad as they thought he was?

a childhood friend: someone he had met when he was a child visiting daegu every holiday but grew apart from when he stopped visiting after his mom's death.

more than friends, less than lovers: is it just harmless banter or are you actually flirting with each other?

opposites attract: you are hardworking, modest and come from humble beginnings, the complete opposite of jiwoong. people who hear that both of you are good friends often ask, "how?"

bad influences/birds of the same feather: you're just like his friends back home who enjoy partying and living on the edge. he's meant to be turning over a new leaf but it's a challenge with you in the picture.

a parental/older sibling figure: someone who tries to guide him onto the right path. the person he turns to whenever he faces a problem.

neighbours: your muse lives in the same neighbourhood as his grandma. could be someone that is close to his grandma and is forced into showing him around or helping him adjust to life in daegu.

regular customers at lapis roasters: you can always expect a free upsize or a free cookie whenever you pop by.

flirtationships: doesn't have to be anything serious. you're pretty to look at and he's born with a glib tongue so he has to let you know.

[anyu-blue]

I have FEELINGS about the new Tears of the Kingdom game.

No want spoilers- plz scroll!! I need someplace to word vomit a bit and this should be the only post

Mkay so this is so I can see if I nailed it or got it WILDLY wrong... Because I gotta know.

The game is decently hard not gonna lie 😅 I'm struggling a bit even having come in straight from BotW.

I'm absolutely in love with Rauru... Ah. I'm certain he's taken but just AH. He's beautiful and sweet and kind and just AH. Also. Ded. VERY ded. Held on long enough to save Link many thousands of years in the future from when he lived... But he's gone after that first bit- and that KILLED me... And then it killed me again to realize... We're going to see his death (again) aren't we? Before his spirit fades... Because of all the time hubub... We're gonna see all that. And I just NOOOO!! It broke my heart already to see the sacrifices he made that I've seen!!! ... And I'm absolutely dreading one of the possibilities... That when Rauru succeeded in trapping Ganondorf... The gloom/withering stuff ate away at his body until nothing was left but his hand. As in.. He remained trapped in spirit down there like that after suffering HORRIBLY. Thousands and thousands of years. *Shudders* this damn game may well break my heart if I'm right.

I also have the hunch that Rauru was the reason his home didn't fall out of the sky/remained hidden away... And now that he's gone, it's crumbling and is doomed to fall entirely. (Thinking Ganon wiped out his people... OR, worse, Rauru is the only one of his kind 😅 don liek dat- though the former is absolutely worse... Mass culling bad/sad)

The shrines are a bit.. odd.. but they seem to be merged into another realm or something... Something outside of and beyond time. Absolutely beautiful... Though strange. And it killed me again to listen to that beautiful text when a shrine is completed because it sounds like a male and female singing... Like the essence of who the Statues represent. Beautiful Harmony. Dagger... Meet heart TT^TT

The other thing that's nagging at me... Is I'm starting to wonder if with all this time stuff ... If Link and Zelda (our very same protagonists) aren't the two depicted on the murals... The hero and princess from 10,000 years ago sealing Ganon away... As time repeats the cycle. Again and again. Perhaps Ganondorf did not merely recognize the "descendants" or "reincarnations" of the hero and princess... Perhaps him recognizing them was him recognizing THEM... Juuuust not WHEN he is.

I'm pretty certain some of the stuff I've run into is time fuckery with things having been thrust forward perhaps... But I'll be happy to help wrong about that.

I have so many more questions... Like why the dragon/animal motifs everywhere for the Zonai? What significance or relation do the dragons have to Rauru (and/or his people if he's not the only one)? Because that was made EXTREMELY clear right off the bat. What are the constructs made of? What's that stone? Why is that temple in the sky called the temple of time?! Is Link going to end up with his normal arm again with all the cleansing? Did Rauru do all those weird modifications himself? He was obs born- he has a belly button... Right? Is the Shekiah technology BECAUSE of the Zonai? I don't think he was, but was Rauru the one to banish/shun them?? (I've always had the feeling they did something they weren't supposed to to achieve what they did.. will we find out?) Where the FUCK are all the guardians and towers and old shrines??? WHERE GO?! Those things were EVERYWHERE and HUGE... WHERE GO??!!

What exactly is the thing implanted in Ganondorf's forehead, and how does it relate to the one he steals it from and/or the triforce?

I have more... But right now I'm too tired 😅

Dear gods... This game is fucking HUGE... But I think we'll get there.

Also.. LOVE the underground foliage.. absolutely love it. *Chef's kiss* perfection. Love every bit if it (though I DON'T love the gloom- ouchies!!)

[incorrect-rangers-quotes]

okay i got 20 tags in on a reblog of this before i thought i might as well bite the bullet and just write normal hahah. there are so many angles to look from here that i want to find and think about this later :)

someone in the tags said "he's calm when he wants to be" and i think that's pretty well-phrased. i personally would put it like this - halt is very level-headed when it comes to things like danger and combat and strategy, because when you do as much Danger and Combat and Strategy as rangers do, it's either you develop that, or you & the lads Get Deaded. i think that's mostly what's being referred to when he's described as calm and in control. he's a great presence to have when you're going into fight or flight because in terms of personal danger he hasn't panicked once in his life (exaggeration) and gets actively mad when someone's worried about him (not an exaggeration) LMAO. an anger outburst will rarely win you a fight.

op alluded to it already, but, you can also certainly have different amounts of patience when it comes to different things. halt especially, i think, is more prone to answering violence with violence no matter if it's proportionate or not than, i dunno, will? older crowley? pauline? diplomats are a far more emotionally adept authority i feel like. LOL. either way, yeah, sure, he can be patient, even in situations where he might deck someone otherwise, but i think to sympathize and thus be patient with you he's got to understand/relate to you. and obviously he's more likely to do that if he actively gives a shit about you, which he doesn't for most, so. Violent Tendencies.

i'll be honest my kneejerk reaction to the post was to joke about the fact that There Be Men Like That Sometimes, but really you can think about it that way! some of these things - corporal punishment, reacting to disrespect with violence, etc etc - aren't necessarily "i'm mad and not thinking about what i'm doing", they're just his normal responses that aren't always expressed angrily at all. it's just what he - read, people - do. it's what isn't necessarily universally accepted, but it is accepted by him and arguably the people around him.

to add; how much do you reckon there can be violence without anger? i don't think some of these were him running out of patience necessarily, or getting angry with Homicidal Flavour. i think halt is absolutely capable of looking at a situation, assessing it with a fairly neutral line of thought, and deciding that violence should be the answer. it's not a reaction, it's a response, if that makes sense. of course that doesn't mean he doesn't get angry, i'm sure he does plenty, but i feel like little of it is Uncontrolled violence. it's what he sees as Deserved violence, and let's admit there's seldom any punishment in it for him. iirc even his arguably Biggest L - the whole banishment thing, which was also exactly what he wanted out of the situation mind - wasn't over the threat of violence which was very much there, it was over calling duncan a daft wee piss cunt or whatever and it's illegal to be mean to the king. tragic.

and of course you, reading, can see the violence as uncalled for, or you can see the times he uses it as him being cruel. if that's your interpretation, then there's really not much going against it. i mean, it's my interpretation too, lmao. i think halt is a largely a hard and unpleasant man. it's just that we're seeing him from the perspectives of the people that mostly like him, so we get to see all the moments when he's patient, or kind, or loyal too. which makes for an overall rather nice character, if you're willing to get your hands a little dirty.

and, you know, childrens' literature and all. our faves can do a little prisoner slavery i guess. why not.

I've been thinking about this for a long time, but it's so fucking funny to me how Halt is the guy that everyone is like "yeah he can stay calm, he's always in control and has great patience when it comes to certain things, he's has great control over his emotions" but at the same time that guy has has bet up more than one teenage apprentice in the span of two books, thrown two guys out a window in the span of one book, made Will sleep outside in the cold, not even in the ground but in a fucking tree for singing a song and having a bit of whimsy in his life, threw a guy off his horse by putting his bowstring around his neck, knocking him out (and then wanted to punch him again when he woke up) for being a bit of a dick, and at one point in The Emporer of Nihon-Ja, Will was sure Halt was gonna deck a dude or something along those lines for knocking his hood back off his face. And thats just the stuff actually in the books, there's probably way more we don't know about.

I'm trying to think of any more shit he's done now.

It's just funny how he can apparently be the most calm and in control man but also get super easily pissed off and ready to kill in an instant at the same time.

[bhaalble]

Alistair: A Defense, a Critique

I PROMISED AN ESSAY

I DELIVER AN ESSAY.

So here we go. What’s up Ferelden, its him, ya boi

So, let’s start off by clearly delineating some things that Alistair is, and more importantly, what he is not.

I think there’s a tendency with Alistair critical posts to treat the worst possible version of Alistair as the “real him”, which is more than a little unfair. Unhardened, kinda bitchy Alistair is a part of him, yes, but its a part of him that only arises when your Warden is continually a dick to him, and I think it’s fair to say that none of us are the best versions of ourselves when we’re constantly being treated like shit or ignored. Furthermore, this isn’t really something we do when we talk about the other characters. Zevran straight up tries to murder you if you don’t have his approval ratings high enough and somehow most people don’t see Zevran as inherently a backstabbing little shit.

So, let’s run down the list of common accusations and overturn them

Alistair is not stupid. He’s just…not. Morrigan jokes, yes, but Morrigan tends to see everyone as an idiot for not sharing her worldview, including your Warden. The one who jokes about Alistair being stupid more often than anyone is Alistair, but as we see time and time again, he’s rarely the most trustworthy source for his real complications.

Alistair may not be a scholar and can make some pretty boneheaded statements, yes, but he’s hardly alone in that department for the DA:O crew. His retorts show some real wit behind them at points. He can demonstrate great social awareness (e.g. catching on to the fact that the Grand Cleric sending him, an ex-templar, to interact with the Circle Mages was definitely an intentional slight). Furthermore, I’d like to point out that he managed to catch on to the Chantry’s bullshit all on his own, before he racked up dozens of counts of mage abuse (*cough* CULLEN *cough*). He still shows some effects of the templar’s training, (especially in his treatment of Jowan and Morrigan) but I’d argue that this is hardly a surprise. He’s been subjected to it 24/7 since he was a child. But he’s aware, and based on the other templars we meet throughout the game that on its own shows some serious introspection and critical thinking.

Alistair is not selfish. While he has his moments, I don’t think that’s really who he is, deep down. Take, for instance, his forgiveness of Arl Eamon. He hasn’t seen Eamon for years. The expected arc would be that he waits for Eamon to wake up, gets an apology, and then forgives him. But based on how he talks about him when you enter Redcliffe, its clear that he’s already forgiven Eamon, and is honestly more than a little ashamed of his behavior. Frankly, this is more selfless than even I would be: imagine being twelve, having lived your life as a street urchin because your adoptive father simply won’t treat you any different than he treats his paid employees, only to be sent away from the only home you’ve ever known because your presence embarrasses his wife. Frankly, I think Alistair would be justified in resenting Eamon for it, but it’s clear that he doesn’t. He calls him a good man from beginning to end.

Furthermore, I think what the Guardian says to Alistair is telling. He doesn’t just feel sad that Duncan is gone. He feels guilty. He, deep down, genuinely believes it should have been him. He wishes he could throw himself on the sword to save his mentor. Then there’s the ritual to consider. It takes some convincing (because of course it does) but with little fuss, Alistair will sleep with a woman he genuinely dislikes (which hoo boy does this make a consent conversation more than a little shaky) to conceive a child that he will never get to see. He, a bastard child cast away from his father, is essentially doing the same thing. All to ensure that he won’t risk his friends dying. Even an unhardened King Alistair casting off a non-human non-noble Warden, while it of course hurts, to me shows a sense of latent responsibility. He genuinely loves and cares about your HoF, but he has the sense that this matters more. That even though he never wanted this burden, he has to carry it as best he can.

What Alistair is is immature.

I want to draw a fine distinction here because I think we tend to use immature interchangeably with “selfish” and “stupid”, so it can sound like I’m contradicting myself. So, to explain myself: I use “immature” in the sense of a symptom, rather than a personality.

For an example of “immature as a personality”, look no further than Tony Stark in like, the first half hour of Iron Man (arguably Tony in the rest of the movies too but ashfagdkh follow me here)

Early Tony Stark is very much someone who is irrepressibly immature. He is capable of being an adult, but he chooses not to be, valuing his own desires above pretty much everyone else’s. He acts out simply because he knows no one will stop him, chases the shiniest, biggest toys he can get, and throws a fit when he doesn’t get his way. He treats other people’s time and needs with a flippant attitude, generally behaving like they are literally side characters who only matter so long as they help him get what he wants.

This isn’t to say there isn’t a reason Tony is the way he is (his relationship with his father being a big contributor), but what is important is that Tony is fully capable of being otherwise, knows it, and chooses not to. He revels in his shamelessness, believing that his immaturity is a sign of his intelligence. Everyone else acts like an adult because they have to, but Tony acts like a child because he is smart enough and rich enough to get away with it. Call it a sort of Capitalist Peter Pan syndrome.

By contrast, Alistair strikes me as immature as a symptom. First off, his age is important to factor in here. Alistair is 20 (my age, which is trippy as fuck). He is barely done being a teenager by the time you meet him.

There are further factors that have stunted Alistair’s emotional maturity, even for the average 20-year-old. He jokes about having been raised by Mabari, but its very clear there weren’t a lot of adult influences in his life at a young age. He mentions Isolde ensured that the castle wasn’t home to him long before he was sent to the Chantry. Imagine being under ten and feeling like you were unwanted by a person who has the power to make your life miserable in every imaginable way.

Then, once he was moved to the Chantry….well, if the Circle is any indication, the Chantry doesn’t exactly know how to accommodate children. Alistair made life a merry hell for the priests but it’s clear he wasn’t treated very well by them. Then straight into templar training. All of this while barely interacting with the outside world and shunned by his peers for his status as a bastard. Kids need to engage with other people in order to grow up effectively. With that in mind, it’s frankly stunning that Alistair has as much care for other people as he does.

The observation of Alistair’s immaturity is exactly groundbreaking either. Think about his dream in the Fade. We see Alistair at his most honest and vulnerable, fully convinced of the illusion. And it seems his greatest dream is to have the family he never got as a child, via his sister. Alistair behaves childlike to the point of parody in this dream. He pleads like a child and tries to entice the Warden to stay by begging his mom sister to make a special meal, his favorite. Hell, the whole “hardening” subplot is basically about the Warden forcing Alistair to let go of the childhood he never got to have and moving forward into adulthood.

His immaturity doesn’t just express itself in the obvious childlike behavior, however. Even though we tend to forget that Alistair is a junior member of the Wardens and is barely more experienced than the HoF in terms of actually fighting darkspawn, I think we can all agree that tossing the decisions on someone who’s barely past their Joining probably isn’t great behavior. Pretty much every comment he makes, about mages, blood magic, elves, even women, also read as the words of a man who simply does not have the world experience yet to really know how to engage with people who aren’t like him. It doesn’t mean these comments don’t….yanno, suck, but there is rarely any real malice behind them. Despite the hardships in Alistair’s life (of which there have been many, I grant), he has still been on the receiving end of certain privileges by virtue of being a man and being human non-mage, and it is clear he is still unlearning the prejudice inherent in that. His youth doesn’t excuse how hurtful or ignorant his comments can be, but its the unfortunate truth that, especially for those of us who grow up relatively privileged, being mindful of the Other is a learning process.

However, the main reason I view this immaturity as a symptom more than a personality is that I think Alistair has a genuine desire to grow past this. He acknowledges that he complains a lot, with an additional note that “and you haven’t been having an easy time of it either”. If you push back on his comments (or at least when the game gives you the chance to), he’ll usually apologize for it. And as I said, the hardening storyline to me indicates that Alistair is more than ready to grow up. He’s just still learning how to do it.

None of this, by the way, means that you have to love Alistair. Its more than easy to be annoyed by him, especially for a non-human and/or non-noble character. In the interest of full disclosure, it took me romancing Alistair to move past simply tolerating him. But I think its time for all of us to stop pretending Alistair is something he isn’t. He isn’t really a side character as much as he is a deuteragonist. More than any other companion (except, arguably, Morrigan), Alistair has a character arc that acts in response to your own characters. He grows and changes over the course of the narrative in a way that parallels how the story treats him, and if you create an Alistair that behaves like an asshole, well, you might want to take a look at how you’ve been treating him

to

[shallowseeker]

i understand hael's feelings about being trapped in a body that can't hold her, but it's fucking Crazy that the moment cas stops being an angel the other angels see him… basically as prey? like hael does her damnedest to try and manipulate/force castiel to become her vessel, and even threatens him (and honestly i wonder if she was trying to goad him into killing her bc her vessel's legs were so badly damaged) to try and coerce a yes out of him. also it doesnt seem like angels Require vessels on earth (several angels were absent a vessel which is why they started manipulating religious people into saying yes even if it exploded them) to survive, she just felt Entitled to one (to the point where she was burning some poor girl's body out) and entitled to one from castiel bc metatron used his grace to banish them from heaven, so it's only fair that she get his body right? she doesn't deserve to be a wandering cosmic being, she deserves to have a voice!! (not even aware of how hypocritically she treats humans, not even acknowledging that she is slowly killing the body and forcing the vessel to die bc she needed a placeholder until she could find a better one that could actually hold her)

I feel like this post sums up a lot of my feelings about this.

But I'm glad you brought up Hael's perspective because, reading this again, it strikes me that she might be gauging how much blame Cas bears for the Fall. Even more interestingly, Cas's words at times almost... unintentionally suggest that he may have been ideologically aligned with wanting it to happen, even going sofar as to present it as an opportunity.

CAS: Well, believe it or not, there may be something even better down here. HAEL: I don't understand. CAS: There's opportunity for you, the others who have fallen, to do finally do what you would like to do – not just what you've been told. HAEL: And what would I like to do? CAS: You tell me. If you could do anything, what would it be? HAEL: There's a place. I built it when I was last here – many years ago. A grand canyon. CAS: The Grand Canyon, yes. HAEL: I - I would like to see that. CASTIEL: Let's go see the Grand Canyon, then.

It’s complicated because, while we know Cas feels guilty and torn up about the angels falling, the way he frames the painful experience of drying-falling as a good thing almost comes off... naively callous? I think this could have emboldened Hael or even made her feel entitled to prey on him.

CAS: It's complicated. There could be trouble. It's – it's best if I go alone. My – my friend – he... needs my help. HAEL: I need help. CAS: You can do this, Hael. This is your chance to help people, to help yourself. I'm sorry.

In this exchange, Cas sometimes sounds like a bad salesman.

That said, I agree that her words are undeniably predatory. After Cas starts praising the human world as an opportunity, I think Hael starts to see Cas as human-like, as just a vessel. She’s twisting her extreme fear into justification, rationalizing her actions. In her mind, it’s his fault. He’s the bad guy, so she might as well prey on him because he’s going to die anyway.

HAEL: It's the least I could ask of you, considering, well... This is all your fault, isn't it? Making the angels fall? So, we'll drive to the Grand Canyon, you'll tell me more about humans, and I'll show you what I'm capable of. We're going to become more than just friends, Castiel. We're going to become one.

Cas now finds himself in the position of Jimmy Novak, and of all the human vessels he’s dominated over the years. Angels seem to, by nature and angelic warfare, bring danger and destruction, creating vulnerabilities in the human population.

HAEL: Do you know how ridiculous you sound? Help angels? After what you did? They don't want your help, Castiel. They want your head. CAS: You're wrong. I'm one of you. I will never stop being one of you. HAEL: Don't you get it? Together, I can protect you, Castiel. CAS: I don't need your – I don't want your protection. [CASTIEL turns and walks away.]

That very chaos allows them to swoop in, insisting they’ll protect their human charges and their families:

JIMMY: So, I wanna to help you. I'm about to lose my family here if you don't tell me how . . . Please, Castiel, just talk to me. What do you want from me? [A soft light appears and illuminates JIMMY from above. Faint whispers can be heard. JIMMY looks up and appears to be listening.] JIMMY: Yes, I understand. Promise my family will be okay and I'll do it . . . Then, yes. [...] JIMMY: Castiel, you son of a bitch! You promised me my family would be okay. You promised you were gonna take care of them. I gave you everything you asked me to give. I gave you more. This is the thanks I get? This is what you do? This is your heaven? Help me, please. You promised, Cas. Just help me.

///

Last thought on Hael:

"We're going to become one." & "Together, I can protect you, Castiel."

It’s interesting that Hael's words echo Amara’s view of Dean and human souls—something to sustain herself. (Or, in Amara’s case, to entertain herself and stoke the fires of “sensations” within.) The idea of being subsumed is framed as a privilege, or, in Amara’s case, “the bliss” or “purest night.”

The loss of individuality is presented as an elevation or a form of protection, rather than an erasure.

[cloudsoffire]

Misogyny in Sonic Boom

Most of you are already familiar with the 3d animated Sonic Boom cartoon running from 2014 to 2017. Despite the lackluster critical reception of the games, the show has a dedicated following, and a ton of good reviews. I myself am a fan. However, there are plenty of things to criticize. In the body of this post, I'll be addressing the misogyny present in the series.

To begin, let's talk about that one moment with Amy and Knuckles. Because when feminism is brought up in regards to Sonic Boom, this clip is often what comes to mind.

It's funny, sure, but it's also not an incredible moment. Amy's characterization here is also lackluster, but let's focus on Knuckles. sure, what he's saying sounds good to a general audience, but if you think about it even a little, it quickly falls apart.

In this scene, we see Knuckles, a man, talking down to Amy, a woman, about female empowerment. What he says is wrong as well. Breaking of gender roles is an exception because we live in such a gendered society. It's something that we should call attention to and celebrate. It isn't the status quo, and what he's saying is extremely liberal. We all know women are just as good as men at doing stuff, so why say it? Why draw attention to it? Why disrupt society? They're bad arguments. Arguments that come out of the mouth of a writer instead of Knuckles.

That's not where it starts, though. That episode is actually from season two. But rather than going moment by moment, episode by episode, we'll be breaking down how both Amy and Sticks, are treated by the narrative.

Amy is a feminist. But in an extremely watered down sense. She talks about gender equality, but in a way that's played for laughs. And you know it's just for comedy because of all the other stuff she does. In "My Fair Sticksy," Sticks is invited to an awards ceremony for saving the town. Rather than allowing her to go as herself, Amy takes the opportunity to force femininity and gender roles onto her, a complete 180 from the female liberation she touts throughout the show. Sticks saves the day by tossing Amy's teachings aside, but that doesn't really change anything. It just shows that Sticks herself is unchangeable, not that gender roles imprison society.

So Sticks is the one who breaks away from societal expectations in a meaningful way, right? Well, sort of. She's paranoid, lives in a hole in the ground, digs through the garbage, she's not exactly ladylike. But that doesn't protect her from the writers.

"Blue with Envy." A green shrew named Swifty comes to town, sporting shutter shades and bastardized 90s slang. The episode's twist is that Swifty is actually several robots built by Eggman to usurp Sonic. But before their big race and Sonic's subsequent banishment, Swifty wins over the hearts of the village. This includes both Sticks and Amy, who actually faint over him. Sticks even says she'd disable her traps if he came to visit her, to which Amy responds by saying she never disables her traps.

And there wasn't even any mind control going on there, unlike in "Battle of the Boy Bands." It doesn't speak to Amy or Sticks' characters, specifically because of that, but the episode itself does use them to make fun of the stereotypical "fangirl". Which is at best low hanging fruit and at worst actively misogynistic. There is nothing wrong with liking a boyband or any other media, so long as you don't buy merch with food money or use it to harass people. But that's not a thing unique to women. There are plenty of men who live on instant ramen because they buy stuff for their interests. But the way those men are talked about is way different from how people describe women who are into things like boybands. There's another post I saw a while back that digs into this and it's not the main topic of this one, so I won't go too far into it.

As a whole, Amy's character is "the overbearing feminist," a tired archetype, but she's also meant to be hyper-feminine and proper. This could work if she just found that identity the most comfortable and still supported others, but instead she tries to get people outside the norm, like Sticks, to conform.

Sticks breaks the mold on the surface, but she's still a woman, and you know how women are.

They're treated badly by the plot, the writers make them say things just for the audience to laugh at them for being women, and as a whole it's just kinda gross.

This is getting long but I'm sure there are other things online that go into much more detail that I did. I didn't read any of them so I'm not 100% sure on that, but it's so blatant I'd be genuinely impressed if they didn't exist.

[royalcommunistthor]

OK the capitalist clutches finally released me for the next 24hrs so

first of all. again. idk what fem coded means. every time i've had someone try to explain to me it made me want to die.

however, i think i might have an idea of why anyone would ever refer to thor as femcoded.

again, really wish we could outgrow 'feminine traits' & 'masculine traits' but sadly, it's always one step forward two steps back in this world.

pls take this with a massive dollop of salt, this is incredibly tongue-in-cheek and isn't meant to be seen as 'meta' or a correct interpretation or any such nonsense. i simply got nothing better to do with my weekend. it's fucking january innit.

thor, gender roles & subversion of gender expectations

thor is a difficult character in that way where he's expected to be hypermasculine but there's something in him that's a little off. certainly, he seems to embrace the part - he's built like brick shithouse, in a proud warrior culture he is THE WARRIOR, even among other god-like beings he's elevated as exceptionally powerful and proficient at killing. thor's arc, broadly speaking since all these characters have been done and re-done a million times over, is about learning the inherent value of life. thor will always enjoy a good fight but as he grows he no longer kills for killing's sake/vengeance/because he feels he's been slighted.

however, we also constantly get glimses that had another path ever been available to him perhaps he wouldn't have been a warrior at all. he is given the choice so rarely but when he DOES have a choice, his interests do seem to lie elsewhere.

when he thinks his banishment is permanent, he is for the first time in his life free to do what he likes and the first thing he does is prepare a meal for his friends.

(gif by @asgardodinsons)

i would go as far as to say that time and time again food/food preparation is indeed a symbol of thor's freedom. we have this character, that's so often read as the very definition of machismo, choosing to nourish those around him whenever he indeed can make choices of his own.

(gif by @sersi)

the first thing we see him do with an orphaned child is to feed her

(gif by @ sersi)

mjolnir & masculinity

now mjolnir being a symbol of manhood is hardly a new concept, it's been here from the very beginning starting with 'the hammer is my penis' jokes. but since it's 'external' it can also be revoked. and with it gone thor is...well, thor is free. in more ways than one.

as a footnote that's somewhat vaguely aligned with gender expectations i also wanted to mention that thor wears his heart on his sleeve - all his emotions always on the surface- which openly clashes with victorian & post-victorian anglo sensibilities* but i'll go into it later on.

thor and sexual violence

actually this point has already been elaborated on by @kimmsauce : link some years ago and honestly i don't have much to add.

the frequency with which thor is either exclicitly assaulted by female characters(usually through the use of magic) or threatened with sexual violence by men is STAGGERING.

and that's even without getting into the disparaging comments from friends and foes alike:

thor the pin up

comes in two flavours: sexy distress

and sexy non distress:

(eh i guess all bar one are like sexy semi distress whatever)

what i find interesting is that male characters appearing in various states of undress or having ridiculous unachievable bodies isn't exactly hard to come by, but in the vast majority of cases it's very clearly a power fantasy or wish fullfilment for the readers to insert themselves into bit like men's health but for nerds i guess.

with thor, however, it seems a little different, the gaze a little more objectifying, there's always something distinctly 'page 3 girl' about it.

conception and reception

you see, for all the trademark superhero machismo talk that thor is often dismissed into there's always been this elephant in the room. which room? the writing room, the fandom room, probably many other rooms.

the elephant being that thor is simply 'too girly' 'too pretty' not masculine enough in a way that the male reader can relate to/identify with or could use as wish fulfillment in some way.

(the above is a very fun article btw)

norse mythology scholars aside, this isn't the only instance of thor's ever fluctuating reception. and again, it's not always just the dudebros complaining. i do think it's funny that for all the talk about toxic masculinity and how it permeates 'normie fan spaces', how the endless tirades on how feminists are destroying everything make fan spaces deeply hostile to anyone who is not a cishet man, the same fans tend to have a better reception of him when he's unironically more masculine. 'soft masculinity' is welcome; thor is allowed to cook for his friends and learn from his mistakes but the second it verges into campness or *gasp* makes fun of/criticises fantasy principles of white masculinity 'mcu is ruining thor' and the pitchforks are at the ready.

there has been a lot of demand for thor to finally be given space to grieve and deal with the emotional consequences of events past. but he's allowed to do it as long as it's dignified heroic martyrdom. as long as it's pretty. whenever he's given the space to be ugly with it, for it to be messy and inconvenient, all of a sudden it's too icky.

you can absolutely tell that 'emasculation' is on the tip of everyone's tongue while reading through the discourse. diversity loss; fandom retvrnists can come in any form.

loki stans - lol where do i even begin with that one. i remember bitching to a friend (who was in fandom but not in this fandom at the time) years ago and we both pretty much went OMG THOR IS THE FEMALE CHARACTER in unison. it's so funny; the double standards- any of thor's misgivings are blown out of proportion to overshadow or erase loki's own, the skewing of the narrative and rampant misinterpreting of canon events to put loki in a better light or straight up stripping off key elements of thor's character journey and giving them to loki. if he doesn't grovel he's an abuser, if he approaches the world with an open-heart that's just genuine idiocy. he really can't win. where have i seen this before? oh yes every time i've stanned a woman and had to deal with the fanbases of a male character that happened to be the fandom darling.

(i think that trans readings of thor are very interesting too but i feel like that digresses somewhat from the 'femcoding' so maybe another day)

*) footnote for a footnote i guess. what i mean is, patriarchy and gender roles have of course existed for millenia. but the 'gender roles on steroids' we have very much inherited from the height of imperialism/industrial revolution and its direct influence on gender politics.

i wanted to thank @the-mjolnir-owner because raiding Nat's archive was ESSENTIAL and @shinysoroka because re-watching infinity war and talking shite with her last night really helped me formulate some of the talking points i've had brewing.

Sorry. I didn't mean anything bad with fem coded Thor ask.

No no don't worry, I know what you were trying to say because I think thor (and thor reception as a character) is very different to how male characters are usually portrayed in superhero type stuff but the way fandoms use fem coded really has me climbing the walls.

I'll answer your ask properly because I absolutely DO wanna talk about but I gotta go get ready for work!

[gralunaisland]

I just wanted to ask,

Is it okay for me to be a J///erza Anti?

I have my reasons for not shipping the ship, but at the same time I wonder if I'm just being difficult and trying to be "different".

One part of me is like, "J///Erza shouldn't be canon because the whole Jellal almost killed Erza, and has been the cause of her trauma ever since she was a child." But the other part of me is like, "But the fans ship it, they see that Erza has forgiven him and they have official art, even their potential future son has been drawn."

It's Okay to Be a Jerza Anti (Coming from a Jerza Shipper)

Thank you so much for coming to me with this ask! I'll give you my opinion on the subject to try to help you out.

It's completely okay for you to be Anti Jerza!

Really, everyone has a right to hate whatever ship they want to! That really comes down to personal preference, and it's very subjective, not objective.

But even beyond that, you have very understandable reasons to not like it, don't worry. I totally understand where you're coming from. The trauma Jellal inflicted on Erza at such a young age will probably never completely heal. He enslaved "willing" workers to work for him after manipulating them to think Erza was the one who had cut off their chances at escape. He killed Simon. He brutalized Erza and banished her.

Those aren't easy things to forgive. And it's really completely fine for you to not forgive those things. I'd say it just shows your empathy for what Erza had to endure, which is a good thing!

For me, the reason I ship Jerza is that I attribute all the horrible things he did to Ultear manipulating him into doing them with her magic. He thought he was doing the right thing in a dark and twisted way. I also appreciate the following arcs where Jellal is on a mission to atone for his sins and to better himself in repentance. Honestly, in my opinion, it's one of the best things Mashima has written.

But that doesn't mean you have to take that perspective! Because even though I don't blame him, it doesn't change the fact that he did commit all those harmful acts, so it's easy to see why people wouldn't like him regardless of his redemption arc.

I hope you won't feel pressured to like a ship just because other fans ship it. Fandoms seldom agree on most things, so it's natural to disagree with even a large portion of a fandom. I for one am a part of a smaller subgroup of fans who hates gr///via and all that it is (clearly haha) but there's a reason why gr///via, and Jerza, are a part of the Big Four--most people ship it. Doesn't make them right whatsoever, which is something I try to prove on this blog of mine.

I also would take official art as well as drawings of potential children as inconsequential. We shouldn't care if Mashima likes a ship or imagined their futures together. Manga authors are just as imperfect as the rest of us, so he could (and does) very well promote terrible, toxic ships. ( I talk about this topic in this post actually, I recommend checking it out!)

I hope this reassures you that your opinion matters. Don't be swayed by the masses; stand strong in what you like and dislike! >:D You got this, I believe in ya!

(Thank you for your patience!)

[juniperhillpatient]

Sozin's Comet Part 3: Into the Inferno Re-Watch

Wow, I'll be honest I forgot how many parts this finale had (& thank goodness because it's way too much to cover in one post.) While I've randomly re-watched various episodes of this show a lot, this is my first time doing a full re-watch & only my second time re-watching these finale episodes. That's because....well, this finale doesn't fuck around!

Let's get right into it. I gotta be petty & say it's kinda funny this show is so disdainful of its own main "romance" (& calling it that is a stretch) that they have Katara & Zuko go together on a ride or die life or death journey to the Fire Nation after baiting their noncanon romance quite a bit in the last few episodes. Fun! I'll briefly address that I know a lot of you guys don't like the setup for the Zuko Vs. Azula fight, & it's certainly a little flawed but...& this might be a hot take - Zuko showing up during Azula's coronation to claim the throne & the two of them having an Agni Kai does make a certain amount of narrative sense. It's just that a few details about the setup itself (the time it takes to get from Ba Sing Se to the Fire Nation, Iroh knowing that Azula would be crowned Firelord, in general, the buildup to Zuko's decision to become Firelord) could have been executed a little better. But I still love the beautiful tragedy of the final Agni Kai & I still think it was overall set up well save for a few details.

Zuko Vs. Ozai I would argue is pretty perfectly set up by the previous episode. Aang is ready for this fight. And Ozai is ready for genocide - & showing off his abs! I'm sorry if this upsets some of you but Ozai is getting +1000 iconic behavior points for stripping off his shirt for this fight & generally acting like a dramatic king. Yes trying to burn the world to the ground is pretty bad, but Ozai sure does manage to be a fun-to-watch villain while he does it. I only wish we'd gotten more scenes showcasing Ozai's personality & badassery throughout Book 3 to really set him up as the Final Boss.

[id: Ozai about to fire-bend Aang. end id]

I can really appreciate that Aang is out of his comfort zone here. Throughout this entire show, Aang has been an evasive fighter. He's not aggressive. He prefers to deftly outmaneuver his opponents & cause them to wear themselves out rather than attacking directly himself. Aang doesn't have that option this time. First of all, Ozai is just a very aggressive fighter who is determined to take Aang down. Second of all, this is the big battle - Aang needs to do something to take Ozai down, & he knows it. I have to appreciate that Aang offers Ozai the chance to back down. Obviously, it seems silly - of course Ozai won't take this chance. But it means something that Aang offers it anyway.

Sokka, Suki, & Toph's mission feels so desperate & scary. Toph gets +1000 iconic behavior points for her badass metal bending. Then Sokka comes up with a plan that will help protect the earth-kingdom but also might just kill them & shit gets real when they're separated from Suki. My heart dropped during that scene. Sokka protectively crouching over Toph just makes me so emotional. +1000 iconic behavior points to Sokka for this insane & potentially suicidal but brave plan.

[id: Sokka crouching protectively over Toph. end id]

Yeah, this part just makes me emotional.

Speaking of being emotional.....Let's get into the beginning of the end for my favorite emotionally damaged war criminal. Azula's downfall is heartbreaking. I didn't understand what was happening the first time that I watched this show, & I was just confused about why Azula was banishing everyone until it slowly crept up on me that she was paranoid after Mai & Ty Lee's betrayal. This show is incredibly well-written & as I'm re-watching again having put a completely normal & not at all insane amount of thought into Azula's characterization, I realize that it's so much more complicated than that. Azula was abandoned as a small child by her mother, who she believed never cared about her. Later, her brother is banished & after she finally gets him back, he abandons her too - for reasons she cannot understand. Then Mai & Ty Lee too. No wonder she can't trust anyone.

And even if it weren't for all of these people turning on Azula for reasons she doesn't get, Azula was taught that "trust is for fools, fear is the only reliable way" by her genocidal egomaniac father who burned her brother in front of her when she was eleven. The same father who just abandoned her (just like everyone else does) to fulfill a rather pointless role (now that he's the Phoenix King). I'm not sorry but what the actual fuck is wrong with people who can't sympathize with --- nope, I'm just. I'm....moving on, let's continue the analysis.

[id: Azula standing in front of her mirror throwing a hairbrush at a hallucination of her mother, who is reflected in the mirror. end id]

Let's talk about the mirror scene for a second. This is another scene that's been highly analyzed & discussed already but I want to talk about it a little anyway. It's important to remember that this is a hallucination, meaning that what we're seeing is what some part of Azula's mind is conjuring up. Ursa doesn't call Azula a monster, interestingly. She says "I love you, Azula, I do." Is this what Azula remembers her mother saying? What she wants to believe her mother is saying? We just don't know because we are simply not given enough information, but I think it could be a mix of both.

I also think it's very interesting that Ursa says "I think you're confused." Again, this is some part of Azula's own mind manifesting. I think this is pretty strong evidence that Azula knows that she's wrong - this as well as the comment in 'The Beach' about believing herself to be a monster - but I don't think she has the context to really understand how or why she's wrong. How could she? She's never had the opportunity to learn from sources outside the Fire Nation, or adults other than her father, the way that Zuko did.

And then of course....we have the showdown that breaks my heart the most. Zuko & Azula's Final Agni Kai. When Azula says "I'm sorry it had to end this way, brother," & Zuko says "No, you're not," that truly is the culmination of their entire relationship, isn't it? And it's so devastatingly tragic because it didn't have to be this way - they could have been normal siblings, in another life - but at the same time, it did always have to be this way, because of generations of toxicity, because of Ozai & his choices. +1000 iconic behavior points to each of the fire siblings for being dramatic fucked-up bitches.

I think that Azula really is sorry it has to end this way, she does not understand Zuko's reasons for abandoning her or their nation after she did everything she could to put him back in his rightful place at their father's side. And Zuko doesn't believe her, not for a second, because their father has always made him feel like the mental, emotional & physical abuse he's been put through is all because he can't measure up to Azula & he sees her as an enemy & believes that she hates him even though she doesn't. It's all just incredibly fucking sad.

And I want to be super clear, I sympathize with both siblings here a lot, but Zuko is right to challenge Azula. Ozai & Azula need to be taken out of positions of power at this point in time. Whether Zuko or Iroh or whoever "should" have the throne, it definitely shouldn't be Azula, & Zuko & Katara are doing what they have to do here.

[id: Azula generating lightning. end id]

The music, the animation, & voice acting during the final Agni Kai is beautiful. It's just an incredible scene. It's haunting, honestly. One of the most intense & emotionally charged battle scenes in any show that I've ever seen.

And of course...Zuko taunts Azula until she shoots lightning. I think it's worth noting that Azula was avoiding doing so up until now. Almost like she didn't really want to kill Zuko. And then Azula goes for Katara. This is a coldhearted & calculated move, in a way. Azula is manipulative even in the midst of her breakdown. She knows that going for Katara is the way to disarm Zuko. But I also think that it's because she didn't want to kill Zuko. Sorry Azutara besties, but Azula didn't know Katara at all on a personal level, so I think she made the quick decision in a desperate moment that if she had to kill someone, she didn't want it to be her brother & that this would be a great way to get Zuko distracted so she could burn him & win. But like...I also think this was all whizzing through her brain in chaos because she's also mid-breakdown & had to think fast.

Anyway, Zuko takes a heroic & brave dive & saves Katara. This moment just gets me every time. However, you interpret the relationship between Zuko & Katara (for me personally, I see it as a deep friendship) this is an act of love. +1000 iconic behavior points for Zuko. Pretty sure Zuzu is already taking the lead, but I can't not award him points for saving Katara's life.

I'll end this review by saying that Aang redirecting lightning against Ozai (but still not killing him) was a really amazing moment & I loved it. +1000 iconic behavior points for Aang.

[id: Aang redirecting lightning. end id]

This show really is epic, & its conclusion is proving to be just as intense, emotional, & beautiful as I remember it.

[solidwater05]

New Future theory: Gaster brought us here to be heroes

[PT: New Future theory: Gaster brought us here to be heroes. /End PT]

In this theory I'll explain why I think that the events of Deltarune happened before our arrival, how they went wrong, and what Gaster is doing to get a different ending with our help.

Conclusions and speculations at the bottom

The Roaring already happened, and Gaster is not happy with that

[PT: The Roaring already happened, and Gaster is not happy with that. /End PT]

When we die in chapter 1, Gaster gives us two options. If we give up, he says that 'the world was covered in darkness' (meaning that the Roaring happened) and, if we continue, he says that 'the future is in our hands' (the future he's looking forward to is not the Roaring).

[PT: the future he's looking forward to is not the Roaring. /End PT]

Further proof that the events of the game happened before is an image found in the 2016 version of deltarune.com, titled 'him', in which Gaster says that the heroes **had already appeared** to banish the Angel's Heaven.

(here's a link to the 2016 page)

[ID: White wingdings on a black background. They read "three heroes appeared to banish the Angel's Heaven". /End ID]

Gaster says that he wants to 'create a new future' with us.

Additionally, a scrapped cutscene meant to play after the vessel was discarded shows Susie begging Kris to wake up, similarly to how she does when Kris dies in ch 2. Why would Susie tell Kris to wake up like they're dead if they weren't friends at all at that point? Well, that's because that cutscene was a flashback of the ending of the previous timeline, when Kris died and couldn't stop the Roaring.

(Here's a link to a video showing the cutscene)

Why the player came to Deltarune

[PT: Why the player came to Deltarune. /End PT]

[ID: A tweet by Undertale/Deltarune posted on October 31, 2018. It says "I look forward to creating a new future with you" in Gaster's writing style. /End ID]

This tells us not only that our arrival was completely planned, but that he doesn't want to repeat the 'old future' in which the Roaring was unleashed.

Without us, the Roaring couldn't be stopped, so Gaster prepared everything so we could participate and change that ending.

Gaster wants to make sure that we can figure out how to save the world. To do this, he scripted certain parts of the story, so that we would truly act like the heroes he wants us to be.

Gaster's plan and influence

[PT: Gaster's plan and influence. /End PT]

One of the scripted things was the vessel creation sequence. No, the vessel was not discarded against Gaster's will.

And Gaster came back to Twitter after the connection was supposedly interrupted as if nothing had happened.

Gaster and the second voice are working together. Once the second voice 'cuts the connection'... The connection isn't cut at all. Gaster narrates the file select screen pre-completion, while the second voice narrates everything once the game is completed. They take turns.

(Here's a video showing Gaster's narration)

[ID: Another tweet by Undertale/Deltarune, posted on September 17, 2021. It says "How long it has been" in Gaster's writing style. /End ID]

Another thing he influenced is Ralsei.

As our companion, Ralsei guides us to follow the prophecy and save the world(s).

Ralsei says that the prophecy was 'whispered among shadows' and 'foretold by time and space', so it can be interpreted as Gaster telling him, or even inventing the prophecy. After all, he knows what will, or should, happen in the future.

Ralsei also named Castle Town as PlayerTown, and the player's name is said when only Gaster (and potentially the second voice) were present. Someone must have told Ralsei that name, and I believe that it was Gaster. But that's not the only thing Gaster told him: he knows about how Darkners work, he knows that Dark Worlds aren't real, he knows about souls... he's one of the characters that know the most, along with Seam and the secret bosses, also called Shadow Crystal holders, characters known to have interacted with Gaster before.

Ralsei has a very particular view of the world: Darkners exist just to serve Lightners, and that's the only way they can feel happy and fulfilled. He wants to be, in Berdly's words, a lackey. He accepts and embraces his lack of freedom.

So, combining his ties with Gaster, his knowledge, and his views on Lightners and freedom, we can conclude that Gaster gave Ralsei a Shadow Crystal as part of his plan.

The Roaring happened once before, Kris died, and Gaster reset the timeline to get a better ending with our help. To guide us to be heroes, Gaster scripted a few things, particularly the vessel creation sequence (it was meant to be discarded, the second voice is Gaster's coworker) and Ralsei's worldview, which he altered like he did with Jevil and Spamton.

Conclusions (and my personal prediction/speculation)

[PT: Conclusions (and my personal prediction/speculation). /End PT]

And, as for my personal speculation, I think that the intro cutscenes with a black background are meant to be flashbacks of the previous timeline, in reverse. In ch 1 we see a flashback of ch 7, in ch 2 we see a flashback of ch 6, etc. However, there's no way to prove this. Yet.

[murfpersonalblog]

"That's not Claudia's and Louis's perspectives, that's your perspective."

I literally posted TWO gifs of Claudia literally saying her perspective was that Lestat's actions towards her--AND Louis--made her feel like they were his slaves--which she ALSO says in the book! (and which is EXACTLY what Louis said Lestat made him feel like in 1x3 before Claudia was even there!)--and you're saying that's NOT their perspectives but mine? XD And that this show & Lestat's dynamics with his 2 Black fledgings isn't about race? Wow. (This is PRECISELY why I used a variety of source, SPECIFICALLY so nonsense like this isn't allowed to fly over the radar to gaslight or rewrite the narrative when we all watched the same frikkin show yet you're telling me these scenes don't effing matter or didn't frikkin happen.)

"Lestat treats her terribly but Louis is as responsible for Claudia's turning and being stuck in that house as Lestat is and she ignores that."

NO she does not ignore it--she read Louis for filth in 1x5 right before she left about him not taking her to a hospital. She asks Louis over & over & over to get the train with her in 1x6; and Daniel says in 1x7 that Claudia's diaries said she "hated your guts;" and even in S2 she's PISSED that Louis "picked another one, OVER ME!" She NEVER ignores Louis' culpability; what on earth are you talking about???

"He tells him tell me if you don't love me and I'll go away and Louis doesn't. He knew he'd ultimately take Lestat back at some point and Lestat realizes too so he keeps trying and succeeds after 7 years."

And HOW did Lestat succeed? With ANOTHER love-bomb in the "Come To Me" record, which he got HIS MISTRESS ANTOINETTE to sing to Louis--you're telling me that wasn't EXPLICIT manipulation!?

Also! Just cuz Louis loves Lestat & wants to be with him doesn't mean he's not having his pigtails pulled & his emotions manipulated--getting "a rise" out of him. He's well aware that he's having his chain yanked, and he's pissed about it "I hate you," cuz he KNOWS Lestat's no effing good & doesn't deserve him. Louis has TRASH taste in men--that doesn't stop them from being trash. XD

"That doesn't mean Armand was constatly manipulating Louis's memory. We never see that."

I LITERALLY said "god knows how many false memories planted in Lou's head that Armand used to shape Louis into the perfect compliant stepford spouse;" where "god knows how many" specifically addresses the fact that yeah, we DON'T know how much Armand effed up Louis' memories--only heaven & hell knows! And that's insidious AF--it makes the horror so much worse, cuz now Louis will NEVER know how much his agency/autonomy was VIOLATED, what to believe and what to doubt--"where does the bullsh!t start Armand, Amadeo, Arun?" Esp. when Louis seems to be mad at Armand in one scene/ep and then strangely back to being happy in the next. The show deliberately leaves it openly ambiguous wtf was going on--the only way we'll know more is if they do a TVA, where Armand finally admits to more shady things he did behind Lou's back--like the Frankenstein operation on book!Claudia; or if they pull a Merrick and have ghost!Claudia say more.

"Louis didn't actually need Daniel to point out he saw Sam in two places and Armand was far stronger than the coven."

YES he did--he even excused the discrepancy, saying he must've misremembered, cuz he doesn't trust his own memory anymore; "I just got it wrong."

"He never really interrogated Armand's lie because he'd rather go with his version and not be alone and to spite Lestat."

I've already discussed Louis' hesitancy to interrogate Armand & Lestat's lies (x x), cuz it's waaaaay more than that. The whole point of his insistence that Daniel continue the interview despite Armand's constant interventions was wanting to finally get to the bottom of "Truth & Reconciliation;" "I want this, to remember!" Louis wasn't thinking about spiting Lestat when asked Armand about Banishment--he wanted to know how the heck he managed to survive, cuz SOMEONE obviously made the audience say that and it sure AF wasn't Santiago. XD Even if he thought Lestat had done it, Lestat blew his chance to set the record straight in the Tower Scene, cuz Loustat BOTH assumed that Armand really did want Louis to live. Armand was more scared to be alone than Louis. Louis even said in 2x3 that he was gonna leave & find some place small & uncrowded, specifically to be ALONE & AWAY from vamps! "I was thinking London. If it's too large, maybe Dublin." But yet I--EYE!--am the one always reading characters in bad faith? Ok, y'all. XD

"Louis knew Armand had chosen the coven. He knew he was complicit in his daughter's murder. Armand didn't lie about that. He only lied about saving him and it was a circumstantial lie."

That's not a circumstantial lie at all. Louis asked Armand POINT BLANK, and Armand took the credit specifically to manipulate Louis--cuz Armand DID pull him out of the wall (a MONTH+ later)--lies mixed with truths are most convincing!

EVERYTHING Louis chose/decided afterwards ("do not find yourself at the theater tomorrow night at curfew; this is your death Lestat") hinged on that ONE "seismic lie:" that Armand said "Banishment," not Lestat. Louis was deceived into accepting that despite Armand's betrayal, selling them out to the coven, that Armand realized his mistake and was actively tryna get Louis (& Claudia) out safely (x x x). Cuz that was THE most commendable thing that happened; Lestat saved Louis' life (again). But Armand stole that from them, just like he stole "Tell him I love him, Armand." He's a effing snake. But here you are, blaming Louis for Armand's treachery & making excuses for yet another abuser.

"You're mixing and matching events as some sort of proof. I'm not going to waste time to prove to you otherwise."

If you call analyzing CONTEXTUAL EVIDENCE from the show itself AND its showrunner as "mixing and matching events," just cuz I can walk and chew gum at the same time? Sure, I guess. XD But fine, don't take my word for it. Nalyra just posted this ask today, wrt whose interpretations of the show we should trust the most:

So AGAIN, when Sam Reid himself says Lestat was lovebombing (ie: manipulating/controlling) Louis in 1x6 with all his gifts & apologies, stop saying we're reading into these characters in bad faith or coming up with our own interpretations or perspectives, just cuz we can be critical and choose not to only focus on the positives, but also acknowledge the effed up negatives in this show about "domestic abuse, gaslighting and love-bombing" in an interracial relationship.

For all of his shortcomings, Lestat loved Louis as he was.

Even at their worst, as the books took Louis away from Lestat--the same way books had taken his mother--Lestat never took the books from Louis.

And in an effort for forgiveness, Lestat looked to gift Louis a precious tome from his favorite bookstore.

Yet Armand always kept them out of reach for fear that something else might capture Louis.