#it didn't say it had to be ooc

[travelingfreeder]

🔥

[Metal cans taste good actually]

[welcometogrouchland]

my Stephanie Brown hot take is that she should get mad bitches now that she's single in comics. Yes yes shipping BUT the one time she had sex she was punished by the narrative via teen pregnancy. I think she should be allowed to have as much sex as she wants with zero consequences. Could be a lot of sex, could be a little. Point is she should get to do it without getting narratively baby trapped this time. she should get them pregnant, actually.

[fruitypieq]

Thing about Arcane season 2 is when trailers were coming out I was seeing so many theories and like all of them I was like no.... Guys that's stupid. Its so OOC. It would NEVER happen. And then season 2 came out and it did happen and I was just like WHAT !!!!!!

[rambles-on-dragon-age]

Varric doesn't give you the nickname Rook, your whole faction calls you Rook. It makes no sense to give you a faction specific last name and then your faction doesn't even use it, but yeah.

Hi hi!

This will be a bit of a ramble, sorry.

Varric, as a character, gives nicknames to those he's around for any length of time. (Solas is Chuckles, Merrill is Daisy, Vivi is Iron Lady, etc. Very few people in close contact with him will escape earning a moniker. I can go on about how I think it's one of his ways of telling people he sees them, but I digress.) The player character has been traveling with him for a year/the better part of a year. Varric would have definitely given them a nickname in that time. (Honestly it shocks me Harding doesn't have one by now but maybe he tried and she shut that down like Aveline once did lol) When you're putting out your things in the Lighthouse one of them is his shaving mirror and you have a moment of reflection about what he said when he hands it to you. There's also the whole time where he's giving you advice and guides you (IYKYK) and it's clear he means a lot to a Rook and they're close.

That is to say, no matter what faction you were with, you left in disgrace. You broke some code the higher ups held dear, messed up well laid plan, ignored orders to save people, etc. You didn't "fit the bill" for your faction and were summarily "adopted" by Varric to help in his hunt for Solas. Those things that made you a bad fit for your original faction? Made you perfect for what he's doing. A good person that doesn't let the potential costs stop them; they see what needs to happen to help people and will run head first into it and manage to figure a way through the most fucked up situations possible.

When you first meet Neve, you're introduced as Rook. "Like the chess piece?" Yes! One of the most powerful pieces on the board, "but tends to think in straight lines". Which becomes evident in all our shenanigans as Rook through the game. Rook's ability to claw their way through the worst situations and be flexible and creative means that Solas wouldn't be able to predict them or what they'll do. Which turns out to be right; he doesn't expect you to drop a statue on him in the middle of a massive ritual. Rook saw only "this ritual needs to stop NOW" and found a way, no matter the consequences.

I didn't hear that dialogue my first game, though, because I did my first run as a Shadow Dragon. Neve doesn't comment on the naming convention because instead Varric says you both do work with the Shadow Dragons and she just skims past the naming convention to say "Oh, what a coincidence." You are still introduced as Rook at first; it's not until later when you're in the Lighthouse where you can have the conversation that you've heard of each other even though you've never worked together.

Because even if I've worked in the group beside you under the same boss for 20 years, if you're introduced to me as "Rook" instead of "_____ Mercar" I'm not going to know who you are. It's not until later, probably while you're unconscious and she has a chance to speak to Harding, that she says she knows who you are. (Based on what Bellara says when you find her in the forest, you've been out cold for two or three days. Can you imagine what our detective figured out in two or three days?)

All that to say, if "Rook" was given to you by the Shadow Dragons, Neve would have said "Oh! I heard of a Rook." instead of just "Oh! What a coincidence we're both Shadow Dragons." She doesn't comment on who you are and what you've done until later when you have a chance to talk to her in the Lighthouse.

And throughout the game, you continue to be introduced as Rook. Even if you started as another faction, if you're written a letter about "Rook" and not your real name, why would anyone know who Rook is until they meet and go "Oh this lil shit right here. I know this asshole."

[fatedvoyage]

you know your mental and physical health is in question when some floor time fixes things

[storfulsten]

The way you draw bf is so cute and i love it, can i give him a lil kiss on the forehead

aw thanks, I'm glad you like the way I doodle him and such ha

as for the lil kiss on the forehead...

don't think whitty'd like that very much sorry lol

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

BNHA 428: This chapter made me annoyed and yet it was still somewhat better than I expected?

Himichako. I like it, it's a good ship- not one I'm crazy about, but the vision is compelling. I mean, the loved girl on hard times who admires honesty but represses her feelings + hunger motifs, and the formerly wealthy and rejected girl who's honest to herself but masks her sadness from others + drinking motifs? Being so similar at their core from selfishness, bleeding love, admiration and imitation? Yeah, why not, sign me up, it looks fun.

(plus Ochako needed a subplot that would shy away from Izuku because oh boi her writing is messy-)

Then the ending annoucement happened and I immediately went "oh no" when I remembered that tidbit. But. Yesterday, I remembered this page from 424, which in hindsight makes sense:

Shoto moving forward and choosing to not dwell on his past anymore, because he wants to know the man he wants to become alongside his family of choice.

Spinner feeling so much grief for Tomura inside his room, his extra Quirks add up to it. Further gut points as it was all because of AFO, but the wrong person is getting the blame.

Ochako looking lost and dissatisfied, not really saying anything about Himiko's status; then her hidden injury which left a scar that'll never go away, nothing can change that.

And then, well, a sky with a chance to fight for a "bright future". Which is the most ambiguous you can get for anything, really, sequel or not.

(sidenote: is it me or the panel where she's touching her stab wound looks like a tangent line?)

Okay so, I went into the chapter, with Pikahlua's translations. It was A Chapter alright-

If it wasn't the antepenultimate chapter, the "filler" would've been welcomed. But I guess it means we should focus on the smaller details, I guess? Like that 1st year saying Izuku filled him with courage and Izuku immediately thinking of Spinner's pain? Yeah he hates himself and that people call him a hero, when he considers himself a murderer, and will never forgive himself for failing Tenko, therapy for him and everyone in Class 2-A please- yeah it was a fun detail. Also the throb of hiding your pain of "defeating" someone you wanted to save but in the end everything is miserable but everyone else is happy and you don't wanna be a bother. Fun.

Also I wasn't the one to point the out, but looking at the uniform (U.A. uniform blazer for boys + the tie with a dot for girls), the student who's a Izuku fan is probably trans/gnc, which I appreciate a lot :D (Damn Izuku attracts so many queer people I wonder if that's a sign- /hj)

Also, I guess Class A stating "[Bakugou], Midoriya and Todoroki were at the heart of it all" then focusing on Ochako is good foreshadowing on how her own battle wasn't fully recorded? It's like saying in the end her fight didn't matter, but the other ones went "well", so she's trying (and slowly failing) to keep her sadness at bay because, well, everyone's happy, so who cares? Another "throb".

I thought since the Todoroki family issues are out in the open, didn't they record the whole thing? Then I re-read it, they only saw the family stopping Touya from exploding. So they didn't see Shoto trying to talk to Touya, which means none of the LoV were humanized. Fuck's sake.

After that, I get focusing on the first years and civilians wanting to help and all, but it feels like a repeat of everything seconds before Jakku, so I assume it's a way for them to pretend things are normal? But not-quite-quoting Katsuki (<- which I will point out for my sake is very much alive and well and- oh boi LFtR will kill me) and Edgeshot here because it made me smile:

"Will you...go back to the way you were?" "I plan to attain something greater than what I was originally!"

So, yeah I suppose he'll be fine eventually. (Best J. really loving Edgeshot even as a worm, honestly, goals)

Again with Izuku remembering saying "[He'll] bring it all back" and apologizing for "not keeping his promise" and others telling him to not blame himself and they can reconstruct as many times as it takes. Again, gave me a little smile, but not for long-

Finally, Ochako pretending things are fine. Hello there, Sports Festival/Provisional License!Ochako I missed you- /hj (I miss the dorms era in general, actually.)

So... *sigh* Full disclosure: I wasn't looking forward to Himichako as we were getting 5/10 pages for the "conclusions" in the previous two, I thought Ochako would be off about Himiko being depressed about the League. But since she's MIA, red flags are now red herrings, and it's better than the dead outcome. If Ochako got another person dying in her arms that'd just break her character.

A blood transfusion takes hours, she couldn't been doing that for more than 20min, if it was gonna kill anyone it'd be Ochako. Either Himiko ran away or got arrested, and Ochako feels guilty because she doesn't know if she's dead or not. Not great, but until I see a corpse she ain't dead. Besides: Touya, Shoto, Edgeshot, Katsuki, Toshinori, Ochako herself, all physically hurt unlike her, and yet they live.

And then we have Izuku showing up. I'm upset he used OFA embers for this, but eh, it's Izuku, do I expect anything else?

Rolling with the assumption Himiko died (like our POV characters), Izuku would need to face his own failure in Ochako- Failed to save two people like she failed Himiko, but it'd be so. Empty. Ochako was true to herself, while Izuku gave nothing but "I want to save that crying kid" while fighting Tenko. The most they can do is bond with "failing" and "this isn't what we fought for". This is not really a moment where he can be a shoulder to cry on, it'd come across as hypocritical /neg.

The only way it could make sense it without being shallow on Mr. Control = Repress Your Heart's part (as he didn't open up to the two people who died in "his watch") is Ochako telling how Himiko loved yet seeing him repressing this part of his is idiotic? She likes people who are true to themselves, which Izuku hasn't been for ages, leading to him realizing something. I thought it'd be through a DvsK3 but. I'll take it, two chapters left, I just want his thoughts (and for them to talk but that can happen in the last one).

They only recorded Shoto stopping Touya from being a suicidal bomb, Ochako floating a bunch of Twice!Himiko clones and Izuku entering a coccon, popping out armless, getting them back, punching Tenko to death. The "I want to save [them]" wasn't registered, it makes sense they're (well, Izuku and Ochako mostly) weirded out about this, dissatisfied like most readers are (sidenote: why when it comes to the trio either Ochako or Shoto get sidelined? So much could tie their stories together and yet-)

It's still a tough pill. I'm not a villain stan, just wondering if those fights were for nothing- the humanity of Tenko and Himiko? Can't be proved for anyone else, since they weren't recorded.

And I don't know if anyone saw the same thing, but those "city lights" look like the bubbles from Ochako's awakening, maybe we'll get a Blackwhip or Entrance Exam callback? Maybe it's what the tagline meant by "hidden feelings", since she unlocked it to reach Himiko and doesn't think anyone would understand why. I hope it's just a nice visual though.

If Himiko is truly dead though... You know, I headcannoned the characters were telling the story through confessionals/recordings to register it to the world so they'd learn from that, but I guess the interviews Aizawa was talking about seemed more likely, which. Well it's something, but I thought it'd be everyone instead of just Class A. Idk. The idea the LoV didn't change anything, or that they did change things but don't get to see it, is bitter.

So uh. Yeah, those are my thoughts. I'm not sure how to feel about it, on one hand I want Izuku to finally open up but on the other, it feels like it'll be at Himiko and Ochako's expense by involving him in something that's theirs now. And there's a chance we'll get the "nothing is fine" from Ochako- god I'm fearing the discourse next week already :DDDD

... Man, and this is a bad timing to be in the fandom, considering the LFtR episode airs this Saturday (which will be yesterday by the time this post goes up and I'll be crying about that instead-), so uh. Yeah, this fandom will be emotionally devastated for two reasons XD

Okay, so I'll try ending this on a more optimistic note: I think Himiko is alive, and Ochako just doesn't know it, which is why we're getting 0 confirmation and a breakdown. Izuku's confrontation with her can make or break this plot, but as long as 1) we acknowledge the emotional, different stakes between the Himichako fight and Tenko vs. Izuku one and 2) it doesn't end in a confession (and let's be real, it won't), then we're probably good (sadly, if you disregard the LoV status). I still think it's an ass pull for the camera battery to go out though.

But no matter how this goes: C'mon, two chapters left now, this one was wasted on the first years, smh, let this sequel hopium be a reality I wanna know who's the 425 guy, not the poor first year who's gonna replace Shindo Yo in fanfics- /hj

[theharellan]

at work thinking again about how taash is the one to point out that Solas wanted to say something to mythal during the secret meeting regret and the implications of them being the one to see that

[magistheir]

hi i'm dean and i actually care a lot about the fact that the majority of necromancy has nothing to do with blood magic. most of canon supports this too:

dorian says he does not do blood magic. if necromancy were blood magic, why would he so blatantly lie?

in dai, the spell descriptions for necromancy explicitly state that it uses spirits to manipulate the feelings of others or cause effects (like explosions)

solas and cole both comment that necromancy is the art of manipulating spirits--actually, not even spirits, but fragments of wisps that could become spirits into doing things.

the majority of spells you are doing are actually from the school of entropy or from the spirit school--which is a school separate from that of blood magic. blood magic, as a school of magic, is focused mainly on the direct manipulation of others, first and foremost. the secondary ability is fueling spells.

blood magic might be a powerful way to fuel spells or control others, but it also weakens one's connection to the fade, making it harder to connect to spirits or cast magic in the traditional ways (mana or lyrium). solas cites this as one of his main reasons for not using blood magic in dai

i cannot emphasize this enough, but blood magic always has unintended, unpredictable consequences. the most common forms of this are the weakening of the veil, summoning of demons when that was absolutely not wanted, or possession of the mage casting it. but in the last flight, (spoilers) using blood magic to give the griffons the blight made them stronger and fight harder past the point when they would die, but they also died faster, got too aggressive, and eventually the blight mutated into a disease that infected all the remaining griffons. it also completely fucked up isseya, who got blighted immortality as a result. (end spoiler) with blood magic bringing some unpredictability to it, you wouldn't want to base entire complex systems of magic off of it

the inquisition, a chantry off-shoot organization, would not let the inquisitor learn blood magic and the rest of the world would certainly not be super cool and normal about it

i'll relate this back to dorian then, to make it relevant for my blog specifically.

dorian knows how to use blood magic, and has done it under very specific circumstances--those being a matter of tradition or heritage in specific ceremonies. for example, i count the final conversation by david gaider as among my canon, so the little ceremony dorian does as part of the funerary rites to have a last conversation with the deceased is something he knows and will do--but only with his blood and never another's, and never outside of a specific ceremonial need.

specifically, he looks down on blood mages or anyone who uses blood magic. to him, it is a sign of weak character, weak mind, and little magical talent of their own. his father was the one to instill those morals into him and alexius shared that opinion (which is why their later betrayals actually hurt). for dorian, its' simple: if you don't have the magic to learn spellcraft under your own power, pick up another way of fighting. he might be sympathetic if it was a true last resort to save one's life or that of other's, but you'll lose a lot of respect in his eyes.

[demonsfate]

okay i wanted to talk about how heartbreaking this scene is. when kazuya threatened to destroy the place, jin's FIRST reaction was to look at all the people fleeing - it shows how much jin truly cares about everyone. but i just realized what's even more fucking heartbreaking is that he specifically focuses on a mother and son. a mother and son whose lives are being threatened by a monster... this has to... this HAS to be intentional. the way jin jerks in disbelief and fear after this.. it makes this scene hurt even more. 😭

i'm really convinced jin was about to cry here. with how much brighter his eyes suddenly got, and the way his mouth starts trembling. i really think he was about to cry.

still caps to show how wide & bright his eyes got. but it really does look like a face of devastation. this is a man who desperately wants to be good. he aches to save lives, to help people in spite of his family lineage, in spite of his devil gene. but he can't. he fails every time. despite how hard he tries, how much pain he endures, jin is never good enough, he's never better. i think this really broke him here, i think this is a reminder to jin that he's a failure.

but jin doesn't cry. because he can't allow himself to. he always resorts to anger instead.

out of context, this was such a beautiful scene. it really establishes how much jin cares about people, how seeing people get hurt (or potentially) really affects him. i'd even call this a BRILLIANT SCENE. like the series can't convince me this was the man that started a war and lead to the death of thousands, if not millions, of people. this man is so PAINED to see even a few people get hurt - even one person. this is a man who'd do anything to protect these lives. tekken 6 wasn't what jin was, but this, this is jin kazama.

unfortunately, when they refused to retcon 6 or do more damage control than just having the character say "sorry" it just... it just makes little sense. even though this was an amazing scene, fans cannot react to it as well when it's ridiculous that a man who had dragged the world to hell, cares this much about a handful of people when he's supposedly responsible for the deaths of way more.

without thinking about the inconsistency and tek6, though. this is still so heartbreaking to me, and what jin should be.

[byanyan]

s/o to that one ex-mutual who was notorious for only ever referring to byan as "he" and, not long after i made a gentle reminder post that byan exclusively uses they/them (bc misgendering was happening with some regularity back then from a variety of people), they wrote me a reply that used no pronouns in reference to byan, only names, nicknames, and descriptors. what the fuck was that, dude

[hawksblooded]

for ur consideration...

[skyheld]

i really need to play trespasser to get the full picture, but i keep thinking most Dalish elves wouldn't believe the truth about the Evanuris unless they see it for themselves. this information is coming from an andrastian organization claiming its from the dread wolf - none of those sources would seem at all trustworthy.

even in her advisor verse, where merrill knows solas and at least somewhat trusts him before the reveal (oh the arguments they have though) she's not committed to believe him until she sees the evanuris in action. it seems so obvious that he's lying about it. it helps his cause.

i think she tries to use belief in the creators against him. trying to strengthen people's faith where she knows his agents are operating so they'll be less likely to join up with them. while she'd never encourage blind devotion of fanaticism, it's likely some of the elves she has talked to end up at the evanuris' side

[the-greatest-detective-ranp]

Just checking in buddy

How's your mouth?

@fukuzawa-armeddaddyagency

mouf numb still

[camellcat]

WTFFF I thought thirteen would be my new girl crush love of my life heart eyes wife you-came-after-twelve-you-must-be-better-than-they're-all-saying bbygirl and then I had to sit down and watch as she told a man who (if he were not a murderer, of course) literally every regeneration before her would've LOVED and FULLY SUPPORTED that "the systems aren't the problem. how people use and exploit the system, that's the problem. people like you" </33333 !?!?

[the-unconquered-queen]

Because I'm seeing cakegate on my dash again, let's stir up some old drama