#it just was also so. pointless

[spitedemon]

i really don’t think it’s “typical dragon age fandom nonsense” for people to be genuinely upset about the world state choices. combat, level design, art direction, gameplay gimmicks, those have all varied across each dragon age game. the one thing that’s remained constant are nods to our previous choices.

i wasn’t expecting my HoF to come riding in on a griffon, but i can’t find a monument dedicated to warden tabris somewhere around the anderfels? lucanis couldn’t have some lines about the time that one arainai boy was stirring up trouble in antiva city? you’re gonna tell me that making a mage the new divine wouldn’t have some impact on nevarra and antiva? on the anderfels, the supposed most devout militant andrastian nation in thedas? you’re saying nobody in the north is paying attention to who rules orlais or ferelden? come on.

[theloveinc]

Jason Todd who always notices when (in your attempt to care for him) you serve him the better cuts of meat or the more beautifully plated meals, where the sauce hasn't spilled over into the greens and the scoop of the rice hasn't browned on the bottom...

And Jason Todd, the fucking bastard, who always makes you trade plates with him.

[hellspawnmotel]

do you have any personal thoughts on what exactly is it that drives the player to do a snowgrave route? or do you think we're not supposed to know yet..? like you know how in undertale the genocide route is mostly about curiosity and using the player's completionist mentality agaisnt them, i feel like snowgrave has something to do with the prophecy but we cant know for sure yet, do you think snowgrave would be more about playing with people's feelings or something like that ? sorta like, "I like noelle so i'll spend more time with her and make her strong" "i dont like berdly so i'll play the route where he dies" or maybe literally just "I love when stories make me feel awful so that's why i'll play the Mean route" LMAO since i think thats common in ppl who like to discuss the route

it’s interesting, I think it’s something we don’t really have enough information to know yet. I think it depends on the nature of the soul and how it got to this world, what put it here and why. I think…. the holiday family is kind of the center of everything, and noelle is the only member of it who’s like, available? rudy’s in the hospital and carol & dess are already fully involved, but noelle was still innocent and ignorant, and healthy. so to that end I don’t think it’s necessarily about who noelle is as a person, it’s because she has access to this power. the ability to break the game.

the thing that keeps getting brought up in chapter 3 is “freedom”. you want to play your own way and do whatever you want. youre enjoying the youthful days. it’s fun. I think the mechanics of the weird route are in direct conversation with the geno route and how people have reacted and gotten used to it over the years, and turned it from like a dark secret to half the conversation around undertale. so it’s asking “how far are you willing to go in order to achieve that same ‘freedom?’ we already know you’re willing to kill all these sweet and fun characters, you want that same thing again, but what if the only avenue to get there was through the slow psychological destruction of an innocent girl? would you be willing to do these terrible things to her? would you be willing to select just the right action to hurt her over and over? would you be willing to sit and watch the consequences of what you’ve done?”

I mean. that’s one angle anyway. I also subscribe to the idea of the weird route as “power-leveling” your favorite character, or just wanting to make the “weak girl” into something strong and threatening, in defiance of all those games that wouldn’t let you do just that. youre helping her of course. and girls like her dont usually get to become the strongest. you want to see it just once.

I think the former is much more likely to be the overall “point” of the weird route, but maybe the latter is like, the internal justification the player/soul gives themselves within the narrative. and of course in real life every actual person playing is going to feel differently and have different reasons. but again, we really don’t have enough information to make that kind of call. it could just as easily be something that will become clear only when we get much deeper in.

[redonionlover]

sunstone..? perhaps???

anon ur so real for this... they're my faves since i first played rw

havent drawn them in a loong time though so i doodled these real quick :^)

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

Maybe it's because I grew up without much money but every time I go grocery shopping (I do this online) I feel so fucking wealthy. I'm all like "you know I can save myself so much labour... and buy the apple pie THAT'S ALREADY MADE, haha, such an indulgence!" and "with the click of a button, THEY WILL BRING THE FOOD TO MY HOUSE! So luxurious!"

Last week I bought the kind of instant noodles that come in their own disposeable cups instead of the cheaper kind that you have to provide a bowl for and I'm still riding that high.

[the-daily-dreamer]

Ryan Condal you are so fucking stupid and I hate you so much.

Because how are you going to sit there and say Alicent recounted a fabricated version of Blood and Cheese to historians to make Rhaenyra look bad and that’s why you changed it.

The very same Alicent that you say has been humbled this season and betrayed her sons to help Rhaenyra.

How are you so stupid that you can’t even keep her characterization the same in your own brain when you rationalize your butchering of the story you were tasked with adapting. Which one is it? Is Alicent the humbled Rhaenyra helper who wanted to doom her male relatives. Or is Alicent the bitter Rhaenyra hater who destroyed her reputation in the histories. SHE CANNOT BE BOTH RYAN.

And if this is some weak attempt at saying Alicent will change again…FUCK YOU. Because you threw out her season 1 characterization completely for this season 2 humbled Alicent arc. Only to apparently throw it all out AGAIN for a queen in chains who hates Rhaenyra and will ruin her reputation arc for seasons 3 and 4. In which case WHAT WAS THE REASON. WHY DID YOU EVEN DO THIS. JUST KEEP THE CHARACTER CONSISTENT

—

I’m just saying. That Ryan Condal is not even capable of figuring out who he wants Alicent to be. So he just uses his weird misinterpretations and hatred of Alicent to excuse every bizarre and stupid creative decision he makes. And all that does is make Alicent a character with absolutely zero consistency. Because she is Rhaenyra’s best friend, then she’s Rhaenyra’s biggest hater, then she’s Rhaenyra’s supporter again (the toasting scene???), then she’s a usurper, then she helps Rhaenyra, then she’s apparently going to hate Rhaenyra all over again and recount fabrications to history. And on and on it goes.

At this point just let Alicent hate Rhaenyra and be done with it. I’m tired

[crow-caller]

I really do think looking at bad writing is one of the best ways to learn about writing in general, especially for beginners.

the thing is, writing in general is highly subjective- a good sentence will be good in different ways to different people, or not impress someone at all.

a bad sentence? most people can spot bad sentences easy, especially if it is presented to them as 'here's an example of a bad sentence, let's unpack why.'

bad writing can also be very funny, which I think is again often more engaging than 'here's a work of literary genius go analyze it'. Like here's some bad writing from lightlark3:

The moment it was out of Horus’s grip, his body became bones. The flesh turned to ash. He became a corpse.

it's dumb as hell, but I think could foster a solid discussion when you ask 'why? what is the author intending to say? what about it makes it feel 'clunky'? How would you write the same idea?'

[incorrect-rangers-quotes]

i think one of the best life lessons ra taught me at the tender age of like. seven? wasn't like. being brave!! or always giving it your all!! it was that some crimes are fine really. not all of them! but some crimes are fine. cool, even. epic. one might say

[actuallyjustabiscuit]

Fuck it

I think I just need to say it

This whole scene to me…

Didn’t come off as flirting

Ok, I promise I’m not doing this to put down any FunnyGummy shippers.

The ship is fine. I like it

But just hear me out on this take, because there’s a specific reason I’m making it.

And to do that, I gotta do a quick analysis on their interactions.

So here’s the deal, it feels weird to call Pomni’s behavior towards Gummigoo in ep 4, namely all her clumsy stuttering and stumbling, as anything resembling infatuation.

The reason she’s failing to play it cool is because she’s suddenly reunited with someone who, not a couple days ago, was previously blown up right in front of her.

Like, I’m pretty sure she was struggling not to just immediately go “holy shit, you’re alive!?” as soon as she realized who was standing on the other side of the counter.

Let’s try walking in Pomni’s shoes for a bit. Imagine seeing someone you just befriended…suddenly get killed…in a pretty violent fashion…and then pop back up again with absolutely no warning.

You’d think the first thing you’d talk about upon reuniting would be something related to that.

But nah, they just waltz in wanting some breakfast like the average customer in this little fast food simulation game that you are being forced to play in.

Now, let’s go back to ep 2

Gummigoo had accidentally stumbled onto the other side of Caine’s curtain, making him question his entire existence. Leaving Pomni the only one available to explain and to effectively shatter his worldview by revealing that he, and everyone he knows, is an NPC. And his reaction to all of this was naturally negative. He goes from panicking at the discovery to being completely dismal over the loss of the reality he knew.

To say the poor guy was going through it would be an understatement.

Gummigoo was pretty much in a hopeless state. Being burdened with eye opening knowledge is a very lonely experience. Especially when it seems you’re the only one to be made aware of it. It’s not hard to see why Pomni took the time to help him. She was forced to suddenly comprehend a different reality just the other day.

“Feeling like your nothing is kinda normal.” is a wild way to try to relate to someone, but she decided to take a seat next to him because it’s probably the most normal thing she’s heard since she’s been there.

And what’s important to note about their conversation under the map is that with every attempt that Pomni initially makes to help him feel less alone, Gummigoo’s quick to brush it off because none of it is enough to diminish the fact that he’s not a real person, and therefore does not get to exist as a real person. Believing that his friends care about him the same way he does for them is pretty much cold comfort when their roles have been literally coded for them.

Even when she offered him a way out of his situation, he wasn’t immediately keen on taking it. His question, “how does this benefit you at all?” is the kind of question someone asks when they place no real value on themselves as a person. He was so quick to accept that he is nothing, because from his understanding that’s what he would essentially be reduced to once the adventure is over. This is what fills him with dread, knowing his life ends when his purpose as a character is complete. And it’s only when Pomni finally gives him a new role, being her friend, that he begins to respond positively.

He goes from a fake bandit to a real friend, giving his existence some validity.

The show has been doing a great job at establishing that Pomni is the kind of earnest person to lend a helping hand. But, considering how she failed to help someone the day prior, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was placing a lot of responsibility on herself to make sure this guy at least gets a chance to not feel like nothing. Helping him benefits her beyond feeling less alone in this strange new life, it was also a chance to redeem herself.

This time she wasn’t going to abandon someone who needed her.

And then he was fucking obliterated.

Once again, Pomni failed at helping someone. And not just a stranger, this time it was someone she called a friend. On top of that, she didn’t just failed, she practically led this lamb to slaughter. She didn’t know the outcome of course, but it was still her idea to take him to the Circus.

It was her insistence on bringing him along that got him killed

So now she’s talking to someone who may or may not be the same person because he sure damn well looks like him.

And if he didn’t really die, then perhaps she didn’t really screw up again, at least that’s what she’s hoping for

However, this isn’t the Gummigoo that got stranded under the map with her and needed consoling from his existential crisis.

This is just a guy who’s still waiting on his Sausage Bacon Jaffle Combo, and is super weirded out that the cashier girl is crawling around trying to get his attention.

And you can see all the hope in Pomni’s eyes die at that realization.

Additionally, her saying “I…don’t know” feels like it goes beyond the surface level “we met before…but you don’t remember me, so maybe not…”

Because, really, Pomni actually doesn’t know Gummigoo.

She never got the chance to know him. Sure she knows what he is, but who Gummigoo was as a person was what they both were going to find out together.

But this Gummigoo doesn’t have the baggage of knowing the truth, which is what ultimately led him to feel like nothing, and in turn needing the validation that he doesn’t have to be nothing. Here, he’s just a simple customer.

This isn’t her friend. And Pomni has to accept that it’s best that he doesn’t remember her. He doesn’t think he’s nothing, and that’s all that matters.

Alright, so why am I really going over all of this?

Why bother making a whole post analyzing these two just to pedantically point out that their interactions have been purely platonic?

Well to tell you the truth, it’s cuz I’m a little fed up with all of it.

I don’t mean people making assumptions that these two characters have feelings for each other.

Im talking more about the trend of when a girl is shown acting all nervous around a guy, people automatically conclude that she has a thing for him.

But when it’s two characters of the same gender acting the exact same way, you get some annoying commentary about how it’s for reasons unrelated to romance and how they “just don’t see it”

“It’s like people can’t just be friends anymore”

Does that phrase annoy you as much as it does me?

Now, thanks to Gooseworx, we are all in a collective understanding that none of the characters will actually get together romantically. So we are free to ship who we please, with the caveat that we are not to act superior over what will or will not be canon. And this is a good rule.

I’m too old to be making arguments against a ship because at the end of the day these weird little guys are public domain and you can imagine them being together in any way you please because they’re just characters.

So me saying that people viewing Pomni’s behavior towards Gummigoo in ep 4 as inherently smitten are misconstruing their relationship just sounds like I’m putting someone’s beloved ship down for no real reason other than just being weirdly contrarian about it.

And you’d be right to think that way.

But when you get people in this day and age who are so quick to label these interactions as romantic and then have trouble extending the same imagination towards a ship like ragapom, it starts to get a bit grating. That the awkward and nervous interactions between two women can be dismissed as platonic and anything more is just delusion.

Like, even people who sincerely ship them tend to make jokes about how delusional we are to do so. You don’t see that in people who ship FunnyGummy. And that’s a little depressing to me.

Now, I’m not saying you have to ship Pomni and Ragatha romantically. I’m not here to dictate anyone’s tastes or say anyone’s reasons for shipping are less valid than others.

I guess it just irks me that we don’t extend this platonic view just as readily towards straight pairings.

Like, I honestly feel that Pomni and Gummigoo’s relationship is appreciated less because of all the shipping.

Their story is so much richer than just another “love that could never be”. It’s the tragedy of losing a friendship only moments after its inception. Of having to come to terms that someone you wanted to be closer with, is better off living their life separate from yours. You wanted to be a positive influence on them, but it didn’t work out as planned, leaving you both to suffer as a result. And all you can do is wish them well as they leave you behind.

A lot of people like to see this pairing as a tragic romance because their circumstances give them prime shipping material. That her having feelings for him would make their separation feel bittersweet.

But Pomni not being in love with Gummigoo doesn’t invalidate the heartbreak of her having to say goodbye to him.

And it shouldn’t. Because he was her friend, for the brief special moment she knew him. And in the end, she did get to do something for him.

She got to wish him a pleasant day.

[baejax-the-great]

Really have to assume that anyone saying hector didn't deserve to die the way he did didn't actually read the Iliad

[burningcheese-merchant]

okay enough with the ship discourse! let's lighten the mood with some season 10 discussions! I'm really really excited to see the latter half of the story, and I'm super curious how this will going into next months update too! chocolate bark, and whatever second cookie that'll come in july, I cannot wait to see how things play out, the dragons have some of the most interesting lore in all of CR history (second only to the Novas hehehe my awesome space super sentai family 😄)

Absolutely, my friend! No more dumb discourse, only good and silly vibes

I actually meant to make a separate post talking about my thoughts on Season 10 of Ovenbreak, but I was always too busy to do so. Your ask gives me an excuse lol

I have LOVED this update so far. It's so great. The story is so great. Longan Dragon being 1000000000000 kilometers long and looking like an eldritch horror? Basically being Jörmungandr from Norse myth? Peak. Longan Dragon trapping everyone in some kind of mind prison and forcing them to endure constant pyschological assault? Peak. More dragon family lore? Peak. Chocolate Bark? Peak, I love him, he's so handsome and perfect, if only he was in Kingdom too

I think what I've enjoyed most so far is:

Dark Choco and Chocolate Bark backstory. I really enjoy their little mentor/student bond. CB is such a fun dude. He's tough but he's lighthearted and has a sense of humor. The way he speaks to DC is so charming, he's like a older brother or uncle almost

I think Dark Choco really needed someone like this in his life, you know? It's a big shame he left, even if it was for an important mission. It makes me wonder how differently things would've turned out if he'd stayed.

Also...

"My father" this, "my father" that. #SayHisName, Devsis lol

It's cool to get official confirmation that the Dark Cacao Kingdom exists (existed?) in Ovenbreak as well. And by extension, Dark Cacao himself exists (existed?) there too. And... he's not the most affectionate dad still lol. It's ok, he's still my favorite Ancient and Kingdom character. I am begging and pleading Devsis for more lore on this, hell give us a whole update focusing on Dark Choco PLEASE, he's been so neglected in OB and it's been a huge shame because he gets more attention in Kingdom. I love Dark Choco, I love how tragic he is, I love his redemption arc. (It's admittedly... less compelling here than it is in CRK, but that can be fixed with a Dark Choco-focused update imo)

I just really, really adore seeing the dragons interact with each other. I love their dynamic SO much, they're my favorite group in this whole series. I'm nutso about them individually and as a family/clan. It's been awesome learning more about Lychee and Longan especially; I love Lychee's unwilling attachment to Rambutan and her apparent longing for proper attention from/bonding with Longan, I love the way the Pitaya-Ananas-Lotus trio bicker and banter, THE LONGAN CHARACTER STUDY‼️‼️‼️ Pitaya may be my favorite dragon but Longan is the most complex and interesting one by far. The warped affection he feels for his family. The need to protect and govern them. The way he perceives time and the world at large. His sociopathic desire for absolute control and revenge for perceived injustices. The way he tries to manipulate the others into agreeing with him and going along with his plans (those scenes in the Dark Realm are fucking crazy. The way he warps and weaponizes their emotions and memories is actual textbook abuser/cult brainwashing shit)

What the actual fuck dude. Ok, Charles Manson lol. And I thought Shadow Milk was bad. (No lie I find Longan Dragon 10x more intimidating than Shadow Milk. He exudes an aura that SM simply does not. THIS is power. THIS is boundless knowledge sharpened into a blade and held against your throat. Shadow Milk may be a god but Longan Dragon is above even godhood. I'm way more scared of Longan than any of the Beasts)

Biggest scene for me though?

WHAT??? LAST SURVIVOR OF THE FLOWER DRAGONS??? WHAT???????????

In hindsight... yeah it was kind of obvious something was up with Lotus Dragon lol. The one flower in a group of fruits. Pretty on the nose. But it's still crazy to think about, you know? What happened to the other Flower Dragons? Why is Lotus the only one left? How did the other Fruit Dragons feel about taking her in? How did SHE feel about that, essentially being adopted by a rival clan? What if they had something to do with the Flower Dragons' demise? They better address this in the next half of the story istg. I will lose it. I WILL write a sternly worded email to Devsisters. I WILL cry

What this says about Longan's character is also quite interesting. It appears that his respect and affection for dragons actually does extend beyond his own immediate family. Enough to take in an orphan. This capacity for compassion and generosity is so unlike how Longan normally behaves. It makes for a really fascinating pivot from his usual modus operandi and adds a lot of depth to his thinking and character

(honestly, this makes me want and hope for Longan Dragon's surrender even more. I've always thought that Longan willingly standing down and ceding victory to the other dragons would be more impactful than him simply being beaten the normal way, aka through the Power of Friendship and Punching Stuff. I want Longan's love for his family to win in the end. I want him to come to realize that he really would have no choice but to eradicate his family in order to achieve his goals, and then forfeit because he could never bring himself to do it. They're the reason why he's doing any of this in the first place. I don't want him to change his mind about mortals or anything, he can stay a genocidal race supremacist lol. I just think it would be more interesting if he willingly stopped what he was doing just because he can't let go of his kin. Perhaps he truly is only clinging to an idyllic past long dead. It would hurt. Hurt his pride, his ego. But their preservation would require the destruction of his clan and he cannot stand for that. THEY are his mission. THEY are his dream. Yes, Longan will forever mourn this loss as he shall forever mourn the past itself. But at least he'll still have those four afterwards. Even if they hate him.)

The dragons make me so ill. I need to pelt them with rocks. Gonna call the Stone Dragons Pitaya was beefing with in prehistoric times and ask them for a favor

[cry-ptidd]

"All I see is a slave."

"And all I see is a fool."

[records-of-a-slacker]

I think the reason I like Cale so much and that he means just everything, is because his ideals are so close to mine and because he is proof of the kind of person I've always wanted to be.

I basically live by this saying I heard, something along the lines of be the person you wished was there that time no one was. Grow up to be that person who you would have needed that time you were suffering. It's kind of like my life motto. And Cale, he's like the physical manifestation of it.

He went hungry and starved a lot in his life, so now he always feeds the people around him and places a lot of importance on food and proper nutrition, as well as growing up well, and he even wishes the kids would be picky with their food. All his childhood, he was continuously betrayed and failed by the adults around him, who were supposed to take care of him but ended up hurting him so often. So now he's a reliable and caring guardian for all those kids who don't have someone to look out for them. He's never really had a home, and when he thought he did, he lost them one way or another, and he knows what's it like to not have a roof over your head and wander aimlessly without somewhere to go back to. So now he has tons of shelters everywhere, different villas like the one in Harris or the jungle, so that there's a home for him and his allies to return to wherever they go. And when he meets someone who doesn't have anywhere to go, he creates a place for them or takes back the place that was supposed to be meant for them.

When he first meets On and Hong, he feeds them, starting with bread, then meat, then cake, and then even medicinal herbs when he noticed On was hurt. When he met Choi Han, he brought him back so he had somewhere to sleep for the night, had a chance to clean himself up, eat well, and rest properly. When he freed Raon, he healed up his injuries and sent him off., and when he started following him, he always made sure Raon was eating well like with all of his allies. He gave the wolf kids and the tigers a whole neighborhood in Harris village.

He's had his world completely flipped upside down, time and time again, destroyed, decimated. So he saves everyone else's world.

Cale is so special to me, because despite everything he chooses not to be bring harm to people because of the way he had been treated, but to be kind and make it so that the people around him don't suffer like he did.

[sukibenders]

Glinda mentions to Elphaba how Fiyero can't stop thinking about that moment in Dillamond's class, or that he's having thoughts in general and how it worries her because it's not something she's used to from him (which is him thinking about actual things), in contrast to Elphaba, who doesn't seem all that bothered and, even more so interested in the manner when Fiyero brings up how he can't stop thinking about when they rescued the lion cub. I don't know about everyone else but for me, even with this scene probably being added for lighthearted value, I also see it as another piece in the puzzle cementing how Fiyero's and Glinda's actions will, eventually, either pull them closer or further away from Elphaba. I lowkey don't like it when people act surprised or confused as to why Glinda was spelled or get annoyed that Fiyero is in her place but I, personally, don't think she would have helped in that moment, specifically in the movie.

Prior to the train scene, Glinda is shown to, not only, be completely rude and spoiled (as shown with her literally fainting over not getting her way), when in class, she publicly points out Dillamond's inability to pronounce her name correctly even though it's an obvious struggle, parading in front of the class how easier it was for her other teachers to do it, then being dismissive during the rest of the lesson when learning the importance of history and why to learn from it (correct me if I'm wrong, as it has been a minute since I've seen the movie). All that already tells me that she doesn't really care for the animals' cause, let alone enough to follow Elphaba and Fiyero into the woods after stealing the lion cub and I think, subconsciously, Elphaba knew that. In fact, I can only see Glinda trying to sway them to leave the cub and how what their new professor wanted to teach probably wasn't all that bad (not saying that she would want the cub to be harmed, just that she would try to rationalize what's going as we've seen her do before). This is the same woman who, after learning that the Wizard was a fraud and responsible for the missing and harmed animals, still tried to justify his actions and berated Elphaba for not "acting accordingly" to the news, but yet we still think she should have been there to save the lion cub? That she would have helped those animals alongside Fiyero and Elphaba? I think it could allude to how Glinda could/will be used to help further push propaganda for the Wizard, especially given how it benefits her socially, as figures of propaganda often don't think too hard, or enough to critique the system around them not because they aren't smart enough too (for the most part), but more so because they understand how their world works and understand the consequences that follow when stepping out of line.

You don't have to like Fiyeraba or even find Fiyero interesting, but to purposely ignore what the movie is presenting you is such a cop-out. Fiyero enters the film being a sort of anti-establishment-like character, caring little if he gets kicked out of Shiz for breaking the rules, or just hardly caring in general (something Elphaba calls him out for), and so on. Why wouldn't he be down to rescue the lion? Even if it was to just feed his rebellious streak, he still would have gone, but when he and Elphaba meet, he's on a talking horse and they are conversing like lifelong friends. That might add another layer to the pair saving the lion. Even if he wasn't on the same level as Elphaba at that moment, the train scene shows that it had a profound impact on him that he couldn't shake. I think, had he been presented with the choice of joining Elphaba or staying, he would have gone, not only for her but also because he now knows that the Wizard is a fraud and most definitely wouldn't stand for what he [Oz] is doing. This is what sets him apart from Glinda which, isn't necessarily me hating on her but just stating facts. Glinda isn't/won't be willing to sacrifice her position and what it brings her, until it's too late (which is the tragedy of her character and her relationship with Elphaba), while Fiyero risks everything, even to some extent his own body (Scarecrow) and, in the end, gets to stand with Elphaba.

[necrotic-nephilim]

Nightwing: Brothers In Blood is such a fucking hilarious comic for DickJay content, given the bulk of the plot is Jason deciding to dress up as Nightwing and kill people which, Dick predictably is not fond of, as a concept.

There's so much in that arc that makes me unwell. Dick straight up saying he wishes Jason had died. The way they instantly banter when they run into each other before Dick gets mad at Jason for dressing up as Nightwing, then Jason begs Dick to work with him.

But what I think gets me the most is the outright confirmation of how even now, Jason still has a serious case of hero worship for Dick and just wants to be like him and get his approval.

nightwing (1996) #120

There's such a complex Jason has over Dick and it makes me Unwell. Jason identifying with Dick, wanting his attention, his approval. His love, even. I mean, later on when Jason gets kidnapped, in his mind he hallucinates Dick talking to him and it outright confirms he wants Dick to save him and Jason has a doomsday spiral about Dick not saving him, through his mental image of Dick.

nightwing (1996) #121

Jason wants Dick in his life, there's so much unrequited love and weirdness between them. They're so not normal about each other. Later on he sends Dick a note saying he just wishes they could be family again and I think it's so unhinged of Jason. Dressing up as Dick, just because of how much he loves and respects Dick. So much potential in that.

Also aside from all of that complex this comic is also hilarious for the bit it has where Dick accidentally takes a job as a model and has to dress up as Nightwing, specifically Jason!Nightwing because of the sex appeal Cheyenne (the woman Dick is seeing) thinks it has. And when he's on the runway and sees Jason in the audience he just jumps at Jason, in front of everyone, to beat the shit out of him, while dressed as Nightwing. Which the public thinks is a planned stunt to bank on the weird Sexy Rivalry between the two Nightwings currently running around. It's the most unhinged thing and I think it's so funny. Dick's sort-of-girlfriend makes him dress up as Nightwing!Jason because she thinks it's hot and it'll sell, then Dick beats Jason up in front of everyone, still dressed as Nightwing (specifically Jason), and it reads as a sexy performance modeling piece.

nightwing (1996) #120

Imagine being so weirdly homoerotic about your sort of kind of brother figure that you can't hesitate fighting him when you're supposed to be modeling and everyone thinks the tension is so good it's a part of the show. These two cannot leave each other alone with their weird tangled feelings for each other. I love it dearly.

[mythological-mayhem]

Zeus: Nothing in life is free.

Aphrodite: Love is free.

Apollo: Adventure is free.

Hermes: Everything is free if you take it without paying.