#jay jay and orin

[the-last-resistance]

"mmmmmmmmmmmmrph. prhmn...." His tail wraps gently around Jay-jay's leg as he starts to doze off, comfortable.

night night new lil brother.

[dailydccomics]

 Nicola Scott’s “Through the Ages” covers

[thats-a-lot-of-cortisol]

I've been thinking about names re: durges (and especially Corentin)

I haven't really liked the whole "this character's name is The Dark Urge" because it's honestly...silly to me? A bit? But I saw someone else discussing their durge's backstory today and it got me thinking about the function of names a bit more.

Naming someone "The Dark Urge" is super dehumanizing. And, like, that's the point, of course. But Corentin, even at their most compliant, was always trying to eek out some semblance of individuality or control or rebellion. They were kidnapped brought to the Bhaalists at 15, after all. Even with the cult's (and Bhaal's) efforts, it's difficult to completely rewire someone who's nearly a grown adult, especially one who's fighting it kicking and screaming most of the time.

So while they lose their memories of their family due to the constant trauma, they do manage to hold on to some things. Their refusal to eat bog body stays the entire time, as does their insistence on maintaining a hair care routine (which is when they start braiding Orin's hair, too). But after they break, other aspects of cleanliness they'd managed to hold onto until that point fall to the wayside, and they stop resisting when Savorak, and Fel, and the Bhaalists call them "The Dark Urge" instead of their name. Orin still calls them Corentin for a little bit, but she stops eventually too as she gets more and more restless and insistent on gaining power.

And then they meet Gortash who, despite also being a horrible person, isn't as bad as the people Corentin had been forced to lead. At this point they know what the likely ending of the Absolutist plot is going to be (though they're still in the early stages of the plan) but being able to work so closely with someone who's sincere and, more importantly, isn't going to stab them the moment they turn their back to him, is like breathing in fresh air for the first time in a decade or more (both figuratively and literally). And they dare to hope that there's an actual, true way out of the hell they'd been living in.

So when Gortash eventually asks if The Dark Urge is really their name, they tell him no.

[lordbanquo]

My biggest flex ever is that I played Orin in a production of Little Shop of Horrors

[murdermade]

stopping myself from making a ship tag for connor that literally just says 'i wanna play with him like he's Jenga'

[littleshopofhorrors-confessions]

a disproportionate amount of people who’ve played orin quote “almost actually suffocated” during now!/it’s just the gas. like. 3/5 orins say they’ve nearly suffocated. Is this a problem????

No and it should happen more

[jasposeyblog]

Artist gift to me of Lil Aquaman with Goldfish signed print by Jay Mooers

[spiderwarden]

@bhaaalmade

[heyitsjaysblog]

I am probably really late, but i am rly hoping someone out there has made an orin fan cam to ‘paint the town red’, bc omg 😭

like i’m not gonna make it, bc i don’t know how to, but i would love to see it !

[isfjmel-phleg]

A reader of Damage brought up an interesting point--just how much extended family Grant has.

So who exactly is in Grant's extended genetic family?

His biological parents are Al Pratt and Mary James Pratt, but as a result of the experimentation done on him by Vandal Savage, he has been injected with the DNA of the JSA and the founding members of the JLA minus Triumph. So he is also genetically related to the following:

Barry Allen (Flash)

Johnny Chambers (Johnny Quick)

Orin/Arthur Curry (Aquaman)

Joan Dale-Trevor (Miss America)

Jay Garrick (Flash)

Ted Grant (Wildcat)

Carter Hall (Hawkman)

Shiera Hall (Hawkgirl)

J'onn J'onzz (Martian Manhunter)

Hal Jordan (Green Lantern)

Ted Knight (Starman)

Dinah Drake Lance (Black Canary)

Dinah Laurel Lance (Black Canary)

Libby Lawrence (Liberty Belle)

Charles McNider (Doctor Mid-Nite)

Ray Palmer (Atom)

Alan Scott (Green Lantern)

Rex Tyler (Hourman)

Most of these eighteen genetic parents are still alive by the time Grant is made aware of his heritage, with the exceptions of Barry Allen, Johnny Chambers, Dinah Drake Lance, Charles McNider, and Rex Tyler. As far as I'm aware, he has met only seven of them (Alan Scott, J'onn J'onzz, Jay Garrick, Ted Grant, Ted Knight, Carter Hall, and Ray Palmer very briefly before Grant's death).

As for his extended family, they include the following:

Johnny Chambers and Libby Lawrence's daughter Jesse Chambers, a teammate of Grant's during his second time with the Titans and on the JSA, is his sister.

Barry Allen's children Don and Dawn Allen (deceased) were his siblings. Don's son Bart Allen, a teammate and friend of Grant's during his first time with the Titans, is his nephew. Dawn's daughter Jenni Ognats is his niece.

Arthur Curry's sons Koryak, Arthur Curry Jr. (deceased), and A. J. are his brothers. Garth, a teammate from Grant's second time with the Titans, is his brother by adoption.

Joan Dale-Trevor's daughter Lyta Trevor-Hall is his sister by adoption. Lyta is married to Hector Hall, son of Carter and Shiera Hall, who is Grant's brother. Lyta and Hector's son Daniel Hall is his nephew.

Jay Garrick's recently rediscovered daughter Judy Garrick is his sister (Grant is in this recent continuity, so I'm counting it).

Ted Grant's sons Jake Grant (deceased) and Tom Bronson, a teammate and friend of Grant's on the JSA, are his brothers.

J'onn J'onzz's daughter K'hym J'onzz (deceased) was his sister.

Ted Knight's sons David (deceased) and Jack Knight are his brothers. Jack's son Kyle Knight is his nephew. This connection also makes Grant a cousin of Sandra Knight (Phantom Lady), a teammate of his from the Freedom Fighters.

Dinah Drake Lance's daughter Dinah Laurel Lance is his sister but also one of his genetic parents.

Dinah Laurel Lance's daughter Cynthia Lance is his sister by adoption. Dinah's husband's children Roy Harper and Mia Dearden are his siblings by adoption also, which would make Lian Harper his niece by adoption. However, these relationships wouldn't exist until Dinah's marriage around the time that Grant was in the JSA.

Alan Scott's children Jennie-Lynn Hayden and Todd Rice are his siblings.

Rex Tyler's son Rick Tyler, a teammate of Grant's on the JSA and the husband of Jesse Chambers, is his brother.

So that's eleven genetically-related brothers (seven living, four deceased), six genetically-related sisters (four living, two deceased), and three genetically-related nephews and a niece (probably more...I tried to stick to characters who would have existed during Grant's appearances), plus his genetic parents' five adoptive children (two brothers, three sisters) and a niece by adoption.

After Grant's solo ended, the comics tended to forget that he is genetically related to a lot of people, even though some of these people would be teammates and friends (Jesse and Rick, for instance, treat him like a brother when they're on the JSA together, but the genetic connection never is made). So unfortunately a family reunion like the one that the above reader imagined never happens, but it would have been fantastic.

In fact, during an incident in which Grant and a lot of other heroes were kept in virtual reality designed to be personally appealing, what he experiences is a picnic with his father and several of his genetic parents, where he is being welcomed and accepted. This is clearly something he desires--being part of a family.

(JLA/Titans #2)

[the-last-resistance]

"mmmmnmnmnmnmmmm." The gecko hummed in content, eyes closed peacefully as he just basked in the safety of the place. Not having to worry about someone sneaking up behind him or anything like that.

[Jay-Jay lays down next to him, putting his head on his backpack.] nap time?

[dailydccomics]

i love seeing old people in love Aquaman vol 5 #44

[thats-a-lot-of-cortisol]

I've been chewing on what fears the bg3 characters would be because I do that with almost every piece of media I like now.

Gale is the Beholding (hubris, pursuit of knowledge above all else, his ex can literally see everything he does in/with the Weave). You could make an argument for Desolation b/c of the orb but I think that's secondary. Wyll is the Hunt imo, but the Desolation works for him too- I think his situation is similar to that Hunter we meet whose name I'm forgetting, whose inciting incident has to do with the Dark. I thought the same thing about Karlach but I think she's Desolation instead of Hunt, both aesthetically and because she was actively betrayed and is, you know, dying. Shadowheart is the Dark. Halsin could honestly be the Lonely: he's pretty isolated from the people around him emotionally. An island unto himself etc etc. Lae'zel is the End imo. You'd think she'd be Hunt but End fits into Vlaakith's whole deal (victim of the End, avatar of the Hunt?). Astarion could be either the Buried (since that covers abuse as well, he was literally kept underground/out of the sunlight, etc etc) or the Hunt. I'm a bit undecided there. I don't know enough about Minthara to make a call on her and I don't want to just say Web because of Lolth. Slaughter, maybe? Since that fear covers war. Jaheira and Minsc are Hunt too, I think (there's a lot of Hunt but that comes with the territory when you're adventuring).

Gortash is Web and you cannot convince me otherwise. I think Orin is Slaughter but, honestly, Durge seems more associated with the Extinction to me because of Bhaal's end goal. The Desolation and the Lonely tag-teamed Ketheric's ass but he's an avatar of the End. Dame Aylin is an avatar of the Hunt, victim of the Dark, and Isobel is an avatar of the End a la the main End avatar we see (Oliver? I really need to re-listen...)

There's obviously a lot of overlap and bleed because there always is. I've been wanting to make art based off of this but it's not happening anytime soon so I figured I'd shout about it into the void a bit lol

[outeremissary]

Oooh how about telling us a little about The Thousand Mile Fall? 👀

Thank you Ash and @bearvanhelsing for asking!

I want to begin by apologizing- I suspect you were looking for Tristian, but this is the single BG3 thing that was on the list. Jay, idk where you stand on discourse game of the year, but Ash, I know that you're not a fan and have been working on distance. I'm placing the rest under a cut. You can read it or not read it. Either thing is fine with me.

As compensation: the one actual Kingmaker ask I got on this (sorry it's not a flashy one), or a PF2e one about Kasander/Asperia.

Still with me? Thank you, I appreciate it!! Let's see to what degree I'm willing to bare my soul before I get too embarrassed and awkwardly trail off.

Ah: DUrge spoiler warning. And content warning: DUrgetash (sorry)

So! The Thousand Mile Fall, something which was only just starting to go beyond planning (and originally planning for a comic) when my laptop committed die. I was really interested in the concept of the Dark Urge as a character who was always framed as having fallen from grace, and who had also fallen from a state of divinity. The liminal state excited me, and we all know how I feel about a horrible someone who's a horrible failure of an angel. Horrible failure of a demigod occupies a similar space. I think the nature of that failure- that fall- began to occupy me quite a bit, since I had a strong concept for Asperia from very, very early on in my playthrough (long before I knew anything besides the DUrge plot besides that they were a Bhaalspawn, even before I had become convinced Kasander and Asperia existed simultaneously) and at the heart of Asperia was someone who was infallible and convinced of their invincibility- maybe rightly so.

So, this story is set only a bit before the game and is meant to unpick the loss of that perfect favor- in my mind, the loss of Asperia's "godhood," something which is stolen twice. The second and definitive loss is of course to Orin in a singular act of violence, but Orin's path to victory was opened by the slow and insidious poison of having known Enver Gortash. In a "the bar is in hell" turn of things, their... acquaintanceship is the closest thing Asperia has ever experienced to a normal relationship and a normal life. And that glimpse of the other side is what unmakes her. It's always been crucial to Asperia's role in the system to be the one who loves being Bhaal's beloved child, who can reconcile anything with belonging, who buys in so fully that it is unthinkable to be less than a god and it is unthinkable to have desires besides those of a god. Others hold the questions, the fear, the other desires- Kasander and Bride especially- but Asperia wants nothing else in life, and Asperia believes with painful, self-destructive fervor.

Asperia has already been acquainted with Gortash for some good while here, the wheels turning in the scheme of the Absolute. This is the longest positive relationship of any kind Asperia has ever had outside of whatever pseudo-parental thing he has with Scleritas, and it has been wonderful: novel, collaborative, a meeting with someone who resembles an equal despite being a mere mortal. Asperia has begun to see other facets of the world through this, to see the ways the world of the living comes together for purposes besides inevitable execution. It's all an act of devotion, all furthering the will of Bhaal, all what Asperia desires and wants to do. But the further it's gone the more it's started to be fun for its own sake too, and a certain fascination with a frenemy has begun to blossom into dangerous fantasies.

Asperia doesn't fantasize. Asperia can't fantasize. Asperia is a god, and he only wants things which are real and deserved. Bhaal's favor is proof of that: Orin's ugly, messy desires make her a worse worshiper, and she's never had their divine father's love. Asperia is Bhaal's beloved. Asperia is defined by her distance from those mistakes. And so too is Asperia the perfect disciple, a being beyond sin. If something is what Asperia wants, then it must be acceptable.

And this is how Asperia begins to lose Bhaal's favor.

Asperia starts the story at a personal high and only rising- with the world at her fingertips and Bhaal's love behind her, she's preparing for the victory lap and has taken an extra prize in becoming more intimately involved with Gortash. But you can't have your cake and eat it too- this impossible personal high the seed of Asperia's ruin, already sown, takes root and begins to grow. Bhaal's perfect killing machine doesn't play house with Bane's Chosen. And there are more than enough people who fucking hate Asperia already and are ready to take note- as well as Gortash himself, so much older and colder than young, sheltered Asperia. There may be some genuine affection there in some form, but calculation and power take precedent, as does the enjoyment of solving this Bhaalspawn puzzle by picking her apart.

Over time the increasingly clear dissonance between the impossible misalignment- the first Asperia has ever experienced- between what they want and what Bhaal allows them to desire and have drives them to spiral into a state of exceptional vulnerability that ultimately allows Orin to usurp them. The escalating stress causes them to lose time more and more frequently, beyond what they can explain away to themself and make disappear, and they begin to doubt themself. To fear what is happening, and to develop their own doubts about Bhaal- things that should live elsewhere, things that cause other parts to bubble up in ways they notice. Asperia is straying and rivals like Orin can see it, is becoming less dependable and reluctant allies like Ketheric can see it, is becoming a less than perfect disciple and that butler shepherd of Bhaal can see it (not that every part was always perfect- Scleritas has always known that "Asperia" is more than just Asperia, and has long pitted Asperia against themself). And Asperia is vulnerable and open and easier and easier to see- and Gortash, who has solved the part of this puzzle Asperia refuses to see quite well, sees it all and drives the spiral deeper. Pulls Asperia closer, and begins to learn the others without letting Asperia know (this is a piece of how Kasander knows Gortash, has known Gortash before anything).

So y'know. It's all heading for inevitable tragedy, heartbreak, ruin, bad feelings, and a tadpole in the head, as well as a shitty asshole boyfriend conspiring with one's sister who has been waiting for ages for the change to REALLY wreck one's shit. Yikes! Feel like not enough was spent on the family drama and that's sold Orin short, but she's played a damn active hand through it all. Sacrificial Orin, always underestimated, always overlooked, always surviving.

I dunno how to conclude this and I feel like I probably talked too long (half just to remember things I can't access until the new laptop arrives and is set up). All in all, just a fun little project to play with while I continue to fail to finish the last teeny bit of the actual goddamn game (I'm the worst at wrapping up the last little dregs of things after I've cleaned up the most fun stuff).

TLDR: Asperia, main character of life, starts to Lose the Plot and gets written out of the story for a little while

[murdermade]

I love how helpful this side of the rpc is. i adore all my followers/mutuals <3

[fell-hxs]

oc content??

this is Orin and Jay, Orin is the one with the “pony tail” and Jay is the one with the fluffy hair, my characters have been plaguing my mind recently..

Plus all the main characters first concept art

side note, the concept of time loops has always been a major interest/fear of mine, that’s why so many things I like and make include or are based around that