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batsplat · 9 months ago

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as our resident Casey expert i wonder what do you think would have happened if marc and casey competed against each other? since casey retiring is so important for marc coming into motogp im always thinking abt the what ifs...

my initial instinct with this hypothetical is always 'that sounds horrible', though I do have more thoughts and opinions about it than that! marc obviously would have loved the chance to race casey, and casey has even been one of his picks of 'guys he would've liked to be teammates with' before, so, you know, clearly something there - and he does very much respect casey as a rider. I think it's quite likely that by the time marc entered the premier class, casey had already developed... I don't know if wariness is going too far, but maybe a little bit of unease or caution where marc was concerned. marc already very much had a reputation based on his 125/moto2 track record, and some of these incidents were controversial enough that the motogp riders commented on them. so take the phillip island 2011 incident where marc rode into the back of another rider:

the valentino quote serves as a bit of a benchmark here, given he was generally pretty pro-marc. yes, casey's phrasing is perhaps a little harsher, but unsurprisingly none of the riders were big fans of marc's behaviour in that particular incident

on the other hand, it's not like casey never sided with marc. take catalunya 2012, where marc was slapped with a controversial post-race penalty:

yes, casey's main complaint was about inconsistent stewarding - but still, he believed marc had been unfairly treated here. feels like these incidents were some of the only things casey and valentino actually agreed on in those years, so that's nice

that being said, it's hard to see how casey wouldn't have his issues with marc and marc's whole approach to racing. I did include some thoughts on the teammate question here, but mainly I'm going to pilfer the relevant autobiography passage:

"if a rider doesn't care about his own safety then it stands to reason he doesn't care about anybody else's either"... there's nobody really who embodies the 'doesn't care about his own safety' maxim better than marc. he was the young rider desperate to win, and I can't imagine casey would have enjoyed actually racing him much. casey mostly didn't enjoy racing valentino, after all, who is a generally a lot more selective with his aggression than marc is (though casey did have to experience some of the worst valentino had to offer in that regard). casey talked in his autobiography about getting a sense when he just wasn't really able to trust another rider on the track, how much it bothered him - and that exact lack of respect is something that's been pretty closely associated with marc. that doesn't mean he would immediately declare marc his enemy... he'd just want marc to change, to learn, to grow up, to start treating his competitors with a little more respect. the way casey talks about young riders, there is a sense in which he has more time for them than he does for valentino - whose lack of respect casey views as more integral to who he is as a rider. valentino isn't a bully on track due to the exuberance of youth, he's a bully on track when he thinks he can use it as a tactic of intimidation. then again, marc by this measure is worse... and I think very quickly casey would have grown pretty disenchanted with how marc approaches all his wheel-to-wheel racing, especially when it becomes more and more clear marc does not feel particularly inclined to change

it's always important to remember how recent the trauma of losing simoncelli was for the whole sport, and it coloured both dani and jorge's wariness of marc... but also (in my opinion anyway) their restraint in how they dealt with him. how they tried to stop themselves from actually making an enemy out of him, in part because they'd just had an experience of harshly criticising a rider for a whole year and then having to process his death. both dani and jorge actually had more public and more serious disagreements with simoncelli than casey did, but I reckon there would have been an element of that restraint with casey too... on the other hand, his experiences with marc would have left him feeling even more alienated from the sport than he already was - at times frustrated (like jorge was) less with marc directly but more with the regulatory bodies for not holding marc back, for not giving him a race ban or whatever to teach him a lesson. that being said, marc's shamelessness vs casey's stubbornness means that if they had direct on-track encounters and casey didn't like marc's post-race response... well, I certainly think that'd end up being a pretty tense situation, even if it falls short of active hostilities

worth including irl!casey's take on marc in 2013:

which, you know. it's not just that marc's a hard racer - casey is accusing marc of deliberately wanting to make the defeats extra painful for his opponents, of wanting to not just beat but humiliate them. anyone else that reminds you of? someone who is as motivated in securing his psychological victories as his actual ones? perhaps someone who has a bit of a history himself with casey?

let's bring in valentino. it's not that casey would really have begrudged marc his friendship with valentino, and he generally kept his hatred of valentino quite 'clean' in that he wasn't conducting any proxy wars or anything (for instance, I don't get the sense the vale/sic friendship ever affected his view of simoncelli... though I have very little to go on here either way). also, if nothing else in this timeline changes, we're assuming valentino in 2013 is fairly clearly the... fifth? best rider? kinda depends where dani would have landed I suppose (casey's retirement announcement did save honda from a bit of a headache)... but anyway what this means is that valentino probably wouldn't initially have been much of a competitive threat to casey. mostly he would have been consigned to the sidelines

that being said, I doubt casey would have massively enjoyed the whole laguna seca saga. unfortunately, we don't even really know what real life casey's stance on the copycat move situation was... though if I had to guess, in this timeline I'd say his position would've been, a) marc could and should have carried out that overtake two corners later, there was no need in that race situation to take that risk, b) still, it was valentino's slight error as he attempted to reclaim the position (in what was a pretty aggressive manner, it has to be said) that led to them both ending up off-track and fuck that guy, and c) the problem with 2008 wasn't just or even primarily the corkscrew overtake and it's annoying that that's the only bit everyone talks about. of course, there's also the question of whether casey would have bought marc's explanation that it was totally by coincidence that the overtake happened there... and again, complete guesswork, but my sense of casey is that he would have assumed marc was being at least a little bit dishonest. (which, you know... laguna's not an easy track to overtake at, but marc did prove with the bradl move that he was perfectly capable of overtaking after turn 8 - might not have been planning on the off-track excursion, but he was still attempting to overtake just ahead of a blind crest that happened to feed into the corkscrew lol.) I think casey by his honda days had calmed down a bit (though he still certainly had some conspiratorial tendencies), but I also don't think it's a stretch to imagine that he would've felt like he was a victim of a joke between the pair of them... not ideal

overall though, I reckon casey's main frustrations would have been less with the move itself and more with how it was discussed. in the presser, while joking with marc, valentino does take the opportunity to get in a jibe at casey for old time's sake. there's this clip, where he directly addresses livio suppo (at ducati in 2008, by then at honda) - specifically about how both casey and suppo criticised him for that overtake. in response, suppo says something about how he's grateful to marc because they finally got payback. valentino is later asked directly about casey's complaints in 2008 in this clip, and replies with the following:

would valentino have said this stuff with casey still in the paddock? well, yes! honestly, given valentino did very quickly lay off needling casey once he had retired, there's a good chance he would have said something worse. and marc would have laughed along at the whole thing. I don't know, I just don't see casey taking particularly kindly to that... he can hold a grudge, that man can, and at a certain point he'd probably be increasingly less willing to give marc the benefit of the doubt. interesting situation though, laguna seca '13 + casey is a very juicy scenario that could play out in several different ways

but I'm guilty of burying the lede here - there's a far more obvious reason than anything I've described above for why the casey/marc relationship would have turned sour. it's the simple fact that they would have been teammates which would do the damage all on its lonesome; they have radically different conceptualisations of how that dynamic is supposed to work and would inevitably have clashed as a result. the one commonality they do have is they don't see their teammates as potential friends, which is... also not helpful! I think they'd probably initially be fine on the interpersonal level - and, actually, given how the casey/valentino relationship played out and marc's general approach to his rivalries, I can see marc/casey more or less being able to maintain a minimum standard of politeness towards each other even at their worst. like, I still think they'd be able to smile at each other and do some small talk when face-to-face, but I also think everything else would be a complete disaster. I talked a bit about how marc approaches his teammate relationships in this post - and I'm not going to rehash too much of what irl!marc got up to, but I'll include some bits relevant to casey

from marc:

related to casey:

and dani comparing the two:

we do obviously even have actual real life controversy wherein casey thinks marc felt threatened by him and forced him out of honda... and this in a timeline where they weren't even direct competitors! if this is the level of tension a test rider role can generate, then if they'd actually been teammates...? yeah, no. casey thinks that teammates should cooperate - and he thinks that riders enforcing divisions within the box are essentially doing so because they are "afraid". marc has openly admitted to lying about what parts he likes to make sure his teammate doesn't get any edge over him. this is the thing, right: marc might think casey is a cool rider, would've liked the chance to race him and even be teammates with him... but this is the stuff he did to dani, who was one of his literal idols! this is his understanding of competition - (like valentino) he might love the fight, but simultaneously he'll do pretty much whatever it takes to win, because he considers this stuff fundamentally part of the game. casey does not. to casey, this kind of victory is dishonest. any kind of gamesmanship is a sign of weakness... the victory is worth less if you're accomplishing it like that

now, hey, maybe marc would never have been able to go as far as he did with dani because he wouldn't have the kind of performance edge that allows you to definitively impose your will within the team. I think it's a popular interpretation that marc wouldn't have won the title in 2013 if casey had been there, which... I mean, I think it's true that it would have been less likely - in that in a season with that much volatility, the more plausible championship contenders you have the less likely it is that any single one of them takes the title (same goes for instance if you add in a valentino who had not gone to ducati for two years and would have presumably been more competitive in 2013). but it's not like casey would have been the defending champion and the clear class of the field... partly due to injury, he ended up finishing in third in 2012. jorge and dani didn't win the 2013 title in part as a result of their own injuries, and who knows how casey would have fared... like sometimes it's just luck of the draw really. you can be the better rider and still not win the title, shit happens. I think for as long as a more or less healthy-ish casey stays in the sport, it would have been unlikely that marc establishes quite the same performance edge as he did over dani... but, well, if anything that would have meant he would have fought even harder out of perceived necessity to win the internal honda wars

it's the kind of thing that can make a relationship quickly deteriorate, especially with a prickly character such as casey, and it's entirely plausible that dynamic would have become strained at best and horrendously toxic at worst... sooner rather than later. and the thing is, this environment would affect marc considerably less than it would casey. again, it's the fact that he relishes the fight... he's very good at shrugging off (most) criticism and thrives in that kind of tension. the emotional fatigue that this scenario generates would be painfully lopsided, where casey offers harsh criticisms and means them and is endlessly frustrated with marc's approach, while marc... doesn't really care. at least dani also had a questionable manager who was conducting behind the scenes warfare on his behalf - casey doesn't want to play these games at all. he just wants to ride a bike, and marc is never going to allow him to live in peace as long as he's an internal threat. if casey were exposed directly to all of that from marc, I doubt he'd walk away from the experience with a particularly positive impression of him

does he walk away? I think there's a decent chance that casey would have ended up so disillusioned with the whole thing that this would have been what pushed him into retirement. if he wants to get out of that mess, let's say after two years, his options would have been pretty limited. yamaha is closed off and I'd struggle to think of a scenario in which either jorge or valentino would have been particularly interested in a direct swap (also, if you're sick of being marc's teammate, you're probably not gonna be jumping at the chance to be valentino's instead). I suppose you could go back to ducati (which he did return to as a test rider so it's not like those bridges were permanently burnt), and maybe casey could do something special even with *gestures* that version of the bike. really though... I think enough would have been enough for him. regardless of the actual balance of success between the pair of them, my guess is marc wins that war because he's happier to get nasty and because he wants it more. casey has his two to four titles... he's done. let him go fishing

#i think it's a fun scenario but in all seriousness as someone who is like. generally invested in casey finding some peace in life #i'm quite glad he didn't have to go through it. good chance he gets another title but he left for a reason #//st #babynflames #brr brr #casey stoner #//#//ht #batsplat responds #2013-15-ish vale/jorge love and peace era were already kinda looking over at the honda wars and going. what's all this then #in this timeline i reckon they'd be even more pointedly cooperative. occasionally give a friendly thumbs up at the explosions next door #valentino a big believer in letting others do his dirty work for him so it'd be very [carefully neutral smile]#'EYE didn't think there was any problem with marc's move... maybe casey should consider not leaving a gap next time?' (there was no gap)#where would marc/casey have their first on-track incident? reckon cota would actually be a good shout - get it in nice and early #vibes of a good casey track but not marc cota levels good but marc's still a child... idk you need to get them in the same bit of track so #otherwise some time in the assen to brno stretch.... let's say *spins wheel* indianapolis #can u imagine if marc did the corkscrew move on CASEY... get rid of bradl (sorry dude) what does THAT podium look like what are the vibes

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dengswei · 1 year ago

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@asiandramanet creator bingo — parallels

road to high&low (2016) koisenu futari (2022) episode 5 the blood of youth (2022) episode 14 eye love you (2024) episode 2

#jdramaedit #cdramaedit #userdramas #asiandramanet #photopeablr #mine | all #mine | gifs #userparallels #the blood of youth #eye love you #koisenu futari #road to high and low #high and low #*parallels #asiandramasource #blackandwhiteedit #road to high&low #high&low #dailyasiandramas #oh would you look at that my comfort shows/movies all having the same sorta quote about home being a place to return to #tboy one isn't technically the same but the quote is similar so it counts #i giffed the rth&l + koifu before but in the caption i put the wrong koifu ep 🤡#also LWJ says the one in TBOY it's off screen/in a wideshot and i thought it would look out of place so i used the scene where XS repeats it #why do i always put myself through suffering that scene in h&l laksjhdjskds #the only decent set i've done for this month's bingo is the jing one omg #all the rest are awful #b&w because i hated the colouring lmfaooo #koifu subs by kaizensubs | ely + h&l by netflix | tboy by viki #ELY was added last minute lmfaooo #for anyone who didn't know why my blog title is what it is now you do

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rhysintherain · 3 months ago

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I love how if you're playing as a Mourn Watcher a 5-minute check-in to see if Emmerich's doing okay turns into a half-hour gossip session where he accidentally lets slip that the king of Nevarra has been dead for years and is ruling as a zombie.

#dragon age: the veilguard #emmrich is an accurate depiction of having an academic coworker in the same way assan is an accurate depiction of having a puppy #they really nailed the vibe of an anthroplogy department in some ways with the mourn watch and i love it #also love that he's so vastly more involved if you're also mourn watch #to the point where he even gets a different Veilguard title at the start #also very much enjoying the different banters rook gets as a mourn watcher. like they know all the rituals and all the words it's fun

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bigcats-birds-and-books · 2 months ago

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Books of 2025: TIME'S AGENT by Brenda Peynado.

New year, new book tag! I have been Patiently Awaiting this one since the book deal was announced, because I love interdimensional nonsense and pocket worlds, and yeah okay maybe it did remind me a little bit of TIME WAR (beloved), and sure let's sprinkle in evil corporations and make it gay, why not. Very excited for this!!

#books of 2025 #time's agent #brenda peynado #books #book photos #also it's a tor novella and it's formatted EXACTLY like murderbot lol #like same font same chapter titles same Look #i am more endeared to it because of this #and yeah i may or may not have started it last night at 1:30AM #i mean technically still january 1 but like. the early hours thereof lol #not me finishing a book at 9PM on december 31. waiting a few hours. and starting the next XD #i'm love reading things #*also. by 'new book tag' i just mean. this series will be tagged 'books of 2025' lol #unless i typo it which. might happen.#this is tangentially driscoll-adjacent in my mind too #anything where pocket dimensions and alternate realities are driscoll adjacent #sort of tiptoeing back toward that project

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jamiesfootball · 1 year ago

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Whoop, here it is!

Roy’s got a new job, a therapist, and a niece who isn’t around as much anymore. He’s got decades of anger that’s never seen the light of day. He’s got a coaching staff trying to move forward without Ted. He's got four footballers looking to him for answers, and one of them—the one that’s become a bit special to him—is hiding a ticking time bomb under goofy outfits and complaints about classic literature.

Roy’s got one month to get his shit together before the season starts.

#sooooooo #here’s the first chapter of the no longer redacted title post season three fic #it’s been years since I posted anything on ao3 and it feels….weird #this chapter was especially hard to wrangle as I had to backflips through a lot of canon stuff #and hopefully the other chapters are both better and easier #uhm. yeah #here we go #jamie tartt #roy kent #ted lasso #ted lasso fanfic #fic: oh god you’re gonna get it (you have not been given love)#previous tag:#[redacted title] post season three fic #i will tag wrangle everything to the same tag later

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chirpsythismorning · 1 year ago

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The Bizarre Love Triangle playlist is finally here!

📝 ☎️ 🎨 🛼 🌈⏮️ 🫀 💡

I've been working on this playlist for almost a year now, sharing piece by piece slowly with gifs accompanied by lyrics, which are meant to encapsulate what I think each of these characters were feeling at the time. This playlist goes in order narratively, so if you want the full experience, be sure to click start below to see where it all begins!

START ▶️

Tracklist

You're the Inspiration

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

This Is the Day

The Great Pretender

You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

Who Can It Be Now?

I Need You

Bizarre Love Triangle

You've Really Got a Hold of Me

I'm Not In Love

Words

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

Dust in the Wind

I've Been Losing You

I Want to Break Free

Enjoy the Silence

Secret

Always on My Mind

The Chain

It's Too Late

How Can I Be Sure?

Alone Again (Naturally)

Alone

Just the Two of Us

The Promise

Never My Love

At Your Best (You Are Love)

Landslide

Wouldn't It Be Nice

The Flame

Is This Love

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've?) - BONUS TRACK

I Know There's Something Going On

Slippin' Through My Fingers

More Than Words

If I Can't Have You

What You Won't Do for Love

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Time For Me To Fly

I Will Survive

Blue Moon

If You Leave

Somebody to Love

Don't Dream It's Over

#bizarre love triangle playlist #stranger things #happy stranger things day #a present from me to you!#byler #platonic elmike #willel twins #mike wheeler #will byers #el hopper #music #things to know:#-- you have to be familiar with the color theory to understand why I chose: red for el / blue for mike / yellow for will #-- some songs fit perfectly for the moment while others only have like one or two lines that fit so keep this in mind #-- there are a few songs that have titles that match the title/context of the songs that follow them and that was merely a coincidence #-- it would've been cool if el getting track 11 / will getting track 12 was a coincidence but that was entirely intentional <3 #-- will and el both have 13 songs while mike has 17 songs #that's bc this playlist actually started out as a mike playlist with the same title bc bizarre love triangle is just literally his pov #but then i came across songs that fit really well with both will and el's pov and so i switched it to a trilogy of sorts #there also just happen to be a lot more songs that match with mike's pov more than the other two #el's pov is a lot of questioning whether your s/o loves you back and the shift from that to letting go and being happy/moving on #so there's only so many songs that fit into that #will's pov is sort of loving wholeheartedly in the most pure way while also feeling like that person will never return those feelings #there are a lot of love songs from that pov but more often than not they have lyrics that fit more with mike's pov than will's #there's definitely songs on here that fit with both will and mike's pov but it just turned out it fit mike's more in the moment #mike's pov is sort of a mixture of both will and el's where he assumes his love is unrequited / has fears about letting go of what he knows #mike's pov is also not in the forefront in s4 as much as we're used to it being previously so this offers a nice glimpse into his thoughts #-- the bonus track contains the pov of the entire bizarre love triangle and it's epic #-- also keep an eye out for some special features!#Spotify

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daylighted · 1 month ago

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this was / is my original dean bday present. i might still post it just later today ... but for rn i am so tired. being sick lit rally kicks my ass </3 so if u see it today u know why. if u don't u also know why. JDFKDSJ

#──★ love letters #dean winchester #i just love him #i'll have to rework the plot tho #bc the idea was the same as better birthdays #if u can't tell. by the matching titles.#anywho who knows!

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resident-rats · 16 days ago

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I’ve started playing kingdom come: deliverance… gang I fear I am unwell over it

#it’s all I’ve done today #it’s all I can think about #I’m glad I’m kinda back into playing viddy games again though #I’ve been trying to hype myself up to play dragon age inquisition for agessss #so maybe I’ll finally do it after this <3 #also now I feel more justified in buying a steam deck/gaming laptop lolll #I have another title to add to the list of games I want to play (kingdom come: deliverance 2)#incase anyone is curious though the rest of the list is bg3. silent hill 2 remake. re9 when it finally comes out.#the Witcher 4.#dbd (playing it on a switch is hell on earth).#but AHHHHH i love playing with my little medieval boys #playing with that man like a doll fr #though it’s not the same level of unwell as I was over re4 Remake so dw no one sound the alarm ✋🏻

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neixins · 1 month ago

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i love calling gijaeha subtextual yaoi bc like. technically it’s true. but also this is some of the subtext in question (just within the first dozen chapters of them meeting, mind u!)

[ID: two pages from “yona of the dawn”. the first is from chapter 35; gija is smiling as he says, “why doesn’t matter. if you feel the way i do…that means i can…trust you to have my back in battle.”; jaeha stares at him before averting his gaze, blushing, and responding, “believe whatever you want.” the second is from chapter 41; gija starts asking, “jaeha, are you—” and is cut off by jaeha stroking his cheek and leaning in close; jaeha says, “things i hate…rules. chains. the four dragon warriors.”; meanwhile, gija keeps interjecting with, “huh? what? hey.”; jaeha continues, “and you. i thought…i hated you too. but…suddenly…you’re all i can think of.” the second half is spoken as he pins gija to the ground and buries his face in the crook of his neck while gija stares ahead in surprise. end ID.]

#it’s subtext the same way danmei dramas are subtext #(everyone knows what’s up)#i could’ve picked sooo many moments but (1) i’m not id’ing all of that rn and (2) these are the ones i love showing to people out of context #fun fact i have a whole folder on my phone titled ‘love potion chapter reactions’ where i keep people’s reactions. everyone’s so funny #akayona #gijaeha

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beclight · 9 days ago

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im known for being THE bec light fan of the fandom, so i feel like im in the right place to say this: YOU DO NOT OWN FANDOM CHARACTERS AND CANNOT PREVENT OTHER PEOPLE FROM LIKING THEM JUST AS MUCH AS YOU DO, and if that makes you uncomfortable (which is fine, and for any reason), THE THING TO DO IS BLOCK NOT HARASS THEM!!!!!!! ive seen too many ppl in this fandom disrespect others over DARING to say, even as a joke, that they're the number one fan of X character. If someone having the same favorite group of pixels as you genuinely angers you, to the point of feeling the need to insult them and having concerning thoughts about them, then maybe it is time to log off

#not referring to anything recent #as i THANKFULLY havent seen it happen in a lil bit!!!#however it has happenned many times in the past and in those moments i was so thankful to have my fav be a rando no one is attached to LMAO #everyday im mortified at the thought that there COULD be other bec fans outthere that are scared of exclaiming their love for the character #-publically out of fear i'd attack or get mad at them for trying to “steal” my fav or some bs like that. this will NOT HAPPEN PLS GIVE BEC #-THE LOVE THEY DESERVE the more bec enjoyers we are the better :(#btw; this is NOT about non-sharing yumeshippers!! (important)#this is about people (most often not yumes at all smhow!) thatll go out of their way to ATTACK other members of a fandom for sharing a fav #“this is MY favorite character so it cant be anyone else's and if you claim it is i will insult you and humiliate you in front of others”we #-learned to share unimportant stuff in preschool? you're not even a yume so its even LESS justified to react like that over a char #even more stupid when its a main characters 99% of the fandom likes like. what do you think will happen browsing fandom spaces.#if you feel the need to throw all of eve's bitch-ionary at someone over having the same taste please get some offline rest and remember #THE BLOCK BUTTON EXISTS FOR THIS REASON???#if its harmless and you dont like it! block! block block block! throwing a fit like a 7yo reincarnation of eric cartman in the candy aisle-#-won't make you more legitimate in the title of the “biggest fan of X guy”. i promise you blocking people that make you personally-#-uncomfortable(without necessarily doing anything wrong)without insulting their bloodline is absolutely amazing. you should try it.#not bec light #ouhh me speaks #this sure is a lot of words #ik the fandom is full of mentally unstable ppl that rely on their favs for moral support; this however doesn't grant you the right to lack #respect towards strangers. I love bec and finn with all my heart and unless youre some kind of h*tler 2.0 i could not care less about if #they also bring you comfort! and if one day for any reason it starts bothering me; i would just start blocking/muting the people who post #about them! as simple as that. :( your fav/yume would NOT want you to be rude to the people who like them; so just IGNORE #it makes me sad for people who have a certain character as their fav/ F/O cuz ive seen them disputed a lot n theyre not even a main5 HELPPP #; as comma #OK IM DONE YAPPING i have school tomorrow hashtag goonight

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cinderflower · 2 months ago

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Hey! I love your works, thanks for sharing them! Your stuff is some of my favorites in the fandom!

I just wanted to ask your opinion on how Malenia and Miquella (from FoR and your characterization of them specifically) would view Millicent. How do you think they'd interact with her? Would they avoid her? What would that mean for their own relationship? Etc etc.

Just asking because I think your take on Malenia and Miquella is so interesting to play around with.

Thanks! Your stuff is awesome!!

Wah, anon this is such a sweet message, I'm always humbled to hear people like my works and my characterizations! Thank you so much 🥺💕

I'm so sorry this is so long but as I'm sure you can imagine, I have Many Thoughts about Malenia lol.

I've actually thought quite a lot about Millicent and her sisters and I think, first and foremost, that she doesn't know about them at all. I think after her bloom and being carried back to the roots of the Haligtree that she's basically been in a pseudo-coma as the rot progresses now that she's needle-less, so she might know about the kindred of rot but not Millicent or her sisters.

With Malenia, I really focus on her lack of autonomy as a character throughout the most formative years of her life and the trauma that undoubtedly came with it, where she is burdened with the rot which would have effectively ostracized her from most people except Miquella (because of his immunity to the rot). This is also in addition to her being named as an Empyrean and already having her fate decided for her. So the nature by which Millicent and her sisters came to be, after her bloom and presumably like offshoots or cuttings from plants, they'd be another blow against her autonomy because she didn't have a say in their creation (implied by Gowry raising them and her rejection of the kindred of rot).

Specifically with Millicent, I imagine Malenia would see a lot of herself in her, and I think she would harbor a deep resentment because of that - not because she'd dislike Millicent, but because Millicent would be a reflection of her younger self. Someone who is spawned from her, consequently cursed BY her, to suffer the same hardships. Millicent is the same as younger Malenia, which consequently forces Malenia into the role of the Outer Rot God in their dynamic - unwittingly having taken on the role of the thing she hates. If Malenia had embraced the rot like Romina, I think it would be different, but every time she accepts it, it's when she's at the end of her rope with no choices left and she's essentially resigned herself to death.

This might sound harsh, but it's also why I love her as a character - I believe Malenia is ultimately deeply selfish in her actions where Miquella is concerned (and vice versa ignoring all the DLC). She's sworn herself to his cause, has proven herself willing to die for him, to go to war for him, to commit countless atrocities in his name and inflict the very thing she despises - the curse that has caused her so much misery - on countless others. For him. But! In a twisted way, it's also for herself! Because for once, this is HER choice. She decided to take on the title of his blade and devote herself to him. No matter the ask, no matter the cost.

Miquella, who knows Malenia better than anyone and has been by her side throughout the worst of it, knows all of this. I believe he would be sympathetic to Millicent and her sisters (also seeing a younger Malenia in them) but I suspect that while he would also try to help them in secret, he'd be (selfishly) keeping them away from Malenia so that she wouldn't have to deal with all the trauma I mentioned above. He might feel some guilt about it, but with how I write him in FoR, he's always willing to harbor some secrets if he believes it's in Malenia's best interest. He wants to save her, to give her back the life she's been denied - a life free of her rot and any burdens. And that would mean a life without five magically spawned new dependents whose existence would be inflicting constant psychic damage on Malenia and that she'd feel responsible for.

In a timeline where the twins are far less codependent, and where they're not both so focused on Miquella's ambitions to cure Malenia of her rot and revolutionize the world, maybe Malenia is able to take the time to heal and make peace with herself. In that timeline, maybe Millicent would serve to be a positive and healing influence on her.

#Cinder answers #Cinder fics #Kinda - because this is specifically answered for my FoR characterization of Malenia and Miquella #(speaking of which ch 20 later tonight maybe? If I can get my shit together and finish editing)#Tysm for the ask anon! This truly made my morning 🥺 💕💕💕💕#I enjoyed thinking more about this and writing it out since it won't come into play in FoR or any other fics I have planned for them #I know a lot of people in fandom think she'd be a good mom to Millicent & co but I think it's the opposite and that she'd be horrible at it #To me she'd probably react in a similar way to women who suffer from PPD #And the act of unwillingly becoming a mother would be deeply traumatizing for her #(in my reading of her character at least)#Imo you can't give a character terminal fantasy super cancer that's also a virus and infects everyone around her from prolonged contact #That leads to the rotting and decay of her body as a CHILD who is then forced to go through amputation to try and stop it #the same child who is also given a title that says she can be the next God but yet for some reason is rotting away #Oh and also can't die bc God locked Death away so she's basically in the Super Torment Nexus cursed to Rot Away Into Nothingness Forever #And not have them be DEEPLY Unwell and Traumatized by the experience #(side note I never understood why it's so popular in fanon they'd let her limbs just??? Rot??? Off??? Like.. We know they have Perfumers)#(and we know they loved hacking off the evil curse of Omen horns so why would they not try hacking off the evil curse of Rot???)

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sigurdjarlson · 8 months ago

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I always found that sweet how a lot of the time in TLG Med would jump to reassure Khadgar or even apologize after snapping at him

And yet in some ways the cruelest thing Medivh said to Khadgar in my opinion was correcting him when he called Karazhan “Our Tower.” And reminding him he was there at his whim and he could send him away at any time.

And he never did apologize for that one and honestly I don’t really blame Med for that per se? It is his tower and Khadgar can’t tell him who is allowed there. What I mean is going by JUST the power dynamic they have as mentor-apprentice, Khadgar is absolutely out of line there

In some ways could have come off quite spoiled and entitled but the thing is I don’t think that was the case at all.

He’s become so comfortable in Karazhan he’d started thinking of it as his home. Then Medivh has in one conversation reminded him it very much was not his home and he could send him away at anytime if he so wished it

He’d finally found someone who cared about him, respected him and treated him as a person. He found a place where he felt he belonged for once in his life and…

No wonder he was so jealous of Garona for a while after that. He’d been reminded that all of it could be taken from him at any moment and here was someone stealing his Master’s attention.

Just thinking about how that jealousy so obviously comes with feeling like he’s not enough and insecurity about his place in Med’s life.

Just very interesting how I think it could very well have went over Med’s head as not that big of a deal too? One of those things he’d be like huh oh yeah I said that? Meanwhile Khadgar is spiraling about it

He could of also been absolutely aware of how harsh it was because Medivh does lash out like that on occasion (especially towards the end of the book as Sargeras gets harder and harder to fight) he can be a little shit we know this

(Don’t really blame him for that given being possessed by the demon lord Sargeras is probably just a teensy bit tiring /s)

Also seen valid and honestly very possibly canon interpretations where he’s also trying to push Khadgar away cuz he knows what’s coming and what Khadgar is going to have to do.

The more attached to him he is the more difficult it will be for Khadgar to do what needs to be done.

What better way to push someone away then hit them right where it hurts?

And yet even then I think those words hurt Khadgar deeper than he’ll ever know :(

#wow blogging #angst angst baby #something something power dynamics and Med inadvertently enforcing it there when he also ironically often tries to make their relationship #there’s some interesting scenes where Med does reinforce it because well they ARE mentor and apprentice #but also how he also seems to want it to be more than a formal/professional relationship and tries to encourage that #I think that’s one of the reasons he corrects Khadgar for calling him Master or sir or whatever #less formal and more equal #jokes about Khadgar totally having a kink aside #(I could talk forever about how I think Khadgar calling him Master is actually really sweet and I think it comes from a different place #than Med thinks it does)#how the title is actually very meaningful to Khadgar I think #and in some ways it shows the same level of affection that Medivh calling him Young Trust does #I don’t think Med realizes that though and he’s just like hey chill you don’t gotta call me that #and Khadgar just instinctually keeps doing it (even DECADES later it Outland he refers to him as his Master)#there’s something to be said I suppose for how it could be pure habit from growing up in the environment he did #but I like to think it’s..deeper then that #(he also does totally have a kink for it but that’s besides the point here)#(don’t get me started on how most of my headcanon kinks for him to stem from his issues with self worth and fear of abandonment)#love playing with power dynamics okay #they are so interesting #how do you balance it all #lines slowly blurring in the mentor apprentice relationship as it becomes more than that #because they do very much care for another obviously #no matter how you interpret their relationship #absolutely rife with angst potential honestly #….#no i shan’t say #raventrust

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