#meta irony

[incorrectly-quoting-mxtx]

The lack of shipping wars in the Scum Villian fandom is really fucking funny because we all ship different people with the main character Shen Qingqiu, and instead of fighting about it, we collectively decided that he deserves to have a harem consisting of every single guy in the book.

[fruity---boi]

Girls want bees for autism. As a non-girl, I can certainly speak on this matter

[randomness-is-my-order]

it’s the way jiang cheng could not accept yanli and wei wuxian’s sacrifices, the way he could not fathom their selflessness because each of their actions were viewed by him through a very self-centric lens–in that, how does wei wuxian taking a stand for the remaining wens affect him, affect jiang cheng? how does yanli giving up her life for wei wuxian affect him, affect jiang cheng? it’s always about him, his feelings, his anger, his grief, his sense of abandonment. the problem here is that yeah, he loved his sister and yes, he did care for wei wuxian but what are these words worth when he could not allow them to make their own choices and respect those choices? what does it mean that he’d rather try to slash wen ning’s corpse and throw the wens under the bus because he doesn’t want wei wuxian to remain in the burial mounds and see what comes after? what does it mean that jiang cheng could not digest yanli’s sacrifice and never bothered to tell jin ling about the truth of his mother’s death, letting her son continue to hate the man she gave up her life for, out of love at that?

jiang cheng never respected what was most important to wei wuxian and clung to his idea of what he thought would be best for wei wuxian. thing is, if wei wuxian had backed out, had left the wens, in some impossible hypothetical universe––he would never be able to live with himself again. saving and supporting the wens was extremely important to wei wuxian. similarly, if yanli ever got a do-over, she would still save wei wuxian and give up her life because that is what she believed in, that is what her love for him compelled her to do. and in both instances, jiang cheng could not let go of his own reactionary emotions to their decisions to respect what these decisions represented.

he spit on both their sacrifices: let the lies about yanli’s death breed hatred for wei wuxian and led the siege to the burial mounds to kill the very people wei wuxian risked his life to protect. and for both these instances, the fandom has spoken ad nauseam about how it’s understandable for jiang cheng to feel abandoned, that he is always “left behind”. but did he ever have the courage to truly stick by them? stick by them, even in memory, even in their ideals, even in their last living and dying wishes?

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

I have all the time in the world. How about you?

There is a theme to Aylin's threats and vows of vengeance that I've noticed and that I want to share.

Do what you will. I cannot prevent you. But you know as well as I, I will come for you. One day.

That one, for example, is for Balthazar, while she is imprisoned.

I cannot prevent you. But I can advise you. Be careful to whom you yoke your fate. One day, when he is severed from me, Ketheric will die. I will not. And when I am freed, I will remember whose recompense to claim.

Did you expect me to beg? To cry? To plead? For what. I accept my fate - for now. But the life of a divine is longer than you can fathom, Sharran. And this cold chapter will close, one day.

And those are for you, when you've yet to harm her, when she's still only warning you off. But then, if you choose to try to kill her, like so many before you:

Was it everything you hoped for? Was it sweet, Sharran, to murder a paladin of Selûne - her daughter - her sword? Congratulations - your mistress Shar will write your name on her hand. And I? I will come for you. When the time is right.

The next bit depends on your character's gender:

When your sons are grown and your beard is long and wiry; when you cannot hold your nightly water and your nose grows as long as your weary, weary days… When your daughters are grown and your chin sprouts whiskers dark - when your teeth are yellow as corn and your sleep grows short and your days are long and weary, so weary… When your children are grown and your eyes are weak; when your nose grows as long as your weary, weary days…

Ultimately, your fate will be the same:

That is when this immortal will visit you, Sharran. That is when I will show you what it is to be afraid.

All these long-term promises of one day, coupled with inevitability.

I find it so striking that most of Aylin's threats include her flaunting and flexing her immortality (as well as her flawless, long memory) over whoever has wronged her.

Present your weapon, soldier. Plunge it into the Nightsong. I cannot stop you. But know this: I never forget a face. HAH! Are you afraid, Sharran? Do you rattle and jump at the realisation that an immortal has your face emblazoned in her mind forevermore?

Everything is but a passing inconvenience to her, she claims, even a century of imprisonment and torment. Outlasting, outliving - that is simply what she does and what she chooses to intimidate with. Promising to wait until you are old and decrepit, until after you've experienced all the vagaries of age that she never will, leaving her sword hanging over your head throughout the entire miserable lifespan that she has permitted you to have.

Then, if you wrong her in a very heinous way, there's the extreme one of outliving not only you, but killing and extinguishing your entire bloodline in order to obliterate every trace of you from existence:

WHEN I AM FREE, I WILL DESTROY YOU! I WILL MURDER YOU, AND YOUR CHILDREN, AND THEIR CHILDREN BESIDE! I will rip this world apart, plank and beam, until every iota of your being is scalded by my light. This is my promise. This is my vow.

Over and over, Aylin builds her oaths of vengeance on the foundations of an utter, even proud, certainty that she will see her foe end, one way or another, due to her nature and the simple fact of her own endlessness. This is the well she keeps coming back to.

And I find all of this, this consistent insistence on it, so striking and ironic, because one of her other main emotional threads is being thoroughly enraptured by and devoted to and just so completely in love with a mortal. One who will age and die and pass into memory just like all the targets of her rage - if I think of Isobel when I re-read all of that dialogue up there, it seems to cut both ways so deeply. But then there's the extra element that every single one of these is spoken when she either knows or is (incorrectly) convinced that Isobel is dead. Isobel, who didn't get to grow old, and who is both an anchor to humanity and a very painful reminder of the truth of Aylin's situation being twofold.

Aylin will outlast what she hates, yes, but she will outlast what she loves as well.

[glitter-stained]

Look, I'll say it: Zurr isn't a magical demon that took over Bruce's body, it's a vilifying, demonizing take on induced DID. I can't keep seeing people fight to defend Bruce's honour in Gotham War by saying "it wasn't actually him so it's not his fault", reject the Lazarus Pit Madness headcanon because "Jason and he alone did his crimes and he has no excuse", and then we're talking about how Bruce's or Dick's trauma is what made him a hero, one post later on my board it's "the lazarus pit madness headcanon is unnecessary because Jason's behaviour is completely explainable and logical if you just take in account that he has cptsd" (or bpd depending on the post) and then that fanfic I had to stop reading because a character literally was screaming at Jason "so what you died get over yourself but you weren't magically controlled by the pit so you have zero excuse and justification for being angry" and then a post about "wow why is Batman punching down on all these mentally ill people", and then in the replies "are you dumb it's because those crazies are bombing orphanages..."

I'm still thinking about that moment in "dumpster slasher" where Batman is like "the killer is still free while poor Elmore [a homeless guy with substance use disorder and major neurocognitive disorder] is being shipped off to Arkham... This doesn't sit right" yeah buddy I'm sure if you ponder that for a while, the reason why the fact the only mental health facility in your city is also a prison for dangerous criminals with no apparent mental illness doesn't sit right with you will appear to you eventually.

Maybe it's time to confront the fact that the difference between a hero and villain in dc is often whether their mental illness is demonized, glorified or minimized. Or the fact that attenuated circumstances and responsibility exists on a gradient and there is such thing as "altered responsibility due to mental illness" in a trial. Maybe it's not "oh it was this evil Zurr/Batman entity, not Bruce/Batman, so there is no responsibility to be taken and anyone condemning those actions as abuse is talking in bad faith" maybe it's "this is a terrible representation of something that exists and should be treated respectfully" and "I don't have to accept this terribly harmful rethoric and fucked up depiction into my conception of my fav's characterization in such a dislocated, often incoherent canon if I don't want to."

And also maybe it's "if we accept this event/depiction as canon it doesn't mean that we have to either bash the character completely or erase his mental illness into something vaguer/mystical that would somehow absolve him of his place in this situation".

And maybe it's "what does accountability for your harmful actions looks like when your judgement was heavily impaired by mental illness, and what judgement can be placed upon you and who decides where people are placed on that continuum of responsibility and how do we acknowledge and go forward into repairing things when severe harm/abuse was done under impaired judgement and also how do you reconcile all of this with your sense of self, (especially in conditions like bpd/cptsd and especially did where the sense of self is already so altered/complicated) with what your values are, what you want to be, what you are capable of doing and what you thought about yourself before the bad thing happened." I don't know any simple, correct, good answer, especially not a one size fits all. All I know is: the desire to be a good person, and be able to distinctively separate people between bad and good, is profoundly human and, at times when lines of responsibility get blurry, profoundly unhelpful. Most people who are going to hurt you aren't mentally ill. Most people who do terrible things aren't mentally ill, and sometimes people are mentally ill and hurt people and the two have nothing to do with eachother. But it is also a reality that sometimes judgement is impaired and behaviour is altered due to mental illness, and then you need to figure out where to go from there. Acknowledging this while also fighting stigmatisation is a complicated business. It's messy. Mental illness often is. I'm weary of any rethoric that pretends it's simple.

[stlptr]

[nenoname]

A tidbit about Stan's handwriting in the Book of Bill

(I added random color coded underlines for ease of comparing letters but idk if it helps)

The moment I first saw Stan's letter, I realised that Lost-Pages!Ford had been using Stan's handwriting to specifically quote Bill

And in fact, its the same font Ford himself uses for his alt CAPITAL LETTERS FOR EMPHASIS font.

(Even if you're skeptical of the lost journal pages, I think it's safe to assume that the Pines family letters to the reader are as reliable as it gets and we have the second Ford letter using that font)

So after seeing this, I went "my god! Ford was writing in Stan's handwriting all this time!"

...or so I thought until I skimmed through my copy of Journal 3 and it turns out Ford used this more ominous font instead.

So. Okay. Then I assumed they simply switched it after creating Stan's handwriting for the new book. The old font was probably retconned and is unused-- but that's also wrong! It's right here in the first Ford letter!

Interestingly enough, this is how Bill's words were quoted in Journal 3 and the font's eeriness is pretty suitable.

--But giant tangent aside, I feel like its significant that Stan's handwriting is used this way when it's pretty distinct!!!

Stan's round handwriting tonally makes sense for early Lost Journal entries when Bill is tricking Ford, but it's almost jarring once we get to the betrayal section.

Bonus: Also here's 3 different capital letter fonts in one pic cos yeesh Ford keeps switching it up, what a drama queen, and yes the new book adds even more

Interestingly, BoB changes Ford's signature from cursive

to this

with the latter reminding me of

[crim-bat]

The Jedi and Dramatic Irony

A lot of online SW fans have no idea what dramatic irony is.

Dramatic irony is a literary device where the audience or reader knows something that the characters in a story or play do not, creating a sense of suspense and heightened tension

Couple of my favorite things that people give jedi the news over is...

Thinking the jedi were arrogant for thinking the sith wouldn't come back without their realizing it

2. Almost anything in regards to Dooku in the films

For the first, and this is just using the movies for context, mind you, but if the knights templar showed up after a 700ish years of hiding and starting taking potshots at the french government, your first thought probably wouldn't be "oh it's the knights templar". After a thousand years, thinking the problem of the sith was settled is actually pretty reasonable. Disbelief and sending someone to investigate is the appropriately measured reaction.

For the second, Mace and Dooku were friends. He was noted as a political idealist. Because the Jedi aren't supposed to be doing things like assassination, disbelief is an understandable, if ultimately incorrect, reaction. For Dooku telling Obi Wan that the republic was under the control of a sith lord. I also would not believe the old man teaming up with a litany of corporate bad guys trying to start a war and kill a senator who's trying to advocate for peace. Why *would* I take what he said at face value?

There's others, but it's generally interesting to me how much the fanbase has pressure cooked the idea that good guys can't be wrong for understandable reasons. The jedi, for mundane reasons, thought the sith were gone after a thousand years and thus had that shit on lock. Similarly, Dooku in scenario a) was assumed to still be behaving like a jedi master ought to, and in scenario b), was assumed to be completely untrustworthy given what Obi Wan had witnessed.

There's things to beef with the jedi about. Like how they tend to ignore prophecy for better or worse, or how they handled Schmi, or how married they were to the de facto galactic government.

All of which are examples found throughout the movies.

We know the jedi are wrong about darth maul because we see it on screen. But just like the knights templars of old, it's an incredibly out of context problem that even pre-dated Yoda.

We know Mace and Obi Wan are wrong about Dooku because we see it on screen. But when Mace discussed him, he was known to be trust worthy. When Obi did, Dooku was a lying war conspirator.

Both examples of dramatic irony, both examples the SW fanbase use to give the jedi the business about their arrogance.

[blightbright]

Solas fandom and "genAI"

I recently came back to Tumblr 99.9% because life is stressful and I'm autistic and special interesting about Solas, but I never could keep my mouth shut so... re: so-called "genAI" in fandom spaces:

I say so-called because it is neither truly generative nor intelligent, and it is not really artificial: it is created with the real stolen efforts of living people and real environmental exploitation

I have little interest in blaming everyday individuals (except CEOs, political leaders, billionaires, etc) for the harms of the most popular "genAI" tech, because it's a systemic problem

"genAI" is intentionally confusing and it's ok if people are genuinely ignorant, at first, of how it works or the harm

I also have loved ones who disagree with me

THAT SAID, I urge people to learn more about and consider the harms to society, other people, and one's own process of self-expression, learning, and creativity from the use of "genAI"

I can't control your behavior but I can tell you that your messiest, most "OOC," error-ridden rough draft, or your most wonky-proportioned stick figure fan art is infinitely more precious, valuable, and emotionally, culturally, and spiritually significant than an unintelligent plagiarism algorithm doing it for you, even if it gets less hits/kudos at first. don't give up hope: your own art means something. I encourage you to make fandom a heartfelt space of resistance!

it is important for communities to define boundaries of unacceptable behavior (i.e. use of non-gen AI spellcheck, Google Translate, "genAI" rewrite functions, character "chats," plot/outline "generation," full-blown "generated" pieces... IMO, I'm fine with the first, uneasy but ok with the second, and the rest I actively oppose)

in the absence of clear boundaries, transparency is key! please publicly and clearly disclose ANY use of "genAI" at ANY stage of the process for fan works, because concealment of this is disrespectful and hurtful. if you didn't know before, such is life. now you know.

avoid all bad faith arguments about shipping wars and witch hunts. you have nothing to fear from posts uncovering AI if you do not use undisclosed "genAI": the two works in question did. you have many things to fear from unchecked "genAI" use if you are a writer, artist, or someone who needs our planet to stay alive

the work @durgeapologist, @fangbanger3000, and others have done to raise awareness about "genAI" use in popular fan works is extremely valuable, difficult work, and does not need to be perfectly worded to be earnest, meaningful, and ultimately beneficial for fan communities

bonus point, sponsored by autism: Solas as a character draws on figures from Norse lore including Loki, god of many things including callouts and criticism of powerful systems; Odin, god of words, wisdom, poets, and uncontrollable creative inspiration; and Fenrir, wolfpup god of surviving trauma, seeking praise and social approval from the powerful only for it to result in pain, raging against the system, and freedom. IMO, if I want any character to rally people together for the sake of resisting billionaire tech companies when possible and celebrating old-fashioned creativity, it's Solas. it's in his story's DNA. whoever we want him to smooch.

[nyancrimew]

tungles great, but the lack of reading comprehension and general awareness can be comical

i misread this as "turtles" and like, yea if u think about it it's pretty fucked up how turtles can't read, stupiod fucking creature

[greenqueenhightower]

Sometimes I just love the irony in HOTD:

True legitimate heir Rhaenys is bypassed for a male heir to the throne and her grandfather Jaehaerys goes along with it, only for Viserys to succeed him two years later and reverse the order and name Rhaenyra his heir despite desperately wanting a son and even though she is a woman (like Rhaenys was), and who as it might turn out, might actually be a bastard, who then goes on to have three bastards of her own with Harwin, and since Laenor does not die and simply vanishes when she is still married to him, that automatically makes her children with Daemon bastards as well.

Do you see the point? With every generation, the Targaryen claim to the Iron Throne is weakening instead of getting stronger.

They literally went from having two legitimate heirs to the Iron Throne to choose from, to completely destroying their entire line. The weak choices a generation made created a domino effect that affected the generations after it.

Oh yeah. Of course the only thing that could tear down the house of the dragon was itself, it just had to be.

[storybookstr4nge]

its 2018. fall out boy released mania, Brendon urie released pray for the wicked, and twenty one pilots released trench. supernatural is on season 14 without any signs of destiel. Voltron season 8 just came out and decimated both klance and its fanbase. the third trials of Apollo came out and made everybody miserable. dan and Phil are on tour, and the final Phil is not on fire came out. Tumblr is never going to be the same.

[coffin-ramblings]

The Decay of Common Sense: The Meta-Theme of the Episode 3A Routes

Playing Chapter 3A on a (luckily) uncorrupted save file from the end of Chapter 2 had me wondering: “how the hell did we get here?” Watching a playthrough of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 and playing them months ago made my memories more flawed, even if I did rewatch parts of it for my posts. Replaying Chapter 1 before the update dropped helped jog my memory more, but it’s still not complete after it got new content.  I kept wracking my brain for how the siblings reached all these outcomes as I went through all the routes (and Cliffhanger twice). 

And then I realized it after finishing Shots & Such, my final route: it is because of “common sense”. The concept and phrase that is thrown around a lot if you ever talk with anyone. It is the end-all, be-all reason to many a decision, argument, norm upholding, etc. But if you ask anyone to define it, you probably would not get a satisfying answer. You often would be told, "That is the way it is" (why?), ""The actions and ideas that are the most rational" or "that makes the most sense" (how are they rational or make sense?), or "The actions and ideas that everyone follows" (who is everyone?). Of course, we see "common sense" throughout history used as a justification to minimize dissent on unjust conditions and actions, but that is not a satisfactory definition either because individuals can use that if they have no substantial argument. "Common sense" is also used to describe addressing the basic needs people have, such as getting food if you're feeling hungry. Thus, I will define "common sense" here as an amorphous concept most often asserted as the "logical" way to address the needs of and/or maintain order according to an individual, a group, an institution, an organization, or society.

There are other analyses that have discussed the treatment of morals in The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, but this one will cover how it profoundly shapes the choices and paths that build up to and are taken in Chapter 3A by both the player and characters. Be warned of spoilers for the chapter ahead.

TCOAAL has always questioned the idea of "common sense". In Chapter 1 where both Andrew and Ashley have "common sense" solutions in regards to the tomato can, their very first conversation in the present-day. Andrew's solution to save the can and hope the wardens give them food is one of foresight, that another emergency may come up and they should be prepared for that. Ashley's solution is to eat it now as she feels very terrible, terrible enough to wake up sleeping on the living room floor instead of her bed. Already it shows how constraints influence the morality and stakes of the decisions they face, which can make both of them look irrational. Andrew is risking both of their health for something he has no guarantee of, while Ashley is possibly being reckless in order to maintain her health. To the average player or viewer seeing this for the first time, they get no resolution who was right in that situation or not. One could argue that Andrew was perhaps right in this situation to save the can once Ashley started fainting, but even when she recently ate, Ashley still fainted regardless. Either one of them making the most "rational" decision does not matter in the face of an irrational and harrowing situation. This of course escalates further with the dilemma of eating their dead neighbor, however, most people would agree that Ashley was the one in the right, as horrifying as it was.

Chapter 2 takes this skepticism to be a significant factor to the Burial/Decay route split. It is "common sense" for Ashley to distrust Andrew, as Andrew wants to avoid the consequences at all costs and may back down from the plan in a desperate attempt to save his skin. Before the 3A update, it seems to be "common sense" for Andrew to accept the olive branch because society says "family matters above all else" (even if he will be going against his own sister and Renee abused and neglected them). After the 3A update, it could also be considered "common sense" for Andrew to consider Renee's words because she is his mother, and it is considered "rational" to consider both sides of the argument (which can spawn the middle-ground fallacy depending on the situation). But regardless of what you do, you are doomed to Decay because it reinforces Ashley's distrust of Andrew. You must take a blind leap of faith as Ashley and immediately reject Renee's words as Andrew. Only then do you get Burial, where their relationship notably improves. That would be another post though, so back onto Decay.

I will start with the Andy route because it's not influenced by prior decisions and outcomes. Choosing to be "Andy" is pretty "common sense" for Andrew. 

He is already so exhausted from everything happening, that he’s convinced asserting himself will just be needless energy spent. Even if he thinks Ashley is bluffing, his instinctual reaction would still be that he might get killed by her if he defies her. It seems to be the easiest and most logical option, one that saves his sanity and life. And the player can be inclined to agree, because it proves to Ashley that Andrew will no longer be a threat to her life. 

But the game mocks him for that and the player for adopting his mindset. All the decision does is convince Ashley she has all the power to do whatever she wants, which frustrates Andrew. His small yet notable defiance at her roasting the camper makes her willing to risk sacrificing his soul to the demon and the only route where she does so. In a tragic twist of irony, the sanity and life he cherished was thrown away, and he suffers a fate worse than death, unable to even commit suicide because that means his soul is damned to the Entity's whims forever. His sole lot in life now is to be a husk wearing a corpse to please a little girl, taken out when she wants to have fun and put away in the box when she is bored or has other tasks to do.

I will now focus on Decay's route split in relation to the bullets.

What's interesting is that to the blind playthrough player, "Shoot" and "SHOOT!!!!!!" may seem interchangeable. After all, it leads to the same outcome of Andrew, well, shooting the hitman. This demonstrates that at first impression, both actions seem quite logical, but when you make your choice, it's revealed that you are playing as a pragmatic Andrew or a panicked Andrew.

(Love how everything becomes silhouetted. The two siblings have become one in that final moment of violence.)

If Ashley chooses to kill Andrew in self-defense, that is a very common sense choice for her and the player, this is Ashley’s survival at stake after all. However, doing so leads Ashley to be further convinced that violence is an effective way to control Andrew. Even when Andrew asserts himself and demands her respect, she still defies him and does whatever she wants because she truly believes she has more power than him. Instead, this makes Andrew snap and try to kill her, and things only keep escalating in violence further and further until it concludes as a constant cycle in their lives or their demise. 

(While it’s easy to read Ashley trying to guilt-trip Andrew here, we know she is bluffing about wanting to kill him and is genuinely surprised and hurt he thinks she would when she had multiple opportunities before.)

Yet despite that, the vision and Andrew’s goading also affirms her "common sense" of Andrew is absolutely necessary in her life, where even if she could kill him, she doesn't because it’d absolutely make her miserable. This creates a sort of Catch-22 situation for both of them as they both cannot trust each other to the point they created a violent and unequal dynamic, yet they cannot leave the other due to their fear of isolation. This is contributed by their "common sense" cultivated by their upbringing, conflicts, and past mistakes to not trust anyone. 

However, this logic goes against their survival and well-being. No person is an island, many people need to rely on others to survive and thrive. Furthermore, both siblings are aware that staying with the other could eventually kill them, but they have the instinctive fear of death and isolation that makes them not want to consider leaving the other. Even though Andrew constantly talks about killing himself, him playing "eeny meeny miney" with the ring and their weapons to decide what he wants to do was him desperately trying to assign some kind of higher order, some kind of meaning, in his extremely chaotic and despairful life, on ultimately meaningless objects. 

(How tragically ironic that Andrew plays such a childish game when he spent all his childhood raising Ashley and his teenagehood working to support their family)

Landing on the ring convinces him that his fate is to be bound to Ashley as both siblings and lovers. Despite him believing that living together is better than dying together, they could not attempt to resolve their issues, only wanting to hurt each other more and more until they may eventually kill each other. This is best demonstrated where even though keeping Carl's identity is absolutely a bad idea due to how much debt he had, they do not want to move out of their shitty, loud apartment as it lets them inflict as much violence and misery on each other without any consequences.

But the ring as the thing that binds them is not true. It is absolutely arbitrary, as we can see if you choose to throw it away or not have it. Both are aware they already are bound together in a prison of their own making. Thus, they believe the most logical escape is to kill themselves together, jumping off in an embrace that they can't ever be separated from ever again.

(Despite having a gun at her head and bruises all over, despite taking those steps back, despite having two doors out, she cannot bring herself to turn away from him.)

(That is perhaps the most tired Andrew looks on the Andrew and Leyley route. Yet despite everything that happened before, he is at his most relieved to hear Ashley will join him in death.)

We know that these were not the only conclusions their relationship could reach, which makes them very tragic. The Andy route and Andrew and Leyley routes only happen because Ashley kept asserting power over Andrew without giving him any say. This dynamic can get worse by Andrew believing that retaliating violently is the only way to gain control, creating a miserable life for both of them if they survive. They are the logical conclusions to their toxic and unsustainable dynamic, mired with paranoia, hatred, love, and longing.

Now I will talk about if Ashley lets Andrew kill her. 

She has one last bittersweet conversation with him, and Andrew assures her that he will kill himself to be with her soon. This is notably their most romantic moment on Chapter 2 Decay, with Ashley even having a pink heart bubble if she chooses to do so. This is in direct contrast to the No Bullets route (which will be explored more later), where Andrew kills Ashley in the heat of rage and hatred. However, both have in common are the emotions that fuel these exchanges are in defiance of the "common sense" to not kill family or let yourself get killed. Interestingly, said emotions are of love and hatred respectively, often thought to be opposites of each other (they aren't really, that'd be discussed more in another post).

Notably, Ashley never makes any mention that she made that choice in Chapter 3A. Even when she has bullets, she does not suggest using the gun on the cops compared to Shots and Such. Now whether that is an oversight, she phrased it that way to try to bring back "Andy", and/or she genuinely forgot about that part is unclear, but whatever the case, Ashley chose to not assert power over Andrew. This creates the ground for them to talk earnestly to each other, one that would be further explored a little later.

I will now focus on "SHOOT!!!!!!". The average blind playthrough player is likely to pick this without thinking much about the difference, just like Andrew at the moment. He panics and empties out the entire gun with no regard for its future usefulness or that anyone could hear them, a complete opposite from his usual careful behavior. Ashley afterwards scolds him for it and wonders if there is a possibility to get new bullets, also a complete opposite from her usual, impulsive behavior. While that is unusual behavior for him to us, he can't really bear any blame for being reckless in panic. This again demonstrates how sometimes, "common sense" can't be followed because humans are not always rational beings and are very easily influenced by their circumstances.

Though of course, the consequences of acting without any thought can be devastating. Andrew giving into his emotions to commit great violence is further demonstrated in the Decay vision, where he kills Ashley out of blind rage. Him stealing the talisman from sleeping Ashley was also another moment of him giving into his emotions without considering the consequences, which while present in all routes, is particularly significant in this route as a part of a pattern. The same goes to Andrew chasing after the campers' kids, becoming enraged enough to want to kill him even though it'd waste precious time and he could avoid another murder.

This particular pattern of behavior of Andrew's is seen in both Cliffhanger and Andrew and Leyley route, but what is very interesting on Cliffhanger is that the roles of “the careful one” and “the impulsive one” sometimes switched between Andrew and Ashley. It can be done so in Chapter 2 with the hitman, and right in Cliffhanger’s beginning where the player can have Andrew decide to call Julia despite all the risks it entails. 

Even though logically, it sounds like a bad idea that would likely only be chosen on a blind playthrough by a player who wants to fuck around and find out, they are rewarded with Ashley getting praised and stronger trust from Andrew and a star for that. I think that on a more positive route of Episode 4, it will take the form of Andrew trying to encourage Ashley to consciously remember her trauma, even if she doesn't want to as it will bring her tremendous emotional pain, in order to help her make peace with herself. It is also entirely possible that there is a route where Andrew starts an argument rashly and it damages their relationship further, even irreparably, similar to how he retaliates brutally against Ashley after she slaps him in Andrew and Leyley route. Hell, there may be another path divergence between “SHOOT!!!!!!” and “Murder-Suicide” routes where the former produces a less positive ending compared to the latter with how the “easier” routes tend to be the less ideal ones and “Murder-Suicide” has equal power shared. We don't know, but it is an interesting food for thought.

Returning back to the route discussion, Ashley not having power is key to the Cliffhanger route and their reconciliation, as this leads to her trying to "pacify" Andrew with sex. Of course, Andrew does not want to go that far with nor exploit Ashley, making him initiate their heart-to-heart. There, he reveals his true feelings and Ashley reveals her genuine obliviousness to his feelings, with both of them apologizing for getting mad at each other. They start to realize an equal, more communicative partnership that Andrew desires, which while is fraught with lingering resentment, secret keeping, resorts to violence, and clashes over trusting the Entity, it notably has neither of them at risk of killing each other. Andrew leaves after Ashley slapping him, but he expects to return to her, and as he will find out, equipped to help address her issues and have a healthier relationship with her.

All of this is only possible when certain key "irrational" choices are made, producing what we consider the "rational" peaceful resolution. We see that theme run for some of the star events as well, now confirmed to be steps to see a significant vision of a future event. It was a really bad time for Andrew to buy a soda for Ashley, but he does it anyway to cheer her up. Calling Julia to provoke her and Ashley was arguably even more irrational with the high stakes it entailed, but he does it anyway as a way to test her, prove his loyalty to her, and reduce the burnt bridge with Julia into ashes (pun intended). Going up to the grove with the engagement ring, even though it takes more time, gives you a star. Killing Bunny Leyley to get her choker and have Ashley on the wedding cake cheers Andrew up, even though he had to commit a terrible violence for that and is further confronted about his romantic feelings for Ashley. And notably, two of these star events only happen on the Cliffhanger route, the route where the siblings are on the road of reconciliation. Thus, this potentially strengthens their relationship in a positive way and ensures their survival and ability to thrive.

In order to solve problems peacefully with someone, you first need to explore and open up your feelings and vulnerabilities to yourself. Then, you need to believe that the other has good faith in wanting to help you. That is extremely difficult to do when denial is essential to your survival and your trust is constantly betrayed, as Andrew and Ashley had suffered with throughout their life. Thus, it is very logical for them to try to assert power over the other through threats, manipulation, and violence without truly self-reflecting. However, this only leads to further anger and irrational actions. Andrew and Ashley best demonstrate that sometimes, when your "common sense" and "rationality" screams at you to avoid all kinds of pain, that you can take care of yourself and no one else can, they are ultimately arbitrary labels made by us that don't always guarantee what we want or need. To learn yourself and take that blind leap of faith in another person, even if it hurts; even if it is terrifying, is what leads to genuine resolution, growth, and nourishment of your well-being.

As Teenage Ashley succinctly says it:

[novelconcepts]

One of the things I love most about Yellowjackets is how it shows the natural oscillation people will slip into in times of crisis, revolving from person to person in a desperate bid for someone to help them survive a hellish situation. They start, naturally, with Ben: the only adult in the room. And, when he starts to fail them, they glance off of Jackie--who is processing her own terror and grief in ways that do not serve the hive team, so who's next? Lottie, of course! Lottie, who has visions, who seems to just know things, who feels preternaturally powerful in a place where less and less makes sense, where starvation is hollowing both body and mind. And when Lottie tries to shuffle backward away from this, because she is unwell, because she does not want their obsessive focus, because she never really wanted it--who's next? Natalie. Natalie, who has been the steadfast foil to Lottie's ethereal tendencies. Natalie, who fixes what she can whenever she can: be it gathering Travis' father's ring, or making maps, or bringing back game. Natalie, who is solid as the ground--or so it seems. Not because she actually is, just like Lottie is not a true messiah, just like Jackie is not innately more capable due to her captainship, just like Ben is not necessarily going to save anyone just because he's over 21. But because the girls need someone. They need to fixate to stay alive. They need a leader, because that gives them someone to look to, not because the leader will actually make a real difference.

So: if Natalie starts to show cracks...of course they'll turn on her. Of course they will. It's only natural to seek out someone, anyone, who might save you. No wonder they build a religion. No wonder they need a queen.

Heavy be the head that wears that goddamn crown. Always.

[anassemblageofpassions]

Thinking abt the symbolism of lucifer having sam wearing white once he’s possessed him. Not just for the irony and the supposed “virtue” but also the semblance of a perfect marriage. Sam being the “bride” put in white but also. Lucifer is in that body too. He’s in possession of it. They are forever merged in white. The ultimate marriage. So fucking sick and twisted, sera gamble, your mind is unparalleled even if this was just originally just for aesthetic purposes.

[mollysunder]

If the first season was about Jayce getting pulled every which way by his allegiances to those closest to him, then next season will be about Viktor doubling down on his isolation and refusing to listen to outside opinions. Viktor's already on the path for that. Viktor would have never gotten as far as he did in a society that's as hostile to Zaunites and the disabled as Piltover is if he didn't refuse to listen to the opinion of others. It's largely been in his best interest to disregard avoidable rules and social conventions because they otherwise barred him from not just advancing in society but participating in it in general.

But now this defense mechanism will only serve to further push him from others as he crosses morelines. Sure Viktor will be able to do some good with the hexcore and even gain followers, but a cult isn't a reliable source of criticism, it's an echo chamber to reinforce your beliefs. Viktor's true resolution will be allowing someone, maybe more than one, to tell him to pull back and he actually listens.

Tldr: Mr. "If you want to change the world, don't ask for permission", needs to learn life is a team project and nothings wrong with a little peer review.