#my brain just kept going

[teecupangel]

Oh! Dear Goddess of this beautiful temple of teecups, your faithful servant begs for help. The rivers have dried up, the foot is not satiating completely and I can only ask for your blessing in... Desmond with Umar... that's it. I just cannot stop thinking about Desmond being with Umar and giving zero f*cks about Al Mualim. Also i just want to give you all of my kudos for your fics. Every new chapter always makes my day <3

Oh, my faithful enduring servant, my temple had to change location due to… god-related circumstances… as such, I have heard your prayers yet I have not been able to grant small blessings as my temple had taken quite a long journey to its new location.

My temple is still preparing the weekly wares to be peddled to the archives and thus, it seems that we will be unable to peddle our wares this week but, fear not, my faithful servants! For the festival this Saturday shall still commence!

Also, my temple is now ready to take in all kinds of travelers and journeymen!

First, I have answered an ask that ended up having UmaDes and UmaFahDes because that’s usually how we roll in this blog

So, since that ask above covers Desmond becoming Umar’s beau after Maud’s death, we’ll make an idea of Desmond being Umar’s beau before Umar met Maud.

The usual setup: Desmond gets transported into the past BUT this time Umar is the one to find him and Desmond freezes because he looks a bit like Altaïr but not really him?

Like, Desmond knows it’s not Altaïr but he also knows he knows who this man is supposed to be.

Anyway, Desmond realized who he is after he introduced himself as Umar, son of no one, and Desmond follows him to see the mentor because Umar saw him freerunning the rooftops of Acre (he was trying to understand why Acre looks a bit too different) and he thinks Desmond would make a great Assassin.

Desmond is surprised because Umar doesn’t take him to Masyaf.

No.

He takes him to Alamut.

Because the mentor he was about to meet was Ḥasan ʿAlā Zikrihi's-Salām, the mentor who ordered Rashid to go to Masyaf and create a branch of the Brotherhood to oversee Levant.

Desmond had traveled to 1160.

2 years before Al Mualim would travel to Masyaf and create the Levantine Brotherhood.

Unorganized Notes:

My headcanon is that Umar is in his mid-twenties when he had Altaïr because Altaïr is the youngest Assassin to be granted the rank of Master at the age of 24~25 but Umar was a Master Assassin when Altaïr was growing up ergo, Umar should at least be in his mid-twenties (and not yet a Master Assassin) when Altaïr was born.

Because of this, Umar had to be one of the Assassins trained in Alamut and went with Al Mualim to Masyaf.

Desmond impresses the current mentor that he becomes an Assassin in less than a year. At that point, Desmond is just thinking of undermining Al Mualim’s authority so he doesn’t become, well, Al Mualim when they get to Masyaf.

Unfortunately, the current mentor is more or less at odds with Al Mualim at this point. The Assassins in Alamut are thrown between being loyal to Al Mualim or to the mentor and Desmond could see why Al Mualim had been ordered to travel to Masyaf. The mentor was trying to stop an already brewing discord between the two factions that would most definitely end with a civil war to take the mentor title by force.

And Desmond gets pulled into this by becoming the mentor’s new favorite, effectively setting him to side with the mentor’s faction.

It doesn’t help that any interactions with Al Mualim (Rashid, his name is Rashi, Desmond, he’s not yet Al Mualim) are very… awkward. Rashid is trying to gain his trust, Desmond distrusts him from the get-go and yeah…

He and Umar do get along quite well. Too well, some might say. Really, close friends bordering on cross-starred lovers kind of scenario at this point.

Of course, an Al-Sayf must always suffer so Faheem as to watch these two idiots pretend to simply be friends and miss the mark by a kilometer and land square on actually in love, no doubt about it, we don’t wanna talk about it.

Desmond is unable to stop Rashid from being ordered to take Masyaf and he ignores the mentor’s orders to stay in Alamut, joining them instead.

Rashid was actually thinking that Desmond is a spy then… he hears the mentor and Desmond arguing that Desmond should remain in Alamut and he just thinks “Oh. He’s coming because of love.”

Cue Rashid trying to be supportive of what he believes to be Desmond’s grand romantic gesture. Desmond has no clue what he’s talking about. Rashid believes Desmond is pretending not to understand because it is the greatest open secret in all of Alamut. Desmond absolutely has no idea what Rashid is talking about.

They get to Masyaf, Desmond intentionally starts to become Rashid’s devil’s advocate that keeps him in check by questioning his every move and, Desmond didn’t plan it, but he became Rashid’s second-in-command… He’s just… “What. The. Fuck.”

During this time, Desmond and Umar do finally start a relationship. Faheem (who is part of the council so Desmond talks to him a lot) just stares at Desmond, thinking if he should tell the man that he’d been in a relationship with Umar for years now then decided that conversation would just give him a headache so no)

By the time, 1191 rolls in, Altaïr Ibn-Umar is born from a very supportive (like, Desmond is pretty sure she’s the one writing all those… can he call them fanfics? Did she just unintentionally create fanfics in 12th century Levant???) Maud as their surrogate because Desmond reaaaalllllllyy wants a child (he doesn’t necessarily? He just needs to make sure Altaïr is born? Who is he kidding? He wants to spoil Altaïr rotten) and she doesn’t die because Desmond managed to make Rashid believe that the health of his people is very, very important.

Oh. Masyaf still separates from Alamut because the mentor there is a bit of a dick but they have a more amicable relationship because people in Alamut still loves Desmond.

[nothingkindafits]

Other female characters I wanted to add to the tags of the post I reblogged:

Mipha (The legend of Zelda)

Zelda

Korra (The legend of Korra)

Katara (Avatar the last Airbender)

Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls)

Lup (The adventure zone)

Mirabelle (In stars and time)

[hinamie]

spiraling

[egophiliac]

A-anime?

you know, sometimes I forget that Twst is actually an isekai that starts with the protagonist getting run over by an inexplicable horse-drawn carriage. and every time I'm reminded is a delight because that's AMAZING.

also. look. okay. there's a lot of very fun stuff in the trailer but I am obsessed with that Crowley surprised pikachu face. me when I spend all my keys and gems literally hours before they announce overblot SSRs and drop the anime trailer:

[wolfwarrior142]

Aaravos with his first child: *loves her so deeply, profoundly devastated for a century after she's unfairly killed, causes chaos for centuries after*

Aaravos with his second child: Fuck this little freak lol

[thekittyokat]

you ever just have a lot, a LOT of feelings all at once about a character and not even remotely enough words or brainpower to FORM the words to describe everything you're feeling. so it feels like you may explode. yeah

[ch1zzie]

Had this in my pocket for a while so here u gooooo

SCARY MONTH

[sableprince]

doodlin again i guess ??

scraps under the cut

[uproariousscarecrow]

[keferon]

Was there any classes you had to take to be a storyboard artist? I’m thinking of going into a field like that!

I took an online course (Not telling which one because their whole thing significantly dropped in quality over time)

and that was pretty much it. But to be fair - I had decent amount of experience of drawing comics beforehand. It helped significantly because I was already familiar with the concept of visual storytelling through composition and expressions.

I was like. CRAZY passionate about learning to storyboard so I was doing all the homework and watching aaall the lessons and then they were giving optional homework for people who wanted to really lock in and optional-optional little things that no one even expected us to draw. But I was making ALL of them. All the time.

So when the course ended my teacher was like goddamn you got a lot of energy in you huh? And he contacted one producer he knew and basically went "hey I have one student who has zero experience but will work and learn really hard"

And that producer went "Okay I trust you" and hired me without interview haha

[bizarrelittlemew]

calling it right now that season 3 starts like this

[brie-annwyl]

Tim and Damian always being at each others throats, but always the ones that are most there for each other out if all the siblings.

Dick, bless his heart, is the mother hen of the family. His hands are always full with everyone else and their feelings, that sometimes people get.. forgotten.

Damian was never forgotten. He was Dick’s baby. He told Bruce as such during an argument (“he’s MINE Bruce. I don’t care if you were presumed dead or not. He’s MY son more than he’s yours!”) Damian was his top priority.

Until he wasn’t.

Damian didn’t realize how lonely life felt when he wasn’t the centre of Dick’s world. He didn’t realize how much it would actually hurt when Dick would eventually forget to come to one of his school award ceremonies, or to take him out on their weekly lunches so Damian could spend special one-on-one time with him.

It was 3 hours past when Dick was supposed to have picked him up for lunch, yet Damian was still dressed up in his Nightwing hoodie (a hoodie he stole from the elder). Except he was no longer waiting in the family room like usual, he was up in his room, hiding from the prying eyes of Drake that glanced his way every ten or so minutes when he’d check the time. Lines of worry clearly etched on his face.

Damian tries to call Dick, his call gets sent straight to voicemail. He frowns as he gets a text a few seconds later.

-Sorry Dami, can’t talk right now. I’m out with Steph and Cass for a girls day (yes, I’m invited to those. Lol)-

“Oh.” He forgot. Set plans they have every week. Plans that never diverge. He forgot them for a “girls day”. Damian checks his calendar for the 8th time, needing to make sure he hasn’t mixed up the days (even though he knows he never mixes it up, and it’s always Dick that forgets). He shouldn’t be surprised anymore, their lunches had been canceled the past few weeks due to Dick’s unrelenting schedule, but he had promised Damian that they would go to lunch today, and that he would make up for the past few weeks with staying at the manor and having a sleepover with him.

Damian isn’t sure when he threw his phone, nor when he curled up into a ball in his makeshift reading nook in his closet. His cheeks feel wet and the reality setting in makes him all the more embarrassed. Crying over something so juvenile was so beneath him he might as well change his last name to Drake.

Speak of the devil, Damian internally groans when he hears a soft knock on his closet door.

Maybe Drake is like a dinosaur, if he doesn’t move a muscle or make a sound, he’ll move on and leave him alone.

“I can hear you, demon brat.” An unintentional groan escapes Damian as he buried his face further into his arms. He can hear the closet door open and feels Drake shuffle into his hiding spot, his safe space.

At first, it’s quiet. Neither of them dare utter a word in fear of breaking the calming silence that only exists inside this closet. It’s not the first time the two have found themselves here. Tim is the only person with the amount of audacity to enter Damian’s not-so-secret nook in the back of his closet. It’s the only place the two of them don’t argue, an unspoken boundary that holds together this fragile development in their relationship.

“Is this how you felt?” Damian eventually breaks his silence, casting a subtle glance to Tim, only to realize Tim was already looking at him with an indiscernible expression on his face. It’s a look Damian doesn’t see directed towards him often. He isn’t exactly sure what it means either. It’s a facade, it’s meant to look soft and happy, assumably meant to calm him down before approaching any meaningful conversation. There’s an underlying sting of sadness and pity entwined within it. Damian decides he hates it.

“How I felt?” Tim’s a little closer now, maybe 2 meters away from Damian, his head tilted and eyes questioning. A sigh escapes Damian.

“Is this how you felt when I arrived here? Did he forget he loved you too?” Something in Tim’s expression breaks, and that’s all the answer Damian needs. He feels an urge to apologize, but brushed it away. Him and Tim just being able to talk like this - it’s so new, it started maybe 3 weeks ago. He doesn’t believe he can break down all these walls just yet. He isn’t ready to accept and atone, by looking at Tim, he knows he isn’t ready for that either.

And suddenly the elder robin is a lot closer, almost bumping shoulders as he settles in the same position Damian rests in, staring blankly at the same spot on the wall. It’s his collection of “adopted” animals, the ones where they give you a plushie for sponsoring an animal. Damian had over 30.

“You know, I’ve never been to the Gotham animal sanctuary.” Tim subtly added, hoping Damian took the bate, hoping he didn’t catch on. If he had caught on he managed to hide it very well under a sudden angered gasp.

“You’ve never been?! I have a full exhibition there dedicated in the dangers of housing exotic animals and imploring those to donate to the different charities at each animal exhibit!” Tim threw his hands up in defeat, chuckling slightly.

“Well then boy wonder, we need to go then, don’t we?” Without so much as another word, Tim is pushed out of Damian’s closet. For a moment, he believes he screwed everything up. That Damian will forever live his life as a recluse, only seeing the light of day when physically pried from his hiding place. He’s pleasantly surprised when his little brother emerges in a plain tee shirt and shorts. Tim smiles, not listening as Damian warns him that the exhibits are interactive and imploring him to change his clothes as they will get dirty.

Tim just had to learn that the hard way when elephant snot gets on his new bomber jacket.

[toniodarling]

I just bought RE2 and why does Leon refuse to look you in the eyes when you turn the camera. Is he scared of eye contact or somethiyn

[pastafossa]

I went through the second half of my ADHD testing today. And we had some time left. She asked me how I was feeling, towards the end, about the questions and the issues I'd talked about, and I told her about my anxiety and guilt over the things I'd mentioned, and my fear even now that I'd get through this whole process just to hear 'It's not ADHD, you're just lazy, just try harder.' When I told her that she gently said, "well I want you to know, you do have ADHD. You have it. You don't have to feel anxious about that anymore." And ya'll, the way I just started to cry.

I have it. I have it, and I class as 'severe' ADHD.

All those times as a kid I got in trouble with teachers for forgetting things or not being able to focus. All of the, 'you do well in reading, you're smart enough to focus on this, too, don't be lazy, you just need to try, why don't you care?'. All of the projects I started but couldn't finish, the forgetting to reply to messages and texts from friends and losing friendships over it, the clutter I can never seem to manage, my shit attention span, the way I couldn't just get shit DONE, the failed attempts over and over and over to organize and task manage and I don't understand, I'm trying, I promise I'm trying, please, I'm trying, why isn't it working. All those years spent wondering why I was such a fuckup when everyone else appeared to breeze through projects and Normal Adult Tasks without forgetting or losing focus.

And now I know it wasn't my fault. That I was trying. That I did care. That I wasn't lazy. My brain just... doesn't work the usual way. I was doing the best I could with the wrong tools, because all my life I've needed a screwdriver and all I had was a hacksaw. And now, NOW I can finally go to to the doctor for medication, go to therapists who can help and I can finally get the right set of tools. I know now one of the reasons I'm so anxious thanks to this: "I've found that people with late diagnoses often struggle with guilt and shame, and a lot of internalized ableism, because they've dealt for years with people accusing them of being lazy or just not caring."

It is so, so gd validating, especially on top of the surprise diagnosis of 'oh yeah and you're on the spectrum and that's why you've always struggled with these other things!' It feels like there's this weight off my shoulders and it's amazing.

[daemon-in-my-head]

Bout that essay titled 'A study of Gortash's twisted love of humanity'- yk what fuck it here goes nothing. Back into a facists megalomaniacs mind we go. Spoiler; this is long.

But first of all; let's do a thought experiment. Let's just assume, for shits and giggles, Gortash's position would've somehow been swapped with any other the other chosen or another Banite:

Let's start with the Banites: if we had gotten anyone except for Gortash Baldur's Gate would've been fucked. Like genuinely. Banites are cruel, vicious, unashamedly gaudy (they suck ass at infiltration missions) and they exploit loopholes perhaps even better than fiends. Any other Banite would've simply reveled in the fear caused by rampant myrkulites and bhaalists and probably stoked that fire by employing some of their own forces. And depending on whether the Zhents join the winning side or not they would've probably used and abused the black network to absolutely dominate trade and potentially choke out every non desirable in the city itself by fun activities such as grand scale slavery, starving an entire city, or simply employing enough mercenaries and some Bhaalist to get the job done. Banites fuck everyone over so hard they usually don't even stop at themselves, and prideful cruel beings who know absolutely no bounds in their desire for power commonly don't hesitate, especially not Banites who thrive in backstabbing. So the other chosen and the grand design are fucked cuz they will most certainly get removed for the sake of someone more desirable the second they somehow irk Banes favourite toy. Which in some specific cases (all of them) would be in 5 minutes flat. If you thought the local nobility was bad just wait until you see a Banite in their natural environment.

Ketheric: Yeah Baldur's Gate is fucked. Ketheric cares about one thing and one thing only; Isobel. And he employs a bunch of sadistic necromancers who have no concept of personal boundaries or consent for that matter, so chances are he'd let them roam freely in Baldur's Gate, making the streets a huting ground for his followers to find prime subjects to perform inhumane experiments on all while he turns a blind eye; either busy trying to get Isobel under his (mind-) control, reviving her or treating a brainless puppet that looks and once was his daughter like his one true solution to decades of grief and fucking up. He wouldn't care about what happens to the city, to the other chosen or even the grand design. He'd follow his gods orders but thats about it and no matter whether that's still Myrkul or Bane; everyone's fucked cuz surpringly the guy who adores lichdom more than life and the other guy who'd rather 'burn everyone's fields than loose' aren't about to give out any orders that will benefit anyone but themselves.

Orin: Another great case of 'yeah Baldur's Gate is fucked'. Orin wants one thing and one thing only: recognition. Preferably from Bhaal but she'd take anyone at this point. The problem about this whole thing is, she's been conditioned and instilled with so much self-loathing my dearest murder princess can't even begin to realise when she's getting shown any sort of adoration anymore and immediately understands it as mockery, see, for example, her butler. Is what I would say if their corpse wasn't chilling in Durges old bedroom. All Orin would do is stage ever grander and more elaborate public massacres and involuntary 'anatomy displays'. Baldur's Gate wouldn't simply be fucked; give her a week, and the majority of it would be dead. This works well for Bhaal, but for anyone else, it would kinda suck. Including the other two of the dead three. And the cult would probably still loathe her simply due to her not being a true Bhaalspawn, so cue Orin's madness reaching an absolute boiling point. She doesn't and would never care for any of the other chosen or the grand design. Unless she's reigned in, she's a utterly loose canon, even more so than she was already, with Gortash or Durge at the helm, respectively.

Now time for my favourite of the reckless murder hobos; Durge. Given the few in game notes we have Durge had a thing for obliteration. Including but not limited to every living being + themselves. So let's just assume Gortash’s cocky upstart charm and Orins assassination attempt didn't work out as planned and they are still the de facto leader but now without any leash. Baldur's Gate is probably obliterated. Alongside whatever else remains of the sword coast. Or Troil. They'd probably also have some weird ass fuck relationship with the brain cuz they already did without being the undisputed leader. And the brain would probably discard the grand design themselves cuz somehow Durge has that effect on things (might be the innate charm magic of Bhaalist priests that they use to convince people to join a literal murder cult). Either way, with Durge not giving a single damn about the other chosen, any plans but Bhaals (or their misunderstood version of it) and a dramatic love for self-obliteration, it may finally be time to remedy the elves' mistake and rip Abeir-Toril apart properly. Ao hates this trick, alongside everyone else, probably including Bhaal himself.

Which is all my longwinded way of saying; Gortash is the lesser evil. In any set of circumstances he displays enough leniency, monster fucker vibes and rationality to somehow keep this ruined, sinking ship from hitting the sea floor immediately. He has enough of a twisted love for humanity left, compared to the others, to a degree that he doesn't blindly follow orders or actively seeks the destruction of everything, let alone 'true' domination the way Bane intends to have it.

But yes, indeed, Gortash performed fucked up and cruel experiments. No doubt about that. And yet it was still on a lesser scale than a mad massive hoard of necromancers could, and his experiments, for the most part, actually yielded results, didn't they? Presumably, the Coginator and the remote control brain mechanism used for the Steelwatch. After all, there are zombies(?) in there, controlling that shit. However, the experiments on loving families were probably one of his selfish indulgences and his sorry attempt at figuring out if he was just born loathsome and his family sucks ass or if that's normal and humanity doesn't deserve a second chance. Or a 30th. FR lore is fucked up.

This is also a great transition to exhibit B of my thesis why Gortash does in fact love or is at the very very very least heavily intrigued by humanity; the sole existence of the Steelwatch. Listen, my guy serves Bane. Bane hates planning. He likes immediate results. So much so he actively pisses off his situationship Bhaal for it. Repeatedly. And he likes fear and tyranny. So what do you think the chances are that the black hand would actually enjoy the thought of a mecha army patrolling the streets of Baldur's Gate, keeping them save, and worst of all, instilling hope in the hearts of the populous, peasants and nobles alike? Yeah, absolutely fucking none. And yet Gortash did that. And he's not even just a regular banite. He's Banes chosen. He carries a part of Bane's divinity within himself. He has the de facto highest position in the local faith. He's Banes favourite toy rn. He's the centre of attention and he still goes out of his way to use things that could 1000% inspire fear and hatred to sow fucking hope and a sense of safety of all things in plain sight? I bet his adorable wrinkly ass that Bane wasn't happy and that even a thousand rituals to redeem his leniency won't save him from getting tortured extra hard for this fuck up. And considering the state of the Banites scriptures we found, and his entire character, Gortash is smart enough to know this is something Bane absolutely loathes. And yet my guy did that.

Another thing is the hive mind. Bane would probably not hate it outright, as its still 'burning the fields' by turning souls illithid, but it's wasted potential. Because there's so many great things you can do with a hivemind and the remote control over people's thoughts and emotions, for example instilling fear and terror the very things Bane loves. But that's, once again, not Gortash plan. If the notes and one of the evil endings is anything to go by the hivemind doesn't trap people in a state of torment, it does the polar opposite. People are happy, enjoying a better, simpler and nicer life. Enjoying an idea of what their life could've been like. They're smiling, happy, enjoying a casual market stroll and the bountiful rewards of the fields. Which is all things that a good Banite should hate and never inflict on someone. AND YET that's presumably Gortashs plan. Create a hivemind where everyone can dream happily and do soulless labour without noticing it while the world goes to absolute shit but the people do not. It's basically noah's arc. It's paradise in hell. The people are 'saved' while the gods continue to fight their petty games, and Gortash alone lords over this perfect dream. Protecting it answer using it to advance further.

Now, about the busts found in his office. Most of them depicted rather unsavoury, cruel people. Except for one. Which honours a self made person who took pity on those who had less. On those considered lesser by the upright and honourable citizens of the Gate. It's weird how, between all those symbols and testaments to cutlery and tyranny, there's still a sliver of empathy, renegade justice and even care for fellow humans imbued, isn't it? And what's even weirder, all of them are found in Gortash's most private place? His own little office hidden far above the grandeur of the throne room and the Fortress, where he sits at the helm, lording over his subjects and scheming his little plans? This is an excellent example of show, don't tell btw. It's hitting you over the head with the implications. But just in case, this might very well be a reflection of Gortashs mind itself and the visible expression of him being incapable of letting go of humanity as a whole, still carrying it somewhere not even that well buried between the resentment and cruelty but out in plain view for everyone curious enough to touch it because what others reason would he have tob'play the benelovent ruler' in a place where no one sees it? Where only his most trusted and fellow Banites mingle?

And, ofc, as I am a durgetash truther, another exhibit. Him fucking Bhaals gore baby and putting a leash on it prematurely. You see, I've already talked about Banes likes and dislikes plenty so it should come as no surprise that the Edgelord Surpreme wouldn't hate carnage wrought upon foolish mortals by idiots who follow lesser gods than himself, since it would still somehow contribute to people being scared and panicking. But Gortash, being the ever faithful fuck up of a Banite, reigns in the Bhaalist and even the Myrkulites enough for that to kinda never really happen. He stopped the carnage from happening altogether, in fact, by giving the others enough scraps to keep them satisfied and from acting out but not enough freedom to fuck up his plans. I mean, heck he was apparently so convincing he managed to get Durge, again, biggest fan of self-obliteration, from going on an apocalyptic rampage cuz 'daddy I like his brain and I don't mean for dinner'. Him doing that actively contributed to preventing another Bhaalspawn crisis, which could've very well happened with Bhaals resurgence and revival, 2.5 loose canons and no ward of a random old guy in sight. But also him providing a clear goal and orders for Ketheric kept the lich from giving in to the sweet release of just not caring at all whatsoever. Everyone had their designated roles and boundaries and that was perhaps the only thing keeping this group of mentally unstable creatures from unleashing an apocalyptic nightmare; which again would've worked in their gods favour and technically didn't need any prevention.

And about the Gondians... Yeah this is gonna sound fucked up, cuz it is, but Gortash is actually treating them exceptionally nice. Their families are actually still alive and its not just a lie he's telling them, we don't actually see anyone getting flayed, strung up or tortured in some other way outright, they actually get to wear clothes and presumably they're fed enough to a degree that most of them can still somewhat work and the collar and the threat of your head exploding does suck but he could've also simply chained them to their work stations but they aren't. Let alone use charms or other beguiling and fucked up magic to force them into complacency. And they're not being resold or redistributed or forced to serve some random ass guy. The Gondians are, from a Forgotten Realms and probably Bane's perspective, treated exceptionally well. As are their families. Still undoubtedly fucked up and kinda sadistic with the whole explosion collar but objectively speaking he's one of the nicer slave masters. And they do allow him to produce the Steel Watchers en mass which once again contributes to the overall safety of Baldurs Gate and its other citizens. Still the lesser evil.

Though to be fair; Gortash also did some things Bane would really celebrate. Like somehow cheating his way into obtaining the Iron Throne, fucking Bhaals favourite and most fucked up """"child"""" and of course, keeping his parents alive and in agony to eternally fuel Banes fear kink. Except, it's only Sally who's afraid. Dravo is basically a blue screen of death personified at this point. He's a hollow, numb husk, isn't he? So somehow this once again doesn't align with Banes goals and Gortash's duty as a Banite. He's fucked it up again. But Gortash could've also simply killed them if all he wanted was revenge. Why go out of your ways, program elaborate scripts into them, keep the very place that testaments his fucked up past in good condition? Because a quick death would be too merciful? But then why is he so quick to turn on Durge if they betray him in a much smaller scale than his parents did. Well, perhaps he chose not to simply kill the very people who prepared Belladonna in the kitchen when he came to visit because he himself still needs them. Because underneath all that rage and spite there's still a broken boy who wants to hear his parents, albeit empty praise, and who wants to prove to them that he can be better? That his useless playing around actually helped better humanity, that he himself helped countess people and made lives better when all they thought he'd be useful as would be a pawn?

So, is it twisted? Yes. Is it rotten? Absolutely. Is it anything you'd consider to be 'conventional'? Absolutely not. But he does hold some wildly fucked up 'love' for humanity, if only as means to a grander goal (that being himself, ofc) or perhaps cuz he's genuinely incapable of letting go. Whether it's that, to spite Raphael, Bane and his parents or someone else, who knows. Probably nobody. But the shit he does is unorthodox and oddly self-sacrificial in a way where I just can't go, 'yeah no he absolutely loathes the sheer existence of the concept'.

I still think it's a missed opportunity he's not trying to build a spelljamming port though. I feel like he would absolutely do that somewhere down the line, if only to limit the black networks influence.

[lowpolyshadow]

i have art block but i also don't have art block you feel me