#one day i will do a super detailed meta about it

[nonsupe-a]

i know i’ve said it probably about a million and one times with practically no real thought other than rambles but the cia wanting to desk him after his incident in russia,   talking about the rest of his future as he’s laid up in a hospital bed,   in and out of consciousness for the better part of a few days before he comes to fully,   and vought essentially taking / buying him off their hands instead just so they can use him as a guineapig for the cv-a serum  ....  hits me.

[suffarustuffaru]

i just. remembered again that i have a fembaru fic but also the premise is. Very Messed Up hah and also it was written before the canon genderbent au with its official genderbend names for everyone so its also outdated on top of that T^T i had like. Genderqueer subtext going on too. but i also wrote this fic like almost two years ago and havent touched it in forever so im unsure if i should go back to it…. o.o but i would love to finish it one day if only for my own satisfaction hah… i had a very detailed outline for ch 2 (its a twoshot) and several scenes written already anyway!! (and also i would probably update those names, make minor edits, etc etc hmm…)

[riding-the-sunset-bird]

Another day, another post dissecting Our Life's code! This time we'll be going over how Our Life decides whether your Cove will be Studious, Sporty, or somewhere in the middle!

If you've already seen my post on how the game decides where Cove is on the spectrum between warm and cold, then most of this will feel extremely familiar, but you don't need to check that post to understand this one! I'll be going over everything exactly the same.

According to GB Patch, getting a sporty or studious Cove is primarily based on what you do with him activity-wise.

Part of it is what Cove literally ends up doing in the events. There are multiple times where he can do something more physical or do something more low key. Another part is a somewhat meta “the player is creating their reality” type of deal. For example, if the player makes it clear that their MC is the sporty one around, that would have to mean Cove isn’t the sporty one. So even without interacting with Cove directly you’d rack up a lot studious points for him because your choices are describing a world where Cove isn’t that into sports. That’s not to say it’s impossible for the MC and Cove to both be into sports. Describing your MC specifically as the one into sports is excluding Cove from being super into sports, but he doesn’t have to be excluded. The most straightforward way to get a sporty Cove is to just really focus on it. Whenever there’s something that could possibly make him more interested in bookish things, lean away from that. And whenever there’s a way to encourage him to like or do physical stuff, do it. So, for example, don’t accept just being a silver medalist in Grown-up, don’t say that the MC is a faster runner than Cove when trying to get away from Shiloh, do ask him question that lead to him talking about outdoorsy activities he does, etc.

Calling it "points" is very accurate because it's very much a points system. Whenever you do certain actions with/say certain things to Cove, the game will add a "point" to either Cove being studious or Cove being sporty (in extremely rare cases, it will add two instead of even subtract one).

(also, shockingly, reading the book with Cove in Sleepover actually has zero effect on Cove being Studious/Sporty; I even had to read through the script to confirm and the only reasoning I can imagine is because it's related to getting a CG and the devs wouldn't want players who want the CG to feel forced into making Cove more studious just to get it)

The tutorial of the game also vaguely details the studious to sporty spectrum:

[Cove']s interests fall along a sporty-mixed-studious spectrum. It works similarly to the personality one. When he's young, Cove has a variety of interests. As time goes on that can stay the same, begin to focus on more athletic/outdoorsy activities, or become more interested in academic/indoorsy ways to spend time.

And, if you've ever been in the Cove Creator, you'd know that there are five "states" that Cove can be in when it comes to his interests, with one state being between Studious and Mixed while another is between Mixed and Sporty. However, as far as I can tell, the game will never actually check for these two states, meaning that Cove is either Studious, Mixed, or Sporty, without any sort of Studious-Mixed or Mixed-Sporty at all.

In terms of the first check of the game - after the end of Step 1, of course - the game will examine the points you've gathered and decide where on the spectrum Cove is. If you have more Studious points, then the game will look only at how many points you've gathered there and vice versa with Sporty points. If you have an equal amount of Studious and Sporty points, then there will be a sort of "coin flip" to determine which points the game will check (this actually happened to me once where I had to go back on a save and got a Sporty Cove instead of a Studious one even though I'd done nothing different, simply because I'd accumulated an equal amount of sporty and studious points with Cove).

The remaining points in the other category are thrown away, and if you don't have enough sporty/studious points (depending on what you had more of or what the game chose in the "coin toss"), then you get a Mixed Cove.

Interestingly enough, the game is actually uneven in how it calculates a "fully Studious" or "fully Sporty" Cove. If you have six or more points in Studiousness, then you get a "fully Studious" Cove, but the game only asks for five of more in Sportiness to give you a "fully Sporty" Cove. This means that you could have six points in both Studiousness and Sportiness, which would give you a "fully Sporty" Cove if the coin flip picked Sportiness, but if the coin flip picks Studiousness, you'll only get a "Studious-Mixed" Cove.

As stated above though, the Studious-Mixed and Mixed-Sporty states don't really exist and serve as Studious and Sporty respectively anyway. In the grand scheme of things, it won't matter, but I digress.

Keeping that in mind, the game only cares if you have three or more points in either Studiousness or Sportiness. If you have three or more Studious points, you get a Studious Cove, and if you have three or more Sporty points, you get a Sporty Cove (and a coin toss if you're equal in both to decide whether he's Studious or Sporty). If you do not have enough points in either, you get a Mixed Cove. A Mixed Cove is most likely if you either play through Step 1 without playing any moments or avoid leaning Cove towards anything Studious/Sporty at all.

Cove's personality and appearance are also unrelated to whether he's Studious or Sporty, excluding moments where a multiple choice option might affect multiple values at once (but this is coincidence rather than direct correlation and, yes, I'll mention them when they come). Cove will also still do things like go surfing in Wave even if he's Studious, it's just that he'll be an awkward surfer instead of a graceful one (no comment if he's Mixed).

In terms of things that affect the player directly, the gummy bear toss in the Step 2 DLC moment Birthday is one of the biggest things that come to mind, as you'll lose if Cove isn't sporty and your MC hasn't been given any "sporty points" of their own (since this post isn't about the MC, I'll keep it brief and just say that the game keeps track of your own athletic ability during Step 2, such as if you tell Kyra that you like to swim). If that matters to you, you can opt for a sporty Cove and save yourself the trouble as there's no Studious equivalent of the gummy bear toss.

As for all of the moments in Step 1 where you have a chance to influence Cove's Studiousness/Sportiness, here they are!

Step 1 - Prologue

When Cove and the MC try to flee from Shiloh (if the MC agrees to go along with Cove):

He was fast, but you knew you could outrun him if you had to. [sporty +1]

He was not that fast, you knew you could outrun him if you had to. [studious +1]

He was not that fast, but neither were you. [studious +1]

At that speed, you weren't sure if you could go fast enough to reach him. [sporty +1]

Shopping

When Cove is staring down absentmindedly at the sand:

"Are you looking for snails?" [sporty +1]

"Are you looking for shells?" [studious +1]

"What is it?" [studious +1]

"You didn't feel the need to ask why." [sporty +1]

When Cove goes back to not saying anything on the beach:

You didn't either. [sporty +1]

"What did you want to go to the shops for?" [studious +1]

"What do you usually do on the beach?" [sporty +1]

Grown Up

When Lizzie tells Cove and the MC that they won silver in the pretend Olympics:

"Silver sucks. I don't want silver." [sporty +1]

"I'm okay with that." [studious +1]

"Hey, we can do better than silver!" [sporty +1]

"Silver's not bad. Nice." [studious +1]

You stayed silent. [no change]

Long Day

When Lizzie asks the MC if they're a chicken who doesn't want to ding-dong-ditch the mean grandparents:

"Yeah. Cluck-cluck." [studious +1]

You'd rather just avoid them. [studious +1]

You thought they deserved worse. [no change]

"I'll do it." [no change]

When the MC gets to decide what they see in the clouds:

You saw a dolphin. [studious +1] {note that this will give Cove the dark blue short-sleeved shirt}

You saw a car. [sporty +1] {note that this will give Cove the red salamander sleeveless shirt}

You saw an alpaca. [sporty +1] {note that this will give Cove the dark blue short-sleeved shirt}

You saw a smiley face. [sporty +1] {note that this will give Cove the red salamander sleeveless shirt}

You saw cloud shapes. [studious +1]

Sandcastle

[NONE]

Fireflies

When the MC notices Cove lagging behind the group while en route to poppy hill:

"Are you not gonna come?" [no change] {but will give Cove cold +1}

You tugged him along. [sporty +1] {note that this will give Cove cold +1 on Indifferent and warm +1 on Fond/Crush}

You walked with him. [no change] {but will give Cove cold +1}

You waved at him to hurry. [no change] {but will give Cove warm +1}

You ran off. [no change]

When Cove fails to catch a firefly after the MC catches one:

You encouraged him to try again. [sporty +1] {note that this will give Cove warm +1}

You told him about the firefly you had. [studious +1] {note that this will give Cove cold +1}

You made a joke about what happened. [studious +1]

You did your own things. [sporty +1]

Library

When the MC chooses to go with Cove rather than participate in the quiz:

[sporty +1] {note that this will give Cove cold +1}

When the MC and Cove are about to be interrupted in their game of hide-and-seek (dependent on how good the MC has been at the game; answers marked with a * are the correct ones):

1st round of hide-and-seek

Next to a Peter Pan poster.

*Beside the fairy tale display.

*Behind the solar system model.

2nd round of hide-and-seek

By the fire awareness station.

Near the stuffed animals.

*Under the giant piece of fruit.

By the outlaw poster.

*In the fantasy section.

Near the toddler books.

3rd round of hide-and-seek

*In all the old Christmas stuff.

Next to the kid detective poster.

*Behind the Willy Wonka statues.

Final Tally

the MC won zero rounds (Cove will say "I'm doing good.") [sporty +1]

the MC won one round (Cove will say "I'm doing good.") [studious +1] [sporty +1]

the MC won two rounds (Cove will say "I can still win.") [studious +1]

the MC won all three rounds (Cove will say "I need to do good in at least one round.") [studious +1]

If the MC chose to go do the quiz instead:

[studious +1] {note that this will give Cove warm +1}

Ghost

[NONE]

Barbecue

When the MC is racing the other kids to catch the girl with the squirt gun (if the MC chose to go play with the kids in the first place):

You outran them easily. [studious +1]

You outran them with effort. [sporty +1]

You weren't as fast as them because they were speedy. [sporty +1]

You weren't as fast as them because you just weren't fast. [studious +1]

You moved to the side to let them pass; you didn't wanna win this race. [no change]

When Mr. Holden comments on his interests:

"Those are things Cove likes." [sporty +1]

"Wow. It's a good thing you live by the beach." [studious +1]

You stayed quiet. [no change]

Runaway

[NONE]

Sleepover

[NONE]

Step 1 - Ending

When Cove tries to skip a rock across the water (if the MC chose to stay with him):

You were impressed over how far he got it to go. It sailed way out into the sea. [sporty +2] [studious -1]

It was a good toss. That was pretty neat. [sporty +1]

It wasn't a long throw. But he didn't care to try for that. [studious +1]

The rock sunk kind of... like a rock and fell back down almost right after he tossed it. [studious +2] [sporty -1]

And that's all of them! A few surprises are in there, but it's mostly straightforward in either prompting Cove to talk about outdoor/active things he does or choosing options that imply he's particularly good/fast (whether compared to the MC or in general). Particularly tricky are the ones that might change Cove's appearance/personality when you didn't intend for that to happen and are trying not to use the Cove Creator to get the Cove you want.

Still, it's definitely easier to gauge than Cove's appearance or personality, so whether you wanted this for a guide or just for the data, I hope you enjoyed! :D

[starryalpacasstuff]

Queer Indian Media: A Compilation

A couple of days ago, @impala124 sent @lurkingshan an ask about the lack of discussion about Queer Indian Media in fandom spaces. I wrote about it here, @neuroticbookworm here, and @waitmyturtles here (both of them have excellent points, I highly recommend you read their posts!). It's become quite apparent that people are willing to watch and engage in discourse about queer Indian media, it's just that the lack of popularity and accessibility makes it harder for people to start. So, I've decided to make a list tracking all of the queer Indian media I know of, and hopefully also any meta/discourse about it, which is an idea I've had floating in my head for months now.

This list is by no means comprehensive, so if you have recs, send them my way! Text me on DM, send an ask, tag me in your posts, whatever. And though it's not possible for me to watch everything on the list, I will be slowly going through as many of these as I can and writing about them, as well as hopefully finding more stuff and easier to access versions for the ones that are harder to access right now. This post is going to be a slow work in progress, but I'm hoping to update it regularly. So, if you'd like me to keep you updated, let me know through the tags/replies and I will tag you in future posts!

I've tagged the people who've recommended certain shows alongside each show. Everything on here is available online. The hyperlinked titles lead you to the media itself, meaning that it's available for free online with subtitles. Other details will be mentioned separately.

Disclaimer: The media I have watched/read have recommendation ratings (which will not always reflect my enjoyment of something, rather are based on how much I'd recommend it). While I did lightly screen everything on here, the criteria was 'has a trailer or otherwise showing queerness to be a central theme in the story' and 'is available online', so take that into account if you decide to pick something up, and definitely watch trailers and/or skim the wikipedia pages beforehand.

Movies

Fire | English | @neuroticbookworm 

Recommendation: 8.75/10 A 1996 movie surrounding a lesbian couple packed with commentary on religion, class, purity culture and more. Quick Pitch + Historical Context

Kapoor & Sons | Hindi | @neuroticbookworm

Available on Netflix, Prime, and paid on Youtube and Apple TV

Kaathal-The Core | Malayalam | @neuroticbookworm 

Officially on Prime, also available grey without subtitles

Super Deluxe | Tamil | @neuroticbookworm 

Officially on a paid streaming service called aha, grey on youtube

Dear Dad | Hindi | @neuroticbookworm 

Geeli Puchi (Ajeeb Dastaans) | Hindi | @blorbingqls @neuroticbookworm 

Available on Netflix

Cobalt Blue @blorbingqls

Officially on Netflix, also available grey without subtitles

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga | Hindi | @fallsouthwinter @usertoxicyaoi @neuroticbookworm

Available officially on Netflix, so watch there if you can, but can also be found grey in two parts without subtitles

Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish | Bengali | @silverquillsideas @neuroticbookworm 

I believe it's available on prime, but you might need to do some digging. Also available grey on youtube without subtitles (the movie is in part Bengali, part English)

Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan | Hindi | @silverquillsideas @twig-tea @neuroticbookworm

Officially on Amazon, grey on youtube without subtitles

Maja Ma | Hindi | @flyingrosebeetle @silverquillsideas 

Available on Amazon Prime

Badhaai Do | Hindi

Officially on Netflix, available grey without subtitles

Loev | Hindi

Available on youtube with Spanish (I think?) subtitles

Margarita With A Straw | Hindi

I believe this is a cut version, it is officially on Netflix which is likely the uncut version

Recommendation: 9/10

A self-discovery story about an Indian woman named Laila with cerebral palsy with great rep and beautiful execution.

Meta by @wen-kexing-apologist

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui | Hindi | anon

Available grey without subtitles, officially on Netflix

Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani | Hindi | @flowerbeasblog @aneechan

Officially on Jio Cinema, also available grey without subtitles

Time Out | Hindi

Available on Netflix

My Brother…Nikhil | Hindi

My Son Is Gay | Tamil

Hindi dub available on youtube without subtitles

Shows

Romil and Jugal | Hindi | @anixknowsnothin

You do need a vpn if you're outside India to watch it with the above link, it's also grey on youtube without subtitles

Recommendation: 8.5/10 India's modern gay remake of Romeo and Juliet, five years before Bad Buddy Random thoughts

The Married Woman | Hindi | @a-not-knowing-bisexual-wizard

Dev DD Season 2 | Hindi

Legitimately no clue whether this and the prev are grey or official

Made in Heaven | Hindi | @flyingrosebeetle @non-beingnary @neuroticbookworm

Available on Prime

All About Section 377, Still About Section 377 | Hindi

The Story Tales S2 | Gujrati

Insomnia | Hindi

It's a streaming service I've never heard of before, not unlike Gaga, this is one of the darker shows on the list so please do check out the trailer beforehand

Amra 2GayTher | Bengali

Available on two streaming services here and here, both paid

Mini gls from @twig-tea (og post here)

Firsts S3 | @tinyreadinglifelight

Neverland

Maaya 2

Last two eps do not have subtitles but the story is followable

The ‘Other’ Love Story @/silverquillsideas 

Just Another Love Story

Books

Memory of Light

Recommendation: 5/10 A historical book set during the colonial era, the lesbian romance is mostly a subplot that loses it's way towards the end. It's kind of a drag, but the history component is somewhat interesting.

Don't Let Him Know

Recommendation Rating: 7.5/10 with serious trigger warnings including rape. It's a brutally honest book designed to make the reader uncomfortable, so proceed with caution. I personally liked it quite a lot, but that's majorly because of how authentic the book felt.

Falling Into Place

Recommendation Rating: 8/10 A modern lesbian romance that follows similar beats to the typical thai bl/gl. A little underdeveloped in some places, but overall quite good.

My Magical Palace

Cobalt Blue

The Paths Of Marriage

Marriage Of A Thousand Lies

[rapz-rites]

Is it alright if i request Batbros finding out Damian has a s/o

But it’s not just any s/o he’s dating his best friend and his partner in vigilante work

Love your work and I hope all is well

Best-friends and Girlfriends

Damian Wayne x Meta!Reader

Why were the Batboys surprised to find out you and Damian were dating? Aren’t they supposed to be great detectives?

A/N: OMG I GOT MY FIRST REQUEST. I HOPE I DO RIGHT BY YOU 😤✊🏾 Sorry it took so long. I had a background story about the reader activating/getting her powers here

Word Count: 2.1K+

Warning: kissing, cockblocking, Damian being a dickhead

-You got into the vigilante business much later than the others

-You were brought to the leagues attention after an accident you accidentally caused (see background story for details)

-You already lived in Gotham so they decided it would be best to work under Batman

-Because you were part psychic and could feel peoples emotions

-In the beginning Batman tried pairing you up with a few of the others to too how you would work

-You were relatively new to your powers, especially your element powers

-You’ve had a tiny bit of experience with people emotions but now that they’ve been fully activated, it overwhelming

-That’s why you had a hard time being paired for patrol

-You didn’t want to be a Bat

-You appreciated Batman taking you under his wing but you could stand having the same logo on your chest as 5 other people

-And each of them had very different personalities

-Jason had too much unreleased aggression

-Dick was a bit too chipper for your taste

-Tim was too jittery from the surplus of coffee and lack of sleep

-Stephanie was fine but she would just have random burst of emotions that startled you and you couldn’t deal

-You almost fell of a roof with her cause of that

-Cass was also nice but you couldn’t get too comfortable or else you’d end up in a void of nothingness

-That’s how you ended up fall off a roof

-Luckily Batman caught you and had Damián take you home

-You didn’t snap out of it until the next day

-Damian tried his best to avoid you

-He didn’t trust you

-Especially with your ability to read minds

-He thought you would read his mind and use it against him

-But, as a last resort, you two were paired together

-Damian tried to fight it

-“Little D. At least try for her sake. She’s going through a lot with all these unwanted thoughts and feelings”

-Unwanted?

-“Fine, Grayson. I’ll try but I won’t like it ”

-“Thank you”

-When Bruce told you you were going to be on patrol with Damian you were nervous

-When you first got to the manor, you thought he hated you

-I mean… he probably did

-It wasn’t like you were another kid he was trying to adopt

-You parents were very much active in your life

-They sent you to the manor because they thought being with other people and hero’s your age would help

-Though none of the Bats have powers you would still see the other super powered sidekicks often and learn whatever you can from them

-Surprisingly to both you and Damian, patrol went well

-You could feel Damian had a lot of emotions

-But they were quiet

-Like he was hiding them

-Suppressing them

-You would definitely ask him about it later

-After that patrol you went to talk to Damian but he disappeared

-And everytime you tried talking to him about it something keep getting in the way

-Other than that, over the next few months you two got closer

-Since you were new to the whole vigilante scene you let Damian lead

-Which he appreciated

-His siblings usually didn’t let him

-You two would have some nice conversations during patrol even if they were cut short

-Sometimes you two you just hang out in each others presence in the library or you’d watch Damian paint in the art room he had Bruce make

-You both enjoyed each other’s company

-But his thoughts and emotions confused you

-One night you couldn’t sleep

-Both you and Damian were off from patrol that night

-Making your way to Damian’s room, you knocked on the door

-Damian opened the door before looking at you

-“Grayson, what do-”

-He stopped once he saw you

-He was clad in just pj pants

-You we’re wearing a oversized shirt you cut into a crop top and shorts

-“Hi”

-“It’s late. What are you doing?”

-“I'm sorry, did I wake you?”

-“No. I couldn’t sleep”

-He opened the door wider so you could come

-As you walked in you took it upon yourself to look around a bit, not touching anything

-“Cool swords”

-“Thanks”

-You went to sit near the end of his bed, and he sat in the center, resting his back against some pillows and his headboard

-“Why are you here so late?”

-“I wanted to talk to you about your thoughts and emotions”

-Damian wasn’t look at you before, but now he was

-“What about them?”

-You could hear a slight venom in his voice

-“You’re suppressing your emotions and your thoughts are always against each other. ”

-“So what?”

-“I’m just… worried about you. I want to help you”

-“My thoughts and feelings are none of your concern so you can leave now”

-You were a bit hurt by this

-But you tried something

-You moved yourself closer to him

-You put your hand on top of his and had him feel you emotions

-You could tell by the look on his face that he could feel how genuine you were

-“Fine”

-You we’re glad that he allowed you to help him and you face didn’t hide it

-That entire night you helped him

-At the end you couldn’t help but smile

-“What are you smiling about?”

-Damian was confused

-If you saw what he saw you shouldn’t be smiling

-“You think I’m pretty and you want to kiss me again”

-Of course you saw that

-“It late. You should go to sleep”

-“Wait no. We never got to talk about it but I enjoyed the kiss too”

-Damian kept a straight face but you could feel he like hearing it

-You smiled at him

-“If you enjoyed it that much, we can do it again”

-He took initiative to kiss you

-And you kissed him back

-He pulled you closer so that you were on his lap

-It was nicer than the last time

-Don’t get me wrong, the last time was great but this kiss was way better

-Had more emotion and wasn’t rushed

-You groaned when Damian broke the kiss

-“Let’s go on a date”

-He wasn’t asking

-It was more like a very strong suggestion

-One someone couldn’t say no to

-Not like you would ever say no

-“I’d love that”

-You smiled and kissed him again

-That’s how the two of you started dating

-Since then whenever Damian got in an arguement with his brothers, just one touch from you and he would instantly calm down

-His brothers were grateful

-They figured you had just used you powers to help calm him down

-They thought he opened himself enough to you for you to become best friends

-They weren’t wrong but Damian knew that you would help him get through any negative emotions he had

-They didn’t know that you two were dating though

-It didn’t take Bruce long to figure it out

-He knew the first time you calmed Damian down after a fight with his brothers

-“I know about your relationship and I figure that your parents know”

-You nodded

-“I would just like the be sure that you two are using protection-”

-“Bruce, please. My parents gave me the talk years ago and we both know how babies are made”

-“Ok good”

-Once out of ear shot, Damian smirked and said

-“Glad you didn’t tell we are using protection”

-You rolled your eyes at him and walked away

-Which brings us to now

-It’s the annual Wayne New Years Gala

-You’re wearing a beautiful green dress that matched the accents on Damian’s suit nicely

-By this point you and Damian have been dating for over a year

-There were so many people

-Usually you would have left by now with all the people and their thoughts and emotions, but Bruce asked if you could try to stay the entire duration

-You knew he would ask if it wasn’t important to him

-So you stayed

-It was about hour and a half until midnight when you disappeared

-You were fine speaking with some of the older women and girls your age

-But you drew the line at the persistent boy who kept flirting with you

-You told him you had a boyfriend and didn’t appreciate his constant flirting

-But he didn’t get the hint

-NO MEANS NO

-When he was distracted you slipped away from everyone

-Luckily no one noticed your disappearance but Damian

-You hid in the library

-You couldn’t feel other people or hear their thoughts

-it was nice

-However a opening door broke your peace

-It was your boyfriend

-After a few weeks of dating you and Damian decided to share your presence

-Meaning that you both could faintly feel what the other is feeling and are aware of each others presence

-Once Damian couldn't feel you in the ball room he just followed your presence leading him to the library

-“I don’t know why father insisted on you staying when he knows you can get overwhelmed with all these people”

-You had mild social anxiety before

-You did fine with crowds but after a certain period of time you could do it

-Once your powers activated it got worse

-You could be around remotely large crowds for too long or else your powers might fritz out

-“It was going fine until…it doesn’t matter. Stay here with me”

-Damian sat down on the couch next to you

-Damian didn’t hesitate to agree

-He hated these galas

-Especially the girls throwing themselves at him even after politely turning them down

-“Let’s finish reading that book”

-You suggested

-But Damian had a different

-“Or… I can get my New Years kiss a bit early”

-You couldn’t help but chuckle

-“I like that idea very much Mr Wayne”

-At the same time Dick wondered where you and Damian went

-He got his other 2 brothers to help with the search

-In the library, Damian was on top of you while you kissed each other

-You tugged at Damian’s jacket and tie

-“Take it off ”

-You didn’t have to tell him twice

-Once they were off his went back to kissing you

-So passionately

-So lovingly

-So not what Dick and Tim expected to find

-Jason caught up with them and saw

-“OH MY GOD!”

-That startled you and Damian away from each other

-“What’s going on”

-Steph and Cass came into the library to see what was happening

-She looked at you and Damian and the shocked look of her brothers face

-She laughed

-“Oooh. I see. Did you guys not know?”

-Dick was offended

-“You guys knew”

-Cass let out a simple

-“Of course”

-Steph intervened

-“Bruce was the first, then Cass, and Duke and I”

-Jason was shocked

-“Even Duke knew”

-You could just sit there

-Uhm. We’re right here“”

-Martian Manhunter taught you how to knock people out with your mind

-You could easily do it to his siblings and take Damian to another room and continue where you left off

-Bruce might not like it though

-But who cares

-You have needs

-“Let’s go. Father is most likely expecting us for the countdown”

-You looked to your side a notice Damian had put his jacket back on but left his tie

-You pulled yourself together before standing up

-Damian have you his hand

-“Come on, Beloved”

-You took his hand, and both of you walked out

-And his brothers followed you pestering for answers

-“Here is my youngest son, Damian”

-Saved by the Bruce

-You planned on staying at Damian’s side for the rest of the night

-But Bruce just had to ruin it

-Damian had to give a speech

-It was just 2 minutes before midnight when Damian finished his speech

-“Before I go I’d like to mention my gorgeous girlfriend-”

-The amount of gasps from the crowd was astronomical

-Boy, we’re the tabloids going to love this

-“Y/N L/N”

-You got on the stage next to Damian

-People were recording and cameras were flashing

-You could see the the headlines already

-Damian Wayne No Longer a Bachelor

-Damian Wayne and Y/N? Who Knew?

-“Im am glad to be able to step into the new year with her by my side”

-10

-9

-8

-7

-6

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

-“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

-And with that Damian pulled you closer to him and kissed you

-Of course he had to be extra with it and dip you a little

-And yet you still smiled at him

-And he smiled back at you

-You could feel the flashes from the camera and the jealousy radiating of Damian’s fan girls and that boy that kept pestering you

-But you ignored all of that and focused on Damian

-Your Damian

-Your heart and soul

OMG IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG

[mcflymemes]

super cute things people do in the rpc:

— pick characters with barely any screentime or presence in their piece of media and expand them into the most detailed, beautiful, nuanced characters you've ever seen — send posts/gifsets/quotes to blogs that reminded them of their character. "i saw this and it reminded me of your muse!" this is one of the highest compliments you can pay someone tbh — send messages of support or check in when someone is having a bad day or going through bad irl situations. i love seeing a whole bunch of people in the comments like "message me if you need anything!" "i'm thinking about you!" "hope things get better!" it's just so sweet — ramble about how much they love their character/s in long metas or headcanons... the passion you show for your muses is so cute and inspiring — write as a hobby. like how cute is it that we're all just telling stories with each other over and over?????? — develop the most outlandishly fun ship pairings with crossover universes and a multitude of aus. two characters from totally different fandoms falling in love?? i can't get enough of it — follow forevers / bias lists when you make a little commemorative post and tag all of the people that brighten your day!

[desultory-novice]

I wonder, when I see merch like this…

Like, I’m an old school Kirby fan so I’m thrilled to see Kirby and the animal trio depicted as close buddies again, as if we were living in an alternate dimension where "Super Kirby Star Stacker DELUXE" released last year with a brand new mode where Gryll has to solve a variety of deadly sudoku puzzles to get out of hell but…

The last game the animal trio was truly playable in was Star Allies (2018) and that was as part of a DLC update. I noted a couple of years back that new Kirby merch was tending to release with these little booklets detailing the "cast" of Kirby; and that in addition to Kirby, Dedede, Meta Knight and (generic) Waddle Dee... Rick, Coo, Kine, Marx, and Magolor were included too! (...Hmm? Unambiguously female characters? In Kirby? Don’t be silly! Those don't exist! XD) Now, I was still really happy to see all these guys “canonified” as important Kirby characters but I wonder…

Is HAL Labs going to, err, do anything with this? IE: Will this ever be reflected in the games? I don’t have any experience in the field of merchandising or licensing, but it feels odd to sell your partners the rights to characters who were last relevant in the 90s?

Of course, I could be massively overthinking it and this could be an instance of, "Look, they're 'kawaii' and that's all that matters to people!" You don't HAVE to know that the hamster's name is Rick or that he spits fire or that he has a girlfriend named Pick! But to the average consumer, wouldn't it just look like, "Aww! It's Kirby! ...And some random forest critters!" Wouldn't it be better (?) if you could pack your child's soup up in a Kirby bowl and THEY were the one excitedly telling YOU about how broken Coo is and Kine may be a secret alcoholic rather than you telling them, "In my day..."

Of course, I just said that Kirby is for everyone and that means that tired Japanese office workers whose memories of Kirby are distinctly set in a balmy 90s summer afternoon parked in front of their Super Famicon deserve to have merch too! I'm just...curious, is all.

...

Ah, this is just another excuse for Dess to pray to the gods of game development that the next Kirby game takes place in a Popstar populated by nostalgic characters ready to be interacted with!!

[jesncin]

hello! I've been reading a lot of your posts on dc media, they are a great read! I hope one day I could make such detailed analysis, yours are really inspirational and makes me have double-takes/ give-a moment-to-think-on the media I watch/ read

Anyway! You talk a lot about Super-characters and Asian representation, what do you think about Kong Kenan's character? As well as how he is currently written in DC Comics? Is there any way you want him to be written differently? How well does his character play with the many themes of Superman?

Oh wow thank you so much! Writing these essays has mostly been for my own sake to get my thoughts out there, but it means a lot to me when my analysis and meta inspires others to do similar and think a bit more critically!

Kong Kenan!!! While I haven't caught up on how he's written lately (I mostly read a handful of the beginning stuff) I could spare some thoughts.

Kong Kenan is the most creative, out of the box and refreshing take on a Superman legacy character. What makes Superfam members struggle to gain traction is that they over-rely on direct family members, clones, alternate universe-selves, and adopted aliens- leaning too hard on the sci fi aspects of Superman and not the grounded politics that make him a resonant character. Kong Kenan meanwhile is just some guy (affectionate) thrusted into power. Even though I love the untapped themes of diaspora and generational loss to Krypton we could get from other Superfam members, it's really refreshing to have a new character not pay that much mind to all that. He's got his own world in China going! It's important for legacy characters to have their own space to breathe, and Kenan ticks all the boxes.

The worldbuilding of his cast system, the stakes surrounding how his powers work, even the way the themes of "Hope" is re-contextualized through his character are just so rich. I think my main critique is just how his original run starts!

The strong and refreshing cast system carry us through it, but the beginning really leans into that respectability "right ideas, wrong extreme methods" MCU villain thing. I get that it's about "being too devoted to the cause that you forget to care for people around you" but it's a bit clumsy when said cause is caring about the rights of people.

Once you get out of that origin starter, the series really picks up to more unique ideas that challenge systems of power so it's worth sticking around for. I still haven't fully read through all of New Super-man, but I'm excited to get back to it when I have the time.

[marley-manson]

Could you expand on your dislike for the Raphael!Crowley headcanon? I'm fairly certain I know why but your meta posts are always so thoughtful and articulate and I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic

Thank you, I really appreciate it! And fwiw I always enjoy reading your thoughts as well!

And yeah I'm happy to! I mean first I should say that I don't actually like, hate-hate it in fanfic, it's not like an instant back-button for me if it comes up, and I feel like I've seen one or two fics after season 1 where I thought it was fine and it didn't take me out of the story.

But yeah in general I just don't like Crowley being special lol. I like the book vibe where Crowley and Aziraphale are just two... not quite nobodies, given their roles in Eden and the spy allegory of the present day, but certainly not particularly powerful or impressive demon/angels. Crowley and Aziraphale's "superpowers," such as they are, are just their adaptability thanks to living on Earth so long. That's what defines them compared to the rest of Hell and Heaven and sets them apart as uniquely capable of giving a fuck and doing something about the apocalypse. Eg Hastur and Ligur are explicitly more powerful than Crowley, but Crowley escapes them by the skin of his teeth because he's able to break convention by weaponizing holy water, and he's familiar with technology, and more capable of thinking on his feet in general.

I like that all their uniqueness comes from living on Earth with humanity. It resonates with the thematic core of the story, it's fun, and it's interesting. Crowley now being able to perform super impressive miracles and casually resurrect people (something presumably not every angel can do since Aziraphale can't resurrect Edinburgh girl) and read heaven's secret files and potentially stop time in season 1 because he's a former archangel diminishes that vibe to me.

Another con of Raphael!Crowley as a headcanon is that a lot of the time, ime, it feels similar to lost scion of royalty headcanons in other fandoms in an unpleasant way - the way that kind of leans into the idea of someone being inherently superior and worth more by birth (or creation I guess in an angel's case lol). I don't think this is necessarily inherent to the headcanon, or an aspect I think Gaiman will definitely emphasize, but there is that worry lol, especially considering how gary stu-ish Crowley felt to me this season.

Like, why is him being a former archangel meaningful or significant at all? Why does the headcanon exist? What makes Raphael!Crowley different enough from Random Angel #2398!Crowley that it's even brought up as a character detail or plot point that excites people? And I'm not implying that there are no valid reasons (eg exploring why a high ranking angel specifically would fall, or to add some drama for Aziraphale if he finds out and it matters to him, or to add drama between Crowley and the other archangels, etc), but quite often the vibe I get from this headcanon is that Crowley's just inherently more interesting and cool if he used to be a high ranking angel instead of some rando, which is a vibe that puts me off.

Ultimately I just tend to prefer mundane origins to surprise significant origins, and stories about average people (at least in their own context, as angels or w/e) moulded by life who make interesting plot-driving choices rather than inherently unique and special people. And Crowley being Raphael doesn't necessarily make him special, but it does lean in that direction, especially if it's treated as a surprise significant reveal and yk, a source of superpowers.

And to be fair I actually have been thinking about directions this concept could go in season 3 that wouldn't annoy me, and one is to emphasize that archangels aren't inherently special at all and it's an arbitrary designation, and Crowley doesn't give a shit and anyone who does (like other archangels or w/e) is going to be painted as naive and silly and too into hierarchies.

And/or, yk, emphasize that "Anthony Crowley" is emphatically NOT Raphael, regardless of who God created him as. Choose your own destiny. All that jazz. Especially if the Metatron is offering him angelhood again I could see former identity and status being brought into play and held up as extra significant by the antagonists and treated as something to be shut down and dismissed by the narrative, which I would enjoy.

So yeah, at the end of the day I just prefer Crowley as just some guy who happened to get the Earth Agent assignment, rather than the mysterious only fallen archangel.

[dnalt-d2]

So About the Crows...

There's something I've been thinking about for a while, and I think it's time to bring it back up

We had some lore for Phil recently, regarding the Ender King. And with that, lot of people have been thinking that the Ender King is the one responsible for the black concrete around everything. (Since according to Phil's Hardcore Lore, it seems like when the Ender King tries to steal things, he leaves behind empty space in the form of black concrete. Or that's at least been implied)

And I'll be honest, this does sound super cool, but I wasn't sure if this could be the case. Though I'll admit that it's for a meta reason. I just wasn't sure if the admins would play such a big plot point around a singular player's lore. It seemed like something that would affect too much to be centered around a single player. And I do still think that personally. That it would be cool if the Ender King was the one responsible for all the concrete, but it just doesn't seem too likely for story reasons. (Though I do wanna note that this doesn't mean NONE of the concrete is from the Ender King. The concrete surrounding the first mysterious message Phil got could easily be attributed to him, but we just can't be sure)

But like I said at the beginning, there IS something I wanted to bring up that happened a while ago

Did you know that there were crows on the server at one point?

That Phil found a one in the wild, a pretty long time ago, but left it because "Oh he can just go back for it." But he never found another one

No one has

Even Dapper, the notorious mob collector, has noted that crows don't show up on the island anymore

Phil recently revealed that he doesn't specifically plan his lore himself. That he makes some broad suggestions, and the admins are the ones doing the finer details surrounding it. When he saw the note from the Ender King, he didn't know that was going to happen. He had no clue it would be the Ender King talking to him. Which as someone else noted, means that the admins planning this know about Phil's Hardcore Lore

Which would obviously mean they know about the crows. About US

I always wondered why the admins disabled crows, thinking maybe there's some ability they have that's a little OP. But I looked it up, and it looks like the main ability they have is the ability to collect items, and even put them in containers. Which compared to a lot of the other mobs from this mod, is pretty tame. The only other thing they seem to do of note is destroy crops (Though I am getting this from the Wiki, which I have noticed can be pretty bare-bones, so for all I know, there really IS a hugely OP ability they can do)

Now I'm thinking they had a different reason to disable the crows. A LORE reason. To Phil, we, the crows, are canon. We exist, basically just following him around and talking to him. But there aren't any crows there. We're not there. And this, along with everything that happened with the Birdcage, has just served to isolate him, driving him further and further into his deteriorating mental state. Instead of the usual crows, he sees parrots, and hummingbirds, possibly to distract him from their absence

Now I obviously don't know how long they've been planning all this lore, but it's just super weird that they disabled them in the first place. Maybe they knew they were gonna do SOMETHING regarding Phil, but didn't know what, and just disabled them to prepare for whatever they might eventually plan. Regardless, the crows are gone

But I think one day, possibly sooner than we think, the crows will be back

(AND IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE A HEAVY DAY IF PHIL'S LAST LORE DAY WAS ANYTHING TO INDICATE)

[adoroborosgoth]

Crowley dying in s3

I wasn't sure how to start this meta. I've had this theory with possible (big possible) evidence sitting around for ages and I just didn't know what to do with the information.

After I'd already had this information, I only seen a hand full of others talk about it, but none have touched on it in the same way as the things I've found in my research.

So let's get on with it. For reference I'm going to tag @nightingalecottage and their lovely post here. I really recommend reading it. This theory only saw the light of day because of their post and I told them I would tag them with my meta since it lends a lot to it. And I promised myself that I would finish this for them.

Now for the meat and potatoes. I'll break it all down about how I found this information and how it might lend some theory about possible plot to s3.

This got really long so I put a cut.

-Silly narrator voice-

The facts were these.

To start I was doing research for a fic I'm working on and the details don't matter much but I'd planned to make my 'human' crowley a barrister. I was googling famous barristers for inspiration.

This lead me to wikipedia naturally as you do. And as I was looking over the list I saw this.

After seeing this name on the list of barristers in popular culture I had a mini freakout. Mainly because two things NG is a huge fan of Charles Dickens and A Tale of Two Cities is on the bookclub reading list. And I kept thinking why did this seem familiar and this is why.

A Tale of Two Cities is on the list of books that they recommend we read or were found in s2. So after I stopped freaking out I immediately went to the wiki page for this character. I wasn't too familiar with this book so I wanted to know more. As I was now super invested and intrigued. And found this.

Sydney Carton

I couldn't help be blown away by the similarities here between Sydney Carton and a certain depressed snake demon from s2. Morosely asking Shax on a bench in the first episode "What's the point of it all?"

For some context, in the novel Sydney Carton and his later best friend Charles Darnay share a striking semblance and are easily mistaken for each other. This is how Sydney is then able to make the switch with Darnay in the end saving his life.

This brings to mind of the lore that we know that Crowley and Aziraphale were once long ago one character and split into two. Also with the ideal casting choice that Terry Pratchett wanted one actor to play both roles. That would have been really interesting and funny. Also this plays into our favorite duo MS and DT having not worked together before because they were up for the same roles.

Let's move on to

Charles Darnay

Darnay resents his uncle's views much how Aziraphale resents certain aspects of heaven, but is never able to act on very much.

The note about Darnay being tutor of French made me chuckle considering what we know about Aziraphale being terrible at French. With that whole scene centered around it in s2.

Ok so we all are well versed and familiar with the famous Bastille scene. We all know the one and its clear the inspiration here for it comes from A Tale of Two Cities possibly.

Side note Darnay and Carton are both in love with Lucie here, but I posit that in the case of Good omens, Aziraphale is possibly both Darnay and Lucie. Making him the best friend and love intrest.

Lucie Manette

And finally why does any of this matter and what does this have to do with Crowley maybe dying in s3 you ask?

The one important detail in all of this is that at the end of the novel Carton heroically sacrificed himself to save his best friend and for the women he loves. He feels it gave him purpose and felt as if his life finally had meaning.

Two things here. The scene in which Carton swaps places with Darnay being able to pass as him well enough to save his life. Is very reminiscent of our Body Swap from s1. As well as the idea that in s3 this could also happen, but in the sense that Crowley does it to save Aziraphale's life. I clearly have no idea how s3 will play out.

Now I'm not saying that s3 will be as dramatic as all of this. It is still a comedy at its core. As others have touched on in meta and in nightingalecottage's post there are many little hints that point to the similarities and the idea that Crowley maybe doomed by the narrative. In a way, I personally don't think that Crowley's hypothetical death will be permanent. I just do not see that happening at all. A temporary death I could definitely see and it could also serve to show how much Crowley truly means to Aziraphale. The shock of it would maybe be similar to how Crowley thought he lost Aziraphale in s1 and could be a parallel.

In the end this is all speculation and theory. Either way the idea of it all makes me vibrate and I needed to finally share this with someone else. They wouldn't have recommended this book if there wasn't some sort of meaning here right? And its entirely possible I'm looking in the wrong direction.

Overall there are many parallels and similarities here between A Tale of Two Cities and certain parts of Good Omens, I'm sure I may have missed some and I just wanted to end this now before it gets too long. If you made it this far and have any other theories or something you want to add on to this please feel free to tag me. I release this into the void.

[halemerry]

I read your meta on the manipulation the Metatron used on Aziraphale, and it was such a great essay laying out every detail. When I watched the end of the episode it was early morning for me and I was super tired and I missed a lot of those details. What did manage to come through in my sleepy mind, was that I was very confused about Why This Happened? As in, I understand now that Az was manipulated, I definitely agree with that analysis, but I don't understand yet if this decision was foreshadowed anywhere in the first 5 and a half episodes. I haven't rewatched the season yet (too busy reading meta lol) but I was wondering if you had any thoughts on that?

I just feel like, other than Aziraphale saying in the first episode that it's nice sometimes to tell someone about something good you've done, now that he's not reporting to heaven, Az doesn't actually seem to care all that much in the present day about his old allegiance. I wonder if maybe that's part of the point? He didn't want Heaven anymore and so he wasn't thinking about it? After all, the show begins with Aziraphale enjoying his new life. As the interviews said, he's living his best life. Good music, good food, and the love of his life.

Because if that's genuinely the case, then perhaps the point of the season is that the soft gentle romance of the first five episodes is Who They Are, and it's just that Aziraphale was rushed and manipulated into something he genuinely did not want even a little bit.

Or maybe he always thought he could fix it, because of the Before The Beginning where Crowley said, "If I was in charge, I'd want people to ask questions." Maybe that planted a seed in Azi's mind. Maybe Azi does want to run Heaven, only in a way that Crowley could be proud of it again. Fix it FOR Crowley. Even though Crowley doesn't want that (and Azi maybe doesn't understand that yet).

I came into your askbox intending to ask a simple question about your thoughts, but I have instead written an essay and asked for one in return. Consider it a quick temptation lol

Temptation accomplished hehe - though a little later than I'd have liked. No though genuinely I love this sort of thing a lot and really appreciate all of it. Anyone please feel free to do this at any time!

But uh so. Since that first meta I've done a lot of stuff breaking down that last scene here and also breaking down Aziraphale and the minisodes from this season here. Both of these operate ascribing to the idea that Aziraphale has been threatened into pseudo compliance on top of the active manipulation the Metatron was doing to him. I'll admit this is the theory I currently favor. But, while that's something I find more thematically interesting and also in more narrative alignment, I do still think there's narrative weight to this on its own.

And I think in the case you've got it dead on with the idea of fixing Heaven FOR Crowley.

Most significantly I think this is viable in the way Aziraphale views Crowley. Like. We know he thinks Crowley is Good and that he has thought this for a very very long time. Arguably his instincts have been telling him this since even before he could consciously put it into words given that even as early as Eden he was being honest with Crowley - a thing he even then did not feel he could do with God Herself. Despite being Fallen, Crowley is safe. Crowley is right. Crowley is Good.

Despite is important here. Because it is notably not and. The lesson being taught here is not that Hell can be Good. In fact Crowley himself actively encourages this idea. I'm not taking you to Hell because you wouldn't like it. My lot don't send rude notes. I need a weapon that could destroy me to keep me safe from Hell. I'm a demon: I lie. A demon could get in a lot of trouble for doing the right thing. I'm a demon, demons aren't nice- You're an angel you can't be tempted. You're an angel - you can't do the wrong thing. All of these things in culmination with the way Crowley talks about his Fall to Aziraphale - I didn't really Fall just sauntered vaguely downward - sets Crowley up as unique in the way he transcends what he is.

Meanwhile Aziraphale has been learning the hard, slow way that the people running Heaven do not necessarily have good intentions and more critically that they are not in alignment with what God actually wants. The problem is the management. The angel who would become Crowley said as much himself.

He has every reason to believe they fix it together too. He now knows that together they can perform archangel tier miracles while they're both actively trying to hold back. He knows that even when they're making mistakes and fumbling through the apocalypse they can help defy the world ending. He knows that they are perhaps the only two beings alive that even remotely understand God's will.

So here's Aziraphale given the opportunity to put himself in charge along with theoretically the single most Good being he's ever met. Of course that's appealing. You could give the person you love the power to create again - something we are explicitly shown at the beginning of this season to bring the angel that would become Crowley more joy and delight than we have literally ever seen Crowley have on screen - and the power to create a world together that actually deserves to have that person? You could undo something that you've slowly been coming to terms with believing should have never been done to him in the first place? You could be Adam, rewriting the end of the world and making it so the Bookshop never burned. All you need to do is change the color of the paint job.

Because he'd never change Crowley. He loves Crowley. Crowley is Good already it's not about making him better. The bit with the Bentley is the scene this season that encapsulates this sort of worldview most. Aziraphale changes the color of the car (which is being presented to us as literally physically linked to Crowley) but not the model. He changes how it looks just like Crowley changes into angel wear without a second thought. Neither change the core of what they are, just the aesthetics. And Crowley is always trying on new aesthetics without letting them change who he is. From Az's perspective why would this be any different?

He doesn't realize that sometimes even if you make it so a Bookshop never burnt that doesn't mean the memory of it doing so ever leaves. You still line the shop with fire extinguishers. You still swap to battery operated candles. The memory lingers as they always seem to do.

Crowley can't ever go back. Won't ever go back. Because the trauma of the Fall draws a clearer line for him both in his own identity and in his worldview than it ever could for Aziraphale who came to his own much more slowly. And because of that it's easy to see a reading of Aziraphale that can't see the specific way what he's saying eats at all Crowley's insecurities because all he can see is what they're capable of together and how that aligns with the greater good. It's all part of God's plan, just like they've always been.

[magicalgirlsirin]

hi rly enjoyed ur post on elysian realm! ik ur a new fan (i am too) but i heard that before retcon, elysia was a lot more morally gray. would you happen to know how exactly?? im rly curious bc i think it would be a severe improvement obviously. we deserve complex women who do wrongs

So when I say retcon in relation to the elyrealm arc it's less so "things they changed because of the story evolving and wanting to expand previously established events" and more "things they straight up forgot about in service of making Elysia a herrscher". It's not like hi3 is a stranger to retcons though?

For example, Durandal being the "original" Kiana is a retcon. The fact that our Kiana was a clone remained the same, but it's clear from older story stuff (iirc it's Everlasting Memory/Theresa's chronicle set?; second eruption manga doesn't focus on the Kiana part) that Durandal wasn't originally there. Otto refers to Kiana as K-423, and that Theresa needs to retrieve her, which implies that Theresa knows it's not Siegfried and Cecilia's kid, but her distress remains the same. The later game retcon by Thus Spoke Apocalypse is that OG!Kiana and Siegfried were going to go retrieve K-423, but OG!Kiana ended up injured and so Siegfried only left with K-423. And if you're confused then so am I because the details don't really super line up with the presentation, but it's like, fine, because at the end of the day the current writing intention and trajectory is for Durandal and Kiana to be sisters, and to both be Siegfried's daughters.

Anyways, for Elysia, a lot of her retcons occur in a very rapid pace from the first realm chapter set to Elysium Everlasting. Like I mentioned in my last post, the herrscher reveal is nonsense just going off of basic information like the fact she received MANTIS surgery like all the other Flame Chasers. However, there are other plot threads that are completely dropped for the sake of making Elysia a very special good girl who you should love because she's so nice and never did anything bad.

[About Betrayal 1 - Chapter 2]

[About Betrayal 2 - Chapter 2]

Elysia the traitor plot is something I was, well not hopeful for (a friend had already warned me that the game wouldn't do anything interesting with it] but I still ended up mulling it over a lot because it was such an interesting hinge piece for her initial presentation.

What stands out to me is the phrasing. Kevin says she never endangered humanity even if she was a traitor. Kevin says that Elysia made a decision. This implies agency, like Elysia was actively choosing to do something dangerous for the sake of the Flame Chasers. However, if Elysia was a herrscher from the beginning, then none of this makes sense. She doesn't choose to be a herrscher if she was one from the beginning, so why even make it seem like her betrayal was her choice at all?

[Traitor - Chapter 1]

It doesn't stop there though. Mobius' active disdain implies that whatever choice Elysia made, it was enough to make Mobius of all people consider her a lost cause. Mobius, who body mods and injects honkai energy into anyone with a pulse (hyperbole) to try and make humanity last just the slightest bit longer.

[Traitor - Chapter 1]

Mobius wants us to doubt Elysia's intentions. If you go through all their shared information, you'll find that the worst Elysia really does is just... coerce Mobi to wear pink dresses, and while that is obnoxious, it wouldn't warrant utter contempt for Elysia as a person.

There's actually a lot of stray text that implies there's something wrong about Elysia's existence, which I guess in generous terms could be interpreted as setup for the herrscher reveal? But it just feels like it's just there to add to the mystery that won't go anywhere.

[The Blind Spot - Recollection]

This right here nags at me. Deeply so. Elysia isn't so much a character as much as she is just a concept, the idea of a story that could be told. Not even in the canon-compliant weird endgame hook meta-textual breakout in Transcending Finality about the power of stories... Although, there's a way to introduce it here and tie it to Elysia to give some semblance of connectivity.

I went this long without actually giving my thoughts on how to make Elysia's writing good though. Disclaimer for clarity sake I know not everyone will agree with the changes I want to make and I'm also not claiming to be a more skilled writer than anyone in the hi3 team, they're all people with enough talent to be employed by the company.

That out of the way.

This isn't so much about making Elysia morally grey as much as it is about giving her an emotional core, because right now she's pretty hollow. Rather than a pristine girl who never did anything wrong, I'd rather cast her as a romantic, tragic heroine who would move heaven and fate just to seem noble.

Elysia was born human. Maybe she loved stories, and how they transported her to far off places, far far far away from the tiny town she was growing up in. When she was old enough, she traveled the world. Honkai descends. Because she was a globe trotter she ended up connected to many people, and was given the chance to join the MOTH organization. She gets MANTIS surgery. As the number of soon-to-be Flame Chasers grow, discussion begins about if the strength of the soldiers is enough.

'Maybe, if I had power comparable to a herrscher, we could fight with less casualties.'

She doesn't say this out loud, of course. It's a dangerous thought, a line that shouldn't be crossed. But she's curious. She breaks into Mobius' lab [Miss Pink Spy - Pristine Memory] to find the information she wants. Mobius figures out her intentions and warns Elysia off. It's not even in consideration, so keep whatever plan you have in mind off the table before you do something irreversible.

Mobius thought that Elysia gave up on the plan after the seventh erruption. The haunted look behind Kevin's eyes, the sadness creasing Elysia's face, all of it makes it seem like a simple consideration forgotten by the sands of time.

Elysia doesn't have a discipline. She told Dr. Mei it wasn't needed since her combat performance was well above standard margins anyways. (She is on par with Kevin in strength, after all.) At least, we all thought she didn't. A deal is made with Aponia.

Aponia, Aponia, apostle of fate, I offer you my 'humanity' to become a 'story'.

Elysia cannot receive any more disciplines. The target has to be "human". Elysia as a story, unchanging, pristine, capable of remaining as she is without blemish, can reach out and become a herrscher while remaining herself. She's desperate. She wants to help. She reaches into the deep, the start of the universe, and gathers the power. She names it Origin, since it's something she found at the source.

She's a herrscher.

Herrschers are an enemy of humanity.

Kevin runs her through with Shamash.

Elysia is still herself though, talking like she would as usual.

-Oh Kevin, I wanted to know if your tears would freeze, but I was hoping it wouldn't be like this. They're so warm, though. Thank you for crying for me.

-I see no herrscher here, just... the flame chaser, bearing the signet of ego.

The Elysian Realm keeps a secret. Aponia keeps it, the fact that Elysia gave up her humanity. The final banquet? A polite way to refer to Elysia's own demise.

It's sad, isn't it? That strength she wanted to give fell right through her fingers. Her own undoing, the desperate plan of a foolish girl who wanted to be a hero, but only ending up as a villain to oppose. It's so much more meaningful, then, that Elysia's gift, the power of sapience, is kept on to the next cycle of humanity. Held again, the power of ego, of humans, to someone with a kind heart to move beyond the past she's trapped in. Thank you, Raiden Mei, for carrying on the ideals of the thirteen trailblazers, the moths who chase the flame.

so anyways yeah i think elysia couldve been interesting whos to say

[desidarling123]

SAB Scene Breakdown: Inej's Hallucination

OK, so I had actually been meaning to write and publish some meta on this particular scene (and just tons of SAB S2 meta, in general) in the weeks after the second season of the show came out. But life has been crazy recently, so I truly never found the time.

However, I reblogged a certain gifset a few days/weeks ago, slapped some tags on it, and realized there might indeed be some interest in some more #detailed thoughts.

The analysis that follows is at a pretty minute level of detail (and all of course based on MY views) so... take that with a grain of salt.

Also - fair warning - it's long as hell 😂 but entertaining, I hope!

I find this whole sequence in general super fascinating - it's one of my favorite scenes in the second season, and one that's also arguably subject to the absolute worst takes in fandom (iykyk... and if you don't, well, you're about to find out.)

So, let's get into it:

We start off strong with a very specific choice, made early on: it's not Inej seducing Kaz; rather, it's Kaz who's drawing Inej into this vision.

I get a bit more into the broader implications of that a bit later, but it's definitely important that it's done this way, rather than the other way around.

It's also, very notably, an inverse of this scene from a few episodes earlier:

What's unique about that previous scene is that in that moment, he's deliberately pushing her away (for reasons, mind you, that she's not entirely privy to, but definitely hurt her regardless - even if she pretends not to care about it to his face later on).

This is different. Instead of pushing her away, he is asking her to stay.

The choice of words is specific too: the word 'disappear' most obviously references her status as his spider. But it might also be an apt description of her own personal trappings, of 'disappearing' when in the throes of trauma-induced pressure.

Some atmospheric details I love:

Their IRL confrontation was in his office-cum-bedroom (👀shutup), a tiny, crammed space that matched the tension of that scene. This is the opposite of that - the room has a more open layout, imbuing the whole sequence with a more relaxed vibe. We can even see his cane chilling on the table behind him, just in reaching distance.

The DeKappel painting which they jointly stole in the books (and presumably on the show as well) is behind them.

Fire burning as a symbol for latent passion is not exactly groundbreaking imagery, but don't fix what ain't broke, amirite? :P

Malina, very notably, gets the same fire imagery treatment in their own love scene as well:

Will it show up again in a future season for kanej? Between that and, well, the recurring church imagery, we're in for a tossup, folks

But anyways. Back to the scene at hand.

You'll notice Inej goes back to a formal stance, hands behind her back, like she's preparing for a debrief or for an assignment. It's for a few seconds, if that, but it shows that she's grasping at some semblance of normalcy in this decidedly not-normal vision.

That facade lasts for all of, two seconds, tops, when he does this:

It's sexy! It's intimate! There's knives involved!

Okay, but seriously, for the sake of time I actually will not get into a deeper discussion of the ~implications~ because I'm sure it's been done a zilllion times before and it's also fairly obvious lol

Now, the one thing I *do* want to pivot to here is that by this point, both Inej and the audience understand that there is something very subtly yet fundamentally different about hallucination!Kaz.

But what is it?

Speaking on this scene, Freddy Carter had a quote (that I cannot be arsed to find rn) where he basically said that he deferred to Amita when playing hallucination!Kaz because "she (Amita) knows better (than I do) what it is that Inej likes about Kaz"

And what is it, exactly, that she likes about him? The next few gifs tell all, using actions rather than words.

This is her reaction to him pulling her knives from her. And what I find so interesting is that she is so (rightfully) startled....

But that is absolutely NOT the expression on his face at all.

In fact, he's remarkably self-assured.

And THAT, I think, is the crux of 'what it is she likes about him', as Frreddy said.

She likes his decisiveness, the single-minded precision with which he operates.

She's seen him apply it to every last scheme, every seemingly-hopeless situation... to damn near everything in the world, really, but her.

But here, in the depths of her hallucination, he does.

There are none of his usual hangups, none of their typically frustrating back-and-forths.

No. Here, he doesn't hesitate. He wants her, and he makes it known.

Striking, sexy stuff, to say least.

Let's go on:

Nothing to add here except that I'm obsessed with the way their heads turn at the same time here.

It's funny, because for all their personal hang-ups when it comes to physical intimacy, these two are SURPRISINGLY physically attuned to each other.

Goes to show, really, how much both of their problems are in their heads (obviously) -- and how, when they're actually ready to heal, relying on their intuition may be a better approach than getting too cerebral about it.

Again, Kaz does not break eye contact with her here, and it's such a contrast to what he might have instead done if this were happening in real life - in fact, does happen, in real life, though I'd argue that isn't exactly his fault.

I love that we get a moment where Inej looks down and sees his hand hovering near her waist, just so that it's made explicitly clear what he's asking for and what the ~implications~ are.

And then, she says yes! Enthusiastically, I might add.

Not but seriously the sheer want, the little touch of eagerness on her face kills me here. She's never had this experience before - has only ever known men violating her in the most horrible way possible - and yet this tiny little thing, of Kaz asking her for consent, means so much.

Oh my God Kaz is so sexy here sorry no words anyway carrying on.

Now even after she said yes you can see this sudden little beat of hesitation on her face, like she's maybe not sure what's going to happen or if Kaz is going to do what she asked. For her it's a moment of incredible vulnerability, even though Kaz is the one sort of making the advances on her - because this one time, she actually gets to say yes.

I think that shot of his arm going around her waist is so gorgeous and so sensual - but as we pan up we can see that maybe all isn't well.

Now, Amita also really does a fantastic job at portraying the turbulence of Inej's emotions -- she goes from clearly wanting it and saying 'yes', to visibly panicking once he acts on it. We see her shift around in his grip and even swallow nervously, blink-blink-blinking herself back into the moment.

Her response is reminiscent of this passage from the books:

But what might have happened if he'd spoken that night? If he had willingly offered her some part of his heart? What if he had come to her, laid his gloves aside, drawn her to him, kissed her mouth? Would she have pulled him closer, kissed him back? Could she have been herself in such a moment, or would she have broken apart and vanished, a doll in his arms, a girl who could never quite be whole?

You can see the very beginning of that sort of panic start to set in, here. This is completely uncharted territory for Inej - her own desire, the shame and baggage that comes with it, is all getting uncovered for the first time in what is arguably the 'safest' way possible - within the confines of her own mind - and yet, she's still panicking.

More on that in a bit. Let's keep going.

Anyways well Freddy's got a huge hand sorry anyway 

I love the way she closes her eyes here. And you can see again it's not without effort - like there's still conflict within her, you can see all of those different emotions warring within her - but she is trying to let herself have this moment. She's trying to take comfort in this touch that she so desperately wants and yet hasn't had any sort of good connotations with in recent history. 

She also opens her eyes just as he starts to lean in and I think that was a great, deliberate choice on Amita and Freddy's part.

It's that precise moment, really, when it becomes super super clear to her what's about to happen.

No notes, I just really love this forehead lean, it's that little bit of tenderness and intimacy that she's been subconsciously craving.

 Again, it's fascinating to me that we can see all of Inej's nervous tics coming into play here, but for hallucination!Kaz there's absolutely no hesitation at any point whatsoever.

It looks like, for all intents and purposes, he is going to kiss her.

And then at the very very last second you see him move back, ever-so-slightly --

and then she moves all the way back and delivers her line:

Ouch. Like a punch to the gut. True, but still ouch.

Now one could probably ask, in hypotheticals: why didn't he actually kiss her at this moment? And the answer to that simply is: this is her hallucination, you know? Even though she's not conscious of it (she's dying lol), she's the one with all the power, here.

And truthfully, whether she knows it or not, nothing is going to happen in her hallucination if she doesn't want it to.

But wait, you might say. Doesn't she want to kiss Kaz?

Like that original excerpt from the book indicates, it's complicated. Everything pertaining to desire generally will be, for her.

Not that her subconscious doesn't put up a good ol' fight. Hallucination!Kaz, you have to remember, isn't so much Kaz as he is a very precise amalgamation of her own memories and desires.

And boy, does he make a good argument:

The word want, again, spoken so directly here - it's that sort of straightforward speech that neither party is actually really capable of (at this point) in their arcs, not when it comes to each other.

Again, Kaz is behaving perfectly in the prescribed character of his hallucination persona - direct, confident, not rattled in the slightest.

It's interesting also that he doesn't say: this is real. He isn't able to lie to her in her own fantasy, but he does instead tell her exactly what she wants to hear, which is arguably even more dangerous.

And what I feel so terrible about is you can see this tiny little spark this little bit of hope on her face that she has.

She wants to believe this so so badly. She wants it, damn it!

So this time, she actually moves closer, crosses that distance between them. 

You can't see it super well in this gif, but you can see a little tiny muscle twitch in her jaw, a nervous swallow as she's bracing for him to kiss her the second time. And once again, Kaz isn't hesitating, there isn't any note of that discordant thing that they have in real life from his end.

Now another thing that drives me crazy is people claiming that they did kiss in the scene like bro. Bro. Freddy and Amita did not shoot this scene at no less three separate angles for you to tell us that they kissed!! They didn't kiss, they make it incredibly obvious that they did not kiss, and if you're the one person on planet Earth whose definition of a kiss is front lips brushing for .0000000002 seconds then I'm sorry, you belong to a different category, okay?

And again, that was on purpose! It totally would have defeated the purpose of this particular sequence if they had (and would've given detractors of this scene a real leg to stand on - again, more on that at the very end.)

But as it stands, they don't kiss, and that's also kind of critically why this isn't just a sexy scene to watch back.

AND THEN (I'm out of allowed images HAHA) she pulls away. And she says the words that end it all - This isn't real. This is the poison.

The premise of the hallucination is completely shattered, and she looks so heartbroken, but she's finally able to articulate what she's really known this whole time, and that is that nothing she's seeing is real. It is a lie being fed to her by her poison-addled brain as her body slowly succumbs and dies (dark).

But you know, she does get out of it through sheer willpower, and we love her for that - but oh man but what cost?

This particular sequence is definitely a catalyst for her changed behavior going forward. I do actually wish it had been a little better handled in the show (as in, better supported by dialogue in scenes before and after this one) but regardless - this scene is a Big Tipping Point and starts what is essentially a pseudo-regression arc for Inej (paraphrasing Amita directly, bc that's truly the most apt description of Inej's behavior for the rest of the season.)

It's really bad timing, unfortunately, because it happens just as Kaz is starting to open up like never before. He's starting to see the world in a completely different light while she's doing the exact opposite -- she is shutting down her own dreams and desires when it comes to him, because she's come to the conclusion that it's simply not going to happen.

And you know what, she's not entirely wrong for that assumption, but I do have beef with some of the particulars of how it was executed in the show. But that's a discussion for another day.

Now, onto a brief rant that I alluded to at the very start of this post - my single biggest grievance with fandom is that someone on the internet decided that this scene somehow ‘erased’ Inej’s trauma, when in fact that exact trauma is what underpins the whole damn thing.

The fact that this scene more or less parallels the passage from the books beat for beat, shows, in my opinion, that book fans who make these claims of 'erasure' must have deliberately chosen to ignore this passage from the books, or never even read it in the first place.

Because frankly? Once you take that passage into consideration, the intent of this sequence couldn't have been more obvious!

Just to underscore my point, I want to ask anyone who's reading this to please compare and contrast Inej’s hallucination with Matthias’ dream. If the intent, as many so often like to claim, was simply to make this moment in Inej’s mind a sexy, titillating scene, well then, it would have been shot a lot more closely to the way Matthias’ dream was shot: there's no lack of kissing and even implied penetration (!) which is crazy, because of course, Matthias and Nina have gotten nowhere near that in real life.

There's a sexual aspect to her dream, for sure, but it's not a stereotypically-passionate 'sex dream' so much as it is a thinly-veiled reading into her own desires and the inner turmoil that comes with it.

There's also a very subtle undercurrent here that I picked up on and explore in my ongoing fic , which is that Kaz, in these fantasies, is really always the one taking the lead, so to speak. Inej is not pulling him close or asking to kiss him - and we see that even when she consents to the act, she looks like she's bracing herself for it, rather than excited that it'll happen.

That is fueled no doubt by 1) her realizing it isn't real but also 2) the fact that she is still very much in the middle of her own trauma (having been freed like what? mere days ago? if that?)

Any concept of her own independent desire is still saddled with IMMENSE baggage - and this sequence showcases it perfectly.

I think after the fact, she's consciously aware of 1) but not yet aware of 2) which is beating around in her subconscious and is probably gonna cause her WAYY more problems going forward lol

TLDR; Inej doesn't know it just yet, but she's got loads of her own issues to work through, and until she does, she's going to be stuck in this weird purgatory of being a voyeur to/of her own desires.

[crrows]

Visited Nanzenji proper this time rather than just looking at the aqueduct and going home. Headdress, cape, heart apron, and skirt made by me. Details in read more.

This set is my child fr. It's so comfy and so cute. Sewing it all was a small journey so I'll split the details in to sections.

Skirt

I saw the fabric in the shop and knew I wanted to make a skirt out of it. I used the beginners skirt pattern from Otome no Sewing 5 and added eyelet lace for extra fun. The advantage of sewing in Japan is that you can actually find a lot of the same laces that Baby and Meta uses in their designs. The lace here is the eyelet lace Baby uses a lot. The skirt is fully elasticated so it's the most comfortable thing in the world. It makes it so hard to go back to Baby's partially shirred skirts that death grip my waist. My only regret with the skirt is that I should have sewn down the ribbon running through the lace as it likes to catch on things. However, that's something I can do in post too.

Cape

The days were getting colder but I wanted to keep showing off the skirt. All my coats are long, so I decided to make a little matching cape for warmth. I traced the pattern off a capelet on an Innocent World coat I own and then adjusted it so it was longer and curved up at the front. The cape is lined with black satin and interlined with thin wool. It's super cute and the wool makes it a little warmer. The front lines of eyelet lace were inspired by Wirehead Shop's designs. I forgot to account for the larger neckhole that the coat capelet had (to account for the giant coat collar) so the one I made tends to shuffle around more than I'd like. In the future, I might add a button closure to the front rather than ribbons, so it fits tighter.

Heart Apron

I fell in love with Meta's old heart aprons with their curved skirt, I thought they added a bit of something different to the usual straight lines of lace you usually find in egl. This apron is a blatant rip off of that, just with torchon lace instead. The heart bib took a while to get right. I spent about an hour drawing the correct heart shape, bought new fabric so the flowers could be in the centre, and then completely changed the heart shape once I'd cut it out. The ties around the neck are a bit of a train wreck - next time I'd just use black grosgrain ribbon. I'd love to try pairing this with a white or black op (or another floral op for full granny curtain pattern clashing), but I'll have to wait for a nice one to pop up on Mercari.

Other Coord Details

Blouse: Baby (Luanna Blouse)

Bloomers: Baby (2005)

Socks: Metamorphose (2023)

Shoes: Doc Martens (90s)

[bad-as-me]

Godfrey for the character meme

favorite thing about them

He's super interesting, both in his own right and as this looming presence over both us as the Tarnished and all his descendants. I love love love the dichotomy between "Godfrey", the pillar of grace and nobility that so many people aspire to emulate, against the reveal of his "true" nature as a nearly-feral man of the wilderness.

And it's that enforcement of extremely restrictive values that leaves such a mark on the narrative! Godrick, Radahn, and Morgott all try so hard to live up to the shadow he cast behind, but not even the man himself was really like that (at least, not when he wasn't muzzled by the Golden Order).

His fight and his music are some of my favorite parts of the base game. And also I just adore Serosh.

least favorite thing about them

Can I be a little meta about it and say his place in the timeline? While I think SotE was trying to confirm that Horah Loux was once a prominent figure in the realm of shadow, it gets frustratingly vague about what his place was in that society. The dancing lion does a lot of moves that echo him, there's the highlander attire, the strong implication that Serosh's status as a Beast Regent came from the Tower. But it's all a bunch of little easter eggs that don't really go anywhere.

It doesn't seem like he was a hornsent, but so many things in Belurat and the Black Keep imply a strong connection to him. So where did he stand with hornsent culture? Was it significant enough that leaving it behind with Marika was considered a great betrayal? If so, why was he so special to them?

I just have so many questions about his life now that they are being hinted at, but for the life of me I just can't put together what they are trying to do with this.

favorite line

I'm not sure if it counts as a line, but every time his cutscene begins and we have to watch him staring stoically at Morgott's dead body, while the inhibitor of his emotions is clawing into him and screaming to the sky I'm like, verklempt. Everything about the unspoken details in that cutscene is just so raw.

brOTP

I loooove the idea that he had a strong camaraderie with his Crucible Knights.

OTP

Godfrey and Marika but not in a "I think theyre cute and should get back together" way. I just want to know more about what that relationship was like. The Golden Lineage is such a deeply broken family all the way down, and I would kill to know how they were before the divorce. I need to study them.

nOTP

None come to mind that I really see anywhere? As far as I'm aware, he's just known as a wifeguy to Marika (and possibly shipped with Radagon which is, well, still Marika at the end of the day)

random headcanon

Deeply unserious, but the funniest running bit I have with my sister is joking that Godfrey has the attitude of an American trucker who is obsessed with MUG root beer.

Mohg got his name off of Godfreys favorite thing in the world, but he'll never know because they misspelled it. Sad!

Relatedly, watching his phase 2 transition while this is playing in a Discord call is a transcendental experience:

unpopular opinion

I think a lot of people are jumping the gun a little too hard on being sure that Godfrey was a good dad - especially to the Omen twins. Not saying he was deliberately cruel (I think that's over-correcting tbh), but the Serosh in the room tells me that the man never had a chance at an emotional connection to his children, even if he wanted to have one.

He reads strongly as having been neglectful if anything. And it's ironic, because his priorities to keep appearances for his duty as Elden Lord - the noble veneer that several of his kids would end up idolizing - stunted his ability to get attached to them at all.

song i associate with them

Well MUG anthem nonwithstanding-

I'm gonna go with Peacemaker by Jesca Hoop!

favorite picture of them

this series by higgsbison is one of my top ten elden ring posts tbh