#so I could see either of them in the role

[carlyraejepsans]

until recently i was a "havent even touched the game in 8 years, i barely remember the characters" type of ut fan, but i just finished it again and my brain is active again, but im really rusty. i could only think of you to ask, please feel free to ignore if youve answered before or for any reason at all. ill send them by separating, first one is this: since flowey says he "could never get past Asgore if it werent for you" does that tie to the quality of his determination, stats, or gameplay? like is he simply stuck on the "playing" part, no matter what he has equiped or his LV, is he simply unable to manage the turns? im a shitty gamer myself, i can bet sans fight would succeed to stop me from finishing a NoMercy, so is the asgore fight equivalent of that for flowey? so he never got Any "ending" at all, just went around doing what he could, until only thing left was asgore, and reseted? if so, wouldnt that make it basically canon he'd tried a NoMercy and got stumped worse with sans? please tell me your thoughts on floweys time with the power to save and reset

Hi, and welcome back to the game! I was in your exact same position a couple of years ago, so I'm super flattered you're looking at me for information.

Flowey's final kill count before the events of the game is... debatable. More under the cut because this got long.

Of course, like you said, you have lines like the ones after you deal with Asgore for him:

Howdy! It's me, FLOWEY. FLOWEY the FLOWER! I owe you a HUGE thanks. You really did a number on that old fool. Without you, I NEVER could have gotten past him. But now, with YOUR help… He's DEAD. And I'VE got the human SOULS!

There's a pretty straightforward interpretation of this line, and it's the one you brought up: Flowey tried to defeat Asgore but couldn't, and he needed us to weaken him first to achieve his goal. The phrasing doesn't leave much to be contested. However! There's another Flowey line--this time in the geno route, I don't know if you've already gotten to it in your replay--that i feel can offer a slightly different perspective.

You understand, I've done everything this world has to offer. I've read every book. I've burned every book. I've won every game. I've lost every game. I've appeased everyone. I've killed everyone. Sets of numbers… Lines of dialogue… I've seen them all.

If you go with the previous interpretation, you can read this line as Flowey being hyperbolic, or taking some poetic liberty for the sake of rhetorical parallelism. But considering his larger metanarrative role as a mirror and reflection of the completionist player experience, I think it is also completely fair to assume that Flowey HAS, in fact, killed Asgore before. Just like he's killed Sans. Just like he's killed literally everyone who can be killed in the game, either directly or indirectly (see, in our case, Alphys).

This does require a re-framing of the post Asgore fight dialogue, however. Which is... actually not as much of a stretch as you'd expect!

"but now, with your help... he's dead. and i've got the human SOULs." -> i needed your help to kill him.

"but now with your help... he's dead. and i've got the human SOULs." -> i needed your help to get the SOULs, specifically.

It's a subtle difference, but one that gets corroborated, once again, in Flowey's NEW HOME monologue in the geno route.

We don't even need to leave to get them this time. The king has six of them locked away. I've tried hundreds of ways to get him to show me them… But he just won't. I know he'll do it for YOU.

Remember how the SOUL containers are hidden under the floor in front of the Barrier until the moment you and Asgore initiate the battle? There would be no way for Flowey to know where they were stored unless Asgore chose to show them to him.

If you want my personal favorite interpretation, I think it's pretty clear that I lean towards the second option. All while not discarding the idea that Flowey is just a bit of a shit gamer as unrealistic (for all he may trap us in unavoidable attacks over and over, he does get thwarted every single time). He certainly seems more apt in plotting schemes and manipulation than sheer fighting prowess. My preference also remains because, while Flowey IS softlocked out of the ability to "finish the game" until we (the true protagonist) start playing, that is because Undertale doesn't end when we kill Asgore: it ends when we get to the Surface. THAT'S the final objective Flowey wants, and can never achieve on his own in the state of the game before it begins. Whether Asgore is alive or dead is irrelevant.

My preference also comes from Asgore and Flowey's characterizations. We know that Flowey has spent a significant amount of time stalking and resenting and mocking and enjoying Toriel's suffering in the RUINs. He is extremely good at pushing buttons and digging wounds back open. And well, Asgore himself is actively suicidal by the time we get to him, and has been for a while. Think only of the ending where Flowey doesn't kill him, so he kills himself instead. Furthermore, if you look at Undyne's reminiscing during our date in pacifist...

Once, to prove I was the strongest, I tried to fight ASGORE. Emphasis on TRIED. I couldn't land a single blow on him!

...it's clear Asgore is not only a very strong opponent, but also capable of blocking/dodging attacks. Something he doesn't do during our battle with him, in order to give us a fair fighting chance. Which is also clear suicidal ideation. Now, once again you could use this dialogue to support the opposite thesis that Flowey never managed to kill him. Asgore clearly has past experience in fending off rabid 13yos who want to beat his ass. But he is also in a very fraught mental state as is. Flowey's... well, everything--his mere existence as a concept would be enough to make him want to die. You can't tell me Flowey never drove his father to suicide during his resets (think of Asgore and Alphys' parallels), OR his mother--though I don't think he would be successful in her case (which only makes him hate Toriel more.)

But I would say both options are very good and can both be used to explore their characterization, on their own and in relation to one another.

So while I don't disagree with your comment about the Asgore fight being Flowey's personal Sans fight, I do think Flowey's Sans fight WAS also just... the sans fight lmao. Possibly with easier requirements to face it than us, if you only consider this dialogue of his after several neutral endings in a row

You know. Smiley Trashbag. Say. If I have ONE piece of advice for you... DON'T. Let his brother. Find out ANYTHING about you. He'll... well… Let's just say. He's caused me more than my fair share of resets. Stay away from that guy.

Though it's true that that could both refer to his fight and other shenanigans Sans could have pulled to cause problems on purpose for a time traveler, if he really saw them as a threat that needed dealing with.

does that tie to the quality of his determination, stats, or gameplay? like is he simply stuck on the "playing" part, no matter what he has equiped or his LV, is he simply unable to manage the turns?

I'll leave that to your discretion, actually! Like I already mentioned, it does seem to me that Flowey's specific strengths lie in his ability to manipulate and plot from the shadows, but whether he's naturally good at battles or not, I think the core of what makes him dangerous is the same thing that made us dangerous too. The fact that his mistakes, at the end of the day, do not matter. Flowey can fail and die and try again every single time he wants.

Every other character only needs to mess up once.

When the bored time bending kid with a violent complex has the wheel, it's not a matter of "if" he beats you. It's a matter of when.

Hope that made some kind of sense!

[oreo-oro-orero]

Look i don't wanna sit here and get up on my soapbox and start being preachy but i just find it funny how certain sections of the fandom treats TB and by extension Ekko and how that ultimately just shows an underlying problem in shipping culture that honestly only seems to have gotten worse.

TB is such a impactful ship at least in my opinion because i feel as though this is one of the rare occasions where a ship staring a black character is not only loved and praised but also has a view in the mainstream. Most of the time black character when involved with shipping are either cast aside, mistreated or used as a stepping stone for the white character to find their "True Love" so to see TB be loved and praised is genuinely such a amazing and important thing to see and how some of this community reacts to them has shown me that despite this love there is still a major problem with Anti-Blackness.

Now I'm not saying that you have to ship TB or that your Anti-black/racist if you ship them with other characters but from some of the stuff i've seen it seems like its less about the fact that you don't like ship and more about the fact that you don't like Ekko and specifically you don't like Ekko with Jinx. The way some people try remove the importance Ekko has in Jinx's life at this point comes off a malicious. We have people out here describing Ekko as "some random black boy she knew" and it's like okay that's such a one layered look at their relationship and when he is granted the privilege of being apart of her life by some people his role is minimized and relegated to "oh well he is there and he was a small part of it but her ACTUAL motivation was...." and listen, you could make the argument that he wasn't the only thing that spurred her into action but to sit here and act like he didn't have a large impact on her and her subsequent call to action is just lame.

Now S2 in general can be looked at as the blame for why his impact is questioned by some people and i won't lie and not act like seeing them in a couple more scenes together wouldn't have been nice and just seeing Ekko in general more wouldn't have been nice but considering the fact that this community loves to analyze things to the bone i just find it a bit odd how apparently this specific relationship is looked at on such a surface level by some people. Ya'll will sit here and analyze eye movements but then call the bridge fight "just a cool scene" and ignore the weight and impact of it. Ya'll will sit here gush about this loving and deep connection Jinx forms with Isha who she's known for no less then 3 months but apparently her childhood befriend/enemy/crush/lover is just a open and shut book.

One thing that really bothers me as well and I'm gonna use Mel in this section is that her and Ekko are not allowed to be loved. What i mean by this is that the love that their respective partners have for them is always called into doubt. Jayce's love for Mel is doubted because "Well she manipulated him" and that she was just using him and Jinx's love for Ekko is doubted by "oh well she's to mentally unstable to feel that way towards him" and "she tried to kill him" as if a good 85% of the arcane cast hasn't tried to kill or at least physically harm the people they care about. Ekko and Mel are not allowed to be yearned after and loved by the two of the favs of the show despite the fact they are are in fact yearned and loved by these favs. Jinx is over here drawing hearts around this man every chance she gets, her voice lines in game towards him, drawing his symbol on her stuff. Jayce despite all the chaos automoically going to check on Mel and see if she's okay, his voice lines towards her in game and yet despite all this, some of the fandom just can't seem to fathom that their favs are in love with a black character.

Idk man, maybe I'm reading to deep into this all and maybe I'm just yelling into the void but i just find it odd how all these doubts and excuses and reasons for why it wouldn't work only seem to get brough up for ships that involve a black character and a usually white fav.

[sketchalicious]

by god you understand

ramble under the cut i wanna geek out about this so bad lol

sorry to ramble a bit about the layton family, but their flaws in constantly trying to live up to this standard/deal with their main conflict is so interesting because you almost don't expect it from the children of layton of all things. like ,,, sure you'd understand the expectation, but like from an outsider standpoint it feels so strange, like youd think there should be some sort of proper maturity about it at least. at their core they really are like their dad though

im not gonna go on a tirade about how neglectful layton may be as a parent but they all have a common trait of going after some adventure rather than handling what's important. an example for layton is him going after katrielle's father despite there ,,kind of not really being a large benefit (and also generally not being in the picture anymore.) he's smart enough to understand that the pros dont outweigh the cons in possibly leaving katrielle completely alone, should something go wrong. if the canon considered alfendi, the same goes for him as well - neglecting the both of them for the sake of some fruitless adventure with the idea that it could possibly be righteous. those stakes are all for only one child, might i add.

outside of his kids though layton just has a huge problem with neglecting his main responsibilities - dude was never a detective but is very frequently treated to be like one, so much so to the point where his kin decided to take up that role. as a professor he put his job in jeopardy tons of times for the sake of adventure.

katrielle and alfendi neglect their main conflicts in their own ways. (i gotta replay mystery room to get a proper grasp at it so forgive me if this portion of the ramble is stupid lol,) the both of them are clearly at least a little bit tormented by the loss of layton, especially since it happened at such a young age. i feel like the both of them handle these emotions through some sort of escapism and dancing around the issue, though one is clearly more angry about it than the other.

katrielle is hopeful and sees her father in a better light, but wants so badly too to become her own person despite him. either way she misses him dearly. alfendi however is a lot more blunt about how he feels towards him. and i don't have a lot of proof regarding his opinion, that line of dialogue "forget hershel, I am layton" really gives me the feeling that he's not on good terms with layton. though i doubt he's addressing this anger properly with how infrequently layton is mentioned in-game.

all that said i do really like the idea of them having arguments about layton himself. the idea that katrielle is constantly defending their father while alfendi is trying to make her see him for what he thinks he is is SUCH an interesting thought. i do believe that they'd both be too emotional to have a genuine talk about it, and my personal headcanon is that they're apart solely because of this conflict (and also just arguments about who should "take his place," with katrielle probably winning by taking up the logo and the hat silhouette). but in canon i really don't think that's the case and that is greatly upsetting lmfao

to answer your question that u probably dont want answered but im gonna answer anyway:

i have an inkling the canon is that they could've been raised separately, hence why we haven't had a genuine canon interaction, and that mystery room takes place after layton is found. (like directly after.) that said i only have one piece of evidence for this idea and its a spoiler lol so i wont state it, plus it's pretty weak. but i think their timelines just clash big time and level 5 just never figured out how to organize it properly.

i really really hope we get a season 2 of the anime because lord knows what i would give to know the canon dynamic of the family and if they really did argue/have conflicts. they are such a perfect fit for a "functional" dysfunctional family and i think it would be REALLY sicknasty for it to be one of layton's flaws to be a kind of crap father despite how great of a man he is. it humanizes them in a way i love sm i have so many ideas i want to draw . okay ramble over sorry to anyone who had to scroll this far ty though pray emoji

hi heres another interest.uhhh layto n siblings arguing about who deserves the layton name . ft an adultish design of flora

[actualalligator]

Haven't watched the episode, probably won't, but I read this and idk what happened.

Eddie sees Buck. Actually sees him. Not what Buck wants everybody to see. Not the backbone holding them all together. Not the put together facade that is almost flawlessly applied across his face. No, Eddie sees the Buck who is seconds away from shaking apart, the Buck who just lost one of the most important people in his life. Eddie did too. He knows, but his relationship with Bobby was different than Buck’s. He knows that. He’s not comparing either. Both important, but different.  Eddie just wants to make it better. He just wants to fix this. That’s normally Buck’s role, though, right? But Eddie can see him breaking behind the mask, and he wants to fix it.  It’s comfort. It’s just comfort. But is it really? Maybe it starts that way. Maybe it’s because when the door closes and it’s just them, it’s just Buck and Eddie, Buck finally lets go just a little. And Eddie can’t stand to see tears in those beautiful blue eyes. He can’t help the way he cradles Buck’s face in his hands, wiping at tears with his thumbs, but they keep coming. So it’s a forehead kiss. And then kisses to his cheeks. Finally a kiss to his mouth feels like the natural progression of things.  Eddie has half a second to regret it before Buck is kissing him back like he’s starving. Eddie doesn’t think he could pull away now if he tried (he won’t). Because Buck is the one who leads him to the bedroom. Eddie’s first, now Buck’s. Theirs, his brain supplies, but that’s not right because he doesn’t live here anymore. He lives in El Paso in a house where he’s always fixing something with his son who is finally right back where he belongs.  Eddie has a flight in the morning. He’s going back to El Paso, to his son and his house, and he’s going to leave Buck behind. Again. Only this time it’s different. Because he has his son, but none of them have Bobby.  It’s just comfort, Eddie thinks as Buck collapses on top of him, his damp breath puffing out across Eddie’s skin. It’s just comfort. It’s just comfort. But Eddie knows that it’s not. Eddie has only kissed Buck’s face, but he wants to kiss every inch of him from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. He deserves to get to kiss Evan Buckley until the end of time, and now that he’s done it once, twice, a dozen times, he has no idea how he’s meant to survive without it.  But he’s got a flight in the morning ,and he’s going back to El Paso. He’s going back to the stupid house he wishes he’d never bought, but where he lives with the half of his heart he spent far too long missing.  But he looks at Buck who has fallen asleep sprawled out across him with so much bare skin Eddie should be allowed to kiss and kiss and kiss, and he knows he’s getting on a flight in the morning to go home.  It’s comfort, he tells himself, but he knows now that he’s leaving half his heart behind when he goes. 

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being Matt Murdock’s child (Part 5)

Matt Murdock x child!reader

warnings: guns, blood, death, etc. daredevil!!! oh and obvi DDBA spoilers babe

a/n: LONG AWAITED FIFTH PART BASED ON BORN AGAIN SEASON ONE. also part 4 kind of makes it seem like y/n is a lil immature and possibly younger? ignore that i didn’t know what was in store for them yet LMAO. also ah fuck this got long. and also fuck you (affectionate) i know i swore i’d never do The Thing but i did it. youre fucking welcome. and also. no. part 6 wont come out until DDBA S2 is fully out <3

prompt:

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5

despite a LOT of pushback from your dad, you joined the police academy

oh, to be a fly on the wall during that conversation

“a cop? in this city? of all the things you can do, you want to be a cop?” -matt

“maybe i want to be a cop to clean up this city the right way. you ever think of that?” -you

“oh, so this is to get back at me for daredevil” -matt

“no, dad, this is not about you. i made my choice. deal with it or dont, it’s out of my hands” -you

shit, the police force was not a fan of your father, the defense attorney, either

nor were they a fan of daredevil

you kept your mouth shut on those kinds of subjects, tried to keep work and life separate. something your dad never seemed to be able to do

you survived the blip—lucky for you, matt, foggy, and karen

and you really did try to support nelson, murdock, and page to the best of your ability

“hey, kid. listen—i am proud of you. you stuck to your guns, you made a choice despite how others would feel about it, and you’re already succeeding in your new career. to hell with the rest of them, you’re doing good job” -foggy

karen was quietly supportive as well, helped calm matt down with reason whenever he got nervous about your chosen career

“what if y/n gets hurt? what if they try to do the right thing instead of running for their life?” -matt

“then they’ll have learned from their fearless father” -karen

“i should have been a better role model” -matt

“yeah, too late for that one” -karen, patting him on the shoulder

the other cops on the force gave you hell, but that was expected

you were a native new yorker, nothing phased you

and after some time, matt learned to accept reality and damn, he was starting to understand how he made you feel

you hadn’t lived with matt or foggy in a couple of years, since you were a rookie

now you were about 24, been on the force a few years—a real star, up for detective!!

and you could actually drink at josies!!!

“god, it still feels weird serving you” -josie

“remember when you were giving me shots of coca cola?” -you

“you’re making me feel old!” -josie

josie gave you your first drink, a shot of o’melveny’s by foggy’s insistence

you had a shot of it when you turned 21, graduated the police academy, got hired by the NYPD, and a few odd times when NM&P had a win

and foggy loved to see a smile on your face now that you weren’t weighed down by all that matt put on you

“i wish you could see just how happy y/n looks. they breathe easier, smile wider, no more dark circles around their eyes. it’s good to feel like family again” -foggy

“i can feel it, don’t worry. the breaths, heartbeat, and i hear y/n’s laugh all the time. i wish i could have given them this peace of mind when they were younger” -matt “wish i had peace of mind. haven’t since they joined the NYPD”

speaking of nypd, it was weird being there

especially since midland circle. no protective detail. no scared teenager and metahumans. just another badge on duty

you might have been the youngest detective the NYPD ever had, and you don’t think it would have been without your history. growing up at a law school, around lawyers, in a law firm, with vigilantes. THAT was what made you a strong cop. a strong background. strong spirit.

and the day you were promoted you got another shot of o’melveny’s!!!!!!

“fuck, i hate that shit” -you

“always with the mouth” -matt, patting you on the back

“always with the judgment” -you, raising your glass to his “love you, dad. wouldn’t be here without you”

“what? no love for uncle foggy?” -foggy, heckling

“you know what? come here, i’m gonna destroy you in pool!” -you

matt and karen sat together and talked about you

“i remember when y/n was little and so full of fire” -karen

“and full of it” -matt, quickly being swatted by karen “i’m kidding. i just can’t believe they’re grown up now. fuck, when did my kid grow up?”

“y/n’s always been grown up unfortunately” -karen

“don’t guilt trip me now” -matt

“i’m not trying to, i’m just saying y/n’s always had that head on their shoulders. got it from you, obviously. but i can’t help but be proud of how they turned out. a detective by 24? that’s fucking unheard of. and everyone at the department gives them shit for being a murdock” -karen

“life of the defense attorney—always making enemies” -matt

*you approaching and matt and karen shutting up*

“i kicked foggy’s ass” -you

“knew you would” -matt

not long after this day, you’d be at josie’s again and be attacked by bullseye

and as the only cop on scene, you had to do things by the book

“dispatch this is detective murdock—badge number 0464, need immediate backup and mutiple RA’s for an active shooter at josie’s bar. i repeat, shots fired, several civilians down. hurry. please.” -you on the phone with 911, trying not to lose your shit as foggy lay bleeding on the sidewalk “hang in there uncle foggy. help’s on the way”

you took a few shots at bullseye, but nothing seemed to land as your hands were shaking and karen was screaming next to you

by the time help arrived, you had a bullet in your arm and were covered in foggy’s blood

you only took a week of leave

you could have killed poindexter yourself—but that wasn’t who you were.

foggy’s funeral was one of the worst days of your life because you knew he wasn’t coming back

not like matt, where you always had that sneaking suspicion he’d be back—and you were right

or elektra—who didn’t stay dead the first time

you watched as the casket closed on foggy, you watched as everything you knew fell apart. karen moved away, NMP closed shop, matt opened a new practice, and life moved on.

you spent the night at matt’s whenever it was too hard to bear

and the door was always open

sometimes matt would find you sleeping on the couch when he woke up, make you breakfast like old times

you were still his little kid in his heart. the one who’d beat him in the chest when you were mad at him, call him names, slam doors, beg for him to come home in one piece.

now you were his kid who carried a gun and a badge and was one of the few cops on the force worth trusting

but you still liked waffles

“made your favorite” -matt, gently waking you

“thanks” -you

you looked at old photos of you and foggy, matt, karen, whoever. it just made you feel closer to them

and there was a “family photo” on your desk at the precinct

about a year later, poindexter was sentenced and a weight was lifted off your shoulders as he was put away for life

but other problems arose

specifically, wilson fisk’s candidacy for mayor

“this is insane! there’s no way they’re gonna vote him for mayor. after all he’s done to this city? absolutely not!” -you, spiraling

“my thoughts exactly” -matt, not far behind

it was hard not to focus on the looming threat

and when the election results were revealed, it was safe to say you were on the verge of a complete crash out

“dad, i can’t work for that man! after all he’s done to this city and my family? fuck this!” -you

“i know, i know” -matt, hiding the fact he has met with fisk recently and been threatened about his vigilantism

the issue is fisk knew who you were. and you were NYPD, and he oversaw this department

you were purposely picked for the anti vigilante task force he’d put together

“murdock,” -fisk, almost threateningly “it’s been a long time”

“wait, you know y/n?” -powell

“i know their father. matthew murdock” -fisk

oh that shit did not sit right with the rest of the task force. especially after hector ayala’s case

fisk forced you to quit (not that it wasn’t coming anyway. fisk calling the shots just didn’t sit right)

ohhh you were pissed

“fuck! all my hard work in the force—gone! this stupid vendetta fisk has against vigilantes” -you

“this is my fault, y/n—” -matt

“no! don’t even go there. i don’t want to hear it. that was ten goddamn years ago!” -you

you’d started to feel as helpless as you did ten years ago. it wasn’t pretty

and you took this time to rethink your priorities

speaking of—here matt was just starting to enjoy life. you liked his new girlfriend, heather, matter of fact

a step up from elektra. sorry. who isnt. your dad knew how to pick em

“y/n, im sorry to hear about your departure from the NYPD. do you want to talk about it?” -heather

“i’d rather not. lots to unpack” -you

matt was angry you had to give up your career because of fisk. you were forced out. just because of a vendetta fisk had against him. you were never supposed to get involved

but as matt had started investigating as daredevil again, you began to understand him on a far deeper level than ever before

a helpless defense attorney trying to make a difference, a pariah detective who wants to do the same

something clicked in you that day

something you swore you’d never do, never accept, simply never be

matt was busy investigating muse

that case closed quick, but the problems continued without fail

who killed hector ayala? how do you defeat fisk? when would you be safe? was heather really trustworthy? why was foggy really killed? it never really ended—but no matter what career you or your dad pursued, that was a given

“dad?” -you

“yeah?” -matt

“where did it all go wrong?” -you

matt’s heart sank

“i think you know the answer” -matt

“i don’t think i do anymore” -you, realizing you were more in the dark about daredevil than you thought. yeah, you knew fisk was a problem. and you knew bullseye was a psycho. and elektra set you guys back a few times. and you were exposed to some things too young. you knew all that. you just didn’t know where it began.

“one day i think things will be okay again” -matt, lying

“i know you’re they guy with the heartbeat lie detector, but i can tell you’re lying to me” -you

“we’ll figure it out” -matt

you missed the lighthearted days

life so was foreign these days

it was JUST you and him now

you got the occasional text from karen but it wasnt the same

drinking together was always glum, breakfast brought back bad memories, a dinner at a restaurant made you stare at the empty seat beside you, and when matt put the cowl back on you were back to your conflicted self

until you made your way into matt’s stash and took a cowl of your own

matt’s getup mixed with some of your tactical gear from the PD, mixed with some old boxing gear from when you were younger…there you were. the adult child of a vigilante wearing his own uniform. it always comes around

“this is fucking stupid” -you said, ripping it off and shoving it in a bag

not long after this you were sitting in a hospital room after matt was shot in the chest at fisk’s gala

“you never fucking learn, do you?” -you

“nope” -matt

“smartass” -you

“you learned it from me” -matt, groaning through pain

heather was present, still a bit upset from the scene. kirsten brought her out soon after, giving you more time to drill into your dad.

“you know, i have seen you and foggy get shot more than once. it is genuinely insane to me that you are still jumping in front of bullets. i know i’m an adult now, but i still need you” -you

“i’m a shitty dad, just say it” -matt

“no, you’re not. you were. and then you turned your life around but now we’re headed in the same direction with a whole new set of possibilities. this isn’t daredevil versus kingpin. this is the people versus fisk. pick a side” -you

“i wont stand by and let poindexter murder anyone else” -matt

“which is why we keep losing” -you

you left the hospital to get the suit you’d made “in case of emergency” and soon the power went out. a bold move on fisks part

and as you made your way into your dad’s apartment, there stood frank castle in the flesh

“little y/n? damn, it’s been a minute” -frank

“did we ever actually meet?” -you

“nah, your dad was a hard ass” -frank

“still is” -you

“heard you joined the force” -frank

“yeah. made detective and everything. forced out by fisk. now, im doing my own thing” -you, masking up “you have a gun i can borrow?”

“fuckin’ course i do,” -frank, handing you one of his collection “never thought i’d be giving a murdock a gun, but happy to do it. especially if it pisses off red senior”

matt was home soon after and still a bit beat up, luckily you and frank were there to help

you shot to maim, frank shot to kill. matt was horrified nonetheless

“you put on my mask and hold a gun? what is that? what the fuck is that?” -matt

“this is what tonight has to be” -you “fuck, dad. this is not the time! you think i’m here to drop as many bodies as i can? absolutely not! but if we can stop the people who are dropping innocent bodies, so fucking be it! i became a cop to protect this city from this shitty, broken system and now look! i’m wearing this suit i begged you not to put on for years!”

“you think this is what i want for you?!” -matt

“can you fuckers just stop arguing for a minute, jesus. it’s always something with you two. man, if i had my kids back for a minute, i wouldn’t care what the fuck they were doing. and if my kids decided to make a change for the better, i’d be damn proud—so shut the fuck up and let’s put these fuckers down!” -frank

you soon jumped out of a window due to a BOMB <3

oh when karen saw you in the daredevil suit she cried LMAO

“y/n, you have to be kidding” -karen

“can you guys stop parenting me for five minutes? my city is on fire, i only have one way of stopping it, and you know the nypd is on my ass too? murdocks don’t get a break. you started it, dad” -you

angsty ass

i mean. warranted

frank spent the whole car ride chuckling to himself

like genuinely this was so funny to him it really did come full circle

but it did make him a little sad that he didn’t have a kid to bitch at him or for him to bitch back at

matt was lucky nonetheless

but then again, frank didn’t want his kids following the footsteps of the marines or punisher.

once you guys got back to frank’s bunker, he decided to tap out

you handed his gun back

“keep it, kid. you’ve earned it.” -frank “matter of fact, take this smaller piece, too. tuck it somewhere safe, just in case something happens. you get caught or something. i know those cop bastards will look so hide it good” -he shoved another gun in your hand, some additional rounds too

“i used to be one of those cop bastards” -you, chuckling

“i forgive you. at least you got good aim out of it” -frank

you went with karen and matt to see if you could get to the bottom of foggy’s death, which was eating you alive at this point. you were a cop at that point, you wished you’d have known so you could have protected him. somehow. someway.

the storage locker was cathartic. lots of memories. some closure. especially as the red hook information unveiled itself

“it all came down to this” -you

“it’s not over yet” -matt

“sure feels like it” -you

“hey. hey. forget everything i said, all of it. doesn’t matter. im proud of you. i was proud of you then and im proud of you now. i’m honored you put on the mask with me, no matter how much it freaks me out. no matter how worried i am about you. no matter how much we disagree i will never not be proud of you and happy you are here with me trying to make a difference” -matt, grabbing your face

“we came a long way, huh?” -you, starting to cry

“it’s just the beginning, kiddo” -matt

taglist: @summersimmerus // @simp-legend // @locke-writes // @you-bloody-shank // @deanzboyfriend // @mr-mxyzptlk-1940 //

[chillinglikeashilling]

Lord forgive me for paying attention to the YT comments section but I really want people who claim Annie was treated as a less 'desired love interest' than Mary to remind me which of them was told she didn't have any business being near them by both Micheal A and Michael B Jordan.

"Oh but Mary is shown to be the focus of desire and Annie isn't"

Are we forgetting that the first thing Stack tells Mary to do is kick rocks? That one of the first things we learned about their past relationship is that he left her in the middle of the night without any communication at all?

Yes Smoke also left Annie but that to me is representative of the fact that both twins always chose each other over either of their respective lovers, or anyone else in their lives. At the very least we know from the fact that he married her that Smoke considered Annie someone in his life, who was not Stack, that he could build a life with. She made him a mojo bag so it's not like Smoke left in the middle of the night.

And it's not like either twin is best friends with the other's lover but Annie clearly gets so much more consideration and respect from Stack than Mary does from Smoke. Smoke would clearly rather Stack and Mary never even have been together in the first place but even from (what was supposed to be) the opening night of the Juke we see Stack and Annie working together to manage Smoke and the business. Annie is being paid to cook there sure, but to me it's clear that she was always supposed to have a huge role in the business.

I'm not saying the movie is perfect or that people can't have their own opinions but even if we're appealing to the respectability argument- Annie is the only person in the main cast apart from Sammie with very little 'sin' on her record. For one thing she's the only woman of the three love interests who isn't cheating on her husband for whatever that's worth to folks in a movie called Sinners.

And even the comparison of the love scenes feels disingenuous to me. I've seen some people say Mary is the one shown to be desired between her and Stack while Smoke is shown to be desired by Annie and I want to remind everyone that again Mary is the person chasing Stack. He saw her that morning and said go back to your white husband. Annie and Smoke are reuniting as a couple that went through a horrible loss that can rip modern couples apart, without the additional stresses of being sharecroppers on top of that.

Additionally I don't think it's a coincidence that the love scene between Smoke and Annie happens before the sun goes down and the one between Stack and Mary - which I remind everyone leads to Stack dying!!- happens after nightfall and after Mary has already been turned by Rennick. Sammie and Stack both talk about that day before the sun went down being one of the best days of their life. Given the connection and parallels between the twins I would assume that the same would probably be true for Smoke.

So one of the best days of his life involved getting to reconnect with his wife. Getting to fold her into a business he and his brother were building not just for their own financial freedom and independence but also as a safe space for their community. A community Annie was a central part of.

One of those love scenes happened between a couple that had a real chance of reconciling if Rennick hadn't shown up and it's not the one featuring Mary.

[another-goblin]

Let's examine some of the less talked about aspects of Dr. Ratio's relationship with the Genius Society as a character.

1. Did he really want to get into the GS?

The answer is, of course, a resounding yes! Or a confident no. Depending on who you ask. But what's the evidence?

The only direct evidence I could think of is this line from his pre-release interview on Hoyolab.

And whether or not it counts depends on whether you consider this kind of stuff canon (some people don't, since it's not in the game).

But at most, for me, it feels like an admission of a normal thing most young scientists would probably say (before he got completely disilusioned in the path of Erudition in particular and the divinity of the Aeons in general).

Like a young person who first gets into a sport might think about winning the Olympics. It doesn't feel like a passionate dream (the anime-esque "I'll dedicate my life to becoming a Genius whatewer it costs me").

What else do we have? His in-game fans' speculations and his former secretary's interpretation of a seemingly insignificant event (strictly speaking, that episode doesn't actually mean anything, let alone prove his wish to become a member of the GS. You can read me ranting about it here )

So the popular idea that his inability to attract Nous' gaze played a big role in his life and psyche seems more like a fan-popular headcanon (that might be the intended interpretation, but still a HC) than a strict reading of the canon. But who can blame us? This man desperately needed a personal inner conflict, and we kind of invented it.

2. What was the narrative point of making him not a member of the GS? What would have changed if he were a Genius?

I'm still not sure.

What distinguishes him from the Geniuses?

Is it the idea that the GS members only do their science for the sake of Nous? And aquire knowledge for the sake of it?

But we have Stephen, who invents things for fun. We have Chadvick, who built that weapon out of hubris. We have Herta, who kind of treats Nous as an equal. We have Dr. Primitive, who just does whatever because he's evil (what's the scientific value of turning people into monkeys?). Or that guy (forgot his name) who seemed to genuinely care about humanity. None of them seem fanatically dedicated to Erudition.

And we have Polka, who seems to be even more of a hater of what GS stands for than Ratio.

Wouldn't it be fun to have a Genius Ratio who saw all the problems with Erudition after he joined, got disillusioned and turned into what he's now, and who's just miserable about it all the time? Because becoming a GS member seems to be a one-way road. How ironic would it be for a genius to preach the idea of how people should not rely on geniuses?

But maybe they didn't make him a Genius to be able to make him join the Intelligentsia Guild?

But the only purpose of that seems to be his connection to Aventurine (the IG being partners with the IPC).

Otherwise, he doesn't represent the IG's values at all. He doesn't see knowledge as a commodity. (He even got angry at Sunday for expecting him to exchange the knowledge of Aventurine's plans for some knowledge on Stellarons). In most cases, all the other characters are very typical representatives of their factions. But in his case I'm not sure why he's in the IG either. Probably just a faction for him to belong to, because we can't have a character who doesn't belong to a world or a faction.

The only potentially interesting thing I can see about the IG is him being a member of the Council of Mundenites. But they did literally nothing with it. Although I still hope that they will (but who am I kidding, with the amount of ongoing plotlines and the new ones they establish left and right, they just won't have time for that)

Btw the IG in general seems like a lot of wasted potential. They had a whole SU update dedicated to it, and they did basically nothing interesting with it. But it's a topic for another discussion.

3. Why didn't he attract the gaze of Nous?

The game doesn't give us any strict criteria of how Nous chooses people, so we can only speculate. I know there are a ton of theories, but they are still theories (I think the one that's supposed to be correct is something about him caring more about helping people help themselves than doing science for the sake of it, but it has been discussed to death already).

But I never saw people talking about my favorite theory, and my main takeaway from Unknowable Domain - the mind-blowing discrepansy between the intellegence of a Genius and that of a very smart normal person. (How Patavia, one of the best IG's scientists, wasn't a match for Herta even with Patavia's intelligence multiplied tens of thousands of times by the scepters).

Which tells me that the intelligence required to become a member of the GS isn't a matter of just being smart or studying hard, but rather a matter of being born a VERY special person. I mean, if you were born an ant, no amount of training would make you as strong as an elephant.

Let's take Stephen Lloyd, a kid who's mostly busy working in his dad's fruit stall and playing video games all day long and sometimes just effortlessly inventing mind-blowing technology in his free time, basically for fun. I don't remember any mentions of his education either. And let's compare him to child Ratio from his professor's recollections. How he worked his ass off from a young age, basically sacrificing his childhood, only to just skip a couple of grades and get into uni early.

And if my interpretation is true, it could play very well into the underlying topic of predeterminism/destiny/fatalism vs. freedom/unknowability the game establishes.

This would turn Ratio's rather simplistic supposed inner conflict of "boo-hoo, senpai Nous didn't notice me and didn't invite me into their cool kids club" into something much more interesting: Dr. Ratio, whose whole life goal seems to be about helping people take the responsibility for their lives into their own hands and stop counting on the higher powers, realizing that the biggest dream of his life could never come true and literally no human or inhuman amount of efforts would get him here. He would never achieve something others can do effortlessly just because he wasn't destined to.

The other interpretation works too: there are mentions of the Geniuses "communing" with Nous after attracting their gaze, so maybe their inhuman intelligence is partly the result of that. Not being able to achieve by hard work and sheer dedication what others just receive from a deity would clash nicely with his "anti-theist" philosophy too. Or maybe explain his current views. I mean, there is a certain sarcastic reverence in how he talks about Geniuses, distinguishing them from humans as a separate category.

What's ironic and kind of sad is that the game proves him wrong over and over again. I mean, who are the most powerful characters, both in-universe and in terms of meta? It's not normal humans who worked hard. Normal humans do nothing but wait to be saved by supernaturally or technologically enhanced beings (mostly us). And sometimes even by Veritas "Normal Person" Ratio himself.

[twinklingwatermellon]

[swordscleric]

I'm only halfway through the second phase of Predathos (which, to be clear is an incredible vibe for a bossfight, love a good head & hands/multitarget-same-entity boss) but I cannot shake the feeling of disappointment and just dissatisfaction I have had with this campaign that definitely started with Dusk/Yu, got followed up handily with the first Delilah/Sun Tree fight and then has been unfortunately reinforced with every discussion surrounding the Prime Deities since Hearthdell. This campaign is fascinating to pick apart, I have been really enjoying pulling apart why it isn't working compared to C1 or C2. But as much as I'm having fun dissecting where the worldbuilding has led to the current weaknesses in the gods' argument or reading other people's incisive commentary on the lack of personalities on the Ruby Vanguard's end, the "girlfailure" nonsense, etc etc, man do I wish this campaign was better than it is.

There are so many avenues of improvement -

Matt telling everyone to prep and write characters for this campaign instead of a C2-esque character-focused campaign.

Matt working religious organisations into the world properly.

The cast engaging with Marquet as a genuine location rather than set-dressing.

Otohan, Ozo and the rest of the Vanguard having more than "*insert snappy line here*" for their personalities.

No Delilah.

Bell's Hells having an iota of curiosity for anything outside of their own selves, including but not limited to: the gods, religious worship, the Elemental Titans and why they were sundered, how the people of Exandria feel about the gods, Vasselheim and its role in suppressing information about Predathos, Ludinus Da'Leth's plan and how it would still break the world if they did it in his place

I don't know why all of this fell into place in the way that it did, but it did. We can endlessly speculate why - the cast resting on their laurels after C2, not having enough time between the animated shows and Daggerheart and Candela Obscura and, and, and - but at the end of the day I really do hope that whatever form the final campaign wrap-up takes, they burn the damn questions asking the cast "what if the world was made of pudding and this character and this character kissed?" and instead pick questions that get them to introspect for a potential Campaign 4. Otherwise I don't know what will happen, but it sure as hell won't be Mighty Nein part 2: Issylra Boogaloo.

[chiropteracupola]

granby + iskierka + keynes

[venice-1987]

Obsessed with the idea of Sonic being a narrative foil to Shadow, and a character parallel to Maria

[rosecandyart]

Oh right I should make a post on this

STRIAGHT VS. YAOI VS. YURI OMG

If I could, I'd go Team White Chocolate for the sapphics (and I genuinely like white chocolate). However, I'm going on Dark Chocolate solely because of Shiver. However, if the other teams win, I won't mind :3

[bread-wizards]

The real question of "what would each character be doing if they didn't meet the rest of the Hells?" is how many of them would have accidentally ended up on the side of the Vanguard? Because I think it is nearly all of them.

[lilidawnonthemoon]

[true-blue-sonic]

Another reason why I don't want an actual Year of Silver yet is because Silver hasn't been in enough games to do it well, unfortunately. He only had main roles in 06 and the two Rivals games, had a small cameo role in the DS version of Colors, was a rival boss in Generations, and was a supporting character in Forces with all that entails. I do want him to get the spotlight, but I think it should wait until he's had a couple more sizeable roles in new games.

Yeah, that also makes sense. It might play into Silver's popularity too: it's difficult to become popular, or at least more known to e.g. people outside the fandom or casual fans, if a character's role and appearances aren't all that substantial. In that regard, Silver stands out just as little as almost any character who isn't Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Eggman, Shadow, and arguably Rouge, Metal Sonic and maybe Big (who gets put in a lot of things mostly because he's a meme, imo, haha). In such a scenario, I wonder if a Year of Silver could be used to draw more attention to the fact he exists, if that makes sense? Kinda like how the Year of Luigi back in 2013 was created in part because Nintendo developers felt like Luigi was underused compared to Mario, and they wanted to shine more spotlight on him. But then you can go right to the discussion that there are many more characters in a similar position as Silver: Blaze, for example, could just be as deserving of a year dedicated to her as Silver is. And I fear if Silver gets a whole year to himself at the expense of others, the "He's only chosen for this because he's a male hedgehog! This other character has way more right to get a year to themselves, but Sega is biased!" accusations won't take long to form, haha. Certainly not something I'm waiting for when it comes to my favourite character!

In that regard, I'd actually like it if more Sonic characters besides Silver got a bigger role or became playable again. I miss Blaze, my queen of jumping so very high and having fire resistance🥺 XD It's something I'm wondering about, when it comes to the future of the franchise: from what I've heard, the inclusion of three other playable characters in Frontiers was well-received. Will Sega use that information to decide to bring other characters back into a playable role as well?

[sylphwing]

hm. i do not like chilshi 🤔