#that have been dead for centuries!!!! fuck!!!!!!!

[fangsandfeels]

The "they need to find someone Solas doesn't know" excuse is weak. Because:

Solas already knows who Rook is. He doesn't need much time to know who Rook is, it's not a problem for him. He has been studying and manipulating people for centuries - just because Rook is a wild card isn't going to work on him. At the same time, Rook doesn't know jack about Solas - they have never met him, they have never traveled with him. All they know about Solas, they have heard from Varric - and this is not enough, which allows Solas to manipulate them (yes, I know what happens to Varric). Also, yes, Solas knows how Leliana and Josephine operate, but that's not going to stop them - and it should not stop them when the fate of the world is at stake. Moreover, the original Inquisition group at least knows Solas - and they are more aware of how cunning he can be, and if they listened attentively to Cole, they know even a bit more about him. Rook does not have even these crumbs of knowledge, while Solas gets under their skin easily. So, to bet on a stranger just because it's someone Solas doesn't know is a terrible idea.

The Inquisitor and their circle are the only ones who know Solas' true nature because they witnessed it personally. This is why they take it seriously - because they got proof. However, it's going to be insanely had to prove the threat to anyone else and then tell them to go find Solas. At the same time, intentionally holding back information about what Solas really is means sending the "someone Solas doesn't know" to their death. They go after Solas, thinking it's just a really strong mage - and they don't know that it's actually an ancient god. That absolutely can't go wrong.

Now, to other matters:

Venatori should not even be a thing. Venatori rose to power only because of the Corypheus - and with Corypheus dead they should lose a lot of their influence because they no longer have the Elder God to rally around. Without a real ancient magister at their side, their ideas of restoring the Imperium to its former grandeur are merely delusions and they should be bleeding influence by the events of the Veilguard. Moreover, if the Inquisitor chooses to employ mages and destroys the Venatori plans, they are barely a presence in the entire game due to the harsh blow they received. Moreover, Calpernia, who leads Venatori, only joined Corypheus because she wanted to see Tevinter free of corruption. So, if she dies or leaves, the Venatori don't have their god and they don't have their leader - there is no way there is no infighting in such scenarios. So, at best there should be some Venatori cults present - but they won't be having that much power because they no longer have structure, they no longer have their god-magister, and they have nothing to sway magisters on their side - especially if they failed to provide any alternative to Corypheus in 10 years and went back to worshipping the Old Gods. It makes no sense for the Venatori to be the main bad guys because the entire Tevinter fucking sucks already. It's has a horrible, hedonistic and power-obsessed ruling class where dominating the weak is considered good manners. Dorian should be having his hands full by fighting the entire Senate on such concepts as "slavery is bad" and "we should treat non-mages as people" - because Tevinter abhors change and its power is full of assholes like Aurelian Titus. The Venatori are just one shade of ugly the Tevinter has - and not the most prominent one. To make them the main problem is lazy writing.

Sera also joins the Inquisition because she saw what happened after the Breach was opened - so it's logical for her to not want it to happen again. If the Inquisitor accepts Sera's invitation in the Trespasser DLC, they cooperate quite well with the Friends of the Red Jenny. Also, Friends of the Red Jenny are implied to operate throughout the entire Thedas and have quite a history (they've been mentioned since DA:O). So, for them not to be mentioned at all during the events makes no sense.

If Cassandra rebuilds the Seekers, she is able to deal with emerging cults and unrest quite swiftly (according to the endings). Also, she spent years chasing Hawke because she held them responsible for the Mage-Templar war, then she fully committed herself to cause of closing the Breach, to the point she stays by the Inquisitor's side even if she loathes them. And she is going to stop now, after it's revealed that the threat isn't gone? There is no way she won't be an active participant. Even the fact that Seekers aren't welcome isn't going to stop her.

The entire sentiment behind the Trepasser was: yes, Solas made fools of us all, but we can't let it hold us back because he will destroy the world if we don't do anything - and we must stop him at any cost.

Basically, it meant that the Inquisitor and their allies were going to try harder, learn what they can and find new resources, new information, any leverage possible. This is why the Inquisitor sets their course for Tevinter at the end of Trespasser: they were preparing to cooperate with a controversial state, pulling strings and calling favors, finding people with an ample knowledge of magic and ancient history that could assist them with finding any clues; they were prepared to work together with the people Solas didn't probably expect them to work with. They were thinking outside the box and not looking for traditional allies - this is what the end of the Trespasser implied, not the "let's find an absolute rando who may or may not confuse Solas with their wild antics."

Varric and Harding should have been among many people actively looking for Solas, but the idea that Varric volunteered because he was getting Anders flashbacks comes from nowhere. Varric spent years being Anders' friend, taking care of him, making sure gangs and bandits stay away from his clinic - he was there from the beginning to the end. However, Solas is nothing like Anders. He plays his role of a humble elven apostate perfectly. He shaped his plans and ideas long ago - and he didn't depend on Varric's support like Anders did.

At the same time, Varric doesn't influence Solas' opinions as much as the Inquisitor does - which is why the Inquisitor's relationship with Solas (whether romantical, platonic or antagonistic plays a major role in the game).

Yes, it makes sense for Varric and Harding to take part in the search for Solas - but I can't believe that Rook at least hadn't been approved by the Inquisitor (especially if Rook is an elf because Solas has elven spies and these spies would deceive for him, murder for him, and die for him, so every elven agent should be checked thoroughly or even monitored upon being accepted) and that Rook doesn't have means to contact the Inquisitor for further instructions in case something happens to Varric, or Harding or both of them. This is counter-productive.

Finally, for all that talk about Solas' agents, there are none in Veilguard. None to stand between Solas and Rook's group during the ritual, none to be contacted by Solas from the Fade to carry out his orders, none at all. Not just that, but Strife instantly calls Solas an asshole. The reason? Varric told them that Solas was Fen'Harel - and Strife just took Varric's word for it, not considering the greater implications (that if Fen'Harel is real, then elven gods are real).

So, where are all these agents, sabotaging the Inquisitor's work and their allies' efforts? Where?

This is my problem with Veilguard. Because I actually played the previous games. Because I knew what they were building up - and Veilguard forgot like 97% of the stuff built up in the previous games.

Also, Veilguard's codex entries means nothing to me ever since they destroyed all the previous regions HoF, Hawke, and the Inquisitor fought for in a single text (which even fails to be consistent with the plot because Harding and Emmrich go to a camping trip to Ferelden which is supposed to be viciously attacked by the darkspawn at that point). And don't even get me started at the secret ending.

The lack of participation from the Inquisition's cast wasn't intentional or part of the plot - Bioware just didn't give a fuck.

Bioware writing team has a comfy, sheltered life and it shows

I'm sorry, but how come that the only people Inquisitor sent to look for Solas were Varric and Harding? How come that the only people recruited in 10 years of pursuing Solas were Neve and Rook? Do the writers understand that this is NOT how a serious effort looks like?

What about Leliana? Divine or not, she is still Sister Nightingale with an immense spywork. You'd think she won't mobilize everything she has to track Solas and his followers?

What about Josephine? What, she decided "nah, I'm done" and didn't use any of her diplomatic talents and connections to let the Inquisitor's agents have access, permissions or information they need?

What about Dorian? As a political figure, you'd think he will be the first Minrathous contact for the Inquisitor allies, the one arranging things and providing insights?

What about Cassandra and her Seekers? Isn't she interested in stopping another world-ending threat?

What about Sera and her sabotaging potential? If she organized the group of people for performing vigilante acts, people who are her eyes and ears, how come nobody from her group is helping with the effort?

I get it why Varric takes part in it - he knew Solas, the Inquisitor trusts him and his judgement, but for the game to imply that all the responsibility was lumped on Varric's shoulders is fucking disgraceful. I get it writers, Varric is popular character, and you would use him as bait to your heart's content, but the context you've created implies that Varric might have been the only one to take the threat seriously, while the Inquisitor and the rest were doing God knows what.

Varric should have been handing the Rook information on all the contacts they can recruit, all the useful agents, all the people to work with, not tell them to ask Neve because she might know someone because detective (Neve is a good character, but the fact that people who were supposed to spend 10 years chasing Solas look up to her for finding them contacts is appalling).

"Oh, but all these people were in the previous parts and we don't want to mention previous parts because muh new players" - well, you shot yourselves in the foot. Maybe, just maybe, you should have AT LEAST cared more about the choices made in DAI.

Congrats.

[ingridgh0st]

Talking about alnst to my irl friends that aren't into these niche things is so funny bc I have to water down everything to keep them engaged

I'd say something like: So, humanity has been overthrown by aliens and now they have to compete in this sort of The Voice - deadly edition where if you lose they fucking shot you live in 4k. In the 1st ep the protag's (Mizi) gf (Sua) trows the round on purpose and fucking dies in front of her. In the second ep the rebellious dude (Till) that has a crush on the protag get's introduced, and in the 3rd one his best friend (Ivan) that has low key feelings for him debuts. In the 5th round, round 4 happens off screen, our dear protag is a little depressed but she has to go against the asshole still victim of this society (Luka) that pulls some mind tricks and tries to seduce her impersonating her dead gf to win the round, at that our protag snaps and beats the shit out of him therefore she loses, but worry not, bc she was rescued by the human rebellion. There we have this badass (Hyuna) that has a shared history with the asshole victim of this society, and with her protag has to go back to The Voice - deadly edition for a mission. In the next round rebellious dude is a little depressed bc protag is missing and he has to go against his best friend that trows the round and dies in front of him (where did I ear that before), while the rebellion is discovered by the aliens. FINAL ROUND, Rebellious dude vs Asshole victim of this society GO! The rebellious dude get emotionally tortured by the asshole victim of this society that is pulling the same trick again impersonating his dead best friend while the rebellion tries to do what they can. The protag goes to the rebellious dude rescue, and the moment he reaches for her, he fucking dies and as she's crying the loss of her last childhood friend, in background, there's the reunion of the century between the asshole victim of this society and the badass. The end :)

And all this while not mentioning the gayest shit, like how half of the cast is gay as hell, Hyuna is lowkey bi and that when the two "straightest" characters went against each other the performance certainly wasn't the straightest one (that's R2), the fact that R3 is THE Gay Yearning anthem, the whole R1 dialogue and the shit that Ivan pulled in R6

[buds-and-baubles]

(agent grayson 2014-2016 issue #19)

i thought using these panels to post my final review of agent grayson would be fitting.

i am aware that more of dick as agent grayson with midnighter being there is also in batman and robin eternal and the second midnighter series, so i will post reviews for those too in the near future.

all in all in regards to what it did for the characters in the series who existed before this (aka comparing their new 52 to their post-crisis or earth-50 selves)? yuck. i don't have a better word for it. helena bertinelli no longer being huntress. the treatment of dick grayson in regards to oversexualization and characterization.

tom king's patented xenophobia and racism continues unfortunately as always (which is unfortunately not an isolated incident regarding the comic industry. example: the treatment of the entire al ghul family).

just wanted to mention how ugh barbara being batgirl is and pushing for dickbabs in this in an incredibly ableist and misogynistic way. tao and grifter just being there? not only a shock but also them being background characters is... something.

my focus may have been on midnighter's treatment in this but by no means am i ignoring its variety of mistreatment of other characters.

so what do i think? as i've mentioned in my past reviews, midnighter is written out of character from himself. he before the new 52 was never a flirty loner.

i reiterate he would've never sexualized dick grayson or flirted with him like that. he would've never suggested harming an innocent baby. i could go on and on about how i'd change every line that has midnighter talk (especially in regards to dick grayson) but we'd be here all day.

apollo's single appearance in the series also was incredibly frustrating. i have already covered what my full thoughts were but apollo wouldn't have been like 'noo midnighter, we don't throw people off skyscrapers'.

he wouldn't have been surprised or bothered because of their original bond and history together. also, that's tame as far as things midnighter does. in addition to this, he would've found it hot because they're freaks like that. i don't know how they managed to mischaracterize him for his single page appearance but they did.

what would i have done to handle midnighter's appearances in the series? following my wildstorm to dc transfer idea, he would still be married and with his (and apollo's) original origin so there would've been no breakup for midpollo.

jenny quantum is there as the spirit of the 21st century and as their daughter who was never erased in the first place. the same is the case for swift and the doctor never being erased because fuck dc for that.

his presence in the story would be tracking down meta bio-weapons as he is also monitoring the various spy organizations with help from apollo and or the rest of the authority. the god garden (who did not create midnighter in my idea) would've been destroyed because anything trying to be like bendix's stormwatch has got to go.

it'd be entertaining in my opinion if he'd be trying to avoid agent grayson but 'the goddamn kid just keeps showing where i wanna be'. just trying to mind his business fighting for a better world and this one bat just keeps appearing.

helena bertinelli in my idea for this is also trying to infiltrate spyral like dick is but on oracle's behalf. a whole finger pointing meme when they realize eachother is there because helena has been there longer. this offers a unique juxtaposition of if helena would alert babs that dick is there or if dick would alert bruce that helena is there.

imagine a sequence of dick grayson going through it as he talks to the comm bruce gave him while really feeling the isolation that being believed to be dead and infiltrating spyral brings.

which cuts to midnighter smiling as he kicks off people's heads, fights alongside apollo where they kiss when they're all bloody, the quantum family being back at their apartment eating dinner, and the authority on the carrier talking about stuff they've been up to while they hang out.

how would i have handled all the other spy stuff? i have no idea but i wouldn't have done what the writers did, that's for sure. thanks for tuning in to another review!

[evilasiangenius]

A starling flew down, and once more landed on Crowley’s hand.

“I thought you told me to fuck off,” Crowley said to the bird. But then the white-speckled starling began to sing.

The bird had no words for this song, just a melody, but it was one that Crowley had not heard in a long time. The last time he had heard this song of Euripides, Aziraphale had played him a snippet as a quote at supper but then stopped because he said it was too sad and didn’t want to continue. They had ended the evening together as they usually did, talking until past dawn or maybe that was a different night or a different one and did it matter which night it was, when it was with Aziraphale?

Ten years behind, ten years athwart his way Waiting and home, lost and unfriended…

The two angels, fallen and otherwise, gave each other startled looks as the bird sang. It was joined by other birds, slowly, until a great murmuration descended down upon them from the skies, huddled under the protective cover of the courtyard corridor, warbling snippets and pieces of the song from garbled memory. Lost notes, added beats. The trill of a robin, the tap of the chisel upon wood, the rasp of a saw, the liquid burble of water. The chatter of a squirrel. A note, two notes, all a semitone off, the tuning of the scale that the song would have originally been in set adrift upon a heaving sea of sound, sliding on and off its tonal base as if the foundation was cracked and crumbling but the heart of the song remained recognizable.

As the starlings continued to sing it was as if he could feel at once all the words upon his lips.

A rift of the hills, raging with winter rain, Dead and outcast and naked. It is I beside my bridegroom And the wild beasts cry…

Crowley flinched; he had not heard this song in centuries and never this much of it, not since he first saw the play in Athens in the year of the Herm-breaking (which by the way was not his doing, not in the slightest, though he had received commendations for it later). Aziraphale had been there too, they had watched it together in the great theatre in Athens and they had long conversations about this particular play, until Crowley had not wanted to talk about it anymore.

“I think…” Aziraphale began.

“No, it’s fine. I should leave. I’m going to leave.” Crowley moved to duck out from under the corridor, but the starlings did not scatter. They stayed stubborn, blocking his path. The demon snarled in annoyance and threw up his hands, unwilling to exert his infernal will upon the birds to force them to leave.

“It’s still raining,” Aziraphale ventured, though he did not move from where he was standing, white speckled starlings perched all about him, some upon his shoulders, some fluttering in his curling hair as if nesting, another perched on his outstretched hand.

“So? Why is that a problem?”

“Because…because you should stay until the rain stops and things dry out a little. I know you don’t like being cold and wet.”

“Does it matter? Why would it matter?”

“It matters to m–” Aziraphale said, but then paused to think. “It should matter to you. You…should take better care of yourself.”

“Why?”

“B-because it’s virtuous!” Aziraphale exclaimed. “It’s virtuous to take care of oneself!”

“I don’t care about being manly or good or ethical or whatever that word means now.”

“Then…then because otherwise you scare cats. And people,” Aziraphale said.

“Why should I care if I scare cats or people?”

“You scare me too!”

The silence between them was not even broken by the birds who watched them with curious eyes, but slowly, as the two angels fallen and otherwise stood there, unable to find the words with which to address each other, the birds began to leave, one by one, fluttering off in a great white-speckled cloud.

more

[mcmorare]

that w.wdits clip where colin is trying to drain joh.n sl.attery but it isn't working bc john keeps on being fascinated by colin's specific regional accent and going on tangents about accents and dialects. just like me fr

[fairandfatalasfair]

I've seen a few fics where Charles is dyslexic, and while I'm not wedded to it, I do kind of like that headcanon.

In which case, I do think that Edwin has noticed on some subconscious level that if he describes his books to Charles by shape, colour, and location, rather than just title, that Charles is more likely to hand him the right book.

But I do not think that Edwin is likely to be consciously aware that Charles is dyslexic, or indeed of what dyslexia is, nor do I think Charles knows. I think if you asked Edwin he would say that Charles is brilliant and therefor is refusing to learn to read Aramaic out of pure stubbornness, and if you asked Charles he would say he's just not great with reading and that's what he has Edwin for.

[cruelplatonic]

my personal headcanon is the vees were unremarkable nobodies when they were alive. i just love it as a thematic throughline for them. they love to let the public of hell speculate on them being famed and acclaimed since before death, but the the truth is they were a d-list failed influencer that got by on cheap controversey and scamming, a broke junkie who burned every shaky bridge he ever had, and a worn-out broadcast production assistant with more rejected auditions and tossed out script pitches than he could count. nobody missed them when they were gone, nobody cared who they were until they were dead.

[cream-and-tea]

oh pallas and agnes power dynamic you really are SO unbelievably fucked,,,,,

[transingthoseformers]

I have a very funny imagine in my head about how alien slang is introduced into the Cybertronian language(s) throughout the war, to the surprise of the mecha who don't regularly interact with non-transformers

[edwinisms]

I know how it sounds at first, but I really gotta feel bad for the boys that sacrificed edwin; I mean even the term “sacrificed edwin” paints them in a more sinister light than they really deserve– considering that wasn’t really, actually their intention.

they were bullies, they were homophobic (and/or were self loathing gay boys themselves taking it out on edwin, or were equally likely peer pressured into acting a certain way), they planned something stupid and mean to do to an innocent, anxious boy with the goal of scaring the shit out of him, all because he was effeminate and an easy target. but they didn’t know or expect any of the ritual stuff to be real. they were all laughing and joking during the ritual because it was just that to them– a joke. a cruel joke, but a joke.

teenagers can be mean and stupid and they usually regret it as adults and grow out of it / grow from it. they were stifled the chance to grow out of it, at least while alive. none of those boys deserved to be instakilled and sent to hell; they’re really not that much less deserving than edwin himself. they were all just kids, after all.

[seilon]

on episode 2 of dead boy detectives and uhhh edwin. darling. hello you had the choice between 1: something dangerous and almost completely impossible, and 2: fucking a hot shapeshifter. this should not have been a difficult decision. come on gayboy what are we DOING here

[bitegore]

does it count as a fridged wife backstory if it's a borderline blackbeard situation

[kickingtheladder]

Me yesterday: Hey write a fic about Edwin's mother, it'll be fun!

Me now: googling early 1900s astronomy and 1920s spiritualism and CS Lewis's Christian theological writings

Also me now: ...this started off as barely fanfic due to being about a character who is not even mentioned in this show and whom we know literally nothing about, and now is just in the realm of self-indulgent nonsense I think

[flowerflamestars]

Effloresce Snippet

[macden]

THANK GOD THERE MIGHT STILL BE HOPE

[imabiscuitinthousandworlds]

me:

classical writer who has been dead for hundreds of years:

me, learning more abt them/their life:

overdramatic self-insert (presumably of sorts) of that writer:

me:

me: whoa he's like me fr