#they have the same goal but that does not mean that they have to get along

[couch-potato28]

Imagine being a Blue Lock manager! ⚽️

VERSION XVI.

(a/n: YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST cause guess what? We hit a 100 followers omg 😭🎉 you don’t know how grateful I am, thank you so much for reading these I swear I’m gonna improve!! tyyy x 1000 love u 🫶! back to Hiori idk what took over me during my time writing this but I guess it fits the sentimental vibe so yeah lol ty for ur support again!)

Warning-none

wc: 1k

also: @ttheggrimrreaper @irethepotato @ohagiyoo ❤️

——————

FROM THE PROLOGUE:

“Congratulations L/N Y/N! Based on your results, you've earned your place in Blue Lock as the manager of player number…

…16, Hiori Yo.”

The more you read his name under the little icon, the more familiar it sounded.

While trying to recall a memory of anyone with the same surname, someone whispered behind you to their friend.

“Aren’t his parents famous? My mom used to talk about them.”

Bingo! Yes, that was it. His parents, famous athletes of Japan, their names printed in the newspaper your dad once read out loud during breakfast before moving on to the weather. Damn, does that mean you got an already talented prodigy?

Leaving the room with a satisfied smirk, you patted yourself on the shoulder, feeling smug about your luck.

Imagine being Hiori Yo’s manager.

——————

Hiori Yo who notices you trip and hit your arm while walking down the stairs before quickly recovering as you glance around, hoping no one saw your little incident. He can’t help but smile at your clumsiness across the field, watching you take a seat on a bench while pulling out some papers from a folder. He’s doing his warm-up exercises, running the usual laps, while wondering why didn’t you approach your player before the match, but figures you wanted to observe him first—so he carries on, silently reminding himself not to get distracted just because you’re pretty. You probably weren’t even his manager to begin with.

Your eyes stayed fixed on the cyan haired—despite his solid build and smooth moves, there was a certain softness in his features that made the boy much more captivating compared to his teammates. The quiet presence on the sidelines, making assists that turned into goals—ones that wouldn’t have happened without him.

As the match comes to an end, you try to get his attention by waving your hand before he notices you and nods.

“Hi! I saw ya—uh, waving to me right? I’m Hiori Yo nice to meet ya.” he smiles, giving you a warm handshake.

“Yes, I’m L/N Y/N, your new manager. Nice to meet you too!” gosh that smile was gonna be the death of him.

——————

•Hiori whose calm personality makes the everyday chaos seem just a bit more bearable than usual. He’s careful with his words, always being the first one to greet you in the morning before accompanying you to the cafeteria.

•Good listener especially when you’re rambling about how busy they made both of your schedules to be, barely giving any time to get to know each other better. He agrees while assuring you that friendly talks can always be squeezed in between breaks.

•Hiori is a well-built gentleman, doing what he’s instructed without a complaint, and gives all his attention to you during your suggestions for the games. He’ll speak up when needed, and respectfully shares his opinions.

•You don’t say anything but you notice it—the way the spark in his eyes seems to fade on the field, unlike when he spoke to you the other day about his love for gaming.

•Trains hard, early mornings and late nights are what he’s always been accustomed to. Not wanting to be left behind or get lazy, he often takes the extra effort to be better, making you happy to get such a hardworking person.

•On some days though—he’ll secretly stay up all night, playing video games without your knowing before the next day you catch him yawning a lot more than usual, rolling your eyes at his explanation.

•“Wasn’t worth pissing ya off but it felt nice to beat someone online after a hard day, y’know?”

•Months of working together means you get to know the boy better than ever, conversations often shared besides work and training plans. Yet the one topic he never talks about is his parents.

•Hiori who took a long time before he finally opened up, only letting you know basic details about him, carefully avoiding the topic of his childhood. You figured he wasn’t on good terms with his parents when you told him about yours—his smile barely visible, voice more quiet than usual.

•It happened on a rather tiring day—everyone, including Hiori was easily annoyed and by the time analysis came around, he broke down after a lost practice match, telling you everything that was weighing on his heart as he sobbed for comfort, spending the whole night in your arms.

•“So you don’t even like soccer?” you asked, his head on your shoulder as a small chuckle left his mouth.

•“No, not really anymore.”

•The things said that day were kept a secret—a special moment that made you one of his closest friends, forming an unbreakable bond between the two of you.

——————

AFTER THE U20 MATCH…

•Hiori changes his views on soccer, his playstyle evolving into something new, something better, and the spark in his eyes seemed to return for the first time after a while.

•God of fan service. He’s so chronically online it’s crazy. Knows all the memes, slangs, ships and phrases going around the internet that even his fans cringe whenever he uses them in interviews.

•Loves to raise his eyebrows while looking at a camera and once mouthed the word “kaisagi” when Kaiser and Isagi were arguing, the two boy barely keeping any distance, making it look like something else.

•While his screen time skyrockets, his sleep schedule reduces to a mere 5 hours a night, making you groan, and seriously consider confiscating his phone at the sight of dark circles under his eyes every morning.

•Often plays with fans, quickly gaining followers on each of his social media accounts.

•Hiori who’s been a big fan of the yogurt drink, Yakult, since his starter days, causing you to get him a collab with the brand, in hopes of getting free drinks for his training.

•You also make sure to try, and help with his mental health—offering a sheep plushie after a Bastard München win, telling him it helps to cope with loneliness and all that, making him laugh at your serious face. Says he doesn’t need it but can’t sleep without it since :)

•To be fair, you always knew you had a bright future ahead when they paired you with Hiori and when he tells you he’s looking forward to working with you even after the top 23 announcement?

•You happily agree, sharing the same sentiment—a quiet sense of reassurance washing over both of you.

[sha-brytols]

it would be so awesome if people realized the inherent sympathy you're supposed to feel for the qunari is contingent on bioware's assumption that you think they're monstrous by default. no one here is denying that the endgoal of their work is to make you Less Antagonistic towards the qunari, but that's not what's being discussed. i mean like OP said this is just part of a wider discussion of the qunari, and this part is specifically addressing the design of the qunari. do you deny that the qunari in da2 were designed to look as inhuman and menacing as possible? that they were all literally clones of the same model, unlike the rest of the races? that their eyes were designed specifically to give them an animalistic, "satanic" look? because i would hope you wouldn't try to claim the opposite.

i see this brought up a LOT when people dare to point out bioware's weirdly dehumanizing treatment of the qunari. like you lack critical thinking and somehow missed the whole thesis of bioware's writing of the qunari. the fact is they're not actually as (keyword: AS) evil as the chantry makes them out to be, and they have many appealing points and you can find commonality with them, even if you don't agree with everything. but that doesn't at all negate that the qun as a culture has been designed to be as repellant and dehumanized as possible to players. and the design is an important part of the presentation of this. considering the presentation of the qunari as a "valid" and "equal" culture is actually not even remotely supported by the text. in fact the game takes very special care to make it as clear as possible that a qunari invasion of thedas would be a terrible, apocalyptic event that would result in countless deaths, enslavements, and/or reeducation. don't believe me? ask the iron bull what would happen if the qunari took haven.

i don't think anyone doubts that bioware wanted a more nuanced approach than just making the qunari evil, but they failed to take into account how their specific writing and presentation completely contradicts their goal, because they started with the premise that the qunari are a monolithic army that destroys and subjugates everything in its path and is constantly at the doorstep of thedas waiting to break down the door, and it only gets worse with each subsequent installment.

dragon age 2 specifically is a game about deconstructing preconceptions. all the way from the theme to the characters, the game's intent is to force the player to reconsider what they thought about everything. the protagonist as the noble hero, mages and templars as a clear cut black-and-white conflict, the nature of spirits and demons, etc. no one denies this, but what we do is point out how this theme is poorly executed and often contradicted by the text. do you deny that bioware's assertion that templars and mages are both equally terrible does not line up with how templars are consistently presented as irredeemable, sadistic rapists and murderers, and how mages are presented as either helpless innocents or victims backed into corners?

it's the same with the qun. the theme of the game is "question what you think you know," and yet the game can't help but play the qunari's invasion of kirkwall completely straight, with comments from aveline about how the invasion was too quick and clean to have been just a moment of passion from the arishok. and you know what happens in act 2. you know what happens in inquisition. you know what happens in veilguard. a sympathetic point of view does not suddenly undo this. the most effort bioware has put into with humanizing the qunari was the dlc with tallis, and that was the only time we got to meet qunari as anything more than an existential threat. even sten, who i believe is the best example of a sympathetic qunari, is very clear that there's a war coming, and that if you two are on opposite sides he will have to kill you.

most people who criticize how the games write the qunari are actually fans of the qunari, who wish they were presented more thoughtfully, and with less reliance on irl racist fearmongering tropes about the "western-hating foreign threat who want to destroy our way of life," and a poorly-written tacked on attempt at nuance does not cancel out the game's overwhelming presentation that the qunari are in fact exactly what the chantry makes them out to be.

This is an excerpt from my work-in-progress large meta examination on thet qunari from DAO through to DATV. But since that is taking a long time, I thought it might be worth it to post this piece alone now, since it works on its own as well.

-----

The Qunari Design

In Dragon Age: Origins (DAO) the qunari all had the same brown metallic skin. This is because the developers only bothered to make one skin tint for the use of Sten, the qunari companion. They gave this skin tint to every other qunari NPC as well. This is also why there is only the one hairstyle that Sten uses for qunari, with the few NPCs either being bald or using his same hair. Essentially, Sten was the blueprint for all qunari, originally.

No qunari have horns in DAO like they do in the rest of the franchise. According to developer David Gaider, the qunari were always meant to have horns, but did not in DAO because it would have meant Sten couldn’t wear a helmet. This led to the lore decision that some qunari are born hornless as a rare genetic quirk, to account for the later change in design.

Dragon Age II (DA2) saw a drastic change in how the qunari look. Unlike the elves, humans, and dwarves in DA2, the qunari do not use head morphs allowing for individual designs; they have standardized creature models. (The only exception in the base game is the Arishok, who has his own special model.) The qunari moved from having Sten’s brown skin to grey metallic skin, their eye sclera was changed to black, and they were given the horns the developers originally wanted.

It is a well-known fact that DA2 was under immense development restrictions that led to all kinds of cut corners. However, it is worth pointing out the negative impact of choosing an entire race’s design functionality as one of those cut corners. The qunari in DA2 are, for the most part, treated like nothing but unthinking monsters for Hawke to squish, no different than giant spiders or darkspawn. Making them all look the same adds to this effect; they are stripped of any sense of personable traits.

A medium between DAO and DA2 was reached in Dragon Age: Inquisition (DAI), through introducing the player’s ability to make a qunari protagonist. DAI allows the player to choose between few brownish and a few greyish skin colours for their qunari character. The black sclera was changed to white again, as the qunari use the same eye texture and colouring functionality as all the other races. The character creation works just the same for qunari as it does for any other race, allowing for individual appearances left to the player’s imagination. However, as far as NPCs go, there are no qunari in the base game of DAI, making Iron Bull as a companion the only qunari presence until the Trespasser DLC. This does not leave much room to judge the appearance of other qunari characters.

DATV is just like DAI in its character creation capabilities, with the one expansion being the player can make their character have black sclera like in DA2 if they so choose. For all DATV’s faults with the qunari, at least we can say that the character creation is great. Taash and their mother Shathann also have lovely, unique designs. Where things become uncomfortable with the qunari designs… is in the Reavers.

It is established lore from the previous franchise installments that Reavers gain their special powers through drinking draconic blood, though these Antaam Reavers have been altered by Ghilan’nain. My personal assumption is that blighted dragon blood was used. Regardless of how these Reavers came to be, they are unprecedented, horrific monsters, and it is only ever qunari that we see subjected to this kind of disfigurement. This really doubles down on turning them into standardised monsters like in DA2.

Going through all these qunari design changes can make a player’s head spin. But I believe it is an important, visual example of an overarching theme with the qunari: the developers have never really cemented what they want them to be. The writing throughout the years suggests the same.

-----

Stay tuned for the full piece sometime in the future, where I will get into the writing!

[seafoamreadings]

week of may 18th, 2025

these are written predominantly for the *rising* signs but they are also intuitively "channeled" enough that they should work for any dominant energy you have! (try your sun if you don't know rising, or more advanced readers can try moon, anywhere you have a stellium, etc and see what works best for you!)

aries: without getting too granular this is a big week for your sense of personal identity, and your connections with your close community are also highlighted. use this week to really build self esteem or self concept if there are any weaknesses there, because you will want that fortified in the months to come.

taurus: perks of this week include a sharp mind, sharp wit, etc, and also some financial blessings if you set your intentions right around the new moon. the end of the week ushers saturn into aries which is a very good news/bad news situation for you, but more on that later. for now, be open to lots of shadow work even if it's messy.

gemini: the type of insights and downloads you get this week do not come from books or formal study or even from aimlessly browsing the internet or scrolling your phone. this is divine flashes of genius with no logical thread attached and you might not even notice them until later.

cancerians: any last minute aesthetic or fun updates to your public image should be made before saturday. saturn is heading for your 10th house and he's not that into these types of frivolity. a new moon around that time also brings potentially feelings of malaise, so prepare to mitigate that ahead of time.

leo: with your ruling luminary heading into gemini shortly, and then promptly participating in a new moon, focus intentions and goals on your social circles. if you're still working on career or legacy upgrades, this can mean your work network, but this can just as well mean friends, acquaintances, or dates. helpful people abound.

virgo: you're no stranger to the gut-brain axis and this week's transits remind you of it, just in case you were forgetting. start the week with the ceres-neptune conjunction really caring for the body - the viscera, the guts. you can get intellectual about it all later in the week, because then the astrology really supports it, but if you don't dive deep into your physical needs and the mind of your entrails first, you're more inclined to anxiety and overthinking later, which is a lot less fun than your alternatives.

libra: gemini season and its accompanying new moon herald an enjoyable, intellectual, and communcationally balanced period *but* - i'm so sorry there's a catch - saturn into your 7th house and his sign of fall is not super fun for relationship-oriented librans. fun little affairs and dalliances are as likely as ever but commitment? not so much. it's not impossible - saturn does grant staying power. but relationships that were not pre-existing will have a hard time getting off the ground. on the bright side, any skeletal or dental issues or stuckness in your daily routines are likely to start easing off from saturday onward.

scorpio: relationship conversations are likely to take strange turns. avoid it if you can't handle the potential of change, but remember that without change nothing ever happens! bonus points if you use this week to care for your literal bones and teeth. it sounds weird, but saturn is getting ready to move into your 6th house and you definitely don't want those things messing up your routine later.

sagittarius: gemini season and a gemini new moon bring fresh starts to relationships, if you are interested in securing commitments. if you are not, get that out of your system early this week! saturn is heading for aries and he can put a real damper on light airy flings. *even* for your vibrant 5th house.

capricorn: this is saturn's last week in pisces before moving into your 4th house. that has huge ancestry vibes for you or at least family secrets pertaining to your more recent family of origin. at the same time if you are seeking a roommate, *next* week starts a good time to look and if you are needing to get out on your own, you could start looking then too.

aquarius: airy vibes benefit you in many ways - especially if you are looking to have more fun/less stress. you do have to like, actually do the fun things, but the ability to do them arises more easily now. from saturday onward saturn leaves your second house which can also ease up money problems if you've had them.

pisces: gemini activity this week makes it a good time to straighten up household or family-of-origin-related matters. it is also the last week of saturn in your sign (although, note that a retrograde brings him back in september for a bit.)

watch the transit posts in real time to have the best guide through your week. want a little more? have a look at my patreon or ko-fi.

check out my etsy for a private reading or fill out this form to set up a reading through venmo, cashapp, or paypal.

[orangepeelknives]

im new to sjshockey hope u dont mind me asking: warso hates smitty? their own head coach hates him?

okay anon i used to say this as a silly goofy tinhat-type joke but now i MEAN IT!!!!

warso is a younger coach but i do think he subscribes to the old school style of USA hockey coaching where seniority = status, and rookies have to earn their place, despite skill. however mack is better, FAR better, than your typical rookie, and is a loudmouthed bitch, frankly. so warso cant really treat him the same as he would a typical rookie - mack is so much better than pretty much everyone else on that team that he cant really rookie-bully him the way a coach usually would be able to. he'a already earned his place. in addition, mack doesnt listen to or respect warso much at all - this isnt even being super webweavy, he literally told warso NO when warso wanted to cut his ice time. so in my opinion, warso's lack of control over mack threatens his power as coach, in his head at the very least, but he cant take this out on mack, because mack is future face of the franchise, mack is untouchable.

you know who's NOT untouchable??

will smith hockey.

will is buds with mike grier's son jayden, theyve played on a team together before, and will is also this little duo with mack, he keeps mack happy and functional and steadies him, and this part is a little tinhatting but absolutely based in fact and observation. so will also isnt this completely bullyable rookie (maybe i shouldnt say bullyable, but like, he's not this typical rookie who can be easily threatened to be sent to the A, or who is in a position where it's do or die to prove his worth, he's already kinda done that both as a player but also as a person, re, i think it was @whirlpool-blogs who has an awesome post about will being a smart hockey player more than on the ice)

but will is certainly more bullyable than MACK, because will isnt the best on the team, he has weak spots in his game at a volume more typical of a rookie. so how can warso kind of reassert his dominance to the team, who sees how little control he has over mack (who btw i could make a whole separatw post abt that boy's authority issues)? well, warso can certainly assert his dominance over will.

he can move will up or down on lines as he sees fit, and will doesnt have the grounds to say no the way mack does. he can shuffle him around, cut his TOI, move him from wing to center and back again. and he DOES! he shuffles that boy around constantly, benches him in OT, now at worlds he just moved him to the 4th line!!! for context there, he started on the second line with beniers and gauthier with whom he had clear chemistry, racked up a big handful of assists, and then was demoted to third for seemingly no reason.

the past few weeks of the season, the tension between warso and will was actually def clear. the honorable @bliksemflitsenblog just reminded me of an incident where will told mack on the bench, like, "thats BULLSHIT," in response to warso. will was clearly startinh to get frustrated and it was clearly starting to grate on him. now at worlds, where will is one of the youngest on the team, its pretty clear warso has been picking on him a little. i made a post on here abt the kazakhstan game, where after will's line was on the ice for a goal against he sat as far as possible on the bench from warso as he could get to the point where guys were having to like shuffle past him.

anyways, that's the gist of it. NEVER apologize for hanging out in my inbox <3

[eveningspirit]

If Trinity and Frank are indeed the same, why did I connect with Frank so hard, while Trinity is only the character I appreciate? I've been wondering about it from the beginning of the show, because Trinity definitely has some of the characteristics that make me go *.*

And yet..

It's not a gender thing, I analyzed it back and forth, left and right and in all other directions for a long time. I freely admit, that I haven't yet come across a female character that I would feel as strongly as I do about many male characters (the closest comes La'An Noonien-Singh from Star Trek: SNW). However, I chalk it mostly to the fact that well-writtem female characters are a relatively new concept.

BTW, it has to be said that The Pitt has so many fantastic and multidimentional female characters.

About Trinity, though. And Frank

--and why he has my whole heart mind, while she doesn't.

I think it's a matter of masking. They are the same at the core, yes. Both ambitious, both proud and both seeking connection and approval. And both deeply hurt, to the point where they have to hide parts of themselves behind A Mask.

They go about it in very different ways, I think.

Frank tricked everyone (including me) with how competent and strong and yappy--and happy--he is. It's the surface, the projection.

Trinity, meanwhile, is abbrasive, she doesn't try to make people like her, quite on the contrary. Oh, she wants to be liked, just as Frank does. She soaks up Garcia's niceness like a flower in the drought. But she's not going to try extra hard. She doesn't trust people and she doesn't want to trust people, she can saunter through life all on her own, thank you very much (this is a lie).

Whereas Frank... Frank asks Robby, "Are we still friends?" Frank clocks a *sunshine* newcommer and (it's important) a resident, who will most likely stay in this ED. He gets out of his way to befriend her. He tries to impress an MS4, who may potentially end up in this ED, but then, he may not, so he doesn't put in much effort. And he is professional, but nothing beyond that, toward an MS3, who, most likely, he won't meet again after her rotation here is over in three-to-four weeks (or a couple months? I'm not sure how long student rotation is.).

Frank needs to have people around him, people who would give him the sense of belonging (all that praise kink talk is a lil' too much for me, but that's just me. you do you). Having a wife, kids, now also a dog is a part of it too. It's the "white picket fence life" that's supposed to be so... normal. Oh, make no mistake, he loves Abby and he definitely loves his kids. But the goal of the family is normalcy.

He doesn't want to be different than the rest of the world. Bigger, better, more shiny. Except maybe in medicine, but that's probably the only authentic thing in his life. His love for medicine. It's not means to an end. Besides, he likes Robby's approach, that this is a teamwork. Frank is a part of the team--again, belonging.

Trinity wants to shine. She has The Ego, and the means to show it. On the surface she doesn't care about belonging anywhere. She cares, she really, really does, about other people, but, oooh, allowing someone to see that? It's something she will fight to the bitter end. I'd say she was truly exhausted after this shift, when she let that fasade slip for a blink of an eye, and offered Whitaker a place to live. She imediately put it back up with that deflection about Krav Maga.

She's wonderfully complicated, that woman.

So, to sum it up. Yes, they are the same underneath. And they both project something that is not entirely true about themselves on the outside. But their masks are vastly different.

Oh, one more thing. The jokes, the jabs at other people. They both use sarcasm, but Frank aims it at his peers (Collins, Garcia, Princess is maybe not a peer, but she can hold her own) and only "belittles" Garcia, who gives as good as she gets, if not better. Trinity starts with jabs at those who are inferior to her (Victoria, Denis and Mel, who is not inferior--in fact she's superior as an R2--but her social skills are lacking and Trinity sees that), and those jabs hit the sore points of those people.

So, Frank's teasing is used as a bridge toward other people, without showing that he wants to build that bridge. While Trinity's teasing is a shield meant to keep people at a distance, so they don't see her vulnerability.

Yeah. Second attempt at a summary. ;) I want to say that them masking in different ways is most likely the reason I identify with Frank and only appreciate Trinity. Not that it's important, but my overthinking this bias led to the above analysis of their characters, so.. There you go.

Thank you for reading. :)

[ranger-jahen]

hmmm. this is difficult. but I’ve been reading a lot of post-game discussions in various places, and I think the answer to Selûnite Shadowheart’s final quest is truly that neither of the options are the “best ending.” and it really depends on what you personally take away from the story as being most important; it’s a malleable story, not set in stone either way.

for my games, I will always choose to let Shadowheart make the decision for herself, and yes, this does usually result in her letting her parents go and freeing herself of the Sharran curse. narratively, this is the ending I prefer. I believe rejecting Shar fully and completely requires Shadowheart to be willing to feel the depth of the loss that Shar wants so much for her followers to be afraid of, to be so afraid of that they will willingly turn to her promised oblivion in place of it. living with that grief instead of fleeing from it seems the truest way to defy the goddess who has taken so much from Shadowheart in an attempt to remake her in her own image. by Shadowheart embracing loss, freeing her parents, and freeing herself, she seems to defeat Shar’s influence over her life once and for all, and go on to find herself in the new life of hope that has been opened to her. she even finds herself with the presence of her parents’ guiding moonmotes, meaning that their love is not fully taken from her. this is the ending with the themes I appreciate most, despite its bittersweet tones. I find it reflects my own inner wounds and inner hopes that surround breaking away from abuse and learning to love the version of yourself that was forged during a time of great pain, yet still plodding on towards a better life somewhere down the road, even if it means grieving what might have been taken from you. the idea that grief isn’t the death of spirit, shackles are.

however, I am aware that if you manage to hit a very specific set of circumstances in triggering various memories of Shadowheart’s, there is also a chance that she may choose to save her parents of her own volition rather than to put them to rest. if there was a clear set of goals that led to this outcome, I’d be more inclined to entertain the idea of it being the “right” path, but as it stands, it can be very difficult to find all the right clues, even sometimes depending on whether or not Shadowheart is in your active party in different sections of the map. so unless you either datamine, spend eons studying different forks and party assemblies in the game, or follow meticulous guides pre-written by folks who are likely datamining themselves, this is a “random” outcome. and if it was the objectively “correct” outcome, I do not think it would be left to chance. (and I don’t personally ascribe to the idea that persuading Shadowheart to a specific outcome carries the same connotations as persuading Astarion to a certain outcome; the complex inner workings of the choices presented to the two of them are very different.)

with her parents alive, Shadowheart is much happier in the moment. she can find comfort and togetherness and learn of her past, which means she reclaims many of the things that Shar initially took from her. she does have to deal with Shar’s ongoing torment, but she seems willing to put up with it simply for the joy of getting to have her family together again. for some, the takeaway here is learning to live with chronic pain in order to experience all life has to offer. as a chronic-pain-haver myself, I don’t easily find my way into this interpretation based on some specific details in the story, but I think it’s wrong to say that this can’t be a valid interpretation. if that’s what truly speaks to someone’s heart as their main takeaway from Shadowheart’s journey, then this would be the best ending for them. that’s important, I think. very much so.

I don’t think either interpretation can claim superiority and “correctness” over the other because the themes presented in Shadowheart’s story are so genuinely complex, and the fact that different endings speak to different people seems to be a feature, not a bug. it’s fascinating, honestly, not least of all for the fact that she seems to be one of the only companions without a specific ending that is objectively “better” for her between the two. I’ve read lots of nuanced discussions about all of the companion’s endings, but I think Selûnite Shadowheart’s is truly the most dependent on player experience.

[linkons-most-wanted]

Death and Rebirth chaotic thoughts!

Spoilers below the cut. Hopefully mobile Tumblr won't troll anyone.

SPOILERS BELOW HERE

I will be doing more structured things with these thoughts but I gotta ramble now that I've finished the new main story content! Still drooling at the event tho, we're gonna get even more little reveals I'm sure...

In no particular order:

We got explicit confirmation that Philos's iterations in the myths are parallel potential versions of the same planet! In a GORGEOUS cinematic, at that. I think I might have to screen cap that so I can attach it to a post where I talk about Philos lore. We also know that every version of Philos eventually dies (as all planets do). This actually also creates the possibility that not all versions of Philos started as Earth--that's actually only referenced in Xavier's Where Shooting Stars Fall anecdote, and we see graphics of other versions of Philos that are whole planets (not with the shattered plates) covered in sad (as in Rafayel's Philos myth) or fire (as in Beyond Cloudfall). It also means that Earth can have futures in which it doesn't become Philos--like Dawnbreaker's future. It's maybe a little anticlimactic that they're all parallel? But at the same time a relief to my lore brain because it means I can stop looking for clues about how they're supposed to reconcile. Head-canon wise I still like the idea of certain overlaps between the various timelines, such as Xavier and Sylus recognizing some of the same Philosian tech.

EVER CAUSED THE CHRONORIFT CATASTROPHE BY FUCKING WITH MC, I am SO proud of myself for piecing this together before from the timing, and I even have receipts! I had my suspicions that she was "created" rather than born (since she's elsewhere described as being born from the planet's core) so getting the confirmation that she's "from Deepspace" is extremely exciting.

And on that note, SYLUS SAVED BABY MC. 😭 I am going to be chewing on the bars of my enclosure for more details about that in the event, I hope we get more tidbits... if not you can count on me for a Sylus PoV with head canon to fill it all in 😂 I think what I'm gonna do is add alt chapters to Cosmic Interlude so the current chapters will still be there, but there'll be alternate/additional chapters with the updated canon. My secondary goal with Cosmic Interlude was always to provide a streamlined/clarified version of what we know from canon (partly so I can keep it straight myself) so I def want it to be able to still do that. Folks can then skip the "old" chapters if they want, or read them all for ideas on different ways things could have gone (and we know this game loves branching timelines). And speaking of timelines...

We get an even more primordial origin story for Sylus x MC???? 🥹 Two cosmic beings, forced together because only they could match the other's strength, destined for one to kill the other, but they escape and reshape the destiny of the entire universe 🥹🥹🥹 I'm sure it's partly my bias but Sylus backstory just hits different. I wonder if we'll get a myth from that setting!!???

And that makes me wonder--how does Sylus know about this past life? Did he fall to Philos like a shooting star and wind up amongst the dragons? Did their consciousness energy disperse into the cosmos, and then manifest again on that version of Philos and he's managed to maintain one stream of consciousness since then? If so, when did those memories return to him? Perhaps in dreams, perhaps in the Deepspace Tunnel... so many yummy options... Speaking of delicious, the way he knew RIGHT AWAY that she'd "eaten" the spatium core, and how tempting it must smell... 😋 there will be smut about it.

Switching gears to Zayne, my poor baby. He's going THROUGH IT. And we are finally getting some reveals to all these things that have been foreshadowed. I saw some people expressing confusion that "Dawnbreaker" doesn't remember MC, but I think it's important to realize that the "Dawnbreaker" that manifests isn't necessarily the same one we see in the Anecdotes--Zayne's whole thing is "yin and yang", so I think we're seeing a more "primordial" Dawnbreaker, the ur-yin of Zayne, if you will. The inevitability of death given physical form. The Still in Dark anecdote demonstrates that even this side of Zayne is capable of compassion--through accessing the "energy" of Dr Zayne's yang. Likewise, Dr Zayne is capable of cold utilitarianism through the "energy" of Dawnbreaker's yin. I'm sure we'll get lots of layers here, my gut says trust the writers.

Also, I'm pretty sure we did not successfully destroy the energy core?? I'll look extra carefully when I go through and annotate everything (the results of which will land here) but I do believe that core remains a loose thread, though the press conference was still successfully delayed.

Zayne attempting to disappear at the end is SO him (they have made this a pillar of his personality to the point that it was a key event in the Tomorrow's Catch 22 AU, even) and also so infuriating. I'm so glad we found him before they closed out the chapter, even if it ended on a tense note! I'd say odds are very high we'll get something at the start of the next main story content (whenever that happens) that's like "Zayne was kind of distant and then after his leave he returned to the hospital as if nothing had happened" since episodic universes like this one need that kind of reset. But we'll see.

The reveal that Benedict is basically a shapeshifting Wanderer is FASCINATING, and I think it's implied he was originally "created" at Mt Eternal? Is he the Wanderer that Zayne kept going back to re-freeze, maybe? (as we saw in Snowy Serenity) And now he's escaped? That could explain why Zayne didn't immediately recognize him and how he knew about William. I also think it's interesting how Benedict said, of killing William, "Even I would have hesitated" and we know that Zayne actually did hesitate. So I think we see how easily provoked Zayne's guilt is here--and/or the implication that Zayne was indeed "possessed" by Dawnbreaker in order to kill William, as some have suggested.

I'm also glad we FINALLY have clarity that Zayne was 12 during the Chronorift Catastrophe and those events happened after he met MC, because there's a few errors in his timeline that made it hard for me to pin down whether his dreams began during the catastrophe or whether they were prophetic. I think we'll get a bit more clarity in the event content, too.

I'm also really going to be chewing on the part where he ended up needing to restrain MC (other than that it's hot, okay, idk, it's the second time the Zayne writers have tied someone up and injected them and we're into it) because she was "too strong"--I'm really curious how this manifested, and whether it contributed to that flicker of murderous intent from Dawnbreaker later. The natural assumption is to assume she was just sort of mindlessly flailing to escape--but what if what she experienced as unconsciousness was something more akin to possession? Or her new powers spiraling out of control like Zayne's Evol does? Aaaaah I want answerssss

Last thoughts for now are that I find the contrast between Sylus and Zayne so interesting, especially since they're my two favorite LIs. Sylus is a creature who defies fate, whereas Zayne is bound by it. Sylus's desires influence him (as when he needs to distract himself from the smell of the spatium core from MC) but do not control him. Whereas as Zayne tries desperately to keep everything under control, those desires inevitably end up controlling him. More of the conflict in Sylus's chapters is external (things he and MC need to react to) whereas more of the conflict in Zayne's chapter is internal (decisions he has to make, concerns about his state/motives, etc).

The actual last thing I'll add her (if you read this far, ilu) is that I'll continue updating my lore project GitHub with all the new content. If you've got even a small amount of coding experience, you should find GitHub desktop and Obsidian pretty approachable if you want to explore the project with all the links intact! So so so so so much was foreshadowed and I'm going to be geeking out going through all of it. I'll probably also post some summaries to this blog as well!

[doodler16]

Does anyone else noticed the disrespect Vaggie shows Alastor in episode 3? When he is eating his deer and she comes in, if you look closely, she's holding KeeKee in key form in her hand, meaning Alastor's door was locked, and that she just unlocked his door without knocking, demanding him to execute a bunch of eggs she didn't want to despite being capable, and gave him a hard time for what he was eating in his own locked room. That is such a breach of privacy.

Vaggie wasn't being subjected to that, she made the choice to walk in on that despite the locked door. Then she's annoyed when he chose to not kill the eggs, even though wouldn't his choice not to kill be a good sign with the hotel's entire goal?

Sure, she doesn't trust him, that's fair, but then again, she doesn't trust anybody that isn't Charlie, however, if she doesn't trust him then maybe don't give him any more reasons to either leave or betray everyone?

Plus another thing I want to point out is that are the Egg Bois technically children in a way, and isn't there a bit of old lore where some of the only things Alastor won't kill are children. So yeah, Vaggie broke into Alastor's room and told him to execute children, the same Vaggie who got booted out of Heaven for sparing a child, very hypocritical much you one eyed bitch!

Should Vaggie have knocked Alastor’s door and waited to be welcomed in? Ideally yes but at same time for me it’s hard to care that Vaggie walked in on Alastor when he’s the same person that slapped her ass and invaded her space in the pilot.

Vaggie didn’t want the egg bois to be executed, she wanted them out of the hotel because they were causing a ruckus. In fact, Vaggie was the one who wanted Alastor to get them out of the hotel humanely, even emphasizing that line specifically.

There’s only so much Vaggie can do to keep Alastor in check. If Alastor does something, that should fall onto Charlie because she is the one who let him stay at the hotel. In the pilot, Vaggie has been warning Charlie about Alastor ever since his arrival and was this close to killing him because that’s how bad he was.

[rowanthestrange]

(tw for fanwank)

ngl i’m feeling really doompilled about what looks like a media literacy problem but is actually a Reactive Thinking problem with the amount of people who went: kid’s a Protestor™, i’m a Protestor™, so when kid the Protestor™ is evil they’re saying I’m evil, and Protesting is evil, even though the thing he was Protesting for was morally right and he just went about it wrong. (Even though of course every single viewer also came away with that exact same conclusion because the entire episode was structured around it).

That people made this insanely strong bond with one perceived aspect of a character’s identity and motivation, that ends up with some people going ‘well was he wrong to be a terrorist?’ (to which the answer is obviously yes), and them just seeing a character through the lens of a Protestor™ Just Like Me and not immediately going, ‘oh wait he’s NOT a Protestor™ like me, he’s a Mass Murderer, I don’t claim him, but maybe I kinda claim more sympathetic Wynne who got cold feet and wasn’t really down with murder tho’ is incredibly doompilling.

“They made Protestors™ look like terrorists”, no man, they made a terrorist who (correctly) had motivations you could understand, that was it, you decided the terrorist was a Protestor™ but for most people those categories are very clear and distinct and have a hard dividing line between them which is not hurting people. The intended Protestor™ was the woman who worked for years to infiltrate and use that platform to humanise her people to the exact audience of 3 trillion watchers who needed to hear that message. You just went “Using The Tools Of Your Oppressors even against them is a thing I Disagree with and don’t think is Effective and makes you a Collaborator™ not a Protester™ in my book, and so therefore the closest one who speaks for me is the Mass Murderer”. No-one put you on the side of that line, no actual viewer thinks you’re on the side of that line, you have mental gymnastics Reactive Thought Identity-focused yourself into the logical fallacy that they’re saying you must be on the side of that line. There’s no band of people out there calling you evil, you’re just listening to other people saying that they’re saying you’re evil. Congratulations you strawmanned yourself.

“But I believe in not watching or participating in it.” Then in-universe you wouldn’t have got your head blown off, success! Wouldn’t have changed the minds of those watching, but hey didn’t get murdered either, a net neutral.

It’s acting like saying “But remember that murder in support of your goal, however noble, is a bad thing” is some fucking lib statement rather than a thing we should all believe, and that absolutely does need stating right now in a world that’s gone ‘eh maybe murdering some of the people i think are the cause for The Evils Of The World is ok’. Like no, I don’t think the kids show should be down with murder ‘so long as it’s just’, actually. I think we spent six decades building a show where the message is the exact opposite in fact. I’m a fan of it.

“Well I think the story should have been about MY preferred method of being a Protestor™ that isn’t actually being a Collaborator™ trying to appeal to their audience, and it should have been about someone trying to shut down the Interstellar Song Contest for good!” Okay, but you’re gonna have to pick a different show to do it babes, cus this is the ‘Defeating Racism And Violence And Misunderstanding Through Peaceful Means And Showing Unity Between Races And Species’ show.

[animeyanderelover]

Anon: Hc’s for a darling Ayato has almost killed?

Tw: Yandere themes, possessive behavior, obsession, stalking, violence, sadism, threats, abuse, abduction, isolation, death

Tags: @flaming-vulpix

You've almost killed me

🌌​Violence is very much a solution. Maybe not for your kind with weak bodies and minds alike but to Ayato it has always been one. The world is very much a survival of the fittest so if you aren't strong, you are doomed. Especially within Aogiri Tree violence has always been the end goal for as long as he can remember. Did he enjoy it? Of course he did. Strength means power and fear. All things that he didn't have as a child and all qualities his own parents didn't fully utilise. Otherwise they might still be alive. He has sworn to himself to never meet the same demise both of his parents lost their lives too though as instead Ghoul Investigators will find their death through him. It's an ideology that has been deeply embedded within his body and muscles. Ayato doesn't allow himself any weaknesses as even one crack could lead to everything crumbling if the enemy is perceptive enough. For those reasons your very existence endangers everything Ayato has stood for and intends to stay for. You are the weakness that he cannot afford and yet worst of all you belong to the humankind. Your kind is his enemy which only adds more insult to the injury.

🌌​Ayato belongs very much to the kind of obsessed people who consider getting rid of their obsession. To him feelings symbolise weakness-a quality which he despises. As someone who has always been more action-driven this can very well mean that Ayato is going to ambush you one day. He's reckless and driven by impulses. His actions aren't thought through. This all has been a spontaneous decision he made and acted on as soon as he could. Against you he needs no plan though. What do you have after all that could help you against him? You are the weakest of the weak and perhaps he hopes that by seeing this for himself, he can finally get over those stupid emotions that cling to his heart. Only that Ayato never manages to finish what he originally intended to do. He hesitates too long, your anxious heartbeat and the fear in your eyes feeding a growing confusion within his heart and mind. Because none of this feels fun to him. Normally he takes great enjoyment in beating and assaulting others, basks in the feeling of power and superiority it gives him. But now? His heart feels heavy with something that feels suspiciously much like guilt.

🌌​Ayato flees the scene before those feelings can fester more than they have done already. Nevertheless though, he finds himself unable to shake them off the following days. They turn into chains that wrap around his heart. It feels heavy and strange and sometimes-but only sometimes- does he feel regretful for what he has done. Yet Ayato refuses to acknowledge those feelings and instead always stuffs them back down in hopes that they will eventually die and disappear. The frustration that grows within him due to those new emotions he never had to deal before leads to only more violence though. Not directed against you anymore as he low-key fears the repercussions that would follow if he were to let it out on you. So instead strangers become the victim to his confused ire and sometimes when he wants you to hurt, he lets it out on someone close to you. As a result you find yourself surrounded by silence but never directly in its path. It doesn't touch you to leave any injuries or scars on your skin but it affects you mentally. His violence protects you from others who might dare to harm you but at the same time it isolates you and adds to your ever-growing paranoia.

🌌​You are made a victim of violence once more after the abduction. One thing you are bound to realise soon is that Ayato has only a little hold over his temper. He expects obedience from your side and if you don't do as he says, violence happens before he has even fully realised it himself. Never to the point where it could be deadly to you as there is a switch within him that always activates the moment he gets too far. But enough to leave reminders long after. There are sparks of pleasure whenever it happens. The pathetic leaps of your heartbeat, the tears clinging to your eyelashes and the blood seeping from your skin are always vivid reminders that you are nothing in comparison to him. You could never do what he can do to you and it feeds into the feeling of control Ayato needs. If your mere presence shakes his heart up then he will just have to beat you down so that you stay in line for him. There's always that bitter aftertaste of guilt left behind though when he comes down from that sadistic high. Unable to deal with the guilt though, you are often left alone to patch yourself up and wait until Ayato returns. He doesn't apologise though. He never does.

[threegoldfish]

God, Erikson is right with that one - not everyone feels the same about being diplomatic, trying to talk through an issue rather than throw fists. Heck, that might be why they end up working for Khunshu almost every night; The travelers of the night oftentimes get into trouble because of some idiots out there doing illegal, harmful things - not wanting to talk about anything but preferring to let weapons handle whatever they need to deal with. The thought causes Steven to sigh, a somewhat somber smile to appear for a moment there, accompanied by a nod.

"---I guess the world would be a better place if people were to allow conversation to happen." But that's just part of the problem, and not the entirety of it; Steven knows that conversations alone will never be enough to bring world peace, but... it could be a first step to becoming a more understanding nation. They will never end up there, he's aware of that.

---Anyways. Hearing the other opening up about his own experiences when it comes to... well, this, Steven's curiosity is latching onto the whole thing immediately - eyes wide, intrigued, focused. It's fascinating, the fact that Erikson used to have a coworker diagnosed with DID; And, well, the thought that follows after is what Steven can also give as an answer to the question that follows...

"---We... we haven't, actually. Not that I'm aware of." That's the thing: Steven's never met anyone who's going through the same thing, who's made of... what they are. Many personalities existing inside one body, sharing a mind, a brain, all of that. What he is aware of, however, is that their system is kind of unique because of the fact that they've gotten so utterly close - from reading a few books about mental disorders, googling about DID as a whole, Steven's found out that it does happen, the relationship-thing between alters, but... it's not common, far from it. Some might even only go through it because of therapy-purposes; Because, in the end, the goal for most is to mend back together into one person, to have the split parts reconnect and turn whole once more.

Marc, however, does not want it to happen. They do not want it to happen. Yeah, truly unique they are, and definitely not a system that should be looked at too closely - or taken into consideration when educating oneself about the whole thing.

Steven blinks, then shrugs, smile turning a bit sheepish. "I... I did read about DID and educated myself a little. But I have never really met anyone who's diagnosed with it as well. ---It's a rare condition to have, I think - and I also suppose that many who have it do not open up about it just like that. I mean, we usually don't - this..." He points a finger at his new friend, then at himself, "...Is an exeption. Only one other person really knows about us existing the way we do, and... well..."

Another shrug, and Steven clears his throat.

"May I ask... what your previous coworker is like?" Are they similar to what Marc, Steven and Jake are? Different, perhaps? Yeah, Steven's definitely curious about that one.

"That's a good thing." Sterling confirmed with a nod and an amused grin. He had to admit he rather liked Steven's happy, fidgety personality. It was still strange seeing it with Lockley's face but he was already separating them in his head as two complete individuals, as they were.

How exhausting it must be. Sterling barely felt like he had enough time in the day to live his own life. To share it with others, to share brain space with several other individuals full and complete memories. Well, he had some idea what it was like to have another entity in your mind, but that was a different beast entirely.

"I couldn't agree more. Sometimes diplomacy is the best solution. It doesn't always work out, unfortunately. Not everyone feels the same way. I like to at least try it first and see where it goes." He'd gotten his nose broken a few times over it. Thank goodness SHIELD had excellent medical.

Sterling tilted his head when Steven ventured to ask a question to show he had his full attention and to continue. He found himself quietly nodding along as Steven spoke, confirming his suspicions before he even had a chance to speak.

"You did. And I am. Was. An old coworker of mine. I only met a few of the personalities but it is probably why I was more quick to figure your situation out than most." He smiled fondly to himself at the memory of Agent Takatsukasa. Eve was so small and quiet. Nervous. Solomon was a bit more brash. Mouthy. A protector. He liked that kid. Eden... Eden he'd only known briefly but she had described herself as the keeper. He covered for her at work when Solomon came out since he didn't exactly know how to do Eve's job and didn't have clearance to see any of her files. He usually had him work at his desk, sorting files and making copies until Eve felt well enough to resurface.

"Have you ever met anyone else with D.I.D.?"

[toddtakefive]

thinking about todd and his resolve toward… not quite isolation, but being alone in a room full of people again. he goes along to the study room to sit on his own and do his homework, he sits at the poets table and follows along with what’s being said while keeping quiet, he goes to the meetings at all but doesn’t necessarily contribute (in fact, if you watch him when cameron is telling the story ‘from camp in sixth grade’, you can see that he recognizes it before any of the other poets but doesn’t voice it until they all have). he’s not alone, necessarily, if you want to get technical about it, he’s just lonely, and he’s generally okay with that. he doesn’t have friends and that’s fine, he doesn’t participate in class and that’s fine, he doesn’t have a relationship with his family and that’s fine—he could live without any real connection and he’d have been, more or less, fine.

the thing about when he says “i can take care of myself just fine!” is that he isn’t really wrong, you can infer that he’s been doing it his entire life anyway, it’s that ‘taking care of yourself’ isn’t the same thing as really living or being happy. todd’s an introvert, certainly, and even as he gets closer to the group he defaults to sitting quietly in the background, but he’s also denying himself community out of fear not introversion. todd isn’t friendless because he’s an introvert, although that definitely plays a part, he’s friendless because he pushes anyone that might want his company away. if anyone has every wanted for his attention in the first place. (neil’s unwavering interest in him is unique (even when it comes to the rest of the poets, who are fine with todd coming along and joining the group, but aren’t really hellbent on him being there in the beginning) and his refusal to accept it is a direct result of being so lonely growing up.)

there’s obviously something to be said about the implications of his parents neglect, and the more than likely fact that he grew up friendless, and how those both play a part in in him being so skilled at dodging social interaction/being so avoidant of it, but by the time we see him in the movie he’s all but accepted his fate as being alone his entire life. he’s already accepted being the family disappointment, and he’s already accepted he’ll never amount to anything, and he obviously doesn’t like it, but he’d have managed living with that knowledge without the confirmation that it was all wrong. would he have been miserable? almost certainly. but he’d have managed. he’d done it for that long already, anyhow.

[xxplastic-cubexx]

just read the new mutants issue where Charles chose to stay behind in space and my god the juxtaposition between Charles trusting Erik and Erik joining the hellfire club and wondering at his own trust worthiness. I wonder how much of Charles decision was him ultimately trying to avoid the fact that his first class had seemingly betrayed mutant kind and not be willing to face them and how much of it was Dani and Illyana's reaction to him having Karma mind control Illyana. the fact that Illyana was depending on him to ease her mind through limbo and in choosing to stay he forced karma to do it instead, probably fucking up their relationship in the process.

I love him, this is crazy, how much of this is him trying to runaway and how much is this him not trusting himself to fix things and how much is it just him trusting Erik?

i keep trying to put into words my exact thoughts about the sitch but there really is a lot for one issue aintit... oh charles you and your brain...

[sleepyminty]

I feel like in the world of HP lovecraft, amongst the big names like cthulhu, azathoth, yog-sothoth and the infamous nyarlathotep.No one even mention Nodens-the Lord of the great abyss. Cuz that dude sole purpose is to piss off Nyarlathotep. He’s a good elder god for this sole reason (even in ancient britain he depicted as a healing god).

Let me explain

As an Elder God. Nodens' behavior is generally quite kind towards humans, but he only acts this way when he is at odds with Nyarlathotep. Of course, because Dream World is a battlefield and Nyarlathotep and Nodens' war is a proxy war. That's when Nyarlathotep tried every way to stop the travelers from searching for the Kadath desert, Nodens was willing to find every way to protect them, that's how he indirectly angered Nyarlathotep without directly confronting him. Nodens' servants are the Nightgaunts. According to some sources in the Canon, Nodens enjoys hunting animals in places like the Underworld, his targets include Shantak, Hunting Horror and moon beasts.

•Proxy war

When humanity began to spread and explore every corner of the Earth. The Great Ones eventually sought new settlements in Dreamland, including the fortress of Kadath. Nodens himself has quite good relationships with the Grand Masters, and he sometimes monitors Kadath's surroundings to prevent humans from threatening them. Nyarlathotep himself is the same, but Nyarlathotep's main job in Dreamland is to enforce the will of the blind fool and the other supreme foreign gods of the center. Filled with vulgar complaints, with the demon king's will, Nyarlathotep wished for the gods of earth to be protected from human encroachment.

In general, the goals of Nyarlathotep and Nodens are the same. But that didn't mean Nodens had to be friendly with the foreign gods, so he continuously committed acts of sabotage against Nyarlathotep at DreamWorld. And Nyarlathotep felt uncomfortable with Nodens, which was quoted by Randolph Carter when he spoke to Nyarlathotep at Kadath. Nodens is considered a counterpart to Nyarlathotep in Lovecraft's works, but he is not friendly towards humans, he only saves them and is kind to them when he wants to oppose Nyarlathotep, inciting the wrath of Nyarlathotep. those who are considered God... an Outer God.

Basically chaotic good vs chaotic evil

[copper-dragon-in-disguise]

.

[beneaththebloodylake]

i really cant buy the headcanon that phoenix and edgeworth were romantically interested in each other as kids or that they were in love for the 15 or so years they didnt see each other, like it just doesnt make any sense or work at all. but i dont think this actually contradicts the way i think some of those scenes in the anime felt a bit romance coded, or like viewing phoenixs becoming a lawyer for edgeworth as like a romantic gesture? like it wasnt actually motivated by romantic feelings at all but the actual motivations and everything that happens ends up contributing towards a romantic storyline? (from a shipping perpesctive that is obviously)