#which is of course why he never could... fucking.. the narrative and all

[rovermcfly]

gay people are so fucking useless, they will literally quit their well-paid, secure job for some guy, go to that guy's boss and offer to write a book about their football club, pretend to be "observing" the guy's coaching methods or some shit for MONTHS and actually write a whole ass book about it, all just to have an excuse to spend every single day with him instead of simply saying something like "hey I'm really into you, would you like to go out sometime"

[batboyblog]

My heart felt like it dropped to my stomach when I saw the news of Biden dropping out. I’m voting for Kamala of course, but I’m just so anxious about what could be the effects of this, and my anxiety disorder is not helping things. Do you think we’ll be able to win still?

Yes.

longer answer, Yes, we always have a chance to win, who Donald Trump is hasn't changed, in weeks of hellish coverage for Biden Trump stayed stuck at about 46% in the polls, the same amount he won in 2016 and 2020 (46.1% and 46.8% respectively) The media and a small group of dems weren't ever gonna give up on trying to push Biden out they were never gonna let him reset thats why he quit, now that we've ended this cycle we have a chance to force focus onto Trump and unite all the people who hate him, which is a majority of Americans, we just need them all to vote for the same person and not fuck it up like 2016 where just enough people voted for 3rd parties to bone it all up for everyone

if you're stressed, I'd say give Kamala a dollar, the media narrative will be driven in the coming days by fundraising strength (sad, but true) out the gate, she's raised over 5 million in an hour or so, what's more again, everyone, sign up to Volunteer now more than ever, everyone need to get out and do what they can, if we all pull in the same direction we can do it.

[toriaaniin]

The only real couple here is L and A. You should ship them, they are really in love.

Thanks for the recommendation Anon... but NO. I'm here to ship one couple, and one couple only.

If Nicola or Luke find love and happiness with someone else, wonderful! Will I ship them with other people? No. Will I be happy for them? Absolutely!

The thing is, what I see between Luke and Nicola is unlike any connection I've ever seen and it's THAT connection - a soulmate connection - that I'm here for. When either one of them makes it clear that they're committed to another person (which they haven't done :: going on a "date" while being unwilling to post that "date" on your IG stories, or a friend walking you home after a pub night who then shields you because a photographer is papping you :: these aren't examples of committed, romantic relationships!), I will stop shipping Luke & Nicola. I will not, however and ever, stop believing in the divine love I witnessed through them.

And another Anon asked and suggested:

Anon: even though my blog is new-ish, my stats tell me that I'm not being laughed at. Because I'm posting your ridiculous messages, YOU on the other hand, ARE being laughed at. In fact my readers are going to laugh at you in the comments 😂🤣

Lukola friends - these aren't the only Anons to reach out to me these past days, but they'll be the only ones I'm going to respond to publicly. I decided to share evidence of their troll campaign so that you could rest easy in the knowledge that the Lutonia's (edited to add: and Jakolas [see P.S. below]) are panicked. They saw what we saw at the BOSS event and the pieces don't fit their "hot couple in love" narrative.

A situation that didn't make sense given the lack of contact between Antonia & Luke since the end of July,

A petrified Antonia who wasn't professionally styled, as though she wasn't a priority,

An angry and disgruntled Luke who cast Antonia's hand aside, then looked like he wasn't happy to be photographed with her,

Luke's eventual (3 days later) black screened IG story with a black heart (macabre!) and a link that required two navigation clicks to get to TT so that the viewer could watch a reel that listed Antonia as "guest".

To my way of thinking, the whole "date" was an orchestrated PR stunt aimed at deflecting gaze away from Nicola & their treasure during a time when the utmost privacy was desired by both her and Luke.

So the Lutonia/Jakola anon troll's strategy? Push us when they perceive us to be down in the hopes that we don't get up. Hit out with verbiage meant to feed doubts they think we have. They also (and I love this because it's so fucking hilarious!) work soooo hard to link obvious Nicola and Polin "Lady Whistledown" references to their sinking ships. Silly gooses. And of course they ignore that Luke has never claimed or clarified Antonia's status in his life... even now, after the BOSS event.

The trolling behaviour doesn't phase me in the least. I don't have doubts they can crush with their silliness. Nicola and Luke are soulmates. End of statement.

So troll anons: why not head back to your sinking USS Lutonia or USS Jakola and cast off for home before your ship sinks to the bottom of the ocean. From this point forward I'll be blocking those that send me messages like this. If you're inclined to message me similar bullshit, why not save yourself the trouble and stay in your own shipping lane.

Aaniin Xxx

P.S. I just discovered a kinda back-door way to see who these Anon posters are... and they're NOT officially Lutonia shippers. They're JAKOLAS!! What dickheads. To all the Jakeholes that are reading this post - fuck off to your own ship. You're worse than the Lutonias. Your desperation stinks like shit. I've also incorporated Jakolas into the original post above.

[peppertoastuniverse]

pep reads: gojo satoru – long fics (pt.1)

Part 2

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ

☆ the way you love me by @peachsayshi [AO3/tumblr] [status: ongoing ◦ 29/? chapters] [smut!] [fwb!gojo] #pep's first fic she was OBSESSED with #real good good smut WITH FEELINGS

“We can stop anytime. If either one of us feels like... this ...might be too much. We stop, no questions .” “We can stop anytime,” Gojo repeated “... and nothing changes between us .” You swallowed hard at his last statement. You may not be able to read his eyes but you could hear it in his voice that he needed reassurance. “No matter what happens, we’ll still be friends...” you replied softly, “now kiss me before I change my mind.”

☆ you and me by tomodachi [AO3: ] [status: completed ◦ 5/5 chapters] [tear jerker] [eventual smut!] #pep cried #gojo just kinda loves you real hard

“Prisoners say the most comical things when their judgment comes,” you tilt your head, lifting a finger before him, “Who are you?"

--- History is written by the winners, Satoru knew this well. It was only when he lost and got sealed inside the Prison Realm he learned how to be weak and find out a long buried truth.

☆ ito by @peekamatcha [AO3] [status: ongoing ◦ 48/? chapters] [super slow burn] [shinto elements] #pep DIES with every update #the TWIST in that one chapter omg

You, a former sorcerer now working as a university lecturer, were hoping to maintain your distance with the sorcerer world for an eternity to come. However, with the reappearance of an upperclassmen from a decade ago, you are forced to go on a journey which you would rather sit out of. But somebody must save humanity from the impending apocalypse and apparently the job falls on the shoulders of you two.

It would have been alright had he not been everything you didn’t want to be reminded of. And the sacrifices to be made may be more than what had been bargained for. ☆moonlight by @septembersummer [AO3/tumblr:] [status: completed ◦ 10/10 chapters] [smut!] #pep loves this AU #pep SCREAMED

Gojo Satoru is dying. And no, it's not his fault this time.

The curse which is withering Satoru into an early grave is actually the product of his great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather, who had a couple of sons that refused to procreate. And what does a proud, powerful man do when his sons refuse to fuck, and there won't be another heir to the clan?

He curses his own bloodline, of course.

It's only natural that he forces them through some twisted form of sorcery to become uncontrollably, violently attracted to the person they're most genetically compatible with.

It's even better that the curse creates a permanent, unbreakable bond between the two unwilling lovers. That's right, it usually takes more than one fuck to make a baby-- so, why not force them to have twelve?

Satoru wished his ancestor would be resurrected from the grave, just so that he could kill him again. That is, before Satoru inevitably dies.

He's had a good run, he thinks. Now, all he has to do is make sure you don't find out that you can fuck him back to life and try to very stupidly save him from himself.

(here's a spoiler: you do).

☆ a typical family by @literalia [AO3/tumblr] [status: completed? ◦ 32/32 chapters] [non liner narrative] [dad!gojo] #pep absolutely MELTED #slice of life #pep's gojo comfort fic

"satoru. where did you get these kids?"

or

after a six month absence, satoru shows up at your door two little kids following behind. chaos ensues.

☆ and if i cant see by hollowdonut [AO3: ] [status: unknown ◦ 26/? chapters] [slowburn] [eventual smut!] [tw: ptsd] #pep loves the reader's dynamics with gojo!

They say eyes are the window to the soul, but Gojo’s eyes are almost always hidden behind a blindfold. Even when they aren’t, you can never tell what he’s thinking.

You wonder if you should’ve taken that teaching job in Kyoto instead.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ

bonus!

☆ all hail the empress! by @chuluoyi [tumblr/AO3: ] [status: unknown ◦ 1/? chapters] [smut!] #pep loves this AU #but THE END THO? OMGGG you are an empress perfect in every way... until your husband suddenly casts you aside for his expecting mistress. but you won't be dethroned just like that, because the newly coronated western emperor, gojo satoru, sets his sights on you, and thus your revenge against your ex-husband begins...

[corseque]

I honestly just wanted one single plot step that I could not predict given the 10 year wait. More behind the cut, I talk about Emet too, and I'm comparing his writing favorably to Solas' writing and why it worked better for me personally, but I am just talking about the writing skill that went into the games and not the dudes themselves, I love them both dearly of course. idk this is a mess and I am not going to edit it for clarity

For me, the game was a series of me saying

"ok I knew that. cool."

"oh yeah, I knew that. I guess it's good that the larger fandom knows about that now."

"nice, but yeah I already knew that too"

"that was something we've been talking about a lot for years"

"this thing they are acting like is a huge enormous reveal that the characters could not possibly have deduced through simply thinking about it in depth over the 10 years... the fans easily figured out by thinking about it in depth 10 years ago. So you would think his girlfriend would be able to figure it out more easily than we did. Like, why couldn't the game have been like 'oh lavellan already figured that out a while ago' it would have cost them nothing"

"this is something I've been thinking about for years, and now that it's being revealed, the companions' reactions to it are very irritating and jarring and unnecessary and I really dislike the experience I'm having right now, in this, the hour of my greatest triumph"

"this thing that is happening on my screen right now is something that I wrote an essay about 2 years ago describing how it would be a letdown if it happened without the correct setup"

"this way that they're characterizing Solas makes him less likable and less interesting than I have been finding him for all these years, and I have had people tell me 'no, he's simpler than you think' for years but I guess I was wrong, he really is simpler than I thought, so that fucking sucks. I wish I could take that information out of my brain."

"this thing is a retcon of information I have been thinking about for 10 years, and so I don't know how to follow along with this new direction, and I'm not sure if I even want to because it's not particularly interesting anyway"

"aw that was sweet"

"why is it like, so very impossible to have an honest back-and-forth with my favorite character about the dilemma that was most interesting to me about the previous game"

and then, as soon as, like, the other fans had caught up to the Solas lore that was really obvious from the other games, the game was.... over without anything surprising happening, or introducing a new element or plot point or perspective, or a real true twist (or two, or three) for those of us who have thought about it too hard for too long. It was very simple and easy, much, much, much, much easier than I was imagining. It all felt sort of like that Nicholson quote:

The thing was, the whole story was so interesting to think about because in 10 years, I couldn't figure out a good solution to it!!!!! It's why I was never able to write post-game fanfic about it. So I was stoked to find out some reveal we never knew about, some new information, in maybe a SERIES of steps of new information, that made the situation more complicated but also something that could be navigated by everyone involved. I know it was asking for a lot, but they had TEN YEARS, and they seemingly had set up the things they did in DAI on purpose, so surely they had some idea of a complex and satisfying narrative that would reconcile everyone.

The reason why I was expecting this is because FFXIV did a very similar story arc, which was started AND concluded WITHIN those 10 years (so it took the FFXIV team far less time to deliver as well). And the conclusion to the story in FFXIV did what I was expecting Dragon Age to do. So I thought, "holy shit, if this is the FFXIV version of this plot, how much more complicated is DA4 going to be!?!?" The DA devs also PLAYED FFXIV so they were completely aware, several years ago, of a satisfying story ending that was pretty darn similar.

People are probably going to think "oh, well Chelsea was disappointed because she spent too much time building it up in her head" but that's exactly it - I actually speculated and thought about FFXIV's story IN DEPTH NONSTOP for a year+ before its ending came out, and the ending absolutely blew me away. FFXIV Endwalker managed to introduce information and new story elements that I was not able to figure out in the YEAR I spent speculating on the ending of FFXIV's story. It took a complicated situation and revealed several several more facets to it that I was not able to predict, but were very interesting and thematically compelling, and took us all to surprising and climactic places that we could not have predicted.

Endwalker ("end" is in the title on purpose) too, was written to be THE ULTIMATE SATISFYING ENDING for a very long-running story in the exactly way that Veilguard SHOULD HAVE for Dragon Age, so while this complexity is being explored, FFXIV also gave catharsis to many different plot threads that have been built up through the previous expansions, until finally it ends with a bang. The story is desperately good to me, I loved it, it gave me closure for Dragon Age long before Veilguard was even revealed, and going back and looking at its story has made this whole thing far less painful for me.

So, I actually did not have a picture in my mind for how things SHOULD go. I just had the thought "I hope it's complicated and there are points of view or facts that we haven't before been exposed to, and the situation is resolved respectfully for Solas, not making him look like a fucking idiot (lol, the only thing I asked for). I don't even care what happens to Solas and Lavellan, I just need the story to be complicated and interesting to think about. Please, god, don't let it be "solas is wrong and he just needs to be convinced" because that's like the simplest story you could tell with this setup"

(btw they managed to tell Emet-Selch's story without making him seem like he's being an idiot on purpose or can never get anything right, and in fact the more the story goes on, the more you think of him as smart and capable and cool, so it is possible to write.... I wasn't asking for the entire moon)

And I played it and... yeah. Most of the story beats were more simple than I wanted them to be, a lot of them didn't make sense in my heart given the writing from Inquisition. (This is another essay, but if Solas' thematic story arc was always about him needing to let go of regrets, why was his personal quest the way it was? After that quest, doesn't he end up regretting not doing more....? Why did he never really talk about regret during Inquisition? If he was so trapped by regret, why was he able to do so many actions? It doesn't mesh well to me. The whole regret thing was very quarter-baked to me, I don't even like thinking about it.) His story never seemed like one that was as simple as being about one man's regrets, but then, I guess, it was always just about one man's regrets.

Emet-Selch's personal storyline (and the way it interacts with and affects the larger story) is very similar but much more cohesive and satisfying to me. It would be difficult to explain why without the aforementioned 5-hour essay. Emet-Selch's story IS about grief and anguish on a world-shaping scale in a similar way that Solas' was apparently always about letting go of regret, but Emet's story was also very pointedly and beautifully about that one theme for the entirety of his story from every tiny detail, from beginning to end - meanwhile, it seemed to me that they tried to introduce 'regret' as the main thrust of Solas' story only in the short story with the Regret demon onward.

From Inquisition just by itself, the closest I personally could get to a story theme for Solas was his inability to trust others hurting him and the world, but his trusting others in DA4 wasn't really addressed to my satisfaction. He is never required to trust anyone before the ending, he never opens up or makes himself vulnerable at all. People find out information about him, he never really dynamically opens himself. So the personal story I thought he had was never addressed at all, while a new one about regret was introduced that never made a ton of sense to me. And I don't think this is just because of my expectations - my reaction to FFXIV proves that I am able to meet good writing where it goes in surprising directions, as long as it's interesting and thoughtful and clear.

And I think this might be part of what people felt was off about the ending - Solas is sort of uninvolved in the revelations that are about him, and doesn't do much to be part of his own ending. Part of what I loved about Solas in Inquisition is that he is not controlled by you in any way, and so he feels like his own person with a very strong sense of character.

Anyway, Emet-Selch, in a very comparable and arguably more extreme plot position, is very involved in the revelations about himself, he always feels like a very strong character who cannot be affected by the player, and the whole situation is handled with deft emotion and care and delicacy. The story is comparatively very uninterested in litigating Emet-Selch or putting him on trial - the story allows you to simply feel the way that you feel in an organic way, and Emet's story spends that energy instead actually exploring his thematic material about grief and legacy, and the larger story theme of existentialism instead, in a way that is very refreshing and interesting. I've seen a lot of western stories tie themselves in knots over "redemption" and frankly it's almost never been interesting at all. Who cares about any of that. lol

(Now, I guess this is a matter of preference, because some people really like being able to shape a character's story, but idk I rewatched the ending of FFXIV and even though there wasn't a choice with Emet, because it isn't a branching story, his story felt more satisfying to me, maybe because there isn't a patronizing choice to be made for him. He is who he is, and he fulfills a very beautiful narrative role and purpose that no other character could in the story.)

I don't know how this could have been improved to me and still allowed players to choose Solas' ending for him, but I can actually think of a few different methods, none of which involve Rook condescendingly and patronizingly lecturing Solas as if Solas had never thought about a single aspect of this horrible situation he's in before that very moment that Rook lectures him lmfao.

All this to say... idk I'm writing this and I am not going back to edit it so it's stream-of-consciousness. But yeah

I just wanted the story to be complicated on a few more levels than I could have predicted. I genuinely don't care what happened, but I thought of a few twists like the Veil coming down and yeah, I was expecting A Single Twist or reveal to happen. In a Dragon Age game.

I wanted Solas to seem cool and capable and noble and smart, and actually feel like he was as old and experienced as he is.

I wanted a clear theme I could sink my teeth into

Like notice I didn't even say anything about Solavellan. Like I never in 100 years thought they were getting a happy ending where they were both alive in bodies, and I like that we got that, but I would honestly trade it for a more complicated story. To me, if a story is sad you can always write fanfic, but if a story isn't COMPLICATED, that's a much more urgent issue.

These 3 things DA4 didn't give me in a way that satisfied me but FFXIV did. anyway idk the way my hyperfixations work, I completely switch to a new subject so talking about Dragon Age is actually hard for me right now.

[randomthefox]

Here we go.

Firstly: observe the oil painting. Observe that the Sparda family would have needed to sit and pose for this fucking painting for what had to be hours. The boys absolutely lived with and knew and interacted with their father and were aware of his existence and nature, just saying (fuck the netflix show).

This painting is also actually based on a piece of unused concept art from all the way back in DMC1.

I think it's really cool how they took something that wasn't even used in the final game and repurposed it to function as a piece of Sparda family history.

The leitmotif of the games credits song "Legacy" starts playing as Dante is walking up to the house. That song is about Sparda and his lineage, so it is obviously very appropriate that we first hear it when Dante returns to his long lost childhood home. A home he has apparently never visited since that fateful day, considering he wasn't even aware it was still left standing. It's likely that Dante wanted to distance himself from it as much as he possibly could, even after discarding his Tony Redgrave identity. Dante does not want to revisit the past, it's too painful for him. When he first steps foot in the house, notice how the camera angle changes to looking at him from inside the closet. The same closet he hid inside when he was a child.

Dante muses that he always wondered why Sparda left him the Rebellion. I talked about this in this post but in terms of the metanarrative, Rebellion was a sword they essentially made up for DMC2 to replace Force Edge/Alastor probably without giving it much thought, whereas the Yamato was established in the very first game as Sparda's sword. The metatext of Vergil getting Sparda's sword as created and designated by Hideki Kamiya's foundational game, and Dante being retroactively bestowed a sword that the developers made up to fill space in the botched creation of the second game, is worthy of analysis in and of itself. Vergil is of course the older brother, so he gets the "more important" sword. Dante's inherited sword is basically an accident. I find it very prescient that the Rebellion is destroyed in this game, and entirely replaced by a devil sword of Dante's own name and creation.

The Yamato's power was always in destruction. In cleaving things in two, whether it be worlds or men. The true potential of the power in Rebellion comes not from destruction, but in creation. In combining disparate elements that were never meant to mix together, and resulting in something infinitely more powerful than they ever could have been alone. Narrative, what is that saying about what Sparda wanted for his children to inherit from him? Why DID Sparda leave Vergil the Yamato and Dante the Rebellion? We can never really know. But in terms of the metatext of the Rebellion's history as the result of the franchises game development, I find it very uplifting that Dante is taking the destroyed remnants of something that originated from "the worst game in the series" and making something new out of it. Very much like how Itsuno took the shattered leftovers of what they cobbled together in the creation of DMC2, and produced DMC3 in its aftermath.

Dante is also of course finally confronting his past, from his childhood loss and from the painful encounters with Vergil from DMC3, and through that painful acknowledgement is able to finally move forward. Instead of simply using the handmedowns from his father, Dante carries on Sparda's legacy by forging and claiming his own identity. In the birth of a new Devil Sword. Just as Sparda used a sword that shared his name, so too now does Dante wield the Devil Sword Dante. A physical manifestation of his will and power, which also allows him to transcend to a level beyond what his demonic heritage imbues him with. I don't think it's up for debate anymore that Dante has truly surpassed his father, and is now more powerful than Sparda ever was. Replicating Sparda's own feat of creating a Devil Sword that shares his name proves that.

Some people actually called this, btw. They guessed that Dante would get a sword called Dante, just like how Sparda's sword was called Sparda. It was such an incredible moment when this happened while playing the game for the first time and seeing the weapon pop up like that saying that the Sword literally was named Dante.

The ensuing fight against Urizen is basically a gimme, and a soft tutorial for the Sin Devil Trigger. The Sin Devil Trigger was actually in DMC2, as a random occurrence whenever activating Devil Trigger. Just like the Rebellion itself, the developers took the concept from that game and imbued it with infinitely more narrative importance than it originally had.

I want to think that there might be some significance to the fact that the Qliphoth achieved its final achievement producing the fruit at 12PM June 15th? Considering Dante's home was attacked on the 16th, as mentioned in a newspaper clipping in the games library. Hard to say. the game certainly seems to give a lot of importance to the dates and timeline of the story, but I can't quite put my finger on it specifically.

[baked-potatoes-rule]

The Spud is jumping the gun again. "Shauna will sheath her knife in Melissa's body."

At this point, I couldn't even get upset with Shauna, even if I tried. With her slowly going off the rails, showing no compassion for Ben, being detached from everyone and everything, being volatile toward her team mates, I sure said "Someone needs to sit her down."

But no. I feel even more sorry for her than I did before. It just seems like she can never win. Even when she thinks she's winning, she is losing.

I was happy to see someone reach out and check in with her 1 on 1.

How come no one stands in her corner? What happened? Are they passively giving up on her? It does seem a bit like they are.

What happened with Taissa? She as always there to support her and reason with her. When she wanted to abort the baby, Taissa advised her not to. When she made the decision, Taissa was there again. When she had to give birth?Again. Now? Taissa's attention is completely on Van. I am happy to see more of them! But Taissa was the closest one to Shauna after Jackie.

Van?Well...Van is by Taissa's side so there's that.

Lottie?Lottie was glued to Shauna when she was pregnant. What happened? Why is she so distant now? Busy being a shaman for Travis and Akilah.

Misty is sitting on the sidelines because she is scared.

So my last hope kinda lies in Natalie's hands. She needs to step it up and take proper charge. I think she will, taking into consideration the little fragments we got from the trailer. But right now...she's busy struggling.

So where does that leave Shauna?

In Melissa's hands. A character who spent season one in the shadows, season two on the sidelines with Gen, and now is center place. Why? To serve as Shauna's next breaking point.

She says and does all the right things. Starts off timidly, testing the ground. Shauna is scary but not so scary. No. Not really. Not when one knows what they are doing. This could have two outcomes, of course, depending on the intent. Not that it matters what Melissa's intentions are at this point because she is going to die either way.

And now...my biggest question.

Will Melissa die off of Shauna's hands? Will we get a flashback of an Adam Martin like death?

Can Shauna even exist by herself? She always needs someone to take her by the hand. She hated Jackie for dogging her around, but she was the one handing her the leash.

Melissa is there to tell her all the right things and how she should accept her dark side. Which in a way, is a good thing to do. Growth can only happen once one accepts oneself. She crosses the line of acceptance, however, and goes straight for enabling. Which brings us to

What are Melissa's intetions?

If she genuinely cares for Shauna, I can pin it on her naivety and her wanting to impress, so she notices her and gives her a chance. Sadly, that'll end up with Melissa becoming a lapdog, a Shauna to Shauna's Jackie. Is Melissa fucked?If we consider losing her personality just so she can be with Shauna lol..."Do you like,actually have a personality?" Nah, not anymore,she doesn't.

If her intention isn't genuine and it comes from a place of self-preservation, and she is in a way digging her way through Shauna's walls, she is definately fucked. What happened to Adam Martin the moment Shauna thought that he didn't love her and he is, in fact, a threat in disguise? She stabbed him! "I thought he loved me" she told Taissa who was in shock, because what the fuck Shauna? Why did you murder an innocent man? But he wasn't innocent. He kinda broke Shauna's heart.

So, it just sucks for Shauna however way we look at it.

I'm not complaining about or hating on the narrative. I love it because it's necessary for her character's arc. It's just really sad how, after everything, she might get played again, and she will end up blaming herself for it. For being naive. For letting someone in.

I was rooting for her happiness and contentment for a moment, but I remembered she has a sad meow meow rep she has to keep. :3

[slaaverin]

Isn’t it interesting how it’s always JK’s love for Jimin that is doubted but never the other way around. It’s always how he’s not showing up, not being supportive or loud enough in his support, etc. it’s always him that gets the doubtful eyes. Whilst there seems to be a consensus that Jimin is just hopelessly in love with JK, and he’s the perfect partner.

People always tend to project so many things on Jungkook - always wishing he was someone is is not. They don't take things at face value and try to mold him into all sorts of stereotypes.

It saddens me, really.

Because when you look at the facts for many years now, who has been more vocal in jikook's relationship? It's JK.

He wears his heart on his sleeve, he's the one who lives more freely, and has no problem showing just how much he loves Jimin.

He's the one who made several lives where he reacted to his content. I mean??? It's huge.

Jimin was very loud when it comes to his love for JK, but it was mostly in the beginning. Now people assume his feelings haven't changed (which is correct from what we've seen). He still shows his continuous love for him in his own way. I love to say that he does not do it as often as JK but when he does it's HUGE. It's go big or go home for Jimin.

Over the years he became way more private though and took on the responsability to keep them both safe. He's minimizing the damage so to speak whereas Jungkook gives less fuck.

Jungkook show of affection is continuous, but maybe more subtle than Jimin who often makes big gestures.

Maybe that's why Jimin doesn't come into question. But JK's devotion is just as potent, in a more constant way.

So idk where this narrative is coming from honestly. Of course they have different ways to show love. One is not better than the other.

JK has done literally everything he could to say Jimin is the one for him. Idk what more people want from him. What would finally make them satisfied.

He literally pointed at his heart and at Jimin several times. IS THE MESSAGE NOT CLEAR ENOUGH? For fuck's sake.

He didn't have to do that. He doesn't have to show how much he cares. But he does. He does it in a repetitive way for years because clearly this message is important for him, and he wants us to know.

He begged Jimin to come on live with him. I front of millions. He flirts with him constantly. He focuses on him while filming. He was miserable when Jimin wasn't there. During AYS he was so fucking happy he couldn't stop saying it, even saying these were the best trips of his life. He ENLISTED WITH HIM. He was worried about a tiny dream Jimin where JK wasn't there. He hypes him up "You're prettier than clouds", "Jimin is BTS's cutie", "I would date him", "Jimin is the happiest when he's with me" , "Sexy cutie lovely". "I will keep holding on to Jiminie". He entered a kookmin fancafe. Everytime a question about Jimin comes up on live he answers it. He hyped Jimin's music releases like no other members have. He went to see him at practice. He answers on his weverse posts (which he doesn't do for most members). When Jimin was sick JK MADE A PRAYER FOR HIM. When Jimin is there, the whole world disappears for JK and he has eyes only for him. He sang on Letter with Jimin. Then watched his performance. ALL OF THIS IN FRONT OF MILLIONS. And yeah, once again, the biggest of all, he enlisted with him, committing to a 18 months shared destiny in military. The list goes on and on and ON for real it's endless.

How the hell could anyone say he doesn't do enough????

There's nothing to question here from any of them.

So really anyone questioning JK intentions can go shove their warped views

JK has been more than clear

If people can't see it that's on them

[girldriveroscar]

Re: size of landoscar. Love your write up haha. Truly any narrative can be validated bc every pic looks different ‼️I do have two pics that are crucial landoscar comparisons imo:

https://www.tumblr.com/answerringg/770682515577077760/their-size-difference-oh-lando-is-getting

This pic is a screen grab from a vid but just in general he looks huge this whole video 😭 like you mentioned I think his bad posture eventuates that + optical illusion but wow. What a satisfying visual re: him vs Lando. Like FINE I’ll buy into the whole ‘Lando’s so small🥺’ that both Lando and Oscar like to perpetuate🤷‍♀️

there’s also a vid of Oscar+ a fan and the comments/fan all mention how surprisingly tall Oscar is. Like Lando said in that first Mclaren vid… Oscar doesn’t seem tall.. but he is. (tall being like 5’10/11 lol)

https://www.tumblr.com/mara-xx/770330916757372928/needed-a-last-minute-birthday-cake-so-i-called-up

^ And this one is just self explanatory 💗

Anyway sorry for the length but my last random thoughts — even as someone who’s never paid attention to lando til like 5 seconds ago, I can tell he’s gone through a massive glow up. And to make this rpf bc why not, how lucky for oscar —the guy who’s been a fan of forever— to experience Lando in his prime (thus far). Oscar said #invest #manifest 

THIS and THIS for ease…

THESE SUITS WERE SO. fuck that ugly ass diagonal suit broOAUGH. this era..peak landoscar size diff cus like oscar Jus grew n lando had Not.

but ok like they r Literally always changing sizes. frm the front to the back to the outfit to the angle

i could find a Billion examples atp !!

why doesnt the big twink eat the little twink seeing this Reformed my brain n the way i see them bc. from the front they r so

0 and o

like oscars small horizontally (again FROM THE FRONT!) while landos smaller vertically. but theyre both Small Basically. (#f1drivers)

but at the same time. theres a lot of muscle mass packed into their frames. and as they shift arnd / have better or worse posture / flex and unflex. theyre either Twigs or Big.

its shrödingers landoscar… theyre big and small… i think the only real conclusion for this wld amount frm seeing them in the flesh. which i dont intend to do or ever report on. LOL. probably.

i fully believe oscars taller than he looks tho. ESP after this year. end of 2023 vs start of 2024 and end of 2024 for reference. i think its a slight growth spurt maybe i am… being kind to oscar though…

anyways thank u for the oscass pic. that photo genuinely makes me Claw and rattle the bars of my enclosure like he is so Perfectly bouncy in that. n lando is my pancake in a way…

and bc youre landoscaring im landoscaring. Under the cut tho.

the fact oscars not even.. big… n they stil BOTH push this narrative of lando is sooo itty bitty…

the way sue Cs it oscar is so giddy about being in on the “lando is the small and fiercely dominant” joke after following said smallest boys career When He was Actually the Smallest… like he is living out his 15 yr old dream please excuse his excitement he Literally is just in on the joke now. of course hes milking it. ijsk he wanted to b george russell soooo bad. hes Crazy. let him have this bit.

lando i think leans into his smallness as a shield bc its all hes ever known and been told. but thats a whole deeper convo. still cannot bring myself to edit that lando analysis Very apologetic the thoughts might hv to die in my drafts <\3

the #invest made me LOLLLL. hes so true. following a guy frm his feeder series bc u Saw the potential in him. Watching him get to F1. Moving frm adolescence leaving everything familiar to u behind to kart with the same team. Stumbling behind in his footsteps. Getting to F1 right by his side. And then u won a championship w him. brought glory back to ur team through the power of Literally Just getting along.. and u have these weird charged events of tension that Somehow get ironed out Somehow.. And ur so completely the opposite of everything he knows and yet the longest teammate he has Ever Had..oOh My Goooood

we rlly dont… give enough time and energy to JUST HOW crazy of a coincidence that is. js think ab how exciting it is for Us when the F2/F3 driver ur following makes it into F1 !! like if Luke Browning or Fred Vesti ever got a seat im Doing Actual Backflips. IT RLY IS LIKE. #invest #manifest now add on everything else??? LIKE WHAT!!!!! god they make me crazy. and somehow lando got super stupid hot and hes a race winner and can actually groan out loud when he fucks instead of whimpering pathetically. that’s crazy man. 🚬🚬🚬🚬

[hunterintheice]

Shin lost his dream and his bestfriend on the same day. Losing his bestfriend is what hurt more. Losing his bestfriend is what he's still so angry about. Not Saint hurting him, not Saint costing him his dream, but Saint disappearing. Saint leaving him behind. Saint breaking him and tossing him aside.

I am convinsed that had Saint entered Shin's hospital room that day and apologized then and there, Shin would've already forgiven him a long time ago.

But that is also why Saint had to leave, at least from the narrative point (of course, in-universe most of it was probably due to Saint's shame about his own actions, his hesitation to face the consequences then and there, the dissappointment in himself, the fear of what Shin would say). As someone else already pointed out, if they reconciled at that point Saint would never really know the heavy weight of what he'd done. He'd still be remorsful, sure (we can see that the moment he realizes he broke Shin's leg he's instantly horrified and snaps out of the stupid plot he's built), but how could there not be a tiny part of him satisfied with the outcome? Shin didn't get to leave him, Shin forgave him, it all worked out.

So Saint had to leave, and Shin had to learn to hold onto his anger. But, this is also why Shin will still forgive Saint. Because Shin wants to, because the anger he's held onto for three years has started to hurt him more than it protects him. Because he still named his gang after Saint and used it to protect his classmates. Because he still trusts Saint to save his sister and to come save him.

And I don't see why so many people in the tag seem to think Saint is unforgivable. He made one bigass mistake at 16, high on toxic masculinity and general teenage stupidity, which is one of the worst possible combinations ever. Does it excuse his actions? No. Does it mean he is forever and ever a horrible person? Also no. He cannot change the past, but he has changed himself in the present. He himself admits that what went down 3 years ago happened because he was stupid and scared. Is he still behaving selfishly in persistently trying to reconsile with Shin? Yes. But unlike 3 years ago, when he'd rather hurt the person he loved most then let him walk away, in the present he's willing to let Shin go to make sure Shin has a future, even if that future doesn't include him. That's growth baby.

Also, he did want to hurt Shin, which is still an incredibly shitty thing to do, but he never intended to break Shin's leg and take his dream away. That was an accident that added an unfortunate magnitude to the consequences of Saint's actions born from the beforementioned teenage stupidity. And what a fucking way to have to grow up in a moment and learn about how some damage can never be undone.

[corvidexoskeleton]

Actually fuck it. The lich path isn't bad for Emmrich, and in this essay I will explain to you why that is, as well as some of the strange shortcomings about the way the lich path was handled that I don't think make any narrative sense. This is gonna be long, so please bear with me

1. Manfred and Johanna

So before I get into any of the "why the lich path isn’t bad" stuff, I'm gonna start out with what I believe is a genuine flaw in the narrative of Emmrich's personal character arc: the way it handles Manfred and Johanna.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't think there's any problems at all with Manfred or Johanna as characters existing in the story. I find them both absolutely delightful and loved all of their interactions in the game. However, Manfred's death - and in turn Johanna's undeath - don't quite fit the narrative they've set up for Emmrich, nor does Manfred's death fit into the established narrative of dragon age broadly. The problem is that the source of conflict for whether or not Emmrich can accept the inevitable loss that comes with immortality, is Manfred's death, when it should be Johanna's.

Now before I explain why it should be Johanna, I need to explain why Manfred's doesn't make any sense. I don't judge anyone who might not know because they either never played inquisition, missed the quest, or just simply forgot about this, but one of the things you learn from Solas in inquisition is how death works for spirits.

Normally when you fight and kill spirits and demons in the games, the spirit is just banished back to the fade, but it is also possible for a spirit to be properly killed instead of simply banished. Solas explains that if a spirit properly dies, then the energy and magic that made up its being is reabsorbed back into the fade. That energy can potentially go on to form something new - eventually - but it won't be the same spirit. It may even be similar to the being that that energy and magic was made of before, but it’s not the same being. It will be something new entirely.

And this is why Manfred supposedly dying and coming back makes no goddamn sense. Manfred is a spirit of curiosity, he's an incorporeal being made of magical energy and emotion. If Manfred were to truly die during the fight with Johanna, then his energy would have been absorbed back into the fade, and that would be it. There wouldn't be an option to bring Manfred's wisp back, because it wouldn't exist anymore. You could maybe wait an indeterminate length of time until the energy that used to make him up formed something new - provided you could actually do that - but it wouldn't be Manfred. It would be something else entirely, someone else.

But of course, Manfred can come back. Clearly he wasn't killed, just banished back to the fade. In which case it makes no goddamn sense for the lich lords, and also Emmrich, to act as if Manfred made some grand sacrifice and died because of it. He's still alive! His wisp is still out there, in the fade! Stop telling everyone I'm he's dead!

So, if Manfred isn't actually dead, and you couldn't bring him back anyways even if he was, who does that leave? Well, as I said above: Johanna.

Johanna is, by all accounts, Emmrich's oldest and closest friend. Even though Manfred is near and dear to Emmrich's heart, Johanna objectively has a much deeper connection to Emmrich than Manfred does, rooted in decades of personal history between the two of them that dates back to when they were both kids, or at least students. And while their relationship is currently going through an admittedly rocky patch, it's clear that they both still care deeply about each other.

But, at the same time, Johanna is a disgraced former member of the mourn watch who was exiled for her gross mistreatment of spirits and the dead. The way that Emmrich talks about it makes it seem like he agrees that her exile from the order was correct and just, that he does disapprove of whatever it was she did, but the way he discusses her seems to imply that they still maintained some degree of contact afterwards. In fact, the two of them stayed friends through all of it, and it was only after her exile occurred that the two of them had a falling out and lost contact with each other, rather than her exile being the cause of their falling out. The way that Emmrich talks about Johanna in the gardens betrays the great deal of care and loyalty that he held for her even after she was disgraced and banished, and that he still holds for her after everything.

When Emmrich is explaining how Johanna attempted to become a lich, he explicitly states that she figured it out because of him. Because he told her about a highly kept secret among the mourn watch - and from the sound of it, some of his own study into becoming a lich himself - Johanna put the information from Emmrich together with her own research, and figured out how to become a lich on her own. Regardless of whether or not Johanna was a still a member of the mourn watch at the time, Emmrich still revealed highly classified secrets about the order that she shouldn't have had access to, and this little oopsy resulted in her stealing an entire section of the necropolis, attempting to murder and steal the life force of a great number of mourn watchers and mortalitasi, and attempting to construct a massive golem for her soul to inhabit and use to wreak destruction.

Emmrich is undeniably loyal to Johanna, no matter what she does or how much they drift apart. Hell, he even admits that if she had sought him out, he would have helped her become a lich. He would have helped her conduct this extremely well-hidden and secretive rite that is probably hidden and secret for a very good reason. And one can only assume that attempting to become a lich is explicitly forbidden within the mourn watch, considering Emmrich has to undergo several years of tests and ritual in order to even have the opportunity to attempt it. The lichual isn't just some expert-level conjuration shit; this is significant, serious shit that the mourn watch doesn't seem interested in fucking around with if the application process is so rigorous and difficult to pass, so there should realistically be some degree of repercussions for Emmrich letting something like that slip to someone just because they happen to be his friend.

So, you might ask, what should happen, then? Well, what would make much more sense for Emmrich's character arc, while also keeping in line with both the previously established series lore and the lore introduced in veilguard, is if Johanna was so severely injured by what happened when the souls and spirits in the lantern were released, that it essentially completely killed her physical body, as well as damaging her soul in a way that people really shouldn't be able to survive. But, because she attempted to become a lich and failed, Johanna's soul is still bound to her (extremely dead) body and is unable to either heal or move on.

Emmrich's choice should be between healing Johanna's body and soul from the damage she caused by undergoing a failed lichual, thus allowing her to be alive once again and live the rest of her natural life, or for him to help her damaged soul move on from her already deceased body and into... wherever souls go when they die in Thedas.

By choosing to help Johanna's body and soul heal and be revived, Emmrich would be accepting the role he played in the situation, and also choosing to bear the (probably massive) mark on what would otherwise be a very impressive track record and history. He would also be forfeiting his chance to attempt the lichual, for one because he went against the mourn watch's rules by telling Johanna such a dangerous secret, and for two because choosing to bring Johanna back from undeath is exactly the type of thing that the lich lords would be forbidden from doing as a way to prevent them from abusing their power.

But, by choosing to help Johanna's soul move on, Emmrich would be accepting the role he played in what happened, and choosing to try and make amends with the order that raised him and that he's dedicated his life to. He does genuinely believe in the ideals and tenants of the mourn watch; from his view, he's not just a member of an insular group of mages the way that the circles are, but he's someone who is responsible for the care and processing of his nation's dead, for making sure they're respected and given dignity in death in accordance with Nevarra's cultural practices, so of course he would put a lot of value on making amends with the mourn watch and righting any wrongs that he might've accidentally caused. Not only that, but he would be proving in the eyes of the lich lords that, even if he may make mistakes or break some rules, he's still capable of recognizing his mistakes and attempting to fix them, and most importantly: of recognizing when it's time for someone to move on, even if they're someone he cares deeply about.

Neither of these things should be seen as inherently good or bad, because they're not. Johanna is objectively doing more harm than good to herself ingame, and is so stubborn that even Emmrich can't talk her down from what she wants to do. Eventually, she would end up hurting herself - or her soul - in irreparable ways. Emmrich already steps in before she can do too much damage to herself and others, but I think that this should have played a much greater role in his journey to find peace of mind than it did ingame.

Now then, with that all being addressed and out of the way, we can get to why we're all here: why the lich path isn't bad.

2. Fear and Death

There's an incredible misconception about Emmrich's fear of death and where it stems from, and a misconception about how he might deal with the deaths of people he loves and cares about. I don't blame anyone for believing that he simply is just afraid of dying, because I also thought the same thing until I sat down and thought about it for a bit. It's also just easier for a lot of people to look at him and go with the first thought everybody has, that it's ironic for a necromancer to be so terrified of dying himself, even if that might not necessarily be the case.

To start, I think the idea that he might be new to dealing with the death of someone close to him is, frankly, pretty stupid. Even if it's not something people outright say, it's clear that that's what's being implied when people react to how he expresses his fear of rook dying before tearstone island. However, I want to point out that he deals with death every day: the death of strangers, the death of colleagues and associates, and the death of friends. And his recruitment mission involves you helping him kill people - venatori, to be specific, but they're still people.

If you go with the datamined info, he's in his 50's. If you go with what Sylvia thinks he should be, he's in his 60's. With how many people he's had to have met and/or befriended over the years, he undoubtedly has already experienced the loss of those he cares about besides just his parents. And during none of this, does his fear arise, because it's not death that he's afraid of. I don't think he could possibly do what he does - to the extent that he does - if it was just death that scared him.

Ultimately, his fear of dying is not borne out of death itself: his fear is driven by control. What Emmrich is really afraid of is not having control of things in his life. He controls everything else about himself to a fastidious degree; his speech, his vocabulary, his mannerisms, how he looks, all to try and keep his life under his own control, to control the way that people perceive him, to control the way he reacts to things in order to prevent himself from acting out as a result of his anxieties. It's not enough that he appears confident and assured of himself, he needs to give the illusion - to himself and to others - that he is in control. It's a compulsive behavior that he's developed in order to soothe his own fears that he can't control things, borne out of the death of his parents. He couldn't control the circumstances that led to their deaths, and he couldn't control whether or not they survived. It's also implied that he didn't manifest his magic until after they died, so I imagine that for him, manifesting the ability to use magic - something he could have potentially used to save them, if he'd been able to use it - felt like another nail in his skull when it came to things he had no control over.

Now, typically - barring extenuating circumstances like suicide - people can't control when or how they die. You can put it off, you can take care of yourself to the best of your ability, but death is the one thing you can't ever have control of, and that terrifies him. He can attempt to soothe himself by compulsively trying to control everything else about himself and his life, but he knows that death - his own death, to be specific - is the one thing he can never have total control over, because death is the one inevitability of the world that cannot be skirted or avoided, no matter what you do. And that is what drives his fear.

3. Becoming a Lich

So, I think the logical next step in thinking for a lot of people would be that attempting to become a lich is merely the result of him desperately trying to soothe his fears and give himself the illusion that he is in control of his death, but again I have to disagree.

There's this idea that he wants to undergo the lichual entirely because he wants to skirt death, but that's simply not the case. Emmrich could have undergone the lichual before the events of veilguard even take place, before Bellara begins exchanging letters with him, before rook seeks him out for his extensive knowledge of the fade. He explicitly states during the scene where he reveals it to rook that the reason he hasn't already undergone it, is because of his fear. Emmrich's fear is what is holding him back from it, not what is driving him towards it. At that point in the game, he is incapable of going through with the lichual because he still hasn't made peace with the fact that, even if he would be choosing when and how he dies, he still doesn't have control. His life would be in the hands of the lich lords and Vorgoth, not his own. And in order to be able to go through with it, he needs to accept that he cannot have control, no matter how much he uses the delusion of control in order to comfort and soothe himself.

The choice for whether or not to bring Manfred back from the fade - or the theoretical choice to save Johanna that I discussed previously - isn't about him making peace with death and others dying around him, it's about whether or not he can accept that sometimes things really are just outside of his control. It's actually a very common method for dealing with obsessive compulsions and other things in that vein, because fighting with your own compulsions in order to try and overcome them by force of will doesn't really work. What you need is acceptance. You need to accept the things in life that you cannot change or do, and in Emmrich's case, the things you can't control.

So... why does he want to become a lich, then?

Emmrich wants to pursue the lichual, not because he's so unbearably afraid of not having control of his own death that he'll do anything to feel as if he has control, but because he is a person who finds genuine joy in life and in loving people. He's a teacher for god's sake. He's unfailingly kind and polite even when he has no reason to be, but most of all he finds purpose and beauty and joy in even the smallest things in life. He loves the people he meets, he loves his friends, his family, the partners he's had over the years, he loves life itself and everything and everyone in it, be they alive, dead, or something else entirely.

And he finds genuine satisfaction with his work and the ways in which his work allows him to help people in ways he might not be able to otherwise if he were just a common mortalitasi, or as a botanist. He helps people mourn, grieve, and find closure during extremely difficult times in their life, and even uses his corpse whispering to help those who have already passed on, instead of just using it to the benefit of those who are still alive. He does this because he has the ability to do so - to help people in ways he might not have received when he was a child - not because it's just another part of his job that he has to do.

For Emmrich, becoming a lich isn't just a means to avoid his obsessive, compulsive need to control things, or to avoid dying. He wants to do it because he is, as his writer Sylvia put it, a man of big emotions. He has such a deep and genuine love for life and everything in it that he wants to continue to experience all of the joys of life, and to continue helping both the living and the dead.

Another common misconception is that Emmrich's intense emotions and deep care for people would be a detriment to him as a lich, because having to watch everybody he knows age and die while he remains would be too much, but I think it's the opposite: Emmrich's love and care for life and people in it is precisely why he is a candidate for lichdom. Dialogue from Emmrich and the lords imply that the lords have strict rules in order to prevent themselves from becoming corrupt and abusing their power, and that it's exceptionally rare for a watcher to be accepted as a candidate. I suspect that the lich lords specifically try to select for people like Emmrich, who are unfailing kind and hold a genuine love for life, who are also able to accept the inevitabilities of life and death as off limits for them, even if they have the powers to circumvent them. Someone who hardens themself to death and keeps themself from becoming too attached, or from caring about others in order to become numb to death, would make a shit candidate for a lich, because inevitably their callousness and disregard for life and death would lead to precisely what the lords are attempting to avoid: corruption and the misuse of their power. Emmrich's love of life is a feature, not a bug.

And also? If it really was just fear of dying that motivated him, then Emmrich could have just as easily gone and done the lichual on his own, or gotten Johanna to help him. It's not like this is something that only the lords know how to do, he could just Do It if that's all he really wanted lmao. Becoming a lich isn’t the end goal, it’s just a step in what he actually wants, which is to help people. 

4. Necrophilia and Romance

Well, that's all well and good, but there are also quite a few people who seem to think that the lich route is bad for Emmrich's relationship with Rook, for some reason. The various reasons I've seen thrown around have varied from legitimate doubts of whether or not it's actually Emmrich's soul in his skeleton or not, to people being understandably put off by the thought of their Rook engaging in necrophilia, to just straight up parroting some rather ableist and acephobic talking points without realizing that that's what they're doing.

I'll start with the necrophilia stuff first. And it is necrophilia, I should note. Just because he doesn't have any skin or organs, doesn't mean that Emmrich's body is any less dead. He's a soul possessing his lifeless skeleton, of course rook having a sexual relationship with him is necrophilia, regardless of whether or not it's something you the player or the character is into or not. Letting someone tie a belt around your wrists even if you're not necessarily into it is still engaging with some degree of bondage, mild as it may be, and having sex with a skeleton is still engaging in some degree of necrophilia.

But, there's nothing wrong with being uncomfortable with a character engaging in a necrophiliac relationship. You don't have to be into it in order to like the lich route, or even to like Emmrich as a character. It's Fine if your main issue is that he's a skeleton and you think having sex with a dead body is weird and gross and creepy, It's literally OK. You don't need to justify the disgust.

That being said, the ways in which I've noticed some people try to justify those feelings of disgust have been... interesting.

For one, what exactly intimacy - emotional or sexual - looks like between people in a relationship is not something you can just summarize as a list of boxes to check. The exact ways in which Rook and Emmrich engage in sexual intimacy aren't shown ingame; the most explicit examples are them kissing and a fade-to-black of Emmrich - fully clothed - climbing on top of Rook in the sarcophagus, and those scenes really don't differ much depending on if he's alive or undead. That is to say, the game leaves a lot of room open for interpretation when it comes to what the physical aspects of their relationship looks like.

I think the idea that the relationship between Emmrich and Rook would inherently be worse off because of Emmrich becoming a lich - whether because he wouldn't be able to love them the same if he's undead, or because Emmrich would no longer have skin or genitals and thus be unable to have traditional sex anymore - are just incorrect. It's one thing if you want your Rook to have these difficulties in their relationship with Emmrich, because the sudden change in how they engage with intimacy and the difficulties in it are legitimately quite interesting and worth exploring! But those things are not inherent to their relationship as it is shown, and I think acting like it's indicative that Emmrich being a lich is bad is just silly.

And that's not to say that there wouldn't be challenges in figuring out how to be intimate once he's undead - there absolutely would be - but to say that Emmrich or his romance is somehow lesser because of those challenges is just wrong. This line of logic that tries to justify that disgust or disinterest by painting it as something else doesn't come across how you might think it does.

It's just wrong to say that someone is inherently incapable of pleasing someone, or receiving some form of pleasure, because they have lost some aspect of themself, be it an ability they previously possessed, or a body part that they lost. Many people in real life have to deal with the loss of function of their bodies while also figuring out how to navigate their own romantic and sexual relationships when something about them has been lost. As a disabled person myself who has lost some of my physical mobility over the years: there's nothing bad about it. There's nothing about any form of loss of function that makes loving someone inherently less capable of loving or of being loved, only your own prejudice.

It is absolutely something that comes with difficulties, but if you are in a romantic relationship with somebody that you genuinely love, that you care about as a person because of who they are, then you love them even when they change. And everybody changes over the course of their life. If things become difficult because of something that has happened to them, then you try to find ways to work through the challenges together as a couple, try to find different ways to be intimate - emotionally or sexually - or find different ways to satisfy your individual needs, because you love them.

And, I might add, as an asexual person, this conflation of romantic love and sexual intimacy is stupid as hell. While Emmrich as a character is very much not asexual himself, he is a tried and true romantic. Sex may play a large part in typical romance and in his own relationships, but it's not the only thing there is. I do believe that, while Emmrich may see sexual intimacy as an extension of his own feelings of love for somebody, he still understands that desiring someone is not always the same as loving them, and what Emmrich wants is to be loved. He doesn't want to just be desired, he wants Rook to love him for who he is as a person. I think that he would be genuinely hurt if he discovered that Rook's love for him diminished or disappeared altogether just because he [checks notes] can't have traditional penetrative sex with his own body parts, as I’ve seen a concerning amount of people tout.

As if that's all there is to sex, anyways. As if people haven't been finding creative ways around barriers like that for thousands of years. If you really want Rook to get dicked down nasty style by Emmrich as a lich, you can just? Slap a dildo on that bad boy? And he's literally a MAGE. Man can use MAGIC and you're worried that he can't have sex without his own set of genitals? Conveniently ignoring the fact that he explicitly has a glamour that looks exactly like his living body, and that the game never addresses just how much substance this glamour has, if it's just an illusion or has any proper form to it. The world is your oyster to fuck. Or to not fuck, if you'd like.

5. Life, Death, and Grief

Ok this is the last section to this I promise. The last thing I want to address is Emmrich's state of mind and how he interacts with the world as a lich vs. as a living person. I think the idea that he can't love Rook, or anyone else for that matter, as much as a lich is very silly, as well as the idea that his love for Rook would be diminished by him potentially outliving them. Also the weird idea that Emmrich eventually finding someone else to love as a partner after Rook dies is somehow bad? Not to mention the fact that some people seem to claim that all he's doing by becoming a lich is shifting his fear of death off of himself and onto others.

But anyways. The game doesn't really go into too much detail on how exactly being a lich works in Thedas, but myself and @rockshortage have been discussing it, and our best guess is, that by becoming a lich, what is happening is: Emmrich's soul is being disconnected from his physical body without letting it pass beyond to wherever the hell souls go in Thedas after death, and then he is possessing his own dead body the way a spirit might possess a person or object. I don't think there is any doubt that it's Emmrich in there, because the souls of a physical being and a spirit from the fade, while having similarities, would still be distinctly different.

Emmrich explains that, as a lich, some of his physical senses would dull - makes sense, since he would just be a disembodied spirit - he would still be in possession of his mind, and would have access to other senses that physical, mortal beings just Don't have. I've seen some claims that he's completely losing his physical senses since he's becoming undead, but I actually think that the description of his physical senses dulling is more accurate than a complete loss. If Emmrich is becoming more akin to a spirit than a physical being, then it would make sense for him to eventually be able to project his senses out to a degree. I mean, christ, he can see and hear things for god's sake. Sight and hearing are types of physical sense that are usually tied to the possession of eyes and ears, and their ability to function properly and communicate with a functioning brain. You know, things that Emmrich objectively doesn’t have as a literal skeleton. It may take some time to learn how to do and get used to, but Emmrich should logically be able to project his other senses, like smell and touch, outwards from his body, or whatever form he happens to be taking at that moment.

As for his mind, I think this is another way in which Emmrich is becoming more similar to a spirit. With people, our emotional states depend on our brain chemistry and our environment. Spirits, on the other hand, are beings made of magical energy giving shape to emotion. As a disembodied soul, Emmrich wouldn't quite be a being of pure emotion the way a spirit is, but he also wouldn't be restricted by brain chemistry either. As a lich, I think that he would be experiencing emotions in a different way to how he did before. It's still him, and he still feels the same big emotions as before, but it's just a different way of existing. His memory is also no longer dependent on the physical synapses formed inside of his brain, which means that he can apparently recall everything in his memory with perfect clarity. These two things, when combined, would likely give him a type of clarity of mind that is probably quite literally unfathomable to someone who hasn't experienced it.

And he can apparently see shrimp colors now, too. These shrimp colors specifically being the literal life energy inside of living beings, which he describes as a "thread of diamond flame", and also I think he can perceive literal magic in a very tangible way that people just straight up Can't, given the way he describes certain things after the lichual. Think about how much life there is in any given place in the world, from grass to bugs to microorganisms in the water. Now think about how much ambient magic there must be in a world like Thedas, flowing and being manipulated by the world around it as it moves. Can you imagine how overwhelming it might be to suddenly wake up and be able to perceive all of that? How the ability to perceive these things might make someone like Emmrich feel? He's a man of big emotions who feels things very deeply, and holds an intense love for the world and the things in it. To suddenly be granted the ability to see even more layers of complexity and beauty in the world would only make Emmrich love life and the world around him even more. That's not to mention the flowers he loves so much. He expressed concern that they wouldn't be the same for him as an undead, but with his new lich sight, the flowers would be more beautiful than before, not less.

To tie it back to the stuff about his relationship with Rook, Emmrich is clearly just as devoted to Rook as a lich as he was when he was alive. He's arguably a lot more upfront and willing to be an absolute sap on main, as he constantly calls Rook "my love", starting from the very moment he steps out of the lichual chamber.

I do actually think that there is some credence to the idea that Emmrich’s fear shifts from it being centered more on himself, to being centered on those around him. That is to say, it seems perfectly logical for him to become more worried about the well-being of the people he cares for once he is a lich, because he can quite literally see their life energy in their bodies. However, becoming a lich doesn't inherently change anything about his emotional or mental state. It changes some things because he needs to adapt to how different things are for him, but it doesn't automatically mean that he doesn't need to put in the work to manage his fears or compulsions, and this is not a bad thing. I think it would actually be worse if his mind was stuck in a static state, to be honest. Him still needing to put in the work to regulate his emotions and fears is not bad, nor is him still sometimes falling victim to his compulsions of wanting to control things about his life inherently bad. It’s something he needs to manage and keep on top of, but progress and overcoming problems does not necessarily mean that the problems disappear entirely; it means that you’ve found ways of dealing with those issues and know what to do when they resurface, and are able to adapt and figure out how to deal with other problems that may arise afterwards. 

Likewise, Emmrich’s OCD and fear of not having control does not go away just because he accepts that he can’t control everything as a self-soothing technique. Is he afraid of rook and other people around him dying once he becomes a lich? Yes, he absolutely is, but to say that this is indicative of an attempt to overcome fear only to shift it to something else, isn’t entirely accurate. I think it also ignores the fact that Emmrich is very much concerned about the well-being of rook and the other party members even if he remains mortal, as seen when he attempts to push rook away right before tearstone island. He’s afraid of losing them, so his fear drives him to try and remove the source of the fear, which is rook.

Him continuing to have fears and intense negative emotion responses to things as a lich is not inherently bad. It’s just something he has to be mindful of in order to not let those fears control him or dictate his unlife

The very last thing that I wanted to address, as I mentioned above, is the nature of Emmrich’s relationship with rook as an undead. There are several things that I’ve seen people discuss that seem incredibly short-sighted and ignorant of the ways in which real relationships work, the first being that Emmrich outliving rook is bad because it would mean he would have to spend the rest of his unlife missing them. I think this is ignorant of how real relationships work in real life, because death itself is a fact of life that every single person in the world has to live through and deal with at some point or another. 

I actually had someone say I was being disingenuous for allegedly saying that Emmrich dying before rook is the same as rook dying before Emmrich, but I think that response really betrays how much they didn’t understand what I was trying to say, which is: there is no way to know how much time you will have with somebody that you love. No matter how young or old you may be, no matter how old or young - or in good health - your partner may be, there is no guarantee that you will spend the rest of your life with them. One of you might die, or you may decide to go your separate ways at some point down the line for whatever reason. There is infinite space for you to play in and explore the different ways in which Emmrich’s relationship with rook might conclude - regardless of which choice you make - and I think painting the lich route as bad because Emmrich would outlive rook and leave him sad and alone forever, is, I might say, pretty damn stupid. It also sounds like the things someone would say if they haven’t actually experienced the death of somebody they love or care about.

Grief, especially grief over losing somebody, isn’t something that goes away eventually. It stays with you for the rest of your life and can change you as a person in significant, often extreme, ways. But how grief affects you and how you live with that grief is largely dependent on how you choose to handle and deal with it when it happens. Many people are unable to cope with their grief because they simply don’t have the tools or support network to work through things like death, and many people are capable of accepting and moving on and living happy, fulfilling lives with their grief. To state that rook dying would condemn Emmrich to grieving rook forever (or however long Emmrich exists as a lich) is only half right; yes, Emmrich will carry that grief with him for the rest of his unlife, but he is also someone who understands the nature of death and mourning. 

Emmrich experienced the traumatic death of his parents at a young age and it fundamentally changed him for the rest of his life. He also had the mourn watch to help him grieve, accept their deaths, and to live with his grief afterwards. As a mourn watcher, he helps other people to mourn and find closure both for the deaths of others. As a corpse whisperer and necromancer, he helps the dead move on. You’ll have to forgive me for thinking that Emmrich might be the type of person who is capable of mourning and grieving the loss of those he loves, and also of living with that grief without it metastasizing and rotting him from within. That doesn’t mean he won’t miss rook or anyone else, it doesn’t mean that the love he feels for them is in any way diminished or less real, because that’s not how that works. 

Being able to work through the death of somebody you love in a healthy way doesn’t automatically mean that you didn’t actually love the person, nor does it mean you can’t then go on to love somebody else afterwards. People do not have a finite amount of love - romantic or non-romantic - in them that they can only give to one person ever, nor are people only capable of having one true love in their lives and that everything else was either Not The One or Will Never Be Just As Good, because that’s not how people or feelings work.

So no, I don’t think that either rook or Emmrich outliving each other is the exact same in terms of how it will affect either of them, but I do think it’s shortsighted and ignorant of the ways in which people think and feel to act as if lich Emmrich outliving rook would be so much worse for him just because he would have to live with the grief for longer. 

I would like to end on the caveat that I wrote this mainly because I feel there’s been a lot of misinterpretation of aspects of Emmrich’s character and the different options for his storyline that have led to people expressing genuine concerns, fears, and anxieties of theirs in ways that veer too far into things like ableism, acephobia, and of how things like obsessive compulsions manifest. Especially the ableism, if I can be honest, because as a disabled person, seeing people gripe on about how lich Emmrich is bad because he “can’t have sex”, or at least can’t have “normal sex” really grates on more than a few of my nerves. 

I also want to say that I didn’t write this to try and say that somebody headcanoning the relationship between Emmrich and their rook having some of the issues mentioned above are wrong for doing so. By all means, please explore the space and the different ways in which their relationship could unfold, I think it's much more interesting to explore how problems could affect a relationship in fiction. I just don’t want people to automatically write off the lich route as inherently bad and not worth it just because the difference between Emmrich's storyline choices are a bit more nuanced and different than “do you want to forgive or get revenge”. 

[theflagscene]

15 Day BL Challenge (part 4)

59. What's a hill you're willing to die on when it comes to BL?

Omg, yes, someone asked me!!!!!

I will die on this hill, fite me.

*ahem*

Cupid’s Last Wish is a good series!

I know there is a shit ton of hate for this series and I have absolutely no idea why. It is a masterclass in physical acting, seriously, it is phenomenal! The story is very basic, because the focus of the series is the character’s journey and self discovery. Korn and Win already knows they’re in love, the story begins with them already knowing that they love one another, they just haven’t acted on those feelings nor have they admitted their feelings to one another. But never once does the narrative act like we the viewers are supposed to wonder if they love one another, that’s not the point of the plot. It’s how miscommunication and grief can blind someone so much that they lose themselves within those feelings.

In the case of the series, Win literally loses himself thanks to his anger. He nearly kills his body and damns his sister’s soul, so he must go on a pilgrimage with Korn to heal his own soul whilst his body is wavering between life and death which could very well take his sister’s soul with it. Korn, his best friend of 22 years and soulmate is the only person who can see him whilst trapped in his sister Lin’s body, because Korn always sees Win for who he really is. And of course we have the conniving mother, a well meaning family friend and a mysterious monk.

This is some of Mix’s best acting, not just as Win since Mix doesn’t usually play such a toxic character. But because for most of the runtime he is playing a male character trapped inside a female’s body, trying to trick everyone expect for three people that he is in fact a woman. Jan is fantastic in the role as well, because when she’s onscreen she must act as if she is a male stuck in an woman’s body with a male’s mind, trying to convince people she’s a woman.

It’s a complete mind fuck! Mix and Jan are fantastic as Win, the way they carry themselves, walk the same, stand the same, take up the same space, speak the same way. But don’t think Earth has it easy in this series either, because he had to make sure he held, touched and spoke to Mix and Jan exactly the same way. So when they edited the scenes to overlap, seeing Jan’s body instead of Mix’s, Earth is in the exact same position with both of them.

Seriously, if you dropped this series, try it again. Watch it just for the acting, because it’s phenomenal.

Also it has what might be the best onscreen reaction to menstruation from a male’s point of view without it being misogynistic, gross or rude. They make some jokes, like Korn not knowing what kind of pads to get for Win when he starts his period, and of course how Win feels having to care for and clean his sister’s body in a respectful manner. How he experiences her emotions, her hormonal shift, the pain of cramps, the way his whole body aches and how sick he feels. Korn is also so caring, trying to help Win through something he’d never experienced before without crossing a line with Lin’s body because whilst it’s Win, his best friend and love of his life, and when he looks at Lin he sees Win in his mind, it is still Lin’s body physically there. And as much as he loved Win, wanted Win, Lin was a baby sister to him and he could not, would not, touch Lin’s body in a sexual manner.

At the end of the series when he admits to Win and Lin’s mother that ‘something happened’ between him and Lin (it was Win, but in Lin’s body) all he meant was that Win had kissed him. Yes, he had kissed Win, shared a bed with Win, but he knew how that looked to people who didn’t know it was Win in Lin’s body. So to keep Lin from being shamed he agreed to marry her, instead of trying to explain to their mother that the assumption she was making about Korn taking Lin’s virginity was wrong.

There are fantastic villain characters in the form of the scheming aunt and uncle. Not to mention the family secret, Win and Lin’s mother facing her homophobia concerning her son, Lin being in love with someone else and of course Korn being forced into a mess that he did not want to be a part of but considering he had been friends with Win for 22 years and loved him more than life, how could he say no?

It’s a beautiful story, it’s funny, well acted and has Mix working with animals!

[arceus-insanity]

Something I never particularly liked about Endeavor's atonement, is that he never gave or gave up anything he actually wanted.

Like Endeavor was always willing to risk his life and limb as a hero, so any life-threatening risks or bodily harm he receives is just part of the job he was always willing to do from the beginning.

Him building a house for his remaining family members, only he won't be there?

Endeavor never cared whether he lived with his family or not, all that mattered to him was creating the strongest hero in Shoto.

So he never showed any want to be with his family until Shoto was already on his way to being a great hero.

It was barely an afterthought to him that was never followed through on.

The ending only makes all this worse, because it looks like he replaced each member of his family that he lost with heroes, the people he really wanted to be around...

Fuyumi = Burnin, onima = Natsuo, Hawks = Touya

Shoto on the path to heroic success.

And Rei there too, I guess for some reason???

Just wheeling him around...

Do you feel similarly or different about all this?

DING DING DING We have a winner!

Endeavor never has to sacrifice anything, he never chooses his family over his precious number one spot. He only even remembered they existed after he got his Precious.

And something I noticed is he is full of shit, and believes his own shit.

Like he thinks that 'oh I'll make a house for all my family members to live in' (Which we never see happen, so once again empty bullshit as always). But he never asks them what they want, it is incredibly bold to assume they would all want to live together, or even be able to with their careers, and if the kids want to start their own families. We also know Shoto likes traditional Japanese flooring, but what about the rest of them, and does Endeavor even know that?

One thing I've never seen anyone call out is his manipulative gaslighting speech to Natsuo after being rescued from Ending. He says that he didn't save Natsuo because he didn't want to make like Natsuo feel like he has to forgive him, only to without hesitation force him into a hug. So fucking much for respecting Natsuo's autonomy.

And this ain't the first time this lazy coward has froze when his kids are in immediate danger, we see him standing safely outside the flames with his fire resistance while Touya who's weak to fire burned on the peak. With Endeavor of course claiming 'he did everything he could'.

We also find out he harrassed Fuyumi into giving him Shoto's, his fucking masterpiece, number. Which he uses to text Shoto, in the middle of not just his workday, but fucking class hours! So much is wrong with this, this doesn't make him look good or show any atonement or redemption. What it does is make me think a lot less of both this excuse of a human being and his daughter (The start of her enabler arc). He's doubling down on past behaviour, quite stupidly I might add. And why the fuck did he need to get it from Fuyumi? Presumably, he's the one paying for the phone, he should just have the number from that!

Once again this man openly admits he only offered the work-study to Deku and Bakugou to manipulate Shoto. And constantly favors him when it comes to teaching. Understanding Deku's word vomit isn't difficult, even with him stupidly over-explaining it

What we don't see (or hear of) is him doing anything for or with Fuyumi, the only kid that wants anything to do with him (despite her character profile saying she resents him)

He is constantly given credit for shit he actively isn't doing!

But he and the narrative constantly throw him a pity party the second consequences are even hinted at. Not to mention he is also constantly rewarded for his (non-existent) efforts, Shoto chooses to work with him, Rei forgives him, Hawks, Burnin, Best Jeanist, etc are around to lick his boots clean and make sure he doesn't have to face any of those hinted at consequences. Boo fucking Hoo, the League (and specifically Dabi in this) deserved to win, and by the end, I was convinced that they would have been better for society

[iminyourwallsbabe]

Alright it's been several months, it's time for me to do part 2 of the Meljay/Goldenforge analysis post a.k.a the "Why Jayce is a fucking bottom" post

It's time for..

Mel beating the disposable black gf allegations

Nah because that take actually pisses me off. First of all, it ignores so much of her character and just dumbs her down to a narrative push, and two, it's just not true??? Let's get into it

We don't get a lot of them in season 2, but the moments we do get with them mean so much. Starting with the beginning, I think there's something to be said about how in the wake of all the destruction, the first thing they pay any mind to is each other. This isn't to say they don't care about anyone else, I'm sure they do, but their priority is each other. And Viktor, of course. The second they kind of get their shit together after the explosion, that's who they look for.

Now, you could easily take this as a Meljayvik thing, and I would absolutely support you because I believe Jayce has two hands BUT this is a Meljay post, so we're gonna look at it from just that perspective.

This mixed with Mel saying "He'll come back to us" later on, further emphasizes their dedication to each other. All things considered, Viktor's life isn't really her problem. It never has been. Shit, she could have completely ignored Viktor from the jump, but because he's important to Jayce, he's important to her. Even if she doesn't personally feel that way (which for the record, I don't think is true. She absolutely cares about Viktor and didn't need to meet Jayce to do it but some people think otherwise). Being a part of Jayce's life and the "Hextech dream" means facing the challenges that come with it alongside him and Mel does that. Especially then, when he's at his lowest. His trust in her is justified.

After this point, they go on their little side quests and whatnot and I don't have too much to say about that. At least not in terms of them as a couple, as individuals there's a lot. It's cute that while he was off playing irl Dark Souls he hallucinated her though. Bro was tweaking out and still had his girl on his mind, that's lovely. ANYWAY, onto by far my favorite moment with them. Like out of everything, this stays in my mind rent free.

So once they're back together and catch up, they get into it a little bit. Jayce has survivor's guilt and he projects that onto Mel, which wasn't fair to either of them. Mel has a similar problem, she has no idea why this power she had wasn't used on someone who needed it most. She barely understands it now, even with the context she got. She could have saved Viktor and by extension the world, but *something* prevented it. Was it her? It's safe to say she might have thought so.

He later apologizes for that, and the conversation that follows is just GORGEOUS. Mel told him she feels like a passenger in her own life, that things were being dictated for her, even though she tried so hard to try and create a future for herself (Side note, this is where I got the idea that she envies Viktor's ambition. I talked about that in a Melvik post. Just thought I'd explain that). And then Jayce says the line that is constantly on loop in my head. "There is no force in the world that can control you."

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Like hello???? What a way to tell somebody you love them.

I say that because that right there encompasses the very fundamentals of their relationship. Jayce loved Mel because of her drive, her conviction, her precision, the way she stood up for not only her dreams but his as well. Nowhere in his time knowing her did he ever see her as someone who could be tamed or molded into something she didn't ask for. Remember how I said last time that Mel does almost everything on purpose? That it's all intentional? I think Jayce noticed that too. In his head, with all of that in mind, there's no way she could be a passenger.

Every time I think of this, I think back to season 1, when she asked him "Why did you come to me with this?" And he replied "Nothing feels impossible with you." It says to me that seeing her and the way she navigates life is motivational to him. He keeps going because she does. He keeps fighting back because in his mind, Mel would never let anything hold her back.

And if that isn't love, I don't know what is.

Romantic, platonic, I don't care what you call it but the fact that she is his reason to keep going is real love at it's finest. It both breaks and warms my heart to know that was the last thing he said directly to her before he died.

And it's why I'll never believe even for a second that Mel is the "disposable black girlfriend". To be honest, the only way she was disposed of was by the fandom. When y'all say she's "getting in the way", when y'all tear up her funko pop because you wanted something else, when y'all treat her like the fuckin anti-christ because you think she manipulated Jayce when that isn't even by far the worst thing anyone's done in this show. For fucks sake, Jayce killed a child and Viktor eradicated the human race! It's fine if you don't like her but keep that same energy, hold the same standards for everybody else. And for the love of god, stop calling her disposable.

Mel was never pushed aside for the sake of an endgame ship, not in canon at least. She was loved till the very end.

[superbat-lmao]

Jason’s comms aren’t working when he gets to the thick of the fight. Tim is facing off against some sort of discredited scientist with a fancy gun that shoots energy instead of bullets. Whoop-de-fucking-do.

The night of a fucking Arkham breakout.

Just his luck.

So Jason jumps into the fight until another fight basically crashes into them.

Jason is hiding behind cover and trying to find a clear shot when he hears it. The laughter.

He’d been doing better, controlling the pit, but suddenly it feels like green floodlights have been turned on and his vision is swirling. Someone is shouting but he can’t hear them over the kill kill kill.

There’s a sudden silence and Jason finally has a second to realize that’s not a good thing and when he looks back at the fight from behind cover he realizes that discredited crazy scientist is holding Tim with the ray gun pressed to his head and Bruce and Dick are trying to talk him down while the Joker is out cold at their feet. Nightwing is restraining him but clearly doesn’t want to take his eyes off the man holding a gun to Red Robin’s head.

Batman appears to be speaking to the man as quiet and calmly as possible. Which is of course when Mr. Discredited spots Jason and tenses all over, trying to back away.

Jason stands, but stays where he is.

Batman and Nightwing seem shocked to see him, given how they both went still when he entered their periphery, and he realizes that he’s only in a domino and Tim must’ve been too busy to convey much over the comms.

Without his vocoder, Jason asks in the closest approximation of his old Robin voice, “What’s the gun even do?”

The guy turns towards him and Jason hopes Batman is able to get closer if he’s serving as the distraction. It’s been a while since he’s tried to act out this narrative, and never while fighting down the odd echoes in his head telling him the Joker is right there and chanting kill kill kill kill.

“It’s a permanent solution! It will fix everything! If I could just prove -“

“Hey man, if you’re looking for someone to use a permanent solution on, we got a spare rogue right here? Why pick one of the Bats?”

“It’s not about them! I didn’t,” he seems to finally realize who Nightwing is restraining and says, “Jesus is that the fucking Joker?”

Alright, so Jason’s finding himself hoping the guy is better at science than his observational skills, or whatever skill level allows Tim to walk away and not end up all glowy and gone.

“Yeah man, seriously. What do you have against the Bats and not the rogues?”

“Well it’s not like I had access to Arkham! But now that you say it-“

Batman was surging forward but the gun was no longer aimed at Red Robin. The body that Nightwing had restrained was engulfed in a flash of light and then gone.

The gun was out of the man’s hands and Red Robin was stumbling towards Nightwing. Jason felt numb. Maybe he was smiling. He had no clue what his face looked like.

“What the fuck were you thinking? Do you know what you just did?”

“What? The Joker’s dead and gone - permanent solution. What’s wrong with that?”

“Hood, if you’d fucking heard Oracle over comms you’d know the man was experimenting with dimension travel! Now we have to go retrieve the fucking Joker!”

“Oh shit.”

***

In a different warehouse, in a different universe, Bruce Wayne stands alone in a room lit by a single bulb. There’s a man tied to a chair in front of him covered in blood. There are teeth on the ground.

A bloodied and stumbling man covered in white paint and an exaggerated smile flashes into the room. He’s looking about, trying to get a grasp on his surroundings. He sees Wayne and grins.

“Hello, Brucie. Fancy seeing you here!”

“How did you make it past my guards?”

“What? Oh, you’d have to ask the Bats. Seen any ultra-serious assholes in spandex come through here? Anyways, what’re you up to? Beating a man to death?”

“Getting one to talk. As I’m assuming I’ll have to make you do in a moment. Nightwing!”

The last part was a shouted order and a smiling Dick Grayson came into the room moving with the grace of a shark, fluid and predatory.

“We’ve got unexpected company. Maybe a witness. Could you take him?”

“Sure thing, Boss.”

“Nightwing? Are you telling me Nightwing is Dick Grayson? Where the hell am I?”

“You know his name?”

“Where I’m from Nightwing is one of the Bats.”

At the blank look the men’s faces he adds, “You know, the fucking vigilantes of Gotham. Running around pretending to be heroes. Batman? Nightwing? The other little birdies?”

Bruce Wayne goes rigid at the mention of others.

“What other birds?”

“Oh you know, Robin! There’s been at least three more of those goddamn brats since I killed the second one. And what a pleasure it will be to-“

He’s cut off by Dick Grayson grabbing him under the collar and hauling him off his feet.

“You ever had a crazy like this before, Boss?”

There was something cold and calculating on Bruce’s face.

“No. But I think I have an idea of where he came from. Could you pass me your piece?”

One of Dick’s hands reached behind him and removed the gun he had secured.

“You’re telling me that where you’re from you killed Robin?”

All he got was a wheeze as a response. There was a frantic look in the man’s eyes.

“Well, how fortunate you’re here now.”

There was a single, silenced, shot.

“Can you handle the body? I’m almost done here. Then we can go find the boys and update them. Take a blood sample before you’re done.”

“Sure thing. See you back at the manor.”

“Be safe, son.”

[saintsenara]

a duo i'd love to hear your thoughts on: bellatrix & harry (or even bellatrix/harry)

thank you very much for the ask, pal! an extremely interesting duo to think about.

and, obviously, the thing we have to immediately acknowledge is that harry thinks bellatrix is hot. he's always going on about her heaving breasts and shiny hair [and shiny hair is something he does seem to have a thing for throughout canon - hence why he spends one of his owl exams staring at parvati's], and she's definitely his "hear me out" candidate...

[i think if he's forced by ron to play fuck, marry, kill about the black sisters... he's fucking bella. he's depressed for weeks when he realises.]

more seriously, though, the thing which really stands out in harry and bellatrix's canonical relationship is that he sees her primarily as a catalyst - and, above all, primarily as a catalyst for loss - but in a way which feels strangely impersonal given the profundity of this loss to him.

she kills sirius - but harry can't summon up the rage to use the cruciatus curse against her [even though he can against amycus carrow, whom he has never met and whose crime is the considerably more minor spitting at mcgonagall]. she almost kills ginny - and harry "changes course at once" to try and protect her - but the person who gets there first and who finishes bellatrix off is molly.

and while i don't think this is strange because i think molly wouldn't have the skills to duel bellatrix, i do think it's fairly strange narratively. bellatrix's death mirrors sirius' to such an extent - right down to the fact that she dies laughing - that it would have been an interesting conceit to have harry avenging his godfather by standing in as sirius' surrogate for a repeat of the duel before the veil, which then allows sirius to be avenged when the outcome is reversed...

[although what i do like about the molly-bellatrix duel in canon is that voldemort ends up in the position his narrative mirror, harry, is in during the sirius-bellatrix duel - watching the one person he thought would never abandon him die.]

and so harry sees bellatrix as an agent of chaos - and he utterly loathes her - but he also sees the chaos she causes as, fundamentally, voldemort's fault. he views her as a puppet, a tool, a pawn - as so totally enamoured by the dark lord that she lacks any capacity for critical thinking - rather than ever seeming to understand her as her own person.

[him taunting her in order of the phoenix by pointing out voldemort's a half-blood always stands out to me when thinking about this - lucius malfoy isn't shocked at all by the revelation, but bellatrix is. it underlines the point made by her behaviour at her trial, which harry witnesses in goblet of fire - that her loyalty to voldemort is so absolute that it makes her deluded, and that she exists for him rather than for herself.]

equally, bellatrix clearly sees him as just a thing - an annoyance which voldemort just needs to eradicate - rather than a person.

and so i think that one of the very interesting "harry and bellatrix actually having to get to know each other" questions is what journey they would go on in order to understand the other as a real person. my favourite iteration of this - as i've said here - is to write bellatrix's non-battlefield personality as surprisingly similar to tonks', and to have harry having to face the fact that a woman he hates could be so much like a woman he adores. you can also obviously do the same with him having to realise she's very like sirius.

and her having to realise that harry is very like voldemort.

because the other thing which i think is fascinating about thinking about harry and bellatrix is that the best parallel for hinny in the text isn't ron and hermione, and nor is it james and lily...

it's bellamort.

i believe that harry's canonical love for ginny is completely genuine - and i accept that by the epilogue they will have settled into a relationship with a more equal dynamic - but it's very striking in the pre-epilogue canon that the power dynamic between the two is very much unequal.

harry's narrative purpose means that he has to be set apart from all others - even ron and hermione - in order for him to properly function as the encapsulation of all that is good [and as the series' allegory for christ]. as a result, he tends to interact with other characters either as people he needs to protect, or as people he needs to protect others from.

and we see this in his relationship with ginny at the end of half-blood prince, when he breaks up with her for - what he sees as - her own protection, in the belief that being associated with him will put her at risk from voldemort.

harry believes that separating himself from her is sufficient to bring ginny this protection, he never considers her to have the talent to fight voldemort herself - even though he acknowledges her as a skilled fighter elsewhere in the text - and he spends much of deathly hallows believing that he has guaranteed ginny's safety. he thinks of hogwarts as a safe-haven throughout his time on the horcrux hunt - and he is genuinely shocked to discover how bad the carrows' regime has been when he arrives at the castle immediately prior to the battle - and he treats ginny's role as a resistance leader in her own right [such as her attempt to steal the sword of gryffindor] as, essentially, a bit of a laugh.

for her part, ginny is set up in the text as ferociously loyal to harry - "i never gave up on you" - and as someone whose company he desires and values in a distinct way, but whose relationship with him is unbalanced by the paternalistic vibe of their power dynamic. harry is more honest with her than with many other people, for example, but he still doesn't tell her anything about the horcruxes, the prophecy, or the fact that he has to walk into the forest to die.

and this is exactly the same as bellatrix and voldemort.

bellatrix is clearly justified in saying that voldemort considers her his "favourite" - and he does behave towards her in ways which are meaningfully different from his treatment of his other death eaters. but their dynamic is still hugely unbalanced by the fact that voldemort is also required by the narrative to be singular - the literal embodiment of evil - and that this drives his secrecy about his true self. bellatrix is also treated by voldemort as someone whose role in his mission against harry is his to dictate, safe in the knowledge that she would never give up on him either, and who can be similarly kept in the dark about the horcruxes or the prophecy [although he clearly views this as for his, rather than her, protection].

deathly hallows, in particular, is full of explicit comparisons between the two couples. ginny trying to steal the sword leads to bellatrix giving away that there's a horcrux in her vault. ginny living while bellatrix dies [because of motherly love!] is the opener to harry living while voldemort dies [because of motherly love!]. and - of course - there's this in the forest...

Everything was waiting. Hagrid was struggling, and Bellatrix was panting, and Harry thought inexplicably of Ginny, and her blazing look, and the feel of her lips on his. 

as i've said elsewhere, i think it's entirely possible to write voldemort as quite fond of ginny on the basis of her canonical similarity to bellatrix. and so the reverse must apply - harry can be written as fond of bellatrix on the basis of her similarity to ginny.

which means i also think - if you're so inclined - that the toxic wife-swap would genuinely work.