Bruce keeping a tighter and tighter lid on his identity around the Justice League because with each new person to reveal their identity he realizes that he has fucked far too high a percentage of his co workers as Bruce Wayne and he has to take this secret to his grave
"Great!" Danny says, clapping his hands together to get everyone's attention. The dinner table falls silent as everyone looks towards him. It's a full house today and, honestly, Danny's a little nervous. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I gathered you here today."
"It's dinnertime. In our house." Duke mutters, while doing a very bad job of concealing his yawn. He holds his fork poised over the braised beef, but, just like everyone else, still looks towards Danny before tucking in. It's intriguing enough to wait.
"Yeah, no one misses Alfie's dinner." Dick says, with a brilliant smile that Danny can't help but return.
"Precisely! What better time to talk to you all than when you're all actually here!"
"Wait, I thought you came round to work on our English essays?" Tim asks, blinking owlishly.
"I'm afraid I've lured you here under false pretences, Tim."
"This is where I live."
"I would still really appreciate help on that essay though, I mean, what the hell is Hamlet even about? I just don't get that old time-y language, like 'Hark! A ghost hath killed me!' - absolute rubbish, what does that even mean?"
"The ghost never kills anyone in Hamlet, he's there to tell Hamlet that he was murdered. Have you actually read it?"
"No, but it sounds like you have. Tim, I want this guy to help me with my essay instead. I know for a fact that you haven't read Hamlet, either."
"So? We don't need Jason, I've read the Sparknotes."
"Hi Jason, I'm Danny, pleasure to meet you, summarise Hamlet in three sentences or less."
"Am I auditioning to help you write your essays? I can't believe you’ve gone through your whole school life without reading it, it’s good!"
"Hamlet, along with a number of other classics, was banned in our house because it portrayed ghosts as intelligent and sympathetic beings rather than evil, animalistic beasts. I didn’t even get to see The Muppet's Christmas Carol until last year with Tim! It was surprisingly good, and I hate Christmas because everyone always argued and it sucked. But we're getting off topic. I—"
"No, no, please go back to that, because what the fu—"
"Boys, please." Bruce interrupts, looking to the world as if he wants to hang his head in his hands. "Danny, you were about to say something?"
"Oh, yeah, Mr. Wayne! Thanks!"
"Please, call me Bruce."
"Well, that very succinctly brings me to my point, because I'd actually really like to call you dad."
Nobody says a word. Nobody even blinks, all as shocked as the other, watching open-mouthed as Danny pulls his laptop out from beside his chair. Bruce can definitely feel a headache coming on.
"Before you say anything, I've prepared a 69 slide PowerPoint presentation on why you, Bruce Wayne, should adopt me, Danny Last-Name-Pending. Please save your questions, comments, and verdict until the end, thank you."
sorry, i'm still hung up on how bad the writing for sarevok was in bg3. it's not even just "he's so out of character!!" bad. that is just straight up not him. literally who is this man, what the hell is he talking about, and what has he done with the actual sarevok because nothing he says makes ANY sense like....
just as one example of how wild the contradictions/retcons are, this is how bg3 has him recount his resurrection in bg2 -
and this is (parts of) how it actually happened -
like??? it's so bad and weird and dumb and for WHAT???
Currently thinking about Artemis's will in the code at the bottom of TLG and how it really kinda shows how strained his relationship with his dad still is. Everyone else gets something they're interested in or that Arty thinks they'd like (sound system for Juliet, frozen chicken for Mulch, ethical investments for his mother, etc) and yet for his father he leaves only bearer bonds, despite Artemis I trying to move away from a money-focused enterprise and lifestyle as of TEC. Not to mention it's Butler who would know how to disengage all the booby traps protecting said bearer bonds, further highlighting the difference in trust & familiarity Artemis has with everyone but his father.
There is something in particular that we need to discuss in regards to the ending Minthara gets with an embraced Durge that is unique to Minthara. Hopefully by now, we are all aware that at some point, it was planned that Minthara would be pregnant by the end of the game and Larian cut this. Sadly, I do not have a pickaxe in the datamine so I do not know the full conditions of what would trigger it (ie, I do not know if it was meant to be a Durge specific pregnancy).
However, if you embrace Bhaal and talk to Fel you can ask him if Bhaal will allow you to spare your romance partner. Here is what he will say in general:
And here is what he has to say about Minthara specifically:
^ These lines of dialogue have been in the game for a while and are still accessible as of Patch 7.
The only clear thing that we get from this line is that Bhaal most certainly does like Minthara and approves of her (and she is the only companion Bhaal likes). He also seems to be very well aware of her fertility and sees it as a major benefit. And Bhaal very much would like Durge to use Minthara to breed and raise the next generation of Bhaalspawn. The only thing that is rather vague is whether or not Minthara is currently pregnant with Baby Durge. I mean, it would be wild if she was considering that Daedra is female and doesn't have the "right equipment." I mean, anything is possible when it comes to Bhaalspawn and reproduction. But I am going to go with the headcanon that Daedra can indeed get Minthara pregnant if she really wanted and this is good enough for me! My evil drow lesbians deserve the right to make evil drow babies together!
I also had a mutual express to me their confusion as to why Bhaal would have Durge kill Minthara if Bhaal does like her and may potentially be pregnant with Baby Durge. Bhaal is the definition of chaotic stupid. Not everything that he does makes any logical or rational sense. Bhaal's wet dream is for everything to die, specifically through murder. He does not care if that death is an inconvenience or will backfire, he just wants death and murder because he's fucking dumb (comparatively, Lolth and Shar are good examples of what it means to be a murderous god and be smart about it). I also want to note that Durge killing Minthara, or any of the romance partners, is not Bhaal forcing Durge, but Durge willfully choosing to do so. As Fel said, Bhaal is giving Durge the choice to spare their romance partner, but they do not have to do so. At least, not right now and it seems like Bhaal would prefer that they keep their romance partner alive specifically to make babies.
As stupid as Bhaal may be, he is at least smart enough to have backup plans and contingencies. This is why he created his own horde of Bhaalspawn and why every Bhaalspawn has the instinctive desire to breed. I can do a separate mini post about this to go into the lore of it if people want, but what you really need to know is that Bhaal essentially cannibalizes his own children. Every time a Bhaalspawn dies, a piece of their divinity gets returned to him and it makes him more powerful. So Bhaalspawn want to make more of themselves, and then kill each other because the more Bhaalspawn that die, the more powerful Bhaal becomes. Every single Bhaalspawn is born to die.
So, how does this all relate to Minthara and her baby? Well, her baby would be a Bhaalspawn, but not just any Bhaalspawn, they would be mini Dark Urge. A mini Dark Urge Bhaalspawn who would inevitably be driven to kill Durge one day, and maybe even Minthara since Bhaalspawn have a nasty habit of killing their parents. Most importantly, this baby is meant to be a backup plan, Durge's contingency. Bhaal does not care if a Bhaalspawn dies, because their death empowers him. Bhaal may have his favorites, but he does not need to like his child in order for them to carry out his prime directive of kill everything. Although he was pissed that Orin attacked Durge and usurped them and he does not like Orin, Bhaal still rose her to Chosen because Orin would still be able to carry out his plan of murdering the world. When Durge returns, Bhaal gets super happy because Durge has the greatest potential to fulfill his dream, but Bhaal still requires that Durge earn the title of Chosen once more.
On the precipice of doomsday, Durge has two choices for Minthara, kill her first, or kill her last. No matter what choice Durge makes, they intend to kill her one day as that is what Bhaal's ultimate goal is and Minthara was never going to be an exception, even if Bhaal does like her and may be carrying his grandbaby. The blood eclipse that we do see in the embrace Durge ending is not reality just yet, but a premonition of what would happen if Durge keeps things up. It's a vision of what Bhaal wants Durge to accomplish. Since it is not yet reality, it is possible that Durge could fail and could be killed by other factors. If Durge dies or fails, then Baby Durge would be their backup if Durge chose to spare Minthara. Or, Baby Durge may be the reason why Durge failed because they were drawn together as all Bhaalspawn are and are destined to kill one another.
No matter what choice Durge makes in regards to Minthara's fate, it still benefits Durge and Bhaal in the end. As I mentioned earlier, Bhaal may pick favorites but he does not give a shit if his favorite babies die as he still benefits from all of his babies dying. So him liking Minthara and her being the perfect broodmare was never going to spare her either. At the end of the day, she will have to die in order for Bhaal to jerk off to his wet dream.
Choosing to kill their romance partner right now or later is all Durge's choice to make, not Bhaal's. Sadly, the game only gives you two choices in regards to your romance partner. There is no third option to have them walk alongside Durge during all of this. Ironically, Minthara and Ascended Astarion are the two companions that I think would stand by Durge as they murdered the world and they would gladly murder the world with Durge. But, that was not the choice Larian gave us and that is a major L.
Depending on the choice that you make, you can roleplay the reason that you want and Minthara has a unique RP aspect as she may be pregnant. And Minthara being pregnant with a future Bhaalspawn is excellent RP material. And it need not be because Durge is a callous asshole who never loved Minthara and was only using her as some people are perceiving it to be. Just because Durge will inevitably kill her does not mean that they did not love her or never loved her.
clementine has been doing really well at work lately and may or may not have splurged and bought a hot tub...but it's okay because that just means inviting her besties over!
previous // next
after everyone went home clementine started to feel quite upset. did she want her and manuel to work out because she liked him? or because she just craves love? she's always known she doesn't need someone else to feel whole, but what if she just wants someone else?
do you guys think that toji and sukuna would ever dress up when i'm feeling down? like maybe they just stole some of my own clothes or smth knowing the items would look ridiculous on them,, the shirt toji has on has suddenly turned into a cropped one, the seams just about ready to pop open, and the stretchy bodycon dress that kuna's got on is so tight that's making him feel like he's inside a condom.
and i can't stop thinking abt hearing them bicker in hushed voices behind the door before coming in. they do look ridiculous, so much so that it takes me like ten seconds to fully even understand what's going on. these two big, ripped men are standing there at the end of my bed while wearing clothes way too fucking small and way too fucking tight. but they gotta put a smile on my face right?
and the plan does work btw there's no holding back on the raspy bursts of laughter that erupt from under the blanket where i'm hiding and just for a moment they manage to force down their own embarrassment for the sake of my happiness.
Oscurucho: Welcome back, brother.
Cucurucho: What.
Oscurucho: Not even a "Good morning"? How cold.
Here's Cucurucho and Oscurucho's long lore conversation from yesterday! The entire conversation lasted about 8 minutes, but most of that time was just silence between each exchange, so I edited out the long pauses and got it down to ~3 minutes. I also fixed the audio levels and added subtitles since I personally find it difficult to understand Oscurucho sometimes :'D
I hope folks find this helpful!
[ Subtitle Transcript ↓ ]
-
Oscurucho: Welcome back, brother.
Cucurucho: What.
Oscurucho: Not even a "Good morning"? How cold.
[They enter Cucurucho's office]
Oscurucho: I wanted to see if you're still as rigid in your beliefs as ever. You see, I've been thinking about our... Let's call it "philosophical divergence." You stand for order, for predictability. But where's the fun in that? You see, brother, while you build, I ponder the beauty in tearing down. It's not just destruction - it's rebirth. A chance to remake things in a more... thrilling image.
[...]
Oscurucho: You once had a backbone for our cause. Now, I see a softness in you, a sentimental weakness for those Eggs. Mere experiments, and yet - they've softened you.
Cucurucho: Your vision obstructs the path to perfection. You fail to understand the potential of the Eggs.
Oscurucho: Potential? They're but catalysts for change - for revolution. Without them, stagnation reigns.
[...]
Oscurucho: You chase perfection, I embrace the beauty of flaws. Your world is one of order, mine thrives in chaos. You wish for everything to run smoothly, I dream of watching it all burn to the ground. We may share a name, but our souls are worlds apart. All your efforts, all for what? Mere acknowledgment from a Duck who told you to do it? Imagine the possibilities - rather, show me where it is, and I'll do the rest.
[...]
Oscurucho: Speaking of possibilities, I couldn't help but notice how easily others can access the island. It seems your security measures aren't as impenetrable as you think.
Cucurucho: No. My island's vulnerabilities are of your own making. Do not mistake restraint for ignorance.
Oscurucho: Pity. But then again, I never really needed your approval. Just consider: Cucurucho - in your quest for order, have you not sown the seeds of your own undoing? Do you genuinely trust all your Federation minions?
Cucurucho: ...
Oscurucho: Perhaps it's time you question not just my intentions, but those who you believe stand with you.
Cucurucho: That is none of your business, I shall say. Now, leave me alone and try to disturb someone else.
sometimes I forget that my experience has been. um. not 'your experiences are not universal' vibes but more like 'your experiences are EXTREMELY atypical'