#wow this got Long

[razberrypuck]

thoughts on blink and runt 👀

runt wants so badly to be someone. she's confident and energetic and ambitious because she's been underestimated her entire life, and she's fucking sick of it! she's sick of being treated like a helpless child, and she's been treated that way thus far because of her health issues, NOT her behavior. runt grew up surrounded by people that love her so dearly, but they'll never take her seriously, because she's just a kid. she's small. she's weak. she has breathing problems. she's disabled. (uncle threestrings is a notable exception to this rule ;; he's always believed in her and encouraged her to tackle her goals head-on, which is nice to see )

that's why runt said fuck it and went off on her own. she's an engineer, and by definition, a problem solver. the street rats not giving her another chance -- won't even let her come BACK to their headquarters -- runt isn't going to let that discourage her, like they probably wished it would. if they don't need her, then why does she need them? who's going to stop her from chasing after what she wants? she's on a pursuit of knowledge absolutely, but she's also looking for a way to prove herself. she wants everyone that's ever doubted her to know she's runt, and she can take care of herself. and she's the smartest fucking person in this city. and she's going to do something amazing. she doesn't know WHAT that is yet. but she knows she will.

conversely, blink is someone that wants to be no one. if he had it his way, he would dissappear into the walls and never be seen again. always moving, because stagnation is very dangerous indeed. always running, because no matter what he does it feels like his past is right on his heels. blink doesn't grant himself the same confidence that runt and troy do, because he doesn't believe he deserves it. he's been trying his damn best to do good for the last fifteen years, because he's convinced whatever he did before then was unforgivable. I don't know that he WANTS to be forgiven necessarily, but he wants something. peace of mind, perhaps. but since whatever happened happened, he hasn't stopped running, not once. if he does, all of his problems, everything he did, it'll all catch up to him, crash down on him like a wave and drag him right back down to that dark part of his life. whether he realizes it or not, though, leaving his problems in the dust prevents him from ever coming to terms with them. but maybe he doesn't want that either.

he's an outcast because he cast himself out. all of his running and running and running -- there's no place for strong relationships there. most people just can't keep up. and blink knows he doesn't want to hurt anyone else.

troy, runt, and blink are all outcasts for different reasons. they're all completely different people with completely different goals and morals, but for better or for worse, they all live fast lives. for the thrill, to chase new opportunities, just to live another day --

whatever the case, they're the only ones that can keep up with one another.

[madbard]

“Hunger is so heavy.”

I want to take a moment to rant about the role of hunger in Epic - specifically, the way nearly ever single saga is, at its core, a story about hunger and the way it affects us.

Let’s start with the Troy Saga. Odysseus’ men have won the war and are finally headed home when they run out of food. Upon discovering an island, Eurylochus immediately suggests they attack and take what they can. Right off the bat, the story associates hunger with violence. As we all know, Odysseus resists, and travels with Polites to the island of the lotus eaters - a society that has sacrificed their free will to slake their hunger for the glowing lotus fruits. If not for Odysseus recognizing the fruit, the crew could very well have met the same fate. Their hunger would have led to them losing their freedom forever.

Moving onto the Cyclops saga, the events of the Odyssey begin in earnest when Odysseus’ men slaughter Polyphemus’ sheep because they are starving. In response, Polyphemus decides to slaughter the entire crew and eat them instead - suddenly, theirs is not the only hunger that threatens their lives. The only reason they are able to escape is because Odysseus tempts Polyphemus with the “world’s best-tasting wine,” thus defeating the cyclops with his own thirst (I’m not going to differentiate between hunger and thirst here, as they are both intense physical cravings). Here, hunger is both a weakness and a threat. Giving in to hunger can lead to death and destruction, but hunger can also be used as a weapon, if you are clever.

Next up is the Ocean Saga. (This is where I start to seriously bend the definition of “hunger.”) This is the first saga in which food or lack thereof does not play a direct role. Here, Odysseus faces a new form of desire: exhaustion. Going back a bit, I described hunger as an intense physical craving for food. Well, what is exhaustion if not an intense physical craving for sleep? In this saga, Odysseus is given the chance to make it home. All he has to do is keep the storm trapped, and in order to do that, he has to stay awake. Odysseus resists his exhaustion for nine days, fighting off his desperate desire for sleep. But eventually, he relents and drifts off - which is when Eurylochus releases the storm and Poseidon kills all but 43 members of Odysseus’ crew. Once more, yielding to ‘hunger’ leads to tragedy.

Moving on to the Circe Saga, literal hunger plays a role yet again as Circe’s first move is to offer Odysseus’ men “something to eat.” The men soon discover that Circe enchanted their meal; upon eating, they are transformed into pigs - animals infamous for devouring anything in front of them. Here, hunger is portrayed as something animalistic, something which reduces the men from thinking, civilized beings to creatures, little better than livestock. Just a song later, though, Odysseus becomes powerful enough to face Circe when he consumes moly root. Notably, his consumption of this root was based on strategy, not hunger - a small but important distinction as it separates his consumption of the moly from his crew’s consumption of Circe’s meal. Wrapping up the Circe Saga, we have an entirely different kind of hunger as Circe offers to let Odysseus’ men go free if he shows his true colors in “acts of lust.” He refuses the promise of physical satisfaction because of his loyalty to Penelope, and in doing so, he earns Circe’s respect and assistance. Earlier in Epic, we were shown the power of hunger to inspire violence, tragedy and destruction. Here, we see it as an animalistic urge - the distinction between animals and men, then, is their capacity to resist such desires.

Writing this, the Underworld Saga was very frustrating for me because I could not find any significant references to hunger in any of the songs. Thinking back on it though, I wonder if that in itself is significant. The saga that takes place entirely in the world of the dead is the first saga not to heavily involve hunger or other forms of physical desire. Resisting hunger may be what distinguishes men from animals, but feeling hunger is what distinguishes the living from the dead.

Finally, we reach the Thunder Saga. The crew has run out of food for a final time, and in the grips of hunger, Eurylochus closes the cycle begun in the Cyclops saga when he slaughters the sun god’s cattle. At this point in the story, Eurylochus no longer believes they can return home. Eurylochus is exhausted, starving - he cannot bear to suffer any longer. Though Odysseus protests, Eurylochus insists that the crew cannot go on like this. They cannot survive much longer on these seas. His final defense as he slaughters the cattle? “I’m just a man.” The only person begging him to stop renounced his humanity in the Underworld.

Throughout Epic, hunger is a constant force. It inspires violence, steals free will. Submitting to it leads to tragedy, but it can also prove a powerful weapon. To resist it for a time is to be more than an animal. To feel it is to be alive. We cannot escape it forever, can’t fight it forever. In the end, we are bound by the needs of our fragile, ephemeral bodies. In the end, we must give in. And maybe, just maybe, that is what makes us human.

[livwritesstuff]

This universe literally lives in my head rent free. I had another thought. How do the girls handle their relationships? I know as one of three daughters those dynamics change a LOT over the years, so I’m wondering how they manage their age differences and relationships over time? And how Eddie and Steve referee them?

ok so for reference:

Moe is born in july ‘01

Robbie is born november ‘03

Hazel is born september ‘06

(yes, i picked their star signs before i picked their birthdays - they are, respectively, a leo, a scorpio, and a libra)

So the age difference between Moe and Robbie is about 2 years, with ~3 years between Robbie and Hazel, and ~5 years between Moe and Hazel.

I think the general vibe of their collective dynamic really is the epitome of my sister is my best friend but also she’s the worst and I hate her. That doesn't change over time, but what does change is the way it gets expressed.

Moe was obsessed with Robbie when she was first born, and once Robbie was old enough to have her own opinions, she's equally obsessed with Moe. Robbie is definitely Moe's shadow for the first few years, and that only starts to shift when they're both in elementary school together, at which point they start to take on that quintessential love-hate-always bickering-with a tiny sprinkling of rivalry type of sibling relationship. The ebb and flow of this is one part of parenting three kids that only-children Steve and Eddie have a hard time keeping up with. There would be days when the girls were non-stop fighting, and then Steve would be like, “Moe, wanna go on a drive with me,” to, y’know, separate them for a bit, but then Moe would hit him with some major ‘tude like, “Just me? …why would we do that.”

There’s also definitely a psychological aspect to the sibling warfare that Steve and Eddie sometimes feel like they're two steps behind, so refereeing really just looks like keeping an eye on the metaphorical scoreboard (so to speak) and making sure it’s staying as even as possible (and breaking things up when it gets a bit too brutal).

Moe and Robbie circle back around to being buddies when they’re both in college – I have very very vaguely referred to how Moe and Robbie end up going to the same school, which is messy at first but it ends up being really good for them.

As for Hazel, when Steve and Eddie first introduced her as a newborn to her older sisters, Moe is basically like, “Thank you for the child. You may go,” whereas Robbie is definitely side-eying her like, “Uhhh I did not agree to this.”

That 5 year age gap between Moe and Hazel is enormous when Hazel was first born, and it continues to feel like a lot for a long time. Like, when Moe is learning how to drive, Hazel is still in elementary school, and she’s only twelve when Moe graduates high school. They spend their entire childhoods in completely different developmental brackets, and Hazel is definitely the baby to Moe while Hazel basically worships Moe and thinks she’s the coolest person on the planet. Then Hazel hits her high school years, and Moe, who's wrapping up college, is suddenly like, wait is Hazel cool? omg she’s *so* cool. That’s around when they stop feeling like they occupy totally different planets.

Because Robbie and Hazel are closer in age, their relationship looks a bit more like Robbie and Moe's. Hazel is basically just an avenue for Robbie to exert her own power in a way that Moe would never let her get away with. She’s definitely always pestering Hazel and teasing her and trying to push her buttons (and Hazel is so laid back that it really doesn’t bother her that much, which drives Robbie crazy in its own way). She’s super protective over Hazel though – both Robbie and Moe are very aware that Hazel is basically an angel, so the standard is very much *we’re* the only ones who get to mess with her.

I think Moe and Robbie might have a tendency to force Hazel to be a tie-breaker in their arguments, which is another facet of raising siblings that Steve and Eddie actually get involved in (to make sure she's not being completely steamrolled by her big sisters). Other than that, they mostly stay out of it. They've seen their kids go to battle *for* each other enough times to feel pretty confident that they'll make it through the times they're battling against each other.

[authorchia]

Apeiron's Numerical Categorization

All screenshots are from Villenthessis on Youtube and all web event results are from me and the members of Reverse 1999 server

Ahem! So I wanna try something new today, and it's about how the Apeiron's categorizes arcanists and humans with numerical meanings with the help of lorechat members. This was explained by 37. Remember, these categorization are not determined by one's lineage. Let's go read, shall we?

"Integers are living example of virtues."

I'm guessing Integers are categorized for arcanists that possesses great knowledge or seen as someone who you can look up to as an example. Sonetto, Vertin, and APPLe are the examples of this.

"You are well-behaved, proactive, have excellent morals, and work hard to expand your set"

2. "Fractions can be understood through specific means."

This one line really piqued my interest because Lilya and Ms. Radio are categorized as Fractions. I was enlightened that you have to have a way of thinking to truly understand why Fractions act the way they are! No wonder Lilya has never been bothered by Abraxases or are ignored by the Apeirons while she wanders around.

"You are internally stable, confident, skilled in everything, and have your own set of behavioral logic"

3. "Irrational numbers are free spirits,"

Like it said, Irrational numbers are free spirits. They follow their own rules and most likely stubborn. Regulus is the only prime example of this because she broke 2 rules in the main story and got fucking wiped. Poor girl haha! XD

"You are spontaneous, free and "untraceable", with an unruly heart that follows its own rules."

4. "while imaginary numbers are the existence which doesn't belong to this dimension of the number axis."

So, to put it simply, imaginary numbers are just ordinary people. Humans. They don't care about us. That's it. :P

Ahh... It's been a while I ramble something more "productive", let's say haha! It's thanks to the lorechat members of the server I'm able to make this post. You wanna join the server? then go to #1999-story-spoiler when you're verified!

wanna overanalyze your faves? wanna constantly go off topic? wanna talk about your insane low rarity ship without being stoned by #help-question for not using meta? join lorechat today!

[pouroverpaloma]

paloma I have revivified my tumblr from its decade-long sleep to beseech you: please talk about Rolan with me because I have Thoughts® and Feelings™ such as: As the eldest sibling do you think he has an oversized and detrimental sense of responsibility that continues to impact him negatively? like during his apprenticeship, do you think he actively avoided Cal and Lia to stop them from either storming the tower themselves or worrying over him when they were supposed to be enjoying being safe in the city, etc. do you think that sense of responsibility extends to Tav or is Tav the person that makes him feel like he doesn't HAVE to be in charge and on top of everything.

also this is hazelrah on ao3!!! I cannot stop commenting on your fics to save my life

Omg hi Hazel!!! ♥️ both Thoughts® AND Feelings™, what a treat you’ve brought for me

As a preface, I’m of the opinion that Lorroakan intentionally isolated Rolan. That’s one of the reasons Lorroakan didn’t let Cal and Lia stay in his fuck-off massive tower. Narcissism and disdain for others also drove that decision, because he’s an asshole, but I really think Rolan can’t be the first apprentice he’s abused. He knew he could never break Rolan’s will if his siblings were there to support him, and, let’s be real, Lia would clearly kill him with hammers the moment he raised a hand to Rolan. He had to get him completely alone.

As for Rolan—I think his gut knew right away that something was very, very wrong with his apprenticeship, even if intellectually he’d talked himself into staying. I think he did the time-old dance of hiding abuse from your loved ones because you don’t know how to explain it, you think you can’t leave, and you’re frankly embarrassed it’s happening to you at all. Imagine him talking about his apprenticeship back in the grove, right? Now imagine him behind the counter in act 3. The whiplash between his aspirations of greatness and the awful reality of life in the tower must have been extraordinarily soul-crushing, on top of everything else. And he just couldn’t let them see that he’d dragged them all to Baldur’s Gate on a false promise.

All that to say: I imagine Rolan told himself that hiding the truth from Cal and Lia was for their own good, but really, he was ashamed and afraid of failing to make them proud.

Because yeah, he feels way more responsible for them than they could ever know or understand. He’s convinced that he has to earn his place in their family by demonstrating his utility. Rolan is caught in that awful trap of trying to deserve what he already has. It’s a self-defeating cycle because there’s no end state: he already has Cal and Lia’s unconditional love from the very start, so nothing he does can ever make him feel like he “achieved” it. He can run himself into the ground trying to earn their love, but he already has it and he’s too caught up in his own self-loathing to see it.

The thing that finally gets his head out of his ass, of course, is Tav. We see him starting to make the turn at the end of the game, when he’s master of the tower and stepping into his confidence, but from there, I think falling in love really shakes his foundations. It forces him to begin to self-reflect in a way he’s never been emotionally safe to do before.

As for how all of this plays out once they’re together! I think their dynamic is a case of unstoppable force versus immovable object. I think he’s going to devote himself to taking care of absolutely everything for them (because nothing could ever be Good Enough for Tav but goddamn it he’s going to try anyway) and Tav is going to devote themselves to taking care of absolutely everything for him (because Rolan deserves rest and gentleness and adoration maybe more than anyone ever has). This kind of all-consuming care manifests in different ways for each of them, some complementary, some adversarial. They get nauseatingly competitive about it but the sex is phenomenal.

And finally—after a while—he begins to understand that he doesn’t have to handle everything by himself in order to be lovable. He can let go of the reins and let Tav be capable sometimes, and it actually makes Tav happy when he does. Somehow, the sex gets even better.

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

Hello! First I want to say I really like your fae story! The world building in it is insane and I'm so glad Buddie is finally together. Second, you don't have to answer but why have you been posting stuff with tommy? I don't understand why any Buddie shipper would like him, he's such a pos in the begins episodes...why write him with Buck? You don't have to answer, but there are lots of Buddie shippers switching sides and I don't see why.

Hiiiii.

So, first off thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying Come Away, and I hope the ending coming up satisfies :) Second, ngl, I did consider not answering that question cause I really don't like wading into fandom drama...but that was a super respectful ask and I DO quite like the character so...fuck it, we ball.

This is probably gonna be long and rambly but the TL;DR is I think the fact that Tommy Kinard IS introduced as a piece of shit makes for really interesting nuance to the character and also I'm a multishipper...just cause bacon and pineapple is my favorite pizza flavor doesn't mean I DON'T like pepperoni or have decided never to eat it again (also, I have less than 10k words of BuckTommy on AO3 and, like, almost 300k of Buddie, so I don't think I've switched sides, lol)

As for why I can like Tommy and specifically Tommy and Buck together despite the aforementioned POS'ness, sure I'll cop to part of it being I am just so damn excited for bi!Buck, I'd have been happy with just about anyone awakening that in him. But also because Tommy, to me, is a fucking interesting character and DOES make a lot of sense as someone that Hen and Chim could forgive and be friends with, and that could be good for Buck.

First off there are some things I think we have to acknowledge about Tommy that are factual or can be inferred as factual from the show. 1. For his timeline to make ANY sense, he can generously be in his late thirties to early forties. For it to make sense without him being some kind of prodigy in a couple areas, he has to be in his mid-to-late forties. 2. He was at LEAST partially raised by someone who reminds him uncomfortably of Gerrard, a CARTOONISHLY boorish, evil, bigot. 3. He was closeted for a very long time.

All of those factors together make for someone who honestly, it would have been nearly IMPOSSIBLE for them NOT to be a piece of shit, and a textbook example of how patriarchal systems, toxic masculinity, and white supremacy are also harmful to the people who benefit from them.

Let me preface this by saying I don't think the harm Tommy suffered was anywhere near as great as what Hen and Chim (or any person of color) go through. And, of course, Hen and Chim don't owe him shit. Forgiving him or not is entirely up to them and the right choice whatever they choose.

My point is, Tommy almost certainly grew up in an environment where his worst flaws and character traits were just...normal. I think a lot of people don't understand how much LARGER the world has gotten with the modern day internet, how much easier it is to be exposed to things outside your own bubble. I'm either right around Tommy's age or a little younger, depending on the estimate you use and guys...I just don't have words for how INSULAR my worldview was growing up compared to now. How much everyone around you, even in larger cities, tended to be Just Like You. You had to live in true sprawling metropolises to be exposed to the kind of diversity that we take for granted now. It is a terrible thing, but when everyone around you, everyone you look up to, everyone you love and care about, and who is supposed to love and care about you thinks the same thing, you don't tend to question it. You don't even notice it. My own loving, wonderful, give-you-the-shirt-off-her-back grandmother, who was educated af in a time women really weren't as a rule, and spent her life as a teacher was racist as FUCK. And the really insidious kind...the "I don't hate them, but why can't they just stay on their side of town?" kind, the passive-aggressive comments that only sting the people they're aimed at so no one thinks to defend the victim kind. It's the weirdest cognitive dissonance to know someone as kind, loving, and moral and ALSO realize that the kindness, love, and morality only included certain people. If my parents had not moved around so much, exposing me to different environments (or if they'd been a little less lenient with my internet access when it started exploding) I honestly can't say whether or not I would have ended up just like my grandma. I like to think I wouldn't have, but that's the point...it's a frog in slowly boiling water situation. I think we can all safely say a parent like Gerrard was not creating an environment in which it was safe or even possible to question the hate.

And from that homelife Tommy had to have gone straight into the military during the heights of DADT, wherein hiding your true self from everyone around you was the acceptable compromise to just straight up having your life ruined (if not completely ended).

Now. Does any of this EXCUSE Tommy being a pretty racist, sexist piece of shit in the begins episodes? No. But it is an EXPLANATION and a true-to-life example of how those systems that everyone has to operate in are harmful no matter what. At the time, given what was almost certainly his background, Tommy would almost certainly have to have been INCREDIBLY self-aware and self-actualized (and honestly, really, REALLY fucking brave) not to have been molded into...precisely what he is. A pretty racist, pretty sexist piece of shit who is throwing anyone and everyone he has to under the bus (consciously or not) to divert attention from his own deviation from the "norm".

Okay, HocusPocus, you might say, so this still begs the question why the hell you think Tommy deserves to even breathe the same air as your favorite blorbo.

And let me again preface by saying I acknowledge the show leaves a lot to inference here. As 911 is wont to do, extremely important character moments are handled "off-screen."

That being said, we do get to see Tommy acknowledging he was wrong about Hen and Chim and getting to a place of mutual respect, if not friendship (personally, I think the going away party when Tommy leaves the 118 shows they've made it to friendship...I don't care how much you respect someone, cake, balloons, and a surprise party are strictly friend things). When Chim calls Tommy to take them out to the cruise ship like...Tommy's risking his life AND his career there, if not outright jail time. Just on Chim and Hen's say-so. Again...that's FRIEND level actions, not just "I respect you as a colleague". We see, either right there on screen or through deleted scenes, that everyone around Buck trusts Tommy with him. When have we ever seen the 118 be shy about expressing their displeasure over one of Buck's LI's? If Hen and Chim still harbored resentment towards Tommy, and didn't truly believe he'd changed and was good enough for Buck, do we REALLY think that wouldn't have been expressed?

Are there valid criticisms of the character? Sure. I think a lot of it can be explained by the rushed nature of season 7 with such a large ensemble cast, but yeah, Tommy's not super developed and a LOT of the issues between him, Hen , and Chim are left to inference. That's fair.

But I think the show MEANS us to make those inferences, that Hen and Chim's actions and interactions with him show that Tommy has done the work to change, and they accept that he's changed and it also says a lot about them that they can forgive him and be friends with him (which, again, he is NOT owed and they would have been perfectly valid in denying him).

So, yeah. I like him. I think he's interesting and while Buddie remains my OTP, I am very interested to see where Tevan goes this coming season.

Also, Lou is fucking pretty ;)

[jjtheresidentbaby]

i’m so glad other people see nick as a cg + regressor i thought i was the only one

flip nick is so very real to me! and I’m using this ask as an excuse to make a headcanon post lol

Flip Nick Nelson headcanons

tagging: @beachreg

warnings: talk of canon events, mental health issues etc

When Caring:

mainly takes care of Imogen, it was a routine they already had before Nick got with Charlie as they were in the same friend group and even back then Nick was one of the nicer of the bunch

Nick doesn’t talk about his caring side until Imogen is comfortable enough to tell the rest of the group that she regressss

on a few odd occasions Nick watches over Tao when Nick first joins the group and while Tao claims he doesn’t like it at first, he’s totally lying

Nick forms such a soft spot for Tao & the other littles in the group

he likes to talk to Tara about caregiver problems™️ and she’s always there with advice or to just listen for a bit

he’s such a sweet caregiver, always willing to research whatever his little is involved in or struggling with

he puts his all into caring and takes such pride in watching over others

always has snacks, fidget toys, journals, games, books and anything else a little could need on hand

keeps a spare first aid kit in his locker just in case (Tao is very clumsy & Elle isn’t there at school so nicks had to step in at times)

When Little:

Charlie & Elle are his main caregivers but occasionally Tara will watch over him

not super clingy when he’s regressed but he does enjoy getting his hair played with & holding hands

lovesssss to draw & color when small

he’s mesmerized by basically everything Charlie or Elle do, he swears they’re magic or something

massive sweet tooth while small - but he loves fresh vegetables too

he’s more secretive/shy about his little side

he can get very anxious while small and gets into his own head a lot

he has a set journal for when he’s small so he can try and ground himself by writing things out (even if it’s not all spelled correctly)

he’s been trying to befriend Tori since day one of being regressed at the spring household, it’s a slow battle but Tori’s definitely losing

he’ll slip pictures he drew under her door and run off with Charlie to watch from behind the corner as she opens the door and looks around

such an outdoorsy kid & finds any reason to be running around his backyard or taking a trip to the park

him & Tao will film “movies” while they’re both small and they force the whole friend group into preforming parts

somehow worse at drums while small and atrocious on the clarinet per trying Tara’s

of course loves rugby while small but he also likes to have Darcy play volleyball with him like on the beach

superhero movies/books are a must while he’s small!

as much as Charlie complains about it, he indulges Nick and watches the marvel movies with Nick

he somehow gets Darcy & Imogen into them too and they all start to play superhero’s together

him & Imogen don’t regress together a lot as Nick likes to keep his little side & caregiving side pretty separate but when they do it absolutely Chaos with a capital C

can either be super well behaved or pretty mischievous

he offers to egg Ben or Harry’s house at least once a week while small

[angst-is-love-angst-is-life]

The whump in Escape from Earth-2 is just so interesting (as someone who’s watched it countless times and is currently watching it again). Here’s some thoughts (coherence will vary):

Jay goes completely still whenever Zoom shows up (aside from some shaking). Makes me wonder if he has a freeze response tbh.

Jesse on the other hand, backs away as much as she can, even trying to hide behind the pillar she’s chained to. And holy shit she looks so terrified— how could this trauma be swept under the rug so horribly??? Sigh

And godssss I have so many thoughts about Barry in this episode but I’ll just say a few *narrator voice* She did not, in fact, say ‘a few’. His Enter Zoom trauma is definitely in the background of this episode and the scene at the end of Welcome to E2. He’s so clearly scared, not just for himself but for Jesse, every time Zoom shows up and he tries to hide it (not very successfully imo). And he doesn’t actually talk to Zoom until Zoom enters his cell. Now there could be any number of reasons for that but I think it’s cause he couldn’t risk provoking Zoom into hurting Jesse (or Jay), but once Zoom was in his cell, he knew he’d be the one paying for it if he did. (Though that moment’s also when he figured out how to escape, and we know that Barry gets a little cocky when he thinks he has the upper hand— tbh I think it was a combo of those factors). Also don’t get me started on how Barry doesn’t even try to fight Zoom (in any of the scenes) because he knows he can’t beat him. (And again— he can’t risk Zoom hurting anyone. His nightmare where Zoom kills Patty comes to mind… You can’t tell me he didn’t have more of those. You can’t tell me he didn’t have at least one nightmare of Zoom dropping Cisco off that roof. And guess who’s right there in the lair in that scene). Anyways.

When Zoom phases into Barry’s cell, Jay shakes his head a little bit, almost like he knows exactly what’s going to happen. Filing this under ‘evidence that Zoom tortured Jay’

A Jay moment that absolutely stabs my heart is about half a second after Barry runs out of Zoom’s lair. First, he kind of hit his fist to the glass a little bit, in sync with Barry. Then Barry runs off and he gives the glass another small hit, and after that his head lowers ever slightly and he slumps a little bit into the glass— gods just watch the scene I can’t explain it well enough but GODS IT HURTS— SOMEONE GIVE HIM A DAMN HUG. Everyone else got away, but he was left behind with Zoom. I’m just *lies face down on the floor and sobs*

AND DON’T THINK I’M DONE TALKING ABOUT JESSE. “I used to think I could escape too… but there’s no way out.” Does anyone else remember that she was tied to the ceiling of her cell with rope at first? Just how unlikely is it that she got out of that rope and tried to escape? But Zoom caught her, threw her back in the cell, and made sure she couldn’t do that again by using a chain/manacle instead. Of course she’d feel hopeless after that. Nope I’m not done. Remember how defiant, how confident she was in the very beginning too? “[Harry]’ll find me, he’ll save me, and then he’ll kill you.” We know that Zoom canonically tortured her, and of course, that’s the quickest way to squash out defiance but still. That transition from anger and defiance, to that fear we see when Cisco vibes her off of Harry in Enter Zoom, to the Earth-2 episodes where she’s completely hopeless and just resigned to her situation (until Barry talks to her at least). It’s just so whumpy all the way around and I want to hug her.

Alright and now I have to circle back to Barry because THIS SCREENCAP—

I could look at this all day. GODS. The LONGING. He’s seeing Harry and Jesse reunite, and he’s happy for them, of course, but at this point he doesn’t think he can get out. Killer Frost hasn’t unfrozen Jesse’s manacle so he doesn’t see any other options or possibilities except for everyone else to escape— and leave him behind. He wants to get out so so bad, he wants to leave with them and go home but he doesn’t think he can. In this moment, to him, it’s either they leave without him or Zoom shows up and kills them all. And if it comes down to his everyone elses’ safety and lives versus his own— there’s no choice to make.

[thewormformerlyknownasletojrjr]

Sometimes self care is rewatching Dune (2021) and going on and on about ‘the symbolism of this or that’ or how ‘something here is a nod to the sequels’ or ‘look how the casting characterizes the house atreides’ or ‘the music here is phenomenal, it foreshadows gurney’s fate later on’ or ‘I think the difference in the vocalizing in the soundtrack here is deliberate’ until whoever you’re watching it with is ready to commit murder to shut you up.

But it’s just so phenomenal that you can watch it and catch new things each time, the visual and auditory storytelling in the background gives you so much! All these little things that go unnoticed until you see and want to jump out of your seat at them, let’s talk about that.

Let’s talk about how Jessica is always hooded when her scenes are associated with her Bene Gesserit powers and upbringing, how you can literally watch her out her hood down or up mid scene as she transitions from mother and concubine to an obedient disciple, how it foreshadows her struggle in the books all the way through Children of Dune.

Let’s talk about how well done the foreshadowing of the jihad is, how even this early on we can see the start of what is integral to Paul’s conflict in Messiah, how that feeling of helplessness about a destiny he doesn’t want will keep him frozen and unable to stop what’s in motion, how Messiah is such an incredible book because it ties into the dystopian trope wherein revolutionaries become like those they once revolted against, but how it’s so much more fascinating than some of the ways we see it in modern dystopias, because it’s the main characters who are following the pattern, not just watching in horror as those they fought with change for the worse, but actually experiencing it, horrified at what they’ve done and what they will continue to do, frozen and so unable or unwilling to do what needs to be done to stop it, how the movie is still in the stage where they are noble and valiant, but it makes sure to show the dread of what it coming, how it does such a good job of showing the burden of foresight that is so integral to Dune, the way that even as they see the future and can attempt to change it, they know that no matter their decisions, horrible things will come, how it shows Paul as scared hating the power he was given and blaming his mother and her aspirations, how the atreides family never wanted to be great, they wanted to be good, how Paul is coming to see that great and good cannot always coexist, how you look at this boy and you can genuinely see how he will become the man saying ‘Believers, all of them’ how Dune is such a hard story to get right because you watch someone devolve and stand by why horrible things are done without seeing him as a terrible person from the start, without the boy and the man seeming irreconcilable from one another, how the movie actually is on the right track even though the end result is unpalatable to the majority of society, how they are showing the white savior trope in a way that is thus far complaint with how it is deconstructed later on, how they have the epic notes of the beginning without going in a direction that makes the ending impossible.

Let’s talk about how they cast the Atreides family as beautiful people, but not soft, not tamed to modern standards, aristocratic in their looks in such a way that you believe they have been nobility for centuries, maybe millennia, slightly untouchable, dangerous, like those in power during the Italian Renaissance, how Paul looks young but also ethereal and formal, the balance between boy and duke and messiah in his appearance, how Leto’s hair and beard make him not only regal but worn by politics, cold and formal yet fatherly all at once, how Jessica’s ghostly pale complexion nods to her Harkonnen ancestry in the books and how she is beautiful in a way that seems not entirely human, how the other members of the Atreides house are each unique and full of character, not designed to fit a palette or aesthetic, whereas the Harkonnens have an eerie similarity that shows how little they value free will, how the Harkonnens are not dramatized to emphasize their characterization but rather understated, devoid of emotion save for rare explosive moments, how they echoed this in their design, making them blank slates, taking away rather than adding, leaving them almost human, but not quite, enough to trigger that ancient animal instinct in a person that says ‘something is wrong here, something is dangerous’ rather than making them fit in with the conventions of a time period or trend as to how to look evil.

Let’s talk about the soundtrack, how the epic music playing when House Atreides lands on Arrakis is echoed as Gurney and his men charge at the Harkonnens who so greatly outnumber them, how this not only ties you emotionally to the battle, hearing this dying cry of the Atreides, more so than the music continuing to be dark and foreboding through it all, but also how it foreshadows the survival of Gurney and the small group of men with him, living to reunite with Paul later on.

Let’s talk about how throughout the soundtrack we have women vocalizing, the emphasis on the power of the Bene Gesserit and how in Leto’s death scene we diverge from this trend, how he was so powerless against all these grand plans but he still took a stand, still ended things on his own terms.

Let’s talk about how Jessica doesn’t answer when Leto asks her to protect Paul as a Bene Gesserit. Let’s talk about the bull and the matador, the symbolism there. Let’s talk about the emphasis on medieval and renaissance headdresses on the Bene Gesserit, the significance of choosing attire from a time when the Catholic Church was in the peak of its power. Let’s talk about the nods to Gurney’s music. Just, look at all this stuff in the movie that you barely even notice, the first time. All the planning that went into it, how to fit in all these little nods, how to stay true to who the characters are in the present while also beginning to show who they will become. Let’s talk about it.

Though maybe not to the people I was watching the movie with. I don’t actually have a death wish.

[rimeswithpurple]

Thank you @roomwithanopenfire, @talentpiper11 & @blackberrysummerblog for the tags! Everyone had a bit of a lie in this morning, the Little Purples and I went to see a Shakespeare on the Bluff performance of Much Ado About Nothing last night. I'm honestly surprised they made it through the whole thing since they didn't follow any of the plot, but they were very excited that the audience was encouraged to cheer, boo or shout out. Littlest Purple had the best time booing at the villain and even yelled "no" when Benedict proposed to Beatrice and that earned her a laugh from everyone around us.

I got quite a bit of drawing done! The line work on my COAR artwork is done and I'm so thrilled with it. I'm a sucker for detail and I had a lot of fun getting the Oxford shoes just right. I'm finishing up art for chapter 2 of my COBB. I have to stop myself from illustrating every scene, my partner has written so many scenes that beg to be illustrated! I've also been playing around with a fandom tattoo idea. The bun Baz looks so lonely and I really should get him shaded in too!

Side note, I've found myself listening to @youarenevertooold's podfic for Bazlow's Hierarchy of Needs every night when I sit down to draw. It's so funny and a chaotic Dev really is the best kind of Dev! If you haven't checked it out, you definitely should!

Simon's birthday is such a fun time of year and I loved seeing everyone's posts! I thought I might include some fun facts about my birthday spread below the cut, in addition to the tags

-I keep a journal of my baking and I had jotted down my pie in the sky idea for this year's birthday bake just hours after posting the butter cake last year. I never expected to be able to hit every item, but I surprised even myself and the only thing I didn't do was add flecks of edible gold paint to the petit fours

-I already have next year's bake plotted out and I think it's even bigger

-I had asked for a Fortnum & Mason hamper for my birthday after having read Snow for Christmas. I've given them as very special gifts in the past, but Daphne's love of it reminded me that I love it too!

-The pouring fondant for the petit fours can sense your fear and it's unforgiving. You have to commit to pouring it evenly and quickly because you only get one shot. My family was delighted to eat the rejects

-My hands were red for two days because I foolishly didn't wear gloves when I was making the wings and tails

-I mixed in little chunks of almond paste with the sour cherry scones and it was the best thing ever

-The checkerboard cookies were a reference to the battenburg cake I made last year

I have so much fun doing these birthday bakes! I love that it brings other people joy and the lovely comments I get mean the world to me! Although, I think from now on I may only do birthday bakes for Simon and Baz

Now, on to the tags!

@messofthejess @valeffelees @artsyunderstudy @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @youarenevertooold @bookish-bogwitch @facewithoutheart @thewholelemon @larkral @run-for-chamo-miles @fiend-for-culture @cosmicalart @mooncello @that-disabled-princess @cutestkilla @noblecorgi @iamamythologicalcreature @best--dress @emeryhall @ileadacharmedlife @drowninginships @supercutedinosaurs @whatevertheweather @rbkzz @ebbpettier @theimpossibledemon @katatsumuli @thehoneyedhufflepuff @theearlgreymage @theotherhufflepuff @onepintobean @orange-peony @hushed-chorus @fatalfangirl @ic3-que3n @bazzybelle @nightimedreamersworld @martsonmars @aristocratic-otter @shrekgogurt @monbons @alexalexinii @prettygoododds @ivelovedhimthroughworse @raenestee @skeedelvee

[thecutestlittleslime]

LMK Analysis: The Circlet Scene

"I've never let anyone dictate my destiny in the past and I'm not about to start now. None of us are! We can't change who we were yesterday or in a past life or a hundred lifetimes ago. We live with the choices we've made but what matters is the choices we make right now. Only we decide who we are and what we do with the power we have!"

"Nice hero speech bud, but you know better deep in your hearts, you don't believe a word of that."

So. That happened.

The circlet is some recurring imagery in LMK, but this scene hit really, suspiciously hard.

First of all, the ink clone emphasizes the concept of "role" when speaking to Wukong, all the while removing the circlet on its head and spinning it effortlessly. The same one he could never willingly remove.

The Monkey King, when on the Journey to the West, was forcibly inserted into a role that didn't fit. Any time he made a choice to step outside that role as defined by Tripataka, he was punished harshly with the headache/torture device strapped to his head that he couldn't get off.

That's some trauma.

Just as Wukong is finishing his rallying heroic speech about choice, he is abruptly reminded that more often than not, he had no choice in the matter for what he used his power for and who he was supposed to be. Be a good little monkey who takes the verbal abuse (because according to JTTW, often no one believed his words of a demon in diguise) and take the physical abuse when you try to step outside of that role and use your power against those against you.

His destiny was dictated from the moment he had that put on, and even now he is kludged into a role he wants to escape from without much control over it at all, always having to be what other people either want or need him to be.

Sun Wukong is stuck in the role of a Hero, constantly forced into being the invincible, infallible paragon persona due to his power, giving him little choice. He tried to escape that with retirement, but it caught up with him.

So in essence, he still has a metaphorical circlet strapped to his head that he can't remove without incredible pain and suffering occurring, but also actively causes him the same thing.

The thing is? Wukong was always trying to go at it alone.

Now? He actively has friends trying to help, if only he would learn to let them in a bit more.

[planetaryplut0]

um yall

i genuinely didn’t expect glenn to get to the finals (not bc he isn’t hot, i want that man to fuck me RIGHT NOW) We’re such a small fandom compared to many of these other podcast fandoms

And I’m a small creator within our small fandom and i had NO IDEA my one silly little post would spur glenn AND nicky making it to the finals and glenn making it to the final finals. So uh thank you so damn much, ya little freaks (affectionate)

we need our boy to win this poll. Glennfuckers? UNITE!!!

[wyrm-clangen]

Would it be crazy to ask for Rainstripe/Frozentangle hypo-kits? Frozentangle had an unrequited crush at one point, didn’t she?

Man, imagine if FrozenRain had been canon. Would Rainstripe still be dead? I mean, probably, that feels like the Canon Event in this timeline. I guess that would mean her antagonizing of Fogtail would be more justified...

BUT ANYWAYS, THE KITS-

Snailkit is her mom made over. She always, always feels like she has something to prove, and has a huge rivalry with her brother Thistlekit. She would probably mellow out as she got older, and one day might have been a Snailstar. Warrior name would be... Snailshell.

Thistle is a grumpy little guy with a sharp tongue and big ego. He and Ivyshine would absolutely despise each other, or they would want to date. It would probably depend on the day. His warrior name would probs be something like Thistlethroat?

Storm is a timid little baby, which irritates her older siblings to death. She's scared of everything, from bugs to the borders, and the very idea of fighting makes her sick to her stomach, but so does the idea of seeing sick cats with gross wounds. She might've become a mediary, like her mom? Her name probably would have been Stormsong, or Stormshadow?

[navree]

I'm constantly baffled how many writers seem to overlook and mischaracterize Jason when he has arguably the most potential of all the Batkids, or at least the Robins! Like, so much can be built upon wrt his life as an impoverished youth and how that informs his perception of vigilantism, law enforcement, drug abuse, etc. Hell, his resurrection itself is something he had over the rest of the Batfamily for the longest time, before everyone else got a take a turn and it became so overused that Jason's own trauma became a footnote. Alas, most people at DC just treat him as the "Angsty Bad Boy™️" who doesn't play nice with the other kids. He's so wasted, Jason Todd deserves better.

I've always felt that if you're going to try and write a finite narrative out of Jason's story (as opposed to comics) then at some point he should quit vigilantism. His entire adult life has been solely about that and, as someone who for a long time was most famous for dying, he should get the opportunity to live, especially for himself. BUT, so long as he remains a vigilante, he offers a really interesting perspective on vigilantism that you don't really see anywhere else.

Jason, like some of the people I feel have the most reason to be in this life in Batman media (such as Bruce and Dick), has experience being a victim of criminal behavior, yes, but he also has the experience of being on the other side of the window. He knows the criminal element intimately, and from a young age. His father was a low-level criminal, it got him sent to jail and eventually murdered while in jail; Jason grew up in a low-income neighborhood that has been by and large overlooked by Gotham and that allows criminal behavior to breed there to the point where the name Crime Alley no longer refers to a singular event (the murders of the Waynes) but all the other issues there; Jason himself has committed criminal acts when weighing the option between obeying the law and ensuring his own survival. He has a different perspective on criminality and law enforcement and outside enforcement of legal codes than anyone in his life, because he's lived on both sides of the lines and they've both had profound effects on him and should shape how he views the world differently than other people he knows.

Jason's vigilantism, and honestly even how he deals with stuff during his crime lord era, should be motivated by at once knowing that issues don't pop up out of nowhere and that even criminals have interiority, but also a deeper understanding than most as to how the actions of criminals affects not just innocent bystanders but innocents in their own lives. It's a unique perspective that not only enriches Jason as a character but can also provide some pretty thought-provoking conversation about vigilantism and Batman's role in the world and even the concept of extra-legal justice we find in most superhero comics in general that DC could honestly use.

Like yeah, ok, I did find Stephen's monologue about his role as a doctor being that of a healer at the end of the General Strange arc in this year's Doctor Strange hokey, but the way a superhero's personal life informs their actions as a hero is an interesting concept that only gets shallow explorations most of the time, and Batman media could really use it in more depth given how shallow people's understanding of Batman is (Batman's a capitalist Batman's a fascist Batman beats up the mentally ill Batman victimizes the poor, dear God shut up).

And when it comes to Jason's death, it is pretty obvious that, when it comes to the Batfam, DC is trying to recapture that feeling that came with A Death in the Family every time they kill a character off, to try and tap into what made Jason's death such a big thing. But the problem is that they fundamentally do not understand why Jason's death was so big.

For one, and the most shallow reason for it, Jason's death wasn't just death. At the tail end of a series of difficult issues for him, like finding out his dad was murdered in prison and Bruce lied about it, to the debacle with Felipe Garzonas, to Bruce benching him as Robin (which, given that Dick being benched ended with him no longer being Robin and leaving Wayne Manor, it's reasonable to infer that a formerly homeless kid who experienced a significant amount of trauma due to that homelessness would start to worry that no Robin=no longer being able to live with Bruce and having to live on the streets again), Jason ends up trying to find his mother. And when he finds her, this adult woman, who he should be able to trust, if only because she's a grown woman and he's fifteen, deliberately leads him into a trap with someone he is deeply aware is dangerous, points a gun at his head, and tells him that what's about to happen is his fault while he tries and fails to fight his way out of what he knows is going to be a really bad set of minutes. Honestly, more people need to read ADitF, because the sequence of events is a lot more horrifying than pop culture remembers it. Jason is already beaten into the ground by Joker's henchmen before the Joker gets started on him (while Sheila stands back and watches, God) and by the time it's done, half of Joker's suit is colored red instead of purple to represent blood and everyone in that warehouse thinks that Jason is already dead. And then he gets blown up. Jason's death resonated so much not just because of the fact that it happened, and that Bruce felt upset about it, but also because what happened to him was horrifyingly brutal and to date remains one of the truly most sadistic things the Joker has ever done.

For two, Jason's death had an impact because it was meant to stick. Unlike Bruce getting lost in time or Damian getting stabbed, where it was pretty clear that the characters were not going to stay dead, and then by the time you get to Dick and whoever else has died recently, where the audience (and the characters) have no reason to believe that this will be permanent, Jason's death was meant to be the end of the story. Due to Starlin's hatred of Jason as a character (which is weird) and DC in general wanting to move away from kid sidekicks at the time, Jason was supposed to die and then stay dead forever; there's a reason why the saying was "nobody stays dead in comics except for Jason Todd, Bucky Barnes, and Uncle Ben", because he was meant to, you know, stay dead. It hits because the audience itself, along with Bruce and Dick and Alfred and Barbara and everyone else in Jason and Robin's life, thought that this was the last we would see of Jason Todd alive and that he would never come back ever again. It's also why his resurrection packs so much more of a punch than anyone else's either, both in universe and out of universe.

For three, Jason's death was greatly helped by the meta-narrative in a way that nobody else's has been. Because, the eighties was a period of a lot of change for DC, and especially for Batman due to the popularity of The Killing Joke (which wasn't even supposed to be canon, yet by the time Jason died Barbara was already confirmed in canon to be paralyzed and therefore have the events of that book take place) and especially The Dark Knight Returns. Which means that the eighties was when people started writing darker Batman stories, and they kept going from there, and the characterization got darker along with it (seriously, read something from the early eighties and then something from, like, the 2010s, the difference is insane) as Batman slowly just because a darker and more sullen character. And because that change coincided with Jason dying, and there was an initial attempt to push a sort of "Jason's murder is turning Bruce into a crazy person" message to really show audiences how badly Bruce was dealing with the situation, it creates this sort of in-universe progression where Jason's murder fundamentally altered Bruce in a way that has, so far, proven utterly irreversible.

It's not just that Bruce's son was murdered and that he's had to deal with the grief and trauma of that loss, it's that the grief and trauma of that lost basically completely shattered Bruce and he is never going to be able to put himself back together again. He is never going to return to who he was before Jason died even though the initial hurt has literally been reversed because Jason was resurrected and subsequently re-entered his life. Jason's death was so calamitous, so monumentally awful, that it changed who Bruce was as a person in a way that can never be undone or reversed, and most of the people in his life these days don't even know what Bruce was like before, while the people who do know just have to live with the fact that Bruce as he was then is as dead as Jason was (this fic by @damianbugs really gets to the unique tragedy of the whole thing so go read that). None of the other Batfam deaths have that, not even Stephanie's, which was also meant to be permanent before it got retconned, and so they don't hit as hard because they not only don't have much impact on the audience, they don't even have much impact on Bruce as a character, certainly not anywhere near that Jason's did in both intensity and longlasting effect.

The problem is that DC didn't really didn't expect Under the Red Hood to be as popular as it was, so they kept Jason around without really knowing what to do with him or having any plan for him, which is a choice we're still feeling the consequences of today in that they both still don't really know what to do with him and really resent him for it, along with his longterm popularity in all of his iterations. And fandom itself likes to just hew to tropes with no basis in canon whatsoever based on the shallowest understanding of all characters, including Jason, so that's not even helping matters much, and why I stick to my own bubble.

[casuallydyinginthecorner]

Here's my theory: We saw the cgi thing of Dustin, Jonathan and Nancy falling in a car, presumably to the Upside Down. This is backed up by recent pictures of Jon and Nancy in a car, wearing similar outfits to the cgi and to when they first went hunting for the Upside Down in season 1. My thought is they get trapped in the Upside Down by Vecna (The Vanishing of ***** Wheeler -> the missing Wheeler is Nancy), and Mike and Will go to look for them (Will b/c his connection to Vecna, he decides looking for them is worth tyhe risk). They get ready to do so in episode 4, prepping at the Radio Station (pic of Will released on his birthday w/headphones). Here, Mike and Will have a heart-to-heart w/Robin, and Mike and El have a talk abt their relationship (the leaked vid). They leave in the night (the night shoots we saw in Millie's Insta and from the vid of someone saying "you need to run"). While in the Upside Down, they find everyone and get them away from Vecna safely, but smth happens (maybe he loses his headphones/doesn't have music/angsty byler Upside Down scene stops the music's effect) and Vecna gets ahold of Will. He starts getting possessed and everyone starts fighting Vecna/calling out to Will. Will tries to fight it, but gets weaker and weaker. Here, Will grabs Mike by the throat (the "grab him by the throat we heard in the night shoot vid) and tells him "you need to run." Mike refuses, but Will begs of him to do it, and so he does. This is where we might get a confession (either from Will as his final words before full possession or Mike promising Will he'll be back for him). This is where we'll have the rumored second time skip (for angst); this will also give Mike's feelings to develop if he hasn't confessed/realized already. This will lead to him coming up w/a rly risky plan for getting Will out, which will lead to a s3 parallel to when he said he loved El (everyone's telling him it's too risky, he's saying he'll do anything to get Will back b/c he loves him) and convinces everyone to get on board (the leader Mike we've been told will make a comeback). The last few episodes are a fight in the Upside Down, either the series or a big fight before the final battle ending with them getting Will back. Mike holds him gently, and they say smth along the lines of "it's rly you/are you rly here?/I'm here/I didn't stop until we found you" and then they kiss. Then byler is one of the main things (aside from love for the Party and his friends) that keeps Will immune from Vecna (if there's still a final battle) and they defeat Vecna. Yay happy ending!

[aquagirl1978]

In your opinion, If there's a situation where there is no escape and Chevalier is forced to choose who will be the one to be saved between her lover Emma and Rhodolite his country, who do you think will he choose? For me I think he'll choose Rhodolite, I mean reading his route made me feel like he treasure's Rhodolite more than Emma, It's understandable because who doesn't love their country

What an intriguing question, anon. But I have to disagree with you.

I'm going to put everything under a cut, as I will discuss his Dramatic End, so spoilers beware.

In Chevalier's Dramatic End, as they prepare to go to war, Chevalier has a conversation with Emma in his office, where he agrees to let her join them on the battlefield.

He warns her that if she comes, no one will save her. But she willingly goes anyway.

As luck would have it, Emma does get kidnapped by the enemy (how many times have we seen this?), and given Chevalier's past (who can forget Bloodstained Roses Day where he allowed 1,000 people to be killed), Emma's future looks pretty grim.

(Hey, there's Bloodstained Roses Day, mentioned once again)

Up until now, Chevalier is acting like his usual self, ready to give up one woman for the good of his country.

But it's all an act.

The next time we see Emma, she is with Flandre and his soldiers, who are very eager to spend some time with her. But who shows up at the end, cutting down everyone in his path to save Emma?

Shocked, and not expecting him, she wonders why did he come?

This is a man who worth is everything to. He doesn't even bother to use names unless they have worth (which is why only Clavis is called by name). Chevalier, the genius that he is, predicted she'd be captured by the enemy. But he wanted her close - so that he could come save Emma. Emma, the person who saw he was human. His first hug. His first kiss. His first everything.

Emma had such a great effect on him, he started to change. One of these changes was seen in Ch 19 when he went directly to the anti-war faction, and used his words rather than his sword. He invited Leon there to witness this, to see that Chevalier had changed.

If Chevalier was in a position that he had to choose Rhodolite or Emma, he'd move every mountain to avoid having to make that choice. And if anyone could do all that, it would be Chevalier.

But at the end of the day, he's picking Emma. Because by not picking her, he is reverting to the Brutal Beast. And he doesn't want to be that person anymore.