#only for it to end in tragedy

[bluerosefox]

Family Resemblance

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I had another 11pm brain worm.

Enjoy

-x-x-

Daniel Wayne, the younger toddler brother of Bruce Wayne and the son of Martha and Thomas Wayne had been kidnapped the night their parents were murdered.

Daniel had been snagged the moment their killer heard people headed to the alley and Bruce in his state of shock didn't realize it until it was far to late and could only scream in horror (from everything) as his baby brother is crying his name. (If you wanna make it even more heart wrenching, make it Danny's first time being able to say Bruce's name right and/or Bruce had said some mean things to Danny earlier after he accidentally broke something of Bruce's, something like 'I wish youd go away' or 'I never wanted a brother, you're such a bother!')

Bruce is being held by Alfred as some police officers are chasing down the Wayne's parents killer while some stay behind to see if they could do something.

Minutes turn to hours and as they wait, praying the police at least found Danny, Bruce is ridden with guilt. From his parents death to allowing his brother to be kidnapped.

Eventually the police return to give Alfred and Bruce the news. And it's not good.

The killer escaped and Danny was nowhere to be found.

And it would take many years before he would be found.

-x-x-

Bruce gets a call from Damian during school hours one day. When he answers he is greeted with Damian demanding him to get to the school and explain himself.

Confused Bruce asks what does he mean and Damian responds with

"The two new students in class today are the spitting images of you and I father! Either they are poorly created clones or you have more hidden blood children!"

-x-x-

Meanwhile the very students being discussed are calling up someone too

"Ellie? Dan? What's wrong? You better not have made too much chaos already, I just paid for the uniforms for that place."

"DAD! I THINK ANOTHER ONE OF THE FRUITLOOPS FAILED CLONES SOMEHOW SURVIVED!"

"What?"

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Maybe we never had a chance.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[opikiquu]

my life a movie (PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR)

[bobbydake]

how it feels explaining to a gelphie shipper that i believe it’s real but i also believe that elphaba would still choose fiyero even if she and glinda were romantically connected

[cjrae]

Repressed Love. Or: Derrick Eckhart and deconstructing the "Duke of the North."

Apologies if you're used to Apothecary Diaries content from me, but I'm currently reading "Villains Are Destined To Die" and Derrick Eckhart has me in a bit of a chokehold.

Because he's such a trainwreck. And he's allowed to self-destruct in a perfectly logical way that follows from his character archetype - an archetype that is usually portrayed as someone to be Healed By Love. Instead, Derrick Eckhart's story is a classic tragedy. He is doomed by the qualities that define him.

(image credit; Ep. 38)

Here's a 30 second recap of the setup for Villains Are Destined To Die. The main premise is that our heroine is suddenly thrust into the world of the romance dating game she was playing on hard mode as the villainess, Penelope Eckhart, who is the adopted daughter of Duke Eckhart after his biological daughter tragically disappeared. The goal? Get one of the five male leads to 100% affection score and achieve an ending before the true daughter reappears at Penelope's coming of age ceremony and the regular game begins with the Duke's True Daughter as the heroine. Because the villainess always dies in the end.

Our five male leads are as follows:

Derrick Eckhart - the eldest son and heir of Duke Eckhart.

Reynold Eckhart - the younger son of Duke Eckhart and a knight.

Callisto Regulus - the Crown Prince and a war hero.

Winter Verdandi - a mysterious nobleman and sorcerer.

Eckles - a fallen noble of a conquered nation, now enslaved, but secretly a swordmaster.

If this looks like a list of tropes, congratulations! That's the point. Each romance-able character fits into a neatly defined trope, but since we're focusing on Derrick Eckhart, we're looking specifically at the following archetype:

"The Duke Of The North."

(image credit: Ep. 37)

Derrick Eckhart hits almost every single bullet point on a list of this trope. Colored in cold tones; black hair and blue eyes, with an angular, cutting beauty that is indicative of his matching aloof and logical demeanor? Check!

While their duchy is not physically in the north, it is isolated in that the Eckhart duchy is neutral, not throwing their support to either candidate in the succession struggle between the Crown Prince and his younger brother. Check!

He's the captain of the Eckhart duchy's knights (20,000 strong), so his military prowess and power is acknowledged. Check!

He is the heir of the duchy and is very aware of it's responsibilities, fettering many of his actions through the lens of those duties. Check!

Traumatic past? Check, check and check!

If Derrick were the male lead of this story, his story would likely follow the typical tsundere path of learning that there is strength in the trust that accompanies vulnerability and intimacy - that the balance between the duties of his position and the desires of his heart is not only possible, but desirable. The female lead's love would either be a redemptive object or, in better written stories, an example that propels him to better himself in order to be worthy of her.

But the author did something interesting. They broke the trope down and deconstructed it. What might actually happen when that traumatized, emotionally stunted man falls in love for the first time? Is this something he is able to handle with grace and maturity or is he motivated by his underdeveloped emotional ego? (I'll let you guess...)

Let's look at the two primary emotions that represent Derrick's two "sisters" and drive his actions: guilt and shame.

Guilt

So, the backstory behind Derrick's trauma is both very simple and heartrendingly realistic. The three original siblings, Derrick, Reynold and Ivonne sneak out to a large festival one night. Derrick, being the oldest, has Ivonne's hand in his, but the parade begins and as the crowd swells, his little sister is swept away.

Ivonne is never seen again.

His little sister's disappearance proceeds to tear the already grieving family apart (the mother has succumbed to Dead Mom Syndrome). It's now only the male members left - and while Reynold is allowed to act out and grieve openly to a degree, Derrick is not. He is the heir and he is already expected to control his emotions and conduct himself appropriately. Because his actions reflect on his name.

It doesn't matter that his little sister is just gone, with no leads or even the closure of finding her body.

It doesn't matter that it's his fault; for taking them to the festival without asking permission or guards, for letting Ivonne's hand slip out of his, for failing to find her.

In that crucible of pain, sorrow and guilt, Derrick learns that there is no possible justification for losing control. Because to do so is to make everything even worse. Ivonne and his mother are both gone. If he shames their name and proves himself to be an unworthy successor, Derrick will lose his father too. Everything in his life must now revolve around being the perfect heir - because it's all he has left.

(image credit, Ep. 152)

Callisto makes a similar observation about the weight of being an heir. "The Emperor must be flawless." (Ch 73). We'll actually circle back around to this, because Derrick and Callisto are narrative foils for each other.

Neither Callisto nor Derrick are allowed to show emotions such as fear or grief - because those are potential weaknesses that people could use to try to take advantage of their family's power to advance agendas that likely do not have the best interest of either the imperial family or the Eckharts in mind. Indeed, Callisto's position is weakened because of his brutal reputation, which he encourages in order to express his anger.

Derrick doesn't have that outlet. Anger isn't something he's allowed to feel; rage will only compromise his judgment and threaten the only identity he has left. The most he is allowed to express is irritation and contempt.

Penelope vs Ivonne

And then the Duke does the most insane thing possible - he adopts a street beggar that has a passing resemblance to Ivonne and makes her the new daughter of the house.

**cough** Does anybody see a problem here?!

Oh, here's one. Penelope is so much more vibrant a character than Ivonne. You can see the surface similarities, but that's where they end. Ivonne, is described as "angelic" and painted in the same pastel tones as Reynold (pale pink hair and light blue eyes that link her to Derrick, Reynold and the Duke). Gentle, kind, quiet. An "easy" child.

Penelope is not easy. She's tempestuous and emotional before abruptly going silent after hitting a certain point. She's painted in jewel tones, her eyes "turquoise" or "emerald", her hair a deeper magenta with wild curls. She demands attention (and justice) through bad behavior and no matter how many times she's knocked down, she keeps fighting back. In short, she is uncontrollable.

(image credit, Ep. 134)

Because Derrick cannot allow himself the luxury of anger or disgust at his father for bringing this strange girl into their home, he deals with her presence by simply ignoring her and shutting away his emotions per the status quo. Or, at least, he attempts to.

But Penelope forces her her way into Derrick's life because she is NOT like Ivonne.

She does everything that Derrick is never allowed, while his father seemingly indulges Penelope with material goods that she demands because it's the only way anyone in the house will actually acknowledge her existence. Except for one person- Derrick. Derrick, as the heir, has to clean up the aftermath of Penelope's tantrums. Messes that, in his mind, there is absolutely no justification for. If he can deal with Ivonne's disappearance with dignity befitting the Eckhart name, then by god this girl can stand to control her own behavior!

And it's good to remember that, until the story starts with our version of Penelope, Derrick's perception of her behavior is spot on. Penelope herself comments on it multiple times - how OG Penelope had turned everyone against her. Reynold may have started the household's ostracism by framing Penelope for theft of Ivonne's necklace, and Derrick and the Duke exacerbated it with their willful ignorance, but OG Penelope was her own worst enemy.

(As an aside, I can tell that some readers have never dealt with a 'problem child' in their own family. As someone who did have a sibling who acted out, sometimes in seemingly unforgivable ways at the time, I can say that both Derrick's resentment and the perpetual cycles of blame are rooted in emotional realism).

This is the static pattern until hard mode starts and OG Penelope is replaced with the current Penelope, who already escaped a eerily similar toxic family dynamic. She has no attachment to these men, therefore she is able to do what OG Penelope could never do - she lets go of them. Which is exactly what is needed to smash the current dynamic to smithereens and force Derrick to contend with Penelope's presence in his life.

Because here's the thing. Penelope's behavior forces Derrick to feel. Penelope evokes a response from Derrick - annoyance, resentment...

...and desire.

(image credit, Ep. 19)

Shame

Penelope is not Derrick's sister. He utterly rejects that role, even as the Duke forces him to play it in public. He repeats this rejection multiple times; "I have only one sister and her name is Ivonne," (ch. 75)

But when Derrick expressed cold contempt, Penelope responded with hot rage. Where Derrick is aloof, Penelope is passionate. Derrick must always be in control, whereas Penelope lets control go freely. It's very much an attraction of opposites. Penelope represents everything Derrick is not allowed to have or be - but desperately wants.

If Penelope had chosen Derrick's romance path, then there's an old trope at play here; Kissing Cousins. Depending on your perspective, the incest angle is eliminated due to the fact that Penelope is adopted and Derrick never once thinks of her as his sister. Penelope's primary game conflict is that she's not truly accepted as a daughter of the house. A way to resolve that is to step out of Ivonne's shadow, tempering her extreme emotional reactions with adult self-control that allows Derrick to see and accept her in a new light - not as a living embodiment of his guilt, but as her own person. That, in turn, could give him the opportunity to process his guilt and grief, while also allowing him a safe space to allow himself the emotions he was denied by his trauma. With this conflict resolved, it clears a path for Penelope's true acceptance by the Eckharts, not as a ghost of Ivonne, but as their daughter-in-law, becoming Duchess Eckhart.

(Look, you don't have to like it, but consanguinity is a romance trope that's alive and well. I'm looking at you, Cyrano de Bergerac, Eight Cousins, Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon...shall I go on? Honestly, Derrick and Penelope is pretty tame. Diet Consanguinity, shall we say?)

But Penelope rejects this path immediately, therefore opening up the chance to explore Derrick's first love in a much more realistic sense - this is not a relationship that brings him joy, but instead fills him with shame. I didn't need to read spoilers of the light novels to realize that he was attracted to her from the beginning- it's right there in his affection score; he doesn't want to be addressed as 'Brother.' Her earliest death event with Derrick is when she implies that he's sleeping with her maid.

It's baked in.

And that shame will propel Derrick to stay stuck in his old pattern with Penelope because he cannot reconcile duty and desire. He cannot even recognize what he is feeling consciously. The easiest thing for Derrick to do is live in denial, blaming Penelope for everything, to continue being the put-upon heir of the family who constantly bails her out of trouble. Because the alternative is to acknowledge the unthinkable.

Is it admirable? No.

Is it likely to get him what he wants? Absolutely not.

Is it realistic psychology? Yes.

He is so caught up in the old dynamic with Penelope that he's too slow to realize that it's gone - the new Penelope reflects his own coldness back at him. The more she retreats, the more he chases her, looking for that source of warmth, her unyielding, continuing affection that he thought he couldn't bear. But without it, his world has become utterly cold and full of nothing but his guilt, shame and duty.

And then Derrick destroys what little attachment Penelope had to him with the trial, when he repeats this pattern for the last time by refusing to hear her defense privately and trying to simply get her to plead guilty to an attempted assassination with the assumption that Derrick will simply be able to use the Eckhart name to help her escape the consequences. Season 2 ends with, 'I had no expectations."

That's a death blow to their relationship. Derrick is defined by the expectations of others, which is why he, in turn, defines Penelope by her reputation. For Penelope to tell him that she has no expectations of him is to tell Derrick the agonizing truth - that he is nothing to her.

Not her brother.

Not the future duke.

He's not even a man that she respects.

(image credit, Ep. 85)

This confrontation is different than the Season 1 conclusion, when Penelope's finally willing to risk Reynold's affection score dropping in order to confront him with the truth and consequences of his own actions. In the aftermath of that fight, Reynold realizes that he is the one who needs to reflect on his behavior, not Penelope.

But where Reynold is able to eventually confess the truth about Ivonne's necklace to his father, Derrick is so ashamed of himself that he spirals. The old relationship is gone, leaving him with only her ringing condemnation of his behavior and her justified indifference toward him.

And he does offer an apology - but it's an apology so steeped in the only identity he has left - the Heir - that even though Penelope recognizes it as a genuine attempt at apologizing, it fails to move her. He is not capable of simply saying "I was wrong - at least, not without a bunch of modifiers about why being wrong wasn't his fault.

The Prodigal Daughter Returns

And then, of course, Ivonne makes her inevitable return - not brought in by an outsider (Winter Verdandi) as in the original game, but by Eckles, Penelope's personal guard. A man whom Derrick is already jealous and suspicious of. And, when Penelope understandably starts to lose her shit, Derrick treats it as a return to the status quo - the absolute worst thing he could do.

Especially because he now appears to have a way to expunge his guilt. He can help restore Ivonne to the family.

Derrick is the easiest target for Ivonne to subvert away from the respect Penelope has been painstakingly building from the beginning of the story, because she yokes his conscious guilt and his unconscious shame into a team that drives his actions all the way to Penelope's critical coming-of-age ceremony and the start of the original game, where Penelope's role of villainess is to be cemented.

Derrick desperately wants his little sister back. He also wants to do right by Penelope in the wake of the hunting arc. This is his tragedy, because the two goals are at odds. There is no way to restore Ivonne and win Penelope's affection.

Especially not playing against this magnificent son of a bitch.

(image credit, Ep. 58)

Like all the best character foils, while Derrick has been wrestling with shame and guilt, Callisto Regulus has been busy actually listening to Penelope, thinking critically and making judgments about her based on facts, both old and current. Unlike Derrick, he learns about Penelope and isn't shackled by what people think of either him or her. Indeed, Callisto understands the power of a bad reputation and how it can be harnessed just as easily as a sterling one.

Winter and Callisto are the ones to spring to Penelope's aid at the ruined coming-of-age ceremony, while Derrick is frozen in brainwashed confusion. Even Reynold manages to be the voice of reason in the chaos of her poisoning, pointing out that if they don't let Winter treat Penelope, she's going to die before the doctor can get to her.

(As an aside, when Reynold Eckhart is your voice of reason, you know things have gone sideways!)

Finally, only after Derrick has temporarily broken free of Ivonne's manipulation, having thoroughly soiled his own reputation and the Eckhart name by bringing Ivonne to the ceremony against the orders of their head of house and causing a public spectacle (everything he's accused Penelope of doing), he is left wandering the halls of the estate, desperate to make sense of what's happened and his own feelings.

He can't even go into Penelope's room to check on her - because that spot by her side has already been claimed. He's too late.

(image credit: Ep. 159)

This panel encapsulates Derrick's character in one shot.

The cool tones and shadows, echoing Derrick's symbolism as he's shut away from the warm light representing Penelope. The longing, the jealousy, the self-hatred as he can only peer through the crack in the door. The eerie green light of Ivonne's control has faded from his pupils, leaving him clearheaded for the first time in days as he slowly pieces his fragmented memory together to view the consequences of what he has done.

Meanwhile, a rival Derrick cannot challenge - Callisto - has the right to ask about her condition from the doctor and sit by Penelope's beside, begging her to wake up, not to leave him alone in hell. A hell that Derrick has helped create.

Derrick has had every opportunity through the end of Season 4 to change course - and each time, he is tripped up by those archetypal qualities that define his trope.

The tragic past and hidden vulnerability? These are the qualities Ivonne uses to manipulate and brainwash Derrick into betraying not only Penelope, but himself.

The emotional coldness? It means that Derrick is unable to even understand what he feels, let alone express it coherently, whether to be accepted or rejected. Instead, he's trapped in a self-destructive cycle, alienating the very person he yearns for, unable to ease his loneliness and self-hatred.

The devotion to duty shackles Derrick to a role that is his only identity that outside forces shatter for him - and Ivonne cares nothing for Derrick's well being in the process.

Rather than either the male lead or even a positive force in the narrative, Derrick's traits destroy everything he cherishes, leaving him utterly alone.

The fate of the Duke of the North is to be on the outside looking in.

[mythalism]

having thoughts about the veil and people's bad faith interpretations about the desire to see it brought down as some sort of misled leftist bloodthirst for violent revolution instead of fulfillment of the fundamental role of trickster gods in mythology and storytelling and how there seems to be, in both fans and the developers, a misunderstanding or perhaps just a disagreement of how solas was supposed to function within the narrative as a force of nature vs. as a person. my adderall just kicked in

[knockknockitsnickels]

I think this is one of my favorite lines from the Wraith route because of (imo) how much the meaning changes depending on if you got there via Spectre or Nightmare. For Spectre, it honestly strikes me as a genuine question. Why are you doing this to her? If you're on the Spectre route, you presumably already know the Narrator can't really be trusted, since you had to reject his reward to get here. What are you hoping to gain from continuing to hurt her? For Nightmare, it honestly just makes me sad. As the Shifting Mound describes her, "She desires only companionship, but the only thing she knows is how to hurt." This line feels like a plea from someone who genuinely doesn't understand why you keep rejecting her. She wants to be with you, but she just can't understand how to do that in a way which doesn't hurt you.

[fictionadventurer]

Thinking about fate in Beowulf and Lord of the Rings. How it involves taking a pagan concept of fate and applying Christianity to it. You're not a slave to a cruel and merciless universe, but your fate is still outside of your control. Your fate is now in the hands of an all-knowing, all powerful God. And knowing that, you still have to make good choices.

So now, sometimes you meet your fate, not because you can't see it coming, or because you can't escape it, but because you have to choose it. You know this course of action will lead to your death, but you can make no other choice--morality, virtue, honor, decency, dignity, and God all say that you have a duty to do the right thing, no matter what it costs you. You have to meet your fate with your eyes wide open, understanding that no man can live forever, but you can live as God wants you to live, and trust that you'll die when it's your proper time.

And this leaves open the door for hope. Instead of the tragedy of trying to escape fate and failing, the story can be about submitting to fate and being saved. Not always. Sometimes the story is that you meet your fate, but you died doing the right thing. But sometimes, refusing to take the selfish action, refusing to run means that something beyond the expectations of human reality can intervene and save you. Either way, you end the story as a hero, instead of as a victim or a villain.

[creative-clawmarks]

"I didn't want to get Jessica involved, that's why I told her I found Amy! That's YOUR fault!"

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KO-FI

[chaotic-carnifex]

No hold on I'm gonna make an extra post about this:

I wouldn't choose to be alloromantic

If I were given the choice to either remain aro or become alloro again, I would choose aromanticism.

And I think a lot of people need to hear that.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

As an owner of an xxy calico Jin rusong as an xxy calico is both so fun to see but so fitting and so sad in context of your warrior cats au

May I offer you a small consolation in the form of a slightly older Jin Rusong kitty?

[the-girl-with-too-many-ideas]

The other day, I was scrolling through Tik Tok when I came across a video talking about a 6 week old kitten who was found trying to take care of a few other kittens who were 2 weeks. They were screenshots, and one of them had a quote saying, "Imagine you're small and cold and scared, but there's smaller ones that are smaller colder and more scared."

I haven't been okay since because it sounds like Yue Qi and Shen Jiu. Their only three years apart, so all I can imagine is a toddler taking care of an infant.

All I can imagine is Qi-ge, who is nothing more than three or four. His an orphan slave and his hungry and cold and scared. When he suddenly finds a baby. His smaller and crying and just like him. Hungry and cold and scared while not knowing why. Then, next thing he knows, his picking him up and trying to comfort the little infant. As Qi-ge holds this little boy who is younger and even more helpless than himself, he decides to care for him.

He is just three-year-old Qi-Ge who decides to take responsibility for an infant Xiao Jiu.

[harrowedsoup]

Anyway Wake lives in my mind rent free and the fact that she’s the Mary to Gideon’s Jesus and John’s god is just!! So crazy to think about!! I’m not catholic enough to really appreciate it but I LOVE that about her and I wish I saw more people talk about it.

Wake, who had an incredibly messy relationship with two people at once, being cast as the Virgin Mary? Having God’s child only for them to be killed for the good of mankind?? Yet Wake’s hard refusal of anything related to motherhood because Gideon was never supposed to be anything other than a tool?? OG Gideon/Pyrrha being her own twisted version of Joseph????

[everybody-is-a-lesbian-at-heart]

I wouldn't call it love at first sight, but I think Phainon and Mydei shared mutual fascination the first time they met.

At first, in each life, they get on each other's nerves. Most times they meet because Aglaea arranged it, but others they meet by accident. Maybe while Phainon is hunting down some monsters outside the city and happens to cross paths with Mydei, who is doing just that to the secure area for his people.

But like I said, each time they tick each other off at first. They just aren't each other's kind of person. Not meant to be.

However, sooner or later something settles between them in that makes them... Raise an eyebrow about the other.

Go "huh, what's this guys deal?" but in an intrigued way. In a "you are subverting my expectations" way. In a "I want to learn more about you" way.

In my mind the times they get along the fastest are when their first meeting is an actual fight, but it's not like it takes that long even when the first meeting doesn't include blood.

Sometimes it takes a year, other times it takes a month. Sometimes that eyebrow raise moment happens a week in and isn't big enough to really care outside of a "huh, strange world".

But sooner or later it happens.

There have been times when that moment is Mydei thinking Phainon would just be a weakling, only to find out that he matches him in strength. Other times it's Mydei thinking Phainon wouldn't respect his people because he's a holy city prick, only to see him be their biggest advocate.

For Phainon that moment can be him thinking Mydei is just a mindless brute, to then discover his more thoughtful side through some small, slipped through the cracks moment. Or it can be that Phainon thought there was nothing to enjoy from battle, only to see Mydei's savage grin when Phainon lands a blow, finding himself intrigued about this man's fervour for battle, sharing it too.

Whatever their first meeting is, they don't get along at first because of who they think the other is. Only to find who the other is quite interesting.

[gomzdrawfr]

how about some 09 actions? Ghost and Roach maybe? 👀

ofc ofc, anything for you all!

I can't help myself so

bonus 09 Price [content warning: MCD]

[callaclysm]

me (tragedy enjoyer): actually jayvik ARE dead. actually they loved each other more than anything and it was not enough. actually without ekko jayce’s vow renewal strategy wouldn’t have worked even though viktor folded almost immediately. actually what they did to each other could not be undone. actually you cannot hurt anyone worse than the people you love. actually they saved the world and it cost them everything. actually they died in each other’s arms knowing that the person they loved more than anything loved them just the same. actually there is nothing left of them but their legacy, which will paint them as bitter enemies. actually—