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The Other Woman :(

happy batjokes day ohhh im putting them in peril ohh please divorce and kill each other

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That Time When AC3 Flipped Indigenous Portrayal

I always liked that AC III flipped familiar tropes about Native Americans in media, particularly regarding the language barrier and cultural awareness. Ziio mocks Haytham for assuming she can’t speak English, subverting the usual narrative where the comedic effect of not knowing the 'language of the land' is on the indigenous.

It is also Haytham - not Ziio - who causes the bar commotion despite his rather arrogant and baseless assumption that her culture would make her more prone to violence despite only being in the country for roughly a couple days. This also highlights that she understands the land and its people far better than he does.

Redcoat: "Oi, where you goin’, cully?" Redcoat: "No. The other cock robin." Haytham: "Well, I uh… I WAS leaving." Redcoat: "Oh? And now?" Haytham: "Well, now… I’m going to feed you your teeth." Kaniehtí:io: "And you were worried I was going to be the problem."

This also extends to Connor, as he regularly defies expectations by displaying more morality and virtue than many of his colonial counterparts. He criticizes the manipulative nature of the media for countering lies with more lies.

Sequence 5: Stop the Presses (Transcript)

Samuel Adams: "So now you've had a chance to see how it all works. Untoward actions will upset the citizens and inevitably lead to the guards being called. Depending on the severity of your transgression, they may simply search a bit before giving up and returning to their posts. But should you offend them severely or repeatedly – they'll become much more aggressive in their pursuit. I've shown you three ways to turn the tide. Remove wanted posters, bribe town criers, or visit a printer to create your own propaganda." Connor: "This feels wrong. Why not just speak to someone and explain my innocence?" Adams: "You can't be serious?" Connor: "We counter one lie with another. Words on paper instantly taken as truth. And all of it without question."

Calls him out on his hypocrisy in fighting for freedom while owning slaves.

Sequence 6: On Johnson's Trail (Transcript)

Samuel Adams: "Of course. I'm headed to a meeting with some men who should be able to help. Why don't you come along? It's good to see the people finally taking a stand against injustice..." Connor: "Says the man who owns a slave." Samuel Adams: "Who, Surry? I practice what I preach, my friend. She's not a slave, but a freed woman... At least on paper. Men's minds are not so easily turned. It is a tragedy that for all our progress, still we cling to such barbarism." Connor: "Then speak out against it." Samuel Adams: "We must focus first on defending our rights. When this is done, we'll have the luxury of addressing these other matters." Connor: "You speak as though your condition is equal to that of the slaves. It is not." Samuel Adams: "Tell that to my neighbor—who was compelled to quarter British troops. Or to my friend who's store was closed because he displeased the Crown. The people here are no freer than Surry." Connor: "You offer excuses instead of solutions. All people should be equal and not in turns."

And even stops Israel Putnam from kicking a dead enemy’s body - emphasizing that even someone as ruthless as Hickey was still a man.

Sequence 8: Public Execution (Transcript)

Israel Putnam: "At ease, men! At ease! I said lower your goddamn guns! This man's a hero! The General can be so stubborn sometimes. Piffle, he said, when we warned him something like this would happen! Piffle!" *Israel Putnam kicked Thomas' body* Connor: "Stop." Israel Putnam: "He wanted to kill the Commander. Nearly killed you as well. He was a scoundrel." Connor: "But still a man." Israel Putnam: "Hmph. You're nothing, if not consistent."

Assassin’s Creed III challenged the traditional portrayal of Indigenous people as either savages or passive victims, instead presenting them as individuals with intelligence, morality, and deep cultural awareness. The narrative highlights their ability to navigate complex social and political landscapes while exposing the hypocrisy and shortcomings of colonial figures. Rather than being depicted as primitive or completely naive, characters like Ziio and Connor demonstrate a greater understanding of their environment and the moral contradictions of their time. The game doesn’t just critique the British - it questions the American revolutionaries, revealing how their rhetoric of freedom often excluded those who did not fit within their social order.

Through Ziio and Connor, AC3 asserts that Indigenous people were not merely bystanders in history but active participants who approached their world with wisdom and integrity.

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No wonder why Connor is so emotionless: Imagine watching your mother dying in the burning down of your village and doing everything to help your people, only to get screwed over, deceived, manipulated and betrayed at every turn (with one of those people being your father, who deliberately hid the information of your mother's death so he could manipulate you to his side), with finally your people being expelled regardless by the people you thought you would help them (and finding out they don't give a shit about your platitude.)

My point: Fandom should stop hating Connor because he isn't Ezio.

The problem was never that Connor isn't Ezio. The problem is that we, as Western audiences, have been conditioned to reject characters who don’t conform to a familiar, Eurocentric mold of storytelling. Ezio is charming, charismatic, and effortlessly likable. He flirts. He jokes. He grows in ways that reflect our favorite power fantasies: freedom, control, and self-actualization. He’s the kind of hero we’ve been taught to root for, over and over again. He fits the mold.

Connor doesn’t.

Connor isn’t here to dazzle you. He doesn’t joke to put you at ease. He doesn’t flirt to win you over. He’s blunt. Angry. Grieving. And rightly so. His world is one of broken promises and stolen futures; he has no time or space for charm. He doesn’t perform vulnerability for our comfort. He is vulnerable, raw, young, and cracked open by the world, but never in a way that flatters the viewer’s ego.

Ask yourself: Would Connor have been more “acceptable” if he’d laughed more? If he'd made his trauma easier to swallow? If he'd flirted with Myriam or Ellen or softened his convictions for the sake of pacing?

That’s not a flaw in Connor. That’s a flaw in us.

We’ve been trained to celebrate protagonists who slot neatly into stories built on Western values of charisma, triumph, and emotional legibility. When a character refuses that mold, when he challenges us instead of charming us, we call him “boring.” Or “too serious.” Or “hard to like.”

But Connor is none of those things. Connor is essential.

Because where most protagonists in this series survive, Connor learns. He doesn’t blindly follow the Creed; he interrogates it. He studies the systems around him. He saw what gave the Templars their power, and why the Assassins keep losing ground. And even after betrayal, disillusionment, and unimaginable loss, he chooses to stay with the Assassins not because they’re flawless, but because their path is the right one.

He’s also the only Assassin to ever sincerely question whether reconciliation with the Templars is possible. He doesn’t just kill Haytham and move on; he listens. He hopes. He tries. That quiet dream of peace, followed by the heartbreaking realization that it cannot be, is unlike anything else we’ve seen in the series.

Connor isn’t just another blade in the dark. He’s the conscience of the Brotherhood.

Fandom didn’t reject him because he was poorly written. Fandom rejected him because he made injustice uncomfortable and because he refused to entertain us while doing it.

No, Connor isn’t Ezio. He was never meant to be. And that’s not just the point. That’s what makes him unforgettable.

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garrus vakarian, 2183: pathetic. what could a woman do to put you in this state????

garrus vakarian, two years later because his boss (a woman) died:

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A Queer Reading of Mass Effect - Garrus Vakarian and Demisexuality

Despite the title this is really not a structured formal paper, more like just some rambly analysis from someone who is both queer and deeply obsessed with these fictional characters.

An obvious disclaimer is that this is my headcanon and personal interpretation, etc, etc. There are many ways to read this character and relationships, and this is just one of them, etc etc. You know the drill. Under no circumstances am I saying I'm right and everyone else is wrong, just presenting this particular reading of the character.

So. Garrus Vakarian. Best sniper boyfriend, bad boy turian, Archangel. Also, unintentional but great demisexual representation.

Now there's really no way to analyse all of Garrus' romantic relationships (the only one we know of from his past is his own account and that one is also only presented as a hookup/one night stand. I will return to this later. I think I will, at least. I don't have a plan here.) but there are two romantic relationships he can enter over the course of the three games: one with Commander Shepard or with Tali'Zorah.

Now, the latter is… not handled the best way in the games, in my opinion, and speaks of a wider issue with aphobia in not just the gaming industry but in media in general, but that's its own separate discussion. For the purposes of this analysis, however, I will be looking at Garrus's possible relationship with Tali. It's also important to note here that out of those two relationships, neither starts as romantic and rather is built first as a friendship and only eventually and potentially turns romantic or sexual much later on. The earliest Garrus can enter a romantic relationship is (though this is depending on playstyle) near the end of the second game of the trilogy, which makes more than half of the relationship we see him have with Shepard as more platonic than romantic (although admittedly those lines are rather blurry in the second game. More on that later.)

Back to Tali. They are friends first and know each other extremely well. I will not be going very deeply into this relationship because of how I feel about the way BioWare handled it, but for the sake of full transparency in this analysis, the game itself does present that relationship (also interesting side note while we're on the subject: out of the only two women we see Garrus "dating", neither is his species) as based on their friendship and connection rather than Garrus being physically attracted to Tali (in fact, it can be argued he didn't even know what she looked like at all prior to the two of them hooking up). Even though this is presented as more of a stress relief or friends with benefits situation than an actual romantic relationship, it is clear those two only chose each other because they were already close friends not because they saw each other as physically attractive.

This very nicely brings us (back?) to Garrus and his relationship with Shepard. Due to the way the games are structured and with Shepard being the main character, this is obviously going to be the largest section of this analysis, not just because of my personal emotional investment in this relationship but because of the largest abundance of material to analyse here.

The way Shepard and Garrus's relationship starts is… interesting. For the entirety of the first game, their dynamic is closer to that of a mentor and mentee and eventually of two friends, and there is very little hints of any seuxual/romantic feelings between those two.

ID: Garrus might have started to have feelings of some sort for Shepard at this point.

This base of friendship and mutual respect is extremely important to keep in mind especially with what comes later. The Shepard/Garrus relationship (from here on now referred to as 'Shakarian' for brevity's sake) begins in a way that is very different from most other video game romances (and most romances, really). It starts with Garrus stating outright that he is not attracted to Shepard. Now, there is definitely a lot more going on here than just taking what he says at face value, but it is also important to note that he has no reason to lie to Shepard here and in all likelihood, he truly believes what he's saying here.

Shepard proposes sex, essentially asking Garrus how he feels about adding benefits to their friendship. Throughout that whole conversation, neither of them highlights physical attraction. In fact, the way they're acting would suggest that's not even part of the equation here, or not a very important one at least. What they talk about instead is trust and respect.

ID: Shepard saying "I don't want something closer to home. I want you. I want someone I can trust."

Garrus agrees to Shepard's proposition not by saying he's always liked her or that they would make a good couple or anything like that. He says she's his best friend. Again the friendship is highlighted here so much and especially in direct opposition with the lack of physical attraction. As they go ahead with this, they're constantly talking about this connection they have — I want you, I want someone I can trust, you're my closest friend, if we're about to die I want to have a moment to cherish that's just the two of us… It's clear this is about more than just sex, to the both of them, but the feelings shown here do not come from physical attraction but from emotional connection.

I could analyse the Mass Effect 2 Shakarian romance scene to the moon and back and still have things to say, especially with regard to the demisexual reading of Garrus's character, but this post is running long as it is. Garrus is nervous and awkward and emotionally vulnerable. Any remaining conviction that this is about stress relief is at this point ultimately shattered.

Then cue Mass Effect 3. After six months apart, it is clear the relationship between Shepard and Garrus is… different from what we saw at the end of the previous game. The way they interact now, even before eventually officially reaffirming their relationship, is more unambiguously romantic. The physical touch between them is very deliberate, with particular attention given to their hands: they touch, shake and hold hands, tenderly cup each other's cheeks. It is clear at this point to the characters perhaps as much as to the audience that this is no longer about stress relief (and that's assuming that's all it ever was at any point, which can also be argued was not the case). Along with this deepened emotional connection between them, so does develop the way Garrus talks to and about Shepard. There are parts of Mass effect 3 where Garrus seems fully confident in the relationship and it does not seem to just be banter or joking. As he starts seeing Shepard as not just his friend but as his girlfriend, so does change the way he looks at her not as a human but as a woman. As a beautiful woman, even — something he would not have thought of her at the beginning of their relationship.

I would also be amiss if I didn't mention the way Garrus acts in the Citadel DLC and contrast it to his behaviour from Mass Effect 2 in particular. While definitely not "canon" in the way the games themselves are, the DLCs are also, for better or worse, officially released content in the universe of Mass Effect. (In the case of the Citadel DLC, thankfully mostly for better.) Everything in here should be taken with a grain of salt, especially with the romanceable characters, as the foremost role of this DLC is as something of fan service meant to give the series a happier sendoff than the actual ending. That being said, it is very interesting to see Garrus at a point in time (unspecified but although canonically this takes place before Cronos Station, the characters for the most part act more free and familiar and could be argued as though this takes place post canon — while I do not subscribe to this reading of the Citadel DLC, I thought it important to also point that out) where he and Shepard have been in a relationship for a longer period of time and he feels more confident in both the relationship and his role as Shepard's partner.

Garrus in the Citadel DLC joyfully asserts himself as Shepard's boyfriend (a word he only describes himself with once in the canon Mass Effect 3 if I'm correct) and proclaims his affection for her out loud and repeatedly. What's particularly interesting to note here is how often he refers to her being beautiful or attractive here. The "nice outfit" line is not exclusive to the Garrus romance, so it would feel dishonest to include it in an analysis of this character specifically, but there is a lot Garrus says about Shepard that other characters do not. He brings it back to how lucky he is to be with her and implies others might see her as a desirable partner. The "I love your hair and I'm pretty damned partial to the rest of you too" line always stood out to me. This can be read as just a cute nod to him finding her most alien features attractive, but it also speaks to him seeing her as attractive in general. The "hell if I know" conversation where he talks about how good she looked wearing her fancy outfit at the casino also comes across as genuine. It's fascinating to see him so forthright about his attraction to her at this point in time when put in contrast with him in Mass Effect 2 being so forthright about the lack of that attraction.

It is clear, very clear, that throughout their relationship Garrus grows to deeply love Shepard not because of her alienness or in spite of it, but completely separately from it. He acknowledges that she is human and that it is not something he is attracted to, but cares about her so deeply that it does not factor into the decision to agree to her proposition and entering into a relationship with her. The relationship they build together is one that is shown to be built on trust and mutual respect, in fact more so than any actual "feelings", which is admittedly a departure from what might instantly come to mind when one considers love, especially between two fictional characters. But aside from their confidence in their connection and in each other, there's another thing that grows in this relationship, once given time: Garrus's attraction to Shepard, something he initially was striaghtforward and realistic (Garrus, ever the realist, ever saying it as it is) about in saying that he did not see her that way. Then, giving time to their relationship and after letting their connection deepen, letting their emotional bond become stronger, Garrus finds himself attracted to Shepard not just emotionally but physically as well.

And definitely some might argue that after being with a human sexually and romantically for some time, Garrus has simply started to see humans as potentially desirable too, but we never see Garrus interested in any humans besides Shepard (RIP Chloe Michel's unrequited crush on this guy) so there is really no evidence either way here. And there are many ways to read this characterisation other than "this character is demisexual", but that is certainly the impression I am getting from the way this relationship progresses and the fact that he never mentions being attracted to anyone else, neither Tali in their possible brief hookup near the end of ME3 nor the scout from his story. In fact, he doesn't seem to pay much attention to phsyical appearance of potential partners whatsoever until his relationship with Shepard grows more intimate to allow him to find those feelings for her along the way despite not having them to start with. And that, at the very least, reads as extremely demisexual to me.

Happy Pride!

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I just want to say that this cover has NOTHING to do with the issue it is for and J doesn't even appear in it so I find it hilarious that someone in DC said "Yeah. Yeah that's the cover we need." and went with it.

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what Joker sees:

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Considering the Batman: Telltale games to be in the same level of "wholesomeness" as the Lego Batman movie has always been a sign to me that people have either not played or watched the game, or they just completely and blindly missed the entire plot and purpose of it, and I don't know which is scarier. Batjokes in the Telltale games is worse than Batjokes in the comics, by a significant margin.

In the comics they are and almost always have been basically evenly matched with no true differing belief about their relationship. Batman has a very good reason to treat the Joker as badly as he does. In the Telltale games, Batman is leading on a mentally ill man for his own gain.

It is not a cute story. It is an extremely tragic one.

Bruce manipulates and uses John to the point that he breaks and ends up doing something horrific in either outcome. Bruce himself says that he made a mistake, and Alfred feels guilty about it himself.

Their relationship is extremely unbalanced, toxic, and based on Bruce lying to him over and over whether John becomes a villainous Joker or not.

Completely dismissing exactly what their relationship consists of is an antithesis to a major point of the narrative, that Bruce is doing bad things that he should not be letting himself excuse.

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its kinda sad how joker is really deeply an interpretation of the demonization of queer people.

and like batman is not allowed to reciprocate because hes not allowed to be subject to it as well, subject to being that evil queer person.

thats why i can never hate joker. i cant just look at him for what he is in canon, its also behind the scenes. a lot of joker writing is deeply homophobic and honestly i just feel bad. really look into the history of that character instead, its fairly compelling as to why people care about batjokes

joker created the “villians/bad people are inherently queer” trope or the “being queer is inherently evil” trope or the “villians are in love with their heroes” trope

fandom could never make me hate him no matter how deep rooted their superiority complex is. he’s only allowed to exist in the context of being this homophobic characture of what queer people are supposed to be in media. evil. comedic. psychotic.

and i guess i like batjokes because it goes against this and just allows the characters to be a little more than that, like joker has to sit and suffer in that narrative and something about that is so sad to me especially as a queer person.

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I am BEGGING the BG3 fandom to acknowledge that the story is specifically set up so that the player always makes the “right” decision.

Trust The Emperor? He does exactly as he says, treats you as a friend, helps you kill The Netherbrain, and floats off into the sunset without ever once betraying you. Don’t trust The Emperor? He taunts you, says he always thought of you as a puppet, shows you how evil he is and fights against you in the final battle.

Help Astarion ascend, Gale become a god, and Shadowheart become a Dark Justiciar? They say thank you, this is what I always wanted, I’m very happy. Keep Astarion a spawn, Gale mortal, and make Shadowheart a Selunite? They say thank you, this is what I really wanted, I’m very happy.

The characters aren’t real people. They’re plot devices to ensure that the player always gets a satisfying conclusion to following the plot and side quests to their completion. I’m so tired of the same arguments over and over where people use evidence from Choice A to explain why Choice B is bad and invalid.

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Honestly is it any wonder that Evie and Jacob gravitated towards Henry & Roth (respectively).

A month after their father's passing (at least according to theirs and George's bios) they're sent on a mission with George who seems annoyed by them both ("a successful mission then, in spite of you two") and then they go to London and (at least that we can see as an audience) Henry is the first person to truly offer condolences for their father's death, something that would resonate with Evie considering how much she revered Ethan. And then there's Jacob, who spends most of the game being insulted by the templar's (Ferris calling him a coward, Elliotson mocking him about Ethan, Pearl using him, the Earl of Cardigan calling him a villain and a coward etc) and then here comes along this man (Roth) who calls him brave and heroic and seems to genuinely like him and the way he does things (which is important later with Evie's comment of "father was right he never approved of your methods").

They're probably both still grieving to various degrees and are looking for some sort of comfort. Evie resonates with Henry who is kind and gentle (and we know Ethan was emotionally and physically distant from them) and Jacob resonates with Roth who shows him approval and praise and warmth, something he might not have gotten from Ethan. In a way Henry and Roth are filling in the gaps of what Evie and Jacob might've felt was missing from their lives. Except in Jacob's case Roth is more so what he wants rather than what he needs and it ends in tragedy.

This is long and ramble-y sorry. I just have a lotta thoughts about these 2 and I'm bad at articulating things.

Jacobs bio at the end also talks about how Ethan's death granted him freedom from being the watchman and that freedom aspect probably tuns a whole lot deeper what with his canonical night time escapades in gambling rings and dens. And what does Roth offer? That very same freedom he say desires. Maybe not explicitly but it's very much implied.

Jacob gets that freedom away from Ethan's expectations (be it from ethan, evie, george or other assassins) via that chaos from Roth. Even with as cautious as one should be around Roth, Roth still gives him at least the illusion of choice when it comes to the start of their partnership.

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all BatJokes hate is founded on the (INCORRECT) assumption that Batman, at his core, is a good, virtuous man

he is not, and i will die on this hill

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joining the Akechi smokes agenda 🙏

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she is an icon, she is the moment 💋

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doomed in every universe I fear...iykyk🥲

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a little Sampo doodle 🎭

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I thought I would expand that AU idea I had (and with better art to grace y'all's eyes)

some other notes:

• Kaeya still has stone!Diluc in his cave as a reminder of his very grave mistake (he's been wallowing in guilt for at least 200 years)

• Ajax and Kaeya first meet when Ajax announces his arrival by claiming he's come to slay the Gorgon that lives here and then promptly trips into stone!Diluc because the cave is dark af and he can't see and almost knocks him over

• it would be an understatement to say Kaeya wasn't pleased but after saying many choice words, he's like "great! if you could make it quick I'd be very happy 🙏"

• Ajax is like "🧍‍♀️" and now can't, in good conscience, kill this Gorgon cuz it wouldn't be a fair fight nor fun

• so Ajax leaves and Kaeya is now disappointed cuz damn. there goes his chance at atonement (unfortunately for him, he's immortal and can't die. he knows cuz he's tried. many times.)

• but then Ajax comes back the next day and the day after and the day after etc. just wanting to talk and hang out

• Kaeya is perplexed and wary at first but eventually warms up to him

• on one such day, Kaeya mentions a Cyclops he used to know that really liked poetry but he hadn't seen them in a while and Ajax is like "hmmm that sounds familiar – OH NO I KILLED THEM 😱"and he takes that secret to his grave

• and this sends him into a bit of a crisis of him questioning if HE'S been the monster all along cuz he's been the one starting these fights and these beasts were just defending themselves

• so Ajax puts a pause on his great quest for now until he can find a better one (one that still involves fighting of course)