#‘this decision makes so much sense and will not piss of a very specific and random american to no end’

[ashironie]

i hc that the Usher Foundation (that was in Washington, DC, probably for the sole fact that’s the capital) is now somewhere in Ohio.

[utilitycaster]

Do you think this new option could lead to a break up in the party and some of the characters leaving the group? Because I can't see everyone agreeing that this is the best solution, but I also think Ashton is stubborn enough to refuse to consider anything else

This is going to be a very long answer for what is a pretty short question that could be answered in one sentence, and here's why.

I've gotten a lot of questions in the past week or so that are specifically asking me what I think the future will be - for campaign 3, and for Critical Role generally. And I've gotten a little frustrated by them, which is somewhat uncharacteristic of me because I love having opinions, but the fact is, I don't know and I don't even have strong opinions. So I dug into that, and why people might be asking these things more than usual, and I really think it's because the narrative of this campaign is so constantly under threat of derailment or going in the same old circles that pretty much anyone in the fandom with any sense of narrative structure, and what makes for a well-crafted story is like "so...what's happening." Which is translating as coming to me, a person who is very good at sounding confident and knowledgeable.

I do not fucking know. I share this frustration, and I cannot be the person to clear it up. i am not even the best at narrative or analysis in this fandom; as I pretty frequently state I took the hard STEM option with regards to my education so while I read a lot and have a pretty good sense for the lay person, there are actual like, trained and published writers. For what it's worth several of them are my mutuals and while I'm not putting the rest of this post on them I do feel safe saying they agree that the lack of narrative direction is at the heart of most people's frustrations with this campaign, even if they enjoy the characters. But getting back to the point, I do not know.

Here's where I stand on the actual plot before I go back to the bigger picture. I think that unless Bells Hells decide on their course of action pretty quickly, no ending will really feel satisfying due to that sense of directionlessness - and there are arguments for Bells Hells to take either the Arch Heart or the Accord's plan, though I think the Accord's is far superior, but they need to pick one.

Because of the ongoing issues with this party lacking perspectives that tied in well to this story and having to hinge everything on either one singular interpretation of one single instance in extraordinary circumstances (eg: Dorian), or stuff that feels, as I've said before, retconned, I have generally been extremely amenable to Bells Hells losing party members either through a split or through character deaths. This is not out of any sort of vindictiveness or dislike of characters, but just a hope that now that they know the vibe, the cast will make a character who has a perspective that is relevant to the story (which, FCG is not an ideal example because they happened to be the character who had perhaps best grown from their original concept to fit into the themes of this campaign, but Braius obviously is a very strong character informed by the story as well). I also think that a lot of the indecisiveness is part of the characters' various natures and that will also be a factor, especially since a new character can be both decisive, have a clear point of view, and be a lot more comfortable pissing off the rest of the party to assert it. So: if Bells Hells as they currently stand can decide what to do quickly, no need to break up! But if they can't, yeah, it would be to their and the story's benefit to do so. That's before we get into, for example, the sacrifice required from specifically Imogen or Fearne for the Arch Heart's plan; Ashton is not the one who has to risk their own autonomy for the rest of eternity. They might die in battle, but they will not become a husk housing an ancient hunger. I think the people who might have to do so get to decide.

Now: it may seem counterintuitive to demand a clear direction from a TTRPG, when part of the appeal is that we don't know how it will end, but the thing is, with the past campaigns, we did not know if the party would succeed but we knew that they wanted to do. Vox Machina could have fallen to Vecna but we always knew they were going to fight Vecna. The Mighty Nein's decisions not to get involved with the war are not indecision but rather a very clear decision (do not get involved). Their later reversal of that decision similarly follows from who they are and the richness of their pasts.

Bells Hells does not have that, and the endless circular conversations are both circular in game and a vicious cycle out of it; because we've always been focused on this plot from very early on and because the characters were not developed as strongly, we have a lot of very indecisive people who are too trapped in this crisis to develop and become decisive. In a way, it feels like Matt's been something like the Arch Heart here: saying "oh, THIS would be interesting, I wonder what will happen" at everything when it's like "ok but consequences are like, important, and maybe you should let things play out. I mean, two cycles isn't great but it is still only two; maybe you should actually let your children/players figure this out, even if it doesn't fit your idea of what should happen, instead of throwing yet another new thing at them."

So: I don't know and I don't have answers about Campaign 3 events at this point because, again, as someone who has a pretty good sense of what makes for a satisfying narrative, it has frequently subverted those requirements (which, to be clear, is bad - it's not genre subversion or a masterful play on expectations, it's subverting actual satisfying narrative beats; as someone said on one of my other posts in not quite so many words, it's like storyline-baiting). I know I tend to present my points with confidence, and I am pretty confident about a lot of things like CR lore and said sense of narrative, but like...maybe this guess on the fandom vibe is incorrect, but I think I'm getting these questions because people are saying "hey, do you know where we're going? I think I am reading this map wrong" to me and I'm here to say "no, you're reading it fine, we've gone off the road and are just kinda crashing through underbrush, and maybe we'll hit another road and continue on that and I can give some insight, but also we might go off a cliff, no way to tell."

[pippin-katz]

Random Satisfying & Clever Moments Of Audio From Dead Boy Detectives - Part 4

There's a few moments in DBD that utilize audio really well, or use sounds that always stick out to me while watching, and these are some of those moments!

This one is a bit of longer one, and might not make sense to everyone, but I'll do my best to explain it below!

Ep. 4 - The Case of the Lighthouse Leapers: The lack of music when Charles gets up after the trauma nightmare, then the addition of just The Wellerman song as he advances on the Night Nurse.

Using sound is very important, but so is the lack of sound. The lack of music or sound effects as Charles starts winding up the music sphere creates tension. After the overwhelming amount of stimuli in his trauma nightmare, the quiet is unsettling. It is the calm before the storm; that moment when everything is too still, too quiet, and you have a gut feeling that something is wrong.

Watching Charles wind the music sphere, speaking with such conviction, yet also composure, after everything she just put him through, it's unnerving. An explosion of blind rage would be expected, not the calculated way he twists the handle, walking and talking with full clarity and awareness of the situation.

The music sphere being wound up also coincides with Charles' emotions. The Night Nurse practically did exactly that to him by forcing him through all of that pain. Charles even acknowledges that she accomplished her goal: to make him crushed and devastated. But she didn't take into account his resilience, his strength; someone else would be helpless and sobbing on the ground after what she showed him, but Charles?

He knows how it felt. He was fucking there. He knows how much it hurt. He knows how unjust and unfair his life and death were. For the Night Nurse to play it for him like a slideshow presentation, as if he needs to be taught, pisses him the fuck off. Charles is furious that this woman has the audacity to walk into his nightmares and lecture him, as if she has any comprehension or understanding of what it was like to experience it.

I think it's part of why he mentions the memories specifically when he's about to kick her: "Those memories are not why I choose to stay here!"

Charles is fully aware of what he went through, and he's moved on, or is trying to at the very least. He does not want all the horrible things that happened to him while he was alive control and influence every decision he makes. He's not that sixteen-year-old boy trembling in a corner anymore; he does not have to bend in the face of danger and injustice. He can stand up for himself, for others, and he will because he wants to. It's not to make up for some "failure" from his life. It's who Charles wants to be.

SO! Back to the audio specifically, the use of The Wellerman song is obviously fitting since the sphere was used by sailors to "calm the seas", but also because there is something inherently haunting about that tune. It's right after he says that he's angry that he pulls the pin out; after trying so hard to hold back all his anger and pain, Charles is ready to let it loose.

The beats of the scene then follow the music. From the moment the song starts to the end of the first verse, the first "segment" of the fight happens. Charles speaks, she tries to reply, he hits her, and she reacts in that timespan. There are very faint bass notes underneath the song after he's hit her. They get louder as the song progresses, reintroducing the score of the show.

When Charles takes a second swing, it's at the start of the chorus of the song.

(The difference between verse and chorus is the starting note. Verses start low and get higher; choruses start high and stay high until the very end.)

During that chorus, Charles swings and hits her; he very nearly lines up his swings with the notes, but not quite. Then he speaks once she's backed against the wall. He lets go of the music sphere in the middle of the chorus, and completes his lines up to: "I still have a purpose!" as it ends. That's the second "segment" of the fight.

The second verse starts with him making his declaration and kicking her, and it plays out as the Night Nurse falls. The second half of the verse swells into a full score version of the song instead of just the sound of it coming from the sphere. It's the third and final "segment". Charles ends the confrontation, and once Angie disappears, the song fades out.

This sequence is such a good example of knowing when to cut the music, and how to gradually reintroduce it. It enhances the uneasiness you're meant to feel while watching Charles' anger slowly escalate. It's part of what makes the whole scene so effective.

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

(ko-fi)

[mixelation]

akatsuki but ranked by if you (you, personally, a random tumblr user) could defeat them with a gun. none of them have the slightest idea what a gun is but they can probably sense it's a weapon based on your body language

9. deidara - deidara clocks you have a weapon but also he clocks you are a random non-ninja. if you finesse him right, you can engage him in a stupid argument and then he'll go "YOU THINK THAT WILL WORK ON ME, YOU DUMB FUCK?" and let you shoot him in the face. you do have to work him up juuuust right right though. if you piss him off too much too fast he will blow you up, but if he keeps his cool too long he'll make smarter decisions and just take the gun away from you

8. hidan - hidan will also just let you shoot him in the face. the difference here is hidan will then get back up. you better run fast

7. kisame - kisame is not stupid enough to let you wave around an unknown weapon in front of him. however he IS made of actual human organs so if you ran in shooting maybe you'd get lucky. remember that even if you wound him, if it doesn't take him out immediately, he can still fight you <3

6. sasori - if you can hit sasori in one very specific spot, he dies. however i'm not sure how you're going to accomplish this unless you are some sort of trained sniper. you hit anything else? you miss? you die. also there might be poison gas while all this is happening

5. konan - konan turns into paper. however she also has human organs in there somewhere. idk, maybe if you survived the millions of exploding tags--

4. itachi - itachi once got hit by lightning and then stood back up. so uh. yeah. he will not let you get in close enough for easy aiming and he's already divined what a gun is based on logic that sounds like complete nonsense when spoken aloud. there's a 72% chance you are already in an illusion aiming at your own foot. maybe if you are that highly trained sniper from the sasori scenario you have a chance? but if he doesn't die instantly, you're going in tsukuyomi. sorry

3. pein - pein in an animated corpse. shooting him does not much of anything. the only thing that prevents him from ranking higher is i think on the extremely slim chance you managed to find his real body and get past his collection of animated corpses and konan, nagato wouldn't do much to stop you

2. zetsu - i think zetsu would..... just regenerate? giggle slightly? idk, i don't think a gun would work on him at all. however he might just leave you alone because he doesn't care about you! you wouldn't win, but you might not die!

1.kakuzu - idk man kakuzu is a rage monster made of mysterious tentacles and five human hearts and his skin can turn invulnerable. even if you get lucky and kill one heart, he's ABSOLUTELY going to rip you in two with his bear hands

[tgmsunmontue]

Online & Anonymous 12/16

Hangster. Explicit. Years before they meet in person Bradley and Jake strike up a friends-with-benefits relationship online. And then something more like an actual relationship.

Odd year = Bradley's POV and Even year = Jake's POV

>>Bradley chatting (bold and italics)

>>Jake chatting (italics)

2005/2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

2017 – Bradley

                For the first time in his life he has a carrier squeeze. He and Seresin have been finding all sorts of hidden spaces to get each other off. They've traded so many hand jobs and blow jobs over the last six months Bradley feels he knows Seresin’s body almost as well as he knows his own. They haven't done much more though, the time restraint and lack of something larger than a rack doesn't make it possible. Except for those ten days after they’d bumped into each other at Sink and Drink when they’d definitely made the most of every flat surface in both their base accommodations before beginning their deployment together.

                It’s different from previous deployments, with them definitely friendlier toward one another, although he’d still hesitate to call them friends. Seresin is a closed book, resisting all his attempts at conversation that don’t directly relate to sex. He’s asked about his family, knows he has a sister at least, caught him on the phone talking to her and organizing to go on holiday with her and her kids after their current deployment ends.

                He’s still chatting with Jas, but he seems busier, or pissed off. He can’t blame him if he is pissed off; Bradley hasn’t exactly apologize for simply failing to turn up, gave no explanation, just… left him hanging. He’s not even sure why he did it, he’d just seen Seresin and… made the wrong decision. He doesn’t understand why Seresin just seems to make all good sense just fly out the window, even his normal good humor and even-keel temperament faulters when he’s around. He needs to be less hasty and more careful.

                He hasn’t had sex with anyone but Seresin in nearly eighteen months. He sure as hell won’t be sharing that fact with Seresin; it’s not like Hangman is expecting anything other than sex, or expressed an interest in anything more. However the fact he’s only been having sex with one guy for the last year and a bit feels like a betrayal, after their conversation about pursuing something if it came up but being upfront about it. He doesn’t know if he wants anything more with Seresin, it’s a bit of a mindfuck when he doesn’t even know if he likes Seresin most of the time, the guy too prickly and defensive by half.

                But that, coupled with the fact that he hasn’t shared this information with Jas makes him uneasy; feels like he’s cheating on him. Describing the different ways he has and wants to fuck Seresin are not the casual hook-ups he’s used to describing. They’ve morphed into fantasies which he’s now sharing. He tries to rationalize it, and in all fairness it’s not very often him and Jas are getting each other off anymore, their chats either completely superficial or weirdly specific and deep, sharing childhood memories of when they last felt completely carefree, or moments of pure joy.

                His feeling of unease increases as the end of their deployment approaches, because Jas has made no mention of trying to meet up again and Bradley is pretty sure that it’s his fault.

…            …            …

                “Nat, I think I fucked up.”

                “You think, or you know?”

                “I know…”

                “Oh god, what did you do?”

                “Hangman.”

                “Hangman?”

                “I know! Look, I know okay? He’s just…” Bradey scratches the back of his neck. Seresin is hot, but that’s not all he wants. “He’s hot, and I want…”

                “What about your boy?”

                “Yeah. That’s where I’ve fucked up.”

                “Bradley… what did you do?”

                He pulls a face.

                “I kind of stood him up?”

                “What?”

                So he fills her in, their plan to finally meet up at Sink and Drink, where he’d worn one of his brightest shirts but then taken it off, carefully folded and hidden under his jacket when he’d seen Seresin. The memory of Seresin’s body coming to life under his fingers, like he was a desert and Bradley was the rain, so responsive to every little touch. He leaves out the salient details but he’s pretty sure Natasha can gather where his mind goes from the look on his face.

                “You stood up the guy you’ve been… having a relationship with online for a decade… to hook up with Hangman?”

                “Yeah.”

                “And he’s still talking to you?”

                “Yeah.”

                “Wow. Okay. You are…. I love you. Okay? Please keep that in the back of your mind as I say these next words. You’re my best friend. But what you’re doing, even unintentionally, is really fucked up. And hurtful.”

                “Yeah, I get that.”

                “No. Bradley. I don’t think you do. You’re being a massive dick. If a guy was treating me like this, what would you do?”

                Bradley opens his mouth and then shuts it abruptly.

                “Oh… Oh fuck.”

                “Yeah. Look yourself in the mirror. You aren’t being fair to either of them and you need to not be a dick about it.”

                “I’m being a dick to both of them.”

                “Yeah. Even Hangman deserves better than that…”

                “It’s not anything but sex with him.”

                “Does he know that?”

                “Well, every time I try and have a conversation that isn’t about sex he shuts me down or kicks me out. Or both. He’s a fucking Fort Knox with his personal life.”

                “Yeah, like you’re a walk in the park.” Bradley sighs, because she has a good point. “I mean, putting aside the fact that you’re maybe a complete idiot. Maybe this is your own way of sabotaging yourself? I mean… Leaving him before he can leave you. You've got commitment issues and you haven't even met the guy.”

                “No I don't!”

                “Bradley you've used this guy as an excuse to not pursue a relationship with anyone you've met for years. Then as soon as you finally get to meet him you bailed. You've got commitment issues.”

                “Not with my friends I don't.”

                “No. But we can’t break your heart and leave you.”

                “You could,” Bradley argues, stubborn.

                “Don’t tempt me. You need to come clean. They both deserve it.”

                “I don’t want to lose him.”

                “Yeah well, that’s not your decision to make. What’s that saying about setting something free?”

                “Yeah. Fuck.”

                He has a feeling this isn’t going to end well.

…            …            …

                He thinks he might throw up, his nerves unable to settle as he lies on the sofa and just stares at his phone, thumbs open the Grindr app before closing it again. He doesn’t know how to say what he wants to say. He needs to apologize. Doesn’t want to explain that he passed Jas over for sex with another guy, except it’s the truth and god it’s going to hurt him and Bradley hates himself, but is pretty sure he’ll hate himself more if he doesn’t lay it all out. He never wanted to hurt Jas.

>>Jas? You around? I need to talk to you about something.

                Once he sends those words there is no retracting them and he takes in some slow deep breaths. He’s trying to remember what they talked about all those years ago, he remembers telling him to give a guy a shot if he came along. But he doesn’t think Jas returned the sentiment exactly. He can’t remember. Shit. Now he feels even worse.

>>Yep.

>>I need to tell you something. I’ve realized something and I’ve been a dick and one of my friends pretty much threatened to gut me…

>>???

>>When we were meant to meet up I bumped into a guy. I ended up ditching you to have sex with him instead.

>>Wow.

>>Your friend is right. That is a dick move.

>>I was a sure thing.

>>And you told me something came up.

>>Fuck you.

>>I’m sorry.

>>I should have been upfront with you.

>>Why are you telling me now?

>>What’s the point?

>>Oh my god.

>>You’re breaking up with me.

>>I don’t know. Am I?

>>Don’t play fucking dumb.

>>You stood me up.

>>Have barely talked to me for the last few months.

>>Sounds like you’ve been in a relationship with a guy all that time.

>>Does he know about me?

>>No.

>>Of course he doesn’t.

>>Are you going to tell him?

>>Yeah. I have to.

>>Jas?

>>You must like him a lot. To be honest with him.

                Shit shit shit. He doesn’t though. He can’t untangle how he feels about Seresin to decide if he likes him or not. Is pretty certain that Seresin is going to laugh in his face if he tries to ask him anything other than if he’s down to fuck.

>>No. I don’t know.

>>I might like him, but I love you.

>>I’m being honest with you.

>>That’s not enough though is it?

>>Not if you can only be honest with me months after the fact and still just fuck off to go and be with another guy.

>>One who you want to be with.

>>More than you want to be with me.

>>Obviously.

>>I’m so sorry.

>>I never meant to hurt you.

>>Tell me what I can do to make this right.

>>Jas?

>>Please talk to me.

**This user is no longer available. They may have deleted the app or blocked you.**

                He doesn’t know which one is worse to consider, feels like he needs to either throw up or get drunk. Or get so drunk he starts throwing up.

                He can start on that as soon as he finishes crying.

…            …            …

                When he looks at his phone again the words stare back at him, and he has to suck in another sharp watery breath to hold back more tears. There’s a missed call and when he thumbs through to it, he sees Ice has tried to call him and he feels frozen for a second, decides not to borrow more worry before he finds why Ice is ringing him. He presses on call and sniffs to clear his nose and cough to clear his throat. He can do this and sound normal.

                “Hey Ice, I missed a call from you?”

                “Bradley. Uh. Thanks for calling me back. I wanted to ring and tell you this before you heard it on the grapevine.”

                “What?”

                “I’ve got cancer.”

                He’s glad he’s already sitting down, that he’s already planning on getting absolutely mind-numbingly drunk. God he’s glad he has eight weeks in which to make an absolute enemy of his kidney.

                “How bad? Where?”

                “Esophagus. All that smoking you told me would kill me one day…”

                Just like that he’s crying again, the tears silent this time, emotions all too close to the surface, the memory of his mom, and his anger at Maverick and his older mixed-up emotions of not really understanding why his dad was never coming home and Natasha probably has a lot to say about all this.

                “Are you… what have they told you?”

                “I need an operation. Followed by radiation. There’s a whole treatment plan.”

                “Of course there is,” Bradley says, sniffing, because there had been one for his mom too.

                “Do you think you could come and stay? I know Sarah and the kids would like to see you.”

                Like he can deny Ice anything right now.

                “Yeah, of course. I’ll book a flight. Let you know the details.”

                “Good. Thank you. I’d like to see you too.” …            …            …

                He doesn’t get anywhere near to as drunk as he’d like, not with a flight now booked to California tomorrow. It’s probably a good thing he’ll be staying with Ice and not bombarding his kidneys or wallowing in his own self-pity when all the mistakes he’s made are his own. He just has one more thing he needs to do. He knocks on the door of Hangman’s temporary base accommodation and steels himself for what he’s hoping will be the least

                “Hey Hangman.”

                “Rooster. Making house calls now?”

                “You ever fucked someone?”

                “Uh. Yeah.”

                “Good. I want you to put your back into it. Make me forget. And ensure I remember you.”

                The sound Hangman makes is amusing and Bradley’s lips twitch, but he feels shattered inside, everything minced up and raw and bleeding.

                “Don’t take this the wrong way, don’t want you thinking I actually care about you, but what the fuck?”

                And there’s definite proof that Hangman definitely doesn’t care, actually saying it outright rather than just speaking volumes with his facial expressions and eye rolls.

                “I ruined the best relationship in my life and just found out my uncle has cancer. Just… will you fuck me?” Bradley asks, because that’s what he feels like he needs right now, wants to be held down, held together, forced to think about something that isn’t hurting Jas, isn’t Ice fighting cancer, isn’t his fractured non-relationship with Maverick.

                Seresin isn’t gentle, his fingers hard but not quite bruising. Bradley wouldn’t mind if he did leave marks, feels like he deserves them. Seresin manhandles him and Bradley lets him push him down, only pushes back when it’s his fingers pressing in to stretch him open. His breath comes in harsh pants against the sheets as Seresin slides into him, hands steady and soothing on his hips. Then he’s fucking him, the pace fast, feels fingers curling in his hair and pulling, nails scraping down his side, none of it gentle, none of it forgiving at all and he won’t cry or break no matter how much he wants to.

                When he does come there are tears squeezing their way out of the corner of his eyes, but he can pass them off as sweat, his body feeling well-worked over, languid and warm. Even if his inner-turmoil hasn’t settled his body feels a little less like it’s going to vibrate out in every direction. He’s buttoning up his shirt and getting ready to leave. He’s never stayed after they’ve hooked up and isn’t about to start now. He’s not sure what Natasha thinks he meant to say or ask, what she seriously thinks the outcome will be. But he needs to ask so he can honestly tell her what Hangman says in reply.

                “Would you ever be interested in something more than hooking up?”

                “Uh,” Seresin stalls, but he looks a combination of horrified and shocked, like the idea of being with Bradley for anything other than sex is inconceivable.

                “Yeah,” Bradley says, lets out a long sigh. “Didn’t think so. Probably just as well. Not like I’m exactly emotionally available anyway. I keep fucking things up.”

…            …            …

                It’s automatic the next morning, the photo of his morning coffee sent via SnapChat. He’s already got it open and thumb hovering over the send when he realizes that while Jas has maybe blocked him or deleted Grindr completely, Jas hasn’t done anything on SnapChat to block him. He adds I’m sorry, I love you to the image and sends it through and hopes.

…            …            …

                “You look worse than I feel…” Ice says when he opens the door and Bradley pulls a face.

                “Yeah. I’m not great,” he admits, and then he’s being enveloped in Ice’s arms and he feels cast back twenty years to when his mom died and he clings and cries and feels like he’s come home.

2018 - Jake

[distort-opia]

Could you maybe explain to me what exactly Jason's problem with Bruce was/is when he came back?

Maybe I'm being stupid but I don't know. Like, I know there's this space between Jason's resurrection and Talia finding him... and Jason returing for a sec to kill Bruce, then changing his mind, and went back to Talia to plan The Ultimatum and travel the world a bit.

I went off the assumption that Jason thought Bruce didn't care enough for him to kill the Joker and then the whole stupid thing with the batarang to the neck after everyone thought Dick died.

But, like, Jason kind of destroyed his relationship with the batfam himself with the whole coming out of nowhere and trying to hurt/traumatize/kill them. I don't mean to hate on Jason specifically, I just don't get him on a fundamental level.

Would really appreciate if somebody could clear that up, I'm kind of desperate. Like I have most of the facts but it seems like a jigzaw puzzle with too many pieces and I can't make sense of it.

To be honest, I don't understand your confusion fully? You pretty much explained it yourself, why Jason was angry at Bruce after he came back. Even Judd Winick, the writer of Under the Red Hood, says it very concisely (in this interview):

When it comes to Jason's relationships with the Batfam, I'll once again let Winick explain his vision (transcription of a podcast episode to be found here):

You say that Jason harmed his relationship with the Batfam himself as if Jason's intention had been to have good relationships with them. At the times he went after Tim or Dick or Damian, I don't think he cared much about that, hah. Most of his choices at the time could be boiled down to "What would piss off Bruce the most, either directly or by proxy?"... and also, "What would get Bruce's attention the most?". Because that's what made it complicated, right. Jason wouldn't have gone to these extremes if he didn't care about Bruce.

As to things not making sense... you're not being stupid, I'm sorry to say that at least to me, it's impossible to reconcile all of Jason's actions within a coherent character. Just because he was written by different people in different continuities with very different goals (though maybe more accurately, by some writers lacking a goal, as in not really knowing what to do with him). This is true for most comic book characters, not just Jason; true consistency is a pipe dream when the history of a character spans decades. Keeping that in mind, my personal approach is forming an idea of the original core traits of a character (which is why I gave examples of what Winick himself said), and then filtering their subsequent portrayals through that. Some comics will be horribly OOC despite them technically being canon and you simply have to go the "I recognize that the Council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid-ass decision I've elected to ignore it" route. Then there's, of course, your personal preferences; you can choose what is canon to you because you like it, and form your idea of a character around those instances-- though here I'd always warn to never stop being aware that it's your idea of the character. There is no absolute truth, and we're all playing in a sandbox. Other people will choose other instances of canon, or try to reconcile all of them somehow, and your ideas might not jive. That's perfectly fine.

That being said, while I do like Jason a lot, he isn't my full-time blorbo, so I'm sure other Jason scholars could respond to this much better than I did! If anyone wants to add more in-depth answers, please do.

[voxofthevoid]

Alright, I was not prepared for Yuuji fisting Sukuna's chest wound right there in full view of me and god and then for it to be followed by a Gojou jumpscare, but I had to go work soon after the leaks ended, so there wasn't any time to process shit.

I'm free and calm now though, so let's comb through this slowly:

Tōdō

I'm delighted in every possible sense by his return, from the reworked technique to his general Tōdōness. I definitely need the proper translations to make better sense of Vibraslap (not over the name), specifically the binding vows, but overall, I love the energy he's brought to this fight. It's also great to see how in sync he and Yuuji are despite minimal communication and no planning. It's reminiscent of their fight against Mahito in a good way, both in terms of the general vibe and how it showcases the greater strength of the combatants.

Yuuji and Sukuna

I am fed. I am feasting. I am kissing Gege on the mouth (only for this, however). The initial rush itself was delicious, but then it got so much better. The Black Flash and the actual fucking claws in Sukuna's chest. That entire scene with Sukuna spitting out blood, Yuuji looking like a goddamn demon, and the close-up of the fist in Sukuna's chest—it's porn to me. I've been saying for ages that Yuuji tearing Sukuna apart with his bare hands is my ideal for these two, but I didn't think we'd get so close to it. The violence between them has been great from the start of this fight, but this is visceral and beautiful.

Gojou

I am...unsure of what's happening. The logistics aren't the issue. Whether Gojou could survive his injuries was never in question; it's the narrative around it that made his death feel very permanent. And as much as I hate how that was executed, I also can't see why or how his return now would serve the plot. Maki is still alive, and Yuuta will also likely return. Tōdō is there, and Yuuji's dishing out Black Flashes left and right. Sukuna himself has been worn down an immense amount, and while I'm sure he's not yet done, he's also not the insurmountable obstacle he was. The logical course would be to pair Sukuna's last stand with the protagonists, especially Yuuji, countering him . So if that spectre is actually Gojou resurrected—why now? And what can he contribute to the plot in a way that doesn't cheapen the plot progression after his death?

What we just saw not being Gojou is an even worse scenario for me. If it's a hallucination, alright—dubious decision but nothing unforgivable. But if it's someone else in his body—not Kenjaku like people are theorizing, just something to do with the now canonical body swap going around—I will be right pissed.

I'm reserving judgement until there's clarity in the next chapter, but I'm more wary than excited. The ways this could go wrong, regardless of whether Gojou's back or it's something else, outnumber the alternative.

I love this guy, and his death was extremely disappointing—not because he died but because of how it was handled. A disappointing resurrection or a puppet body would be salt on the wound.

[twistedastrology]

- Cancers at their worst -

----------------------------------------------------------

i just saw an ig post (no shade to the original poster) that said a cancer's dark side was everything they are stereotyped to be (extremely emotional/sensitive, are way too kind and always think people are judging them) and as a cancer that may be about to go neurotic again rn im gonna tell you from my personal experience what a cancer's dark side is actually like.

like i said though im going off of mostly just my experience so if this doesn't resonate, my bad- i did my best 🙏😔

to understand the nature of a cancer at their worst, you have to actually understand water and its potential volatility.

remember when i talked abt cancers and rage and how i said cancers are fire-coded (cardinal) water? keep that in mind for just abt this entire post.

fire is pure energy, and so is water, water just has more space to hold said energy- where fire burns out quickly, water doesn't dry out that fast at all especially if you have an ocean specifically.

people who say cancers (or really any water sign honestly-) are crybabies and switch moods every 5 seconds do not understand what water really is and this topic makes me a little livid sometimes because those are the same people that made me not like my rising sign for a long time.

to understand a cancers rock bottom, think about what water can do.

tsunamis can kill hundreds of thousands of people if they're big enough.

hurricanes, and sometimes tornadoes, form over water when the temperature is right.

the pressure at the bottom of the ocean can crush almost anything in an instant except for what has specifically evolved to live down there.

rain can lead to insane flooding (fellow floridians remember hurricane ian 2yrs ago 😕)

we have explored less of our ocean than the space around us, can you imagine what oceans on other planets would be like? especially the planets or moons that are almost Entirely water?

water represents emotion, yes, but when we boil that down to water signs being overly emotional, it doesn't make any sense and it makes some people, at least the ones that are like me, ashamed of their water placements because our society loves to say "emotion = bad." when obviously that is not true.

But if we wanna talk about the actual dark shit, aka my jupiter in scorpio's favorite shit, u gotta strap in.

Cancers feel more rage than anything.

i talked abt this specifically in my cancers and rage post, but it's true for this as well.

to use myself as the example, whenever i feel depressed or upset for some reason (like today), it's never just that sad feeling, it is always accompanied by a distinct anger because i get pissed that i feel like shit.

but if that rage doesn't get its way, or worse, gets too much of its way, i can succumb to a state of misery or, at my worst, neurosis, where multiple god awful things happen.

im not one to stay down for long, the last and first time i went neurotic, it only lasted for a week until i snapped out of it, but it was still very damaging.

cancers at their worst will feel an urge to self-destruct that may or may not be uncontrollable depending on other placements in the chart and of course how shitty they feel.

they will find something detrimental to do and if they genuinely can't, they will instead just mentally rip themselves open and daydream about what it would be like to just completely lose control and fall into a self-destructive spiral.

that's what happened to me when i went neurotic. one wrong decision and, having no access to anything that would take a toll on my physical body, i ripped myself to pieces in my head and almost fell in love with the act.

like gerard way said, there's something very romantic about it.

cancers can get moody, yes, but at this point they'll go mostly numb and tearing at their soul is the only thing they enjoy.

and then the pain will catch up to them.

once that pain catches up to them, two things will happen.

they will begin to realize what they've been doing and how pointless it is, and they will activate a duality within themselves of the desire to hurt and the need for pain relief.

they will tear at themselves even more, knowing they shouldn't be doing what they are, but it's a vicious cycle.

this will happen, and then the potential for redemption begins to boil over.

after being in the dark, blissfully hidden depths of their own mental ocean, they will realize they can't breathe anymore, and they will either suffocate themselves or snap their eyes open and swim up until they see the light they deprived themselves of for however long.

once they've made it to the surface, they gasp to catch their breath, their tears being of the need for pain relief winning against their desire to hurt.

now the water is not a personal vice, but a cleansing presence that makes them feel understood. the water gets it. the water would never judge them for what they did.

after being in the dark embrace of the depths of the ocean for so long, the light finally hitting your eyes makes color seem so much more vibrant.

- 🌙 -

all this to say that, at their worst, cancers can succumb to self destruction like no other, but they have the drive to keep them going to even them out.

they don't just cry all day or switch moods 24/7, they fall into a vat of water that, the deeper they go, reveals more and more of their very soul.

it's the deepest level of shadow work, it's the pain no one wants to go through because it's the pain of losing your personal momentum and then having to find it again in an instant before it's gone forever.

OR i could be totally wrong idk But this is my experience!!!! ✨💞💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨ God belsls!!!!!!!!

my bad that was real dark and poetic writing now i gotta balance it out Uhhhmmmmm Legalize nuclear bombs. 💥

[thatgirl4815]

Not to be a total Ray apologist (especially now at all times!) but I am somewhat irked at the way Top and some online opinions talk about Ray "dragging" Mew into his destructive lifestyle as if Mew is an innocent lamb being led astray. Mew is an adult who knows exactly what he's getting into with Ray - he's spent the past couple of years chastising him over said lifestyle, and he knows it's driven by Ray's substance abuse and mental health issues. Yes he's heartbroken so isn't making the best choices, but he is still responsible for those choices . Ray, however is an addict. We know this, Mew knows this, Ray denies knowing this. The idea that the addict is more responsible than his non-addict friend (who is very much cognizant of addict's addiction) when said friend decides to dip his toes into the self-destructive world of said addict...well, that's something. People rightly criticised Ray for demonstrating a type of 'poverty tourism' during ep 5 and as far as I can see, Mew's actions seem to be something similar, because we all know it's not going to stick - he's going to try on the unhealthy hedonism shoes cos he's pissed and heartsick, but he can take them off whenever he wants, whereas for Ray those shoes are cement blocks made from childhood trauma which are dragging him down to an early death (as Mew himself prophesied only an ep ago!).

On an entirely unrelated note, my two favourite First moments in this ep were 1) the adorable little noise he made after Ray asked him to help him/pulled out the 'na?' and 2) after Ray asks if he really doesn't want to talk to his dad, there's a second where you can see him imagining it before he sort of shakes himself out of it - it's such a lovely and subtle moment. And I think it's a pattern that repeats in his interactions with Ray - we see him allow himself to fall under his spell, or live in the moment, imagine what his life could be, and we also frequently see him give a little shake of the head and a rueful smile as if to gently knock some sense back into himself. Like we saw in ep 5, his life follows a routine necessitated by his financial situation and the emotional walls he's built up as a result of this and perhaps his romantic history, and he acts like he's fine with it, but then little cracks sneak in now and then that serve to remind him he's just surviving, not thriving. And I do think he's okay with not knowing his dad, and of course he's right about families not having to be mum/dad/child, but still, there's that wistful moment of 'what if' that seems to be a recurring theme throughout his story.

That's a great point about Mew being able to live Ray's addictive lifestyle with none of the longterm consequences; it's definitely a nice callback to Ray's poverty tourism and the ways in which these characters are adapting to other characters' lifestyles and being let into their world. Ray got to see Sand's world and became more empathetic towards him in the process. Maybe this foray into the world of drugs, alcohol, and hard partying will show Mew something similar about Ray? Specifically regarding his own criticisms.

I want Mew to open his eyes to his own errors when chastising Ray about drugs and alcohol. I want Mew to understand that simply lecturing someone and looking down on them isn't enough to make them quit. I want him to see why Ray has turned to these methods of release, and why even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to get himself out easily. This could be a groundbreaking moment for Mew to get to experience a fraction of what Ray is going through (not on a psychological level exactly, but as far as the addictiveness of drugs and alcohol). And yeah, Top's anger over Ray corrupting Mew is frustrating, because he acts as if Mew is a little puppy on a leash, going whichever way Ray pulls him. We know for a fact that Mew is capable of making his own decisions, and whether or not he's going through a heartbreak doesn't change that. He's letting himself fall, and he can ultimately only blame himself; he knows what he's getting himself into with Ray.

(Sidenote, but this is such a big blow to Ray--agreeing to be with him only when you're at the lowest of the low and your judgement is impaired. Mew is winning friend of the year once again...)

First! I agree--he does a great job with subtlety as far as making us aware that he is curious about what it would be like to know his dad. One of the reasons I think First is so good in this role is that he's excellent at portraying the little cracks in Sand's facade, whether it's about Ray or his father. He's good at acting one way but clueing the audience in that he really feels another way. I'm not an actor, but I suspect executing all of those emotions would be really hard to do.

Speaking of Sand though, I just. Want to wrap him up in a hug and tell him that he deserves better. (But also, SandRay endgame PLEASE.)

[o-uncle-newt]

Cabin Pressure Advent Day 17: Qikiqtarjuaq

Or, if Arthur had his way, Quikiqutarjuaqu?

Q (because The Name is very annoying to type) is, as I said back in my Boston post, not one of my favorites. And I wish it were, because, like Ottery St Mary (which has its own divisive moments), it has SO many classic bits. The traveling lemon! Le bear polar! Farewell bear facts! From that perspective it's incredible.

But it has a weird tone problem, and to me, the whole thing comes back to Nancy Dean Liebhart.

Yes, yes, it's because she's American and Americans on British sitcoms are never great, fine. But I think in this case it goes beyond that, because a lot of the episode ends up circling around her and her reactions. Martin wants to impress her; Douglas seems to (though it's not explicit) want to piss her off, if it'll mean dinging Martin in the self esteem in the process; Carolyn wants to show her that she doesn't matter. (Arthur, of course, just wants to tell people bear facts. Lovely Arthur.)

To be clear- the Martin-Carolyn plotline would have happened regardless, because he's genuinely pissed about having to cancel a paying job. Their whole scene feels a little bit... almost too much? Like, Carolyn is actually pretty cruel to him in her response to his request, and Martin's rant back to her is almost too pathetic, if that makes sense. It's internally consistent from an emotional standpoint, but it feels out of sync tonally with the rest of the episode- which is one of the reasons why I felt genuine uncomfortable when Douglas wanted to continue the traveling lemon game and Carolyn was like "oh well maybe not"... because Carolyn had just had a serious come-to-Jesus moment with Martin and Douglas was still in his own stupid world about trying to be an asshole.

Because here's the thing. Douglas was SUPER unprofessional throughout. The episode knows this obviously, and acknowledges it outright in the end. There's a power struggle between Martin and Douglas about it, and we've seen that before. But the difference is... I don't think that this one was actually very funny. It just feels like Douglas being a jerk for the sake of it, and then when that ends up involving things like the Bear Polar and Captain du Creff, which are gut-bustingly hilarious, they just go together like chalk and cheese.

To get back to Nancy Dean Liebhart- it's all her fault, in my opinion. She's just not funny, and as I said about Hester Macaulay in Cremona (who I don't think was as bad as this...), she needs to either be really funny or really wrong in order for the hijinks of the plot to work, and she's neither. All of the above conflicts circling around her (entirely reasonable!) complaints, and her weirdly arbitrary decision to pick on Martin about them which of course ends up being the place where the plot starts... it's just uncomfortable because she's basically right but the episode treats her like she's ridiculous.

I'm curious if any British listeners will disagree with me on this- I'm wondering if there's just a British trope of "naggy American woman" that makes this funny in the UK. Maybe some kind of Karen trope, but where it doesn't matter what the complaint is as long as the accent is (mostly) right? I don't know. Nancy is definitely somewhat Karen-y in how she comes across and how she talks to people, but her points are largely valid (and therefore not super funny) and that's fatal for a character like her. It forces us to pay more attention to Douglas's response and how he's being deliberately spiteful specifically to screw with Martin, and to the weirdly intense Martin-Carolyn subplot, and then contrasts it with the nutty Bear Polar subplot and Arthur and his bears, which are all super silly. And it leads to it just being... strange, tonally, and not in a way that I personally like.

Without her, I think a lot of the same things COULD have happened, but they'd have happened on their own terms. We could have seen Martin be annoyed at Douglas for the Hitchcock cabin address and seen that as "Martin being a stickler" rather than "the paying customer being annoyed," and it would have been more like other similar episodes where Martin is the safe pilot and Douglas is the good one. We'd have seen Martin be annoyed about not being paid and having his paying work sabotaged, and maybe even him taking that out on Douglas a bit. And I think it would have de-intensified certain things in a way that would have helped. Nancy Dean Liebhart just fucked with the rhythms of the show and wasn't even funny enough to justify it.

This whole rant makes it seem like I hate the episode, and... I don't, really. There are too many good moments. But I have to watch it with my finger on the "skip" button.

[amorremanet]

disclaimer: blah blah blah, this post is just one person’s opinion, blah blah blah, I’m basing said opinion on my own observations but there are no doubt pieces of the story that I’m missing and my opinions should not be treated as fact, something something, DO NOT harass the volunteers at AO3 support or anyone else over any of this, if you harass anyone over this then you are the asshole, period. not a debate, just a fact.

SO, LIKE. I honestly don’t have anything of actual significance to add to the current round of AO3 Discourse because all of my complicated feelings on it have already been said better by other people

(e.g., axing “all media types” tags was a bad idea; some fans may not like them but they are too broadly helpful to be done away with entirely; this is a complex issue, there is likely no way to make literally everyone happy; there should’ve been more transparency and AO3 upset people more by rolling the change out with little to no warning; lumping former “all media types” works into a specific fandom silo was all but guaranteed to piss people off; the Archive userbase being hair-trigger makes a lot of sense after some of AO3’s very high-profile fuck ups in the past few years; however, the three (3) volunteers handling the support tickets are not the people who made the decision and it’s garbage that they’re the ones who are left dealing with so much of the vitriol from upset fans; etc. etc. etc.)

My big question in all of this is: if the people on the tag-wrangling committee who made this decision actually thought that getting rid of the “All Media Types” tag was going to be a broadly popular decision with a lot of support from users, then why didn’t AO3 do more to announce this change to users before it started being implemented?

If we are supposed to believe the version of the story that has come out from AO3’s people, the one where they really did believe that it was in the best interests of the majority of AO3 users to get rid of “All Media Types” tags, then why doesn’t their behavior about the decision reflect that? Why didn’t they post more to let Archive users know that this was coming? Why didn’t they talk up what a great change this was going to be and how many people and fandoms would allegedly benefit from it?

Why is it that most users (readers and authors alike) seem to have found out about this from popular posts on reddit, tumblr, or twitter, all made by aggrieved fans whose fandoms have been negatively impacted by the decision? Because as far as I can tell, there was a single solitary post on the official AO3 tumblr about this, which went up AFTER the change had started rolling out and got its reblogs turned off because of all the backlash?

Not to treat “say that shit with your chest” as uniformly useful advice, but……… Come on, AO3. If you really stood behind the decision to get rid of “All Media Types” tags as much you’re claiming—if you really, truly believed that it was in the best interests of the Archive as a whole and that the majority of Archive users would support you in it—then why didn’t you say that shit with your chest?

Because to me, failing to announce the change ahead of time—and then only doing the bare minimum to let users know—looks like moves to try and hide what’s happening, which does not make me, personally, inclined to believe the “We really thought that this would be a popular decision with broad user support” story

I do not have any explanations for what could’ve happened instead of the official story. Moreover, I’m don’t actually want to speculate on that beyond saying “The way this was publicly handled makes me personally feel disinclined to believe the official story” because conspiratorial bullshit thinking like that doesn’t help anybody (it’s way more likely to cause unnecessary harm, especially by spreading ideas that may sound true enough but are probably not gonna be based in reality, when you get down to brass tacks about it)

But the way that this whole change was handled publicly makes me personally feel disinclined to believe the story as put forth by the official post from AO3, and as a longtime Archive user with millions of words of fic posted on the site, who donates to AO3 and the OTW when I can? I really don’t enjoy feeling like I have even more reason than before to distrust Archive staff :/

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 3 replay, Citadel post coup:

-Notably, the C-Sec officers on the human embassy level are all turian.

On the presidium, the C-Sec officers are human.

Was this intentional of Bioware? Maybe the idea is to minimize potential conflict of interest on the investigation into Udina by assigning non-human officers to it and assigning the human officers to public spaces?

-Why do the C-Sec officers forbid Solik from filming the refugees on the docks?

They claim it’s because he’d be “disruptive”.

I suspect they’re actually trying to avoid a potential PR disaster if people see the conditions on the docks.

-Cerberus specifically looked for Kelly.

A bit flattering, in a sense – she’s more important to them than she thought!

Also a bit terrifying. TIM is really pissed at everyone who left Cerberus and is determined to clean up loose ends. There’s no other reason to go after Kelly; she’s no threat to Cerberus.

-Conrad is one of the best parts of ME3. All that busywork in ME1 finally pays off!

I know he’s supposed to be a joke about all the side quests, but I wish more or ME3 relied on past decisions like Conrad’s.

Maybe not to the extent that you lose content if you did not do so something, but so outcomes were at least influenced by them.

There are parts of ME3 influenced by past games – is Wrex alive? Kirrahe? Legion? Etc. – but there are a lot of past decisions that make no difference at all, like the turian insignia or if you got Lorik to testify against Anoleis.

Even if they just added flavor, I’d appreciate their inclusion.

-If you go renegade with Jack, you learn that her students helped get civilians off Palaven.

Interesting – turians usually don’t regard adult turians as civilians, since everyone has military training. The term is normally reserved for children or client races. So is Jack using the term in the human sense of non-combatants or the turian sense?

I’m probably thinking about this more than Bioware did.

-If you flirt with Joker, he just about panics. He does not think of Shepard that way.

-Joker won’t consider Shepard because they’re both in uniform and there are regulations against that.

There are no regulations against dating the ship AI, however, so that’s okay.

That’s cutting it awfully thin, Joker. I’m sure if the Alliance had ever considered the possibility of a ship having an AI they’d have regulations against it.

-Paragon or renegade, the fact Edi’s body is made of metal and Joker has brittle bones is brought up.

To go completely off script: Is this really relevant? They don’t have to have sex. Or they could get very creative. This is not what I would consider a deal breaker.

-If you go renegade with Edi, she brings up the lifespan difference between her and Joker.

Apparently she spoke to Liara about it and Liara was no help at all.

Interesting – Liara’s the obvious choice, since she’s an asari. However, her own relationship experience is very lacking so it’s logical she would have little to offer Edi. Very much a case of the blind leading the blind.

-As Thane dies, if you go paragon the last prayer is for you.

If you go renegade, the last prayer is for Thane.

-Shepard to Thane after he passes: Goodbye, Thane. You won’t be along for long.

Yeah, Shepard does not expect to make it through the Reaper war.

-The volus bank teller is skeptical of Sanctuary. How can it promise more safety than the Citadel? Second time a NPC’s called bullshit on Sanctuary and it’s another volus. I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked that the merchant race recognizes a scam when they see one.

Now we just need to set them up with an official broadcast so they can inform everyone else instead of one person at a time.

-Captain Sommers wants to kill a C-Sec officer who assisted Cerberus during the coup. He killed other officers and is now bargaining for a better deal by offering intel. He’s former Alliance and Sommers feels that the Alliance should deal with him.

Paragon, you tell Sommers to stand down because the intel may save lives. Renegade, you use spectre authority to let Sommers kill him legally.

It’s a nice touch to have another sidequest where paragon/renegade feels very different.*

In most of ME3 it feels like renegade has had the teeth removed; it just feels “softer” than in ME1 and ME2. This is a good instance of the two differing more.

*In main missions they differ more, although there the renegade dialogue still “feels” softer.

-Ghorek is the only time Shepard has to really deal with the consequences of destroying a colony in Arrival, and it’s disappointing.

He’s a terrorist, so you’re already predisposed to dislike him. You only exchange a few lines, and there’s no opportunity for investigate or a real back and forth.

I’m glad Bioware included it, but it feels very surface level with little depth. I wish there was more to it to really show the harm Shepard did and how they’re dealing (or possibly not dealing) with it.

Also, there should be choices between letting him die and calling over the nurse. Is there a reason I can’t call over the nurse AND inform C-Sec he’s a terrorist?

-Officer Noles is an excellent reminder on the importance of CyberSecurity. Balak’s using codes from when the batarians had an embassy on the Citadel.

That was what, 20 years ago? Those codes should have been decommissioned as soon as the embassy closed.

But they were not, and there are dead humans for it.

This is why it’s important to have standard operating procedures and regular asset reviews, people.

(How did Balak even get the codes?)

-Balak continues to be compelling.

He’s an evil bastard that’s been killing humans out of misplaced revenge, but paragon or renegade you can appeal to his desire to save his people and he’ll give you his support. You can see how much it costs him to do so, but he’ll set aside his personal desires to serve the batarian people.

In another timeline, Balak could easily have been hero. He has more than enough courage, intelligence, and drive.

In this one, however, he’ll just have to settle for being the lesser evil.

(Also, Balak can see that working with Shepard is the batarians’ best bet, but you expect me to believe that Udina thought Cerberus was a better option?)

-Also, nice of the C-Sec officer standing right there to ignore Balak holding a gun to head. Great job, sir.

-The callback to the Levaithan of Dis first mentioned in ME1 is also well done. The reveal it was a Reaper corpse, that the batarians who studied it all became indoctrinated and that’s why the Hegemony fell so easily – harsh and completely in line with lore.

-Kaidan: Knowing that you acted with integrity – then it matters.

Ah, Kaidan. Paragon of paragons, integrity carved into your bones. Regardless of who took the shot, you handle Udina’s betrayal poorly.

It wasn’t your fault.

-If you refuse to let Kaidan on board, he handles it very well. He doesn’t argue; just takes the polite rejection well and leaves.

Normandy

-When you speak with Traynor to receive the mission about the Cerberus scientists that have quit, Shepard mentions that many who worked for Cerberus believed they were doing the right thing. Shepard did.

And of course the game doubles down that Shepard did do the right thing by working for Cerberus in ME2 and that the Cerberus was working to stop the Collectors while the Alliance did nothing.

Did I hallucinate the Virmire Survivor on Horizon during all my playthroughs? And has the game forgotten that spectres have leave way to choose their own missions – so Shepard could have pursued the Collectors as an agent of the Council rather than a terrorist?

-If you let Traynor take a shower but don’t join her, Shepard comes off as the most oblivious lady in the world. It’s actually rather funny. Traynor left the door open and Shepard registers nothing.

-James’ meeting is very touching. He opens up and is vulnerable – last time he was in command he lost everyone. He’s afraid it will happen again.

For all the bravado he puts on, there’s a lot going on behind that facade. He’d probably make a great officer and N7.

-There was a Cerberus spy working with the Collectors. How much you want to bet he was sanctioned by TIM?

Yet the game still insists Shepard was right to work with Cerberus in ME2.

Ugh.

-The game keeps talking up Kai Leng, especially Andeson, but when he doesn’t have plot armor he’s a wimp.

He’d have died in the attack on the salarian Councilor if a single character in that scene had had any sense.

Citadel

-And once again Cerberus leaned on the “we saved colonies from the Collectors” angle to get an in with someone, this time the Din Korlack.

Apparently it can even excuse fighting with the Alliance.

And surprise, surprise the terrorist organization turns around uses the aide you provided them to blackmail you. It’s almost like they always had their own reasons for what they did.

-Din, it’s bad enough you helped Cerberus at all. Refusing to turn over the name of the colony you sold out unless Shepard is charismatic enough? Be better.

-The game’s refusal to explain Zaeed’s beef with Cerberus pisses me off to this day.

Once again, a Codex entry would easily have solved this problem. Or a few more lines from Zaeed. But no, keep guessing.

-James, stop shrugging while you’re getting a tattoo!

And getting a N7 tattoo before you’ve completed the program is a terrible idea.

-James panics even more than Joker when Shepard makes a pass. Lol, Kaidan’s the only human man that can keep up with femShep. The rest all run away.

-Kelly: I heard about the terrible things Cerberus did during the coup. That’s not the organization I joined.

Yes, Kelly, it is. Here’s a list of terrible things Cerberus did during ME1. Ask Jack if you want some more items that predate it.

Cerberus has always been terrible. The apparently just have the best PR department in the galaxy since everyone is shocked every time some new terrible thing they did comes to light.

-Liara still won’t speak to me on the Citadel, although everyone else will.

Well, except Garrus but that’s because he’s not there. Liara’s the only one both hanging around and not initiating a dialogue.

-Kaidan also takes it well if you reject him on the Presidium, although his hurt shows through more.

He does stick you with the bill, however.

[templegate]

i NEED to know your thoughts on nagito

Genuinely? I really like him. I joke that I hate him but he's one of my favorite characters.

During my playthrough I was basically making fun of him the entire time. But like... Affectionately.

As for any character analysis. I think he's so fascinating. I don't think i can properly wrap my head around him verbally. But i feel like I know what he'll do in a given situation.

He's devout to the concept of hope because of his life circumstances. And it's not like... A rouse. He genuinely believes all of the things he's saying. Which is why he's fun. He's obsessed with hope because he has no hope. He's an orphan with every kind of trauma, he's terminally ill, etc etc.

And yet his obsession is entirely self centered. It's all about him. How he can become a stepping stone for hope. How he can become the ultimate hope. He will actively derail relevant conversations to talk about hope and throw a few insults/compliments around. Also his own obsession with being the ultimate hope probably stemmed from learning about Makoto Naegi in chapter 4

I honestly get the vibe that he finds the investigations and class trials massively entertaining and gets a lot of joy out of figuring things out and watching it all play through.

People also simplify him down to horny hope guy in love with Hajime. Which is just... Kind of offensive to his character. Cause when he really started getting good was in Chapter 4. After he realized they were all remnants of despair, and in particular - his favorite little guy (hajime) was not only a talentless little nobody, but also technically the "ultimate hope" and had all the talents and kickstarted the despair apocalypse. I think if i were him I'd go a little crazy too.

And imagine that. Everyone you know is evil. Including you. Specifically for the ideology you hate. Nagito's decision to kill everyone and himself makes a lot more sense when you consider the fact that he's disgusted by them. His malice- is totally understandable given what he knows and his own personal morals.

He's such an asshole too (affectionate) and i think we need to look at that more. Like most of it before chapter 4 is unintentional. But we need to talk about it. He's such a dick.

His black and white world view on talent and worthiness is also so fascinating. He simply believes some people are better than others. There's no nuance. Which is funny considering his own situation would be nuanced. He got into Hope's Peak by luck and doesn't consider himself an ultimate. But still will take the chance to dunk of Hajime for being in the reserve course. Simply because he feels superior.

speaking of Hajime it's very funny how much Hajime dunks on his whole worldview. Yeah the talentless guy you've been Dunking on for two chapters? He's actually the ultimate hope, has all the talents, saved your ass from the simulation and being taken over by Junko, and hes still willing to associate you after you tried to kill yourself and take everyone with you. Like i cannot imagine how pissed i would be if i was Komaeda after he woke up from the Neo World Program. It's hilarious. It's so dramatic.

I haven't played UDG or watched DR3 yet so I can't get the full scope of his character. But i still think he's great.

That's not to mention things like my opinion on shipping, characters i want to lock in a room with him. (If you're curious, it's Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Natsumi Kuzuryu, and Yasuhiro Hagakure) Etc etc

So in conclusion i hate nagito komaeda

[charles-simmons]

My "small" essays on why Sootcest has actual interesting ships, except I'm only writing this to piss off a friend who hates selfcest. I'll send it to her later

Episode 1: Ghostbur x Revivebur

This is probably the most famous Sootcest ship, which makes sense. They have almost opposite personalities and even opposite colors schemes (blue vs red). These are common characteristics in ships, because people love seeing character that could never get along together being together.

But besides from that, what makes the ship specially interesting is the fact they're technically the same person. Now, some people might disagree with that. They have different memories, opinions, and act differently from each other. There are multiple theories on why the ghosts don't act like their alive version, which is something I can talk about on a different analysis. The point is, they're kind of the same person, but not quite the same person.

There's one thing that needs to be clear for this analysis and that is: Wilbur wasn't murdered, his death was assisted suicide. He begged for his father to kill him and it was his decision to die.

With that in mind, it's hard to believe someone who wanted his own life to end would fall in love with himself, or, in this case, a version of himself.

Ghostbur is a version of Wilbur who (supposedly) has no bad memories. Our experiences and everything we went through is what shapes who we are. Since Ghostbur doesn't have many of Wilbur's bad memories, It's like he didn't even live these things, therefore, didn't became the person Wilbur did. So, to a level, Ghostbur is the person Wilbur could've been if it wasn't for all the trauma he went through - trauma that led to him losing his mind.

Let's talk about Revivebur specifically now, the man who wanted to end his existence, but had to endure 13 years in limbo. Canonically, for him to be revived, Dream had to kill Ghostbur. In the few moments where Ghostbur was mentioned to him, he expressed dislike towards him or avoided the subject, which is understandable. For some it must feel violating to have someone who looks like you walking around and interacting with the people you knew. Someone as proud as Wilbur would probably hate the idea of being impersonated (not that that was what Ghostbur did, but it seemed to have felt like it). There's also the fact that people seemed to like Ghostbur better than him.

With all of that I think I can say that neither of them seem to have a positive opinion about each other. Revivebur has shown discomfort when it comes to Ghostbur, and Ghostbur is simply too different from Wilbur to even aprove or understand some of his actions.

Even if it was possible for them to coexist and for Wilbur to be revived without Ghostbur dying, there's a high chance they would simply avoid each other and actually live their lifes as different people. The idea of them actually actually falling in love is unlikely, which is what makes it interesting. They would have to face a lot of discomfort to even be around each other, let alone start liking each other. There's too much guilt and self hatred coming from both of them, which makes me wonder how toxic a relationship like that would be. Ghostbur would probably have a "I can fix him" mindset, while Wilbur would probably be dry and cold most of times, then "compensate" by giving him attention every now and then. Maybe with time they would actually do some good to each other, or maybe not and it would end up being a bad thing.

Regardless of all of this, Ghostbur and Revivebur are both very complex characters, so we don't know for sure what or how it would happen. The fact this ship is even a thing is funny, but it does have potential to be an actual chance to understand more about these two characters and how they perceive themselves and their own worth, which is why I genuinely think this ship is interesting. And with that, I conclude this essay.

Thank you if you read all of this by the way. My next one will probably be about Argbur and Incelbur. This is way too fun to write, so even if no one reads it I'll probably write it anyway.

[padme-amitabha]

I don't like how TCW took away the classic, fairytale elements of Anakin and Padmé so they could be more "relatable" as a couple. That was neither necessary nor did it make any sense for their romance because that was never the point of them to begin with. They were the type to quite literally jump off a bridge for each other, call each other sweet names, always wanting to be close, the passion, the dreamlikeness, etc. They were more of the mythological, fairytale, classic literature type of couple. The ideal couple that, due to numerous unfortunate circumstances, it was doomed. Some people also argue that they would not have lasted, but they don't get that the rules that apply in the real world don't always have to apply in a fantasy setting. I've been seeing this kind of "remake" of fantastical, classic, fairytale(-esque) couples so they seem more realistic and modern, and it just saddens me (which is also why most Disney LA remakes also piss me off). It's because of what that series's portrayal of Anakin and Padmé that people either have this "bff" conception of their romance or that Padmé was always annoyed by him when she would have thrown away everything for him (and viceversa, ofc, I mean lol). Smh

I agree. TCW for me just goes against the original authorial intent. Although GL did make a lot of the decisions, he was not alone and ofc eventually Filoni and co took over. But when he started out he always said he didn't care about fans liking it. It was always about the story he intended to tell, whether they liked it or not. And that's so admirable to have a story be told just for itself and not for fanservice and it shows GL was passionate about it and he just had to retcon or brainstorm more because of the backlash. He always said SW is a homage to all the movies he loved. It's reminiscent of the cheesy soaps he grew up with and in the PT appreciation video I shared recently, it shows so many scenes are similar to older films. GL was even aware of the dialogue and how it wouldn't resonate with modern audiences but he needed it to fit in a specific style.

It's funny how fans appreciate how "classic" the OT is but expect the PT to be hyper modern when it should be even more rooted in mythology. The OT is fairytale-like too. I mean when you think about it the big bad is defeated by the power of love and Luke just forgives a man who killed so many people because he's his father who he doesn't even know? Vader even goes easy on him and he never actually is threatened by him. It's not very realistic either nor is it for Obi Wan to be hiding out in Tattooine and waiting to hand over a magic quest to Luke but it does work in fairytales because it is the hero's journey - like the prequels is similar to a Greek tragedy unfolding in three parts. It's supposed to be cheesy with morals and messages and recurring themes. And without any war when the galaxy is at its golden age so to speak, of course Anidala would be more of a Shakespearean romance with a dash of tragedy mixed in it. If GL can call them space Romeo and Juliet, he is acknowledging they are young and naive and impulsive and the audience isn't suppose to view them as ideals or think of RL relationships to be similar. None of the OT characters are particularly complex either and the ideologies are even more black and white. Ultimately, it's the message about family and love and yes it is very simplistic and fairytaleish because it's suppose to feel good. I don't get the point in trying to make it modern and realistic when it was never supposed to be one. It's space opera and fantasy - not science fiction. And tbh TCW makes the characters even more generic and westernized than they ever were in the prequels. Don't get me started on Chadakin and Girlboss!Padme (or discount Han and Leia) when they were much more imperfect, multifaceted characters in the movies while seamlessly fitting in with the fairytale-ish narrative.

[devils-dares]

You can delete this if it's offensive, but I was wondering if you could explain how you as a disabled person feels about the portrayal of comic!Matt, specifically in Zdarsky's run. I want to know if there's anything you have that you like/dislike about it, thanks!

hoo boy, okay. well first of all thanks for understanding that talking about disabilities is uncomfortable for some people. i can give you my personal insights. just to preface: i don't have a disability that messes with my senses (sight, hearing, taste, feeling, smell) so i can't approach this question with that angle, however my disability affects a major life activity, which for me is walking.

i'd also highly recommend checking out @briefcasejuice and @mattmurdockspainkink for their takes on comic!matt (highly recommend this piece by ren)

so for me, one big issue i have personally with being disabled and how that information is taken in by others is that it can truly limit my autonomy/make people infantalize me. because my flare ups reduce my ability to function as a human being so much, oftentimes i'll be seen as a child or someone who is helpless, when i am very clearly not. i'd like to think i'm self sufficient, and infantilization of people with disabilities is just humiliating honestly. it's also hard for people to believe that disabled people can be morally wrong?? i've noticed that in a lot of experiences with myself and other people who've never met me before. purity and disability do not go hand and hand, and that is heavily played into the part with the whole infantilism thing.

this is interpreted as a trait that's righteous in matt's core, whether it be through his upbringing or his religious values, but oftentimes the weight of the words feel fake, because almost everytime you see one of these instances where matt's "traits" are involved, either he does opposite of his character development (but we aren't here for that side of zdarsky) or he's with a woman. in this specific run, he's with elektra for obvious reasons, but it feels like elektra is written in such a way that it makes matt feel weak, his decision making childlike, no control over his executive functions, and that's what pisses me off as a disabled person.

there was a lot of hope in vol 6 issue 1 with the whole "don't make my disability your fetish" line or whatever and that got me real excited to read because i wanted to see matt stick up for himself and just be able to, as cliché as it sounds, be himself for once. almost every single cemented iteration of disability in pop culture has a negative connotation, and although i'm not saying that disabilities are fun, you can only shit on them so much (trust me i know). instead we get this baby-man who is stripped of his autonomy whenever he's in a twenty foot radius of a singular woman.

matt's always described as a morally pure person, a good human being, couldn't hurt a fly. it plays into the stereotype that disabled people can't do much for themselves. just because i can't walk some of the time doesn't mean i have the decision making and morality of a four year old, same with matt. he's arguably actually a bad person. he's pretty shitty in the comics honestly, specifically in zdarsky's run. i get that being unassuming is his whole schtick, but holy fuck dude that's not his whole character.

i know that this daredevil, especially with the adventures he's on right now, is meant to be fantastical, and at the end of the day he's a fictional superhero, but god, i'd give anything for an issue of just matt being exhausted. yeah, he's high functioning, but at the base of his character, he's a middle-aged blind lawyer. tell me that doesn't reek of exhaustion.

thanks for asking this question!!