#Bitter Friendship

[missinyouiskillingme]

I never gave up on you even when you gave up on me.

— r.r.

[mizgnomer]

David Tennant and Catherine Tate presenting at the 2023 BAFTA TV Awards

[schadenfreudich]

Dislike it when I see a post making a good point about romantic relationships not being necessary from an aro perspective and then the rest of the post is about friendships.

Especially in a way where it just feels like they replaced romantic relationships with platonic ones.

[agentc0rn]

Oh? Looks like Ogerpon wants to give you a flower! Will you accept?

>Yes

>No (you'd better not click this)

[yetanotherknitter]

it has been? months??? years????? I have had a dramatic break up and begrudging reconciliation with the Netflix Witcher and I still! can't! stop! thinking about that moment in s2 when yen hears jaskier playing in the distance and just. relaxes.

specifically I can't stop thinking about it in the context of that OTHER moment in s2 where yennefer reunites with her friends at aretuza and they spend the first few minutes being Very Mean before clinging to each other in abject relief they're all alive and y'all I think yennefer thinks she and jaskier are friends

like, they've known each other for decades and they meet up every so often to trade snide remarks and drink and maybe commiserate over geralt being *gestures at all of geralt* and that's basically friendship right? at least, according to her shitty childhood and all the socialization she got at the trauma factory of aretuza they're practically besties

[five-and-dimes]

On the one hand, I do think Hob, as a greedy human, would of course want to know everything he could about his stranger. That said, I think Hob, as a greedy human, would be so understanding of Dream's reticence.

Hob is immortal, and he's had to deal with the ways human's view the "unnatural". He was drowned as a witch for not being careful enough to hide what he is. He knows he can't be open about his immortality because of the very real and dangerous ways humans react to that. He has to be careful. And he's not even powerful, he's just immortal, and that's enough to put him in danger of other humans.

And Dream is so obviously something powerful, something far beyond what Hob is, who knows what humans would do if they got their hands on a way to hurt him (Hob will, unfortunately, eventually get an answer to that question). So yeah. I think Hob would get it. Of course Dream has to be careful about revealing who and what he is. Normal humans tortured Hob without fully understanding what they were dealing with. If Hob had more information and the benefit of his immortality, realistically he could find a way to hurt his stranger in some way.

Especially after they reunite and Dream finally does give Hob that information he's been itching for for centuries. Especially when Dream tell him about his capture. Burgess got a hold of something he shouldn't have, but Dream could have eventually escaped if Burgess hadn't been given more information about his name and what he was.

I don't know, this is just me rambling, but I honestly think Hob would get it. I think even before learning about Dream's imprisonment, he would have been understanding of Dream holding back information. Hob knows humans suck- humans hurt Hob, Hob's hurt humans- as much as he wants to think he's earned Dream's friendship, he knows Dream has every right and reason to be extremely careful about who he gives information to.

[forbiddenseason]

Thinking about how Alastors asexual identity absolutely alienates him especially from queer men. Like. Vox was his friend for years and then suddenly is bringing someone like Val around and decides to go into the porn business + make love potions with Vel. like fuck no Al’s not joining this fucking team Vox are you out of your mind?? And on top of all that Vox is also coming onto him in his weird way.

But I imagine their friendship was genuine and the split painful, Vox feeling betrayed and rejected by someone so close to him and Alastor feeling completely alienated from him.

[ae-cha08]

When you truly Love Jesus and spend time in Prayer and the Word, the way you Love people changes. You'll become patient and compassionate towards them and you'll start seeing them through the eyes of God.

Only then, it is possible to Love a person unconditionally.

[stuckinapril]

A major annoying thing about being in a male dominated stem field (chemistry for me) is you basically work w guys 99% of the time & they ALL think you have a crush on them if you’re even fleetingly nice. And so far I’ve refused to water down my personality to compensate for it but it’s so annoying knowing I’m inadvertently feeding into someone’s unchecked ego

[doortotomorrow]

characters in the spotlight » john murphy : connections

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

I said I wasn't going to get started on the topic of Aveline ruining Carver's chances with the guard but I lied okay, it's Carver Hawke defense hours.

Here's the thing; it doesn't matter if you believe Carver was or wasn't fit for the guard. That's a different debate that I'll get to. What matters is Aveline's in no position to tell the guard not to accept his application. Why does she think that's her right to judge whether or not he's fit?

Carver should've had the chance to prove himself one way or another. If it turns out he's not a good fit, then let him fail. Let him learn from it.

"Oh but failure could mean lost lives-"

Aveline doesn't get to talk shit about failure and the people. Plenty have died on her watch yet she still believes she's a good guard and Guard-Captain.

"maybe Aveline's protecting him, Carver could die while on patrol-"

Carver could die working in the Bone Pit, or serving as a templar, or when he's running around with Hawke. Carver could trip and fall down a set of stairs and die. In fact, he can die in the Deep Roads, somewhere he wouldn't have to go if the Hawke's weren't desperate.

Either Carver fails as a guard, or more likely, he succeeds and proves himself worthy of it.

But let's be real, Carver probably kept getting rejected due to being a Fereldan with a past of smuggling/mercenary work and Aveline only reaffirmed the decision, either because they asked her what she thought or she stuck her nose in unprompted.

But what irritates me is that she admits to telling them not to accept his application, and then has the balls to call Carver too proud to take up a trade or find another line of work.

Carver tells her, "And who would take on a Fereldan apprentice? Maybe in another year I could work my way up to pissboy." He has a good point here. Aside from the guard, the only other place Carver could work and use his skillset is with the Templars. Or go back to mercenary/smuggling work.

And Aveline doesn't even have a real answer for him. No suggestions, no encouragement, nothing. Just "Fine, let's crawl down some holes. Good bloody luck for your sake."

Also, if you do the Mark of the Assassin DLC in Act 1-

Aveline: You should see if any of the noblemen are looking for new men-at-arms. Carver: Are you trying to get rid of me? Aveline: It's a role with some autonomy. A good fit with your training and... tendencies. Carver: After serving King Cailan? You want me to suffer some poncy git who needs two servants to wipe his own ass? I'll find my own way, thanks. Aveline: I wish you would.

You wish he would?? Aveline, he was trying to find his way into the guard, a position he'd make a good fit for, and you helped deny him of it because YOU didn't think he would be good enough, I just-

If I haven't made it clear yet, I firmly believe that Carver would've made a great guard. He wants to help people, to be a protector. He's loyal, and despite what Aveline claims, he can follow orders and take his duty seriously. We see him do incredibly well with the Grey Wardens, after all. If he were a guard, he wouldn't have to go down into the Deep Roads with Hawke, and I think he would've been okay with that! He's so hurt and bitter when you leave him behind because that effectively tells him, "I don't need you." Carver's spent the whole first act telling you he wants to go on the expedition aka that he wants to be needed.

But if he were a guard, he would be needed elsewhere. He'd be in training as a recruit. He'd look after Leandra while you go. He wouldn't be backed into a corner with no income and only the templars left as his chance at forging his own path and providing for his family.

He doesn't get that opportunity, though.

By the way, if he becomes a warden, you can get this banter:

Aveline: I'm glad you found a place with the Wardens. Carver: Well, it's not the city guard, but it'll do. Aveline: Carver... it wasn't the place for you. Carver: No, it's all right. It is. It cost a lot, but I get it. I really was a bit of a tit those days, wasn't I? Aveline: Well...

This banter makes me want to scream.

Aveline's just... she's so insistent that she's right. She's someone who will double down rather than entertain the idea that she's wrong and it's not just with Carver and the guard, it's with everything. The "my beef with Aveline" list gets longer and longer every time I replay da2, I swear.

Say what you will about Carver, whether you think he would've been a good fit or if Aveline's right and it wasn't for him, he was denied a chance and it cost him so much in the end. He either dies, or he joins the templars where he deals with Chantry's bullshit trying to brainwash him with "mages aren't people" and "magic is a cancer in this world", or he's infected with the blight and becomes a Grey Warden, forced to serve the rest of his life fighting darkspawn, tormented by voices and nightmares.

I will never not be bitter about this.

[missinyouiskillingme]

[thaliasthunder]

thinking about them again :(

[zeb-z]

etoiles who tries to be patient and tries to be kind and tries to help bad in his state of memory loss and confusion after purgatory, but still can’t help be suspicious of him. who works around how well he knows bad, because he knows bad is a liar, but he doesn’t say as much he just quietly puts in his own tests and precautions to gauge properly what level of fucked bad’s head is. who won’t stop reminding him of purgatory. does he remember the eggs? does he remember his home? does he remember how he slaughtered his friends ruthlessly over and over and over again? does he remember jaiden? charlie? does he remember how defenseless etoiles was when he stabbed him in the back? etoiles who knows how bad feels just by body language, who used to have the upmost respect and trust for his friend, his ally, his brother in arms - now holds him at arms length even at his most vulnerable.

something about etoiles asking what bad is hungry for, offering to fight (wanting to fight, now that the ground is even, now that he’s not defenseless, after bad had killed him when he was), and bad going “fight? why would I fight you, I thought we were friends?” and all etoiles can do is scoff. something about how even the most honorable and most patient have limits. something about how the consequences for bads actions - to himself and to others - are all finally compounding. how etoiles and bad’s relationship is forever changed by what happened in purgatory, and etoiles may still extend his hand to help him, give him strategies to remember things, but he’s doing so with a bitterness and a resentment.

things won’t be the same. things will never be the same. and the way etoiles can’t help bad without being sharp and angry about it proves this. because two weeks ago bad was family - and now, at bads worst, his most afflicted, most vulnerable, sure etoiles still offers help, and is more level headed than most about it, but he is in no means gentle or kind. he doesn’t want to help him. and that says everything.

[0ne-shot]

okay i know im team chaotix centered but god dAMN i am shaking screaming crying after the sonic 3 trailer it was sososo good

one thing that i am actually nervous for though is how paramount is going to take shadow and tails's relationship in the third movie

now i KNOW that in the trailer shadow pulled one of his kicks on tails again but yknow. he beat the shit sonic and knuckles too. i dont think its that personal as everyone thinks. i'd argue he hurt sonic and knuckles even MORE than tails: the fox just got a simple kick while sonic got SLAMMED into the air and knuckles got his wrist bones gone. reduced to atoms.

i just hope. HOPE. that they dont give shadow and tails that stupid fucking beef between eachother like in some sonic media. i know shadow just spent most of his life in a pod for 50 years and just went through immense emotional pain and trauma but i genuinely do not think that shadow is immature and or irrational enough to hold a forever grudge towards a kind-hearted child he barely knows. he's an antagonist, not a monster

ALSO about amy and rouge not being in this movie (god DAMN you paramount write a fucking WOMAN for ONCE PLEASE) im also hoping that MAYYYBE possibly that tails might be the one who reminds shadow of maria (if they'll include something similar to sa2) because sonic just. i dont see him being a parallel to maria at all im sorry and i think why knux wont is obvious. also the fact that tails has a bunch of similarites to maria (blonde hair, blue eyes, in the child stages, innocent, love for science, calm and mature-like etc etc) ALSO another reason for why the shadow and tails beef shouldnt have happened in the first place

i am clinging onto the slight dynamic changes sega has been making with shadow and tails over the years as i manifest their friendship in the third movie (the shadow the hedgehog game where they both fight alongside eachother and consider one another allys, mosth where tails and shadow talk with eachother and banter casually, that one tailstube video where tails INTENTIONALLY gives shadow a gift i am still weeping happy tears over that)

tails could even be what makes shadow slowly trust in familial love again after his heart's been shattered back at the ark

so uh. yeah. that's out. the shrieking goblin in my brain can finally rest until the full movie comes out

[attractthecrows]

yeah yeah trick weekes says whatever about it not making sense that solas couldnt sneak off THEY FAILED TO CONSIDER that maybe he just is ass at it when he gets invested. much like. the whole fucking rest of the romance where he COMPLETELY fails to resist until the breakup.

anyway.

im personally of the opinion that he's more liable to slip up - fail at sneaking, accidentally reveal details, contradict himself - when he actually makes bonds with people. which is why after trespasser he goes and lives alone in the lighthouse for ten years but i digress.

and i think "that", the bonds tripping him up, should be reflected in his exit from the Inquisition. you're enemies or neutral, yeah he just vanishes. there's nothing to keep him there, nothing to interfere with his plans and intentions. you're (ex)lovers? i think he still would pull back purposefully and probably vanish, but there would be definite hesitation. he would have to force himself to do so, because fuck, he wants to stay. he wants to be close to you. but he also, crucially, knows that you have a dangerous sway over him, so he MUST disengage. if you're friends, it takes him some effort. because he does like you, he doesn't want to do what he has to, it's been so long since he had people who were friends to him, and he doesn't have to force himself away because he's in too deep. he knows you would worry about him. he might not be willing to give anyone the truth - but he would owe you a goodbye, at the very least. especially if you weren't the type to try to convince him to stay.