#I DONT EVEN HAVE HER ROMANCED

[flufftummy]

whenever i see k/rl/ch in my own playthrough i remember my art and i ehehuiesgeshrgiers im sorry miss girl,,,,

[starmist]

I genuinely believe Naksu haunts the narrative. Her actions and existence as Naksu heavily impact the entire story. Her past, the life she lived and the shadow of it in Mudeok. But we don't actually know any of it because Naksu is not in the story.

Like. What she lost as Cho Yeong is something that we are never allowed to forget, the loss of her body, her powers, her freedom, and her impending death as a soul shifter hangs over Mudeok's head like guillotine.

All the while we don't actually know the Shadow Assassin Naksu, she died in the first episode, as soon as the story began. Other than training and killing (soul shifters) what kind of person was she when she didn't have to rely on another person else or hide or live as someone else? We don't know and we don't ever learn any of that.

Still, her absence is the plot, yet her former existence as Naksu influences everything; Yul's actions and what she was to him, Jang Uk's goal of returning her powers, the revelation of soul shifters to Park Jin, Jang Gang's departure, Jin Mu's accomplishments, the King's Star even.

Everything is about her existence but she doesn't actually exist at all anymore.

[swordmaid]

it’ll pass.

[lollytea]

Huntlow situationship gives me such intense brain termites you don't get it

[cycle-hit]

0610 is so funny because mahiru is determined to be a housewife/maternal figure and kotoko is determined to parallel all the other prisoners' shitty fathers. both of them having the traits of "parental figures" that is a mold/box to be shoved into in and of itself which shows the traditional/black and white aspects of their own families. mahiru is determined to be full of love and give others that same love and kotoko pretends she doesn't love at all and bares her teeth whenever you show her love. mahiru has sun symbolism and kotoko has moon symbolism.

and then instead of ever acknowledging the absolutely insane character foil toxic yuri between those two at all, milgram refuses to let them interact ever again except for one interaction from four years ago at the very beginning and kotoko beating the shit out of mahiru. like. thanks milgram. if YOU wont do anything with your very interesting character foils that can also fall into classic "romance tropes" (which mahiru is obsessed with, cough) with their personalities/stories i guess ill do it myself.

[marimeeko]

I have a sudden, unsolicited opinion on the moment where Ochako admits that she fell in love with Izuku. Since it has been going around as one of those context-less, surface level articles on Google(I spotted it too)

So it's talking about the moment when Ochako is fighting Toga and she tells her that she fell in love with Izuku.

Does she use the exact wording? Yes.

Does that mean it's an end all declaration? Does it mean she is endgame with Izuku? I do not think so.

I don't think it's the final nail in the coffin to the argument for any other ship involving Izuku or Ochako. Here's why:

The admission is so anticlimactic.

We have known for a while that Ochako has complicated feelings about Izuku. We know that it has been a bit of a crush. And that has led to ANTICIPATION to see what becomes of those feelings.

But along the anticipation, we have also seen her going through some feelings of discomfort about the whole thing...unusual, for a supposed love interest of a Shonen manga!

So the audience has been waiting for a LONG time for something, anything, to happen between Ochako and Izuku that rewards that anticipation and that waffling on Ochakos part.

And for something like a supposed love confession, a line like "I fell in love with Izuku Midoriya", to heppen....

But NOT in a moment between Ochako and Izuku themselves, just also does not reward the anticipation that was built up.

She did not confirm and admit these feelings TO izuku. She admitted them to Himiko.

And that is the first time the audience hears her positively confirm that she had those feelings, blatantly.

But it TAKES AWAY from the actual relationship because Himiko received that confession...not Izuku.

We didn't get a charged confession between Ochako and Izuku. The relationship was STILL not mutually developed. It's still just a quality of Ochako, it says nothing about Izuku. The anticipation of Ochako having a crush, and changing, complicated feelings for Izuku and where that would eventually climax, where it would reach its peak for Ochako and Izuku both, instead is diverted. Kind of literally. Because it didn't happen at either chance they had to talk it out, to confess, she sent Izuku away when Himiko tried to trap him into a love discussion. She didnt bring it up before the war began even though they had such a calm moment to be able to do so. It didn't come out in the logical places. And now in the endgame, they have split up to fight different battles...Ochako has even exhausted everything she has right now to save Himiko and likely is out until we receive the wrap up.

So, the anticipation I mentioned, again, does not have a payout in the form of even a rushed battlefield confession because the two of them are fighting different battles.

Instead the audience is given the confirmation of "I fell in love with him" when he is not even present, when Ochako is not confessing to him or confronting him. It comes out with Toga, when she Is trying to reach out and level with her, it almost could read as a "I had a crush on the same boy" kind of statement. It comes out when saving Himiko is Ochakos main priority.

What I'm saying here is that Ochakos love confession for Izuku, which is usually a big deal in any story, is in the back seat to prioritize each of their other relationships and goals. Which is great that it is not forced upon us when there are bigger things happening, however it just does a disservice to the pairing itself when most of the feelings are expressed onesidedly, and an actual statement of love, if it's not even outdated because of changed feelings, means a lot less when it's not filling the gap between the two people in question. When the confession doesn't reach the other person.

(And I will go ahead and say that is kind of similar to how bkdk is right now as well, bc we have SO MUCH material on Katsukis side, about how he feels and how much he cares about Izuku, but not a lot on what Izuku feels or allows himself to feel about Katsuki. I will call that out as well.)

Like at this point, the best we could hope for, for Ochako and Izuku being a couple, is a very open note about it in the aftermath. Like maybe Ochako asks Izuku if he would like to get crepes with her. That's just enough given context clues to suggest to the audience that yes there are still some feelings there, she heard what he said about crepes and holding hands and took note of it, but also that Izuku himself is willing to explore those feelings as well. It would be Ochako finally choosing her feelings for Izuku, but without it being too sudden for Izuku to accept. This whole time we are not shown Izuku crushing on her at all it would be strange to have him suddenly initiate.

But anything more romantic and profound than that? Any dramatic reveal/confession of feelings, any chance for them to have a moment in the midst of war to have the "i love you" discussion? That has been bypassed time and time again. Horikoshi COULD HAVE WORKED IT IN, IF IT WERE A PRIORITY TO HAVE THEM ENDGAME. While no, romance doesn't have to be a priority in a Shonen, and Ochako has flipped the script on how she handles her feelings as a shonen love interest, Hori has demonstrated that threads and concepts of romance ARE part of his narrative.

And right now? Hot take, but the most romantic thread that Izuku, his main character, finds himself in, is whatever the hell is going on between him and Katsuki Bakugou.

You'd just think if the mc was going to be with a romantic partner, a girl, by the end of the story, something would have happened.

I feel like I'm going in circles past my point, but it boils down to Izuku not having any indication of interest in Ochako besides friendliness....the fact that the audience received confirmation of Ochako loving Izuku from her telling a 3rd party and NOT her subject, and the anticipation of that confession, built up for YEARS of this manga and animes run, of supposed feelings not really being paid off, if the two are meant to be the romantic end game. It also boils down to the fact that the anticipation of the confession had a CHANCE to occur with Izuku, the subject, multiple times. It boils down to again, ochako and Izukus relationship being romantic in anyway being little more than an after thought.

AND! it doesn't even guarantee that her feelings of love for him are still the same! We don't know for sure if she STILL loves Izuku!

So yeah. I hope this made sense, but it sure feels anticlimactic to have a love confession(supposedly) not even occur while the subject is present, where the audience can view it and celebrate that long awaited conclusion.

As always, these articles that pop up on Google leave a lot of context out, and are very face value. They saw Ochako say the L word and called it endgame. There is a reason I don't read them.

[sonknuxadow]

theres multiple reasons i dont like s/urgeamy but one of the things ive seen people do with it that annoys me a bit is the idea that surge and kit are going to become good because surge is gonna fall in love with amy and thats gonna be her only motivation to change.. and im sorry but am i the only one who thinks it would suck so bad for such fun antagonists to instantly switch sides just because one of them was "fixed" by romance and no other reason

[luvbug724]

obsessed w jeanee Actually. she drove hours in the middle of the night for him. she organised a heist for him. she blackmails a university for him. she was willing to break into the nest w brute force for him. she was willing to rob a hardware store to do it. she seriously contemplates climbing over barbed wire fences to get to him. she handles diversions and distractions with grace for him. she has the invasive curiosity to want to know all abt his little knick knacks. she resorts to violence when someone tries to stop her from getting to him. she prays for him. she talks to him softly when the only feeling in the room is rage. she pushes his hair out of his face. she checks his pulse obsessively. YEAH………… are we all seeing this rn

its so wonderful to me too because like this is RENEE. renee, who is a bad person trying very hard to be good. there was a post going around maybe a month ago how empathy for everyone circles back around into empathy for no one i can't remember any of the specifics but it rlly did something for how i see renee because shes a protector. its defensive. its safe. she knows the limits, she knows the point of no return because shes been to rock bottom and clawed her way up but she's willing to do whatever she needs to to get jean out of the nest.

there is a big difference between cradling allison when andrew hurts her vs actively threatening eau, going on the offense to make sure jean leaves safe with her. there's something insane to me abt how a few months of texting and calling jean could push her to that point, the point where she needed to be talked down off the ledge before the plan was more natalie than renee because this was something she absolutely could not fuck up. she knew that her efforts would be worthless if she didn't create a plan that couldn't backfire, because the punishment for jean trying to leave and failing (and i'm sure that message to renee would be used against him) or leaving and coming back would be 1000x worse than whatever they could do to him from a distance.

and then when she has him in his arms and she knows he's going to be safe, he'll be okay as long as she can get him to abby, she can let herself be kind again.

[fellhellion]

i need to know the deep lore on why p3p allows you to have queer romance as femc when that one dev from the p2 duology was like yeah lol we included the jun romance to see if there was any money to court from fujo like fjkdhfjksjkd WHO WAS THIS FOR

[wavebiders]

LRT that is such a thing with queer fandom spaces tho. It's like that post that's all "yeah your story is so gay but how are you treating your female characters" you know?

like yeah it's great that this is the queer fandom website but a good chunk of the time that just means placing a lot of focus on the white guys and that's still not great lmao

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

real nonbinary experience tbh

[thedevotionaltour]

even for period typical ableism it still drives me nuts for karen to go oh poor matt how can he deal and get around as if he hasn't been blind most of his life at this point and living on his own by himself as an adult for his entire adult life after college and has also lived in the city his whole life like girl use your damn brain he can get around by himself just fine. good god. like take five seconds to use your brain. literally adult man who lives by himself if nothing else that should tell you he is fine and when he needs assistance has the knowledge and ability to go get it you act as if he can't even walk on the sidewalk by himself. he literally shows up to work by himself. it drives me up the wall sometimes how she sees proof of him functioning fine independently literally witnesses it on the daily and still thinks these things. like again foggy isn't great either bc again the period typical ableism (and just general ableism in the world outside of this period as this is a common attitude of viewing disabled people as helpless and unable to function even if they are people who do live independently (and im not touching on people who do need extra support and caretaking in this context. as this post is about these characters in the context of a story. so im talking about what we see there instead of any truly meaningful nuanced way) but the writing here is like. Particularly this way due to the time) he has a modicum more of understanding that matt is literally a capable grown adult man. literally told karen matt is a big boy who can handle himself and then karen went b-b-but you forget he's blind as if foggy hasn't known him for years of his life and is his best friend like PLEASE SEE HIM AS AN ADULT. I AM GOING TO GO INSANE. PLEASE RESPECT HIM IF YOU LOVE HIM SO DEARLY. AND EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T. JUST RESPECT HIM AS A PERSON!!!!!!

[thegreatyin]

Hey what are your feelings on

1. lae'zel

2. Emperor

lae'zel is actually one of the best companions in the game and everyone who hates her or says she's just mean fundamentally doesn't understand her character. she's literally the nicest girl in the world given her usual environment and upbringing. she essentially has the exact same backstory as shadowheart in that she was raised in a controlling violent cult and has spent most of her life (including the start of the game) brainwashed by that cult into the person she is today. and yet despite it all she is trying her best to help people. she DID NOT have to save you on the nautiloid and she DID NOT have to promise to take you to what she had every reason to believe was a cure-all for the tadpoles and she goes so far as to defend you and the rest of the party to other gith despite her extremely xenophobic society pressuring her around every corner to do otherwise. over the course of the game she literally had her entire way of life and belief system uprooted from top to bottom and she ultimately decides to deal with it by becoming a hero and dedicating her life to saving others from the same situation she was in. her entire character, at its core, is so extremely dedicated to helping other people even at the cost of herself. she has the same trauma and should get the same treatment and sympathy as shadowheart and you guys just don't like her because she's not conventionally attractive and standoffish at the start of the game but when you actually follow her companion quest and/or romance her she is so sweet and trying her best and she is a TOP TIER companion and i am not going to pretend like she isn't.

the emperor is one of my favorite characters in all of bg3. i know i just went off about lae'zel but god the emperor is so good. he is a LIAR. he is a Bastard Capital B In Bold. he is the deceiver trope played straight from the very beginning and you can't trust a word he says and half of act 3 is practically dedicated to proving just how full of shit he is. he is an awful person who presents himself as a savior and a hero but at the first sign of resistance or hesitation he snaps and doubles down his manipulation in an attempt to control and corral the player into doing what he wants. his first reaction to the player turning down/questioning his sex scene in any way is to gaslight and accuse them so he can shift the blame and keep up his veil of heroism. he encourages them to let go of their humanity and turn themself into a cannibalistic monster while constantly swearing it's for the greater good. he literally runs off to join the netherbrain if you free orpheus. ansur was right all along. balduran died the minute that tadpole took over and transformed him into a mindflayer and the emperor is a shell of his former self masquerading around with the same gravitas and veil of kindness he used to have, but it's gone, if it ever existed to begin with. the emperor is a fascinating example of a manipulative piece of shit done right because even the fanbase can't agree wholeheartedly on if he's good or not but if you couldn't tell my money is wholly in the "he fucking sucks guys" camp. as a character i adore him though.

[thebigqueer]

unrelated to that rb but im thinking about it and i dont think piper liking jason was ever a forced heteronormativity thing i think she genuinely liked him

[merlinmerlot]

i finally finished bg3

and it only took me [looks at steam]

SIX HUNDRED HOURS

[welcometoteyvat]

for the random pairings: jean/venti? i feel like there’s a lot of untapped potential there

hi <3 sorry if this is extremely ooc neither of them take up much of my brainspace. this is also. not very explicitly romantic OTL

———

“Oh? Has my dear Acting Grandmaster come to visit me again?”

Jean’s eyes are closed as she stands under the cool, sprawling shade, letting the gentle breeze wind through her hair, flutter her coattails, and rustle the branches of Vennessa’s great tree. A moment later, she hears a light tap of air and quick footsteps, and when she opens her eyes, there he is, smiling at her.

“…Venti. I hope you’re doing well.”

“Same to you, Captain Jean. The breeze from Cider Lake is sweet today, so anyone should be in high spirits! Although, you look rather troubled.”

Jean shakes her head—it’s really nothing. Simply several small headaches, and a stack of official paperwork: nothing that fresh air hasn’t already helped. The explanation starts to leave her lips, but Ba- but Venti just winks, whispers shhhh, and pulls her by the hand towards the base of the great tree.

“Come, Dandelion Knight. Sit with me, listen to my songs, and lose yourself in my ballads, just for a spell.”

———

a/n: unrelated but i could hear venti's voice in my head all the time when writing this