#and the can’t /fix it/ and so they’re suffering bc their friend is suffering but they don’t even know they’re one of the reasons for it!!!

[ifeelfreewithoutmyshoes]

Having friends that can be as deranged as you is very healthy actually

[journeytomonkiekid]

So in your story Macaque and Wan Ji, are the clear pairing, but....what about people in Universe that ship either of them with other people? Like if people assume that Wan Ji and Elle are together or that Macaque is or was madly in love with Sun Wukong. How do your characters and versions of canon characters react to others randomly shipping them? But most important, do the other characters tease them about it?

And I have to say your art style is captivating, and you characters are truly engaging. Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us.

Bdhshhhh

Well uh… I guess if it’s like what Yin and Jin were doing in the calabash episode which was more like an assumption, then yeah, if it’s people actively being like “ooh I like this person and this person together” like how people engage with tv shows, then iiii don’t know abt that.

But running with the assumption idea; I’ve noticed ppl assuming Wan Ji has a crush on Elle.

If Wan Ji hears about this her first instinct is to panic and deny it profusely bc she’s scared that kind of runout could ruin Elle’s willingness to be her friend.

If it’s later down the line though, where she’s more comfortable with Elle, she’s sling her arm around their shoulder and be like:

Wan Ji: “Nah, they’re like my little sibling! They’re a catch though, someone SHOULD come get this snack!”

In Elle’s case they’d probably just chuckle and shrug then shake their head.

“Nah, I love her very much, but she’s not my type.”

For Mac and Wukong, I can’t imagine Mac would really dignify it with a real response. He might just grumble, roll his eyes and leave.

Wukong is much more vocal though and start saying how he wouldn’t stoop THAT low for a partner. He might also gag at first.

If it’s Mac and Wan Ji, at the current time, they still haven’t fully developed or explored feelings for the concept so it would be met with a lot of flustering and shrugging and mumbling “I-I don’t know”

Wan Ji’s response would be “He doesn’t even like me as a friend, I don’t see how you think that would work”

Mac is more likely to huff and say; “I DONT have a crush, I just…like her. Besides, I haven’t even gotten her to listen to me- let me at least fix that first!”

Lu would answer everything largely the same; when it comes to Wan Ji it would be more like

“Naturally. I loved her with all I could, but… love is to be loyal. It’s a miserable affair with little joy. She wasn’t willing to put in the work. To suffer for it like I was. I don’t think she’s capable of love. Not true love anyway.”

If Wan Ji is met with someone shipping her with Lu, she goes dead silent, and grits her teeth before forcing a big toothy grin.

“Don’t talk to me again.”

If Wan Ji and Jingyi are shipped, both of them would just kinda shuffle awkwardly and grimace at the thought. Lu in particular would hate the idea.

[ifyoucandaniel]

Ok but does anyone know of any time turner fics where Remus or Mary goes back in time over and over trying to change the fates of their friends and save everyone?

Like the first time they go back they don’t really know where it all went wrong and they kind of just relive the whole thing with a growing sense of horror and deja vu and just watch history repeat it’s self unable to save anyone.

The next time they go back, they succeed in saving maybe like James and Lily, but then somehow Sirius instead gets blamed for the McKinnons or smth and then everything falls apart and they have to go back again

The next time they go back they’re determined to save everyone and do it right this time. All the rest of the marauders can tell they’re acting strange but at this point Remus/Mary doesn’t care bc they’d rather their friends think they’re fucking insane as long as their alive. But instead, when the war comes this suspension develops into them being accused of being the spy and this time everything falls apart again

The next time, they’re ready. They know who to save, they know who is going to do what and when, they’re ready. Except they’re not. They save the McKinnon’s, they save the longbottoms, they stop Peter and save the potters, and somehow still everything falls apart. They might have saved them from their original fate, but in the end they all die and suffer worse fates.

The next time they feel helpless. They don’t know what they’re doing wrong and they don’t know how to fix it and save anyone much less everyone and they think about giving up, accepting the fact that maybe this is just the way they’re doomed to be. But then, somehow they go to the cave and find out what regulus did and decide to try going back even further and save him too since they can’t really get any worse.

When they go back this time, they go back to 1979 and they somehow save regulus (they pull him from the water or they convince him to let them come, or they just fucking go in anyways). And after so many failed attempts they’re honestly feeling like there’s nowhere to go but up since they’re already at rock bottom, so they tell regulus what’s going on. Since Remus/Mary have been doing this alone the entire time, unable to tell anyone for fear of what it could do, they’ve been trying to save everyone as just one person. But this time they don’t see any point in not telling him. If they fuck up the timeline or time itself, what does it matter? They’re friends are all going to die anyways.

So at first regulus doesn’t believe them. He doesn’t buy it, but after extensive proof he finally believes them. Then they tell him what’s going to happen and what they’re trying to prevent. At first he’s rly not interested in jointing them or helping since he’s already kind of booked trying to destroy the horcruxes, but eventually Remus or Mary gets him to join them.

Now that they’re not alone, and with the added bonus that they have a death eater AND now know about the horcruxes, they set out to change their fates. This time they start fixing the timeline together, but at some point things go wonky and regulus dies and everything falls apart, but Remus/Mary don’t give up. They know what to do this time. They know they need regulus. This time things go differently. They save regulus first and it’s easier to convince him since they know him now. This time history doesn’t repeat itself and this time their friends don’t die and this time they win. They’re able to stop everything from falling apart and this time regulus is there the whole time.

Also as much as I love love love my babies jily, if Mary went back in time to save the love of her life Lily and she had to watch her fall in love with James over and over and die every time and hold her lifeless body over and over as Harry cries from his crib??? And if the last time she goes back and she saves regulus, things are different this time. Lily looks at her different, and she is different, watching her friends die has changed her, but Lily is looking at her like she’s something so rare and beautiful. This time James and Lily don’t get married or have Harry, this time Harry isn’t Voldemort’s enemy, this time they protect frank and Alice and Neville. The potters don’t die, Mary saves Lily and they all fall in love and live happily ever after

Also if that were the case jegulus would make sense. Mary saves regulus and when he comes back from the cave he’s different. James notices. Lily’s eyes are on Mary, but James can’t take his off regulus. He’s got this air of fate around him, like he knows what’s going to happen and he’s decided he doesn’t care because he can change his fate just by sheer willpower. He’s no longer helpless and weak, he’s fighting back.

Just thinking about this <3 featuring spy regulus being morally gray and Sirius not going to Azkaban and they all grow old and live happily ever after <333

[skyplant]

Honestly, I agree

I thought that our relationship with "new" old bros will be a little harder. Not like in original, bc MC much more capable protect themselves, but still, it was too fast, even if I mean fine with that, I still would like a little longer knowing each other /although I can believe that Mammon always will be our first friend//

But again, yeah, I want nightbrige a more dark, I hope that season two give us that .D

I mean, give us more conflict! I would like to see MC who more distant from those bros bc it's hurt to be with them, but still they NEED to be with them bc they need pacts and MC just suffering argh

/hope brothers saw that letter which MC wrote for them, I NEED ANGST

Not funny party at the end of season >:(

/sorry for my english and have a good day!

Exactly my problem with the new game. While I haven’t gotten past lesson 11/13 (I haven’t really touched it since lesson 14 released) there hasn’t been anything interesting since the reapers lair.

What I would of liked Solomare to do was have Lucifer spare MC but abandon them after the curse was placed and swear to kill them if they returned or something (like appeared around the rest of the brothers). It would have added extra (more like some) proper conflict and you could have a sub plot of MC having to run off a timer before the brothers could ‘marinate’ and become more demonic, meaning that MC would have to try and regain the pacts before they got too demon-y.

THEN AFTER they regain their trust without lying (as much as possible) we could have all the fluffy crap. Like come on, it took probably 17ish lessons for us to get that in the first game, it should be harder this time, especially with them all being freshly fallen.

And it’s also real weird how we get all the VERY intimate options so early in the game.

As you said, it would make more sense for MC to be distant as it would 1. Add more conflict, and 2. Would build tension to get to that conflict. Like imaging this, Asmodeus tries so hard for MC but they can’t be around him because of their emotional turmoil and THAT is what leads to the bath tub debacle where Asmo snaps and tries to go back to the celestial realm. OR MC could mainly interact with Satan because he’s so different from our Satan, and it’s like they’re 2 completely different demons, and that would build jealousy but also fix the entire bs that is there only being mean options for him. (My god do I hate the treatment of nightbringer Satan).

It would also bring on some really interesting plot line with Belphie, MC being the most distant with him because of their fears of lesson 16 repeating.

There is just so much missed potential because Solomair wants to give us “fluffy intimacy” just so they can take in more money!

Also your English is perfectly fine!

[duchessanon]

Who’s who in this blog : the fandom version of the rf

For any newbies, I usually don’t like explaining the joke but here u are! These are essentially over exaggerated versions of how the fandom has characterised the rf and supporting characters over the years.

Liz - RIP’d queen, often disrespected by her grandsons & their wives. Ignores everything that she needs to fix in her fam. A icon none the less

Philpot - RIP’d duke of edin-burg. Occasionally racist. Generally admired. Name is Phil & despot together bc he may have RIP’d Di.

Chuck - current king. Desperate for attention, sensitive, adulterer, and ready to throw his (RIP’d) wife and sons to the wolves

Camilla - one time respected/tolerated, now beloved for making Henris bedroom into her wardrobe

Di - RIP’d princess of hearts. Press feeding, monarchy loving, but also an anarchist and destructor of the monarchy. Only has one son, who he is depends on who u ask

Ghost Di - appears in the form of leopards, elephants, cows etc. Blesses u with fertility and revenge for ur enemies

Anne - a hardworking, unbothered legAnned. Likes horsey stuff

Tim - lusted over husbAnned. Drama free

Andy - sicko. Never a good word said about him unless ur also a sicko or Fergie.

Fergie - chaotic queen of flower crowns. Messy for defending Andy. But so batshit, u can’t be mad, u just roll with it. Part time author of smut.

Eddie - dramatically unveils plaques

Soph - Liz’s fave. Probably an asshole in secret. Her fan account turned against her out of nowhere one day. Still don’t know what she did

Willy - heir with no hair. BULLIAM. Celebrated for it. Lusted over by a minority. Often lazy. Often adulterous. Takes a bad photo. Family man. Simp.

k8 - the main fandom girlie. Loves kids and shaping their brains. Often lazy. Baby brained, cheated on non stop, but also Machiavellian (Bitch k8). Also boring. “Great gowns, beautiful gowns” (sometimes).

Henri - Named Santa Henri bc of his Saint like status in pre-2016 fandom. Now a todger loving, traitorous, self obsessed, disrespectful, bewitched by meg dumb dumb. Also a brave, rebellious, normal blokey soldier. Loyal husband and father.

Meg - that bitch. Narcissistic, philanthropic, disrespectful, title obsessed, overthrower of the colonialist monarchy. Bad friend and daughter. Kindest person alive. Never done anything wrong, at fault for everything. Hounded by the press but it was all her fault anyway.

Peter - used his royal name to do a milk ad

Zara & Mike - get away with doing magazine deals bc they’re not working royals. Relationship with Willy and Henri used as proof that either brother is better bc they must be great if they’re close to the tindalls

Eugbea - daughter of fergie. One person. The true blood princess

Eugbea husband - just there

AK-47 - Angela Kelly, Liz’s secret lover who denied meg a tiara

Jason Knife - staff. Twisted the knife in megris back

JLP - the og staff dude

Cam Tominey, Dicky Palmer, KT nichol, the two Vickis, Roya, Danny Wooten, Piers Morgan, Emily Andrews, Becky English, that Jack guy, Val Lowe - EVIL press, revealers of the TRUTH

Omid - best selling author. risked it all for Megri. Court jester

Carolyn - also best selling author. Missing since 2021

Cress and Chelsea - long suffering exes

Carole - the queen maker

Mike - drug smuggler. Pilot

[tau1tvec]

if it's not too much 20,27,56 and 60 for isa, aex and yan (my beloved)

That’s a lotta three letter names. 😭💕

20. Who’s their go-to person for advice?

YAN would be her dad, as much as she can’t stand the way he’s always got something to say about what she does, and how she goes about doing it, it’s only bc they’re so much alike… so she finds herself begrudgingly asking him for advice at her toughest moments, perhaps bc she wants nothing more than to live up to his expectations, and make him proud.

AEX would be no one… at first.

He’s a bit stubborn, likely due to his uncle pounding the “bootstrap” mentality into him since childhood, asking for help was a sign of weakness, and so for a long time he either fixed things himself, or suffered in silence… until Isa showed up, and helped him unlearn a lot of that.

ISA is quite lucky, having been taken in by her uncle at a young age she’s able to see him as a father figure, friend, and mentor, and a lot of the people around Giancarlo enjoy the amount of wisdom and empathy he has to share with even complete strangers, so Isa is just as fond of it, and reliant on it as they are.

27. What’s their favorite genre of music?

YAN’s is R&B.

AEX’s is Classical, mainly piano and symphonic.

ISA will listen to about anything, but especially Jazz bc it reminds her of her uncle.

56. What do they smell like?

YAN smells like Marc Jacobs’ Daisy, and whatever Magdalena snuck out the cookie bin.

AEX smells like Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille, and leather shoes.

ISA smells like coconut oil, shea butter and fruity lip gloss.

60. What are some of their simple pleasures?

YAN working with her hands, helping others, admiring all the good in the world around her, esp when she’s stressed or down… Marco and her children.

AEX a walk through the woods, the feel of someone running their fingers through his hair, the cool touch of piano keys, being around Isa.

ISA walking by the water, listening to waves, being touched gently, the quiet.

[starfxckersinc]

so much shit that’s supposed to help doesn’t help like. “create a worry time” I have had ocd my entire life and suffered severe abuse I cannot mindfully limit my worry because it is literally part of the fabric of my being “take a coffee vacation” I cannot regulate the thoughts inside my head I can only try not to react to them so strongly they become ruminations “people don’t care about you stop worrying if they’re judging you” people i directly loved and cared about told me or implied to me that I am a disgusting egotistical monster and my mom has said so much shit about me I can’t even remember it all and I have never had a healthy or non-coercive romantic relationship I have one friend in the world and I am shut out from everyone bc I’m too mentally ill to experiment with drugs & alcohol comfortably bc if the slightest chemical change happens in my body I have a full blown panic attack. can I be fucking sad. can you stop trying to fucking fix me or act like this is ALL my fault. can I be angry can I be hurt

[specificiumray]

Trying to follow up in detail with a thought I had about how I’d ideally like to see Tony Stark written and my answer was Howard Hamlin from Better Call Saul.

Some spoilers for BCS and prior Iron Man comics (Armor Wars (1987-1988), Marvel Comics Presents #7 (2019) “Market Correction)

So on Howard. When BCS introduces him, he seems like any other suit at a corporate office, probably went to an Ivy League university on a legacy admission regardless whether he could actually make the cut, and generally seems like the sort of overbearing boss any employee has to endure.

But then we discover he doesn’t actually have anything against Jimmy at this point and it’s actually just Chuck blocking him off. We also learn that Howard feels as though he’s lived in the shadow of his father-- and for that reason he’s going to help Jimmy McGill, for whom his older brother Chuck McGill inhabits that fatherly role (derogatory as much as it used to be affectionate). But not by outright giving him a place at the HHM firm: Howard doesn’t want to actually antagonize anyone in that father figure role, let alone Chuck who HHM hails as a god among lawyers. So he offers a half-hearted fix purely on the basis of workplace successfulness versus the personal dispute between the McGill bros.

It’s for that refusal to fully confront a father figure he goes back to help Chuck. He still doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, but he still does so within the confines of a structure he’s familiar with, Kim Wexler gruelingly keeps up with, and Jimmy can’t fit into at all. And it culminates in Chuck going to a very self-destructive point that Jimmy was able to exploit and counter. After which point into s5 Howard battles with his guilt. The show places more emphasis on Jimmy’s deception at the state bar hearing to discredit Chuck’s character.

But that undercuts the fact that before this, he was largely a non-factor in his social circle’s personal lives beyond maybe getting drinks or a couple of parties. His claim to being chummy with Jimmy was his nickname he gave him, ‘Charlie Hustle’ since Jimmy at the time was an HHM mailroom clerk (working on the side to get an online law degree at the same time). He never dared to go against Chuck’s word. And then Howard attempts to adopt white surfer bro zen, taking up a ~namast3~ license plate and offering Jimmy a partnership at HHM long after the damage has been done in the Chuck situation and also after Jimmy realized he was happier running a smaller solo practice where he could make his own rules and Kim could be a public defender with Jimmy’s support.

But now you ask: Why do I think this is the makings of an ideal Tony Stark characterization?

Because Tony, like Howard, isn’t willfully malicious. They’ve both suffered in their respective fields for the work they’ve done-- work carried on from their fathers (Hamlin Senior and the surrogate of Chuck McGill / Howard Stark). And they do have enough wherewithal to recognize that maybe something is wrong, and that makes them want to do something about it.

But where Tony Stark depictions fail I think, is that they don’t let him be anything more than what weird nerds make of Elon Musk as some kind of hip tech/business-savvy savior. Tony is only allowed to be dubious enough to hook people in before it’s played off as lovable asshole comedy, or for major things like the Superhuman Civil War he turns out to have been right all along to (reads notes) criminalize his only friends and continue making weaponry exclusively for people who agree with him. Just look at how he gives awkward teenager MCU Peter Parker a suit that rapidly shanks people as prelude to the orbital drone army and privacy invading hacking tech.

And the thing is: those moves could absolutely be intriguing if he was allowed to be that sort of character Howard is. Someone who very much tries to do good but they’re so deep into draconian systems that their idea of right and wrong still comes from high society and the letter of the law-- even when they try to buck those things, it’s been ingrained into them over the years by their father figures and environments. 

Where Tony goes beyond Howard is that as one of Marvel’s OG characters he lives by the idea that he is a human trying to deal with something he considers to have made him a god. Versus DC’s OGs being godlike beings who aspire to be more like the humans they walk among. Where being Batman gives the disconnected Bruce Wayne a chance to interact with people on the street, the Iron Man armor and founding Avenger status further distance Tony from humanity than his upbringing and wealth have already done.

Tony Stark can solve engineering problems, short term like supervillains and whatnot. And he can even come up with some long-term infrastructure, charity efforts sometimes. 2019′s “Marvel Comics Presents #7″ features him attempting to work within the system (and failing) to stop another billionaire from a massive subprime mortgage moneymaking scheme-- eventually just giving the other man his own iron man armor so they can duke it out-- highlighting Tony’s struggle to enact something positive on his terms.

It’s a noteworthy subversion of golden age comic book heroes, as in the 1940s would have entirely sidestepped the legal system in recognition of its inability to exact justice, and directly attacked the mortgage man until he surrendered. The story ends before the power armor battle occurs, but the ultimate fate of both the villain and his scheme are up in the air for interpretation. The damage could be too late to counteract or he goes on to own up to it and do something. Maybe the mortgage man got away with his free armor and it’s going to come back to haunt everyone later.

Armor Wars (Iron Man #225-#232, 1987-1988) is a personal favorite of mine. A storyline where Tony attempts to track down and take out supervillains with power armor or advanced technology at the first sign that his designs were stolen and used by others. His response is filled with good intentions, but even at the prologue to the crusade it is as much a spiral of panic as one of Tony’s first moves is to question reformed supervillain Carl Walker (AKA Force) at his newly formed electronics company, later phoning him in the middle of the night to haunt him with memories of casualties brought on during his supervillain days.

The storyline eventually reaches a point where Tony is no longer content with simply going after supervillains, antagonizing SHIELD agents and attacking fellow Avenger Stingray, who he discovered after the fight did not even actually use his designs on his own costume. The West Coast Avengers team attempted to intervene, along with Captain America who Tony would subdue while going after wearers of the mandroid armor at a maximum security supervillain prison. He even goes to Russia and nearly causes an international incident when he picks a fight with supervillains turned state operatives in Titanium Man and a friendlier iteration of the Crimson Dynamo. All ending with a boss fight against one last bad guy in power armor. Tony makes a new suit, but in the process has alienated himself from the rest of the superhero community.

This once more mirrors how in s5/s6 Howard Hamlin attempts to make amends with Jimmy as he begins doing business as Saul Goodman. He offers not only a corporate position, but fails to take the time to understand why Kim and Jimmy are public defender/solo practice instead of the traditionally preferable position at the top of a successful firm. And then following Kim and Jimmy’s attempts to discredit Howard in front of fellow firm lead Cliff Main, Howard has his own spiral at the thought that his actions have cultivated no tangible good results.

And another aspect of Howard that I believe would stick with a Tony Stark characterization are attacks on his character even when he’s only done good-- a quality he used to share with the rest of the roster of Marvel superheroes in the first few decades, the 60s/70s/80s. But what makes it uniquely his is that it is not simply as Iron Man that he is castigated, but Tony’s ethos as a businessman is also called into question-- given how the majority of his super-colleagues were rarely in his position of affluence or technological superiority. This is made easier by the fact modern Tony doesn’t have a secret identity anymore.

The 2010s have leaned into his fame between the movies and comic runs like Dan Slott’s 2018 run. And as recently as Christopher Cantwell’s Iron Man run (2020-- the year of release, not Arno Stark) even gives him that Muskesque twitter bullying and an odd fit for love interest in Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat. A far cry from the challenge, the intrigue of Armor Wars or Demon in a Bottle.

idk anymore perceptions of businessmen and techbros are wild

[rosesfox]

I’m not upset with Cassian and Amren because I do think it’s obvious that they’ve put Feyre first but there are just short MOMENTS where they contradicted that. Sjm fixed it with Amren when she had Amren call Nesta out for being childish and unfair about it. finally, they were training together in Acowar and Acofas and amren never talked to her about abusing and being jealous of her younger sister…? They just played puzzles, drank and talked shit about life together? Sjm has definitely glazed over feyres abuse from nesta with Amren. and after Cassian starts having sex with Nesta he starts disagreeing with all of Feysand and the IC’s decisions. He goes silent when they’re talking about a topic I’m like “what the hell is his deal all of a sudden?” They both annoyed me but Cassian more. Sjm got so messy while she was writing. Even the whole “Nestas been over here quite a bit” in Acofas I was like “Wtf you’re having her big sister hang out with HER friend? And not even having Amren talk to her for Feyre to fix the situation before she befriends the sister? She just put them right into a friendship. Like fuck Feyre am I right? I was like What is this? Just disappointing writing decisions that affected Feyre with her sister. Azriel, Mor and Rhys are on the loyal list while Amren and Cassian got ruined kind of. But I can get over it easily, like I said we know where their loyalties all lie at the end of the day. Sjm just had us question it for whatever reason by being too lazy to think twice about certain decisions. just like “well I want them to be friends even if she still is abusive and disrespectful when it comes to feyre (: fast forward to two edgy besties making puzzles” and Cassian just lost all sense. I feel bad for Cassian Stan’s because his behavior was a mess for our side and their side. They don’t think he even stood up for nesta enough while we think he didn’t stand up for the ICs decisions or Feyre enough. Amren made up for it by talking shit the whole book to Nesta so she may be forgiven for her past choices soon.

It was ooc for Amren to befriend Nesta but not call her out on her shit sooner when she’s always quick to call someone out, and Ooc for Cassian to act like such a brute that was whipped for nesta for a personality trait. The random dancing? Almost letting Eris die? Disagreeing with Feyre and Rhys so much when they made sense? Complaining about them giving the dagger to Eris I was like “omg shut up already I love you but stop complaining so damn much 🥹” when he was like “Feyre why can’t you go search for the trove Instead of nesta” I was like…”boy..if you don’t stop being so biased” when he slung his arm around nesta in front of rhysand on purpose….so many bad moments. I can never re read it without skipping so many parts bc they irk me. Azriel was only distant because of wanting a HEA not because of all this shit Cassian has going on. Azriels book is about to be so much better I just know it. I feel like we suffered through a chaotic contradicting YA book with 6 adult smut scenes of them banging eachothers brains out. It’s pure chaos and to the people that stan the book, you are strong. I can’t read it without being annoyed or cringing.

Azriel and Elains Povs will hopefully be more mature, and she won’t continue doing ooc bullshit within the IC. Go mess up other relationships outside of the IC and give them a rest, it’s confusing us all. I feel like Sarah not caring about criticism could be bad for her writing like where is the growth? She writes so good but has flaws that can easily be fixed if she’d pay more attention and care

Cassian in acomaf defending Feyre from Nesta and super worried about her throughout her trajectory, Amren and Feyre being good friends who count on each other and spend time together, and all that disappeared in acosf. Amren literally has one scene "defending" Feyre and it's at the end of the book. Cassian was supposed to be Feyre's best friend, but he wasn't, and idk if i expected much from Amren.

the most annoying thing was Cassian throwing Feyre into the fire to spare Nesta from going to get the weapons. like?????? I thought the intention was to make Nesta a good person who takes initiative and wants to help, why does Feyre have to literally be life-threatening for Elain to volunteer and then Nesta to volunteer to go? 

LMFAO CASSIAN DEFENDING RHYS ALL THE TIME, and then he goes and puts his little arm on Nesta as a form of whatever. this book is so embarrassing

and yes, it seems that none of Nesta's actions have any consequences. Amren who doesn't like anyone wouldn't like Nesta just because she acts like a spoiled brat.

that's what you said and what most fans agree: it's lazy and contradictory writing. I hope she learned from her mistakes, from the fucking hate that Feyre took, from the hate that Nesta continues to take, and do something better and more conclusive in Elain and Azriel's book.

i don't think i could answer everything you said, but i loved your ask and i share 100% of your thoughts! im always here to listen.

[xxskycrystalxx]

Good afternoon, dear fellow palmerstrange shipper, I just read your post about DSMoM and the major points featured in the film, love what you said abt Stephen & Christine, btw. I've been crying nonstop since. I probably look mental taking it as hard as I am but whatever, I've already accepted that I'll never get over for as long as I live. That said, are you hopeful/optimistic that Rachel McAdams will be back for the 3rd film? Personally, I ❤️ Rachel & BC together. They are just 😚 perfection

Hi! 😊

Don’t worry you’re not alone. I watched the movie yesterday and I still can’t stop thinking about it, especially bc of Stephen & Christine. I’m in this endless cycle of suffering atm and I can’t get myself out. My family (who watched it with me) have been utterly bewildered on why I took it so hard but it is what it is, I’ll never be the same. 😭

But anyways, you asked a very good question that I had to rlly think about for a bit. Personally, I do rlly want Rachel back in DS3 but…., that being said, realistically no. I think at this point Marvel has given Christine + Palmerstrange a full circle with DS:MoM. They showed Stephen moving on at the end (but we all know he still loves her, it’s up to our own views on whether or not it’ll be romantic or platonic), Christine in his world is married while universe-838 Christine is back where she belongs. Then they introduced Clea in the first post-credits scene and honestly I’ve given up hope right there, even though a teeny tiny part of me thinks that there still could be a chance with Palmerstrange. The only way I’d see Marvel bring back Christine is if they made her a person that Stephen could talk too, like a best friend or just a confidante even. Now that they’ve brought out Clea, the future for the two of them is quite uncertain. It’ll depend on what Marvel does in the future films that’ll decide their fate. If they make Clea just a main character helping Stephen save/fix up the multiverse and not a love interest we have hope. If they want to make her his permanent love interest in DS3 and more than that’s it. They could also go down the road of another variant of Christine or introduce Night Nurse but those are huge IF’s. And yes, I absolutely love Rachel & Benedict, they have such good chemistry to me and when they come on screen it’s like magic and sparks everywhere! They’re the reason why I love the movies sm so it’ll be amazing if they were in another movie together whether it’s in a DS movie or another.

I hope that answers your question! And sorry for writing so much, I just have so much to say 😂

[iamanartichoke]

[please blacklist spoiler tags: #loki tv series spoilers, #loki series spoilers, #loki spoilers]

I need to talk about the Avengers. 

I just want to express how much I hate that the Avengers aren’t on the hook for all their time travel nonsense bc they were “supposed to” do it and Loki is on the hook bc he wasn’t. 

I mean, I am glad that they addressed it right away - that Loki was inadvertantly caught up in the Avengers' time meddling, and that apparently they were doing what they were supposed to and that's why none of them were on trial, but - there are two things going on here that I have issue with. One is, of course, the scapegoating of Loki once a-fucking-gain, but the other is that there's a legitimate problem inherent in framing the Avengers' deeds as The Right Thing So There Are No Consequences, especially because it directly leads to Loki (and only Loki) being scapegoated since, apparently, someone's got to answer for all of this. 

Why Were The Avengers Supposed to Undo the Snap?? 

Of all the possible options they could have gone with (such as reversing time back to just before the Snap happened), going back through time to gather the stones and use them to undo things five years later is, like, one of the worst?? Best case scenario, it implies that the TVA is ridiculously incompetent in managing the sacred timeline and worst case scenario, it implies that the TVA is ridiculously adept in managing the sacred timeline, if their goal is to have it be the worst possible timeline anyone could end up in. 

The Avengers may have done an arguably good thing in undoing the Snap - I don't disagree that those people should've lived - but they also royally fucked over a lot of things in the process and left Earth (and presumably many many other worlds) in total post-Snap chaos while fucking off to die be with their families and/or start new lives. 

This goes back to the plan itself. One of my many issues with Endgame is that not only is the plan convoluted and, frankly, stupid, but also I have a real problem with the concept of the Avengers just saving the world as they see fit, regardless of whether or not that's actually the best thing to do. (If the Russos hadn't done such a shit job with explaining what the Accords were actually supposed to do, then maybe this could have been addressed somehow - like, okay, together we may have the brains and resources to carry off this plan but does that mean we're the ultimate authority on whether or not we should? Maybe we should check with, like, the UN or something about this? [and it’s entirely possible the UN was mentioned and I have forgotten it bc I’ll be honest, I watched Endgame once and have bitched about it ever since.] I digress.) 

The narrative in Endgame and into the MCU beyond plays like the Avengers only care about saving the world when they stand to personally gain from it (they want their friends and family back, they want to feel like they didn't fail, they have unilaterally decided that what they want is the Best Thing for everyone) and once the Good Deed is done and the smoke clears from the battlefield, there's no concern with saving the mess of the world they created. 

TFatWS addressed so many of the problems with the post-reverse-Snap, which implies that the MCU (both in-universe and out) is aware that things are fucked up now. People's lives were literally ruined by what the Avengers did. Refugees are displaced. Humans are coming back to a world where they've been dead for five years and their loved ones have moved on and their homes have been sold and their bank accounts have been closed and they have no jobs. And that’s just on Earth. Yet no one (again, both in-universe and out) feels the need to hold the Avengers accountable for any of this. 

Plus, what about the people who died as a result of the Snap but not from the Snap directly? What about the planes that fell from the sky when the pilots turned to dust? The cars that crashed and collided when the drivers poofed? Etc. Like, fuck all of those people I guess? 

And who, exactly, is "supposed to" clean up the Avengers' mess now that the actual Avengers are either dead, old and living on the moon, or retired? Is it on Sam's shoulders alone (or, rather, Sam and Bucky's)? Is Peter Parker (yknow, the 15 year old Nick Fury went and recruited bc there was no one else) supposed to be fixing things? 

The TVA takes responsibility for none of this. They sit back in their nightmare DMV-esque office and claim that all is as it should be but my question remains: please explain to me how the outcome of the post-Snap universe is ultimately satisfactory to anyone besides the Avengers? 

There's also the fact that Loki figures out right away that the Avengers were engaging in some time travel shenanigans ("the cologne of two Tony Starks is hard to miss” lmfao Loki you snarky shit). Loki recognizes that there's been an opportunity created of which he can take advantage, but he isn't responsible for creating it. The Avengers messed up and created that opportunity so, even if they were supposed to be doing what they were doing, there are still no consequences for the fact that they made a mistake that allowed Loki to then branch off and create a new timeline. 

Let's also say that we accept that the Avengers were supposed to undo the Snap exactly as they did. Okay, sure. BUT: 

- Was Steve, then, also supposed to decide to fuck back off to the 1940s and marry Peggy (which created two Steves, right? The one who was married to Peggy all along and the one who was in the ice?? The TVA is just okay with two Steves?)? 

- What is the actual point of Stephen Strange having the time stone and using the time stone both to gain the advantage over Darmammushumuuyourmom (I’m sorry, I can’t remember his real name) and to look at all the possible timelines to figure out how to defeat Thanos? 

- How is it possible that there are 14 million potential timelines in which the Avengers failed if the TVA’s entire thing is that there can only be one true ring timeline to rule them all? The fact that Stephen can look ahead and determine so many outcomes based on the choices they're making would mean that people do have free will and that their actions aren't automatically dictated by what's “supposed to” happen. They had to make the right choices in order to get to the one timeline in which Thanos failed. 

- What’s the point of Stephen having to protect the time stone, anyway, if there are presumably a few others in Casey’s drawer?

- On that note, if there are a lot of infinity stones hanging around in the TVA’s desk drawers, what makes the original six the specific, correct ones that Thanos had to collect in order to pull off the Snap and why is it then those specific six the ones that the Avengers had permission to go back through time to get in order to undo the Snap as the Timekeepers intended?

- And actually, in fact, if there’s only one sacred timeline and anyone who fucks it up without permission gets “reset” (aka made nonexistent, along with their timeline branch) then, again, why does Stephen have to protect the time stone? Either anyone who steals it was supposed to, or their timeline gets eliminated and the theft ceases to matter. 

- Less significant but also still kinda significant is how Agents of SHIELD figures into all of this. The TVA knows that Loki killed Coulson but they don't know (or don't care?) that Coulson was brought back to life and proceeded, with his team, to go on and get heavily involved in time travel and going back and forth and bringing people from the past into the present? So the TVA is okay with Daniel Sousa leaving his timeline but not with Loki leaving his? 

... I have literally confused myself with all of this, so if anyone followed my train of thought here, congratulations and maybe you can explain it to me lmao. 

But here's my ultimate point: the sacred timeline that the TVA is tasked with maintaining is not sensical or linear. It's full of gaps and holes and people taking matters into their own hands to determine both their own fates and the fates of others. As a result, a lot of people suffer kinda needlessly based on the events in said timeline, and apparently it's perfectly fine for all of this nonsense to occur so that everyone else has some element of control - 

- but Loki is literally the only one who is told uh, actually, no, you are supposed to live a shitty life and die a pointless death and there's not a goddamn thing you can do about it bc it's supposed to happen. 

What in the actual fuck kind of logic is that??? 

Thus, either the TVA (and the Timekeepers) are grossly incompetent, or else they're extremely competent and also really fucking shitty beings who just enjoy the needless suffering of others. 

And somehow this is all Loki's fault!!

And then Mobius has the fucking audacity to say, to Loki's face, “you only exist to prop up everyone else and you, Loki Odinsonson Laufeyson mischief god and king of space lol, do not have any inherent worth or value as your own person. You were born to be a scapegoat and you will die a scapegoat and there's no getting around that, if we have anything to say about it.”

To quote Loki, in a very twisted way - yes, it's funny. It's absurd. 

Does, uh, does this make sense? At some point I crossed over from meta-writing into straight up ranting and so, well, here we are. 

[thoradvice]

i had a friend a couple of days ago tell me that bc ive been through so much trauma & childhood abuse that no boy will ever love me & essentially tell me that I have to be perfect in order to be loved & gave me a list of how unloveable I am & I can’t stop crying over it & it just made me really sad that someone who knows me so well truly believes that no boy will ever love me bc I am so broken & idk how to not believe her :(

anon, i’m so so sorry that this person said those things to you. this is possibly the saddest ask i’ve ever received, and i wish i could give you a hug or make you some hot chocolate or anything to make you feel better. i hope my words will bring some comfort, instead.

this person is wrong. i’m not going to say friend, because there’s no way this person is your friend after saying such hurtful things. i know this is something that i couldn’t forgive. you do not have to be perfect to be loved. no one is perfect, and everybody is loved. i promise that this is true. i’ve dealt with severe mental illness for about half a decade now. my brain is screwed up in more ways than i can count. i never felt loved, or like i was deserving of love for so long. despite all of that, i was still loved. i was loved by family and friends through all of that. i now have a girlfriend of almost one year who loves me, too. everybody is deserving of love, including me, including you.

no amount of trauma, abuse, mental illness, or anything else will ever make you unlovable. i promise that to you. no matter what you’ve suffered, there will always be people ready and willing to listen to you, to welcome you with open arms, to treat parts of you gently, to love you fully and wholly in the way that you deserve. you’re not broken; i know what it feels like to feel so broken and completely shattered. but you don’t need fixing, you’re whole and complete and worthy of as much love as you can stand. 

romantic love is possible for you, if that’s what you desire. you’ll find a boy who’ll make you feel so loved that you feel insane to think that you ever felt unloved. he’ll love all the parts of you that you want to hide away and think they’re the most beautiful thing that he’s ever seen. you deserve all of this and so much more. you deserve a friend who’ll tell you this, instead of one that tears you down. please consider cutting them off if you haven’t already.

know that my asks and messages are always open if you need to talk. sending you so much love 💞

[ofgentleresolve-a]

🔥 (oKAY BUT ALSO??? BLACK KNIGHT!HYURICK, I?? I'll elaborate on this through the ask you sent me 👀 but I SEE IT, I SEE IT FROM HYUK'S PART, TOO? I hope it's okay to send these in ;W; PLS TAKE MUCH CARE AND I HOPE YOU'RE RESTING LOTS!!!)

@jeoseungsaja *cries in ‘this is completely my fault, but i’m still gonna cry over them anyways*🥲🥲🥲

HELLO AGAIN I KNOW I SAID ID ANSWER THIS PRIVATELY BUT ALSO I NEED THE DASH TO KNOW ABOUT THIS ONE TOO 🥺🥺🥺 if main verse hyurick is wholesome, sweet with a lonnnnng ass slowburn, then hyurick in black knight verse is PAIN AND SUFFERING…..with a hint of hope 🥲

( also this is me @ hyurick in black knight verse....FOREVER CONCERNED EVEN IF THEY BOTH SAY THEY’RE DOING FINE...THEY REALLY AREN’T I DON’T CARE IF DETECTIVE SOURFACE MAKES A FACE AT ME 😭 )

I’m so glad we’re on the same page here bc now?? I get to tell u my thoughts on hyurick in this very painful au that somehow spawned from wholesomeness shsisidjdj

i think it’s very much like you’ve said: both hyuk and Patrick fragmented, shells of the ppl they used to be….whereas hyuk is even more belligerent, apathetic, and isolated from the world around him, Patrick is more anxious, jumpy, and even quieter….the last five years have NOT been kind to them…😭 and yet they’re both still hyper focused on their respective goals ( hyuk: finding out the truth behind his best friend’s death and Patrick: protecting hyuk by taking down ANACHRON ). And by being fixated on these goals, they justify the  ( very self destructive ) lifestyles they lead.

something important to consider here is that when they do reunite, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll revert back to the ppl they were before Patrick’s ‘death’…..I can’t speak for hyuk ( although any emotions good or bad he might feel is COMPLETELY VALID….patrick did lie to him and he suffered for five years over that lie ), but I know Patrick, when he initially reunites with hyuk, will have to acclimate to being emotionally vulnerable with another person. like of course, hyuk can still read him like an open book but it’s one thing to be able to read the book…..it’s another thing to be GIVEN THE BOOK to read if that makes any sense….basically, at the beginning patrick will definitely be hiding ( or at least try to hide ) the depth of his feelings/how he’s been coping with, well everything bc that’s something he would be mortified for hyuk to find out 😭 along with that, Patrick also has to relearn every detail about his dear friend bc it’s not just hyuk who has to readjust what he knows about patrick...hyuk has also changed drastically in the last five years- good thing this is a topic patrick is very passionate about studying JFKSLFJKSL

but….BUT I do genuinely think their rekindled friendship ( and eventually something else too ) is something that will be GOOD for the both of them. for one thing, hyuk has something to lose again, but in patrick’s case, he feels like his sense of peace was taken in those last five years, so i think being around hyuk, someone he feels completely safe and at ease with, would in a way give him back some of that peace, if that makes any sense...? basically i think in being each other’s home, it wouldn’t necessarily fix each of them, but in wanting to be there for the other, i feel like their relationship would encourage each of them to begin to piece themselves back together....not necessarily into the ppl they were before, but more into people who are stabler and overall, happier...but YEAH I JUST...hyuk has always been a cornerstone in patrick’s life and especially in light of what patrick has gone through, he understandably would want to find home again. but not just ANY home, he wants the one that makes him feel safest and the comfiest aka hyuk and so in this sense, the only two ppl i could see patrick ending up with in this verse is either hyuk or felicity...but felicity’s dead, so hyuk sorry ur stuck him 4 life 🙃

BUT IN TERMS OF JUST?? THE TOUCH BARRIER?? if hyuk is more prone to breaking it, pls expect patrick, once he acclimates to being around hyuk and knows hyuk will be around for the long run, to be even MORE shameless about giving and wanting affection from hyuk via touch bc a. hyuk needs the reassurance that patrick is here in flesh and b. hyuk’s presence reassures and calms him, great for the paranoia really. ( also just patrick holding hyuk back and like, at first just being surprised that hyuk actually stopped...also pls catch patrick in this verse to be stopping hyuk from fighting via hugs WAY MORE OFTEN 🥲 ) BUT...just expect patrick to be brushing shoulders and knees with hyuk alot, wanting to hold hyuk’s hand a lot, and a TON of resting against hyuk’s shoulder bc he’s TIRED and REALLY WANTS TO REST ON A PILLOW CALLED HYUK’S SHOULDER IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR 😭😭😭

i too could go on for hours about these two in this painful verse ( i take full responsibility for sjdfklsdj ) THANKS SO MUCH FOR SENDING THIS ALEX AND PLS HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY 🥺🥺🥺

[franeridart]

Anon said: i love love love LOVE how you just draw gojo leaning onto getou, hiding his face in getou's neck or back or chest <////3 im just so heartbroken over those two

So glad to hear you like him clingy as much as I do!! TT^TT as far as I’m concerned he wasn’t clingy enough in canon, so I’m fixing it as much as I can with every new doodle haha

Anon said: whenever im sad i just come to your account and look through your art :")) it brings me so much comfort :')) also i gotta mention that the teacher getou art you've made has healed my broken heart bc of jjk and now that is the only canon i accept thank you very much gege akutami has nothing on me

GAH GETO-SENSEI MY ONE AND ONLY I’m happy he makes you as soft as he does me, he’s such a comfort to me ;;;; and thank you for liking my stuff!!!! Means the world to me to hear it ;A; <3

Anon said: I miss your krbk sm 😔 No pressure intended!!!!!! I still love and support u and ur art!!!

Man I miss them too!!!!! @ hori when are you bringing my loves back from the war I’m here waiting good sir!!!

Anon said: v v curious on your thoughts on what’s currently going on in bnha manga :)))

HMMM what are my thoughts on it? Well, let’s split it in two: Deku’s side and Todoroki’s side, because that’s how it’s split in my brain atm, and allow me to start from the second because it’s easier to get through for me

I’m in love with everything Hori is doing with Todoroki and everyone involved with him - that’s to say his whole whole family and Hawks and Jeanist too, all of it, I’m so into it it’s no joke at all. Always been in love with how he handles Enji’s character and his interactions with his family and the latest developments didn’t disappoint me at all, wasn’t very much into Dabi right after the “reveal” but the more I think about it and about the story from his pov the more behind it I am, forever and always head over heels for Shouto’s way of dealing with a situation that’s as complex as one would expect from a protagonist of their very own story you could really make a manga out of the Todoroki’s family plot from Shouto’s pov alone, it’s incredible I can’t state how in love with it all I am enough. And Hawks, don’t make me start on him I’ll straight up never stop, absolutely and most definitely my favorite pro-hero I would trust him with my money and my kids 100/10 just assume I’m constantly crying over him. Also Jeanist is just hilarious so bless him and his presence in an otherwise too heavy story

Deku’s side........ well, the main problems I have with it are that one, I don’t really understant the need to keep ofa a secret from the class for the biggest part of the story when the reveal wasn’t forced upon Deku, didn’t have a huge impact on him or his relationship with the others (his leaving wasn’t directly caused by him coming clean after all, he wouldn’t have had to leave earlier had he not kept it a secret and he would have still left at this point had the class already known all along) and didn’t, like. Matter. All that much. Two, this manga is called my hero academia and I’m genuinely starting to wonder why. What was the point of all the arcs set inside the school anyway? Most of the characters growth (Deku’s especially) and the progression of the main plot happened in the arcs outside of the school anyway, and at this point it’s clear we’re not going back to the school after this or even seeing anyone graduate. What of Shinsou? What was the point of his plot when we’re not even gonna see him being active part of the class in a school environment? I’m just confused about it all, I guess. Three, which is really my biggest problem with it all, is the way Deku’s set on saving Shigaraki. It’s not like I don’t like a story in which all the villains are saved and the good guys win and love prevails and all that, call it corny but they’re exactly my type of stories, but I’m not sure I can get behind it when Twice died like that, and Midnight did as well, and Aizawa lost a leg, and Nighteye died, and Hawks might have lost his wings, and Shirakumo ended up Kurogiri and it’s still unclear whether he can be saved, like... why does Shigaraki get to be saved when so many people suffered like that? And it’s not only about them suffering by his hands, it’s about Hori and how he was ruthless with so many characters but lets the story show arbitrary kindness to Shigaraki alone, it’s all... well. Unfair. The way I see it. At this point I at the very least expect kindness for Touya as well, here.

That said if I pick the chapters one by one by themselves I do enjoy them very much. I just don’t gotta think about the big picture lmao AH but it’s all a personal opinion, of course! I know people who enjoy the way the story is going and I can see where they’re coming from, this is all arbitrary tastes and preferences on my part, I’m aware of it!

Anon said: Hi hi! I finally got into jjk AND finally caught up on the manga and i appreciate your doods soooo much more now!! They’re so great!! But imcurious, is there one specific moment in the story where you Gojo and Geto became IT for you? Just genuinely curious!!

THANK YOU happy to hear you liked jjk!!!! And that’s!!! a great question, I’m not sure I have an answer actually? I binged the manga in a day and a half, you see, and when I binge stuff that fast I rarely stop to overthink things - I did ship them as I read too since, well. They’re in love lmao but I shipped them in the same way I shipped itafushi or yuutoge after I read the prequel, you know? Just a general aknowledging of how good they were together. The main point with satosugu specifically was probably that satoru has been my favorite character since the beginning of the story and suguru got there as well as soon as I read their backstory, so once I was caught up they’re the ones I ended up spending the most time thinking about, both by themselves and together, and that ended up making me a bit obsessed..... just a bit lol

If I had to give one specific moment that got me by the heart and squeezed the hardest it’d be... probably Satoru’s “my soul knows otherwise”. And the way his voice alone could bring Suguru back, even for just a single moment. The thing about satosugu for me!!! one of the many things about them, but the main thing for me, is that they love each other. Be it platonic or however you wanna see it, they love each other. Despite everything and after it all, even if Satoru had to kill Suguru, even if Suguru killed so many and betrayed Satoru and they went their separate ways in the harshest of ways, they love each other. It’s insane, isn’t it? That they’d love each other so much they could pass over everything and anything. I’ve seen the “best friends become enemies” trope so often in shounen manga, but this is the first time I see it treated like this - with love so strong that they never blamed each other or turned that love in hate. The way satosugu do it is all-encompassing! It goes beyond the world and their differences and death itself! So if I had to pick it’d be that one, because that scene happens after it’s all over, and it all went to shit and way beyond too already, and still their souls resonate with each other and answer to each other and that sends me insane, just thinking about it. Like, god, they really still love each other. Satoru’s mourned for Suguru for a year, Suguru’s been dead for a year, they’d been separated ten whole years before then, and still! And still!!! It’s so tender I don’t know how to deal with it

Anon said: “What’s a god to a nonbeliever?”—That tag is going to haunt me for a while. The entire tag section for your latest Gojo and Geto drawing is meta-worthy.

THANK YOU it’d been eating at my brain I had to write it down somewhere why are those two like that

Anon said: Do you take commissions? No pressure! ✨❤️

Not right now!

Anon said: How do you feel about sukuna ? like/dislike or thoughts on him

AMAZING QUESTION I love him. I have absolutely zero clue as of why so don’t ask me to elaborate, I’m literally that marge pic with the potato when it’s about Sukuna, I have no meta thoughts about him nor deep reasonings behind it - by all accounts, I should dislike him! But he shows up and I’m like nghhh king, so that’s where we stand. It’s Sukuna, you know. I just think he’s neat.

Anon said: sighs time to get into another fandom bc i simp too hard for ur art 😔

HAH thank you for the trust I hope you’ll like ror if you do get into it!!! hahaha

[c-is-for-circinate]

So as close as I am to fully escaping Hades for the first time, I figure I might take this opportunity to write down a couple of things I'm scared of from this ending. The story is so good so far! But I have seen good stories before! And there are patterns, right, patterns it's so easy for even good stories to fall into, so yeah, I have fears, and they mostly come down to Hades himself.

(Yep, this one got long again! People seem to be enjoying my game-reaction rambles, so, for your enjoyment under the cut: themes of separation and reunion, predictions for what Zagreus is the god of, and a whole lot of discussion of familial abuse dynamics, how they're depicted in fiction, and the work it takes to change them in real life. Stay warned! Stay safe!)

(ALSO, I still haven't made it past the first couple of chambers in the Temple of Styx, so no spoilers in the reblogs/comments please! Yes, even though the whole post is me going on about predictions and hopes and concerns about the path the story might take. I WILL GET THERE SOON.)

It has been really interesting watching some of the stuff the game is doing with themes of parting and reunion, and how that corresponds to life and death. So many of our social links are about reuniting estranged loved ones: Chaos and Nyx, Eurydice and Orpheus, Patroclus and Achilles. Hades is estranged from Olympus, Persephone left. And every time we leave, or try to leave, it is both an attempt at a parting (and Meg and Than are so hurt by that goodbye, or lack thereof) and an attempt at a reunion with our mother. Every time we die it's a reunion, every time we die it's fun, it's great, we get to go back home and check in with all of our friends and be impressed by whoever made Employee Of The [Timeperiod] and sell fish to the cook and put down yet more rugs. (My Zagreus has something of a rug addiction. What can you do.)

It's at the point where I feel pretty secure in stating that Zagreus is going to discover eventually that he is both life/death/rebirth god, and god of partings and reunions. Both halves of both of those things. People leave each other when they die and re-find their loved ones in death; you go away from one group of people to come back to another; you have to depart to return, and I really think that's where we're going to end up with Zagreus. He's going to reunite his various friends with their loved ones, he's probably going to restore communications between Hades and Olympus and even Persephone, he's going to reunite with his mom, and he's going to come back to the Underworld before he leaves to see everyone up top all over again. And of course the vehicle for all of this coming and going is death, because death is the ultimate departure and reuniter. (This is absolutely a religious concept containing a whole bunch of "oh hey our culture has a lot of Christian influence, doesn't it", Greek trappings aside, but that's fine, it's a game made in 2018 not 300 BC, these things happen. They keep calling the Underworld 'hell' and 'infernal'. It's all good.) Of course he's a cthonic god. Of course he bleeds, because you have to bleed in order to die, and Zagreus has to die again and again and again. That's his whole thing.

Thing is, though, looking at those themes, I am also continually aware of the fact that some partings are for a really good reason. Some partings should not end in reunion.

Yes, of course this is about Hades the abusive dad. I have been talking about Hades the abusive dad basically non-stop since I started playing this game, where did you think this post was going.

There are a few things I'm nervous about, separate but related, and at the core it all comes down to, I'm not okay with it if we learn why Hades got to be this way, and Zagreus forgives him as we-the-audience are meant to do, and Hades promises to do better, and nothing concrete about the situation is forced to change. Actual, meaningful, practical, logistical, non-hypothetical non-metaphorical change, not just for Zagreus but for Hades himself.

Because I know how this story tends to go, in fiction. Fictional abusive parents (especially in fantasy/sci-fi stories) tend to come in two types: 'coerced their offspring into actual murder with a side of physical abuse and optional unethical lab experimentation', or 'this was here to create character conflict, we didn't mean for it to read as actually abusive, this parent just has flaws to make them a good character, we swear!' Hades isn't the first type--we have never once seen Hades strike his son, or anybody, or even come out from behind his desk--which means that the fear is, always, always, in every piece of fiction, that he's the second. That the writers are going to decide that the right response to his abuses is remorse, forgiveness, and one really good conversation. That they don't realize it's abuse in the first place.

And, like. They have to know, right? They have to. They can't have done this by accident. (Sometimes, writers get so close by accident.) They can't have done so well at drawing out this situation simply by going, 'well, people are meant to fear this god, so they'd probably react like this, and I guess based on what I've seen in other stories or vague acquaintances they'd then do this,' and never put the name on the situation. Every single time we leave to the tune of a Hades word-flash, he's being dismissive, insulting, and sometimes downright cruel. He is cruel. They have to know!!!

But oh boy have I been consuming media for a lot of years, and oh boy have I run into a lot of writers who don't know.

Reconciliation is such a loaded word, but stories about dysfunctional families really do love it. Stories based around themes of reunion are primed for it. And of course, it's nice, it ties a happy ending off with a sweet little bow, everyone gets to be with the people they love and the family is safe and nobody gets hurt, but so rarely have I seen stories that show the actual work required to rebuild those relationships in a realistic or meaningful way. So rarely do stories trying to build that happy ending actually let the victim of abuse set and maintain boundaries. The character never gets to actually just cut the damn ties to the thing that hurt them. The character so rarely even gets to be safe.

And it's so hard in this game specifically, because "THERE IS NO ESCAPE", because every single thing about this game says that the story's not over when Zagreus gets to the surface, that no matter what he's going to have to come back. It's so hard, because this is a game about reunions. I am not going to get an ending where the abused kid trying to flee his toxic home and abusive dad actually gets to leave and stay gone, not in this one. And that hurts (I have watched and supported and done my best to help multiple real-life friends get the fuck out of homes like that, and stay gone, I have seen how hard it is, how complicated, how awful, and there are never stories for that), but I can live with it, if I get an ending where Zagreus is at least safe. Where things change. Where they really change.

Which is why I need actual, concrete, material changes in the logistics and power structure of the Underworld for this ending to be okay. Understanding why Hades is Like That doesn't cut it. Remorse doesn't cut it! Because look, even if Hades wants to do better, even if he admits he's at fault and tries to be better, he is still set up in a position as an all-powerful tyrant, and trying to become a better person is hard. There is nobody around who can keep him in check when he starts backsliding, which he will. Even if he doesn't want to, he will.

Because people are people, and it's really difficult to break patterns! Especially if everything around them stays the same. Hades is going to slip at some point, be cruel, be callous, be tyrannical, no matter how much of an effort he's making. Not to mention, it is STRESSFUL to face your own crimes and improve, it sucks, it feels bad. And what do habitual abusers do when they feel bad? What's the only coping mechanism Hades appears to have established for dealing with his own shit? That's right, it's inflicting suffering on everyone else around him. (This is why it doesn't really matter what circumstances drove Hades to act this way, why it can't matter--I believe that he is suffering, but he copes with that suffering by inflicting additional suffering on everyone around him, everyone who relies on him, and that's still true no matter what made him feel bad to begin with.) So then we just get a great old guilt-->lashing out-->more guilt-->more lashing out merry-go-round of abuse even as Hades is trying to change. That's how these things work. And yes, change is possible, improvement is absolutely possible, but the environment needs to change first. The system that enables and rewards Hades for acting this way can't stay in place. Things need to actually change, with people who are around to support Hades in his growth and also check his power, people who have power of their own to stop him. And however it happens, for this story with this protagonist with these goals to feel like a happy ending, Zagreus needs to be safe.

It would be okay, though a little disappointing, if those changes were mostly based in magic and fate and, idk, divine mind-control. (This story has been so grounded in actual human dynamics that a fantastical solution to a realistic problem would feel like a letdown, but if it actually solved the problem I'd be okay with it, more or less.) It would be okay, though a little disappointing, if the responsibility for bringing Hades to heel fell upon Zagreus and Persephone, if the two family members who he hurt badly enough that they felt the need to run away from him entirely now had to shoulder the burden of helping him fix himself. (There are definitely ways to write that dynamic better and ways to write it worse, and I think I trust these writers to land on the 'better' side of the scale, but I still don't love the implications.) I think I'd be pretty into it if Hades took a vacation off to Olympus to Work Out His Shit with his own family, while a coalition of Meg, Nyx, Thanatos, Zagreus, and Queen Persephone took over running the Underworld in his absence. I think we might end up getting some combination of those things. I'm hopeful. I think these writers might know what they've written. I think they might have a sense for what it'll take to fix.

But yeah, I'm nervous. (Nervous enough that I might switch to God Mode just to get through, combat has started getting really tedious instead of fun, I want to know what happens next, and this is a game and there is no shame in making it more fun for myself by making the boring parts a little quicker and easier.) I've seen so many stories go wrong. This one has done so much to earn my trust. We'll see if it breaks.

[gwyns]

I get so frustrated with this fandom sometimes as I feel like e/riel fans don’t actually see or care about the characters in their ship besides the aesthetics if them together. And don’t get me started on how they ignore the quotes about elain not fitting in at the night court/needing a different environment. Ok so she is happy at the night court, has her friends and is gonna be with Az. What the heck is her book supposed to be about then? Why would sarah even bother writing about it what’s the healing journey? It just seems like such a bland ass story and I really don’t want it

anon, you bring up SUCH a good point. if elain is already happy within the night court, has her found family and her "true mate" why would we need an elain book? what purpose would it serve? they always talk about how elain and azriel "healed" each other but...

1. we would've SEEN it. sjm wouldn't have healing happen off screen.

2. if az was ok AT ALL we wouldn't have gotten the weird behavior in his chapter.

3. if they're healed, there's absolutely no need for them to go on their "journeys" and sjm has confirmed they both have their own to go on.

you really think that miss sarah janet maas, someone who puts healing and character growth arcs above all else, will have had them fix themselves off screen and give us a boring ass plot where they just sit around and plant things?? no. i am genuinely asking this.... what plot could e/riel possibly offer us? neither of them are connected to the same plot points and they can't share a book bc they both need to heal immensely and sarah just doesn't do things that way. one would have to suffer in the other's shadow for it to happen.

idk maybe i am delusional and i'm clearly not seeing what they are but if you look at the CANON TEXT e/riel just doesn't work.