#but she dies hating herself.

[aingeal98]

Something about older Jason looking at the child version of himself, the innocent victim, and feeling the need to defend and avenge him the way no one else will. They'll call him reckless and try to pin the blame for his death on some unique failure of his personality, the problem isn't Robin the problem is he was just a bad fit for Robin! And then older Jason coming back to life and spits on their twisted grief. Fuck you, that innocent child deserved more. You took his memory and ruined it to make yourselves feel better. If no one will give him justice then Jason will take it himself no matter who he has to kill to get there. It's the only way he can move forward.

Something about older Cass looking at this child version of herself, this innocent who has no idea what she was doing when she was tricked into killing, and finding her irredeemable. She will forgive everyone for everything if they need a second chance but she cannot forgive that innocent child. She spends ten years wanting that child to die for their sin, a standard she holds no one else to. And in the end she does have to die. She can never forgive that child until the price has been paid and the guilty, tormented, suicidal mess of a girl is dead and never coming back. Only then can Cass live on. Only then can she smile without feeling the weight of her kill on her back. If no one will give that child the justice they deserve then she will have to do it herself. It's the only way she can move forward.

[spectralarrovv]

the dark lady’s guidance; quench the light of the moon

[peachyutdr]

i finished it, was kicked out of the game, and then spent the next 10 minutes drawing this. i will now go take a shower, most likely cry, and then go through the emotional turmoil of convincing myself to reset so i can do a geno run. i hate it here :D

[happyk44]

percy needs to be haunted by bianca's ghost more

[casscainmainly]

I think the recent Cass and Jason discussion is very interesting bc like, Jason or even steph in her first appearance take these actions of righteous, murderous (or near murderous) justice bc of the fact that not only have they've been abused, but they're also able to recognise that fact, and feel that despite everything, they didn't deserve to suffer like that (Jason with his murder, Steph with her childhood abuse)

Whereas Cass struggles for most of her series to recognise that she was abused and struggles to properly resent her abuser on the grounds that she didn't deserve it. She resents David for being a killer and making her love him, for making her a killer, but rarely for the actual abuse that came with her training. She eventually recognises it right before the end of pre-52 in batgirl 2008, but not after a long time, and she still tries to save David at the very end after contemplating letting him die.

she does grows to resent Bruce after some time, and confronts him, showing that she's slowly gaining higher expectations for how she should be treated after developing relationships outside the batfamily (coincidentally with Steph, someone who can relate over having a shitty dad, along with her love interests like Kon and Tai)- though Bruce, despite his multitudes of bad parenting moments never truly abuses cass like david did, so there's nuance, and after her fight with bruce, she still has trouble fully reckoning with her abuse (still calls david shooting her 'a game' in front of tim- she knows its wrong but still doesn't act upset about the fact it happened to her).

She kind of sees all the training she went through as a necessary evil in order to have the skills to be a hero- which is somewhat true, but I think it also contributes to her being unable to see herself, even partially, as a victim for large portions of her narrative.

She can understand abuse as something that molds you into a killer, she can't understand being abused and then choosing to be a killer bc of the righteous fury you have at what happened. In Cass' mind her abuse is synonymous with killing. That's the worst thing Cain ever did to her and the reason she ran away. She can't understand someone like Jason choosing it as a way to cope/deal with abuse.

I don't think this is necessarily a ground breaking thought but I think abuse is an interesting lense to look at both Jason and Cass' stories- pre52, Jason's story is about continuing a cycle of abuse. Criminals hurt him, he hurts criminals, and anyone who gets in his way of hurting the criminals, bc even tho he pursues justice, he also pursues retribution, which is hard to do justly. Between that and the whole zombie/living ghost thing, it's downright gothic. Whereas Cass' story is about breaking out of a cycle of abuse- nobody dies bc she let one person die and will never let it happen again. It's just an interesting way to view their differences I think. Good Cass and Jason posts recently!

I LOVE THIS!! I absolutely think abuse informs the way Jay and Cass see the world (and Steph - Steph, in many ways, is the median point between Jason and Cass).

It's the fundamental question that drives Jason and Cass apart. For Cass, her question is: how can I be the victim if I'm the villain? And for Jason, the question is more: how can I be the villain if I'm the victim?

I love this line: "Cass struggles for most of her series to recognise that she was abused and struggles to properly resent her abuser on the grounds that she didn't deserve it." This is doubly complicated by the genuine love David Cain had for her - that panel of them watching the stars kills me every time. This is another key difference between Jason and Cass' abuse (taking Jason's abuse to be his death) - Jason had no love for the Joker, but Cass did love David Cain.

It's why it's so easy for Jason to want to kill the Joker, and so hard for Cass to even be angry at her father. And your point here - "In Cass' mind her abuse is synonymous with killing" - is absolutely on point, because Jason's conception of abuse is the helplessness of being murdered. They are both acting in ways to prevent what abuse means in their minds: as Batgirl, Cass will never have to kill again, and as Red Hood, Jason will never have to be helpless in the face of murderers again.

Any rebuke of their moral codes feels like a denial of the abuse they suffered. It's why Cass can't allow others to kill, and why Jason can't accept Bruce's reasoning for not killing the Joker. It's why these versions of them could never get along. Argh there's been such good Cass and Jason commentary recently, they drive me insane!!!

[mangotelevision]

old ivylyn wip I don't think I'll ever finish

[ccbatman]

what if i said hal's mom called him "hally" specifically as a play on halley's comet, huh. what if i said she did that because she knew no matter how far he went, he'd always come back to her, hm. what then.

[youngyoo-apologist]

I think my least favorite thing ever of all time is when I’m reading a fanfic and Basen and Lily are villains like NO my children would NEVER

It’s usually the case in OG Cale fanfic, now don’t get me wrong I love the guy but also his family was not all horrible, and Basen and Lily were NEVERRRR at fault. Lily is literally like, seven years old and Basen is fifteen neither of them hate their brother either. Any child wouldn’t know how to approach their older brother who doesn’t talk to them and is distant(+ is known for having a bad personality) like that isn’t their fault 😭😭

OG Cale distanced himself from his siblings to protect them, there’s no one to fault in this situation for things turning out this way because it happened due to so many combining circumstances. Like IDK! I just don’t like it when Lily and Basen are treated like bad people cause I just find it a bit ridiculous.

Basen and Lily could’ve tried talking to OG Cale, but the real question is if he would let them talk to him ykwim, his act was perfect with literally no flaws. The reason it worked so well was because no one KNEW him and he probably knew that part too. The sadness to their situation is that they all had their reasons and cared for eachother but there wasn’t really any communication

Tbh it should have been Deruth’s job to ask Cale what was wrong, he’s not like the worst father ever okay but he also has extreme communication issues! The Henituse’s middle name is practically ‘communication issues’ like none of them are very good at it I fear. Deruth clearly cares for his son a lot, but he doesn’t know how to approach Cale possibly out of guilt/fear he’ll hurt his son even more. Which is why he just let’s Cale do what he wants

I think it’s important to note that the family did have faith in Cale, they all knew he wasn’t a bad person but they were all just so distant from eachother. I don’t think Deruth would have offered KRS!Cale to go to the capital after like a weeks worth of changed behavior unless he knew that there was more to his son than what the public thought. Again I think the big issue with the Henituse family is their communication

The characters all have complicated dynamics and personalities and it’s just something I don’t like when everything is treated very one dimensional

[covertblizzard]

Maybe I'm being sensitive but this whole scene just frustrates and annoys me because like

comparing Steph and Tim so callously with comments that he's "better" and a "quick learner" after her death

having Cass lowkey victim blame Steph for her own death "But she chose--" and "She messed up." plus trying to convince Tim that it's not Steph's fault

the "Maybe it's time I gave you a lesson" like I don't really have a good reason for this one it might just be a personal thing but the tone of that whole sentence makes me feel frustrated and talked down to

[yaboi8i]

Misato and Shinji's relationship is probably my favorite in all of Eva and it is not talked about enough.

It's so fascinating, heartwarming and tragic. She gave him a surrogate mother figure who made him feel like family for the first time in his life and she got someone who loved her as more than an object. They were so close to helping eachother through the things that absolutely plauged their lives with this surrogate family relationship and it is utterly tragic how it all came crashing down because they didn't know how to navigate themselves through the horrible circumstances they were in at the end. God I wish more people talked about them without mischaracterizing them or boiling them down to memes. It pisses me off so much when that's the only thing people talk about with them.

[apollos-boyfriend]

the instant downwards spiral of danganronpa’s female characters after thh is so insane to me. like while thh has its issues and is no way perfectly written its female cast is largely treated like Normal People with real motivations and complex inner lives on par with the male cast. and then you get to literally every other game in the series and it’s like. killing women off to enhance male characters’ development. obscenely obvious pedo bait. literally 0 character. sexualized sa victim. killing women off to enhance male characters’ development. killing women off to enhance male characters’ development.

[fisherrprince]

oh so alisaie’s exaggerated bully behavior is 80% fanon. saying this she casually picks up a large rock

[girlatrocity]

MAN.

[lunarosewood23]

FFXVIWrite2024 Prompt 1: Steer

Crossover hell (XIV -> XVI) ft @inkblood-mistrieu’s girl Mingxia and her polycule. Set at some point between 868 and 873 (their arrival and the start of the game). Raven meets with her oath siblings to swap intel and figure out just how they’re supposed to navigate the Valisthean political scene.

Word Count: 1869

~~~

“Your Majesty, the dignitaries have arrived.” A guard alerted her.

Raven sighed as she settled herself upon her makeshift throne. “Very well, send them in.”

The guard nodded as Haurchefant rubbed her shoulder in assurance.

“Everything will be fine Améthyste.”

“I know, but I'm still concerned. We still have yet to find Bahamut and his Dominant, and our little kingdom is still not strong enough to stand on its own. If Sanbreque comes-”

“Won't that make our job easier then? After all Ratatoskr did say that the Empire used him in war...”

“Even still-”

“Your Majesty! May I present to you the Four Lords of the Ruby Chain.”

Raven’s head shot up. The Four Lords?? Does that mean...?

She had to stop herself from shrieking when she saw them as four familiar people strode into her throne room. Two Elezen men, an Au Ra woman and a Hyuran woman, all dressed in garb that reminded her of the auspices whose name they shared.

She rose from her throne with a grin as the Hyuran woman almost ran forward and jumped up to hug her around her neck.

“Thank the gods across the stars!! It's so good to see you Mingxia!” Raven exclaimed as she swung Mingxia in her arms and ran her taloned fingers through her long black and blue hair. She set her down only to hug the rest of them. “And all of you too!”

“Good to see you too Princess.” The Elezen with white hair laughed as she hugged him, lightly whacking him upside the head.

“Foulques be nice.” The Au Ra laughed as she squeezed Raven tightly, her tail reaching over to swat Foulques’s butt.

“Were you not told that it’d be us?” The Elezen with black hair inquired.

“I freaking wish Floriano.” Raven grumbled. “But I can’t fault them for assuming it was Sanbreque, since they are the nation next to us, even as they seem unaware of our presence so far.”

“Curious I will admit.” The Au Ra mused as she ran her scaled fingers through her short black hair and away from her horns. “But good for you I think? We seem to have caught at least a little attention of the Crystalline Dominion and the Dhalmekian Republic.”

“The Dominion is the one with the Wind crystal and the Republic is the one with the earth crystal, right?” Raven asked.

“Right. Though I know I was careful in my slip through of both places...”

“It’s probably my fault Rukia.” Mingxia stated as she rubbed the back of her head. “We had been playing with our magic a bit lately.”

“I don’t think so, but we can figure that out later.” Foulques stated. “Right now we need to figure out how to best navigate the Valisthean political structures here. What have you two found?”

Raven sighed as she waved her hand for them to follow her. “Come on, we’re going to the parlor to talk.”

They nodded and followed, thankful that Raven’s estate is easier to navigate than the castles they had seen in Dhalmekia and the Dominion. The room she led them to was spacious but comfortable, with a table holding tea and light finger foods.

They all settled in and Raven sighed.

“Based on what the locals of my kingdom have told me, Sanbreque is basically Ishgard. A theocracy, though it seems that not only do they worship the dragons, seeing as their Eikon is Bahamut, but the Emperor is one greedy son of a bitch. The vibe I get from him is Thordan, even though I’ve yet to meet the man. Though the second I can,  I’m snatching Bahamut’s Dominant out of there.”

“According to my journal, Bahamut is the one who called us here to this world.” Mingxia explained as she flipped open her quest log. “Though I still struggle to understand how he got here.”

“Ratatoskr recognized his song mixed in with the melodies of this world, so we can confirm it’s the Bahamut from the Source, though as for how he got here...we can only suspect Ascian involvement. When we get back I’m gonna have one very long conversation with Hades about all this.”

“Good idea.” Rukia nodded. “What do we know of the other nations?”

Haurchefant pulled out a map of Valisthea and spread it out. “According to some of our men, until about eight years ago there were six kingdoms. The Holy Empire of Sanbreque, The Grand Dutchy of Rosaria, The Dhalmekian Republic, The Iron Kingdom, The Crystalline Dominion, and the Kingdom of Waloed.”

“If I recall correctly, there was a civil war in Rosaria, though the details escape me, but the current state is that Rosaria became an imperial province of Sanbreque. The dutchy’s Eikon, the Phoenix, hasn’t resurfaced since their Dominant had died in the civil war.” Raven explained, frowning as she remembered the  Echo she had when she had transformed back from being Ratatoskr. “That poor boy. When I first saw the Echo I thought I was looking at a boy that was maybe a little older than Annalise, but I found out he was maybe ten years old at the time of the disaster. It’s heartbreaking, that child must’ve been so scared...”

“How cruel this world is to make a child fight when he should not even be near a battlefield.” Floriano growled.

Mingxia had a curious look in her eyes. “Do you know if they ever discovered a body?”

“Based on the Echo, no. All the invaders discovered was the boy’s older brother, who seemed to be sold off into the army.” Raven answered before she growled. “If I ever see the blonde bitch that orchestrated that mess it’s on sight...”

“Much as I would love to watch you rip that vile woman apart, must I remind you that that blonde bitch is currently the vicerine of Sanbreque.” Haurchefant warned gently.

Raven groaned. “Don’t remind me...”

“I would be careful.” Mingxia warned. “Because there is not a body, things might be more complicated. The Phoenix’s Dominant might not be dead.”

“After everything, you do have a point Ming...” Raven mumbled before shaking her head. “Let’s steer back to the original discussion. What of the other nations?”

Rukia nodded and pointed to the nation near the south. “It seems every nation has a Dominant, with Sanbreque having Bahamut and Rosaria having Phoenix. Dhalmekia has Titan, and it seems he has a high spot in their society seeing as he’s the economics advisor. It reminds me of Ul’dah. It’s a bit of a merchant city-state. Which is Xiaoming’s field of expertise~”

Mingxia giggled as Foulques shook his head. “We still don’t know much about the Iron Kingdom, other than they fought against Rosaria for the giant fire crystal for years. They ransacked Rosaria’s capital soon after Sanbreque’s takeover according to a woman who escaped from there.”

“That sounds like what some of our men who were from there said.” Haurchefant stated before sighing. “What a mess this place is...”

“You’re telling me.” Raven grumbled before she pointed to the nation whose standard seemed to have a horse  on it. “What of this nation across the ocean that seems to span over the continent?”

“We still don’t know much about Waloed, other than the fact that Odin is their Eikon, if what I understand from the Waloeders that fled to our isles told us.” Floriano explained. “The only thing we do know is that the king is collecting Dominants for some reason. We still don’t know why.”

“That’s...worrying. Do we know who he has among his guard?” Haurchefant questioned with a frown.

“Not yet, but we’ll find out.” Rukia assured. “And I guarantee you’ll be the first to know.”

Raven smiled as she pulled Rukia into a hug. “Thanks Rukia...”

“There’s still one more nation we haven’t discussed.” Floriano pointed out as he tapped his finger on the island that seemed to connect the two continents. “The Crystalline Dominion.”

“It seems to sit at the center of the world like Mor Dhona or Lakeland.” Raven noted. “Who is their Eikon?”

“It doesn’t seem to have one. It looks like it’s ruled by a representative council of people from Rosaria, Sanbreque, Dhalmekia and Waloed. It almost seems like it’s being permitted to remain neutral. It definitely feels like a shaky peace, but if Sanbreque’s emperor is getting greedy, who knows how long that will last...” Rukia explained.

“Oh boy...” Raven let out a breath. “Yeah Valisthea is a mess, but I’m still trying to think what the best course of action is, or what political game we need to play with the other nations.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Rukia questioned. At Raven’s confused head tilt she sighed. “You haven’t been paying attention to what some of the people have been saying have you?”

At that Raven groaned as she thumped her head on the table. “I don’t wanna think about it...I’m not Sanbreque’s goddess made flesh, even if I have been spending time in Her chapels in an attempt to understand Her nature. She feels so much like Halone but Her depictions and her devout priests make Her more akin to Menphina.” She grumbled as she waved her hand.

“And yet based on the reports...” Mingxia replied. “There are whispers in Sanbreque that something has occurred. A goddess has appeared in the pristine wilderness near northern Sanbreque. A woman of otherworldly beauty, whose words echo with power in the tongue of dragons. There are whispers that Greagor has appeared on Valisthea, both woman and dragon, whose scales are red as rubies. At her side is her loyal knight, who has a mirror-bright shield, and in his other hand is a blade of moonlight. They whisper that change is coming, for a goddess has appeared.”

“I’ve also heard some stories sister.” Rukia adds. “Of a sweet little bard singing to dying bearers and trying to ease their pain in those final moments before death claims them. Some devout bearers think they've seen the Goddess as they die in their delirium, others beg her to take their pain away so they can die in peace. Some just ask her to hold their hand because they are afraid of dying. Simply because she is kind and sees Bearers for the people they are and not the tools they are forced to be.”

“It is NOT my fault that compassion is a rarity in this hellscape!” Raven yelped as she buried her face in her hands.

Everyone laughed as Haurchefant hugged her from behind and kissed her temple. “Your compassion knows no bounds my heart.”

Raven sighed. "Let it be said that I have never once claimed to be the goddess Sanbreque worships. Despite that the tenants are similar to Halone's back home, I would never claim such. Though apparently showing kindness is so rare here that it's earned me at least a portion of these rumors..."

[worstloki]

Jiao Liqiao is wild btw. I love the way she smiles.

[lollytea]

I get to write Willow and Amitys weird awkward friendship in this fic I'm so excited!!!