#given the fact that we're talking about devils

[dmagedgoods]

Imagine the father you hate sends you a talking sex toy

It may be born from expecting some cunning and twisted games from devils (where is the fun, otherwise?), but to merely take Raphael's and Haarlep's relationship the very way it's presented without further thought appears like signing the line without reading the words to me. What they do there clearly has layers. Raphael is smart, he has to be for those contracts, the manipulations, and his little ambitious plan. Furthermore, it's essential for him to stay careful. He, more than anyone, should know not to trust Haarlep. And he most certainly is highly aware. Imagine you want to surpass your fiendish father and he gifts you a toy incubus. What would you do with them? I, at least, know what I would not do with this gift: Order it to take the form(s) of those I most desire (or, worse, cherish to a point) or even fuck it. Now, Raphael is a devil (with a strong human side, fight me, but still a devil): of course, he fucks Haarlep anyway and maybe not to appear ungrateful too (after all, you want Daddy to think you appreciate his gift or at least paint the surface-level impression of it). But he only fucks Haarlep in quite a special way, does he not? - In the one and only way that gives nothing away about him. Or at least it gives nothing away about him that his father (and anyone, really) doesn't already know (or is supposed to know): That Raphael has a very high opinion of himself. Maybe it's even an abstract little joke. I, for my part, see some dry humor in it: His daddy sends this shapeshifting, form stealing incubus spy to get some information on how to pressure his son, should it become a necessity. But all he gets from said incubus spy is the statement that his son only ever fucks himself. "Raphael only loves Raphael." That definitely is what I would want my incubus sex toy to report back to my detested father. (If I was a devil, mind you.) Now Raphael doesn't put that much effort into the act, it seems, but that's not truly necessary after all and only serves him further: I don't think he fancies Haarlep gossiping about his actual sexual preferences with Mephistopheles either. Ah, now maybe Haarlep and Raphael despise each other or maybe they developed a fondness for each other, I can picture both, but it stays true that Raphael doesn't seem like the kind of man who would willingly allow someone to gain an advantage over him by allowing personal information to spread to those he's determined to outsmart. Of course, I guess, it's also a possibility that this 1000+-years-old cambion truly only ever lazily bottoms for his father's incubus toy and only ever while it looks (more or less) like himself because that's all he wants in this regard. Maybe devils are immune to boredom. I, for my part, strongly assume it's a game with daddy dearest.

[nightmarist]

Some Zevlor Things —

EDIT 12/2/23: Added a few more things

A fellow Tiefling Hellrider, Tilses, is with him in the caves acting as his bodyguard. He sometimes calls her Tilly.

There is one bedroll in the caves shoved off in the far corner with a book titled "The Devil You Know: An Autobiography" - not sure if it's his personal writing or if he's reading it, either way it adds to the flavor of his of his tiefling pride (and/or anguish).

It reads:

Have you ever had a god change your blood? It is a horrifying thing, even for those who may desire it. Yet few tieflings wished for Asmodeus to claim their bodies, only be given no choice in the matter. It is not as if we were well-loved before the archdevil's gambit. Our people have always struggled against the notion of 'devilkin', as if a single drop of infernal ichor inescapably corrupts. How amusing, when so many others willingly sell their souls to fiends, yet their culture as a whole escapes the blame. By what method can we redeem ourselves, when the crime is not ours? I would drive a blade into every warlock that aided Asmodeus' damned ritual, but personal vengeance cannot undo the will of a god, much less one as slippery as the Lord of Lies. When every passerby thinks you a thief and heretic, it is deeply tempting to become one. (cut off) The only thing that has stopped me is knowing Asmodeus wants nothing more than for all of us to fall from grace.

Around the his table are Invasion Plans for Elturgard, Traveler's Guide to Baldur's Gate, Traveler's Guide to the Sword Coast Vol IV: The Risen Road (which aligns when he tells you earlier there are gnolls on the road), and "Front and Center: a Thespian's Memoir" that reads:

"... in fact, the greatest joy of my life hasn't been acting, but becoming. When you choose a character to play, you don't just wear a mask - you take a little bit of their soul for your own. Whoever you are in your heart of hearts, if only by the faintest note."

Zevlor aside I think this is a sweet quote for the player and player character relationship <3

Dialogue in the Caves:

Zevlor: I Hardly need a bodyguard, Tilses. This isn't Avernus. Tilses: No sir. At least the monsters there looked like monsters.

—

Tilses: Commander— Zevlor: Just Zevlor, Tilly. We're civilians now, remember? Tilses: With respect, sir — being a Hellrider is for life. They can't take — Zevlor: They can, and did. Avernus changed things — best we get used to that. Tilses: ... Yes, Zevlor

—

Tilses: The Watch or the Flaming Fist? Zevlor: Pardon? Tilses: When we get to Baldur's Gate. Where are we enlisting? Zevlor: I'm done soldiering, Tilly. I'd like a clean start. But go with the Watch. You're too honest to be a mercenary.

—

Zevlor: No word from the scouts, yet? Tilses: No sir. But if there's a clear path past the goblins, they'll find it. Zevlor: Yes, of course.

ITEMS —

in the Chest there is a bronze goblet, 46 gold, and a battle-worn blade. On his person he has his gloves (Hellrider's Pride), an apple, a camp supply pack, and the key to his chest.

The blade says:

A fine by well-used sword. It seemed to have once belonged to a holy order, but the indication of rank and patron deity at the hilt have recently been filed down.

The gloves' flavor text says:

A waft of sulphur emanates from this proudly-kept piece.

Celebration at the Camp:

"I should be out there, talking with them. In... Just a moment, maybe." "Is this everyone? Our numbers have grown so few..." "No more. I can't afford to lose any more of them." "No. Let them have fun. I'll be ruining it come morning anyway."

Mindfayer Colony:

Things he mumbles in the Pod:

The pod will show you his memories of Elturel:

After saving Zevlor, I forced myself to pick the "mean" options just to see how it goes.

If you tell him its his fault tieflings were imprisoned in moonrise, he says:

If you tell him "Do yo have a right to ask?" when he asks about the tieflings:

He doesn't argue with any of your remarks except one, when he says "For a moment I welcomed it" and you tell him "For a moment until you realized your reward would be a tadpole" he corrects you:

If you tell him if he wanted power he should live up to his own ideal:

If you tell him to get out of your sight:

When you tell him it's not his fault he was enthralled:

If you tell him "Fine. Good luck, Zevlor."

If you say you could use another blade in the fight to come:

At the Netherbrain:

(smiling <3)

"The journey has been brutal, but I stand here a Hellrider once more, and I would die a proud man if I died this day."

I know it's a Soldier thing to be proud to die for a cause but it still makes me worry for him given his background so far <:]

If you click on him, he has two unvoiced lines:

if you pickpocket him at this point, he'll have the same items on him as before (in this save he has a carrot instead of an apple for me).

His stats at this time: (Steeped in Bliss is from one of my items)

Post Game (Patch 5)

I don't know if there are other permutations of this letter, yet, but this is what I received:

I hope my penmanship has improved somewhat in the past months. When I first stumbled into this city, I shook so badly that I could scarcely hold the soup the priests pressed into my hands - let alone write and thank you as you deserve. It is only when the city itself began to shake that I felt my hands grow still. Along with the other veterans sheltering at the temple - discards of Elturel's 'unworthy' legions - I watched that monstrosity rise over the city. We felt no fear. Only anger. Disgust. Purpose - and with it, power. I do not know what oath we cling to now, or how long it will last - but we shall use it to ensure that this city will not suffer as Elturel did. Whether it wants us or not. It is more than thanks alone I owe. No words can make amends for what I did to my people, but that is as it should be. More come to the temple every day to aid in the relief efforts, and if I am permitted to work alongside them, then I am content. Come and see us, when you can. Zevlor

It's interesting — if not bitterswet, tragic, and inspiring — to hear that Zevlor and other Paladins regained their Oaths via pure, stubborn devotion to saving people when it began to look as bad as Elturel.

[nb-octopus-writes]

once you're in the hive, the other bees assume you're supposed to be there

[Masterpost]

Summary:

Virgil accidentally gets absorbed by his best friend's brother's polycule.

In his defense, they keep feeding him every time they see him, and Patton's cooking is really good.

Chapter 1: Halloween Party

Wordcount: 1.9K

~

There are a lot of people Virgil doesn't know at this party. Remus is here, somewhere, and Virgil needs to find him again before the party ends, because Remus was his ride and he doesn't want to get left here. Janus is here too though, and Virgil doesn't think Janus would let Remus leave without him, and he's sure Remus wouldn't desert Janus, so he's trying not to worry too much about the fact that he doesn't currently know where Remus is.

But that's it for people Virgil knows, and Remus didn't even bother to introduce him to anyone before fucking off to who knows where, and Virgil’s certainly not going to walk up to a random stranger and introduce himself, so he's currently appreciating the snack table. If he's eating or deliberating on what to eat next, he can't be expected to talk to anybody, right?

“’Scuse me, itsy bitsy,” someone says from behind him, and Virgil turns to see a vaguely familiar man in a dazzling prince costume holding a fresh plate of deviled eggs.

Virgil moves so that the prince dude can set the plate down on a clear spot on the table, and frowns. “I'm taller than you, Princey.”

Prince dude shrugs, plucks one of the eggs up, and takes a large bite. “Lucky you, or we'd've had to ask you to vacate the premises,” he says. “No little spiders allowed, real or fake.”

Which, yeah, now that he's mentioned it, Virgil had noted an extreme lack of spider-themed decorations, which is unusual for Halloween. Usually there'd at least be spiderweb cupcakes, but the cupcakes at this party are mostly cute ghosts.

There's probably a good reason for that, Virgil realizes with a sinking feeling. “Should I change?”

“You got another costume handy, or were you planning on spinning a spider-silk cocoon and metamorphosing into a butterfly?”

Virgil grimaces. “No,” he admits.

Prince Dude considers him. “It's not very realistic,” he says, which is true. Virgil hadn't been going for realism, he'd been going for passable costume I can make on short notice. He's wearing black jeans and a black hoodie, and he'd cut some pool noodles in half and wrapped them in more black cloth and stuck them to his back for the other four legs. It had been a pain to get them to stay in place properly, actually, and he'd ended up sewing their wrappings to the back of his hoodie in order to keep them where he wanted them. He'd been pretty proud of it, given that Remus had dropped “we're going to a costume party at my brother's house” on him like an hour beforehand, but now he's wishing he'd come up with any other idea. He could have put a sheet over his head and been a ghost, or something. Granted, that would have required him to have a sheet that was both white and that he was willing to cut holes in, which he didn't, but still.

Prince Dude continues to quietly scrutinize Virgil, and he wants to squirm under his gaze. Eventually, the guy shrugs and says, “Might be best to ask the scaredy-cat himself. Wait here, I'll be back.” And he saunters off before Virgil can answer.

For lack of anything better to do, Virgil picks up a deviled egg and shoves the whole thing in his mouth. It's really tasty, actually, and now he's wishing he'd taken smaller bites rather than horking it down in one.

Virgil had thought that Princey was just being mean with the “scaredy-cat” thing, but the guy he's talking to now actually is dressed as a calico cat. Prince Dude points back at Virgil, and Mister Calico Cat glances in his direction, then turns back to Princey. Virgil can't hear what they're saying, but he supposes Prince Dude must've asked Calico if Virgil’s costume was too creepy crawly scary.

They talk for way longer than Virgil had expected, and he can't tell if Calico's response was more like “No, he's fine,” or more along the lines of “Yes, that's terrifying, please have him removed immediately from my sight and also my home.”

He occupies himself with another deviled egg. If he's going to get kicked out, he might as well enjoy some more of this tasty food first.

Oh, fuck. Remus.

Remus isn't going to want to leave early just to take Virgil home, and Virgil still doesn't know where he even is! Fuck!

Well, Remus could have warned him not to be a spider, so if Virgil gets kicked out of the party it'll be at least partly Remus's fault. Virgil doesn't know anybody here, but Remus knows at least half these people, and if Calico’s spider aversion is enough that there are no spider-themed decorations in the house on Halloween, that sounds like the kind of thing Remus would know about.

Granted, Remus revels in being gross and annoying, but still! He's not a total dick. He should have told Virgil.

Fucker.

Calico vanishes into the other room, and Prince Dude comes back over to Virgil. He doesn't look like he's about to kick Virgil to the curb, at least. Virgil braces himself anyway.

“Good news!” Princey says with a grin. “Li’l Mister Muffet says you don't look like a creepy crawly death dealer and he doesn't have the urge to remove you with arson!”

Virgil blinks. “...gooood?” he says slowly. He hadn't even considered kill it with fire being a potential response to his costume. That would have been worse than just getting kicked out of the party, actually.

“Honestly you're much more Doc Ock in silhouette, Spider-Man,” Princey continues. “That helps a lot.”

Virgil glances back at where Prince Dude and Calico had been chatting. “So he didn't leave the room because he can't stand the sight of me?” he asks anyway.

“Nah, he wanted to make another plate of horse devours,” Princey says, reaching past Virgil to grab a cupcake off the table. This one has a little frosting bat.

“A plate of what?” Virgil says, because surely he didn't hear that right.

“Little snacks,” Prince Dude clarifies instead of repeating himself. “Our fridge is crammed with delicious bits and bobs. It's been so hard to resist the temptation to eat them before the party.” He bites appreciatively into his cupcake, then adds with his mouth full, “You'd think he wouldn't notice what with how much he made, but nooo, sneak one chocolate covered cherry before party time and it's a lengthy scolding for you!” Princey sighs dramatically, then cheerfully devours the rest of his cupcake.

“...hors d'oeuvres?” Virgil says hesitantly.

“Yeah, a couple ordervs of deviled eggs, cheese and crackers, and those scrumptious little pinwheel things,” Princey says. Virgil’s not sure if Princey actually doesn't know how hors d'oeuvres is pronounced, or if he's messing with him, but then Princey gives him a mischievous grin that one, confirms that yes, Princey does know what he's doing, and two, is so familiar that it freezes Virgil in place as the pieces click together in his brain.

The lack of a mustache makes Prince Dude's face look different, and so does the way he did his makeup, and he carries himself differently, but it's undeniable all the same: Virgil knows that grin.

This is Remus's twin brother.

Now that he's connected the dots (you haven't connected shit) the family resemblance is clear even to Virgil’s honestly rather faceblind eyes.

This is Remus's brother, and it's his house they're partying at.

… Virgil doesn't remember the guy's name.

Fuck, he should've made sure he at least knew who the party hosts were, especially the one related to his mischief goblin of a best friend.

Well he can't exactly ask now, can he?

“Also like, five types of cupcakes,” Princey continues, oblivious to Virgil’s inner turmoil. “Seriously, have you tried the cupcakes? Chef Boiardelightful made multiple separate batches of different flavors, from scratch. And they're all delicious!”

Virgil smirks. “And did you try to snitch them before the party too?”

Princey gasps theatrically, pressing a hand to his chest. “How could you accuse me of such a thing!?” he protests with exactly as much dramatic emotion as Virgil would expect from Remus's twin. “For your information, I did not! I merely sampled a portion of the batter left on the spatula after the cupcakes had gone into the oven. Also some of the frosting.”

“He means that he licked the bowls clean,” says a new voice, and Virgil does not jump out of his skin, thank you very much. And even if he did jolt a little, it's nothing to the startled squawk Princey emits.

Calico's back, holding a platter of little finger sandwiches on toothpicks. He offers them up to Virgil, who takes one. “Thanks.”

“No worries, kiddo!” Calico says cheerfully, and puts the rest of the platter down on the snack table. Princey plucks up two sandwiches by their toothpicks, and gets a stern look in response. “Make sure to leave some for the guests,” Calico scolds.

“My delightful and beloved Patissier,” Princey says, cupping Calico's face gently with his free hand. “I assure you that each of our guests could have a heaping plateful of food and we would still have leftovers until next Tuesday. No-one will be going home hungry.”

It really is an impressive spread. Everything Virgil’s tried has been really good. Remus really could have played up the ‘free food’ angle more when trying to convince Virgil to come. If he'd known the food would be this good, then overriding his usual party-related reservations—it's gonna be loud, there will be a lot of people, I don't know anybody, etc—would have been a lot easier. Then again, Virgil probably wouldn't have believed him. He'd mostly been expecting pizza and cheap beer, honestly, not– not homemade delicacies.

The tiny sandwich Calico gave him is lightly toasted, with some kind of sliced-meat-and-cream-cheese filling, and a little green leafy garnish on top. It definitely looks much fancier than most things Virgil eats, and he can understand why Calico doesn't want Princey to eat them all. That probably took a decent amount of effort. He almost feels bad eating it himself, except that Calico had offered it to him specifically, and it would probably be more rude at this point to not eat it.

“Are you sure my costume is okay?” Virgil asks, interrupting the minor squabble Princey and Calico had fallen into.

“Oh, yes, you're fine,” Calico assures him. “Trust me, if you were pinging my brain as an actual spider I wouldn't be in the room right now, let alone standing next to you.”

“Really, cause most cats I know would eat a spider soon as look at it,” Virgil quips, and is rewarded with Calico laughing.

“That wouldn't be very good host-ly of me, now would it?” he says. “I would never eat a guest!”

“Not unless they're a reptile with scallions,” Princey teases, and Calico flushes.

“Hey!” he protests, swatting Princey's shoulder with one hand and trying to cover his extremely red face with the other. Virgil wonders what the reference was, exactly, but doesn't think it's his place to ask. It seems rather personal, from how hard Calico is blushing.

…maybe he'll ask Remus later if he knows what the story there is.

~~~~

Chapter 2: The Morning After

[feral--darling]

In response to this post (https://www.tumblr.com/messiahzzz/742694448371236864/im-not-here-to-claim-that-wyll-doesnt-deserve?source=share) I saw the other day claiming that it's hostile for Wyll fans to "demand" more content for him, and that objecting to his lack of content is "misinformation"... I have so many thoughts.

I have a bit of an issue with calling a difference in opinion "misinformation" as though Wyll fans are lying about the fact that Wyll, as a character, is underdeveloped. I see a lot of people online who use data to back up their own opinion by manipulating statistics in a way that supports their argument without looking at the information holistically.

Sure, we can look at the length of time that Wyll spends on screen, and look at the number of words he was allowed to say throughout the game so say "haha! See, he gets plenty of screen time so you can all shut up about how his character has been done a disservice!" However, there is a huge problem when all of his "screen time" is purely used as 1) a method of moving along the main storyline because he is the *Son*of the Duke of Baldur's Gate which is the titular city in which the majority of the game is set or 2) as a backdrop to focus on other characters' stories (I'm looking at Mizora and Karlach here).

If we were to separate out scenes in which Wyll is present and scenes which revolve entirely around Wyll as a person and not in reaction to someone else, the number of "scenes" he has, according to the list given by the OP, goes down significantly.

1. The "Meeting Karlach" scene is almost entirely about Karlach and the outcome can be decided by the player character without input from Wyll. I would only very loosely call that a "Wyll scene" because it shares very heavily with Karlach.

2. Similarly, the "Mizora scene" has things happening to Wyll but much of the conversation happens between the player character and Mizora - they talk over Wyll as though he is a naughty pet who peed on the floor and the grownups have to decide how they're going to clean up his mess. This is, again, a case where Wyll is in the scene and things are happening to him, but we don't get any one-on-one scenes with him exploring how he feels about it, or what even happens to him. We get a line from the Narrator which tells us that it - his torture- feels like an eternity for him but lasts only seconds for us. What happened to him during that time? How long was he being tortured? Was he actually dragged through all Nine levels of Hell during that time? Did he meet all the devils at each level and get tortured by them? We don't know any of this, because the scene was not focused on what was happening to Wyll. It was focused on Mizora and how she was able to punish him as his Patron.

3. The tiefling party dialogue, where he spends most of the time complaining about looking like a tiefling regardless of whether he is speaking to a tiefling, in a party filled with tieflings, is... well. It's certainly a choice that was made by his devs and story writers. Do I think Wyll would spend the whole tiefling party complaining about how people who look like *tieflings* don't deserve to party because they have horns and claws? No. Do I think the brief kiss you can get from him (only if you choose one very specific dialogue choice and none others) is enough to balance out the rest of this inconsistency for his content in Act one? Also no. But I hope this doesn't come off as too "hostile" and "antagonistic" in the face of the fact that he was allowed to talk for such a long time! We should be grateful that we're even able to hear his voice for all that time even if the quality of what he's saying is subpar, right?

4. The dance scene is cute. It's one of the only scenes that is all about Wyll as a person and a character. He doesn't really talk about himself much, but at least Mizora isn't there so that's... something, right?

5. More scenes where Mizora is the focus. She comes to camp to demand that the player character frees Zariel's asset (and they can talk over Wyll the entire time with basically no input from him. Nothing about his background, past, present feelings, hopes for the future.) Do people understand the difference between being present in a scene and being the *focus* of a scene? A good example would be the difference between a scene where Mizora is talking to the player, vs when Elminster comes to tell Gale to kill himself. During the Elminster conversation, the player character is there, but it is clearly a conversation between Gale and Elminster. There is the option for Tav to leave the conversation to Gale (an option which is also there for Lae'Zel scenes with the Githyanki) and the interaction can go forward without much input from the player. We are watching two people converse. When Mizora visits camp, she talks to the player character and talks about Wyll like he's a dog. She is very much the focus of the scene and Wyll is a prop or background character.

6. The fact that Mizora joins the camp and there is no option for Wyll or Tav to tell her to leave is NOT A GOOD THING?? This just further goes to prove how much of Wyll's "storyline" is actually just a Mizora storyline. If we separated the parts of Wyll's content that revolve SOLELY AROUND the white-coded devil woman who enslaved him as a child (17 yo is a child to me, argue with someone else about that) ... he has the dance scene, the proposal scene (where the intimate scene happens off screen because the devs really just didn't want to animate a sex scene with a black character because who wants to see *that*?) and maybe a kiss at the tiefling party if you choose the one very particular dialogue tree that leads to it. (Honestly, why do you start that by saying "surely you know why I came out here to find you" ?? It doesn't intuitively lead to a kiss in my mind. AND THEN you have to roll a persuasion check to convince him to kiss you?? WHAT?? WHY?)

I, as a Wyll fan, have an issue with the fact that he has so few scenes AND that most of them are of such low quality that they can barely be counted as his scenes at all. So stretching the numbers to include any scene in which Wyll is even present in the scene... It's just not good enough to combat the obvious lack of care that has gone into the writing of his character. Sorry if that seems ungrateful, or "hostile" 🙃

On to the issue of his autonomy: I don't know if OP just hasn't played with Gale, Karlach or Astarion in their party to the end. Karlach's autonomy is that if you kill Gortash without her in your party, she will get angry and leave. Gale can decide to keep the crown and become a god whether or not you want him to, even if you tell him you don't want him to. Although Astarion needs the player character's help to complete the ascension ritual, if you don't help him and can't convince him that foregoing ascension is the right thing to do, **he will leave your party with all the equipment and gear that he has on him**. I don't know what he says if you complete the Cazador quest without him in your party but I can assume there will be some furious words and he will possibly leave. Why? Because his writers have given him enough personality and agency that I pretty much can guess how he would react to any situation. They are all clearly able to show their own wants or needs regarding their own personal storyline.

Wyll, on the other hand, apparently has no wants or needs. If you go to the Iron Throne and let his dad die, he is fine (i.e. he wont leave the party and there will be no actual consequences). If you choose to reject Mizoras' contract and condemn his father to death, he is fine. If you choose to damn him to an eternity of serving Mizora in return for his father's life, he is fine. The only circumstance in which he will leave the party is if you go the evil route and kill all the tieflings in Act one. Regarding his own personal storyline though? Tav makes all his decisions without discussing it with him and he apparently has no problem with that. There is no option to say "hey man, I've only known you for a couple weeks. Maybe you should decide how your life and future will play out?"

Again. It's an issue of both quality AND quantity.

Finally, the issue with the "Ansur quest" being moved from Wylls main storyline to a side quest is symbolic of the rest of the issues we have with Wyll content. Many of Wyll's quests could be moved to the "main quest" or "side quest" subheadings without affecting the game at all. THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT. The companion quests should be PERSONAL to the COMPANIONS. The fact that THE ANSUR QUEST ABOUT THE EMPEROR was the CULMINATION of Wyll's PERSONAL QUEST was a travesty. The developers would not have been able to easily move any other companion's ENDING TO THEIR PERSONAL QUEST to a side mission without having any impact on the game because there was care an thought put into the other companions' personal quests that wasn't put into Wyll's personal quest. I'm hoping that they're gearing up to give Wyll an actual ending to his personal quest and that's why they've changed that quest to a side mission. HOWEVER, it has been months since the "full release" of the game. There have been 6 patches and 19 hotfixes and there have been no material improvements to Wyll's content and characterisation. The hope is getting spread thin.

Honestly, I feel that people who are only willing to point out the "hostility" of fans who noticed a discrepancy between the quality and quantity of content devoted to a black character and feel "scared" to interact with the fans of said black character should stay in their own fandom spaces where they feel safe. No one is asking for a saviour from the fandom who feels uncomfortable owning up to their own racism and anti-blackness (hint: we live in a world that was colonised by white supremacists hundreds of years ago. We ALL have racism and anti-blackness to unpack). No one is asking fans to interact with Wyll when they don't want to. No one is asking the fans to stop being racist. We're asking the *developers and writers* to stop being racist. To listen to black voices if they feel the need to throw a black character into their game which is mostly marketed to straight white men. And give Wyll the content he deserves.

[mask131]

I wanted to make this post last year but I got caught up in events (plus I couldn't find back my sources). But given the recent international events have completely turned away most media's attention from the Russian war on Ukraine, I thought it was finally time to make this post.

Because I want to talk about something truly crazy. Something that shows how deep Russia's distortion, warping and twisting of the Christian religion went - and how back there, we're back to the times of holy inquisitions.

Many people have covered the fact that the propaganda of Putin over Russia isn't just mediatic and politic but also religious. There were many viral reports and TV reports and investigations about how the higher-ups of the Russian Orthodox Church were in Putin's pocket, openly shared Putinist propaganda during their religious offices, declared that the war against Ukraine was a "holy war" that God wanted, that Putin was merely the agent and arm of God - there was this whole thing about the Patriarch blessing the weapons of the Russian soldiers sent to the front, and about him explicitely saying that the Devil and/or the Antichrist was in Ukraine.

But there is something that is even bigger and more shocking than that, and that shows how in Russia war = religion. It is a building: the Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces.

The building of this cathedral started in 2018, but it was only completed in 2020. The cathedral is technically a religious building, but the main reason of its existence is to celebrated the "various military feats of Russia", chief among which - the Russian victory over the Nazis during World War II. The completion of the cathedral was done on the Victory Day celebrating the Soviet Union crushing the Nazis ; and it was opened on the "Day of Remembrance and Sorrow" (a commemoration of when the Nazis turned against the Soviet Union and tried to march over it). There's something about "the resurrection of Christ" in there, but let's be honest, this was built exclusively for and around war.

This building is absolutely grandiose, without a doubt - and its beauty and enormity is a proof of Russia's dedication to its unique mix of religion and military matters. In fact it was considered one of the great monuments of Russia... until the Ukrainian attacks made people reconsider what this symbol ACTUALLY meant.

And the thing with this building is that it was FILLED with carefully-thought war symbolism. For example, take the main dome's diameter: 19,45 meters... To symbolize the year when World War II stopped (1945). [Another source rather claims that the dome's diameter is 22,43 meters but it doesn't change the symbol: the Nazi capitulation was signed at 22h43]. There is a small dome that is 14,18 meters in height - because the conflict between the Nazis and the Soviet Union lasted 1 418 days and nights. And the belfry is 75 meters tall... because 75 years had passed between 2020 and the end of World War II. By the way, did you know that when Russians talk of the end of World War II and how they helped defeat the Nazis, they do not speak of the "World War"? No, they rather speak of "the end of the Great Patriotic War". Because the conflict between the USSR and the Nazis wasn't part of any world conflict, oh no! It was just one specific war against the patry - aka Russia. The total height of the Church is a reference to Saint Vladimir's (the one who Christianized the Rus lands) birth date, etc etc...

Things get better - the steps and floors of the cathedral are made of metal. Metal made from the melted war trophies taken from the Nazis - their weapons an their tanks for example. As such, the Russians will forever walk on the remains of their old ennemies. The church's saints are carefully chosen as the patron-saints of the Russian military: saint Elijah the Prophet, saint Barbara, saint Fyodor Ushakov... All organized in the four sections of the church, each dedicated to a different branch of the army; ground forces, navy, aerospace military and strategic missile forces. There's a lot of depictions of Jesus wielding a sword too.

And then we go to the mosaics... Ah, the mosaics! These mosaics are not about the history of Christianity, but about the military history of Russia, each one depicting a great battle or a great Russian victory. You have several depictions of the orders of the Red Army overthrowing the Imperial forces in Russia, you also have depictions of the Soviet (or Communist) successes during World War II of course - there's the Battle of Stalingrad, there's the Reichstag fire... You also have more recent depictions of soldiers, with a kalashnikov in their hands... And of course, the latest mosaic depicting the latest "Russian military success" at the date of the Cathedral's fundation: the annexation of Crimea.

This mosaic was in fact part of a dual scandal, before while the Cathedral was built, two images were leaked of two intended mosaics - one for the Crimea annexation and one for the (exclusively Soviet of course) victory over the Nazis in World War II (sorry, "The Great Patriotic War"). And the scandal was because on the latter Stalin was depicted, and on the former it was Putin who was on the mosaic. There was a big outcry, and ultimately the artists of the cathedral decided to remove the faces of Putin and Stalin... But not before asking for Putin's opinion first, and then - this is very symbolic - their faces were replaced by icons.

Yeah all of this is kind of overwhelming - but one has to remember that in Russia, the Orthodox Church is on the same level as the various ministeries of Putin. The Patriarch Kirill, who consecrated the cathedral, has as such openly supported Putin's war and politics - invited and present at all of Putin's government meetings alongside his various ministers, the Patiarch has also placed in his sermons the exact same slogans and words used by the televisual Russian propaganda. In spring 2022, he held a whole sermon about how the Russian people had to stand together as brothers again the treacherous and wicked West - and added that the reason the Donbas distrusted the Russian Orthodox Church was because of the "vile phenomenon" of the Gay Pride - and added that it was against the corruption of the West, and the anti-religious "gay propaganda", that Russia was fighting - that it was to eliminate THIS that they threw bombs over Ukraine.

Speaking of that I almost forgot! Very recently the cathedral added a new stained glass to its windows... One made with broken glass shards from Mariupol, collected during the Russian attack.

And let's not forget how the Patriarch promised to absolve all the Russians sent to the front who would die on the battlefield against the Ukrainians (the SAME kind of words that were used in the Middle-Ages for the crusades!) - because, and I quote, "such a sacrifice will cleanse you of all human sin". And at the beginning of 2023 (if I recall well), the Patriarch went as far as to say that if Russia didn't win this war, "someone" (he didn't specify who) but SOMEONE would appear "with the intentions of dominating, and then destroying the world" (aka, the Antichrist). This was later backed up by Dmitry Medvedev, who added that the real goal of the war against Ukrainian was to "stop the supreme leader of Hell" (and this time he dropped names, but several at once - Satan, Lucifer, Iblis).

We are literaly back to medieval crusades and to the crazy witch-hunts. Russian propagandists will stop at nothing to convince people that everything is evil outside of Russia.

"But..." you're going to say, "Not all Orthodox Russian priests can be falling for this crap!". And indeed you are right, there are priests in the Russian Orthodox Church that called out the fact Christianity was about peace, not war. The problem is that the higher-ups of the Church have started a hunt for all priests that advocate for peace rather than war - and they simply kick them out of the Church and revoke their status as priests. The Orthodox priests who refuse to see their faith turned into political propaganda are forced to flee into other Orthodox countries to maintain their status as priests.

[sapphic-agent]

Is Mitsuki Bakugou Abusive?

I mean, you all already know my answer. I've spoken about this before. But some Bakugou stans feel the need to turn everyone who doesn't worship the ground Bakugou walks on into the devil, so let's talk about it.

(Yes, I just got into an argument with one of said stans. Yes, I'm salty about it)

The conclusions people draw from this scene are so interesting. Bakugou stans are of course always up in arms about it. But as we know, they have zero media literacy. So let's examine the facts:

1. Mitsuki is smiling the first time she "hits" Bakugou. Her demeanor is playful if anything, and it's clear her intention is not to hurt him. She isn't even angry at or scolding him.

2. Bakugou's immediate response is anger. He isn't afraid or in pain. He's not afraid to stand up to her. Now, I don't mean to generalize abuse victims, but I'm assuming a child who's "beaten regularly" (this particular stan's exact words, despite there being zero evidence for it) usually wouldn't boldly threaten to kill their abusive parent. In his mind, she isn't a legitimate threat to his safety, or else he wouldn't feel so comfortable speaking to her like that.

3. It's only when Bakugou literally threatens her with violence that Mitsuki gets harsh with him. And understandably so. My mother has never hurt me in my life and I wouldn't dare speak to her that way no matter how angry I was. There is a little more force put into this snack, but even then it's not meant to actually hurt him. It's also interesting that none of his stans feel it necessary to criticize Bakugou's threat and immediately harp on her response to it.

4. He continues arguing with her after the hit. So the smack didn't seem to deter him at all. Almost like he's completely unfazed by the thought of her hitting him again.

5. Aizawa and All Might don't speak up about it at all. If Aizawa is really such a protective teacher, you think he'd let so-called abuse go on in front of his face?

6. Masaru isn't afraid to speak up against her. People assume that he rolls over and lets Mitsuki abuse Bakugou, but clearly he doesn't if he's fine intervening when he feels either one of them is out of line. He's calm, but he clearly isn't as passive as the fandom makes him out to be.

7. Mitsuki actually shows concern for him and wants him to improve. She's actively supporting him and believing in him. It's so funny how this part of this scene is completely overlooked. Almost like Bakugou stans cherry pick whichever aspects of her fit their narrative.

Now, am I saying that there's zero chance a parent like Mitsuki is abusive? No, of course not. But Bakugou is fictional. What we're being shown is meant to be the entire picture. Anything past what we've been given is purely fanon. Mitsuki "regularly abusing and beating" Bakugou isn't canon and cannot be used to defend his character

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hello! Hope it’s okay to message. I saw your post about Marius and the paintings in the series/trailer but I’m dumb and don’t understand them. Can you explain them screenshots of when they’re in the trailer and series? Thank you so much

Hey!

Of course!

So in episode 2 we see Daniel in front of a painting.

Armand: "It's Venetian. A contemporary of Tintoretto's." Daniel: ""Marius de Romanus." Never heard of him." Armand: "Little of his work survives. Mr. de Pointe du Lac covets the rare."

Now. it's probably important to know here that Marius is Armand's maker, and he painted him quite a few times. (Armand also was an icon painter in his mortal life, in the book, we'll see how they'll spin it here, though the art in that one shot in the trailer is very interesting.)

Supposedly Armand thought Marius dead for long periods of time. However, given that we're in a mixed timeline, and that there are indisputable elements of the last trilogy in the show (Fareed, for example.) I believe that we are looking at the show's version of "Trinity Gate". And in the Trinity Gate era Armand was more than aware that Marius was indeed not dead. In fact there had been reconciliation. For me the painting on the wall of that apartment indicates that a certain reconciliation between must have happened already. I cannot see Armand look at his maker's painting when he still harbors the negative feelings he must have felt after it all came down.

In the trailer we see this guy, played by Justin Kirk, who I think will be/is Marius. He says: "You should fear the other one."

And right afterwards there is a shot of Louis hurling his glass with blood at a painting.

However, that is not the painting by Marius (that would be behind Louis there). This is "Rembrandt's "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee" (something which Assad Zaman cheekily posted ages ago^^).

Here you probably need to know that after the "chase" of the Devil's Minion arc (so when Armand hunted Daniel across the globe and eventually fell in love with him) there was a phase, where they hunted down art thieves. And kept the art.

That is stolen art from Daniel's and Armand's time together on the wall.

Edit: @cbrownjc pointed out that the timeframe of the theft doesn’t match the likely DM timeframe. So the painting might be from after DM! (But still stolen art^^)

And Louis throws blood at it in obvious frustration.

In the story referenced through the painting Christ calms the storm after his disciples panic, and he admonishes them: "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?"

Given that (I'll just call him that until proven otherwise) Marius just talked about who Daniel needs to fear in the previous scene? Definitely not a coincidence :)

I also do not think the "presence" of Marius behind Louis on the wall there is any coincidence. (But it cannot be seen, and that is definitely no coincidence either, imho.)

Marius has been foreshadowed, and quite heavily, imho. He is also necessary for both Armand's and Lestat's backstories.

It's... too early I think to fully analyze what it means. It could mean Daniel has fully remembered and he and Armand are in their own little bubble (after all Louis seems to be alone there). We'll see.

Last but not least:

This - there's paintings.

Has Armand started to paint again? Has he shown Louis his paintings? Does he make himself vulnerable there for Louis, and Louis... accepts the invitation? Bites him there? Turns him to kiss him?

I would actually love that.

Because that would be a huge step for Armand. Huge. Cannot be overstated. Because Armand, too, carries lots of trauma. (They all do.)

[idiotsonlyevent]

so i've been thinking about risu. "personality defines one's magic" lives in my mind rent free, and i've been trying to pin down how magic reflects the personalities of sorcerers we know. risu's curse magic is especially interesting due to its rarity and the nature of curse itself. so, what can curse tell us about risu, and what role does risu play in dorohedoro? (spoilers through the end of the manga under the cut.)

who is risu?

risu is a low-level sorcerer and a member of the cross-eyes. not much is known about his past, besides for the fact that he used to go to the zagan magic school, he was friends with aikawa, and he had an apartment where he lived alone and grew cacti. but what else do we know about him? what's he like?

i want to start this discussion based on asu's perceptions of risu in extra evil 16, since we, as the readers - and risu himself - get to be explicitly told what asu thinks of him. risu's interactions with asu and nikaido are particularly important because, unlike with the cross-eyes or en's family, risu isn't really putting on a front here. and since asu is genuinely trying to help by offering risu advice, we know this is what he really thinks - even if his devil traits are getting in the way of his delivery.

to summarize: asu characterizes risu as neurotic, high-strung, and repressed. these evaluations seem to be at least partially correct; asu is the catalyst for both moments in the manga where risu grows to better understand his magic - the first in spell 84 and the second in 122 - and he wouldn't have been able to do this if he truly didn't understand risu. and risu agrees with him!

this is interesting when contrasted with what we see of risu in one of the first flashbacks of the series.

we know that risu has a lot of doubts about the boss and the cross-eyes, but what he's saying here is really . . . idealistic? even in spite of any doubts or worries, risu says this to aikawa - and given how earnest risu is with him, i don't think this is a lie. on top of that, risu was pretty loyal to the cross-eyes and to aikawa. this is not to imply that pessimism and loyalty are inherently at odds with one another, but the way risu talks about aikawa and his own death really doesn't scream 'i see the worst in every situation'. i don't think risu's pessimism is the whole story. so, how does curse fit into all of this? why does risu have curse magic?

what is curse?

curse magic is considered rare. it's not well-understood by any characters, and especially early on, only asu and dokuga seem to have any understanding of how it works at all. curse is activated after risu is killed and remains active until the curse is 'complete.' after curse merges with risu after his revival, when someone tries to kill or harm risu, curse will activate, taking over risu's body and reflecting all attacks.

curse is angry and violent, and it is so overwhelming that risu has no control over it at all. faced with this, risu rejects the idea outright; this is all he knows. he's gotten so used to being controlled by his anger for so long that he can't comprehend any other options. he assigns everything to his anger. he's angry at everything, and he only acts because he is angry.

something that really stuck out to me is when risu says he's 'pissed off for making [him] kill.' it's unclear if he's angry at the cross-eyes or at curse, but it's really indicative that he doesn't want to be violent - he's been forced into it due to the circumstances of this world and his place in it. curse is not a representation of some inner desire to hurt or harm others; there's something else going on here.

(a brief aside, but this is the only time we're shown anything from risu's life before the cross-eyes, the magic school, and aikawa. he's younger - he looks about shin's age from his backstory ten years ago? so, let's tentatively call risu 18-ish here, placing this about 6 years ago, which should comply with canon. he's injured and alone - there's no mention of parents or any other caretakers. with how vague this information is, it's difficult to draw any definitive conclusions. one possibility is that risu was abandoned by his parents. i say this because a flashback of risu alone is paired with the the thought that others, specifically powerful sorcerers like the en family, look down on him, and there are multiple severed heads in the same shot, who are clearly not en family members or other cross-eyes. it could be that his family were powerful sorcerers who left him alone due to his 'weak' magic, and perhaps he himself killed them, which is why their heads are floating and detached. but i digress.)

asu says it best: curse is only part of risu. curse protects risu. it is not just risu's anger, but also what that anger is hiding - perhaps feelings of hopelessness, isolation, betrayal, etc. curse is a literal and physical obfuscation and reflection of risu's identity and feelings. risu needs to learn to control curse not because anger - or any of his other negative feelings - are bad. it's because he doesn't understand where they come from or why, and as a result they consume him. this is why risu's realization has him literally being freed from a physical trap, because risu is now the one in control, even if he lacks mastery. risu is angry, but that is not all he is; risu is angry, and that is okay.

so, what does risu do? why is he important?

risu actually has strong thematic ties with both caiman (the protagonist) and nikaido (the deuteragonist):

risu and curse's relationship parallels aikawa and hole's: a magic user with low/no smoke output possessed by a violent entity that is controlled by strong negative feelings and obfuscates their past.

curse foils nikaido's time magic: risu is controlled by dangerous magic that he has no control over while nikaido refuses to use time magic because she perceives it as dangerous and uncontrollable; both have realizations about their relationships with magic (with asu's help), and learn how to use their magic as part of their character arcs.

curse is a physically painful, like aikawa's headaches and nikaido's devil transformation.

risu, nikaido, and caiman all struggle with their identity: both how society perceives them and how the see themselves. all of them have complicated relationships with their magic, and they feel like they do not 'truly exist,' at least in part due to this.

also, risu is a big player early on in the story, if not arguably the most important one, especially when it comes to the mystery of derohedoro. risu's curse is the means through which caiman and nikaido can hunt sorcerers and is also the en family's first major lead in their investigation. risu is what brings caiman and the cross-eyes together. risu goes back in time with nikaido to learn the truth of caiman's past. risu is the one that kills aikawa. risu offers to restore caiman's original face at the end of the series. (i could go on!)

risu isn't rich or extremely powerful or a genius, but he feels important because he was aikawa's partner; their partnership is what gave aikawa's existence as a sorcerer legitimacy, and their bond persists through the entire series. risu may be a 'nobody' when compared to characters like en and nikaido, but he was somebody to aikawa, and that identity is consistently given the weight it deserves.

[utilitycaster]

A less talked-about but no less interesting part of God Discourse I've noticed is that amongst the There Is Nuance Here crowd there's a weirdly pro-Betrayer God attitude; like there's examples of gods being bad right here (see: The Actual Devil in Literal Hell), but we're choosing to focus on Melora for some reason? Fascinating levels of dissonance here.

So here's the thing. I've found that this has also been an evolving position.

I think during EXU Calamity, the main argument was pro-Betrayer God. Some was that Asmodeus was in fact played masterfully; Zerxus, after all, fell for it. The rest seemed to be to me the usual dull "but I wanted it to be subversive" argument, upon which the motivations of that desire I can only speculate (and such speculation, while entertaining, is not productive). I would argue, Calamity was not lacking in subversion, notably with the portrayal of Vespin Chloras and the fact that this was ultimately an immensely hopeful, if also deeply tragic story of an averted annihilation.

I think currently? It's the Wild West, at best. I don't have much to add other than what I've said already, and unfortunately it does require either familiarity with the posts I'm thinking about or me doing something as tacky as publicly posting screenshots to get the full context. Suffice it to say I've rarely seen such unformed and unsupported arguments. They are phrased in apery of a coherent argument, but, crucially, lacking the evidence.

Getting back to your point I think the focus is more on the Prime Deities because those are the gods whom past characters (and FCG) were affiliated with. I honestly don't think most of them have the lore knowledge to recall deities who have not come up as directly in game; they're focusing on Melora because they know who she is. Possibly because she was Bor'Dor's deity; possibly because she was the deity who reached out to Orym and was insufficiently clear in her communication to Fearne to satisfy them (and yet we stan Liliana, queen of clear responses, amirite?); possibly because it's edgily rewarding to them to fantasize about upending and destroying Caduceus, Fjord, and Fy'ra Rai's lives. Similar arguments can be made for Pelor and the Raven Queen; one can point to the genuine harm mortals have done in Pelor's name and the fact that the Raven Queen collected on a deal, willingly made, from Vax, and you get to weakly and cringingly tell yourself you are dunking on people who like Vax, or Vex, or Morrighan. It is interesting to me that people are not focusing more on Lolth given her appearance and the fact that Opal's choice, while technically willing, was much more manipulated than anything the Raven Queen has every done. Lolth behaves in canon as idiots believe the Raven Queen to have done in fanon. I've found a significant number of the arguments against the gods rely on a profound misattribution or at best deliberate avoidance of what is voluntary vs. what is coercive or done without consent (eg: comparisons between Judicators and Ruidusborn).

Basically: they bring in the Betrayers when it's convenient for the argument and cherrypick around them when it's not; they do the same with the Primes. There's just a lot more to pick from with the Primes.

[discretocincel]

When skies are black

The last time I finished a story was so fucking long ago and I was starting to think I'd never do it again, but then I found a little guy with anxiety and depression and an asexual serial killer and my writer's block was cured (not really, but we're getting there!)

Anyway, I made something for RadioApple Week 2024! Today's prompt was Late Night/Early Morning, go check it out on AO3:

00:44

After long shootings, it had become a habit for Angel Dust to go sit at the bar with Husk, no matter how exhausted he was. It helped him feel like himself again, not only distracted but centered him, having the other’s eyes on him, listening to ruthless remarks in that raggedy low voice of his, forcing down some water to try to recover a tenth of the fluids he lost in the long filming hours. The man had become his sanctuary, and Angel wasn’t ashamed to admit it. In fact, he did it often, hoping to get the message across even when the barkeep refused to acknowledge the truth behind it. Angel didn’t mind much. He was in for the long run, so he would enjoy the chase while it lasted—he knew it would only make the catch all the more satisfying.

That Thursday evening, however, his sanctuary was already occupied when he made it to the hotel. Angel kept the disappointment off his face; he didn’t want to make the intruder feel bad, not if he could help it. He’d been surprised at first, to realize that their sovereign was just as volatile and emotional as his daughter, but it only made the little guy more endearing in his eyes. He genuinely didn’t want to see him upset, and not because he feared for his life in his anger (although after the extermination, he was reminded that Lucifer Morningstar truly was on another level, and perhaps he should be, if only a little, afraid for his life).

“Your Majesty, hey! I wasn’t expecting to see you up so late! Can’t sleep?”

“Angel! Welcome back!” Lucifer replied with a nervous grin, and he bashfully rubbed the back of his neck as he angled himself towards the sinner in a way he didn’t turn his back on Husk. “Is it really that late?”

“Well, no, it’s not that late, but don’t you usually go to bed quite early? You’re the first one to leave after dinner!”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess…” The king avoided his eye, downing what was left of his drink before elaborating. “I like to read before falling asleep, so it’s not that I fall asleep as soon as I go to my room, you know.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Angel conceded, repressing the urge to make a dirty joke at the king’s expense. “Then what happened tonight? Did ya run out of books or something?”

“I just wasn’t in the mood to start anything new, is all.”

“Understandable,” Husk grumbled as he slipped a delicious looking mocktail towards Angel. “People underestimate the energy required to get to know new characters in fiction. Can I get you another one, Your Highness?” He nodded at the king’s empty tumbler.

“Please.”

“Now Husky, baby, got any fun tidbits about the new residents?” Angel asked, wiggling his eyebrows as he sipped on the pink straw of his sugary drink. Just because they weren’t alone didn’t mean they couldn’t talk like they usually would, especially considering their company. He didn’t know what had the monarch in such a jumpy state, not that he normally was calm personified, but he was kicking his feet in the air and fidgeting in his chair more than usual. Angel needed to unwind, and apparently so did The Devil, and he knew that good gossip about souls they couldn’t care less about always helped lighten the mood.

The bartender immediately caught his drift, his perceptiveness being just another trait of his that had the spider head over heels, and he placed his forearm on the bar to lean closer towards them, giving them an air of confidentiality that was hardly needed given the time and place, but was appreciated nevertheless. Husk’s insight to the newcomers’ vices, fears and desires was always delightfully detailed and usually right, no matter how farfetched it seemed. Not long ago on that very bar he had revealed what he believed of their king, though he had yet to relieve anything about the demon that owned his soul. Angel was madly curious, but also too terrified to press for information on that front. Some secrets were best left untold.

Without truly noticing, Angel finished off his third mocktail of the night, preceded by two full glasses of water, while Husk opened up a brand-new bottle of whisky for the king, when the familiar goosebumps warned him of yet another intruder to their evening. It was a small mercy that Husk hadn’t given him a drop of alcohol, otherwise, he just knew he would’ve made something crazy when the Radio Demon materialized from the shadows right behind Lucifer like the creepy motherfucker he was. Angel wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or he was just that immutable, but the king didn’t even flinch when a bony hand came to rest on his shoulder. Whether he was foolish or brave, Angel still had to admire the guy for his lack of a response.

Except, it wasn’t that he didn’t react, he would soon realize with the violence of an unexpected bucket of cold water falling on him. He just didn’t react the right way. Because who the fuck would smile in delight at having the fucking Radio Demon lean against them?!

“Good evening, gentlemen! What a pleasant surprise to find you all here this late in the night.”

“Yeah, wish I could say the same to you,” Husk grumbled. “What are you doing here so late, anyway?”

“He was at a party!” Lucifer revealed with exaggerated enthusiasm.

“Just a small gathering. It would’ve been far nicer without some of the guests, sadly.”

Angel forgot how to breathe for a moment when he saw Lucifer pout and send the Radio Demon a dejected look as he said: “Then why did you stay so long?”

Alastor blinked a few times, and Angel expected to see his eyes turn into radio dials at any moment, but it didn’t happen. The sinner simply appeared amused, if only a little tense.

“How much did you drink, Your Majesty?”

“You’re not answering my question.”

“No, I’m not. It is a dumb question. You should go to bed, Your Majesty. I shall go, too. I’m rather tired. Sleep tight, gentlemen.”

Alastor sank back into the shadows, and the king stood up abruptly not a second later, the angry scratch of the wooden floor making Angel Dust jump slightly in his own stool.

“Well. He’s right. I guess it is time for me to go to bed. Sweet dreams, Angel. Husker. Thanks for the lovely night. I’m sorry if I bothered you…”

“No way, I had fun!” Angel said, a bit awkward, thoughts reeling with distant possibilities, each one more insane than the last, but not insincerely. “We should do it again.”

“I’d like that,” Lucifer agreed, his own forced smile softening into a more genuine, gentle thing. “Good night.”

“So… that was weird, right?” Angel asked in a nearly hysterical whisper to the bartender as soon as they were alone.

“I am not acknowledging that, and neither should you. You had a long day. Go to sleep.”

Angel frowned. “You’re no fun!”

Husk sighed, but the lines around his eyes were kind, even if his mouth fought a smile.

“Maybe I’ll entertain you at a different time. I don’t think you’re ready to hear it, Legs.”

Angel’s heart skipped a beat, focusing on all the wrong parts of that sentence. He wanted to ask more; he knew whatever juicy story Husk was keeping from him was bound to make life at the hotel a hundred times more exciting, but when a gentle hand rested softly on top of his, a thumb delicately brushing over his knuckles, Angel’s knees went weak, his feet slipped from the stool’s cross stretcher and he nearly stomped his face on the bar like an idiot. He wasn’t even drunk! He was a master of seduction! How was it possible that the other man never failed to make him lose his cool and mind with the most innocent gestures?

“Go to bed, Angie. It’s late, and you’re tired. I won’t stay much longer either.”

“Okay,” he replied softly, slightly out of breath. It was the perfect time to ask the bartender to keep him company, to share his bed with him, to become more than what they were. But he couldn’t. The words just wouldn’t form on his tongue, stuck to the roof of his mouth as it was.

But that was okay. He knew he would have another chance, maybe on another night like that. Maybe after having some alcohol himself, with their king as company. And if the Radio Demon joined them at some point, well, maybe then Husk would finally give in and reveal all those secrets he kept, some even about himself, if he was lucky.

♪

03:33

“You’re drunk,” Alastor repeated as soon as Lucifer materialized in the sinner’s bedroom. “I didn’t even know that you could get drunk.”

“I wanted to be up when you returned,” Lucifer confessed, still pouting. The insufferable king had no right to be that adorable. It did unspeakable things to Alastor’s heart.

“I told you I’d be late.”

“I know. I didn’t care.”

“Clearly, you did. You’re upset.”

“No! But you said it was boring, and yet you stayed all this time! It’s suspicious!”

Alastor frowned in disbelief. “Suspicious? How, exactly? What are you accusing me of?”

“I’m not accusing you of anything. I just…” Lucifer sighed, and his shoulders sagged, as if all anger and tension was physically abandoning him. “I’m sorry. I know I’m being ridiculous. How was the gathering? How was Rosie?”

“It was exactly what I expected. Nothing more and nothing less. Rosie was alright. She sent you her regards.”

“Were the Vees there? All three of them?”

“Yes. As expected.”

Lucifer nodded his head weakly, still standing in the middle of the room, where he’d appeared, with his boots, coat and hat on.

Alastor narrowed his eyes, studying the man in front of him like he had just located the missing pieces that made sense of the picture in the puzzle.

“Did you have fun talking with Angel Dust and Husk?” He asked conversationally, walking towards the cabinet that stored his liquor as he undid the buttons of his coat. His ears moved to show that he was listening as Lucifer mumbled an answer, some story about a newcomer named ‘Steven’ or ‘Stephen’ or something like that, but Alastor wasn’t paying attention to the meaning of the words as much as he was focusing on the way they were spoken. His bowtie came next, pulling it off with one hand as he poured himself a finger of whisky. Then, after savoring his first long sip, he continued with the buttons of his shirt. His smirk widened as Lucifer’s tone went higher and higher the more skin Alastor revealed.

“What, what about you? Did you have fun? Did you speak with Vox?”

Finally. All Alastor had to do was take off his shirt, and the King of Hell easily revealed all that was troubling his mind and heart.

“I didn’t,” he said.

Lucifer frowned. “What, like nothing at all? Didn’t you at least say hi? You said it was a small gathering, no more than twelve people. You couldn’t possibly have avoided him all night. You were there for hours!”

“I didn’t avoid him as much as I ignored him, my dear. After a couple of laughable attempts, he stopped trying altogether.”

“Oh.”

Alastor hummed as he went to sit on the foot of his bed. Once there, he extended one arm in invitation, to which the other responded by flying to his side, wrapping his arms around Alastor’s middle and pushing him back on the bed. With his face pressed against Alastor’s bare chest, Lucifer mumbled:

“Good. I don’t want you talking to him. At all. Never again.”

“Even if it is to tell him that my heart belongs to another?”

Lucifer’s breath hitched, the hold he had on the sinner tightened before relaxing, and he slowly lifted his head to look up at him with eyes shiny with tears.

“You can tell him that. But I want to be there when you do.”

Alastor’s grin widened even further, while his own arms circled the shorter man, awkwardly pulling to bring their faces closer.

“Deal,” he said, and they sealed it with a kiss.

[beneathstarryskies]

If you are still taking requests could I please ask for some headcanons of Dante and reader but they're both too stubborn afraid to admit their very strong feelings for each other.

And maybe some for Vergil too if you don't mind? It's hard for me to pick between the two 😔

Warnings: slight angst, GN!reader, mentions of alcohol/going to the bar...that's about it.

A/N: Sorry this took me so damn long! I hope you like it! &lt;3

Dante

Dante has been crushing on you for a while. Despite his cool-guy persona, he actually develops feelings pretty quickly. He just insists on keeping them to himself for the most part.

There are many reasons he does this, but mostly genuinely is out of fear.

If he gives in to his feelings and lets himself hope there can really be something special with you, he's scared it will just get taken away from him.

You misread these signs, because who wouldn't? He flirts playfully with you, just as he does nearly everyone, but always backs off if things become too real.

The push and pull are absolutely frustrating. At times it makes you wish you could just walk away from him, and forget about him. You can't truly imagine that though.

Not to mention every time you genuinely give that a thought, he randomly shows up at your apartment to hang out or he calls you to go to the bar and shoot pool. Then, you really can't imagine walking away.

Dante would need something to motivate him to finally confess, but make no mistake he will definitely be the one to cave.

Most likely it happens when he sees someone flirting with you, and it really hits him that if he doesn't tell you how he feels he's going to lose you forever. He doesn't make a huge scene or anything.

In fact, he doesn't say anything. As soon as you're coming back to him with your drinks, he pulls you close and kisses you without explanation. The fact that you eagerly kiss him back tells him everything he needs to know.

Vergil

If we're talking about DMC3!Vergil, then feels ashamed of developing feelings for you. Not because there's anything wrong with you. Quite the contrary, if he's this interested in you then you must be nearly perfect in his eyes even with your flaws.

For Vergil, at least at this point, the stubbornness is motivated completely by thinking these feelings for you show weakness within him.

He will begin to avoid you completely. He's already given into weakness before, and he won't do it again. You won't ever know how Vergil feels about you.

He'll keep it to himself, and then one day he just disappears. You never knew how he felt, nor did you ever find out what happened to your beloved blue devil.

Now, if we're talking about DMC5!Vergil, then things will play out very differently.

He's had some time to mature and really does some introspection. He doesn't see these feelings as weakness anymore, but he does feel like he doesn't deserve you.

If you know all of the things he's done in the past, he'll convince himself there's no way you could ever share his feelings. If you don't know, and he senses that you like him too, he'll decide it's best that you never really get to know him.

That being said, he can't bring himself to avoid you. In fact he's downright drawn to you. It's the same phenomenon as owning a cat who is always in the same room as you, but acts offended if you offer it affection.

With the way Vergil lingers close to you at all times, you'll catch on pretty quickly. Please, please just confess to him. He'll melt.

[atamascolily]

Going back to the imagery and symbolism of the doppelganger and Gothic Double, I was reminded that not only does PMMM already has a name for a magical girl's shadow self (witch), it also has one specifically for Homura's as well. To be honest, I'm kind of surprised that Homulilly's name hasn't come up more often in the speculation of who the "other" Homura might be, given their established connection.

This might seem like a stretch because the last time we saw Homulilly, she was a giant suicidal skeleton, but hear me out.

Rebellion gives us two examples of magical girls who are also witches: Sayaka and Nagisa. As a general rule, Sayaka and Oktavia appear as two separate entities, allowing Sayaka to fight on her own and have emotional moments with Kyouko while Oktavia clashes directly with Homulilly.

Meanwhile, Nagisa does the complete opposite: she embodies her witch Charlotte (both doll and worm forms), appearing as one or the other instead of both at the same time. In a scene that lives rent-free in my brain, she pulls the witch's clown mask over her face while in magical girl form, thus becoming both at once--but I don't think we ever see her split in the same way that Sayaka does with Oktavia.

Taken together, these examples imply that there are different ways magical girls and their witches can relate to each other. Though we have not yet seen a witch split from the original magical girl and take on her form at the same time, Homura, being the Devil, might have other abilities that Nagisa and Sayaka lack, or might be an exception to the general rule. (There is also the weirdness that Homulilly has dramatically different forms, depending on whether we're talking about the PSP game/Magia Records vs. Rebellion, which is unusual in and of itself.)

Homura may be the Devil, but she is also unquestionably still a witch. Not only does she still have her Clara Doll familiars, but her earcuff--her equivalent to a soul gem--says "HOMULILLY" now.

Well, actually, it says HOMUL, but you get the point. Props to the animators for hiding an important detail from the ending in the opening credits.

Rebellion makes a big deal of the fact that soul gems in ring form are marked with the magical girl's name in witch runes--and that magical girls ARE their soul gems--so the fact that Devil!Homura appears to identify on some level as "Homulilly" is fascinating. It's unclear if Devil!Homura has the same relationship to her "Dark Orb" (a name I cannot say with a straight face) that a magical girl has to her soul gem, or if it's merely a device or a tool she created to channel for her powers, but either way, Homulilly is still around.

All this could potentially explain why Homulilly would take on Homura's form in Walpurgis no Kaiten--because on some level, they are the same. Homulilly-as-Homura's double/shadow self would also help retroactively explain why their names are so similar--unusually so for a magical girl and witch pair.

And if Homulilly is the doppelganger, then her motive for messing with Homura (whether that entails infiltrating her life, manipulating Madoka and/or destroying the world) is obvious. Because nobody hates Homura as much as Homura hates herself. Nobody would understand how best to get under Homura's skin than she would. Nobody would be able to anticipate and counter everything Homura does than her own reflection. And it would take all of the suicidal imagery from Rebellion and dial it up to eleven.

Because Homulilly is never directly mentioned by name in Rebellion (only getting a brief title card in witch runes), even if I'm right and this other Homura is Homulilly, I'm not sure that any of the characters in Walpurgis no Kaiten would ever refer to her by this name directly. She herself, if pressed, might say some variation on "I'm you" to Homura, where her identity becomes clear in context. Alternately, that name might appear again in runes (anything in runes is for the audience's benefit, not the characters).

But I'd be very surprised if Homulilly didn't turn up in some fashion in Walpurgis no Kaiten--and this other Homura seems like an obvious candidate given what we know thus far.

[nightmarist]

I reorganized my thoughts about Raphael, Gortash, Mephistopheles, etc, I'm still so fascinated by their relatioship and the implications in canon (as well as the omissions)

Starting with Vlaakith, the history of the Githyanki change edition to edition and they are not my most researched, but to my understanding, Vlaakith originally tried and failed to make a pact with Dispater who is ruler of the Second Hell, Dis. Instead, she had Mother Gith go in her stead, where Tiamat captured Gith and imprisoned her. If I recall, once source says she is imprisoned in Dis, but again my knowledge of this particular history is muddy. It's mention is important, however.

Vlaakith sends Voss to best Orpheus where Orpheus too became imprisoned. So both Mother Gith and Orpheus are infernally chained.

To my understanding, there's no real and true timeline for the Gith and Mindflayers coming into existence in the canonical DnD world, they have Always been enemeis since the dawn of time, essentially.

That said, I wonder how early Raphael made the Orphic Hammer. We dont Really know how old he is. At the very least hes 1500~2000 years old if we go by the fact he witness the actual Fall of Netheril.

The note About Creation of Orphic Hammer says: 

[A detailed history of the Orphic Hammer, describing the infernal workforce Raphael harnessed to locate and mine the rare materials used in its creation, and its intented purpose.] The Hammer is not a weapon, it is an insurance policy. Its function is specific, but its utility is boundless. No chains forged by infernal hand can withstand its power, for its core is a metalifferous compound combining the purest of essence of all Nine hells. If I should ever need to liberate the prisoners held in the Iron City of Dis, to shatter the vaults of Nargus, or even to free the child of Gith, my hammer will be equal to the task.

It's important to note the Hammer can break any infernal chain, despite we're given it to free just Orpheus. The fact it's called the Orphic Hammer, obviously titled after Orpheus, I think seems like a purposeful manipulation. Raphael having exactly what we need at exactly the right time is intended to be suspicious as our dialogue options point out, but I also think he's only making us believe he had it made Only for Orpheus and perhaps distract us from its further potential.

If not Orpheus, then Gith. If not Gith, then perhaps an imprisoned loved one, or even Hope as we discover.

For example, for a future campaign I've been homebrewing the House of Hope, Raphael, Haarlep, Dammon, the tieflings etc in Descent Into Avernus, and afterwards have my players use their same characters to play Chains of Asmodeus as a sequel, wherein I’m adding Raphael with the crown, and the Orphic Hammer becomes an important item to potentially free their kidnapped loved ones. I'm still working out the details, but the Hammer's existence is really interesting and has a lot of potential use beyond what Raphael wants us to believe.

That said, for BG3 in particular, I believe Gith being set free would be too big of a change to make to DnD canon in just a little video game, so Orpheus was a safe route to give the game flavor without changing source material. Even with Lae'zel and/or Orpheus endings we don't actually see the downfall of Vlaakith nor the conquering of the Githzerai, they are only an implied future which is a good move to keep the freedom of the game without meddling with established DnD.

All that said, I still wonder when Raphael had it made. 

At some point, whether he knew it would be Gortash or not that would lead to the Crown in his hands, he had "a warlock" (Korrilla I assume) buy Gortash as a child to serve as his personal servant, severely abuse him, make him live in the dungeons tortured by Nubaldin, and thus likely how Gortash learned to speak and talk the way he does - his outfit even looks like it has the same aesthetic as the House of Hope with gilded devil heads, and reminiscent of Raphael's belt.

And from there through association with Raphael, directly or indirectly, a "misplaced" note or an overheard whisper could have allowed Gortash to learn about the Crown of Karsus enough to try and take it for himself. It's Power but it's also Power that Raphael wants very badly. What better than to steal the one thing your warden wants that would happen to give you power over even him?

Mephistopheles had the "Accelerated Grand Design" plans in his vault that just so happened to be next to the Crown of Karsus, where Gortash just so happened to see.

The Accelerated Grand Design (AGD) was written by a "mad alhoon" according to Gortash, which is a type of Illithid Lich.

I wonder if Raphael had any particular curation involved with Mephisto's vault, especially as his son - the Canian Archives probably wouldn't bat an eye at the Son of their Archdevil who has a penchant for theatrics and an eye for art and presentation going around ordering certain things be put in certain places.

So, Gortash escapes. As far as I'm aware, we don't know how exactly he slipped away from Nubaldin. I assume he possibly entered the Chamber of Egress and fled through one of the Mirrors. Afterwards, Gortash re-establishes the cult of Bane then he happens upon the Bhaal cult led by Durge. They exchange letters and plan to heist the Crown together, which the AGD letter was so conveniently placed next to the crown that Gortash takes both of them.

They hire Helsik to break into the vault. Helsik has that crystal ball connected to Raphael. When we gaze into it, it's as if Raphael knows we're watching and looks directly at us. This is a very interesting detail in the entanglement of Gortash and the Crown. She could very well have reported everything to Raphael and/or be contracted by him to report on Gortash.

After the heist, Gortash and Durge are given dreams of being Bhaal and Bane's Chosen and need to find Myrkul's Chosen.

Upon finding Ketheric, they learn Moonrise Towers has a mindflayer colony inside of it, which is where the Emperor was tadpoled. Gortash realizes he can put the AGD into motion there.

Gortash just so happened to have a dream about Gith being in the way of his plans, and that dream was enough to push him to research the Gith to find out about the Astral Prism.

That dream led Gortash to send the Emperor on its quest to the Nautiloid to find the Artifact, which was then learned about by Viconia and the Sharrans who were researching the Absolute cult.Thus, Shadowheart was also sent to the Nautiloid where she obtained the artefact with the Emperor and thus Orpheus in it.

Orpheus of course being key to the ruination of the Absolute via Raphael producing the Orphic Hammer to free him, which would allow him to acquire of the Crown of Karsus after likely gently guiding Gortash unknowingly into using the Crown to create a Netherbrain as per the Accelerated Grand Design being next to the Crown in the Vault.

As far as I'm aware (I haven't found notes or dialogue about it), Gortash didn't have an actual Plan for the Crown prior to the prophetic dreams about the Dead Three, which makes me think he wanted it for a) power in general, and b) to piss off Raphael.

There's quite a lot in the middle I don't think Raphael himself made happen, but I'm sure he was giddy with excitement to see everything was leading to the Crown being taken to the Material Plane and thus closer to his claws, and all he has to do is find a way to corner the happenstance adventurers who are holding the Astral Prism a way to defeat the Brain: Orpheus. From the Orphic Hammer he personally commissioned.

I assume the dream was sent by the Emperor. he had broken free before but was still under the Elder brain's control at this time.

I don't think Raphael is one to send prophetic dreams, I feel like his choice of theatrics is much more obvious and his choice of chess-play is much more subtle. The main concern for him is the crown is now in play on the mortal plane outside of Mephistopheles' reach, so Raphael more or less just has to wait for mortals to recreate the Fall of Netheril to snatch it up for himself.

The AGD being so conveniently placed, Gortash being bought and abused, the Hammer being the only thing that can free Orpheus in the case of an extreme Mindflayer threat: it all feels very carefully orchestrated with just enough happenstance to let it seem natural and accidental, distracting from its purposeful cultivation.

Mephistopheles doesn't seem to bother doing anything about the Crown. He did send Haarlep to Raphael as a distraction, probably know his son well enough to know what kind of temptations to give him. Haarlep is specifically sworn to secrecy to Raphael in their own words, but Raphael also "denies [them] nothing" (...) "except what he keeps in his vault."

I think it is very important to note the Letter from Haarlep in the end game states:

And I'm making a fortune selling evenings in his form now there is no contract binding me to secrecy. 

They were sworn to secrecy by an actual contract, which is very interesting to me. We were never told any of Raphael's actual secrets except that Haarlep thinks he's bad in bed. That might not be a "secret" enough to trigger the contract, but it could depend on the contract. When we harm Mizora, Wyll is immediately sentenced. But when we break into the House of Hope, if we didn't grab the contract it takes Raphael triggering the contract terms manually for us to be punished. But it's still important to note Haarlep was, in fact, bound to secrecy and couldn't just spill all of Raph's personal information to any and every patron that came to their services.

There's potential that they technically told us the existence of the vault and gave us a key, that seems like a potential breach but maybe it's in the wording, or maybe the breach of secrecy needs to be triggered personally by Raphael.

The adventurers getting the contract/Hammer woudl either kill Raphael, freeing Haarlep, or get them killed where Haarlep can play innocent. High risk, high reward for them.

It is noted that Mephistopheles gets fixated on particular things for a time, obsessively, and that his being Lord of Contradictions is in part due to having a cool and collected facade while hiding a vitriollic, vengeful, and heated personality underneath. Raphael has a similar facade, he always comes to us with this cool and calculated exterior but he gets very quick to annoyance and anger if we poke and prod at him.

Mephistopheles wants to be Supreme Ruler of the Hells, which I wonder if that attitude was passed to Raphael. It doesn't seem like Every devil wants to rule the Hells, but I don't have as much knowledge on lore of the rest of the Hells to say otherwise. Without that information, though, it makes it feel like a continued cycle: Mephistophles is obsessed with power and wants to rule the Hells. Raphael is obsessed with power and wants to rule the Hells. Gortash becomes obsessed with Power and wants to rule Faerun

In a more practical sense I think the Gortash-Raphael connection feels like it was added in late game hence why neither seem to have voice lines about it whereas Nubaldin is the only one who does have voice lines connecting the two, but even so the fact they Don't have voiced lines about each other I think adds to the relationship, be it perhaps Gortash is trying to separate himself away from the Hells and refuses to acknowledge Raphael either out of pride, spite, or something else, perhaps avoiding that Raphael is the major influence to who he is, meanwhile Raphael not mentioning Gortash could be a way of either signalling the whelp is that far beneath him and/or that he doesn't want to give away his connections and therefore plot to us.

Now, the Crown is very powerful, of course, and the vault being broken into could very well piss Mephistopheles right the fuck off. The fact Meph isn't actually in the game besides when Raphael pleas to him could also be a practical writing choice to avoid dev complications, but even if that were the case it makes me feel like Neverwinter Nights has an ounce of canon in this timeline.

In Neverwinter Nights you had multiple endings regarding Mephistopheles, one of the endings you could choose to banish him forever from stepping foot on Toril and therefore Faerun, which would therefore prevent him from taking back the crown personally. Likewise, I could also see it being that he just wants to see how it plays out, biding his time for a millennia or so, waiting, like I assume Raphael is also, for a second Fall of Netheril event. Maybe he allowed Raphael to play dolls with Gortash and the Adventurers for future plans with the Crown.

[melonteee]

Oda is really good at foreshadowing because, while him having always had a clear complete backstory for each character from the get go isn't so sure, he clearly has character sheets for each of them that highlight the themes to be explored through them and what logically leads them to become who they are today (finding family in strangers for robin : why not bio fam? -> neglect. why realization at enies lobby and not jaya? -> betrayal in the past, needed proof of truthfulness. why this found fam and not another one? -> criminal lifestyle and previous experience of constant exploitation)

Then when he sets up a scene between characters, he takes all of those sheets into account and specifically choses what would make sense to be "revealed"/said between those characters (and in turn to the audience) at this specific point in time in the plot and in the overall story

Ex: Robin and Law's talk about the Will of D. It makes complete sense for both of them to have this talk in the story between each other specifically. Why didn't Robin ask any other D before Law ? The D clan aren't that plentiful when you think about it to the point Robin met 3 of them in her entire life. She didn't know how important it was back then so she never asked Saul. She probably asked Luffy but Luff-man doesn't care about those matters to the point he only found out he even had a dad at 17yo ("sorry Robin"). In short, Law is perfect for the job. And while his information fits at that point in the plot for Robin to uncover, we as an audience aren't ready for it yet.

Alternatively, when those character themes sometimes coincide between different characters, he simply ties them together to avoid redundancy

Bonney is a funny case to me because she was created in a week like most of the non-Strawhat supernovas but Oda made sure that her and these new characters wouldn't interfere or create plotholes with what he's already had in mind while leaving enough leeway to tie them more into the plot if needed. Bonney has the biggest leeway of any supernova because of her devil fruit powers. The fact it changes her age and we were only ever given an estimation means you could technically have her be born at nearly any point in time as well as be the daughter, mother or grandmother to anyone you wish.

Yet she fits so well as Kuma's daughter for a very simple reason: It makes the scene of Kuma sending Perona to Mihawk's island gain a layer of sense that was kinda missing and easily glossed over on a first read. Other than giving a demonstration of what Kuma's abilities could do pre-Sabaody and emphasize how much bigger of a threat he was compared to Moria even if they shared the same title, we never really got WHY Perona was spared like the strawhats were at Sabaody. There wasn't some grand vision to it, no tie to something he was part of like the Revolutionaries, ... So why ? Especially at that point in time where he was slowly but surely losing himself and any tie left to his humanity

But then Bonney comes in and their backstory is revealed. And that's when you begin to notice. You notice that Perona is a pink haired adult woman with a rather childish personality. Notice that her devil fruit can easily be underestimated and holds a lot of potential. Notice that Kuma mechanically asked her a really strange question which lacked an important key setup for it. Notice that the spot on Mihawk's island where he sent her to was safe from danger. And you realize

Perona might have reminded Kuma of someone very very close to him to the point his mind couldn't even fathom harming a look alike.

And chronologically at the time of this encounter, he's only seen Bonney as an adult once back at the Sorbet Kingdom where he ended up fainting at the sight alone

In a strange turn of events, things just fit and we're all happy for it

I have nothing to say you're just spot on about everything here. I am so desperate to see Oda's notes on when he makes arcs and characters for how he puts everything together. I can only hope he's kept all of them so, when One Piece ends, he can release a book with all his concept sketches and character/story plots to see exactly how he does it. I need to see how the gears turn u know

[scoobydoodean]

omg i just finished your emma vs amy takes and the subsequent discourse about it (which was so refreshing to see btw!! love it when adults can be Adults and argue about the topic without insulting the other person) and I might get fried for this but that incident aside, do you have any other scene/episode in mind where sam reacts the same way or does the same thing?

(im sorry if this isn't your cup of tea for asks! your takes have been Enlightening)

You mean another situation where Sam shoots a person with supernatural abilities who hasn't shed blood and has a sympathetic backstory without giving them a chance? Not as overtly—Benny in season 8's "Citizen Fang" certainly comes to mind, but even Benny, Sam at least made a show of giving a chance by assigning Martin to keep tabs on him and make sure he didn't do anything wrong before trying to kill him. (Though whether there was conscious or subconscious sabotage involved when Sam chose Martin specifically—someone he knew to be mentally unstable—is certainly a good question given Sam had already made death threats about Benny before then.)

The fact that Sam's behavior in 7.13 "Slice Girls" is pretty unique is really what I want to point out about this episode in the first place—that Sam's actions in "Slice Girls" are inconsistent with his previous behavior and future behavior as far as "good" monster episodes. We can turn to examples such as:

1.14 where Sam insists they try and talk Max down instead of killing him, because Max's murders are a result of extensive abuse.

Lenore and her nest in SPN's seminal "monsters can be good" episode (2.03)

Sam thinking Andy is responsible for the killings in 2.05 but still waiting for proof before acting.

2.09 where Sam insists they not kill someone they think might be infected with Croatoan virus before he turns and tries to kill them because that doesn't give him a chance.

Two episodes where Sam faces off against Gordon because Gordon wants to kill him before Sam kills someone (2.10, 3.07)

2.17 where Sam and Dean search for a cure for Madison, who is not aware that she has been killing people.

4.04 Metamorphosis where Sam is the one who takes the initiative to research Rugarus, learns that they can survive without giving into their urges, and insist they go and talk to him about how his body is changing (lol) so he has the chance to fight the urge to kill and eat people.

5.06 where Sam and Dean oppose Cas who wants to kill Jesse, who is a child who is not aware that he has powers and is hurting people.

6.02 where Sam, even soulless, recognizes the innocence of a shifter baby.

Then we have Amy and Emma in 7.03 and 7.13 respectively.

8.04 where the brothers let Kate the Werewolf go because she was turned against her will and killed the man who turned her in self-defense.

8.09 Citizen Fang (already discussed)

I'm getting lazy but then we also have Magda and Jack Kline—both children with powers, one severely abused, the other the son of the devil with uncontrolled explosive powers that could end the world, both of whom Sam attempts to help work with their abilities.

Dean has a more structured series of personal "rules"—a litmus test we see from the very beginning—one Sam often follows as well, but I'm not sure Sam ever really fully grasps that Dean thinks this way.

Has this person hurt or killed anyone?

Was it on purpose or was it outside of their awareness?

If it wasn't on purpose, are they capable of learning to control their urges?

We see this code as early as 1.12 "Faith":

SAM Wait, what the hell are you talking about Dean, we can't kill Roy. DEAN Sam the guys playing God, he's deciding who lives and who dies. That's a monster in my book. SAM No. We're not going to kill a human being Dean. We do that we're no better than he is.

Dean applies the same reasoning in 1.14 with Max:

SAM These visions, this whole time -- I wasn't connecting to the Millers, I was connecting to Max! The thing is I don't get why, man. I guess -- because we're so alike? DEAN What are you talking about. The dude's nothing like you. SAM Well. We both have psychic abilities, we both... DEAN Both what? Sam, Max is a monster, he's already killed two people, now he's gunning for a third.

Despite the exact opposite being the typical fandom perception, early on we learn that Sam tends to define a monster by their features/abilities, while Dean defines a monster by their actions. We see the same with Amy—she is "a monster who killed four people" (7.07) . She isn't a monster because of what she is but because of what she did. This again—is also why Dean doesn't even consider killing her son right after her kid swears to kill him one day. We see Dean, in the rare cases where it comes up, is also perfectly fine with taking out human serial killers they stumble across (ex: Thin Man).

Sam will also kill a human serial killer at times (and murderous witches by 3.09), but he reserves the word "monster" to describe individuals with supernatural features/abilities... and I think the fact that Sam's definition of the term differs from Dean's is something neither brother ever fully realizes about the other, leading at several points to arguments where they are talking past each other and do not understand one another. Sam hears "monster" and thinks "Dean is talking about me", when Dean is operating under a completely different definition of the term that is based on the actions of a person.

When Sam is in a headspace where he is thinking of himself as one of those monsters, he shows increased or lessened sympathy in turns. For example, he assumes Andy's guilt in 2.05 because he is panicked about becoming evil himself and is comparing the two of them (but again—still waits for confirmation) but his sympathy for Max in 1.14 comes from the same comparison with himself. Sam completely misrepresents Amy in 7.03 as an addict who relapsed but more generally is "managing", as a way to compare her with himself... when Amy didn't feed on anyone herself and her actions have absolutely nothing to do with addiction or battling "monstrous urges".

I've been bitching and moaning a lot, but I will reemphasize that there is a more sympathetic reason that Sam shoots Emma—Sam and Dean are both crowding up to the diving board at the deep end of the pool in season 7. Dean's grieving and is drinking extremely heavily to cope and Sam is hallucinating. They are both unraveling at the seams. Neither of them is in a place where they trust the other's judgement because they both know themselves and each other to be unstable. So if we imagine a reality where Sam and Dean give Emma a chance, and it doesn't take, Sam assesses himself and Dean to be in no mental state to cope with a potential surprise attack. It's just that Sam also erroneously compares Amy and Emma when they are not the same, and by doing so, frames Dean wanting to spare Emma but killing Amy as hypocrisy (because they are both "monsters") when Dean's actions are perfectly consistent with his personal ethical code and his definition of a "monster"... and Sam's actions aren't.

[desertfangs]

I NEED YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE ARMAND/DANIEL BREAK UP SCENE IN TVA PLS

Not gonna lie, I would’ve loved for a more polished version of this to have made it into the book, the potential is there IMO as well as all the elements that make Devil’s Minion such an explosive, intense, compelling ship. The fighting, the yearning, the weird sexual analogies (this one didn’t quite land but it kinda always goes back to sex with them, doesn’t it?), the kissing in between hurtful statements. Daniel using INSECT parts for his models, Pandora trying to make him pay attention to Armand, Armand being sad and kissing Daniel while trying to fix things, but Daniel being too far gone at the time to even register the impact of his words. I NEED MORE.

Anon, I have so many thoughts, my brain is spinning.

I'm not sure I'd want this in the book or not, it's so hard to say now. I was absolutely baffled by Daniel's lack of inclusion in TVA when it came out, and and then suddenly he's there in B&G mad and being cared for by Marius, and I had to do a lot of mental gymnastics to figure out how I thought he got from A to B. I eventually decided him thinking Armand was dead drove him mad, which made the most sense to me. That is clearly is not what Anne had pictured, but at this point I'm honestly pretty happy with that conclusion instead.

I'm trying to imagine how it would have felt if this was included in TVA. What else does that change? Is Armand still bitter and angry? Is he more regretful? Does this mean we get any of his POV of the Devil's Minion years, including their break up? (Because that is the piece I feel is most missing from that book and what I deeply wanted from it in addition to filling in Armand's background.)

The idea that Armand abandoned the island to mortal hands--a reference to him selling it, I guess--would absolutely break Daniel apart. It does feel very much like something he would be devastated by but I don't feel we're given enough on this one page to really understand what happened. Armand left the others? That doesn't gel with anything I've ever thought. Armand always struck me as the one who was holding things together and was then heartbroken when everyone else left. So I'd need a more context into Anne's idea of how things played out there.

That said, there are pieces I like!

I love the idea of Pandora and Marius looking after Daniel together and Pandora trying to get his attention.

"I have no maker!" I mean, if Daniel and Armand had a vicious fight and Armand all about renounced him and left him wandering to the point where the loneliness and devastation of it drove him mad, then this is absolutely something I can see him saying. The way he talks about how Armand doesn't make others so clearly he has no maker is so full of bitterness and resentment I would love to see a fic unpacking that (Someone should write it! Maybe several someones!)

Daniel building his worlds with found objects and weird shit is amazing. Like it's so deeply unhinged that I can't help but applaud the creativity. I honestly wish I'd known about this months ago because I can totally see this happening as Daniel sinks into madness and I would have loved to have added a scene to my fic about that where Daniel is building a little town on the floor of some seedy motel with bugs and matchbooks and rubber bands or something. It's delightfully freaking weird and I dig it.

I love Armand asking after Daniel, which is another thing I think was sorely missing from TVA. The fact that he doesn't seem to care where he is just explained by his assumption Daniel hates him, but it still feels exceptionally weird to me that Armand wouldn't even ask, particularly after he almost died, and he doesn't know if Daniel may have tried to follow suit? This whole big thing just happened and Lestat is catatonic on the floor, I'd be accounting for my loved ones, no matter how we left things.

Armand losing all his anger and bitterness (does he have that in this version? He must have some, right?) when he sees Daniel in a bad state, clearly struggling, and offering him comfort is so precious. But also can we talk about "I didn't mean to abandon you..." ????? Armand ABANDONED Daniel in this version??? I just... that's so wild, I have so many questions. And then he kisses him??? That is precious. Look, I have wanted an Armand and Daniel interaction during his madness since we learned Daniel was in Marius' basement playing with model trains in Blood and Gold. And I think I would have been okay with this if we got some satisfying resolution between them afterward - we can have this hurt, but we need some comfort to end it on, you know? And I don't think that would have happened. I think Armand would have left defeated and we'd have been stuck with that in our heads for decades until PL came out and we get one freaking line about them hunting together, so.

I think I am glad this version did not make it into TVA, but I would also love to read a dozen fics that try to make sense of all this because there are some delicious tidbits I think talented fic writers could explore and really work into something great.