#it's so much more interesting to deal with the consequences of what they're doing right now

[meanbossart]

Do you personally think that Astarion gets touch repulsed sometimes? If so, what would Drow's thoughts be about it and how would he handle it? You've said that he's careful about his loved ones' boundaries and avoids bombing them with affection, however I think some insights of his thoughts about Astarion's ambivalence with physical contact would be interesting!

Sorry to give a reading assignment right off the bat, but I think the reply to this ask and this one serves as necessary context for this. But I actually don't think Astarion is all that prone to feelings of repulsion as much as he's prone to either A) an eerie and total disconnect and indifference to his partner's and his own well-being or B) A sense of anxiety born from the association that has formed between sex and his partner's encroaching death. - or arguably worse, a gut-churning resignation to it.

Sometimes he communicates the discomfort and things stop. Sometimes he doesn't - be it because he wants to explore it, try to push past it, or just because 🤷eh, been a while, so might as well. Either way, he's a grown man who can make that choice for himself and deal with the emotional consequences later.

DU drow does not see it that way at all, at least not for a while. He concerns himself far too much with Astarion's ability to consent to and want for intimacy, and could never wrap his mind around him wanting to do something despite not being entirely in the mood for it. Point is, DU drow would have no issue abstaining from sex or physical affection (well - he would and has, but he'd deal with them privately and they're mostly, uh, physical), his biggest flaw in this scenario is to continually miss the forest for the trees and make his partner out to be more helpless than he is in reality.

[ckret2]

Why do you ship billford? i want to hear all ur handcanons and reasons hehehe

ALL of them? My friend I do not think you comprehend the magnitude of the task you have requested. I can tell you some of them.

Here's a post I already wrote listing why I like them, and here's a post about what Ford thinks about Bill, and I just made a post about what Bill thinks about Ford because I've had it typed up on discord for ages and decided it needs its own post.

So, some headcanons:

⭐️ While most people who ship it headcanon that they had a romantic relationship of some kind pre-betrayal, my default headcanon is that they DIDN'T have a relationship—mainly because I enjoy making Bill, specifically, miserable, and I like headcanoning that Ford violently lost interest in Bill at the EXACT moment Bill developed a sincere interest in Ford.

Meaning that Bill "LOOKS LIKE MR. BRAINIAC FINALLY GOT SMART" Cipher destroyed his own chances five seconds before going "no no wait I actually want to keep this one," and that's SO funny. I made a graph!

⭐️ From Lost Legends we know that Ford used to date a siren. In the original Greek mythology, sirens didn't woo sailors by singing prettily; sirens offered knowledge about distant and future events. Sailors wrecked their ship upon the sirens' shores and starved to death at their feet just to listen to them sing about the secrets of the universe.

What I'm saying is: Ford has a type.

⭐️ This is a mutual monsterfucker 4 monsterfucker relationship. They look at each other and go "wow you're such a weird-looking alien" and they're attracted to each other BECAUSE of that, not in spite of that. I don't want any of this "oh how could I be drawn to something so strange..." shame out of Ford, as far as I'm concerned his first crush was Mothra, a floating triangle is nothing.

⭐️ Consequently, this means that if you take an AU where Bill gets stuffed in a human body, rather than making things easier, it ironically means that any PHYSICAL attraction Ford had for Bill instantly evaporates. A humanized Bill could be the sexiest damn thing in the room and everyone else in the vicinity is going 🥵💦 but Ford's going 😐. If they hook up with Bill in a human body it's in spite of Bill's current appearance and it's because Ford knows that, underneath the body, Bill's still Bill. You could hand Ford a perfect Tumblr Sexyman supermodel and he'll be fantasizing about a three-tiered pyramid with more teeth than a shark.

⭐️ Bill WILL play Dungeons Dungeons & More Dungeons with Ford, voluntarily, for fun. However he always wants to DM and he's brutal.

⭐️ I think that the majority of the Henchmaniacs used to be like Ford: young, naive, USEFUL aliens that Bill was trying to manipulate into getting access to their universes, probably by trying to get THEM to build portals. None succeeded, but they got far enough along that either they chose to join Bill, they were forced to flee their dimension and join Bill—or, due to Bill, their home no longer existed, so they might as well join him. I think that every one of them was once his ✨favorite✨ person. I think he sealed the deal in winning their friendship & loyalty with a calculated, scripted display of vulnerability—the exact same one he tried to use on Ford: I liberated my constricting, flat world; I want to liberate yours...

He may have dated some of them, too, especially right after they joined. Because he wouldn't have recruited them unless he thought they were JUST ♥ LIKE ♥ HIM. They're special, they're important...

... and after a few years, Bill realizes they're not that much like him after all and loses interest, and they sink down into the rank-and-file with the rest of the Henchmaniacs. The Henchmaniacs are FULL of people who were once Bill's Favorite—his best friends, his confidants, his lovers—and most of them are desperate to catch his eye and be that important to him again. They gave everything they had to Bill only for Bill to get bored.

So when he shows off the human who enabled Weirdmageddon and invites him to join the gang, they know EXACTLY what they're looking at: Bill's newest favorite. They know how this goes, he'll be gaga over this earthling for the next 5 to 500 years and then Ford will be just another regular Henchmaniac. The fact that Ford doesn't seem eager to join is no problem. Ford isn't the only soon-to-be Henchmaniac whose world Bill ended; some of them had to be talked around into joining, too.

⭐️ I think that, if you took Bill with his canon personality, didn't give him any character development, and then made him GENUINELY fall in love with Ford, and had him SINCERELY try his hardest to be a good, loving, healthy partner... he would still be toxic as hell for Ford.

Part of what draws Bill to Ford is that he sees SO much of himself in Ford—some accurate, some just projection. (You who crave power and fame and fortune like I do; you who also hunger to be all-knowing; you who would also sacrifice your world and your family and everyone you know and love to get what you want; you with an ego the size of the moon, oh, you deserve an ego the size of a star.) And so he assumes that what Ford really wants is what BILL would want in Ford's shoes.

And if Bill was Ford, what he'd want is to REALLY be the man who changed the world. Bill thinks he's fulfilling all Ford's wildest dreams if he gives that to him. Naming Ford the orchestrator of Weirdmageddon is the most generous gift Bill could ever offer.

Even if Bill is Really Really Trying and accepts that okay Ford doesn't want his world invaded: his idea of showing Ford love will be pulling the strings to get Ford fame & fortune. Teach him secrets of the universe that he can publish in a dozen groundbreaking scientific papers, arrange meetings with politicians and celebrities, get him a Nobel, get him an Oscar-winning bio pic, get him a billion dollars, get him EVERYTHING Ford's ever imagined as a marker of success and then double it.

When Bill's manipulating Ford, he offers praise and approval in little drops periodically leaking from the faucet, to keep Ford thirsty for more. When Bill's LOVING Ford, he just breaks the fire hydrant and lets it flood the street.

But the thing is, that's not good for Ford. That'll never make him truly happy. Ford's only ever learned how to measure his success by external markers, but the more external markers he collects the more he'll feel like he hasn't Made It yet. It's even possible that knowing Bill's helped him get this far will make him feel like he hasn't really EARNED it. He could have the whole world handed to him and he'll feel just as dissatisfied as he was on the day he first summoned Bill.

And Bill, even if he's trying his HARDEST to do this right, wouldn't be able to understand why this isn't working. A trillion years old and the only way he knows how to show love (or to receive love) is by showering someone in praise and gifts and favors. If that doesn't work, he doesn't know what's left.

[secondbeatsongs]

Hello, you said in some tags in a poll that Speed Racer (2008) is your favorite film. If you’re okay with it, I’d really like to hear more about why you love it. I love the Wachowskis’ work (they’re among my favorite directors), but I kinda ended up bouncing off Speed Racer (2008). So, hearing that it had a real impact on someone makes me very curious why. I’m not interested in criticizing your opinion or arguing with you, I’d just really like to know why you love it in the hopes I might be able to enjoy that movie more in the future.

oh god this is from seven months ago, I'm so sorry - but I do love almost everything about Speed Racer (2008) and I still think about it nearly every day.

I love that it's so bright and colorful and absurd. I love that it's an anime in live action form. and I love that at its heart, it is a story about love.

it's about the mistakes people make out of love, and the consequences of that. it's about the way children grow to understand why the adults around them make the choices they do, and maybe choose to do the same things. it's about taking risks for the people you love, and the pain of failing to change the world, because everything is capitalism and everything hurts.

(and it's also about being transgender btw. like, that's one of the main things about it - it is very much a movie about being transgender)

what if your father's choices hurt your older brother, and your older brother's choices hurt you, and now it's you and your younger brother staring down a future where you're going to end up hurting him by making the same choice?

and then...what if you can escape that? what if the broken parts put themselves back together, and the hope doesn't run out, and you're not alone with the things that haunt you? what then?

and now you're at the end and mistakes were still made, people were still hurt, but everyone's grown and changed and they're different now. and they've figured out that maybe, just maybe, you can change the world by doing something you love, by creating art and beauty and making people feel things.

maybe you really can defeat capitalism by driving a car really fast. and even if everyone thinks you can't...don't you have to try anyway? shouldn't you fight with the skills you have, the only way you know how?

what if it works?

and I'm not even gonna get into most of the Racer X stuff (because I want people to go watch this movie, and most folks probably won't be spoiled for it), but his whole deal is just...everything. I love him.

(if there's a guy from Speed Racer that I want to put in a jar and shake every so often, or maybe wrap in a blanket so he can have a nice nap, it's Racer X. he's a great character. prime blorbo material)

anyway I've been rotating this movie in my head ever since I saw it for the first time, and I think I've seen it...seven? times now? and I still cry at the final race, and I still get blown away by the intro sequence.

(the beginning of the movie is genuinely one of the best things I've ever seen - it does an amazing job of introducing you to the world and the story of the characters, and gets you emotionally invested in it right from the start. it's fantastic filmmaking)

also like. story stuff aside, from a technical standpoint, the movie is a masterpiece. it's the type of thing that people hated when it first came out, but when you look at it now and see how it was made, how it intentionally looks bizarre and cartoonish, plastic and surreal, you can see the exact vision the Wachowskis were going for, and it's brilliant.

the way they did the visual effects, the way they made the outdoor scenes feel so detailed, the way the driving and the tracks work - they put so much thought into that, and the behind-the-scenes vids show how cool their process was.

also uhhh cars go vroom, crash into each other, flip upside down, explode, maybe have bees and hammers in them sometimes?

(the above is me complimenting the unhinged vibe of the races themselves, which I love very much)

anyway I could make other full posts about the script of the film and how much I love it, or the cool side characters, or the fanfic potential of the amazing world of the film, or how I can prove that it's set in 1991...but I guess if anyone wants those rants, they'll just have to watch the film and then come talk to me. :)

(please. please come talk to me about Speed Racer.)

so, yeah! I kinda lost my mind there and made this post way longer than I intended, but I do feel strongly affected by this movie, and I hope this has helped explain why.

[decolonize-the-everything]

.....does anyone else get the vibe that the limitless expanse of the internet, media, and consequent ability to interact politically, spiritually, and apathetically with people locally and globally maybe had an influence not only on the individual's relation to the collective but also their ability to participate in it and see their significance to it?

Can we talk about it?

Like I feel like as some who was a frontline activist and now is a disabled social activist who dabbles in radicalizing liberals... The wall I and my peers continuously keep running into is the collective feeling that someone else will do it.

"it" being whatever action.

For me it's signing a petition, protesting, donating, community organizing (both online and offline).

We get tons of interest on stuff. Interest which very rarely translates to doing more than showing a poster to the friend theyre with before trashing it, reblogging a post, or hitting "interested" or like when we post local events.

And on All these platforms posts gets to a point of "enough" responses where ppl just stop responding and sharing, too.

On Tumblr you see this a lot with donation posts and people constantly having to make new ones. Cuz they're getting notes, but not tangible assistance that will help them. And the reblogs stop because there are so many notes that ppl start assuming that the goal was met or will be met soon.

But that isn't what's happening. And like I said this isn't just with donation posts or money so the answer isn't "well ppl are broke" which would be an easy and sensible answer.

Honestly, I've been thinking that with so Many people easily accessible online with so many opinions and varying levels of popularity and followers that it's easy to lose yourself in them. Especially now when so much of life takes place online.

It's so easy to think you're just one of those many people. ....So surely nobody would notice if you were being a little facetious, right?

Gonna be real, it seems a lot to me like a lot of people are trying to hide their lack of integrity through the anonymity offered online.

And like sure maybe nobody would notice if it was just a few people being facetious about supporting something but it's SO MANY (in my experience? Upwards of a thousand once) and Everywhere. Online, offline, and apps.

And the thing that makes it weird is that every one is assuming that people are being more helpful than they are. That more people are showing up.... Even though they themselves are not showing up either. Like I said reblogs for donations stop, shares stop, and only a handful of ppl show up to events irl. You can literally compare reblogs to the signatures when a petition is being shared.

Wanting to show up isn't the same as showing up.

"People" are not coming to change or show up to the revolution. It's you. You are the people. You are the people that need to show up. Not just as a notification on my screen but actually, because you think someone else will have enough integrity to show up for you but they don't.

Your integrity matters.

You matter so much. I don't know what it is behind this mass behavior that has y'all acting otherwise but I'm telling y'all right now that YOU and the choices that YOU make matter. The events that you choose to spend your time at and how you spend your energy and protecting your rights matters!

That isn't some "im just another drop fighting an endless battle in the ocean" kind of deal.

I'm telling you from experience: there is no ocean! We are in a fucking drought and every drop matters.

Show up. Nobody else is doing it on your behalf.

.......or is it just me? Has anyone else noticed this

[grahminradarin]

Hi hey hello. I've been watching Miraculous since September, and I just finished.

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS FANDOM?

That finale was amazingly well-made. I definitely get why people were disappointed, but there's no way that's everything. The writers who made the rest of the season so good are not capable of writing something this confusing and unsatisfying, unless it's on purpose. This story isn't done.

There has been a lot of focus in the season on class dynamics, but in the last couple of episodes they really start bringing this theme of how people deal with power to the forefront

With Ladybug and Chat deciding not to do anything against Chloe because it's not their responsibility even though they have the power to do it, everything with Lila, the increasingly reckless and harmful ways Gabriel is manipulating people because he thinks he gets to decide what is good for others, Gimmi complaining that no one ever summons them to tell them anything good and only summon Gimmi to use Gimmi's power.

And the thing that brings it together: Marinette's speech right at the end, just before Gabriel makes the wish, when she says the power is only valid when it's used for the greater good of other people.

And then the statue of Gabriel. Right after all of this, a statue commemorating the man who refuses to use his power for the good of others. The dissonance is on purpose. This story is thematically incomplete, and I think the London special will finally wrap it all up.

What does the fandom come away from this talking about? How interesting this all is and wondering how it gets resolved? No. The fandom on the subreddit (and some of them on Tumblr) say "The villain won without consequences! This is bad writing!" and "Why is Marinette not telling Adrien he's a sentimonster?".

I just. How do you watch that and come away with your biggest concern being "Marinette didn't tell Adrien the truth"? How do you not see that it's so much bigger than that? That's not one dangling plot thread, we're looking at an unfinished garment and complaining that the edges are fraying.

And a good portion of the fandom cannot for the life of themselves see the loom and the people working it still going. I don't know how to stretch this metaphor any further, but I cannot believe that anyone would look at something so blatantly incomplete and still treat it like it's the entire picture. It's a microcosm of a bigger issue with the fandom, which is, as far as I can tell, that this fandom wants to watch a different show. Seasons 4 and 5 are so vastly different from seasons 1 and 2, and I think the people that came here to enjoy the first two or three seasons but hated the later ones are angry with the show for not following the traditional kinds of stories in the genre.

This show isn't trying to be an episodic or somewhat serialized story about love squares and middle school nonsense. It's a deep and varied exploration of what being a magical girl does to a 14 year old (in addition to many other things), and it's not pretty. The show is trying to say "this was terrible for everyone, and it shouldn't have happened, but it did, and here's how". And most people didn't want that, which is fair. But it doesn't mean the show is badly written, nor does it mean the writers hate certain characters. It pisses me off that a show this well made, with so much time and effort and care, is constantly dismissed as a badly-written, disorganized piece of crap that people only like ironically. Something this well made deserves a more neutral presentation to let people form their own opinions, and it deserve appreciation for the innumerable things it does well, especially in later seasons and the specials.

In summary, Miraculous isn't bad. A vocal part, maybe even the majority, of the fandom just wanted something else based on the first 3 seasons, and hasn't realized it because they're so devoted to hating on the show. And it deserves a much better reputation than it has.

[dyaz-stories]

could we also get a, b, i, m and z with both Hyunsu and his monster version?

Thank you so much for doing Eunhyuk's it was amazing!!

NSFW Headcanon game

So, as a note, I don't treat monster!Hyun-Su as being completely detached from Hyun-Su. I see him as being completely free of Hyun-Su's inhibitions, but with a lot of the same drive/desires, so I'll make the difference where I think there's one!

A - Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Monster!Hyun-Su doesn't stick around that long after sex. He's not the best equipped to deal with aftercare, to be honest, and he'll leave that to Hyun-Su. If you don't need anything special, though, I could see him mostly just. bragging about how good he made you feel while you're cleaning up or getting dressed.

Hyun-Su gets a boost of confidence from sex. He'll be all lovey-dovey, initiate physical touch, kisses, etc. more than usual. After an intense session, though, he'd just want to cuddle and feel you against him. If you're the one more in need of aftercare, he'd get you cleaned up, get you water, and just lay in bed with you, maybe offer you a massage. Just super sweet really.

B - Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Like with Eun Hyuk, I don't think Hyun-Su likes himself much I'm afraid, but I could see him liking his hands. They're big and strong, and he can get all sorts of reactions out of you if he puts them to good use.

Hyun-Su (and as a consequence, the monster as well), is really into legs. If you're wearing any kind of dress, skirt, or shorts, he's here for it. If you're wearing high heels and/or interesting stockings... He's a goner, basically.

I - Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…) 

Monster!Hyun-Su means business. He's here to rock your world and basically do all the things that Hyun-Su would never dare to do. Really into dirty talk, and there's not an ounce of romance to be found here I'm afraid. I think his eyes might turn to full black like in S1 in the heat of the moment, too.

Hyun-Su, on the other hand, is a lot softer. Very vocal, gets completely lost in the moment, needs a lot of reassurance in the form of physical contact or soft praises. Def very prone to spontaneously saying 'I love you' during sex.

M - Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

So I actually headcanon that Hyun-Su gets turned on at the drop of a hat lol. You smile at him? Horny. You say something nice to him? Horny. You tiptoe to reach something and your dress/shirt rides up? Horny. He's unlikely to act on his impulses most of the time though, but what would 100% get him riled up would be you making it clear how much you want him. Seeing you being turned on by him? That's the one thing he absolutely wouldn't be able to resist. (and if he did, the monster would come out to play)

Z - ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

I also headcanon that Hyun-Su doesn't need as much sleep as your regular human, so I think he'd stay awake. Would love watching you sleep honestly, just staring at you and marvelling at the fact that you're here with him and that you love him. Monster!Hyun-Su goes out instantly though — not out of need, but just because he acts on impulses and that would 'feel right' to him.

Hope you liked it! I have one more for Hyun-Su (I think? it wasn't specified!) and this is still open btw!

[loveandleases]

Silly question: MC sent the ROs a pic of them in lingerie with a text saying, "Skip work." How would they react? Who would actually skip work to come back home to MC? 👀

Cute, answer down below anon~ ❤️ Cam - He will be back in record time, like faster than should be possible. Technically it only counts as skipping if he's not taking photos right? So if MC is interested...he can keep working for the rest of the day.

💙 G - Nope, no. G has to take care of the animals, no matter how badly they want to take care of MC. They will struggle with what to send back, will begin typing and deleting continuously. They're going to have a loooong day.

💚 Kara - She is absolutely not falling for that. She will take some to send MC though, and mention that if MC really wants her to come back home then they better behave. Or deal with the consequences later.

💛 M - Considering M works from home they don't have to go far. They will try to make it alright in their head, stating that this can be inspiration for something to write, each experience it's own form of research. Though they're totally kidding themselves they just want to be with MC. Don't expect them to be able to look you in the eyes or actually form proper sentences.

💜 Isaac - So it depends. If it's still early on and MC and Isaac are just feeling out their relationship then yeah it's no big deal right? But, if their relationship is deeper than that Isaac will talk themselves out of it. Try to keep MC at arms length, have some space between them. But dam will they not be hating themselves for it.

🖤 Ardent - Tease, that's the first thing he thinks. While trying oh so hard to keep the grin off his face. He would just ask why MC doesn't just come to him, surely they have a nice coat to cover up with? In fact he will go so far as to dare MC to do it, if not he will tease them. He's much more willing if he's working around the building, less so if he's helping his uncle.

[theallegedbird]

look this really isn't the kind of post i'd normally make but why the fuck aren't we talking about trans rights in the uk. this is just the latest thing they've thrown at us. it's absolute shit here to be blunt.

on the 19th the uk department of education (DfE) released its guidance for schools and colleges and how they deal with trans kids

its bad. really fucking bad.

but there is some hope in that they are asking for feedback from teachers and school leaders, myself and a friend wrote a document going through why the guidelines are so awful but stopped after focusing on four points since it was. half midnight on the same day this guidance was released. we then gave this to as many teachers as we could before the holiday break and believe me it did a lot, we're working on completing a full version soon

so, uk students, i am begging you to do similar and try persuade your teachers to give feedback (if its safe for you to do so), you'd be surprised how supportive they can be if you break down what this guidance will bring

teacher feedback can be given here, the deadline is the 12th of march 2024

i'm going to go through some of the worst parts of this guidance, keep in mind that according to the education secretary gillian keegan, "this guidance puts the best interests of all children first" utter bullshit obviously

to start off throughout this whole thing they never use the word trans/transgender, just "gender questioning" which feels so fucked up to me

ok so to be blunt essentially what this is going to do is to out any trans kids who want to socially transition to their parents, as well as the fact a school can just. fucking decline any request to socially transition.

"The… guidance clarifies that schools and colleges do not have to, and should not, accept all requests for social transition."

"We are also clear how vital it is that parents are informed and involved in the decisions that impact their children’s lives."

"Parents’ views must also be at the heart of all decisions made about their children – and nowhere is that more important than with decisions that can have significant effects on a child’s life for years to come.”

oh yeah they also connote the whole "trans kids can just get permanent altering medical treatment" bs

on top of that we have this shit

"In exceptional cases where a request to social transition is agreed, children, teachers or staff at a school should not be required to adopt the use of preferred pronouns and there must be no sanction, verbal or otherwise."

so even if you're fucking allowed to socially transition people can straight up misgender you with no fucking consequences. they are legitimately making it so transphobia cant be punished

there is so much more fucked up stuff in this thing as well but you can read that yourself

they are going to kill trans kids if this goes through. they fucking know that. i have the privilege of being out to my parents and them being tolerant but so many closeted trans kids, friends of mine included, wouldn't be able to safely come out even in school. and i know personally how shitty your mental health can get in that situation.

the intent of this guidance is simply put, not in the interest of ‘protecting children’, but in the further marginalisation of an already extremely vulnerable group. they're trying to wipe us out.

uk students, please inform your teachers of what this guidance will do and get them to oppose it in feedback. others just try and spread the word

protect trans kids and fuck the tories.

[jp---v]

Do you feel Overhaul with his Yakuza and the Meta Liberation Army make better Villians then the LOV.

Also do you think they were more competent in their goals compared to the LOV.

Well let's look at each of them.

Overhaul wanted to get rid of quirks and bring the Yakuza back into power for the boss that he had put into a coma. He committed horrible crimes in pursuit of this goal, but he did successfully find a way to remove quirks from people under the power of his own organization.

So he was absolutely the most competent, and I wonder how he would act if he found out that Midoriya was originally quirkless. It also could've been really cool to see like, Looking to the Future(heroes and quirks) vs Living in the Past(No quirks and the golden age of the Yakuza)

The MLA were quirk-supremacy, might makes right, kind of people, and that's pretty much just the world's view at large taken to the extreme. The idea of the original founder wanting free quirk use in a time where everyone was terrified of them could've been a cool theme to explore, instead they folded to a group of exactly six people. Gigantomachia also showed up, but the end result would've been the same if he hadn't.

Incompetent. Maybe thematically interesting. Most of their leaders don't even have powerful quirks of their own, they're only in charge because of the influence/money they have. Automatically proving that their own philosophy of quirk supremacy is meaningless.

The League of Villains overall, just wanted to do whatever they want and be free from consequences. Shigaraki wants to destroy things. Dabi wants to kill Endeavor and whoever else he chooses. Toga wants people's blood(consent optional). Compress was just a thief that wanted to Robin Hood-style deal with corruption, and ended up not doing anything like that. Twice just wanted somewhere to be accepted, he's the exception. Spinner was a victim of discrimination that jumped in the first ideological extreme that popped out at him. Their individual goals all turn into "tear everything down and leave nothing(except maybe the stuff we like)."

The League was also pretty incompetent. Nearly all of their successes were built off of what All for One had built. Doctor Ujiko and the nomu, Gigantomachia, hell, even Kurogiri. The League didn't do shit by themselves, but somehow they were the main villains of the series.

[ananke-xiii]

What about Cas? pt. 1

I love when Sam and Dean fight and the reason why they fight is Cas. I love it for two main reasons.

One, Dean's quick-fire brain is at its best in these instances. One mention of Cas and Dean goes all pew-pew-pew on basically anybody and everybody calls his bluff. Crowley, of course, knew. Even Naomi knew. Lucifer fucking knew it. Well, everybody but Sam.

Two, these fights conveniently happen when Sam is going through his own shit (and doesn't know how to deal with it) to care about his brother's emotional state, making it even more painfully obvious that he severely lacks emotional intelligence/recognition skills. It's "Sam knows and doesn't know" at its best.

I've talked about how the "It’s not an “it,” Sam. It’s Cas" scene in s11 is an interesting example of Dean's rhetoric skills: that man can be on the losing side and still win an argument without breaking a sweat. Sam, on the other hand, not so much. He has a tendency to hyperfocus on one thing and lose sight of the plethora of other things he might need to be looking at.

As a consequence, Dean looks like the one with the heart, the one who cares, the one who's right, while Sam looks shallow, cold and even callous. However, as I've written multiple times, it's a matter of skills, therefore of abilities. Of what one can and the other can't.

So what about Cas?

"What about Cas?" is the first thing Sam says in "Lost and Found" to try and address what happened outside that cabin. With the unmistakable Sam's mark of elegant tact (I love him, he is me) he goes "What about Cas? Is he - is he really dead?" after they've just seen their friend getting skewered by Lucifer in front of their very eyes. To be fair to him, Cas has that thing, you know, that thing that he dies and then comes back. Plus, Sam's sense of what's real and what's not is... something to talk about. However, my heart feels for his total inability to read the room, or, well, the Impala: only 5 seconds before Dean couldn't even say the words "Cas is dead" ("Crowley’s dead, Kelly’s dead, Cas is—") and the best thing Sam can come up with is "Hey Dean, what do you think? Is Cas REALLY DEAD, UH?". Oh, Sam.

Throughout the episode Sam's still unsure whether Cas is permadead or not: at first he's got doubts, then Dean tells him that that's final. So he confirms Cas' death to Jack. However, when they're about to make the pyre for his body, Sam has some second thoughts: maybe they can bring him back. Dean is peremptory: "No we can't".

In "The Rising Son" Sam and Dean have a minor fight over Jack and his powers because he accidentally hurt the tattoo artist:

Sam: It was a reflex. He didn’t do it on purpose. Dean: Who cares if he didn’t do it on purpose? He did it. I mean, you didn’t see Cas smiting someone every time he got his teeth cleaned. Jack: I’m right here, you know. Dean: Yeah, and what about the vanishing tattoo? Donatello: An archangel healed himself. Sam: Another reflex. Dean: Or maybe he didn’t want to be warded. Sam: Okay, look, yeah, Jack is on Lucifer’s family tree. But we don’t know if that DNA is stronger than Kelly’s, or his connection with Cas. Dean: Oh, you mean the connection that got Cas killed?

I like this dialogue because, once again just like that scene in S11 that I've linked above, Dean's laying his cards on the table. A Crowley or a Lucifer wouldn't have missed that. Sam does.

Dean's the one who's brought Cas up. He explicitily (and unfairly) compares Jack with Cas. Jack hurt people while Cas, his Cas, wouldn't (Oh, Dean you're so wrong my precious baby boy, Cas would hurt people and he's actually done so multiple times and you know it: power imbalance between humans and angels is just what it is, on purpose or not, it's a fact). Dean's also the one who recognizes Jack's real "problem", i.e. he's also an angel, an extremely powerful one at that and his power's an issue.

Sam, however, is the one who brings Lucifer up. He acknowledges Jack's connection with him, Kelly and Cas. Big, BIG mistake. Sam unwittingly turns the knife in Dean's wound, although Dean's mention of Cas before was a huge red flag that Sam completely missed.

This might just be my interpretation but I think that Dean's unconscious eagerness to bring Cas up in any argument reveals his desire to talk about what happened, to vent his anger, to test the waters and see if Sam's on the same page as he is. He's not.

And I think Sam's got a right to be on a different page because this is what S12 was all about: while Dean had found his closure with Mary and had started to see himself as Cas' partner (I've talked about this in my spn s12 tags), Sam's still very much behind. He didn't put in the effort with Mary while Eileen, the one person outside of family Sam's got a connection with (excluding Rowena whom he doesn't trust yet) got brutally murdered by Ketch. Sam and Dean can't possibly be on the same page. Supernatural teaches us that when connections break things are bound to explode.

The dialogue continues:

Sam: I’m just saying, Jack doesn’t have to be evil. We can teach him not to be. [...] Donatello: Oh. Speaking not as a prophet but as a scientist, I don’t think teaching him is in the cards.It’s like asking a lion not to be a lion. Sam: But this is not a lion! This is a human! Donatello: With a strong dose of God juice. Dean: Okay, that’s it. I’m done, all right? ‘Cause he’s not God, he’s not Cas, he’s not Simba. He’s the friggin’ Devil!

That's it, Dean's done. The reason? Jack is not Cas. He throws that "he's not Cas" right in the middle, suspiciously hiding the importance of his statement: the techinque is so blatant that, as it turns out, he couldn't be clearer.

Talking on being on the same page:

Sam: Point is… if you and I are gonna do this, keep Jack on the right side of things, then—then we have to be on the same page. Dean: Okay. Well, that’s the problem, though, Sam, ‘cause we’re not on the same page. Like, at all. Sam: All right. You know what? I know what’s going on here. Dean: Oh. Okay. Well, please, tell me, what’s going on here? Sam: You thinking mom is gone and Cas is gone, and that Jack can’t be saved. Dean, after everything we’ve gone through… We just lost people we love, people who have been in our lives for a long time. Everything’s upside-down. I get it. But we’ve been down before. I mean, rock bottom. And we find a way. We fix it because that’s what we do. And Jack w—wants to do the right thing. Jack’s scared to death of who he is, and he’s scared of you.

As I've said, Dean had tested the waters to see if he and Sam were on the same page but he quickly realizes they're not. Sam claims that he knows what's going on and Dean sort of dares him to spill the beans. Poor Sam is wrong againg because the "you" in "you thinking that..." is actually him, not Dean. Sam's projecting his own fears onto Dean (Is Mom gone? Will I ever have a connection with her? Can Jack be saved? Is Cas really gone?). He starts and ends his little speech with that "you" but he clearly doesn't get what Dean's deal is.

Dean's deal is not just whether he thinks Cas and Mary are really gone and Jack can or can't be saved. Dean's deal is about what happened before Cas died and, more specifically, about what didn't happen. He'll reveal his cards, like he always does because that's what Dean does, he wears his heart on his sleeve, in the following episode.

[codacheetah]

5 for the isat ask game!

5 - What's your favorite optional event?

VERY TOUGH ONE TO ANSWER. I'm gonna go right ahead and disqualify twohats bc it's a predictable answer. If I had to choose just one though I think it'd probably be the sus event. It really got my goat on my first playthrough bc I didn't realize you had to do it in ACT 4. If I remember correctly I think sus is the only optional event locked to ACT 4??? Now that I've actually done it though I'm quite fond of it.

Sus event is one that you really have to go out of your way to do. It kind of reminds me of the True Ending in SASASAP but More and I'm sure that's intentional. Like the requirements for sus quest necessitate that you're going to do it, if not the loop before ACT 5, very soon before it. You have to know pretty much everything about Time Craft and Wish Craft already, so whatever you're doing in the loops now is basically taking out any optional stuff before you hit the end. You have to pretty thoroughly remember how the script goes just so you know all the best ways to break it. I feel like if the True Ending route is Loop going through the motions so many times that they can't deal with holding their facade together any longer, the sus route is Siffrin waving a big red flag around for help. There's just no way you're going to stumble into sus without preplanning what to do to rack up your points and make Odile aware of how Wish Craft works.

So I think it's interesting how much Siffrin pushes back against Odile trying to figure him out. It's a pattern of behavior that I am well aware of where you're desperately going "HELP ME" but you're not willing to accept it when it's offered to you.

Siffrin spends an entire loop screwing everything up, to a point that's frankly kind of egregious even by Late Stage Timeloopers standards, and then they can't reckon with the consequences of it. I don't think sus event is as intentional of a cry for help for Siffrin as it is the player, mind you. But I do think it's. Very tragic. Yeah of course "it's too late" in the sense that Siffrin's about to talk to Euphie and the whole journey will end, but moreso it's that by the time that Odile can piece together all the information necessary to figure Siffrin out, Siffrin is just far too deeply entrenched in his self hatred and fear of abandonment to be dug out. I think if Odile could somehow figure it out in, like, early ACT 3, or if Isabeau was just a bit more pushy in getting Siffrin to do a feelings talk, maybe they'd actually be able to reach Siffrin a little. But they're always just a little too late, every single time.

I think the fact that you start really getting a bunch of weird points in ACT 3 gives this event a lot of buildup. For potential dozens of loops you'll see Odile brush against the truth of the situation, and then just barely miss. By the time she figures it out, it's too late. Explodes

Expounded upon slightly more in tags bc I don't like typing in post bodies I feel like a fish on land. eek

[deramin2]

God I love Orym's choice to make a deal with Nana Mori so much.

He trusts Morrigan because he trusts Fearne. They're like bonded shelter cats. This place genuinely doesn't feel so bad. Like Maybe someplace he could settle. And then he wouldn't be able to keep running. And in return none of his new family has to die, which is the thing that traumatized him and destroyed his happy life. If they can just stay alive maybe they'll be powerful enough to win. With Ashton and Fearne's new powers, and Imogen leaning into her powers. And Laudna is freaked out about Delilah but also using that power because when she felt angry and terrified and alone it was right there. Chetney is all about harnessing his curse and not just living with it but thriving. All his friends have made these big moves and he was still just some guy. So he got in on the game.

Going home is too painful to him to stay. He wants to visit, but he doesn't feel like he belongs anymore. He hasn't for years, that's why he's been traveling. But he could belong here with Fearne's people because he loves and trusts Fearne.

Nana Mori is weird and off-putting but she doesn't scare Orym. He doesn't think she's deceitful, he thinks she binds people to their word. He's offering something mutually beneficial. Her interests are inscrutable, but Fearne's happiness is one of those interests and he makes Fearne happy. So it's in Mori's best interest to take care of him. And he in turn will take care of her.

Derrig was his lover's father who trained him to be a guardian and made him more powerful so he could do that well. That's not that different than Mori. He's really just repeating familiar patterns with different contexts. He failed Zephrah, but maybe he can redeem himself and also try a new post. He's a soldier.

He doesn't want to die but he thinks it might be inevitable (and worth it) for this cause. He can't let what happened to his husband and his father happen again. He couldn't think through that fear. And he has actually been open about it, but also there actually hasn't been an alternative. This is just one more crux move in a long series of moves to stop all this. All of it suicidally dangerous. None of them are the best people to do this. Chetney voiced what they've all been thinking: their one advantage is they're expendable. Everybody at that war meeting had to be prepared to be expendable, but they're trying to minimize casualties. Bell's Hells are Team Frodo, but there may not be any eagles coming. And Orym knows that. He thinks this is an incredibly important mission but also a one-way trip. But maybe making this deal is what sends the eagles. And he knows he can't go back to The Shire, so maybe Nana Mori's domain could be Valinor. It has been a respite for him.

Maybe all that is as much hubris and misplaced trust as Zerxus trying to reform Asmodeus. What I love about this choice is we don't know. The way things were before he made a deal was just win-lose for Orym. Now it has a whole other interesting layer of things that could happen.

Campaign 1 & Campaign 2 were about adventuring parties trying to save the world. Exandria Unlimited: Calamity was about an adventuring party who fails to save the world. Campaign 3 is not about success or failure as an objective. It's about making interesting choices and then following the consequences of those choices. This is theater where anything can happen. This is Shakespeare where everything going wrong is FUN. This isn't a definite tragedy, but they took off all the guard rails that said it couldn't be.

They don't have to win to be successful in the work of art they want to make. Marisha explicitly said to throw out expectations. I truly think the cast did. The world is something being done to them, not something they are causing to happen. And they're reacting to it in whatever sounds the most interesting with potential consequences they most want to see. It's a game of curiosity.

So a couple things can happen here: Either they don't all make it back, Orym is heartbroken and trying to fix it or dead. Or Orym gets what he wants and we see more of Nana Mori's nature and if she's more like Uk'otoa or Artagan. Either way Orym gets a new and interesting direction to go in.Far more interesting than succeeding and everything staying the same. And that's why I like the choice.

[lonelyroommp3]

honestly could you just straight up review every song on brat

deal

360 - functions perfectly as an album opener (and i appreciate the work it puts in to set up the far superior 365 at the end) but doesn't do much for me as a standalone song. i'm not sure if this is actually a problem with the song itself or if i just dislike the post-ironic nyc it girl culture featured in the music video so much that i now have beef with the song as a consequence

club classics - i have not heard this song while off my face in a grotty warehouse club in an east london industrial estate and as a result i don't feel i can truly give it the impartial ranking it deserves just yet. this is not a song that reaches its full potential in any other setting

sympathy is a knife - i don't find myself returning to this song often but i do objectively think it bangs hugely. i just have surprisingly little to say about it honestly

i might say something stupid - huge song, and yet so small at the same time. it is very rare that i call a sub-2 minute song perfect because i'm 5minutesongfucker420 but it comes in, says what it needs to, and rips your heart out in the process. i go back and forth comparing brat and melodrama quite often (SORRY CHARLI, I KNOW YOU HAVE A SONG ABOUT THIS COMING UP) because they're both Party Girl Concept Albums and to me this is brat's "liability" in terms of early album moment of complete braking-hard-and-hitting-the-wall vulnerability.

talk talk - SOOOO fun. absolutely love the production on this one, right up my alley, i am also a huge sucker for a big fun song about having a crush. i would also like to shout out this song for ruining any international sporting event where france and spain face off because all i can ever think is TALK TO ME IN FRENCH TALK TO ME IN SPANISH TALK TO ME IN YOUR OWN MADE UP LANGUAGE

von dutch - absolutely gigantic and a perfect opening single to set the tone of the era. those massive revving synths encapsulate the sound of what i thought clubbing would be like when i was about 13 years old. also a perfect confidence boost song - i have strutted at olympic racewalker speed down the street with this blasting in my airpods more times than i would care to admit

BONUS: the various von dutch remixes - i don't always subscribe to the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" rule of remixes (for example, to go on a complete tangent, i adore both deadmau5's original raise your weapon and the madeon extended remix because they do entirely different things equally well) but nothing in the von dutch remixes make me think yeah, this is worthy of existing alongside the original and adds something cool and interesting and different to the track that i wasn't already getting from the og. the one exception i'd make is, of course, addison rae's extremely cunty scream in the a.g. cook remix but i'm not going to keep returning to an entire remix for just one fun moment that's already been oversaturated on tiktok

everything is romantic - i will confess, for all i claim to be an open minded enjoyer of music and a fan of Insane Tracks For The Club, initially the jagged production was a bit jarring to me and i thought yeah, i probably won't be coming back to this song. and now i'm obsessed with it. however it does make the children (me) yearn for the mediterranean and as a result i will be invoicing charli for the damage to my bank account when the day inevitably comes that i listen to this song too many times after half a bottle of wine and immediately book myself an italian weekend getaway

rewind - first time i heard this i was like oh okay we're getting into the slightly more fillery second third of the album, it's a fine song but not quite on the level of all that has come before it. and now it is one of my absolute favourites. i also LOVE how direct and specific the lyrics are on this track, which is something i normally beef with when it comes to a lot of contemporary pop music but the difference is 1) charli is good at it 2) her delivery is so direct that it sort of dares you to sit still and listen without criticising it. incredibly strong song

so i - a genuinely beautiful song that i rarely listen to because it makes me feel like i am intruding on something. i think the fact that it exists out in the world on this album is a wonderful thing and the most perfect tribute to sophie & full circle moment when it comes to charli's insecurities around working with her - "when i make songs i remember things you'd suggest... would you like this one? maybe just a little bit?" - but at the same time i'm always like. i kind of feel like i shouldn't be listening to this

girl, so confusing - the original is a lovely little paradox. i enjoyed it enough on my first listen and the lorde version quite simply would not exist, let alone be as impactful as it is, without it, but now that the lorde version exists i don't want to listen to any other version. the remix is almost certainly going to be my top brat track of the year

apple - initially a skip, then i had a moment of realisation that it is in fact the best marina and the diamonds song written in years (that froot looks familiar, i suppose), and then it rapidly became overplayed as the result of, to be fair, the very good and fun tiktok dance that i still do on instinct every time i hear the song. i think instead of riding the wave of its virality by releasing it to radio as a single etc charli should lock this one in a vault for about three months so nobody can listen to it and then when it comes back we'll all be like oh yeah wait this is a really good little song

b2b - love it, was my immediate fave out of the club classics/b2b double single release, but once again i feel like i've not yet heard it at its full potential (inside a cramped and small and extremely sweaty basement club when i'm 8 shots deep planning a terribly ill advised pulling mission)

mean girls - the thing is i think it's a fun enough song as a storytelling concept if you view it as Just A Little Fun Song, also i love the production, a little bit of house-y piano is always going to hit for me. the issue is i've already told you what i think about the post-ironic it girl subculture this song is about and i think if you actively listen to this song and go wowwwww she gets me then you need to have your internet access forcibly removed for at least six months until you calm down and develop a personality outside of the red scare podcast and pretentious "overrated vs underrated" columns hosted by wannabe substack celebrities. also the thing is this song is going to be dated within the year, which is a shame bc it does, musically, go

i think about it all the time - this song should NOT hit as hard as it does considering i staunchly plan on never having children. i cannot relate to the sentiment behind it at all but charli paints such a beautiful and vivid picture with her lyrics (all perfectly intertwined with that understated, quietly pulsating production) that you can't help but have an emotional connection to it. beautiful and vulnerable and a really perfect moment of quiet towards the end of the album

365 - first of all, a perfectly placed song when it comes to encapsulating those dizzy night out mood swings of "wait. should i settle down and have children.... nvm let's go back inside and do coke". second of all, as a musical theatre girlie to my core i love ANY song that reprises an earlier theme and this not only repurposes the 360 stems excellently but actively improves on the earlier track. thirdly, i think charli's "okay, OKAYYYY" at the beginning of the song is a flawless and fun way of rounding out the album - it really feels like she's bringing you back into it, going OKAY let's do this one last time, are you FUCKING READY, etc. fourthly, it's just FUN. definitely a standout track to me

hello goodbye - LOVEEEE, i do greatly enjoy and appreciate charli's more experimental music but i can't lie. sometimes she releases a fairly straightforward poppy banger and it just hits the spot. like this

guess - YOU WANNA GUESS THE COLOUR OF MY UNDERWEAR YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT I'VE GOT GOING ON DOWN THERE IS IT PRETTY IN PINK OR ALL SEE THROUGH IS IT SHOWING OFF MY BRAND NEW LOWER BACK TATTOO. btw the billie eilish verse on the remix slays, i know this is a charli review but i love that billie has devoted her first two explicitly gay singles to being just outrageously horny with it, you go girl, i think the discourse around the song is so unbelievably daft and we need to settle down and have fun

spring breakers - i know this is a fan fave that people were begging to put on the album but i just simply do not care about it. sorry

[oscconfessions]

i dont get people's obsession with book making up with/forgiving people from her past because is her whole arc in tpot not about moving on from the past and finding new friends. idk people really want her and ice cube or match or pencil or taco or you get the point to make up and i don't see the point. let her have new friends. let her move on. not everything has to end with everybody being happy and silly together. they can be on bad terms/not talking/literally not friends. it's ok guys. I Really Just Want Them To Move On From Each Other and for people to stop forcing her back into toxic environments from her past

i think book confronting her past is important and i personally feel that she's been avoiding it (her lack of objection towards ice cube leaving her in tpot 1 and her dreading having to deal with it in tpot 10) so obviously it shouldn't just be swept under the rug but i Do Not feel like book owes match or pencil (especially pencil because match has been shown to at least be trying to improve. iirc i don tremember like anytihn gfrom bfb LOL) forgiveness. She shouldn't have to be forced to suck up and go back with people who hurt her. i genuinely think it's best that they go their seperate ways.

^ i also feel like the whole "they should just go their seperate ways" thing applies to icebook. their relationship in bfb was mutually toxic and both of them hurt the other with a lack of proper communication and whatnot. soooooo many people want ice cube and book to make up and be friends again it tpot but they're Not Good For Each Other!!! also book hasn't proven that she's grown enough from her time in bfb to even handle being around ice cube again without repeating her same mistakes towards her. ice cube has no reason to not dislike her right now because she's just acting the same as she did in bfb towards her in tpot 12. if book wants to have a chance at being with ice cube again she needs to realize /what/ she did wrong; book and ice cube's boundaries were always a mess and a big problem in their relationship was that constant pushing of boundaries by book, something that she saw no issue with because ice cube never spoke up about it until it got to an extreme point.

i fear if book and ice cube become friends again in tpot they'll A. just repeat their same mistakes or B. have all of those mistakes conveniently disappear so book faces no consequences for her mistakes in bfb which is like Not Good

i get wanting your fav friendships to interact again but *insert nerd emoji here* it makes no sense for her character and the arc they're trying to give her this season acshually

book needs to accept that her past doesn't define her so she can move on from that and move on from her past friendships. she needs to accept that those people are gone for a reason instead of chasing after them. She Needs To Actually Learn A Lesson And Change, Tpot Writers

vaguely related but dont get me wrong i love icebook (peep the blog lol) but maaaaaaaaaan i don't like seeing it portrayed all fluffy and happy and wholesome. you do you but GAFHGFDGFDKG there's so much interesting stuff about the flsaws in their relationship and just how disgustingly attached book is to ice cube and how ice cube allows this to happen until it's too much for her to handle and how book focuses so much more on ice cube than herself and they're so awfully codepdendent and they suck at communication and boundaries and they were honestly always doomed to fail They Won't Work Out Together they're tied by fate and can't live without each other even if it's hurting them and AND AND AND make their relationship uglier it won't hurt to have ship content that's not 100% happy fluffy all the time no flaws ever fix-it fic material (obligatory you do you i don't care that much this is my opinion you are allowed to do whatever you want)

.

[lacktastrophe]

Seeing the beginning of the latest chapter made me think of something regarding Confrontation. So far, only Lucy has suffered from recurring PTSD from that chapter while Daisy recalled enough to understand that Augustus was linked to Alejandro in some way. As far as what I can recall from memory, the trauma from Confrontation carried on in two characters. (1/2)

This one came in a few weeks ago and I hadn't really been on Tumblr in a while, sorry Anon. Between a bad headspace and distracted it's been hard to concentrate on BCB these last few weeks.

I feel like so far; it's just Lucy, so far. Daisy has been through some traumatic events through chapter's like "Love my Way" and "Confrontation" but I'm not ready to accept that it was ptsd back when she figured Augustus out, she dealt with that like a champ without appearing like there was negative consequence. But with the way appearances have been in this comic recently, she utterly could have some sort of behaviour pattern we're just thinking is part of her character. It's really hard right now to nail down if particular behaviour traits link back to Confrontation. I feel the only real way to tell for sure is to have the story hold a magnifying glass like in the current chapter.

But I think that's something we might see in future chapters, because if it could appear like the kids could get over an evening like Confrontation without much issue (as we saw at the end of that chapter), only for Lucy to find a trigger point years later, it really is a question if they too have similar trigger points that they have stepped on/will step on, or whether they have and it's become part of their character, because we've seen some interesting decisions from them from time to time.

But yeah, I really can't say for certain, i can only really speculate that maybe we had been? But there's very little hard evidence.

But I've wonderrred~

I honestly have been wondering if the characters have been dealing with some form of ptsd from that evening all this time, but it's not at all obvious and it's been going on unnoticed as if it's been part of their character, or even reinforcing particular traits we've already seen. With the way the story's written it's pretty hard to nail down something unless there's a point where there is a magnifying glass over it, some frames and actions might carry multiple meanings, or at least a deceptive one. We've needed to wait until Lucy had properly come back to really learn there had been consequences, so now if it's true for the others, it's time to link up behaviours.

But regarding deception, kind of like these frames! I had originally read this thinking the marks in Lucy's palms were a ptsd response from an earlier point where she had remembered being involved in a car crash when Sam, her older brother, drove her one time. But that doesn't make sense when you think about it, because ptsd happens when there's something there that elicits it -- they're far from his car and they've just been walking -- the ptsd response is originating from Paulo's presence.

I'm starting to wonder if Daisy's sudden exit from the events in Date Night might've have been something similar, that subtle behavioural pattern we are looking for. In all likelihood this page just exists that to show yet again Daisy was unable to find the means to confess or keep Paulo's attention. The last couple of chapters have been making a few running gags about how she has managed to become a bit of the third wheel between Paulo and David (or I guess the 5th wheel when they all stumbled upon James and Mike). But Daisy's sudden exit and the last page of that chapters makes me wonder if there might be something more going on.

C'mon Daisy, you used to be EVERYWHERE when you were pining over Mike, but you can't do the same for Paulo C'MON....

It's a pretty big stretch -- and we're alllllll very much aware of Daisy's self-esteem, self-confidence issues and her struggles when it comes to admitting her interest in Paulo when he's gone after so many other women. Having her dip in moments like these is something different. It's like the energy she usually exerts just...disappears, it's weird she can't exist in the same capacity she did to Mike like in the very early parts of the story too. Is it still there or did that just disappear into the wind? Because there is this sense of powerlessness in Daisy these days? Does it go back to that same night where she was similarly way out of her own league and unable to do anything?

And (and this is a fucking huuuuuge streeeeetch) but I keep thinking back to Double Down and wondering whether maybe Paulo making a second ditch attempt to try and appeal to Lucy made me wonder if something from Confrontation could be involved with his constant need to chase Lucy.

Paulo x Lucy died on 7/7/17 in everyone's favourite chapter After You where Paulo had finally been able to ask Lucy the question, and she pretty much destroyed him by telling him there was no love, she used him and frankly he never had a chance. After that chapter and in Double Down we thought they were very much done. We thought Paulo had moved on.

.....Christ, Paulo really doesn't know how much he's fucking up already. No wonder Lucy dug her claws into her palms.

A little later in the same chapter, we see a vain attempt by Paulo's to try and assure Lucy to get her to open up again, kind of like how he became a shoulder in...well, Another shoulder. This is made under the guise of hoping that Lucy will return to the lunch table and resume being a friend, but in later pages, while it's possible it was honest, when the question of relationships comes up, or at least the status, we start seeing a change.

What happens after is Paulo suddenly turning extremely petty and aggressively competitive.

It's not uncommon to see Paulo resorting to some childish shit like he would in an early chapter of BCB, but such flippant moment like this one where one moment Paulo appears grounded -- ready to move mountains in accommodating her and getting her to open up more like she did years ago -- only to suddenly shift into what feels like similar behaviour from middleschool -- where things are almost a game in getting the attraction and attention of Lucy particularly when there's a rival, like Mike, or Augustus in this case.

And this moment could well just be another case of -- another day, another occasion of Paulo being a fucking idiot. We're all very much aware of his image and him always resorting to faking for his insecurities and how he tends to belittles others he doesn't like. We've seen this before recently too in chapter's like Time Out just to maintain this idea, where Paulo is admonished by his peers for acting immaturely towards Abbey, and then later losing his cool against him. Things are looking pretty normal here!

But I'm wondering if we should this time? Getting slapped in the face sure would suck, but Volume 1 (or do I just say early Omnibus these days?) Paulo lived for it -- He's a strange creature that sees getting struck in the face worth it because the attention is the payoff. But it doesn't happen this time; it slaps him out of whatever's currently going on and we see a tantrum mixed in with some actual remorse. The tantrum is understandable, it's further reinforcement he just does not have a chance with her. However Paulo admitting how badly he fucked up this time around makes you wonder if there's something more going on than just this jealousy we perceive, where Augustus has filled in what would've been his place had he not severely fucked things up with her trust back in back and forth.

Paulo blames his pride for storming off but is his pride really the issue like he claims?

I feel like similarly with Paulo's antics, we also feel like we might be familiar with his pride. But there had been moments where Paulo's pride had been tested, and it's...different from what you'd expect. There are moments where how we think he would react, he doesn't?

I'd think it would be a pretty normal response for you to be pissed off if you found you were used by the person you thought was reciprocating your feelings. It's demoralizing and degrading thing, but in Paulo's case, despite how his pride might be at the forefront, it takes a backseat here especially when it's obvious he becomes offended.

...But nevermind why won't you be my girlfriend?

What absolutely kills me is that Paulo just wants off the ride from that point but doesn't ask why she doesn't want to. It's possible he is just too upset and wants off the ride but he's also okay with just being bullied into going to Daisy's party, almost like she's calling a favour. Paulo chooses a weird time to be accommodating, like thanks for destroying my heart Lucy but yes I'll do what you say.

He should definitely go to the party though, so thanks Lucy.

Paulo might end up just being a simp who can't stop cute girls from bullying him like we see at the end of that chapter. We've come to agree with this over years of the comic, it's what we expect. But where's the real limit for Paulo's pride here when it comes to girls and when he's gone through enough pain and humiliation?

And then we get to one of the more recent pages, and despite EVERYTHING that has happened to this man from this woman, he's like this.

HE STILL THINKS HE HAS A CHANCE? SHE BROKE YOUR HEART TWICE AND YOU'RE BACK FOR A THIRD?

I get Paulo is not giving up and trying his best to be accomodating, but how much abuse can the man keep taking? How can you be like this despite being used?

I have faith in Veronica's storytelling. If she can just whip out Lucy's recurring nightmare in our faces so suddenly and that explains all of Lucy's behaviour between December to the recent chapter, then I feel like there has got to be something else that's planned going on here with Paulo. I am still absolutely preparred for the day where he really just is this pushover simp, but every part of me is screaming that there might be something else going on here, because jesus christ, this man...

That leaves the question of what, then? You do have to wonder whether he really did get off scott-free after that evening like what it initially appeared, it's very easy for Paulo to push things to the back of his mind and fake things out as we've seen with most times in the past. But did his pride let this slide as easy as it appeared? It doesn't take much for Paulo taking offense when being slighted by women, like Tess when she thought Paulo couldn't reach the level she wanted in a relationship despite everything he tried. Would it have been just as easy for Paulo to move on from being mostly incapacitated from a barkphobia and a beat down. He showed a lot of bravado that night but it didn't amount to much, so, you really have to wonder.

After that evening is Paulo doing some magic work with Daisy explaining that everyone has particular strengths. I'm pretty sure this was enough to help her get over that evening, but it's all things amazing coming from him despite the beatdown he received, but we do have to wonder if he was able to take his own advice because man there are fights he just isn't capable of winning, Lucy is just one of them. Did he really come out scott-free too?

So I wonder if that's it. Paulo might be not be giving up on Lucy, and appearing accommodating because he does care and hurt to hear she attempted suicide. But maybe Paulo's unable to let go for another reason, the chance for a relationship with Lucy is just not going away and he needs that, but why can't he just move on despite all the bad she's admitted?

Could we link it back to Confrontation? Could it be that Lucy trying to protect them (or at least just Mike) rubbed off on him some way given his mother walked out on him and the next best support he has is Daisy, maybe Lucy is a stronger rolemodel? So he's willing to forgive that so long as he has that assurance, perhaps?

Thrill of the chase used to mean something else, but that term's come up again, and while it meant Paulo treating her like an achievement, you have to wonder if there's a different meaning this time.

Well, we can only speculate. I'm thinking similar to Daisy, if there is something going on here, it's very subtle and likely already become part of their character. it's going to be as long running and likely as subtle and it's causing Paulo's to go back to chasing Lucy around like he used to, at least it feels that way.

Sue's a bit of an unknown given she doesn't have as much screentime. But I had always wondered if her continued insistence at being/trying to be a leader (Helloooooo Critical Hit) is just more than just something she does given it was in Confrontation where we saw her initiating attempts to find a way home and, well trying to mitigate Alejandro and try to defend Paulo throughout the end of that chapter. We haven't really ever seen Sue involved in a subservient role (I'm assuming she is definitely running their little MMO game) so I really wonder if there's something there in making up for not being as effective a leader and wrangling everyone to work together like she could in Confrontation.

At the same time I'm honestly embracing a wildcard surprise like Sue's mother likely enrolled her in therapy and it just....mitigated the issue.

But yeah, I have no answers.

[rottenraccoons]

Not sure if this has already been asked yet, but how did the team come up with the four love interests in the first place? I feel like the hardest part of developing a character is figuring out how to start. All four feel so wonderfully complex, and are not very "trope-y," which is what I struggle with the most. Thanks!

Aw, thank you! I love answering stuff like this, so I decided to go through my process on Keir and rambled a bit. I'll put my answer under a readmore for brevity.

For us, we started building Obscura with the idea that we wanted to do something dark and mature, and began with developing a setting. Once we picked and started building out the marketplace under the mountain, we could start asking ourselves "why would anyone go to this place?" and work from there. (Vesper's fractum anima is one answer to this question that we really liked for the MC.)

"Thief" feels like a pretty natural role for a marketplace, and Tobi made it clear that she wanted to develop a very dark character, so I thought a more heroic Robin Hood-type character would be a nice contrast. My original concept of Keir was for a thief who burns for justice in a deeply unjust setting; think shounen-anime hero and you're in the right neighbourhood. Pretty tropey, and I say that with love! Proto-Keir would be a delight to write in a different story.

But the rest of the team didn't think that type of character really suited the dark tone we wanted to work with, and they were right. So we took the trope and twisted it. Yes, he's a good man who burns for justice in an unjust world; and he is extremely burned out. And that twist on the formula unlocked Keir for me and the rest of the team. Burned-out Keir could be exhausted and sarcastic and even cynical about the world, bitter about the state of the marketplace and very protective of Mouse Hole as a place he can improve.

This isn't to say that "burned-out activist Robin Hood" is an original characterisation that's never been done before; TV Tropes has a whole page on the Knight in Sour Armor, which deals with similar characters. But it was the foundation we could build on as a team to make a character that felt strong enough to be a romantic interest.

I've mentioned this before, but one of the inspirations I draw from when I write about the marketplace is the awful Web3/crypto environment, a topic I enjoy reading about mostly for the schadenfreude and ended up learning about as a consequence. For Keir, I use concepts like activist burnout and compassion fatigue, things I learned about much more intimately in 2020 (you can guess why). Taking these real life ideas and bringing them into my writing is my favourite way to add depth and texture to characters and settings. If you're looking to do the same, try looking outside fiction and see what things interest you, then bring them back to your fiction.

Not to say that tropey characters are a bad thing! I could write a whole other essay on the utility of character tropes, especially in the world of romance games. Tropes can be a great place to start constructing characters to ensure that they all have their own appeal, and they're just fun to experience as a reader, especially when it's one of your faves. There's no shame in being a bit tropey, if it suits the story you want to tell!

(And if you're looking for a bit of extra ~secret sauce~: give your characters two things they want super badly, but getting one thing will compromise the other. Safety and love are a classic pair; safety often means staying closed off from other people to avoid being hurt, love requires opening up to others. Then let them struggle with those competing wants.)