#meta tag

[boylikeanangel]

yknow I think this is a conversation a large portion of this fandom is not ready for but truly we really do need to start addressing crowley's anger issues and the way he treated aziraphale throughout this season before we can even begin unpicking why aziraphale would choose to leave him like that

[fagziraphale]

bullet catch scene is about. putting crowley in a position he claims to want. metaphorically. he goes to aziraphale like im all in i want to pursue something with you i know the risks and i accept them. we can keep us safe and i'll do whatever i have to in order to make this possible for us

and then aziraphale is like. okay then i need to know you can do this for me. i need to know you'll come through for me i need to know when it's high stakes you can trust me and trust yourself. i need to know you can shoot a gun at my face and miss. you said whatever it takes well sometimes it's going to take this and i need you to be capable of it. our side means no heaven and hell it means humanity it means sometimes it's gonna be just us up on the stage no miracles no easy way out. pull the trigger. tell me that you want to do this. look me in the eye and tell me. you walked down the aisle earlier now say 'i do'

[spiderpussinc]

official artbook quotes that drive me insane. you are gay

[fuckitwebhaal]

the dark urge

please do not come for me these are just my takes and opinions on the durge route, as someone who has run it through a few times and is pretty familiar with the lore in regards to the previous games. also massive spoilers below. like if you do not want any dark urge spoilers stop reading now.

The Dark Urge (henceforth referred to as DU), whether approached narratively as resisting or as succumbing, is more of a solidly fleshed out origin for a customizable player character compared to Tav. The reason for this is because the DU follows the precedent set by the previous Baldur's Gate games where the main player character is a Bhaalspawn. (If I recall correctly, that was also the intention for BG3, but it was scrapped and the origins split to allow for a fully customizable option).

I'm not going to get into the history of the Bhaalspawn, save to say this much: The protagonist of BG1 & 2, Gorion's Ward, is referenced on rare occasion throughout a DU playthrough and is implied to be dead. (Though they are never named as Abdel Adrian from the TTRPG canon, it is implied that it seems to be following a blend of canon from BG2 and the TTRPG canon). Bhaal, who had split his divine essence into his many children, relied on their deaths and a ritual so that he could return--in a physical sense--to the planes and reclaim his godhood as the Lord of Murder.

You, BG3 DU protag, are crafted purely from Bhaal's divine essence. This was confusing to me at first, because I had believed Bhaal incapable of having any more mortal children (due to not having a physical presence), but it is implied that Bhaal's spiritual and divine essence is strong enough to form you from himself, he is merely lacking the ritual that would return him to physicality. Which is where you come in. And, Orin, I guess.

Because you were crafted from Bhaal, it is implied that any cultural or genetic claim (such as half-elf, dragonborn, or whatever race you choose) is but Bhaal's mimicry of what those stereotypes should be. You're a killer, a Bhaalyn through and through, and you'll be the one to slay the world and slit your own throat on the carcasses left behind to bring about Bhaal's return. The only thing is, you got cocky. Confident. Comfortable. Careless. You got comfortable in your alliance with Gortash and Ketheric. Orin was jealous and wanted your blessing--your place as Bhaal's chosen--, so she struck you down, muddled your mind, and infected you with a mindflayer parasite. That's why you have no memory, and why you ended up on that ship.

So, here you are. You have no memories, but you have a rage and a disgrace and a vengeance you can't quite place. You've got an urge telling you to kill, kill, kill.

Pause. In previous games, the Bhaalspawn protagonist didn't have a "dark urge" that caused you to want to commit violence or murders outside of your control. (Not including Siege of Dragonspear (2016), which does include one uncontrollable murder. This DLC was released as a bridge between BG1 & 2 and came out after the pitches for BG3 had begun). It's implied that this is because of your pure divine creation--think Jesus. Think godspawn. God and mortal. That's what you are, murder incarnate.

The main crux of the DU run, then, becomes this: what do you want to do with this? There are a few paths laid out before you, but the narrative is pretty clear: you are a killer, and you'll always be a killer. This is where I first ran into my concerns with the DU; I was afraid it was going to be an edgelord-y, murderhobo-y playthrough that sacrificed story and companion mechanics for the sake of a bloody kill and edgy narration. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't the case, because the story unfurls really well no matter which way you go.

A friend of mine played the DU run totally evil; every bad option, every urge indulged, so I asked them what they thought of it. They said it "It definitely involved a lot more violence and death than [their Tav] run, but it's not like [they] murdered everyone [they] came across", and "It did feel a lot like someone very confused with themselves becoming very drunk with the power that comes with the urge".

I played my two DU playthroughs in two parallel ways. The first being Kyr; a DU who wanted to resist his urges and talked a good talk, had a good heart, but at every major moment, he failed to resist and ultimately succumbed back to Bhaal's embrace and became his Chosen.

My other playthrough is Nyris; a cynical, mistrustful bastard, he started out a little rocky, but growing with his companions caused him to reject the evil in his blood despite his other moral shortcomings; in the critical moments, he rejected Bhaal's influence and overcame.

How the DU presents to me, then, is this: nature v nurture. Which will win, which will overcome? By playing Kyr, it felt as though the nature was his driving force. It didn't matter how removed he was or how hard he tried to convince others that he could do better--how hard he could try to convince himself he could do better--he was already doomed by the narrative. Bhaal's manipulations drove him back home, and he didn't even realize that he'd been sucked back into the cult until it was far too late.

But, then, what about Nyris? To him, it felt like nurture. If you remove the cult from him, the indoctrination, what was left? A man struggling to make his own identity, but among those who reaffirmed it every chance that they could. He relied on his own strength and that of those around him to overcome, even if he was unsure, afraid, doubted. It feels like the nurture, or lack thereof, of Bhaal and the Bhaalist cult meant that he was free to grow and learn away from it.

It's something I find further supported in conversations with Jaheira and Minsc, who both talk about "their Bhaalspawn companion", otherwise known as Gorion's Ward from the first two games.

[ID: Minsc: "If Minsc did not inherit the flaming red hair of his mother, or the bushy red beard of his father, why would the spawn of Bhaal inherit his wickedness?"

Kyrran: "We should talk about nature versus nurture some day."

Minsc: "It is simple. As with all battles, the winner will be the one that carries the bigger sword."]

So, in my opinion, the personal arc of the DU and one that the player must engage with is the idea of nature versus nurture, and how your DU will cope with the revelations of their paths in light of the new memories and friendships that they have forged. That's not to say you can't always swing to one extreme; never indulge or always indulge, it's still digging into that nature versus nurture idea.

There is, also, the more overarching theme of BG3 in regards to breaking cycles of abuse, power, and control. If you lean into the idea of nature v nurture, and you realize that there were originally foster families involved in the upbringing of the DU (before said families were murdered, or the DU stolen away by the Bhaalist cult), you have to consider two things:

1.) Bhaal is comparable to both Shar and Vlaakith as gods that indoctrinate their religious followers, and

2.) Bhaal is comparable to Mystra and Cazador as those who take control of a severe power imbalance to inflict their will.

The narrative informs you, if you accept Bhaal's gift as Chosen, exactly the consequences that will fall upon you. It is the same as the consequences that are so heavily explained to you in regards to Shadowheart, Lae'zel, Gale, and Astarion.

[ID: *A gift from your god, your Father. An offering of his affection for you, or confirmation that he owns you.*]

[ID: *For a moment, the brine-pool of your brain clears. To die: to rest, to save the world from yourself. To accept, to become his prophet - in any disobedience, subject to his lash.*]

A lot of people say that the DU run is the "evil" playthrough, and it truly isn't. Just like any of the other decisions you make in this game in regards to your companion quest, it is a question of power and control. Power you give up by rejecting Bhaal is also control that he loses over you. Power you gain in accepting him, to exert over others, is also the control he will take. It's up to you how you will approach the DU, but I think it is shortsighted to say it is the "evil" playthrough if you are not fully engaging with the themes. You can make all of the good options that you can make with Tav--but you are fighting the narrative. The narrative has a plan for you. If you want to resist, you will have to fight for it.

[nemesis-tea]

wo woooo I have polls........actual popularity poll time

[hexhomos]

Page excerpts from The Super Hero’s Journey, published 2023 - which is essentially a cute doomreed metacomic btw

[grainjew]

Nikaposting Pt 1: Crypto-Religion

This is the first of a series of posts about Nika & associated religious practice in the One Piece world. As I write and post the rest of the series, I’ll add links to this header.

Pt 2: Symbology & Syncretism | Pt 3: Joyboy was Shandian | Pt 4: Sun God Tropes

Enormous credit to @oriigami for being my discussion partner through all of this and having a substantial influence on the final product. Check out our ao3 series Joyful for a narrative rather than analytical take on the Nika tradition, and definitely go read her OP blog @kaizokuou-ni-naru for meta and translation fun facts.

-

The Nika Cult is a Crypto-Religion

Terminology note: I will be using cult in these posts in the sense of “cult of worship,” rather than in the modern pejorative sense. Additionally, I tend to use “tradition” rather than “religion” as a general term, because “religion” is a messy and difficult to define concept, while “tradition” is much more inclusive of traditional practices, folk beliefs, and cults of worship that may not be considered religions by Western scholarship.

Raise your hand if you saw Kuma’s church and Bible, concluded “oh, the Nika stuff is basically One Piece Christianity,” and moved on with your life.

It’s an easy assumption to make, and for all I know authorial intent may well stop there. I’m not Oda. I’ll never be able to guess what goes on behind those fish eyes of his. But a second look at the worldbuilding around both Nika and Christianity in One Piece brought me to a very different conclusion: that the Nika cult is a crypto-religion and is, in Kuma’s case, using the outward appearance of Christianity as camouflage.

First of all: We have ample evidence that Christianity (or some variation of it- I’m fascinated by the implied existence of such things as One Piece Jerusalem and the One Piece Council of Nicea) does exist in the One Piece world, and is both fairly widespread and quite legal. Flevance was pretty explicitly Catholic (Law went to church as a kid), Miss Monday and Mother Carmel masqueraded as nuns to imply harmlessness, many if not most of the graves shown in the series are crosses, whatever Usopp was on about with that exorcism equipment, and, yes, Kuma’s church and Bible.

Even mentioning the Nika cult, on the other hand, is grounds for the government to assassinate you with extreme prejudice.

A crypto-religion is what happens when a religion is suppressed to the point that its practice is grounds for exile, torture, and/or execution: Some people will convert. Some people will flee into exile. Some people will die. And some people will outwardly adopt the dominant religion, but will continue to practice their own traditions in secret; ie, they’ll create a crypto-religion.

One of the more famous examples of this is the post-Spanish Inquisition crypto-Jews of Spain and Portugal, who converted to Christianity in public but kept what Jewish traditions and rituals they could in private. To this day, descendants of these conversos whose families have been Catholic for centuries are discovering that their family tradition of lighting two candles on Friday or not eating pork on Saturday are in fact the legacy of a violently suppressed heritage. There are countless other examples of crypto-religions throughout history, both among Jews (my own personal field of knowledge) and among other traditions (for an example that would be known to Oda, the crypto-Christians of Japan).

There’s no way the Nika cult could have survived except in cryptic form. If it ever had physical infrastructure in the form of temples or pilgrimage sites, the government would have sought them out and demolished them long ago if they were not adequately disguised, especially in World Government member states like the Sorbet Kingdom. Likewise, anyone foolish enough to speak publicly about Nika will be summarily assassinated.

In fact, I have doubts that the Nika cult ever existed outside cryptic form, at least in a significant or long-lasting manner. It was specifically introduced as a slave tradition, likely nigh-exclusively oral, practiced in secret either from its inception—if Nika was a figure created by slaves, including the buccaneers—or for a very long time—if it was the cultural or ethnic tradition of the buccaneers, which spread from enslaved buccaneers to non-buccaneer slaves because Nika was a figure that resonated with them. I tend the favor the second option, but either has merit.

As @oriigami said when we were talking about this, Kuma has a church. Kuma has a bible. Kuma worships a god about whom absolutely nothing is written except in the oldest texts.

Additionally, I’ll expand on this more in pt 2 of this series, but the pendant Kuma leaves for Bonney, a large circular sapphire surrounded by eight smaller circular sapphires, matches the circular symbol inset into the crosses of his church. Bonney immediately identifies the pendant as a sun even though it really doesn’t look like one, and it can be surmised therefore that it’s a Nika amulet, and the sun with disconnected rays a Nika symbol. Following this read, and especially because this symbol occurs across the world in other contexts (see pt 2 for my thoughts on that), its presence in the church is a very careful bit of architectural sleight of hand on the part of whichever of Kuma’s ancestors built the place- echoing a very common practice of real-world crypto-religion adherents to mark the true nature of their allegiances and houses of worship in ways only those in the know might recognize.

And on a storytelling level, Kuma’s entire presence in the narrative and in the world has been a tragic saga of appearing to be one way until he’s revealed, again and again, to be the opposite. It makes thematic sense for him to be fooling the world about his faith as well!

[lemonlimestar]

now personally, i think as far as compelling romantic dynamics go from yj98 i think i lean more towards cissie and cassie (ALSO anitas big ass crush on cissie lmao) + kon and bart (aka kon’s big ass crush on bart) but i will say i still enjoy tim and kon’s friendship in it.

they’re so funny because they so obviously like each other. they’re best friends! or at least kon considers tim his best friend! but they’re so so so bad at showing it. they would gag excessively if they knew about the “you’re my robin…” scene. wdym you’re saying you like that guy??? just tape his favorite show while he’s in space on an insane mission??? simply beat up (or attempt to beat up) a guy on his behalf multiple times???

i dunno i just feel like kon’s viewpoint on the importance of trust and tim not telling the team his real identity is really interesting to explore. especially paralleled with adventure comics #3. the way tim so easily pulls down his cowl v.s. how it felt like pulllng teeth for him every time kon brought up secret identity issues. and mind you! a lot of that was match, but it still obviously really hurt him! especially with the entirety of what happens in owaw! (my beloved <3)

i cannot for the life of me think of the issue number but during sins of youth when kon and clark are switched and they talk about clark not bringing up his secret identity. and despite his chill demeanor, kon seems pretty hurt by it. he likes to know he’s trusted. it’s kind of the same thing with the legion in early sb94. i think his lack of secret identity initially also plays into this. like, he can talk about everything in his personal life because, well, his personal life and professional life are essentially the same thing. now cut to tim complaining about having to lie to his dad. and his friends (including young justice and even bruce). and his girlfriend(s).

their dynamic is obviously heavily impacted by where they are in their lives at that point and it’s so compelling to me specifically.

+ the way kon latches onto being able to say tim’s real name soooo bad after wwyj. like. okay girl…!

[bellshazes]

a list of bdubs-centric continuities that make me fucking wildly insane, in chronological-ish order:

boomers + vote scar posters in the moon base as a memento of the prior season

don't worry, it's not the clock (start of hcs8 with impulse, who has come to give bdubs presents and spots the accessory on his new skin)

this brings back memories (the very first seconds of partnering with etho in last life)

now it feels like home! (cleo arriving in what will become the snow fort for the first time, to lighthearted complaining from etho)

I heard you've been messing with my buddy (cleo bullying etho mostly for fun, but an opportunity she had solely because she'd already been doing pointless favors for bdubs (pretending to have found the enchanter randomly while both red, even though no one would fall for that bc she's red) solely because he asked and she's still fond of him)

that man has a hold on me, I guess (about his habit of making dumb deals with scar for no good logical reason)

I trust you because bdubs trusted you (not only is the crastle a running undercurrent in LL, it's also transitively extended to etho)

that was in another world (tango to bdubs, not long before escaping obliteration by moon in an extended bit where he chooses to take his horse instead of his business partner despite some asymmetrically heart-wrenching videos exchanged after it was too late)

Double Life #1: The Nick of Time (bdubs makes impulse, his government assigned soulmate, get him the thing he betrayed impulse for in an identically titled third life episode)

I have NEVER lied to you, Bdubs (cleo taking bdubs to task for not continuing to return the loyalty they've had to each other over the seasons)

he's just jealous (explaining that etho, who despite being the first person to call bdubs and impulse married can't stop asking if bdubs is really happy, is insulting impulse's honor because of missing their past partnership)

she scolded me so badly, one time (explaining above scolding to ren as a relevant criteria to cleo's hcs9 court audition tape)

and, in fact, the way that bdubs' reputation as the hermitcraft server's most dedicated sleeper led to his constant carrying of clocks as a done thing, to keeping clocks close in the life series where you can't one-person sleep the night away so they're much less useful, leading to I'd do anything for a clock because that service he provides in another world has become central to who he is as a character, to the keeping of time and history, and also bundled here associations with the moon, which recalls the passage of time and now also the ending of worlds, and you'd think it should have been planned from the start but he's just always taking every opportunity to say, "that world is over, but don't you remember what I did or didn't do? doesn't it still matter, here and now?"

[gaylos-lobos]

actually before i go to sleep

giving Luz the same kinda shot composition here directly after finding out what happened to King and Eda (and telling Camila that she hasn’t changed her mind about returning back to Gravesfield after rescuing the two) while dressed as Azura (someone she admires) to when Philip arrived to the isles in search and rescue for Caleb (<- if getting there was accidentally or not does not matter) while dressed in his attire or at least clothes that resembles them, truly driving home the point of how similar the two of them are and how they really are just mirrors of the other

[boylikeanangel]

I don't know how to explain to some people that their theories about how aziraphale is being mind controlled or how that's not really them or that this is all a big elaborate trick robs the narrative of literally all its emotional impact and makes the slow build this season worked so hard to establish completely pointless if the interpersonal conflict is artificial lmao. they need to have done this themselves, aziraphale needs to have made that decision with his whole brain and his whole chest, crowley needs to have been the one to push aziraphale that final inch back towards heaven, or there is absolutely no tension or stakes going into season 3. you all realise this right. I understand nuance and complicated character drama is uncomfortable when it doesn't get resolved immediately but some of you are so determined to absolve aziraphale (and by extension crowley) of any wrongdoing or guilt that you're literally robbing them of everything that makes them interesting; namely that they are totally fucked up and they did this to themselves. and rip if that's you I guess but personally I like it when my favourite characters are irrevocably damaged emotionally and incapable of accepting a shred of happiness into their lives. that south downs cottage isn't going to be hard-fought and sorely won all by itself <3

[fagziraphale]

i'm thinking about "we'll do it together" "together?" and "you came back". and aziraphale's constant fear that crowley is too reckless and too brave and crowley is going to be taken from him and every time he sees crowley will be the last. and his less constant but still present fear that one day he's going to fuck things up so badly that crowley will finally realize how stupid and useless he is and how much better off he is if he gets away from aziraphale forever. and how no matter how it happens there is going to be a day when crowley is gone and he's alone again

[familiariscanis]

atsushi seeing dazai as a good guy, actually (underneath all the annoying/bizarre antics) is always interesting to me because i think it can come across as naive, sometimes, because we know that dazai is generally a pretty terrible human being with a broken moral compass and a body count in the hundreds so we’re like damn, really atsushi? this guy? 

but atsushi doesn’t have the perspective of the audience, and he hasn’t personally seen that side of dazai. he hasn’t seen how dazai acted to akutagawa how akutagawa acted to kyouka (ah. the cycle of abuse). atsushi knows that dazai is ex-mafia, that he’s capable and willing to do terrible things, but he doesn’t know the specifics or the extent, nor has he seen any of it personally.  

atsushi has never been an altruistic hero. he’s never been determined to save everyone. kunikida told atsushi that the ada weren’t heroes and that they can’t be heroes when he was trying to save kyouka, but atsushi wasn’t really trying to be a hero. he wasn’t driven by some moral need to save people, or even by simple compassion. there was compassion, but part of why atsushi needed to save kyouka was because he saw himself in her. he could not see his own worth in himself, could not see if he had a “right” to live, to exist, to take up space. he saw himself mirrored in kyouka, and he was compelled to rescue her largely because of his own sense of self depended on proving that people like them could get second chances. 

atsushi does not want people to die, but he’s willing to overlook things that people have done in the past if there is a personal connection, if he can relate to them. he sees akutagawa initially simply as violent, as a danger to himself, and responds defensively to akutagawa’s hatred of him, but he only starts to truly dislike him once he realizes his connection with kyouka and sees him as kyouka’s abuser. he didn’t like akutagawa, because he’s obviously not going to like someone who is hacking off his limbs and trying to kill him, but his initial reaction is more fear than hatred. he doesn’t want to fight back, he wants to stay the hell away from this weirdo. after meeting kyouka though, atsushi’s perception shifts. he begins to actively dislike him, and when akutagawa pushes, atsushi has to push back.

it’s only in season 3 when atsushi starts to realize that akutagawa is not too dissimilar from him and that perception shifts. akutagawa is as haunted by dazai as atsushi is by the headmaster. they’ve been able to work together before that, but the way they work together shifts after that revelation from “we’re beating up the same guy and are kind of weirdly in sync accidentally” to actually melding their abilities in an act of trust and intentional cooperation. he tells akutagawa to stop killing people. he might not be able to accept someone who is actively and currently a murderer, but he is able to overlook it if it’s in the past. he did it with kyouka, he did it with akutagawa and he did it with dazai.

this post took something of a detour, but the point is that atsushi sees things through the lens of his own abuse. dazai is a representation of escape from that life of abuse, giving him a place to live and a people to belong to. atsushi’s entire life changed when he pulled dazai from that river. and sure, maybe he’s frequently getting stabbed or having a limb chopped off these days, but he’s also been able to learn how to be more confident, and has started to accept himself and his past and move forward with it. he’s started to accept the tiger and to believe that he does have a right to live, that he does have worth. 

not only that, but dazai tries to be there for atsushi. dazai is not necessarily an empathetic or even sympathetic person, but he’s trying to be good and to be on the side that saves people. he’s the one who finds atsushi when the headmaster is killed, and while he’s not comforting, what he says makes atsushi feel that he has permission to grieve this man who hurt him the way that he needs to. atsushi sees dazai as a decent guy, actually, because dazai is decent to him. it doesn’t matter to him that dazai has killed before, because that’s in the past and it’s disconnected from him. in the here and now, in what atsushi can see, dazai is someone who has helped him. dazai is someone who is on his side, in a way that no adult had ever been in his life.

[spiderpussinc]

this is the only thing that matters to me. Guy who gets stranded in the past and just wishes he was kissing peter parker with tongue madly all the time

[lealu]

The dialogue between the Doctor and Donna just killed me…It’s so simple and yet so meaningful to these two specific characters. Donna, who truly thinks she doesn’t matter and that she’s not needed or special and the Doctor, who doesn’t want to make deep connections and hold deep relationships/friendships with people because he knows that he’ll get hurt or that he’ll lose them…and yet they still find the thing that they need in each other…a deep friendship full of love and appreciation. It’s so beautiful:

Donna: "Who cares about me?"

Doctor: "I do."

Donna: "But why?! I’m just no one!"

Doctor: "No, you are not!"

[jadedharleys]

i hate yuri soooooooo much guys

i despise it!