#I honestly just really love their story and dynamic so much there's something so tragic about it

[failed-inspection]

Queerplatonic Sunstone, like and subscribe

#lex rambles #rain world downpour #rw five pebbles #rw seven red suns #rw sunstone #As much as I love to joke about them being divorced. To me their I always saw their relationship as not specifically romantic #But they really did mean a lot to each other... #I honestly just really love their story and dynamic so much there's something so tragic about it #They were so close.... but in one's attempt to help the other they lost everything... And burnt their bridges... #Waah #Like. There's something to be said about that. There's something to be said about the fact they never get the chance to reconcile. #There's something to be said about how Suns had faith in what Pebbles was trying to do despite all the risks only to essentially #doom him and his sister in the process... #ALSO. THE ARTI DIALOG WHERE PEBBLES SHOWS REGRET ABOUT WHAT HE SAID TO SUNS.... #“None of them understood my theories. but Suns. they trusted me. They risked so much trying to help me. and I hurt them.” #“It's only now. after I've had so much time to think on it. that I understand why I was so angry.” #“I lashed out. because out of everyone. they were the last individual I wanted to confront me about my mistakes...” #LIKE????? WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

[gooselycharm]

hi there! i'd just like to say that your kris and noelle "something else" comic has been driving me insane /pos and i'd love to hear more of your thoughts on those two!! their relationship is one of my favorite things in deltarune and your comic just got everything about them so right 🙏

thank you for reading "something else"! oh man, [more of] my thoughts on kris+noelle.... i sure got some of those.

this was one of the first tweets i made after finishing chapter 2 nearly... freaking 2 years ago. and basically i've just been saying that over and over again in different ways because i'm still not tired of the concept yet and probably wont ever be LOL. i'm obsessed with how badly the narrative wants to force them into an easily categorizable dynamic, especially the romantic one in snowgrave. the literal THORN RING, the more possessive dialogue options, spamton calling noelle a side chick LOL... it all creates this unnerving visual novel bad end atmosphere that feels manufactured by someone who's only ever learned about romance through secondhand sources. they're two queer teens trying to navigate their changing relationship with the only role models they know being their parents' own failed heterosexual marriages. they're so divorced² (divorced children of divorce).

i also like that for being so tragically doomed coded they can be funny! both in a dark humor way and also like, genuinely funny, like the stories of them as kids with kris covering themselves in ketchup and hiding under noelle's bed lmao. i mean there's even something funny about the romantic trappings of the snowgrave route, like trying to put wedding cake embellishments on a crime scene... you know, funny like kids trying on their parents clothes but they're too big and for some reason they're also crying and covered in blood? um.

i'm also SOOOO interested to see how snowgrave will continue in chapter 3! i really liked the hopeful note chapter 2 ended on (well. i took it as hopeful anyway). there's that bit where noelle is talking to herself and she says something like "recently kris has been acting so strange and no one else has noticed... i have to figure out why" and then kris jumpscares her LOL but i think i took that one line and really ran with it. noelle really is the one who knows kris best and despite how scared she is, she's still determined to help them... i like the little subversion of victim/hero going on, the implication that kris might be the one who needs rescuing.

the additional story/lore that came with the spamton sweepstakes made me CRAAAZYYYYY like my GOD... it's cute that noelle likes glitches/creepypasta when kris is kinda a walking creepypasta <3 also, god, noelle falling asleep listening to kris playing piano in the other room... there's so much like. wistfulness and nostalgia and this like... distant/detached intimacy packed into how noelle narrates that scene. it's kind of funny how much there is to dig into when like on a surface level they're just fairly regular childhood friends who grew apart LMAO they're extremely deep to me okay...

on another note i guess i do ship them? i like their dynamic whether it's platonic or romantic (the best is a weird mix of both 👍). it just can't be boring LOL like... this is one ship where trying to apply cookie cutter tropes to them really falls flat and the game is ahead of you on that anyway. in terms of romantically shipping them, i honestly don't think they're doomed to repeat patterns forever... i think they could actually be good for each other! but that's not really the aspect of their relationship that interests me akldjf;alk;sdg maybe i will make 60 page comic of kriselle going to couples counseling some other time

ANYWAY i'm going to cut myself off here, because i really could go on forever lol. i'll give you some links for further reading though

hellspawnmotel's deltarune art

lula pillowbug99's deltarune art

this art by raspbearis which features prominently in my internal kriselle bible

my own unfinished kriselle playlist

my own essay on gender & allegory in deltarune if for some reason u are not tired of hearing me talk yet

okay bye now & thanks again for reading my comic!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#deltarune #kriselle #im post #im really posting now. i be talking.

[patchwork-crow-writes]

Thoughts on Kris x Ralsei

This is so long I had to split it up into parts - this is Part 1, which looks into how the roles that Kris and Ralsei are given contributes to the idea of their romance. As more parts are written, they'll be linked below in this handy-dandy TOC!

Part 1: And They Lived Happily Ever After <- (You Are Here!) Part 1.5: I Believe Your Choices DO Matter Part 2: A Pair of Star-Cross'd Lovers Part 2.5: In Another World, We Could Have Been (Just) Friends

Okay, so.

Wanted to elaborate a bit on my viewpoint of this ship, because I don't think it's something I've ever really discussed before and I think it's actually a very interesting dynamic (or at least has the potential to be, depending on where the rest of Deltarune goes).

So, Kralsei is cute, isn't it? It's fun to hug the fluffy boy and watch him melt into incomprehensible stuttering and blushing. All the little signs he's really, really into Kris, all the cute little snippets of dialogue you can initiate with him, all the alone time they spend together, in both chapters... honestly, the game makes it hard not to root for this pairing.

And yeah, it's cute... in a very surface-level, don't-think-about-it-too-hard kind of way. But once you start thinking about it... hoo boy. There is. A LOT to unpack here. So much more is going on just under the surface, and once you see it, it's difficult to un-see it. And in my opinion, it makes the Kralsei dynamic so much more nuanced, more compelling, and potentially quite tragic.

Now, a disclaimer: it's fine to like this ship on a surface level. No real harm is being done, these are fictional characters and it doesn't matter what reason you enjoy it for - if it provides comfort to you and gets you through, then more power to you! This is more me sorting through my thoughts on the subject and is not a judgment on how others approach it. With that said, and in the spirit of full disclosure, this will go into slightly uncomfortable territory - picking apart the idea of destined love, the deconstruction of common romance tropes, how outside manipulation might play a part, and even the potentially incest-adjacent nature of the relationship. If you don't want to deal with any of that, you can stop reading right now, and that's okay. Please continue to enjoy Deltarune in the manner that is best for you, and thank you for your attention thus far :)

If you're still with me, then please click the read more and we'll get started.

Part 1: And They Lived Happily Ever After

The first thing you have to understand is that Deltarune is utterly determined to cram the notion of Kralsei down the player's throat. The game is not subtle about this in any way, shape or form. Everything from the narration, to the dialogue, to major game events, to item interactions, and even the roles that Kris and Ralsei play both in the story and the party, serves to reinforce the notion that these two are very likely to end up romantically involved with each other in some way.

Let's look at the characters first. Kris is portrayed as the noble knight - stoic, unwavering, courageous, a natural leader - clad in medieval-inspired plate armour and wielding a sword and shield. And Ralsei is the archetypal princess - demure, dainty, kindhearted, nurturing - who uses magic to heal his allies and pacify enemies.

I did not mistype there - Ralsei is a prince, but the characteristics associated with him are more commonly found amongst female healers in JRPGs. Think Fina from Skies of Arcadia, or Marle from Chrono Trigger (minus the temperment), and you might have an idea of what I'm on about.

Think of knights and princesses for a moment. Imagine St. George slaying the dragon to save a helpless damsel. Imagine Lancelot and Gwenevere. Robin Hood and Maid Marion. Link and Zelda. Squall and Rinoa. Every single fairy tale involving an imperilled princess and a knightly rescuer. For a more modern take, imagine The Bodyguard. Ness and Paula. I could go on, but then we'd be here all day.

Suffice it to say that there is a pretty entrenched tradition surrounding these archetypes - a male-coded, phsyically-adept, courageous, stoic, action-oriented figure, is paired with a female-coded, magically-adept (depending on the medium of course), less-physically-capable by comparison, emotional, and more passive foil. The (male-coded) knight protects and rescues, the (female-coded) princess nurtures and soothes.

It is a very, VERY emotionally-charged dynamic, by its very nature. Through their acts of service to their protectee, the Knight displays their devotion and care for the Princess, and is in turn emotionally-enriched and cared-for. There is a great deal of physical and emotional vulnerability between them, and it is therefore ideal for romance stories.

Look at Kris and Ralsei again, through this lens. Kris is immediately put into the role of Knight, and Ralsei quickly establishes himself as a classic Princess. Almost instantly, before you've even become aware of it, you've made the connection - they're going to fall in love, because that's what ALWAYS happens in these stories. Ralsei supports and encourages Kris, both in dialogue and in battle, and Kris...

...Kris, uh...

...they...

...hug Ralsei sometimes...?

...they... they give him a ribbon...?

...no, that can't be right.

But it is right, for two reasons. One, Kris doesn't have to do anything. The roles are already established, and Ralsei is playing his part like a pro. And two, Kris doesn't do any of those things in the first place - you do. It's the player who hugs Ralsei, who gives him the ribbon, who picks the dialogue options, who makes the connections. You're the Knight in this scenario, not Kris.

Because Kris doesn't get to make that choice. Kris has to do what you tell them to do. And many of us have already jumped to the conlusion that this romance is happening, becuase that's what always happens. The Knight and the Princess fall in love. They get married. They live happily ever after.

So we ship them, because hey, it's cute, and it's easy. I can't stress enough how easy the game makes this. I'm fairly convinced that Ralsei was designed by comittee, like the Funzo toy in that one episode of the Simpsons. Like he was created with the sole purpose of being the most disgustingly adorable, lovable, awkward little cinnamon bun that ever existed. Like he was created to generate the maximum emotional response in players. It's the cuteness response dialled up to 11, and we are almost hard-wired to want to protect this little bundle of fluff from any and all danger, because lookit how sweet and adorable he is! The glasses make his eyes look all big, his fluffiness is reminscent of that of baby animals, he stutters and fumbles his way through dialogue, and you just want to scoop him up and put him in your pocket or something.

And so, we're more than happy to fulfil the role of the Knight to Ralsei's Princess. Whether Kris actually wants to or not. Because it does become increasingly obvious that outside of our influence, Kris is still their own person, with their own goals and desires, but no real agency with which to pursue them. Would that we could know what they truly want, but we are never presented with an opportunity to find out.

The thing is, Kris is not particularly... knightly. They play pranks on their friends, they swipe sweet treats from their mother, they seem to enjoy getting a rise out of people, and particularly from Asriel, if the story about "dropping the lizard into the pit to jump higher" is any indication. They sleep through class, yet by Berdly's grudging admission they are the "third smartest in the class". The only reason they go to church is so they can drink the "sick fruit juice". They don't seem to have any issue with prank-calling their mom, while she's taking about them with their tutor, while they're standing just out of sight, while they're balancing a trash orb on their head.

Nothing about this behaviour screams "Knight." If anything, it would make more sense for Kris to have become a Rogue-type character upon entering the dark world. So the question remains - why is Kris forced into that role? And to what extent is the seemingly "fated" romance between Kris and Ralsei part of that role?

Folks, we have barely scratched the surface here. If I keep writing here this will become a novel, so I have to stop for everyone's sanity. But I will follow up soon, looking into the ideas of Purpose and Destiny and how they relate to Kralsei in-game. If you've stuck with me up to this point, let me just say thanks, because wow I wrote a lot here, and it's probably a bit rambly and says the same things two or three times, but I just. Had to get this onto the page in some way or another, so... here it is.

Thanks for reading, and see you in the next one :)

#essay #thoughts #rambling #deltarune #kris dreemurr #Ralsei #Kralsei #Krisei #shipping #romance #character archetypes #Knights and Princesses #long post #Part one of several #oh my god there's so much ground to go over here I didn't even know #and we're only TWO CHAPTERS in #no wonder I'm obsessed #theory

[tragedy-peanut-gallery]

I think you mentioned somewhere on this blog that you view the whole "Aemon/Naerys love affair" thing as Aemon more so having an obsessive unrequited love for his sister that Naerys was aware of and while uncomfortable with it, quietly tolerated it. Could you expand more on that?

Hell yah dude! Honestly my take on their relationship dynamic isn’t really new, it’s been something I’ve seen kinda circulating the tumblr fandom for a while but basically:

Instead of the standard tragic doomed love story that seems to be what grrm maybe intended for Aemon and Naerys, the idea is basically that there wasn’t much of a secret relationship between them but instead something way more horrifying.

Aemon’s in “love” with his sister in the way that he’s obsessed with the idea of her being a paragon of purity. He wants to see her as just his sister, but because of the family dynamic he was brought up in and the religion he was raised with, there’s no… Normal way of really loving Naerys. He wants her to be a pure septa just as much as she wants to be, but he also can’t help but see her as the wife he could’ve had, which leads to a bunch of complicated feelings he’s grappling with, which also brings in a bunch of guilt when we remember he’s sworn to the kingsguard and is actively protecting her primary abuser. So sure, swearing to the kingsguard meant that he won’t be sent away from her side, but it also means he has to be constantly close and fully watching as Naerys gets hurt which is a…..veryy very interesting choice dare I say-

Naerys meanwhile does love Aemon as her brother, because in all honesty he’s really all she has that is normal in their nightmarish family dynamic. He’s supposed to be her normal brother, the pillar she can lean on, the one that loves her like family and doesn’t hurt her. He’s her safe haven because he’s supposed to not want her for any ulterior motive. If he wasn’t, if he was openly pining for her, it would shatter that trust and may completely destroy Naerys because then she doesn’t have anyone else to turn to. And the thing is, I don’t think Naerys is an idiot- over time she probably started to realize just why Aemon cares for her so much, but the thing is he never openly admits it so she doesn’t either, a sorta “if we don’t talk about it then it doesn’t exist” kinda deal. It horrifies her, but she tries to ignore it. She still acts like Aemon’s her normal brother despite actively knowing his feelings for her because she’s just plain scared of admitting that there is no normal familial dynamic to be had in their family.

Granted, this is most definitely not canon, most of it is just my psychoanalysis of the whole situation just because I think it’s interesting! It’s not that the “tragic love” story isn’t good or anything, it’s just not as interesting to me personally. When it comes to tragedy, it’s neat having a small element of psychological horror and that’s absolutely a theme I love sprinkling in when it comes to the Targs because there’s just so much more potential when it comes to that! That is just my opinion tho <3

#naerys targaryen #aemon the dragon knight #asoiaf asks

[noraiir-arts]

Does anyone else have very complicated ways of shipping?? like when i say "i ship them" i don't mean "oh they love each other so much they kiss each other and will be together forever" i ship characters but in a way that's unique to only them and/or only in certain scenarios

Like, for example Zelink- I think pre-calam zelink was one sided, i dislike post-calam zelink, but i sort of like totk zelink (yes i know they are the same two people) but only certain dynamics??? but i also think that its the type of love that goes unsaid, they just look out for and support each other, maybe its not entirely romantic but they are closer than friends. It's the type of closeness you can only get by knowing that no matter what lifetime you are in the other will always be there. I don't think its necessarily the type where they hide behind pillars to make out, or try to stay in a committed relationship, but more of a tired love, one that has been renewed throughout hundreds of lives, each time being something different.

But take skyward sword, i believe that it's easier to see romantic zelink here

or Miphlink - I don't really ship this, but it's a tragic one-sided love story that Mipha knew was doomed from the beginning. The other woman. Was never given enough time to tell Link how she felt, yet even if she had time he might not have returned her feelings. Now he barely remembers her. Maybe 100 years later she's a little embarrassed of herself, of what she wrote in her diary. Maybe it was a simple crush, mistaken for undying love and has dwindled over the past century. But now it's a sad love, the type where she grieves for what used to be, and what never will. But after being saved from Ruta she switches her sights towards the domain. She can see how much her brother has grown and is so proud of him. She knows Link will never remember her fully, but maybe it's for the best. No matter what, she will always be there to heal his wounds.

Tbh i was dragged into Revalink kicking and screaming, but now it's one of my favorites. - Their dynamics work so well, but oh no it's so sad. Started from a one-sided "rivalry" to some sort of friendship. Link never hated Revali, he didn't even dislike him. And Revali just wanted Link to be impressed, to understand why he was chosen for his role as pilot, and he wanted Link to prove himself to Revali (honestly i can go on a on about why revali was harsh to link in botw if anyone wants me to) But over time they both start to realize that they are more similar to each other than any of the other champions. They weren't born into noble families or blessed with magic. Revali learns about the vigorous training Link underwent after pulling the sword, and Link learns that Revali isn't the son of the elder or was an important figure in his village before becoming a champion, but a simple warrior just like Link. Their friendship grows and they become a great team, surprising mostly everyone. Maybe it grows into something more. Maybe neither of them know it. Maybe they just never admit it. Revali knows Link doesn't remember him. He doesn't want him to. He tells Link not to go asking about him to the princess. It's for the best, he will still be there to help Link after all. Maybe it's cruel to keep him from knowing. Well, Revali will be gone soon anyway. Maybe he hopes that Link will at least remember good things about him.

Honestly I love revalink aus, they are my fav!!

I think of Zelimpa (aoc) like a mix of how i described miphlink and revalink but im too tired to explain it rnnnnn

oh also urbosa/zelda's mom but i think that goes unsaid

but anyway these are just a few. Most of the time i can't use words to exactly explain something pictured in my head, (synesthesia is so silly) but i tried my best

#zelink #miphlink #revalink #zelimpa #urbosa/zeldas mom #zelda #link #revali #mipha #impa #botw #breath of the wild #totk #tears of the kingdom #age of calamity #hyrule warriors aoc #loz #legend of zelda #the legend of zelda #botw au #loz skyward sword #loz ss

[worldsunlikemyown]

Top kotlc ships?

Okay this got long buckle up

Main crew:

Sokeefe (yes I'm basic) and I'm generally open to any others (not much of a main crew shipper honestly I'm fairly neutral about them all)

Marellinh is also great, especially what we saw of them in the Marella short story

Adults:

Tiertice!!! I just love the devotion and the simple, caring sort of dynamic they have. It's just SO adorable and soft and they've been through so much and ajshdkd I love them

Kesline! They're just so cheerful and feel like they're really THERE for each other through all odds (like their relationship was 'a bad match' and they supported each other through it all)

Ruedacted!! (I'm counting them as adults for the sake of this) THE TRAGEDY is so so compelling! They sound like the most wholesome couple until they don't and it just starts getting darker and smokier and where there's smoke there's fire and the fire burns them both in the end *screams about them forever*

Honourable mentions to Qualden and Gradaline. Also amazing but I don't think about them as much.

Ancients (multishipping incoming):

Finspera. Okay where do I start I am. SO obsessed with them. They'd be like THE top ship the ones I think about the most the ones I could write (and have written) so much about. Fintan risks everything for the chance to get Vespera out. He stands with her in Nightfall, and she seems less...not there when he's around. Their Nightfall scenes are just INCREDIBLE — the whole sequence is an elaborate performance and they're so in sync with each other! Also I have like a billion headcanons about them and just. THEM <3 they're my OTP. They're the tragic soulmate beloveds of all time.

Fintante! Now I love any and every flavour of them (romantic OR platonic) but their shipping dynamic is great. Bronte probably initially looked to Fintan as someone else with a dangerous power, and eventually realised that he was just a very hot and very silly elf and oops he's in love now! They complement each other really well — Bronte is goodness masked with anger and his power is tightly controlled by him, while Fintan is cheery on the outside, angry on the inside, and uses his fire liberally. These two are boyfriends.

Luzpera (Luzia x Vespera). Them!! I headcanon them as being very young when they fell in love, then broke apart (with a LOT of drama), got back together into something pretty dark many years later, and eventually broke apart again to become really close friends by the end. So friends to lovers to exes to lovers to exes again to friends. And yes they're lovers in my head. Also I thought they were way more popular than they are but apparently they're a rare ship (correct me if I'm wrong and direct me to the Luzpera stuff please)

Bonus Fallon x his wife (yes yes boring BUT I have thoughts about his wife that I can't elaborate on yet but they're there. Trust)

Top 3 overall (no sorry no main crew ships here unfortunately)

Finspera

Ruedacted

Luzpera

#kotlc #kotlc ancients #answered asks #kotlc fintan #fintan pyren #kotlc vespera #vespera folend #kotlc bronte #councillor bronte #kotlc luzia #luzia vacker #kotlc jolie #jolie ruewen #kotlc brant #brant redacted #thoughts on the lost cities #fallon's wife

[manicpixiefelix]

I know that what happened to ollie was of

Reason (albeit, still kind of sad); I still just want to smooch him.

Ollie and Reader's interaction really stirred something in my heart; there's a difference between how Felix and Ollie loves the reader and right now, Ch.7 got my heart CLENCHING for Oliver.

Sending hugs and kisses for ollie🙏🙏

I keep coming back and rereading the chapter and I just *chefs kiss* I genuinely think it's one of my best!! Honestly reader grilling him about Michael was genuinely pretty unfair, but also the only thing the reader gets genuinely irrational about is their protectiveness over Felix.

But also subtly implying that part of Felix's resentment/weird feelings about Ollie is because of him sleeping with the reader, and that tying back to the conversation he and reader have in ch 6, and him having to work through that jealousy (especially when he realises Ollie has genuine feelings for the reader... Oh that brings up FEELINGS in our favourite loverboy) as the story goes on (but then reader having to spell out to him 'idiot he's in love with you too??? we all have two hands calm down???')

I love the way they love the reader in different ways!!

Loving the reader is part of the core of Felix, it's instinctual, it's part of who he is. He doesn't even think about how often he prioritises them, he knows exactly how to make them happy, he knows how to read them better than anyone one else. He can anticipate them and part of his motivation in life just seems to be being around them.

It didn't make it into the fic but there was a lovely little piece of observation by Ollie about their dynamic that I enjoyed coming up with.

Like a shadow compliments a beautiful figure, you were never far from Felix Catton. If he was the action, you were the reaction, the follow through, the indulgent Yin to his hedonistic Yang.

idk I liked it

And in the same breath, Oliver is desperate to know and love the reader outside that dichotomy, beyond the way they become whatever the people around them want, and I think it's kind of this tragic recognition of the self through the other almost. Underneath all his lies, Oliver knows who he is and what he wants, and I think he wants to love the reader and make sure they know who they are at their core, that they haven't forgotten it.

Felix's love is about knowing what they need.

Oliver's love is about knowing what they want.

If that makes sense. Or maybe I'm just pulling stuff out of my ass it's 4:30am. I love you and I loves this chapter so much. I love being in Ollie's head.

#felix catton x reader x oliver quick #saltburn x reader #head heart hand fic #saltburn imagine #it shouts back

[licncourt]

I totally understand your opinion about amc Lestat but don't you think this could just be Louis' perspective on him? Or Claudia herself? They portrayed Lestat as a demon in first book, I want to give a chance to the 2 second , the show plays a lot with things from point of view and memory, I think people are giving up too soon...

I've talked about this before, but it was over a year ago now so I'll explain again.

While I understand where you're coming from, I honestly don't think it would matter to me. Even if what happened in ep 5 was 100% something Louis or Claudia dreamed up, I would still have major issues because:

Even though ep 1 had a content warning for Paul's suicide, there was absolutely nothing before ep 5, something that the viewers had established trust with the creators to do. I think there's one now on AMC+, but that was added weeks later after backlash. The showrunners doubling down and the episode director almost mocking fans who were upset was incredibly tasteless as well.

The story as pitched by the showrunners feels very much like bait and switch false advertising. It was pitched to the viewers as a gothic love story that was "the most faithful adaptation of IWTV ever". Not to mention the insane tonal shift into something that moved from fantasy violence against NPCs to brutal domestic violence and the vampire version of sexual assault. Anyone coming from the books had no reason to anticipate this dynamic between Loustat, nor would anyone who checked out the source material prior to see if they would be okay with it

If they go the "Louis/Claudia imagined this/made it up/misremembered the events" route, I think that's a questionable at best and offensive at worst narrative to put forth about domestic violence victims since the showrunners seem to not see anything wrong with it. Portraying it is one thing, not seeing how presenting domestic abuse as "the fallibility of memory" is pretty messed up is another

Especially considering Rolin Jones' comments after one of the episodes that he wanted to "play with race" as a white man, I find the ep 5 events combined with the dynamic in ep 6 gross as hell. It's explicitly referred to as being like a master/slave relationship, that's insane considering the stated goal of the show was to make the story modern and racially aware. Obviously AMC wants Loustat to be romantic endgame, but they're starting off with a white man basically owning his black partner and child like animals

My problems with the episode also extend to Claudia's sexual assault. Again, not something that was in the book at all but rather added by a white male creator because I guess that's the only way women are allowed to face adversity in media. Claudia is already an incredibly tragic character, that was absurd to add for what, drama? Having Daniel make cruel comments about it to Louis and having Lestat (a canon sexual assault victim) mock her for it is the cherry on top.

Overall it was just a really shitty thing for the creators to do no matter what the ultimate outcome. Several of my good friends who are book fans were extremely triggered by the scene and totally blindsided by something that felt completely gratuitous and honestly like shock bait to be edgy and generate social media buzz. Again, unbelievably tasteless.

I don't have any faith in the good intentions of the creators anymore, and that sucks because there were a lot of good things about the show before that.

#obligatory reminder that enjoying the show is fine! these are just my reasons for disliking how it went #i also don't really want to argue about it or discuss it a ton bc that's not what my blog is about! #answered #amc hot takes

[ccl-c]

some things i wanted to draw a while ago but never had the time because work has been so intense. now that s2 ended this way …

long rambling below:

i had been having a very bad feeling about the “devastating loss” and fuck it really happened (it being foreshadowed from ep1 is kind of funny but fuck).

i did enjoy the episode, and if this is the end of the show i'm good with that. ep8 isn't just about izzy's death obviously, nor is the season or the show about izzy, and i know it's a bridge season where problems are not solved, but i need a way to get over this, so.

within the episode i think the death is beautiful, but within his whole arc, for me it's the timing and david's explanations that i found kind of awkward and disappointing. it might be because the budget got cut but i think also because izzy's arc was a bit too prioritised especially if david wanted to stick to the mentor-death-in-act-two trope (izzy is my favourite character but i have been feeling the unbalance since ep3).

izzy's last speech sounded almost too early for ed's arc. letting a repressed traumatised amputated (also talented and romantic and sometimes humourous) elder apologise for what he believed half of his lifetime and die voluntarily (to some extent; i think he said “i wanna go” mostly because he knew the wound was fatal, but then why must it be fatal it was on the left side?) when he was just physically and mentally getting better is tragic but it also could have been a more satisfying death. i am very biased and very bad at literature, but i think if izzy and ed got to earnestly communicate about their relationship and past issues, if ed had more interactions with the crew to (re)build the mutual love, and maybe if besides telling ed to “just be ed” izzy really got to see it (when he's not dying), his story would be more complete and he would really be leaving at his happiest.

of course death is inevitable in life and unpredictable in piracy, of course there are tropes in tv shows, and of course it's part of the journey for the audience to feel devastated. but i read multiple interviews and the central idea just seems to be “the mentor often dies in the second act” which is valid in itself, but then s2 becomes “how can we make the most out of his last moments” (after posting this i heard that “funerals strengthen families” dropped; i'm just so disappointed i don't know what to say). honestly i was confused about how david said “let's give con all the toys he could play with” (yes if i had con in my show for one last season i'd want to let him do everything possible as well and i am grateful david did, but after all con played a side character; also it's cruel to “give him everything” while hiding the ending from him until halfway through the shooting); it's supposed to be a story and not a talent show (um). if time is too short for his ideal arc then maybe he should do fewer things but each better paced, or maybe the mentor-death-in-act-two trope needed to be adjusted, or maybe it wasn't the right trope at all.

i might be dumb but i didn't see the mentor-hero relationship before stede said blackbeard said izzy made him the captain he was, and even then i honestly thought it was mostly stede talking for ed. when david put it like that i can see little traits of it in s1, but i find the jesus-judas (jcs) dynamic much more obvious. let alone the father figure thing; didn't see it at all.

there are many ways to mark an end and for a recurring character to leave (buttons turning into a seagull was beautiful; the swede temporarily leaving to become jackie's husband was also lovely; but ivan's death mentioned by fang just looked like they had to get rid of him); ultimately what frustrates me is that it's unclear what the concept of death itself brings to izzy's arc at this point. major character “deaths” in this show is often associated with change or rebirth, and i'd expect a realistic humanly death from severe wound to also open up something new in his story or in general, even if his life ends here. maybe that's for s3. but for now he died just because their power-thirsty enemy hated him and his gorgeous speech and piracy; ed did not seem to consider the crew his family, nor did the crew seem to bother. piracy did become more about belonging though but that's not his legacy.

on a side note, letting a disabled elder (who was previously seen seriously irritating ricky) escort ricky and no one noticing ricky hid a gun? izzy was playing with fire (ha) to talk to ricky like that but at least ed and zheng and jim and jackie could have been more alert. then roach was asked to look for bandages and nothing happened afterwards? that was the guy who replanted his own arm back and who was ready to chop off lucius's finger. if he just came up to izzy's side and tried to take care of him and then izzy said “no it's too late i want to go painlessly”, or if someone said “let izzy and ed have their moment”, then okay, but having roach try to save izzy with no follow up is kind of disrespectful to roach's character.

with how much david loves izzy and con there probably was a better version of this story that didn't fully make it into the show. that said, i do work in a creative industry with various constraints in many directions; it happens that creators have intentions and priorities that the audience does not understand and vice versa, it happens that budgets got cut and what you deliver is not what you would have made in better circumstances, but when a mainstream tv show got such polarised reactions about one specific part of the story, there might be a real problem and the budget or the creative direction won't be enough to justify it.

then if all this is for izzy to be brought back in s3 i'm curious to see how it will be played out. his death was shown in such an explicit way and he even got buried on land (honestly the burial was weird and a bit creepy for me but well) it doesn't seem likely he survives again; it might be fun if he reincarnates as a creature or appears in new flashbacks, or in the gravey basket.

(also, now that izzy's dead, i hope con can share his version of the backstory of izzy's ring.)

my point is, maybe, that i think izzy's arc in s2 was so saturated and glamorous and full of potential that it felt too important to end, while the main romance and the crew's arc could have used some more time to address more context or some issues underlying since s1 for example. also lots of things weren't consistent and many interesting points were never addressed again, but i hope it's left open for s3.

but it doesn't undo what has been great about this show. the death scene itself was beautiful too, and the whole cast and crew deserve an hour-long standing ovation.

i guess it's just a bit like you went on a really fun roadtrip with a beloved friend but had an unexpected misunderstanding leading to conflict with said friend at the end of the last day. eventually you probably stay friends because you always had a good time, but you will be thinking about the conflict.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #izzy hands

[that-rackin-frackin-varmint]

#5— 07/24/2022 12:53 AM

Ok so Idk what y’all said about that video, but I’ve deduced that this interesting piece of cut content was leaning towards:

1) Lola probably having broken up with Bugs

2) Bugs being in oblivous/in denial of her spite towards him and looniness

3) Bugs actually being very conscious of not being “in the spotlight”

4) and a more development between Bugs and Lebron’s icy tension (like a bump between two control freaks)

I honestly would’ve been into some elements of this version of the story being used instead of what we ended up with.

Lola being fed up with Bugs makes sense since in SJ, she really didn’t have looniness in her. She was very bland to say the least. This version of their dynamic would be a lot more tragic when you know TLTS exists (where their relationship there was thriving). But otherwise, it would’ve opened up a lot of opportunity for a more fleshed out version of SJ Lola.

Her being annoyed with Bugs’ looniness is understandable if you were in her shoes. Like, realistically, not just anyone could tolerate Bugs’ chaos day to day. Plus, she did seem like she was gonna get written with more emotional depth than what the looney tunes cast are usually on brand for.

So her having an added arc of wanting to permanently separate herself from the toons would’ve been so much more interesting for her character. And also the fact that Bugs seemed more overtly fixated on the basketball game being what will bring them back to the spotlight in a semi-metatextual sense.

Bugs in this video is a tad more unlikable and fallible than he usually is for better or worse. And he seems more at odds with Lebron. Even if it’s not really staying true to Bugs’ character — it would’ve been fun to see more angst and implied rocky relations between the toons. I would’ve preferred that over the whole basketball game format tbh.

Present day thoughts:

Lola was plenty looney in the original Space Jam. At the time of this original ramble, my standard for looniness was based on characters like Daffy and Wile E. Coyote. But nowadays, I've kinda concluded that she was just as looney as any other looney tunes love interest more or less. The movie went ahead and straight up retconned what little distinct personality she had.

Also, I still believe this premise would've been more interesting than the final story we got. I'm not particularly invested in the preservation of the looney tunes' characters in something as corporate as the Space Jam movies so might as well lean into the ooc-melodrama of it since the final film was just Lebron-lip service atp.

#melon ramble🍉 #looney tunes #lola bunny #bugs bunny #space jam #space jam 2 #space jam a new legacy #Youtube

[vacantgodling]

📌 How deeply do you develop your characters’ sexual preferences and history? Is it all planned out, or are you throwing darts?

🙌 What is, in your opinion, the best sex scene you’ve ever written? Best is subjective here—sexiest, most emotional, well-written, etc. It means anything you want it to mean!

🤝 Have you written any non-sexual or platonic kink scenes before?

~ @void-botanist

thank you for asking!! <3

📌 How deeply do you develop your characters’ sexual preferences and history? Is it all planned out, or are you throwing darts?

honestly it depends on the story and the character. for most characters, i actually do a lot of it on the fly/throwing darts because (as much as i love sex) a lot of my wips don't have sex as a MAJOR plot point that i need to plan out, so i only think about it when i feel like it or i wanna do something sexy.

paramour and the fall of galere universe in general is different because esp in book 1 with hya & amon sex IS a major plot point. so i did a LOT more work than i've ever done kind of developing out sexual preferences and histories esp for hya and amon :)

🤝 Have you written any non-sexual or platonic kink scenes before?

nah never done it. its just not really my thing personally, but i think it's cool when other people do it! (like @henrike-does-writing-sometimes when they've written anruh and ruben in that predator/prey scene that was so GOOD. obsessed with it tbh).

🙌 What is, in your opinion, the best sex scene you’ve ever written? Best is subjective here—sexiest, most emotional, well-written, etc. It means anything you want it to mean!

another scene that i really really like is actually a curveball one that i haven't ever talked about but me and my partner yves have a Lot of OCs and two of our characters, kameko and densetsu, eventually end up in a literal like 7-8 person polycule with the empress (mei) and others. however, they were each other's first times when they were like 18-20-ish when everyone was in the "feelings are a complicated mess" stage, before they actually all figured everything out and got together with their respective 'main partners' plus everyone else. it's actually kind of long and i wanna edit it a bit before i post it, but i don't mind sharing that little scene in the next like. hour or so LMAO. but i come back to it a lot because i love the banter kame and deni have, and i feel like i really portrayed how tumultuous kameko's mind was at the time (because very long story short, she has very low self esteem at this point in her life, in part because she doesn't know she's bigender, in part because of her tragic backstory tm among other things and this is also before yves and i added more info to the backstories, such as kameko and her brother/cousin being dragons etc etc) but yeah. they're funny and i love their dynamic so i find myself rereading that scene often.

#about renjamin

[fabuloustrash05]

What r ur opinions on the foot mutants?

I’m gonna assume you mean 2012 mutants from the Foot Clan

Tiger Claw: An interesting and fresh new villain for the Foot Clan and I think he is so cool! Tiger Claw is a brand new character to the TMNT franchise and he truly made a damn good impression with fans and myself. He establishes himself as a menacing villain and continues to be throughout the entire series. He has his funny moments too like with the catnip or him talking about wanting to eat Fishface. We get bits and pieces of his backstory as the story goes on, especially when we meet his sister Alopex and learn she is the one who cut off his tail, but I wish his dynamic and relationship with his sister was explored more in season 5 than in just one episode, which is why I stand by the idea that Alopex should've been involved the Kavaxas arc. And speaking of that arc, Tiger Claw starting a cult was random and kind of out of character to me. It was the only time I found him to be uninteresting. Overall a great character and a great villain, but I felt he was overused by the end.

Bebop & Rocksteady: I’m gonna talk about them both because my feelings for both of them are the same. I love them. I really enjoy their dynamic and relationship with each other (they are totally dating and you can’t convince me otherwise). Their dynamic with Tiger Claw is also hilarious, he’s their third wheel. I love Bebop's Michael Jackson-like attitude and Rocksteady's way of speaking always makes me chuckle. Their ending in season 5 though I wish was handled better, because apparently they leave New York and become heroes in New Jersey or something, which I am all for the villains turned hero trope, but I wish they handled it sooner/better. Regardless, I hope they are happy with their new life and please invite me to the wedding.

Fishface: Much like Tiger Claw, Fishface is also a brand new character to the TMNT franchise and I will say he’s an interesting one! He’s one of the few people in the Foot Clan who actually have a full backstory and a reason to why he works for Shredder. I love his character and personality, and I enjoy his dynamic with both Bradford and even Raphael. You get the feeling that him and Raph are friendly enemies, like they hate each other, but also respect each other because they share similarities. This is a concept I wish the writers explored more, but they didn't so I did it myself with a fanfic I wrote on AO3. There’s a little bit more backstory for him in the animated adventure comics, which I highly recommend people go check out because it explores his backstory a little bit more. He loses a few points though because he flirted with a minor 😷

Dogpound/Rahzar: This will be confusing considering they’re all the same character, but I like Bradford, I hate Dogpound, and I love Rahzar. I really liked the concept of Chris Bradford, a celebrity icon one of the Turtles look up to who is revealed to be a henchman for their greatest enemy. I find it disappointing that they don’t fully explore that concept for a whole season, which is one of the main reasons why I don’t like Dogpound, not only do I not like his design, but I also think that he was introduced too soon. Rahzar on the other hand I love! How he was mutated was so well done and I love his design, so scary, horrifying even, but also badass and intimidating. What I wish they done is that Bradford should’ve been human for the entirety of season 1 and then come season 2 he gets mutated officially into Rahzar. Remove Dogpound entirely.

Baxter Stockman: I consider Stockman to be a tragic villain because of how much he was mistreated by both the Turtles and The Foot, and I honestly felt bad for him when he got mutated. To me, he was kind of forgettable as a mutant. So when he was turned back into a human in the season 4 finale, I got excited and thought he was gonna make a comeback in the next season and be his own villain like he was in season 1, but we never see him again. I haven't watched the 03 series yet, but I wish Stockman took the route his 03 self did and slowly went insane in the 5th season, maybe trying to go back to being a mutant by experimenting on himself but it backfires. Have his actions be his downfall. Another example of this series' wasted potential.

#undercoverbisexualfrog #asks #answered #tmnt 2012 #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #the foot clan #tiger claw #bebop and rocksteady #fishface #xever montes #rahzar #chris bradford #baxter stockman #tmnt villains

[tobiasdrake]

Impromptu Story Time just outside the walls is over; Back to infiltrating.

See? What'd I say. We're inside the gates now, because nothing is ever locked to a sufficiently determined burglar. And at this point, we have a lot of experience burgling things that shall not be burgled.

Oh good, they're opening the front doors for us. That's always a good sign.

I'm sympathetic to your motives but factionally opposed to you nonetheless. Get out of the way or we're going to have to do the violence.

Credit where it's due, that is a fire comeback.

This is not a conflict that can be solved diplomatically, Brugaves. Get out of the way or we do the violence. Those are the options. Pick one.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little intimidated about fighting our mentors. But also, we killed Torment so I have a big well of confidence to draw from.

Did you just try to pull "Control your hysterical sibling" on us!?

Oh, I am about two seconds from taking "Step aside" off the list of options and going straight to the violence. Zale does not speak for me. I sometimes speak for him. That's how our dynamic works.

Wait, we're in time to thwart the waking ritual? Good to know. Thanks for that tidbit.

Now choke on my staff.

I want you to know that this brings me no joy.

...

Okay, actually, this brings me some joy because it's very nostalgic. Despite everything, there's a strong sense of "If things were different I would very much love to be having this sparring session with you." This is fun in a tragic way.

But things aren't different so fucking back down already.

Oh shit. Right. Stalling for time. I walked my bloodthirsty ass right into that.

It's okay. We can make up for this. There's no time inside the castle so, logically, it's impossible for enough time to pass that the ritual is completed. Therefore, I hereby demand that the Dweller ritual remain suspended in-progress indefinitely.

...

Okay, I think the metaphysics heard me. We should be clear to take our time now. That's how it works, right?

Honestly, this place would just seem like your basic tinkerer's workshop if not for all the organic Dweller gunk infecting the clockwork.

I wonder what the Watchmaker thinks of all this crap getting on her lovely mechanisms?

OH MY GOD THEY LOOK LIKE LITTLE WORKSHOP ELVES

But it's actually eternal child labor! Which. In a way. Is kinda what workshop elves are too. Huh.

Well, in any case, it looks like we've found Cael and his crew. Let's see if they want to help us really piss off Aephorul.

...okay, you are not what I anticipated when I was told there'd be immortal children in this workshop.

You know what, you're right. I have a talent for pissing people off and making unnecessary threats. You do the talking, Garl. You're pretty much the master at inoffensive diplomacy.

No amount of skill points can defend against a Nat 1. That will do, Garl. Let me take over.

Yeah, but you own it. You've got this whole Ancient Gnome Head Researcher vibe that's working for you, and you're leaning into it. The outfit really brings it together. 10/10 Brilliant fashion choice.

Yeah, Teaks told me how that works. Though I'm surprised that the castle doesn't let you mature but does let you age. The rules of magic are obnoxiously arbitrary sometimes.

Oh shit. He's calling you out, Serai. Does your mystery secret have something to do with this place? Are you the Watchmaker or something?

Oh, we're just going to breeze past that. Okay.

That's fine. I'm even more curious than ever but I do trust Serai. I mean, if she had any ill intent, she could have slit all of our throats while we slept and then portaled away before anyone was the wiser. Instead, she tried to thwart Strife's revival and helped us kill Torment.

She has earned more than enough leeway to come clean about her secrets on her own time or keep it to herself forever.

#sea of stars #drake plays sea of stars

[girl4music]

With all my Bangel VS Cangel talk recently it probably does come across like I hate Bangel. This isn’t true.

I don’t hate Bangel at all. I just don’t ship them as that all-encompassing true love/soulmates ship many do.

I wanted to root for them. I really did. But with pretty much everything with them or revolving around them - all that I could see was red flags everywhere. How can I put my support and faith into a dynamic like Buffy and Angel’s when they can’t even put their support and faith into each other most of the time?

That’s not a relationship. I don’t care what anyone says. And it’s not a Bangel VS Spuffy conflict either. I’m not saying what I do just because I ship Spuffy. It would be shallow and petty and pathetic if that was the only reason why I go so hard against Bangel. I’m not into that whole fandom stan/ship wars business.

I genuinely CANNOT see the appeal in Bangel at all.

I can see the appeal in Spuffy despite the mutual abuse. They have the same appeal for me so of course I can… but it’s not about them why I say what I do. And it’s not because I hate the individual characters in the ship either. I’ve actually come to like Angel a lot in his show. His development from who he was in ‘BtVS’ to ‘AtS’ is significant. He is so much more interesting. And I’ve always liked Buffy. I just find it difficult to focus on her character arc because of how painful it is.

Bangel is not a healthy relationship to me at all. A healthy relationship is one that makes both people in it better people for being together and because of the positive influence that they have on each other. I could barely stand either of them when they were together. They honestly both came across as awful people. You know what really threw the nail in the proverbial coffin for me though? The moment I gave up even trying to pretend that Bangel meant anything to me? The moment I knew their relationship was done for good?

‘I Will Remember You’

It’s funny. So many people regard that episode as Bangel’s episode. Their great tragic romance episode.

It’s certainly tragic alright. But it’s not romantic. It’s not something I watch and think “they’re so 😍”

I watch that and I think “what the bloody hell is the point of them in the first place?” It’s true - love makes you do insane things. But if one of those insane things is purposefully preventing any happiness for you and your love out of a scare that may not even come true…

It’s not their great tragic romance episode at all.

It’s their ‘Hell’s Bells’. And even that relationship still had all the potential to be salvaged despite how absolutely devastating that episode was for Anya. That episode still had somewhat romantic undertones. ‘I Will Remember You’ didn’t. Those “cute” moments between them meant nothing if neither of them could hold on to the memories of it.

What I can say that they did for each other was help each other to grow into stronger people than before.

But that’s not in a good way. That’s in a “well, that’s inevitable” way because pain does help us grow. But at the end of the day I don’t blame the couple or the characters. I just think Whedon loves destroying love because he understands this probably a bit too much.

He never wanted to make last and celebrate any of Buffy’s romantic/sexual relationships because he believed that growth from pain was just the stronger and more realistic story to tell. And he wasn’t wrong. It is. But thematic balance is important for a reason and I don’t think he quite knew how to keep that balance. Likely because he didn’t have that balance in himself.

Anyways, I just wanted to express this thoroughly once and for all. I’ll likely never mention it again in this depth - but to reiterate - I don’t hate Bangel but I am very much anti-Bangel because I genuinely don’t see the point in being pro for shipping them as a romantic/sexual relationship and I don’t see the appeal at all. Maybe someone could explain it to me.

@hysterical @sayyoume @oveliagirlhaditright

#buffy the vampire slayer #angel the series #anti-bangel #I will remember you #buffy summers #sarah michelle gellar #angel #david boreanaz #joss whedon

[artheresy]

Everybody moved on to Penacony and I’m still in agony over the High Cloud Quintet lore… I’ll never move on from these tragic gay mfs

I do need,, HCQ revisited at some point. Doesn’t even have to be in any main story, I honestly just need more HCQ readables because those are some of the most enjoyment I’ve gotten out of Honkai Star Rail. Baiheng’s Travelogue to the Zhuming chANGED MY LIFE and sewed the seeds for an obsession that is far too unhealthy to the point I am in the process of wasting my money to make a Blade ita bag. And it was a single readable that started me spiralling into this obsession and made me motivated to read more readables and character stories and etc.

I need another Baiheng travelogue… here’s to praying we get another if we end up on the Yaoqing soon, in general heres to hoping for more BH lore on the Yaoqing since apparently she’s from a very prominent family on that ship.

I just really need more HCQ crumbs because as much as I love them, their in game dynamics are so underdeveloped. Yes, we have a lot of Dan Feng and Yingxing, but a lot is very vague, and we have to mostly make assumptions with the little crumbs we have. Baiheng and Jingliu also have a lot set up, but I really need more content of them because my god, we barely know anything bout their dynamic too. We mostly have the aftermath and Jingliu’s grief, but I want to know about their happiness so her prolonged mourning hits even harder by knowing exactly what she lost. Jing Yuan and Jingliu probably have the most show upfront dynamic mostly due to the animated short, but the knowledge of Jing Yuan’s dynamics with the rest of them are practically nonexistent outside of that one line about Yingxing and Jing Yuan bickering and sad looks he has that really don’t hit as hard in my opinion because we don’t have the context.

And personally out of all the dynamics I want more content more, I think I want Jing Yuan and Baiheng content the most. The lines he has when he visits the Express that are about her are my saving grace, I am the biggest advocate for these to have a very sweet familial kind of bond and messing around together causing all kinds of trouble. Bonus points if they get Yingxing along for the ride with them. But we have crumbs only 😭 we only have itty bitty crumbs and I am starving

I have a lot of my own views about what I hc their dynamics as due to what we know, but god I want to see what their dynamics in canon are supposed to be. I ranted so much about how I see Dan Feng and Yingxing’s potential dynamic, but even with that, I wanna know. I wanna know about Jingliu and Yingxing, to add even more pain to how their dynamic is now (which hehehe… I have some ideas for this specific topic, but I want canon stuff too not just my own hcs). I wanna see just exactly what Jingliu lost when Baiheng died, what in Baiheng and the way she treated her made her so devastated as to promise to cut down the stars from the sky (which? Is that? Potentially a code for something else like the current plan she has regarding a certain aeon?), like Jingliu was so clearly devastated and tormented by Baiheng’s death, still is 700 years later and we don’t know what about her made it so painful. Yes Baiheng was clearly kind as she’s been established, but just how was she kind to Jingliu? I have my own assumptions and conclusions given what we know about both, but even then it’s still something pretty completely fabricated in my head because we don’t have enough!! GIVE ME THE LIUBAI CONTENT HOYOVERSE I have you’re keeping it somewhere, tell me where

Ugh, too many HCQ thoughts in my head. I need to keep writing and finally finish that first chapter so I can reveal my insanity about them esp the Zhuming family to world. I love them

#i need to find like #a good large ita bag that isnt too expensive #because I’ve already got so many pins and keychains of blade saved #i just dont have a place to put it #buying merch of him brings me much joy #i love him sm #And ugh #the liubai brainrot is real #i am tempted to make a whole post for them like i did df and yx #but also thats even less steeped in bits of canon charactization so #i just want hcq content again :( #i miss them #i know ppl raved about the luofu being so boring and waiting to get out of it #but even with its flaws i loved the luofu so much #for many reasons one being my love of exploration regarding immortality and how it affects aspects of their society and their lives and #their relationships especially the side quests focused on like relationships between xianzhou natives and different people like #them and someone from the Vidyadhara like with that guy jealous of his past selves or a short life species like Banxia’s situation #i love it #hmmm #hsr #honkai star rail #hsr blade #yingxing #dan heng #dan feng #baiheng #jingliu #jing yuan #high cloud quintet

[courtblacksmith]

As I've promised before, even if I feel extremely tired, I shall bring forth the list of reasons why Wes/Pendle honestly works as a contestant for another minor 'romantic' (in quotations because of a point I'm going to make later on) subplot, or just how they work so well that it would be really good for them to be canon. it's also a list of reasons why it's the best written dynamic so far and how it shows Weaver's improvement in writing

to start I want to bring forth the famous board which is a staple of my long lasting brain rot ..

This one's obvious. Everyone(the small following of Divequest fans) loves the oddly tragic gay people trope. Probably. Well some of us do!

Oddly enough, they have the most intriguing and strong in a sense dynamic out of the entire cast, somehow suppressing the Only Ever Canon Divequest Couple in terms of the feels.

The inherent homoromanticism of letting your closest comrade to break your limbs for the sake of his and that girl you almost killed's safety. Need I say more?

You might just say "but Quinn, that does not make sense!!" Well, you are extremely wrong with this one! It was mainly due to Wes's thoughts as it happened, and while it might be just read as 'extremely close friends(tragic)', it somehow doesn't.. feel like that to me, and.. uh. This small following of fellow people who get me. I mean.

This one is so important to me. The fact that a portion of that messed up lore really brings them together and makes them important to each other's stories and lives in general in such a heartwrenching way. As the user @renardtrickster said,

To the part above, this is what gets me the most. Even if all of the interactions they had before the end of 26 weren't even Pendle, but the Spider masquerading as him, it always stayed the same. Wes still treated Pendle as his closest comrade, and not a foe,especially when it got revealed that he is still there, if the 'buddy'(which was said twice, once in 26 and the other time in 28) meant anything special, and the genuine concern even though they both knew that it had to be done. Chapter 28 delivers with the most heartwrenching conversation too.

Speaking of chapter 28! This is the second moment that ever made me almost cry. They make me so emotional in every way. There's something so oddly intimate(in my own meaning of intimacy I guess) in this part that it's so sad it was this short.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I don't think they'd be presented in the stereotypical romance way, but something more based on traumabonding and healing together. You can really go crazy with their relationship

They're mirrors, and they reflect each other quite well! Wes doesn't like to talk as much, Pendle rambles like crazy. Wes isn't squeamish when it comes to gore and corpses, because he got used to the sights due to being a war veteran, and Pendle faints at the sight of bodies. Wes doesn't really care about how he lives, he only cares about if he gets to do his job, and Pendle has special 'rules' to the quality of his life because he's used to a more noble life. There's also many more stuff I can mention

This is just a more general thing but I feel like they can bond over the whole thing with death and all. Even if their standpoints and roles were different, they still couldn't stop any of the deaths surrounding them , even if Wes was just used to the sights and Pendle had to watch the Spider murder in his body while he couldn't really do anything.

Anyways, as a last thing, I'd really hope for an interlude chapter related to just Pendle and his journey of healing and re-establishing his relationships. I think he deserves it

#divequest