i really wish more people would get into Scarecrow as a character outside of the "hot" iteration of him cillian murphy played in Batman Begins because honestly he's such a nothing character there. he's really just Ra'as' 5-minute-screentime-having lackey, but he's magnetic because come on. it's cillian murphy.
i just want to grab people by the hand and gently guide them over to all the other delightful interpretations of him. look, guys. he's from georgia. he has religious trauma of the evangelical-adjacent variety so heinous it would make catholic guilt look like the greener grass on the other side of the fence. he once drugged batman just to follow him around on patrol while he hallucinated all night to psychoanalyze him and attempt to convince him to retire. he also once made him chamomile tea. he may or may not have changed his own last name to crane in reference to the fact that he was bullied in school by being compared to ichabod crane. because he was built like a skellington. sometimes he just has a gun and uses this in place of his typical fear toxin gimmick. in one iteration he gets fired from being a university professor for firing a gun in the classroom to prove a point. he generally tends to condescend towards everyone, but seems to get along with fucking harley quinn of all people specifically despite the fact that you'd think her positive attitude would give him a hernia. he's an absolutely batshit individual. he's shockingly self-aware and chooses to be terrible despite being aware of how terrible he is. he thinks he's batman's therapist. please i am begg in g y ou i know his glittery blue eyes and submissive attitude in batman begins are appealing but please there's so much to love here i beg of you look at him
thinking about how rdr2 is about redemption yes, but also about loyalty to what matters, love of family, and the consequences of both. arthur loved dutch, loved him enough to follow him to hell and back, but not enough to remain blindly loyal when dutch betrayed him and john. he put his love of his brother above the love of his father, because his father taught him well, taught him the importance of family. if not for dutch and hosea raising arthur to believe in the importance of loyalty to what's right, if they had just raised arthur as a mindless outlaw, if they hadn't instilled in him the meaing of family, he likely wouldn't have cared about john enough to betray the man who saved him. for example, bill and javier weren't raised by dutch and hosea like arthur was, but they were loyal to him all the same. they weren't treated like dutch's children like john and arthur were. because the values of family and of right and wrong weren't instilled in them alongside the value of loyalty, they sided with dutch despite his fall from grace and remained blindly devoted to a man who no longer deserved it. but because dutch and hosea taught arthur and john the importance of thinking for themselves and choosing what was truly right as well as the importance of family, they realized that dutch was going down the wrong path and causing senseless deaths with his recklessness, and arthur and john decided they had to leave. arthur knew he was never going to get out, but he at least wanted his little brother to have a semblance of a life away from the gang. he wanted him to have a chance because he loved him, because they were raised together, and because they were raised as a family. dutch had a huge hand in his sons betraying him, not only because he drove them away and betrayed them himself, but because he and hosea raised them right!!
"May Lady Tsaritsa bless my little snowflake so he grows up big and healthy... And may She protect you from all dangers and surround you with love and happiness!"
"..... Mama, what about-"
"Hold on, darling."
Every year, instead of burning candles, I burn the memories of you.
Every year, instead of huddling in front of a warm fireplace, I relive the memories of the icy grave you call home.
Every year....
I wonder.
Why didn't you just di̴̖̊ë̷̻͙́̒̿̆ that day?
Why did the gods pity you when your own blood couldn't care less?
Why you? Why me? Why us?
I dare not defy the fate bestowed upon me. This is the role we were bestowed with. The second option. The second best. The supporting role.
The shadow.
....
But maybe....
........
Just... maybe.
.............
Maybe all this time, I've been tricking myself, thinking I was undeserving. Of the spotlight. Of the warm fireplace. Of..... a home.
“....”
“Wha....?”
“Happy birthday, Cov!!”
“My my, did we catch you off-guard so much you were about to unsheathe your sword?”
“Ah... I'm..... sorry.......”
“It's fine, it's fine. More importantly, do you like chocolate cakes? I had no idea what kind of cake you'd like but since you love hot chocolate and cookies, I thought you'd like themー”
“......”
“Cov?”
“...........”
“Thank you.”
Maybe one day, I'll be able to feel truly worthy of this.
DREW THE THING! Howls' Moving Castle is dramatic, Three Caballeros is pure fun, and Majora's Mask is tragic- my favorite comfort things! And now my favorite characters are seething in a car together- fantastic.
bonus things- i wanted to redraw it and watercolor but gave up- and slime time
i also think that you can’t really do aegond in the way people do lucem*nd where the other party is basically a self insert being romanced by aemond (no shade, ship and let ship) because again, luke is a blank slate so you don’t need to relate to his experiences and emotions re: aemond whereas aegon does have a defined personality and also how in the name of holy god can anyone who isn’t aegon or aemond relate to this shit