#I don't think they died but I don't think interpreting it as them dying is technically wrong

[the-cat-at-the-theatre-door]

Semi negative below the cut - 

Here's the thing like...fundamentally, what the majority of the US Tour 6 indicating that they believe "the wrong cat died" really shows to me is that the understanding of the show has been somewhat lost over the years.

This is no disrespect towards any of them, and I believe that joking about this subject is absolutely within an area of general fun and lightheartedness (we do it literally all the time), but at the end of the day it misses the point.

#there’s a difference between joking/poking fun about things not happening and then...legitimately believing them. #extemporize back chat #like...here's the thing - it's about the concept of being deserving of forgiveness #not rewarded or not punished #and sure i will absolutely joke that gus deserves it *at least once let the poor man sleep already* #but like fundamentally and narratively that's not the point #dying and being reborn in Cats is not literal...it's allegorical #it's a metaphor #and it seems like the younger generations are really pushing that 'we have outgrown allegory' angle #because they don't understand it #and here's the thing again like i don't even believe grizabella 'dying' is necessarily the right choice #in purely objectional fact because it makes it seem like they would rather be rid of her than deal with the enormous work forgiveness takes #but we're not *dealing* in purely objective and interpretive fact - we're dealing with by saying grizabella was the wrong cat to die #you are inadvertently saying that she did not deserve to be forgiven #which like *fair* you are absolutely within your right to read the show that way but like...just say that #that's where the subjective reading comes in #and no i don't think they all legit believe this - they're doing a bit or doing it in character or just answering for the sake of answering #but still #it's a purposeful push of ignorance from the host #idk i was thinking the wrong cat died needed to die on the vine back in 2019 and i haven't changed my mind since #EDIT: and another thing...Gus...did nothing wrong that we know of - not counting the revival he isn't even *involved* in the shunning #of grizabella - even *asparagus* isn't involved in that much because the performer has dipped off stage #he literally is just brought in has no idea where he is and leaves - he doesn't *need* to be forgiven to achieve acceptance in his society #there is nothing to forgive him *for*

[99thpercentile]

I get the feeling that I'm in the minority here, but I posit that GLaDOS actually is Caroline, and only "not the same person" in the sense that you'd look at your younger self and be like "that bitch ain't me." I think you actually have to go out of your way to interpret them as two separate people.

evidence:

voiced by the same person (I know the initial reasoning was that Valve didn't want to hire another voice actor for a few lines, but in casting Ellen McLain as Caroline, they incorporated her being the same person into the story).

GLaDOS automatically joins in saying "Yes sir, Mister Johnson" like saying it is permanently ingrained in her. you can interpret this as Caroline taking over, but she says "Why did I just—" immediately afterwards.

when GLaDOS talks about hearing the voice of a conscience, she says "for the first time it's MY voice." I don't think she means that she's hearing the woman she gets her literal voice from. she highlights it as distinctly DIFFERENT from hearing the voices of the cores, and I imagine if Caroline were a foreign entity whispering in her ear, the effect would've been much the same.

the GLaDOS project was originally started because Cave was dying and wanted his consciousness uploaded to a computer. the intent was always for the upload to be the same person. he said if he died first, he wanted Caroline to run the place, to be put in his computer. and that's exactly what happened.

GLaDOS not remembering she's Caroline until old Aperture always made sense to me as the result of a deliberate choice on the part of the scientists. Caroline didn't want to be uploaded, and as soon as they switched GLaDOS on, she tried to kill everyone. it's logical for the scientists to think that if they suppressed her memories, she'd have no reason to try to kill them (but instead, she was just filled with murderous rage and no longer knew why).

the story just doesn't have the same impact otherwise. GLaDOS's reactions to rediscovering old Aperture make more sense if it's her past she's rediscovering, rather than the past of...a human that was shoved into the chassis with her. if it were the second one, I think she would just feel violated, not have any major revelations.

counter-evidence:

"now little Caroline is in here too" lyric from Want You Gone

GLaDOS says she found out "where Caroline lives in [her] brain" and deleted her, like she's a separate entity

but GLaDOS is a habitual liar. she acts like deleting Caroline means she's fully back to her old self and has gotten rid of the part of her that made her want to save Chell's life, but there's...lots of evidence that she still cares about Chell after the fact (letting her go anyway, the companion cube, the turret opera if you think GLaDOS arranged that, talking to the co-op bots about Chell like she's an ex she's still heartbroken over...). I also think GLaDOS would like to imagine her and Caroline as two separate entities, in the same way you might find your younger self embarrassing and want to distance yourself from that person. I think it's notable that both instances where she refers to Caroline as a separate entity are at the end of the game, after Chell has been passed out a while and she's had time to process everything and compartmentalize. her instinct when the revelations are first happening is to refer to Caroline as if she is her.

now I don't like stories where a robot has to become or be seen as more human in some way for them to be sympathetic. but I think Portal 2 is an excellent subversion of this trope, because GLaDOS is a robot that learns she used to be human and then discards that humanity (symbolically if not literally). Caroline may not have wanted to be uploaded, but from the Want You Gone lyrics "one day they woke me up / so I could live forever / it's such a shame the same will never happen to you" I think we can say that GLaDOS definitely prefers being a robot now that she is one.

anyway this post was supposed to be much shorter than this, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

#GLaDOS #Caroline #Portal #Portal 2 #original #wall of text

[renthony]

"Rose Quartz was a bad mother" is a really baffling interpretation of Steven Universe, because Rose never got to be a mother in the first place.

Even if you take the stance that Rose was a bad person (which I vehemently disagree with, but you do you I guess), it's still not possible for her to have been a "bad mom" or even a "good mom." We literally have no idea what kind of mother she would have been to Steven, because she died.

She left some messy stuff behind, sure, but who the hell doesn't leave messy stuff behind when they die? A traumatized victim of generational trauma and abuse dying in childbirth doesn't equal "bad mother." Like, what?

And on top of that, if I dropped dead tomorrow and my shitty abusive family members swarmed around my kid, that's...not my fault? I've done everything I can in life to keep my kid away from the shitty abusive parts of our family. I cut them out as thoroughly as I possibly can. I can't control anything else. If they show up after I die to harass my kiddo, that's not my doing. Because I would in fact be dead.

I think way too many people try to make Rose responsible for literally every bad action that other people took, which is asinine both because it takes agency and impact away from every other character, but also because, like. She's not real. She is fictional. You don't have to hold her accountable for crimes, and that was never the point of the story in the first place. She served a narrative purpose, which was to tell a story about generational trauma. I'm less interested in "bad person vs good person" analysis and much more interested in "was this an effective way to tell a story about a very messy victim of cyclical abuse, and how hard it is to break the cycle without there being repercussions. Sometimes the cycle doesn't break cleanly."

I think it was, personally, especially considering the huge amounts of censorship heaped upon the show. I'd love to take a peek into the universe where they got to fully flesh out the story they originally intended, instead of getting cut off at the knees by homophobic studio heads.

#original post #steven universe #su rose quartz #rose quartz su

[ossifer-bones]

the paul poll compelled me to just quickly write up my little opinion piece on paul and necromancy in the tlt verse bcs tags are a pain in the ass to elaborate on my opinion in: paul horrifies me. i think that a lot of people read palamedes' interpretation of lyctorhood as being some sort of objective truth and that there is a right way to do lyctorhood and paul is it, but i just don't agree with that; i think in a series rife with unreliable narrators, palamedes' views on lyctorhood should be considered as subjective as any other person's.

“Can one person even be two people? I feel like I’ve only got enough room inside for me, and sometimes like that room’s not even enough.” “Lyctors can,” said Palamedes, “or at least—they thought they could; in fact all they became were half-dead cannibals. I think a true Lyctorhood is a mutual death … a gravitational singularity creating something new. A true Grand Lysis, rather than the Petty Lysis of the megatheorem [...]

what he says here about lysis is in response to nona asking if one person can be two people, and thus it is a very loaded statement when coming from someone heralding from a society where the extreme co-dependence of the fundamentally unequal necro/cav bond is encouraged, especially considering camilla and palamedes are called out by others from that same society as being an exemplary case of co-dependence in that department!

camilla and palamedes are arguably more equal than any other cav/necro pair in series, in part due to that co-dependence, but we even see in NtN that cam does stuff that undercuts that equality (telling pyrrha to lie to palamedes, 'don't tell him i was weak'). and that equality, that love, is shown to be thought of as coming at the cost of freedom: when palamedes says, “I cannot bear the thought of using you.”—camilla responds, “Love and freedom don’t coexist, Warden.”

in the end, every permutation of the necro and cav pairing is irrevocably descended from john + alecto's example and while i think beauty can be found in some of them, they all suffer from the same fundamental imbalance that bond hinges on; nonconformity abates it, but abolishment is required for real freedom from it. the so-called indelible sin of lyctorhood is just an echo of the original sin john committed.

If there was one thing Gideon knew about necromancers, it was that they needed power. Thanergy—death juice—was abundant wherever things had died or were dying. Deep space was a necro’s nightmare, because nothing had ever been alive out there, so there were no big puddles of death lying around for Harrow and her ilk to suck up with a straw.

necromancy necessitates consumption, taking by its very nature: death, especially violent death, is what fuels it—infants producing more thanergy on death is literally a noted phenomena! paul's birth, while it could be seen as triumphant in the sense of it being an act of creation, is literally identified by palamedes himself as a mutual death, death being required to fuel it the same as any other necromantic working. i don't want to say 'necromancy is fundamentally evil' but uh... it is irrevocably tied into john's conception of human nature: "This is the problem, the incorporation, this is the hardest part … It’s the human instinct, to take."

something i always point out about camilla and palamedes' grand lysis is theparallel with gideon and harrow's incomplete petty lysis: both come about as a result of a fully-realised lyctor (ianthe, cytherea) having cornered the pair, resulting in both being threatened with imminent death (camilla critically injured and palamedes facing expulsion from naberius when ianthe re-emerges; harrow necromantically spent and gideon having suffered multiple injuries, both going to die when cytherea breaks through the bone dome). paul's birth only happened as a direct result of the continuation of the lyctoral cycle of violence, with ianthe in cytherea's position; per palamedes, “I am not saying this was our inevitable end … I am saying we have found the best and truest and kindest thing we can do in this moment.”

paul may be the best and truest and kindest thing cam and pal could've done in that moment, but that moment should've never came to pass: the codependency instilled into them through their society, the violence that put them in that position, and the consumptive necromancy that made paul possible. paul is horrifying because they are the most hopeful and kind thing, and they are the product of two people, one sans his own body, undergoing mutual death to fuel their birth.

they're the truest response to one flesh, one end: an oath purportedly coined by cristabel and alfred, who compelled their necromancers to ascend via a suicide pact.

valancy says one flesh one end sounds like instructions for a sex toy. can’t stop thinking about that so can someone stop cris and alfred before the sex toy phrase catches on, thanks.

did the sex toy phrase really need a response?

#the locked tomb #nona the ninth spoilers

[darkmuffinstudios]

[rolls in]

I've always, for the longest time, head-canoned that when Nightmare and Dream ate their respective apples and subsequently fused with them in the process, that they also *became* the apples in a sense?

Basically what I'm saying is that since the tree was cut down/died due to the events of Dreamtale, that they, themselves, became the two sides of the tree. While the tree was in its prime, it regulated all of the emotions and balance in the whole multiverse. However, because of the apple incident, Nightmare and Dream now take on the duty that the tree once had; regulating the emotions of the multiverse individually.

Hence they're constant struggle with one another.

As eternal, long-living beings of their respective roles, I doubt they would stay mad at each other forever- at least to the degree that it was initially after the tragedy in Dreamtale. This would make a truce somewhat inevitable- or at least a mutual understanding and respect for each other's jobs.

(I think this could, of course, vary depending on the way you depict their relationship, backstory, powers, situation, and the story at large)

Anyways, going back to what I was originally getting at before being sidetracked, they are- essentially- the tree itself.

In a weird way, I always thought that it was a little strange that eating the golden apples didn't seem to have any consequences as opposed to the negative ones (example being Nightmare violently being ripped apart and literally dying- but that can be dubious because, from my understanding, that was partially the main antagonist's influence on the apples??).

Again, not addressing canon and what the original had in mind, I think it would be interesting that slowly, over time, the tree starts to grow back through them.

Think of it as a way of aging for these immortals. After all, apples have seeds, so one would assume that they'd eventually sprout after enough time and nourishment (via the abundance of emotions and just generally taking care of themselves). Eventually, they'll have to create their own guardians to carry on their work, and the cycle continues after they die.

What I imagine is a weird mesh of hanahaki disease and the philosophy of cycles, in where when the two twins eventually pass, they will become the new trees in its place. Over time, while doing their jobs and fulfilling their roles, roots may start to sprout from their ribcage, followed by leaves. It would be cute at first, little leaves and branches that are harmless. But then, as time continues, more and more of their body gets overtaken with it.

But again, these changes would happen gradually over the course of their long, LONG lifespans. When it starts getting to the point of detriment to them, then they've probably lived hundreds of lifetimes over already.

I don't know, I just think it's an interesting idea to head-canon about, and a cool excuse to draw the twins with plant-like roots stretching out of them.

(some little examples I have of the idea I've drawn YEARS ago and as of recent. ignore the quality of my old art fosjigjiosjosgijiosg)

(also WIP jumpscare of a Shattered Dream interpretation I have been working on a little oogily boogily osgjiosgs)

#darkzyx #undertale au #undertale fandom #utmv #dreamtale #nightmare sans #dream sans #dark rambling #dark ramble #dark brain thoughts

[podcastenthusiast]

I find it really compelling that Astarion appears to have had hobbies when he was enslaved by Cazador.

Things Astarion probably did in between the horrors:

Embroidered and patched up things for himself (and, reluctantly, his siblings). We know this. Practical--I don't get the feeling Cazador was buying them clothes any more than strictly necessary--and a good way to stay sane.

Got really good at picking locks. Also canon. I've seen the interpretation this was to escape shackles, which is possible. But I dunno...he says himself he gave up on escape. More likely I think he was just very bored, and also such a skill offers some comfort should he ever be locked up again for another year.

Learning languages, including Orcish. Canon as well and honestly I'm dying to know how/when he managed this. Did he find a Orcish-Common dictionary? Did he know a half-Orc? Either way I can see him relishing the chance to insult Cazador or his siblings without them knowing.

Reading, as he does all the time at camp. If you can't escape physically, a good story can be a decent distraction for a while. Astarion is intelligent and seems to know a fair bit of history and such. I imagine it wasn't an activity Cazador encouraged. But that wouldn't stop him and Dal, and later maybe Leon if he's feeling brave, forming a secret book club, reading anything at all they could get their hands on, from awful erotica to dry religious texts.

There must have been a brief period where he tried to befriend and train some rats to do his bidding. But he was bad at it and also very hungry. Violet claims to have succeeded.

Music. He hears it everywhere--in the dingy taverns he's sent to, at Cazador's damn parties, on the street--it's too intense for a while after that infamous year of silence. But it also reminds him that he isn't there anymore. Astarion has no gift for musical instruments himself, but he grows to appreciate hearing a good song.

Drinking wine and pretending it doesn't all taste terrible to him now. Sometimes, alone or with Aurelia, he would pretend it's fresh blood instead. Sometimes he would pretend to just be anyone else.

Stealing his siblings' makeup and anything else he wants. None of them really "own" anything after all, he'll say, but will get incredibly annoyed if they in turn take something of his.

Between fights and torments, of which there were so many, I bet he played stupid little games with his siblings. Trying to convince them he died a very cool death or something. Or enlisting Violet's expertise to prank Petras.

One time Yousen finds like a choose your own adventure book (since I dunno if a form of D&D exists in BG3 and if it did they don't have the supplies). Anyway he reads it to the other spawn and by the end of the night Astarion and Petras both have new black eyes and bite marks.

Not saying it was a good time by any means. It wasn't. But it was a very long time not to carve out an occasional diversion. You'd just lose it otherwise.

#bg3 #baldur's gate iii #baldur's gate 3 #astarion

[rayroseu]

"you are just as guilty" ⚔️🥀

last cough of art before the update ahkdhkshsksh AAAAAAAAAAA i dont wanna leave Briar Valley yet 😩😩😩😩 Lilia don't gatekeep all the lore,,, dang it,,,💔💔💔💔

sometimes i really do wonder what Meleanor or Dawn's last thoughts before dying..... ESPECIALLY Dawn... Bro rarely has the chances to express his individuality, he's so tragic to be with the Silver Owls sm.. 😭who suppresses all opinions as seen with their soldier garments (all of them basically have the same motifs and design) in contrast,.. Meleanor's army has differently designed mask to highlight the unique faes they are--

I have this thought that like Silver, he cries about the sins of his nation as well... 😭I think he has regrets that he made Meleanor overblot and blames himself for it 😭 (Like how Silver was the last straw to make Malleus overblot-)

I think its a common interpretation that Dawn is heroic, but I don't think of him that way KSJSKS, not because he's not a hero, but because he's a failed one. In the story, it felt like he was "just a person". He's not perfect, he's flawed.

And, I think the existence of "failed heroes" like Dawn is really intriguing in TWST,,,, because the heroic characters here are depicted as "never failing at anything". Like how RSA characters are. They never lose at anything, but ironically the character most inspired by this school (RSA) failed at "being a good hero."

I'm interpreting he failed because he couldn't make his mission come true; peace between fae and humans, in fact he might have worsened it with the passing of Meleanor 😭😭💔💔

The most tragic thing of all his life, was probably the part where he died, not because of the faes, but of his own fellow countrymen... I imagine in this image, what did he even kill Meleanor for? He couldn't make any peace between faes and humans, he couldn't save his country, we're not even sure if he did use Meleanor's magical stone to save the Human King and if he was successful with it, so if he has failed at everything he aspired to achieve, then what else is the point to all the bloodshed he has faced and committed?

In a way, his "punishment" is similar to Rollo's, celebrated by the achievement he didn't want to commit (except its the good guy this time adskjs)

(Thats why I'm sold at the idea of Dawn just giving up fighting at his death bcs theres no way if he did actually had the motivation to fight, he'd lose against fellow humans when he fought Meleanor on solo akhdkhs... unless they reveal how he died as well next update---🙏🏻✨😳/copium)

In a way, its similar to Silver's disappointment too, that he worked all his life to make Lilia proud, to make sure that faes like his Father can be understood better, only for Lilia to leave him all alone yk... 🥹

But on the other side, I don't think he failed too much... because of his losses, Silver was brought to Lilia 🥹🥹

I feel like Lilia will relate to Dawn as well,,, He said in the story that he sympathized with Dawn because he spared tamago Malleus, but I beg to differ.

I think its actually because like Dawn, Lilia is also a knight who failed at everything he aspired to commit to (he took so long to hatch the egg and he failed to protect Meleanor and keep his promise with Levan that he'll take care of his wife and son-) so at that realization, Lilia probably sees that there's no reason to hate him, they had the same fate, so why would he hate his child as well?

He's not living anymore but I think Lilia could see that Dawn probably awaited for centuries to wake his son up from sleep,,, like how Lilia desperately waited and wished that something would hatch Malleus already 😭😭💔💔

JUST... KNIGHT OF DAWN I'LL REMEMBER YOU FOREVER SKDJSK 😭😭😭😭🫂🫂🫂

#twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twistedwonderland #lian notes #disney twst #twst knight of dawn #knight of dawn #twst book 7 #meleanor draconia #art #twst silver #twst art #twst diasomnia #twst theory #twst analysis #twst jp #twst fanart #lian arts #twisted wonderland fanart #artists on tumblr #artwork #drawing #illustration #LESS THAN 20MINS OF SCREENTIME AND IM ILL ABOUT HIM WFYDGJWHKD #this is what listening to “welcome to the black parade” while thinking about knight of dawn does to a mf

[pisscreant]

I think another thing that is hard with writing Harry's alcohol use is that it's very likely that he has cirrhosis (??)

I'm not a doctor but I think that's irreparable liver failure. usually asymptomatic until its later terminal stage, called 'uncompensated cirrhosis'. almost always fatal in a matter of months/years unless someone gets a liver transplant.

I don't think Pain Threshold is wrong. a loved one of mine died like this. to me it seems like with Harry's symptoms a MONTH would be generous. with these signs Harry is ACTIVELY dying.

I struggle to ignore the fact that it's almost outright stated by the narrative. tho to be fair it's just aside dialogue by Kim and during the game you can go on drinking and not die

(also this dialogue is from early in the game and Kim gets better. but great show of priorities, Kim. thanks for that. also 'the organization would miss you' lol. lmao, even. /s)

there's also the matter of alcohol withdrawal. for a game written by addicts (correct me if I'm wrong) who faithfully represent the experience it's also puzzling that Harry seems to exhibit no symptoms of withdrawal. I will update with a source but at some point I remember the devs mentioning that a couple of them prefer the sobriety route. so it's weird that this isn't touched on

now I personally interpret the game as a semi-hopeful one and idk with the tone of the game it doesn't FEEL like Harry's going to canonically die like 2 weeks after the game ends. it could just be a handwave from the writing because this is a video game with video game mechanics and not a medical documentary but.

I personally headcanon that there's something entroponetic that's keeping Harry alive. (the city? pale exposure? a miracle? THE miracle? all of those and more?) that might explain the lack of withdrawal symptoms and. everything else

it might explain why he can CHANGE HIS BIOLOGY and no longer 'benefit' from alcohol or drugs just by completing a mind project (see the thoughts 'Wasteland of Reality' and 'Opioid Receptor Antagonist') also why he can reverse PHYSICAL DAMAGE by using a damn nasal spray and a blister pack of panadeine forte. why he can dance right after taking two bullet wounds.

aaand I forgot the point I was trying to make when I started writing this. just food for thought. I haven't seen anyone else mention this

#disco elysium #harry du bois #anyway please please correct me if I am wrong #I just wanna bring this up and talk about it it's been driving me up the wall #ah. I have once again forgotten to take my ADHD medication

[azi-sings-calliope]

The Sandman female characters - why are they buried?

I'm gonna make a series of my thoughts on the female Sandman characters, both critiques of how they're treated and appreciation posts for them. (These are just my opinions, everyone is entitled to their own) Hope you enjoy!

Also tagging @thesandwomen because I'm also very curious to hear your takes on her.

Part 1: Rose Walker

As a character, she gets an obscene amount of hate. Even her actress was bullied terribly when the show came out (which is a whole other issue).

The thing with Rose Walker is that she's strong, complex, powerful, but not in necessarily always visible ways.

She's making her own way in life, traumatized but loving, ambitious and creative. Her inner dialogue and workings is complex and tragic but not in always... I guess cinematic or traditional ways.

She shows the realistic side of someone, specifically someone growing up through tragedy.

She's endlessly creative but she's cursed as this Vortex which destroys and she can't escape that, unless she dies. While she's going through all this she's dragged for not being more dynamic or charismatic.

I found Rose Walkers character to be awfully realistic, because in my eyes, a way of interpreting her story is that one of a young woman, growing up, promising and creative, has been pushed down by society and other people's actions against her. She's creative, loving, ambitious, searching for her brother and making a life for herself. But then she's pulled down into this Vortex, this series of awful and inexplicable events where things are happening around her, she knows she's causing it, and she can't stop it, and the only way to solve it is to die and leave a life she has fought for so hard.

Strange people are telling her what to do, she doesn't understand it entirely, but she does it to the best of her ability. She pushes back at them (Dream and the Corinthian) at times, because what else can she do?

In the end, she ends up with one of her last living relatives dying in front of her and realizing there was no other way for it to turn out. And she's hated, because throughout these events, she isn't entertaining enough.

I'm not someone best suited to talk on the racism that undoubtedly impacted how the fandom impacted the character, but it's worth noting that racism certainly played a role.

Rose Walker shows the sides of a character, specifically a young, strong woman character that I feel like isn't often marketed.

Some of those who claim "girl power" dislike her because she isn't what they're used to seeing. I'm not claiming that she's revolutionary, I'm saying that she IS that type of character, portrayed perhaps more realistically.

She is powerful but she's not cocky and smiley and she won't punch you in the face. Female characters are only perhaps worth paying attention to if they have any qualities that are surface level beneficial or amusing to the audience.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Rose Walker is disliked because she's realistic, she has no amusing qualities.

Female characters often have stock marketable traits, such as humour, physical strength, or maybe magical. It's almost as if they're being paraded around, but not as a celebration but as a freak show. These are fake empowerment characters, and I feel like a lot of the basis for initial main female characters in big media pieces was written like this.

Rose Walker has marketable traits, but mixed in there are the real thoughts of a young woman, panicked and trapped and loving, and deeply honest. And it's honesty people don't like.

A young woman's struggle isn't fun to watch, it's not funny, there's no action, it's realistic.

I'm not trying to call her the female character of all time, I'm just trying to articulate my thoughts.

Rose Walker can make people uncomfortable. A female character not being pushed into the box of marketable, but real.

I think it's telling that we as a fandom dismissed her because of her lack of marketable qualities, because if you look deeper into the character, there's so much more.

Anyway, I hope this didn't come off as too rant-y, and thanks for reading!

#rose walker #the sandman #the sandman female character #deserve more appreciation #there are definitely places that discuss the characters #but i think overall #they hardly exist in fandom #some great mutuals who have amazing blogs about them tho

[2af-afterdark]

Leviathan’s Curse

As I played chapter 5, especially toward the end when you get the flashback to his childhood, I couldn't help put pay attention to the game showing us the curse laid upon Leviathan that explains his actions far too perfectly. Now, I don't mean a literal curse (although his beauty seems to be its own curse given how the angels treated him because of it). I am talking about the metaphorical curse placed upon him from the moment he was taken by Heaven. More specifically, the moment he escaped to Hell.

Spoilers for chapter 5 below

87 was his number. Not a name, but a number. He knew nothing of Hell or other devils aside from the other children trapped around him. His only experience in life -- at least the experience he could remember-- was the cruelty of angels toward him and his friends/peers. These were his only friends and the people who supported one another through an experience worse than death as the angels experimented on them.

Then, one day, when a fire starts in the lab keeping these young angels captive, 87 gets the opportunity to escape... or rather, he is forced to escape because the other children trapped with him can tell he is special and they are doing all they can to get him out of there and make sure Leviathan survives.

They will not allow him to stay with them and risk dying. He is the one person who must live, even at the cost of everything else.

As he is leaving, they all request that he go out and live for all of them; to have the kind of life they know they never can.

That's his curse.

It was the innocent wish of children who knew they were about to die and was partially said to try and motivate 87 to leave like they wanted and give him the will to live, but it is burned into Leviathan’s mind even now.

They were all one another had -- children relying on one another to survive -- and they died for Leviathan. They sacrificed themselves, refusing to let him stay behind to help them the way he wanted or escape with him because they had to ensure he got out at the cost of everyone else. In order to uphold their memory, he has to fulfill their wish to live on for them.

His life is also their life. His experiences are their experiences. He has to live the best life vicariously for them because that was the wish they made and is his last memory of the most important people in his life. Everything he is must be the best, because the people that died for him deserve the best. He is the best because he is their living memory.

We could also say it's the reason he is so stringent in his values of eliminating any threat to Hell, no matter how small or improbable. His friends died for him in order to get him back to Hell, so he will ensure that it is safe no matter what. He will not let their sacrifice be in vain.

In his Bloodshed card, we also see that Leviathan keeps empty [symbolic] graves for his dead friends. However, when these graves are destroyed, he says that the graves are empty and it doesn't matter if they are destroyed because he can always rebuild them later. But the graves to him are a form of atonement. The graves don't matter because Leviathan is their true grave and living memory. He is the one that lives for them. He made a kingdom for them; one that would have accepted them if they had been born there. He visits their graves every year. They are mythologized through him and their memory lives on as long as he does.

[Unfortunately, I have hit the Tumblr image limit as I am typing this section up, so I can't fit the screenshots, so you will have to decide if you trust me or not on this point]

On a more personal interpretation, I also think that this is why Leviathan wants neither "twisted hatred" nor "unconditional worship". He has known both. Hatred hurt him and made his life worse than death, worship got his friends killed (remember that they willingly died because they could sense he was special. In a way, he was already their king and they worshiped him).

He wants a partner who expresses something more pure than unreasonable, unexplainable emotions. He wants someone to express genuine feelings towards him rather than irrational ones that seem to control their view of him.

I think it's also the reason that he is annoyed at Morax at the end of his bloodshed card; Morax is willing to die for Leviathan in order to heal him. Leviathan has already seen enough of people dying for him.

I also think it makes it very interesting that his citizens wear nooses. They say they wear them because, on a literal note, they will hang themselves if Leviathan should ever die and, as symbol, that same noose is meant to show that there is someone (+Leviathan) they are willing to fight to the death for. The mythology surrounding his escape is so prevalent that it seeps into the entire culture of his land and its people.

He doesn't want people to die for him, but every single citizen of his kingdom is willing to die in his name. It puts him in a position where his life is the center of everyone who he meets. His Bloodshed Victory (2) line is "As long as the devils of Hades are behind me, I never lose" because he cannot afford to allow more people to die in his name. They can die, of course, just never for him.

#what in hell is bad #whb leviathan #whb theory #whb spoilers

[ghouljams]

hey ghoul! i've some questions about the demon darlings au (tw for su*cide)

so i read this: https://www.tumblr.com/ghouljams/744316747649335296/im-forcing-ghost-to-talk-about-his-feelings-at

and my first thought was 'huh, too bad he cant do that' that being incite or commit his own death per the demon darlings contract, and that got me thinking,

is ghost, or any one else for that matter, allowed to commit su*cide or anything alike to get out of their contracts? Are there things they can do to void the contract or is it forever?

Hello my love! Good question! Before I answer I do have a note: you don't need to censor the word suicide on tumblr, it actually makes it harder to blacklist the word when people have to consider every possible censor on their black list. I know that twitter/tiktok have made it common place to censor certain things, but the only reason to do that on tumblr is to get around the kink tag censors... I'll tag for a suicide tw, but you don't need to censor it for me.

On to my answers! This is my personal interpretation of Ghost, but I don't see him as actively suicidal, maybe passively but not actively. He'll take risks and put himself in harms way with little care over making it out, but he wouldn't take it upon himself to pull the trigger. Dying in the line of duty feels different to him, that's where he's supposed to die.

The contract itself, barring any special clauses(looking at you Luck), is voided in the event of the summoner's death. This is important because in the context of this au, Hell owns the soul of anyone that is assigned a demon. The demon assignment is like a medal of honor from Hell, but it's also like chipping your dog. Hell is recruiting soldier, and when that soldier's mortal form dies, Hell gets first dibs for their army. The contract is voided, and the soul gets the chance to get their own dose of demonic power. The darlings are loosely a trial run to show off what Hell can give their dogs.

Now that isn't necessarily publicized to the soldiers that get demons, more of a late game reveal for them, but that's what the end of the contract is.

#ghoul speaks #simon ghost riley #demon!darlings au #tw suicide #it is also the demon's job to try and keep their soldier from dying #so they aren't going to try and hasten their deaths in any way

[barrenclan]

"Arms Tonite" by Mother Mother, for Rainhaze and Asphodelpaw? It reminds me of them idjdjidi

Aw... that makes me sad. Rainhaze and Asphodelpaw is okay, although the romantic vibes of this song put me off a little bit. And Asphodelpaw, would she be okay with dying at Rainhaze's paws? There's some other characters, though...

"I died in your arms tonight I slipped through into the afterlife, it was nice White light in your arms tonight I lost sight in your arms tonight, it was nice"

"I cry in the afterlife I cry hard because I have died, and you're alive"

I see we both enjoyed that Shadowsight PMV...

"No, what they say it's "keep your eye on the money" No, what they say it's "keep your eye on the prize" Gracefully and suffocating on my lies We'll hear the love you gather all around When you're six feet underground"

"Make your peace Do a sacrificial dance All your jubilant intentions never stood a chance You see the coming on the end times"

I don't think I've ever heard of this band! I've been listening to a lot of old rock lately, so it's fun. I agree with you, too.

"I'm sitting here alone in darkness Waiting to be free, Lonely and forlorn I am crying I long for my time to come"

"Hate is my only friend Pain is my father Torment is delight to me Death is my sanctuary" <- lol yeah rainhaze

"Bewitched be delight, you'll reach the night Dancing and singing to my fiddle So take my hand, and understand That no-one will see you again"

That's a specific choice! I do like it, though. Rainhaze is pretty easy to fit with a lot of music in general.

Aw... if those two had it together a little more, I can see it very cleanly with them.

"There once was a time when we walked crooked lines But that's all over now I'll walk with you into the blue"

"You got any weekend plans? Can't help but wonder if you're still my pal But you told me once that you would follow me into hell And oh man, that place is far behind me now"

Oh yes, I can imagine Nightberry singing this chorus to Pinepaw!

"Don't ask your questions to the wall They keep their secrets locked inside If blood and bones are what you want I suggest that you look behind you"

Not to my memory.

"He goes to the desert, fires his rifle in the sky And says, "God, if I have to die, you will have to die"

"Every time you think you're walking, you're just moving the ground Every time you think you're talking, you're just moving your mouth Every time you think you're looking, you're just looking down"

Hm, what's the bad faith interpretation of that? I think it works! "Sleep" is practically his themesong, anyways.

"Another night and I'll see you Another night and I'll be you Some other way to continue To hide my face"

"Touched by angels, though I fall out of grace I did it all so maybe I'd live this every day"

Yeah, this one has been suggested before! Still holds up.

I can definitely understand the This Is My Blorbo instinct, very valid.

"We exercise the demons of the things we used to know The gnashing of the teeth become the remnants of our homes We think we're moving on from materials we long To forget we ever sold our souls to own"

"There's a chilling absolution that we're given from our birth A powerful delusion and a plague upon the earth"

Ran out of video embeds xoxo

#ask #anon #music #[spoiler name] #ranger #rainhaze #redpelt #deepdark #nightberry #pinepaw #slugpelt

[rain-world-headcanons]

I've had this floating around my head for ages so ig this is the best place to put it

Hunters rot is fully intentional to me, NSH created hunter for the sole purpose of helping moon, so they were given the rot for a very similar reason to why SRS took away spearmasters mouth, it puts hunter on a time limit meaning succumbing to any animalistic desires is detrimental to their task and ensures they deliver the slag reset key as quickly as possible.

This doesn't mean I'm calling NSH a bad guy or evil I just think they have a very different way of thinking, I've said it before but iterators are extremely alien to us (like they're biomechanical supercomputers that are so large entire cities are built on them and are created with tech that we cant even understand how do you even begin to comprehend that???) so why should they see things in the same way we do? I don't think iterators would really understand the concept of pets, they use creatures as test subjects and tools for their work, hunter was made as a tool to help moon, I don't see why NSH would really care about them, his group senior and friend just collapsed and is in the process of dying, slugcats are very genetically malleable so he quickly cooks up hunter to deliver the slag keys, who cares if it dies anyway? as long as moon gets the help she needs, hell SRS created SM as their dedicated messenger and used them multiple times without even giving them a name before they got attached while we play as them.

Some other things, the timing seems very convenient, by the time we play as hunter they only have 20 cycles left and for the average player this is just enough time to get to moon. When pebbles accidentally creates the rot its catastrophic, hunters rot seems very calculated to me, I feel like if NSH made a mistake and created the rot in hunter accidentally they would kinda just die on the spot. A popular theory for the void endings (and also my favourite) is that you see what you want most before ascending (or getting echoed), surv sees their family, monk sees surv(probably), arti sees their kids, but hunter is being embraced by NSH, possibly meaning they were neglected by NSH and only ever wanted to be loved and freed from their situation ( :((( )

wow this is a lot longer than I thought it was gonna be, also none of this means I think HCs where NSH cares for hunter and made an honest mistake are bad or wrong this is just my interpretation!!! I love all HCs! they're all cool and interesting!

-

#rain world #hunter #no significant harassment

[gregorovitch-adler]

Hi there! I was wondering what your thoughts are on ACD Watson's wives. First of all, I know nothing about the marriage traditions or laws in Victorian England but it seems weird to me that he kept remarrying because I guess his wives kept passing away? I mean he didn't/couldn't divorce them back them, right?

He didn't do very well with his private practice from what I've gathered. How come he could afford remarrying all the time. Also in my culture (East Asian), if a person's spouses kept dying, the matchmaker would refuse service because that person would be considered a curse.

Thank you and have a great day!

Hi!

Your questions are pretty interesting. As a South-East Asian, I can understand how people would frown at the person whose spouses kept passing away. There must be quite a few similarities in our cultures, even if we're not from the same country/region.

1.) A simple, detached answer would be that Arthur Conan Doyle was not the best person when it came to keeping his stories consistent, especially on the character-related details.

He might've wanted to tell us that Watson got married, but probably he didn't want Watson's marriage to keep him from assisting Holmes with his cases, and that's why everything about Watson's married life and wives is so skewed.

He wasn't even consistent about the location of Watson's gunshot wound in A Study in Scarlet. Initially, Watson was shot in the subclavian artery of the left side. But on the next page, the wound location has been shifted to his leg? This is just one of the many examples of Doyle's inconsistencies in his stories.

Maybe he didn't check that Mary Morstan had died sometime during one of his stories. Anything is possible.

2.) Another version of the answer (which is heavily filled with Holmes/Watson shipping): Watson was an unreliable narrator and didn't want any unwanted attention of the general public drawn towards the nature of the relationship he had with Sherlock Holmes. That's why Watson was so inconsistent in the stories that he published in The Strand magazine. I believe there's a reason Watson describes Holmes as cold and calculating at some points, but goes on to describe the incidents where Holmes was undoubtedly kind to someone at other points of the stories. I even wrote a meta about it here .

The fanon version is that Watson wanted to avoid the risk of being arrested on the grounds of gross indecency, and so he made up a wife - or even several wives - to cover it up.

I mostly agree with this theory, because otherwise, Watson (who's married by the timeline of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes) going away with Holmes to Switzerland, and even sharing a room with him would be pretty weird and not exactly plausible, I don't think his first wife, Mary Morstan, is an imaginary character. But it's very much possible that her marriage to Watson was just a ruse to hide from the prying eyes of the public.

If we strictly talk about canon, then Watson marries Mary Morstan in The Sign of the Four, then she probably passes away by the time of The Return of Sherlock Holmes short-story collection (the jury is still out on that one - again, because of Doyle's inconsistencies), then Watson starts living with Holmes again as a bachelor for a long time. Then by the time of Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, his wife is brought up again.

Either it was another case of Doyle's inconsistencies, or Watson remarried sometime off-stage. (Though I think Doyle would've at least made a passing reference to Watson's remarriage, him being the POV character in most of the stories and all... idk.)

From what I've gathered after reading all the stories, Watson seemed to have only two wives at different points of time. Mary Morstan and another unnamed one in Casebook.

From the first-hand experience of reading those stories, I don't think Watson having multiple wives is a canonical thing. That's also a part of fan-interpretation. It's because the physical description of Watson's wife/ wives kept changing every time she was mentioned in any stories because of the lack of consistency in the whole narration. That's how it seemed to me when I read the stories. Though I've gone through them all only once, which means I could be wrong about this bit of detail in particular.

Still, Watson didn't seem to have numerous wives in canon to me. Just two.

And yes, you're right. Watson wasn't well-off even with his private practice. The fact that he was able to afford to remarry so many times (if he ever did) is quite odd.

Then there comes the social stigma behind divorce/remarriage. I'm not that familiar with the marriage traditions in Victorian England either, but I don't think people worldwide were so free and open-minded about the topic of divorce in general. Things have advanced in Western countries nowadays, but the social aspect of all this must have been quite different in the Victorian era. So, you're right about that thing too.

Tl;dr: There is no specific answer to your question, because the author of the original stories didn't bother to keep his details intact. They kept changing in canon, so you're free to believe whatever you want to. Because, as you said, the fact that Watson keeps remarrying all the time doesn't add up with his financial condition along with the societal conditions in that era.

So, everything is just open for interpretation here.

I personally believe that Watson only had one wife - Mary Morstan - whom he had a lavender marriage with (a fake marriage for the sake of society). I know this isn't canonical either, but what actually is canonical - well, nobody has a definite answer to that question.

I hope you find my answer satisfactory, because your ask was rather interesting.

Thanks.

#asks #anonymous #acd canon #john watson #holmes/watson #sherlock holmes #acd johnlock #the mysterious case of Watson's wives #Doyle's inconsistencies #arthur conan doyle #canonical discussion #meta #sort of #johnlock

[nataliaphantomhivesblog]

Hello! Hope I am not bothering but I wanted to ask: in your post about BSD chapter 109 you mentioned Soukoku dying together eventually and it being hinted at, can you elaborate on that? I mean, I remember the scene in SB with Mori but I do not remember Fifteen very well and where it was hinted at there… Thanks in advance!

Good day, anon! Thank you for your question, I appreciate it:)

Alright so in fiftheen, it's mostly in the subtext of the story.

a good example of this is Dazai's will to live in the fifthteen light novel.

So in the beggining of the story, Dazai is shown to be ultimately bored of life, he only stayed alive to somehow get closer to the human condition, thus, a reason to live yet to be found.

But with the passage of time and nothing catching Dazai off guard or closer to the value of human life, he was basically giving up.

Until Chuuya showed up, of course.

So back to the main point however, Dazai was bored, and when he first met Chuuya, he was still bored.

It was up until the moment that Chuuya kicked the gun right out of Dazai's hands that he got caught off guard and emotionally moved. (Check out the link if necesarry!<3)

Chuuya's impact on Dazai's life is actually so important to the narrative of Fifthteen, paralleling Rimbaud and Verlaine's partnership as well.

It was Chuuya who gave Dazai an intrest in the Port Mafia, not just because of the possibilities of finding meaning through other people, but to find meaning in his partnership with Chuuya.

So, in short, Chuuya helped Dazai find meaning, but honestly, Dazai said it better:

Anyways, it wasn't only Dazai that was battling with a reason to live, Chuuya was too.

In the start of the novel, Chuuya was heavily struggling with his identity, and in order to fill that void, he blindly was loyal to people who constantly overworked him.

It was Dazai who shifted Chuuya's perspective, albiet quite manipulating, it still got Chuuya to realize how he truly wasn't being a leader to the sheep, he was just being used.

I think the scene im painting is sort of evident for die hard bsd fans, Chuuya's (and Dazai's?) verbal confrontation with the sheep:

to make it quick and actually get to the point: Chuuya found a purpose thanks to Dazai and his recruitment to the Port Mafia.

Now you all probably think i'm absolutely off the rails wondering what this have to do with the original question, but i promise, I have a point! Just walk this through with me and you will get it too:)

During Fifthteen, we don't fully see hints of them dying together, but we do see Chuuya and Dazai metaphorically at the brink of death giving each other a reason to keep going through their partnership.

Their reasoning to live is so intrically connected to one another, as well as their dream of persuing the real human condition.

And that's what the subtext of Fifthteen is all about, their partnership bringing a fresh new outlook on something they believed was dead or possibly didn't exist.

But time passes, soukoku's narrative is running out and being "replaced" with shin soukoku's.

Their motivations, their abilities, and their lives are so intertwined that of course, if one dies, the other will follow.

Atleast that's my interpretation of it all! I am not Asagiri and can only assume with what's been shown and hinted so, let's see what he has in store for us<3

#bsd #chuuya nakahara #dazai osamu #bungou stray dogs #bsd manga #bsd spoilers #analysis #fiftheen light novel #light novel bsd #soukoku analysis #soukoku #dazai x chuuya #chuuya x dazai #chuuya and dazai #theory #prediction

[microraptorreactor]

No shade at Devsis (for this, specifically) but seriously there are a lot of characters in this game who are a) female, b) have a relationship with another woman that is VERY easy to interpret as queer, and c) are deeply traumatized. Don't get me wrong I love 5/6 of these character's episodes (I only dislike Ice Queen's because Icicle Yetti's voice got really grating on me very quickly) but is everything good at Devsis?

(explanations for my non-cookie run moots under the cut. Cookie Run lore is wild, y'all.)

from top to bottom, left to right.

Frost Queen is a god of frost who froze to death in the arms of her 'best friend' in a past life. She goes on to use blizzards to balance out life and death. (I think. I watched a breakdown and some cutscenes. in order to get this information you have to play an hour with the most annoying cookie available)(I do not like Icicle Yeti)

Moonlight Cookie was created to observe the dreams of mortals/watch over the city of wizards. She has a close relationship with the god of the ocean but can't leave the city to kiss her girl. Eventually, all the wizards leave the city and Moonlight is left to watch over it on her own.

Black Pearl Cookie was a gem mermaid who had a close relationship with a 'maid', Frilled Jellyfish Cookie (second from the right on the bottom row). She is bisexual however, and falls for the worst possible man after running away from home because she didn't get magic powers during the sea magic ceremony thing. The dude steals her kingdom's magic pearl (or maybe he gives it to her? I don't remember the specifics) which starts a war and kinda just fucks everything up. Black Pearl goes to Sea Fairy for help, but Sea Fairy starts a space program instead of helping so Black Pearl turns emo. Also, Frilled Jellyfish dies due to the war. (I said Cookie Run lore was wild)

Sea Fairy Cookie is really down bad for Moonlight Cookie and (unintentionally) makes it everyone's problem. She ignores the sea cookies while they are actively fucking dying and sorta just sits around for the entire plot. She is one of my favorite characters. Like go off girl make your lesbian pining an actual threat to everyone's safety.

Frilled Jellyfish Cookie has been mentioned already but she's just the sweetest little thing. She just wants to see BP happy, man. She does everything in her power to try to console BP and it just gets her killed in the end. Her dying words are her telling BP to leave her and get to safety, and that she will be fine. BP should have just kissed the jellyfish girl why'd she have to fuck around with Oyster :(

Golden Cheese Cookie. She's my favorite character. So for the sapphic part, she's weirdly flirty with Black Rasine Cookie (another desert-themed cookie with bird motifs) and I'm team 'the ancient heroes were poly' so if you ask me she was smooching White Lily and Hollyberry at some point in the past. For the tragic part, here's one of the wildest backstories this game has! Basically, GCC founded and ruled the Golden Cheese Kingdom, which I'm gonna call Cheeseypt because that's what it is. Cheeseypt is a relatively secluded kingdom, mostly interacting with the wider world through trading. At one point, Golden Cheese leaves her kingdom to fight in the Dark Flour War alongside the other Ancient Heros. What happens while she's out? Dark ENchantress (who happens to be GC's ex-close-friend) FUCKING NUKES ALL OF CHEESEYPT. Not even a 'oh they had to flee and they are still rebuilding :(' no ALL OF GOLDEN CHEESE'S FRIENDS ARE DEAD. Consumed by grief, because you know, everyone she loves is dead, GC buries them all under the kingdom and connects their souls to a digital city before entombing herself with them. She tunes the digital city so that everyone's wishes are granted, and all her citizens live lives of comfort and wealth because, for as much as she values her gold, her real treasure is her friends.

I would stop it here but the way the game ends GC's ark is also just fucking insane? so one of her close friends betrays her (for good reason tbh) and destabilizes the entire city. Faced with leaving everyone she loves behind, GC breaks down because there's nothing for her in the real world. Black Raisen cookie comforts her but explains that this eternal dream is going to end someday anyway. So what does GC do? She explains to her citizens that it'll feel like falling asleep, and shuts down digital Cheeseypt. The characters we met in Cheeseypt don't come back, by the way. There's no loophole. They are just possibly dead for real. (or definitely dead in Burnt and Cheesenburg's cases.)

#cookie run kingdom #cookie run comic creator #cookie run #sea fairy cookie #golden cheese cookie #black pearl cookie #moonlight cookie #frost queen cookie #frilled jellyfish cookie #cookie run fans might get enjoyment out of the extended text of me trying to summarize three of the wildest arks in cookie run