#Tl;dr: go outside

[hoofpeet]

I'd probably have to read the printed version and web version back to back at some point to note all the differences but... ough

#sorry i'm going to be excited about this comic for the next month #nofna #okay having finished this now-- #and sorry if this doesn't make sense to anyone who's completely unfamiliar with this comic in advance- #the 'popcorn ending' (printed version) is nice to see but i think the web version hits harder. if that makes sense #so i'm kinda tied on which ending i 'prefer'- i think both are good though #also considering i've read the web version a good 4-5 times and the printed version only once- i probably can't make that judgement yet #easy answer- i do like Nutsedge :] so it's nice to see the ending where nothing bad happens to her #but also- NT suddenly becoming a greenie-esque villain out of nowhere felt a little jarring #as well as SV suddenly turning a corner and becoming a 'good guy' (arguable)- considering the first three books are about #/him being too stubborn to change or accept any outside worldviews . Him suddenly coming to his senses felt out of place #<- probably biased because i like characters being bitter to the end and ultimately destroyed by their own hubris #the web version is probably‚ objectively‚ a bit better #but - #(spoilers- if you're planning to drop ~70 bucks on getting these books) #the conceit of SV actually perfecting his style‚ using it once‚ and then immediately getting tooth-brained- was pretty cool #assuming it's meant to parallel him spending months tormented by trying to perfect it while something's still missing- #and then dying before he can narrate it to the audience‚ so that we never know what he figured out. #hard to articulate these thoughts but tl;dr- popcorn ending also had a lot to think about

[no-light-left-on]

considering the historical influences in the fashion of Dishonored (and the extent of nsfw fanfiction this fandom has) I’ve been thinking about the layers that would be, realistically, part of the daily dress

which means: dishonored seems to honour the importance of a vest in a properly dressed gentleman’s or lady’s wardrobe

vests were, and I cannot stress this enough, a mandatory part of an outfit, to the point of men wearing only vests if they could not afford a fully tailored suit (trousers + vest + jacket) and a new shirt and opting to only wear a fake collar under the vest for the illusion of a full outfit

shirts were underwear, so to speak. there were no occasions in ‘polite society‘ where one could only wear a shirt without a vest on top.

this is something we see mirrored in both dishonored games, though the style of the vests and clothing have somewhat changed, they still follow the same rules of vests worn with every outfit, as far as we can tell. (we could argue that Jessamine is not wearing one, or that some higher class women aren’t wearing vests under their buttoned up jackets, but since we don’t really see underneath we can’t judge.)

we see the vests be worn even by the Whalers in the first game (which in itself brings up many questions. are whalers, the actual whalers that capture and kill whales, held in high enough regard by the society that they made a vest part of their uniform? or is it merely something that is worn by all? something that every citizen of sound mind would don, were they to leave their house?)

there are a few exceptions to this, of course, but this whole thing came to be by asking a simple question

does the Outsider wear a vest under his leather jacket?

now, in the first game, his jacket is unbuttoned just enough for us to get a good enough peek at what lies beneath. which is to say: there is no hint of a vest underneath. judging by the vests in the first game, the fashion was that the vest would go up high, often covering collarbones or even having a standing collar. what we see on the Outsider is just... an unbuttoned shirt

it’s much the same in the second game, even if we examine his final concept art, his outfit consists of a shirt (more or less underwear) with most of the top buttons unbuttoned, and a jacket on top. no hint of a vest underneath

what I’m trying to say is that the Outsider is a slut

#dh #dishonored #the outsider #I got hyperfixated on fashion of the belle epoque (the inspiration for dh fashion) so most of this information in regards to history #should be accurate #mind you the books I read had a heavy focus on habsburg monarchy fashion so it might be slightly different to say the US or france etc etc #but that should be right #if anyone has stuff from the games to disprove the vest in higher classes statement bring it on #I doubt the artists would do such a great transgression against polite manners though /j #but yeah tl;dr the outsider wears the equivalent of a blazer on top of a bra #I have so many thoughts and feelings about the fashion in these games I could go on for Ages #this all started when I was thinking about human outsider being taken in by corvo and emily and as he takes his clothes off for a bath #a maid is absolutely scandalized by his lack of a vest underneath #I do want to acknowledge that there is concept art of outsider in dh2 that DOES have a vest under the jacket but that one went unused #the pattern on it kinda reminds me of the pattern on corvo's and emily's clothing tho that might be a reach. or just a pattern thats popular #i firmly stand by my headcanon that the outsider tries to imitate the fashion of the real world in the void with a bit of his own Void spin

[paimonial-rage]

alhaitham analysis

When you first meet Alhaitham, he comes across as someone that has a negative EQ. He's curt, rude, and critical. And yet the truth is surprising? Like looking at his character quest and how he basically emotionally manipulated the whole hive into revolting, this man is very emotionally intelligent. You can honestly see it in a lot of his lines too. When he speaks about people, yes, he may sound like he's simplifying or trivializing things too much, but he's not wrong. He understands people. He knows how they work. It's just that he views emotional labor as too much of a hassle majority of the time.

Spoilers below the cut

You can gather a lot about Alhaitham through Kaveh's character stories. Like while it may not seem like it, Alhaitham is genuinely trying to help Kaveh. He points out to Kaveh that the source of his problems isn't luck, but his sense of impractical idealism and inescapable guilt. Some may say Alhaitham lacked tact when saying this, but it was kindness on Alhaitham's part. Once someone can acknowledge the truth, no matter how hurtful, they can then make the needed changes for the better. When they met up again years later, Alhaitham asked him, "How has realizing your ideals gone for you?" This wasn't done out of a sense of pettiness, but to solidify the truth once more. It was to help.

I think if you don't know someone that operates in this way, Alhaitham's love language may be difficult to decipher. His words may seem cruel. It may seem like he's trivializing your problems. But to speak truth is to show that you're not a lost cause. He has proven he won't abandon you along the way. After all, to speak truth, no matter how hurtful, is to show love.

#genshin impact #alhaitham #character analyses #i was going to reblog someone else's post and reply to it but like... #i got worried i was disagreeing with parts of their post so i decided to make a completely new one haha;;; #i will word this better later #but as someone that functions the same way as alhaitham like... #i've been called cruel and mean #i've been accused of picking fights with people #people that don't know me well think i say things out of malicious intent #i say things because i dislike seeing people suffer and i want them to get better #because usually the source of people's problems are themselves not outside factors #i do want to write a further relationship analysis (aka alhaitham in a relationship) but 3.6 just came out and i wanna play HAHA #so if you're interested please let me know #i say this because when i leave things to sit i lose motivation veeerrryyyy quickly #tl;dr his relationship with kaveh proves that he would not work with just anyone haha #he won't change just because he loves you

[slumbergoblin]

could I tell you what this is about? no I could not <3

#pmatga #my art #betrayus #dr. b #butler #I have like. two episode ideas both involving betrayus and mei but you bet your bippies I don't have any of it written down! #maybe later I can write them down for once and share what I have off of the top of my head #I can tl;dr the first one which is just #betrayus is cursed by ghoulasha and gets to spend 12 hours outside of the nether realm. but is spiritually bound to his rabbit plushie #so no matter what for 12 hours he can't leave that stuffed animal #he ends up in Ellie's backpack (she found him on the side of the road) and pac and the gang are like 'haha isn't that Betrayus's rabbit' #and then they go 'isn't that betrayus's rabbit' #and then Ellie ends up taking him back to where she is staying with her aunt (Mei) #and then bada bing bada boom Mei and Betrayus are reunited after 13-ish years (but only for a moment) #theres waayyy more to it that I want to draw out. but I can't promise that I'll be able to #it's all cinderella style baybeee once that clock hits midnight he's pulled back into his throne room B)

[moralesmilesanhour]

I personally view the possibility of a romantic relationship between them as detrimental to their individual characters and it's not really something people want to talk about, which I get, but like there's a really deeper way to view their relationship other than "haha cute wholesome dramatic teen superhero romance" like on a metanarrative level. Because you'd think all the other things in spiderman mythos the movie is critiquing and expanding they'd address the very obvious elephant in the room with gwen but oop-

Yeah I think I'd rock w Gwiles more as a romantic ship if Gwen's role as a love interest wasn't so thematically dissonant. If they were gonna hijack Miles' story like that I think they should've had a better reason than justification for a romantic relationship. And then they added Margo to the mix so like what was the point of all that lmaooo

#i know this sounds counterintuitive. but i genuinely think Gwen's arc as a character would've been cleaner had they not made her #a secondary protagonist #like we had her motivation and her friendship with Miles is the catalyst for her learning to open up #and also to realize that there are possibilities outside of what your story is “supposed to be” #that's it! that's all she needed! #the romance doesn't work bc even characters who show up for like 5 minutes have more of an impact on Miles than she did for the entirety #of itsv #this story is fundamentally about Miles and so that is going to reflect in how other characters' arcs go #to suddenly decide to make it a love story is kind of a doomed endeavor imo #i hope any of that makes sense #tl;dr: they should've just given gwen a solo film im sorry #ask #blabbering

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

i want to go ahead and write up A Whole Thing about how ricky's arc ultimately comes down to 'protect what's yours,' in a way that tbh manages to be kind of the opposite of the toxic masculinity that trope tends to embody in western media especially. but also it relies on several other major essays about the themes in this show that i need to write up first to tie them all together with it. ashdjsjdjdh. Help

#SDMItag #ricky owens #i'll probably try writing it up for now and then see which things it does turn out i'll need to establish first #but the tl;dr is that ~protect what's yours like a man~ tropes are all about Defending Your Assets from Outside Forces with Violence(tm) #and ricky's 'protect what's yours' is about love as in loyalty as in setting down your stake Here #committing yourself to the wellbeing of whoever or whatever you've chosen; being a support for them to grow and be safe and be free #'yours' as in your family your community your work your activism the things you've built #instead of 'yours' meaning 'i have the right to destroy this and exploit it and throw it away as i please. it's there for me to take from' #it's 'i have a duty; and that duty is not synonymous with Violence; it can be feeding and healing the people you love' #'it can be putting your foot down and removing someone's access to a person or thing you've chosen when they're exploiting them/it' #'it can be *refusing* to do violence' #it's 'you chose me and you were supposed to love me and instead you treated me like a thing that exists for you to use and ruin' #'well i wasn't. i'm not. and i'm going to be what i needed you to be and you weren't' #'i refuse to hurt what's mine for my own gain because i can and i won't let you do it either' #it fucking kills me and it makes what pericles does to him and forces him to do in retaliation that much more fucking tragic #there's so much dude oh my god #kill me #professor pericles #dyn: when i die i want you to die too #abuse cw

[twowink]

you know what. fuck it it should be said. i think that erasing sakis illness is ABSOLUTELY ableism ESPECIALLY if you make tsukasa sick instead . i dont care if its a 'swap au' and i dont care if you make tsukasa ill but saki is a canonically disabled character (her illness reads very much like a chronic illness) and its insane how some of you people think that getting rid of that or trying to only Really focus on that ON HER NONCANONICALLY ILL BROTHER (whether its by making him ill or making him ill instead) isnt absolutely insidious

#.txt #project sekai #i think if you make tsukasa chronically ill thats fine. i dislike it when people try to focus on that . or write sakis illness and focus on #the effects on tsukasa because it Reeks of misogyny and for the latter ableism too ... and if you get rid of sakis illness #Biting Killing Maiming Murdering Attacking you get the gist. #tl;dr : if youre not going to discuss or care abt sakis disability outside of kasa angst then just shut up abt the tenmas entirely #this is a little aggressive but in the 13 chronic illness tag for prsk there are A GRAND TOTAL OF 3 ONES THAT ARE SAKI FOCUSED #or at least seem saki focused / tenma focused equally #lalallallaallallala <- wants to kill #amia.txt

[avallachs]

i need to write the creation of varinia’s unsundered self, lethe. it’s very pygmalion and galatea but also very frankenstein and the creature. it’s disgusting. i hope anyone i force to read it when i’m finished feels sick afterwards

#ophelia.txt #ocs tag #oc: lethe #tl;dr i gave her a creation myth rather than having her be born naturally bc what better way to depict autism in such a straight-laced #society that is so heavily dependent on rules and suppression of the self / condemnation of the individual and so obsessed on the #nonexistent divide between nature and humankind than to make a person who is a creation and therefore is that line and therefore is #always looking in from the outside because she does not belong to nature because she was not born but she does not belong to man as she was #created to resemble him. im going to eat my own organs

[wetpapert0wel]

waaaah i wanna play more voices of the void but its scary scary scary

#its so so good and so fun but im scared 2 go back bc Events are Happening and It Scary Me. #the event that made me quit was i heard something incorrectly punch in the pin to get into the main office LOL #i didnt even check if i left the garage open (which im 85% sure i Closed it). i just saved & quit LMAO #in my defense. this happened One or Two In-Game Days after the shadows chasing you nightmare. smth like one or two real-time hours pbb. #also the mannequin is walking around. #i kept putting him in lockers but he kept getting out & standing in the middle of the hall in different poses. #i eventually threw him outside & he has yet to return lol #i think im on day. 20 ?? last time i checked it was day 17 but it's definitely been a few in-game days since then lol #things start happening two weeks in. things get Bad around 30 days in. im so scares. #it Doesnt help that i know 90% of what to expect out of these events. u'd think it would. but no. #TL;DR The Reason Im Scares Is Because Scary Things Are Happening And They Are Making Me Scary #orignaletti

[sophfandoms53]

I love Sonic Boom but the amount of damage that series has done to how people perceive the characters, particularly Knuckles? Omg.

The show has been over for like 5 years and yet people still panic at any clip or scene that dares to portray Knuckles making a mistake or a joke as him being written like his boom counterpart.

There used to be a time where Knuckles was allowed to be gullible, hotheaded, and have jokes and nobody would ever say he was OOC because it was all part of his personality. But for several years now whenever Knuckles isn’t just being a brute and shows more sides to his character, in media that isn’t even Boom, suddenly he’s dumb and “ugh he’s just boom!knuckles now.” It’s ridiculous.

Yes, Sonic Boom is meant to be a comedy so a certain aspect of every character is heightened but we’ve reached a point where if a character shows that aspect at all in other media almost instantly people are making comparisons to Boom even though those are alternate versions of the characters that we aren’t supposed to take seriously.

#and this ain’t even getting into the damage boom has done to shadow #how jerky and edgy (cries) they made him #and how he was portrayed as a villain #which makes me nervous about how ppl will respond to bad guy shadow in movie 3 #bc bad guy shadow isn’t the frail ego ‘I take orders from no one’ dude that boom made him #bad guy shadow is moreso ‘I got a job to do and if you get in the way I’ll fight you too’ #and tbh that’s kinda shadow in general but it’s handled differently #bc his intentions are different after his redemption #but even so #shadow being independent and preferring to work alone doesn’t suddenly mean he can’t listen to other ppl #literally in SA2 and X when Amy or Chris spoke to him about what Maria wanted and how people are good he was literally listening #and bc he was listening he realized wtf he was doing #and was like wait lemme fix this #it’s all right there?? like I don’t get it??? #and this same thing applies to knuckles #if you look at him in any other media OUTSIDE of boom #you’ll see that how he’s portrayed in the film is a lot similar to those pieces of media #not everything has to go back to boom #tl;dr sonic boom is not the only source for characterization nor should it be #sonic the hedgehog #knuckles the echidna #shadow the hedgehog #bc I rambled about him in the tags #sonic movie #sonic movie 2 #sonic movie 3 #sonic boom

[miodiodavinci]

you ever end up typing a rant in the tags so long tumblr physically cuts you off and the post publishes with probably only 1/3rd of the tags

#had an interaction with The Leech™ and it left me feeling so frustrated and upset #tl;dr: i wanted to record today but she showed up and started talking so loudly my mic could pick her up through my bedroom door #and it hit me that it's fucked up that she's somehow just allowed to come and go as she pleases #(and is actively entertaining the thought of moving back in for a minimum of 2 months if she gets the surgery she's looking for) #(2 months to 2 years according to her words) #(despite the fact that she was literally evicted nearly a year ago) #(after 7+ years of sleeping on our couch and making our lives hell and generally dodging any attempt to get her to get a life and move out) #anyway after about 20 minutes of chatter i heard her go outside #find the plant i bought and planted myself this last week #(the first one i've ever had ! ! ! ) #(every other plant i've ever cared for has either been my grandmother's or a gift from someone else) #(most notably the two peace lilies from my dad's memorial service) #and dump. an entire bucket of water on it. left over from soaking her orchids she insists on keeping here. #spoilers: it's a desert plant that requires low moisture and well-drained soil #so i went out and got on her about that and she insisted she was just trying to help #(like how she was '''just trying to help''' when she nearly drowned both of the aforementioned lilies) #(because she literally kept putting in water until there was noting but standing water without soil in the pot) #and for a half hour after kept coming in to bother me about the plant #asking where i bought it and if she could have clippings and asking if i had the right soil or the right tools #and reminding me of how i tried to grow pumpkin seeds when i was six and they died #and INSISTING she knew more about caring for it despite the fact that i literally researched this plant for a solid week before #and jsu t #another instance of The Leech™ trying to jam herself into my life so she can claim she's a provider and i'm helpless without her #but also turn around and complain about how it's sooo hard caring for us and how it's //impossible// for her to get a life #if she's busy caring for us #fuck off and die actually

[dmclemblems]

an extremely lengthy and massive deduction of Hopes Claude, feat. Faerghus politics and why Hopes Claude saw a slippery slide with its water on full blast and jumped on it without his summer Heroes alt or his swimsuit, causing all kinds of pain and suffering and grief, brought to you by i have nothing else to do except play more Hopes anyway.

so as some of you probably know I’m not a fan of Hopes Claude, but it does prove to me some things: Claude would only ever side with Edelgard in a world where he lacked proper knowledge about Fodlan.

the only chance in the entire world that he would even somewhat align with her goals is a world where he didn’t know what the fuck he was even actually getting himself into, was too young (19 versus 23), and had no idea how to handle foreign politics.

in a world where he does understand Fodlan, is not too young and is far more knowledge about the land’s politics, he sides with Dimitri (AM and intended to do so in all other routes) and does not want Rhea dead.

people are arguing that Claude entertained the idea of Rhea being dead in Houses; however, this only happened very briefly and during an earlier time in the Academy arc. He was 17/18, had not been in the Academy for a whole year yet, and was still extremely iffy and lacked knowledge about Fodlan’s politics and how the Church was part of them.

in a world where Claude grew into adulthood in Fodlan and was able to learn its culture and customs, he also understood that killing Rhea was not the answer and that no amount of bloodshed was going to solve the greater levels of problems.

it’s also worth noting that his trust in Dimitri between both games proves these points. in Hopes, we’re basically dealing with a stunted Fodlan growth Claude who was taken in by Edelgard’s bullshit because he was stressed out and tired of playing defensive against the Empire. he basically surrendered to her by making an alliance with her and just took her concepts about the Church and ran with them because he was tired.

he didn’t have the same trust in Dimitri because he didn’t know him as well, which is shown when he says he doesn’t understand what’s going on in  Dimitri’s head, versus in AM where he very, extremely understands Dimitri’s mindset to the most sensitive aspects of Dimitri’s behavior. how did he know that Byleth could talk to Dimitri and get him to listen? how did he know that Dimitri clung to the dead in the ways that he did? he knew those things because he knew Dimitri significantly better.

I see people saying that not having Byleth with Claude was why he ended up like this. that’s completely incorrect as proven by all three other routes in Houses. the main factor was his lack of being at the Academy for a full year and being able to have five years instead of two to learn and understand Fodlan’s political landscape.

the issue with Claude in Hopes is that he was basically thrown into a defensive war way sooner than he could handle. remember, Claude came from a life where he was a target for assassination repeatedly since for as long as he had any memories. he’s coming from a bad personal environment. on its own Almyra isn’t as bad as people in Fodlan see it as, but Claude’s own life was pretty terrible. couple that with literally running away from home without a word (only his mother knew about it as confirmed in Hopes with both Shahid and their father having no idea where he went and his father being distraught about it enough that he didn’t care that Shahid was causing mayhem in Fodlan) and the fact that he ran away to Fodlan and only had a few months at the Academy before things got messy enough that Rhea had to send everyone home.

then, take him running away from that horrible environment he lived in and couple it with the fact that he had two years there before Edelgard forced him into a war when he and the other lords of the Alliance did nothing whatsoever to her. he had, say, a total of two and a half years tops to get used to Fodlan before he got forced into a defensive war as a 19 year old. on top of that, whether or not you like Shez as a character, it’s not untrue that Shez is the one who planted the idea of overthrowing the Alliance into his head. even though they talked about it at the roundtable, Lorenz stated it was a VERY long discussion and from the sounds of it, it took a whole shit ton of convincing for Claude to be able to become its singular leader.

all of that culminated in what was essentially Claude’s bad ending, leading to him wanting to overthrow Fodlan and “take it for himself”, which as we know is nothing like Claude in Houses. imo all of these factors basically drove Claude to his worst mindset, where he would literally trap their supposed allies (Randolph’s army) and leave them to die, then only a bit more time passing before he declares war on the entirety of Fodlan.

not only is he basically exactly the same as Edelgard by this point, with both of them waging war on every single political power on the continent outside their own country, but Dimitri is the only one who wants nothing to do with it and is just trying to fix his own country while having to deal with the Church pressuring him (Rhea more specifically, because Seteth is far more mellow in his approach. Rhea is more along the lines of “we have to defeat them and kill these heathens” and Seteth is more along the lines of just wanting to make sure Rhea, Flayn and the Church are safe). Dimitri ends up with pressure on every single possible side: the Church, the Empire, the Alliance, and the civil wars in Faerghus that Cornelia and Rufus effectively caused. and, well, on top of all that, he’s got TWS to deal with, so... imo Claude really helped cause a bad ending/future for Fodlan by doing this. he’s basically assisted in helping destroy Fodlan.

what I’m saying is that TWS basically has Edelgard and Claude dancing on strings and helping them completely rip Fodlan apart. a younger version of Claude with less emotional attachment to Fodlan and less understanding of its inner workings is basically no better than Edelgard in being perfect bait for TWS to use and abuse.

tbh, TWS might have actually succeeded in wiping out Fodlan entirely if not for Faerghus and how loyal and emotional its leaders are. while the Alliance and Empire are having a vicious war that leads to Claude descending into the mess we saw in Hopes, Dimitri is stuck between dealing with the Empire and Cornelia, gets captured and is about to give up his life so his people don’t get killed (because Cornelia was using them as mass hostages essentially and was going to kill as many of his people as possible with TWS’ weaponry).

the only reason that didn’t happen is because Felix, who is in charge of the army in Dimitri’s absence, and everyone assisting him drop what they’re doing in the war, leave the defenses to Miklan and head out to save Dimitri. in GW/SB we don’t hear much from the Kingdom because for a chunk of chapters they’re dealing with their own issues, which also reduces the time Claude is exposed to seeing what Faerghus is like and learning that things are not as bad in Fodlan as Edelgard made them out to be. Faerghus is forced to be wrapped up in their own affairs and have no communication with the outside world because they have no chance to be.

the Faerghus part of Claude’s lack of knowledge that was extremely important and what Claude needed to know but didn’t that caused him to go down a slippery slope he couldn’t come back from:

“oh no crests and the system have taken over fodlan aaaaa” Faerghus has been trying to solve that for years and has been steadily and peacefully working to manage that, and it’s very clearly expressed in this game. while they were doing this in Houses too, it was less clear just how deeply into the subject they were going with it within their own leaders/powers. not only does Sylvain’s support with Dimitri discuss very in depth that they’ve been working on it and are still trying to in the middle of a war because it means so much to them, but the fact that Dimitri hired a non-Crest bearer to be a commander in his army is enough proof that they’ve made progress.

now while there was a minor shitshow of boo hoo how could you hire a former bandit as a commander, that had nothing to do with Crests! people were more concerned that Dimitri wasn’t being careful enough in who he hired because of background and history, but Dimitri’s decision was actually, wait for it, the correct answer. hiring someone who was disinherited for not bearing a Crest as a commander in his army was the proof that he hired based on strength, merit and potential. he also was willing to give people second chances and the only people who were aware of this internal concern were people more closely related to the Faerghus Four’s territory.

Seteth, in particular, has a good deal of faith in Miklan’s abilities as expressed at camp in chapter eight. as an outsider to the drama the Faerghus Four know about, all Seteth (the second highest power in the entirety of the Church system) is seeing is a non-Crest bearer with potential and capability leading a unit and being loyal to Dimtiri. while Miklan prefers to act like he’s not really all that loyal and had no choice (as discussed when Miklan is officially established as part of the army and at camp), he could have turned tail and left (especially during chapter nine), but he decided to lay down his life for this and died with more or less a smile/smirk, indicating he was satisfied with his decision and didn’t lament his fate the way he did in Houses when Dimitri didn’t have the chance to save him.

what this means for Claude is that there was an entire mess going on in Faerghus all that time that he was struggling and starting to question how to handle the war on his end. everything Claude lost all faith in was happening elsewhere in Fodlan, and had he had the time at the Academy to see what it was like there, he would have had more time to realize that Dimitri (and thus the future of Faerghus) was someone who was going to turn the Crest system on its absolute head if given the time to do so (and Sylvain is very much a pioneer in fixing that system in BOTH games, which again circles back to Miklan in part of why Sylvain is so deeply part of that change).

tbh I think the biggest loss for Claude here is that he didn’t get to meet Miklan and find out that Dimitri had given him such a prominent station in the Faerghus army (and mind you, his absolute trust and Sylvain’s. they left a good chunk of trust in the soldiers left to handle the Empire when they had to rescue Dimitri, which means they all also trusted they wouldn’t be turned on and have anyone betray them for the Empire). that would have been the first crack in his concerns with the Crest system and would have led him with his more curious nature to look more into what was going on in the Faerghus army, and thus, destroying any perception he had that the Crest system was really destroying Fodlan.

ultimately yeah, you could say the Crest system had become an issue... but if Claude had more time to realize people were working on it, peacefully and without bloodshed, he would have sided with those people instead of becoming a huge warmonger, equal to the scale of Edelgard.

what I’m saying is that yeah, I don’t like how Claude turned out in GW/SB, but I can see where it came from and how fucked up it made him that he didn’t spend that time at the Academy. again, Byleth being by Claude’s side had zero bearing on Claude’s maturity. in AM Byleth was never with Claude, but Claude ceded the Alliance to Dimitri and trusted him to care for Fodlan and Claude’s people while giving him the Alliance’s most important possession (Failnaught). he didn’t need Byleth at his side to mature. he needed time and understanding. Byleth did help somewhat by being there because he knew Byleth for a whole year, knew Byleth’s influence on Dimitri on a personal scale in AM (proven in AM chapter 19), and because Byleth naturally had a large part in the turn of events, but Byleth was not a singular reason for Claude to go in one direction or another.

you know at this point im more inclined to say tl;dr miklan’s appointment as a commander in the army could’ve saved fodlan’s future if claude had only met him and learned about his background because claude’s perception of the crest system and edelgard’s nonsense would've been shattered in a heartbeat.

so you know what, i think im gonna say tl;dr dimitri and miklan should’ve been the real mvps but we were robbed because miklan deserved so much more having finally turned his life around no thanks to matthias

...real tl;dr tho, hopes claude (particularly non AG) is literally bad ending claude while houses claude (AM/VW) is good ending claude (CF ending claude varies between dead claude and status unknown claude bc we don’t really learn what happened with him after the game. we just know he went back to Almyra and not if he ever bothered forging relations with an Edelgard conquered Fodlan). ss ending claude is just a big ol’ ??? but i’d assume things worked out in the end bc byleth took over as the leader of fodlan in ss which is exactly what happened in vw so if vw led to good ending claude, i assume ss did too.

#Three Houses #Three Hopes #Three Hopes Spoilers #what this is: A Very Lengthy Post About Two Claudes #(by very lengthy i mean kinda massive) #what this also is: a comprehensive look into why Edelgard and Claude's motives in Hopes are a total failure #what this also also is: why is Claude had had more exposure to Faerghus' politics that he NEVER signed on with Edelgard's war #and THEN made his own war so there were basically two mass declarations of war going at once #and mind you the fact that Claude declared war on Faerghus too further proved that Claude didn't even have basic knowledge of Dimitri #getting cozy with Faerghus would have allowed him to properly assess the Church and talks things out with them #and if that failed he would be able to take it from there but with the help of the lords from Faerghus #and with that he would've had security in that if Rhea tried to harm him that Dimitri could intervene #what I'm saying is that a Claude who didn't have enough time in Fodlan after coming there from his own life in Almyra #is a Claude who was emotionally and politically stunted in his growth in Fodlan and expressed stress and confusion very often #what this also also also is: Faerghus was handling the Crest system anyway and Edelgard ruined everything #and Claude got swept up in Edelgard's bullshit in Hopes #honestly I think the tl;dr of this is that Miklan is kind of the center of proof that Faerghus was doing the right thing #and that Faerghus was the most progressive nation in Fodlan. they were just doing it quietly and internally #and they couldn't have changed anything outside of Faerghus without first fixing Faerghus itself #also I rly hate the whole ''THE CHURCH IS BAD" concept bc like wtf did Seteth and Flayn ever do to y'all... #I hate how so many characters boil down whatever Rhea does to being the fault of EVERYONE in the Church #as if they all knew about everything/had a say in everything bc even Seteth wasn't privy to what happened with Byleth in Houses #even if characters hate Rhea there's no reason to blame the entirety of the Church for that #you'd think people would realize that's discrimination but even a lot of fans just go along with it. siiiigh

[sylvctica]

      Thank the gods their private life was ... well, private.

#[ tl;dr this is something they will go to their grave with so no one outside of ZL knows ] #[ but the first time they ever nutted it was just the same neon green as their body blood ] #[ mountain dew nut ] #[ and then they're just '................... wait a second that's--im changing that next time wtf' ] #[ thanks to my friend for leaving me with that question if their nut was white LMAO ] #SYLVIE // SHITPOST. #suggestive cw

[ft-nostalgia]

I am saying this with all the love in my heart: Comic book characters are not sentient; they cannot make choices on their own, they are constantly changing and if you're going to judge them based on their choices rather than take what you enjoy and leave the rest, you need to think critically. Not just about the world the character lives in, but your actual reality. Who wrote that comic? Do they have a history of writing terrible, bigoted garbage? Maybe don't judge the characters actions then. Because they didn't choose to do this fucked up thing that doesn't align with the rest of their character thus far. Some writer had what they thought was a cool idea and wrote their little official fanfiction into existence. Move on from it. Ignore stories written by that writer in the future. Cultivate your canon and your character experiences.

#tl;dr talia al ghul did not assault Bruce Wayne #it simply didn't happen #she told Bruce she lost the baby so he'd go back to being Batman #because the world needed him more than she needed her beloved or Damian needed his father #and that's INTERESTING #and something we can play with endlessly outside of canon #but her being an assaulter literally ends the story #like Bruce is just supposed to get over that? how do i hurdle that hurdle? #i can't #anyway #DC #marvel #comics #critical thinking #batman #bruce wayne #talia al ghul #i swear officers it's not my queue i've never seen it before

[scarletooyoroi]

Ascend.

What did it mean to burn for concepts beyond instinctively wrought destruction? To bring humanity’s divine spark to the element of fire?

What did it mean to truly warm a soul without reducing it to cinders?

Thoma’s journey to truly understand new perceptions to the weight he carries began during the eve beyond the Tenshukaku Showdown. Many who knew him could easily sense a disturbance within the struggling balance of tranquility within him. A sense of unrest that stirred beyond agitated wanderlust made by experiencing storm walls as his prison alongside so many others.

How Inazuma was in a process of eating itself alive amidst the Vision Hunts. Fighting for others, realizing limitations, nearly losing his own until a Morning Star drew celestial light against countless centuries of rigid principles in the name of letting his flame burn bright. It struck Thoma that he was horribly, horribly weak compared to the stages he intended to advance upon.

For this reason the refortifying of this resolve that drew forth Vision from the infernal hell that ceaselessly roars from the great beyonds of Teyvat was met. Time was taken, and his frequency amidst the Kamisato Estate, and truthfully, beyond Inazuman cities found themselves to be incredibly sparse. It would be within the wilds and ruins of old, with only a bare calling that echoed like a lucid dreamer within serving as his only clues.

“I will not forget my initial promise. Let this burning flame protect those I cherish, and may it never be extinguished.”

Inazuma has become the home that carved away the non-essential softness from his being, to bring him before the great flame and temper him with the iron strikes of trial. A home that nurtures strength into resolved. Thus, Thoma would walk, he would travel to where that whisper within his will inspired him to fight. To test, to endure, to find a profound brilliance through suffering bringing the light of reason. Enduring burns that shed to new potential, that roasts his entrails until they stubbornly reignited, tearing away soot and grime.

Hypostatis. The Crimson Witch. Tsurumi Island.

Forces that were now ingrained into the fountain of power known as the Ley Lines would come to heed his call. Revealing to the Fixer the intensity of ambition, the intensity of nature, to the light that shimmers amidst the madness of his forebearers. If Teyvat wanted to draw a particular discipline into bone and sinew, it held no hesitation, giving him trials to broaden and ignite the power that endured burning at the very roots.

From memories of the land, to the nature of the distorted order of the Ley Lines, he’d bravely bring his hands into Hell itself in order to pull forth his heightened will.

Through a lethal dance through Hellfire Butterflies drawing the power memories to his call, by enduring the agonies of scorched flesh of Smoldering Pearls and compressing his strength to step beyond and to infuse them, it’d be within this time of Inazuma that he thinks of the concepts of Loyalty and Righteousness. To think of those who stuck their heads out for him, walked by him, and fought by him. Thoma’s ambition would honor yet devour the many ambitions that aim to clash and weight heavily upon him. He would grow.

A gentle yet furious strength. Fire that lends itself as a protective shroud for the deserving while immolating any and all opposition to scatter as pure ashes.

Many would come to witness the change of how those shoulders stand high. How his eyes hold a balance between natural wisdom to the ferocity that contently rests within.

Thoma’s path truly stirring life into his very Ambition would now be a central part of his life.

#| HCs #tl;dr Thoma hits up a training trip post the Archon quests #And it's moreso a personal journey of going through the Ascension phase himself #Learning much within and outside #being a 'level 1' forever is banned here #So things like domain travel are an aspect you can catch him around

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

trying to lay out my interpretation of why brad and judy are simultaneously awful and really goddamn sad, beyond just having lost their baby under traumatic circumstances as already-traumatized autistic young adults with zero support system left but each other, is wild because it includes in full seriousness the word 'sheepnado'

#sdmi #scooby doo: mystery incorporated #brad chiles #judy reeves #tl;dr they are Like That in large part because pericles fucked them up in a very particular way #that made them dependent on him to give them cues for what to do and validation for the results #and when they suddenly had that ripped away they dealt with it by just making a closed loop where they follow each other in circles #in order to make one semi-functioning adult with a semi-functioning ability to actually choose to set out and do things #nothing else really *matters* to them outside of that fragile closed loop (and christ it is fragile); they set up a steady source of income #and then just fuck off to go effectively be alone together for 20 years; amassing and perfecting a bunch of random skills #because they are both very intelligent in some ways and Need to Stay Occupied; but what else are we gonna do #just aimlessly follow each other in circles and there's no room to actually choose a direction from there #and if anything breaks the closed loop; or doesn't fit into a hesitantly expanded version of it they had in mind #they freak out and they lash out at it even when they're pretending to be cheerful and unaffected #and the only real reason they *did* have to act on caring about something outside that feedback loop before--fred #ended up *being 'sit on your hands and do nothing for 20 years'*; when they are border collies climbing the walls without things to pursue #then suddenly that's gone and they can go care about fred again! except Oops now there is a force influencing them whose entire thing is #'induce artificial craving for Thing.' they try to love fred but they also resent him for being why they spent 20 years with nothing to Do #especially when things are Different now and he's his own person who doesn't really mesh into a closed loop with them; instead of the baby #they could have imagined whatever they wanted about all that time. they are desperately exhausted with caring about fred #and deeply traumatized by having done it; & at this point when a ball is waved in front of them to go fetch that they aren't burned out on #they go 'fuck it sorry kid you come second this time.' and then he *very purposely* cuts ties w/them & therefore any possibility of a loop #and they stop caring completely and lash out instead; especially because the person who fucked them up like this in the first place #has waltzed back into their life and snapped his fingers for them to heel. now they're great tools for his agenda including abusing ricky #'he's a genius right brad' 'my loyal brad and judy' siding w/pericles despite ricky having been a more reliable choice who explicitly treat #them as equals and doesn't constantly insult them and talk to them like pets. and then when something as small as Looking Different breaks #that one last most supposedly dependable loop they had they break down and start lashing out at each other. they 'behave like children.' #there's so much here man. they suck so goddamn bad and they fuck me up. thinking about the oldgang for the rest of my life