I've written before about how Ace's story has so many goddamn biblical allusions/parallels with the New Testament (conceived of by a miracle, survived a state-sanctioned mass infanticide/femicide, handed over for execution by a traitor, biblical resurrection kinda fulfilled through Luffy and Sabo inheriting his will) that I sometimes wonder if it's kind of intentional. That being said, if Ace is a Christ figure, he's a very interesting take on one: he's not dying voluntarily, but because the Navy and the World Government are hoping to set an example, reaffirm their power, and (theoretically, although this is a far less convincing motivation than punitive cruelty for the sake of it) discourage people from participating in the search for Roger's legacy and "end the great pirate era". He's not perfectly wise or selfless or divinely blessed by his parentage, nor does he ever identify with his semi-divine father; he's a twenty-year-old who rejects Roger and spends his whole life trying to find some agency and freedom from that legacy, living with the perpetual excruciating terror of being discovered until it finally happens and he's doomed both by the narrative and by the terrible destiny of being born a D and Roger's child. His execution isn't framed as a predestined moment of divine sacrifice and absolution, it's a frantic nightmare that ends in tragedy, surrounded by constant reminders of the hollow, twisted "justice" and false promises of a new dawn espoused by the oppressor. And when he does end up sacrificing himself, he doesn't do it for a greater purpose, or for the good of mankind: he dies fighting for himself and his family, he dies turning around to confront the tormentors who have taken his and his loved one's lives and freedom and mocked their sacrifice, and, most importantly, he dies for Luffy. He dies in defiance of these grand narratives ascribed to him: not to save the world or bring about a new era but in the name of defending the people he loves and finds his purpose in loving.
TLDR: Oda’s take on the Christ Figure isn’t a prophet or all-knowing son of God, but a young person born with a terrible fate, who tries to live and find love in his friends and brothers and family only to have it stolen from him by the powers that be for a cruel birthright he had no say in, whose execution and its symbolic purposes are forced on him from outside. He's a child who deserves the world and is killed for the "sins" of others, but instead of dying on the cross, instead of being sacrificed on the altar of state control for an ostensible end to an era, he manages to die fighting on his own terms for something that truly matters to him, and the ripple effects caused by his death/sacrifice are slated to eventually bring about the downfall of the system that murdered him.
i need all of you to be invested in carloscar (?) carcar (?) as i am right now and imagine a world where they are teammates because their dynamic would be so funny.
Having read the Masquerade series multiple times, I thought I knew roughly what to expect from Exorida.
But Exordia does not read like Baru Cormorant.
Exordia reads like Douglas Adams and Scott Alexander had a teleporter mishap The Fly style, and then the resulting chimera was given a low dose of acid, locked in a padded cell with only a laptop, and told to write a scifi novel before they could come out.
Whether this is a good thing or not, I could not say.
genuinely idk whats wrong with joel smallishbeans all i know is that i want him to get worse i wanna say look at my mcyt he has every disease and have no one doubt me
Kind of gay to be doomed to die for a boy who’s incapable of even smiling at you, let alone loving you back
[ID: digital painting of Fakir kissing Mytho's neck. Mytho is looking away with an absent expression. Behind him is a stylistic gold circle haloing him and loosely resembling a crown. Fakir wears his knight outfit while Mytho wears a plain white shirt. Fakir holds Mytho's hand but Mytho's fingers don't clasp around his. End ID]
Please click for better quality. reference under cut:
Okay but you don't understand, this BG3 epilogue party is KILLING me. Can't sleep, can only continue thinking about this party. Namely in regards to Astarion and Gale.
MAJOR EPILOGUE SPOILERS AHEAD
Thought 1: I've been to the party having romanced Astarion and got the little bit from living in the underdark with the other spawn and the bit of the narrator telling you how the night before he says the past six months of happiness have weighed equally against his 200 years of torment (ugh my heart). But that's not what wrecked me. What DESTROYED me was the party from a different run where I did not romance him..... This man talks about how when he ran from the sun he felt so ashamed that his lowest day of running back to the dark was our biggest day of victory. He then recounts how he has learned to not see the dark as a curse but a part of himself and has found a way to be happy and a bit of a hero (in his own twisted way). Seeing him find happiness for himself almost feels like a better ending for him than loving him and that is wrecking my soul and tormenting my mind because I only want the best for him (he deserves it and more).
Thought 2: Fucking Gale (I say with all the love and sweetness I'm the world). I have three different runs with three different endings for him and I romanced him in N0NE of them, but he is what is keeping me awake the most right now.
Option 1: Blow up Gale... He has an astral projecting that shows up to give you a letter and when I tell you the look on Tav's face was devastating. When they tried to hug the projection only to pass thru him, their face had me in tears, you could SEE the hurt of them realizing AGAIN that Gale is truly gone. And the letter!? It's an unfinished last will and testament
Option 2: Gale becomes a god... And he is the worst version of himself. Ascended Astarion may be cruel and possessive, but there is still a sadness and insecurity underneath that drives his wicked nature. Gale is just.... So consumed by his new power that he truly feels like this is the best version of himself and feels so hollow. Not to mention, Raphael tells of the chaos he will bring and you just know that it would crush our Gale's heart to know he caused that when he thought he was inspiring people to follow their biggest ambitions.
Option 3: He's a teacher...... He teaches magic and it is perfect for him and he loves it and he loves the kids (even though he complains about them) and he wants to catch up over wine and have you as a guest lecturer and meet his mom. Just seeing him so perfectly happy after seeing those other options makes all of it hit that much harder.
I love Astarion, he will always be my favorite. But Gale is a close second, which is crazy to think about because when I first played I thought he was so annoying.
Astarion's story is so compelling and complicated and full of deep emotions... But Gale's is too. The perfect foils to each other and the best written characters (in my personal opinion).
Of all the endings I've seen so far (which I'm sure is not all of them) Gale has the most options for world shattering, devastating endings and his best ending is teaching magic... The two radical ends of this spectrum are killing me slowly by way of insomnia.