#just needs to know at this point despite the fact they're going to erase the timeline and it won't matter. clearly they've never met in thi

[doctorbrown]

I have a lot of thoughts about Doc & Marty and their time in the 1985A timeline tbh. We get to see a lot of Marty's time in that timeline (obviously) but almost none of Doc's besides when he shows up at Oak Park Cemetery and when he shows up again to save Marty on the roof of the Pleasure Paradise.

And despite the fact that Doc never shares what he saw during his own investigation nor his complete thoughts on the situation behind the obvious and pressing, we get told so much with so little, especially as they're preparing to leave Hell Valley for 1955 again.

In the DeLorean, when Marty asks what if we don't succeed, you can see it on Doc's face even before he says anything. Failure's not an option because he knows what's going to happen if they screw this up; this will be his reality when the time bubble bursts and they'll lose any and all chance of making things right if that happens.

"What if we don't succeed?"

"We must succeed."

And that's that. No consideration for the what-if, no room for doubt or misinterpretation. They might only get that one trip to the past to do it and there's no exact science behind how quickly the timeline will move to correct itself in situations like this. Marty had a week after nearly erasing himself from existence after screwing up his parents' meeting and they barely made it. They might only have a few hours. They could have three days. They just can't risk it.

Doc's normally a very expressive individual, but you don't often see or hear the genuine fear in his voice the same way you do in this interaction. Concern, sure, confusion and excitement and surprise and bewilderment, absolutely, but he's never visibly this rattled. He's clearly in a rush, more so than usual. He'd normally never leave behind someone in another time, certainly not Jen or Einie, but there's simply no time to waste and he's banking on that, their success.

Like, Biff's an idiot, sure, (at least when it comes to book smarts; he's clearly street smart) but we also know he's manipulative, vindictive, and self-serving and if he's got it in his head that Doc's going to be a threat to his empire and the ruse he's been keeping up for decades, he'll do whatever it takes.

So what did Doc actually see while in this timeline? I've got my own personal headcanons about this and I imagine everything he saw just got progressively worse and worse. This won't be an exhaustive list, just some of my thoughts particular to how I see the timeline and what I'd write as a sequence of events happening behind the scenes.

Doc's first order of business is a disguise—he doesn't yet know what's happened to him in this timeline or where he is and he's certain his name will be as well-known here as it was back home; he can't run the risk of someone finding out his identity and asking questions. He's not proud of it, but haste and urgency prompts him to steal the clothes.

He wants to go visit his own home, but without the assurance that his counterpart won't be there, he decides to make for the library instead, after spending a little time inspecting what Hill Valley has turned into. The degradation, vandalism, chaos, and obvious neglect causes the hair on his arms to stand on end and he's suddenly extremely worried about driving the time machine around so openly, hover conversion be damned. He stashes the DeLorean in the garage of an abandoned, dilapidated old home and shuts the door, believing it will be safer in there than him trying to drive it around and attract attention to himself.

Breaking into the library is easy enough. Windows are smashed, it has been boarded up and left to decay with a graffiti-laden sign proudly announcing this to be the newest location for another BiffCo addition; nobody's around to see him go in and so he helps himself. He's in the library a few hours sorting through all the disarray, but he finds several noteworthy articles: Biff's highly suspicious, meteoric rise to fame and fortune, his buying out of Hill Valley, reports of crime on the rise and the police abandoning the population, George McFly's death, Lorraine's marriage to Biff, the police having to close the case on the murder of George McFly several months later due to 'no leads', BiffCo purchasing Lone Pine Mall, the ongoing hunt for the group looking to topple the Tannen Empire, detailing the most recent siphoning of electricity and other resources, the list continues. Doc gets a clearer and clearer picture of what Biff has done to Hill Valley since his older self went back in time to give him the sports almanac.

Then he finds articles about himself—several—with the most recent and most damning being '83's front-page declaration that he has finally been committed indefinitely at the County Asylum and is filled with an icy dread. Now armed with the chilling knowledge that there's no possible way he can run into his alternate self, Doc retrieves the DeLorean and hurries off to 'his' home.

The lab is beyond saving and Doc spends a considerable amount of time rooting through all his upturned belongings, looking for any further clues or hints his alternate may have left behind, namely in the form of journals or audio recordings. Thinking where would I hide something if I was being targeted by a madman? Doc eventually manages to find some of the writings his alternate had left behind. Much of it was weather-damaged and heavily redacted, especially the parts detailing any of the specifics of time-travel, but Doc was able to glean enough of the story of the life his counterpart had lived.

The time machine was never completed due to power constraints, a shifted timeframe, and Biff and the authorities constantly hounding him. Alternate Doc had started growing suspicious of Biff after his third consecutive big sports win and began to suspect foul play via time-travel, thus fuelling his desire to complete his own research to do some investigation of his own. Something had always felt off. He'd been siphoning power on the down-low to keep his experiments going, never able to achieve the 1.21 gigawatts of power he needed for proper time travel. He could manage a few hours at best with this small amount of power, but that wouldn't do. He'd never gotten his hands on a DeLorean; his time travel device more closely resembles Doc's own early prototype for travelling through time, the TFC. The authorities began harassing him more and more, especially as protests against Biff began to pick up. He had secretly encouraged and even supported those with sense enough to stand up against Biff and his perverting corruption. His final unredacted entry was a short, cryptic line: It's safe.

Doc's an hour early to Oak Park Cemetery once he finally collects himself and he's waiting around with Einie, talking to him and trying to process everything he's just learned. What he'll tell Marty. He opts to keep everything but the most pertinent information a secret. It's only when he hears Marty screaming at George's grave that he knows he's there and makes his presence known.

When Marty goes back to the Pleasure Paradise to confront Biff, Doc uses the time to, against his better judgment drive to the County Asylum, where he's supposedly been locked up. Still in disguise and posing as a relative of his, he walks up to the check-in desk and inquires after himself, one Doctor Emmett L. Brown and receives news that he's in no shape to meet anyone, as he's currently in recovery. Doc hurries out.

Marty dies. He resolves never to speak of this to the boy so long as he lives, but the very first time, he's too late to be there to save him during his confrontation with Biff. Doc is frozen over the body of his friend while the world fades out around him and it takes a while for him to come to his senses enough to get back into the DeLorean and prevent this tragedy from ever happening. At that moment, he doesn't care that a crowd of people sees the time machine take off in flight; they won't remember in a minute anyway.

Anyway, long post over—these are some of the major thoughts I've got about this timeline.

#this is a very long post. hope y'all have that shorten long posts thing on #i rambled a lot. i had some things to say and i could keep going tbh #i'm not sorry #i also imagine he tries to find out more information about the mcflys - particularly marty and what happened to him - because he #just needs to know at this point despite the fact they're going to erase the timeline and it won't matter. clearly they've never met in thi #reality #&; a great idea can change the world 「 hc 」

[matan4il]

Feel like I'm going insane every time I see anti-Israeli propaganda. Just saw a post claiming the war in Gaza is one of the deadliest "in history." Gaza isn't even the deadliest war of 2023. Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar and others would like to have a word.

Is there a reason people feel the need to lie to care about Palestinians? Like do they feel that if they told the truth, they'd be hypocrites for not caring about other conflicts?

Hi Nonnie,

I'm with you, the dumb, ignorant shit that gets posted so carelessly, showing a complete disregard for the lives of the 20.3 million people who are threatened by Hamas (the people who need to be free of this genocidal, antisemitic, dictatorial terrorist organization) is truly breaking world records. Beyond the fact that Hamas (the so-called "Gaza health ministry") has been caught lying about the number of fatalities, such as in the al-Ahli hospital parking lot explosion, even if we accept its numbers, you're absolutely right. The bloodiest conflict in human history was WWII, with between 70 and 85 million fatalities. The war in Gaza is nowhere near that scale. Even if you take all Israelis and Palestinians together, we're not going to reach such numbers, so what are these people even on about!? And yes, here's a good reminder IMO of current on going conflicts that are also bloodier than the war in Gaza, but don't get anywhere near as much attention. I guess if it doesn't involve vilifying the Jews, those other wars are just not as worthy of being talked about...

People involved in this are not all the same. I assume some are just uninformed, and they repeat the lies they've heard from others, which they accepted as truth. Others know they're lying, and I assume they lie, because they know that otherwise, the anti-Israel narrative just doesn't hold water. You can only justify violence against Jews in Israel (or Jewish Israel supporters in the diaspora), if the Jews somehow committed a grave enough sin to merit such violence turned against them, right? Therefore everything has to be exaggerated and twisted in such a way, that Jews appear as the great villains ever, deserving of the greatest violence in retribution.

That's why the conflict has to be the bloodiest one ever, if though it isn't. That's why Israel has to be accused of intentionally depriving Gaza of food and water, even though there are hundreds of aid trucks that Israel allows into Gaza daily (surpassing the number the UN said in Oct Gaza needs daily, 100 trucks), and even though there are 2 out of 3 water pipelines operating from Israel into Gaza despite the war (in addition to water supply from Egypt, and Gazan self supply). That's why every Israei quote has to be taken out of context, and be presented as if said about fighting the Palestinians, rather than Hamas. And that's why the fact that Jews are native to Israel, and that Jews tried to live peacefully alongside all Arabs in the region, has to be erased. Otherwise, the violence against the Jews isn't justified, and then what's the point?

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

#israel #antisemitism #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #terrorism #anti terrorism #hamas #antisemitic #antisemites #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr #jewish #resources #ask #anon ask

[yazthebookish]

I avoid talking about the other ship specifically but I feel like letting my thoughts out on some arguments I see sometimes. Not that I have any interest in engaging in any discourse with the other side but it's my page so I can post whatever I feel like posting.

"Gwyn's purpose in the bonus chapter is to hint at her Lightsinger powers"

Okay, so you think one of the most important points about the bonus chapter is to prove Gwyn has luring powers so my question is what are the implications of that? Her drawing Azriel away from Elain? Azriel and Elain exposing her true powers in front of everyone to reveal she is the reason she's been keeping them apart? She is being manipulated by Merrill and Koschei? She has powers she's using unknowingly and can't control them so she'll need Az and Elain to help her?

You're setting up Gwyn to be prominent in an Azriel/Elain book because of her powers, so will they spend time dealing with other plotlines or mainly focus on Gwyn? Because that kind of thing definitely needs resolution since it directly impacts Nesta and the Valkyries dynamic.

So do Azriel and Elain's fantastic romance needs another female character to be used as a scapegoat to pin all their issues on her because the bonus chapter wasn't a good look on them? Or simply because his scene with Gwyn and with Clotho ended on a hopeful note than his scenes with Elain and Rhysand?

Gwyn is an irrelevant character and serves Nesta's story only.

But your argument is she has luring powers and is using them on Azriel, so will that go unaddressed? Then why would SJM throw hints about her powers if it won't mean anything?

Gwyn was used just as a marketing ploy in the bonus chapter.

She's considered a new character and no one knew she was in Azriel's bonus chapter and the bonus chapter was strictly advertised to be focused on Azriel, please be serious.

The bonus chapter is irrelevant.

The author confirmed she planted things in it specifically and in ACOSF in relation to Azriel so I would disagree. The great "forbidden romance" trope wouldn't exist without it and Azriel and Elain spoke to each other more in the bonus chapter than they ever did in the main book, I can pin-point the scene where they speak to each other only ONCE in a 800+ page book and it was about Nesta dancing with the Duke.

Gwyn has powers.

She's Fae of course she has powers but why is the immediate assumption that her powers are nefarious? She didn't harm any character and there was zero hints of her having any bad intentions towards anyone. She deals with survivor's guilt and her trauma, but she had many opportunities to let that evil secret side show but it never did. Why? Because she's obviously not set up to be an evil character or even one with questionable intentions. This is the same character who was ready to sacrifice herself to save her friends and stood by Nesta to face hateful males who wanted to k*ll them.

She's a Lightsinger.

Pretty easy to debunk because there is no correlation based on what we know and we never even see any Lightsingers. Even if she happens to be one, I believe it'll play out way differently than what some people try to push. And come on, Lightsinger and Shadowsinger? You think SJM wouldn't go for that dynamic? But for now I disagree with it since canon tells us they're monsters who k*ll for sport and Gwyn does none of that. Even if she had other different powers that are not wholly good, it's not a point of concern because many characters have questionable powers that did not erase the fact that they were good characters. It's like people never read fantasy books with characters who had dark powers but it didn't corrupt them, for some reason there's an insistence that Gwyn already caused harm despite the serious implications of having a character who is SA victim portrayed as someone luring other people against their will.

Azriel ended up at the library because Gwyn was singing during the service.

1. Clotho is seen at the service, so her being at her desk when Azriel shows up at the library is a good hint that the services didn't start yet.

2. For a singing power to work, the victim should be able to hear the singing and Azriel made no note of any singing at the library.

3. The image he sees of Gwyn's joy didn't pop up randomly, it was triggered by Clotho after she thanks him for the joy the gift will bring her and tells him that Gwyn deserves something as beautiful as this.

The shadows stay around him because they sense a threat but she's luring them.

How is she luring them when she's not even singing if it's been established that her singing has powers? Also, that statement contradicts what's in the text because the shadows were curious at start of the scene and by the end they were described to have calmed and were content to watch Gwyn. In ACOSF, they were seen dancing around Az when Gwyn addresses him.

Nesta reacted to Gwyn's singing the same way Azriel did.

Context matters and a lot of arguments that support this statement are always taken out of context. Nesta loves music so if she is going to admire Gwyn's beautiful voice, it'll be simply for that and nothing more.

There is no way to 100% pin point what caused Nesta to have visions of the Prison during the services but it doesn't only have to be Gwyn's singing but also the lyrics which were found under Level Seven and are written in an ancient language. When Nesta gets the vision she says she can visualize what the song spoke of, meaning the song itself could be talking about story of the Prison/Land of Dusk.

"But Azriel's shadows reacted to her singing"

— "How was the party?" Her breath curled in front of her mouth, and one of his shadows darted out to dance with it before twirling back to him. Like it heard some silent music.

Silent music, not singing. Not song. Just like how Hunt mentioned hearing some beautiful music between his and Bryce's souls. Just like how Nesta and Cassian when they consummated their bond heard the music between their souls. Strong sign of Mateism friends.

"But Azriel still heard a beautiful singing, not just music."

— Azriel entered the warmth of the stairwell, and as he descended, he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer.

Could she be singing? Maybe though unlikely since she returned to training to cut the ribbon right after he left. If she did, maybe the shadows like her voice? Maybe that's a sign they're fond of her? And if it's not maybe that's another sign that the singing they're hearing is the mating bond, which was once described as the Song of the Soul.

The Shadows having a reaction to singing isn't necessarily a bad sign, we saw them dance to Azriel's humming in HOFAS.

Gwyn returned to the library, her story is over.

I have to assume you haven't read ACOSF or skimmed it if that's the conclusion you came to, because there were clear signs that not only Gwyn but Emerie have ongoing journeys and they will leave where they are right now to see the world outside. Gwyn literally states at around the 70%-80% mark that she's sick of staying in the library for two years and wants to leave. She returned to the library because that's her current residence and where she works, it's not like she'll immediately move out right after facing the Blood Rite. This is one argument I can't take seriously because it clearly contradicts what canon points out and I think it's mostly out of convenience to invalidate any discussions about her healing journey and incomplete arc.

Casual readers don't even ship Azriel and Gwyn and have no knowledge about the bonus chapter

A lot of casual readers do in fact see a potential in Azriel and Gwyn as a romantic pairing because they have canon interactions in ACOSF. Plenty of readers shipped them even before they read the bonus chapter. Casual readers are dismissed when they address that and are claimed to be hardcore shippers that hate Elain when it's not the case since they just point out what they think is the obvious in the book to them. Every casual reader will have a different opinion but for some reason if theirs is not in favor of Elain and Azriel, they'll be dismissed so that says much.

Just a hot take that I wanted to put out there since I'll be avoiding fandom discourse moving on (unless I feel like it Lol).

#gwynriel

[rockrosethistle]

so I've been thinking about why that scene between Duke and Miss Holloway hurt so bad, despite us knowing it was going to happen in advance, and I think I've blown this case wide open

for a refresher, here's the potential plot that Starkid released as a teaser for Nightmare Time 3:

The choice of words here is the key.

"...when Duke gives her an invitation to his wedding, the dejected Miss Holloway..." Pretend you don't know how this scene goes. Or better yet, how did you first imagine it?

At that point, we as the audience were aware that Miss Holloway has erased Duke's memory, likely multiple times, and has had to rebuild her relationship with him over and over again.

Because of that, the way I pictured the scene is that Duke would be all newly-in-love and excited when he gave Miss Holloway the invitation, and she would pretend to be happy for him then go off and cry about it.

It's still tragic, but the tragedy lies in the fact that Duke chose the wrong girl. We take comfort in the fact that he can still be won over, or at least that he's still happy, even if it makes Miss Holloway miserable.

Starkid took this notion and flipped it on us. And that's why it hit so hard: the tragedy isn't that Duke is stupid in love with the wrong person, it's that he loves Miss Holloway, and he's unhappy with Abigail. In the same way, Miss Holloway loved Duke, yet she can't be with him.

The tragedy comes from the fact that no one is making the 'wrong' choice in the situation, they both have good points. Miss Holloway can't be with Duke because of the way her powers work. Duke has tried and failed to be with Miss Holloway, and the fact is he does need stability. There's no bad guy here. They're both right. So there's no evil to be defeated, and nothing they can do.

Take that and add the consequences of Duke getting married. He can't go on missions with Miss Holloway anymore, so their whole relationship unravels. Now you've got yourself a recipe to break the fans

The last point is, we know Starkid. And we know Hatchetfield. there is no guarantee this story is going to end happy. In fact, there's a pretty good chance it will be bittersweet. And that's enough to ruin us all mentally

Duke wanted to say "Heya Darling," but the reality just doesn't allow him

#starkid #hatchetfield #hatchetverse #team starkid #nightmare time 2 #nightmare time #nightmare time 3 #miss holloween #miss holloway #duke keane #holloweane #holloduke #rose rants #analysis #curt mega #kim whalen

[skyeventide]

taking a stab at the whole valinor trauma rebirth tragedy thing

without getting into the various iterations of mandos throughout its development, the fact that it shares the etymological root with angband (angamando in quenya) or its use as both a prison/punishment place and as the temporary "afterlife" of elves, I think it should be obvious why "mandos cures everything" doesn't work for most people. it's simply narratively unsatisfying. we know that, technically, spirits are solitary in mandos and don't tend to interact with each other, and we know (iirc) that nienna does most of the healing work, when those spirits don't reflect on things by themselves.

healing in complete isolation might work one rare time, but it's otherwise simply not how healing works, how adjusting to a new life works. being way too in your own head is discouraged. healing all your traumas because a goddess did it via magic counseling gives, at best, uncanny vibes, at worst erases the struggle and journey of adjusting, with help, into the life you're actually living. so people either say that spirits can actually meet in mandos and figure things out among themselves, or subvert the narrative and have people come out of mandos either not truly healed or only partially so, and needing the real living feedback of society to exist within it again. a reading which allows mandos to still function as a recovery, but whose achivement is to "prepare" for the journey of spiritual healing, to bring elves back to a stage where they're able to face the circumstances that generated their trauma (aka the living, embodied world, and maybe more precisely even the people involved in it).

this barely touches on the grievances that dead elves might have with the guys who are running this show. this isn't just feanorian followers (or the exiles more at large) who renounced the valar's authority, it can also be the avari, who now either get valinor or they get valinor. it can be the falathrim, who wanted to go to valinor and lost the chance. it can be those sindar who were waiting for a full intervention from valinor, and it didn't come until earendil came around. it's hard to envision healing within a system when the system itself is what you take issue with. it requires a personal compromise, or an acceptance of the system's authority, and that's simply not always possible, nor can fanworks always easily tackle it — which is also why I think fics where living relatives "bully" or like, strongly entreat, the valar into releasing specific elves from death are popular. it's one way of giving that specific problem a solution, though it may in effect be unrealistic. it's less about realism (I for one don't believe the Valar would ever do that) and more about trying to find a way through wanting to see those characters heal without having to bend and accept the system and its authority.

which also brings me to what comes after and the necessary divide, real or perceived, between people who were always in valinor and people who returned to life after conflict.

to put it simply, making sweeping statements about whether amanyar elves can understand the trauma of exiles and other reborn elves is not possible and in itself pretty silly. even the amanyar themselves don't perceive their experiences of trauma and the darkening in the same way! the teleri refuse to set foot in beleriand despite their own kin being there, and despite the fact that noldor and vanyar embark on a valar-sanctioned war. it's pretty obvious that their own internal experiences and cultural understanding of the darkening or of valar authority is still vastly different, that even going by the imprecise and generalising divide of clan, that trauma was processed differently. or not processed at all.

and then, would those who fight the war of wrath understand the trauma of a continent-wide collapse? yeah, surely in a sense they can, they live through it. but can they understand it from the point of view of a sinda who had lived in beleriand all their life and didn't simply come here with the understanding that this was war? who saw their home be destroyed slowly and painfully, and in the end, when the saving arrives, it's a saving with such an immense and heartbreaking price? maybe they can empathise, maybe they can't. the darkening, by the time of the war of wrath, is no viable term of comparison. even among the living, this isn't cookie-cutter.

so what of those who die and return? I think it's obvious, in the text itself, that someone can go through a death, real of metaphorical, return to their old home which has itself gone through some considerable trauma, and realise that no matter if both you and your home have changed, both have bled, you're still unable to readjust to it the way others can. other people who were with you in your journey can integrate, they find old friends and loves who help them in this. you can't. I'm obviously talking about frodo.

it's not the same for everyone and it will never be. and I do feel as though the reading of valinor being in itself unable to take back people who went through trauma is a push-back against the idea that valinor must inherently be blissful, healing, and perfect; but the text presents us many situations where the environment of valinor plants the seeds of dissatisfaction; the fact that it doesn't work as neatly as it seems is at the core of the early conflict in The Silmarillion (even without pointing out stuff like: troubled people, Frodo included, go to the gardens of Lorien in search of that healing and peace of mind that the rest of the land can't actually provide. it's just a land. it's mostly free of toil because there's literal gods providing things, but it's just a land). valinor is not perfect, but its status as blessed realm invites a certain unease in many readers. I believe this unease leads easily to cotradictory and equally extreme positions, ranging from "no one would or should feel out of place after rebirth" to "actually no one would understand the trauma of someone who died and returned".

plus, of course, the obvious: someone's trauma, collective or individual, and how people process it, doesn't somehow erase someone else's and how they process it. the two things can come in conflict with one another, but they're not, like, mutually exclusive.

#The Silmarillion #Valinor #quenta noldorinwa #I will say I haven't seen these takes #everything is a secondhand account for me

[bountyhunter1409]

Hello!! I just started The Bad Batch and I'm already obsessed 🥶🥶.

Echo and Wrecker need more love 🫶

Can I req them (separately pls) with a gf or wife who dotes on them? She's always doing things for them and checking in on them. Just If they like it or not, if they get embarrassed, ECT.

Also, Love your bio 🫶✝️

author's note: Thanks so much for your request and compliment, anon! Hope this what you're looking for! (p/s: I apologize how short this is. I wrote this at 1 am.)

warning(s); none, just fluff.

divider by: @benkeibear

ECHO

At first, it caught Echo off guard.

Given that he's been through the unthinkable and had lost many brothers along the way, —and that Echo's a pure gentleman and rather spend time caring for you— he isn't quite sure how to handle your constant doting. He's never one to enjoy being the center of attention because he's well aware he can take care of himself. But even so, your physical affection —especially in front of others—is something he's struggled with only because this relationship was new to him and he cares about you so much.

Aware that your doting is well-intentioned, Echo can't seem to find the words to tell you that it makes him feel embarrassed....especially in front of the squad.

Despite the squad already being aware of your relationship, Echo can't stand the sideways glances between Tech and Hunter when you've fussed over a miniscule scratch on his cheek he got from a mission. Or when Wrecker can't seem to let go of the fact that you both are helplessly in love with each other when you offer to dress Echo's wounds.

"Y/N."

Echo says your name quietly one day when the ship is empty. He pulls you close, presses a kiss to your forehead, and assures you he should be doing the protecting and ensuring you had everything you needed. In more ways than one, he conveys to you that your constant doting makes him feel...shy, for lack of a better word.

You can't help but look at his scomp, the grey lines on his forehead, the miniscule battle scars from previous missions. It was in that moment you realized how strong he was amid the amount of trauma he had endured.

"These scars...they're nothing," he assures you before pulling back to kiss the back of your hand. "I can take care of myself. It's you I'm worried about."

Gently, Echo turns your palm upwards to inspect your hand scarred and slightly blistered from yesterday's mission.

"This is nothing," you try and say without a wince. But he's already guiding over to the nearest bench. One look from Echo erases the lie you're holding on your tongue. Wordlessly, he starts wrapping your hand, taking care of you like a boyfriend should.

WRECKER

Out of all the entire Batch, Wrecker would love your doting the most.

As someone who's used to drawing attention to himself, Wrecker doesn't mind that you dote on him, even in front of the Batch. The constant check-ins, the flurry of cheek kisses in front of the others and in private; the impromptu love bursts that come in the form of surprise hugs —that often result in you being scooped up out of nowhere—are moments that Wrecker lives for.

Constantly being thrown around by the creatures the squad comes in contact with, Wrecker suffers a lot of scratches, bruises, and bumps. But these afflictions don't bother him because he knows that later they'll be worth the reward of your tending to his wounds.

Whether your swiping away red marks on his face or dressing a wound, Wrecker relishes in your closeness. No matter the time, he'll drop everything to let you change his bandages just so he can have your undivided attention.

"But I just changed your bandages," you pointed out as you unwrap the fabric with a soft laugh.

"Uh, I was hoping you could change them again. Feels a little loose," he replies with a shy grin.

Of course, you can't decline your significant other's request. As you work on the second layer of bandages, you can feel his eyes on you, a smile on his lips as he enjoys you taking care of him.

#echo x reader #wrecker x reader #the bad batch x reader #tbb x reader #bad batch #star wars #star wars fanfiction #the bad batch #the bad batch fanfiction #tbb fanfiction #wrecker x reader insert #echo x reader insert #tbb reader insert #the bad batch reader insert #the bad batch drabbles #star wars reader insert #tbb fanfic #tbb wrecker #tbb echo

[still-a-morosexual-help]

forgive me if I'm wrong/if you've addressed something like this already, but demons can't make pacts with other demons, can they??

so how would MC go about making pacts while they're acting as a demon without giving themselves away or risking the brothers telling someone like diavolo about it? would that not make it clear that they're not who they say they are almost immediately (unless the brothers (aside form lucifer maybe) don't have a ton of pact knowledge/demon knowledge in general so soon after the fall, but I'd assume they'd at least know some things- however from an angel's perspective I wonder how much of it is unbiased)??

personally I hope something like that gets addressed in the game, I want to see MC talk their way out of that one lmao

hope you're having a nice day <3

Hi! Yeah so demons can't make a pact with demons. So they will eventually have to tell they're human. My guess is they'll help a particular brother with their issues, win his trust, the fact that they're human will get revealed and they'll make a pact (<- a barebones version of what may happen, but this is just my belief, at the time, relative to the information we've been given. I may still be way off)

The human thing is 100% not something they can keep hidden during the whole duration of their stay.

Hell, even the time travel thing might have to be revealed (at least to an extent) because at some point they're gonna have a profound bond with these past versions of the brothers and they're gonna have to poof back to their own timeline (even if all their memories of the time travel is erased, like in S3, they'll still need to say goodbye - suddenly losing another close family member with no notice right after what happened with Lilith is probably not a good thing...)

I'm also 100% sure that Diavolo knows?

• Barbatos definitely knows. He can see through timelines and alternate universes so he absolutely knows. (The op also ends with him going "🤫" right?) And if Barbatos knows then he definitely has told Diavolo.

• Diavolo can also tell when someone is lying. He even knew Belphie was in the Devildom throughout S1 (he told MC in the very first or second lesson that they would be living with all 7 brothers despite Lucifer telling him Belphie was sent to the human world. There's also another moment, I believe, where he casually mentions Belphie still being in the house)

Hope you have a nice day too! <3

#asks #obey me nightbringer #obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me! #shall we date? obey me! #swd obey me #swd obey me! #shall we date obey me #obey me diavolo #om diavolo #obey me! diavolo #om! diavolo #swd diavolo #shall we date diavolo #obey me barbatos #om barbatos #obey me! barbatos #om! barbatos #swd barbatos #shall we date barbatos #obey me mc #om mc #obey me! mc #om! mc #swd mc #shall we date mc

[dottoreparadox]

Theory: How did Dottore make his Segments?

To start off this blog, let's get right into one of my favorite living Harbingers.

That's right, it’s essay time, baby. Let’s fathom out how Dottore made his segments.

(Tl;dr included at the end if you only care about the conclusion and not how I reached it and what evidence I have for it because this shit gets looong. Over 3k words long, in fact.)

What we know about Dottore’s segments:

They were created by Dottore. Yes, that seems like a very obvious statement to make, but I do need to establish that these are not things he found but rather an invention of his own making. We’ll get into it later.

We have seen them referred to with the terms “segments” and “prostheses” in canon (also as “surplus” but that’s just Dottore being Dottore). A segment is defined as: “each of the parts into which something is or may be divided” while a prosthesis is: “an artificial body part, such as a leg, a heart, or a breast implant.”

I would like to make a note here that they are not referred to as “clones” despite the widespread usage of this term in reference to them by the fandom. I’ve certainly done it myself. It's important to note that they are not clones. Clones would imply that these are genetic copies of the original and/or organic in nature. This is not the case (I’ll get into the not organic argument in a bit). If they were mere clones, they would be their own person. Instead, these are “the eyes” that Dottore “placed in the dimension of time.”

They ARE Dottore. Not copies of him. Think of them more like time travelers in some kind of stable paradox rather than clones.

Also, they likely share a mind space in some capacity or other based on the overlapping dialogue we saw when Dottore erased his segments and the implications held in this statement:

“What did you see when you were imprisoned [by the Akasha]? You were observing me, and that's how you know I've long grown tired of their doubts and endless arguments. ”

The Omega build was able to speak to and listen to the other segments while he was in Sumeru and they were not present (having just sent the one segment that was helping him back to Snezhnaya).

(I would like to take a second here to clarify that while the many segments may have shared a mindscape of some sort, they were not a hivemind as we’ve previously seen in Genshin. A hivemind, as we saw it in Alhaitham’s story quest and as it is often used in science-fiction, is when multiple individuals all share a single “mind.” The segments all had their own minds. They could not have all been constantly arguing with each other if that was not the case. (Remember how the hivemind made by Siraj fell apart.) So they shared a mindscape where all their minds could touch, while keeping their own mental boundaries.)

Anyways, the shared mindscape is another important bit of evidence in proving they are not mere clones and are instead multiple versions of the same person. (Well... maybe. It could also be taken as evidence that they're all robots running using a single, remote central processor; but I don't have any evidence for this besides the likely shared mindscape; so I won't be exploring that theory further.)

Okay, now that I’ve quibbled excessively over the terminology around Dottore and his segments and brought up a bunch of interesting but kind of irrelevant points, let’s get into the actual purpose of this analysis and theory: how did Dottore make his segments?

The only direct statement we have to go on for answering this question is this line of dialogue:

“Segments are extraordinarily difficult to make. They require extremely rare resources and enormous amounts of time and effort.”

The time and effort seem like they go without saying for any kind of creation at the level of complexity as an entire functioning human being. So we won’t be going into a deep analysis of this part. Instead, let’s focus in on these “rare resources” and what they might be.

To start off, we need to establish what kind of work Dottore does. After all, if his specialty was in organic life, he would likely have made clones rather than what the segments are.

Let’s start with the one hundred percent confirmed work he has done rather than the speculated accomplishments. We have definitely seen Dottore work with:

Ruin Machines (the ruin guard factory we visited in Childe’s story quest, Zandik's legacy note series if that does end up being him)

God remains (Dottore invented Delusions and, at least in Inazuma, the Delusions were made using the Tatarigami energy left behind after Orobashi was killed. He also released the Tatarigami energy in the first place during the Tatarasuna incident. In the manga, he used god remains to suppress Collei’s Eleazar.)

Robots (Krupp in the manga, Scaramouche’s mecha body in game)

The Akasha (I’m not entirely sure how to define this one. God power? Cognition? Software? Maybe all of the above. But he could use it so well that he could edit people’s minds and trap Nahida’s consciousness in the Sanctuary of Suresthana, so let's put it on the list)

Human enhancement (based on the wise doctor’s pinion from the pale flame artifact set and just about every soldier we’ve seen from Snezhnaya. I’ve seen lots of comments along the lines of: “what are they putting in the water over in Snezhnaya to make everyone giant?” Yeah, the answer is Dottore. He’s doing weird shit to people again.)

Human cognition (this one kind of falls under the enhancement section above, but I felt his work with things like manipulating minds and dreams was its own category, see the second event in the Apple Island Archipelago. I can't remember if it was directly stated that Dottore made that machine... but it almost definitely was him.)

And more! (I’m sure we’ll learn about new and more exciting atrocities he’s committed as the game continues. Also I probably forgot something, oops.)

Out of all of that, the best basis for building a body would be his interest in machinery. This assumption is backed up by what we are told in the Pale Flame artifact set:

“"A human is nothing more than a machine of a certain level of complexity." Thus declared the youth from his lectern in the seedbed of wisdom. If one were to disassemble a part of this machine and make enhancements to it, Its performance could be greatly amplified. With or without a Vision, and irrespective of their physique or combat skills, "Enhanced humans" would surely display strength far beyond the average.”

Now, if we also pull on some evidence that is most likely to have been done by Dottore (even if it hasn’t been confirmed that it was him), then we can put stronger emphasis on his interest in Ruin Machines. Dottore is almost definitely Zandik from the Zandik's Legacy series of notes. Zandik was fascinated by the Khaenri’ahn machinery to the point that he was reprimanded for his interest in such dangerous technology. He was ultimately denied permission to bring parts of the Ruin Golems (or other Khaenri'ahn machinery, it's unclear) back to the Akademiya and instead had to help seal them up. (His interest could explain the Fatui’s later knowledge on how to reactivate a Ruin Golem that we used in the Tanit quests. Just a bit of further evidence on Dottore being Zandik.)

Pulling from Zandik’s Legacy again, we know that he wasn’t a member of the Amurta darshan, so I think it is fair to say that his interest here lies in machinery rather than human biology/anatomy. (Though, honestly, the darshans are so weirdly laid out that who even knows where any one topic of study will show up.) I’m not going to speculate here on which Darshan Dottore might have been in (that’s a future post I'm considering making) because I don’t think it matters due to the fact that we’ve seen three (or maybe four depending on how you count it) separate Darshans work with machinery.

Even if we ignore Zandik’s Legacy, we know that Dottore has definitely studied Khaenri’ahn machinery from Childe’s story quest where we visited his old Ruin Guard research lab.

I wish we had a better answer to exactly what he was doing there (was he just studying them? Was he making his own Ruin Guards?), but it is fair to say that he has likely formed a comprehensive picture of Ruin Guards due to the fact that he abandoned the research lab later on. He doesn’t seem like the type to leave a question unanswered, so he most likely figured out whatever interested him about Ruin Guards.

So if he understands how Ruin Machines work, he is capable of repairing broken ones using pieces from other machines (as mentioned in Zandik’s legacy notes),

"...It should be possible to repair this titanic machine's primary weapons system using components salvaged from abandoned mechanisms, but to avoid attracting the attention of the other team members, I have simply made some basic measurements for now."

and is capable of making human machines (Krupp in the manga);

then I think it is very likely that the prosthetic bodies created for his segments were made using Khaenri’ahn technology (or at least took inspiration from them because he found them so ingenious).

This actually might explain why his segments are so human. Ruin Machines specialize in biomimesis. Every single Ruin Machine we have seen so far (except the Perpetual Mechanical Array, but that’s based on the Algorithm of Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network (never make me write that out ever again, oh my god), so it’s still mimesis even if it’s not biologically based), has mimicked biological life forms including humans.

So the idea of using Khaenri’ahn technology to create a realistic human is not far-fetched. It would need some sort of skin to complete the mimicry, but that honestly seems much easier to create than the entire functioning robot (but I’m no robotics expert. I could be wrong about that) plus we’ve already seen evidence that Snezhnaya has that kind of capability. Just look at Katheryne. She’s some kind of robot but appears fully human. She might have even been a prototype for the segments. (Though she could equally be a creation of Sandrone's. We don't know enough yet to say. It's equally possible she is a collaboration between the two of them or that they both based their humanoid robots on Khaenri'ahn tech. If my theory about Sandrone's identity turns out to be right, this is actually highly likely.)

(A very human looking and acting robot, Katheryne is.)

Using scavenged Khaenri’ahn technology to build the body would also explain the rarity of the parts needed to build a segment better than the segments being made using purely Snezhnayan technology.

Just building any old robot would be easy for Snezhnaya. Based on passing mentions of their nation having things like trains, they are most likely in the midst of some kind of industrial revolution, so we know they can create intricate metal work with complex moving pieces and engines (also like, Katheryne, again). Plus we’ve seen the mass produced clockwork mecha from Fontaine. It’s not unreasonable to assume that, since Snezhnaya seems like it’s more advanced than Fontaine (compare Fatui elemental guns to the Fontaine muskets), they could produce something similar.

Pristine Khaenri’ahn technology, on the other hand, is a rare find and disabling machines that still work in order to get their parts would result in damage, possibly to the very pieces that Dottore would need. Likely, it takes a great number of Ruin Machines to build a single segment and on top of that they might require specific, potentially rare pieces (such as the Eye of the First Field Tiller that we found with Dainsleif, but that's just an example of a rare piece, not something I think Dottore actually needs to build segments) rather than the run-of-the-mill mass produced legions’ pieces. This is speculation though. We really have no idea about the full intricacies of Ruin Machines.

Now, I hope that was convincing enough on it’s own to establish that Dottore most likely used Khaenri’ahn technology or Khaenri’ahn inspired technology to build the bodies of his segments.

Because my closing argument is the model of what is under his mask and that is understandably not a reliable resource as it hasn't been seen in game.

I know the color scheme is off, but it does remind me of a Ruin Guard's eye. And I don't think anyone can deny that it's very mechanical, even if it doesn't look Khaenri'ahn per se. Before you dismiss this evidence entirely, may I remind you of the monster version of Dottore from the storybook.

Beyond the immediate similarities in the images, I would like to direct your attention to the single eye the monster has and the fact that it was wearing a suit to hide its true body. These are weird details to use if they just wanted to establish that he was a monster. The foxes were happy to accept a cat as a fox. Dottore didn’t have to have a fursona. And if he did, he didn’t have to be a strange, bird-like cyclopes. He could have just been a bird.

(Honestly, I just found myself caught on the detail of the single eye and was sort of confused by the decision until I saw that data mine/leak/whatever it is. I thought it was pretty cool attention to detail, even if they weren’t details we knew about yet. And don’t come at me saying Genshin doesn’t pay that kind of attention to detail. They absolutely do. I remember how Venti's Vision didn't glow in the Unreconciled Stars event because it isn't a real Vision.)

I wrote all of that and then reread Scara's 4th char story and it straight up says he got the segment's bodies from studying Scara, who in turn was based on Khaenri'ahn tech. So I guess I'm right, but not for the reasons I thought. OTL.

So if that’s the body of a segment accounted for, what about the aspect of time?

I’ll admit, his work with god remains threw me for a bit of a loop at first. My initial, tentative speculation was that he had somehow found remains of Istaroth, the god of time, and used them to get his different perspectives of time. This mostly came from the fact that Istaroth was the name of the god of moments in Greek mythology and that fit the idea of the segments very well. However, I am pretty sure this is not the case.

For one: we don’t even have definitive proof that Istaroth is dead. Well… maybe. Neuvillette’s story about Visions included this little gem: “all fragments of the primordial were driven to devour each other,” which might be a reference to the four shades, of which Istaroth was one. In that case, Istaroth would be dead, but the state of their remains, pardon my channeling of Cyno for a moment, remains a mystery.

(Get it? Remains? Cause they're remains that remain? I’ll stop now.)

Anyways, we don’t know exactly what “devour each other” might entail, so we can’t say for certain that Istaroth is dead. They might exist in a different form now instead.

For two: we have another, much more reliable, accessible, and established place where Dottore could have gotten different versions of himself from time: Irminsul. It is well established in canon that Irminsul contains the entirety of a person’s memory/data in Teyvat, and we also know that it is possible to visit Irminsul and access the data stored in it.

So the next question becomes: what proof do we have that Dottore used Irminsul? We’re going to go on a little side track about Irminsul really quick to answer this question.

Remember what Nahida said about Irminsul?

"Irminsul's inner region consists exclusively of torrents of information."

This inner region in question was noticeably blue. And as the quote above, plus other comments and observations made during our foray with Scaramouche into Irminsul suggest, all of the data stored in Irminsul takes on that same glowing, blue color.

This quest is not the first time we have seen the color blue in reference to memories obtained from Irminsul. Remember: all ley lines are roots of Irminsul. What blue phenomena do we see in relation to ley lines? Blossoms of Revelation.

They are described in the adventurer’s handbook as follows:

“A flower blossom known as "Revelation" which grows from the Ley Lines in response to someone's desire for battle. Perhaps the treasures within it can help one recall the perils that they have experienced once before… ”

Computer: zoom, enhance.

“Recall.” Blossoms of Revelation tap into the memories stored in the ley lines. We also know that ley line disorders can disgorge past memories from various quests and events. (Such as during the Caribert quest where we literally experienced our twin’s memories after the Abyss Order messed with the ley lines in the area. There were several others in Inazuma from what I remember but I don’t feel like looking up their names rn. It’s like 2:30 in the morning idgf. This is well established fact. Google it yourself.)

Also, it gives you experience books. Experiences are relived via memories. I really don’t think I need to go further into proving what’s up with the Blossoms of Revelation.

Now what does establishing that blue has to do with memories in Irminsul have to do with Dottore? Let’s take another look at Dottore. In fact, let’s look at every segment of Dottore we have seen so far. The versions from the manga and the game are pretty wildly different.

So what’s the one common point? That’s right. Their blue hair! He can have multiple versions of himself because he has blue hair!!!!

I’m kidding. I mean, that is a common point, but the actual important detail here is that earring.

The earring has held my attention for quite a while because it’s such a strange detail. Why does he have a weird glowing blue vial as an earring? Is it just to show that he loves science? I mean, maybe. We can’t rule that out. But I think it might be something more important. It is the one thing that was not changed between cow-mask Dottore and yassified Dottore. And it’s the same shade of glowing blue as Blossoms of Revelation and Irminsul's heart (and fruits and sapling fragments/information packets and-- I think you get the point).

So my theory is this: the earring contains some form of past data extracted from Irminsul. This is the “save file” that the segment is operating from. Or at least part of it. I’m not convinced Dottore put his entire “brain” into an easy target like that. If we look at the segments we saw in Sumeru, we see some other parts of his outfit with that same blue glow. So it’s more likely that this is simply some overflow or a backup or some other function I haven’t thought of. Or maybe he’s just bragging and it really is his memory drive sitting around as an easy target because he doesn’t think anyone is smart enough to realize what it really is. Fuck if I know.

I think it's also worth pointing out that Scaramouche seemed familiar with navigating the inside of Irminsul. Presumably, this means he's been there before on at least one occasion. (anyone remember if this is directly stated in the quest?) This would imply that the Fatui have had business with Irminsul before. So either they're editing time for their own reasons or Dottore made Scaramouche go fetch these copies of him for him.

And before you say that Scaramouche deleting himself from time means that Dottore couldn't make the segments without him, remember that fate is fate and always happens no matter which form it takes. If Scaramouche couldn't get the data for him, then it would happen in another way. The same applies for him getting the Segment's bodies from studying Scaramouche. (Also, I feel like if Dottore knows about Irminsul's ability to edit memories, he probably would have come up with a way to get around it? That seems very much in his wheelhouse. So we can't be sure that he doesn't remember Scaramouche. I have my own theories about the scope of Irminsul and how you might be able to dodge its edits by being in, say, the Abyss or another place outside Teyvat proper. So if Dottore stuck a segment in one of those places... But that's speculating. And wouldn't apply to the Scaramouche deletion anyways as he'd just erased them all.)

To sum it up: I think the Doctor is getting his past versions of himself by extracting copies of his own data from Irminsul somehow. Perhaps he has a way to make Irminsul give him fruits containing his own data from certain points in time. I have no idea how he's doing it. (If someone else has any ideas of how, please let me know.)

Now, before anyone comes at me all: "um actually we also see blue energy like that from Desheret's civilization, explain that." You're right. We do.

Primenergy (name stolen from Alain Guillotine) is indeed another possibility for what the blue light is. If it's Primenergy rather than Irminsul juice, then it's probably the power source that Dottore has decided to use to power the segments instead of azocite. Which I guess makes the earrings something like a backup battery? And leaves us with no clues as to how he's playing around with time. (Still probably Irminsul as it's the only thing we've seen such capability from.) But there you go. Possibility explored. The Segments could be a mix of Khaenri'ahn and Desheret's technology. It's as likely as any of my other ideas. Hell, it might even make more sense than it being condensed Irminsul juice.

I don’t know that we’ll ever actually get an answer to how Dottore built his segments as we don’t know if he’s going to build more or not. And even if he does, we don’t know that the game will go into how he’s done it. It’s not super relevant to the plot. This was just me satisfying my own curiosity and figuring some other people might have had the same question as me.

Tl;dr: Dottore built the bodies of his segments using Khaenri’ahn technology and put his mind in it using saved copies of himself from Irminsul, which are possibly stored in the glowing blue earrings he wears.

So there we have my theory on how Dottore built his segments. Please, feel free to give me your thoughts and possible refutations/further evidence (comments, reblogs, asks, in the tags, however you feel comfortable talking with me is fine). I would love to know what the rest of you think.

As for future areas I’d like to get some answers on, please hoyo, explain what the fuck he was talking about when he said “A long time ago, I made a major decision in hopes of preserving all my perspectives of how I observed the world.” What the fuck was the major decision? It can’t just be making segments. Does this imply that he had to do something to himself to become capable of making segments at all? Did it have to do with accessing his past records in Irminsul? Did he turn his original body into the first segment? Like, probably that last one, as he should be somewhere between five hundred to four hundred years old, but I demand answers!

(Actually, on that topic, I would really like an answer to whether or not there is a "prime" Dottore, as the fandom likes calling him. We don't actually have any clue what's up with his original body. We just know that all the segments except the Omega segment got deleted. So is Omega the last Dottore or is there still an "original" around as well? Or is Omega original Dottore and all the others are earlier versions of him as he never grew past that age?)

#genshin theory #genshin impact #dottore #dottore segments #yes i am aware some of my points are kind of shaky #i still think they're plausible with what we currently know

[utilitycaster]

I have been thinking about FCG and Imogen's dynamic and how much it changed and i have talked about it in tags a couple of times

Like it changed from both of them going "there is something really wrong with you and you don't realize it, so i will help you fix it" to echother. And now they are both very much on a standstill and kinda waiting for the other to the other to "come to their senses"

I have a feeling that something is going to happen and they are gonna start arguing and snapping at each other, because there is a really fun tension forming between the two of them and their own arrogance is keeping them at bay

So here's the thing: I don't actually think FCG is acting this way towards Imogen! I think it's mostly one-sided and coming from Imogen, whereas FCG is kind of just rolling along doing their own thing.

FCG's arc so far has been one of learning their purpose and the truth about the demise of their party, which was obviously traumatic, but they were met with the support of Bells Hells and Imahara Joe and encouraged heavily to make their own path - and found a deity who represents exactly that: possibility, change, and chance. While his path towards faith has definitely been a weird one with its share of incorrect assumptions, it's also helped him through a lot of difficult circumstances, and it's been rewarded with the attention of the Changebringer. They also met FRIDA and were able to make a strong connection with them very quickly, and while they're still figuring things out, there's a sense of peace about it. FCG still does care about other people, but he's started to consider his own needs in a way he previously didn't and tentatively embrace personhood, and can see a way forward.

Imogen, on the other hand, despite learning much more about the source of her powers, knows less about what she wants now. Originally, she hoped to learn where they came from, and she wanted to be rid of them - or at least, she thought she wanted to be rid of him (Imogen's feelings about power lead me to believe she never actually wanted to be rid of them entirely, just, understandably, the downsides). She now knows that she is Ruidusborn, with all that entails...and the party is fighting most of the Ruidusborn, and the source of her powers. And, to be clear, I absolutely think the party is right, but Imogen finds herself wanting the thing she thought she didn't want (Ruidusborn powers). And whereas the party has largely been tolerant, if not always enthused with FCG's explorations of religion, Imogen feeling out the Ruby Vanguard was met with vehement opposition. Which, again, is fair, because FCG is saying some theologically incorrect and perhaps annoying to some but ultimately harmless shit about a canonically good-aligned deity, whereas Imogen was entertaining siding with a murderous group of cultists responsible for the deaths of Orym's husband, Orym himself, Fearne, and Laudna; but I can see why she felt upset about it.

I think Imogen is intensely jealous of FCG, actually, and she knows it's irrational, which only makes it feel worse. FCG is embracing personhood in a way she doesn't like, but that's the whole point of personhood, isn't it? To make the choices that are right for you, considering the needs of your friends but not erasing yourself to accommodate them. FCG has received support, and even a relationship with someone who can uniquely understand them - in fact, even more so, after this last episode, in which FRIDA has also killed at the command of Aeor. FCG, when unsure about their purpose and agency, received gentle guidance and encouragement to take their time and figure out who they wanted to be. Imogen, when plagued with doubt, has received none of that. She's been yelled at by Ashton and Orym (again: valid of Ashton and Orym, but we're focusing on Imogen's perspective and the fact that she probably even realizes they were right, but that doesn't help her actually feel better). She's constantly told by her closest friend (whose own darker power source was seemingly eliminated without ill effects) that she's "very capable" or that she's always been able to make her own decisions, both responses which give Imogen no room to actually grapple with that doubt and have a chance to address it head-on.

FCG didn't know what they wanted at the beginning, and has found an incredibly validating purpose and a companion who understands many of their struggles. Imogen got precisely what she thought wanted - she even now has a magical item that does take away some of the worst effects of her powers - and it's unsatisfying. She's full of resentment and she knows it's misdirected. I don't even think she's waiting for FCG to come to their senses. I think she just wants to feel what he feels and have what he has, but pursuing the gods isn't right for her, so she's lashing out.

#answered #Anonymous #critical role spoilers #critical role #imogen temult #fcg

[thelocalconstellation]

In case anybody was wondering what my current thoughts are for the whole story behind the 100 days multiverse bit, here they are! Some stuff I'm hedging my bets on still but I've not solidly noted it down if there isn't at least a handful of reason as to why. Some of this is also information I got from the lore document pinned in the discord. I haven't quite been able to finish as much as I wanted. Lore doc stuff will have an asterisk next to it

Things I'm pretty damn certain on

- The Alterans were an initial larger group, which Decem and co split off from.

- Decem is both an individual and a group*

- The Alterans did in fact remove Legundo's memories. It feels pretty explicitly mentioned but I haven't gotten there yet.

- Legundo was a member of Decem, the evidence provided by the lore doc seems pretty explicit on this one*

- Legundo was initially yeeted into the unknown by The Alterans.*

- There's some kind of requisite for either Decem to give up or for Legundo to go back or something. I'll elaborate on this later.

- It's some kind of fight over control of the multiverse, or Decem is planning to destroy and then reform it how they wish. The chess references* incline it towards a fight for control but I haven't seen much or I don't quite recall enough on it to say so much about The Alterans.

- Legundo is Literally just Doing His Best out here guys. He doesn't know what exactly is happening or why, just roughly who's involved and that they won't leave him alone. Also I think he needs a friend :(

- Legundo is some form of irreplaceable to Decem and thus has value to The Alterans

- Decem's power is split between the 10 members, in which I have SO many questions about.

Things I SWEAR have meaning and by god I will find it.

- The Deal. Again, I'll elaborate later.

- Each of the titles for the members of Decem. (I do not remember them all off the top of my head but theres supposed to be 10.)

- what on this unholy green earth is The Nexus. I'm assuming some kind of gateway, but I cannot tell.

- Disagreements between members of Decem and co.*

- Decem wants Legundo alive, despite having taken more violent action in the past. I have questions. (This does mean that any prerequisite has nothing or little to do with Legundo's continued survival)

- The obelisks. I keep seeing people have theories on what they do/what they're for and oh my god WHY are they THERE

- Darkness. Why.

- The cult from the darkness world. There's implications to this and I sit here and scream.

Best guess I've got for now

Legundo was taken from Decem as The Architect, had his memories erased by The Alterans and launched into some corner of the multiverse to try and delay his return to Decem or whatever.

Decem is some kind of malicious or lightly malicious entity. I haven't quite figured out if Decem, The Guy, is a god or other kind of deity or if they're just really good at being a cult leader.

The Alterans managed to contain or imprison Decem members at some point. If this is before or after nabbing Legundo, I haven't quite figured it out yet.

The obelisks are the things chucking Legundo between universes like a hacky sack. Desert episode guys, come on.

Which means there has to be a reason why Decem is chucking Legundo around the mutliverse like a hacky sack, which is suggested to be to bring Legundo closer to Decem so they can either use him to break out or grab his goofy ass and kidnap him back to wherever they camp out. The Alterans either don't, can't, or won't do anything about this until they get a little too close at which point they give him an option out.

Legundo knows something about Decem and the fact that he was part of their group at one point. I don't remember the exact wording so this one is on thin ice but I swear something about not going back was said before he went through the ancient city portal. I think there's time passed between each world and I haven't actually seen anything about this so far, it could be in another series and I just don't know because I fell down this rabbit hole like. Two-three weeks ago.

The Alterans aren't great either. Magic, I imagine, likely leaves a kind of almost residue? Some kind of Vibe, especially large scale magic. His hesitance towards going through the portal at the end of the darkness world is interesting. Either way this feels like a kid whose parents are in the middle of a very, very messy divorce.

Elaboration hour

The FUCKIN deal. WHAT deal mr legundo sir. WHAT. I have a very clear clip in my brain of him saying "We had a deal!" At the end of the 'new mod a day' world. There's some kind of agreement that Decem goes along with to an extent for some reason. If it's an attempt at compliance then it doesn't explain the fear and hesitance about the obelisks showing up still. Legundo isn't naive. By this point you'd think he'd be used to it if the deal was anything about transporting him across the multiverse, much less a timer on how long he gets to stay.

Actually, thinking about it a little harder now, I reckon it's a chance. I think it has something to do with Legundo gets 100 days to try and hide or do something and if he can successfully evade Decem for however long and/or complete,,, something (at which point I wonder what exactly)? Then he wins. But with Decem being the one choosing where he goes and the situations he ends up in, they know what world he's in. Given that they seem to be observing him somehow, I'd also say that's how they show up the morning of day 100 without fail. Having gone 10 worlds before Decem really caught up to Legundo a little, I have to wonder if there's any pattern or reasoning to each world selected. I'll have to go and look at what each world is and if there's any correlation to Decem characters later. It's likely not very relevant nor important, but it'd be fun to know anyways, even if there is no relation.

The obelisk powers now, I know it includes player transport and revival. I also reckon they have something to do with either tracking or a general conduit for Decem's power(s), as well as acting as some form of communicative link given how Legundo speaks to them like they can hear him. Also the malicious compliance from Decem also encourages this notion.

Anyways yeah I still don't know how or why Decem's power seems split the way it is (something about full power 'when we are whole' from the bit after 11, from who I presume to be The Warrior speaking. The Warrior said a lot of interesting things I went over that on another post.) Or exactly what their goals are. I know that both The Alterans and Decem have interest in Legundo, enough to be fighting over him like a pair of small children. Whether it be from a general investment of power standpoint or there's something seriously up with this guy, I still can't quite tell and unfortunately I do not have the current time to find out right now.

Either way here I am. Full hyperfixation in progress, and I reckon I'll be around for a while.

#legundo #I think I mighta missed something but my theories are always changing as I learn more so. #also hello mr legundo sir I see you in my notifications. #i'm going to assume you know what you signed up for by hitting the follow button.

[nellie-elizabeth]

Doctor Who: The Star Beast (2023 Special 1)

I mean, I'm going to be emotional no matter what about seeing David Tennant and Catherine Tate back on my screen as the Doctor and Donna Noble. To be frank, this episode didn't have to be that good to draw me in and make me sentimental! Let's see how it went.

Cons:

I think the little prologue thing where we get reminded on the history of Donna and the Doctor as characters was a little strange. I almost would have rather just had a "previously on" with Tennant doing voiceover or something. Especially since the Doctor later explains the whole "Donna took in the mind of a time lord and had to have her memory erased" bit, on screen, to another character.

While I overall want to praise the way pronouns and gender were quite casually discussed in this episode, I did think the fact that Rose was the one to speak up and basically say "did you just assume this alien's gender" was a little clunky. I wish the Meep had just corrected the Doctor outright instead of the one trans person in the room needing to intervene? That's the smallest of nitpicks, though.

Another slightly less small nitpick about the way gender was discussed in this? I really hated the "this is something a male-presenting Time Lord will never understand" line. Because isn't the point that the Doctor is male and female and neither and more? And the Doctor has just finished living as a female-presenting Time Lord, that's kind of the whole point, right? So shouldn't it more have been something about, like, Rose and the Doctor both having explored their gender in different ways, made them more aware of how to let go the parts of yourself that you don't want, and hold onto the ones that you do? Couldn't it have been a thing where the Doctor takes ownership of his presentation, like he realizes that subconsciously he wanted to revisit someone he used to be, for a while? And that that's okay? Instead it just felt like this clunky moment where Donna and her daughter got to be like "you don't get it because you're just a stupid man" and that felt so out of the spirit of what the message was meant to be. Also, why give up the meta-crisis? If it wasn't killing them anymore? Jeez.

I did think the dialogue was again a little clunky in the explanation for why Rose was able to take on part of the meta-crisis. Because at first I was 100% on board, the fact that Donna had a child meant that the thing that was too much for one human was passed down and shared between the two of them. That Donna's memories were there buried in Rose's mind, that she made toys based on the aliens they'd met over their adventures, and that she picked the name Rose in part because of Rose Tyler. That's a lot of fun and it makes sense within this wacky sci-fi universe. But I wasn't sure what the "we're binary" and "she's not" business was supposed to be about. Based on what they're literally saying in the scene, it sounds like the Doctor is the nonbinary one, is he not? And Rose is a young transwoman, she's not nonbinary, except in so far as she connects to that? I don't know, it was just sort of a weird explanation. I'm not mad at it like I'm sure stupid reactionary conservatives are going to be, I'm just literally unclear on what they were trying to communicate there.

Shaun seems like a very nice man but he didn't have a ton of time to develop. I felt like I had time to revisit this version of the Doctor and Donna as characters. And Sylvia, it was lovely to see her again, it was like no time had passed. Rose got a few good personality beats, as did another new character Shirley. But Shaun was just kind of there... and a nice guy. And that's fine, I just didn't find him as compelling as the rest of the episode.

Not sure about the new TARDIS design? It seems a little sterile to me. Maybe it'll grow on me.

Pros:

But despite some gripes, I honestly had a really, really good time. And I'm not surprised: having these characters back on screen warmed my heart so much!

Just... instantly the energy of having them on screen together, it was so good. The Doctor seeing Donna, trying to avoid getting sucked in, but everything starts happening so fast that he can't avoid it. The "Rose" "What?" "Rose" "What?" "ROSE" bit was so fucking funny and just the kind of fan service that I personally am after.

I also loved the psychic paper not having caught up to the Doctor's current gender presentation, that was a fun little gag. I appreciated just in general that Tennant played the Doctor like he was slipping into a comfortable and familiar set of clothes. I sort of worried that he'd go mugging about and camping it up too much, and there were a few more bombastic moments, but a lot of it was toned down in a way that I really appreciated. The scene with Shirley, the UNIT scientific advisor, was a good example of this. I loved how she just came up and knew who he was, and he oh-so-casually started chatting with her. Both of them playing it cool in a way that was satisfying to see. Shirley's meeting a legend that she's heard about for who knows how long, and the Doctor is reconnecting with UNIT after a long while. ("Waited your whole life?" / "You wish!")

The Meep is so cute in such an obnoxious sort of way. I love the Doctor's incredulous "it's so cute", almost affronted by the reality of it. Because - same. And everyone saying "The Meep" in such a serious tone of voice was a constant comedic beat. Of course, the plot twist about The Meep being the bad guy and the scary insect aliens being good guys, was fairly predictable, but it still made me laugh! I think sometimes people forget that this is a family show, and it's got to have over the top ridiculous fun for the kids.

It's this wonderful tension throughout the episode, the fact that Donna doesn't remember the Doctor. There's this beat where he hands her the sonic screwdriver to hold for a second while he's working on pushing shields into place, and when she takes it there's this sense of automatic cooperation between them that feels innate to Donna. There's no dialogue, just an expression on her face, to communicate this. I love small moments like that!

I also really loved the through-line of Donna's mother and her worry that Donna will die when exposed to the larger truth about the universe around her. It's not that Sylvia is the perfect mother, there seems to be tension between them and moments where they don't always get everything right with one another. But her care for Donna, the lengths she'll go to, to keep her safe? Very moving for me. She's the one constantly on alert for Donna to start remembering, and the haunted look on her face towards the end when she said "she called him the Doctor", was honestly really powerful.

This is a small thing, but the techno-babble felt especially comedic and ridiculous in that good campy sci-fi fun way that Doctor Who is often so good at. "Brandish the gravity stanchions" / "Gravity stanchions brandished" had me laughing out loud. And "vindicate the cyberline", "inculcate the plexidrones" were some other good ones. I'm sure if I went back and watched again there would be another dozen I could chuckle at.

The fact that Donna has like... a mindwipe reinitiating sequence, like the freakin' Winter Soldier or something, is honestly so funny to me. But also, Tennant and Tate are good enough performers, and there's enough of a history and build-up with these characters, that his realization of what he has to do to save London still hits really hard. It's almost an echo of the sacrifice the Doctor made all those years ago to save Wilf. (Who, we find out, is still alive and living in a very posh nursing home. So that's fun!)

But it really worked well for me, the Doctor starting to break down, wondering why it had to be this! He's suffered so much, and he loves Donna so much, and he just wants her to be safe!

I was genuinely moved by Donna's death scene! There's something about the Doctor when the role is played really well, and the script is firing on all cylinders, where the fact of his impossibly long life is there, a pressure filling up the room, adding weight to every moment. The fact that the Doctor and Donna have this final exchange and the Doctor is able to quite calmly smile down at Donna as she dies in his arms... the part where he might have gotten this face back just to say goodbye, and Donna saying "good fun, though".... it was so sweet and simple, and then cut to the mind-controlled soldiers coming into the room as he cradles her dead body. They say they're here to kill him, and he says "do what you want." Amazing. Chills.

And then that bit at the end: "I really do remember, though. Every second with you. And I'm so glad you're back, because it killed me, Donna." I did in fact have all the feels.

A couple other moments that really made me smile: the Doctor realizing about Rose's name, that was quite lovely. And the bit where Donna's husband isn't even a little bit insecure at the thought of Donna going somewhere alone with the Doctor, because, come on: look at him. And Donna giving up her lottery winnings because she wanted to be kind and soft and helpful like the Doctor, even though she couldn't remember him? That fucks me up in the best way!

While I've critiqued a couple of awkward moments with the discussion of gender, I do also want to take a moment to praise what worked well. First, just meeting Rose and seeing her without being pre-introduced to the idea that Donna's daughter is trans. Then, that scene with Donna and Sylvia in the kitchen, where Sylvia accidentally says "he" and feels self-conscious about commenting on Rose's looks, even in a positive light, because she never did that back before she transitioned. That felt very real to me and like a good way to lightly address a real issue for the audience to maybe contemplate a bit.

So now we're off on another adventure, and we've got two more episodes to look forward to with the Doctor and Donna. I feel really grateful for a chance to hang out with them again. What other cameos from the past might we get to see?

8/10

#review #doctor who #doctor who review

[burningvelvet]

finished charlotte brontë's villette today. some more thoughts to add to the collection... (SPOILERS AHEAD!)

- literally WHAT???

- two whole chapters dedicated to a bad drug trip. i wasn't joking in my last villette post when i said it had to take the trophy for weirdest brontë novel ever (starting shirley after this, but just based on the plot synopsis alone i already know it doesn't come close)

- there are SO many parallels between this novel and jane eyre it's truly insane - to the point where it truly feels like a retelling of the jane eyre - with all the fairy tale themes (quite literally acknowledged in the book) but without jane eyre's fairy tale ending

- the main character's love interest, paul emmanuel, is literally charlotte saying: "what if i took mr. rochester, erased all of his sex appeal, and made him way worse in general? okay, that backfired, shit, shit... wait, but then what if i try to make him better later on? okay, this is going well, this is going w— ah, shit, lucy doesn't need him anyway, let's just have him disappear and people can think whatever the fuck they want. i don't really care what they think."

- and apparently charlotte tried to kill him off in the end but her dad made her leave it up to interpretation thinking it wouldn't sell as well if not... so anyway what i'm saying is that this book is for the mr. rochester haters

- i don't even really hate paul but i didn't really feel for his loss either, even though i did learn to tolerate him and like him maybe a little toward the end... but in the main, his character flaws were so striking, and his lack of chemistry with lucy compared to jane/rochester for example, is really to blame for that

- i feel like lucy may be incapable of lasting love and/or she is truly suffering from comphet or gender troubles

- i feel like she had way more chemistry with john whether platonically or romantically. honestly he was one of the most entertaining characters because he felt very real.

- i wonder if villette (based on their frienemy situation) had repressed feelings for ginevra or vice versa because 1) the theatre performance where lucy had to act as ginevra's male lover and fell really really into the role, 2) the fact that they keep up a correspondence, 3) when lucy said ginevra would lean on her like she was her male suitor & it made her uncomfortable, 4) complimenting her beauty & defending her to john despite her dislike of her (this could just be lucy's goodness) 5) lucy's comment to polly where she said she could never love a man OR a woman "in that way you're referring to" (tightly paraphrasing here), 6) lucy analyzing the artwork of naked women & then defending herself to paul, 7) lucy admiring/idolizing madame beck who is described as being masculine, 8) probably many other things i've forgotten

- after reading theories about charlotte and ellen nussy i'm feeling vindicated in my discovery of the queer themes - the novel can be read as being very comphetish (comphet = compulsive heterosexuality; for those of you who may not know, this term was coined by writer/theorist adrienne rich to describe the ways in which lgbt people [she focuses on women] are brainwashed to think they're straight, & the weird symptoms this can cause!)

- i read a spoiler about characters being not who you think they are initially, and so i knew john was dr. bretton, BUT I MISTAKENLY THOUGHT POLLY WAS GINEVRA! and in my last post i made a reference about seeing a lot of adèle varens in "the french girl of the story" but really i see a little bit of adèle in both ginevra and polly - to clarify this point. but i also see how the fairy references re: polly parallel jane - that's about where their comparison ends though.

- anyway the nun plot was interesting but kind of underwhelming. also which we got more time with ginevra's rakish beau.

- might make a whole post just on the comparisons between paul/rochester & paul/lucy & rochester/jane... so many... damn...

#villette #jane eyre #charlotte bronte #charlotte brontë #the bronte sisters #book opinions #book thoughts #book review #the brontes #books #reading #currently reading #my analysis #my opinions #literature #english literature #victorian

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Mad cat do you like The Orville? I saw your post talking about Twice Upon a Lifetime. Gordon has my whole entire heart and I wish they could have just let him be, but they had to protect the timeline. Everything they did they did for the sake of their future.

I do! In a lot of ways, it was baby's first Star Trek, for me. I saw episodes of Next Gen here and there when I was a kid, but The Orville is what inspired me to watch Next Gen (and Discovery) in full. Even to this day, I consider The Orville to be "real" Star Trek. Not saying it's better than official content (though I certainly enjoy it) but I would argue that it's more than earned it's place as an addition to that fictional universe.

Regarding Twice In a Lifetime,

I know that was the point of view the episode wanted to establish for Ed and Kelly, and I'm not even sure if they wanted us to see Gordon as being in the right or wrong. I can only tell you that when I watched it, I was absolutely on his side and frankly, rooting for Ed and Kelly after that episode was...challenging.

They claim they want to protect the timeline, but they have an extremely narrow definition of what that means, regarding a subject that they freely admit to not fully understanding. The fact is, Gordon could be right. Maybe the timeline where he stays on Earth is the "right" one. The Orville crew don't know. They can't be sure, one way or the other, so what makes the version of time they're fighting for more real, more legitimate, more "safe?" Whether or not Gordon should have done what he did, it's happened now. Ed claims that it's still in flux "until we act." But that doesn't make any sense. Everything they do is "acting." How does the timeline know when they "mean" it?

Oh and, they go back in time to rescue Gordon from 2015, despite already interacting with Gordon in 2025, and obtaining the fuel they need to make that journey from 2025. Would that not create gigantic paradox? I guess it doesn't, but again, how the hell could the Orville crew be sure that it wouldn't before they make that jump? Can we also talk about how they mine a finite resource from the Earth's crust that hasn't even been discovered yet, like that won't affect the timeline more than Gordon having kids.

There is no way to not leave a footprint when you're in the past. It is not possible. On paper, hiding out in the woods seems like it would change less, but it really doesn't. Every one of the animals Gordon killed for food might have played some role or been part of a domino effect that changed the future somehow. It's called The Butterfly Effect for a reason. Living a quiet, mundane life, to me, is just as acceptable and probably smarter than staying in the wilderness. Oh yeah, and when they find Gordon's bio, Kelly asks "Why is there a record of him at all?" My sister in Christ, why were you looking him up in the first place if you didn't expect to find something?

Ed and Kelly keep bringing up Union law to Gordon, even though the Union literally doesn't exist in the 21st century. How is he supposed to break laws that don't exist? The Union can try to legislate the past all it wants, but in actual practice it should have no right or jurisdiction. By The Union's it's own reasoning, the past is apparently written in stone. Ed and Kelly also mention how Gordon "took an oath" as if he hasn't made it very clear that he's resigning his post as a Union officer. And so long as we're talking about the law, would it not be a crime to erase Edward and his unborn sibling? Like, Gordon raises that point and Ed/Kelly don't acknowledge it.

Man, I could go on. I could talk about the hypocrisy of The Orville crew considering history says they're all supposed to be dead after the dark matter storm in Season 1. How they were far more open minded with Past Kelly in Season 2, agreeing to let her stay and not forcing a memory wipe on her when she was going home. Not to mention they were willing change history in The Road Not Taken. I could talk about how, in just the previous episode, they were willing to risk losing their greatest ally against the Kaylon just so Topa could transition. I'm not saying any of these decisions were wrong, but if that's the attitude we've been going with so far, how do Ed and Kelly justify such a sharp turn?

In general, I have a lot of issues with the laws of The Union/Federation. I also think The Prime Directive is a circular argument that basically humble-brags about it's own lack of empathy, but that's a debate for another time.

#The Orville #Star Trek #Twice in a Lifetime #Gordon Malloy #Ed Mercer #Kelly Grayson #Edward Malloy #The Federation #The Union #The Prime Directive

[bi-sapphics]

bi women whining about lesbians having boundaries is the REASON some lesbians prefer les4les relationships smh

okay, i said i didn't wanna get into this too much, but this ask is kinda pissing me off because it's yet again dismissing us calling out the very real and harmful treatment we face as "whining." i'm going to put effort into this answer, because i haven't seen anyone talking about it outside of twitter and i'd like a post i can fall back on for reference.

ANYWAYS.

what boundaries though, anon? please do specify. because i've heard plenty of reasons for deciding to go les4les float around many times now, and they've never expanded out of the following criteria (and anything related):

Bi Women Bad™

bi women are tainted by men

(potential) attraction to men ruins a relationship where no men are involved

bisexuals cheat (yeah, still, it's a belief)

all bisexuals are polyamorous, dirty, liars, uncommitted, etc.

bisexuals inherently can't be gold stars, which, matters for some clean purity reason i guess??

bi women "don't understand" what it is to live a life solely dedicated to women and other sapphics (+ to exclude men), and/or somehow "couldn't provide" a lesbian what they're looking for in a relationship. this has NEVER been elaborated on, especially the latter idea. and theoretically speaking, lack of experience doesn’t make for worse or lesser support.

if a bisexual identifies as butch or femme, it ruins the unnecessary safety illusion that all butch/femme relationships will be les4les without fail. it's literally just the same TERF rhetoric as the safety illusion that all WLW relationships will be AFAB4AFAB. no, really, unpack that. what makes you feel safer about knowing your partner isn't transfem, or, y'know, bisexual (also one is much more conceptual than the other, which is more materialistic. so like. yeah. what's the point.)

bi women aren't apologetic to lesbians for who they are 24/7 and therefore oppress them

bi women "are homo/lesbophobic" (see: not tolerating biphobia & harassment, using butch/femme, being dykes, using the term "sapphic", using the ⚢ symbol, sharing a history with lesbians without needed permission, daring to ask for a community of solidarity with lesbians, not exclusively dating women in their own personal lifestyle choices, etc.)

the false and generalized assumption that *all* bi women are *actually* homo/lesbophobic (see: forcing lesbians to like men, claiming comphet can't be real because it makes one bisexual instead, erasing canon lesbian characters, derailing lesbian posts, being ignorant towards lesbian issues, and/or otherwise treating lesbians really shitty and not including them where they belong, etc.) ─ including this one because for some reason, it's a one-way street and the reverse is bad-faith, bigoted, and exclusionary.

ETA: bi people don't talk enough about mspec lesbians, apparently (even though they do so pretty much all the time on twitter but ok)

keep in mind that these are all things that i have ACTUALLY SEEN being used as arguments consistently over time with my own eyes, unironically. and yes, they are always about bi women. who else would it be, pan women? other mspec women? who else could be a potential romantic/sexual partner to lesbians? who else is les4les designed to be a protective shield against?

i've never seen a good faith reason that isn't either biphobic, misogynistic, a combination of both, or two-sided in a way that acknowledges bi women can't oppress lesbians, despite how much we try to add that when we agree that lesbians don't oppress bi women either. or even anything that doesn't exclude the fact that, behaviorally, we can do anything that you can too (not regarding inherent attraction).

i guess i'll address bi4bi while i'm at it. i'm not a hypocrite, i think the same thing goes for us. lesbians can't oppress us, lesbians can do whatever another bi sapphic can, yes lesbians can be biphobic but it's not a trait they all share in one big hivemind ─ and it's certainly not enough in numbers to consider a bi separatism movement for radical purity reasons (*cough* lol lmao), etc. i've seen some people say bi4bi is acceptable because mspec hatred within the queer community is so much worse than monos get within their own rightful spaces, which, i see where they're going i guess (because we do face the highest statistics from both sides), but i disagree because in the LB dynamic neither letter has more power over the other in the real world, and certainly not enough to unbalance ourselves into inconsistency like that.

the other thing i want to say is, i don't inherently have a problem with any random les4les or bi4bi relationship picked out of a hat in a lottery. i even headcanon some of my favorite ships as such sometimes. also, factually, some fictional ships and even real relationships are one of those two, or bi4les/les4bi. as i said in the tags you're responding to, anon, these types of relationships aren't inherently flawed, especially if they form by chance and not intentional setup. in fact, those like t4t, aut4aut, ace4ace / aro4aro / aro4ace*¹, blk4blk, disabled4disabled, and the like actually have a systemic and structural reason for setting their preferences. but doing this just to avoid other sapphics? the "safety" reason is absolute bullshit, and just creates a further unnecessary divide among mono and mspec sapphics that really shouldn't be created. we're not a danger to each other, we're both in danger from everyone else ─ namely, the straights™.

hell, i would even say casually looking for a partner who shares your orientation labels is totally valid, even though the preference would have no real basis or weight if it's not in bigotry. and then if you fall in love with someone and they don't meet that expectation, so what!! who cares!! it'd be a really dumb loss of opportunity to say no due to that minor and irrelevant difference despite the fact that you both seemed ready to commit to each other as partners. that, and actively excluding harmless groups of people, making it your life mission at all costs, especially for a few twitter discourse points™, is such a waste and only hurts real people's feelings, yourself included.

you're welcome to send another ask just to mock me or say i'm wasting my time proving your point by whining about “the mean angry oppressive lesbians”, or whatever i dunno. but i just want you to ask yourself what really makes these particular "boundaries" so important to you. what makes you feel threatened? we're not forcing you to go date a bi woman right the fuck now or else you're Biphobic, i'm just asking you why you would (hypothetically, of course) reject a bi woman as a potential partner at the top of your list upon finding out she's not a lesbian. i answered why this matters so much to us, but i actually do want to know, why does this matter so much to you? just wondering.

*¹aros & aces absolutely do not share the same rivalry and discourse among each other like they do with the rest of the queer community. aro4aro people have never made it a point to exclude ace people, but rather alloromantics as a whole, and vice versa. that is why they are not comparable to the sapphic side of _4_ discourse, as generally speaking, unlike aros & aces, lesbians & bisexuals treat each other far too often on a wider scale like enemies rather than sisters in sync (which is what we should be doing instead).

#chase answers #les4les #bi4bi #les4bi #bi4les #t4t #aut4aut #blk4blk #bi tag #biphobia #biphobic lesbians #lesbophobic bisexuals #homophobic bisexuals #les/bi dynamic #les/bi solidarity

[stackthedeck]

What are your thoughts on the new Spiderverse run? I'm only reading it because of Cooper and I managed to find some bits here and there.

Have a good one!

I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS! First off, there's never been a spider verse that I didn't enjoy because I just love all the creative spins that writers and artists put on the spider mantel!! And usually, a spider verse run means that at least one of the new spiders will get their own mini series or even a full run (Spider-Gwen and Spider-Punk my beloved)

okay this got long specific thoughts and minor spoilers under the cut

And I love the five issue series of end of the spider-verse because all the new spiders are so cool!! And I think the evil wasps work really well because it allows us to check in on the other spiders we know and love but they're turned evil so that we can focus on the new spiders! It's a very visually engaging villain and it really doesn't need to be that complicated for an end of the multiverse story you know

I love Web Weaver more than words can I express I have not stopped thinking about Cooper since I read his issue!! I just want him to have a mini series after all this is over marvel please I will write it!! I think he honestly has the strongest introduction out of all the new spiders because he actually does stuff and it's not just his origin story. His design is gorgeous but also his panel layout was so engaging like that beautiful web page that summoned up his origin story!!! I love his writing and the jokes he makes, you can tell that a gay man wrote his dialogue like yes!! (Steve Foxe, sir I hope marvel lets you write more of this character please Slott can't be trusted with him!) But like he'd have such an excellent mini series because there's a plot hook established before he leaves for the multiverse and it's his relationship with Albert Moon!! It's a love square with two people I'm literally gaging yes please marvel please I need to see how this goes!! Like Cooper and Albert are exes, but Silk and Web Weaver have crushes on each other and Albert kissed Web Weaver! Like oh my god the drama and if I don't get a comic for either of them soon I'm going to fucking write it myself

I also adore the other new spiders!! I like the new spider UK, she's an interesting character with a cool design, but her writing was a little clunky but I think that would have been fixed if she had a whole issue rather than like a quarter. Same with Sun Spider, love everything about her but the writing could have been stronger but also this isn't her first appearance so idk why the felt the need to go over her origins again. I would love for both of them to get their own solos. The character I'm really excited about is Spintress!! I thought her universe was so creative and the way they translated the typical spider man villains into Disney princess stuff. I hope she gets like a children's book or since Disney owns marvel maybe a little animated short in the traditional 2d style like I'd literally kill for that!!

Okay, I love this spider verse, but its whole is less than the sum of its parts. Like it moves into Slott's Spider-Man run and it instantly stops being charming and exciting. It immediately focuses on Peter despite the fact that this whole series started with Anya Corazón and Julia Carpenter! And they started calling Peter the chosen one which fuck no!! The whole point of spider verse is that Peter Parker isn't special, that anyone can take up the responsibility of spider-man, that anyone can be behind the mask!! And then they take away the tension of the evil wasp turning the spiders by saying that 616 citizens can't be turned which like way to bring down the stakes! Noir now has a sword that erases people from existence which fuck fine okay whatever. But the new spiders are instantly pushed to the background so that Peter can have the spotlight! He makes a homophobic comment to Web Weaver, he's nasty to Spintress, and he hates Felicia for no fucking reason!! Like he's so out of character, but it's Slott so idk what I expected. I'm going to read how it ends, but fuck I wish like the core of the story actually cared about the new characters introduced because what's the point of having them there if they don't do anything

#asks #i like it just the way the plot is shaking out is confusing #peter was erased from existence and I fucking cheered

[butwhatifidothis]

Is it bad that when I got to the last point on your Ch 58 about Cornelia showing up and stabbing Dimitri, I honestly thought for a second you were joking? And I had to go to the chapter to confirm it?

I mean, I’m fine with the idea of what Cornelia says (it would make a neat AU or twist on canon in a vacuum) but she just… shows up, in the middle of two enemy armies, just to… brag? And then kill Demitri so once again, a main character can be killed by someone else besides the ‘heroes’? I. Wow. Jeralt was one thing, but he was at least killed by the same faction if I remember right-

LMAO YOU THOUGHT I WAS PULLING Y'ALL'S LEG

No, it's definitely true - Cornelia does in fact pop up at the conclusion of the fight just to alleviate from Woobiegard the act of killing Dimitri herself.

Now, mind, Dimitri is still alive by the end of that chapter, but spoiler alert Cornelia does kill him in the next one. And Cornelia and Thales themselves just kinda... exist to be threats? But not threatening.

Thales is lauded as this mastermind giga genius who has spies and and eyes and ears any and everywhere and that's why Woobiegard just totally couldn't tell anyone anything about what he was doing... but also she'll just, like, punch him in the face. And face no repercussions for doing so. More than once. He has spies everywhere that can look like anyone, but apparently, um... doesn't know that his spies can shape-shift? According to Kronya? He brainwashes his spies for all of their lives to do what he wants, but also the brainwashing can be completely erased from one singular conversation. He's the leader of Agartha and rules it with an iron fist and the culture is rife with ideas of hatred and vengeance and it's been like this for (presumably) centuries, but also literally everyone not a bigwig can completely reject everything they ever knew because One (1) resident told them that Thales is Cringe. He's the one wearing the pants of his and Woobiegard's partnership and Woobiegard has to act submissive towards him... as he has to ask her to use the Death Knight... and needs her okay to use his men alongside hers... and needs her to consent to using Aymr instead of, like, I dunno, blackmailing her into using it by force or something? Y'know something a bad guy that's threatening would and could do?

Cornelia, in a double-edged sword kinda way, both benefits and loses from not ever being really a thing before the later chapters - there's literally no build-up for her being the one to end up being the bigger threat than Thales so it comes out of nowhere, but there's also nothing to contradict to "make up" for that. But even then she still somehow manages to be contradictory - she was distraught at the death of Thales, but did literally nothing to try and stop it despite her escaping Woobiegard's side from a slight distraction doing more than enough to show off that she very much could have helped Thales during that moment. She has all these golems and all this magic, but then kinda just... gets captured? Somehow?

They're there to suggest the idea that there is something Woobiegard ought to be wary of, but they never actually do anything in the story to prove that they're something that needs worrying about. All of their competence and fear factor that Woobiegard feels about them is left in their backgrounds; Thales conducted the experiments on Woobiegard, Cornelia helped instigate the Tragedy, and because of that they should be feared. But not for anything they're doing now - Woobiegard can Fortnite dance on their mother's graves and they still wouldn't do shit to her, because they never actually do anything to her. They wait until the very last minute to attempt to try something, and once they do Thales is immediately killed and then made into a literal joke. Cornelia only fares slightly better by Whack-A-Moling back into the story to kill Dimitri for Woobiegard, but that's about it.

So while it's HILARIOUS that you thought I was joking I honestly don't blame you for thinking that, because Thales and Cornelia are themselves jokes lmao

#ask #o captain my captain #it's the writing trap of ''I want my protagonist to look cool all the time'' #Woobiegard can't be shown ACTUALLY struggling against Thales and co. and ACTUALLY losing to them #the one time ANY of TWS were ever shown to be a threat is... Myson when he successfully killed Jeralt #and then he's killed like the next chapter anyway so oops there goes the ONE person who managed to actually DO SOMETHING #like spoiler alert guys: if your protagonist can physically assault the villain multiple times and the villain doesn't do shit back to them #it's almost guaranteed that you've just severely devalued your villain's threat level #if your protagonist can thwart every single thing your villain throws at them? if your villain needs your protagonist's consent to do shit? #then i'm sorry your villain is barely better than a mob mook #sorry if this kinda drifted from your ask lmao but ye