#like i know there's problems with his character arc and all that but for the 80s/90s this stuff is incredible

[cancerian-woman]

how do you think forwood wouldve gone if the writers were brain dead pussies with no backbones

i know candice was julies little bitch dog which is why she never left the show for longer than 2 episodes but i always liked the idea of caroline going with tyler whenever he left town the way she was supposed to at the end of s3

this way klaus' attention couldve gone to someone more interesting (COUGH) Bonnie

then when tyler and caroline come back it turns out they got married Naley style

that’s a fun question.

A big Forwood problem outside of Klaus is that we aren’t seeing enough of Tyler’s side. I think seeing on screen and having Caroline go with Tyler would’ve been great. Tyler hated who he was in s1 and coming into his werewolf side and working with wolves/hybrids is how he began to change along with Caroline's support. The thing is if they can give a full werewolf related arc to Hayley in TO they could've did more with Tyler's. He wasn't a main character but a peak at what's doing while he isn't in MF wouldn't have hurt. The Lockwoods was the introduction to werewolves and without Tyler, you don't Hayley's arc or Klaus. The Lockwoods were apart of the world building and just tossed aside. It’s infuriating.

That being said, I think Forwood would’ve been fine longterm with Caroline seeing and being able to understand what was going on with Tyler. She was supportive of him vice-versa all the time. It’s somewhere on my blog but yeah Forwood is very Naley-coded pre-Klaus that is they definitely would’ve been the type to sneak off and get married.

You just reminded me of a one shot I didn’t finish about Forwood being detectives on if Klonnie is a thing. But, in Julie’s world Bonnie can date her pseudo step-brother before she ever dated a villain/character people care about.

#Tyler Lockwood #Tyler x Caroline #Caroline x Tyler #tvd #the vampire diaries #forwood #Hayley Marshall #sorta kinda but she in there lol #klonnie #bonnie bennett #dria responds #Tyler Lockwood deserves better

[atidingofmagpies]

I don't care if asexual androids are "bad representation", Data replying "the act or the emotion?" When asked whether he can love and adding that they are NOT the same thing is the best ace rep I've seen on TV.

#he's the best #like i know there's problems with his character arc and all that but for the 80s/90s this stuff is incredible #star trek #star trek tng #this is S2 ep4 btw

[bylertruther]

i don't like season three when viewing it as a continuation of seasons one and two, but i do very much like season three when viewing it as the prequel to seasons four and five... hmmmmm.

#rewatching it bc i wanted to make another foreshadowing compilation post for myself regarding what will's actions will #likely be in season five re: vecna and lmao. so many things are just... it's like. it makes me laugh how In Your Face it is now #that we know all that we know. so many direct parallels both with dialogue and actions. mike/will/lucas/el foreshadowing their s4 roles. #the flaying of the holloways and the creels. the dormancy / activation shit. the building shit. the natural progression of their arcs. #the different ways that their characters approach problem solving and how we see tht reinforced by s4. it's so fascinating #genuinely i think idk it was just such a big culture shock i guess u could say from 1 and 2 that it was hard to digest on its own for me #but now that 4 is in the same vein it's like Oh. Okay. Yeah no. I get it now. That's cool. I'm forever bitter but I get it and respect it. #3 4 and 5 are a package deal considering they also said 4 was like part 1 of 5. #it also makes sense bc the point of 3 was that everyone was changing and building themselves in a new way and that #includes vecna so. just so fascinating how they link everything and how their vision is so consistent with certain plots and characters #like. the lucas max mike n will + el involvement is right there. the idea that they have to kill vecna and not just his puppets is right #there. that 2nd point starts in season two but three is where it really turns into an ''the end justifies the means'' situation #(especially for will which i think is something a lot of people overlook but—) #s3 is painful when considering their personal character arcs but fucking delicious when considering the overarching supernatural vecna plot #bc thts also when he starts his ''there is no stopping this'' shtick and actually enters the story #and he's fucking slimy lol. which i Love #anyway. omg first i defended mike in the rain fight and now i'm saying i kind of like season three who the FUCK am i!!!!! #crazy what feeling the need to defend a white boy's honor will do to you 😳

[chaoticsoulsword]

So many beautiful things about these panels: Cyrus acknowledging that he was saved from his own despair thanks to the protagonists; the fact that he doesn’t punish Charon for his betrayal, simply leaving him behind instead; listening to Jupiter’s words and taking full responsability, even though he doesn’t intend to do bad stuff with Team Galactic anymore; the sweet moment when his Magneton lifts the three admins, taking them with him.

Cyrus slowly embracing his own flaws and imperfections by finding completeness in others is just so meaningful and sweet, especially for someone who grew up in an abusive household and had a hard time making friends, choosing to tinker with machines instead.The pain he endured all by himself, the fact that he lost Rotom for some reason, the loneliness and struggles. He never deserved any of that. And he never meant to destroy the world or hurt people, although his actions are controversial. He just wanted to get rid of emotions because he was never enough for his parents. He never found himself enough, often seeing his own existence as incomplete because he never had validation or affection. Still, he has such a strong will. He did everything he could to make a new world without any strife (albeit as twisted as his mind at that time).

Cyrus was never meant to be evil. He was literally just in a very sad and lonely position when growing up. He was in deep pain and by default decided to interpret that pain as a flaw of the spirit. “I can’t feel pain if I don’t feel anything at all.” As twisted as this thought is, it had logic for him, and he treasured logic above everything else. It made sense in his mind and this is why he was only able to see the errors of his ways when he realized that his plan would never be possible. He started listening and opening his heart to Diamond, and he finally understood that he could have overcome all that pain by finding peace and support in others, which is particularly hard for him because how could he trust people when his own family saw him as a disappointment, no matter how high his grades were or how hard he tried to live up to their expectations?

And yet, against all odds, he is trying. He literally found redemption by changing his own perspectives of the world, all by himself. That’s how strong Cyrus’s heart, will and spirit are.

#no i'm not okay #galactic leader cyrus #galactic boss cyrus #admin mars #admin jupiter #admin saturn #two things #i don't think the games explore cyrus well enough to make it clear that he's struggling A LOT with mental health #i had to dig this all up since the games casually drop a hint or two #i had to put my brain to work in order to find depth in his character and boi did i find tons of layers??? #but that's the problem isn't it? cause few people see cyrus as this deep since it's not clear #which is so sad cause poke villains are just SO GOOD for fans who dig #same is valid for maxie and archie #in short fanom's interpretation >>>> #second thing is #i know pokemas!cyrus is a different cyrus from both the games and manga but i'd kill and die for pokemas!cyrus to be just like pokespe!cyrus #i mean the sinnoh villain arc would be SO GOOD #at least give him some redemption since sophocles and rotom are trying to reach out for his heart!! #they did give some redemption to both maxie and archie and they even said they're going to help people on pasio when needed #all cyrus needs is a little push and DONE #oh to see a redemption arc for him in about two years or so... #anyways too many ramblings #i'm not normal about him #why did gamefreak leave hm in the distortion world anyways? ;-; #thank arceus we have the pokespe and pokemas

[mishkakagehishka]

Honestly i love a3 comfort game ever but. I was listening to sick sick sick and got to thinking, i really wish masumi got some character development re: the whole "crush" he has on izumi. Like, i get it's a joseimuke and you have to have all the archetypes to maximise your audience, but i also think they could easily give him some development and then just introduce a new yandere in a following act. Because it just :/ i don't vibe with the fact that it didn't take a lot at all, within the first act, that it was revealed masumi's neglected and his parents are pretty absent. If it wasn't outright stated, it was heavily implied that he doesn't have a crush, his infatuation with izumi is literally just a result of the fact that he's desperate for attention from a parental figure, and sees izumi as one. I appreciate that he had an arc about learning to love acting, as most had, but i still don't vibe with the fact that he's still unhealthily obsessed with izumi👹

#waiting for my conditioner to set in HFBDBDHDJDJ #and thinking ab masumi. as one does. #like i don't have anything against yandere characters i think it's entertaining #but in certain contexts. like belphegor? the fact that he's a yandere is like the least of his problems #it fits him also bc obey me is ab Demons and like. they're all kinda assholes #but then look at mystic messenger - yoosung's yandere route is very much a bad ending #it's something a character should solve or keep depending on what story you're telling #but in masumi's case. that boy (remember he was like 16? at the start of act 1) just wants attention #and affection/approval from an older woman and he's confusing it for love #like he could be fixed and it could be a heartwarming arc!!! but. but. but. #i don't know. save my boy. (i love masumi) #just put him in a room with the big brother types until he comes out right idk omi could fix him /lh

[perenlop]

havent read tbc but i think its so funny how shadowsight seems to be popular to the people i follow just because “the narrative treats him like all the female characters do so hes an honorary girlie”

#and by ''how the narrative treats him'' they mean badly ofc bc apparently everything is blamed on him repeatedly #w no one realizing that he was manipulated and the narrative being retconned just to say hes actually a screwup who was never good #and everything genuinely is his fault bc why else would he listen to an evil cat in starclan #like. damn that really is something theyd do to a female protagonist #also the only ppl ive seen hating on him do it for boring and stupid reasons so im inclined to like him out of spite #bc ''he has an ILLEGAL name in this universe. hes a TIGERDOVE kid. hes a FANFICTION made REAL'' ok well hes the most interesting one. so. #not like anything he actually does in the narrative it seems. plus the other two protags sound boring as hell #''oh im sad i couldnt get w the boy i like. now i love another guy but its forbidden. oh and my leaders possessed ig.'' #''SIGH i wish people didnt compare me to my cringe OUTSIDER dad. also i see ghosts and i hate this its cringe'' #''also my sister is a legacy name after an important character from the previous arc but who cares'' #and then shadowsight is like ''since i was an infant i had excruiciating seizures and visions. i threw myself into a river as a sacrifice #i am suicidal. i got manipulated by an evil man into possessing my great uncle. everyone outwardly wants me dead for it #everyone blames all of their problems on me and expects a lot from me. i got demoted for it. my only support is my close family #and even then they have to suffer the extreme guilt of not being able to help me with literally anything #also the antagonist wants my mom dead for my own existence. i have lost so much #i am literally blamed by god for everything thats happened to be despite being used by them since i was an infant and thats where my story e #ends'' #like fuck. yeah he is an honorary girlie to me. i barely know u man but like i support u. cmere be my pet cat #echoed voice

[suckishima]

rrrrrrrrr im so frustrated with my writing. its just been weeks of struggle and whyyyy. idk i think i need to rework or rethink what im going for with this one or something, its like i can feel the threads of the themes i wanna do are sooo close to tying together but it just isnt quite reaching yet and so it reads like a stilted bland mess but the more i stare at it the further away it feels aaah

i know it can get there i kNOW it can, the ending and like aha moment is so cleaaaar that i think its almost too solid and thats why my beginning feels so fucked—like i just keep asking myself 'well if hes gonna get there in chapter 5, whats stopping him from getting there now in chapter 2??' i tHOUGHT i had reasons but now that im there i just keep instinctually writing him to have the connecting/realization moment anyway and like. if that's how it is then what even IS the story??? i need a break

#leaving for my parents for christmas tomorrow and while its always a little lowkey stressful there esp during holidays #itll be nice to at least have a different stress than this one for a few days lmao #mandatory writing break coming at a good time ig #anyway a lot of the real problem is that a big reason i wanted to write this fic is bc i wanted to explore tsukkis mental space during #the ball boy arc bc i feel like its an interesting transitional time for him in terms of like being after his big moment but then #he slightly regresses in that post match bathroom scene until yamaguchi sets him straight and like. i love just how furudate is showing #that growth isnt linear and so i wanna explore how tsukki would feel during the camp (which he didnt seem stoked to go to) #and in contrast with hinata who couldnt go but weasels in anyway and like how does tsukki deal with #that intensity of stupidity and passion in regards to how he feels about his own relationship to volleyball now #like i dont think its a straight line from blocking ushijima -> admitting yeah sometimes volleyball is fun #i think theres some wavering in there and oooo i wanna explore it but FUCK its hard?? #why furudate why does tsukki deny extra practice the first night of rookie camp but accepts the second night?? #i know why he accepts night 2 im excited abt that. i'm big time struggling with pinpointing why he says no night 1 in a way #that doesnt come off like 1 hes fully regressing 2 like im having him say no purely bc thats how it is in canon so magical ~plot reasons~ #truthfully furudates reason is probably just 'was funny to have tsukki and kunimi say no in unison' and it isnt out of character for #tsukki to say no either but i also can feeeel it i can feeel the threads of a solid character developmental reason that will fit with #all the OTHER stuff im also trying to do lmao #i just need to piece it together in the right way in the right order and right emphasis #and its so cloooose rn but ugh it just feels wishwashy atm #and so. i struggle lmao #eesh anyway fun tag rant yay #heres to hoping not thinking about this for a week will help #x #....who wants to take bets on whether ill delete this later lol

[amphiptere]

what are everyone’s ranking order for the narnia books. as a kid mine was 5-7-3-4-6-1-2, or something like that, with each number denoting the chronological order. now I have come to my senses about the seventh and I’m midway through a grown-up reread but I think it’ll be something like 5-3-6-1-4-2-7.

#mine #chronological order is magician's nephew tltwatw horse and his boy prince caspian dawn treader silver chair last battle #i think i totally get each being someone's favourite except maybe the last battle #idk what i was on about as a kid that book was not very good #maybe the hardcore christians love it because it's all allegory but like that went over my head when i was a kid i was in denial any of it w #as based on christianity #i guess i don't agree with prince caspian or tltwatw or the magician's nephew being the top favourite either #but that's just me thinking they are among the narratively weaker books #tltwatw can be your favourite for nostalgia reasons though that's ok #it is a great intro to the world but idk i just don't think it's the best novel #like you get introduced to the world and 100% it's got an awesome villain and great character arc with edmund #but then it's jsut kind of wandering around and aslan and santa solve everyone's problems for them #except i guess at the stone table that's a nice scene #i know i was just objecting to christian allegories but listen i don't mind if they work well as story beats still #the stone table scene is great! the end of the last battle is just stupid! #aslan randomly appearing as a lamb because why tf not in dawn treader? kind of pointless #but the rest of it is all good #anyway i love these books so much good lord they were formative #maybe this is my cozy fantasy origin story #because technically they all feature some sort of war/violence but it's mostly off-screen and over very quickly and the main characters don' #t partake #so not much of a focus so much as the Adventure and Fun of the World are #k i take back what i said about tltwatw it's a really solid plot #i just like the books that are more vibes #narnia

[queerpotters]

I'e been fairly clear about the fact that I don't like Draco (I stand by this), but I will say his arc wouldve been far more coherent if he hadnt tried to actively capture Harry during the battle of Hogwarts. As it is, he made a few steps towards the beginning of what could be a redemption arc, and then ran 20 ft backwards, slapped someone on the head, and everyone reacted like he had taken steps forward. maddening.

Having him helping Harry would be out of character I think (even if you like him, you have to admit that Draco Malfoy's primary, most consistent and enduring trait is cowardice), but even that would work better than what happened

#jk r-on top of being an all around awful human being-is a horrible writer who would not know what makes a good redemption arc #if it shot her in the foot. and that is why snape and malfoy are Like That™. #related side note. theres honestly a pretty simple solution to the death eater problem with snape. #why not just have him have chosen to join the death eaters as a spy for dumbledore. #in the first place. #it doesnt fix all the problems with him (he still bullies children because of a childhood grudge) #but having him not willingly join a hate group does fix a damn lot. it doesnt even change shit. #sorry i dont care about these characters very much often but sometimes i do see the vague shadow of something nearly well written in them. #it is quite frustrating. to be honest. #not so fun fact in my recent reread of dh #did you remember that in the last sentence before the prologue #harry hopes his slave (kreacher) will make him a sandwich. what a great book series. #lyn.txt #draco #deathly hollows is such a mess rivaled only by books 3 (and arguably 6) #but at least poa is fun something dh rarely has going for it

[faislittlewhiteraven]

Sad things that are technically very minor in the scheme of things but nontheless ruin your day all the same.

I spent the last eight hours typing away at a big long post about my blorbo whom I very rarely have the energy or guts to gush about.

I love my blorbo and very much wanted to maybe, just maybe, write something that might cause people who have not thought as obsessively as I have about this character to maybe appreciate their struggles, realize where they might have been unfair to this character and others like them in the past and maybe, in a teeny tiny way help people writing fanfic about my blorbo to actually write them as a character rather than a (cute) set piece that happens to be in their blorbos' lives.

I was under no illusion that my blorbo would become theirs. In all honesty I didn't expect more than like two people to ever actually read it and good odds those two people would still disregard it completely because there are very legit reasons for people to find my blorbo obnoxious or annoying.

BUT STILL.

That doesn't mean I expected some program (that's apparently reset its automated schedule to mid afternoon instead of the 4am I had it) to close all my internet pages as I was still writing them!

So yeah. I'm just gonna go mope and look at silly memes for a while until I can stop feeling grief over losing my character gushing and I hope anyone potentially reading this is having a much better day.

#sadness over a comparatively minor thing but I needed to vent #the blorbo in question was Morgana from Persona 5 btw #He's a jerk who the game/my people pleasing main character makes into my jailer but I adore him #I wish people would think more about what kinds of struggles he must have navigating a human centric world #while trapped in a form that he doesn't identify as his own and leads everyone into treating him as non human #which yeah he's physically nonhuman and it can't be helped that people not in the know can't hear him talk or realize he's a person #but like #He's a person and its kind of screwed up that the fandom only ever remembers him to rag on or diss his 'insecurity' arc #which is more accurately his 'realizing he has an entire support network to lose and not knowing how to handle' arc #combined with his longer ongoing 'all I have is my identity as me and if I'm not human what is that even worth?' arc #which is different to Teddie's (my fav P4 character) in a few key areas #such as Teddie putting most of the issue on his nature of being nonhuman #whereas Morgana is more terrified of having who he is ignored in favor of the casual callousness of others #and being helpless to actually effect anything in the real world due to being to everyone but MAYBE the PT a cat #(all that said I agree with the general consensus the pre Okumura arc was handled poorly and Ryuji deserved an apology too) #but still #he's a people #If he can get a human form without it being the result of something bad he's totally valid in that #and he still deserves to be treated as a person even if he can't #all of which is more a fandom problem than a PT problem #but just saying #Futaba sweet amazing gift to the world that you are #if I was Morgana and you smooshed my face without warning like you do his #you would probably end up bleeding #(and as a result I would probably end up being thrown out and left to starve or get put down in a pound or something because cat body) #but anyway #first time using a gif #is it alright to just search here and use the ones that pop up or is a bit research first advised? #strangely enough ranting in the tags has made me feel a lot better even if I am still a bit sad #oh neat you can move tags up and down in the order when editing that's neat

[paldogangsaan]

:/

#this young justice arc has honestly been rlly disappointing #like every other arc focused on the individual characters and their struggles #but dick’s hasn’t #literally not a single episode has focused on him and with everything happening i dont think they will #like they have to deal woth the criminals escaping the phantom zone mgann’s brother betraying them all the heros being weakened #also the emotional aspect of finding conner alive but different and his own mental wellbeing as well as the physical #like… yeah dick isn’t the main character but i was at least expecting him to be the focus of his own arc #raquel also didn’t really have a focus on her during her own arc but that’s a different conversation #also like #if you advertise that the original members are going to have arcs focusing on them you would think that you’d follow through #artemis’ was amazing and i loved conner and mgann’s as well as kaldur’s #i love zatanna but i didn’t care for her arc #raquel’s barely focused on her and i also didn’t particularly care for it but that’s just bc i don’t really know her as a character #if it had really focused on her and allowed to audience to get to know her better i probably would’ve liked it more #and again that’s what you’d expect out of a show that has episode arcs focused on individual characters #but anyway my point is #these last two arcs have been really disappointing #this show has a problem with balancing a large cast and plot #and its extremely apparent when they left no time to focus on dick as a character + no time for emotional reactions to finding conner ALIVE #also the way they found conner was so ?? like they walked into the phantom zone and two seconds later found him #like really? no time to explore how the phantom zone feels? how it’s different? #it took a while for conner to find anyone when he first got there #but the others just found him in seconds? #like no zone sickness for anyone? no focus on the emotional aspect of it? nothing? #like this whole rant comes from the fact that dick’s my favorite character and they’ve done basically nothing with him during HIS arc #but there’s a lot of other problems with this season #yeah basically just let there be some focus on dick #it’s his arc #i have a lot more to say but i’ve apparentl reached the tag limit #young justice spoilers

[kucherovv]

it's so funny how they introduced leon kennedy initially to have some weaknesses (to juxtapose RE1 chris as the typical hero) and to be softer/kinder but then in OG4 they just abandoned all that to make him a cool guy hero to appease gamer bros. and now theyve spent literally every release since then retconning him back into someone with weaknesses lmao

#especially in the wake of the changes made in RE4r #adding the flashback scenes at the beginning to explain leon's character arc directly (him being blackmailed) #the re6 -> vendetta -> re2 -> id -> re4r -> DI leon renaissance is real... idk... #i think vendetta was the real turning point. it was like the Oh this guy has Problems now movie #and also if youre unaware of any of this and just watch infinite darnkess or death island you will just think he's the same cool guy he #was made into #particularly ID. like i think understanding his arc in that movie (specifically where him and claire are left off) is dependent on you #knowing about the blackmail and krauser and all of that bc otherwise you think he's just getting btwn claire and exposing the gvmt #when rlly he's keeping her safe #but . oh well

[salvidida]

Racism and colourism are systemic, and of course they're rampant in most media, fandoms, merchandising, the whole shebang. So these are far from the only examples of this being a problem, but it's maddening being into jjba, ffvii, and fma and seeing damn near NOTHING for any of the (scant) core characters of colour from these fandoms.

Like, wow, cool fanart of the cast of Stardust Crusaders! Where's Avdol? :))))

Great fanart of the ffvii team! Why's Barret MIA? :))))

Oh cool, look at all of this art featuring the large fma cast (if not massive cast regarding mangahood)! It includes villains even! ... So Scar just doesn't exist or...? Man, not even Miles? Paninya?? Hello????

#i don't like miles because he's used as a mouthpiece for racist pro-military liberalism but i'm always amazed that even he (the token 'good' #ishvalan) gets left out of so much fanart. but scar being fully omitted every single time regardless of whether we're talking #the brotherhood or 03 or manga as the focus it doesn't matter: you won't find shit for scar. ppl love every single war criminal more #kimblee included which is 💀. but scar is a step too far and it's exceptionally clear why #jjba (esp sdc) fans will lean on the gap in the arc where avdol is recovering off screen as an excuse #meanwhile they will include iggy. which means avdol should have alreadu returned #and barret has been left out of fanworks and canon spinoffs and merch since ffvii's inception #(i know paninya is a side character with little focus & rose isn't brown in mangahood but c'mon it still reeks) #and when the melanated characters get included they're literally whitefaced for the artist's racist comfort #hilariously this rant was spurred on by some acrylic standee merch for fmab that shockingly did include scar! #except his skin is not only significantly lightened! but it's green!! (?????) wtffffffffffffffff #and y'know that most merch/artwork is digital art! you can (at worst) colour pick from official art/anime frames! you have easy access to a #colourwheel! this shit sucks so hard! #not mentioned in the post but baten kaitos has this problem too. people lighten kalas' skin all the damn time #doesn't seem to happen to gibari but mostly because he doesn't get drawn much 🙃 #jjba #ffvii #fma

[waywardsalt]

working on post-ph stuff and toying with the idea of the pseudo-triforce trio this time around wanting their what respective piece represents in somewhat subversive (at least within the context of loz lore) ways but really struggling to figure out what tetra would want wisdom for and how it could then be subversive since. its a bit hard to figure out why/how past wisdom wielders in past loz stuff were wise and how they represented that

#cuz like zelda is the one who gets wisdom in past loz stuff but like. #at least with link and ganondorf its easy to see why they get courage and power but #whats the deal with wisdom and how tf can i make that subversive esp since its v nebulous comparatively #like w courage its this time he wants rhe courage to take hold of his own life and become comfortable with not being the hero any more #despite having fought tooth and nail for it (still in the works but thats the general idea? its complicated and half baked rn) #and w power its simply that this time he just wants power over himself rather than others #and i want them to tie into their respective arcs or general personal buisness and ig part of the problem here is that #tetra is not actually present in a lot of post-ph bc post-ph is about dicking aroudn in the great sea and deciding to not look for new hyru #so shes not present most of the time and is still looking for new hyrule with her crew #god i feel so guilty abt struggling to write tetra at all since she doesnt appeal to me as a character n i dont know shit abt her first han #salty talks #post-ph

[orkbutch]

Rambling about Astarion bc im bored at work. I like Astarion because I think he is a genius take on The Evil RPG Companion, and is an especially great take on The Fixable Bad Guy. I don't think hes evil, but I do think Astarion is a genuinely bad person at the beginning, and I think Astarion is only drawn away from being a bad person - and experiences a great redemption arc - via active intervention from others. Astarion would not redeem himself without guidance; he is absolutely bent toward self destruction and evil at the beginning of the story.

I think comparing him with Shadowheart is what drew me to that conclusion. If you are nice to Shadowheart, as in you talk to her and respect her boundaries and do stuff she generally agrees with, she will choose to free Nightsong all on her own. You don't need to roll to convince her at all, or romance her or even push back on her Shar worship that much. You just leave it up to her, and she chooses that path. (Side note, what brilliant writing.)

Astarion is not like that at all. Even if you were tight as fuck he would not choose the good option, with no input, in Act 2. Astarion, like all the companions, needs help and connection to reach healthy actualization, but I think its great, resonant writing that Astarion needs the most active intervention of all. Because he's had his autonomy so completely taken away from him, he simply doesn't know how to use it anymore. He doesn't know how to connect with other people anymore. He's someone that's learned to enjoy cruelty, to resent the pleasure of others, and to be entirely selfish for survival. It makes sense that he must be dragged back into being capable of trust. He needs to be forced to be part of a community again; caring about things; allowing for vulnerability and optimism.

And like. How fucking smart is it to have THIS guy in THIS game. Because of the tadpole and the existential threat they're up against, he is actually forced to work with you. This kind of character is so hard to do in most RPGs because its like... why wouldn't he just betray you all and leave? Why would he stick with you? The tadpole clears all of that up. Astarion must stick with you or hes lost and dead. Astarion knows that you and the other companions are collectively stronger than him, so he can't betray you. He is forced to rely on you by default.

This is also what makes him SUCH a good version of the "you can fix him" romance; you are almost never the direct target of Astarion's bastardry because he can't fuck with you. The problem with Fix Him's is that usually they are a threat to the romantic lead, and fixing him requires enduring, soothing and forgiving the worst of his badness as some kind of test of loyalty, hopefully proving to him that being bad isn't necessary (toxic shit). But Astarion... can't do that. He is afraid to actually fuck you over because you are directly tied to his survival, and because you quickly show yourself to be more capable than him. He cannot have real power over you. (Until he's ascended, then he becomes the absolute worst version of the fix-it.)

I do think the trade off is that Astarion not directing his bastardry at you makes it easier to Ignore that Astarion is A Bad Guy, but I think that'd happen even if he was more of an asshole to you, so who cares. I think he's got the best written Redeemable Evil RPG Companion arch I've seen honestly. I love that he's so fun while being so tragic, whether redeemed or not.

#Astarion #bg3

[ohnonotthehorrors]

You know, if any of the bats are going to kill the Joker: it should probably be Dick or Duke.

Like, I get it. 'Jason kills the Joker' sounds like the most obvious solution. But the thing is: Jason literally does not care about the Joker.

"But he's the man that killed him-" Sure. But that was a While ago. (At least if you ignore all the rebooting of the universe). Sure, Joker is a big symptom of what Jason sees as the problem. Which is: Crime needs to be controlled. Because more than anyone, he knows it won't be stopped. (It especially won't be stopped if no one is allowed to kill the bad guys).

But here's the thing. Jason's arc does not, and Should Not, revolve around Joker at all. Jason's story really never has been about revenge, and he should be Allowed to Move On from this one of the many people that hurt him. This isn't a: 'Oh Jason should learn to forgive and let go and not take revenge' this is a: 'the Joker is pathetic. Killing him just straight up doesn't do anything to Jason's arc or character.'

But Dick? Dick whose TRIED to kill the Joker? Dick who first donned the mask and tights to take revenge? Who wanted to make up for not being there for Jason? Yeah. This is the character that Would benefit from killing the Joker.

The first Robin has been around almost as long as the Joker has (both made in the same year) and it would be nothing more than divine justice for him to finally be the one to end him.

Well that's all well and good, you say. But what about Duke? What does he have to do with this?

You mean other than Duke being Awesome and he deserves to?

Duke's parents were hit by Joker gas. Pretty famously part of his character's back story. Duke has already killed a 'mirage' of Joker in the comics, which I think would be neat foreshadowing.

And think about it. The guy with light powers, the guy that works the day shift, by all means the Proof that Gotham really does care. Really does take things seriously. Why Shouldn't he get to kill off the personification of apathy?

Now the other point, and this is really just a personal vendetta, I would love Love the character that is Constantly ignored (at least by fandom) to kill off DCs 'specialist awful white man.'

The other person who should get to kill the Joker is Barbara Gordon (for self explanatory reasons) except I don't trust any writer to do it.

(She should get to beat that Thing into a white and red Pulp and shred his remains. No 'pull a trigger' no 'hire a swat team.' She gets to do it with her Bare Fists)

#do you see the vision? #I'm like barely in this fandom but the voices spoke to me #if this is too long and should have a 'keep reading' I apologize #jason todd #duke thomas #the signal #dick grayson #nightwing #batfamily #batfam #batsiblings #barbara gordon #babs gordon #oracle