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infizero · 11 months

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Why Ambrosius and Ballister’s Relationship Feels So Different in the Movie (Nimona)

As someone who read Nimona countless times growing up, I am very familiar with the story and these characters. Which is why when I watched the movie, I was struck by how different Ambrosius and Ballister felt. They seemed like totally different and unfamiliar characters to me, and it didn’t have anything to do with their designs.

After rereading the original Nimona graphic novel recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that the main reason they feel like completely different characters in the movie comes down to one thing: the removal of the joust.

When I watched the movie, I was surprised by the fact that they changed the circumstances that drove these two apart. But it didn’t hit me just how much this one event shapes both of their characters and their relationship to each other until I reread the book.

The joust is CRUCIAL to their dynamic. It pervades every interaction they have with each other, they bring it up constantly, it is literally the crux of their collective storyline. We learn about it on PAGE 5 of the whole book, and their big heart-to-heart when Ballister is captured near the climax of the story is based around Ambrosius finally admitting the truth about what happened. Honestly I’d say that him finally coming to terms with what he did and apologizing for it is probably what allowed these two to finally find peace together by the end of the book.

We get something similar to it in the movie. Ambrosius still is responsible for Ballister losing his arm, but it is under WILDLY different circumstances. So I want to talk about how the joust affects them in the book, and then explain why the movie’s version of events, while similar on the surface, has a completely different effect on everything. So let’s get into it!

(All images of the book are via pictures of my own physical copy btw, so apologies if they’re not the best quality.)

(Also I want to make it clear that I don’t hate the movie nor its adaptation of these two. I do personally greatly prefer the book, but this post is not here to tear down the movie and exclaim that the book was way better. I just find it interesting how changing one event can have huge ripple effects!)

Part 1: The Graphic Novel (AKA: “My Boyfriend Shot Off My Arm Because of His Wild Ambition!”)

Like I said before, we learn about the joust very early on; Chapter 2, page 5. It is told to us first via Ballister’s perspective. Nimona asks if she can kill Ambrosius while they’re making evil plans, and Ballister says no -- if anyone is going to kill Ambrosius, it’s going to be him. We then get a flashback to the joust itself.

Ballister explains how they were friends and how the joust was the first time they had been pitted against each other. Ballister won fair and square, but in his words:

BALLISTER: “but Ambrosius hates to lose.”

BALLISTER: “He always claimed it was an accident. No one could prove otherwise.”

BALLISTER: “Turns out the Institution had no use for a one-armed hero. I took the only other viable option.”

Ambrosius used a weaponized lance and blasted Ballister’s arm off. After the incident, Ballister was rejected by the Institution, and became a villain instead of the hero he had originally set out to be.

In Chapter 3 we see Ambrosius appear for the first time, and he and Ballister have a very relaxed sort of cartoon hero-villain dynamic going on. There’s definitely real animosity between them, but they don’t hesitate to simply talk casually to each other or help each other when things go south. It’s all pretty lighthearted and lowkey.

They fight briefly, but after Nimona triggers the building they’re in to self-destruct, Ambrosius doesn’t hesitate to help Ballister escape and Ballister doesn’t hesitate to accept his help. Ambrosius even tries to reassure him that Nimona will be fine. After they make it out, with Nimona presumed dead, Ambrosius puts a hand on his shoulder and tells him to go before more guards show up. They may be “arch-nemesises”, but they certainly don’t act like it.

AMBROSIUS: “Haven’t you missed our fights? We haven’t done this since you tried to clone the king’s daughter!”

BALLISTER: “Ambrosius, I really don’t have time for this.”

AMBROSIUS: “Are you trying to make me jealous?”

BALLISTER: “You’re an idiot.”

By the way, I’m not going to be doing a full breakdown of every single scene with them, don’t worry. I just think that their first interaction shows off their dynamic very well. This is presumably how they’ve been with each other since the incident, as it’s made clear both here and throughout the book that they’ve both been doing this for a while at this point. They have a very established dynamic, which is important as that is one of the big differences between the book and the movie. (I’ll get into that more later.)

Whenever these two interact throughout the book, it’s clear that they have very different opinions on the incident that drove them apart and how their relationship functions now.

Ambrosius tries to act like it was simply an accident and that it doesn’t matter. Ballister became a villain of his own volition, and now they are arch-nemesises who have to fight because that’s their job -- though he doesn’t exactly act like he hates Ballister.

Meanwhile Ballister saw it as a deep betrayal, and while he definitely still cares deeply about Ambrosius, he cannot get over the incident as easily as Ambrosius can.

Their respective feelings about what happened are shown perfectly in the scene in Chapter 7 where Ambrosius invites Ballister to meet with him in secret. Ambrosius tells him that the Institution has ordered him to kill Nimona and begs him to send her away, both so he doesn’t have to kill her and so things can go back to “normal.” Ballister then says that Ambrosius gave up normal at the joust.

AMBROSIUS: “I can’t believe you’re still hung up about that. It was a long time ago, you know.”

AMBROSIUS: “Besides, it was an ACCIDENT.”

BALLISTER: “I bet you’ve said that so many times you’ve started to actually believe it.”

Ambrosius insists it was an accident, and Ballister claims that he blasted off his arm because he couldn’t stand that Ballister was better than him. This sets Ambrosius off and they begin to argue.

AMBROSIUS: “You can’t blame me for how your life turned out! You made the choice to turn evil!”

BALLISTER: “Choice? I never had a choice! The Institution needed a villain. That lot fell to me. I never chose it.”

BALLISTER “And it could just as easily have been you, had that “accident” happened differently!”

AMBROSIUS: “Oh please! Do you really believe that?”

AMBROSIUS: “You never had it in you to be a hero! Everyone always knew that you were going to be the one to go bad!”

Ambrosius has convinced himself that Ballister chose to become evil, and that he isn’t responsible for what happened because it was an accident. We later learn that it wasn’t an accident though, which means that this really is him just making excuses so he doesn’t have to accept responsibility.

Ballister brings up the idea of Ambrosius becoming like him again after they fight, in one of if not my favorite scene between them in the whole book:

AMBROSIUS: “uugghh”

BALLISTER: “What if I cut off your arm right now?”

BALLISTER: “Then you’d see how fast the Institution would cast you aside. Just like they did me.”

AMBROSIUS: “You wouldn’t.”

BALLISTER: “No, I wouldn’t.”

BALLISTER: “And I’m the villain.”

BALLISTER: “What do you suppose that says about you?”

Ballister and Ambrosius are both very complicated individuals, and I think they lose a lot of their moral grayness in the movie. (Which I will get to later.)

Ambrosius is the “hero”, but it was his ambition that drove him to blast Ballister’s arm off, and he’s never accepted responsibility for it, instead trying to convince himself that Ballister turned out this way because of his own actions. But he doesn’t disagree here that the Institution would throw him out if he were to lose his own arm, which I think is very telling. He knows deep down that he is not a good person, and he is not working for good people. But he doesn’t want to admit it.

Ballister is the “villain”, but in many ways he is better than Ambrosius. He abides by his own rules of never killing unless it’s necessary, and goes out of his way throughout the book to make sure that as few people are harmed as possible. He knows that the Institution is corrupt, because he was one of the people it failed. And he works to try and bring it down.

Ambrosius cannot accept what happened, and because of that they aren’t able to get anywhere. They both know it wasn’t an accident. But because Ambrosius cannot admit it, they are stuck like this.

It’s a fascinating part of Ambrosius’ character that though he is adamant about Ballister being the one to destroy himself, he still cares about him. Much more openly than Ballister does in return, in fact. Ambrosius consistently does whatever he can to avoid having to kill him and always seems to have his wellbeing in mind. While he initially refused to kill Nimona, revolted at the idea that he should be ordered to kill “a little girl”, he eventually agrees to do so, but only under the condition that Ballister would be spared.

THE DIRECTOR: “Your motivations are quite transparent. I KNOW what the nature of your relationship was. I made it clear at the time that I disapproved. If your fixation on him has impeded your ability to do your job, then he truly has outlived his usefulness.”

THE DIRECTOR: “We’ll find you a new nemesis. Perhaps you will be more competent without Blackheart as a distraction.”

AMBROSIUS: “I won’t kill him. If you demand I kill the girl, I’ll do it - but I won’t kill him.”

Despite him and Ballister’s separation being his fault, he is the one who wishes most for things to go back to the way they were. And this is likely why he refuses to accept responsibility about the joust. If it were truly an accident, then there shouldn’t be anything preventing them from continuing to be together. By painting it as an accident, Ballister becomes the villain for refusing to move on and let things go back to the way they were, not Ambrosius.

But finally, after Nimona disappears and Ballister lets himself be captured, we get probably the most important scene between these two. Ambrosius has been demoted due to his failure to kill Nimona, and is now forced to guard Ballister’s cell. Ambrosius is at his lowest that he’s been throughout the story, disgraced and discarded by the Institution who he had always been so loyal to.

It’s notable that Ambrosius says here that they both know Ballister is not evil, since he has been paddling that idea this whole time that Ballister made the choice to turn evil. By admitting that he is not, it shows that he is both starting to turn against the Institution, and starting to be more honest about what really happened.

Naturally, after Ambrosius wonders how things ended up like this and reminisces on when they were together, Ballister once again brings up the joust. And finally...

AMBROSIUS: “I- I never wanted to hurt you. I- I didn’t- It was-”

BALLISTER: “Don’t you dare try to tell me again that it was an accident.”

AMBROSIUS: “It wasn’t.”

...he admits the truth.

Ambrosius shares his side of the story, letting both us and Ballister in on what really happened that day. It wasn’t fully his fault -- the Director had called him into her office the night before the joust and told him that he had promise, that he was her choice out of the two, but that he had to prove himself against Ballister or that opportunity would go away.

On the day of the joust, Ambrosius received a weaponized lance instead of his regular one, which he instantly noticed. He asked what the Director expected him to do with it, and was told that she expected him to win.

To Ambrosius’ credit, he had no intention of using it, as he was confident that he would win. But the weight from the weaponized lance threw his balance off, and he ending up losing. And so...

AMBROSIUS: “I wanted it, more than anything. You never wanted it as much as me. You were just BETTER, without hardly even seeming to try.”

AMBROSIUS: “I don’t even remember- but I must have-”

[...]

AMBROSIUS: “I’m sorry, Ballister. I’m so sorry.”

To be fair, Ambrosius is not entirely to blame here. I doubt he would’ve come up with this idea on his own; he only acted on it because the Director had already given him the weaponized lance, and stressed the night before that the opportunities she dangled in front of him would not be given to him if he did not win. He was manipulated.

But he still made the decision to do it. He could’ve simply not used the lance. But he chose to. It is his fault.

It’s fascinating that the version of events Ambrosius had been swearing by this entire time is the exact opposite of what really happened. He claimed that it was an accident, he didn’t choose to do it, he had no choice, and that it was Ballister’s choice to become evil that caused all of this. But in reality, Ambrosius was the only one who got a choice here. And that choice is why their relationship was destroyed.

Ballister then brings attention to something even more damning:

BALLISTER: “You’ve never said it before.”

AMBROSIUS: “What?”

BALLISTER: “You never said you were sorry.”

AMBROSIUS: “I- didn’t?”

AMBROSIUS: “Oh god.”

I feel like you could interpret this in a lot of different ways, but the way I see it, they probably didn’t see each other much right after the incident. Ambrosius was catapulted into stardom as the kingdom’s beloved knight, and Ballister became a villain. I don’t think they really interacted much until their hero-villain antics started up, so I don’t think Ambrosius really had a chance to apologize. And if he did, he didn’t think to. Regardless of why, I do think it is messed up that he never apologized, and it goes to show just how much this event destroyed the bond they used to have.

From here, there’s not too much, as Plot Stuff starts getting serious around this point. Ambrosius ends up betraying the Institution after they continuously attack Ballister to provoke Nimona, attacking the guards who are holding him. This is when Ambrosius finally chooses Ballister over the Institution, which is great for his character, but there’s not really much more than that to say about it.

He and Ballister plan together to try and save the kingdom, with Ambrosius being adamant that they have to kill Nimona while Ballister refuses to. It’s during this conversation that Ambrosius mentions that he “never did anything good [his] whole life”, which is really sad but also kind of accurate, and it goes to show how he’s finally accepted responsibility for everything he’s done and had a part in up to this point.

Eventually Ballister is able to find a way to nerf her and they split up, with Ambrosius wanting to tell him something in case they don’t see each other again, but Ballister shuts him down.

BALLISTER: “We can’t do this now. Just... just promise me you won’t get yourself killed.”

It’s easy to assume this was something romantic and it likely was, but I imagine Ambrosius could’ve also wanted to say sorry again for everything. Perhaps it would’ve been a mix of both.

Regardless, they split up and climax stuff happens: Ambrosius attempts to kill Nimona but gets seriously injured, Ballister tries to reason with Nimona, etc. etc. Eventually at the very end, we see that these two have made peace and are together again, living on after everything. And that’s these two in the book!

Whew. I know that was a lot, but don’t worry. I won’t be going into as much detail about the movie’s version of events, as Ambrosius and Ballister have a much more cut-and-dry dynamic there than in the book. Their relationship in the original is very complex, so I wanted to make sure I covered all of those little nuances.

The joust is what defines their relationship and a lot of their respective characters; it is unimaginably important. Ballister became a villain because he lost his arm and was cast aside by the Institution. Ambrosius became the kingdom’s hero because he took Ballister out of the picture. They are unable to be around each other normally for very long because of their divided views of what happened. It is only after Ambrosius finally faces the truth that they are able to find peace together once more.

All of this is to say that it’s extremely hard to imagine what their relationship would be like in the graphic novel had the joust not happened the way it did. Which brings us to...

Part 2: The Movie (AKA: “My Boyfriend Sliced Off My Arm Because I Literally Killed Someone!”)

Before we start, I want to again stress that I am not trying to argue that any changes made here are inherently inferior. I am merely pointing out the differences between the book and the movie that contribute to the overall dissonance I and many others have felt when it comes to these two across versions.

Right off the bat, we are greeted with the movie’s version of Ambrosius and Ballister’s backstory. Like was implied in the book, they appear to be together (or something along those lines) which is great to actually see. But it quickly becomes clear that the events here are far different.

Instead of a joust, it is a knighting ceremony. There is no competition between Ballister and Ambrosius here. Ambrosius is knighted and cheered for, and then it is Ballister’s turn. He is knighted and everyone is silent before breaking into cheers as well. And then...

...his sword suddenly turns into a cannon and kills the queen. And in retaliation...

...Ambrosius chops his arm off.

Now if you’ve listened to ANYTHING I’ve said so far, this should immediately set off alarm bells. Because this one little difference changes everything about these two’s dynamic.

In the book, Ambrosius shot off Ballister’s arm in order to win his position. It was an entirely selfish and evil action spurred on only by his uncontrollable want to be the winner.

But here, Ambrosius is debatably justified in his response. Sure, he didn’t have to be as drastic as slicing his whole arm off (and I know there’s symbolism there with how the kingdom has taught people to get rid of problems), but Ballister -- to him -- literally just shot the queen. The queen who Ambrosius has sworn to protect. It is completely reasonable for him to respond in this way. And that’s a huge difference.

By changing this, we already have a completely different situation. Ambrosius here didn’t particularly want to cut Ballister’s arm off, it was a reflex, a response to a sudden danger. (Not saying he wanted to in the book, but there he made the deliberate decision to do so. In the movie it seems much more like an actual accident -- an overreaction that he immediately regrets and, as we’ll see, continues to regret.) And there was justification for it. There was no justification for it in the book.

Instead of an Ambrosius whose ambition caused him to commit an evil act of betrayal against the man he was closest to, we now have an Ambrosius who, in the heat of the moment, overreacted like he was trained to after Ballister seemingly betrayed him. We’ll see over the course of the movie how this affects things, but that’s not the only major change here.

As we figure out shortly afterward, the movie makes a huge change when it comes to how the story functions, and that’s the timeline of events. In the book, the joust and the subsequent fallout between Ballister and Ambrosius happened years ago. We don’t know how long, but it’s clearly been a while. Enough time has passed where they are fully settled into their roles as hero and villain, and they look significantly younger in the flashbacks as well.

Like previously stated, book Ballister has been a villain for a while. He is completely settled into this role and has been making schemes and having fights of the week with Ambrosius for a considerable time. He knows what he’s doing. He has his own way of doing things, and when Nimona inserts herself into his life much of their early dynamic is him teaching her how he does things. In the book, Ballister is the teacher, Nimona is the student.

But in the movie, this incident just happened. It's unclear how exactly long it's been, but judging from Ballister's arm being created and his wounds healing it's probably been around a month.

Regardless of exactly how long it's been, the point is that these events are still very fresh. Ballister seemingly has just been laying low, not villain-ing it up, and he and Ambrosius haven't seen each other since the knighting ceremony. This changes literally everything about Ballister’s character. This post is specifically about Ambrosius and Ballister’s dynamic and not a Ballister character analysis so I’ll try to keep it brief, but movie Ballister seriously could not be more different from the book.

Compare this to movie Ballister, who I’m pretty sure never knows what he’s doing ever, at any point. He was training to be a knight. He has seemingly never once questioned the Institution. Now he has suddenly lost his arm and been thrust out into the unknown of being treated as a villain, and he has no idea how to handle it. Then Nimona shows up, tells him “hey, the Institution sucks”, and eventually he ends up believing so as well. In the movie, Nimona is the teacher, Ballister is the student.

Book Ballister actively resents the Institution and has no doubts that what they did to him is wrong. He has been plotting their downfall for a while. Nimona, on the other hand, seems to be out of the loop when it comes to the Institution and seemingly only starts hating them after she finds out how they threw Ballister out. Again, I’d just like to stress how completely and totally opposite their dynamic in the movie is compared to this.

There’s also Ballister being a scientist and being much more jaded in the book, but that’s not really important for the purposes of this post. So alas, I shall move on.

This different timeframe greatly impacts Ambrosius and Ballister’s dynamic, and obviously it would. There is a huge difference between a falling-out that happened years ago and you’re both still bitter about, and a falling-out that happened very recently. This, along with the different course of events resulting in said falling-out, is what causes their dynamic to feel so alien.

Also while talking about their early interactions in the movie, I’d just like to point out that while here Nimona is the one to assume Ambrosius is Ballister’s arch-nemesis and call him such, which Ballister doesn’t agree with, they were actually arch-nemeses in the book. Just something I noticed.

Something else I find interesting is later on, Ballister seems to be almost in disbelief about Ambrosius cutting off his arm and makes excuses for him.

BALLISTER: “He didn’t cut off my arm. He disarmed a weapon.”

BALLISTER: “It’s how we were trained.”

(Side note, but I wonder if book Ballister ever felt this way right after the joust? Did he try to convince himself it was an accident too, once upon a time? Did he try to make excuses?)

And to be fair, he is sort of right. Like I said before, Ambrosius’ reaction to Ballister seemingly killing the queen was debatably justified. While we’re obviously supposed to side with Nimona here and agree that Ballister should be more upset at Ambrosius for what he did, the movie definitely paints Ambrosius as more sympathetic overall. We see him freaking out internally about cutting off Ballister’s arm, and there is a lot of emphasis placed on how he and the others were trained by the Institution, inviting the audience to place more of the blame on the system that taught Ambrosius to act this way rather than him as a person.

And again, I’m not saying this is a bad thing! I love a good "taking down a corrupt system” story, and with the different circumstances of the movie it definitely makes more sense to play it this way. But in comparison to the book, Ambrosius is much easier to sympathize with. His character is changed from a very morally gray person who did something horrible and won’t admit it, to a pretty okay person who did something horrible and wholly accepts and bemoans that fact. He’s almost the opposite of what he was in the book.

So we have an Ambrosius who accepts what he did to Ballister and feels awful about it, and a Ballister who has no idea what he’s doing and is basically just being dragged around by Nimona. With both of them being basically the complete opposite of how they were in the book, is it any wonder that their relationship with each other feels so different when they themselves are so different?

Also, once again, the circumstances are very different. There is no Queen murder plot in the book, nor is their any attempt to clear Ballister’s name. A significantly different setting makes a difference too.

I don’t see a need to go into further detail about specific scenes in the movie as I think I’ve made my point clear. But going back to the movie’s lack of Ambrosius and Ballister’s already established hero-villain dynamic, I think these differences are made quite apparent just contrasting how they talk to each other. I mean, just compare these two scenes:

AMBROSIUS: “What? You’re gonna kill me now too?”

BALLISTER: “You believe that?”

BALLISTER: “Then you never knew me at all.”

AMBROSIUS: “uugghh”

BALLISTER: “What if I cut off your arm right now?”

BALLISTER: “Then you’d see how fast the Institution would cast you aside. Just like they did me.”

AMBROSIUS: “You wouldn’t.”

BALLISTER: “No, I wouldn’t.”

BALLISTER: “And I’m the villain.”

BALLISTER: “What do you suppose that says about you?”

Their relationship in the movie is much softer and healthier than it was in the book. Their dialogue in the movie tends to lean much more towards tried-and-true “friendship betrayal” stuff; the wound of Ballister’s “betrayal” may be fresher, but it’s clear both of them love each other far more than they resent each other. In the book, it is the opposite. The movie could NEVER have the bar fight scene. It’s too ugly and bitter to fit these softer versions of Ambrosius and Ballister.

Part 3: Conclusion

So, that was a lot. I hope it’s a little clearer now how big the differences are between these two’s dynamic in the book and the movie! Especially if you’re someone who is only familiar with one or the other. While I prefer the book due to me tending to prefer more complex and messy relationship dynamics, I totally understand the appeal of the more loving and healthy relationship Ambrosius and Ballister have in the movie.

To summarize, here are some of the main takeaways:

Ambrosius causing Ballister to lose his arm is completely unjustified in the book and happens due to Ambrosius’ wild ambition, while in the movie it is a debatably justified reflexive action in response to an active threat.

Ambrosius overall is portrayed as much more sympathetic in the movie, with the system itself being more to blame for what happened.

In the book, the main thing keeping them apart was Ambrosius’ refusal to take responsibility and admit what he did. In the movie, it’s a misunderstanding about Ballister seemingly turning evil.

In the book, Ambrosius and Ballister have a very established hero-villain dynamic with the joust having happened years ago. In the movie the “betrayal” is still very fresh, which leads to very different interactions between the two.

And that’s about it! Thank you for reading this very long post. And if you haven’t read the original graphic novel or watched the movie, go do that!!! Much love to ND Stevenson and the rest of the people who made this story come to life.

Let me know your thoughts in the tags or the replies! Which version do you prefer? Are there any other factors you feel have a significant role in why their relationship feels so different? Or do you think I’m totally wrong about this and they feel basically the same to you?

Either way, thanks again for reading and goodbye!

#nimona #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin #analysis #meta #ballister x ambrosius #ambrosius x ballister #nimona movie #nimona graphic novel #nimona analysis #ballister blackheart

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kerubimcrepin · 2 months

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Liveblog - Dofus, livre 1 : Julith [PART 11]

As I've mentioned, Kerubim and Julith have Beef.

As far as she is concerned, whether he was behind her framing (he wasn't) he is one of the people to blame. He defeated her that fateful day, and then she never saw her son again.

I've already went into detail, on the way "killing" her has affected him, (A mixture of horror and duty. Killing a mother and making a child an orphan for the sake of a city. Being grateful for her dying because it made him a father instead. Feeling awful for that thought.) but it is interesting, how he reacted to her turning out to be alive, when he killed her with his own hands.

Seething. Perhaps even coping.

This is chichala, which we had seen. I suppose he uses it to buff himself up before the boss fight. Drinking alcohol before a fight is very much RPG logic.

Sadly, there are no interesting buffs to it in-game:

I think a lot about the way Kerubim, Joris, and Atcham would be characterized in video game logic, by the way. I still have no working theory of how the hell their fighting styles would synergize. Would Joris be their buffer/debuffer? Their glass canon? Both? And do any of them take ranged weapons on missions...?

They probably do. It'd be kinda dumb not to. Personally, I like to imagine that Atcham would be the one using those, most of the time. He has that "skyrim stealth archer" vibe to him. (Though they're all melee users, through and through.)

Despite how smug he is at a couple of moments, he really was struggling during this fight.

My honest reaction whenever Kerubim does this fucking face is just:

youtube

This is very much a "deeply mentally ill adoptive father (who inadvertently ruined his child's life by adopting them to atone for his sins + because he was abused as a child) fighting through an army for his child before dying in their arms and saying they're the only good thing he ever had" look for him.

Another reason that one has to support both women's rights and wrongs when talking about Julith, is that, like.,.. what was she playing at, here? There are two possibilities:

That she would destroy whoever has the dragon's soul and set it free, giving her an advantage.

That Kerubim would shield that person.

Either one is good. :)

Either way she was perfectly willing to risk/attempt blowing up a random, innocent person, who was hiding from her.

My personal headcanon is that while Julith is physically stronger than Kerubim, she lost ten years prior because she couldn't stop thinking about The Baby. Where were they taking Joris? Did Bakara leave with him? Is Joris alright? Didn't Jahash give him to this cat man, who was now trying to kill her? What the fuck is going on, who did this, why, why, why?

I imagine seeing him lose for the exact same reason brings her great pleasure.

the nonbinary slay here was insane

Guys I think this might be bad for Joris's long term mental stability.

On a more serious note, I think there should be more content about Joris fucking hating Julith. During the movie? There's too much going on to work out what he feels.

But after? He has all the time in the world to hate her for everything she did.

I do think that he probably grew up and found whoever framed her to take revenge on/to get justice. But hating her, and wanting to clear her name of the crimes she DIDN'T commit so she could have some peace in death, so that people would stop smearing her name, — are two things that can coexist.

Like to slap his bald scaly head, reblog to slap his bald scaly head.

Kerubim never changed his stupid ass baka "George George the Farmer Farmer" name.

Though we've been knew.

BAD. I DON'T LIKE THIS.

AND she recognizes him by the blue eyes. AND, this implies that, for the entirety of the Dofus show, — and the entirety of Wakfu as well, since he, once again, has yellow eyes there, — he had dragon eyes.

Imagine being Simone, waking up at 3am, realizing because you forgot something in Joris and Kerubim's bedroom, sneaking in, and seeing this.

It also raises some questions about adult Joris, because we know he no longer has Grougalorasalar in him. The easiest explanation is that he spent so much time with the dragon, that after their final separation, his eyes couldn't change anymore.

After all, — the changes the dragon made to his height/skin/hair are permanent. It would make sense that, with time, even his eyes would be permanently altered.

I don't think it's a sad thing, by the way. Imagine going your whole life with beautiful brown eyes that look a bit like your adoptive father's. Then imagine suddenly having blue eyes (scary) and that they're your Dead Father's Who You Never Met but whom everyone misses. Like which pair of eyes would you choose? Because I think there IS a right answer to this riddle.

I think Julith has convinced herself that whoever took her and Jahash out wouldn't want loose ends, and that Joris was taken out as well, or something. Maybe that's why he wasn't really on her mind.

Mind you, this is a tinfoil hat headcanon.

This is so beautiful, to me... She was so emotionally stricken by seeing him again as his mother, that his father, who was both fatally wounded and stricken by seeing her perform deeply painful dark rituals on his son after traumatizing him, could land one last hit on her to save said son.

Julith has been a mother for a grand total of a few days to a month, while Kerubim has been for 10 years. Of course, her first concern is getting surprised it's him, and not that she hurt him. Because she couldn't even dream that she'd ever see him again.

There's a tragedy in that. She never even had a chance to learn how to be his mother, or who he is as a person, — she was the mother of an infant. Her love for him is far more theoretical than Kerubim's.

It's a love for Joris not as a person, but as a lost opportunity.

So she has no regrets about hurting him, — and she will hurt him as many times as it takes, if that's what it takes to get back her family.

#ro liveblogs dofus #dofus #wakfu #krosmoz #dofusmovie #Youtube

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neopentane5 · 7 days

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Would love to hear more headcannons about yuris personality. Read some of the ones you posted on twitter and they were so good i need more lol

Thank you for your interest! I will write a bit more about Yuri's personality analysis.

1. Yuri in Physical Aspects

Yuri's Great Strength and Lack of Control

Yuri's immense strength and lack of control stem from his past environment. Both he, Makarov, and other Russian soldiers considered such strength normal, though it actually exceeded normal limits (like when he gave Soap an injection). He likely used the same methods when dealing with Makarov for injections or bandaging.

Yuri's Exceptional Physical Fitness

Yuri's physical fitness is extraordinary, making him believe that everyone's physical fitness is on par with his. Despite falling from a waterfall, being bitten by a dog, or being impaled by a steel rod, he could still perform basic actions. You can imagine if his intestines were spilling out from a wound, Soap would be frantically alerting him, while he would calmly nod and say, "I know, just put them back in." This explains why, after falling from a building with Soap, he initially didn’t grasp the severity of the situation, not realizing Soap could die from it.

Yuri's Combat Skills and Mastery of Various Weapons and Drones

Both Yuri and Makarov were former Spetsnaz members, and joining Spetsnaz requires a minimum of being an officer. One of Yuri’s tattoos signifies "can be hired to kill," indicating his dangerous nature. He has been to prison for unknown reasons, but it can be speculated that he was either undercover or sent there by Makarov, who could easily get him out if needed. His tattoos also indicate a high status in prison, with his mere glance being enough to intimidate others.

In a hand-to-hand combat without weapons, Makarov wouldn’t stand a chance against Yuri.

Yuri's Preference for Cleanliness

When possible, Yuri shaves and washes his clothes regularly, even washing Makarov's clothes, as he believes maintaining cleanliness is crucial for health. However, he is not picky when conditions don’t allow it. He won’t complain about eating dirty food with Makarov or Makarov not bathing for days.

2. Yuri's Personality and Psychological Aspects

Yuri's Reserved Nature

Yuri speaks only when necessary, contributing to his intimidating presence in prison. If he doesn't want to answer, he remains silent, as seen when Soap mentioned his familiarity with Makarov, to which Yuri did not respond. Even in communication with Makarov, he often remains silent, especially when he disagrees. Instead of arguing, he expresses his discontent through silence and unhappy glances. This also applies when he doesn’t want intimacy with Makarov; he might say he’s tired or not in the mood, but more often, he remains silent.

Yuri Expresses Himself Through Actions

Though Yuri doesn’t argue with Makarov, he directly called the FSB to report him. This behavior extends to both his professional and personal life. While he struggles with verbal affection (he would, if pressured, awkwardly stammer through it with a blush), he proves his feelings through actions. He would shield Makarov from bullets and hold his hand in moments of despair, nodding to reassure him, “You still have me.”

Yuri's Loyalty and Realization of Love

Yuri is slow to recognize his own feelings, but once he does, he is unwavering in his devotion. He treats all deserving individuals well. On the battlefield, he would save every teammate, and his sincerity towards friends explains why he still has allies in the FSB and gains Nikolai’s approval. Makarov appreciates this trait deeply. Yuri’s approach to love is akin to his patriotism—loyal and steadfast, always wanting the best for his beloved.

Yuri's Gentleness and Attention to Detail

As Makarov’s right-hand man, Yuri must stay close, handling tasks like recording meetings, acting as a bodyguard, and listening to Makarov’s ambitions. Makarov values Yuri for his infrequent mistakes, attentiveness, and understanding of Makarov’s moods. Having endured the Soviet Union's collapse together, their bond is strong. When Makarov drinks heavily, Yuri changes his clothes, cleans him up, and puts him to bed.

Yuri's Clear Sense of Love and Hate

Yuri can take a bullet for Makarov without hesitation but can also shoot him if necessary, without a second thought.

Yuri's Shyness with Affection

Yuri is easily embarrassed, especially when faced with direct expressions of love, as he doesn’t know how to handle them.

That’s all for now! Feel free to add more!

#call of duty #call of duty mw3 #cod yuri #makayuri #yuri volkov

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sickandunwell · 7 months

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My Hunger Games Headcanons(pt 1):

The Capitol sex trafficked more people than just the Victors. The way Finnick's story is described gives off the impression that the victors are just the most popular/expensive/exclusive sex slaves, but there are more. Since District 1 tributes are almost always described as beautiful, and District 1 is the Luxury District, it's not farfetched to assume a lot of District 1 citizens' jobs includes sex trafficking if they're beautiful enough. THEY are the luxury as well. This would also explain why despite being one of the wealthiest, most propagandized districts, District 1 is one of the first to rebel.

Continuing from the second point, I headcanon that a lot of avoxes are also put into sex trafficking or are district citizens who refused to participate and were punished.

Lavina and the boy she was running away with were a couple. Based on the fact that the boy was immediately killed but she was captured, I think Lavina was a higher ranked citizen compared to the boy. Their relationship might have been what sparked their own personal rebellion.

Effie wasn't tortured physically but mentally through making her watch the torture and killings. Effie develops parent-like feelings towards Peeta and Katniss. When they're abt to go train for the Quell, she has the energy of an anxious mother dropping her kid off for their first day of school. Based on how Snow weaponizes love, I think his method of torturing Effie was forcing her to watch Peeta be maimed. For Effie it'd be like watching her son get tortured.

If Gale and Katniss went in, Gale would have likely killed Katniss. He loves Katniss yes, but he has a high sense of self preservation. I think he would also rationalize it to himself, Gale's family is larger than Katniss's. It's a choice between two civillians getting to live in the victor's villahe versus 4. He would still take care of Prim and Mrs. Everdeen. I actually think Katniss would want him to do it too. With Peeta, she preferred being dead over living with the loss of Peeta, even if it meant leaving behind her sister & mother(though she knows Peeta and other district 12 citizens would take care of them). Katniss fears emotional agony more than she fears death.

If Gale and Katniss were in the games, Gale wouldn't have pulled the love angle. Peeta has an intuitive understanding of social engineering AND he's willing to sacrifice the most intimate parts of his life to win the games. Gale would see it as the Capitol taking one more thing away from him. I do see him confessing his feelings for Katniss during the games. So there would still be a love angle but it would be accidental/not for the capitol. Katniss wouldn't have played into it unless Haymitch communicated it to her. Even then, I think it'd be hard for her to pull it off with Gale. Sure she finds him attractive, but with Peeta...she paid a lot of attention to him from the start. She was crushing on him before the games even started.

Another Gale/Katniss tribute headcanon: Katniss would have tried to take Rue as an ally but Gale would refuse. He's more pragmatic than Katniss. This would cause a rift between them. If Rue dies later, especially at the hands of another tribute, Katniss would probably feel like it's their fault for not protecting her. It wouldn't be a big enough rift to make them split up, but she'd be very distraught.

Katniss's feelings for Peeta started on the chariot. Katniss describes feeling an "unexpected warmth" [ch5] when all Peeta did was smile at her. She's so cute aw.

Following the last bullet point, I think Katniss and Peeta would have still ended up together if they were never in the Games at all. Katniss is very easily charmed by Peeta. All he'd have to do is get the confidence to talk to her.

The Capitol banned contraceptives for the Districts. Though I'm sure Mrs. Everdeen would have an herbal remedy for that sorta thing 👀

Mrs. Everdeen's family was wealthier than most other families. Mrs. Everdeen has a collection of fine dresses and has more upper class sensibilities compared to Peeta, who comes off as middle class. She really loved Mr. Everdeen to give that up for him 😭❤️

Wealth is inherited paternally. This is why instead of Mr. Everdeen living as a wealthy merchant with Mrs. Everdeen, they end up in the seam because he's a seam miner. This could either be the law or a cultural expectation for women to move into whatever the man has.

Mrs. Mellark abused Mr. Mellark. This is based on his personality, he's much more quiet and seems a little passive. But there's also the fact that Katniss has to make sure his wife isn't around when she trades squirrels. I dont think this is to protect Katniss from her, besides those awful things she said to Katniss, she respects her so much she has more faith in Katniss than in Peeta. She's also classist. So my headcanon is that the reason he has to be secretive with the squirrels is because Mrs. Mellark would find it uncouth or even disgusting. She would also see it as a waste of bread. It wouldn't be farfetched to assume she'd beat his ass for that sorta thing. Lowkey doubt she even knows what he traded for the squirrels

Mr. Mellark's trades are lucrative because he's fond of katniss and had feelings for her mother. Bread is so expensive most of the seam can't afford it and even the Mellarks themselves can't afford their own loaf of bread...yet he's willing to trade one of his precious loaves for a squirrel or two. Squirrels are tiny & lean. The entire family eats them too. Katniss wouldn't be bringing 4-5 for every trade, especially not during winter. There's probably days where she can only get a couple.

Most of the Hob sellers are descendents from the Covey. I just really like this headcanon lmao.

Just a reminder these are just my own headcanons I pulled outta my ass lol

#the hunger games #catching fire #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #thg #thg katniss #thg peeta #headcanons #hunger games fandom #hunger games headcanon

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masterskywalkers · 6 months

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So I'm reading that new Larian interview for BG3, which has really popped up at a great time for me research-wise, and I see this for Ascended Astarion:

"So with Astarion, his evil ending is actually him…much of what he does is out of fear. And as a player, you can say to him, "You're right to be afraid." And that sends him to a really horrible place, and that I think is really powerful."

Now I've been doing a lot of research into vampires and vampire spawn in literature & D&D mechanics lately - partly for fic ideas, partly because this fandom frustrates me to no end sometimes with some of the things I read and I kind of want to do a breakdown on my own view and interpretation on the character - and this quote is very much something I agree with.

From Act 1 Astarion acts mainly upon fear and survival. He is not a good person, and he will do anything to survive. He literally uses any weapons or tools he has to build a net of safety within the group or with Tav, regardless of whether his methods are healthy for him or not. He knows no other way, because for the past two hundred years at least, he has known nothing but cruelty.

Even as you move further and further into the game, Astarion doesn't stop being afraid. As a Bhaalspawn who romances him but fails to kill Isobel, Sceleritas will comment that 'he is so afraid, so very afraid of everything, but you. The one thing he should fear the most'. In Act 3 after the other spawn attack the party, if a romanced Tav argues with him about the Ascension ritual, there's a response where Astarion will say 'I'm doing this for both of us, you know? To keep us both safe'.

Astarion is fueled by fear, and he believes that power is a way to ensure he won't ever have to fear anything again. That he won't have to be weak anymore (he sees himself as weak, ignoring the utter strength he has to even be able to survive the amount of torture and abuse he's lived through for so many years). During the decision of whether to allow him to Ascend or not, it takes an intervention from the person he trusts the most to even attempt to talk him down - and even that option is a journey of dice rolls and making the correct choices.

Astarion follows in the footsteps of the playstyle and the behaviors of the player character. He values his freedom and independence, but he doesn't know how to live without fear because, as far as he remembers, fear has been his entire existence. Even if you don't let him ascend, when you ask him how he feels about freedom he says it's both terrifying and exhilarating - it's a new kind of fear for him, the fear of a vast future open for him, one that isn't ruled beneath the hand of someone who controlled him.

In either ending - bad or good - Astarion gains and loses something. In a good ending, he gains freedom and the chance to start anew - to a limit, as he looses the ability to walk in the sun. In a bad ending, he gains security, safety and power - but loses himself in the process:

"Whether or not a vampire retains any memories from its former life, its emotional attachments wither as once-pure feelings become twisted by undeath. Love turns into hungry obsession, while friendship becomes bitter jealousy. In place of emotion, vampires pursue physical symbols of what they crave, so that a vampire seeking love might fixate on a young beauty. A child might become an object of fascination for a vampire obsessed with youth and potential. Others surround themselves with art, books, or sinister items such as torture devices or trophies from creatures they have killed." - Players Handbook, 5e

^ This is something that really interests me, because how much of that extends to the Vampire Ascendent is up to the player. I have my own thoughts for what this means for a romanced Astarion - and maybe I'll write something about that at some point, or post my thoughts in more detail later if anyone is interested - but the fact that the Vampire Ascendent is different from a normal vampire due to it being born from a deal made with a devil, I think, gives enough creative leeway for writers and players to play around with how they interpret to fit with their own playstyle.

Astarion, throughout the game, is at the very beginning of a long journey of being a survivor of abuse and trauma. I don't think he's really able to process or work on recovery until Cazador is dead - he is the looming threat for Astarion, after all, the shadow that is always there. Because even if they defeat the Netherbrain but don't defeat Cazador, Astarion is still at huge risk of becoming his toy again - but how he chooses to work through that and learn to handle his fear, depends on the person he becomes throughout the journey. And the player character is a huge influence to this - for better or for worse.

#astarion #astarion ancunin #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #this is by no means a 'ascended or spawn version is better than' discussion #i respect both options and know people have their preferences #but astarion's actions are ruled by fear? hell yes 100% i agree #he is a ball of fear and pain and resentment. and why wouldn't he be?

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cybernightart · 9 months

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This isn't very well written out because it's 1 am and I just have to get this out so I can sleep lol

Very heavy Gency content!

Okay so I've seen quite a few people say they don't like gency purely for the reason that it would put mercy in a position of constantly looking after Genji like she does with every one and it's the role she gets put into all the time but I would like to present this idea. (More than likely nowhere near unique idea and is definitely been depicted before but this is just how I view their relationship)

While in everyday stuff mercy is the caretaker and the one that looks after everyone and makes sure everyone is healthy and okay, we know she is not very good taking care of herself in the same way. So, I very much picture in their relationship Genji more often than not is the one taking care of her, he makes her food, she makes sure she's taking care of herself, he physically lifts her away from her desk and carries her to bed because she has not slept in far too long, and she's just overall destroying her own because she is clawing and scraping for every drop of energy that she can put back into trying to help people while completely ignoring herself. She has been helping people for so long that she doesn't fully know how to justify helping herself, so Genji helps pull her away from this downward spiral of basing her worth off of how much she can help others, I either mentally or physically pulling her away from her work and taking care of her and being with her.

End of the exact same time mercy is allowing Genji to be something he wasn't allowed to before, when he was in the shimada clan he saw the name sparrow for being too soft and small and having too big of a heart for what was needed, they tried to turn him into a heartless killer and when he didn't want to and he said no they tried to have him killed. And with that not working, they unintentionally succeeded on their goal of turning Genji into a weapon, he was raised and now made especially in black watch for the sole purpose of revenge, destruction and death. Thanks to zenyatta he was able to come to terms with his body and see he is not a weapon he is Genji, he is his own person that his past is not determine him but rather forms a part of him which is ever growing. And even now he is still a ninja, that is something that will never change, but he is still deadly and dangerous and can be brutal swift and efficient, but when he's with Angela he can be soft and caring and be something other than a bringer of death. He can be gentle, cuddly and warm with her. She needs someone to force her to take care of herself and he wants nothing more than to just take care of her, obviously she takes care of him too but Genji is doing more small but meaningful and big gestures.

Genji when he's with mercy can lay there just holding and cuddling with her, that nothing else around the matters, he gets to live this unfamiliar but amazing feeling of pure love, pure love that brings an uncontrollable grid to his face whenever he gets to hold her. And even when they're just together, he can stand near her, be by her side, protect her and take care of her. And he knows she does not need him to protect her, if someone tried she would kick their butt.

So in short mercy gets to take a break from giving and receives, and Genji gets a break from brutally taking and gets to give.

I Can also see this playing into the Love languages I picture them having, they both love quality time, Genji loves giving acts of service, while mercy loves giving words of affirmation. And without dangerous their jobs are, and Genji wearing armor 99% of the time whenever he gets a chance to take off his armor, love physical affection. They'll both just constantly be touching each other in some way, like Genji moving Angela's hair out of her face/brushing his hand against his arm/pulling her in for a full embrace will he buries his face into her neck, or like mercy running her fingers through Genji's hair/holding his face in her hands and running her thumb gently against his scars/holding Genji's hand (or fingers) whenever he seems nervous.

Like I don't have the words to describe how I imagine fully their love being except for like comforting warm fire, like a fuzzy blanket with a warm drink cuddled up on the couch with a crackling fire as it blizzards outside, just pure love not only romantic but also best friends, they could just sit talking for hours being in each other's company and even sit in silence comfortably and just being together is enough.

Vibes like the one song "rises the moon" calming almost like a lullaby or "golden hour"

I have no idea if any of that made sense because I'm exhausted but I hope I at least got some of my point across.

#overwatch #overwatch 2 #genji #genji shimada #mercy #gency #angela ziegler #gency fluff #fluffy relationship stuff #its 1 am #i just had to get it out #i suck with words XD #overwatch headcanons

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peetapiepita · 1 year

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Adult Katniss responds to Peeta anti takes: Part One

(It's a Part One because I'm sure there will be more to come.)

Notes: This post and the potential other posts in this series were inspired by this post. Thanks to @mellarked-katnisseverdeen and @periwinckles for the idea!

So I've heard some people saying Peeta Mellark is weak and needed rescue all the time. I'm breaking my silence about it simply because I can't stand Peeta slander.

To whoever has been spreading these lies:

1. Do you realise how many times Peeta has saved me?

We protect each other. That's what we do. There's an old saying, no one loves for no reason. We don't risk our own lives trying to save each other for no reason. He risked his safety for me first when we were kids. He's the one who took the first step and I just followed suit.

Are you mad because I never risked my life saving yours? Well, good luck with that because there's no time machine for you to go back and save me when I was starving as a kid. Peeta was the only one who cared and he did save me.

He's still saving me every day since he planted the primrose for me. I didn't have the drive to live anymore before he came back home. He's the reason I'm alive today and I'm so pissed off that some people are slandering him in MY NAME. This needs to stop.

2. I didn't describe how strong Peeta in the books multiple times for you to say he's weak.

I'm astonished by how many people lack the ability to comprehend the surface meaning of my writing. I thought I was a decent enough writer? People like you are making me doubt my own writing ability. Thank God I didn't know you existed when I was younger. I didn't need to be insecure about my writing on top of everything I went through as a teen.

Peeta has been strong since we were younger. I explicitly described how he could carry heavy flour sacks and how he was in second place in a school wrestling match, only after his OLDER brother.

It's also false that he's not able to kill people. He killed Brutus, who was arguably the strongest contestant in the Quarter Quell, WITH HIS BARE HANDS. He lost his knife and was trying desperately to find me. He could kill almost anyone if he needs to. He just hates the idea of killing and prefers not to kill if possible. If you call that weak, I suggest you turn yourself in at a psych ward because it's only a matter of time before you try to kill for fun or to prove you're "strong."

3. Mental strength is more important than physical strength, which is what most people lack. Fortunately, Peeta has both.

Peeta's intelligence is his strongest weapon and also what I needed in the beginning. He was the first to realise what was the most important thing when he told me he didn't want them to change him. I was still struggling with the idea of survival and didn't have the mental strength to think that far. He did and he gave me the strength to fight for my true self.

He lost everything during the few years after our first games. He lost his leg, his WHOLE family, almost ALL of his friends, part of his memories and sanity, but he still came back stronger. I never thought some people would be too dumb to see how hard that is, but here we are.

I'm considered a strong person by most and I almost lost the will to live twice during those years, once when Peeta was taken and once when Prim was killed. Peeta lost his whole family and so many friends at the same time, yet he was the one to stop me from taking that Nightlock pill. I can't tell you how hard it is. I can only say I couldn't be that strong.

Don't even get me started on the hijacking. I thought for sure I lost him when that happened, but he came back to me with his unbelievably incredible mental strenghth. I honestly don't think anyone else I know would've been able to do that.

This is turning into a full-length essay so I'm leaving it here. See you losers the next time you say anything bad about Peeta!

#the hunger games #hunger games #thg #everlark #peeta mellark #katniss everdeen

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monochromatictoad · 6 months

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You know, for the longest time I struggled to associate traditional vampires to Gabriel. Hell, modern vampires I struggled with as well. Well, I think I know why now. Quick trigger warning, there will be mentions of self harm, suicidal ideations and actions, and blades.

Gabriel sucks at being a vampire.

(part 1)

Now hear me out. What are some of vampire weaknesses? Holy artifacts, the sun, a stake through the heart, maybe fire, silver, garlic, and running water?

Yeah, well, Gabriel doesn't share those weaknesses. He is shown reciting prayer, using an object in the shape of a crucifix, and blowing up half a country using holy magic. He can be out in the sun, as seen during his castle portions in LoS2. He can wield hellfire. LoS vampires don't have a weakness to silver, so I'm gonna gloss over that for consistency, however he is seen biting through armor, so he probably wouldn't have that weakness. As far as Garlic and Running water, those two are still unknown if they do anything to LoS vampires, so again I would argue that he would probably be fine.

The only weakness he shares, is being staked. However, it HAS to be HIS Combat Cross that he wielded as a human. However, if MoF is anything to take into account, I could argue that it probably wouldn't actually kill him, but seal him into a blissful limbo, one that he didn't expect, but he grew nearly addicted to and never wanted to leave it. With Trevorcard's sword, the Crissaegrim, which was made with the stake from the Combat Cross/Vampire Killer, it was only just strong enough to seal Gabriel away, but only in a painful, not-death. It wiped memories and powers away from Gabriel. But, the reason I bring that up is because, if you lived for decades in constant physical, emotional, and mental pain; and there was a weapon that you found that could seal you into a dimension where you didn't feel said pain, then you were forced back into the realm of endless pain and agony for several centuries, wouldn't you be desperate to get that sweet release back? Wouldn't you work with one of your nemesis, if it meant you could finally get that bliss back?

What I'm getting at here, is that Gabriel hid the Vampire Killer in MoF, probably for three reasons.

1. To prevent the powerful weapon from falling into the wrong hands

2. Maybe he had a hunch that Trevor had a family, and they would come and face him, so it would make them equal if they took the time to find it.

3. Maybe because all he saw was Trevor's blood on it from where Gabriel killed his own son.(Maybe he was in denial and thought Trevor would not be actually dead and would walk through his doors to face him again, this time winning.)

Secret 4. He was scared to die. This man was very religious as a human, he believed that all people were worthy of redemption should they seek it (except himself). However, he also believed that should someone abuse their powers, they deserved hell. He was still scared of hell. He was scared of how far he fell and knew that he would not be greeted by Marie in heaven, but by Satan in hell. That shit doesn't go away just because you denounced your religion. Trust me from personal experience with religious trauma.

So, if Gabriel was scared to die, but got delightfully surprised by a blissful limbo, it's only fair that he would pick up old habits from being a human and try to kill himself. He literally self-harms in LoS2 with his upgrades and relics, hell even to fast travel.

Let me introduce you to the Piles of Sacrifice, the Pain Boxes, and the Map Rooms.

Pain Boxes are boxes where Gabriel sticks his hands into and they send spikes into his arms. These are needed for the health, void, and chaos magic upgrades. I believe these are linked to the castle, but I can't find proof they are.

These are the Pile of Sacrifice. Gabriel cuts his arm on the blade, and drops his blood into the vase. This will grant Gabriel one of two things, completely at random. Either a Nail of the Kleidos or an upgrade to his consumables.

This is the map room. You fast travel to different parts to either the city or castle. Gabriel is the only one who can use the map. Reason? See that pedestal in front of the map? Gabriel gives a blood sacrifice to the castle. If anyone else uses it, they get injected with a poison that takes minutes to kill them. It is seen as a symbol of the 'Symbiotic' relationship Gabriel has with the Castle.

I should also mention, that Gabriel's weapons are also physically a part of him and his "Shapeshifting" abilities. That will be in part 2 though!

#toad talks Castlevania #Gabriel Belmont #i love him #but when it comes down to it #Gabriel is a bad Vampire #and seems more like a weapon #than anything else.#tw suicide ideation #tw suicide #tw self harm #tw self destruction #tw blade #tw suicidal actions #Castlevania #akumajo dracula

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cycle-verse · 7 months

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Cycle!Dream - The Scales of Justice

Height: 6 foot 1 inch

LV: 9

Physical Strength: Very high

Weapons: Longbow, Dual Swords, Staff of Positivity

*Check: Secretly called the Warlord among the council

Dream is not considered a prince. He does not stand behind Nightmare as such. Rather, he stands next to Nightmare as a judge. Those who die by Dream's hand are killed for a reason, and those who are saved have a reason for redemption. This is why Dream is considered the Scales of Justice

There are a few important things about Dream, but the most important is that he will hunt you down if you have not met the justice you deserve. He's especially fond of killing abusers and the like, so make sure you watch your back if you're one of those...

When not using his weapons, Dream will use brute force. He may not look strong, but he can pick up Cross and Nightmare at the same time(plus a third person if he really tried). He trains both for strength and accuracy and feels that he can never be the best, but wants to be.

Ecto

Unfortunately, Dream has a condition where his ecto will summon neutral if he uses any form of magic. This can be summoning his bow, creating his arrows, or when he holds his staff.

It will only form neutral, but that does not stop the danger. Ecto can still be damaged, and it may hold together certain injuries, but damaging ecto can damage other things, from nerves to internal systems.

Weapons

Dream has multiple weapons, each with its own abilities.

The Staff of Positivity is a powerful weapon. It gets stronger as Dream does, and while it does have magical projections, these are only for show. Dream will make these disappear in battle and use the staff like a bo staff. It currents positivity through anyone that it hits, which can be a bad combination since it will daze someone with said positivity.

Dream's nickname for the original form of his staff is "that old stick".

Dream's Longbow is a work of art by itself. He has pinpoint accuracy with it, and there is nothing he can't strike. The type of arrow does not matter, but if someone else were to try and hold the bow without Dream's permission, they would seem clumsy with it, not hitting their target like they wish to. Even so, Dream is the only one that can split the bow into his dual short swords.

Arrows are an important pair with the bow. This is what his arrows of positivity look like, but Dream will often carve his own arrows out of wood in order to conserve magic and hope to prevent his condition kicking in.

Dream's dual short swords are very important in Dream's close-up combat. His bow splits into them, and he treats them more like daggers than swords, but they are still deadly. They have the ability to current positivity like the staff does, but Dream chooses to never do this due to his condition, and the much higher risk that close-up combat would prove.

#dream #undertale au #dream!sans #cycleverse #cycle!dream

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thepeanutbutterwizard · 1 year

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Venomous teachings au question:What will Wu do when it will be revealed that Lloyd is the green ninja(if he is.It would be funny and ironic if it was Nya for example)?You mentioned attempted kidnapping in one of the earlier posts.Also,when will it happen?

I haven't hammered out exactly when Lloyd is revealed as the true Green Ninja, other than it being after the Great Devourer is released and defeated (and event that starts Wu on a bit of a downward spiral), so what Wu does, and when he himself finds out aren't fully set in stone, but I have a few ideas I'm thinking of.

In VT, Garm still defeats the GD, but it's by finding his True Potential. He spent pretty much his whole life blaming himself for Wu getting bit, and everything that Wu's done bc of the Venom, and he's able to let go of his guilt and kill the Devourer.

And just like in cannon, it's known that Garmadon is the one who killed the Great Devourer. Which throws a massive wrench in Wu's plan; he had a hand in the GD getting released, and he had planned to use that to get Garm and Nya to give up the Sword of Flame. He wanted to use the chaos to draw them out and then play the whole 'the power of all four Golden Weapons is the only thing that will stop the Devourer, and I'm the only one who can use all four Weapons at once' card that cannon!Garm used. He also wanted to use that as a bit of an ego boost.

Nya and Garm both get captured after the Devourer is dead, and Wu is able to get the Sword of Flames by using Nya's life as leverage. Misako and Mystake are able to bust the two out during a very public kangaroo court """trial""".

And this is where things get messy. The ideas I'm working with are:

1) Lloyd is revealed as the GN via an accidental run-in with the Ninja. Mb they've tracked Garm, Nya, Misako, Mystake, and Lloyd to wherever they're hiding and Lloyd gets close enough to the Weapons to set them off? Something like that.

2) Lloyd is revealed as the GN in a run-in with Wu after he has the Mega Weapon, which reacts to Lloyd the same way the GW's would.

3) Lloyd is revealed as the GN minuets after Wu is defeated. Garm nearly kills himself using the Mega Weapon to defeat Wu, and Lloyd runs over to him, getting close enough to the Mega Weapon to set it off.

If I go with 1, then Wu doubles his efforts to capture Lloyd. The Ninja would be put under his spell by this point, so they wouldn't question what the whole light show was about. His main goal would be to turn Lloyd to his side through manipulation or magic, whichever works. Lloyd, as both Garmadons child and the actual GN would make a powerful asset. And if he couldn't be turned, well, he's still a very valuable hostage.

2 would be pretty similar to 1, but Wu would have gotten a bit more unhinged at that point. Like, he's gone a bit mad with power and stolen the throne and pretty much everyone has figured out 'this guy isn't actually the good guy'. In this scenario Wu would still be trying to capture Lloyd, but his goal would be to use the Mega Weapon to transfer his power into Kai, and then keep him alive just long enough to kill him in front of at least one of his parents.

And in 3, the only person who would actually notice the Mega Weapon glowing green at Lloyd would be Misako. Garm and Wu are both unconscious, Lloyd and Nya are freaking out bc Garm gets kinda messed up from using the Mega Weapon, Pixal is focused on making sure Nya isn't killed by a nasty injury of her own, and the Ninja all just got freed from Wu's spell and are dealing with the emotional and physical fallout from that. Misako is the only one holding it together enough to see the light show. Her response is to get to Lloyd and Garm, kick the MW away from both of them, and then take charge of the situation. I have no idea when (or if) she tells anyone the truth. (Also Kai might also notice. Haven't fully decided on that one yet.)

#ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago au #venomous teachings au #ninjago wu #wu ninjago #sensei wu #ninjago lloyd #lloyd ninjago #lloyd montgomery garmadon #lloyd garmadon #ninjago garmadon #garmadon ninjago #sensei garmadon #lord garmadon #ninjago great devourer #and nya #and the ninja #i dont feel like tagging everyone cause im in an airport rn

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schrijverr · 11 months

Text

The 1 Time Eliot Faced Moreau + 5 Times Eliot Kept Away from Him

AKA Moreau scares Eliot, but he’ll face him again for the safety of the team. However, the team is very observant and when they notice, they do everything in their power to ensure that Eliot won’t have to go through that again.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: allusions to Eliot's past

~~~~~~~~~~

The 1 Time

Eliot is shaking inside, but he keeps on a strong facade as Hardison babbles next to him, the nerves spilling out of him. Eliot is ignoring him, because if he allows Hardison’s anxiety to touch him, then his own fear will explode out of him and they’ll be blown.

Because Eliot is scared. He’s fucking terrified.

Damien is the one person Eliot never wants to face again, the one person that scares him. And with the types Eliot used to run with that is saying a lot.

It isn’t even that Damien can overpower Eliot physically. Sure, the man is always surrounded by more guards than necessary, always shadowed by hired muscle, but that doesn’t matter. He doesn’t scare Eliot about his physical well being, but his mental well being.

Because Eliot is terrified of the person he was with Damien. He is terrified of how easily he let the man shape him into someone so twisted, it took a long time to even recognize himself in the mirror again after he left.

Damien turned Eliot into a killer, who would do anything for Damien’s validation. Not even the money. He destroyed Eliot’s conscious and used his hands to do unspeakable things.

And Eliot knows that there are two people in the whole world, who could make him into a weapon again; Damien and Nate. Out of them, he only knows that Nate would never ask that of him, would never even think to use that part of Eliot’s skill set. If Eliot killed under Nate, it would be his own choice. But Damien never gave him a choice, just the illusion of it.

Eliot doesn’t want to be that man anymore. He doesn’t want to be the kind of person he was when he was at Damien’s side. Doesn’t want to let Damien be close enough to even have a chance at turning Eliot back into that man anyway.

But Nate asked him to be here. To face Damien again. So here he is.

The whole elevator ride down, Eliot is busy tuning Hardison out and trying not to throw up as he gets himself into the mindset he’ll need to survive. It’s already too close to the man he doesn’t want to be anymore and that thought doesn’t lessen his anxiety in the slightest.

However, Eliot is a professional. He is the best at what he does – there is a reason Damien hired him, he always has the best there is to offer – so when they step into that pool, there is no trace of that fear that lurks underneath on his face. No sign that Eliot doesn’t want to be here.

All around them, guns start to be raised and cocked as Hardison grows more and more fearful of the situation.

In an odd way, Hardison’s fear and the threat around them helps Eliot calm down again. There is no room for fear when he has to analyze all the people with a gun and asses their risk level as well as calculate the safest ways out and how to deal with Hardison’s fear so neither of them die. It’s almost soothing after the hell of the elevator ride down or the past few months with Damien hanging over all their heads.

Facing Chapman is almost fun actually. Almost. The guy has always been easy to rile up and Eliot has always loved getting under his skin to make him at least feel some sort of upset in his life. It would be nice to see that he can still irk him, put him in his place, were it not for the betrayal in Hardison’s eyes as he figures out why Eliot told them his real name.

Luckily – or unluckily – Damien enters the room, before Eliot can make a move to assure Hardison he is still on his side.

It saves him from accidentally blowing the whole con, but only because sheer, pure, unadulterated terror grips his heart at the sight of Damien, who is in nothing more than a robe and swim shorts, one of the least threatening outfits known to men.

But Eliot knows better.

God, if it were up to him, he’d never see Damien again, but for the team, he’d face him a hundred times just to keep them safe. He would have gone after him alone if the Italian hadn’t move her timeline up, instead of having to take Hardison as a buffer.

Fuck, Hardison. If the other found it in himself to forgive Eliot for whatever was about to happen to them, then Eliot would be indebted to him for the rest of his life.

In order to get to that point, however, they first have to live through this and Eliot knows that will depend entirely on both of them keeping it together. Though, honestly, out of the two of them, he is more worried about himself.

It’ll take all his willpower not to show Damien how much he still gets to him and that willpower is tested at every turn. Like when Damien calls him an old friend, shows how well he knows Eliot’s likes and dislikes, his past.

He can feel Hardison boil next to him, but he has to give it to him that he’s not giving them away and for that, he is grateful.

Naturally, it is hard to give something away when drowning in a pool, which is what happens not even a second after Eliot has finished the thought.

Now, Eliot hates himself for a lot of reasons and because of a lot of things he has done, but he might never hate himself more for standing there, not even flinching, as Hardison gets thrown into that pool.

A part of it is training, knowing how to respond to threats to minimize the damage, which is not moving an inch, not showing how much he cares, in this case. Another shameful, guilty part of himself can also admit that his lack of reaction is due to how he has been frozen with fear since the moment Damien moved up from his seat.

He only barely gets himself under control in time to face Damien again. To negotiate. His fear is subtle enough that out of everyone there, only Damien would have picked up on it. He always knew Eliot too well…

So, he stands there, pretends he wouldn’t rather piss his pants and makes a deal with Damien. Like always, it’s an illusion of choice, but Damien knows he has Eliot on a leash and he knows how to shape Eliot into what he wants. It makes him sick how it takes less time than it takes a person to drown for Damien to make him agree to be a killer again.

But he also knows that there isn’t another way that conversation could have gone, no other outcome he would have considered. Not with Hardison in the pool. Not with the innocent hacker drowning, instead of a wealthy client he doesn’t care about.

Eliot would do anything to keep his team safe, including facing Damien and all that comes with being in his presence.

When they leave, he knows Hardison is angry at him, but he’s still shaking like a leaf ever since they left that hotel. He’s barely keeping himself together, cracks appearing and fear leaking out of him.

He doesn’t have the mind to answer Hardison, barely has the mind to practically beg for his place on the team. The mind to hide what he has done, so they won’t throw out their only protection on this con. The only person, who knows Damien well enough to maybe, just maybe get them away from his wrath.

The only person, who knows how to get away from Damien alive.

#rr writing #eliot spencer #damien moreau #alec hardison #eliot facing moreau 1+5 fic #leverage fic #leverage #leverage tv #leverage season 3 #the big bang job

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vacantgodling · 1 year

Text

@magic-is-something-we-create actually wait i’m gonna talk about your tags for a second on my tcol writing post also bc it’s an excuse to ramble about my favorite boy

because 1. thank uuuuu i tried really hard on that description haha

BUT 2, THE PART I WANNA TALK ABOUT

you are 100% correct and that’s exactly what i’m going for

i’m gonna ramble a lot about clear and the ✨themes✨ associated with him so buckle up + spoilers ahead (again):

so, it’s not incorrect to say that clear was a child soldier; the dark hunting tradition in eros goes all the way back to The Day of Fissures in 478 (and, for context, the main tcol plot takes place some 2000 years after this so uh, it’s been a BIT since then cough). but a very large tl;dr—the original capital of terrae was the city of argos, which was overrun by beasts and monsters because it was unknowingly built on a hotbed of chaos. some 2/3 of the population were killed during this siege, and what remained ended up splitting into two groups: what would eventually become the lathsburians or those who took the heed of the goddess MUINENS and fled the city for good, and those who turned their back on her and wanted to stay and fight for their home: the aegeans. and essentially from day one, their entire purpose was to take the city back. no one was allowed to stray from this purpose, not even the children. and with the discovery of tenom this meant that not only would adults stand a chance, but even children could hold their own. yes, many would die—but it was for a “glorious cause.”

people like san and another character that will appear in part 2 (clear’s younger brother, pure) represent that belief in this aegean tradition—that the only goal should be to continue to fight for this essentially impossible goal. dark hunting is revered! it’s essentially a godly occupation to them and those like, and especially clear are praised for it. clear is literally the strongest dark hunter to ever live on record (sans the first dark hunter but she’s another story and much of her history was actually purposefully removed from textbooks so not many know about her but ANYWAY)

clear is the longest living dark hunter. he was a dark hunter from age 7 to age 17, and then he essentially ran away from home because he was reaching his limit with The Horrors and he couldn’t stand it anymore, he wanted to heal and do something good with his hands.

all his life he was only told that by killing was he worth anything.

and killing beasts and monsters is one can of worms—but what about the comrades clear has had to kill because they went mad from using tenom too much? what about those he killed because they were going to die anyway and the best he could do was offer them a quick, painless death. what about his own mental state? it’s shit LMAO. he’s never been shown kindness. he was only a weapon to eros—to his father especially, who literally disowned him when clear expressed a desire to do something different, something more than just dark hunting.

BUT!!! through all of that, kindness is what truly shapes him, and saves him. kindness and compassion and understanding.

the first person he meets after his father disowns him, is an old guild adventurer in her 60s named efelia dobos (and her name is kind of deliberate but that’s a whole other post to delve into which goddess she’s named after lol) who has a farm and 8 children. but she didn’t hesitate when she saw clear wandering on his own, to take him in and help him heal, emotionally and physically. hell, she was the one who suggested that he go to the guilds and find purpose in that and so, he goes. sure, he lies and gets in falsely but he was doing what he had to do tm.

then, karenza—who in an opposite way is literally the strongest medic that has ever lived with like MASSIVE amounts of sana. she can literally revive the dead!! but she’s so kind, and when clear asks her for honest advice, she becomes kind of a mentor to him. he confides in her (eventually) that he can’t really use sana and she looks at him and says, “i know. but just because i have a natural gift and you don’t doesn’t mean that you can’t become a great healer.” and having someone believe in HIM, in his own hard work and merit, in his good intentions despite everything it really means something to him. he even tries to convince himself that maybe he’s in love with her but that’s a different can of worms.

and finally, forte. forte is clear’s rock and always has been from day one. he never questioned his ability, and even when everything in that excerpt happened there’s technically already been a huge scene where because of some shit that happens in the labyrinth, both karenza AND forte were left disabled by it. not sure how renza was (yet) but one of forte’s eyes gets fucked up beyond saving. at the scene clear was the only medic on duty but because their injuries technically required sana to save and clear doesn’t have that he really beats himself up. he kept them alive in time to get help, but he had to use drastic measures, his tenom, to keep them alive. and it’s something clear has done before—on himself. but his body can handle tenom’s ferocity, he was terrified that he killed them and when they were both fucked up afterwards he really wanted to die. but something forte tells him and is the TRUE KEY to using tenom that most don’t know—is that when forte was on the brink, sinking into oblivion as he was dying, he felt something like two hands grab him, shake him, and scream at him to live. to fight. to keep going. and it sounded like clear.

the best way to think about is this: when used correctly tenom is like a drastic form of adrenaline. you ever hear those stories about people in crazy situations where they shouldn’t be alive? who break bones or are lost at sea or whatever but through sheer will and luck they lived? tenom is like harnessing THAT energy, since it’s still an offshoot of vis (the force of will magic tm).

so forte’s logic is, how can he be upset with someone who fought so hard to keep him alive on nothing but his own raw power? it’s the same thing with renza. neither of them blame him, even if others like deux or moira or san look at him some type of way there are people who see him for who he is and trying to become. and it heals him, as he starts to open himself up to it.

clear doesn’t want to just be a killer he wants to be a healer and just someone helpful. he doesn’t want others to hurt and he wants to stop hurting himself but he doesn’t know where to start until people who are kind show him how to.

#that was a lot but i’m always ready to scream about clear he is Everything to me #s: tcol #ren analysis #spoilers ig

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kazylgon · 11 months

Note

1, 5, 12 for each of your OCs for the ask game! :3

:3c

hoo boy this got kinda long

1. Who are they closest to? How did they meet and what do they like to do together?

(lots of broad strokes for this one because i'm still figuring a lot of these details out)

Rin: NO ONE. Rin is close to NO ONE. She is a LONE WOLF who doesn't need ANYBODY!... It's Talynn, but she'll never admit it. They met when Talynn got caught up in a crime Rin committed, likely some kind of theft. Rin was getting chased by authorities, passed off the stolen goods to Talynn to get away, Talynn ran, and Rin later tracked her down later to get her stuff back. They've been unable to get rid of each other ever since. Their favourite things to do together are getting into trouble/literally anything other than that depending on who you ask.

Talynn: Her parents. They were Mighty Heroes and the moments she cherished the most were when they'd hold her close, let her hold their weapons, and tell her stories based on their exploits.

Scraps: Physically? Rin, Talynn, and Zedd. Emotionally? No one. Scraps does not care for people beyond how they can contribute to Scraps' experiments.

Zedd: The first thing Zedd remembers is waking up in a hole in the ground and wandering along the nearest road until he was taken in by a family of traveling tinkers. They taught him everything he knows about people, the world, morality, and so on. He stayed with them for several months until they arrived at the first big city he'd encountered, at which point he got hopelessly lost for several weeks and by the time he regained his bearings they'd moved on. He loved playing hide and seek with the family's two children (he was amazing at hiding, terrible at seeking) and "helping" their parents with their tinkering work. (His help was quickly reduced to 'hold the pliers, sit over there, and hand me the pliers when I ask for them' but it was still important work in his mind)

5. How affectionate are they? What are their top love languages?

Rin: Not very. She was conceived and raised for the sole purpose of serving as a magical battery for her mother, then ran away and lived on the streets of various cities, so her emotional availability to give and receive affection is...basically zero. Rin spending any time with someone without having a plan to escape and/or murder them is serious affection coming from her.

Talynn: Touch and acts of service. Talynn wants to hug everyone and run her fingers through their hair and do whatever she can to make their lives easier. She wants to be the kitten right at the centre of the big kitty pile. But she has self worth issues, and occasionally transforms into a barely controllable monster with a hunger for warm flesh. So she rarely indulges in giving/receiving affection for fear of not being deserving of it and/or horribly maiming the person she's getting close to.

Scraps: Scraps can seem very affectionate. Scraps will curl up on people's laps at a moment's notice the instant the temperature starts dropping, and Scraps will show interest in whatever it is someone is doing and will seem engaged and ask all manner of questions, and various other things that might seem affectionate. But there's no emotional component to this. Literally every single thing Scraps does is to serve their own survival and further their own knowledge/experiments. The closest thing Scraps has to a love language is involving someone in an experiment while also ensuring said person doesn't get horribly maimed.

Zedd: There's so much affection in this idiot. He just wants to be loved and love other people in turn, doesn't matter the love language. If you express affection at him he will return in in the same way tenfold. Give him a gift and you'll start finding your pockets filled with all manner of random stuff that reminded him of you. Perform an act of service for him and you could ask him to kill someone for you and he'll probably do it if you say please a few times.

12. Are they hot-headed or even-tempered? What frustrates them the most?

Rin: The hottest of hot heads. Emotional regulation? Fuck off and die. Anger is a binary setting for her; she's either not angry and everything is fine, or she's angry and someone might die. Her biggest frustration? People trying to control or manipulate her. You try and gaslight her and the only light being shed will be from your body after she sets you on fire.

Talynn: She seems very cool and in control and even tempered but that's mostly just the dissociation. There's such a chasm between Talynn and her emotions (because of the whole turning into a flesh eating monster when angry or scared) because she's trying so very, very hard to not feel anything. She can deal with any frustration almost indefinitely as long as it's coming from an external source, but the second it comes from herself or her own thoughts or actions it's a major source of frustration, the flesh eating monster thing is undoubtedly her biggest frustration in life.

Scraps: Scraps approaches every situation in life with the same calm, cold logic. Scraps is in perfect control of Scraps' emotions at all times. Nothing frustrates Scraps, every possible frustration is just another exciting puzzle to solve.

Zedd: He's very even tempered in that he barely knows what's going on most of the time. He can be prone to random mood swings because of this, as when he actually beings to understand what's going on he can unexpectedly start Feeling Things about things, and occasionally those feeling come from a place hidden by his amnesia.

hurrrghghghg okay i think that's everything

#oc rin #oc scraps #oc zedd #answered #oc talyn #kazwords

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blubushie · 1 year

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Would you kill someone?

First of all, could you stomach killing someone?

Second, this is all a very situational well... situation. So here are some situations (names chosen at random):

1. Guy is personally attacking you, you don't know his motives, but he's playing dirty as fuck and seems to be aiming to maim and potentially kill you (He acts alone). You can kill him to save yourself. (For the sake of argument, you are fully physically capable of killing him) It would be 100% self defense, to kill him. Would you?

2. Robert (you are held at his gunpoint, you are unarmed save for the knives and trinkets I assume you always have on hand) is telling you that you have to kill Brandon (who is completely defenseless and tied to a chair or something), or else Robert will get his cronies to kill one of your close friends and/or family. (Robert wants Brandon's blood on your hands, he wants your mark to be left when the scene gets investigated. Other than that, his motives are unknown.)

3. Your close family and/or friend is being attacked by Some Guy (some guy is acting alone. the victim is defenseless) Do you kill Some Guy to save your friend, knowing full well that, in this situation, you have the full ability to kill him and save the victim?

4. You are being offered a very VERY hefty sum of money in exchange for a service. That service being killing someone, of course. You don't know squat about who you're killing. They won't tell you why they want that person to be killed by you. (Again, sake of argument, you can physically kill him and get away safely and with lined pockets.) Would you?

5. And last but not least; Your least favourite person on earth. Standing in a room. You have all the upper hand. Like, this is the guy that has wronged you the most. That has hurt you. Whoever that may be. Would you kill him? (Again, you get away scotch free)

Yes and yes.

In a heartbeat. His life isn't worth more than my own and he gave up his right to life when he attacked me. He better hope I'm barehanded because maybe he'll escape with just being choked out but if I have a weapon I'm fighting back until he's neutralised or dead, whichever comes first.

Stall as long as possible, kill Brandon if I have to. Soz Branno, Mum's more important to me. This goes double if I've never met Branno before.

Absolutely kill Some Guy. Family comes first.

I'm not answering this. This is the one topic I'm going to break Honest Ask week for. I will not discuss killing people for money unless it relates directly to Sniper.

If he attacks me, I'm killing him. I'm not answering this aside from that.

#blu whos

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head-empty-just-sigma · 2 years

Text

so after using my few remaining brain cells to analyze Bram’s ability a bit, i got a little idea in my mind that i absolutely need to theorize about. so here i am.

essentially i just want to ask what kind of effect Dazai’s ability would have on Bram, if any at all. so i’ll be looking at how Dazai’s gift interacts with large-scale abilities that effected multiple people or powerful ability-created weapons. i will also be talking about the sword stuck in Bram as well given what’s revealed in the latest manga chapter (102)

🔺spoilers for the main manga, 55 Minutes, Dead Apple, one scene from chapter 1 of Stormbringer🔻

a tldr is directly under the cut with less spoilers and a short to-the-point theory. also all lowercase is intentional

too long don’t want to read it:

Dazai’s nullification won’t have any effect on Bram himself, it won’t turn him human again, but it’ll make it so he can’t command his infected vampire army. i think Dazai will have to touch each individual vampire in order to nullify the infection, comparing it to how his ability functioned in Shibusawa’s fog. with the sword, i think Dazai wouldn’t have much more effect on it other than removing the engraving on Fukuchi’s hand and allowing Bram to control his ability again while Dazai holds the sword and renders it a piece of metal in his hand.

everything else in this post is talking about evidence for my theory & then my theory about their abilities interacting at the end. i hope you enjoy!

what is Bram’s ability?

Bram Stoker in the bsd universe is a mutated human who’s ability caused them to turn into an immortal/undead vampire. he’s been alive for several centuries without much change in appearance, leading me to believe the concept of age doesn’t apply to Bram anymore after becoming a vampire. not to mention he’s a head on a sword

since his ability isn’t named (although it’s most likely Stoker’s Dracula) i won’t be using that as material in my analysis, i want to focus on how his ability functions in the bsd universe alone.

so far from what we’ve seen, the usage of Bram’s ability requires that Bram or another infected vampire ingests the victim’s blood through biting the victim in order to infect them. infecting them causes them to turn into a vampire that has no will of their own and instead acts on the will of Bram, who gives orders to his brethren. the infected vampires are shown to be aggressive towards any non-infected human in the nature of wanting to bite them to infect them, not outright kill them. every infected vampire is loyal to Bram no matter who they got infected by, making it easy for Bram to build a large army using just his underlings without needing to bite each individual himself. this ability can also bring the dead back to life, which we see Bram do with Akutagawa as his first victim.

in one scene we see Bram use his influence as the so-called Lord of the Undead to scare an infected vampire when Aya gets attacked

we can assume that while he’s incapable of actually issuing commands to the infected because of the sword, he still has authority that can be sensed on an instinctual level by the infected vampires.

that’s pretty much all we know about his ability for now, so i’ll leave Bram’s ability explanation here.

let’s gloss over Dazai’s ability

he nullifies any ability through physical touch. he can either touch the person using the ability or the ability itself for this to work.

nullifying Q’s ability by touching the doll

nullifying Corruption by touching Chuuya’s arm

lol

the only time Dazai’s ability doesn’t work is when it’s not an actual ability, i.e. Lovecraft being a Great Old One (a Lovecraftian god-like being) and not an ability user as well as some other times in the light novels. which i’ll get into right now

55 Minutes

seriously, this man is a piece of trash (affectionate)

so i’m going to ignore the entire plot of 55 Minutes but in case you’re wondering why Dazai is in a trash can well you’re just going to have to read the light novel to find out pffft

there’s a quote early on that i want to bring up considering the context of Dazai’s ability in regards to time-manipulating abilities

“‘Those thieves are nothing but a small part of the catastrophe that’s to come.’ All of a sudden, Dazai wasn’t smiling anymore.”

so the ‘catastrophe’ is a large-scale weapon called Code: Shell or ‘Annihilation’ made from an ability that’s hidden on the floating island that they’re on that’s going to be used to destroy Yokohama. and like half of Japan i think. idk 55 Minutes was a ride

so i have a personal theory that Dazai was originally sent to the island by himself to stop the weapon before it was used but he failed, which is where 55 Minutes begins with the random description of Yokohama being obliterated. then we see the rest of the ADA also being sent to the island because Atsushi needs to save Yokohama (again) because Dazai wasn’t able to do it by himself. he also knows who Wells is already, giving Atsushi a description of her at the beginning of the novel during the trash can conversation. Dazai also blatantly tells Kunikida and Atsushi that he knew they’d be caught up in some trouble, so he snuck into the jail room in order to help them escape. however, H.G. Wells (the ‘terrorist’) had set up that trap to get the ADA off her heels so they could get to the weapon without interference, so Dazai had to send Atsushi after her. Dazai also reveals he was sent there by the government, not Fukuzawa. i personally think that somehow Wells was capable of using her ability on Dazai, like we see Nikolai do when he uses his overcoat to teleport Dazai out of his cell. however, the time stopping ability that the cat lady has doesn’t effect Dazai? so it’s really up in the air here. there’s no solid proof Wells used her ability on Dazai anyway besides him knowing about some of the events that occur on the island, but that could also be left to Dazai being the genius that he is.

anyway so lots of plot happens & Atsushi ends up failing to stop the weapon from being used after finding out Wells wasn’t a terrorist (and getting a scene of her taking off a fake face Twilight style) the weapon starts destroying everything it touches.

Dazai and Kunikida witness this after escaping, with Dazai stating that he knew Code: Shell was an “ability weapon”. keeping that in mind, however, Dazai is still killed by the ‘plasma vapor’ created by the weapon boiling the ocean to the point of evaporating. now, i’d like to take a moment to mention this scene from Stormbringer:

“It was strange, because despite the abnormal gravitational field surrounding them, the figure just leisurely stood there.”

(credits to Chibikko_Chuuya, TsubakiHana2, and hktrsdc on twt for the translation)

so after Chuuya’s ‘gate’ is opened for the first time by Verlaine and the equivalent of a black freaking hole melts the corners off of buildings and some nearby lampposts, Dazai is able to just waltz up to Chuuya, who’s at the epicenter of an irregular gravitational field, and nullify Chuuya’s ability without so much as a scratch on him. he doesn’t even break a sweat despite literal metal lamppost melting just feet away from them. does this mean that Asagiri-sensei is inconsistent in how Dazai is affected by ability-based catastrophes? well, no. Chuuya’s phenomena is just his ability, but Code: Shell is a weapon of mass distraction created by an ability, which is the difference. Code: Shell is also probably much more powerful than Chuuya’s ability, including Corruption.

so i think we can assume that while Dazai’s ability is strong enough to nullify most abilities, it doesn’t work on weapons like Code: Shell even though an ability created them.

moving on

Dead Apple

Shibusawa is a King and i will not be taking arguments at this time thank you. also, the name “Tatsuhiko” uses the same kanji characters as ‘dragon boy’. just thought that was cool

so i’m ignoring the plot again and i just want to focus on how Dazai effects the fog

while Shibusawa’s fog is spread over Yokohama and causes abilities to be separated from their users, Dazai, Dostoy and Shibusawa are in some building that i can’t find the name of ANYWHERE that seems to be above the fog. while that’s well and good, we actually find out that the fog does reach them when Dostoy has his monologue moment with his own ability just outside the Draconia room in the tall building. so we see the first instance of Dazai’s ability not affecting the fog just from him being in it.

the second instance is one of the best soukoku moments when Dazai is putting Chuuya’s face in his crotch to keep him from moving, stating he ‘doesn’t want to have to protect him from his own ability’ while they’re in the fog. so here’s proof that Dazai can’t nullify the fog itself despite being within it, but he can nullify the effects of the fog on whoever he’s touching, stopping their abilities from separating. even when the fog turns red and grows, Dazai’s nullification has no effect on it. therefore, large-scale abilities like the Dragon’s Breath from Draconia (Shibusawa’s ability) can’t be nullified by Dazai as a whole and he instead must touch each individual who’s effected. keep that in mind

so now i’m moving into the theory/speculation part of this so please keep in mind that Asagiri-sensei may prove me completely wrong in a future chapter but this is my personal headcanon/theory for how Dazai’s ability would effect Bram’s ability

so i’m going to ignore the sword sticking out of Bram and pretend like he’s a full-bodied vampire capable of controlling his own ability for a minute. i’ll include what i think about the sword later.

first thing: Bram’s ability caused him to mutate into an undead vampire himself. what happens to him if Dazai touches him?

i personally believe nothing would happen to Bram if Dazai touches him. he won’t die, nor will he turn back into a human. i think using the context that his ability caused him to mutate into a vampire, and he can’t change himself into a human at will or anything, Bram is stuck forever as an undead vampire. also considering that if Bram is powerful enough to be called one of the “Ten Calamities”, Dazai’s ability won’t have an effect on his vampirism. obviously Bram can’t infect Dazai, but Dazai can’t make him human again either. i also think it would be a subtle narrative add-on that Dazai’s ability No Longer Human can’t give someone their humanity back.

next: if Dazai touches Bram, would it un-infect all of the other vampires?

no.

in the same way that Dazai didn’t have an affect on Shibusawa’s fog unless he touched the individual person, he can’t un-infect the other vampires unless he touches each individual infected person. of course, i think Bram (again, without the sword) would be able to deactivate his ability and turn them all back to humans, Dazai has to work way harder to nullify everyone separately. which is what he has to do canonically anyway considering Bram can’t deactivate his own ability.

i think at most it would make it so that Bram can’t command his vampire army while Dazai is touching him. the only one who might be un-infected is maybe Akutagawa considering Bram bit him himself.

next: will the infected vampires remember the events that happened while they were infected?

probably not. considering they have no will of their own and act 100% on Bram’s orders as mindless subordinates, they probably are in a state of unconsciousness while infected. they might have like flashes of memories, but i don’t think they’re fully aware of what they’re doing. they are considered undead after all.

well, then will they die when they’re turned back into humans?

as for dying i think there’s too many important characters who are infected right now for them to all die when their un-infected. i think this includes Akutagawa, he’s a very important character that had been showing major character development in the story and i think he’s going to be fine. plus, there’s no way Asagiri-sensei would create such a complex character for Chuuya and go into detail about his backstory with multiple light novels just to toss him in the trash like that.

i suppose there’s a small possibility that Aku will die after he’s un-infected but i want to believe Asagiri-sensei has other plans for him…..

final part: Dazai’s effect on the sword

so the Holy Sword was made after an ability user died, was turned into gold and silver by a different ability, and then forged into a sword. the dead ability user’s gift was one that fused an ‘ability’ with a ‘body’, creating an ultra-ability that transcends the principles of ability usage that we’re familiar with.

Bram describes the ‘body’ and an ‘ability’ like this: an ‘ability’ is a metaphysical concept, like their soul. and the ‘body’ is the physical vessel that houses it.

therefore, this sword that has the ability to fuse an ‘ability’ with a ‘body’, is currently lodged in Bram and is fused with Fukuchi through an engraved mark on his hand. this is what allows Fukuchi to manipulate Bram’s ability while he’s holding the sword.

now, i think Dazai won’t be able to use the sword obviously, in his hands it’s nothing but a piece of metal, but i think that him nullifying it will remove the engraving on Fukuchi’s hand. i’m not sure if it’ll also make it so the sword can be pulled out of Bram, considering it’s rooted in his brain and is a powerful weaponized ability similar to Code: Shell, so maybe Dazai won’t be able to effect the sword itself really, but he’ll remove the mark on Fukuchi and potentially allow Bram to control his own ability again.

however, i’m not entirely sure if this level of Dazai-ex-machina is something that’ll happen in the story considering he’s in Europe while Bram is in Japan

anyway that’s the end of my theory and personal headcanon until i’m proven otherwise lol. thank you for reading! if you have other ideas or noticed something i missed feel free to put it in the comments!

mini theory: can Chuuya use Corruption even though he’s infected?

my opinion is yes, yes he can. if we go by the context that Corruption can be triggered either intentionally after his chant, or forcefully triggered by emotions or opening his ‘gate’, i think that the distress of Chuuya’s current situation may actually trigger Corruption on its own without Chuuya willing it to. i kind of hope we get like a flashback scene of Chuuya at 7 when he’s still being tested on and stuff (i still need to read all of SB sorry i don’t know everything) but yeah. i think Dazai utterly wrecking Chuuya’s trust in him would be a cool plot moment for the story right now lol i’m sorry

#Bram is like one of my top 3 #love the dude #he’s just a smol bat boi #i technically posted this on time for Dazai’s bday #so happy birthday you waste of bandages #bsd spoilers #bsd analysis #bungou stray dogs #bsd manga #bsd dazai #bsd bram #bram stoker #dazai osamu #screaming into the void #and the void screams back #my stuff

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