the way cole makes varric conflicted is so delicious i think. most of the characters are uncomfortable around him because they're genuinely terrified of demons and the fade and magic in general but varric is a completely different case. the thing is, he doesn't see cole as a demon at all because he doesn't want to.
he acts like he doesn't care about this stuff. that's a little weird kiddo around here and he wants to befriend him. teach him something even. why not. that's a little guy who's a little too good with knives and can't pick up a single social clue at the same time.
but there it is. the "he could have been a person" line if cole is made more spirit. varric is so upset about it because it's not like he saw cole as, well, a spirit who got a little too human. for varric, he was a human first, a weird kid second. the spirit part didn't even come into consideration because. well. it would make him question things. you know where it goes.
every time he starts bitching about anders he brings up justice. justice drove him mad. justice took over him. justice this, justice that. justice is a scapegoat because the thought that someone varric was friends with was actually willing to blow up the chantry and it wasn't just some evil demon's wish is a very unsettling one. varric's friends may be crazy but they're cool and make no irreversible life decisions of that extent, don't they? blondie turned out this way because he let a demon possess him and make him do terrible things. completely out of the blue.
it's either varric's ex-friend has never been driven crazy by some inherently evil entity and there was a whole other person around him all along and that anger he used to mock was coming from the same place as compassion's urge to become a killer or that little weird but kind kid he started to care about has never been and will never be a real kid. he can't have both. a bitter pill to swallow for someone who has never picked a side in his life
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one big thing about polyshipping for me is, like. you know how some people will have their eyes opened to homoerotic relationships in media bc they'll realize, "wait, if these people were two different genders, i'd 100% assume they're into each other. i have a double standard that i never noticed"?
there's a polyamorous equivalent in certain media that's basically just. "if you didn't assume this character is monogamous, you would 100% believe they have crushes on & are dating all of their friends." OR, "if this character wasn't dating somebody else already, you would 100% interpret this new friendship of theirs as a crush/budding romance."
usually the creators of the media aren't thinking about polyamory when they make it! usually the creators of the media are thinking "i want this character's friends to be as important to them as their romantic partners, we don't get enough of that in media," which is great and true and also EXACTLY WHY IT WORKS AS A POLY NARRATIVE. people will be like you don't Have to polyship why can't you just let platonic relationships be important ugh 🙄 & i'm like i did my years in the "why can't two men just be friends why does everything have to be gay 🙄" trenches. you're not doing this to me. we're not doing it about polyshipping. we're skipping over that whole discourse cutscene because i am Too Tired For It. don't even start
sometimes characters are so full of love and affection and joy for so many people that i start gnawing off my hands about how polyamory isn't normalized. because i'll watch/read certain media and i'll be like. listen. this is a polycule. i know you don't know this because your creators don't know this and that is totally okay but you are a Wildly polyamorous person who's ambiguously trapped in the 2000s/2010s with Big Monogamy psyops eating your brain. please let me free you. please i can give you Everything .
PLEASE KISS YOUR FRIENDS
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I'm on a work trip--it's a class of people in my field picked from all over the country, so I don't know anyone else here--and the info packet I got basically said "people have told us they wish they'd been given a chance to meet everyone else before the class starts, so if you want to do that, show up to the hotel bar at this time and look for people who look like lawyers."
and I know. that I should go do this, because networking good. but also. this is weirdly stressful. how do I make sure that a group of random lawyers knows I am also a lawyer while still being casual and chill but not dressed formally at all
am i going to have to take off my combat boots for this
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zolu aroace positivity post!!! because if you're aroace and you celebrate the gift that is zolu, I want to share why they mean so much to me as an aroace.
what makes zolu so special to me is because first and foremost, zoro and luffy went out to the vast open seas of the world to chase after their dreams. luffy wants to be the pirate king, zoro wants to be the best swordsman. even after being recruited, even after all they went through, they never stopped having their dreams as the forefront of their characters. but it just so happens that both their dreams are intertwined with each other, the best swordsman in the world's most fitting place is by being right next to the pirate king, and the pirate king believes that he would reach his goal by having the best by his side.
the reason why I believe zoro and luffy's relationship is so strong is because by fighting for their own dreams, they also strengthen their bond with the other. zoro wants to be strong to be the best swordsman, but it's also to protect the crew and to best support luffy as he guns for the title of pirate king. luffy wants to be strong to be pirate king, but it's also to protect the crew, but also? by being strong, he proves time and time again that his crew did not make the wrong decision to follow him, that he is a Captain that deserves to obtain the one piece (i think of luffy aiming to be strong so that his crew will never have to falter about his leadership, especially after water 7).
as an aroace, this feels like the best way to showcase love and devotion and trust with each other. knowing that someone's dream becomes a part of your own, that every time you fight for yourself and you aim to be a better version of yourself, you're not only working for your own sake but for the better of you and your partner. that i come to love my partner because they understand me, and they know why i fight so hard to reach my goal. and not only that, they fight as equally hard for their own goal. together, both of our dreams ultimately help each other become the best version of ourselves.
knowing that zoro believes in luffy wholeheartedly that he fought for his dream too, enough to put his life on the line for luffy. knowing that luffy can leave his most precious family and crew to zoro because he trusts zoro wholeheartedly to win.
to me, this is how I envision love. it's about getting to know each other, understanding each other, loving each other to the point that their dreams become yours, and fighting together side by side to make that dream come true.
zoro and luffy have that in spades. imo, zoro and luffy's appeal as a relationship is that they are intertwined with each other, and they go through hell and back and fight for each other and their dreams together. it's no wonder that aroace people like me are drawn to them, their love and bond transcends just having an attraction to each other. because it's also about having this person change and inspire me to be better.
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