queer knightly duties

BUT

nobody knows that Xie Lian and Mu Qing changed costumes (Xie Lian wanted to play demon but if anybody knew Mu Qing would be in trouble)

and Hua Cheng still thinks for all these 800 years that it was Xie Lian

and once the truth is revealed i want Hua Cheng to deeply reflect does he really loves Xie Lian or if he was more obsessed with an idea of Xie Lian

and god i want Hua Cheng slowly changing his view on Mu Qing

them both discovering new things about each other and themselves

and for all of yall that are still figuring it out or aren't getting the support you deserve:

saw this cute pic of a raven making a heart, had to draw crowxian

I want to know how tight-knit it was. I want to know how many people he knew and the relationships he had!! I want to know if he had cult friends and how he felt about his higher ups!!!

I like to think that he was treated as "special" in the cult once he was selected for sacrifice. I mean, COME ON, how could he not be? He, out of all the other cult members at the time, was selected to be the VESSEL for Dionysus. That's special! That's important! His body was going to be used to communicate with their savior!!!

Bernard has always struggled with belonging. He's never really had a home or place to call his own. He wasn't close to family, didn't have many close friends, etc. A cult is so appealing when you're in that spot. I, personally, think that the cult was that place for him. However demented and messed up it may be, the children of dionysus made him feel special and seen. He felt good being chosen as their sacrifice because he was acknowledged as extraordinary. As important. He was seen differently and welcomed compared to the isolation he had lived in for so many years!

I also think this makes him recognizable to members of the cult/ex members who were in Gotham when Bernard was supposed to be sacrificed. Because when you're going to be the new vessel of your god, people know your name. People know your face. People, even higher ups, are interested in what you have to say (moreso, interested in your regurgitations of the ideals they taught you to have).

And that's even more fun, because he's still so lonely. Despite all the people who make him feel special, he's still so far. He's still distant. He still has no one he can talk to or spend time with or exist with, because no one cares about him. No one actually loves Bernard, they love Dionysus' sacrifice. But in the moment it feels like they love him, and it's euphoric. It's addictive, and he feels the lows of it when they're gone but so so high when they're here. They're here and talking to him, or preparing him, or hurting him.