curiousitree

[curiousitree]

November 2008. Magritte and Raf had been meeting up for their weekly jam sessions, after hours at Hi-Note for close to half a year, now--and that's been their entire relationship up to this point. Their weekly sessions had been a highlight that they both looked forward to every time, and they both genuinely enjoyed each other's company, but Raf was very sure to himself that he wanted to maintain an arms length as an amiable acquaintance--just "that guy she plays music with once a week". He liked that relationship. it was very easy, it was very fun, it was very safe. Inviting her to spend the night at his place, as perfectly and casually platonic as it was, felt like breaking the seal on that "arms length", safe relationship. The whole drive to his apartment, he thought he had made a huge mistake (while Magritte sat next to him, tired, but delighted and blissfully unaware). That feeling of dread didn't really go away until he woke up at 6 am for work the next morning. The sweet, sweet aroma of freshly brewed coffee--as per his usual morning routine--was somehow enough to lure Magritte out from the guest bedroom. And--for the first time in years, Raf had a nice little...morning chat over breakfast.

And, by the time he was ready to head out the door, car keys in hand, Magritte had already begun filling his little apartment with music.

The kindly company had put him in such a pleasant mood, he couldn't help but assure Magritte that she was welcome to stay until he returned from work if she so wished--and that she'd be welcome to fill his mornings with conversation and music any time she needed a place to rest her head. For some reason, he figured that was a straight forward enough invitation for her to take up eagerly. But

upon returning home that evening, Margie's things were gone, and so was she. He received a text from her thanking him--but did not see her again until they met up again for the next week's jam session.

[curiousitree]

lol I'm just gonna say if my DM did this to Karlach after 70 someodd hours.... to say we would no longer be friends is an understatement, whew.

[curiousitree]

[curiousitree]

I've been experiencing baldur's gate and I have observations on either rather stupid ass fucking decisions on the writer's table when you compare some characters in the companion roster.

Gale and Karlach. Now those two are essentially almost the same, except Gale being a combination of Karlach and Shadowheart (Explosive heart + Faith(Mommy) issues.) Which really isn't that much of a problem on its own, but with how the story treats the characters, it begins to be.

To summarize, Gale's story involves finding a way to cope with his affliction, getting an ex machina solution when he basically gave up, and then wallowing in angst until he either sacrifices himself or doesn't and gets to worship Mystra's titties in self pity.

Compared to Karlach, who is hunting a Dante from DMC reject whilst trying not to think about how her condition is basically doomed, only to fall into despair after he's dead because she finally killed one of her abusers and now has fo focus on how she can't live a happy life. Because she either dies or suffers in hell. Classy

The point? Why does the masc character gets a chance on a life whilst the fem one doesn't?

Furthermore, Gale's problem stems from his own mistake, it's his fault because his pride wanted to fuck around and so he found out. But he does literally nothing proactive to solve his own issue, his godmommy literally sends an ex machina so he doesn't die, and he just continues on doing whatever he wants to. You can say yes "He can kill himself in a blaze of glory to repent" yes he CAN, he doesn't NEED to, the game gives you the option for him not to die.

Karlach on other hand, got human trafficked as a fucking teen, and then was turned into a weapon of war, until she could have escaped by being abducted with the goal of being enslaved... Take all that in, because it gets worse. She hunts down ONE of her abusers, only to not be presented with any solutions to her incredibly finite lifespan outside of hell. And you don't even get an option to try. After actively trying to find ways how to stabilise the heart you just don't get any more options, because one npc said she will die and we get no solutions. So in the end Karlach either dies, lives as a freak, or has to go back to hell to her other abuser. I'm so glad fr.

There's no other explanation for this besides the writers misogyny in making these characters. The most basic ass guy gets the issues he caused for himself solved for him, whilst the trauma survivor who deserves something happy for once gets that happiness dangled in front of her face and then denied for no good reason.

There is no good reason in game for her to not be allowed a good ending or a solution. We meet a dozen ass amount of wizards and strong ass characters that could pull literally any random solution for the Engine, but the writers decided not too.

I find this an intrinsicaly inexcusable favoritism of the wrong characters, the creators very much favour Gale over Karlach, they very much favour him over everyone else tbh. As we all know, unless you don't recruit him or make him leave at some point, killing him without reviving him will just cause you a game over, And he offers nothing to any questline beyond an automatic check pass when you talk to his cat. The only thing he has going for him is that he's a quippy posh wizard. But that fails to be fun when he runs out of stuff to talk about as he has the game revolve around him due to his condition without actually interacting with it in any feasible way.

Rant over.

[curiousitree]

oh and now I'm mad about Arcann and Vaylin too lmfao listen

[curiousitree]

I fr do not have enough xanax to deal with Karlach's endings

[curiousitree]

Is this Karlach's best ending

[curiousitree]

Cheydinhal left a mark, man.

(the wine is poison apples from daddy lucien)

[curiousitree]

I'm really tired and out of it

[curiousitree]

Karlach makes me cry and hyperventilate from terminal homosexuality

[curiousitree]

Y'alls bloody, silvery blorbo is giving red flags but idk it could be all the blood.

[curiousitree]

hi

"Hey... It's been awhile..."

Molag Bal Ukulele Apology oh god why did I spend so much time on this

[curiousitree]

In the name of closure I'm cool with losing my composure x

[curiousitree]

Haha! Okay..! [[deep inhale]]

Keep reading

[curiousitree]

I woke up and chose "it's the day after my birthday time to spend my stored up depression points on ranting in the tags on other ppls posts" today how's your day going

[curiousitree]

At first Netflix said, come write for us. We’ll save your cancelled shows and write about whatever niche story you want. Our algorithm says people will watch it!

Then a few years later they said, regardless of our promises or contract obligations we are cancelling shows after two seasons without telling anyone. Turns out no matter how loved a show is, we get less subscriptions after the second season.

How many subscriptions did we bring you? Netflix won’t say.

So writers started writing two season shows. Just give us two seasons, Netflix. Like you promised.

Then Netflix said, oops sorry! Turns out your show didn’t premiere at #1 and the views in the first day weren’t what we wanted so we’re cancelling your second season.

What were the numbers? How many people watched our show? Netflix doesn’t say.

Then, they did something extra special. They started taking shows and splitting their first season into two halves. Inside Job was not two seasons. It was one season split in half.

Oops! Sorry! The second half of your first season didn’t do as well as the first half, so now your show is cancelled!

Why? How many people? How much money? These companies are making cash hand over fist and they refuse to tell people the truth: people loved your show. Loved it. But some corpo exec wanted an infinite money making machine. Do you know how long shows are in production for before you watch them? Years. Like, 5+, even 10+ years. And Netflix gives it less than a week before they decide whether you’re getting cancelled.

Support #WGA Support #SAGAFTRA

[curiousitree]

one of the more valuable things I’ve learned in life as a survivor of a mentally unstable parent is that it is likely that no one has thought through it as much as you have. 

no, your friend probably has not noticed they cut you off four times in this conversation. 

no, your brother didn’t realize his music was that loud while you were studying. 

no, your bff or S.O. doesn’t remember that you’re on a tight deadline right now.

no, no one else is paying attention to the four power dynamics at play in your friend group right now.  

a habit of abused kids, especially kids with unstable parents, is the tendency to notice every little detail. We magnify small nuances into major things, largely because small nuances quickly became breaking points for parents. Managing moods, reading the room, perceiving danger in the order of words, the shift of body weight….it’s all a natural outgrowth of trying to manage unstable parents from a young age. 

Here’s the thing: most people don’t do that. I’m not saying everyone else is oblivious, I’m saying the over analysis of minor nuances is a habit of abuse. 

I have a rule: I do not respond to subtext. This includes guilt tripping, silent treatments, passive aggressive behavior, etc. I see it. I notice it. I even sometimes have to analyze it and take a deep breath and CHOOSE not to respond. Because whether it’s really there or just me over-reading things that actually don’t mean anything, the habit of lending credence to the part of me that sees danger in the wrong shift of body weight…that’s toxic for me. And dangerous to my relationships. 

The best thing I ever did for myself and my relationships was insist upon frank communication and a categorical denial of subtext. For some people this is a moral stance. For survivors of mentally unstable parents this is a requirement of recovery.