nealran - Tumblr blog

[nealran]

I can't believe I'm writing this

To open up with: IT IS ABSOLUTELY OKAY AND VALID TO BE DISAPPOINTED BY THE LACK OF WORLDSTATE CUSTOMIZATION IN DRAGON AGE THE VEILGUARD. I have my own disappointments about it!

Ok? We have that covered? We good?

Cool, moving on.

To people who are genuinely, hatefully angry, saying we will now be 'forced into Bioware's worldstate' (when this year alone they've stated there is no 'canon' worldstate more than once), or saying that none of our prior dragon age choices matter, I need you to take a step back and walk with me for a second, okay?

For starters: John Epler stated that one of the reasons they narrowed the choices is because they DO NOT want to invalidate the worldstates of their longtime players. However they also don't want to alienate newer players who don't have the history and lore of the past choices. It's a narrow line to walk.

Secondly, I want you to really look at the choices made by your Hero, Champion, and Inquisitor. Which of those choices genuinely affected NORTHERN Thedas, not Southern Thedas, to the point it would linger for years afterwards? Which of those choices weren't things that specifically affected or altered the sociopolitical Southern Thedas climate and landscape in lasting ways?

The Well? Kieran?

That only leaves that if your Inquisitor drank, they now have knowledge from ages long past... that Rook doesn't need. Rook has a direct line into Solas' history and a possible Veiljumper background, unlocking those very secrets on their own.

It's entirely likely and probable that the Well's fears and threats were a red herring. Think about it. We as a gandom have spent TEN YEARS worrying about the Well, about Solas, about Mythal.

Come June 2024, we're slapped in the face by the big bads of Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan.

Morrigan likely isn't going to be close and friendly with Rook- so there's likely not much reason for her to tell us about her child or husband if she has them.

The rulers of Southern Thedas aren't going to affect us. We aren't tackling the current world ending crisis from the position of a leader of armies like the Warden and Inquisitor, but as leader of a small task force. The Southern Divine doesn't much affect us either- nor do Southern mage politics or templar politics.

Because Rook is an entirely new perspective.

Because Rook is in an ENTIRELY different sociopolitical climate/landscape.

I DO think there should've been ways implemented to specify your Inquisitor's bonds and personality. I'm HOPING maybe there still are that we haven't seen. But otherwise?

My Warden is free. I can say she's cured her Calling and is wandering the world with Zevran.

My Champion can retire into total obscurity with his husband or be quietly helping said husband destroy the slave trade. Either way.

Your history and choices in Thedas still matter. Your heroes still matter.

They just aren't Rook's focus.

Take a breath please. And stop sending death threats to the devs bc what the **fuck.**

EDIT:

further context from the devs on Bluesky

[nealran]

Distinguishing characters through fashion: how Sailor Moon does it right.

OKAY, so I was wondering whether I could find some place that posted Sailor Moon screencaps or turnaround sheets so I could write about how it handles fashion, and it turns out there’s a website for exactly that. Tagged by character and everything. Perfect.

So let’s continue our discussion about fashion as character design! Here’s a narrative that has to balance a large, female-heavy cast and make sure they are identifiable at all times, especially since they aren’t in their trademark color-coded uniforms most of the time. How does Sailor Moon tackle fashion and make it work in service of their characters?

What’s particularly impressive is that the superheroes’ civilian clothes aren’t limited to a single color, the way you might see in, say, Power Rangers. (Could you imagine wearing yellow outfits every day for the rest of your life just because you’re the Yellow Ranger? Blugh.) Instead, Sailor Scouts are recognizable in their civilian clothes because each one has a distinct silhouette, style, and palette.

Sailor Moon’s civilian wear, for example, is overly childish and girly. She wears ribbons, bows, and overalls. Her clothes have cartoon mascots on them, particularly bunnies (a pun on her Japanese name, Usagi, which means “rabbit.”)They match her ditzy, immature personality.

Mercury’s modest skirts and pastel cardigans match her quiet, straight-laced character, while Mars wears shorter, sleeker, more ladylike outfits that reflects her more sassy (and bossy) personality. Venus is all about bright colors and loose, sporty dresses ‘cause she’s got such a peppy, can-do attitude.

Jupiter is easy to distinguish from the others just by being taller and more physically imposing. I love the way they handle Jupiter’s style because she’s portrayed as a gentle, feminine girl who is still undeniably “the muscle” of the group. Her clothes are girly (frills! pencil skirts!) but they’re cut to accentuate her fuller figure and keep her looking large and powerful. I love that.

A lot of the characters’ fashions work well in pairs to contrast and work off of each other. Mini-Moon’s pink, blue, and candy-stripe-red palette doesn’t pop quite so much until she’s juxtaposed with her friend Hotaru, who dresses in black and dull monochromes. What’s more, as their friendship grows, you can see Hotaru start accenting her dark outfits with a single bright color.

And, of course, Uranus and Neptune’s amazing butch/femme combo.

Look at those classy broads.

(Sailor Moon Screencaps)

[nealran]

playing erdtree with my pal we get invaded by someone named "Drip Inspector" and im like "waitwaitwait. ok lets just pose leaning back to back and wait for them to show up maybe our outfits will be so good they wont kill us"

so we wait until they show up and then they get reaaaal close to us . and then pull out their telescope and start circling around us and zooming in for a good 30 seconds. then they clap, use the "wonderful" and "youre beautiful" prattling pates, and jump off a cliff. invader vanquished

[nealran]

inspiration struck in a really, really weird way

[nealran]

The SS Warrimoo, a passenger steamship traveling from Vancouver to Australia, was silently knifing its way across the mid-Pacific waters. The navigator had just finished calculating a star fix and handed the results to Captain John DS. Phillips.

The Warrimoo's coordinates were LAT 0º 31' N, LONG 179 30' W. The date was December 31, 1899. "Know what this means?" First Mate Payton announced, "We're only a few miles from the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line."

Captain Phillips was prankish enough to seize the opportunity to do the nautical feat of a lifetime. He summoned his navigators to the bridge to double-check the ship's position. He altered his course slightly to focus directly on his target. He then altered the engine's speed.

The calm weather and clear night worked to his advantage. At midnight, the SS Warrimoo rested on the Equator, exactly where it had crossed the International Date Line. The ramifications of this odd arrangement were numerous.

The ship's bow was in the Southern Hemisphere, in the middle of summer. The stern was in the Northern Hemisphere, in the midst of winter. The date on the aft portion of the ship was December 31, 1899. The date on the forward half of the ship was January 1, 1900. The ship experienced multiple days, months, years, seasons, and centuries simultaneously.

[nealran]

most important thing to remember about being a woman is if youre married you have to go under the covers with your husband and laugh cutely and play wrestle so when you die to progress the narrative he can remember it in slow motion montages

[nealran]

The funniest man on the Internet

[nealran]

Reblog if you think trans women:

A. Are women

B. Can be lesbians

[nealran]

To put it very bluntly.

You will always make a better impact helping people who need it than trying to hurt people you think deserve it.

[nealran]

companies are delusional if they think consumers don't notice shrinkflation. less food in the package, less medicine in the jar, less whatever in the wherever, it doesn't matter where and it's almost always noticeable. like i just finished one box of medicine and we opened another allegedly identical one that we just bought and lo and behold, the four middle medicine segments were gone from the package. they took out four pills from the same sized box and sold it at the same price without any indication on the box other than the small number in the corner. ridiculous

[nealran]

Here is something I believe very sincerely: You can understand why a character made a certain decision and feel love and compassion for them- and still agree wholeheartedly that their decision was a mistake and even morally WRONG. These things do not contradict each other. Love does not equal agreement.

You can also believe that a character made mistakes that resulted in certain consequences- without this meaning that you "hate" them! Still feel LOVE and compassion for them, understand where they're coming from, and want healing and better things for them. These things do not contradict each other. Criticism does not equal Hate.

And I believe this about real people too.

[nealran]

I think cis people should also be their gender of choice. Like, if you're a man, you should get to really enjoy being a man- have fun with it! If you're a woman, take the parts of womanhood that really deeply make you happy. If being a little androgynous or ambiguous or hidden is the part that really makes you happy, you don't have to be trans for that. If you wanna lean really hard into being femme or masc- do it! You have one life in your body, do what makes you happy. Ditch the stuff you don't like.

My sinister queer agenda is I think that everyone should be the gender they like in the way they like it.

[nealran]

Andromache of Scythia

[nealran]

Josie is always there for me when I want to draw a sexy girl

[nealran]

Nine trying to send a distress signal to any potential other survivor of the Time War. That’s not a good idea.

Inspired (a couple of months ago) by this picture made by this user on DA.

[nealran]

[nealran]

Montage de photos