#(i will accept some criticism)

[redysetdare]

All this aroace character shipcourse has proven to me that a majority of people that interact in fandom cannot actually interact with characters and media outside of shipping and genuinely I believe you need to learn how to interact with media outside of shipping.

[shorthaltsjester]

if i keep seeing so many people refer to ayden as an indication of an unknown softness in pelor i will start setting things on fire. just because YOU cannot handle nuance does not mean the story of exandria has not contained it and done so consistently. in fact the first in depth interaction that any party had with pelor (vex becoming his champion) was a portrayal of him that was explicit in his complexity. taken straight from the transcript for 1x104 elysium, “[vex you] spin and look, whereas there once was a burning star-- and to the rest of [vox machina], you see the painful, endless light that averts your gaze-- it doesn't hurt your eyes as much, and you can see the faint features, the soft cheeks, the hairless head, and the bright warm eyes of he who brings the dawn. And you can see the smile there, behind the light. “there is hope.”” sunlight can warm you and burn you in equal measure.

that burning image of the sun has much in common with a teenage boy who steps into a dark room, and reminds the dm that it’s not dark. the same way that a teenage boy who stands by as a woman who will not give up her worship of pelor is punished because he has more important responsibilities he must honour has much in common with a seemingly benevolent lord of the dawn might respond harshly to a cleric who asks if he is worth saving while he is trying to find a way to survive so he might keep helping to provide light. the gods aren’t simple and they never have been. i am as psyched about the particular angle that downfall is taking as anybody but it is already frustrating watching people act like the gods are suddenly more nuanced because they’re in literally mortal bodies when the entire Point of the gods in exandria in the various stories we’ve seen so far is that the only difference they have with mortals is the bounds of their power. they carry all the same flaws and the same profundity. just because so much of the fandom has reduced that to black and white flatness or faulty mapping onto real world religions (or the various traumas those might have caused individuals) doesn’t mean that complexity has been missing at all from the story.

[revvethasmythh]

things we know about the silken squall:

they have a drama club! dorian was in it!

rulers willing to put their children under a zone of truth spell if they were suspected of lying

a nomadic society, historically traveling worldwide, but in dorian and cyrus' lifetime they have never left marquet

rulers who left the city for years of wandering in their youths, but then pretended this never happened/wasn't the norm in order to keep their sons cloistered within the city

all air genasi are welcome! non-air genasi are also welcome--under strict guard

they have no formal monarchy, but a monarchy is nevertheless the closest to what their system of governance is. dorian frames his parents' role as giving advice to any who ask, imparting wisdom to the community, but the position is both an elevated and hereditary one. should his parents die, dorian would be expected to take over this position regardless of how much or little wisdom he had to impart to his people

due to the cloistered nature of dorian's upbringing, he had no friends before leaving and meeting the crown keepers. this implies some interesting distance between the quasi-royal family and, well. anyone else who could have been dorian's friend growing up

dorian and cyrus' formal dress included laurel headpieces denoting their status as quasi-princes

at some earlier time in dorian's life, he attended a court dance (not even a ball) where an uninvited guest showed up. to quote dorian, they were "killed immediately" due to walking into an environment where sensitive information between politicians may have been discussed

things we do NOT know about the silken squall:

what the fuck is up with all that

[lightasthesun]

Satine: I'm still not sure...about the beard.

Obi-Wan: Why? What's wrong with it?

Satine: It hides too much of your handsome face.

then there's Cody's reaction after the deception arc:

Cody: You grow that back right now or we will have a problem.

[super-paper]

definitely the most *mumblemumble* story of all time, I reckon.

[killershrike]

literally always thought I hated the enemies to lovers trope until I saw Deadpool and Wolverine

[milquetoad]

of the many injustices put forth toward the show by fans i think the most overall damaging and telling of a complete lack of critical viewership is the idea that sam riegel builds his characters with nothing more than the bit in mind. like you are only telling on yourself if you think characters like scanlan shorthalt and veth brennato are one-dimensional and depthless

[marzipanandminutiae]

Further fun in the notes of that terf’s Complaining About Things Nobody Said, In A Video I Didn’t Watch post

Who wants to make “Corset-Defending Coterie” t-shirts?

[maypersonne]

Shang Qinghua really does think that he is unlovable huh

He really thinks that he is of no value to anyone if he isn't making himself useful he will be disposed off and that will be it

He genuinely believes no would ever want him so he manipulate and posture as a lesser so to be seen as a necessary annoyance rather than the pest he believes himself to be

He hates all the work he has to do but he prefers exhaustion to the paranoia and anxiety that eat him up when he isn't showcasing his value

He is in a constant battle just to be acceptable rather than loved so he can just be in the presence of those who are dear to him

Like damn like father like son I can see where binghe got all his issues like airplane bro stop unloading it all on your OCs look you gave the poor dear anxiety

[kanalaure]

(*i dont know what kind of dog huan is, but he sheds. a lot. caranthir just wants to have ONE (1) space thats not covered in shed fur)

assume this is in the context of a modern au, or else that everyone is miraculously back from the dead and generally getting along fine and in the interim aman has had its industrial revolution and produced a more eco-friendly equivalent to our technologies

dont take this too seriously or get upset if your blorbo isn't represented, i filled out the ballot on a whim lmao. if you have someone you are Convinced would have one that isn't on this ballot, please do mention it in the tags

[lepusrufus]

Let Widow look spooky af (based on this post)

[valtsv]

every so often i get the intense urge to write some kind of story about either angels or dragons but then remember i don't have any fucking clue what i'd actually write about, just a loose collection of characters and worldbuilding and speculative biology/character design ideas. they need to add the shinji chair emoji in the next update i need it rn.

[mzminola]

This is not a perfect analogy but I am making it anyway to try to convey what being online has been like for me lately.

Seeing people say "Oh, Jews are fine, I just hate zionists!" is like seeing "Oh, women are fine, I just hate feminists!"

Zionism and feminism are both very broad socio-political movements that have changed focus over time, that ostensibly have some very basic core tenets but you really need to ask the specific person you're talking to how they personally define it to be sure.

Both have been subject to legitimate criticism, and hostile reactionary bullshit. Had waves, sub-movements, splinters, people with damn near opposite views sharing the term and people with seemingly identical views rejecting it.

You can give working, broad definitions like these:

Feminism is the belief that all people should be treated equally regardless of gender, with a focus on women's rights due to systemic oppression.

Zionism is the belief that all peoples have the right to self determination and safety, with a focus on Jewish people finding it in Israel.

You can also give different definitions! Many people give different definitions! Many people also hold these beliefs but use different names for them for various reasons.

There are self-described zionists who are jingoistic, racist, etc, and who attribute those attitudes to their zionism. Just as there are feminists who are misandrist, bio-essentialist, transphobic, homophobic, and so on, who attribute those attitudes to their feminism.

There are also incredibly selfless, compassionate activists working for positive change in the world who consider themselves zionists and feminists.

It has been very jarring to see people, who I respect, uncritically reblogging posts or headlines that use "zionists" as a stand in for "bad people", just as jarring as it would be to see them sharing things that use "feminists" that way. Especially when those posts contain easily debunked conspiracy theories that I know you'd have seen right through if the OP said "Jews" but because they said "zionists" you swallowed it whole.

I am not asking anyone to stop sharing important information, petitions, news articles, resources, and so on. I am asking you to slow down and stop spreading inflammatory language that paints a broad socio-political movement for Jewish self-determination as inherently bad. The same way I would ask you not to spread inflammatory language that paints gender equality & women's liberation as inherently bad.

If the information is important, please look for other, more neutrally worded posts. Or verify the links yourself and make a fresh post! There is no situation online in which the only way to share information must be to spread such language.

[morganbritton132]

Helloo! I love your EMTS, it gives so much serotonin, sometimes I'll choose some posts at random and re-read them when I'm stressed.

I juts read the one where Eddie gets Steve front seat tickets for a basketball game and Steve gets star-struck meeting Sandra Bullock, so that got me wondering...are there any celebrities with which Steve doesn't get star struck anymore because they hang out with Eddie so often?

Sending love and I hope you have a great day 💖

Sometimes Steve will mention his husband’s friend from work, Dave, in casual conversation and he’s literally talking about Dave Grohl.

He actually met Dave and the rest of Nirvana when they were renting space at the same recording studio as Corroded Coffin. Steve got turned around in the building and couldn’t find his way back to CC’s booth and ran into Nirvana instead.

They were super nice and helpful, and Steve was super cool and chill meeting them because even though he’d heard some of their songs, he had no idea what they looked like or any of their names. Jonathan, on the other hand, was not chill at all.

Eddie and Dave remained friends over the years and occasionally they’d end up at the same parties. Steve hated these parties and always felt a little lost there, but Dave never excluded him from conversations like some of the other celebrities do, and he’s a fan of disco!

Steve once spent an entire evening with Jeff and Dave talking about how fucking cool disco music is while Eddie filtered in and out of the conversation just to roll his eyes.

Steve never gets too star-struck by the musicians that he meets through Eddie because he often doesn’t know who they are. Steve’s gotten good over the years at being able to identify which band plays which song, but he doesn’t know what they look like or their names.

He once thought that Lars Ulrich was a roadie for at least fifteen minutes of a twenty-minute conversation.

Though Steve did once bump into Bruce Springsteen in a bathroom at a music award show and was not cool about it at all. He insisted on shaking his hand for some reason and only realized how weird that was hours later.

Jonathan will get him though. He’ll randomly introduce someone to Steve as ‘a person I’ve photographed’ and it’ll be a celebrity that Steve adores. He once off-handedly introduced Steve to Farrah Fawcett at a charity event in the nineties and Steve was so star-struck he forgot how to be a human person.  

[danwhobrowses]

Prefacing that, again time zones, I've only been able to glean the latest CR episode and that I do not agree with their in-character opinions on the gods, I'd like to remind fans to try and not get super ugly about their criticism of Ashton Greymoore.

I'll be the first to throw my hands up and say they're among my favourite C3 characters so there may be bias, but I've been getting flashes of the Shard Incident from reactions towards their recent and vocal disdain for the gods. Disagree with them all you want, Taliesin knows that the gods can't simply leave since they're the one who said that the Wildmother would die if she left, but understand that it's a character flaw and if you recall the hardships of their backstory, the unanswered prayers, and that their only exchanges with the gods have required them to do something or, with the Dawnfather Angel, have been met with cold disregard, it's understandable how they got to feeling that way. Ashton has lived alone and been told they don't matter for a lot of their life; no gods, no family, no nurturing presence to guide them, they've been abandoned, used, and - with additional influence by the Dominox accusing them of wanting FCG to die - are currently between blaming themselves and the Changebringer for their closest friend's death.

Make no mistake Ashton is wrong, I think the self-confessed hypocrite with also self-confessed poor morality knows that deep down, or at least knows that they're not the kind of person who should be in charge. Vassalheim is a difficult place for a titan vessel to be in so it is unsure what they will do from here; perhaps investigate the Earth Titan? Commune with the Emperor and Empress? Or maybe be brought to the gods and be able to vent or reconcile with them (and maybe get some closure with FCG, speak with his spirit as like a mediator between the Hells and the Gods)? But it feels like Taliesin is being vocal for a reason, and it's either to invite Matt to challenge it (I've said in other comments but I would love if Ashton found some comfort, not worship or a pact but maybe just a dialogue, in the Everlight: a goddess of healing, temperance and redemption - all of which would help Ashton mentally - as unlikely as it'd be) or find another maybe primordial route to give Ashton a narrative tether towards stopping Predathos.

Let's just, not be cruel about the character, they are more than just their bad trauma and grief-led opinion on gods remember?

[spacedlexi]

people who think clem surviving makes no sense are so funny. "they were literally foreshadowing her death the entire season" let me introduce you to the concept of a red herring. she tells lilly she isnt lee and shes right. the narrative was forcing her down that path, a path she saw as an inevitable fate waiting to take her too, but its a narrative broken by aj, who is also his own person and not S1 clem

"it happened to lee, and itll happen to you" lilly tells clem she'll die protecting aj from some mistake he makes, when in reality his defiance of her will is what saves her life after she had already accepted her fate. he breaks clem free from the lee cycle and they get their relatively happy ending. good for them