#A lot of thoughts

[astarions-wife]

Finding it very interesting how no matter what, unless Astarion actually completed Ascension, Cazador dies by his own blade.

-Astarion will stab him with it in the non-ascension route, in the cutscene I’m sure we’ve all seen by now.

-The tav will stab him with it as he lays in his coffin, assuming Astarion isn’t there to do it.

-If you choose to stop Astarion in the middle of the ritual, the tav will run up, grab the blade from the floor, and throw it at Cazador—killing him instantly, thereby preventing the ritual from completing.

-Likewise, in the route of Astarion ascending, this is the blade he uses to carve the contract onto Cazador’s back. Thus even if the tav doesn’t stab him here, the blade has still largely contributed to his death.

His own blade is always used to end his life, effectively. Considering this is Cazador’s blade, it’s very likely that this is the one he used when carving those marks onto Astarion’s back all those years ago. I just find it fascinating that it’s his blade that ends his life in every scenario, and there’s pretty much no option to kill him otherwise. It’s very symbolic, and I imagine very cathartic for Astarion, and all his siblings subsequently.

[nikidontsurf]

THE BEATLES in Rishikesh, India 1968

[vampmoneys]

thinking about “my friend died…I was hoping somebody would try to hurt me, so I could kill them”…and…and just…grief manifesting as anger…the inescapability of it…you can run but it will always find you…sometimes in the darkest of ways…and just…and…

[panpanix]

I finally got to episode where a bunch of people went inside Rae’s mind and I both think it’s perfect and had the opportunity to be way angstier, like when Caspian was saying this isn’t fair the Rae that shows up a lot could’ve idk snapped? And ranted about how nothing was fair. But tbh this is just my opinion and also what fanfiction is for.

That episode gave be so much brain rot to a brain I didn’t know had lmao

[rocketrouquine]

So I watched the 2 last episodes of Loki (including the finale) and well I have thoughts.

All in all, except for the beginning and the last two episodes, I really thought it was not as good as the first one. (Probably because Majors as Timely was excruciating, I hate when actors are trying stuff like this, it feels forced, it doesn’t work, I wanted to punch him every time he was opening his mouth) BUT …lokius. Yeah let’s talk about it.

It’s crazy to me how in the first season I was all for sylki because I thought their relationship and feelings were really well done and realised (whereas I saw what the mobius shippers saw but thought that it wasn’t really there there) BUT in the second season, I felt absolutely nothing between Loki and Sylvie. There was no more chemistry at all (it was like it never existed in the first place, it was bizarre) and even the actress playing Sylvie played it like a sibling or a good friend kind of fed up, just want to be left alone, not missing him for a second. And Loki pining for her but like a nerd is pining for a cheerleader in a bad teen movie (like boy, you’re not obligated to love her, you know), like you don’t even understand why except for the fact that it was here (emphasis on the was)

NOW Mobius and Loki in the second season ??? BAM 💥 Like sheesh everything : chemistry, banter, touch, exchanged looks,protectiveness, an ease like they are really soulmates. You could feel it all in every single one of their exchanges, it really was like watching a romcom where the protagonist fails to see what is in front of him and I was getting frustrated each time he was going all misty eyes for her, I was like « come on man let her go, we don’t fucking care about her anymore !! » Then, the finale…. The scene with Loki coming to see Don at his place with all the tension of a « is he here for this or ? What should I do? » gay panic, with Loki fucking putting his hair back and taking a breath before going to see him, like WHAT ?! That’s not what a friend does before seeing one other !!! You know what you are doing, so commit for fuck’s sake. But well… then they did (sort of) with the end of the finale. And it gutted me.

The moment with Sylvie and Mobius looking at him through the window… we know you put her there because it would have been impossible to brush it off if it was just Mobius juxtaposed with Loki’s « for you » but we know. I mean the last exchange with Sylvie at Don’s place before Mobius is saying « let time pass » (gu-tted I tell you). You can see that Sylvie is like « whatever » and Mobius is devastated. Also the shot of him in the dialogue was just all Loki’s colors green and yellow (hers was in a normal sunlight, his backlit) That is not an accident, to have these colors you have to plan it the day of the shoot and enhance it in color grading during post. This was a choice.

Anyway, I am not a sylki shipper anymore (and I even question why I ever was, after seeing the second season : I’ll probably cut myself some slack if I do a rewatch of season 1 because it was well executed at the time) and I’m diving in the pits of despair of Lokius. These fuckers.

[eeliyos]

Contradiction

You long to be known, yet hide away

You try for mysteriousness, yet overshare

Are you even worthy of their praise?

Are you even what they claim?

You are proud and shamed and fake

You are your truest self

You laugh, you smile, you play your part

You scream, you cry, you break down

The distance, the dissonance

They'll never know what you are inside

You wish your words won't fail you this time

Yet, no words ever come to mind

Could they have known?

Were there any signs?

Could you have been prepared?

Or has your time passed?

You hold your head high

Once you fly, you cannot go back

You can't back down

You won't kneel and bow

Yet fear slithers down your spine

Its cold scales rake your back

How could you ever explain,

Just what you are?

[deluweil]

Also, as a sidenote to this, I find it sinful that we have yet to see Eddie dance.

He has told Hen that he is a good dancer, let him dance!

Also, it would have helped to sell either one of Eddie's relationships if we saw him actually having fun with a date.

Like in Station 19, I wasn't on board with Sullivan and Andy until I saw them do this,

Just having fun with each other.

But all we were shown from excellent dancer Eddie was this

And this...

And that 👀

I mean...

[brainddeadd]

I feel deranged

[aparticularbandit]

honestly, i don't think sayori submitted that new poem to monika.

i think that's completely out of character for sayori to submit it. to write it, less so, but to submit it into a public forum where so many of those people would read it? from a character who has been hiding her depression for who knows how long because she didn't want anyone to worry?

sayori would not have submitted that poem.

monika put that poem there.

and like - this is one of my things with the common interpretation of monika killing sayori, but like. she did not. she did not want that. i don't think you can read any of her actions and think she wanted any of that.

but monika expects the player to check on sayori. monika berates the player for not checking on sayori. (i'm not sure how much monika understands about what choices the player has and does not have at this point.) monika literally makes the player go back to check on sayori by putting that poem in there.

the player never has a choice either. whether to go check on sayori or not.

and monika changes the narrative and sends the player back by putting in a poem that sayori would never have submitted.

[girl4music]

I have a lot of thoughts this morning I need to express.

I’ve always been a “both/and” person. Meaning I’ve always looked at all sides of a situation and have said “it’s both” or “it’s him/her/them AND him/her/them”.

I’ve very rarely been the person to put either the praise or the blame on only the one person. And I thought thinking like this made me unbiased because I know some relationships are just better off as purely platonic for the benefit of both people in it. I mean they say it takes two to make or break a relationship of any kind - be it a romantic or platonic one. And I find this is most often true of relationships that are romantic/sexual in nature. But friendships as well. Especially ones that maybe started off romantic.

But recently experiences in my life that I’ve personally had and personally observed have led me to consider thinking differently. Because when you see the pain of a relationship fall out for yourself - things change. Yes, it depends on the situations, the circumstances and the consequences and I’ll always believe that. But sometimes it really is just a one-sided thing and there is only one person to blame and therefore only one person to stand by. I can’t take the unbiased approach this time. I can’t be objective or logical or reasonable even though I love and care for both these people with everything in me. And I won’t play Devil’s advocate.

Even if I did, I don’t have the conversational skills of Socrates or Aristotle. So I won’t make any difference trying to throw perspective into these interactions.

I can’t placate this situation with my words because my opinions of it lie only on the one side this time. It would be dishonest and that’s something I won’t be. This is so uncomfortable because I am not used to this at all. I’m not used to being outside of the grey area. My views have almost always fallen in-between when it comes to debate. In the middle. I’m a Taoist. Not in practice but in theory. My mindset is that of a Taoists.

But I’m just experiencing some very strong cognitive dissonance at this moment. On this morning. 😑

And I don’t know what to do about it. Neither for how it affects me and the action that must be taken in it.

So I’m doing what smart people do.

Asking for advice. Asking for help.

How do I remain friends with both these people who seem to want to do everything but reconcile their differences? Especially when I know who is wrong. I want to be able to communicate this but I don’t want it to have a negative impact on any of my friendships. I don’t want either of them to take a defensive position. But I can’t lie to myself by lying to them on how I feel.

What do I do?

They want to break up mutually and that’s fine with me. It’s probably best that they should anyway because they’re only causing each other pain and it’s going to become toxic if they don’t break up now.

But where does that leave me? And is it selfish to only think of myself and what happens to my friendships?

[alenseress]

I need to bring God Willing here too I'm sorry it's one of my favourite movies I cannot shut up this is a romantic comedy do not believe anyone but me. It's a horrible, horrible movie and I love it so much you have no idea

Kinda spoiling some very funny scenes in the beginning but like. The protagonist is this House type of obnoxious doctor. Terrible marriage, weird kids, a son who drops a "I'm leaving medschool" bomb at the dinner table. The man's devastated, until he sees the kis sneak out with some guy and goes "oh my son is gay that's why he's acting so weird and isn't focusing on his studies"

He prepares the whole family to be accepting for the big coming out but instead his son goes "I met this cool preacher, I will now become a preacher too"

Italian dad meltdown

The doc goes to see the preacher preach and thinks okay maybe fleabag was onto something

So he works out a whole identity fraud involving mastermind plan to dig up dirt on the funny-kind-hot-lovable-did-he-mention-hot priest, who eventually turns out to be an ex-felon

And I promise you they just straight up fall in love don't believe the script believe me

They restore an abandoned countryside chapel together you just do not understand oh my god

(It isn't exactly, like, christian propaganda movie too. The doc doesn't really end up changing his personal beliefs, it's a bit different)

So yeah please watch my favourite horribly funny romantic comedy that isn't really a romantic comedy

[thriftthatisviolet]

SPOILER WARNING! For Loki Season 2, Episode 6.

Something that I noticed about the Loki finale is that Loki himself isn't really... Alone.

Because he's surrounded by everyone. Everything that can ever exist, and everything that will exist. God, he's the one holding everything together. He's the reason why people get to live out their stories— their lives. Loki is the reason why everything will exist, and he gets to see that now. Every strand he holds is full of people, animals, aliens, lives. He observes this.

It's like the scene from episode two, where the TVA watches all those branches get pruned. Destroyed. Lives being destroyed. Lives that could very well be variants of TVA memebers, and other MCU characters that we love.

But now as The God of Stories / The God of Time / Loki Who Remains, he can insure that these lives can not only prosper and grow, but choose and change, all within the branches of Yggdrasil. No longer will someone be killed, or pruned, for being an anomaly.

So he knows that now, in his hands, are the lives of many people. Friends and enemies. They're alive because of Loki. They're alive because he made that choice, to make a change, to allow the timelines the prosper, and, just like himself over the course of Marvel, grow. And we know that, maybe, just maybe, if he cares about them just enough, he can hear what they're saying.

In the solitude of being the king of time and stories, above all, he earns companionship in the idea that he's saved people. Many people. Now isn't that just beautiful?

[theadoptedfandom]

Stede grabbing the back of Ed’s neck to intensify that kiss!?!?

FINISH HIM (me)

[idkwhatimdoingbutrandom]

CIRCLE SEASON SIX EPISODE FOIVEEEE SORRY IM LATE

I can not BELIEVE it took us so long to get to the first blocking of the season

I really feel like no one can fully blame Myles for suspecting Steffi because basically everyone was and for somewhat good reason? Except all of the reasons were based on the misinterpretation of AI lmao

Myles seems really nice

Lauren really talks like she knows she on camera, which makes sense considering she is (or was?) a streamer. Everyone else kinda talks like they’re just talking to themselves. 

You can TELL Steffi was pissed during her convo with Myles and ykw… I would be too lmao. 

There is NO WAY production doesn’t tell people what to say in their goodbye messages. I’ve thought this for a while, but it is SO obvious this season with Steffi and was super obvious last season. 

I love Brandon 

Caress is SO BAD at this game LMAO

Cassie is so silly lol

Omg they’re revealing Max. I hate that they made him so nice. I didn’t think they’d reveal him right away. I personally prefer the Spice Girls twist because that season… SOOO GOOD. The AI twist is just boring in comparison. 

No one guessed it was Max so if anyone puts a target on Myles’ back, that’s freaking stupid. 

… sorry Lauren :(

Myles is a good chatter. One of the best at the game so far. 

Ok Cassie’s #BlondeMoment message was NOT that serious. It seemed VERY jokey to me. She’s ALSO blonde??? 

Someone SHOOT ME I JUST SPOILEDDDD IT GOING INTO THE TAG IM GONNA THROW UP

I WISHHHH Brandon got to go in as himself :(((((( he would’ve done so much BETTER 

Cassie DID NOT come for Myles, it was NOT that serious???? I really don’t understand this one. I felt like she was just adding on to the “hurdur AI engineer” joke?

I’m tired of all the “let���s make an alliance/who should I have an alliance with” convos. Can we play a game. This used to be fun. I completely understand that it makes complete sense strategically, but let me at least pretend that everyone is forming real friendships lmao

The games are NOT as slick as the past seasons. Like come on… “poor-traits”… at least let people CHOOSE to be shady. 

Some of these pairings are just SO OBVIOUS for this portait thing

QT IS SO DAMN PRETTY and very good at this game. 

Cassie PLEASE make another alliance. 

HOW can Myles say he meant the snake portrait as a joke when he couldn’t take the BlondeMoment as a joke??? And then started to tell QT about hoe Cassie is this sneaky, lying person? Line hello???

MYLES ACTUALLY REVEALED HE DID IT??? MYLES YOUR GAME!!! WHAT ABOUT YOUR GAME???? IT WAS ANON FOR A REASON. At least he’s being gracious about it… interesting 🤔 

Cassie should’ve ACTED like she forgave him and then started chatting smack about him with people who don’t already have a little alliance with Myles. Not forgiving him is bad for her game too, imo. 

MYLES don’t trauma dump to us trauma dump to the circle for your game gang 🙏🏾 what ever happened to “what would you do with the money” manipulation LMAO

QT is GOOOOD at this. Like this isn’t just a conversation about making an alliance, but it’s her GENUINELY MANIPULATING THE GAME!!!! GOOD JOB GIRL!!!! She didn’t have to say the “let’s make an alliance” thing, she could’ve left it there and she would’ve done good. But I understand the need for assurance. 

[itsevanffs]

[click for better resolution]

Saviour of the Wizarding World

Okay this may seem not related to EMD at all but I can explain my train of thought I promise. (Also I like pretty robes and you can't take that away from me.) Read my ramblings under the cut if you'd like, but I can't promise coherency.

Is for you (again) @metalomagnetic <3

The thought behind this piece was honestly, just, Voldemort stealing Harry's identity. I don't know if we're meant to take it like that but that's what it felt like to me - Voldemort was taking everything Harry is except for his face and making it his own. The Potter name, his friends, his family; even if there is nothing there Voldemort is still filling that space with his own additions. Control is probably the goal there, but it's still a loss of identity. Harry is no longer The Boy Who Lived, The Human Horcrux, The Vanquisher of Dark Lords because effectively, whether the world knew about it or not, Voldemort still took those things away from him or made them inapplicable.

In fact, it goes further than that; Voldemort seems to have stolen Harry's public identity, too, using it to further his own agenda while Harry sits at home like a trophy husband. In this way I imagine Voldemort painting himself as the man who will turn Wizarding Britain's political shitfest around, who will bring true order and peace after decades of uncertainty and political unrest. He will be a leader and a figure of power, wisdom and grace, and therefore the borderline religious iconography.

And I do think that Voldemort, in his mind at least, would find this deeply ironic and amusing. By marrying the saviour of the wizarding world and killing him (as Voldemort himself said), Voldemort was able to take even that ridiculous title and make it his own. Now he has lifted that burden off Harry's shoulders, Harry's consent in the matter or mental health be damned, and gleefully, pridefully, carries it on his own.

(Unrelated, but I am working on a very detailed large piece for 'at the expense of the world' and I am not sure when it will be done, but probably soon? So this is a sort of heads up so you have something to look forward to.)

[hepbaestus]

gosh my younger brother and I are way too alike in not great ways