#I OVERWRITE OK!!

[wykart]

I've uploaded the first 2 chapters of the updated version of Against the Lightning here:

Decided to leave the old version up as it is. For an idea of how I managed to cut like 60k words out of the original 18 chapters, the first 2 chapters here cover chapters 1-5 of the old fic ://

[weirdtakoyaki]

So obvious how some people are still ragging on Astarions secondary, nonbianary writer (for writing parts they didn’t like or “being unprofessional”) but never level the same ire towards his cis male writer. As if the two of them weren’t likely working in tandem and approving eachothers contributions along the way. It’s just very interesting!! To me that you guys have chosen to single the nb gnc person out! I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything significant about your internal biases . 🙂

[ruvviks]

attention shoppers there is a sickly little victorian twink with homicidal tendencies in the garden supplies department

[okawarihappylife]

i am once again thinking abt the lost potential that is hypmic.

[charmac]

Just a small unasked-for update, since I said I'd update in a week and it's been almost two

Because this is how I have spent the majority of my free time last week

Not even done, re-written 5 different scenes, haven't done a re-read over half of it. I'm so deep in the trenches with this one there is so much baked in here... I hope you guys like a million random scenes that don't *have* to exist, but do.

(Also like 3 hours of that Firefox time is "research" aka watching baseball for this chapter)

[warthogreporter]

Wondering how a Fintan and Father Ardelian meeting would go. I feel like there are two main possibilities if both are pulled from early on in their stories.

Fintan: I like reading.

Father Ardelian: Oh I like reading too. We are friends.

Or

Father Ardelian: You know I'm obligated to say that your gods are all false and you should convert to Christianity.

Fintan: And it's my royal duty passed down from my divine ancestor to kill you for saying that.

[kinokoshoujoart]

i’m going to cry… rock’s child inherits the most feral abnormal messed up dna of any child ever and still ends up being the most well-adjusted one (rock’s nurture overcoming his and his child’s nature)

(this is from this rrreddit post. if you’re wondering why molly and rock’s kids are low energy…. i have no idea why 規則正しい was translated “energy” either because it‘s more like “orderly”…? i’m not native in jp so idk)

[jam-does-audio]

Why do I keep finding out my silly joke additions are then wildly popular now?? I'm involved in controversies I didn't even know happened. There are people talking about religious philosophy on my grave

[fairy-made]

White person: you think you know more than me when it comes to race and treat me like my opinion doesnt matter

Me:

[hauntingblue]

I think this flashback episode is very cruel to show us luffy as a child suffering because of the same thing current luffy is going thru. Enough

[priestfrommidnightmass]

i’m rereading red white and royal blue again right now and first of all i am Flying through it i’ve been in a severe reading slump for like months and months and have read 150+ pages in one day and the only reason i stopped is because i went to see my friends but SECOND. reading the book is kinda making me realize how shitty the movie is like okay it’s not Shitty it’s just so different and they got rid of like so many of my favorite elements. third i’m never going to forgive the director for writing out june i genuinely am NEVER going to forgive for how much we missed out on

[mywillbedone]

u ever get unreasonably pissed that elements of some canon don't align with what had previously been established

[thearcherbrothersx]

Marcus had always had a knack for reading people. So the mix of fear and desire in Pandora's eyes didn't escape him. Perhaps that was why he felt bold enough to offer her something he hadn't been naïve enough to even hope she might be curious about. When he'd thought about their future life together, it had always been with a dry, mechanical tang. Boring sex with the sole purpose of reproduction. Then separate lives. Cold. Indifferent. More like the business transaction their marriage actually was, and not something for either one of them to enjoy. He'd accepted that - for the most part.

Yet here she was, taking his offered hand despite obvious trepidation, despite having some sense of what his offer entailed. And Marcus returned her smile, a hint of relief flickering in his own gaze just long enough for her to maybe notice it. "We can talk about that list later," he promised, tone only slightly teasing as his fingers folded around hers and he shimmered.

When they reappeared, it was in what appeared to be a New York penthouse apartment. Large, spacious, modern. With big windows and a view of the city. Marcus' shoulders seemed to lower a little, like this was home to him, and he released Pandora's hand gently. "Welcome to Manhattan," he declared, gaze roaming the view before them. "You were saying you'd like to know more about me..." His gaze landed on hers. "This is a start. It's where I've been living for the past... two and a half years at least. I also thought it'd be a better venue for us than my parents' house - what with my grandmother most definitely trying to listen in." He paused for a spell, then gestured towards the expansive bar setup behind her. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Depends on perspective. Lately... no." She offers him honesty, for reasons she can't name. Maybe the dress, and all it entails is still weighing on her mind. Maybe it's because she needs honesty in return. She is good at that-- at trades, an transaction. She arches a brow at his colour choice, but makes no other comment on it. Purple is unexpected, but she's long abandoned trying to pigeonhole Marcus. And there's a part of her that likes that, the potential of expansiveness within a person. At least-- if she marries him, she's certain she will never be bored.

She catches his smile at her futile attempts at distance. She's trying to listen to him, and there's a part of her that knows how difficult his presence makes it for her. It's hard to hear anything over the rush of magic and the reckless beating of her heart. She doesn't react to what he says-- she just listens, and attempts to digest it. He likes control. There's a part of her brain that screams in alarm, flails in panic at the mere mention of control-- of handing over the only thing that's ever truly been hers, to someone else. Pandora understands control-- she has never been allowed to slip, is never allowed weakness and is well aware of the various targets on her back. And yet what he proposed was to shed that-- was to trust him, with a part of herself she barely understood. And that terrifies her.

She doesn't look away, not even when she's certain that her eyes reveal more of her fear and her desire than she'd like. "I like books. and i'd still like that list, even after you ...show me." She offers him a small, soft smile before placing her hand in his. Her magic floods the small point of connection, itching to meet his. His hand is warm against hers, and holding it is a strange sensation. But not unwelcome. Something in her chest loosens as she glances at their hands. Together. Lately, there was very little she got to choose, but at least this, could be her choice. At least this could be theirs.

[ruvviks]

we would sell anything just to buy who we're not // we kill our way to heaven

taglist (opt in/out)

@shellibisshe, @florbelles, @ncytiri, @hibernationsuit, @stars-of-the-heart;

@lestatlioncunt, @katsigian, @radioactiveshitstorm, @estevnys, @adelaidedrubman;

@celticwoman, @rindemption, @carlosoliveiraa, @noirapocalypto, @dickytwister;

@killerspinal, @euryalex, @ri-a-rose, @velocitic, @thedeadthree

[norcani]

DAI MOD GUIDE (for the first time player)

I made one of those for origins for newcomers for veilgaurd, and this is the dai version (da2 doesn't get one because there really aren't enough mods I'd rec for a first play)

preamble aim of this guide is to turn dai into a game that respects your time more and tries your patience less. There are both major and minor changes, and you can pick and chose what to use. I used all of those mods together so there should be no conflict between anything on the list. There are two major mod managers for dai, but for this guide you have to use frosty mod manager.

It should be ok to use all of those as a first time player, as while they change the experience, I'd argue you're not really missing out on anything beyond annoyance.

Note on frosty mod manager: people will swear up and down it is hard to use, increases loading times, and adds crashes. None of this is remotely my experience. There are dozens of both video and text guides, so I won't elaborate further here. However one important note is load order. Mods loaded LAST overwrite the rest. If I say load x after y that means y should be further to the bottom in the mod manager.

Note on hair mods and retextures: I won't recommend any as it is subjective, but you should know dai is very finicky with them, especially in the dlc where they can cause the game to crash. I will add a section to alleviate issues as much as possible under misc if you chose to use hair mods/retextures.

Bug Fixes skip section if: you love bugs?

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/1992 -> misc bug fixes

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/3603?tab=files -> dai is notoriously bad with triggering party banter, in some cases it not triggering at all the whole game. You can select any of the files in main file to change the trigger rate (personally using 10 min). Also grab the level fixes.

Fixing Wicked Hearts skip section if: you enjoy pointless time limits and item hunts. at the same time. Or if you're too concerned about changing the experience too much (for the better).

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/3309?tab=files -> makes the doors the plot is hiding behind that are only accessible via random collectibles you are punished for searching for just open from the start. It also removes "court approval drain" which if you are a first time player, essentially is a mechanic that disallows you to take your time while exploring in this quest. (note: there are mods that do only one or the other of what this mod does, but I have not tested them and I can't recommend)

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/1528 -> allows your whole party to be in the non-combat portion of the quest

~immersion~ skip this section if: this is all very subjective, Essential as far as I am concerned, but ymmw

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/3561 -> show full lines in the dialogue wheel instead of paraphrases.

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/2220 -> conversation camera zoom. There is a LOT of dialogue in the game and most conversations don't get dedicated cutscenes. The camera remains in the zoomed out exploration position during them. This mod zooms the camera in during the talks to give a more origins style talking head feeling. There is still no animations (besides lip sync) of course, it only zooms the camera.

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/3482 for some reason the default expression all characters have is pissed the fuck off. This mod makes the default face neutral instead. That's all.

Open world fixes: Skip section if: you enjoy open world gathering missions….very much.

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/1442 -> search radius increase. you will spend a lot of time in the open world frantically spamming your search key to find a random piece of trash. This increases your search radius so you can find your random piece of trash with less clicks of the button.

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/3528 -> less shards. Makes it so you need to find slightly less of the pieces of trash mentioned above.

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/788 -> quicker looting with several options. so you can pick up your pieces of trash faster.

War Table fixes: (war table operations are text missions that are essentially small chose your own adventure sections, where you chose how to deal with off-screen conflicts) Skip section if: you like the idea of real world timer based text only sections.

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/2755 -> complete war table operations instantly. Dai has a real time timer based on war table operations, which you can only access from your base. Which means most often you will get the operation complete notification while youre in the open world, then you will have to go back to your base and to your war room and then read the report and send them to the next mission. This is a massive waste of your time. (note: load this last after any other mods modifying war table missions)

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/4127 -> better war table gather operations. By default "gather" operations give you a laughable amount of resources like 6 pieces. This increases the amount found in each, but also adds back the time limit removed by the above for those specific operations. To avoid this load this BEFORE the instant mod above.

Misc: https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/2051 -> speed launch. Because you probably already know who made the game and don't need a reminder every time you launch.

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/2712 , https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/3439 -> hair and texture fixes (only necessary if you use retexture or hair mods) note that I still experienced texture glitches with these, though no dlc crashes.

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonageinquisition/mods/2120?tab=description -> adds all crafting materials to a shop in your base. now this is basically a cheat, but sometimes you DON'T want to go out and search for random material for an hour because you are 1 short for the armor you wanted to make.

[eerna]

i was one of the people who saw the early leaks post and i remember trying not to read too much of it but i had a moment of being like wow this cant be real but also it definitely could be. i remember reading about the damn caitvi sex scene and i thought to myself thats so ass why would they do it in a prison and then i realized the writers probably thought it was some meaningful parallel or something about vi being able to transform being imprisoned with something good

then the act dropped and i saw the damn parallels with cait finding her in the cell and i was like ok yeah. they basically had that as an idea. amanda overton was talking about it in a watch party and said they love their parallels and it was meant to symbolize vi addressing her trauma and im like. i see what they were going for and i get it I GUESS narratively but i really feel like this is such monkeys paw shit like we got this scene at what cost. and like the scene ITSELF was very good and sweet and lovely but like could it not have happened ANYWHERE ELSE?

i feel like the biggest problem with arcane s2 was that the creators rlly wanted to push the bar with animation storytelling. amanda talked about this too and like i feel like it kind of highlights the problem. where bc this show is so amazing graphically the animators wanna highlight that with as much action as possible instead of focusing on smaller scenes and more intimate quiet moments. i watched arcane s1 all at once after it came out and there were def parts that felt a little rushed in certain acts but it was nothing like s2. it just feels like they had all these story beats they wanted to hit but didnt give it the time it deserved and it sucks bc they said they always meant it to be 2 seasons so like why does it feel like this. they wrote them back to back around the same time what happened between s1 and s2. i just feel like the caitvi sex scene is a microcosm of the larger problem. they had these emotional beats and story moments that in isolation are really powerful but its almost like we didnt get a proper A to B transition. its like we skipped several steps for sooo many story beats.

such complex characters with real ass lives causing real ass problems. cait's privilege being an issue, how gratifying that could be to have explored. viktor's experience being explored more in depth. just so much more about zaun. like all of it was there in tiny slivers but it was never given the depth to GROW or properly BREATHE bc five million action scenes and plot points had to be squeezed in.

ultimately i love arcane overall. i think it has broken boundaries and done some amazing things. but its blemishes are really... painful at the same time. and knowing how the writers did such a good job in s1 makes me just like. cmon guys. you had it. YOU HAD IT

anyways sorry for blowing up your ask with so much rambling i just... idk. what are your thoughts on this stuff do you agree with my assessment or do you think the culprit is something else

No prob, welcome to the symposium~ Yeah, I totally get what the writers were going for with Vi. Which is why I am so shocked they thought it was a good idea. Like, okay, she is addressing her trauma in the sex scene... But why should her trauma get addressed by being locked in a jail cell by her sister, who just spent days being wrongfully imprisoned in there by the girl she's about to have sex with, and who then told her she was gonna off herself. If anything, the thing I was feeling was pain because it happened again, a Zaunite was thrown in jail by the Enforcers after she helped and saved them without any rights, and she was reminded she was less than them and her life is worth nothing... Mmmmm, the perfect memory to overwrite prison abuse!

I too felt s1 had some strange pacing choices, Vi and Jayce teamup comes to mind first, and that was, surprise surprise, a fight scene. But those were pretty minor, and still left time for other scenes to develop properly. It only becomes a real problem when it happens scene after scene, character after character, until no one is acting in character and you constantly feel like you have skipped a scene or two. I too remmeber them saying they wrote the seasons back to back, but. Dare I say it. I think s2 was so majorly rewritten by the time it went to recording that only the bare bones remained. In fact, that might be why we feel this way - maybe they DID have a frame they wanted to follow, but the rewrites warped and twisted the characters so intensely they ended up making no sense in the context of that frame. That's right, I'm talking about the way they decided to more closely follow and collaborate with LoL in s2. Jayce's final speech to Viktor only makes sense for game Viktor, and goes completely against s1 Viktor. Vi deciding police brutality doesn't really matter all that much makes sense for game Vi, and foes completely against s1 Vi. Jinx giving up on ever being loved or accepted by others makes sense for game Jinx, and goes completely against s1 Jinx.

So yeah my thesis is: Arcane knows it looks good, and sometimes it prevents it from being well written. It also decided to throw in its lot with LoL in s2, and no amount of good intentions from the writers could have saved it from crashing and burning.