#I have a type I do not take criticism

[theeeveetamer]

Get in, I’m replaying FE engage. Who do I smash?

[foursaints]

bbg i’m sure you’re already aware, but i don’t think it’s okay to ship siblings especially TWINS

not having discourse with you guys until you read "Gothic incest: Gender, sexuality and transgression" by Jenny DiPlacidi (jstor) and come prepared to critically examine how the merging of erotic/familial love in gothic literature has historically been used to disrupt the gendered boundaries that define the genre....

we're being so scholarly about this one. match my freak.

[perilegs]

i know it wasnt a serious comment but every time i look at a datv character and start thinking about their designs my blood starts boiling from the giving cosplayers a challenge comment

"The previous art director had the mindset we should make things easier for [cosplayers], which I think is a misunderstanding of cosplayers," he says. "We've seen the kind of challenges they're willing to take on, and so we've gone for, in some cases, a level of complexity and detail that I hope a lot of them are excited to rise to the challenge for."  x

unrelated to my point but why are you dragging the previous games down. have you seen any of the designs you speak of mr art director. do you think merrill in da2 wasnt peak. or morrigan in origins? do you know how hard it is to make cosplay armor.

you could have just been like "hey the characters have a lot more detail than before! look at neve's hat and everyone's clothes every single inch being embroidered or otherwise patterned"

which also makes me think. was any thought put into the designs or did they just want to detailmaxx so they can brag. idk if they could have said anything that would turn me personally off more from cosplaying anyone or analyzing their outfits

[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

if i had a dollar for every time i saw a comment along the lines of "this is what the live-action should've been" under a monster high cosplay video, i would literally be so rich???

[rosykims]

despite how cold i feel abt veilguard now the dust has settled the only exception (other than solas who transcends the franchise entirely) is taash. literal butterflies in the tummy every time i see them in a gifset like i wish i was kidding

[absolutely-esme]

My Headcanon for Liminals

I've been having a lot of fun posting headcanons, and I'm starting to realize just how many I've built up over the years, so here's another one.

So I've stated before that part of the reason why Danny and Vlad are so different is because Danny was inside of a portal when it turned on whereas Vlad just got a face full of energized Ectoplasm and other assorted nastiness. The still human and already ghostly halves of Danny fused into a cohesive whole in order to survive the opening of the portal and continued supporting eachother. Vlad's human half forcibly integrated his resistant ghost half as it formed in an effort to survive. Rather than a cohesive whole, Vlad is two dischordant halves.

That said, I do not consider Vlad's state the default result of humans being exposed to ectoplasm.

Part of it is because the exposure was violent and his human body was so incredibly unwell that it made sense for the part of him with less emotional attachment to it to want to escape. This illness did not stem directly from the ectoplasm. We know this much because other people exposed to ectoplasm did not get ecto-acne, and figuring out the involvement of the cola was what allowed the Fentons to cure it.

Part of it is because Vlad has a superiority complex. This means that, in any given state, Vlad considers his current way of being superior. As a human, Vlad considers humanity superior. As a ghost, Vlad considers ghosts superior. This leads to a whole lot of clash between the parts of his psyche which each consider the other half to be lesser. Combine this with the fact that each half despises the illness and associates the illness with the other half, and you get a whole lot of internal toxicity.

For the average person with ectoplasm exposure, there wouldn't be so much of a clash. They would take on some ghostly traits (more and more over time, with continued exposure) and maybe start doing some prep-work for ghosthood, but they wouldn't be trying to leave their human lives early. They probably won't have insane healing factors like Danny, but they won't be tearing themselves apart like Vlad either.

They're preparing for the afterlife, but they wouldn't be so eager to discard the human life they are still living. If you've ever had a favorite hoodie that you wore all the time until you loved it to pieces and it came apart at the seams, that's kind of the feeling. It's not the end of the world when you can't wear it anymore; you can wear other jackets when you're cold, but you want to hold onto it for as long as you can.

The more someone is exposed to ectoplasm (in terms of both frequency and amount), the more ghostly they will become over time.

A random person who just happens to live in Amity Park on the opposite side of town from Fenton Works and and was somehow never at the sight of a ghost fight, will probably just experience a slightly increased awareness of ghost-related stuff and perhaps a slightly smoother transition when their time comes.

Other kids at Casper high, who attend school with Danny every day and get caught up in ghost attacks sometimes will probably start to form the wispy beginings of their ghostly self. Sometimes you just catch a glimpse of what sort of ghost they are going to be. They may also develop some slight powers while still alive.

You look at Paulina carefully shaping and lacquering her nails into something both beautiful and dangerous, and for a split second you just know that, someday, she's going to be all claws and glittering scales and passionate pursuit of her goals. She will transcend the human form and shape herself into a work of art of her own design and a powerhouse none can deny. Then she turns to her friend and giggles over a funny story, and the moment passes; she's just another kid steadily making her way to adulthood.

She's just another kid until some jerk at the mall oggles her a little too blatantly and her jewelry flashes brighter than the lighting should allow, blinding him so that he trips into a fountain, and Paulina smugly watches him sputter before turning to walk away with a satisfied spring in her step.

Sam and Tucker, Who hang out with Danny every day and frequently explore the ghost zone with him, will start forming more of the foundation of their ghostly selves and probably develop more powers sooner. They are more likely to develop to a point of being able to take on a ghostly form while still alive.

Typically, a halfa formed through extreme, prolonged exposure like this would have a bit of separation between their human and ghostly halves, but without much discord between the two. However, with Sam and Tucker spending so much time around Danny during their formative period (and having so much less contact with any other ghost than with him), it's entirely possible that they would subconsciously learn the integrated system approach, in much the same way people pick up habits of speech from the people around them.

[koifoxes]

currently 15 chapters into lotm rn. ik everyone says that i should atleast finish the first vol to know whether i should drop it but it really feels like such a chore to read through the first novel

[weirdnerdygoat]

guys... please help... I'm getting really into typology...

[sunshades]

One thing about canto VI is like. I see so many people predicting it'll be about Fighting Evil Wife or Breaking Codependent Toxic Relationship and I just kinda think that would suck? If the major theme isn't grief AND love and the way both are seen as like Kinda Weird/inappropriate in the setting of the city. Then I'll be very sad.

[lemurballing]

the difference between good whispangle and bad whispangle is the difference between trusting each other the most and only trusting each other. between getting stuck in the past or letting the future embrace you. between holding a close bond and being desperate for each other’s company. between being a pair and being a unit.

good whispangle is tangle helping whisper stay in the present and future, and whisper being a guiding hand, a steadying of tangle’s impulse, and the both of them making choices that help and comfort the other.

bad whispangle is tangle getting dragged into dwelling on the past with whisper, is tangle being made to overstep instead of minding the lines she should be able to see, and whisper sinking into a mire that tangle follows her into instead of pulling her from. is putting them together ‘because they’re whispangle’ and forgetting why they were loved together in the first place. is keeping them together because they’re whispangle, even when they trod on the other.

and the difference is,

that if it starts out bad and becomes better, it’s satisfying, heartening.

but to start out excellent and then get worse and decay, feels like a smear or a stain on top of a beloved work.

a natural decay can be done, but we want them to be good together, to bring out the best in each other instead of enabling the worst. if we want to see decay, it is because it makes sense for one or both of them to be driven off-balance and start messing with the other, we want one or both of them to realize this, and we want them to have to jump-start and kick aside and course-correct and come out all the better, for having broken their flaws open and mended them with gold.

we don’t want to see them broken apart and stuck back together with cheap glitter glue.

[chaos-in-one]

People who go on about how bad ai art is and then turn around and uplift & support ai audios/singing, especially of real singers and voice actors, are fucking weirdos and massive hypocrites <3

[front-facing-pokemon]

[135-film]

every time i hear anything art-related on tiktok, i immediately get really like... upset? annoyed? idk. unpleasant feeling because it's literally always "we're making fun of this child/beginner for their anatomy or how they color" or whatever else or pretending that an artists deserve to be treated like a piece of corporate media.

i know tiktok is literally the devil and hell incarnate, but i don't think any artist deserves to be targets of mass harassment especially not people who are just starting out (and even more especially not children).

if tiktok was a thing when i was younger and i was posting my art on there, i would never fucking draw ever again. my art career would've ended after a few months of drawing "seriously," and i really do mean it lol. call me sensitive or whatever, but a 13-15 year old does not need to hear whatever criticism you think they need to hear i promise.

[shouldprobablybereading]

I don’t think the cosmere has enough really out there ships

Like sure there are a lot of non canonical ones but those are still typically fairly plausible, like sure kalmoash is never gonna be canon but they are close enough friends who interact that you wouldn’t have to change that much to add a make out section. Most fics on ao3 are just shakadolin which is such bland shipping that even the author is aware and supports it

Where are the “they met once in a filler episode that isn’t even canon but now has almost 400 works on ao3” or “they don’t even exist in the same universe but they have matching powers so true love” or “they are the same height” type of ships

I’m sure they exist but I’m asking for the type of shipping environment where you can find fics from 15 different authors where navani/teft or nale/skar just exist as a background thing in a shakadolin fic and nobody questions it because of course teft and navani are a thing and everyone knows nale and skar is popular

[ada-tan]

Dynamics Between the Nations of Elyos

Was gonna make this a thread on Twitter, but uh. It would have ended up WAY too long. So... here we go! The dynamics between the nations of Elyos, and my personal understanding of them from story/support dialogue, flavor text, and exploration lines scattered throughout the game.

Long post incoming!

Firene and Solm

Everything is prefaced with the non-aggression treaty between Firene, Brodia, and Solm. Firene and Solm have always had generally good relations, as stated by Alfred early in the game. The border between them seems easy to travel through, with Solm's Azure Coast being a popular tourist spot for Firenese visitors. (Alfred's comment on the Azure Coast map.)

Which is beneficial for Solm, as through tourism and trade, they can benefit from Firene's wealth and abundance of resources—particularly foodstuffs (crops, dairy, etc), teas, medicines, and dyes.

However, this relationship isn't quite so mutual, as Firene's bounty makes the country incredibly self-sufficient; in Fogado's support with Celine, he paints them in a somewhat isolated light, business-wise. Since they don't require resources from other countries, they don't do much in the way of importing, which is likely a detriment to Solm's economy.

As a desert nation with rather inhospitable conditions, it's perfectly sensible that Solm's prosperity and wealth is dependent on trade with other countries, hence their trade-based economy, and commitment to neutrality—it wouldn't be good for business to make enemies, and it falls in line with the Solmic ideology of living free, by your own rules, and being yourself.

Brodia and Firene

Brodia and Firene's relationship comes off as a bit more... tenuous. There is a connection there, as the Firene royals have visited with the Brodians in the past. But Alfred and Diamant's estrangement implies that, before the war, there had never been many chances for the two nations to form a proper friendship.

They have an alliance, but not one without tension. Alfred states early on that it "took some doing" for his mother to hash out a peace treaty with Morion, as he—and Brodians, as said by Diamant in his Alfred support—is known to be incredibly ambitious. Brodia has a reputation for warmongering and claiming surrounding territories, one of the primary motivators for their ongoing war with Elusia.

This violent reputation has existed long enough that it's even recorded in history books (Diamant & Framme support).

As such, they're likely seen by Firene and Solm as a potentially dangerous, unpredictable threat. Solm doesn't have as much to worry about as Firene would, due to its distance from Brodia, and lack of valuable resources. (Still, Solm is wary enough to actively spy on them.)

But Firene is the most abundant land in Elyos, and a veritable breadbasket. Similarly to Solm, Brodia is situated in very inhospitable lands. And even though that land hones the self-sufficiency and strength of its people (Amber/Merrin support), poverty and starvation is a prevalent issue amongst the common populace.

If Brodia ever turned its aggressions away from Elusia, then Firene could be the next prime target. The non-aggression pact, of course, prevents that. For now.

Even Diamant cites this as a possibility in his supports with Alfred, one he worries for and genuinely thinks is possible, due to the ambitions and needs of his people.

What's likely deterred Brodia all this time is Firene's connection to Lythos. As the nation most devout to the Divine Dragon, Firene and Lythos have an incredibly strong alliance and friendship. So no matter how tempting their territory might be, it wouldn't be the smartest idea to launch an invasion on a country that has the backing of the all-powerful Divine Dragon.

Brodia and Elusia

Brodia and Elusia's relationship is the one that probably gets the most focus in the plot, and will be the one people are most aware of without having to dig into supplementary dialogue and information. Still, that makes it no less interesting—even though Brodia is painted as an ally, and Elusia the enemy, I genuinely think their conflict is far less black and white than that.

Let's be clear. Brodia's primary reason for invading Elusia IS to claim the nation's territory as their own. They are the aggressors of the war between them, and it is unequivocally wrong. Not exactly the actions of a heroic nation, and definitely in line with the classic Red Empire archetype of Fire Emblem.

But there's also another reason, a motivator that definitely varies in sincerity—the Elusians' worship of the Fell Dragon, and Brodia taking it upon themselves to keep that worship in check, while Firene, Solm, and Lythos are far more tolerant of the Elusians fostering their beliefs (whether they agree with them or not; Alfred himself admits that it's "concerning").

For many ambitious Brodians (particularly the nobility, who are often painted as a problem in Diamant's supports), I feel as though the Fell worship offers a convenient excuse for them to continue and push for the war efforts, lining their own pockets in the process.

But also for many, I think the fear of Elusia, their worship, the Fell Dragon and what both are capable of is very much real amongst the Brodian populace. Of course, that fear is shared in Elusia, with one example being that children are taught to watch out for Brodian armor (Ivy/Alcryst support).

As for Elusia, one would think that people who worshipped an evil dragon were inclined to villainy and violence. And with Elusia's incredibly insular culture, it's easy for those sorts of rumors and perceptions to spread.

In some cases, it's true. There are sects of the Fell Dragon faith that are extremely violent, in the brainwashing and abuse of their followers, their glorification of pain, and tendency toward blood sacrifices. You see it in how its warped the perspective of people like Griss and Marni, in the comments of the characters in locations like Destinea Cathedral and Elusia Castle (centers of deep Fell worship), where they often note the unsettling sight and smell of blood.

But in many cases, it's not. There are certainly those who worship the Fell Dragon and are more adjusted in their lives, merely viewing it as an alternative faith to others they either don't believe in, or have been disillusioned by. And there are Elusians who don't worship anything at all. Alfred himself points out that not all Fell worshippers should be lumped under the same brush.

It's implied that Brodia's continued aggressions pushed Hyacinth into unsealing Sombron (and influences from Gradlon and Zephia as well), which leads to his return and a war that engulfs the entirety of Elyos, using the Elusian army as the main force.

Both countries have done deplorable things, but neither are fully evil—there's a level of humanity to each, exhibited in the characters that hail from each nation, that certainly paint the situation as more nuanced than it appears on paper.

But relations are certainly hostile between both.

Elusia and Solm (& Firene)

If Elusia had a positive relation to any other nation before the war, then it would seem to be Solm. And even then, it's more of a neutral, transactional relationship, seemingly based on trade.

At Givre Port, Bunet will mention that he often sought out food sent from Givre to Solm (likely to his hometown, a port city), establishing a relationship of trade between the two countries. But unlike with Firene, it seems to be mutual. Where Firene doesn't have to import because of its bounty and self-sufficiency (Fogado/Celine support), Elusia—being a cold, harsh land—very likely has to. And that, of course, benefits Solm.

Past that? They don't appear to have much of a relationship. The royal families don't seem friendly, and Solm is actively spying on Elusia (as they are with the other countries), so clearly there isn't much in the way of trust, despite the appearance of neutrality.

For Firene and Elusia, Alfred says so himself: there's very little that Firene knows about Elusia due to their distance from each other, and the latter's insular culture. What knowledge they do have seems to be from hearsay, mostly regarding some of its more notable features: the cold climate, and leaning towards Fell worship.

Neither Firene or Solm has stepped in to interfere with (or stop) the war between Brodia and Elusia, and with the recently established non-aggression pact, that possibility becomes even slimmer. I wouldn't be surprised if Elusia feels something of a distrust for the two because of it—it's certainly given them no qualms in invading both nations for their rings.

Solm and Brodia

Similarly to Elusia and Firene, both Solm and Brodia are extremely far from each other, so there's very little connection. They are members of the same non-aggression alliance, and the Brodian royals have visited the country in the past... but despite their similarly inhospitable lands, the two nations share very little common ground when it comes to ideology and values. (Saphir's comment in Tullah Desert)

I can only assume that, at the very least, both countries do trade with each other. After all, Solm is known for its spices, and it's a staple of Brodian culture to put spices in tea...

Plus, Solm's love of meat roasts? And Brodia having a deluxe brand of beef as a popular export? Where do you think THAT'S going.

But anyway, it isn't until the Fell Dragon war that more of a relationship is established, through the developing friendships of Diamant/Timerra and Alcryst/Fogado.

Lythos and Everyone

Last, but certainly not least, the Holy Land of Lythos! It is the center of Divine Dragon worship on the continent, where the ruler of Elyos resides, and a neutral force amongst the nations.

With Firene, Lythos has a very close relationship—it is the nation most devout to the Divine Dragon, with Lumera and Queen Eve having shared a friendship. This was likely the case for Firene's king as well, and the royals who came before them. Firene's throne room is specially built to accommodate Lumera's dragon form during visits.

Brodia and Solm, while respectful of the Divine Dragon, even having churches of their own, seem more neutral. Solm is stated to be a very secular culture, not deeply religious, but still fostering love and respect for Lumera as a ruler and dragon.

And Brodia respects the Divine Dragon as well, often accepting Lumera's invitations to visit the sleeping Alear at the Somniel. Diamant even states that it was through Lumera's help that Brodia was able to be established (Diamant/Framme support), so clearly they hold a certain level of respect for her and her faith, even if they aren't extremely devout followers.

With Elusia, there seems to be an indifference to the Divine Dragon at the very least, or outright rejection at most. So much that Ivy's worship of the Divine is something she sees as rebellion, and feels she has to keep secret. Some who live there are disillusioned with the Divine Dragon (Mauvier/Ivy supports), and others simply grew up with the Fell faith.

Like with other nations, Lumera is said to have invited Elusia to Lythos in order to visit with Alear (Ivy's wake up lines), but those requests were declined every time.

Though... Lumera, a living 'god', doing nothing to prevent Brodia's attacks likely did her little favors in that regard.

This is all my personal perception, of course, formed from different lines and bits of flavor text in the game. I personally think there's a lot to digest in Engage, while still giving us room to interpret and extrapolate, as long as you care enough to look.

[goldensunset]

one of my professors is really based… we were like ‘so is the final project still due friday’ and she was like ‘…in theory. the only reason i’ve put it down as being due so early is because we’re technically not allowed to make things due in the last week of class because we’re supposed to be encouraging you all to study for finals. but you see, i am well within my right to give extensions ;-)’ let’s go sisterrrrrr