#I'm back on this bullshit again

[m-u-n-c-h-y]

Hey, you guys wanna see a cursed ship?

[vaguely-concerned]

I understand and agree with a lot of the frustrations about the shortcomings of Inquisition as a story. but sometimes when I hear people complain about the chosen one narrative in it I do want to just be like... you know it's a deconstruction of the concept more than anything, right. the inquisitor isn't actually chosen by anything except stumbling into the wrong (right?) room at the right (wrong?) time because they like, heard a noise or whatever. or if you think they are chosen, as many do in-universe, that's something you have to take on faith, the maker-or-whoever moves in mysterious ways indeed-style. the Inquisitor isn't actually a Destined Chosen One, they're a Just Some Guy in a fancy hat, self-delusions of grandeur to taste as you'd prefer.

a running thread that goes through all of the personal quests of the companions is the concept of a comforting lie vs. an uncomfortable truth, upholding old corrupt structures vs. disrupting them, and the role of faith in navigating that. (blackwall the warden vs. thom rainier the liar and murderer. hissrad vs. the iron bull, or is that the other way around? cassandra and the seekers -- do we tell the truth about what we find, even if it means dismantling the old order of the world? and so on.) and your inquisitor IS at the same time a comforting lie (a necessary one, in dark times? the game seems to ask) and an uncomfortable truth (we are the result of random fickle chance, no protective hand is held over the universe, it's on us to make a better world because the maker sure as hell won't lift a divine finger to help anyone, should he against all odds exist). faith wielded for political power... where's the point that it crosses the line into ugliness? is it before it even begins? what's the alternative? will anyone listen to the truth, if you tell it?

interesting how you also get a mix of companion agency in this -- you have characters like dorian who ALWAYS choose one side of the comforting lie vs. uncomfortable truth dichotomy. he will always make up his own mind to go back to tevinter and try to dismantle the corruption of the old system no matter what you say, or how you try to influence him. meanwhile iron bull is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum -- so psychologically trapped and mangled, caught in an impossible spiritual catch-22, that his sense of identity is left entirely to you and your mercy. you cannot change dorian in any way that matters; you can be his friend or not, support him or not, but he is whole no matter what. you are given incredible and potentially destructive-to-him power over bull's soul. it's really cool (and heartbreaking) to think about.

this is a game about how history will eat you even while you're still alive, and shape you into whatever image it pleases to serve it, and for all your incredible power right now you are powerless in the face of the gravitational force of time -- of more than time, of History. you won't recognize yourself in what History will make of you, because you belong to it now. you don't belong to yourself anymore and you never will again. the further you were from what it needs from you to begin with, the more you will find yourself distorted in its funhouse mirror. (why hello there inquisitor ameridan, same hat!)

and to me this is so much the core of what Dragon Age is about right from the Origins days -- how and by whom history gets written, the inherent unreliable narration of it all. I hope you like stories, Inquisitor. You are one now.

I do think it's probably still the weakest of the games narratively, and it's hampered by its structure and bloated systems. but I also find it disingenous to say that there's nothing deeper or actually interesting going on with it, thematically. if you're willing to engage with it there is Some Real Shit going on under the high fantasy-tinted surface.

[arkarti]

William studies | Part 06

Twitter: X

[crows-of-buckets]

Rook: I'm really worried about Davrin and Lucanis, they keep arguing with one another... Its very bad Varric, what if it effects them in battle?

Varric, remembering that one time Fenris broke Ander's nose then took a knife in the back for him in the same night: I'm sure they'll be fine kid. They're barely even arguing if you ask me

[iamtheunicornwizard]

they're so cute frfr

[crowdeerdire]

Kel is off to art college and she misses her bf, Cove ╥﹏╥

[kyouka-supremacy]

Look I just think. It's hard to put it in words, but something about Akutagawa being nothing but a weapon made to kill and something about Atsushi's regenerative ability. Something about Akutagawa being deeply unfit for love and something about Atsushi being the perfectly loveable person, someone even Akutagawa can't escape loving. Something about Akutagawa cutting Atsushi's limbs and something about Atsushi's limbs always growing back. Something about Akutagawa hurting Atsushi again and again and again and something about Atsushi taking it and regenerating and forgiving as many times as it takes. Because he heals. Something about Akutagawa thinking the person he loves is deemed to abandon him sooner or later and something about Atsushi who no matter how many times they scream and fight and he leaves, he's always going to come back. Something about Akutagawa's love for Atsushi being unable to stop him from hurting because that's just what he was made to be, a person who can only inflict pain even to the people he loves. Something about Atsushi being the only person who could ever handle Akutagawa, but also the only person who could genuinely find joy in loving him. Something about them

[finemealprompt]

DP x DC Prompt #55

Barbara didn't know she had a brother. Well, okay she knew she had younger brothers, but not an older brother. She didn't know about Danny.

Not until she started looking into her own family and found some discrepancies in the paperwork.

[renstrapp]

late night junker queen posting

[schoute]

ohshitherewegoagain.jpeg

[8-rae-rae-8]

"Ker was always dealing with some personal shit. That's why, in spite of everything else, we got along."

....

"Johnny?"

Bottom middle image by @/valeriesilverhand on here!!

[ingravinoveritas]

New Michael photo shoot for an article in Vera // Virgin Atlantic in-flight magazine!

[egophiliac]

I'm trying to avoid getting spoiled so I haven't looked up what's happening in the Jp server's main story, but for my own sanity I need to ask; is the story at a point where we know whether Lilia will get better/survive his almost-empty magic reserves..? Was it a true death flag from the start or only a plot device for malleus' overblot....?

not yet! I do think they're going to get back to it eventually, but -- keeping it as low spoilers as possible -- there's been...let's just say a LOT going on in the meantime.

enjoy 7-6!!! :)

[kazutora-kurokawa]

Tokyo Revenger boys with an Idol girlfriend

TokRev x Idol!Reader

♡ SFW, fluff, fem reader, starstruck men, just cuteness in general ♡

Characters: Shinichiro, Koko, Wakasa

note: I have returned to finish my requests, thank you for requesting anon 🌸 you didn't name any characters so I just picked some random characters that I don't normally write for

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Shinichiro

🏍️ Head over heels in love with you and everything about you

🏍️ He's your biggest fan fr, shows up at all of your concerts wearing a t-shirt with you on it

🏍️ Gives you suggestions for outfits, he really doesn't care if you take his suggestions or not because you look good in everything to him

🏍️ Everytime he sees you he's just in absolute awe of you, he's such a simp and if he could fight, he'd fuck someone up for you

Bonten!Koko

💵 Buys you so much jewelry you'll probably never get to wear, he loves seeing you on stage wearing a necklace or pair of earrings he's brought you

💵 You post pictures of you and him with his face obscured (he's a criminal, he doesn't need to be slapped all over your profile) and all of your fans are curious as to who your mystery boyfriend is

💵 Takes you on fancy dates but always has to cut them short because people keep noticing you and trying to get your picture and autograph

💵 This man is a top tier money maker, he'd 100 percent offer to be your manager because he thinks your current manager is weird (he's just jealous, but you know he'd never admit that)

Wakasa

🍭 Doesn't fanboy over you (in public) despite your celeb status

🍭 Likes to keep your relationship private and away from the media (he doesn't want you to be bombarded with questions)

🍭 Works out with you and helps keep you in shape (and teaches you self-defense)

🍭 Blushes when you tell him he's pretty enough to be an idol (he'll turn away so you can't see his face but it's already too late)

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

Taglist

@arlerts-angel @i-literally-cant-with-this @trevengersprincess @giugiette @katshimizuu @happy-trenchcoated-impala @kazubarbie @drunkcheesecake @darkstarlight82 @reiners-milkbiddies

[strawberrypiratenin]

I mean, it must be wild being a random regular shinigami in Seretei.

"What? A human teenager broke into Seretei and has been kicking seated officers' asses left and right and is actually winning??"

"Sir, did that boy just, I don't know, FLY to get to Sokyoku and faced off against all vice captains and captains??"

"Did you just say he's been shinigami for mere months, and he's managed to use bankai? I've been shinigami for like 100 years and haven't even come close!"

"I'm sorry. Did you hear what he said while battling against Captain Kuchiki? He became THAT strong and gained bankai for HER sake???"

Just saying, think about what kind of stories must have spread throughout soul society at that time?

I don't care if y'all say they're just friends. After all THAT, some elaborate star-crossed lovers, "prince" rescuing the "princess" sort of fairy tale, would definitely have spread throughout soul society.

Also, consider Fade to Black events...

"Oh, that whole mess was because of someone obsessing over Kuchuki Rukia. AGAIN."

"Yeah, that human shinigami boy came rushing to her rescue, was even willing to go against the officers just to get to her, and was at the forefront of the battle against this entity threatening the entire Seretei, YET AGAIN. Why am I not surprised?"

...If anything, though, after SS arc, regular shinigamis would have probably started questioning how powerful the captains are if one unhinged teenager on a mission managed to best most of them. Just sayingggg.

[sysmedsaresexist]

Could you please dive into the RAMCOA controversy that's been going around? I've literally never heard someone say "RAMCOA is antisemitic" until like a week ago and now there's multiple blogs (I'm sure you can guess who at this point) who are saying this and calling RAMCOA a conspiracy theory from the satanic panic.

It's being said by the same 3 blogs that all reblog the same bad takes so I wasn't putting any stock in their word. Just the latest misinfo spreading unchecked, would appreciate your thoughts on this.

You know what, I'm not going to lie, I've been dreading getting this question.

Terrified. Harassment in this area of discussion is rampant.

We are currently debating making a post and how to approach it.

I will make our stances clear right now.

I think the conversation as it is now is full of misinformation and confusion. I think no single post can cover that amount of history and the theories and controversy.

I don't think anyone understands what they're arguing about, or the histories they're trying to bring up, and how they overlap. I think many members of the conversation lack access to resources and education that the mods of this blog DO have access to. Most of the links being thrown around lead back to the same single sources.

To shorten a very long, complex, and honestly unfinished conversation: the satanic panic and RAMCOA are two completely different entities. The satanic panic was a religious political movement of the 90s pushed by conservatives as a way to scare people back into church and scare women back into their "place" at home by attacking child care facilities. It called on a lot of tropes. And many of them were, yeah, ridiculously antisemitic. As the movement got more and more sensationalized, it began to call attention to therapists (some of them bad faith) and to RAMCOA survivors as a "Look! It's real!" kind of thing. If anything, this attention hurt far more than it helped. It painted an inaccurate and insulting picture that's still utilized to harm people today.

To be very clear: programmed DID is a well documented occurrence and it can occur in several ways.

We support survivors, no matter what they call it. We support clinicians trained in treating people who have gone through that extreme level of horrific abuse. We support people learning to separate fact from fiction, in whatever way that may apply to any given situation.

SAS supports ramcoa and oea survivors.

Here's something we suggest reading, though it's very long.

Stay safe, everyone ❤️