#I'm fond of this idea

[energ00n]

I’d like to think that in this AU Sentinel was an aid/advisor first then maybe he becomes an apprentice to Zeta, I don’t know whichever one comes first

I’m just imagining Sentinel having most of the Primes co-mentoring him, on top of still being an aid/advisor (probably) It’s frustrating and tiring being dragged and passed around however there’s perks to it.

Most of the Primes are fond of him and like having him around, whether it’s a personal or professional preference. With that in mind, he can hypothetically get away with a lot of things and position wise he’s second under the Primes. As a someone that works closely with them he like their shared firstborn son.

Chances are he would be more likely to become a Prime if by his merits in the battlefield and in the political & social sphere as he’s savvy that way. He’d oversee the apprentices like an older brother looking after the younger ones, doing it as an obligation and also having growing interest in what they have to show for their potential as a “Prime.” Who knows, there doesn’t have to be just one Prime.

Anyways, I really like this AU you cooked up; it’s been an interesting find after the watching the movie cause that movie put me back in my TF hole indefinitely. Thank you and welcome to TF.

I like the idea that Sentinel was a apprentice considering he's not among the Thirteen

At the time of the story he's already a Prime with his own students (though he's not good at the whole mentor thing). I think he harbors disdain of not being among the originals and people don't take him as seriously, hence his need to overcompensate

I don't think the Primes are particularly fond of him, just Zeta. Some are on okay term with him, some completely ignore him

He's still an asshole tho

[shorthaltsjester]

obsessed with the fact that bell's hells won that fight explicitly because of their reliance on the gods. imogen and laudna both vocally saying 'thank you matron' at the beginnings of that combat as they use new skills or spells they've refreshed, orym wielding his sword, braius wielding his divine power, the entire party instilled with a hero's feast prepared by a cleric of the wildmother, imogen using power granted by the arch heart to bring down predathos -- an entity that has been described as welcoming her home, offering a womb she has longed to return to, her as its kin -- in imagery evoking the moment where the gods too decided to turn their backs on their home when faced with the monstrosity they were tied to, that they'd help bring about (something something, the arch heart gave mortals magic and imogen gave predathos its vessel). and the fact that bell's hells has slowly grown more reliant on the idea that predathos does not hunger for mortals -- something they in fact scoffed at when it came from liliana and ludinus' mouths -- predathos took several of them in his maw and tried to consume them.

viewing the story as one of a group of people predominantly blinded to the reality of their situations by the fog of their traumatized feelings -- as i've chosen to do for the sake of my sanity listening to them go on and on about gods that never gave them a lick in the same breath that they complain that the gods have too much power -- it is so extremely poetic that orym cut down ludinus with a sword blessed by the wild mother only for bell's hells to retread the path ludinus set up for himself. it is extremely ironic for a group of people who have implicitly raised complaints about the inherent manipulation that comes with the god's existence to come up with a plan that is explicit manipulation, demanding the gods become mortal or die [which to be clear, extremely interesting plan with interesting consequences that would be compelling to see! absolutely dogshit reasoning skills and moral assessment. but it is continually ASTOUNDING to me that a campaign that gets treated by some as the height of critical role's sociopolitical philosophical exploration features so many PCs who struggle (and not in the fruitful, developmental way but in the head-in-hands, can this student talk to the prof during office hours so I don't have to feel the second hand embarrassment of them making it obvious they haven't ever attended a previous lecture or done the class readings way) with ideas found in any first year philosophy course].

and to be clear this is not me devaluing the role of bell's hells in actually fighting the fight -- but all they've done is the same thing the gods were already doing, keeping predathos sealed, except now its in a volatile-at-best mortal who is on borrowed time re: being lost once again to its power. the only suggestion the hells have that this might be a justified and right course of action is the support of two gods -- one who has proven themself to be okay with the idea of death until it actually arrives before and the other one who is the only being on record who actually chose to be a deity -- out of a much larger pantheon, and their personal inclinations to agree with the ideology of a man who they have claimed to ardently disagree with but it turns out that was just because of his methods, I guess. scattershotting catalysts for change and hoping that change results in a Better World just. on its own (almost like. idk. fate) that you haven't even suggested practical (I'd even take theoretical ones atp) methods to achieve beyond Get Rid of a bunch of beings who are involved in actually extreme amounts of metaphysical and magical infrastructure isn't actually a course of action, its a course of chaos, and that is in fact worse than things staying the way they are if 'the way things are' that you keep referring to has only been shown to, currently, be that you and your friends feel sad and a little miffed that the gods you haven't offered anything to are only willing to do things for you when you serve them. unlike you, a group notorious for the way you do things for people you don't know without asking anything in return (this is sarcasm, if that wasn't clear).

anyway, I will continue to be frustrated by the lack of grounding for either (a) bell's hells having actually incisive and contextualized criticisms of the gods (either their own or from the actual mouths of the 'little guys' they are allegedly fighting for) or (b) more engagement with the fact that bell's hells as a party are not interested in making the morally right choice, they are at Best looking for a morally neutral choice. that said, if I ignore the actual story c3 has portrayed, the last few episodes have been a great wrap-up to a story about how singleminded trauma can make you and how that can lead you to place where there's no longer any Good choices to make, only potentially satisfying ones, where the question of who to satisfy takes the reigns over what is best.

[beastwhimsy]

pretty janky gif but I wanted to compare my simon design to my ice king design. behold! old person

[ruija]

How many Turtles and Goongala-guys does it take to change a Battleshell tire?

[atissi]

had to watch the new Folding Ideas video twice, read all of the comments, watched Lady Emily's video, watch an AVGN video for the first time (sorry i'm gen z), failed to get through Wavelength (1967), read a bunch about Wavelength (1967), and read through a bunch of Twitter comments, but i think i'm finally understanding the artistry in "i don't know james rolfe"

narratively it's dan olson revealing the rorschach test of media analysis, i.e. there was no way for him to critically analyze james rolfe's career without revealing all of his own obsessions and insecurities, just as james rolfe reveals himself through his film and video game reviews. this concept is lampshaded by the highlighting of Wavelength (1967), an extremely minimal and obtuse film that engages with the idea of inattention — meaning that bored or negative responses to the work are still responses to the theme. which is cool.

and it's cool that criticisms of dan olson's video include people upset that he hyper-focused on specific elements of james rolfe's life and not other, arguably more important elements, such as the Monster Madness controversy or james's time in special ed — almost as though the character of dan olson is cherrypicking aspects of james rolfe's life that are the most personally wounding to him. aspects that expose dan's insecurities relating to filmmaking and failed dreams, expressed through the vessel of AVGN.

but meta narratively, the video becomes a rorschach test for the audience — your response to the video reveals your own obsessions and insecurities in how you relate to dan olson. why does someone find the video mean-spirited? why does someone else think the video is self-serving? why do I feel so awkward watching dan attempt a deeper, more abstract creative work?

where does dan olson end and the character of dan olson as a media critic begin? where do you as an audience member end, and YOU begin?

it's projection all the way down

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

So, I started watching Link Click...

[syn0vial]

regrettably, neither is them being even a little bit ironic

[bookwyrminspiration]

I first heard about filling out your gender as "n/a" as a joke, but now it's also genuinely my favorite way to mark my gender. unironically. for a lot of reasons. i actually use that to fill out forms accurately whenever I can. so whenever I see people make jokes about doing that (which I support! it's funny) I have a private laugh because I actually legitimately do it on purpose

[sysig]

Two big softies(?) (Patreon)

[marzipaint]

wanted to take another crack at modern les amis (plus extras) since it's been a long time since i've done so !!

[couch-collector]

Genderswap AU sketch dump, part 3/3

Ai, Kusanagi & Ghost Girl Guy!

[sleepykas]

DJ Music Man, anyone?

[skibasyndrome]

what’s the girlfriend fic???

omg anon am I about to share another wilmon AU idea that I'm a little scared I'm not strong enough a writer to actually fully follow through with??? yeah 😭😭😭

SO!!! Way back when Girlfriend was released I first got this idea for a wilmon AU that has Simon working in a 1920s Weimar Berlin cabaret as a queer performer/singer. Wille would one day stumble into the bar, maybe accidentally, maybe because he has been wondering about some things about himself, maybe simply because he's curious. He'd watch a bit of the show, feel awfully out of his depth, be on the verge of leaving again, when Simon steps out to sing a song and Wille is immediately struck by. Everything about him. By the voice, by his strong presence, by the makeup he wears.

Thus starts a journey of self discovery and of discovery of a community that has been hidden from Wille for all his life. In my mind Simon is so unapologetically queer in this, just as he is in the show, and he doesn't feel the need to tone it down, is proud of his art and of this act of resistance he's able to put on whenever he performs, and of the way their community braves all the challenges society levies at them. And you just KNOW our, thus far, painfully comp-het Wille would be fascinated, would be head over heels, would be inspired and try everything to learn more about Simon.

So.... yeah.... yeah. There'd be so much gender fuckery and exploration of different layers of queerness in this, so many opportunities for Wille to question what it is he actually wants, so many opportunities for Simon to prove that what it all comes down to is embracing who you are on the inside.

Because idk, Girlfriend is suuuuuch a compelling song to me for soooo many reasons, but the gender fuckery of it all??? Endless possibilities. Truly immaculate.

So when those photos came out I was FLABBERGASTED and also stunned into silence because. Holy fucking SHIT, that's even BETTER than imagined 😭😭😭

And now we manifest that I actually get my shit together and write the thing because I physically need to do it.

Thank you for asking 💜

[boltlightning]

Imaginary fic ask game: Phillip/Syrena from Pirates 4?? (if you're inclined - idk what your thoughts are on the fourth movie but I liked these two specifically a lot) 😊

imaginary fic title asks!

They linger for days, weeks, in a shady saltwater inlet that must be in La Florida, but, for its seclusion, could be purgatory—or indeed Heaven itself. Syrena plugs Phillip’s wounds with wads of moss she dredges from the ocean, and seals them tight with spit. It stings in a way her kisses do not sting. She ferries him from the saltwater to the shore daily, and stuffs strips of raw fish in his mouth when he does not wish to eat, but must. There is a fierceness to her movements, a natural surety distinctly inhuman.

She is—unusual is a kind word, gifted even kinder. Syrena had baptized him, bathed him in forgiveness, returned him to life when the Lord did not call him home.

Phillip lies on his side on the shore and cups her face in his hands. “Love is patient,” he murmurs, “love is kind.”

Syrena falls still at his touch, but for the anxious flick of her tail in the water, splashing behind her. “Phillip?”

“We should marry.”

“Marry?” she repeats, uncertain. “The word means—it means joy, yes? Are you not happy?”

Phillip closes his eyes. He is so tired. He does not have the energy to explain more and lets his hands drop.

In his silence, Syrena frets. “You are not speaking sense, and you are so warm. Rest—I will get you another fish. Please, Phillip.” She slips back into the water, graceful and elegant, a true thing of beauty.

“It always protects, always trusts,” he continues to recite, and, flopping onto his back, breathes to the afternoon, “always hopes, always perseveres…”

[bonefall]

do the starclan angels get to taste the culinary evolutions their descendants cook up? do they ever watch their great grandkids salting something and think "damn that looks agreeable"

Sadly there are downsides to being dead. They can still eat and cook the prey in StarClan offerings, but they can't taste of the mortal plane any longer.

There is ONE exception. Sacrificial offerings can be tasted. Tasting these offerings as a spirit can sometimes have... unintended effects.

Nothing magical, but suddenly, it hits you again that the afterlife isn't the same as being alive. There's flavors you haven't experienced in years. Mass returns to your lips and paws. You realize that you aren't breathing, and for a twinge of a second, your chest surges with the warmth of a beating heart.

Angels who died young are usually alarmed and unsettled by eating such offerings, and won't partake more than once. To others it's a comfort. Many cry after their first experience, so perhaps, unknowingly for the living, it's why it's so common to make food sacrifices during droughts.

[sheerakk]

Baron strikes. Varian is the only person avaible to help Catalina although he's kind of sceptic the whole way through.