#IT'S SIMPLY DIVINE !!!!!

[soath]

“essek wants the gods dead” “oooh, this is going to change essek’s mind about the gods” i’m sorry but that boy is a cultural luxonite. he has no strong opinions on the gods other than ‘well, they sure empirically exist’. he might have some issues with his home faith (understatement) but he was still raised in an ancient battlefield literally scarred by the horrors of the calamity where the prime deities are a bunch of affectionately tolerated minority cults. his entire society thinks they transcended the need for Gods with Shapes and my man is not immune to the luxon-centric chauvinism of his upbringing.

sure, given another few years under ludinus’ thumb he could have probably been swayed to team deicide, but that’s not where’s he’s at. where he’s at is hanging out in rexxentrum, getting made fun of by caleb for referring to the dawnfather as ‘an influential, if over anthropomorphized solar deity’. you can take the elf out of rosohna but you can’t take rosohna out of the elf. the gods? well, fjord and caduceus are very fond of theirs (tone of someone describing their friends’ baffling but periodically lifesaving hobby). he technically works for one now through the cobalt soul and he can respect her ethos. after that he runs out of things to say about them.

now the luxon, on the other hand… he’s watching this entire directors cut triple-feature like a hawk. trying to divine the secrets of the universe from a reality show and it might just work.

[nellasbookplanet]

The fandom god discussion is interesting, but I feel it’s sometimes hindered by an unwillingness to separate gods from mortal society, or even a sort of over-eagerness to project our own reality onto them, which simply doesn’t work. I've seen the gods referred to as rulers or tyrants demanding worship (which I kinda understand because it’s something Ludinus says in-game, though it’s funny to see fandom corners confidently repeat the inaccurate talking points of the antagonist) but more interestingly I've also seen them referred to as a higher/the highest social class, as colonizers imposing themselves on mortals, the raven queen specifically as new money. Overall these comparisons tend to talk about the gods and their actions regarding Aeor in the past and predathos/the Vanguard in the present less as if they're about saving their own lives and more as if they want to preserve their powerful position.

The gods, by their very nature, are above mortals. They cannot be compared to any mortal ruling class because they didn’t choose or strive for that power and cannot feasibly get rid of it/step down/redistribute it (nor do they actually in any sense rule; killing the raven queen, unlike killing an actual queen, will not end the 'tyranny' of death), they simply have it by virtue of being gods. Saying that’s unfair or unequal and that the gods should be killed because of it is akin to saying it’s unfair a mountain is bigger than you and demanding it be levelled, except the gods, unlike mountains, are living, feeling beings who shouldn’t have to die because some people can’t stand the idea of not always being top dog. Thing is, the gods themselves ultimately understood this power imballance and that they can't help but hurt Exandria the way humans can't help but step on bugs, and thus removed themselves from the equation by creating the divine gate. Saying this isn’t enough and that they're clinging to power is just demanding they line themselves up to be killed.

[kkoct-ik]

doodling my yttd faves

[malcontentonline]

[necrontyr doddle dump]

[utilitycaster]

I do think it's worth calling out that a lot of the arguments in favor of killing the gods treat their worshipers as the "haves" amidst a sea of "have-nots" and that's just...flat out false in Exandrian canon, in addition to obliquely pinging certain antisemitic canards I am unfortunately attuned to by necessity, even though I suspect that's largely unintentional.

There are powerful adherents to the gods, but there's a lot of worshipers who gain nothing but whatever meaning they personally draw. We saw the Schuesters in Hupperdook in C2, who were imprisoned for following the Changebringer within the Empire, and seemed to have no cleric or paladin powers; nor, to our knowledge, does Imahara Joe. Technically we learned that Molly did sort of get something out of the Moon Weaver, but he didn't know that during the campaign. Grog thinks The Stormlord is pretty neat but hasn't gotten any powers from him. We saw worshipers of the Lawbearer and Dawnfather in Whitestone and worshipers of the Wildmother elsewhere in Tal'Dorei during Campaign 1, again mostly without any specific powers. In this episode and during the Team Wildemount arc we've seen no shortage of people simply going to temples as a place to seek comfort and meaning. Hell, the Player's Handbook outright says it: "Not every acolyte or officiant at a temple or shrine is a cleric. Some priests are called to a simple life of temple service, carrying out their gods' will through prayer and sacrifice, not by magic and strength of arms."

I think a generous read is that a lot of D&D players who aren't playing a mechanically divinely connected character don't make their character religious in any way, and so it becomes easy, with a PC-focused mindset, to assume that the only religious people are clerics, paladins, and the handful of deity-connected subclasses from other classes, but that isn't true and never has been in Exandria.

[angoryt]

Sleepover turned therapygroup

Zahndrekh thought that it would be a great idea to throw a midnight tea party for some people who seem to need an opportunity to relax. Imotekh was not very much interested in the invitation, until he was befuddled by hearing that Orikan had been invited, and accepted? At which point he thought he might as well give it a shot.

And so the Sautekh emotional support club was formed.

[crtastrophe]

I HAVE THE STRANGEST DREAMS

(more Kid Pix 4 noodling!)

[20dimensionsoftangerine]

Wowie I really loved how Siobhan played Adaine living something she'd had multiple visions of.

Running around making sure everything is set up just right before the event. Protecting Kristen in multiple ways and guarding the voting booth so what she saw goes off without a hitch.

Whispering "happy birthday Fabian" as if she's said it so many times before. Knows that this is when she says it and so she simply does.

The confusion and batting the air in front of her face when something is different than she foresaw. As if this is still just an illusion she can shake off.

The look of horror and frustration as she realized what is happening. What she missed. And that it's now too late to stop it.

Mmm acting

[nobodymitskigabriel]

So the thing about Gabe to me is that he doesn’t quite fit in the categorically of Angel Who Is Eventually Humanized the way that Castiel or Anna do. He is more down to earth than the other angels but specifically in the way that GODS are, not humans. Like, even if he's not literally Loki, Gabriel is functionally an earthen deity for the millenia he spent dicking around and killing people. Other gods are literally the crowd he runs in, and he's an asshole because gods are assholes (and he specifically decided to be one of the more extreme asshole gods). Even though his sensibilities can be very human-like, even if he generally likes humans and wants them to stick around, there was always some level of divinity to his cruelty. So even if he did ultimately choose humanity I feel like putting him in with the angels who actually know what it's like to be human misses this part of his character.

[fafayayarhen]

AND THE COLLABORATION ART IS COMPLETE!!! SPECIAL THANKS TO @j-ellyfish FOR JOINING IN CAUSE MY WOOOOOORDDDDD 😭😭✨✨✨ THEIR COLOURING!!!!

Lineart was right here 👇

THANKS AGAIN ARY IT'S BEEN SUCH AN HONOUR WORKING WITH U!!! FOR A FUTURE COLLAB I'LL COLOUR NEXT 💜💜💜💜💜💜

[eating-figs-here]

People who view Wanderer like this fascinate me. Like how was he supposed to. Stay a villain. Completely ignoring how limiting him to being.. 'psychopathic' (not a big fan of using that word in this context) ignores the nuances of his character, how was he meant to continue being an antagonistic force??? We kinda. Crushed any hope that he had abt being able to ascend to godhood. We took the gnosis from him, then gave it to Dottore, who is part of the Fatui- the organization he BETRAYED. Dottore views Scaramouche's attempt to seize godhood as a fun little experiment, but now that he's seen that he failed, Dottore wouldn't be interested in trying again... We backed Scaramouche into a corner, man. He can't do ANYTHING. He can't go back to the Fatui and his literal only goal for the past 400ish years that he was so close to achieving was smashed in front of his face. He can't go back to that previous ambition either.

That's why I don't understand some people's pushback to him.. accepting Nahida's mercy?? And staying with her in Sumeru?? What else was he supposed to do??? And then it's like. Yeah, of course he's gonna internalize some better behavior because yEAH Nahida is a good influence. She stops him from isolating himself and pushes him into participating in things (like in the Darshan event) to allow things in this world to have meaning to him. So he stays. Because.. this undoubtedly makes him feel better. He's so much gentler to people as Wanderer, and that's because he's learning to once again be gentle with himself. Idk, I've always felt that this was a very natural progression...

[ssaraexposs]

Just SKKs wearing hats

[blaiddraws]

today i bring you family sleepy cuddles. tomorrow? who knows....

[fellhellion]

So glad I backtracked to do the creche quest. I hadn’t thought a lot about Lae’zel beyond my impression that she was a bit of a cruel tool (in both senses of the word) held together by a rigid adherence to her religious code (which would’ve been fine if not extremely compelling to me, evil women rights etc etc) but then you get to the creche and it’s like oh. I understand you now.

Being taught to slaughter the siblings you grew up with, being told weakness was an offence to your goddess, service to your goddess being the first teaching you ever learn. It’s so damn good.

The way she desperately clings to this idea that it’s all simply a test, but she spills the blood of her kin to protect you like ough. Deep down she already chose, she believed you, before she even knew it herself.

[spacefairynayu]

I find it very satisfying that Zorian's own choices are what lead to his involvement in the plot.

Zach's meddling may have saved Zorian's life in the initial barrage, but it's Zorian's decision to search for Akoja that tangles their fates together. If Zach had his way Zorian would have been "safe" at the shelters by time Quatach-Ichl showed up, but Zorian strikes out to repay the debt he feels he owes Akoja by driving her into danger and winds up at the right place at the right time. He never would have been partially soul melded to Zach if he had been callous enough or lacking in courage enough to abandon Akoja.

On top of that, he makes a second decision to prioritize someone else's life over his own safety when he let's go of the teleport rod to push Zach out of the way of Quatach-Ichl's attack. Granted, he had to react in a split second and had no time to deliberate, but his first instinct was to protect Zach rather than ensure his own escape.

Amusingly, Zach complains that Zorian let go of the rod while Zorian fires back that Zach would be dead if he hadn't done that. He doesn't seem to regret his choice at all, even if it means that he himself is still in danger.

Zack comments multiple times that trying to keep Zorian alive is a chore, and it occurs to me that the main reason Zorian didn't become involved in the loops years earlier is precisely because Zorian is so difficult to keep alive during the invasion. It wasn't until Zach successfully and naturally got Zorian to attend the dance that the dominoes start falling. Only by saving Zorian does Zach inadvertently open the door for Zorian to enter the stage and drastically change the trajectory of events, eventually saving Zach in turn.

Only when Zorian is alive and free to act completely within his own nature, both driving Akoja away and subsequently trying to rescue her, is he elevated to a protagonist role.

[attractthecrows]

making solas suffer for fun and profit. anyway solavellan where solas is desperately in love, but lavellan is aromantic and thinks they've just got a queerplatonic thing going on. the irony of this secretive elvhen god having kept himself sooo detached falling head over heels for someone who cannot feel the same way. the aching. the yearning. the complete and utter blow to his pride that his composure has been undone, that HE is laid low by his emotions but the object of his affections - lavellan, who by all rights should be the lesser of the two - is not. and simply cannot be. reflections of each other, but with an emotional dynamic that SHOULD be the reverse.