#It's wild tbh. I've few theories why this happens lmao | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rollercoasterwords · 6 months ago

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hi rae how are uu!!!

i was reading about mulvey and the female gaze and i remembered you saying something about how it pushes bioessentialist agendas but i don't remember what u said exactly so do you mind sharing a piece of ur mind about this again

also!!!!! i've read captive prince with ur influence and then read ur laurent's pov rewrite and god!!!!! it was so so good it brought me to tears and made me laugh out loud and scream into my pillow at times... the first book didn't stick out to me that well but afterwards?? their dynamic is everything i was missing in life. also reading the first book in laurent's pov was an otherworldly experience, him getting surprised to see damien isn't the definition of all things evil like he thought ahhhh u captured him perfectly i think

also read all for the game series (saw a fanart of neil in ur blog and it kickstarted me getting into yet another fandom) and i was like wtf is this and then later i was like wtf is this but in a positive way. now the characters are all my babies (except kevin like yes i understand his struggles and all but i still see that guy as a little bitch which is a bit ironic when andreil are the biggest bitches to exist but still)

also binge-watched iwtv and goddddd gays with communication problems who happen to be vampires i love them all sm <333 do u have a fav character i wonder AND any thoughts on the last episode?

anyways i hope life is treating you kindly much kisses and good wishes <3

hi i'm good hope ur doing good as well!! such a fun message hang on let me take this piece by piece...

mulvey's male gaze the bane of my existence lmao...yeah the entire theory is rooted in bioessentialism. basically mulvey is basing her theory in freud who assumes that the categories 'father' 'mother' 'son' and 'daughter' are stable + static & therefore assumes that the categories 'male' and 'female' are stable + static biological categories which engender inherently different psychic/interior qualities. mulvey's entire argument hinges on the idea that men will be categorically unable to relate to/empathize with/see themselves as women onscreen--this argument begins to break down when you start asking questions like 'how is mulvey defining 'men' and 'women'? is she defining them, or is she assuming that they're static biological categories? are they static biological categories?' also i disagree with the idea that people are categorically unable to identify with characters across sex and/or gender & think it's kinda dumb tbh. to be fair, mulvey's theory was meant to apply to a pretty specific context and has largely been taken out of that context in ways that are very annoying but not necessarily her fault; still, when the original theory is so rooted in bioessentialism i don't really find any of it useful.

anyway. moving on to the fun stuff captive prince omg!! so glad u enjoyed the series & my own take on laurent...it was SO fun trying to get inside his head & imagine what would have been going on in there i love him so much <3 <3 tricky to write tho bc i was definitely trying 2 walk the line of like. not diminishing/excusing laurent's cruelty while simultaneously showing why he acts the way he does in the first book...abuse as cyclical etc...

and aftg lol such a trip...wtf is honestly an accurate response it's a wild ride but so much fun <3 & not liking kevin...valid honestly i like him but i also don't care abt him that much compared 2 the other characters...u should read 'the sunshine court' at some point it's abt jean & it will probably make u like kevin even less lmao

& finally. iwtv!!!!!!!! i've been obsessed w that show the past few weeks i just binge watched season 1 & have now been watching season 2...SO fucking good omg. personally my favorite character is. armand <3 idc what he does they could never make me hate him...last episode was soooo good claudia is my second-fave character just a smidge after armand i truly think her story is probably the most interesting + tragic out of all of them like. makes me feel a bit crazyinsane thinking abt it BUT her & madeleine. oh my goddddd that scene broke me. don't have many more coherent thoughts currently other than wailing + tearing my hair out etc but i am having a great time nonetheless...

anyway thank u 4 the message love catching up life has been busy but mostly treating me kindly hope it's doing the same for u!! <3

#ask

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lemonhemlock · 3 months ago

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"you see i find this hilarious because my boyfriend insisted the other day that (with a few exceptions, as per his words, referring to the astarionwives) this fandom was “wholesome”. 😂 i am squinting my eyes v hard at that statement" Okay, I should've clarified my statement because I was too actually referring to the Astarionwives mostly and I say this as someone who likes and…actually romanced him in my first playthrough, which is something I'm quite wary to admit nowadays out of fear of being lumped with his crazier fans lmao. A lot of them can be really, really intense about the guy and NOT in a good way and tbh most of my negative experiences in the fandom are indeed related to this crowd. He really is the type of character that is a magnet for discourse and I have to say that ignoring a majority of his fans can make your fandom experience much more enjoyable, ESPECIALLY if you do like him, as crazy as this may sound. Sure, some of them will be making you laugh in the sense that it takes a high level of delusion to come up with certain takes but most will just make you lowkey angry. They are also very numerous and extremely loud compared to fans of other characters, who (with some exceptions here and there) are quite chill. Every other day though there's some Astarion related drama going on or his fans trying to stir some shit up and it's so tiring. Frankly, I have more Astarion fans blocked than fans of other BG3 characters put together and this is saying a lot. In my opinion, they are crazier than Aemondwives, Aegonwives and Daemonwives and lots of Team Black or Targ Nation stans.

It's not that they will attack other fans for not liking his character (well, some are doing it, I won't deny it) but they also often rabidly attack each other for having different interpretations of his character, even when there's enough information in canon to support more than one POV or theory. There are also some choices (one of them being pivotal or very, very important) you can make involving his character that can be very controversial or divisive and insane fans on all sides of the debate will try to shame others for (not) making them and proceed to call you or imply you are a bad person irl over it. Typical fandom "my opinion is the moral or correct one" bs, but in this case it's particularly wild since it's a RPG game with no established canon. Still, there's nothing that could justify going after a real person, in the end it's just a video game and no one is bad for making a certain choice or not. Of course this is mostly subjective and there are some nuances I can't get into due to spoilers, but I feel like overall a lot of the BG3 fandom experience depends on what characters you like since it's likelier you'll be checking out and interacting with the parts of the fandom related to them specifically so yeah someone else may have had a quite positive experience in the fandom unlike me and others, like your bf did (to his credit, Shadowives are quite sane compared to Astarionwives and I have nothing negative to say about most of them).

Other than that, there are of course antis who just like in every fandom (and I've seen it happening here like it did with HOTD) are harassing, threatening or trying to dox content creators or even regular fans who are into things deemed to be toxic and problematic (noncon, dubcon stuff mostly) despite the game itself having and/or offering you the possibility to do a lot of fucked up things. In this regard they remind me of the HOTD antis who will cry out about incest ships whilst going after fans who enjoy them in fiction. Well, maybe don't consume media with problematic elements that make you uncomfortable? But of course to them it's more about being the fandom moral police rather than genuine concern about potential victims seeing the wrong content.

"oh thank you so much! ikr?? i’m gonna give astarion 18 DEX as soon as i can level him up anyway so why bother? i was really vehement to dump the stat altogether, because i was thinking there was nothing in it FOR ME as a wizard, but then i realised i’m really getting pounded in fights because of my low dexterity!!" In my experience the game's AI will first target the characters with the lowest AC (armour class) and those are usually the spellcasters like wizards or sorcerers. Until you get those gloves and a good shield, Mage Armor should help in early game to get that number a bit higher. It does cost a spell slot, but it's worth it.

"yeah, i’m really set on having high charisma because my hope is to manipulate these rugrats into doing what i want. but the wisdom checks have proven annoying, i have to say. and i don’t really want to be dragging shadowheart with me all the time because… i can’t stand her! 😂 my bf is a shadowwife and keeps telling me to be patient with her but she is just getting on my nerves 🤌i respecc’d her to be a Life Cleric and she is more useful now, at the very least. " As a sorcerer (it also applies to other charisma based classes like bards or warlocks) it was sooo easy to navigate throughout the game thanks to this and how easy it is to manipulate NPCs into doing your bidding, plus you get so many bonuses that by the end of the game that it's almost impossible to fail your CHA rolls. I can't say I relate to your experience with Shadowheart but…sometimes we just happen not to like certain characters, which is fine? Your boyfriend may be right about being patient with her to be honest, I wasn't crazy about her in my first playthrough (but unlike you also I didn't dislike her so that helps) but she grew up on me as a character quite a bit throughout the game. Same with Lae'zel and more or less with Astarion as well, ironically. Turning Shadowheart into a Life Cleric is also something I did and she's indeed more useful unlike her default Trickster subclass. Light Cleric is also a good option for her (or any cleric), which is what I'm going for in my second playthrough.

"exciting!! i wouldn’t know where to put it exactly, though, since i read online that having odd numbers is not really giving you a bonus in bg3" Yes, this is true, odd numbers don't give you any bonuses. You should either put that point into an odd number to make it even (for example if you have 17 INT you get it to 18) or respec your character in such a way that adding the point matters, if this makes sense. Of course, you can also use that point on another companion, it's not mandatory to do it with your Tav. Most players, from what I've seen, will choose to to increase their main stat since the default number you get from the game is an odd number. Also, don't worry about doing a respec later, you won't be losing that point.

The maximum number you can max out your main ability to is 20 actually through Ability Improvement when choosing the feat. I've seen you reached Level 4 already so you probably chose that feat already but you should have the possibility of putting another +2 points into it when you reach Level 8 or 12. I don't know though if this is disabled on easy mode (my first playthrough was on balanced mode and now I'm on tactician) so I can't confirm it 100%. Multiclassing for example is disabled on explorer/easy mode.

"anyway, first of all, i’m gonna go find the soap mod asap since i just found out today you’re supposed to clean yourself so you don’t stink ☠️ and i have found exactly 0 bars of soap and 0 sponges so far, so i’m not gonna bother with that" You can find sponge and soap at the goblin camp under the main bridge. It's near some waterfall. However, I don't think it matters? I can't remember random NPCs calling me out for not washing myself or for stinking? I could be misremembering of course, but I think only some characters will be commenting on your Tav's smell, so it's not something that really matters unless you want to look clean all the time. For example, when Lae'zel tried to hook up with my character she said something about their scent driving her crazy or something like it lol. This one I haven't got it in my game, but Gale also has a similar line about him enjoying Tav's musk despite them not having washed in 10 days or so lmao (ewww), but he only says it after you flirt with him first and again, I don't think it matters if you used that soap earlier.

"after that the plan is to go back to camp, switch lae'zel out for astarion and go back to ethel (since astarion expressed interest in her so i’m curious if he’ll act out in some way)" There isn't really anything related to Ethel that makes or breaks your relationship with him other than some approval or disapproval points depending on your choices there BUT you'll want to have him in your party because there's a certain someone in the swamp, near Ethel's place that you'll be wanting to meet and it's better if you do it with Astarion in it.

Okay this got very long, I'm sorry!! Once again, my experience with the BG3 fandom is mostly subjective and I'm sure others had a more positive time in it but yeah...for me personally it was not so different compared to the HOTD one, sadly. Anyway, just enjoy your game, try to do every quest (I'm the type who explores everything in a game, it's worth it even if it takes a lot of time) and don't shy away from taking as many long rests as possible!

astarionwives being crazier than targ nation stans is quite the feat. i don't know whether to laugh or cry 😭 does that mean i'll have to put in the anti astarion tag just to steer clear of these freaks? 😂 i mean, i've heard some stories and i know they're off their rocker and i also hope to become the first of my friend group to successfully romance him, just for the incredible meme potential. but i am not interested in defending his racist ass antics or generally loser behaviour. i have to say that some of his overly theatrical lines make me gag, but he has the potential to be very funny. and, at the end of the day, that's why any person would play an RPG, to be entertained by either the straight-up comedic choices or the dark, fucked-up ones (even the latter can be considered funny with the right mindset)

you are so right about this being extra-delulu because there is no true "canon" in an RPG in the traditional sense when different choices lead to different outcomes. fandom participants far and wide seem to be getting increasingly bad at separating reality from fiction. especially when sometimes you don't even know how a seemingly innocuous action will lead to an undesired outcome. i can't imagine there are players out there who are made to feel bad by these weirdos for making different choices, some of them even random maybe

so true! i mean, this is the type of game that offers the possibility of playing with a dark urge character that is designed to do a lot of fucked up stuff (from my understanding). you'd think these spaces would be very difficulty to turn into morality police havens, but every day presents a new opportunity to be surprised by the level of delusion the human mind can engineer

In my experience the game's AI will first target the characters with the lowest AC (armour class) and those are usually the spellcasters like wizards or sorcerers. Until you get those gloves and a good shield, Mage Armor should help in early game to get that number a bit higher. It does cost a spell slot, but it's worth it.

oh, yes, i have started to use mage armour on myself and gale and it's very useful since i'm always the loser of the pack and those mean devils gang up on me in fights. i've also started to make shadowheart use Bless on the entire party using turn-based-mode before entering fights for an extra boost

As a sorcerer (it also applies to other charisma based classes like bards or warlocks) it was sooo easy to navigate throughout the game thanks to this and how easy it is to manipulate NPCs into doing your bidding, plus you get so many bonuses that by the end of the game that it's almost impossible to fail your CHA rolls.

it's so fun playing with high charistma! i see that you even have an easier time convincing your own companions? i had lae'zel with me when we met up with the other githyanki and the red dragon and i was able to successfully roll and get her to play along

i hesitated to become a warlock because i didn't like the backstory of selling my soul to a demon entity and sorcerers had fewer spells overall. for a first playthrough, wizard is pretty fun because you get to tap into that harry potter childhood and scratch that itch :))

You can find sponge and soap at the goblin camp under the main bridge. It's near some waterfall.

oh, good tip! i managed to find some in the bathhouse of the burning inn. not sure how to use both at the same time though? because you can only select one item at a time with right click to get to the 'use' function

However, I don't think it matters? I can't remember random NPCs calling me out for not washing myself or for stinking? I could be misremembering of course, but I think only some characters will be commenting on your Tav's smell, so it's not something that really matters unless you want to look clean all the time. For example, when Lae'zel tried to hook up with my character she said something about their scent driving her crazy or something like it lol. This one I haven't got it in my game, but Gale also has a similar line about him enjoying Tav's musk despite them not having washed in 10 days or so lmao (ewww), but he only says it after you flirt with him first and again, I don't think it matters if you used that soap earlier.

yeah, as you mentioned, i heard that gale mentions you smell and other characters do, as well. but i'm planning on wearing princess dresses as soon as i can find them so it wouldn't work for my overall vibe, i don't think :)) this game is so complex, i never, in a millions years, would have thought that they included an option for cleaning yourself

There isn't really anything related to Ethel that makes or breaks your relationship with him other than some approval or disapproval points depending on your choices there BUT you'll want to have him in your party because there's a certain someone in the swamp, near Ethel's place that you'll be wanting to meet and it's better if you do it with Astarion in it.

yes, i did meet that fantasy romani character and ofc astarion wasted no time in being racist with him ☠

my plan last night went to smithereens so i'll have to redo most of it tonight. no plan survives first contact with the enemy, right? 😭 first of all, i left the inn burning and completely forgot i had a Create Water spell (at least i saw it very late in my tab?? some wizard am i). honestly, i'm not really sure how game mechanics work because i assumed it would still be burning later and i could come back to it when i figured out what to do. as in, it would be left in stasis while i wandered around. turns out it did not! (again, this game is very complex) and only after i fought the gnolls outside the cave did wyll deign to tell me his dad was in there 🤦‍♀️ men truly are useless

so i decided to forgo all my hard work, loaded an earlier game, grabbed gale, shadowheart and astarion and just go to ethel's, which is what i wanted to do in the first place. i'm leaning now that a detour is never just a detour and that it takes a lot of time to explore a place. i had initially thought that investigating the shipment mark would not take as long, but alas.

anyway, it took FOREVER to explore her dilapidated hut and pick up everything i could before i went down into her basement cave and found her victims. opening the tree door also took me a lot of time, as did entering through it and positioning myself to fight her minions. i noticed that if i made Mirta (my tav) enter slowly and immediately take the mask off i would delay engaging with ethel and could just position my party to fight her flunkies. but it was a difficult fight nonetheless, and gale had the absolute GALL to request another magical artifact from me. again, men truly are just resource-consumers. he is currently on my shitlist for annoying me, because i only had this cool bard hat to spare that could give you inspiration points (no way would i have parted with mine or astarion's gloves or my web boots).

in any case, i consumed a lot of spell slots to finish off those unfortunates, so i think it would be best to just return to camp and replenish before i talk to the hag. so, thank you for telling me i can take many long rests, because i was a bit worried that by taking them too often i would accelerate friendship or romance plotlines before i had the time to work on my relationship or approval stats with those characters.

so, right now, i think i'll just try and see if i can get the ability point off of ethel (if her terms are acceptable to me) and then think about respecc'ing myself again in the future. i am very interested in the Actor feat to get more expertise in Deception and Charisma

after that i need to meet a vendor asap to buy more magical shit to feed into gale's annoying ass condition. and, only after then, can i try again with the inn and see how/if i could put the fire out. this is going to take me ages to do 😂

random, but i also found out that, since i had previously helped Alfira with her song and she gave me her lute, i might have musical ability?? i don't have access to my game rn so i'll have to check. that might prove really funny later on

not at all! thank you for coming back, anon, and, most of all, thank you for all the tips! much appreciated! <3 and, yes, i'm also the same type, i feel the need to do every quest and i never leave a place without picking everything up, even rotting food and useless stuff like tongs and rope. my Mirta often gets 'encumbered' LOL

#miss lemon plays bg3 #ask #anon

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