#Not for anybody else to use

[joelsknees]

[08-47]

it shall be cuboided soon

[shadowgale96]

Xie Lien: Use me as your reason to live.

Hong-er: okay, bet.

Xie lian: What?

Wu Ming: Bet.

Xie Lian: What.

Hua Cheng: Fucking, BET.

Xie Lian: WHAT!?

[peliginspeaks]

I think having "Nightmares" encompass all psychological troubles is an interesting and honestly pretty fitting decision for the game, given the time period. With Freud being on his peak nonsense at the time, ascribing lots and lots of meaning to dreams was becoming fashionable, and there's a certain elegance to considering yourself to be Plagued By Dread Visions! instead of just...coming apart at the seams from the stress of it all. You're losing sleep because of the nightmares, not because of the things that caused them and their effects on you. You're mumbling to yourself and jumping at shadows because of the lost sleep, not because of that other stuff. Just get somebody or take something to fix the dreams, that's the trick! Nothing you have to acknowledge. Nothing unseemly, and nothing outside of your control. It's so very Victorian. It's sad, in a way, when you see it as an attempt to apply a cultural attitude of denial and carefully constructed (performative) self-mastery - that already didn't work well for the real time period it came from, mind you - to life in a cave that kills and traps you and is filled with horrors both beyond, and unfortunately well within, your comprehension.

[fiftiesbbydolldress]

hes so pretty i wanna eat him

[girlfriendline]

people reblogging brandon duhaime eating the line up paper going omg the caps are deranged they're unhinged only the caps hahaaa who's doing it like them every day the caps wake up and invent new forms of insanity this team's vibes are off the chaaarts

bitch he did it with us first all ur getting is sloppy seconds

[broadtography]

Been doodling for 4 days straight but look now I can make the text different colors

^ I figured out how to do that 2 pieces ago but ahhhh it’s so cute 😊😊😊 now I can be green

[obscenicon]

a little compawlation.....

[cracklewink]

applejack for your thoughts

[lanastutu]

What genre of men is this?

[vitreouspositive]

i need everyone to know the sheer bewilderment i have when i go to my closet which has 4 newly acquired transformer figurines. and realise i am grinning like a madman or an 8 year old kid (you would be surprised how thin the line gets between the two).

mind you, the last (and really, ONLY) exposure i had to transformers was the bayverse (YEAH. THAT WAS 7 YEARS AGO. WILD.) and the only thing i could recall from that was desperately wanting optimus prime as my father (secondary or replacement i didn't mind) and also being a bumblebee fan. and all in all, it could simply be pegged down as a passing fad.

then a white man transformers one did it in one week DAY.

now i consider myself responsible with my money. you know, delve into an interest, ponder a purchase for a few months, get the details, really CONVINCE myself it's a good decision and commit to the interest before i slap down that credit card.

man, i bought the figurines within a week after watching the damn film.

not to mention now i got all THAT [gesturing vaguely in the direction of every single continuity and iteration over the course of 40 years with its shows, comics, films, novels, games] to catch up on because OBVIOUSLY i can't consume something like a NORMAL PERSON.

so really my question here is: how the flying FUCK did i get front suplexed into this goddamn franchise and when can i expect to get out. if at all.

[cesarescabinet]

The eternal struggle between "I want to explore these characters in a new light" and "I want to remain as true to the original spirit of these characters as possible".

[beedreamscape]

This has to be the last thing I say on C3 finale because otherwise, I will not stop, it simply baffles me in its mediocrity. And obviously, this will be negative, if you loved it, good for you, this is my takeaway as someone who loved this campaign and was severely let down.

This finale changes everything that came before and not for good, better yet, it emphasizes all the faults in the structure of what c3 tried to be, it made most of the campaign feel like a true exercise in futility — How far can we go in a campaign that is meandering and unsatisfying? How long can we have the same discussion over and over and over again despite everyone knowing how this will end? How long can we drag out characters that don't change without anyone noticing? (spoiler everyone noticed)

Can't say I was emotionally invested in the finale because I tapped out back in the 70s, came back for Aeor/Downfall shenanigans, and left again. But in experiencing the finale something became clear to me:

THIS STORY NEEDED TO BE SHORTER.

WITH ANOTHER PARTY AT THE HELM.

If the objective from the very conception of C3 was to wipe out the gods, that had to be clear from the very start. And it wasn't clear, at all — not in the characters, not in the starting city, not in theme. This was a completely different campaign at the start! That clarity was what made Calamity so great, it was short and precise, and every pc SERVICED THE THEME, filled with hubris and contempt, not to mention the setting.

Even Ludinus went in circles for convenience of the campaign length and became a weaker opponent for it, more of a nuisance than a villain. The threat he posed at episode 50 was much stronger than now at 120 something. The battle against Otohan was more nail-biting and emotionally engaging than fighting Ludinus and Predathos, a god eater!!!!

This campaign would've benefited from three to four acts instead of one overarching objective like the past campaigns because urgency is the name of the game and we can't carry urgency for 70 episodes straight (and they didn't).

The constant inclusion of the other parties made it clear how easy it was to detach BH from the story, how easy and fun it was for them to tell it through another party's eyes (one of the main reasons why I walked away back when I did, but that's more of a personal preference).

Which is not to say Bells Hell's didn't deserve a long story! They could very well have existed in a more intimate campaign which these characters were clearly built for! Their premises begged for closer looks in slow moments, something tragicomical, exploration of the inner world while developing MARQUET and its microcosm of injustice and politics which was left in the dust mid-campaign (pun intended).

And I'm not suggesting this just for our enjoyment, I know it's them playing and their enjoyment comes first blah blah, though this is a multi-million company therefore their jobs but this would contribute to their enjoyment! You could see several moments in the campaign how tapped out they felt and acted. I doubt it was "fun" discussing the gods situation ad naseaum, trudging through landscapes they barely cared about, with empty arcs.

I could nitpick every fault I see in the finale but it would be pointless, these issues have been dragged from ages ago and poor character matching, and now this is a culmination of everything and it barely fazes me anymore.

(And yeah it's their game and it's "free", but that doesn't undermine its weight as a story, stories were made be analyzed, and it was a poorly structured one no matter how much I still like and admire them as people.)

WHICH is not to say I had no fun at all ever, I did! several times! and that's what makes me upset, it could've been great instead is just meh.

[front-facing-pokemon]

[bitchmael]

extremely half-formed thoughts hours but i like that black sails as a "villain origin story" (as it were) for long john silver, one of the most storied pirates there is (because among other things he's entirely fictional), shows us a series of pirate captains who have constructed larger-than-life personae for themselves to feature as the monsters in other people's stories, and shows us the (almost always) deeply personally painful histories that went into making them and then refuses to give us that for long john silver. he's not a monster from a children's story but nor does he have the kind of compelling personal history of (say) flint or vane or rackham or anne bonny. he's just fundamentally selfish in a way that's ultimately pretty banal & ordinary imo, but he's put into this position where his selfishness is able to exert a massive influence on the people around him that makes him seem like more than he is. & btw i don't mean this as like a criticism of his character i think it works really well. what if evil were just boring. what then.

[trappedinafantasy37]

Cult dissection part 3? 4? I don't know, anyway, the next cult topic I want to talk about is the lack of autonomy. Members are expected to give their bodies over to the cult and to The Idol. They are expected to be willing to give each and every part of themselves over, including in the form of a self-sacrifice where needed. Obviously, this does infer that a member's autonomy will be forcefully violated, but there is also this expectation that one willingly relinquishes control of their bodies over to the cult, and accept that their body is going to be used as a tool (and so this forceful violation isn't a true violation because it was in the Terms & Conditions that the cult and The Idol own the members body). In the event that the member does not willingly relinquish autonomy, other tactics will be employed such as force, coercion, or punishment.

Small tangent, but I promise this is relevant. In the real world, many of us have the misfortune of being aware of "purity culture". It is this worldview that sex is sacred, should only be done under certain conditions, and is intended to fulfill The Idol's desires and satisfactory in the eyes of The Idol (barf). It's a tactic used to enforce the idea that one's body isn't "theirs" and doesn't truly belong to them, but to The Idol. That only The Idol dictates what happens to them and they have no say in the matter. Another thing used to bolster this is something along the lines of "You were created in The Idol's image", as in The Idol created you and so only The Idol has final say over you.

But purity culture isn't just about sex and it is multifaceted. There is this purity of body if you will, which does include sex, but also things like tattoos, piercings, diet, medication, vaccinations, smoking, drinking, etc. We can also see a purity in appearance (or modesty) which includes hair (including hair styles, colors, and dyes), clothing (no showing shoulders, ankles, arms, etc) and strict dress codes, and even makeup. There is also a sense of purity in thought, which is basically just thought policing in which no bad thoughts about The Idol, no bad thoughts about the cult, no positive thoughts towards dissent or dissenters, no thoughts challenging The Idol's message. We can throw in moral purity (like sin) which includes no desires that The Idol doesn't like or approve of, temptation is bad and wrong. And there is even a purity of blood which is the idea that one's genetic makeup is sacred and it is necessary that one remains genetically pure, and anything that could "dilute" it or "taint" it should be avoided at all costs. Purity culture is thick and is a tool to not only strip someone of their autonomy and relinquish it to The Idol, but also enforces ideas of supremacy and eugenics. Whoo, tangent over! I promise it is still relevant, just bear with me here. This is still a post about BG3.

Durge and Orin are both shining examples of how autonomy is deprived of in a cult and both exemplify "purity". All the gods we encounter in the game do some pretty fucked up shit, but Bhaal and the Absolute are the only ones we see to forcibly take control and rob their followers of autonomy completely. Bhaal forcibly takes control of Durge or Orin when they both refuse to do what he wants. It may not be obvious to Orin as she has never refused an order until the end, but it is clear during the Act 2 scene that Bhaal can, and will, turn Durge into a slave if he has to. And if Durge loses the fight to Orin and destroys the brain, or embraces Bhaal but destroys the brain anyway, Bhaal outright steals Durge's body and does whatever he wants with it because Durge belongs to him. If Durge rejects Bhaal, Bhaal takes back his blood and kills Durge because the blood belongs to him, not Durge.

In the madness ending for Durge, it is implied that Bhaal is using Durge's body to commit a litany of sex crimes and using Durge to breed in the next generation of Bhaalspawn. All Bhaalspawn do have this urge to breed and thus have a different relationship with sex as opposed to other Bhaalists. If a Bhaalspawn is to engage in sex, it is to be done in the way Bhaal approves and that is to make more Bhaalspawn. I know we like to clown on Bhaal disapproving of Durgetash, but if we presume that Durge is canonically male, then Bhaal truly would not approve of Durgetash because it won't result in Bhaalspawn babies. It is also why I have the headcanon that Bhaal would have disapproved of Orin's infatuation with Minthara because it won't result in Bhaalspawn babies. There is a reason why irl cults are homophobic as gay sex doesn't result in babies, no babies means less members to control and less labor to be exploited. Homosexuality violates certain aspects of purity and since gay sex does not result in reproduction, it is perceived as "fun" and no fun allowed when you're in a cult!

We also cannot look past the incest stuff between Sarevok and Helena. You know, the same Sarevok who refers to Durge as the "most pure Bhaalspawn" (and the fact that Durge is the "most pure" is the reason why Bhaal and many other Bhaalists put Durge above all else). It was all done in an attempt to "spread Bhaal's seed" in the most pure form possible. I do not know how it went down, but knowing what I know of cults and cult leaders, Sarevok more than likely pressured the expectation to Helena that the only way to prove her devotion to Bhaal was to carry his child, that she was to use her body to nurture the purest Bhaalspawn she could make, and that it was her duty to. As another side tangent, I know that the incest stuff is more definitely apart of the character assassination of Sarevok and I'm not really going to argue on whether or not it is in character of Sarevok to do this. But there are some complaints out there saying that the incest stuff was unnecessary and was put in for the sake of being "edgy" and for shock value. All I am going to say about this is that incest is not unusual within some cults and it isn't unexpected for someone in Sarevok's position to take advantage of his power to coerce his own children. Especially when we are talking about a cult that does lean very heavily into the purity of bloodlines. I am not going to argue if the incest stuff should or should not have been in the game, I'm just saying that it does happen in irl cults. Do whatever you wish with that information.

And of course, Orin was to eventually be sacrificed to Bhaal to please him and restore his power, as that is the point of Orin's existence. I have talked about this previously, but the reason why all Bhaalspawn have the desire to breed, and then kill each other is because when a Bhaalspawn dies, their "godly essence" (if you can truly call it that since Bhaal isn't a true god anymore) returns back to Bhaal to fuel his resurrection and make him more powerful. He cannibalizes his children, they are expected to engage in this behavior, and they have no say in the matter. They were born to die and are only permitted to live under Bhaal's conditions. There are 4 Bhaalspawn that are in BG3 and all of them have either attempted to kill each other, or had a plan to kill each other.

And this is all done in an attempt to gain Bhaal's approval, to show Daddy Bhaal that they are the most pure Bhaalspawn and deserving to be Chosen. I have also made a post about this, but in an embrace Durge ending, Fel implies that Durge gets a romanced Minthara pregnant, or that she is the perfect candidate to immediately go impregnate (I prefer to think of it as the former as Daedra is female and this blog supports fpreg). In the event that Durge lets Minthara go and truly does save her until the end so she can have their baby, it just perpetuates the cycle because Durge and their offspring will be compelled to kill each other once the offspring comes of age and it's all because daddy says so and neither have a choice.

I never played the previous games and I do not know so much about Sarevok's background, so take this next part with a grain of salt. Based upon what I know of Durge and Orin, Sarevok did not truly have a choice. From my understanding, Sarevok acted of free will with the belief he had a choice. But Bhaal operates under the principle of "you do what I say when I say, or I will make you do it anyway. And you will not enjoy it when I make you." We can see this happen in the madness ending for Durge where it implies that Durge is still somewhat conscious and aware of what Bhaal is doing, but is trapped in their own body having been stripped of their autonomy and Bhaal taking control. We can also see this with Bhaal forcibly turning Orin into the Slayer against her will the one singular time she actually questions what she is doing. No Bhaalspawn is allowed to defy Bhaal, because none of them own their bodies, Bhaal does. If a Bhaalspawn does not relinquish their autonomy, no matter, Bhaal will just take it anyway.

Edit: added a picture

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