#They're so very good at justifying it

[chronurgy]

Vesper and Astarion

Vesper and astarion's relationship has always been an interesting one for me, because I've always known exactly how Vesper sees him but I've waffled a bit on how exactly astarion sees them. I think I've finally settled now.

Vesper looks down on astarion, and has from pretty much the beginning of their acquaintance. They consider him an easily led dupe and lend him very little thought beyond that. He's useful and that's all there is to it. They convince him not to ascend not out of any real feeling for him or the other spawn, but because they have no interest in raising up a new power in their city which they (at the time this all happens) fully plan to rule. As far as they're concerned, they're acting to preventing a possible future problem.

Astarion, I think, never really quite knows what to make of Vesper. Originally I had thought he tried to seduce them and they turned him down flat but in the end I like this idea much better (and it fits closer to game canon). Vesper is a monster, the sort absolutely willing to kill and use people for their own ends. A dangerous and powerful sort, and just the kind of person that he's looking to use for protection early on in the game. But I don't think that astarion ever quite figures that out because they're such a different sort of monster than the ones he's used to. Vesper is something like an ambush predator - they see no reason to be casually cruel and generally remain unfailingly polite, even helpful, right up until they decide to strike (they see no reason to tip their hand before they're ready). So that results in long stretches of traditionally "good" behavior interspersed with acts of incredible violence. Astarion, especially early on, reads this pattern of behavior as Vesper having "potential" but not taking it far enough to be worthwhile (mechanically, the gain/loss pattern keeps his approval middling).

As the game enters act two and early act three, I think he can feel some of their disdain, detect that something isn't right there. Something about their act two conversation about controlling the brain sits oddly with him and the feeling comes back with more force after the bhaalspawn reveal. I don't know that he's ever able to put a pin in exactly what about those conversations feels odd to him but I think he does cobble together some understanding of the fact that Vesper is putting on a show (much like he is) and that he doesn't want to get a peek under their mask (what he's picking up on is the very dismissive way they speak to him, especially during the conversation about controlling the brain where they're agreeing with all his points but have no intention of sharing that power with him). But they're powerful and he needs powerful allies, so he shrugs it off until after the cazador and brain situations are resolved and then is happy enough to leave when circumstances pull them apart. I don't believe either of them makes any effort to keep in touch after the events of the game.

These two are interesting to me because I don't think there's ever a world where they really get along or ever become friends. Their whole deals are just completely incompatible. Vesper tends towards a very subtle sort of power where astarion is used to people who flex their power much, much more openly. It makes total sense that he wouldn't see them for what they are, but that only further drives Vesper's dismissal of him. His attempts to manipulate them worsen things even further, because as far as they're concerned it's simply another display of how dismally out of his league he is here. And it makes total sense that astarion would react the way he does because of his history and Vesper's personality is such that they would always react with contempt. It's two people who are aiming completely past one another. I do think it showcases Vesper's cruelty and habit of treating people they see as "lesser" or not properly "their" people like things or problems to be solved. They're so, so willing to use people after so long leading the temple of Bhaal and that becomes very apparent here.

[crossdressingdeath]

No thoughts. Head empty. Gortash being the only person in the world to love and care for Durge both as Bhaal's Chosen and as an amnesiac hero only.

[brick-van-dyke]

If there's one thing I've respectively noticed from Zionists and defenders of Israeli war crimes, it's that every source, argument and potential avenue to explore each explanation is riddled with cherry picking, moving the goalposts and mental gymnastics to explain why their conclusions, which typically are barely even related to the sources they use, somehow overshadow literal reality and what we see with our own eyes.

While scrolling, one example I came across was the repetitive misrepresentation of BLM, antifa and quotes from Martin Luther King Jr, as well as statistics, scholarly journal articles and government website information. These are all good sources, yet every single time they're mangled completely until the only possible "interpretation" of any of them is "well Israel is right to defend itself after shorting rockets beforehand because the retaliation was brutal and all Arabs are bad by default therefore". As if any of these sources are even about individual exceptions of Israel versus hatred towards Arabs.

I think what I find most absurd, as someone in the middle of their own studies, is how every bit of critical thinking and logic goes out the window as they do every single thing possible to do what professors worldwide say NOT to do when evaluating sources. It's like watching a race to see who can tangle and misconstrue scientific information to fit their world view the fastest. Then said people say "um actually I studied at university before so it's actually not wrong that I'm doing this exact this everyone is warned not to do because I have a permit". Ignorance I can forgive, but willful and arrogant manipulation? That's another thing entirely.

[fungi-maestro]

Questionable Images 1/2 - The Question #8 (1987)

[magnusbae]

Hello my dears, New day, new horrendous Chrome UI update. 🎉🎉🎉

Fear not, even while they removed the flags from the settings which permitted to disable it in previous waves, and really want you to use their new UI, and really do act like a bully who just doesn't accept the word 'no'— there's still a way to disable it :)

thanks reddit user diegounion 🤍

Basically you right click the icon of the chrome wherever you usually use it, this guide will be for taskbar, under the cut other locations if you need :)

1.CLOSE ALL CHROME WINDOWS!! 2.Right click the chrome icon on the taskbar:

2.right click the chrome line again and click "properties"

3.inside the tab "shortcut" on the target/destination line, you must add the disabling of the new update in the following manner:

You will see this written: "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" you will need to add, with a space, this: --disable-features=CustomizeChromeSidePanel It'll end up like this: "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --disable-features=CustomizeChromeSidePanel 4.Apply and it's fixed, cheers :)

copy pasted from reddit for the other chrome shortcut locations:

If you have Chrome pinned to the start menu, open Windows Explorer and navigate here: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs When you find the Chrome icon, repeat the six steps. If you have Chrome on your desktop, you do the same, repeat the six steps.

[averlym]

whshdfhfjf.,,,

[destructive-delight]

rewatching laid-back camp was a good idea… camping is not for me, but this anime still makes me crave going outside, travelling, exploring new places and enjoying the slower moments with good food and a nice book, especially during the cold seasons.

[the-casbah-way]

FINALLY finished my outline for prodigal son it’s going to end up way longer than i planned </3

[sableprince]

i really want to sit down and make a proper Real lore doc for these goobers and not just the paragraphs of shtuff from whatever-ago, but like....... (buries myself underneath the dirt) lazy!!!!!!!

[notasouleater]

considering putting a murderbot cameo in this bc it would be very funny. They would both immediately clock the other and spend the entire time trading "I know what you are" stares while ushering their wards away from the other

[tasmanianstripes]

People need to practice minding their own damn business

Don't come into people's inboxes giving unsolicited advice or criticizing their personal stuff. Don't reblog somebody's posts saying how much you hate it and their opinions.

Don't like somebody's characterisation, AUs or the kind of art they post? It might even annoy you?

Okay, cool. Go make your own post. Block them. Be a little hater about it to your friends. It's good for your soul!

But don't be goddamn rude to people. Don't make it their problem.

"I don't like what this artist likes mah mah mah"

Here's a wild idea;

Artists...don't need to cater to you. You are not entitles to their work. Nobody on the internet should coddle you and post only stuff you like.

Shocker, I know.

[1mnobodywhoareyou]

Well to solve your last issue, 67 words this time? 😉

He directs a wry look her way but agrees to leave her in the company of the two men who were now circling the car with exaggerated appreciation. 

Carrie waves Luke and Willie back to allow Henry room to leave. “It’s like you’ve never seen a town car before. Do you not use drivers?” 

“Hm? No. We drive ourselves,” Luke explains, gesturing toward a nearby car. Carrie didn’t even know cars this old could still be on the road, if she was being entirely honest.

send a number and i'll add that many words to a wip

[fragmentedblade]

The Otto and Kallen conversation, the dynamic they had, the push towards invention, the wine, the impossibility of letting them die, and the problematic of choice that entails, reminds me so much of Blade and Baiheng

[fictionadventurer]

I've got a couple of days left in September when I want to squeeze in some time to finish a couple of books I was reading this month, and Inklings Challenge starts in a couple of days, so of course this was the perfect time to get obsessed with Victober and download a bunch of obscure Victorian books.

[tovaicas]

some of the threads probably could've been handled better but as a whole I love alphinaud's HW character arc so much

[shenyaanigans]

the journey of a writer is you begin writing just for the sake of writing and often hand wave details that aren't that important to you to get to the fun bits. then you decide you want to improve and you go through a rigorous process of thinking about lots of mechanics and abiding by sense and rationality, because the most damning insult to a piece of fiction is testing the reader's suspension of disbelief too much. this level of self criticism then colors the interpretation of other texts as well, where they are held to a particular standard where every detail must be perfectly logical, well researched, and contain no contradictions (cinema sins, if you will). nirvana is when you realize that doesn't matter and you go back to hand waving details that aren't that important to you.