#Understanding the Past

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[cozymodeonpoint]

senshi fans: learning how to make nutritious meals for themselves

laios fans: down bad

marcille fans: lesbianism

chilchuck fans: putting that man in situations

[thp215]

Unraveling the Tape: How Words from the Past Echo in the Present

Retirement. It’s a time when the relentless march of the nine-to-five halts, giving way to space – space to think, to reflect, to confront the ghosts we’ve shelved in the hustle of daily life. Recently, in this newfound quiet, I stumbled upon an unexpected revelation about myself, a hidden truth that was both jarring and liberating. It’s funny how certain things said to us, particularly during…

[colorisbyshe]

i ended up googling how many billionaires there are because of this whole fiasco and there are almost three tHOUSAND billionaires. that is what... trillions of dollars being horded. trillions of dollars that could feed people, house people, educate people. trillions of dollars that could be used to make sanctuaries, protect land and animals, make entire swaths of the world just places where the planet can breathe.

two thousand, seven hundred people. that's just... a particularly dense neighborhood. owning enough wealth to save the world and instead spend on killing it and sometimes killing themselves.

that's what people who go "aw, they're still human beings, aren't they?" don't get. to me, this sounds like fucking space invaders who landed on the planet and just stole the entire food supply. that's not a fellow human being, that is a roadblock to fucking survival. that's my enemy and, yes, i cheer when my enemy dies sometimes.

[beesleeps]

"kabru doesn't even like laios"

meanwhile, kabru:

[aslyran]

Visions

[personalgrowthoasis]

The Charm of Longevity: My Oldest Yet Most Prized Possession

Uncover timeless lessons from my oldest possession - an antique wristwatch. Discover the value in things that stand the test of time. Don't miss it!

Hello there, amazing readers! Today, I’m going to share a little something from my life that speaks volumes about the charm and value of longevity. But before we delve into that, I invite you to join me on Twitter [@GrowMindsetHub]. There, I share regular nuggets of wisdom, fascinating insights, and snippets from my daily life. Don’t miss out on all the exciting content! Now, let’s get into…

[keferon]

Monster hunter au part 3

Also known as “Drift is a giant fox beast” comic ahah

I like to think these trails are really important as a safe space for Deadlock. This is his home, these are his favorite routes and his familiar and safe space.

So when he shows his paths to Ratchet it's a big gesture of trust. Because they're what makes the forest his home and he's willing to let Ratchet into that home:)

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Also. This au exists in the same world as my Spellbound au. Just in case you wanna break your heart a little bit

[madamemiz]

sad: falling out of a hyperfixation

tragic: watching your beloved friends and mutuals fall out of the hyperfixation while you're still in it

[reichurine]

more body swap au ideas, pt2

pt1 of said au

[carpsoup]

oc posting continues

[squeakadeeks]

hello cookierun nation here are all of the cookie cosplays i humbly offer to ye that ive done so far. love those lil dudes

[peterpcrker]

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST 2014 | dir. Bryan Singer

[basket-of-loquats]

SAY DO YOU REMEMBER

[gemsalive]

re: that HEFTY siffrin sweep on id5’s isat favourite blorbos poll — this might sound silly but i do actually think it’s kinda fascinating that isat, as a game so inseparably steeped in (for lack of a better way to describe it) queer fandom culture, managed to so completely sidestep the common Fandom Phenomenon that i suspect was behind the poll in the first place by creating a main character that is also overwhelmingly the fan favourite character for once.

obviously there are any number of factors we could point at to explain the extent to which siffrin nomiddlenames nolastnames manages to grab people and absolutely not let go, but personally i think one of the most interesting ones to consider is the one specific to the medium — that is, how siffrin subverts the “silent blank slate video game protagonist” archetype in such a way that happens to be primo brainrot breeding grounds.

like, when a video game dev makes a silent protagonist it’s usually a bid to maximize immersion by closing the aesthetic distance between player and character as much as possible, right? which is especially true of rpg video games — players find connection in the generic, as that is what gives you the freedom of motion to insert yourself into the story in whatever unique shape suits you best. you are your character and your character is you.

(as ever, post ran long. yall know the drill. tossin in a quick header pic before thoughts on blank slates & blorboification continue under the cut)

and then you’ve got siffrin, who is expressly pointed out to be the taciturn type; who when initially giving the player exposition about their journey so far doesn’t seem to hint at a life or history or even really any motivations outside the journey; whose every thought and action is narrated in second person so as to keep tracing and re-tracing the connection between him and you.

even their design — all darkless and shapeless, bundled up in that big cloak, as if an invitation for you to fill it in with whatever lets you relate to them most! at this point they are their own character for sure, but they also have enough very clear parallels going on with the silent protagonist archetype to feel more than accidental.

of course, as you keep playing you start to recognize that his blankness is much, much more than just a grab at immersion; his apparent lack of backstory, itself a fundamental piece of backstory. this is where he flips dramatically in the player’s perception from “generic vessel for story delivery” to “thoroughly multidimensional character trapped within endless torment nexus custom-built to target and exacerbate all his very specific worst traits rooted in very specific traumas”.

yknow, the good stuff !

but by then you have also been playing enough to be feeling the effects of the thing isat’s design does best of all. i’m talkin bout that ludonarrative lockstep baby. every piece of isat’s gameplay is designed to make you feel what siffrin is feeling — you understand by now that he is not a stand-in for you, but all the same you share in his frustration, his grief, his rare moments of joy and the subsequent heart-in-your-shoes devastation when that joy is inevitably poisoned — and through it all, the desperate grasping for anything new — all as if they were every bit your own.

so in this way the connection is maintained, even if you were someone for whom siffrin’s particular traits & struggles might not otherwise cause you relate to them at all if you had encountered them elsewhere, in a setting where you weren’t actively controlling them as a player. siffrin still gets to carry all the “just like me fr” impact of the blank slate protagonist in the tropes he embodies and in the game mechanics’ design, while totally free to evolve completely into his own character and keep you relating to closely them all the same. now toss back in the fact that said traits & struggles very much ARE of a flavour that a great many people Would Tend To Relate To and just like that you’ve got a perfect storm cookin.

too individual and compellingly written to be an empty vessel for plot delivery. too closely connected with the player’s emotional state to be a story observed impassively from the outside. he has 92 mental illnesses and for the low low price of free u can give him yours to carry too. nobody is doin it like him. congratulations on your well-deserved nose sniffrin nomiddlenames nolastnames <3

[durge-marzio]

Ohhh, I'm rereading Mystra's entry in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide... and this detail:

This means Gale was punished for trying to restore and preserve what he thought was a lost piece of Mystra's magic. Gale being Mystra's ex-lover put aside. He as her follower, she his goddess, was punished for attempting to do the one foundational rule of her faith.

I'm seething and so sad at the same time.

Edit: I used the word punish loosely, as in, toxic/abusive people will take any small mistake or action and twist it into something they can take advantage of. This post was also largely from the stand point of a toxic deity rather than a toxic partner, but both takes are valid here. Especially with the, “you didn’t stay compliant so now I’m giving you the silent treatment” part of it—from a god and a partner perspective.