#a few nitpicks:

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread  

Tears in the Water

NA contemporary slice of life romance about a competitive swimmer with anxiety at a sports university

they start seriously questioning their gender when they make some new friends and start dating a trans volleyball player

queer friend groups, aspec characters

[mattodore]

i can't get enough of them

[lavaflowe]

My DTYIS took so long, that by the time I posted it, I felt like it didn’t really fit my style or skill level anymore so I thought “why not do it again?” SO HERE WE ARE

Third times the charm✨😎

Me rambling about all the little details:

For this one took a lot of inspiration from the wrathful aspect of the Bodhisattva of wisdom Mahakala (I did a research project on him a while ago and the iconography stuck with me). He was mostly prayed to to protect troops during wars and battles so I thought it fit well with Wukong and his warform. The five jewel ornaments in Wukongs hair are reference to Mahakala’s five skulls, which also represent the five wisdom‘s. The skullcap and knife of course reference the spread of wisdom and destruction of ignorance.

For what Wukong’s outfit I thought since he doesn’t necessarily need armor, it would be fun to reference opera! I did have to change the colors tho from his opera outfit to better mesh with the color scheme.

And for the last bit- the ruyi bang. For my redesign, I included lotus buds that bloom when wukong reaches enlightenment. But I wanted to continue having the staff change with along with him- so in place of the lotus buds, I decided to put Dragon Pearl for the time spent at Ao Guangs palace. Dragon pearls are usually flaming, and that also reminds me of the Buddhist mani, wish granting jewels (which can also be flaming).

[takadanobaba]

Yet another progress video on the submas Stardew Valley mod I’ve been working on with the help of the wonderful @xdoctorsparklex ! (She wrote the script and I coded it in! Thank you so much!!)

This would be their introduction event! Along with their own individual heart events, we’ll also have a main plot featuring the twins revitalizing the abandoned train station and more! ^^

EDIT: The second introduction event has been posted here!

[ohproserpine]

Doing an overall cleanup for all the chapters tonight so if you see any weird notifs or updates that's probably me goin through it all lol!

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

I love the romances in datv (Neve my Beloved) but I can't get over all the talk about how it'd have the most romantic romances in the series. They aren't bad but most romantic? I wish I didnt go into it with that expectation lol

Oof. Yeah.

My opinion on Veilguard is complicated, but when it comes to the romances...? I feel that, anon. I feel that so damn hard.

The romances are one of my favorite things about a Dragon Age game because it's a choice that can, when done well, completely change your experience playthrough to playthrough, y'know?

And for me there are a handful of romances where if I don't choose them, if I do an alternate playthrough...? I miss them so goddamn much. I miss them enough that I actively struggle to even finish alternate playthroughs. That's how much they've impacted me.

I'll always hold Alistair up as like.... the romance for me. Honestly, I think DAO set the S-tier of romances with him, Leliana, Morrigan, and Zevran as far as writing goes and how interwoven their romances are with the HoF's arc and the plot... they're not just fluff that's tacked on, it's not just, "oh, if you romance them, you get one unique scene toward the end of the game, and some different dialogue!"

I could go on, and on, and on about Alistair and his romance with my Tabris. Hell, even outside of the romance, just their dynamic in the game. Their friendship! I could write essays about the little nuances and how beautiful and tragic his romance can be, and the branching paths, hhhhnnngggggg you can have so many different endings with him!

In DAO, you have many opportunities to flirt. You can give them gifts, and special gifts give you cutscenes where you actually talk about the gift you're giving them. You can set the pace of the relationship. You have different paths you can take and you can discover cute things, like okay.... for Alistair, there's the conversation where he gives you the rose. If you go out with only him in your party, and trigger that, you can get special extra dialogue because you two are alone.

Like... they thought about that. They thought about the player taking just Alistair around somewhere. Why would they? Why would you?

Unless you're roleplaying walking around Redcliffe together to gather supplies to bring back to camp and accidentally talk to him, triggering the scene on the docks.

It's little things like that, special things, that make every playthrough with a different romance feel unique. It feels like the writers put so much thought and care into every situation you'd be in, they thought about how the romance would not only affect your playthrough, but how it'd affect the character you're romancing beyond just... ending the game with a partner.

Hell, it makes you want to replay the game because if this romance was this good, what are the others like? Y'know?

Which is WHY when I heard them make the very bold claim that Veilguard would be the most romantic, I had doubts... because they're competing with Alistair. They're competing with Morrigan, Leliana, and Zevran. Not to mention literally everyone else in DA2 and DAI...... except maybe Sebastian.

If there's one thing I can say about Veilguard's romances, it's that at least they're better than Sebastian's... which is not a high bar because Sebastian's DLC, can only be romanced by a lady Hawke, and from what I've heard/seen of the romance, they don't even get a kiss...

Look, if Veilguard wasn't a Dragon Age game, I'd say the romances are fine, good even... for what they are. Because they do have good moments! They're just lacking, and in some cases, feel unfinished... like there are scenes missing.

I romanced Davrin on my first playthrough, Lucanis on my second. My third playthrough with Carver as Rook is undecided, though I'm thinking either Neve or Bellara.

With Davrin I played an elven Grey Warden, and that really enhanced his romance with me because 1. surprise, surprise, CJ really likes the Grey Wardens and when the opportunity for another Grey Wardens in love story to happen, she picked it, and 2. It felt like Nesryn and him had actual chemistry when talking about warden things, which led into feeling they had chemistry outside of that.

With Lucanis, I played a Lord of Fortune because I thought it'd be kind of funny for this himbo of a man, the literal embodiment of sunshine, to be a pirate who then falls in love with an Antivan Crow. And I have..... feelings. About Lucanis' romance. Especially as someone who also is an Andersmancer. It's good, but also not. It healed parts of me, only to then do more damage when I realized that Lucanis feels like the AO3 version of Anders who is chill and controlled and Justice is also in love with you, actually........ and that brings up conflicted feelings within me.

Looking back at these two now, I prefer Davrin's romance. But the problem with Veilguard's approach to romance, in my opinion, is not just the lack of content. It's not just the feeling that some of the companions have better chemistry with each other than they do with Rook. It's not just the weird pacing of it all.

God, how do I word this.... when I play Tabris, Alistair is crucial to her arc. Absolutely crucial. Remove the slow burn of their romance, or remove their friendship, and she's a completely different person.

When I play Ed Hawke, romancing Anders is interwoven into his arc. The playthrough wouldn't be the same if they remained friends. The impact of the ending would hit entirely different. Then, when I play Aris Hawke, romancing Isabela adds such a different flavor to the story. It's like night and day. And they're both great, that's the thing!

I think Cullen and Josephine are my favorite romances in DAI because they're not traveling companions, they're your advisors. It's different, and it adds layers to their romances. I'm in war table meetings with them. We're leading this operation together, and I find those dynamics so interesting.

In my opinion, the romances do not add anything crucial to Rook's story. At the end of my second playthrough, I wondered if I should bother trying the others out... which is not great!

Though, honestly, a criticism I have of Rook is in both playthroughs I did, they felt like the same character with different skins despite me picking different choices. Different faction, different dialogue.

Carver's run is going a little different but I think that's just my brain filling in those blanks, which.... yeah. I feel like any depth Rook and the romances had was concocted in my mind because the game didn't give me much to chew on.

So even though I did two romances that feel different, Rook remains the same in the end, and like.... that's not something I can say about HoF, Hawke, or the Inquisitor.

There's always going to be headcanon and personal writing when it comes to DA, that's how fandom works, y'know? But unlike the previous games, this actively feels unfinished, and like it expects me to finish it for them.

Yes, you get cute, flirty banter with them, and you get the scene where they go to your room... and from what I've heard Emmrich actually gets a bonus scene so like good for him.

I mean that genuinely, too. Seriously, good for him to be the standout of having an extra, romance specific scene. I haven't seen anyone mention any of the other companions getting one.

But do I feel like the romances impacted Rook to the same level of depth? No, unfortunately. And it sucks! Because I do enjoy the companions! And the bits we do get of the romances, I like!

But do not try to tell me they're the most romantic in the series because they're not, I'm so sorry. I want them to be! I want them to feel fleshed out and interwoven with Rook's arc within the actual game, and not through headcanon! I see the potential, I see the intrigue of certain Rooks with certain companions!

I could go on and on about this, and I will if anyone else asks, but yeah, anon.... I feel you.

Also, I'd like to hear other opinions on this since I've only done two of the romances, so maybe there is more depth to be found that I just don't know about. Maybe I haven't found my golden combo yet.

Plus, I just like reading about other people's experiences with DA romances, I find it super interesting.

[skullzy20]

Was listening to rabbit hole on repeat like an insane person and next thing I knew I doodled him

[minionsuncle]

my take on Edward and Lydia. The graphic novels pulling me back a little wont lie …

[snowydragon10]

Right. So.

We need to Talk

I don't want any fights; I'm not here with the intention to start up fandom drama; From personal experience with a different fandom I won't elaborate on, that's the Last Thing I want to do

But

We need to address the Hall Monitoring for this Season

I understand from a vantage point that it's sometimes hard to understand the implications of a task and that CC's may interpret them in a slightly different way than intended. It's important to know when they succeed or fail a task, HOWEVER...!

We have to remember that they are also adults, that they're the ones making the entertainment here. We have to remember that the reason they're even doing this is because they want us viewers to have a good time and a good laugh. They're doing this for US

We gotta step back and remember that they are capable and can handle these kinds of situations themselves. It's not just the public stuff that we see uploaded that paints the whole picture here. They also have off camera interactions with each other during these sessions that don't come to light, and we, as the audience, have to TRUST them that they can keep themselves and each other accountable on these things.

They don't need 1K+ people daily on each life video to nitpick and/or clarify what they did differently than intended. They don't need 100+ people to say that they failed the task over and over, drowning the other 100+ comments talking about what their favorite part of the video was or how said video probably made their day. They Don't Need all of this Stress

They Don't Need Us Scrutinizing Every Move They Make In The Series

This series is amazing. The CC's are amazing. Please let's not stress them out with all of the constant nit-picking. They're people too. They have feelings as well. Let's try and remember the boundaries and respect them.

Thank you. If you read through this whole thing, at the least consider it. Also, don't yell or start fights with others doing the same thing, I'd like to keep "Start a Fandom War" uncrossed from my Life Accomplishments List/JK

[elkkiel]

Bless you for the Cat Token invasion, it is so so so lovely to see them everywhere on the dash! 🥺🫶🏻

thank you anon!!!!! it makes me really fucking happy that the general reception is so positive!!!!! I get really shy about posting too much at once, because I don't want to bug people by seeing too much of my stuff on the dash (yes, even little kitties. sometimes I psyche myself out thinking it's kinda gimmicky and people will get bored of it, so I'm unbelievably grateful for all the love. way more than I can articulate). thank you for supporting the fluffy little friends, I hope I can try something like this again in the future!!!

[ahoneesan]

i got a tablet for christmas and have used the unlimited power its given me to read like half of the idw sonic run.

[thebraxiatelcollection]

The scene of Spice Up Your Life is going to live in my head rent free forever, and I am so glad villains are getting evil camp songs again in Doctor Who.

[iangallagherisadeadman]

guys my brainrot of au!rockband is out of hand i cant think of nothing else and I'm so conflicted cause I've never written a fic before english is not my first language I wouldn't know where to begin with and I don't want to put so much time and effort for it to be shitty but at the same time I want to expand this idea so bad you guys don't get it I have a clear visual image of the direction I want to take for the concept art for their first 2 albuns and I'm fucking writing songs too I'm beyond cooked I'm going insane here

[comickergirl]

Final volume of Usotoki Rhetoric is out and ahhh, what a lovely wrap-up to the series. :D I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: HIGHLY recommend checking it out, it’s great!

[shantechni]

Me still being a little upset about the Karasuno v Nekoma match being turned into movie but crying too hard from how peak the movie is

[naamahdarling]

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