#adding my thoughts

[pinkchaosart]

(I am white and interjecting what I think might be helpful context, tell me to fuck off and I def will)

I think white people get really upset being called racist because, when we think of racism, we think of very extreme examples (white hat organizations in the south, for example). This is because we don't experience racism every day, so the image we have of a racist is very stigmatized and sensational. On the other hand, POC deal with racism every day, you y'all have a much wider experience of it to draw on. Because of this, the mental image of what a POC thinks of as "racist" is a much more day-to-day image versus the burning cross image. White people, in general, don't want to be considered racist because we don't want to be associated with the kkk, right? But when someone does call us out on a racist statement or attitude, they're not calling us a white supremacist, and I think that gap in understanding because of our white privilege is why we get so upset. To us, it doesn't feel low stakes because it feels like we're being compared to the worst of humanity.

But!! That's our issue to deal with.

It is not POCs job to manage our hurt feelings. It is our responsibility to widen our understanding of what racism and prejudice looks like. Being racist is the default state for the race with the most power, especially when that race's power was/is built on the oppression of "the others" as European and White North American power was/is. Our job as white people who want to unlearn our racist ideas is to stay open and to de-stigmatize what "racism" actually means. It's not just for nazi's and weird evangelicals, it's also your teacher, your mom, your best friend. It's you too. It doesn't make you a bad person, it doesn't mean you want to incarcerate or kill people that aren't like you, it means you have ideas and thought patterns that need work.

i will say this as a person who is not white: i think being called racist as a white person is like way lower stakes than anyone makes it out to be. and like, the reality is that white people have an inflated sense of anxiety about what being called Racist Means when like. let's be fucking real for a second. it does not meaningfully often result in Material Violence to a person for being "called racist." and I think being racist is just a thing that happens. and like if we are going to say that being accidentally racist from time to time is something that like, is relatively low stakes, that has to go hand in hand with being like. ok well I guess i should take some time to think about why someone might think I'm racist and like Do something about that.

like I think the paranoia and anxiety about how Being Called Racist is something that Does Violence to People is rooted in a white guilt racialized anxiety and if I am going to be real with you I do not think it is based in material reality. you can be a little uncomfortable it's not the end of the world. i think it's frustrating as a racialized person to see so many white people more frantically hand-wringing over the prospect of being called "racist" than over the prospect of Being Racist. it's annoying to say the least.

[hansoeii]

the honda odyssey, huh?

[canisalbus]

✦ Fashionably late ✦

[mroddmod]

they are like puppies. 2 me

[localdiscountgoth]

- i’m going to kill myself in front of you

phrases that would change the game if i was allowed to say them to customers:

- you should kill yourself

- i'm going to kill myself

- you should be really embarrassed about the way you're treating me right now

- do you get off to this or something

- i'm going to marry your mother so i can teach you how to behave in public

- bark like a dog. your below me moron

[cthaehart]

Night version

[madsraa]

I’ve been meaning to paint a gray, cloudy botw/totk piece for so long!

[cryptidjeepers]

When i was like 10 or so, my class was getting vaccines at school and i always got super nervous about them. So i sat down and was like visibly terrified so the nurse started asking me questions to distract me. With all good intentions, she looked at my shirt and asked me if i like angry birds.

This was my shirt btw

I was so offended that i started explaing who perry the platypus was. I didnt even notice her giving me the vaccine until she was putting away the needle. Moral of the story, if you want to distract a kid get something wrong about their special interest. It works everytime

[flannelplanet]

HELPING PEOPLE IS GOOD FOR YOU, TOO!!!

Humans need connection, whether we like to admit it or not. One or two solid people you can connect with... man. The joy of it all!

“Oh boo hoo you shouldn’t ask your friends for favors we’re all adults”

I just spent three hours pulling up carpet and staples for a friend’s home renovation and we all did nothing but chat and joke and have wonderful conversation the whole time.

Helping somebody move or renovate or giving them a ride to the airport is functionally the same as going mini-golfing or playing a board game: it’s an activity that you do that is made more fun by having good company, and which provides something to talk about when the conversation lulls.

[soaked-doors]

voulez-vous, take it now or leave it

[electoons]

oh m-...ahhh...my pockages

[ruushes]

mom said it's my turn on the silly batstarion drawings

[akirakirxaa]

Most of my reservations that are not related to how disinterested in politics my WoL would be after everything are

1) I just don't like tourney arcs.

2) I also don't like beach episodes.

3) Every storyline I've experienced in this game where it focused on politics has failed to hold my attention the same way non-political plots do.

4) All of my personal favorite types of plot were wrapped up/killed off and I have little to get me invested in the new plot.

I recognize that this is me not liking certain story types and that doesn't mean the expac will be bad. But I also think it's natural for these feelings to happen within the fanbase when the overall vibes change so dramatically from the former expac. I agree that stakes can't just go up forever, or you get the kind of ridiculousness that happens in Dragon Ball (no hate DB fans, I like it too, but it DOES get ridiculous sometimes). But at the same time this feels like a bit of an extreme reset.

I'll still play it. And I'll probably still enjoy it. As much as where we just left off? Probably not, the Hydaelyn-Zodiark Ancients stuff was my jam. And I'll probably make a million AUs and headcanons to tie it into stories going forward until the day the game dies. But I'll still probably find something to like about DT. Hell, I fell for this game back when ARR was all we had, the part people beg newbies to just stick with because it gets better. I'll get through. And I don't think it has to be a Vacation Fan vs Non Vacation Fan kinda discourse either. Everyone likes what they like, you know?

But man am I not looking forward to a tournament arc.

I've seen so many people express disinterest in Dawntrail by saying something along the lines of "there's nothing in it for me". And I'm going to be honest, I don't really understand this sentiment.

When I began playing ARR, I didn't know anything about the world or the people or the characters or why my own character should care about any of it. I was set down in an unfamiliar world and expected to just walk around doing generic quests waiting for something interesting to happen to my character. With Dawntrail, the WoL is a well established character with a characteristic love of travel, discovery, and the world and people at large. The WoL is traveling with well known companions, and has clear goals to pursue while getting to explore a whole new continent. Comparatively, there is far more "in it for us" in DT than there was at the beginning of ARR. (Unless you played 1.0, but the majority of players have not.)

You never have investment at the beginning of a story, whether it's a game or book or movie or anything else. You become invested over the course of the story, as you learn more about the world and characters. Going into Dawntrail, we have the advantage, first, of knowing that the devs have an excellent track record of creating complex characters, fascinating worlds and compelling stories. And second, we have the advantage of having been shown a great deal of the world we are about to enter.

Personally, I have found all of the images and information about Tural hint at some amazing worldbuilding. It's a completely different kind of place from what we're used to and I find that very exciting. I love diverse regions and intricate cultures and getting to explore them in game. If you don't... well I have to wonder why you're playing this game.

Similarly, if you've developed your WoL to be someone contradictory to their canon characterization, someone who doesn't like to travel and experience new places and people and who would not be interested in Wuk Lamat and Krile's goals... Well, it's kind of on you if you don't feel there's anything "in it for you" in this expansion. Because it's clearly been purposefully crafted to appeal to the canon WoL, the one that SE is telling their story about.

And while I completely understand the desire to develop characters that deviate from the msq and experience the world of FFXIV in other ways, I don't quite understand playing the game but not wanting to experience the story as the devs have made it. You can so easily do both.

Getting to experience the devs' story, to explore their world and meet their characters, is always what's most exciting to me about new expansions. I can enjoy the story for what it is and then decide how I want to apply it to my WoL's development. And I appreciate how much work they put into creating this experience for me and the fact that they do encourage us to create alongside them.

Of course, it's not wrong to feel that there's "nothing in it for you" in this new expansion. But they've been very clear about the fact that this is the beginning of a new story full of unfamiliar elements. So I'm just not sure what some people expected.

[iliothermia]

[thereallycoolmonsterithoughtup]

kabru and mithrun's fun succubus adventure

[quarklynx]

here’s my cosplay of that old lady with a sword