#also i need him very badly

[the-eyes-of-andyserkis]

[ Part One ] - [ Part Two ] - [ Part Three ] - [ Part Four ] [ Part Five ] - [ Part Six ] - [ Part Seven ] - [ Part Eight ]

[yourbuckies]

The Hollywood Reporter's Actors Roundtable

[vaguely-concerned]

My two cents on how much of Mind!Varric is Rook’s mind trying to fill the blank space and how much is Solas actively talking through a convenient blood magic paper doll of the mind: I think it's a mix of both, a truly collaborative psychosocial horrorshow if you would, but waaaay more towards the second. It feels too directed and tactical at times to be anything else. Rook's mind is willing to go along with the denial phase as far as it can fucking carry them to not have to face the grief and regret and does its part in papering over details that don’t make any sense, the way brains will strive to create coherent meaning even out of deeply confusing input, but to my understanding it's a collaborateur in how that plays out, not the instigator or control center. Solas is using it as a path to agency and to gather insight into Rook as a person unguarded as he can't count on in his own guise. (That stoic option that leads to him being like 'oh I see you're cautiously denying me access to your inner life. well. at least you still have Varric to talk to. y'know as an outlet :)'. You absolute BITCH Solas! That alone convinced me that he HAS to have an active hand in it on some level.)

My guess is that it takes considerable effort on Solas’ part to make Mind!Varric do anything more involved or complicated than seeming to sit up in bed and give casual commentary, and that’s why he keeps having eerie five minute shallow pep talks with you before he announces he conveniently needs a nap aaanyway good luck kid you got this haha. When he’s just spouting NPC lines from his bedrest, I’m ready to believe that could be Rook’s mind being allowed to improv lines for him more freely because it’s less about Solas trying to get something out of them or working an angle and more ‘Still here! Still totally alive and fine and the mentor figure you know and love and trust :) don’t even worry about it! Thankfully there is no war in Ba Sing Sei, as we all know’ upkeep work lol. Rook’s mind is allowed to set the tone of Varric, the outlines, but not always the content. 

AND, on a (beautifully fucked up) character psychology level, I feel like Solas is indulging in actually getting to be the good supportive mentor figure to Rook with one hand to assuage the guilt he feels about what he's done -- and what he's going to do -- to them with the other. Same internal logic as he uses in Trespasser about the Qun. ‘Almost everyone is going to die from the course of action I’m doggedly pursuing eventually. But at least I can make their last years happier and freer and kinder than they would have been otherwise. and that kind of makes up for it right. a little bit. doesn't it. doesn't that make it better at least. I need that to make it better)'. Did I really take your beloved mentor and friend from you if you don’t know yet that I did? Some philosophers would argue not really! So it’s probably almost ok actually. Isn’t it even a little noble that I’m taking all this grief and guilt on myself and shielding you for now. With undertones that I’m not sure he would realize himself (and might be mortified by if he did) that he is so incredibly lonely, and even a dishonest and indirect emotional connection is more than nothing when you’re that desperate. In this setup he gets idk. Both the control he craves so incredibly badly in relationships and over himself, and the scraps, the fading afterimages, of intimacy and warmth and companionship, even second hand. The one thing Solas and Rook agree on deep deep down is that they really wish Varric weren't gone. They're handshake memeing this in the saddest and most creepy way possible.

I think an important element too is that Solas needs Rook and their team to *succeed* —  up to a certain point. He needs someone to hold the two other elven mean girls off until he can get out of here. Ideally, in a perfect world, even do all the hard work of killing them so he can swoop in at the end and do his thing when both sides are exhausted and out of resources to stop him, and then Bob’s your uncle! Same logic as he was using with Corypheus, and after that worked out so well, too! King of choosing to never learn from a single solitary mistake he’s ever made even though i fully believe he could have the capacity to Fen’Harel <3 The underlying idea isn’t flawed, you see, it was just unforeseen circumstances getting in the way. This time for sure it’ll all work out the way I cleverly imagined it in my head beforehand. Cue By Talos this can’t be happening etc. in the form of a statue almost crushing him like a bug. 

So he's providing guidance and forging Rook into a leader from two angles: one Rook might not trust, and one they probably will. Shaping them into what he needs slowly and carefully. He’s helping you hone your team into their most effective state, as he might have done with his own agents back in the day, setting up his chess pieces even if he has to squint through two glimpsed realities to do it haha. Pincer maneuver of an insidious stealth mentor you never asked for. Also… at one point mind Varric gives you a whole little monologue about how Solas' problem is that he’s always seen his interpersonal connections as flaws and see where it’s landed him, all alone and the worst part? it hasn’t even worked. it’s all been for nothing he’s back where he began with nothing to show for it but his mistakes. Like...that has such strong 'uh okay happy to play your therapist from two rooms away here what the fuck kind of traumadump is this' energy to me, I’m not sure Rook like. Thinks that much about Solas as a private person. So much of Solas' self-loathing and futile insights into his own flaws seem to shine through in Mind!Varric's dialogue all the time — I just can't believe that there's no guiding hand behind it as it were. 

Most of all. I feel like people underestimate the degree to which Solas is incredibly funny. As in, he has a very consistent and recognizable sense of humour. It’s one of my very favourite things about him. We must remember — it is crucial that we always keep in mind — Orlesian accent and wig Solas from May The Dread Wolf Take You (my beloved, the explanation for why I love this dude even with the. All of the everything else. No one does it quite like him). He is not at all above doing things or adding little flourishes for his own obscure amusement, in fact that seems to me to be one of his most consistent traits. The Randy Dowager Quarterly comment Varric has? The ‘Maybe this is the Dread Wolf’s revenge. Forcing us to house sit for him’ thing? To Me this is 100% Solas amusing himself in his boring Fade jail surrounded by the screaming hellscape of all his regrets. Source: it came to me as divine revelation through pure vibes trust me bro 

If nothing else I find it much more narratively interesting personally if the connection between Rook and Solas really is that defenselessly intimate and entwined (and so unbalanced!), and the sense of violation and invasion and betrayal afterwards consequently all the more nauseatingly intense. Even if you kept him at arm’s length in the open, he’s been under your skin the whole time, looking around, gathering what he needs to destroy you, wearing the face of a friend. Regretfully, probably, but choosing to do it every step of the way anyway. (Sound familiar, Inquisitor? Solas doesn’t have that many tricks when you actually look at it, he keeps returning to old tried and true ones like a dog with a bone haha.) Maybe he even genuinely meant some of it as mercy, which only makes it so much worse. It makes his sin against his own core principles of autonomy and the freedom of all beings in mind, spirit and body so much more juicily grave if it’s something he pursues actively and consistently, rather than it half-falling into his lap as a happy accident mainly orchestrated by Rook’s own subconscious. Solas, too, is at his very lowest point, the closest to giving in and becoming his own antithesis fully that he’s ever been, and it makes the choice of whether you still reach out your hand to him one last time or not all the more impactful and difficult.

[odoraful]

details in snowy serenity | zayne ❄️

[thekittyokat]

you ever just have a lot, a LOT of feelings all at once about a character and not even remotely enough words or brainpower to FORM the words to describe everything you're feeling. so it feels like you may explode. yeah

[tomatoart]

the raw guy

[grimstrawberry]

If I don't make light of everything, I'm gonna explode.

[creativity-deficient]

South Park fans! How many things do you have in common with your favorite character(s)? I’m curious!!

[just-an-enby-lemon]

My brain is unable to produce anything but angst.

Like I had this cute fluff idea of Carlos being a Ford fanboy and moving to Nightvale inspired by his favorite scientist going to study Gravity Falls in the 70s/80s. All mostly based on the fact Carlos moved to Nightvale the same year Mabel and Dipper went spend the summer at Gravity Falls.

And it was cute. It was mostly Carlos sending fan letters/reports and Ford reading them and deciding - thanks to Mabel - to answer and making a friend he didn't had a complicated past with (and had a similar love for science).

But them my brain went "Ford would fully assume Cecil was like Bill, right?" I mean from Ford's view there's a paranormal guy who imidiatly is into the scientist? Clearly manipulation.

And at first it was still fine. Maybe Ford helped Carlos own inicial distrust of Cecil. But my brain kept going. To the point it decided that maybe what makes Stan and Ford visit Nighvale after the Weirdmagedon is the news that Carlos is not being cautelos and instead is dating Cecil.

So at this point it was still just a funny au with Ford thinking Cecil is some type of evil charming eldrish god that'll end the world while Cecil is just bonding with Stan and super trying to impress his bf friends.

But finally my brain went: "okay but what about after Ford realizes that Cecil is just an overly dramatic paranormal guy and truly just loves Carlos?". And I realized that while of course Ford would be happy for his friend and relived about the world he would feel even more as if Bill was his fault. Here is Carlos just getting a sweet guy and maybe he was the only one that couldn't see the difference.

And now I need someone to write it and give Ford a hug.

[through-the-white-noise]

the reason netflix cancelled dead boy detectives is because they're working on a show called alive girl agents btw

[varilien]

given that i've ran this blog for as many years now i think i should get much credit for this being what, only the third dick joke i've ever made here hdfkhkj

anyways. there's this point in the story where vash and wolfwood have to go their separate ways for a while, but neither of them are dealing with it particularly well

(image id below the cut since it's a longer one)

[image ID: a rough, doodley 5 panel digital comic of vash and meryl from trigun, but from my leaden skies au where they've both been lightly redesigned to fit into the setting of monster hunter. vash is a wyverian with long pointed ears, wearing a red coat with gold trim and buttons. meryl is a human wearing a beret as seen on other guild girls, but her all-white outfit is a practical two-piece blouse and shorts set. the whole comic is comprised of warm colors, orange and yellow and dark purple

panel 1: vash sitting in the foreground at a brown desk covered in candles and books, with a book opened in front of him that he flips through with a bored expression and his cheek resting against his hand. he appears to be in a library, lit by candles on dark grey chandeliers hung from the ceiling. meryl is in the background stretching up to reach a book high on a shelf, and beside her is a table which is also covered in candles and several tall stacks of books

panel 2: a closeup of vash's face as his eyes widen and his ears prick up. something in the book has apparently caught his attention

panel 3: a closeup of the page vash was looking at, an illustrated info sheet about the flying wyvern, khezu. a candle in the table brightly illuminates the colored page

panel 4: meryl has come around by vash's shoulders with a stack of books held in her arms. she quirks a brow as she looks over vash's shoulder at the book. vash has a neutral, hard to read look on his face, but his ears are still up and his eyes are still shiny and wide as he seems to consider the page for a while

panel 5: a yellow word bubble comes from vash, who huffs a long sigh and says, "maybe i should call him...". his head has tipped to the side as he rubs his neck and frowns, blushing a little with his ears drooping. meryl physically recoils from him and her face scrunches up in disgust, saying, "eww" and, "there's something wrong with you"

end ID.]

[leporinelou]

late thirties harringrove who meet back up in the early aughts is so fun because billy’s got a nokia that max got for him for his birthday because he, quote, ‘never picks up the damn phone’ (though he refuses to use that most of the time too) and steve’s got a company issued blackberry. and they are sexting

[gunsatthaphan]

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊

[luck-of-the-drawings]

smth smth about 'the thing that the character did that you thought was rly rly funny in the moment is actually linked to a terrible trauma that lies within said character.' or wahtever.

[kindaasrikal]

Look man I don’t head canon that Lloyd dyes his hair blonde and is actually a brunette, but to the lot of you that do, here’s an angsty and maybe wholesome reason as to why he might.

Lloyd looked up to his father and mother for so long, he longed for their love and affection, for them to be in his life and show how they did actually care for him, that they had their reasons for leaving but would do anything and everything to still somewhat somehow be in his life. Whether through letters or magic shadows they could’ve been there for Lloyd when he struggled through life as a child, bearing a head of brown hair proudly as the only thing that is similar to them both, his family.

But when neither were there, when neither listened (couldn’t listen) to his pleas and his begging for someone to actually guide his lost soul, his mind so confused and so naive to the world around him, he clung to the only family member he really knew. His father was someone he heard of, but never someone he knew. His mother was someone he heard whispers about, but never knew. His Grandfather was someone he heard stories about, but never knew.

Wu. His uncle. His only family that he could see and comprehend and actually have memories of, was the only person he knew.

His uncle visited, his uncle worried, his uncle was there in his life in a way no other was. Lloyd had a father, he had a mother, but all he knew was his uncle.

And when his uncle finally took him in he knew his uncle would forever be the one by his side, in any way or any form, the same way he was for his father, his uncle’s brother.

When Lloyd found a bottle of blonde hair dye when out shopping, mimicking perfectly the colour Wu’s hair used to be, he couldn’t resist looking like he’s apart of his family.

(Now as much as i love that Lloyd was going evil as a kid to be like his dad, what if the secondary reason was to get Wu’s attention.)

(He got jelly of the ninja)

[ruvviks]

hard to believe that the whole story starts because yancey got cheated on by his girlfriend of several years

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