#and all approaches are valid!

[wolfsong-the-bloody-beast]

Not to focus overly on my Rookanis feels, but I love the dialogue cutscene where Lucanis and Davrin are drinking together, sharing stories, and invite Rook to sit with them, for so many reasons.

I mean, I love the dialogue cutscene in general and both the guys in it. The mood is great. The dialogue is just so damn funny. It's a friendly dick measuring contest between our favourite boys. After the initial antagonism and tension, they've become friends. There are bizarre lore drops. The stories are entertaining and frankly wtf? A big writhing ball of angry nugs? Created through blood magic? The stuff of nightmares! I wish I could see Lucanis deal with that. I wish I could see Davrin figure out the big heap of tentacles. I love the way the guys are just a little tipsy in a cute way. Lucanis talks a little too loud in comparison with what we're used to. Davrin is starting to have trouble articulating. The "Of course we're getting along. We're PROFESSIONALS," as Lucanis raises his cup a little towards Davrin always cracks me up. Also, Lucanis, are you drinking wine from a coffee cup? The way they both invite Rook to stay and participate. The prospect of slightly drunk cooking and snacking and sharing stories. All in all, it's a beautiful scene that makes me smile every time.

But let me also yap about Lucanis for a moment. (Of course you will let me. It's not like you can stop me. No one can stop me. Not even me.) I want to focus on how Lucanis interacts with Rook in this scene.

It's obvious he's let himself relax a little. He's a bit intoxicated. Clearly he's having fun. He smiles easily and flutters his eyelashes at Rook. When you choose the dialogue option that mentions ruining Solas' ritual, Lucanis insists that Rook tells the story. "[Neve and Harding] don't tell it the way you would," he says, encouraging Rook to talk about something, from what he says, he seems to have already heard, because he wants to hear them tell it.

Then he decides he'll cook something while they chat, but he emphasizes that he will only do so "if Rook's staying," nudging them further. It couldn't be more clear that he wants them there and that he enjoys their company.

I feel like I don't see enough people feral about it, because come on, he's so sweet in this scene. He obviously wants Rook around and their presence makes him happy.

And, yeah, I know this scene also happens with "just" friendly Rook. The thing is, I don't give a fuck. I don't think it diminishes the interaction in any way. The context matters. It's sweet with friendly Rook and even sweeter when they're more. Also, I played Lucanis' romance first, and I did not know that. What I saw in this scene during that first playthrough was the man absolutely delighted by Rook's company, repeatedly and enthusiastically asking them to stay and spend time with him, and it made my day. Still does.

When I keep babbling about how much I love Lucanis' romance, it's not just about all the hearts I get to click to see where they lead or the beautiful post-Tearstone love scene, it's also interactions like this where you see how much he wants Rook to be there, all the more or less subtle signs of affection (and yes, also friendship, because that goes hand in hand) that happen throughout the whole game.

[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

happy national teachers' day to the only fictional teachers i seem to care about

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

So many depictions of the main DC Trinity have Clark be the tallest of the bunch. And while yes, he is a big ol' farm boy, I have to disagree and state why I think the opposite: Clark should appear to be the shortest.

Basically, Bruce and Clark are supposed to both be around the same height (6'3" or smth). However. Bruce also canonically pads his suit to look larger than he is for intimidation. You combine that with his cape which blankets around him and makes him look like a tall shadow, and he kinda just always looks like a hulking beast straight out of a fairy tale. He just feels much bigger than he is.

And Diana is like 7 feet tall. I'm not usually into the whole like "my opinion is the only correct one" but I am here. She's an Amazon AND the daughter of Zeus. She towers over everybody and I will not take criticisms on it.

Artistic depiction.

[gracemarkss]

this exchange goes crazy...dana "i worship the sea he sailed on" "i did it because i knew if he found out he would kill me" "part of me likes it, needs it, wants the approval" " along the way there are other fathers" "i thought you'd be pleased" "he was my instructor at the academy" "he must have been a wonderful teacher...yes, he's remarkable man" "your fear of failing him?" scully would know a thing or two about THAT...

[lotus-pear]

Idk if I already sent this in or if it glitches out and didn’t send but I found this on pinterest:

OH MY FUCKING GOD STORYTIME REAL QUICK EVERYONE SIT DOWN. OKAY SO I SAW THIS ALREADY LIKE A WEEK AGO SO I WENT INTO THIS PERSONS DMS TO ASK THEM TO TAKE IT DOWN BC I LITERALLY DONT ALLOW REPOSTS AT ALL. AND THEN THEY ACCEPTED THE REQUEST. SO I WAS LIKE OK GOOD THEYRE CIVILIZED. WE'RE GONNA SORT THIS OUT. BUT THEN THEY LEFT ME ON READ. AND THEN THEY FUCKING BLOCKED ME??????????????????????? LIKE?????????????????????? THE FUCKING AUDACITY????????????????????????

[kaiotisk]

had an incredibly empathetic conversation with a christian woman tonight (whom i also made out with) about gender identity maybe the world can be saved after all

[sleepyvib-es]

i know everyone has their opinions on whether the seven (and nico + reyna) were all really that close in canon or whether they should be close or think that their bond would fall apart after the quest was over and the war was won but what i find real and true is that regardless of how their friendship was developed in canon they all wholeheartedly cheer for and support each other's happiness

[ghost-bxrd]

GIRL CODED JASON !!!!! HI HELLO OMG TUMBLR USER AND AMAZING AO3 WRITER GHOST BIRD YOUR POSTS AND STORIES JUST ACTIVATE BRAINWORMS IN MY HEAD 😭😭😭😭 holy fuck hi I'm too shy to come off anon but I love the discussions you've been having, so just chipping in !!!

I love the many many looks on how people interpret him being girl-coded, exploring his feelings towards domestic violence, towards victims, women etc, extremely good points that you brought up ! And I'd like to bring up that on a more meta level, the way his character is treated by DC and by people in canon as a whole is also so... girl-coded ? Going to try my best to articulate since eng is my 3rd language 😔😔 Sorry if it's not consise 😭😭 I have FEELINGS AAAAAAAAAAAA

I think the core of this "girl-codedness" stems from a few things, two things I can point to currently are how he's treated as a victim and fridging. Fridging is the easier one to see imo, it's something that's usually associated with female characters but fits Jason a lot. It's not about him and his trauma/pain being feminine inherently (nothing can be categorised in that way honestly) but how it's dealt with by people and the narrative.

Let's take a look at its counterpart which is 'Dead Men Defrosting' trope coined by John Barton. Here's the source for that: https://www.lby3.com/wir/r-jbartol2.html, and a quote from the Women in Refridgerators website I feel is really encapsulates this whole situation.

"...women heroes are altered again and never allowed, as male heroes usually are, the chance to return to their original heroic states. And that's where we begin to see the difference."

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Additionally, the grief that his death bought is made to be even more objectifying than it should have been. It's made to be Bruce's and everyone else's more than it is Jason's. The image of the dead character is, by necessity, distorted and is served as fuel towards a different character. He's reduced to his death and the pain associated with it is milked for like... 16 yearsish??? A perverted memorial, a perverted memory, an altered legacy. He was just 15. A boy. (Still, I wouldn't say Jason was fridged per say, as the term is created in reference to female characters and they have little to no agency in their stories there, but that 'feel' is there. So I understand where the girl-codedness comes from!)

It’s that the way a lot of characters treat him and a lot of the tropes used on him are things that are typically associated with feminine characters. It's also about how he's treated since he's not a perfect victim. Every attempt Jason has made to express his pain and his anger just gets him labelled as emotional, unreasonable and hysterical (which are again, unfortunately terms associated with women.)

There's many different points people have brought up about Jason, such as his bleeding compassion as Robin, the tears at the end of UTRH, and so on. Nonetheless, I think there's a lot of nuance that comes with gender discussions, since these things are deeply personal to people, and there's disagreements to be had. And that's cool !! There's many points loads of other people also being to the table that I love !! Contradictions too !!

Anyhow, so many cool PPL and analysis these days,,, ILY ANON WHO BROUGHT UP TITANS TOWER (anonanonanon pls chip in again and my life will be URS) Also ILY TUMBLR USER MAGIC-CRAZY-AS-THIS FOR PUTTING THE WEDDING DRESS IMAGERY IN MY HEAD, ALSO ILY GHOSTBIRD FOR THAT AMAZING REPLY AND ANALYSIS,, I LOVE THIS LITTLE POCKET OF COMMUNITY U HAVE CREATED this is so beloved 🥺🥺🥺💞💞💞💞

All very good points!

I don’t have much to add here except perhaps the argument with the memorial case. You’re absolutely right. I never realized how similar it is to the classic hero trope of protagonist mourning their dead love interest/family and dedicating their entire life to a memory of them, citing the actions they take to be in honor of the dead person.

On one hand, I tend to enjoy that trope. On the other hand with Jason, it all became horribly twisted so very quickly and lead to a hard downward spiral of Bruce having a real assholish phase.

But yeah that’s a whole other can of worms better left unopened for now ksksks.

I’m very happy you’re enjoying this blog 💚 it’s honestly super rewarding to hear people say that when it was one of the main goals to have this be a safe and harmonious space for everyone 💚💚✨

[emilykaldwen]

For a fic ask: What drew you to Aegon to the point of wanting to write a story about him? What made you look at him, see him in a way that had you go: Let me write a softer end for you. (Apologies if you’ve answered this in the past)

For everyday life: What animal did you like as a child? Has it stayed the same? If yes, why do you think that is? If not what is it now (and reason if you want to share)? Also, is there an animal you respect? (like in the sense you may not care for it but you understand its purpose and why others may like it)

These are such fun asks! Thank you!

Fic Ask: That's such an interesting question because that's not at all how I approached Maiden. (But if this is how someone approaches their story, that's great for them!) Abby was created before the first episode aired, since I had heard that they were doing a show, and had read F&B a year earlier. I wanted to make a proto-sansa character who was hopeful and kind in the middle of such a traumatic event, being caught between these two individuals (which was even juicier when they de-aged Alicent/Aged up Rhaenyra).

I wanted to write a story where I could try save this tragedy in a way that was satisfying to me, and I fully admit the idea initially started with 'how could I get Aemond and Helaena married?' The adults failed these children, and while I am fully a Woman Kings girl (if you were on my blog before I started writing Maiden, my blog title was 'King is a gender neutral term'), I thought Aegon was in an interesting position. I've always been a Hightower Fangirl, so I naturally gravitated that way (especially since I am not a Targ Supremacy person. The messy family is fun but omg get them out of power) and him and Abby worked very well together when I aged her down. So those two became the heart of Maiden because I really gravitated towards the relationship between Aegon and Alicent, and wanted to explore that as well, and while it is, at the center, Abrogon's story, there's a reason why the POV cast is what it is. I wanted to give a better ending to Helaena who deserves the world, and see what changes I could make. I hope that answers your question!

And additionally, what I like about the character Aegon in general is that he's in such an intriguing position. He's the eldest son of the king, he should be heir, everyone expects this guy to be heir, but it's his sister whose named such. And the thing is, even though he isn't seeking out this place, so much is put on him: His mother's suffering, the safety of his siblings (because he and his brother's are threats to their sister's rule), his desire to just live his life, much like Viserys. Yet when forced into the position, he takes to it. He throws himself into it, he gets on the battlefield (I do not like the way the show tried to portray all of this, as I think it does both Aegon and Rhaenyra a disservice, but that's neither here nor there). As someone who has a vaguely contentious relationship with their own little brother, and their own mommy issues, Aegon offered such an avenue to explore these themes I found interesting.

Animal: CHEETAHS! I LOVE CHEETAHS! My first book series I wrote was the adventures of cheetah girl. Cheetahs are everything to me.

An animal I respect are spiders. I became more accepting of these when moving out to the country, and understanding how vital they are to the ecosystem. Save the spiders! I mean fuck, I had a lil spider living in my driver's side side window that I let hang out for weeks. Named him George.

[mielgf]

i have been on dating apps for approximately three weeks now and hear me when i say they have genuinely made me believe hell is real and hell is modern dating

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

wanna ask how you feel about the eridan bpd headcanon/theory(?? not sure what to call it!) you're so good at your character analysis and i'd love to see your outlook on it

Since I don't have a degree or any formal training in psychology, I feel deeply uncomfortable diagnosing characters. I've made an autism joke before but only because I'm on the spectrum. He's definitely traumatized and anxious, but I mean those as descriptors of his behavior rather than capital-D Diagnoses. I try to focus on those when I can - the cause and effect of cognition, self-image, and behavior - and those factors may very well match up with DSM criteria, but I try not to touch an actual diagnosis with a ten foot pole unless the author has explicitly stated that X character has Y condition.

[thekimspoblog]

Is the video game really subverting its genre? Are you sure it's not just doing clever things within its genre, because otherwise the game would be boring and unchallenging and say nothing interesting? I'm just saying, it's cool and all that the internet allows horror game fandoms to overflow into eachother, but not EVERY 2 hour video essay needs to be spent breathlessly sucking off the devs. Sometimes a game is just REGULAR difficult and REGULAR high-quality.

Besides RPGs made over a decade ago, what is the thing supposedly subverting? Clearly not other contemporary indie horror games, because there is clearly a convergent ethos forming of cosmic horror and beginners' traps; that's just what the genre looks like nowadays.

[hagbrigade]

today:

Walked 5 miles bc no one wanted to speak up and say “hey maybe we should turn around it’s 80 degrees”. but it was lovely

tinashe concert 🫶🏿 and i met Raveena she was very sweet.

saw a SNAKE on that 5 mile walk it was a big one too. this is the same !!!urban!!! trail i saw the coyote on. when i say urban i mean this stretch is entirely paved and almost never more than 20feet from at least two commercial establishments

also saw gina rodriguez when i went to brunch this morning?

[folksy]

that recent thing ethel cain said is how I feel about letterboxd reviews. sorry to be a hater like I can be sarcastic or quippy but it does irritate me when reviews on review sites are just reduced to some one-liner for likes

[kashmirichaiwithmehr]

.

[apocalypticdemon]

hmm. spiraling. fun.