#and because character dynamics are awesome

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

Thiiiiiiiiiisssss. Like, being completely honest, a lot of the issues we've been complaining about have pretty much always existed in the show--they've just been covered up by the really awesome character dynamics. Like--okay, when I was in college my dad and his wife bought a house that had been owned by an eccentric retired English professor and he'd done up his living room to look like a Shakespearian-era theater. I'm not exaggerating. The walls were painted to look like curtains, there were wall sconces with torchlight lightbulbs, there were murals, there were fucking GARGOYLES, it was amazing. And then my dad's wife painted over all the artwork and murals and took down the cool sconces and the gargoyles and let me tell you, EVERY flaw in that room became obvious. There were cracks in the walls, the baseboards were crooked, the lighting was really poor, the floorboards had water damage. None of which had been noticeable before because you walked in and it was like walking onto the set of a period drama. Anyway--it really feels like the show has lost what made it special this season because we hardly see the mains that we all fell in love with interacting, and all the beautiful details and side characters that made it interesting are just...not there. The flaws in the design are made more obvious because there's nothing else to draw the eye.

HenRen are sidelined like they're always sidelined except for child drama, but we don't have Hen and Chim bestieism to distract us from that fact.

Bobby and Athena are not addressing any of the issues in their marriage like they never do, but we don't have Bobby aggressively dad-ing everyone around him or Athena being a badass WITHOUT blatantly abusing her badge or sweet moments with Harry and May to distract us.

Buck is emotionally intelligent and mature until the story requires him to be an idiot who has the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone, like always but now we don't get to see him be smitten with his boyfriend or have beautiful moments with Chris or Maddie or Eddie to distract us (the scene with Jee was great and a perfect distraction...for the thirty seconds it lasted)

Eddie is three life-altering traumas in a trench coat pretending to be a functional human being like he always is, but now there's no Chris scenes to distract us.

There's just flat out no Ravi, May, Sue, etc to add to the scenery to distract us. And sorry, Brad is a piss-poor substitute.

This got way longer than I intended, but I'm really just so disappointed that in the face of *makes vague gesture at the state of the world* my comfort show has jumped on the general trend of "what is the absolute least we can give the consumer before they rebel?"

Like, we have PROVEN that we will forgive many, MANY flaws in the story for these characters...but they're not giving us the characters!

So yeah, there's cracks in the walls, the baseboards are crooked, and there's waterstains on the floor.

i think so many of the current problems in 911 could be fixed if they’d just let the characters have actual conversations with each other like they used to

[deadlysoupy]

i cannot express just how grateful i am that the devs decided to make rook so unique, in almost all areas of the game

like, obviously it's not da origins level, because that was a miracle in of itself and might never be repeated, but it's still so commendable, especially if we fairly compare it to inquisition

because think about it. we get like, what, six or seven faction backgrounds that you get to choose, and then you get a special relationship with people inside that faction? are you fucking kidding me that's awesome. not only that, but we also get a background, we get to know what our rook did before the events of the game, and we can decide how they react to it. do they feel remorse? regret? freedom? sure, you may need to add a little bit of context yourself for some factions, but that's the fun part! you get to make a little guy and develop them in your head! you're building them in-game

not to mention the combat and skill system of the game. there're seven companions and they all have their classes, and you can pick between two styles of fighting (except for rogue i guess, kind of) and your spec ties into a faction. you feel very unique because you can just be whatever and no other companion will repeat after you (or you repeat after them)! isn't that neat!

compare that to inquisition. who tf is your inquisitor. they're literally just a Guy (gender neutral). when you pick a spec they're all the same as your companions. how is this in any way making my inquisitor stand out. they're just a vessel, an empty plot device. they walked into a room and people pushed them into being a religious leader. it literally could have been anyone else. the only interesting choice i remember from inquisition that actually made me remember that they're a person is when you talk with casssandra about whether or not you believe in god. that's it

you become a symbol in 1/3 of the game. you aren't a person, your decisions matter to the whole world now, and you can't be biased about it. the game wants you to be analytical, but it doesn't want me to act like my character, i'm basically playing a Build Your Own Empire simulator

so don't you even start telling me rook isn't interesting, or that they're nobody. they have a story, a pre-existing one, but a story nonetheless. just like hawke does. we're roleplaying a specific character, and if the game does most of the work - that's fine by me, i'll just fill in the gaps and make my rook feel richer and have interesting dynamics with the veilguard. if you can't imagine your rook in Situations, i'm so sorry for you, because i'm having so much fun with them

[quaggyday]

Angst idea

From my other post about a Diona Bennett sibling dynamic, what if Bennett had a betrayal with Diona, something similar to what happened with Diluc and Kaeya ( anybody got ideas Im kinda stuck with that)

Here’s the thing whatever happens next is very not good. Diona reacts similarly to Diluc, Bennett loses his little sister and this time its not his bad luck but himself that hurt someone. Or if it wasn’t his fault the self hatred would completely rise as he hurt another person he cares about when he didn’t mean to. And for Diona who has finally been able to open to someone older than her that she can trust she now feels completely destroyed and utterly confused with emotion. To her was Bennett a big brother and helped her life get better because he was genuinely good? or was it to hide the betrayal or hurt her more

Or if she reacts by forgiving and caring for Bennett holy shit the ragbros would see that and feel a total whiplash of emotions. Not to mention its history repeating in any way possible for them. And I have a feeling they’d be the ones helping pick up the pieces after a fight

Sorry if this is structured weird just my weird and angsty ideas. If anybody has ideas lemme know

[pankiepoo]

Not sure if someone has asked this but what do you think of poly bright lights!?

awesome but you guys gotta change the name cuz im gonna start assuming all of the bright lights is one big polycule

[femmeleatherface]

@caiteaz i was going to make this a reply but then it ran away from me, so sorry for the delayed response!

first up i just want to say that your interpretation of them a brotherly relationship is awesome and i love it. when all is said and done i'm personally open to really any interpretation of their dynamic, ultimately they are fictional characters and we have better things to do than argue over fake people. that's part of why i kept the romance mention in the tags rather than in the post itself

that said i am one of the people on the romance train so. i will explain my take on it!

realistically i think the main reason erik/the daroga as a ship exists is because of the susan kay novel. idk if you've read it but they are. very gay in that. it's been a while since i read it, but if i remember right at one point erik nearly steals diamonds--aka the stuff they make wedding rings out of--to give them to nadir (the daroga's name in this version). and then i remember VERY vividly erik even ponders if nadir is going to be his lover but then decides nah because erik can't comprehend the concept of bisexuality (despite clearly being open to the concept himself)

also more obscure but beloved by me if nobody else, there's the 1991 musical where the daroga swoops in at the end, plants himself on erik's bed, tries to comfort him because he's sad about christine leaving, then talks about how he's followed erik from the ends of the earth and will continue to follow him until the end of time. and then they smile and clash swords together (this is not a euphemism but sounds like it)

but in terms of the leroux novel, then for me the romantic interpretation of erik/the daroga comes from two approaches: fun reading-between-the lines of their interactions, and speculating the concept of such a relationship based on the characters themselves

from the between-the-lines approach, in the leruox novel they're antagonistic, but close. they feel almost like exes who are still kind of a little in love with each other, but also broke up for really good reasons, but also still understand each other better than everyone on the planet. i don't even read them as exes, i just think they have the vibe all on their own because their chemistry is so fun

basically, they annoy each other, but also clearly still care about each other. from erik's side of things, he doesn't drown the daroga in the lake (but is very okay drowning anyone else), and when he's at death's door at the end it's the daroga he goes to so he can tell him what happened with christine and get help fulfilling his burial wishes. and the daroga, despite literally losing everything and being exiled from his homeland because of erik, still follows erik to paris and keeps in touch with him and stalks him, really, the way erik stalks christine. (i'm a simple person, i see any parallels between same-gender relationships that are totally not romantic and hetero ones that totally are and i immediately raise my speculative gay eyebrow)

and obviously there's multiple ways that kind of relationship can be interpreted. i don't even know if leroux intended for us to read them as friends considering the daroga repeatedly calls erik a monster and they clearly get on each other's nerves. this is why i have a second approach, speculating on the concept of them

like, think about leroux erik. he desperately wants to be loved but also his relationship with christine is super unhealthy. i mean... someone who knows what he looks like and what horrors he is capable of and who still hasn't abandoned him despite losing everything for him is RIGHT THERE

and the daroga. he literally saved erik's life ages ago and never seems to regret it no matter how much evil erik commits. prior to christine's kiss, the daroga seems to have an recognition of erik's inherent worth as a human being when no one else does, even with all the times he calls him a monster. he wants erik to be alive and wants him to be happy, but also knows when to step in because he's gone too far. also he himself is an outsider in paris because he is an immigrant who is distrusted by the people around him because of his appearance, giving him a degree of empathy for what erik has been through as an "other." (i would argue christine also has this potential because she's swedish and this is even why she and the daroga are the two people able to get the most close to erik, but that's another post)

even if all that's not romantic love that's still got to be some kind of love. and considering romantic love and the so-called "intrinsic need" for it is a huge part of the novel, the romantic interpretation just makes sense theme-wise

anyway. sorry for the long post but i hope that answered your question. like i said, that's just my take. i'm sure others have different opinions because art is wonderful and subjective that way

the relationship between erik and the daroga is great because while yes, erik is the bane of the daroga's existence, the daroga is EQUALLY obnoxious to erik. for every gray hair the daroga receives from erik causing mayhem, erik receives one split end of what little hair he has left from the daroga stalking his house, butting his nose into his private life, and all around being a major buzzkill by reminding him of promises he made forever ago like "no more murders" or whatever

[simonsquest]

Anatomy practice under the cut. Referenced Conan comics as usual.

[verrixstudios]

Me while watching Jujutsu Kaisen

[dayurno]

those r all so funny im guffawing helpp 😭😭 they’re all gonna die 💔

transmigrator riko transmigrator neil and transmigrator nora sakavic (she’s neil’s fbi agent)

[weregonnabecoolbeans]

Update on how reading Thrawn: Alliances is going

I am s t r u g g l i n g to finish it..im barely past halfway

[ishouldreallybeelsewhere]

Episode one of Supernatural is so flawed that, had I watched it for the first time last night (instead of for the third), I would not have have watched the second. Ever. The flaws are things I simply didn't pick up on when I was thirteen, and memory glazed over with emotional attachment. I understand why these flaws are there, what the writers tried and failed to do through clumsy dialogue and strange character decisions. There's no subtlety. Everything Sam says is direct exposition, specifically the things that he would not have to say to his brother.

I do not do reviews so that's all I'm going to say.

[dawnleaf37]

in honor of the tpot short with the failed debuters (assumedly) being announced soon heres my tierlist of all the tpot debuters most favorite to least

tags for longer opinions :3

[normalcannibalism]

i feel weird and self conscious about my art again. sigh

the entire post ended up in thw tags ohb my god

[danmeireader]

"mxtx's brain was meant for writing epic political intrigue if only it wasn't stuck in a fujoshi's body"

she did. three times. and yes im counting svsss. people discounting the absolute masterful commentary that made me near throw up with how haunting her narratives are, just because the leads are lgbt? color me shocked. did people...... miss everything?

"mxtx could've made sy top if she wasn't a coward"

imagine mxtx diverging from the boring ass top!teacher/bottom!student that people can read by the dozen instead of whining about sv, imagine mxtx giving the people their coveted crybaby puppy younger top, only for people to go "BOOO we want the boring way!!! give us the snoozefest or you're a coward!!!"

boggles my mind

[six-improbable-things]

There's a chance we might not have a session for Rook's campaign this weekend, and if we don't I'm going to be gnawing at the bars of my enclosure. I need to play out what happens next. I've spent every night since Sunday daydreaming about it until I fall asleep, and I'm going to continue to do so until we play the session. (and even probably afterwards, knowing me.)

At least we're most likely having a session on Friday, and we get to meet the new character... (RIP Clem.) They're an Undead Warlock / Tragedy Bard, and they're gonna be fucking AWESOME, I can't wait.

[nostromo130]

[Image ID: a lineup of 4 non-player characters from my D&D campaign. from left to right. first is a tiefling with orange-red skin, short brown hair, and grey eyes. their left horn is broken. they wear a black cloak, brown leather armour, striped pants and are holding a hunting knife. next is a half-elf man with dark brown skin. his dark brown hair has a grey streak and he is holding a cane. He has two designs. the first wears a black coat, grey pants, white gloves, and little round glasses. the second is a ringmaster-style costume: green tailcoat with silver embroidery, white pants, and he's also wearing some pale blue eyeshadow. In both his shoes are splattered with blood. Next is a white human man with white hair and red eyes. He wears a black suit with red lapels and a grey waistcoat. He is holding a wooden stake. Lastly, a human woman with brown skin and hair. Her eyes are red and she wears a white collared shirt with poofy sleeves and a long grey skirt. She has a chatelaine. They are all standing in a row against a grey background. End ID]

lineup for a dnd campaign heavily based off of curse of strahd. left to right: ezra d'avenir, dr. rudolph van richten, rictavio, lon godfrey, moira godfrey

[kakusu-shipping]

Encase anyone was wondering why I’m blogging at 6 in the morning, yesterday was not a good day for me and I forgot to sleep.