#and i was reading the images to understand what was going on

[kiwriteswords]

Drabble request—trying to explain to Hotch posting him on Instagram/making it Instagram official!

The Hard Launch [Aaron Hotchner x Female Reader Drabble]

Masterlist || Ao3||Word Count: 600

TW: Age gap, social media use, non-BAU reader, Aaron Hotchner POV

Aaron Hotchner had never been one for social media. Not one bit.

To him, the value of a private life far exceeded the lure of likes and comments. 

However, as he sat across from you in the soft glow of your living room, he couldn’t help but notice the way your fingers danced with nervous energy over your phone screen. 

Penelope, who lived next door to you, had been the architect of your meeting. Her intuition had proved impeccable, as usual. Despite the age gap of twenty years between you and Hotch, the connection was undeniable. It was your youthfulness that breathed new life into his structured world, and in turn, he offered a grounding stability you cherished.

Although, in this moment, he felt from an entirely different generation.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Hotch's voice was laced with caution as he watched you meticulously select a photo from your gallery.

You nodded, biting your lip in concentration. "Yes, but it has to be perfect. This isn’t just any post, Aaron. It’s us...going public. Officially."

Hotch’s brow furrowed, the corners of his eyes crinkling in thought. "And this is important because…?" His tone wasn’t dismissive, merely inquisitive. He genuinely sought to understand this slice of your world.

You paused, the selected photo of the two of you from Dave's retirement party displayed on your screen—both of you caught mid-laughter, a snapshot of genuine happiness. "It's about crafting the narrative we want to share. This," you gestured to the photo, "tells a story of joy. Of us. It’s not just for my friends but for anyone who comes across it. I want them to see the happiness we share, not just the age difference."

Hotch took the phone from your hands, studying the image. He had always been protective of his private life, especially after the tragedy with Haley and the constant threats that came with his job. But looking at the photo, the happiness evident in his usually reserved expression, he felt a rare surge of pride.

"You make a compelling argument," Hotch admitted, handing back the phone. "So, how do you make it ‘perfect’ then?"

You smiled, a sparkle of excitement in your eyes. "It’s about the caption too. It sets the tone." You started typing, your thumbs moving swiftly. "'A new chapter begins with endless possibilities,'" you read aloud, then looked up at him for approval.

"Poetic," he commented dryly, but his small, affectionate smile betrayed his appreciation. "You really think this is necessary?"

"It’s like marking a milestone," you explained, your gaze softening. "It's telling the world that this is my choice, our choice, and we’re happy. It's setting boundaries too, declaring that what matters is the narrative we choose to share and nothing else."

Understanding dawned on him then. It was a declaration, a way to control the story before others had the chance to define it for you. In his line of work, control was everything, yet here he was, learning a different kind of control—over personal perceptions and societal narratives.

"Okay, post it," Hotch said finally, the protective instinct giving way to support for your happiness. You looked at him, a mixture of relief and love washing over you, before pressing the share button.

As you set your phone aside, Hotch reached for your hand, a silent acknowledgment of the new step you both were taking. "How long until the world knows?"

You chuckled, "Give it a few minutes. Penelope probably already has the notifications on."

True to your words, within minutes your phone buzzed with Penelope’s enthusiastic approval and a stream of comments that followed. Hotch couldn’t help but feel a sense of rightness about it all. Maybe, just maybe, this social media thing had its merits, especially if it meant the world would know how proud he was to have you by his side.

[janeyshivers]

i think a big part of the reason why, even when Pratchett was alive, it was always Rowling who was held up as the gold standard of a modern British fantasy author, is that Pratchett was above all else just far more honest about like, The English writ large.

a lot of ink has been spilled on the saccharine nostalgia of Harry Potter books, particularly as they went on, that longing for the WW2 Blitz spirit that Rowling herself didn't actually live through, but is lionised in our culture and was subsequently regurgitated uncritically by her, on account of her being an unimaginative hack. "keep calm and carry on" is the core aesthetic of the later books, while the earlier ones are far more of the sort of irritating, faux-charming, brilliant baffling bouncing Britishness that captured the hearts of teaboos who knew no better around the world, and also presented a highly self-flattering image to the people who have to actually live on this shithole island. this was especially true of cultural institutions such as schools, libararies, etc, who found it germaine to push these middling children's books relentlessly on kids, while massive multimillion dollar movie projects were cranked out, because they were deeply, painfully in love with a cutesy mirage of England that we like to project to the world to cover for the fact that this place is the husk of a dead empire, inhabited by tiny islands of obscene hoarded wealth in an increasingly desperate sea of insane deprivation and poverty.

and on a certain surface-level reading, you could almost accuse Pratchett of doing the same thing. after all, he also wrote whimsical fantasy tales largely set in a transparently England-ish setting (that is, Ankh-Morpork and the surrounding countryside areas on the Discworld). they even feature lots of witches and wizards! his books are full of bumbling, good-natured Englishmen doffing their caps to the lord, scenic countryside vistas, dirty and yet charming city streets, bustling fairs, rascally pickpockets, and generally a lot of the same aesthetic signifiers of Rowling's earlier work especially.

but.

read any amount of Pratchett's stuff and you realise very quickly that he understands that there is a persistent, genuinely violent nastiness underpinning a lot of this stuff. I Shall Wear Midnight is a good example, as the honest, hard-working country folk of the Chalk never even acknowledge the shameful mob killing of the old toothless woman who Tiffany has had to bury. these charming communities are places where well-known cases of domestic violence go unaddressed until a pregnant girl is beaten so badly she has a miscarriage, and they are places where miserable, curtain-twitching sneaks spread lies and rumours with impunity. Guards, Guards! fits here as well, a book about how the not-insincere love of the people of Ankh Morpork for their new king is insane and destructive and ends up getting quite a lot of innocent people killed.

what i appreciate most about how Pratchett talks about this stuff is that neither the nastiness nor the more charming elements are artifice. while they seem to exist as a contradiction at first glance, a core feature of English culture from Pratchett's perspective is that these impulses exist in a tense balance at all times. Mr Petty hits his daughter until she miscarries, and also stings his hands gathering nettles to make a little grave for the poor kid before trying to hang himself. that doesn't make what he did ok, but it does mean grappling with the fact that people are complicated and don't make sense, culture doesn't entirely cohere, and that the things you might like about "Englishness" are part and parcel of some genuinely horrifying shit.

obviously i'm not going to sit here and pretend that Pratchett was some plucky underdog compared to Rowling, the dude had a knighthood, and there are even a few movies based on his stuff (I'm rather partial to the 2008 The Colour of Magic adaptation myself), although nothing on the scale of the Potter movies. but at a glance, it does seem strange that Rowling was our nation's marquis literary export in the 2000s, considering that Pratchett was more established, working in the same genre, and also a significantly more technically skilled and insightful writer than her. but, that's the thing, he was insightful enough that his writing didn't make for decent cultural slop like Rowling's did. Harry Potter is vapid enough for corporate interests and cultural institutions to build a multinational media empire on, not through some insidious conspiracy to poison the minds of a generation of irritating millenials, but because it was there and it was popular enough and it was easy to use, because it's not very complicated or challenging. Discworld is not perfect by any means, and i have my personal disagreements with Pratchett's (relatively) rosy perspective on humans as being fundamentally very decent. but the stories make you think, they encourage you to engage with the world critically, and they are written with a degree of empathy and kindness that clash with any earnest attempt to shore up "English values".

[krisluxxeeempress]

LILITH SQUARE MARS SYNASTRY | ASTRO SYNASTRY SERIES

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LILITH SQUARE MARS SYNASTRY

The first thing that came to mind, intuitively, was “this has to be the synastry Lilith and Adam had in the beginning of their tale”. It’s very clear who has the problem in this synastry, and you guessed it, Lilith. Or is it? If you know the mythology around Lilith and Adam, I am certain that they would still be together if Lilith never had a problem with the way Adam was trying to control, manipulate and gaslight their situation. However, if you know, you know that Lilith was not having it. Lilith left because Adam was exerting toxic masculinity and attempting to throw off the balance between their marriage with intent to have the upper hand. Unfortunately for Adam, his plots and plans did not work so he started telling lies but here’s the truth.

It doesn’t matter how many times anyone, especially an “astrologer” who claims they understand Lilith energy- they do not. Lilith’s mythology and history derives from being misunderstood, projected upon, scapegoated and treated unfairly. The most damaging part about the misconception surrounding Lilith is that she’s extremely sexual and provocative. This false narrative is just confirmation of the very lies that the mars person creates about the Lilith person to damage “her” reputation. The “astrologers” who regurgitate and spread false news are equivalent to being the mars person, the proverbial Adam.

The will of the Lilith and Mars person are too strong separately. The Lilith person needs equality, respect and acceptance. If and when that is not available, the Lilith person is naturally inclined to leave. In reality, anytime someone leaves a situation what usually happens? Gossip, assumptions and a lot of sh*t talking takes place starring the one who left. The same concept applies here when the Lilith person reacts, leaves or stands up for his/herself. This, of course, is then misunderstood and misconstrued, resulting in the Lilith person appearing the way others initially assumed.

Lilith Square Mars in synastry would not be considered a compatible one. The square that is present isn’t a challenge that can be overcome, it has to be abandoned, in my opinion. Some fights are fought in the dark and silently and the Lilith person in this synastry will eventually come to terms with this especially after persistent fighting with the mars person who can be extremely strategic, relentless and ultimately unwilling to change, understand and or respect you- the Lilith person.  Interesting because Lilith is squaring the mars person implying the Lilith person is the one with the problem however, the mars person is responsible for initiating the problems (this is somehow overlooked) and yet Lilith is the one blamed, as the problem.

I won’t go as far as to say that the Lilith person cannot win this battle with the mars person, though, a wise person once told me that “ you can’t lose, if you don’t play”. According to the mythology surrounding Lilith, injustice was demonstrated first in her relationship with adam and then again, with outsiders who until this day are still making up lies, assumptions and continuing a narrative that is based on projections. No where in history has Lilith tried to defend her reputation, image and more importantly, never has Lilith tried to tell her side of the story. She simply left ‘the Garden of Eden” and created a life elsewhere, never looking back. As for the Lilith person in this synastry, it would be best, when your're “ready” and consciously aware that you cannot change history or the mars person. The Lilith person has to realize at some point, that this relationship with the mars person is indeed karmic and the challenge here is to learn and accept that there comes a time in a relationship where it becomes toxic and the best way to fight back is to leave and to never look back. It doesn’t matter what the Lilith person does or doesn’t do, lies will be spewed, projections about your character will be created and it would be a great misuse of your time, energy and dignity trying to clear up all the gossip about you- or worse, retaliating.

For some of you who know the history and mythology around Lilith, you may argue that Lilith did retaliate by “killing newborn babies”. Did she really? Or was this another lie created to damage her reputation based in revenge for leaving Adam?  

It is also important to note that in mythology, aries, ( ruled by Mars) was not a faithful lover and in fact, aries got caught trying to have sexual relations with venus, whom was married ! But no one talks about this. This serves as another point of injustices within this synastry dynamic. The mars person accuses the Lilith person of being and doing everything that the mars person is actually doing- but no one sees, knows or cares. In the event the Lilith person remains faithful to the mars person, she/he will still be accused of doing things they never did. In the event the Lilith person does everything they are being accused of, then, well, the mars person was right all along and is justified in his/her treatment towards the Lilith person. Nothing negative is said about Adam to this day- and the same goes for the mars person.

There’s a negative connotation that has been idealized about Lilith. Like, the fact Lilith can entice obsession in another person. I can say that assessment is rather true especially within this synastry aspect for differing reasons. The Planet Mars acts as an extention of our ego, in facts mars is exalted in the sun- our ego. Mars is also respectively, a masculine planet exuding masculine energy.

Therefore, the Mars person becomes obsessed with the Lilith person not out of love but Moreso out of the egotistical need to control, win and dominate. We all want what we can't have. Whenever anyone hears no they immediately start saying and doing whatever they can ( this is known as manipulation) to make the no a yes. The mars person is no different. The Mars person wants what they want and the Lilith person who always put themselves first, is the perfect challenge. When the Mars person is unable to make the Lilith person submit and tolerate their egotistical and selfish antics, the mars person becomes enraged and start plotting attacks: and shortly executing those planned attacks.

We would all have to refer to books like “ the art of war”, “48 laws of power” and any self-help books on narcissism to determine the types of attacks the mars person will enact.

This is where the saying “knowledge is power” proves to stand correct. Hence why I fore-mentioned above that it would be best for the Lilith person to leave without a word as opposed to retaliating. There isn’t only one way to lose a fight and for however long the mars person is in your life, a fight there will be. During war, other countries will unite together and the same can be said for the mars person and their methods of attack upon the Lilith person. The Mars person will get everyone involved, like an army, to attack the Lilith person. Let’s never forget the root cause of this attack because shortly things will become loud, messy, confusing and destructive to such an extent that the truth is lost- just like the history of Lilith.

“ History doesn’t repeat it’s-self, people do”. The best way for the Lilith person to combat the Mars person is by educating his/herself. If the Lilith person has been beaten down over time due to his/her relationship with the Mars person, then again, leaving and educating yourself will help with taking your power back and becoming empowered once more.

Everything that I’ve described may not be as apparent at first, but give it time. Time is the Mars person weakness considering it’s impatient nature. If the Mars person is the male and Lilith the woman, The mars person would be the type to take you out to eat, something quick and then pressure you into having sex with them afterwards. If the Lilith person declines, depending on the sign Mars is in will determine how subtle or blatantly they react to the rejection. If it’s subtle, best believe the Mars person is going to create a lie and tell anyone who will listen about you. If the Mars person is bold, he will try to bully you or guilt trip you into complying. If that’s rejected, in extreme cases rape can occur. ( Lilith was raped by Adam btw)

If the Mars person is a woman and the Lilith person is a man, The Mars person will try to force the Lilith person by way of entrapment and or blackmail . In this case, the mars person being the woman will be favored and the Lilith person being the man will be scapegoated, cancelled and judged harshly by way of projections created and spread by the Mars person.

You are not Popping if you don’t have haters, therefore, the Lilith person in this synastry is somewhat of a celebrity- atleast in his/her immediate environment. Like most celebrities, they never clear up gossip or lies created about them. They just stay silent and keep living their lives which in turn, makes others obsessed. The same concept applies for the Lilith person. Lilith is popular even today because of the lies, projections and sexual fantasies placed on her that haven’t been cleared up. Even if they were cleared up, people including the mars person will still believe the lies. Their ego cannot and will not accept defeat and the truth about Lilith, the truth being discovered about Lilith and who she truly is, is a threat. A defeating one. This shouldn’t be hard to conceptualize considering how upset people get when they have to hear the truth.

“It’s easier to fool someone than it is to convince someone that they’ve been fooled”.

In conclusion, the Mars person will learn more war tactics dealing with the Lilith person. Trying to defeat the Lilith person is viewed as just another challenge that life is dishing out to which the Mars person will act accordingly. The Mars person isn’t the one who is expected to change in this synastry, the Lilith person is. When we realize that we really cannot change another person no matter how hard we try or fight only then will we regain our power and invest it into ourselves but first that takes seeking knowledge and that turned into wisdom, by action.

The Lilith person needs to learn to accept this truth and live by it. This entails leaving when one is not respected, understood and or valued- without a word. The Lilith person needs to overcome their fear or being publicly disliked or misunderstood. The Lilith person needs to learn how to control their emotions and those strong desires to defend yourself verbally or physically. Lastly, the Lilith person needs to learn that it doesn’t matter who you truly are, people are going to believe, think and say what they want regardless- it’s a losing battle not worth fighting.

Silence is deadlier than any acts of combat and or arguing- all of which is the only thing the Mars person knows how to do. Sure, the Mars person can be silent but again, give them time. Mars cannot stand a chance against time with silence added to the mix- this will drive them crazy. Soon, if we’re lucky, driving the mars person mentally crazy will manifest physically for everyone to see.

But as for the Lilith person, don’t hold your breathe waiting for that outcome, just go ghost.

With time comes wisdom, therefore, time and silence is your bestfriend, speaking to the Lilith person.

The Mars person is not a bad person (or maybe they are) The Mars person is just who they are and the Lilith person needs to accept this. The same acceptance that was never granted to the Lilith person. The saying “ we don’t forgive for them, we forgive for ourselves ”holds true. The best revenge is no revenge because the one expecting revenge will drive themselves crazy waiting for the ball to drop and never knowing if and or when it will.

In war, when an army retreats, the opposing army believes it’s due to injuries. The opposing army begins to assume they have already won and that’s their downfall – unbeknownst to them. That retreating army is planning a different type of attack now that the opposing army has exposed their weapons, fighting styles and the number of soliders they have. A smart army will lay low for awhile, using silence as a secret weapon- no pun intended. A smart or paranoid person would wonder if they really won or if maybe, just maybe, there’s a counter attack coming. The Mars person may think they're smart and that they’ve won because of the Lilith persons silence but deep down, the Mars person fears the truth.

The truth that maybe the Lilith person may arise from ghostville and fight back or clear up all the lies. The mars person may be smart but that will soon turn into paranoa. In reality, this will manifest as the Mars person feeling inclined to protect their ego at all cost, therefore, the lies have to continue about the Lilith person. The Mars person wants to bury the Lilith person so bad and deep that the Lilith person will never be able to rise back up, very similar to Lilith’s mythology. If you do any research, you will be misinformed about Lilith being casted into the underworld. Once Lilith was demonized, logically, there’s no way she will ever be viewed as a saint. How can a baby killer, satan lover, god disobeyer and promoter of sexual promiscuity, ever be redeemed? In most cases, it cannot be and that’s the intention of the Mars person in the event the Lilith person leaves or fights back against injustice created by the Mars person.

Personally, I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I’ve been the Mars person trying to control the narrative around someone and when it didn’t work- it ate me alive. I’ve also experienced a mars person who tried to control the narrative surrounding me and when that didn’t work- it ate him alive. With my progressed moon in aries conjunct my natal Lilith in aries, I can say that now, I do not care. I do not care about what has been said or thought about me nor do I have any desire to clear them up. I’ve been a “hoe” since middle school when at that time, I didn’t even know what a penis looked like. I didn’t lose my virginity until I was 18 years old, but people still project some image of a “hoe” on me. I’ve had men claim to have had sex with me when that never happened! When I tried to clear it up, it made me look guilty or like a liar. When I learned to stop caring and got quiet, everyone else got quiet. They may still accuse me of being someone I am not in addition to thinking that way, but now, I cannot hear it nor do I care if I did. I have learned to let people think, act and say what they want – it’s about what you answer to and never about what your’e called.

If you are the Lilith person, learn that, believe that, accept that and live by that.

[guarddog-of-proendos]

Image descriptions

- written by a visually impaired person

What is an image description?

an image description is exactly what it sounds like, a block of text describing the content of an image. this is important for many people but especially for blind and visually impaired people who cannot see the image (at least, not well enough to understand what's going on)

(people also cite that this helps people with slow internet, if you add that to this post I am hitting you on the head with a stick. our access to the internet is enough of a reason to add image descriptions, they don't have to help abled people as well.)

image descriptions serve the purpose of providing the same access to content and context in a post that you, a sighted person, have. the goal is to allow equal access for visually disabled people and other people who struggle to access images.

have you ever been stuck scrolling through Tumblr while images are refusing to load? was that frustrating? imagine how we feel every day, all the time.

How to write an image description

writing an image description is a skill. it's okay if you aren't great at it at first. not being great at it is not an excuse to not try. I'm tired of people telling me they can't be assed to try writing an image description because it might not be perfect. I would much rather read an imperfect image description than have no image description at all.

when you're describing an image the key point is to describe what's relevant, what you look at in an image. if the image is a tweet, describe what the tweet says. if the image is a picrew of an alter, describe what that alter looks like in the picrew.

You don't need to include every detail

a lot of guides will, with well intentions, tell you to describe a lot. sometimes, describing a lot is relevant. if you're describing a piece of art or photography then describing a lot is important because the point of the photo is to appreciate all of the photo. if you're taking a selfie, I truly do not care that your walls are blank and white. sometimes, more detail is less accessible. I don't want to scroll through paragraphs up on paragraphs for a photo that sighted people can just glance at and get the gist of.

take for example, this post divider I just used:

you could describe this as: a post divider with a large star in the center surrounded by a halo of the moon phase in gold. 2 horizontal lines come from it in the center with a pattern of alternating sun, moon, sun, and star symbols.

... that's really long. the point for sighted people is to break up the text with something pretty. it's not to admire all the intricacies of the image.

a more appropriate description would be: a star themed post divider

text, on the other hand, should always be transcribed in full. do not describe your DNI banner as "a DNI banner" that tells me nothing. put down all the text, all of it, because all of the text is relevant.

never use AI to write an image description! it's insulting and often inaccurate. problems with generative AI aside, throwing an image into chatGPT and then copy and pasting the sludge it spits out makes me feel like I'm not worth taking a minute to actually write an image description. AI generated image descriptions tend to be impersonal, inaccurate, and hard to follow because it just throws up all the random details it picks up on rather than describing the point of the image. with the editing required to fix a chatGPT image description you could have written your own and it would be better.

I truly cannot write an image description

ask for help. if you have no one you can directly ask, add a note to your post asking for help writing the description when you post it. when someone writes a description for you, copy and paste it into the original post. there is no such thing as image description theft, the point is accessibility. you can't steal accessibility. copy and pasting is not just okay it's encouraged!

on other people's posts (regardless of whether or not you can write an image description) you can often find image descriptions in the notes. taking a minute to check for image descriptions before reblogging an undescribed post is something fast and kind you can do for the people who need image descriptions. often you'll find a description and then hurray! that inaccessible post is now accessible!

....but I don't have any followers who need image descriptions!

yes you do.

if you truly don't it's probably because none of them can access your blog. fix that and suddenly you will have followers who need image descriptions

why is this in the pluralgang tag? none of you describe images.

Questions are encouraged

(if you have any)

[visceralcoma]

So it wasn't explicitly stated in the games, but when I saw these two codex entries, one in base game DAI, and the other in trespasser, I interpreted what the Evanuris/Ancient Elves did as stealing lyrium = theft of their culture and their land. It is what I assume the writers were conveying with it as one helluva foreshadow that no one but a handful of people clued in on. But because it painted the elves negatively, it was never a popular theory in fandom.

This elven writing found in the Arbor Wilds is so old as to be incomprehensible. There are whispers from the Well of Sorrows. It's impossible to understand the entire text, but certain parts suddenly reveal a shadow of their original meaning. "In this place we prepare to hunt the pillars of the earth. Their workers scurry, witless, soulless. This death will be a mercy. We will make the earth blossom with their passing." For one moment there is a vivid image of two overlapping spheres; unknown flowers bloom inside their centers. Then it fades. (Source) (color emphasis my own)

That blue section is what first clued me in. First this is coming from the Ancient Elvhen perspective. And read very much to me like justification for their impending actions at the time. Trying to tell/convince/propaganda themselves and others that what they are doing is right and just. That in the death of the pillars of the earth, the world would blossom. And already such heavy handed language was a red flag for me, but I had nothing else to go on.

Then we had more information revealed in The Descent where we got context from the pillars of the earth and a dwarven perspective, of the sense of loss of culture and identity.

THEN the icing of the cake of what solidified my interpretation was a codex in Trespasser:

In the light of the veilfire, the runes seem to shift, coiling and uncoiling like snakes. A thunderous voice shatters the stillness, shouting: "Hail Mythal, adjudicator and savior! She has struck down the pillars of the earth and rendered their demesne unto the People! Praise her name forever!" For a moment, the scent of blood fills the air, and there is a vivid image of green vines growing and enveloping a sphere of fire. The vision grows dark. An aeon seems to pass. Then the runes crackle, as if filled with an angry energy. A new vision appears: elves collapsing caverns, sealing the Deep Roads with stone and magic. Terror, heart-pounding, ice-cold, as the last of the spells is cast. A voice whispers: "What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all."

(source)(color emphasis my own)

the use of "their demesne" was the big clue for me. The use of the word demesne specifically. They admit the land was theirs (the titans). And by striking the titans down, they stole it and gave it to the "People", aka the Ancient Elves.

unrelated but sorta: I have a knack for sussing out plot twists and story beats in Bioware games. I sussed out Solas as an antagonist before I even reached Skyhold in DAI. Sadly I never documented this sussing out because I was still new to dragon age and DAI was my first dragon age. I didn't want to say anything without going back and playing DAO or DA2 in case I was horribly wrong and he was like a cameo character or something. My instincts about him ended up being right anyway. For DATV if you ask my discord peeps because we were simul-playing on stream. I was less than ten hours in and I was sniffling/on the verge of tears going "Guys, I think Varric is dead." despite very much not wanting him to be, so when the reveal happened for everyone else, they were like "How did you know?!" and I had to point out all the hints.

Just read the phrase “the evanuris found lyrium” and I’m like. “Like they discovered it?!” Are you kidding me? No the elves *stole* the lyrium from the Dwarves. Removed a part of their culture and killed a major figure/part of their whole life.

Saying the evanuris “found lyrium” is like saying how Americans “found (insert item)” when we really know it’s a thinly veiled cover up of colonization.

[mossyfella]

LOVE tumblr bc i was reading a really cool post and then it decided to CRASH and i LOST IT

[creatively-cosmic]

in loving memory

or: what did @pkmn-monochrome mean by this

[doodlejoltik]

my favourite writing device is having an un-Rei-liable narrator

[moldy-flowers]

The interesting experience of being pro Sasuke, anti konoha, pro tobirama, anti Naruto ending, pro Sasusaku, anti Itachi, pro Sakura, anti SasuNaru, pro Tobirama×Izuna, anti Madara, pro karin, anti Orochimaru, pro Uchiha and anti Hashirama. And also as much as I hate the guy danzo was kind of hot when he was younger...

[dreamieparadise]

Mimi x Takeshi

See my ingenious tags below

[neversetyoufree]

The problem with me having a super limited knowledge of Japanese is that, between my own rough understanding and some bad mtl, I can understand just enough of the new chapter that I know I'm frothing at the mouth to write meta about it, but not enough to actually write that meta for fear of glaring errors in translation

[thatonecrookedsmile]

More progress being made. I finished re-reading The Illusion of Living this past Friday. It's a nice book. 👍 This was the last of the Bendy books in this "marathon" that I'm doing which I had already read previously and now I'm rereading, meaning that I'm kind of up to date when it comes to rereading all the books that were released until December 2021. But the race is not over yet. Soon I'll start Fade To Black, and (technically) I'll finally be up to date.

Just to continue my chain of posting about the books I finished (at least, the main ones that I really wanted to read) here it is…something I did at the beginning of March, on the night when shit went down. (I hope you know what I'm talking about). I saw the tweets first hand, I was there! Right at the damn moment. And it was..something reading those tweets alright. If the image above doesn't show it, my mood that night and the next 1-2 days wasn't so… great. You might read this and think I'm exaggerating, but that night especially I, uuhhh, I didn't feel good! And this image (and maybe 2 more posts I made that night) are the results of that. (And to think that a week before this happened, I had finished rereading DCTL after a long time. Talk about better/worse timing than this)

At least, if you want the bright side of this, it's that even after that day, I decided to continue with my book marathon, and I don't regret it. I was down that day, but I wasn't out yet damn it!! and I'm still not. (I don't know if this sentence makes a lot of sense, but you get my point)

As a bonus, here's something I did the night I got to the part where Henry is first mentioned in the book (you can consider this as a representation of my reaction when he's first mentioned, both for when I read TIOL for the first time in 2021, as now in this rereading)

Feat. canon Henry design and my fanon design for him (I wanted to include him here + I still read this book with my fan-designs in mind)

[st4rstudent]

I AGREE its so crazy how zap gags weren't a thing.... like TTCC really popped off with that one! i understand TTR is moreso sticking closer to the way TTO was but WOW zap just feels so natural with a REALLY good mechanic that uses strategy in using squirt and its just so good.... also my favorite track

YEEEPP!! That's how I feel about it. Squirt and zap just mix well together. I also think the addition of an 8th gag track was also a good move, allowing for a nice rotation of combinations (like how lure-trap and throw-drop are together as a combo). And also its a nice even number. I also think it helps utilize squirt, idk just feels good to do in general. Of course, I don't really have anything to compare this to and it's just me speaking as a player of (currently) one server, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

It's my favorite too, zap warriors UNITE!!

[phagodyke]

weekend melancholy is starting to kick in >~<

[randomnameless]

Localization discourse has cropped up again on Twitter, and someone posted a few before and after screenshots of an Echoes mod that retranslates the game to be more faithful to the original JP script, with that same person claiming that all the mod does is remove all the personality and charm 8-4 added to the dialogue; for reference, here's the lines they're referring to:

Lukas (EN): But just once, i should like to be red with rage, green with envy... Something!

Lukas (JP): But still, i've never been caught up enough to lose control of myself...

Clair (EN): Do i not deserve better than these trite gambits of yours?

Clair (JP): That kind of behavior is very hurtful towards the one it is directed at.

Clair (EN): If that crass phrase means you wish to speak with me, then please proceed.

Clair (JP): Oh, Dyute. What is it?

I can somewhat get why people could see the first change as just being a less interesting way of getting across Lukas' lines about struggling with not feeling enough emotions (though even then i'd argue that changing the lines from him being dejected and resigned at his emotional struggles to him being actively angry about them is a decently big change to his character and not just "oh they worded it in a more interesting way"), but i really don't get how people can argue that Clair's localized lines aren't blatantly rewriting her character; her criticism of Gray being changed from "your behavior hurts people and you should stop because of that" to "your behavior hurts me and you should stop because i'm your superior and deserve better than to be toyed with by the likes of you", along with her greeting to Delthea being changed from "oh hi, what's the matter?" to "if that gross phrase means you want to talk to me, then i suppose i can grant you the privilege of a conversation" doesn't make the dialogue any wittier, it's just making Clair into more of a spoiled brat than she was intended to be originally.

You ruined my day with this :(

(i know this is an old ask, but I forgot it in my drafts!)

I thought FE15's localisation was nice, but granted, I didn't have access to the JP script (nor JP audio!), but now I wonder if the schtick "nobles vs commoners" wasn't overplayed in the lolcalised version, which in turn, would kind of explain why some people felt cheated by Alm's reveal -

Even if I always took it as "being a noble has nothing to do with birth" didn't meant Tobin as a peasant could become a noble and have a noble heart, but meant that even if you are born a noble with super special powers or not, being a noble character only falls on you, and the actions you take : Alm rescues random women (FE15 for you!) around at the cost of his mission/safety/etc, when Berkut, who is noble-born just like Alm, hunts peasants and burns his fiancée.

8-4 adding more "Nobles BaD" feels in touch with what ultimately happened with Fodlan, even if while the FE series already tried to dip its toes in this water with Ike, his "nobles BaD" ultimately amounted to childish tantrum and refusal to deal with "complicated things" when you realise and learn what kind of people he's working with, and their responsabilities.

In a way, I can understand the people being annoyed that the mod removed the "additions" brought by 8-4 if they really made the characters more memorable - but my stance will always be to be able to choose if you want to put parmesan on your pasta or not.

8-4!Clair is a spoiled and snob brat - but can't we get the choice to get a Clair without parmesan?

You know what, I'm thinking FEH's decision (in 2017!) to, uh, not include dual audio was due to the supposed limitations of the app, but imo, was also amde with the dubbing/US!VA industry in mind because, imagine the players from FE14-FE15 having characters who, by tone alone, are different from the ones they're used to, what kind of message would that send to players? You've played the parmesan!version of those games?

And to be clear, I like my pasta carbonara with heavy cream because I'm french and cream is life.

And yet, IDK, maybe that's just me, but I think I'd feel a bit out of the loop if I was thrown in game that celebrates a franchise I never played, since the games I played were... heavily "localised" to catter to my tastes and overplayed issues that weren't there because I'd maybe like this theme more than what was initially presented.

Cultural differences are a thing, but Crayon Shin-Chan is meant to be watched, in japan, by children in primary school.

OD's Crayon Shin Chan is basically japanese!Family Guy.

We had the "same" heavily lolcalisation back in the days here, with French!City Hunter ("Nicky Larson") and French!Hokuto no Ken ("Ken le Survivant"), and while in the 80s-90s some people still harped that those were the "real deal", with time it became more and more widely accepted that Nicky Larson and Ken le Survivant were... products that were lolcalised to fit with the regulations of that time (no blood for children! no swear words - when the regular french person says "merde" at least 10 times per day) - but if you were to go and interview the authors of those mangas, they wouldn't have a clue about what you're talking about with your french "dessins animés".

(granted, I've heard that recently, during a convention, both the author of City Hunter and Hokuto no Ken were surprised but pleased that even if it was lolcalised to oblivion, their work was so appreciated here!)

With modern FE though, I feel like FEH has to pretend that Nicky Larson and Ryo Saeba from City Hunter are the same person - so they will put Ryo in a fridge and call Nicky Larson "Ryo Saeba".

I mean, that's what we got with Halloween!Rhage - who roars using her special, and yet winks in her artwork because the artwork was commissioned by the people who designed/came up with Rhea, not with Rhage - and here, with your examples, with Clair.

Clair is a young noble lady, who as you pointed out with those lines, is a well mannered noble who doesn't hurt nor is looking down on people from lower birth, eons away from the "oujou who only means well" trope we ended up with with 8-4.

At the end of the day, people are free to enjoy whatever they want, let it be 8-4!Clair of Jp!Clair - but I'll have the same opinion as I always did regarding localisation : was it really up to 8-4 to change her characterisation this way? Are they still localising or swapping Jp!Clair with a brand new character of their creation?

If so, can this still be called localisation?

[potato-on-your-head]

[Image ID: tumblr user gun-chucks: for anyone confused: the "content removed" part is INTENTIONAL. it covers the trans and poc stripes of the progress pride flag, symbolizing how tumblr is a big fan of banning trans people and people of color while calling itself the "queerest place on the internet". End ID]

Reblogging this manually. Op doesn't want credit for fear of being terminated.