#and it makes it way less confusing

[pastabaguette]

i’m putting them all in the 1850s now. starting with these two for no particular reason

this might be a really specific niche that nobody cares about except me, but it doesn’t matter. i can draw whatever i want.

i’m not a huge fashion person so if things are off don’t be super mean to me

[deeplyridiculouslyinlove]

Okay wait I’m suddenly 100% bought in on Moiraine and Siuan being Birgitte-Gaidal Cain style soulmates, meaning that Siuan is right now in TAR waiting for Moiraine. The promises of “in this life or the next” and “I’ll find you/I’ll wait for you every time” are not just about the cyclical turning of the wheel, but come from the fact that Moiraine and Siuan literally do this over and over and in between they wait together in TAR. Siuan is in TAR, she knows who Moiraine is, and now she just has to wait for her to return to her. Siuan Sanche does wait for only one woman, after all!

That reconciles Rafe’s comments about us seeing Siuan again (and maybe even the angel emoji??) and his comment that you can already tell how they set up their endgame, without it being reduced to flashbacks and a brief epilogue moment which feels really trite and glib and not meeting the moment. He also calls them soulmates in that Q&A 👀

Plus we’ve already seen them in dreams together. Siuan clearly has a connection to the dream world. Even their ter’angreal hut was a world of their own creation that they visited at night. The roles that they play in the narrative are roles that we need over and over if we are to defeat the dark - they are the instigation, the inspiration. They don’t just show us a beautiful love story of dedication and sacrifice, but they are the very water that turns the wheel and thus a cornerstone of every age.

[relicsongmel]

Something I've always found fascinating about Raymond Shields is that despite seemingly having altruistic reasons for being a defense attorney, his reasons for trying to convince Miles to be one are anything but.

It seems understandable enough on the surface. After Ray comes around and agrees to work with Miles in The Imprisoned Turnabout, he sees remnants of Gregory shining through him despite von Karma's influence. Whether or not he recognizes that Miles' decision to become a prosecutor wasn't just born from that alone—that it was in tandem with wanting to distance himself from anything that reminded him of his father to alleviate the burden on his heart—is up for debate, but regardless: he acknowledges Miles as Gregory's son through and through and wants to capitalize on his dedication for pursuing justice in a way that he knows would make his father proud. He wants to let Miles in on the life he was robbed of at 9 years old—the life he once dreamed of living, where he follows in the footsteps of his father by giving everything he has to save people, by fighting like hell for the vulnerable and the condemned.

That said, as much as Ray dresses up his proposition by making it out to be as if he's looking out for Miles' best interests (and the best interests of society, even)...his motives for trying to get Miles to switch sides are almost entirely selfish. Ray's efforts (and most of his actions in general, really) are ultimately a product of his desperate attempt to cling on to anything related to Gregory out of an inability to move on from his death. Wearing his hat and coat, leaving the name of his office unchanged...and now, requesting that his son literally change jobs just because he can't bear the weight of his own loneliness anymore. Because he can't bear to think that the damage done by DL-6 is irreversible and Miles has moved on while he has stagnated for the past 17 years. Because he has an idealized vision of what he thinks Gregory would want and fails to realize that his son's occupation wouldn't matter to him as long as it brings him happiness and fulfillment. In his mind, letting Miles go means accepting the circumstances that brought him where he is and allowing both of them to move on. And that terrifies him.

It's even more deceitful when you realize that Ray's pitch comes at a very opportune time for Miles given his circumstances at that point: that is, he's under threat of investigation for prosecutorial misconduct and at risk of being stripped of his badge. Ray might fake incompetence, but he's not stupid—and he takes full advantage of Justine's warnings to try to sway Miles when he's in a more vulnerable position in terms of his job. Which is...pretty fucked up, to put it lightly. Despite having a better idea of where he came from compared to most people, through this Ray shows a lack of understanding of who Miles truly is and a lack of respect for what he's come to value, even if his path toward obtaining those values had some bumps along the road. But he's so blinded by his grief that he doesn't even stop to consider how much he's really asking of him, or what Miles is really searching for.

Ray was moved by Gregory. He values saving people. Defending the weak is an undeniably noble endeavor. But to ask that of someone else without consideration for their best interests is decidedly less so.

For all his occupation requires a certain selflessness, Raymond Shields is far more selfish than he lets on. And I for one find that contradiction fascinating to unpack.

[skull-turtle]

for the LAST TIME, what does "having a crush" even mean

[tears-of-xion]

Jagged Stone's reaction to his kids finding out about him will always be funny to me.

He really just goes 'Aw, you caught me! :( Oh, well, guess I better be a Dad now! :D' and it's just...so funny.

[alwaysbethewest]

I'm gonna say something that 90% of you will hate but it's what's on my heart—now that we've seen Pedro and Vanessa speak in every interview about how this couple is so passionately in love and dedicated to each other and have been married for decades—I wish we could let this be the ONE Pedro character whose fanfic isn't completely overwhelmed by x reader fic instead of even consiiiidering respecting and exploring his canon relationship 😔

[scintillatingshortgirl19]

i am begging one single person in this entire show to consider, for perhaps one single second, THE POSSIBILITY THAT THERE IS A REASON HOUSE HATES HIS DAD THIS MUCH

[spengies]

I can't be the only one absolutely let down with the update right??? Like the MK challenges are fine, a little TOO confusing and frustrating in my opinion but I digress as someone who's never liked Franco trials.

It's the catalog and rewards that really get me though? Like? One year anniversary rewards are just recolored skins we already have with a big ol 1 slapped somewhere on them. And Amelia's is only three pages with very basic cosmetics that look very similar to stuff we already have just with paint slapped on, mixed with a few A's. The room we get has an officers uniform in it and such couldn't they have gone a bit further to try and make it seem like, I dunno, we were actually escaping or getting stuff from the outside like the uniforms or a nurses outfit like Barlow's or something more??

[stargazerdaisy]

I maintain that Lucy not having a true best friend outside of Tim is a detriment to her. If she had a person like that in her life, they could basically confront her about what she's doing with Tim, what she's feeling, and push her to make some decisions instead of waffling back and forth. Even just having the conversation so the viewers could understand her motivations more clearly would be helpful.

[vaguely-concerned]

varric and rook feels again. immeasurable suffering. sure, I'll be your checkmate of hope at the end of the world, the triumph of the noblest lie, that one that keeps us going: maybe it'll all turn out all right, this time. maybe we'll figure out that happy ending thing yet. but it feels like all I got to keep of you for myself are ghosts and so many stories I'll never know the endings or beginnings to now, stories I'll have to figure out how to tell on my own or else let go of. am I allowed to still miss you as much as I do.

(so. love as usual then. love as a haunting, love as ghosts that cannot quite keep us company but how could we ever bear to leave them behind completely. orpheus walking backwards out of hell the whole way to watch what he left behind. on a clear day you can see all the way back to kirkwall from here. the da2 themes continue to rule supreme varric just brings them along into the narrative with him)

[pondering-gales-left-orb]

Btw for Anders I despise the excuse that "Kirkwall broke him and made him who he is" as if if he lived somewhere else he wouldn't have come to the same conclusion. I actually reject it

Justice and Anders merged way before Kirkwall

Mages are oppressed everywhere

Circle annulment aka killing all the mages in the circle was a NORMAL practice to the point that an outsider (the warden) could just walk in and do it

The templars were shit in all of Thedas they abused the mages in every circle, in kirkwall they did it in broad daylight but they also acted the same everywhere we get this confirmed by every circle mage we meet

Anders was always gonna do something

he was always planning to do something every time he escaped he always had a plan to do something even in awaking

Oh also i reject the notion that Anders awakening and Anders DA2 are 2 different people no i believe one is the natural maturing of the other when you grow up in a world the keeps beating you up and bruising you taking away everything you loved it will change you and make you angrier causing you to feel like you have no worth and your self-sacrifice is the only thing that will ever help change things

also not to mention justice and all his complexities are there contained inside of Anders alongside all that.

the fact that Anders is strong enough to have control over a spirit inhabiting his body and not loose himself entirely to possession but rather be so strong that justice could only convince him to delay what he wanted and try the peaceful talking method for years before realizing he cant take over and trap Anders and that he can only meld together with him and become part of him rather than take over( maybe that why Nathaniel suggested Anders to host justice, he knew how strong Anders is and that he will never allow any kind of take over of his own soul and body)

Kirkwall "city of chains built on the blood of slaves" sure made it worse yes but it didn't cause Anders to do what he did. He was always a freedom fighter even before awakening happened (YES A FREEDOM FIGHTER NOT A T*RRORIST GET IT RIGHT WHY ARE YOU BOOTLICKING THE FICTIONAL MAGIC POLICE AND CHANTRY'S BOOTS)

Anders would have done it no matter where he was because as he says in the end there was never a chance for compromise they would have killed mages anywhere at any time for any reason and he knew that, he knew it ever since the moment they took him away from his mother as a kid.

[theygender]

Oh damn I just realized I'm going to have to deal with being nonbinary at work IN PERSON for the first time

[thedrotter]

average minecraft gameplay of elementary school kids (+the og doodle of it I did like. months ago)

[wickedsnack-art]

JANUARY COMMISSIONS ARE OPEN

Slots:

Tarot: 1 Art Nouveau: 3

Commissions will close for the month January 6 and reopen February 1. Any forms received between those dates will be added to the waitlist. Patreon supporters get first dibs.

All commissioners will be contacted January 7 at the latest.

I've also changed how I do my simpler character portrait commissions, and those will not close! They'll be open on a rolling basis with 5 slots, meaning when I finish one, another slot will open, but I'll never be working on more than 5 at a time. Follow my Ko-Fi for more information on those!

[wackywatchdotcom]

i will say im not super invested in the idea of the show giving us too much information on c&a. like itll be super cool if we find out about it! and im sure itll be relevant information if we do but i think the information we get is going to be not super indepth, because im not sure itd match the tone of the show? its less about mystery and like The Lore and more about the characters and examining how different characters respond and have been responding to the environment set up by the show

(it WOULD be fun to learn more details about c&a and i AM curious i just dont think itd actually enhance much abt the show itself, and as such, i dont think its super important writing wise for the audience to learn about it either)

that SAID i do ascribe to the idea that ALL of the cast members worked for c&a before the ended up in the circus, no exceptions. i dont really know how say gangle or zooble wouldve ended up there, but i feel like they all ended up there one way or another. and i think most of the cast doesnt talk about their life in the real world bc its gone and theres no reason to dredge it up (or theyve forgotten it or most aspects of it), but it does make it fascinating that not even pomni, who has the least reason to avoid these topics at least early on, broached the subject of what in the WORLD is c&a UP to. it literally is never brought up ever as of ep 4. which makes me think the company was probably always super shady in some way to the pt that its employees were kinda desensitized to the idea that its c&as fault that horrible things happen

[velvetjune]

it’s not the most popular game out there or anything, but it’s a relief alan wake and other remedy games have fans because if i had to stew in my own thoughts over these games, my brain would explode from the pressure from keeping it all in