#and this is a great example of that

[every-sasuke-uchiha]

[nestavadavat]

I'm sure someone's mentioned this, but I think it's really interesting how even the scenery around changes with the story throughout Rdr2.

We start in Colter, which is definitely run down, but it's secluded and surrounded by nothing but nature. We're only there for a bit but we never see anyone other than our own gang members and nature.

Horseshoe Overlook is still secluded yeah, but there's a town nearby. Otherwise it's overlooking this beautiful landscape. And Valentine isn't pretty but it's very western and very small. We see other people not far from camp but nature is still basically everywhere.

Clemens Point is surrounded by nature but what sets it apart is that it's already been used. There's a dock and we as Arthur go to clear it out. It's also just by Rhodes which is an arguably more developed than Valentine.

Then of course there's Shady Bell which is a house. It's already been used, we kill people to get it, and it's like maybe ten minutes away from Saint Denis which is a huge city. Saint Denis is very prim and proper and not very dirty, but just around the edges close to camp there's rot and decay.

I'm leaving Guarma out of this because I think it's less relevant to the whole gang's downfall, but it's a point to mention that it's the ruins of a house surrounded by a constant threat.

Then we're at Lakay. This literally has skulls on spikes outside, according to Arthur (I can't find pictures right now), and is obviously run down. It's a bit farther from Saint Denis but not by much. We also stay there for a while in a place that's burnt and shot apart.

Finally Beaver Hollow. This is arguably the biggest change from our beginning. We are in a cave that was previously filled with the Murphee Brood and the evidence of them is still there (cages, boxes, wagons, etc). We are right outside Annesburg, a filthy mining town where everything is polluted.

It's really interesting thinking back on it now and I'm definitely going to pay more attention to it on my next playthrough

[daisywords]

One of my biggest nitpicks in fiction concerns the feeding of babies. Mothers dying during/shortly after childbirth or the baby being separated form the mother shortly after birth is pretty common in fiction. It is/was also common enough in real life, which is why I think a lot of writers/readers don't think too hard about this. however. Historically, the only reason the vast majority of babies survived being separated from their mother was because there was at least one other woman around to breastfeed them. Before modern formula, yes, people did use other substitutes, but they were rarely, if ever, nutritionally sufficient.

Newborns can't eat adult food. They can't really survive on animal milk. If your story takes place in a world before/without formula, a baby separated from its mother is going to either be nursed by someone else, or starve.

It doesn't have to be a huge plot point, but idk at least don't explicitly describe the situation as excluding the possibility of a wetnurse. "The father or the great grandmother or the neighbor man or the older sibling took and raised the baby completely alone in a cave for a year." Nope. That baby is dead I'm sorry. "The baby was kidnapped shortly after birth by a wizard and hidden away in a secret tower" um quick question was the wizard lactating? "The mother refused to see or touch her child after birth so the baby was left to the care of the ailing grandfather" the grandfather who made the necessary arrangements with women in the neighborhood, right? right? OR THAT GREAT OFFENDER "A newborn baby was left on the doorstep and they brought it in and took care of it no issues" What Are You Going to Feed That Baby. Hello?

Like. It's not impossible, but arrangements are going to have to be made. There are some logistics.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Happy one year anniversary to In Stars and Time!

[littlefankingdom]

Bruce is a overprotective and kind of strict parent, but he is very lax in some domains where other parents wouldn't. Here are some examples:

His kids stealing money from him. You will never catch Bruce Wayne lecturing his kids for taking his money. In the Arkhamverse, Jason steals 5 millions from Bruce's bank account to buy his army, and the problems for Bruce are: he didn't know it was Jason so it stressed him a bit, and Jason used it to buy an army.

Stealing from him in general. What is his is theirs. Unless it's dangerous. (Cars are death machines for his anxious self, which is why buying another batmobile for the young justice is not acceptable, or is kids taking it for a ride. He did made Redbird for Tim as a gift for when he got his license.)

Stealing from the cops (he has done it himself so many times)

Stealing money from rich people. In Knightfall, Bruce meets a British vigilante named Hood who steals from the rich to give to the poor, and Bruce had NO problems with that. He likes the young man. Stealing possessions is an issue tho. (Dick should follow his Robin Hood's dream, his father is fine with that)

Hacking into government facilities or anything really. Unless it's to harm an innocent civilian, like a classmate, he will not say anything. Hacking the FBI? Good. Hacking a russian mafia? Ok. As long as they do it safely and follow Barbara's instructions, it's fine.

Lying to him. Bruce is always impressed when he realizes one of his kids lied to him and he believed them. He's the Batman, after all, they have been able to fool the Batman. When he learns that Tim invented a fake uncle, he is proud of him and he tells him such, because he made the Batman believed it.

[gellavonhamster]

Very late to the party, but that MA thesis on Jonathan and Mina's gender presentation that circulated on Tumblr some time ago (Jonathan, Mina, and the Holiest Love: Intimations of a virtuous queerness in Dracula (1897) by Viktor Karlsen Hessen) really is so, so good. From a deep dive into Jonathan as a Gothic heroine, complete with step-by-step comparisons with an actual Ann Radcliffe's heroine as well as the other female characters he's paralleled with in the text - Scheherazade and Lenore - to an exploration of how Mina's masculine traits are treated as positive throughout the novel and survive into the ending. Also, the author is very careful and rational when talking about Stoker's personal views and sexuality, neither jumping to conclusions based on a few facts nor disregarding those facts at all.

Also, there's a section comparing Mina to other female characters in Gothic literature who do not act in accordance with the Victorian gender norms but are punished for that - Helen Vaughan from The Great God Pan and Marjorie Lindon from The Beetle, and I personally am 1) always there for some The Great God Pan talk, 2) always there for dragging The Beetle.

[dunmeshistash]

cithis's overtly feminine presentation is so fun to me... the long dress and the cleavage window and the makeup and the fact that she's the only one who changes super noticeably in the genderswap is just . Idk its cool, esp with how androgynous all the other elves are

It is very cool! Cithis has a very overt gender presentation that we don't really see in other elves, even Otta who makes a point to present as male doesn't read as super masculine to the level of "hyper-feminine" that Cithis is

Elves seem to have their own fashion preferences independent of gender (from what we can tell from the gender swap)

Which makes sense, Lycion himself wears a very feminine hairstyle even in the original, so Pattadol also keeping the same hairstyle while she's a man is consistent! Meanwhile Cithis seems to be way more conscious of her own gender when dressing?

I wonder if presenting more feminine is more common than presenting more "masculine" for elves? Would a male elf dressed like Cithis be strange? I don't think Cithis is completely unique in how feminine she is cause we do see a few other elves with similar traits. Flamela has a exposed cleavage, Mysil has a long skirt, Daltian clan "Aunt Uranesse" seems very feminine with makeup and adorned hair, Cithis has it all at once but the pieces aren't unique I guess is what I'm saying

They say that for the most part there isn't much difference between male and female fashion but even here we have an elf in what we would call a "feminine" looking long dress

I wonder if those are things that male elves could wear without other elves finding it strange too 🤔

I wonder if there's an equivalent for "very masculine" in elf fashion, tbh I don't know what that would even look like, male Cithis just wears a very average looking version of the uniform (minus the boots and arm armor) even the neck piece is on instead of her choker. Otta does "dress like a man" to the point other elves get her gender wrong tho so there must be an equivalent? (besides the fact she wears the male uniform) Or maybe is her behavior along with the fashion that makes them read her as masculine and the fashion alone wouldn't?

Anyway it is very interesting!!! But I have no idea what to make of it!!!! Elf gender studies when

[lightsaroundyourvanity]

honestly i haven't been able to take "i don't ship femslash because women aren't given enough depth in media" seriously since the meteoric rise of fucking huxlo in 2015

[juliamccartney]

i looove these moments in malevolent when the background music gets all jaunty and you just know that we're entering comedy mode and what's about to happen is very silly

[phoenixcatch7]

Okay but it's super interesting how

Din = Power = Ganondorf

Naryu = Wisdom = Zelda

Farore = Courage = Link.

Because Din, in the hylian creation myth, created the physical world. Naryu then created the laws - gravity, time, etc. And Farore finally created life - plants and people.

Din created the body, naryu the mind, Farore the soul.

And the triforce and its wielders so perfectly reflect that.

Ganon is physical power, he is big and intimidating and he breaks things. He is cunning and determined, but that's not what he focuses on. He is might makes right.

Zelda is wisdom and cleverness. She is stall tactics and information and team work. She is a powerful mage with a spine of steel, but that's not how she'll win. She is the pen being mightier than the sword.

Link is courage and persistence. He is the wild card sneaking behind enemy ranks, always moving, plunging into terrifying situations head first. He's a phenomenal fighter with a keen wit, but that's not what will get him through his challenges. He is bravery not being the absence of fear but the triumph over it.

They sit in perfect parallels to each other.

And ganon is reborn through his body - his resurrection is immortality. No matter how low he is cast, as long as he has a body he can claw his way back. He can cling to his power, build it ever higher.

Zelda is reborn through the magic of her bloodline. It's the accumulated knowledge handed down for generations, the unique power she must master, the skills she must develop to survive and get her kingdom out the other side intact. Even her name, the knowledge of herself, is handed down from all the way from the very first. Her ancestors knowledge of her future presence, her stability, is what gives her the edge.

Link is reborn in spirit. He is not bound by flesh or blood. Just like his wanderlust soul he can reappear in any time or place. His variation, his unpredictability, is exactly how he fights. It's what makes him so hard to pin down.

Ganons need to build strength means he can't chase after link. Links impulsiveness means zelda can outwit him. Zeldas stationary predictability means she's an easy target for ganon.

But the other direction?

Fire melts ice, ice redirects lightning, lightning burns fire.

And that's the very essence of the triforce.

[notbecauseofvictories]

one of these days, I will not immediately out myself as a weird person who knows too many facts when meeting new people, or do so repeatedly when engaging with people I know---but not today. (tomorrow's not looking great either.)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I want it back / I drag its dead weight forward.

[damianbugs]

it's kind of funny but mostly annoying when i'm like "yeah no i hate [comic writer] because they're a bad person and it shows in some of their stories" and there'll be one dickhead like "just because you don't like their stories doesn't mean they're a bad person" and the story in question is blatantly racist to brown specifically middle eastern characters and oh right HE HELPED PLAN THE 2003 INVASION OF IRAQ. TOM KING.

[azatas]

GOD i love the dynamic between garrus and paragon shepard, especially in the first two games. i love that shepard challenges his black and white sense of justice and that she pushes him to do better. i love that he gets comfortable enough to argue with her but that he respects her too much to just write her off when she disagrees with him

i do love their dynamic in the third game of course, it's my favourite point of their relationship, but the early clashing of ideologies is so interesting to me and there isn't much of that in me3 because of you know. the horrors

[ganondoodle]

(WIP) procrastinating work by working on the reworked sky areas for totk rewritten

[olympain]

Your team has been betrayed, Ethan. All your secrets compromised.