#as i said in the tags of another post

[glitterdustcyclops]

okay it's nearly one in the morning and i can't sleep because i'm thinking too much about astarion so permit me to ramble for a moment (you actually have no choice)

but just

ugh

the more and more i play the game and experience all the different facets of the conversations you can have with him (and also ruthlessly spoil myself on his arc both ascended and not because i'm impatient lmao) the more i am just, completely in awe of the depth and care that went into writing him??

like, okay, cards on the table, i have a pretty major vampire kink, biting kink, blood kink, etc. and from the first moment i heard there was a romanceable character in a fantasy rpg that was a flirtatious queer vampire pretty boy with a Traumatic Backstory and a twisted master/slave relationship with an Evil Dude i was immediately like 👀👀👀

could not draft the marriage proposal fast enough, you know?

and larian could've just stuck with that! they could've had him be an incorrigible flirt, and have his whole arc focused on getting revenge against the horrid man what wronged him, and by helping him on his quest you earn his love and you two ride off into the sunset, happy forever

but no. instead we got something so much more, and it's entirely fascinating to me. all of his layers and contradictions!! the different masks he wears on top of each other, and all his pain and trauma barely simmering under the surface of his pretty polished façade.

and not only do we go ahead and take this man whomst on the surface appears to be a walking vampire erotica trope in a gorgeous package, but we pull off the reveal (and depending on how you play it this can happen almost immediately after you express interest in him) that this whole thing, is a very blatant, deliberate act. one cultivated by a sexual abuse survivor, as a way to protect himself from the things that scare him, that make him vulnerable.

he straight up tells you to your face that this is a lie!! this all pretend!!! you're supposed to fall for it, he wants you to. what he does not want, what he could never predict, not in centuries, is that you would see past his mask(s), and then go ahead and love him anyway. him. the real him, the one he barely knows himself, the flashes he reveals to you accidentally in small moments, as much as he doesn't want to: all those messy cruel capricious terribly horribly wonderfully real parts of himself, and how he wants to be real with you in turn, even though it scares the absolute bejeezus out of him

and THEN!!!! the further you go in his romance, the more you realize that this walking series of pickup lines, this supposed master seducer, is actually incredibly wary of sex because of all the trauma and pain it's caused him. sex is not something he associates with true joy or pleasure or even intimacy, not anymore; the ability to feel good about his body was taken from him. the game makes it explicit that, as a man who was robbed of his agency and his ability to meaningfully consent to sex, not only is it the objectively wrong decision but it is downright evil to force him into doing anything sexual with you, even though you're his True Love or whatever, and as he learns and grows and feels more secure in himself he will straight up dump your ass if you violate his boundaries around sex!!!

and instead of flirt-flirt-flirt-true-love-forever you get all these really sweet, tender moments of nonsexual intimacy, hand holding and hugs and just, honest sweet conversations? you can even tell him "hey i don't think it's good for us to be serious right now, but i still want to be your friend." and even if you do keep romancing him, you can reassure him that you don't hold his lack of interest in sex against him, you still want to be with him just as he is!! he is worth it to you, with his ten-piece designer set of luxury baggage. and he practically melts about it!!

and this is not even getting into everything post cazador quest, i haven't even gotten to those scenes yet except for the "evil" version (trying not to ruin it for myself haha) but the way his arc ends in the "good" version where you talk him out of doing the ritual, out of perpetuating the cycle of abuse that was forced on him, and instead show him a better way forward? and he experiences true actual freedom for the first time in centuries, and he hesitantly decides that he wants to keep going forward with you??

UGH!! i just, i care about astarion so much!!!! i am absolutely head-over-heels-stupid in love with him and the way he's written and i will never fucking get over it, oh my god, help me, i'm DYING

[monkesupreme]

ref

a satisfactory answer for Selina

[risibledeer]

hugs, all of joel's soulmates, lizzie, grian and eefo lol

Psst reqs are open, ik I draw a lot of Joel but i like drawing most hermipires so feel free ti ask, if uf like to

[piratespencil]

This is so funny to me. Reducing them down to their simplest attributes. Turning them into symbols.

[cosmicgamer]

The way Luz's thank you drawing got rejected by the person it was for when she thought she finally found someone who wouldn't make fun of her for her eccentric behavior, that she is worthless..and then the drawing does get recognized, that it's beautiful and why would it get thrown away. She was finally understood (I am in shambles help-)

[catofoldstones]

this manga is so unserious 😭

[warpedpuppeteer]

It's interesting how Buck's love interests are all written in a way that ends because of the reason they meet/happen in the first place and then of course, we have Eddie.

Abby, who changes Buck's view of a healthy relationship but then turns around and ghosts him, making him wait for months on end and letting him realize she's not coming back on his own.

Ali, who meets Buck during a dangerous situation in his line of work and then leaves him for how dangerous his work is.

Taylor, who lashes out at Buck for using her as a fake date and saying she thought she could trust Buck to be a friend who then ends up using him for her career and chose to put his friends in danger.

Natalia, who's there to help him embrace and deal with his temporary death but it leads to their break up because of the constant talk surrounding death when Buck's not comfortable with it.

We can't confirm for Tommy till it ends but it's important to note how he offers to get Buck into his interests like flying and muay thai yet doesn't show effort with Buck's interests like dressing up according to the bachelor party theme despite Buck being stressed about it. And we also have the fact that the entire reason they got together was due to Buck's jealousy for Eddie which he then claims to be was for Tommy. Makes me think they are either going to end because of differing interests OR because of the jealousy issue popping up again.

Funnily enough, every scene above has an Eddie parallel:

Eddie co-parents with Buck and not only does this not stop after a dangerous event but Eddie also has Buck down as a legal guardian (healthy relationship - Abby).

Eddie is in the same dangerous line of work and they have each other's backs. This happens right off the bat too.(dangerous job - Ali).

The Lawsuit era and The Dispatch era - both where they "betray" each other but manage to work through it (betrayal/lie - Taylor).

Eddie doesn't pressure Buck to talk about his temporary death until Buck's ready and is more focused about him living than in his death (death doula - Natalia).

Eddie who has different interests than Buck (poker, basketball and UFC/MMA) but also manages to show interest and actively takes part in whatever Buck comes up with; he suggests their outfit for the themed party AND ends up staying there for Buck even when others leave (different hobbies & showing interest/taking part - Tommy).

Absolutely fascinating when you start noticing that Buck's relationships keep failing for one reason or another and then we have him and Eddie who face the same sort of situations but they still come out of it stronger together.

It's clear that there's a reason Buck is able to overcome anything when it comes to Eddie (that conversation with Maddie about being there for each other even at their worst 👀) and we've already established that everything Eddie looks for in a partner is already something he has found in Buck. So really, all that's left is for them to realize that hey, the one I'm looking for is right in front of me! 🤷🏽

And yes, it's been said to death (hah) but you don't find it son you make it. And Buck and Eddie have already made it.

[tekatonic]

huh, Princess Elise is looking a lil different today

[ambigiousorganfailure]

this is a short in-between post while i gear up for the actual adler/bell and harrow/case comparison, but just an interesting note.

we all know about adler watching you/bell from the red room, right? but did you know he also follows you to the fenced-off area, too?

when i first played cold war, his behavior in this briefing stuck out to me. the way he shifts his weight, changing from foot to foot, looking between his table and the evidence board. it almost seems nervous, fidgety. it feels awkward on him, and it’s awkward to watch. when i was trying to record footage from the safehouse briefings for this miniature post, i thought i’d come out of it making a whole “lightning in a bottle” analogy for adler. but then you run into an issue-there is no other moment like this in cold war. at least, not in the briefings, not in the same way he acts here.

it was strange to me. why does he behave so differently here compared to any other time? his movements are so orchestrated, composed. this is past odd habits, this feels like a moment of weakness. he doesn’t breathe down your neck this severely at any other point in the game. why?

and it clicks in. this is the first briefing of the entire game. this is your first true moment as bell. before this, all he had known of them was a spiteful, frustratingly stubborn soviet and then an empty husk, trapped in a room where he’d have to strong-arm them into psychological submission with drugs and his own personal memories. this is his first time seeing bell out in the wild, moving of their own accord, not separated by restraints or reinforced glass. he’s nervous because of bell.

the reason this is the only time adler appears this way is because he’s reaffirmed of his leash on them after fracture jaw, after the memory exercise. hudson echoes this statement, too, as much as he is untrusting of them, for obvious reasons.

and how interesting is it, that he never shows this apprehension ever again.

[banditblvd]

Prime defenders but it’s only the stupidest things I’ve drawn for them

Banimatic

[nebulaedaniel]

seeing old dan posts and just. seeing a young queer person experience love, real (queer) love possibly for the first time and it just wrecks me a little. i remember my first queer relationship and how it felt like we were shaping the world to us in a way. half of the time the rest of the world felt blurry beyond us. and that wasn’t even long term, start to finish was maybe 6 months. i can only imagine being 18 and the overwhelming feeling of this is what it’s supposed to be. and when it lasts. getting to have anniversaries. to reach 15 years. i wonder what young dan and phil would have said, if they could glimpse into the future. or maybe they already knew.

[guardian-angle22]

911: Lone Star | Tarlos Head Kisses (S1 -> S4)

↳ for @rmd-writes

[watchingwisteria]

im so sorry i get it now i really do, the gay angels have me shaking screaming crying at all hours of the day and night, they mean everything to me i am literally thinking about them all the time and what it would mean to love someone steadily and silently through eternity, what it would mean to love across the lines of a divine war of supposed good and evil, what it would mean to carve out a space for oneself and ones lover in no man’s land, in the grey and moral ambiguity when you were created to be black and white without blemish. god i love them so much i just

[ghostorbz]

Wooo

Also a zadr version hello

THESE WERE SCHOOL DOODLES HEHE

I just made em digital

[olliegolliegee]

drarry is the little bitch version of jegulus