#branch of sin

[bleach-your-panties]

CHOSO COME TO THE OFFICE RIGHT NOW.

@callm3senpaii this is Karako from Deadman Wonderland on the left!

[birdsareblooming]

hate this church my mom goes to man the pastor will explain the point that all its about is love and then uses shit and is like "and this is why you cant be gay" and its like BRO YOU JUST MISSED THE FUCKING POIIIIIIIIIINT

[sundogsandrainbows]

Hi, I'm sorry to write to you out of the blue, but Of Elves and Humans was the first DA longfic that got me hooked back in 2011 when I, as a dumb teen, happened to pick up DAO. Ever since then, the DA universe has been a constant fixation of mine and my admiration for you as a writer as well as someone who isn’t afraid to call out the franchise's flaws has never wavered. Now that Bioware decided to take a massive shit on everything pre-DAV and their oldest fans specifically, I'm really devastated and feel like a fool for having been so invested in DA and its lore for those past 13 years. It’s incredibly encouraging, however, to see you keep on keeping on. "So since they spat in my face like this I ignore this atrocity of a game even exists" is where I hope to be at soon, too. Thank you.

(First of all apologies for the late reply, I put it in my drafts when i was too tired to complete it, and then my adhd brain forgot it existed due to being distracted by new shinies 😂☠)

But aww omg i cannot believe i was the gateway drug into dragon age, or rather the old version of my story on FFN was. I am so very honored <3 And nonnie, I feel you. I am invested in DA as a series since DA:O's release in 2009, like I bought it on a whim for XBox because I liked Mass Effect 1 sm. So that is 15 yrs of my life i spent loving and discussing a thing while still being critical of the thing, but now i feel so very protective of the world, lore and its characters that "New Bioware" has decided to take a massive dump of shit on, and not only the games but the old fans I feel are treated with disdain too and do not matter to them any longer.

Long, subjective rant about current bioware aka the shambling corpse of its former self and talent incoming. Spoilers for Veilguard bc i don't give a fuck to avoid them :D You (general you, not you in particular dearest nonny <3) should use your time better than to play this shit anyhow 😂

It feels like calculated malice of new Bioware to apply the scorched earth tactics to offscreen destroy everything that old fans and fans of the other games in general held dear, and was supposed to suck out the enjoyment of DAO, DA2 and DAI. Like it is obvious they plan to create a sequel on DA's scorched bones, but jfc, you can do so story-wise without spitting everyone loving what old bioware has built in the face after dropkicking them. But to me that is part of the problem, since if i remember correctly and i wish i could find the bit... they praised Veilguard as "The best Dragon Age game ever", with the most interesting companions and best most improved combat system, comparing it to the other three games in a near smug fashion. There is marketing and there is putting the other games down to prop up your most favorite and only child mattering and they were definitely doing the latter. And don't get me started on the whole "Who is Zevran" debacle or we are gonna here all day.

Bottom line is new/current devs and writer do not give a shit about and very possibly have never played any other game than Inquisition, and you cannot tell me otherwise. And since a lot of devs/writer have left since the start of this project that would become this abysmal game, I also have the impression that there is a lot of underlying resentment toward what these former colleagues have created and so they piss on it in order to make it fully theirs now. Like dogs marking their territory, and well that did not work out, imo. At all.

Ever since they announced respecting our past choices by ignoring them (????) it was clear to me that I would not play Veilguard but just watch a playthrough and all spoilers and then move on. And everything i saw before release was shocking... like i was flabbergasted at how baaaad the dialogue was, which as a writer myself is super important to me in my story. There was no subtext, characters just blurt out everything they think and feel, like a lifeless doll you squeeze and words tumbling out and just as natural. It is stilted, awkward and 80% of it exists for info dump or info dumb rather as they keep repeating the same shit they just told you a few seconds ago as if you as the player are braindead. Here is a good example of what i mean.

Jfc, who edited this crap? There is so much superfluous dialogue that adds nothing to a scene but annoyance for the player and says nothing at all. Just pure senseless yapping in the most cringy way. Why was no one there to trim this nonsense as you should as a writer/editor? Hell, they really disregarded every simple and basic writing rule (everything is told never SHOWN for example especially in dialogue) which really made me question their competence in what they were doing and thus the quality of the upcoming game but i still held out hope for it to not be that bad.

Well shit, it was even worse. In all regards. Especially the writing that cringed this writer into a new dimension with its incoherent incompetence. Jfc. they got paid for that? I'm convinced the majority of fandom writer can do much better, even unpaid. Hell my cat just by walking over the keyboard can manage a better draft and script...💀

But I digress. That is a rant for another time. Point is, nonny, despite my defiant words, I struggled too for days after i got to know the full extent of Bioware's spiteful fuckery to even look at anything da related, in my case my Alistair/Mahariel longfic. I was really down for a few days, ngl. Then again, there is nothing better than spite fueling my creativity to prove "i can write better" soooo in the end and with the help of the much better first version of DA4 in the artbook, I was able to exorcise the demons and feverdream-mindfuck of mediocrity sold to me as a turd with gold-glitter that is this game.

I have successfully now rejected its existence, filled the void with the version that should have been from the artbook and vowed to give no fucks what bioware is doing or saying and infinitely more fucks when writing my own version of thedas and the version of DA4 that should be. REWRITES BBY hell yeah. So OEAH:R is just the beginning of a verse-wise rewrite. But if you need a pick me up, nonny, you are very much welcome to take a trip down memory lane to Dragon 9:30 and see how much this iteration of the story differs from my first one back in the days. Because in this house of mine, we grow and learn as writers, unlike bioware where writer ego reigns surpreme (oh boy and does it ever show in VG) aka eating their own turds and tell themselves it is the finest chocolate 💀

There is still a lot of good about DA out there, but we have to accept it does not come from Bioware any longer. Instead it came, comes and will come from the fans and creators of art and texts and words defying their bullshit with their love and respect for the world, its lore and characters. Also very unlike Bioware.

As we should <3

[zhoras-bitch]

Thank RC for introducing the slot feature before the Love, Sin and Evil Vol. 1 finale bacause

RIP my diamonds though.

[rirituuu]

zeno shitposting back to back its too easy to do for this game imsorry (sin branch ending B)

[alastyr-not-alastair]

I have like really bad memory and combined with the fact that I haven’t seen TSS origins since it came out has formed into the brainworm that Nightmare was a teenager or at most Very Very Freshly an adult during that entire time

It’s just. The way I remember him is this like, really pathetically petty but still evil enough combination like, most of the time the damage is pretty minimal due to like distractions and unforeseen circumstances but whenever something goes along to his plan it is CATASTROPHIC

Which, I don’t know if you’ve ever encountered a particularly evil but harmless teenager, but that’s pretty much how it ends up going

And then you drag this along with my interpretation of Rainbow fresh out the pod in TSS origins, who is also around the age of teenager to very very new adult and you get 2 little dipshits who probably could get along if they tried but REALLY don’t want to

It’s also just really funny to think that half of their beef is just their teenage beef having had time to stew

[gavinom123]

sin branch you will always be famous

[desalvar]

SEVEN DEADLY SINS : CHARACTERISTICS

bold whatever applies, italics what sometimes applies, strikethrough what doesn't apply. repost, don't reblog!

  LUST

desire for connection . pursuit of pleasure . emotional intelligence (not in a healthy way though). obsessive . lovesick . one-night stand . seductive encounter . flirtatious conversation . erotic party . seductive attire . revealing clothing . passionate gaze . provocative makeup . sensual expressions . suggestive gestures . flirtatious smiles . lingerie . love letters . perfumes . provocative behavior . love poems . erotic art

  GLUTTONY

indulgence in experiences . savoring moments . hospitality . generosity . hedonism . culinary expertise . wine ("") tasting . excessive snacking . overloaded plates . excessive portions . bloated stomachs . messy eating . greasy fingers . full tables . indulgent spreads . overflowing cups . satisfied expressions . wine bottles . can't get enough . fast food wrappers

  ENVY

motivation . competitive spirit . strategic planning . observational skills . bitter . rivalry contest . envious gossip . resentment-filled argument . social media jealousy . furrowed brows . clenched jaws . side-eye looks . pursed lips . tense posture . whispering behind backs . crossed arms . gossip magazines . keeping up with the Joneses . the grass is always greener . feeling inadequate

  GREED

resourcefulness . entrepreneurial spirit . negotiation . materialistic . aggressive investment . lavish spending spree . resource hoarding . get-rich-quick scheme . auction bidding war . property acquisition . piles of money . overflowing wallets . luxury items . locked safes . penny-pinching . rare collectibles . selfishness . unwillingness to share

  SLOTH

calmness . stress management . nonchalance . relaxation techniques . lethargic . apathetic . inactive . lazy weekend . binge-watching marathon . neglected chores . skipped workout . long nap . lounging on the couch . missed deadline . unkempt appearance . messy hair . pajamas . blankets . slippers . procrastination station . self-care routines

  PRIDE

confidence . self-assurance . self-respect . dignity . public speaking . self-promotion . arrogant . conceited . egotistical . self-important . vain . boastful speech . puffed chest . raised chin . smug smiles . spotlight . tooting your own horn . showing off . refusing to admit mistakes . feeling entitled . personal branding . leadership development

  WRATH

assertiveness . decisiveness . strength . intensity . boundary setting . courage . indignant . heated argument . road rage incident . physical altercation . angry outburst . clenched fists . glaring eyes . tense muscles . raised voices . reddened faces . aggressive gestures . stormy demeanor . intense frowns . destructive actions . broken objects . punching bag . out for blood . fists . simmering anger

Tagged by: @vilestblood i ♡ u

Tagging: @vhgr . @maramcna . @4ger @vrohiir @aelleyon

[fappellmoan]

for months i genuinely wholeheartedly could not tell the 911 guys apart and this is so important for me to stress bc throughout my life i have prided myself on being able to tell twins apart really easily and liking being that person to connect faces to other things ive watched or honestly just seen in passing like i could track down a random commercial actress and shit and i mean i suppose part of that is not knowing their characters and they just twin all the time but i apologize still im aware that mans last name is diaz and now i feel like im sitting here laid up @ all the tumblr lesbians like haha damn so thats buck x eddie? that said idk if im like happy i know any of this.

[fayt30l0v3]

I read trimax. Went thru the biblical meat grinder. Made this.

[eggtargaryenii]

*Raises hand* ME ME ME, I WANT TO READ ABOUT INHERITANCE POLITCS. I'M INTERESTED!!!

HRDJAHA UR SO SWEET ANON I hope u enjoyed the latest chapter !!!!

[poetic-ivy]

that post on andrew giving neil armbands and the team putting two and two together abt his own scars got me thinking. bc truly the foxes come to some wild conclusions abt our resident rbf goalie most of the time and the absolute weirdest vision came to me abt it bc like.

I used to work with this guy who wore armbands all the time but it was because he was religious like very UPC christian and it was a Modesty Thing.

and andrew is best friends w renee equally dark past now christian sober modesty walker. and he never really makes a move to correct irrelevant assumptions about himself made by people he doesn’t care about. he probably splits the renedrew allegations bet money with her without a care in the world that they existed in the first place.

do you see where I am going w this. do you catch my vision. do u understand how funny it is to me that at least 1-2 people might at some point assume he is an aloof hypocritically two-faced holier than thou type who secretly judges them for wearing short sleeves whilst he goes around drinking and shanking people according to his own will

[moe-broey]

I don't really consider this a spoiler/might not even take this route anyway, but. Sharena Engage active wear color palette. Choose.

Also factoring in my notes from when I flipped through all the chara's outfits to find The Pattern

Okay NOW you can Choose

Another thing you can consider is having the shoes be all one color/Not having the second color stripe accent. I noticed some characters wouldn't have that as part of their palettes! Seemed arbitrary which ones would and which ones wouldn't!

[stonerzelda]

first day of work was backbreaking but doable 👍 desperately trying to kill this coffee on an empty stomach so i dont die before nighttime even tho outside thinks it may as damn well be 9pm already

[gavinom123]

for the color palettes, maeno aki and disquiet?

Chew well and swallow it. I'll definitely cure you.

Color Palettes

[jeanjauthor]

While the storylines eventually veered into weirdness (and according to a few fellow readers I know, the author even ends up violating the canon of her own characters' established thoughts & behaviors), Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children series, starting with the book Clan of the Cave Bears, does actually provide quite a lot of solid research-based evidence in the worldbuilding she did for the two races in the story.

These are the "Clan" (presumed to be Homo neanderthalensis) and the "Others" (Homo sapiens). The author chose to create a "men as hunters only / women as gatherers only" culture for the Clan, establishing the root cause of this lies in the "inherited memories" of each gender, where they can meditate and learn from the ancestral memories of those who came before them in their biological lineage.

In this case, the daughter of the best medicine woman, who in turn was the daughter of the best medicine woman, stretching back into antiquity, would therefore have an instinctive knowing of herbal & primitive medical techniques as well as whatever she was directly taught, with this direct teaching reinforcing the biologically retained ancestral memories. However, because of the weight of these inherited memories (enhanced instincts), it is actually quite difficult for the Clan to learn new things.

The Others, on the other hand (pun not intended), are presented as being much more mentally flexible. Both women as well as men hunt, both men as well as women gather, and because they are not limiting who does what, they literally have more manpower to gather & process both kinds of resources at any given point in time.

It's a very interesting literary / worldbuilding choice, since while it's clear that Clan and Others are close enough biologically that they can interbreed, they're still presented as being culturally very distinctly different from each other. The Clan (Neanderthals) had gender-segregation based activities that were reinforced by their own biology, while the Others (Modern Humans) were far more flexible, and thus far more able to adapt to wildly fluctuating circumstances. If a Clan family's males were too injured to hunt, they would get no meat. If the females were too injured to gather, they would get no plants to eat. (Both, by the way, are necessary for a truly healthy diet, since all primates in the Homo genus are omnivores.)

However...I do not believe this was the case in actual prehistoric times. I don't know for absolute certain about Homo neanderthalensis, (the studies like the ones above aren't always clear if they're only talking H. sapiens or if they include other branches of humanity) ...but I'm pretty sure both males and females hunted. In fact, it would be necessary, since according to several lines of published research, H. neanderthalensis ate diets that were very animal protein-heavy.

It should also be noted that gender-segregated societies of "hunting vs gathering" are more likely to be found in areas where both game and gatherable edibles are plentiful. If it's easier to hunt and gather, then you can specialize all the more. We know this is the case with groups that develop agriculture, because once a society develops a calorie surplus, their members can specialize all the more. This is most easily done through farming & herding, but it can also be done in areas where there is simply that much abundance.

(The cultures of the Coastal Salish tribes here in Western Washington were quite complex and did indeed arise from a significant calorie surplus each year based on quasi-agricultural farming of tending plants growing in the wild wherever they were found--they had plenty of easily attained food most years, and thus had the leisure time to develop their culture. The main reason why their technology did not advance was due to a lack of understanding of metalsmithing. They did have rare access to metal tools, iron axe blades and the like that had been traded from group to group all the way across the Pacific Rim, from the Chinese to the Aleutians to the Haida to the Salish, etc...but they didn't have knowledge of finding ore, smelting it, and forging tools of their own.)

...The reason why I point out Auel's storytelling is because these books, The Clan of the Cave bear, The Valley of the Horses, etc, started coming out in the 1980s.

Yes, the '80s.

Researchers knew prehistorical women had been buried with hunting tools, and Auel found this information during her masses & oodles of research all the way back then, and incorporated it into her storytelling. Again, I'll say that she made a literary choice to portray the Clan (Neanderthals) as strictly males-hunt-and-females-gather...but her portrayal of Others (Humans) as both genders can hunt and gather was spot-on.

The problem was when she released this information in her novels. the 1980s were literally butted up against the Women's Liberation Movement of the 1970s. Prior to this point, the whole misogyny / toxic masculinity / toxic patriarchy mindset had stolidly established the false narrative that men-hunted-and-women-gathered...which was based on Victorian attitudes & mindsets when people began trying to study anthropology a bit more seriously....bringing a LOT of prejudices into their observations.

...Basically, if anything is based on research coming from the 1800s, eye it at arm's length with great suspicion, because in most cases it will be biased to hell and back.

These days we have been working for literal decades to try to remove those inherited / inherent biases. These days, we have instructors actively trying to teach how to stop your own biases from impacting your observations. They didn't have that in the early days of anthropology & paleoarcheology & archaeology, etc, etc etc.

This is why Auel's assertions, based on a craptonne of research that she did, literally talking to a wide number of experts, visiting archeology digs, so on & so forth, were so revolutionary...and so overlooked at the time.

The climate for accepting that the majority of hunter-gatherer societies aren't gender-segregated still wasn't quite there just yet, back in the 1980s. So here we are, 40 years later...and people are finally beginning to accept the truth that the archaeological record shows.

We have always hunted. Just as we have always fought. Who gets to record history will always have that recorded history come with biases, unless the historian is very careful about excluding those biases...and we have only been focusing on trying to get more people to do that for the last handful of decades.

Lastly, it should be noted that most modern hunter-gatherer societies will have been influenced at least somewhat by the often patriarchal agricultural societies they interact with on the fringes of their territories...which in turn were influenced by other cultures, etc. It's either a very strong or a very isolated culture that will be able to resist all or most outside influences.

To be frank, a lot of men have over the millennia found a genuine thrill in being able to "lord it over" the other genders, believing that "might makes right" and taking advantage of literal physical strength to impose that social control on others. (Power can corrupt, and all that...and if you let the sociopaths get into positions of power, they will alter the culture around them to stay in power.)

In contrast, in societies where every single member is taught to consider others' needs as dearly as their own, you'll find most of those societies are far more egalitarian than patriarchal, gender-wise. And it's also far easier to be egalitarian when everyone has to pitch in to survive, because it's obvious that everyone is contributing. It is harder for sociopaths to be tolerated in those situations, because they aren't going to share resources with others if they don't have to...but in hunter-gatherer lifestyles, they do have to share, and will be socially punished far more quickly if they don't, compared to agriculturally based societies.

Anyway...researchers have known about women being found in graves with hunting tools for literal decades. The research was strong enough that it was incorporated into a popular pre-history fiction series decades ago. (Admittedly in a "rah rah, H. sapiens is superior to all!" sort of way, but it's not like there are any living H. neanderthalensis around to glare and protest.)

It's just that it's now becoming accepted on a wide scale. So my point to my long-winded ramble is this:

Progress is often only made in baby steps across literal lifetimes, folks...but it is progress.

I genuinely believe that Auel's novels had a definite positive impact on budding archaeology & paleoarchaeology students, and yes, even anthropology students. She put it in writing that women hunted alongside men, and men gathered alongside women, in a series of novels that were based on a lot of actual real-world research. (Social & other details were made up, but whatever could be based on archaeological findings was based on actual findings.)

What we write can impact the world, in both fiction and non-fiction.

Analysis of data from dozens of foraging societies around the world shows that women hunt in at least 79% of these societies, opposing the widespread belief that men exclusively hunt and women exclusively gather. Abigail Anderson of Seattle Pacific University, US, and colleagues presented these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on June 28, 2023. A common belief holds that, among foraging populations, men have typically hunted animals while women gathered plant products for food. However, mounting archaeological evidence from across human history and prehistory is challenging this paradigm; for instance, women in many societies have been found buried alongside big-game hunting tools. Some researchers have suggested that women's role as hunters was confined to the past, with more recent foraging societies following the paradigm of men as hunters and women as gatherers. To investigate that possibility, Anderson and colleagues analyzed data from the past 100 years on 63 foraging societies around the world, including societies in North and South America, Africa, Australia, Asia, and the Oceanic region. They found that women hunt in 79% of the analyzed societies, regardless of their status as mothers. More than 70% of female hunting appears to be intentional—as opposed to opportunistic killing of animals encountered while performing other activities, and intentional hunting by women appears to target game of all sizes, most often large game. The analysis also revealed that women are actively involved in teaching hunting practices and that they often employ a greater variety of weapon choice and hunting strategies than men.

These findings suggest that, in many foraging societies, women are skilled hunters and play an instrumental role in the practice, adding to the evidence opposing long-held perceptions about gender roles in foraging societies. The authors note that these stereotypes have influenced previous archaeological studies, with, for instance, some researchers reluctant to interpret objects buried with women as hunting tools. They call for reevaluation of such evidence and caution against misapplying the idea of men as hunters and women as gatherers in future research. The authors add, "Evidence from around the world shows that women participate in subsistence hunting in the majority of cultures."