#but this is gonna criticize a lot of her past actions

[anneapocalypse]

Not gonna lie, analysis of Minfilia that rests on a reading of her as some kind of hiring manager at a company really doesn't sit right with me, not just because it lends itself to some particularly uncharitable readings of Minfilia, but because it seems to me like a pretty inaccurate reading of what the Scions actually are in ARR.

The Scions of the Seventh Dawn are the union of the Circle of Knowing, a group of activist academics who accurately predicted the apocalypse but failed to prevent it and lost their beloved mentor in the process, and the Path of the Twelve, a group for Echo-bearers to help them better understand and make use of their gift--all doing their best to pick up the pieces and protect the realm in the wake of said apocalypse. Minfilia, formerly the leader of the Path of the Twelve, has now been thrust into the position of leadership over both at the late Louisoix's behest. The Scions in ARR aren't a company, they're an activist group, and in ARR still a very small one without the massive web of political connections they fall into later. They don't have a lot of financial resources. They're largely working quietly and behind the scenes. They have a secret code phrase to identify friends of the organization. Being recruited into this group in ARR is closer to being recruited into a resistance cell than being interviewed for a formal job.

Minfilia's role prior to the Calamity was as the leader of a support group for people experiencing a frightening, isolating, and as-yet poorly-understood phenomenon, a group where they could find others like them, understand what's happening to them, and learn how to use their gift for good. And to some extent, this is still a part of her role. The Warrior of Light is brought in because they were witnessed experiencing the Echo, and Minfilia is reaching out to them as a fellow Echo-bearer. I think it's a mistake to interpret her words and actions without that context, particularly her expressed hope that this most recent Echo-bearer she's invited into her group will find something like family there. I mean, listen to the joy with which she says, "I too possess the Echo." She's telling the WoL that they're not alone, that there is a name and an explanation for what they've been experiencing, that they can find others like themselves here. Yes, she's also asking for their help. But this is a pretty far cry from a job interview. However flawed the Scions may be as an organization, I can only see Minfilia's overtures here as offered in the spirit of friendship and camaraderie. And framing that as her trying to build loyalty she can exploit in a corporate manner feels extremely ungenerous given what we know of her character.

I don't want to sound like I'm here to defend the Scions in ARR against any and all criticism--I've discussed my own in the past, from their concerning tendency toward self-sacrifice to the attitude they develop toward the WoL (which is kind of up for interpretation based on your character's relationship to them but which can come across as a cavalier attitude toward the WoL's safety, taking advantage of their unique abilities, etc). In particular, the Scions' experience as a small activist organization, and Minfilia's particular experience as Echo support group leader, has ill-prepared any of them to be thrust into an international spotlight following the defeat of the Ultima Weapon. The attack on the Waking Sands has already revealed the weaknesses in their opsec, and certain scenes in the ARR patch quests reveal something of a power struggle between Minfilia and Alphinaud--one which Alphinaud ultimately wins, because Minfilia lacks the kind of confidence in her position to stand against the force of his personality, and she, like most of the other Scions, starts to fall into the trap of seeing Alphinaud as the second coming of Louisoix and lets him push her around accordingly. Minfilia is simply not equipped or prepared to lead the kind of organization the Scions are turning into. (Urianger, incidentally is one of the few who seems to notice this and remark on it, but also seems to feel that he can't directly object.) The cracks begin to show, and then it all falls apart, and when the Scions finally begin to put themselves back together post-Heavensward, I think they all understand that they can't go back, that what they rebuild will be something new. Over the next few expacs I think we see them developing a new group identity, recognizing that that old model no longer serves them and doing their best to adapt to constantly changing circumstances.

The Scions in ARR have plenty of problems, but they're not a for-profit company and they're also not the same organization as the Scions of later expacs. I think that context needs to be taken into account when interpreting their actions, especially those of their leader.

[chaggiehearts]

I'm gonna be brutally honest: I think it'd be far more satisfying to watch Lute redeeming herself than dying as a villain.

I know a large part of the fandom hates her (although thankfully most people here on Tumblr don't) and I'm not gonna act like I don't understand why. She's a sadistic genocidal woman who won't hesitate to hurt everyone that goes against her corrupted morality. Even outside the series, her words and beliefs might remind a lot of viewers of extremist Christians, and since a lot of us are LGBT we might be reminded of ugly things we've been told in the past (I'll admit that even though I don't interpret that scene as her being homophobic, the "Their love is vile and blasphemous" comment might hurt me if I watch that scene when I'm feeling too sensitive). Lute is clearly not a good person and the series doesn't try to hide this fact at all, specially given her fixation with hurting/mutilating/killing Vaggie. Even though she's my 3rd fave character, I admit that she kinda sucks as a person.

However, I think that all the arguments on why she's irredeemable fail to be convincing once you take something into account: Lute is the Vaggie that never left her Exorcist position.

Their characters are clearly parallels and meant to be narrative foils. Vaggie is what Lute could turn out to be if she admitted she's wrong. Vaggie is my favorite character but I can't deny that before her fall she was despicable too. We know that at the very least she killed 2,000 sinners (going by the "thousandS of Sinners" comment) and I highly doubt the actual amount is that low given the number of Sinners killed by Lute during last Extermination. My personal headcanon is that it's around 10,000-15,000, but we don't know, at least not yet. Vaggie WASN'T a good person, even if she had doubts from the very beginning (which we don't even know if it's true, let's be real here) she still did horrible things. She took part in the Exterminations and, according to Adam, she was one of the most efficient Exorcists (perhaps second only to Lute herself). This is why I adore the dynamic between them, because the mutual hatred comes from the rejection of certain ideals: Vaggie hates what she used to be in the past, which is represented by Lute, a perfect reflection of who she used to be, and Lute hates the idea that Exterminations might be wrong, that she might be wrong, that her entire worldview might be flawed, which is represented by Vaggie.

If Vaggie was able to redeem herself, if we can collectively agree that she regretted her actions and improved as a person, if we can understand that Hazbin's concept is that EVERYONE can be redeemed, even the worst villains, even the nastiest individuals, if we can see that the structure of the Exorcists greatly resembles a sect (I will analyze this better another day, but they're literally a patriarchal sect in which one has to adhere to all of their leader's beliefs and not doing so will result in abandonment, punishment and isolation from your entire circle), isn't it logical to think that Lute might reach the same conclusions as Vaggie one day? Why would Vaggie deserve compassion and forgiveness and a new life and not someone who's overall very similar to her? As I said before, yes, I do understand why people hate Lute more than Vaggie, specially given what she did to her, one of the protagonists, but they're not that different at all. The issue is that we've only seen evil Lute and good Vaggie so far, but the series might explore other aspects of their characters. Hazbin Hotel criticizes the black-and-white mentality of Heaven, Lute's very mentality that has led to what she is right now. Putting Vaggie in one end of a morality scale and Lute in the other is imho a flawed interpretation. They're both in a gray place, they're both complex people.

Lute is going to do horrible things in the future and, if I'm allowed to speculate, I heavily believe she's going to be worse than what Adam ever had the chance to be, way worse than Vaggie ever was. After losing Adam, revenge will probably make her go from evil to downright monster. And honestly, I want to see that fall, that corruption arc (does it count as a corruption arc when the character was already corrupted from the beginning?). I want Lute to metaphorically fall into the darkest pits of Hell. And you know what? I want her to get up after that, start a new life just like what Vaggie did. I think Lute searching for redemption would be a great test on Charlie's ideals, because she probably wouldn't be too enthusiastic about this idea (since her body language in Episode 8 clearly shows that she knows about what Lute did to Vaggie, her role in Vaggie's fall). I think something beautiful might come out of something like this happening. Charlie realizing that she doesn't have to personally empathize with someone to help them become a better person (and the whole concept of redemption being proven right because if someone like Lute can do it then literally anyone can), Lute seeing the error of her ways, growing and searching for the light she lost in the shadows and Vaggie empathizing with one of the residents in a deeper level. Even though Lute doesn't deserve Vaggie's forgiveness, I'd love to see Vaggie extending that forgiveness to her and seeing her past self in Lute, but this time not the merciless Exorcist Vaggie that she hates, but the hurt, lost and scared Vaggie that had just arrived in Hell after her worldview had been flipped entirely. If these two made amends, I think we would be able to see a very sweet new side of Vaggie, because even though she'd love to help Angel Dust, Husk, Cherri Bomb... She'll never fully get how they ended up down there. But she would get Lute, she'd understand how addictive bad actions can be for an Exorcist, the search for purpose and acknowledgement from Adam, the self-righteousness. If there's anyone in that hotel that would know what it's like to be an Exorcist that regrets her actions, that's Vaggie.

In the end, the only thing I'm sure of at the moment is that Lute's story is far from over. Things could go either way and redemption is a viable path for her. Who knows, maybe she'll do something so extremely evil in the future that I lose my faith in her ability to change after that, but for now I'm still holding onto that hope :)

[carlyraejepsans]

Hey, if you don’t mind the question. What’s your opinion on Undertale Yellow?

8/10 game. pretty good at being a game, not so much at being an undertale story. the gameplay itself was fun, the area/puzzle designs too, the soundtrack was untouchable it literally gave me the same rush i felt hearing sburb initiation for the first time. minor NPCs designs were fun but the primary cast was too monotonous, tbh. (all the main characters have tall gangly very detailed designs save for like, axis). its attempts at landing Undertale's humor were quite often successful, but it held back on exaggeration and caricaturing its original characters which took away that oomph from the canon game. the character writing was... lacking. which is a pity.

i love fucked up women so i was really disappointed that every single one of ceroba's actions/ideas/influences on the story were nothing but an extension of her dead husband. when you take chujin away she's just... A Good Wife and Mother. or starlo's past love interest ig. i mean both dalv and martlet's backstory were tied to her family and we never see them interact at all. but they do have an established dynamic.... with the dead husband. again. UGH. she's just really wasted as a character (she and chujin should've BOTH been scientists and she should've continued the project AGAINST his wishes after he died. she's the main cast character, she should be the driving force in the narrative, not him—even if chujin sets the plot in montion by inventing the serum first).

I'm not a huge asgore fan—not that i dislike him, he's just not a character i care about all that much—so congrats to this game for making me say "he would NOT fucking say that". the "fuck the royals" subplot thing was really unnecessary. actually, that was a bit of a recurring thing in the game. suddenly introducing these Huge Social Dilemmas like labor exploitation, anti-monarchic sentiments, misogyny (bro who on earth "needs to take a wife" this is Undertale) everyone realizing that clover is a child, over exaggerating the violence at stake... while also attempting to maintain Undertale's careless, bouncy treatment of the situation. that's... not how things work. undertale is able to maintain its light tone BECAUSE it doesn't let you take those topics seriously, they're not meant to be. the fairytale-like king, the battles, the child protagonist, they're all set dressings for the REAL story and REAL power imbalance it wants to highlight: that between player and game characters. everything is in function of that. you take that layer of separation and make everyone aware that theyre violently attacking and killing a literal child... that's not. a good thing dude. if it's not gonna impact the tone of the story, why acknowledge it in the first place? it's just unnecessary

anyway flowey neutral run was really, really fun. his dialogue writing all throughout the game was very solid and i had a blast having him around. however, they shouldn't have tried to anticipate his character development. this game is a prequel, you can't do that without undermining his arc in the canon events. pacifist should've had him doubling down on his frustration from the neutral ending. i do all this work for you keeping you alive and you make the same mistake i did sacrifice yourself for them??? are you BRAINDEAD???? what I'm saying is he basically should've thrown the biggest tantrum of his LIFE. oh and in the NM run he should've been terrified when he lost control of the SAVE file. this is the first time it's ever happened to him and now he's gonna die for good. he wouldn't have gloated like he did.

if you want to hear more criticism along the lines of what i said then this post by the fantastic @andreabandrea covers a lot of what i also felt during the game. i know this might sound like a lot of negativity, but the fact remains that UTY was an absolutely phenomenal work of fan creativity the likes of which we have never seen before in the fandom. considering the quality and polish, i thought it only fair to approach it as the piece of art it is and give it my genuine thoughts on the matter.

overall, still a really fun way to spend the afternoon with a pal. so. thumbs up

[toastieghostie1]

Accept Me (Stu Macher x GN!Reader)

Hey guys this is my first time posting here, but I came up with an idea and here it is! Please leave suggestions or ideas for me, I'm always looking for constructive criticism. Without further ado, Accept Me, a Ghostface (Stu Macher) Soulmate AU (Matching soulmarks)

WORD COUNT : 1001

Chapter 1

Dear Journal, 

Today marks day 548 of an entire day of slightly invasive questions. All I want to do is go to work and go home, but no. What feels like every broad that comes in here is asking me about my “soulmate”. “Have you met them yet?”, “Are you looking for them?”, “Aren't you excited to have THE one for you? Living with them as the only love of your life?”. The answer is no. I don't want to meet them, I don't want to fall for them, I am most definitely not looking for them. The only good thing is that they can't quite tell which mark is the soul mark. Tattoos are a big help to distract from the mark, I can just pretend it's just ink, and not the universe is trying to force me to be with. Anyways gotta go, gonna hang with my friends, Stu is having a small party for the six of us.

Peace out, 

Y/N

-At Stu’s House-

“Hey guys! I brought the food you asked for!!” I yelled into the giant house. Hearing footsteps, I stretch my arm out holding the aforementioned snacks. Feeling someone grab the bag, I look down and start toeing my shoes off. Taking my jacket off I look up to see who took the snacks to see the host himself, Stu. He grins at me before digging into the bag to see the selection. 

He cheers, “Awh yes! You got the gobstoppers I wanted! I knew you loved me, Sweets.” He grins again while holding his hand to his chest like some kind of damsel. 

I roll my eyes and push past him, “Sure Stu, I got them specifically for you.” Making my way to the kitchen, I go into the fridge and root through it to find the coke I know he has in there. “Hey Stu, where's your coke? I know you have some.” I question as I stand straight and turn, only to see him quickly advert his eyes. I ignore that and raise an eyebrow while cocking my hip, waiting for him to acknowledge my question. 

“Oh! Erm, it’s in the living room with everyone else.” He rushes out. Leading me to the living room, where everyone quickly greets me before moving onto the bag Stu has in his hands. 

I laugh at the varied and rushed greetings, “I see you only love me for the goodies I bring.” I grab a coke and fall on the comfortable couch, looking at the coffee table in front of me I see the movie choices we have. “Randy, you couldn't have brought better movies?” I huff and groan. 

“Better movies? Than these? No such thing my friend. Horror movies are the best, and I only bring the best of the best.” Before Randy can get too into his rant about how horror movies are the best thing since sliced bread for the millionth time, Billy sits back down and delivers a swift smack to the back of his head. 

“We get it man, horror is amazing. Honestly though, try different genres. A nice comedy or action movie is cool too.” Billy utters. Sidney backs him up with a shared glance to Tatum, “Can't go wrong with a romance either.” 

See Billy and Sid are soulmates, they found out back in 5th grade when we had a school trip and some girl put gum in Sid’s hair. She had to cut it off to her shoulders and that’s when Billy saw the matching vinyl player mark he had on his waist. Ever since then they have been annoyingly in love. Tatum is searching for her soulmate, but that isn't stopping her from “getting experience for him, I don't want to suck entirely for him.” Her exact words. Of course there's nothing wrong dating outside of your soulmate, I mean how else are you supposed to see a mark? But still it's usually frowned upon. 

Randy is holding out hope that the universe was wrong about Sidney and Billy, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm not sure if Stu has found him yet, he doesn't talk about it a lot, I know he wants to find them some day. 

After some arguing we finally decided on a movie, a classic, Halloween. I make myself as comfortable as possible to watch this movie as Stu settles in next to me. I get part way into the movie when feelings of drowsiness start to make an appearance. Trying to fight it, I rub my eyes. Ultimately I lose the battle and succumb to my sleepy state. Before I fully knock out, I feel my head hit what I thought was the back of the couch. 

-STU’S POV-

They looked absolutely stunning when they came in. Hair windswept and cheeks a little rosey, made me want to kiss all up on their face. When they pushed past me I could smell the alluring scent of their cologne. Cinnamon and vanilla, I could bathe in their presence if they'd let me. Only problem is they don’t want a soulmate, I don’t know whether it’s just a fuck you to the universe or if they genuinely hate that they are stuck with one person meant for them. What sucks more is I know who their soulmate is, me. They thought they could hide my mark with tattoos and layered clothing, but I saw it when we all went swimming up at some beach last summer. Their bathing suit didn't cover it, but it isn't exactly easy to hide a giant dagger stretching up your side over your ribs, one I know matches the one on my thigh. 

I startle slightly when I feel a weight on my shoulder. I look down to see Y/N asleep. Poor thing must have had a rough day working. I readjust them so they're more comfortable. Falling asleep with them. Hoping that one day they will come to accept their soulmate. To accept me.

Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more.

[youngparadisedonut]

Please come back.. I need my comfort page.

Those fans are now throwing the race card once again for Carlos cause they don’t like how some people write fan fiction..

The face that we can’t criticize characters anymore without getting told we’re racist is embarrassing 

Right now I'm in the process of looking for a new show to obsess over, so I don't know what is happening. I’m not gonna watch the new season and I stopped following the Lone Star tags.

I can talk about what I observed/felt when I was part of the fandom, though.

People are allowed to criticize Carlos because of his actions. It’s ok to still be angry/upset at his character for how he behaved in the Carlos Being Married With Iris Storyline. Yeah, Carlos has every right to be flawed (he’s human), but the problem was never about him being flawed – the problem was that he never acknowledged how unfair he was to his partner.

So here why I don't like Carlos.

1. Carlos never told TK he was already married until it was too late. He simply accepted TK’s proposal and decided to keep the secret.

2. Carlos was only honest with TK after that because he had no other choice, and then when he finally was open with TK about it he decided that it would be a very good idea to have this very delicate conversation in TK’s workplace in the middle of TK’s shift.

3. Carlos saw nothing wrong with Iris thinking it was her place to approve/or disapprove TK.

4. Carlos made wife jokes even if was clear TK was so not comfortable with that and never once acted like he regreted hiding this from TK.

5. Carlos put all decisions about the divorce (something that affected his and TK’s future) in Iris  hands (someone who was a stranger to TK).

6. Carlos blamed TK when Iris went missing. Whenever TK had a conflict with Carlos (meeting Carlos parents, how uncomfortable Carlos was with Cooper), TK is always so understanding (even if sometimes he is angry first and needs to cool of a bit, he always comes back to talk things) and validates Carlos feelings, but Carlos? He was so hostile.

7. That Carlos comment about bad relationships that was obviously directed at TK that you all like to ignore, guess what? It happened.

8. Carlos never apologized for any of this. He never recognized to TK that he was wrong and TK had nothing to do with Iris missing, he never admitted that he treated TK badly. How can I be expected to be go past that when Carlos never acknowledge what he did?

For me those are valid reasons for not liking him.

Because TK is not perfect. He made a lot of mistakes, but he always (or at least most of the time) admits them and apologizes.

I defend TK so much because I don’t think a part of the fandom truly understands how addiction can affect someone.

Thing is, there’s this mindset in the fandom that Carlos was this defenseless boy who chased after TK, when this wasn't never the point. Not only TK had his heart broken, he relapsed. That’s a lot. He had reasons for not wanting to jump in a new relationship, and he was upfront about this with Carlos. He was clear about his boundaries. And if he never wanted something serious with Carlos in the end? He would also be valid. He owned Carlos nothing but being truthful, which he was.

TK is considered immature and childish when a lot of this traits (his impulsiveness, for example) are direct connected with his addiction. And what Iris said about TK being a mess and a project that you guys think its so funny? It's so problematic, harmful and could be triggering, especially because it’s directed at someone who deals with addiction.

But for those who act like Carlos should not be criticized, fear not. TK major character trait since season 4 is being in love with Carlos. It’s so obvious that from now on TK main role will be to support Carlos, and I doubt that at this point he will have a storyline of his own.

[yuikomorii]

Honestly I don’t get this fandom… ALL the diaboys are abusive and horrible, not just to yui but to other women & sacrificial brides, yes even subaru, yes even ayato, yes even azusa. I don’t get the point of bashing OR defending the diaboys actions esp when yui isn’t their only victim. If you don’t like a series about abusive, sadistic, fucked up and blatantly misogynistic vampires or you’re gonna defend them most of their actions then this series isn’t for you.

(Yui is an exception though because she deserves love + praise though for not only putting up with their abuse but also being positive, intelligent and kind throughout the series, people who hate on her are the real pickmes fr. Anyways love your account + have a nice day xx)

// I would have understood people reacting like that if DL was promoted as something family-friendly, but the word DIABOLIK is literally in it. I think those individuals forget that these guys are vampires; they have different morals and can’t be judged by human standards since they’re a whole other existence. On top of that, they’re traumatized (also cursed in Ayato’s case), which makes their behavior even worse.

I think every character deserves to be defended at some point but also criticized. I’m a huge Yui stan and I admit that she’s not the best heroine out there but she’s 100% the best heroine DL could have and definitely not a pick me. She’s sort of an idiot but got emotional intelligence, which is what makes her good for such a franchise. After all, I think DL desperately needs the heroine to be quite dense because if Yui didn’t make a lot of mistakes or unintentionally provoke them, the plot would have gone nowhere without anything being solved. There would be no story if the heroine quickly found out all the mysteries and how to “put in place” or handle everyone.

DL’s writing is not perfect but one thing I like is that the development of most characters or of the story, in general, doesn’t feel rushed. For example, they made Ayato be the one to realize the truth about Karlheinz in Dark Fate, after THREE games, and they took time to heal Laito from his past. If these two things happened in the first game, it would have felt too badly paced.

[johnmarstonisawolf]

I love both John and Arthur

“RDR1 Represents John’s Character Growth” Argument… 

I’ve seen people get blocked for disagreeing with the types of posts that complain about “Rdr fans disliking John’s characterization in rdr2”.  I’d rather just agree to disagree but if anyone doesn’t like where this post is going, please feel free to use the block button.

Also, in this post, I am repeating some things I’ve written in past responses/posts. Plus I have read other fans’ posts and opinions about this topic, which will be sprinkled throughout this post. 

Here it goes… Mainly for me, it’s the ret-con. It’s not that John can’t be this man with flaws, but in the first game (rdr1) they hint a lot at John (when he’d been in the gang in the past tense, before the events in rdr2) being this quixotic, well-spoken, “right-hand man of Dutch”, which were traits that were all given to Arthur in rdr2. Even Bill and Abigail hint at this. If you want to hear another rdr fan go more in-depth about this, read here. Plus Rockstar in so many words had explained why they made John a humiliation conga because they didn’t want John to “overshadow” Arthur. 

Yes, Arthur is older and yes, John could’ve been influenced by Arthur (but only by so much, I mean, c’mon John and Arthur are their own person). Yet the fact that Arthur is not even mentioned in rdr1 (yes, rdr2 hadn’t even been created yet. I know.) and they decided to “downgrade” John in rdr2 and give all of these admirable traits (they allude to in rdr1 about John) to Arthur is what baffles me. 

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Arthur’s character. However, it’s the high pedestal that this fandom puts him on, emphasizing his positive traits while continually bashing John in the process, that does me in.

We get it, John wasn’t a good father or a good husband, he treats his wife and kid like crap (he gets better tho), he deserves whatever criticism he gets for those horrible actions of his, but we got to remember this is the Wild West; Abigail nor John had the resources or skills to deal with their own trauma much less even raise a boy in a gang, especially Abigail. But that’s not downplaying the fact that John is a very emotionally-mentally damaged person (as a result of many forms of abuse and being raised by Dutch, Hosea, and Arthur, who aren’t the best examples) while at the same time, Abigail is a very emotionally-mentally damaged person (as a result of many forms of abuse and being raised and working in a brothel) who’s had to carry a kid for 9 months and march on through with barely having much help, aside from some individuals in the gang who helped her—I’m not gonna go with the narrative that not a single person in the gang helped. 

Listen, it’s not that we can’t handle seeing John being this pathetic version of himself that the devs chose to portray him as in rdr2 (so he wouldn’t overshadow Arthur and lazy writing) or that we can’t watch him grow from this immature and flawed human being to a man who loves his wife and child and would do anything for them… but it’s how it was done and how rockstar did it. 

They also did Johnny boy’s physical character design very poorly in the epilogue; in the epilogue (1907) he barely showcases any of the traits we see in (1911) rdr1 (a four-year difference, timeline-wise, which really isn’t that long). Although NPC John and Epilogue John might look different from each other, their personalities aren’t much different. So there’s not much of a change in my opinion.

Also, I just want to clarify that this post isn’t about the fandom preferring Arthur over John but more so about how John’s characterization was done in rdr2 compared to rdr1, which can’t merely be attributed to “character growth” rather than lazy writing.  Understandably, many people prefer Arthur over John. Hence compared to the first game, rdr2 has better accessibility, players get to go more into the protagonist’s mind, and many game mechanics have improved/developed since rdr1 was released. But rdr1 was an acclaimed game when it came out with many fans that still remain in this fandom, in spite of rdr2’s wider exposure. 

And if I was going to mention anything that the games were kind of consistent with when it came to John’s characterization, is that he has a dry and cynical personality that reflects the protagonists of old spaghetti westerns, and the unforgiving world that makes up the Wild West.

Personally, while I do like his character in both games (he’s my fave) I still feel like there’s a bit more they could’ve done with his character in rdr2, in regards to missions and stuff, I would even say the devs had put more effort into some supporting characters compared to John, but that’s just my opinion. And I was really hoping for a rdr1 remaster but more so in a Yakuza Kiwami way (amped-up gameplay, fixed plot holes, better character detail, quality improvements, etc…)

[princess-of-the-corner]

"But since she did decide to get involved, I am going to criticize her attempts at 'fixing' the situation."

honestly same. i also feel that way about them saying Marinette's whole obsession with Adrien is to be taken seriously because Trauma(TM). Like you want it to be taken seriously? I'm gonna do that and you can't keep crying about "it's a kid's show" and how I'm criticizing it because you told me to take it seriously and those actions are basically criminal offenses

Yeaah no that one hurts.

I've said this before, but before Derision I just kinda rolled with the more stalker-esque behavior. Yeah if you put it into irl standards it's a fucking yikes. But there's a lot of tropes that are perfectly fine in fiction that are not okay in real life.

And I don't even mean very bad 'that's morally reprehensible but whatever gets you off' but just. How many shows have a plot of 'oh no I sent a message/left a voicemail to someone I didn't mean to and it'll be horrible if they receive that message because it's embarassing/full of my secrets/will get me fired! Let's stalk them, steal their property, break into their work/home, etc. to delete it!'.

There's a lot more examples from a lot more shows. Whether they be cartoon or live action, though the former is often even more exaggerated in what they're allowed to get away with than the latter. So I didn't get too hung up on when characters would do questionable things like this. I do say 'yeah she shouldn't have done that' regardless, but it doesn't have as much weight to it.

But Derision coming around and saying that no, we should be taking Marinette's antics 100% seriously absolutely /ruins/ every scene of this for the past four and a half seasons. Instead of quirky comedy from a fictional show we can kinda chuckle at, we've been watching a super fucked up trauma response where she was breaking several laws and boundaries and should have a few charges. 'oh but it's fine because Adrien forgives her and they blame Chloé'.

[transformerswoc]

The TFP "Airachnid" Problem

Like I said, I'm gonna make essays and discussions regarding women in transformers <3. The first person is tfp Airachnid.

TFP Airachhid is honestly, the litmus test for how I feel that Transformers fans can handle “mean” evil, women. Because the hate train that she received and the hate she still receives is massive, and it rounding up to “she killed cliffjumper” or “she’s mean to arcee and starscream” “she killed breakdown” just shows that this fandom wouldn’t really be ready for a female villain that was worse than her, or that just did not give a fuck.

And honestly, that is soo unforutante because we see male characters, like Starscream and even like Megatron, who are basically like Airachnid, if not worse, getting love and support for their actions.

She’s not supposed to be nice…she is a villain a straight up, in your face, villain and that is interesting. Yes, other Airachnids/Black Arachnias get love, but a lot of them are morally grey or complex.

A lot of them either turn good or ambiguous in the end, or aren't who we think they are, giving them a very empathetic past to almost excuse their actions.

Yet, when we have villainous, no morals Airachnid, which I find made her character far more intriguing, it seems that people just hated her, and would hate her for the things they loved with the male villains. She was the perfect mixture of Starscream and Knockout, with Megatron’s brutality, and she was just…hated for it.

And it made me realize that in terms of female villains, we haven’t ever had one like her. One that says ‘fuck you’ to morality and shit, because I just do not think the fandom could handle her. And I’m talking about in the TV Shows.

There are female villains in the live action, but that is another topic for another time.

Lastly, to me as a Black Woman, I cannot help but feel a lot of hatred toward Airachnid is people not checking their own racism and antiblackness. I think it’s easy for people to, not even realize it, but hold black women to higher moral standards than others. The point is that, Airachnid is voiced by a Black Woman and fandoms tend to be very critical toward Black women whether they be live action, voicing characters, etc. black women are either too much, or not enough.

Funnily enough, we are seeing this with ROTB with tons of people who aren’t black women, bashing the representation of Black women in ROTB and saying they aren’t doing enough or they’re pointless.

And this brings me back to Airachnid and how fandoms tend to, unknowingly be very heavy and critical toward black characters, but especially, Black women characters as well who are mean, or who do not fit to their standards. That is just my perspective from a black woman.

I’m not going to sit here and say that everyone who dislikes Airachnid is racist, but I will say separately that I think a lot of reasons for disliking Airachid are rooted in misogyny.

There has been no good reason for disliking Airachnid that I haven’t seen laced in some form of misogyny, because every reason she is hated, you can trace back to a male villain doing the same thing, if not worse.

Given fandom’s negative reaction toward Airachid, I wonder if we’ll actually ever see such a cold, heartless female villain like we did her. I think that only thing that makes things ‘acceptable’ is if a female villain has complexity, or has depth or will eventually be a ‘good’ guy again, or at most, morally ambiguous. That is what makes a female villain acceptable and frankly, that’s not fair but unfortunately I just feel…that’s how it is.

Another thing I noticed, which I will make in another essay, is how TFP tends to shame any form of ‘feminity’ especially in its women but also, in queer outwardly femme charaters, like Starscream.

The ‘tom boy’ or ‘one of the boys’ perosna is something that we tend to see with Arcee and Miko. And forms of femininity such as motherhood, or being outwardly femme like Airachnid or Starscream are seen as ‘bad’ by the narrative.

What I mean by this is that, June is shamed for being motherly toward Jack, by Arcee and by Miko and it is something that she is made to feel bad for, for wanting to care for Jack. Arcee and Miko are portrayed as I said, as being ‘one of the boys’ Arcee herself made a negative comment toward the idea of being PINK…which is ridiclous.

Airachnid and Starscream are both heavily femme and queer coded, but they are shamed by the narrative and the fandom. Starscream is brutalized on the daily, and Airachnid, who is outwardly femme tends to be seen as irredeemable by the fandom and also inexplcitly evil by the narrative.

TFP’s issue with femininity  is something is something I certainly want to talk about later on, but given this essay is just about Airachnid, I will stop here.

The last thing I'm also going to say is that I don't think that the writers knew, or understand how to write a female villain for a notoriously misogynstic fanbase. There are reasons why the other female characters are 'acceptable' and it's because they are for the most part, written in a way that is okay for a male audience. That doesn't mean they don't face their fair share of misogyny...they do. Especially Miko.

But an outwardly evil femme fatale who doesn't give a fuck about it...the fandom is just not ready for such a character. And while I don't think the writers needed to pacify her, i do 100% believe that when operating in a misogynstic fandom, you should learn how to write a female character in a way that will not get her dragged the way Airachnid has been dragged.

If you enjoyed my essay, please share and consider following?

Please follow my twitter, where I'll also talk more about women's topics in TF.

[firecrackerhh]

This is like Viv HATEfiction man what the hell is wrong with these people?

It reeks of cope. Like Viv’s current success pisses them off so bad they have to come up with AU’s where Viv fucks up so terribly that she loses everything or else they go insane.

“One day it’ll happen guys I swear!” The cope is so real.

Maybe this is a hot take but I’m convinced if you’re just constantly fantasizing about the downfall of someone who hasn’t personally done anything to you I think you have a fucking mental illness and you need to be checked out. Viv isn’t the fucking Antichrist or some shit, calm the fuck down.

Like bitch, I can’t stand Donald Trump, but if I constantly fantasized about horrible things happening to him all the time and I constantly wrote out how I can’t wait to chop his head off by guillotine or some shit it wouldn’t be shocking if people told me to yknow…chill out?

You all need therapy.

See the difference is that making a call out post on random Discord groomer #79966432224689965 will likely actually result in well…the result you want, which is that they get shunned by the community, because they are a fucking nobody irl and have no actual power to back themselves up in any capacity. Call out posts affect people more so based on the status they already hold. Call out someone who obviously can’t defend themselves (or their actions are so rancid it isn’t worth doing so) and they’ll probably leave so they don’t get metaphorical tomatoes thrown at them at every turn.

But see, I think with Viv’s case, it’s a lot different.

1. Viv, contrary to what these fucking desperate idiots want to be the case, Viv isn’t just a random fucking nobody. She certainly is no Walt fucking Disney, but she definitely isn’t some rando on the street. Viv has the ability to defend herself whether it be from herself or her goddamn lawyers, like when Erin Frost got that C&D. no rando could give someone else that.

2. The accusations against Viv are so fucking old by now, that anyone bringing them up is just evidence to me of someone who refuses to let shit go, especially when they bring up shit that Viv has already fucking apologized for. If your evidence isn’t fucking relevant to the present day, if the accused shows some kind of repentance or apologizes for their past behavior, then what’s the point in beating a dead horse?

And the most important one.

3. Call outs do fucking nothing. Viv has gotten all kinds of call outs thrown her way over the years. And what has that done? Nothing. All the whining and bitching and moaning that every half-wit insists on spewing in her direction hasn’t amounted to fucking anything.

The fucking conceit one must have to make a shitty call out post on Tumblr.com of all places where the maker of said doc is nothing but a POS loser who barely gets any goddamn attention otherwise is fucking astounding.

Seriously no one gives a single fucking shit about anything else Spark does, they do like, Dragon ball AU’s or something and no one fucking cares lmao. Once saw a post where they acted like they were gonna fucking off themselves if no one gave them any attention, like fucking pathetic dude. Grow up.

No one on tumblr gives a shit, you people are fucking worthless. Your opinions are worthless.

There’s actual suffering in the world you can focus on but instead you want to waste your short pathetic useless lives away on bitching about someone who will never look at your bullshit? Motherfucker made a part of his “call out” talking to Viv DIRECTLY as if she would EVER look at something about herself full of misinformation. Like she even goes on tumblr anymore.

The fact they wrote it like they actually expected her to read any of this shit is evidence to me of a troubled mind.

Yeah, I think if you think of yourself as so fucking self-important that you think doing shit like this will amount to anything, if you seriously believe that involving yourself in a Viv-critical circle jerk is in any way improving your or anyone else’s life, you’re fucking delusional and you need some fucking help.

Just, Jesus Christ man, I don’t know how people can act like this online and have such little self awareness. It’s kinda fascinating.

Pitiful really, I feel like people like this are so desperate to make a difference in the world they think engaging in dumb 10+ year old internet drama is somehow equivalent to real world activism. Tragic.

There are issues in the animation industry, but it seems to me the only time these people care is if they can shit on Viv specifically for them, as if what she’s done is anything uniquely terrible. It’s just stupid man. It’s so fucking stupid.

🧨🔥~Firecracker out~🧨🔥

[noverturemusings]

So.... How are we about dav?

We are processing it for sure... Had to think about this ask for a bit.

I don't have the game and can't play it for a long while yet so I've just been receiving second-hand information, and watching my partner stream it (we're technically playing together since I'm picking the dialogue options with them...?) So I'm still trying to get as much as I can about it and then sitting with it.

I know some people have been having an absolute blast, while some have already told me they're disappointed and/or upset. I'm glad people are enjoying it and feel satisfied with the story, that's amazing. It's been a needed closure for sure after ten years. On my end, I'm personally a little underwhelmed.

Because look, I can see the creative direction, and I can see the messages and themes and all these beautiful narrative frameworks that the writers wanted to convey. I can see the story they wanted to tell, but the execution has suffered because the writing couldn't hold it up. Which is a shame because Dragon Age has always shone with its writing. It hasn't always been perfect but it's been solid. I've already been apprehensive and worried because of all the layoffs and turnovers, and I can definitely feel it in the final product.

I'm gonna ramble for a bit, I'll put it under a read more. Woe, spoilers ahead, including the ending!

Everything feels too clean, I'd say, which has been a common criticism for this game and I do agree with it. Dragon Age hasn't always been perfect with it, but it's still presented a lot of its conflicts in a morally grey light. It facilitated discussion (and discourse) about the characters' actions and motivations. But Veilguard's been very didactic about what you should feel. "This is bad, look how bad it is. We think this is bad. This is so bad. We don't condone this."

It feels like the game is backpedalling so hard out of fear that something will be presented "wrong" or that it will be problematic, and this ends up stripping the narrative and characters of their nuance to the point that it starts feeling generic and lifeless.

I've also noted the handholding in the dialogue but I've been told it eases up some later on in the game so there's that at least. I know it's to cater to new players, but at points you end up feeling like the game thinks you're a goldfish with short-term memory loss.

There's so much telling too in the dialogue. Off the top of my head, an example would be the point when you're first approaching D'Meta's Crossing and Bellara notes that this port used to be busy and so forth and it's always busy and then Neve remarks something isn't right. The dialogue feels clunky to me here. Yes, I can see that. The environment is already doing the storytelling. I can see crates and fresh produce and stacks of bags along the port. I can infer it used to be busy. You've set up this uneasy lighting and fog and desaturation so you feel something isn't right. Your environment is showing the story, so rely on it a bit more. There's no need to double down on it.

But again, this is just the first bit of the game, and maybe it gets better.

Then you have Mythal. Oh, Mythal. You are so interesting, so tragic, and so complex. But something about how her character was executed felt so... scattered? Something's nagging at me. Her character doesn't feel fully realised. I still have to get my thoughts in order about her, this is already getting too long lol.

I'm also baffled as to why the Inquisitor doesn't play a greater role. I honestly thought they would since this is a direct continuation of Inquisition. They're the reason Rook was even recruited by Varric in the first place.

Honestly, a lot of past choices just feel like they don't matter at all, which is also a shame because that's another charm to Dragon Age. You get to see this world that you've built over the course of the games, but that's just. Not here. I guess. Oh, and the Crows are good now, apparently? Did they go through a reform since Zevran's time or something...?

Look, I have a lot more thoughts on the game regarding other points, but maybe that's for another day. Can't reliably comment on the companions either as I haven't explored a lot of their stories yet.

Don't get me wrong, Veilguard has its strong points too. The environments are absolutely gorgeous and Ghilan'nain has a chokehold on me but that's just my love of body horror and female scientists who've thrown the book of ethics into the bin showing.

Also, FELASSAN. My boy!! I get to see and hear my favourite novel character at last! I'm so happy I got it right that he was a soldier. Got the rank wrong; he's a general, not a lieutenant, but close enough haha. His voice for sure surprised me but I loved it.

It's also so interesting to see the Dread Wolf side of Solas. He's not trying to hide anymore. Except, he still is. In Inquisition, the humble apostate was his armour. Now, it's the Wolf. It's a very fascinating intersection. The Solas we see now is running on fumes and desperation and has presumably been isolated for a decade (also, where the fuck are his agents??) and he's pulling out every trick he knows in the book just to get his goal done.

And the endings? Well, they're okay. I know some are happy with it, some not so. I'm lukewarm about them... I did enjoy the tension and I think 'satisfying' is a word I could use for it. But satisfying in the sense of "yeah okay, I'll take it". I can see the destination, and I can appreciate it, but the strength of the writing needed to get there didn't quite reach for me. Could've been way worse though (saw the alternate in the artbook for Veilguard), so small mercies with what we got.

A few parts shine for me still. I love Solas' body language in front of Mythal when she shows up. He looks so broken. It's so TELLING. That, for me, did so much more to convey their dynamic than the murals, I think. I also loved when Solas gets outwitted by Rook and he does that bitter chuckle and calls himself a fool. Delicious. Gareth David-Lloyd fucking killed it yet again with his voice acting in this game. I was also reminded a little of Loki's ending. Trickster god in a green realm and upholding the structure of the world anyone?

But yeah. Look, do I think Veilguard is a bad game? No, not at all. It's got its strengths and again, I can see the creative ambitions the writers wanted to get at, but it just wasn't fully realised. Likely due to all the complications during development. I think it's a good game if it's standing on its own. But as the fourth game in the franchise? It's mid for me...

Again, I'm genuinely happy for the people who are enjoying it and think it's delivered everything they've ever wanted. I'm also happy for the people who feel seen with the exploration of gender and identities in the game, and those whose headcanons have been confirmed. That's such a fantastic feeling. Definitely did a little dance myself at the whole "blight was sealed away" and "Solas was a spirit" confirmation, though those ones, I feel, were among the more obvious ones haha.

Let's be real though. We all know what the real best parts of the game are.

Assan and Manfred.

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 107

Thorum? Oh, this'll be interesting ... and HELLO to Marisha's body horror fan ... oh dear ... what's THIS madness? Wow ... this just got weird ... oh, thanks, Robbie ... that's helpful ... meanwhile Matt discovers a freaky new kink ... O.O

Yeah ... advertising by way of David Lynch ... that's about right. Thankfully she's BACK ... oh, TEN YEARS?!!! Awesome ...

Hmmmm ... Sam was kind of adorable there ... XD

The return of Momlan! Yay!

So ... how much shit is still going to go off in here?

Roll for Initiative! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

D&D maths and lots of rollies ... wow ... and somehow for the first time Orym is stone dead LAST in the order ... even more wow ...

Laudna casts Mirror Image on herself, then FORM OF DREAD!!! YEAH!!! Oh yeah, that's RIGHT, no more Delilah! So she gets to be completely new and fresh and OH MY GOD CRAZY VICTORIAN BANSHEE!!! I love that ...

Chetney charges in and pulls out Ludinus' notes from the Bag, passes them to Fearne, then ... what the hell is he DOING? Brand of Castigation? That's a weird move ... and he deald her 13 points of damage? Seriously, WHAT?!!! I thought you were FRIENDS!!! If this is some kind of plan it's a WEIRD one ...

Braius dashes in to climb in through the window, then Inspires Fearne with his newly painted portrait of her which looks suspiciously like a piece of specially-commissioned promotional artwork ... cute ...

Ludinus' turn ... balls ... Matt asks what Fearne's hitpoints are? Oh THAT can't be good ... she's STUNNED?!!! WHAT THE ACTUAL -- NO!!! Laudna Counterspells and it SUCCEEDS!!! NIce save Marisha Ray you absolute GODDESS!!! WHOOP WHOOP!!! But CRAP ... now he knows she's there, though ... but she's just SPOOKY right now, so ... yeah ...

Ashton dives into the muck and essentially starts SWIMMING AROUND, going for the column ... and prepares to take a swing at it with his hammer? Interesting ...

Fearne heads into the chamber and screams: "DADDY?!!! WE NEED TO TALK!!!" ... okay? Deception check? Hmmm ... oh yeah, Matt is NEVER gonna live "spread your legs" down ... XD ... 24? Oh, NICE ROLL, Ashley! So it actually WORKS!!! Unbelivable ...

Dorian rushes in too and sees the immediate threat to Fearne ... and casts Force Cage around her! Nice ... nick of time, Robbie! And some Bardic Inspiration while he's at it! Nice!

Gloamglut's turn! Crap! It breathes dark fire OVER Fearne's head and it INSTEAD goes at Laudna and Imogen! Crap squared! O.O They dodge but still get singed ... ouch!

Zathuda jumps down and MATERIALISES right behind both our girls! Crap! He attacks with his fancy sword! Laudna Shields, plus she still has her Mirror Image ... but the second catches her ... OUCH!!!

The Emissary drags themselves out of the mire and rushes to Ludinus ... looking for protection like a little bitch, it seems ...

Legendary action for the dragon! Balls! It scratches at Imogen and catches her, but it's just a glancing blow, at least.

Imogen uses Misty Step to bamf ONTO GLOAMGLUT'S BACK?!!! Are you effing KIDDING ME?!!! O.O She attempts to TAKE CONTROL with the reins? Wow ... that is BALLSY ... and she's a horse girl so she has ADVANTAGE at this! Wow ... 20? Holy shit ... she just SAVED HER GIRLFRIEND'S LIFE!!!

Orym really doesn't have a great idea of WHAT THE FUCK is actually going on right now ... so he rushes the best he can to get inside ... he JUST makes it to Fearne ...

Ira slithers in through a window and goes for the Sorrowlord ... okay, then ... and SCARES THE FUCK out of him while he's distracted with Laudna! XD I love that ...

Laudna casts Void Puppet to send a freaky phantom version of her RIGHT THROUGH the Sorrowlord, then casts Blight on him! Sweet! Matt takes a dump on his save so she FUCKS HIM UP ... wow, she has A LOT of dice to roll ... I can't wait for this result ... 40 points of damage! Holy fuck! Oh yeah, that clearly HURTS HIM ...

Chetney risks a slip past the guard and is missed while he goes, thankfully Matt rolls REALLY SHIT there, so he's through and charges for Ludinus, attacking him with his wolfy claws ... A HIT!!! And another hit with e Dirty 20! Nice! 20 and then 18 points of slashing damage for those! Nice ... it hurts him, but not bad yet ...

Braius Misty Steps his way to Ludinus ... now FLANKING hi along with Chet! Sweet ... he attacks with his crazy mace! With a 3rd Level Divine Smite! 40 points of damage! Yeah ... another attack, but that one goes painfully wide ... NUTS!!!

Ira uses a Legendary Action to attack Zathuda! Sweet ...

Ludinus tries to whip the Emissary away with magic but Laudna Counterspells ...only for him to Counterspell right back? Hmmm ... It's a Roll-Off!! O.O Nuts, Ludinus JUST wins that ... great ... now what can they do? He preps but just HOLDS IT in anticipation ... okay, then ...

Ashton pops up out of the mud and CHARGES HIM!!! And he Rages while he's at it ... okay, then ... now he comes in swinging! First is a NAT 20!!! Yes ... with a Chaos Burst! And a charge from the Ring! Right ... how much is this gonna hurt him? A lot of dice math, then ... always promising ... O.O ... 56 + 14 ... which means it BREAKS HIS CONCENTRATION and the spell he was brewing is GONE!!! Yes! Taliesin: "For my NEXT attack ..." XD ... 28 DEFINITELY hits ... 24 points of damage ... HDYWTDT!!! SWEET!!!

Crap ... Ludinus, you sneaky bastard ... the hit triggers an explosion from the clone? Ouch ... but it does envelop the Emissary while it's happening, at least ... but a bunch of them have to make Dex saves ... crap ... O.O ... Braius takes a FULL FUCKING HIT ... ouch ... and now Matt has Ashley rolls a D20 ... oh dear ... at least the ceiling doesn't cave, but it's definitely PRECARIOUS now ...

Fearne bamfs Mister out, tries to use Fiery Teleportation to port herself OUT of the cage ... hmmmm ... Charisma save? Okay ... she pulls it off! Nice ... she materialises by the Emissary and is immediately attacked by one of his guards! Crap ... she tries to convince the Emissary this is all fucked up with the news that Ludinus has been slaughtering fae for power for decades ... and Ashley rolls FUCKING AMAZING on her Persuasion so it DEFINITELY convinces! Sweet!

Dorian dashes up behind Fearne, but takes a blow from one of the guards as he passes ... ouch ... no attack, he's just there to back her up ...

Gloamglut pulls back at Imogen's urging, but it's charging up and there are PLENTY OF TARGETS under it ... crap ... Laura must now make a strength check to contest what it does next ... 13 against a dragon? Oof ... yeah, the dragon UNLEASHES a jet of dark fire on the chamber! CRAP!!! Fuck that's a lot of dice Matt's rolling right now ... O.O

Ira attacks again with another Legendary action ... Ashley rolls shit, and it fails SPECTACULARLY ... great ...

Zathuda makes like he wants to parley ... Insight Check for Laudna! She passes the message on, but VERY CAUTIOUSLY ... meanwhile as the Sorrowlord backs off Ira just ATTACKS HIM ... okay ... Zathuda pulls back and tries to BOLT, giving Laudna an attack of opportunity ... she grabs onto his wrist and Marisha rolls a Nat1 ... oh boy ... yeah, that's a SPECTACULAR fail, he's already gone ...

The Emissary questions the Sorrowlord ... oh, this just got interesting ... is this a standoff or can they talk their way out of this after all?

Imogen tries to speak to Gloamglut with her powers ... oh wow ... this could go SPECTACULARLY wrong ... O.O ... oh, so this will be a contest of wills ... Wisdom roll for Laura, then ... hmmmm ... 15? Oh bugger ... oh, but Matt rolled SPECTACULARLY shite ... it actually WORKS!!! I can't believe it ... she holds Psychic Lance for just in case ...

Orym gracefully makes his way in to pull Bait & Switch with the Emissary ... interesting ... then tries to defuse the situation while simultaneously Hexing Zathuda ... wow ...

Is Ira shit-stirring right now? Or is he just being cautiously smart?

Laudna skitters down the wall into the main chamber ...

Okay then ... looks like it really IS a parley ... Fearne gives the Emissary Ludinus' journal, while Chetney describes what happened in Molaesmyr ... meanwhile it looks like Zathuda's hanging Ludinus out to dray right now ... interesting ... insight check for Fearne ... OH SHIT!!! WHISPERS!!! Cue a WizzKids plug from Sam!

Zathuda tells the Emissary to go, intent on seeing his end through, but maybe now as a ruse instead ... can we actually BUY THIS right now? I don't trust it ...

What does this actually mean for the main plans? Have they just shot themselves in the foot somewhat?

Yeah, Imogen just gets BUCKED RIGHT OFF as Gloamglut lands ... but she starts flying instead so she can catch herself. Okay, then ... so Zathuda's making out that he's their inside man in the Vanguard now ... do we actually BELIEVE HIM right now? I mean this is bullshit, right? I don't trust him ...

Is this all going to go south because Fearne has no interest in going along with THEIR plans for her? Hey, Zathuda, stop talking FOR our girl, she can make up her OWN damn mind!

So ... a deal with the devil, or they're letting them set up against them KNOWING full well the plan moving forward? Or they just go all in right now and try and kill them all RIGHT HERE ... honestly NONE of these choices really sound too great ...

Now we're all positioning for JUST IN CASE this all goes off again after all ... oh boy this is tense no matter WHAT ...

Fearne gives Gloamglut scritches ... right as Imogen Psychic Lances Ludinus? HOLY SHIT ... O.O Meanwhile Orym dashes up Gloamglut's tail and uses Seedling to catch the Emissary with Grasping Vine ... Acrobatics check? Oh, that's child's play for our Wee Man ... with Silvery Barbs from Laudna too that succeeds ... he gets hurt by the drop but now they're got him in their grasp!

And now it's all GOING OFF just like I expected it to ... O.O

Rolling Initiative AGAIN!!! I don't think I can take this fucking TENSION ...

Orym drags the Emissary away, then hits him a few times to try and subdue him without killing him ... he's out cold with just a couple of hits. Okay then, now what?

Imogen Pyshic Lances Zathuda again, this time at 6th Level ... NINE D6 of damage? Holy shit ... 29 points of Psychic damage! Oh my fucking GODS ...

Gloamglut goes for the Emissary ... OF COURSE it does ... O.O ... meanwhile the building is under some SERIOUS strain now ... and the guards are FLEEING now ... as they should, really ... it slashes at Orym with claws and tail ... Orym manages to dodge, but the miss hits the pillar instead ... shit ... yeah, that's it, the pillar is DUST ...

The building is now COLLAPSING ... O.O

Fearne psychically tels everybody to RUN and then climbs up onto Gloamglut ... what the actual FUCK?!!! The dragon's having NONE OF IT so she has to fight for it ... oh boy ... 5 is a SHITE roll ... yeah, that's DEFINITELY not gonna work ...

Chetney BOLTS ...

Braius rushes to Fearne, then casts Thunderweight on her to launch her up onto the dragon's back? Holy fucking shit ... he gives her a little kiss on the booty for Inspiration ... she rolls a Dirty 20 and NOW SHE'S ON THE DRAGON!!!

Ashton dives into the mud and just SHOOTS OUT with impressive speed ...

Dorian rushes to the Emissary, throws them over his shoulder and just teleports them both outside ... NICE!!!

Ira goes into his Nightmare Form ... oh shit! He leaps onto Gloamglut's back, clambers to Zathuda and starts cutting down into him! Holy shit ...

Laudna asks Fearne if she wants the dragon to live, which she DOES, ofcourse she does ... Void Puppet again? Ooooooh ... Disintegrate? Fuck ... if this works it could just straight up MURDER Zathuda on the spot ... Matt PLEASE fail this save ... Silver Barbs! That could help ... oh my gods HOW MANY DICE is she gonna roll right now? Marisha (to Ashley): "Is it okay if I kill your dad?" 81 points of damage? Holy fucking shit ...

Zathuda is now MISSING A LEG and somehow he's STILL ALIVE ... so she just Eldritch Blasts him instead ... only one hits ... 12 points ... oof ... that was SO COOL but it was almost EVEN COOLER ...

Using Seedling Orym tries to yank himself up beside Zathuda ... but Gloamglut resists VIOLENTLY. People are thrown about by the force of iits wings, and Fearne's knocked off its back ... CRAP!!! And after all that Orym STILL doesn't gain purchase after all ... so he just makes another attempt to run up its body ... which ALSO fails, so he just gives up trying to go for Zathuda and instead just starts slashing at the dragon. Hack! Slash! He draws blood both times ...

Imogen uses Telekinesis to try and rip Zathuda away from the saddle ... Strength check! 14? Against 10 that's A WIN!!! He's torn free and dumped RIGHT IN FRONT of Braius ... that deals him 4 D6 of damage! 14 points and he's UNCONSCIOUS!!! Wow ...

All right, NOW what?

Imogen Misty Steps to Laudna ... Gloamglut BARELY manages to squeeze itself out through the same hole it got in through ... FALLING DEBRIS!!! Watch your heads! Time to fucking RUN!!!

Yeah, this is now becoming EXTREMELY complicated and extremely urgent ... people need to just do what they can AS FAST as they can ... meanwhile IMogen's dragging Zathuda out with her Telekinesis ... they have BAREL;Y SECONDS NOW!!! The roof is coming down, people!

Is Braius SERIOUSLY committing desecration on his way out right now? O.O

Singularity Assault? How badly is Ashton going to fuck this all up right now? This sounds like something that could go SPECTACULARLY bad ... wow ... he's REALLY going to punch Chetney right now ... I can't belive he actually DID that ...

I mean TECHNICALLY that does work but it is REALLY UGLY ... O.O

Wait ... Braius and Imogen AREN'T OUT YET when the building collapses? What does that mean?

Seriously, are they okay? And NOW he chooses to call it a break? RIGHT NOW?!!! Matthew fucking Mercer!

Zathuda's first death save? Oh, okay ... meanwhile Ashton's already starting to try and dig them out ... and OF COURSE Laudna is currently FREAKING THE FUCK OUT ...

Dorian's trying to convince the guards that they're not a threat to the Emissary and somehow it seems to work? Crazy ... that was like THE WORST fake-out ever ...

Telepathic Bond! Yeah, try that ...

Wait, what the FUCK is happening right now? The temple is currently REBUILDING ITSELF ... so it's, like ... completely rebuilt now? Crazy ... but at least THEY'RE both okay ...

Thank FUCK for that ...

Braius gives Zathuda a Medicine check ... which COULD actually KILL HIM if it fails ... wow ... this'll be interesting ... so he's stabilised, but thankfully STILL unconscious ... okay then. That's smart ...

They all rush right back inside the temple ...

Well that settles it, then ... that was DEFINITELY the Arch Heart fixing that ...

Matt is LEAVING ... what the fuck ... SOMEONE ELSE is coming instead ... OH HELLO!!! Abubakar Salim is in the house again ...

Oh shit, yeah, it is just GOING OFF right now ...

Ah, I think I get it ... so they're all tripping out in the midst of another spiritual vision like the one Orym had before ... okay then ...

Like I said, this is DEFINITELY the Arch Heart ... oh okay, so he's clearly focusing on Braius right now ... makes sense after THAT exit ...

Look here, Doomseed, there is NOT going to be any talking your way out of this ...

Oh, so that was a BLUFF? SILAHA you sneaky bastard ... XD

A feast? Interesting ... is that actually going to be at all REAL? Are they actually going to gain sustenance from that?

Oh shit ... he sees something specific in Fearne? Interesting ... and now he's noticed it in Ashton too ... yeah, there's definitely something MISCHIEVOUS in this particular god, and I love it ... XD

I'm not at all surprised by Ashton going off on him right now, he's definitely the most primed to react badly to THIS kind of behaviour ...

A vessel ... wait ... is he about to try and turn one of THEM into a Vessel? I'm not sure I like that idea ...

He likes Laudna, of course. I expected he would. I'm not surprised he finds her a little fascinating too.

That's how it is, really. The true heroes are never the ones you really EXPECT to be. They're misfits, troublesome and morally dubious, terribly complicated and in some ways rather problematic, and yet right now they're EXACTLY what this world needs ...

Sacrifices for the greater good ... oh yeah, that shit always sounds great in theory, doesn't it? But in practice it's always messy, and ugly, and often times it's not really worth it in the end ...

Oh, so this isn't really an OFFICIAL meeting, then? He's not doing this with their blessing? That's interesting too ...

What, sacrifice a god to Predathos? You really think THAT'S gonna work? Sounds a bit rudimentary to me ...

Oh hello, Asmodeus ... that's interesting ...

Insight check? SERIOUSLY?!!! Yeah, I don't think 19's gonna cut it, Riegel ...

Nifty little Dawnfather impression ... yeah, you got a good ear for that, Braius. XD

Bit of a dramatic way to make your point there, Orym ... O.O

He is very pretty, yes. I mean he's a literal Starman. That's, like, inherently cool ...

Dorian makes a very interesting point ... although I'm a little worried it might get him smote at the same time ...

Wow ... so are they genuinely gonna go along with this, then?

The guy LITERALLY just yanked a star out the sky. This can't be good ... O.O ... and the star is ALIVE ... great ...

HER?!!! Her who?

Imogen, what the fuck are you doing? Oh shit ...

A smell of winter? What ... okay, where's THIS going?

And now they're all awake again ... and out boy is LEAVING?!!! Shit ... and now Matt's back! Crazy ...

A ring? Is this some kind of new Vestige? THAT'S the end of the episode? Oh, A CARD?!!! Cooooooool ...

Oh wow ... yeah, that does all sound seriously boss ... that is a SERIOUSLY OP'd piece of magical kit, there ...

So that's it. Okay then ... is it Thursday yet?

[allwormdiet]

Buzz 7.5

There has never been a situation that has been improved by the introduction of Nazis

Either Coil meant to leave them in the line of fire with this dumbfuck maneuver, in which case he's a terrible boss, or he genuinely didn't realize that this would threaten his assets, in which case he's a terrible boss. Do we want to let this man run an entire city?

Alec's being a bit of a brat here, but he seems appropriately chastened by the highlighting of his personal fuckup... although I'm still not entirely clear on why he fucked this one up. Did he have his phone on silent, or was he too distracted by the TV?

I'm gonna be real there's a very solid chance I'm overthinking this and the answer is "Alec needed to not notice this for the story beats to hit, so he didn't notice," but the thought snags in my head.

Planning, logistics, shower, not a ton to comment on...

These two are a real comedy duo, except they don't realize what they're doing is comedy

Also, shame this is the last time for a while these two have a comfortable conversation, but oh fucking well

Someone buy Taylor a weighted blanket please, or cuddle her more. Maybe both. This girl needs help.

Even when she's effectively dropped out of school, Taylor still can't escape it forever. Can't escape the people who want to hurt her. There's nowhere she can feel safe, not her home where Danny tries to corner her for the sake of the truth, not the loft that they have to abandon in case the Empire burns it down.

Okay so there's stuff that's gotta be said here, but first: megahuge? Taylor you fucking dweeb.

This was.. fucked, on Taylor's part. She realized that Sophia thought Brian was good-looking, and decided to use that to sting her pride, by putting Brian in an uncomfortable position without giving him a chance to know what's up or even protest after the fact. She used Brian to get to Sophia, and that fucking sucks. This is a really petty, spiteful act that immediately bites her in the ass, and I don't feel a whole lot of sympathy about it. Pity, maybe, but not sympathy.

She made her bed on this one.

See, she very critically didn't take Rachel's advice on this one. She expressed interest, yeah, but in a way tat left Brian no way to turn her down; this wasn't a question asked and answered, and communication was deliberately obfuscated before and after.

Current Thoughts

Taylor, Taylor, Taylor. Very rarely do the consequences of your actions come down on you as directly as they're about to. This isn't poisoning the shit out of Lung so that Armsmaster sours on you and Bakuda escalates and retaliates against you; this is you provoking a girl that has enacted physical harm against you in the past, and manipulating your friend and teammate into doing so with a gesture that he did not agree to.

This is gonna hurt you pretty soon and from multiple angles. Have fun with that.

[nozomi-kaizoku]

One thing that genuinely pisses me off is how my dad will constantly point out me, my sister, and my mom's shortcomings and be so quick to blame us for it, yet when we point out his shortcomings that are genuinely harmful, all of a sudden he's "being invalidated", and that we "hurt his feelings" and shit, AND HE DOESN'T EVEN CONSIDER HOW WE FEEL EITHER WHICH FUCKING SUCKS!

Literally just today my parents were arguing about how my mental health was affecting my ability to attend school, and he's over there saying "oh, we should put [him] in a boarding school", "[he]'s doing this on purpose" yap yap yap, basically blaming me for all of this shit. (I put m pronouns in the brackets cause he was misgendering me the whole time btw)

And then I go an step out to get something, he calls me over, and basically just starts shaming me (in front of my mom an sister btw) for getting suspended and sharing how I feel about mr. Gonzales n shit, and when my mom tried to explain and elaborate on something to him, he completely blew her off.

And my mom (bless her heart btw) was literally trying to defend this asshole because she loves him, like a lot, and I feel bad that she has to put up with this tbh.

"he didn't know, he's trying his best" Not only does he know, HE'S SAYING THESE THINGS IN THE MOST DEGRADING MATTER POSSIBLE JUST TO MAKE ME FEEL BAD FOR GETTING SUSPENDED, AND I JUST SJFJKFHERUFERFHR /NEG

Also, I accidentally bought $20 worth of shit on Thursday because he gave me his credit card to buy a soda, and he got in trouble for letting me go out and spend that much, and instead of holding himself accountable, he decides to drag it to today (TWO DAYS LATER) and complain about him "being thrown under the bus", like I'M SORRY BUT YOU'RE THE 50 SOMETHING YEAR OLD MAN BEING PUT IN CHARGE OF MYFINACIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE MENTALLY ILL ASS, YOU WERE THE ONE THAT GAVE ME THE FUCKING CREDIT CARD AND DIDN'T BOTHER TO STOP ME.

and oh man am I getting genuinely tired of his fucking trauma dumping.

He talks about how his mental health and how angry he is at something, yet when we have the AUDACITY to try and talk about how WE feel, instead of taking the time to listen and understand, he basically dismisses us and does this thing I personally call "fake praising" (which is basically when he gives someone praise but it's in such a condescending and almost sarcastic tone to where it doesn't feel like genuine praise at all), and even straight up invalidates us n shit, it's fucking infuriating man.

And the fucked up part? whenever my mom does these things, all of a sudden it's this horrible abusive thing and that he's a selfish bitch, which upsets me because unlike him, she doesn't have as much control over it (though she's working on it), and both she and I have BPD, which makes this even more fucked up because he's so quick to judge us for the same shit he does just because we have a mental illness we can't control.

It infuriates me so much how he's quick to dismiss other people's struggles and sometimes tell them it's their fault, and then the minute he receives ANY amount of criticism against genuinely shitty actions, all of a sudden he's a victim?? FUCK THAT!

I'd say he has a big ego and it's becoming an issue, but i don't want to give the NPD community any shit (since they already got so much stigma on their hands), and I'm not gonna say he's faking any of this either, cause that's not okay, but he REALLY heeds to get a therapist to talk to instead of dumping his issues on the rest of his family.

OH! did I forget to mention he makes weird comments bout my body without my consent anytime I dress alternatively, and he's told me in the past that I have an "athlete's body"? Yeah, kind of weird..

He does ALL of this, and yet still wonders why I hate him.

man is it infuriating...

EDIT: forgot to mention that he doesn't even go to my appointments, nor has he even MET my therapist, or any of that shit, so he has no right to even talk about my mental health like that.

Also, he's extremely invasive about how my medications are working and if I took them n shit, and he says it's "so I can know if my coworker Brian can be prescribed them".

like first off the medications working bit is something for my doctor to ask, not you, second off, I get if you're reminding me, but for you to basically come at me and yell at me for not taking them and then acting like I got angry because I didn't take those medications because "I can tell that you're off them", and third off, if Brian really wanted to talk about my medications so that he can speak with his doctor about it, he should talk with me directly so that he can know first hand how it works and what the side effects are, he doesn't need to have my dad (who has no knowledge about mental health medications whatsoever) come and ask invasive questions about my medications and risk spreading harmful misinformation that's gonna get him killed.

Let's just say I'm probably gonna have him talk to my therapist on my behalf so that he actually, yknow, LEARNS NOT TO BE A FUCKING DICK TO THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM??

[super-hero-confessions]

can i just be honest, confused, and mildly amused for a hot sec?

i've seen exactly *zero* valkyrie apologists hop up on this blog to diehard defend valkyrie. every single confession i've ever seen on here "defending" valkyrie doesn't make a single excuse for her worst actions. if you go through them, some are trolling but most will straight up acknowledge it or even admit she could have had better writing. sometimes they even just politely ask that whoever the anti is to just leave them alone and let people like what they like, which should be fair enough given that she's a fictional character and people are allowed to like villains or poorly redeemed heroes.

who are we to judge?

i have; however, seen plenty of the antis insulting valkyrie fans and calling them sociopaths and apologists or whatever for just simply liking her. nothing else, no defense or anything, just liking her or for wanting to like her in peace i guess. i've also seen a lot of empty bad faith arguments and those same antis turn around and diehard defend dude characters that have legit done worse than valkyrie could hold a candle to or have not changed their ways and may not ever?

i am so sorry, but if you can rationalize homelander or *omni-man* (for a more accurate comparison) even as just *possibly* more redeemable or savable than valkyrie.

i don't mean to be rude. but if you're to that point, it might be time to reevaluate where the hatred for this fictional alien is *really* coming.

you could even argue that omni-man's redemption arc is much better written than valkyrie's and you'd probably be right, but that still wouldn't make her "less" redeemable, they have almost exactly the same background.

and i'm not even saying *actual* slavery or "valkyrie" apologists can't exist, i'm sure they do, actually i know they definitely do. but you can't equalize every single fan as that simply because they are a fan of valkyrie. what the fuck, is this a war? are they your enemy just for liking her? is this collective punishment, what's going on here???

and i'm pretty sure, given the run through that the antis have done on this blog, that wherever they are. they just have this blog blocked and are never gonna see this shit anyway.

it kinda makes me wonder what audience these antis are actually trying to reach here. they complain about not being able to give valid criticism of valkyrie without being attacked or whatever but then never provide the actual valid criticism of valkyrie and *constantly* attack *any* confession they see that "defends" valkyrie.

why not be constructive for once, provide areas where they could have improved upon valkyrie's writing and what you wish you would have seen with her? otherwise and again, if you can't think of a single constructive or nice thing to say about her, i think it may be time to reevaluate where the hate comes from.

i used to be neutral on valkyrie. i still mostly am but knowing it bothers people so fucking much that anyone could like her is kind of hilarious.

and then there's the copy pasting with confessions? oh my god like who is this troll and what the hell do they actually want???

[jewishbarbies]

We're moots, but I'm just going to send this on anon cause I have swiftie moots and don't want to start any wars lol

Anyways, I saw this tiktok that made me actively roll my eyes so hard they almost fell out.

Some girl basically said how it's "telling" that everyone is judging Taylor harder than Matty and it's so bogus to me how someone could actually think that? Like, people judge that Matty guy plenty. Every swiftie is fighting for their life, trying to justify her choices, and you're gonna argue people go harder on her? She's a grown woman, damnit. She knows exactly what she is doing. She knows exactly the criticisms that have been leveled against Matty. What that person says goes against a feminist notion because you're trying too hard to put her on a pedestal, when she should be judged for her choice.

In the past, I was trying to be respectful and not personally judge her for her dating life, but at this point, she's literally bringing it on herself. Like, you just ended an engagement, and then you're jumping some other guy's bones like two weeks later? I wonder what really happened there...

literally NO ONE has blamed taylor for his actions. everyone’s upset that despite his actions, she’s CHOOSING to be in a relationship with him. I don’t understand how that’s just such a hard concept to grasp. they want this to be misogyny so fucking bad it’s embarrassing. white women refusing to acknowledge that they’re not excused from consequences just because their actions involve men. they’re like “no no no, but he’s a MAN! you should judge HIM!” bitch why?? he’s not fucking himself because he’s got you, we’re ALLLLL past the point of being upset at him. we know what he’s done and we’re done with him. it’s YOU as the woman dating him that can’t accept what he’s done and leave his stinky ass. you choosing to stay with him says a lot about you and your ignorance than us being mad at you for it does hon.