#but you're still digging!!

[astrophelstella]

The only comparison I'll make with the main characters of Genshin and Star Rail, as someone who has been playing them both, is this: Rizz.

The traveler pulling people from every nation they arrive makes sense. Their all proper, polite, cute, and a national hero. Of course they've got admirers. Sometimes they can be rude or harsh but its within reason.

But the MC from Star Rail? Nothing short of a feral goblin. They've come to space after escaping containment with the literal cancer of worlds placed in them and armed with nothing but a bat. Enamored with trashcans and carries trashbags with them everywhere like a trash racoon. Hides in a closet to scare hotel staff. Their needlessly dramatic with the potential to be rude and unserious in any situation. They are weird. Literally expected to pull NOBODY. Has NEGATIVE rizz.

But its also hilarious to think of Star Rail MC actually managing to charm somone. Cuz u know damn well they are questioning themselves. Existential crisis imminent.

[karpachev]

Uhm i gotta say team thunder is very important to me

(yes i'm making this name a thing)

Johnny would totally ask for a light in the middle of training. You can't convince me otherwise :D

[lobsterfork]

i unapologetically, unironically love crush. like it tries so hard to be anti-spuffy but david fury was a FOOL to think that the line "I'm drowning in you, Summers" wasn't going to irreparably alter my brain chemistry. that Spike almost falling over himself to open a door for Buffy wasn't going to make me positively unhinged.

literally the only thing i don't like about this episode is fury patronising the audience with his ham-handed, puritanical Hunchback analogy.

but it's fine, 'cause buffy didn't do the reading.

[wannabemasterofwindintraining]

Yea

[samijey]

Sami and Jey talk about the events of Elimination Chamber 2023 (Monday Night RAW 06/11/2023)

[something-about-sunflowers]

Hot take: The people who are STILL insisting that Izzy is homophobic (despite the NUMEROUS instances of the cast/crew/David himself saying that nobody on the show is being targeted for their identity and ‘it’s not “I can’t believe he’s with a guy” but “I can’t believe he’s with THAT guy”‘ ad nauseam) towards Stede, Lucius, or Ed (I don’t believe I’ve seen anyone say anything about Fang or Pete, though I could be wrong, but I’m gonna touch on that in a bit too*)? They’re, unironically, being homophobic by stereotyping the characters and reducing them to just their sexuality.

If you recognize that Stede is a multifaceted character and you recognize the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a man born into wealth and raised on classist, colonialist ideals. Yes, he’s also traumatized by how he was treated by his father and peers but trauma doesn’t exempt people from blame when participating in, embracing, enforcing, and benefiting from classist and colonialist ideals - you will understand that Izzy is not being homophobic towards him just because he hates him.

If you only view Stede as a gay man and ignore everything else about his character then the only motivation for Izzy to hate him MUST be because he’s a gay man and therefore Izzy MUST be homophobic.

If you recognize that Lucius is a multifaceted character and you recognize the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a man who likely was born into some level of the middle class, given that he can read and write (It’s also possible that he was born into a working class family and he learned to read and write there, but it’s the unlikely option by default. None of the rest of the working class crew know how to read or write save Jim who was raised by a nun and would have been taught by her.), he also avoids doing work which is necessary for the function of the ship that they live on and depend on for their livelihoods and encourages the rest of the crew to do the same with his insubordination. He’s also in an unorthodox relationship that people who have not experienced the concept of consensual non-monogamy would not understand and might interpret as cheating - you will understand that Izzy is not being homophobic towards him just because he hates him.

If you only view Lucius as a gay man and ignore everything else about his character then the only motivation for Izzy to hate him MUST be because he’s a gay man and therefore Izzy MUST be homophobic.

If you recognize that Ed is a multifaceted character and you recognize the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a man of color, born into a working class family who worked hard to make a name for himself, to the point where he did not have to endanger himself or his crew to earn their livelihoods. He’s also some level of neurodivergent and understimulated by the environment he’s in (because he excels at his job) which leads him to make irrational and dangerous decisions and puts the lives of himself and his crew in danger. He’s also been making increasingly out of character decisions (corroborated by Fang and Ivan) by the influence of Stede - you will understand that Izzy is not being homophobic towards him just because he’s angry about his relationship with Stede.

If you only view Ed as a gay man and ignore everything else about his character then the only motivation for Izzy to be angry about his relationship with Stede (and only Stede, because he had no qualms about Ed and Calico Jack’s involvement with one another given that he sent Jack to get Ed out of the way of the English, but that’s another post I don’t have the spoons to make) MUST be because he’s a gay man and therefore Izzy MUST be homophobic.

If you IGNORE that Izzy is a multifaceted character and you IGNORE the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a gay (we’re not having this argument) working class man who earned his high ranking position on an extremely respectable pirate’s crew. He’s capable and is rightfully angry when he’s looked down on because of his class. He recognizes the importance of ship maintenance and is rightfully angry when those tasks are ignored. He doesn’t understand Lucius’ relationship dynamic and thinks he can use (what he thought was) him cheating on his partner (seriously, how is ‘I’m going to tell the man you were fucking that you were fucking another man’ threatening to out him?) as a motivation to make him do the necessary ship work. He is rightfully angry when his orders are ignored because he’s the highest authority on the ship next to the captains. He is in love with Ed and is jealous because Ed is in love with Stede - you can pretend that Izzy is homophobic because of how he behaves towards the other gay men on the ship.

If you ignore that Izzy has valid reasons for his actions (which does not mean that the actions are all entirely justified) then the only motivation for them MUST be because he’s homophobic.

(* The persistent neglect of Fang and Pete in these discussions is also rooted in homophobia. Fang and Pete are the only explicitly gay men on the ship who don’t, at any point, present ‘femininely’** and therefore don’t fall so easily into the bubble of the stereotypical gay man and so they get ignored in these discussions because they aren’t suitable to push the narrative that Izzy only interacts negatively towards ‘feminine’/’gnc’** gay men.)

(** The insistence that Stede, Lucius, and Ed are in any way, at any point, LEGITIMATELY presenting ‘femininely’ or are ‘gender non-conforming’ is ALSO rooted in homophobia - and I’d argue a touch of racism via Ed’s hair and beard as they relate to his indigenous roots. The assumption/association with those three being considered feminine comes from their identity as gay men. That is homophobia.

Stede wears men’s clothes. He wears RICH men’s clothes. Bright, colorful, patterned fabrics are worn by RICH men in the 1700s - if you want to argue that, say, king George presented femininely or was gnc because of the way he dressed be my guest but you won’t because he doesn’t and he isn’t. Lucius wears men’s clothes. His clothes are perfectly at place amongst the rest of the crew’s clothes. Ed wears men’s clothes. His leather is in direct relation to gay leather-men which is a hyper-masculine aesthetic in the same way drag is - typically - a hyper-feminine aesthetic. His appreciation for Stede’s clothes comes from the wealth and privilege that centers around the easy possession of those types and quantities of fabrics.

None of them behave in ways that are stereotypically feminine. Having and expressing emotions is not a uniquely or inherently feminine trait. Caring for and maintaining your appearance is not a uniquely or inherently feminine trait. Even if they were, Izzy also does those things. Izzy frequently expresses his emotions - yes, anger, a stereotypically ‘masculine’ emotion, but others as well. He also puts a great deal of care into his appearance, aside from the materials, the only difference between his and Stede’s outfits are the type of shoes and the presence of a jacket. If those traits are to be considered inherently feminine then it is disingenuous to not apply that label to Izzy as well.)

[notwithstandingclause]

What if you did the worst thing in the world what if you stained your soul so black there was nothing left and then some fucking guy said I see the shape of your personhood through the horror you've wrapped it in and I love it enough to demand that you change for the better? What then?? every day Gerald Tarrant wakes up.

[trainingdummyrabbit]

Amngie

The Only Character Ever Source Dude Trust Me My Dad Works At Library Of Ruina

one of the rare characters that makes me lose it in that specific way in which i literally cant watch random people talk about her or else ill give myself heart palpitations <333 i saw a mildly off-base take about her One Time and it made me want to chew through drywall. absolutely fucking fascinating effect that one.

what can i even say about her that i havent already. that other people havent already. shes everything. probably one of th best written characters ican think of in my recent memory. where do you even start. shes a character that showed up and irrevocably altered my entire programming.

shes just a little thang. she could kill with a snap of her fingers. she cares so much that its a core part of her character. shes so jaded that she tries to convince herself she doesnt. shes terrified of being alone. she severs the tie between her and the people she loves with her own hand. she wants to live. she doesnt care what happens to her. she yearns for autonomy and freedom. she wanders in circles because its what shes always had to do, and is convinced thats what there always was and always will be. she doesnt trust anyone. she hired someone who broke into her house on the spot. she designed herself and her [Status Redacted]s cute color coded outfits. shes a horrible liar. she built herself from the ground up. shes bird. shes gender. shes even asexual. imagine.

i cant fucking show her to anybody because every time i try to introduce her it just turns into showing shitty pngs of her and tearfully and incomprehensibly saying "ilove her so much" over and over again.

shes fucking impossible. i would kill for her without hesitation.

amngela.

[konfizry]

no because you see actually the fact that zelos hates kratos' guts is by far my favorite aspect of zelos. like like the whole betrayal thing and whatnot, honestly, can't relate man, sorry about what happened to you i guess buddy but personally i dont care i just dont

but then back when i found out through finally playing his route + watching tof2 tls that the guy will diss kratos at any given occasion i was taken with renewed appreciation for him. its just too good. (and actually, there are signs of it even before that. like when you run into kratos in sybak and supposedly zelos doesnt know him at all but he still takes a moment to loudly go "omg fuck this guyyyyy" once kratos has left the scene and it's just ertghrteguhireg. zelos actually makes a couple more efforts to have lloyd trust kratos as little as possible. meanwhile theres that character skit in the flanoir area where kratos warns lloyd that there may be "someone in his group with ill intentions be careful no i won't elaborate bye" or whatever. all while k and z are presumably routinely in voice chat arguing over kratos' ridiculous grocery list. what a mess. both of them.) i unironically love it fr. i think it both makes perfect sense from a character perspective, and is hilarious. also it's nice to have one dude be openly hostile towards kratos. what can i say, i live for drama.

so anyway im glad we can all agree that the iselia ranch is a missed opportunity for an absolute train wreck of a skit that should have have happened but didnt.

[theloveinc]

Yes I do think there is something in the idea of former boy band star!bakugo and reuniting with his old band --

[dnangelic]

there will always b ppl who only follow me for dark hoping to get wooed that's just the nature of having a legendary middleschool sexyman for a muse but amongst my personal fav dynamics for him is a muse that is in fact way older maturity-wise forced to deal with his teenaged audacity

[quatregats]

I feel like there is a definite uptick in wanting to see Hornblower suffer for people who've read past Beat To Quarters/The Happy Return. Like I think you can't get past the original trilogy without thinking that he should squirm a little bit for his crimes

[melancholic-pigeon]

Okay this is the *actual* last comment, for real, but I just found out Spider is now smearing me as a convert and accusing me of being involved with drama I was not involved with because he mistakenly attributed my apologies for his public temper tantrum as being about something unrelated.

THIS IS A FALSE ACCUSATION and I do not appreciate having yet another bit of fake malicious intent falsely ascribed to my actions and* attributing a completely unrelated attack to me.

Also, it's very sad and disappointing whenever a Jew gets mad at a convert because something else is going on in the Jew's life and the convert happens to be in the splash zone and the Jew falls over backwards to smear the convert and invalidate her faith.

Just....the childish aggression is making me so, so sad and disappointed, from someone I used to think very highly of, who is now lying about me and publicly smearing me with false accusations based on a conflict he started because he misinterpreted something I said and I went out of my way to give him the benefit of the doubt when trying to clear up the mistake HE MADE that led him to decide bullying and attacking me for three fucking days was appropriate and okay and that I'm the bad guy for saying it's wildly unprofessional to behave like this in public to a former customer face.

Sorry, but facts, reality, linear time and the truth of what I actually said and did are on my side here, and I will not stand for being smeared and attacked and shat all over because I had the gall to try to kindly resolve his uncalled for, unjustified temper tantrum.

I am also not sorry that I left a side note in the tags that it was also unacceptable for HIM to drag his daughter into a stupid internet slapfight based on his own reading comprehension failure. Because it was and is unacceptable, and she needs to hear that message from someone.

End of story. Keep digging that hole as long as you like, Spider. It's not helping your case and is continuing to make you look progressively worse and more unreasonable, and the only person you have to blame is yourself.

*revised for clarity

[magentagalaxies]

always found this little parallel between how scott speaks about buddy cole vs danny husk fascinating:

(top quote is from this 2017 vulture interview, bottom quote is from paul myers' 2018 book "one dumb guy")

'he's smarter than me. braver than me. he's better than me'' vs ''danny may not be the smartest or the bravest but he's a very decent man''

[a-gay-bloodmage]

One of my favorite hobbies to engage in is ignoring the canon course of video game romances

[wispythreads]

quietly fist pumping the air as I'm finally listening to a form of media where a character has information the other characters want, and is not cowed at all by the threat of death or injury or even the destruction of years of their work.

"If you kill me, you lose your only chance to have your questions answered. I'm only alive because of it. Therefore, I cannot tell you."