#categorizing it there for reasons

[septembersghost]

It's interesting how two of your current music interests could partially relate to two of the past icons you admire. Their brands rose quickly due to the modern "social" media of their times. The men had issues with management & overwhelming schedules with touring, recording, interviews, etc. The ladies dealt with their industry's contract conflicts & "romantic" links with men with high public profiles. At least the ones today- that followed, were able to learn & take a less tragic path.

what if i told you none of it was accidental.

so i have this theory or personally held belief system or whatever else we might want to call it that the art (and it's music particularly for me, always) and artists meant to be with us find us when they're supposed to and when we're most receptive to what we need from them, be that comfort, understanding, catharsis, happiness, or just a reason to hold on. i also tend to believe that the things we love most or are drawn to have connections on connections that are exactly why they resonate and speak to us, which of course will be different for everyone, but this is like a cosmic thread to me. it's been essentially spiritual for as long as i can remember. and music was with me before i was born, as my mom likes to say i kicked her to the beat of it (hence austin speaking about that in the recent interview i cited makes me emotional!). i've also long been drawn to particular types of people (usually with very clear sensitivity and kindness, passionate and thoughtful, often multifaceted and flawed within that because it's interesting to me how that can speak to both painful struggle and the ability to soar, and i want to lend grace to that humanity). if they're tragic, some of that attachment comes from a longing to make things better for them that can't be fulfilled, so i just...love them really fiercely and hope it makes up for it a little, and i try to take courage in all the radiance and strength they did possess while they were here. add overidentification with various issues and it makes for a potent emotion. if they're alive at the same time as me, then i root for their triumphs and get joy in being able to take part in what they create as they hopefully keep thriving. the similarities you mention, and many more too, feel crucial rather than coincidental. their music/words and the way they touch my spirit was meant to find me. it's all kindred flames lighting other flames. i carry that as little beacons of light and love in my heart. maybe i’ll never be able to do what i hope to, but at least i have hope. if i wasn’t tough i wouldn’t be here; if i wasn’t gentle i wouldn’t deserve to be here. spinnin' out waiting for you, to pull me in. isn't it just so pretty to think that all along there was some invisible string?

[tinartss]

the dan and phil of tevyat‼️

request for the haikavetham gotcha for gaza! thank you anon for your donation and also for enabling my brainrot. we are on the same wavelength 

[marzipanandminutiae]

she's a 10 but is she cool with allistic people being obsessively passionate about things, too? or people who haven't publicly given a category into which she can neatly slot their neurological state?

does she think people owe her a medical label to explain their "weird" aspects, whether it's helpful for them or not?

(applying labels to people who haven't self-identified with those labels is bad even if you phrase it as "omg bestie have you considered that you're definitely 100% autistic? #neurospicy :D")

[starspoiler]

as a reformed cinniter the thing that really gets me about people refusing to see the nuance in cdream (and cdiscduo) is that cdream not being fundamentally evil is literally the point of the story. the finale did an excellent job of forcing ctommy and by extension the audience who was actually paying attention to reconsider their opinions on cdream, and the ultimate takeaway from the disc arc is a really relevant commentary on refusing to see people who have hurt you as people with feelings and complicated perspectives of their own, and that choosing to respond by escalating and trying to hurt them worse than they hurt you is a completely ineffective way of solving problems. and in ignoring this you end up doing exactly the thing the story is critiquing!!

[shinelikethunder]

*holds Dean Winchester up by the scruff of the neck* listen, it's not that i think bottoming would fix him--his problems and disorders are way too far gone for that--but i do think that getting artfully maneuvered into trying it by the only other human on earth with a hope of understanding all his goddamn hangups, only to discover that he's been a winner of the "body wired to experience earth-shattering prostate orgasms" lottery this entire time, all while Sam oh-so-solemnly insists it doesn't have to Mean Anything about anyone's masculinity, lots of guys etc etc etc, and manages to radiate only moderate levels of smugness about the whole incident--

well, i simply think that even if that wouldn't fix him, it would either give him a vigorous shake and a ready-made excuse ("fuck it, why look a gift pleasure button in, uh, whatever orifice it came with?") to let a whole bunch of shit go, or it would drive him into even more insane depths of overcompensation. and either way, the Study That Man Like A Bug girlies get to feast.

[sergle]

I feel you, its so bad 😭, I had to go on a functioning adult human schedule for school and good god, out the house by 7am... bad bitches are not built for that..

WE REALLY ARE... and man, I can brute force myself into any schedule if there are things that HAVE to be done at certain times (like school, like you said) but it absolutely never feels "right". it feels like waking up at 3am to go to the airport type of shit. and it is truly so annoying... to get hit with the "that's a Normal schedule, you need to Fix your schedule" okay. alright. but let me hit you with this one. is it "normal" or is it just conducive to a 8 - 5. because no matter what my sleep schedule is like, or how locked in I am, I'm more clear headed at night + more productive and energetic. and no matter what, I'm tired during the day, especially the brightest times of day when the sun is allegedly supposed to be signaling my brain to be awake and alert. and it doesn't matter how much sleep I got.

[shorthaltsjester]

free my complex female character, she did the same thing as complex male characters but the fandom takes Any analysis of her actions/choices/motivations that doesn’t strip her of all of her agency in bad faith and claims that only misogynists would dare to critique the things that they’ve noticed in her character because she’s a woman, completely ignoring the over-presence of discourse about similarly traited male characters in their fandom.

[itwasabeautifulwebbing]

baldur’s gate 3 really is the game of all time for the gays who want to celebrate both sad pathetic wet men AND women’s wrongs

[honeycrispjamz]

If one of them lesbians had packed a strap for Nationals how long do you think they would have gotten into the first winter before Mari tried to make leather soup with notes of yeasty silicone

[utilitycaster]

Hi there,

You said in the answer you just gave that, "the Nein mechanically played really well to the casts strength." Could you talk more about that? I'm someone who hasn't actually played D&D before, and everything I've learned has been through osmosis with CR, and your more crunchy posts have been really interesting to read, too.

Hi anon,

Thank you! I can answer but this is definitely pretty subjective in terms of how I see the classes they played and my view of the cast's mechanical strengths so know that you're getting one very specific perspective here. You will notice as a theme that I am not one for indecision.

Anyway: I think Liam and Travis are both notable within the cast for being decisive, in and out of combat, and both played characters with a huge array of options, as arcane utility spellcasters (plus Fjord's melee and, later, paladin abilities) and so having people who can make a quick, confident decision and stick to it with their spellcasting was crucial. Travis also has, as I once put it, court sense, and so having a character with options at basically any range in combat (from melee to eldritch blast range) was extremely good for him. I also just think they like utility casting, which, as my url indicates, I obviously think is awesome; but not all people like it and that's okay! I also just think they like it - both have mentioned on 4SD that Orym and Chetney are much more limited in what they can do.

I think Sam can get really hung up on the optimal and ideal thing to do at times. Really, the best way to put it - and FCG's death is a great example actually - is that Sam is not precious at all with his own characters but is worried about letting other people down. So I think the fact that Veth had a limited but interesting number of choices was actually quite good for him - he could make creative decisions (and even think outside the box, as with fluffernutter) but didn't have an endless list. It also still provided spellcasting, which is important to him.

I think Marisha is one of the strongest players on adding flavor to combat which is purely non-mechanical but is important in actual play if you are playing a character who does mostly the same thing. For what it's worth a lot of the things Beau played to her strengths were on the RP side (give the notetaker a character who has a reason to know a lot of lore) and also, I like monks but they are very straightforward characters to play in battle for the most part so there's not a ton to say, but I think she had a good sense of melee combat and would love to see her play more melee characters; Keyleth was obviously incredibly versatile, but this meant she did spend a lot of time in melee! Marisha also has decent instincts for tanking (Keyleth as regular tank thanks to wildshape and Beau as a dodge tank) so Beau allowed her to exercise that.

Taliesin is also a generally strong player in terms of mechanics and I think, honestly, his strength is that he doesn't seem to have a strong preference on what sort of class he plays and therefore was able to lean into a character who was almost purely support without any resentment over not getting the kill. In general I think Taliesin is very good at just...doing what his character is built to do, which seems damning with faint praise but honestly I think people who get really obsessive about Subverting Their D&D Class are annoying so this is praise and respect.

Laura is an interesting one in that I think she really likes to do Big Damage but she actually is quite skilled at utility casting. Having Caduceus definitely allowed Jester to shine in that she didn't have to serve as dedicated healer, but she also was a strong healer. Laura can be somewhat precious about her characters and I think being a healer is a good antidote for that in that you have the power to heal yourself if you get worried (honestly, this is why I started off as someone who played healers until I allowed myself to accept that dying on graph paper, as Taliesin once said, is fine). Being a prepared caster is also good for someone who, like Laura, can be competitive - it's interesting because she and Sam have a lot of similarities but I think respond in different ways, and Laura having a lot of options and knowing she can change them works well for her approach.

Ashley is also quite strong at flavor descriptors but I also think she likes doing damage, and I think Yasha was very much a "right character at the right time" for her in that barbarians are complicated in the sense of maneuvering, but not in the sense of options - it's a much easier character to jump back into after being away because she is, for the most part, going to be hitting things with a sword. I think she's doing a great job with Fearne too, but wildfire druid is MUCH harder to put down and pick up.

Really, in short, I think the cast members who thrive on having a ton of decisions had them; the cast members who at times have trouble picking what to do had a much more limited list which helped them; and those who don't really have a strong preference had other stylistic elements that were a good fit.

(I also happen to think, as I alluded to especially for Marisha's portrayal of Beau, that the Nein played to the cast's RP strengths as well and/or were given the time and space for the cast to grow into things they were less confident doing, eg: Travis and romance; and I think that does bleed into combat in that it helps you take actions that feel right for the character which in turn helps the other people around you predict what you'll do. It's the drift compatibility.)

[voguewoozi]

can't believe people are still out here accusing real ass people of queerbaiting. at this point just admit you like forcing people to come out before they're ready because that's what the result of this continues to be. coming out to anyone isn't an obligation for any queer person and people shouldn't have to alter their behavior or personality or presentation just because you personally think they're cishet. that is literally your own personal problem to work on. keep it to yourself

[jennicatzies]

I think getting a hug from daveed diggs' lafayette could save me . Or act 2 lin ham. Yes act 2 ham specifically. Send post

[possum-quesadilla]

Beetlejuice fans. What animal do you associate with each of the main cast of characters? From the movie, cartoon, and/or musical

(Also perhaps colors too)

[azure-clockwork]

How Does it Feel to Read Classic Sci-Fi?

Orson Scott Card: Two of the most interesting books you’ll ever read if you’re willing to look past a handful of things. And then you find the planet of Chinese people who worship having debilitating OCD. And the Mormonism. And the fact that the author is wildly homophobic and ought to read his own books.

Robert Heinlein (or at least the Wikipedia Summaries): I guess that’s a neat concept—oh, it’s a sex thing. Um. Gotcha.

Ray Bradbury: Man, I gotta read this thing for class huh. Well here’s hoping it’s good! *three hours later* oh. that’s why he’s famous. this will stick with me forever and I will never look at the phrase ‘soft rain’ the same again. christ. And then repeat 3x.

Isaac Asimov: Wow, this is such an interesting concept! I wonder how the exploration of it will influence the plot! Wait, hey, are you going to add any characters? Any of em? No like, with character traits other than ‘robot psychologist’ and ‘autistic’ and ‘woman’? None of em? No, ‘detective’ isn’t a character trait. Those are all just facts. Aaaand now I’m bored.

Ursula K. Le Guin: Hah, get a load of this guy! He’s never heard of nonbinary people before. Lol, what a riot; how dumb do you have to be to comprehend that these people aren’t men *or* women actually? Oh, wait, what’s happening. Oh shit, it was about society and love and learning to understand each other? And now I’m crying? And perhaps a better human being for it??

Andy Weir: Alright, this guy’s a really good writer. Funny, creative, knows so much engineering stuff…ooh, a new book! …I guess he can’t write women. Well, he wouldn’t be the first sci-fi writer…ooh another new book! And it’s more engineering problem solving and—wow. It’s not just women he can’t write. Please stop letting your characters talk to each other.

Lois Lowry: Oh, I remember this being fun when I was a kid! Wouldn’t it be fucked up to not see color? …upon reread, it would be fucked up to have your humanity stripped away, replaced with a tepid, beige ‘happiness’ for all time. Yeah.

Tamsyn Muir (let me have this ok): Haha, “lesbian necromancers in space” sounds fun. Lemme read this. Oh wow, yeah, this is right up my alley. OH GOD WHAT. NO. FUCK. OH SHIT WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING AND WHY IS IT REFERENCING THE BOOK OF RUTH AND HOMESTUCK BACK TO BACK!!! AHHHHHHHHH!! Now give me more please.

[freakshowtwopointoh]

hate to do this to u but chilchuk gives me jordan vibes

hater on the outside, lover on the inside

[inmarbleimmobility]

uhhh hey google, why are these the two facts you think i most need to know when i search jean valjean???