#did you just deflect?!

[snowy-bones]

Marble be getting those "fren" kisses LMAO.

[mythalism]

call me crazy but there is a difference between treating your adult players like they are new to the world and treating your adult players like they have the memory of a goldfish and the vocabulary of a 9 year old

[chirpsythismorning]

El being *12 hours earlier* than the Cali timeline when she arrives at Nina. Will saying ‘it’s been 9 hrs’ in the scene following his monologue in the van.

We know that at some point their timelines merged when they arrived to save her…

But we don’t know when exactly those alignments took place when they were still apart… which just makes you wonder…

[wardencallings]

If your Rook had an intro like the companions do, what would it be?

[coconut530]

BITTERSWEET REUNIONS

[lord-squiggletits]

Answering that ask is a good reminder for me to remind everyone else that Pharma actually did nothing wrong in the way that he handled Tarn/the DJD and the t-cog blackmail, and the only reason he's villainized and seen as irredeemable scum is because the narrative wanted to have Pharma as a villain.

Literally every other time the DJD are shown attacking people on the page (or the aftermath of their attacks) it's constantly hammered in how brutal and unstoppable they are and how traumatizing it is to suffer even as a survivor who merely witnessed their methods so like LITERALLY THE ONLY REASON Pharma got singled out as selfish and cowardly is because JRO wanted him to be a villain.

And it sucks too because it's not like making the DJD terrifying was some retcon that happened 30 issues down the line. The DJD made their first on-page appearance in MTMTE #7, during which there's a whole page dedicated to the Scavengers describing every reason why it's impossible to stop the DJD-- including one person outright describing fighting the DJD as "suicide with delusions of survival."

There's no way JRO didn't know what he was going to write for #7 while he was writing the Delphi arc (#4-5, so only two issues beforehand more or less) so like. I'm sorry but there's no actual in-universe reason why Pharma should be considered evil for how he handled the DJD when every other person got to be seen as a victim/underdog hero defending themselves from horrible death. JRO just wanted there to be a mad doctor evil Autobot villain and that was that lmao

[pergaminaa]

Modern au

Manorian toddler saying problematic things part 1:

She’s hanging around Dorian, and by this point baby knows that she is loved. Very much so. She also sees how her dad loves her mom so little child brain is making connections.

Now this happened in the park, where people are around.

“Mama is your daughter?” Baby would ask.

“What? No!” Dorian is aware that there are eyes staring at him after hearing the loud declaration.

“No, we’re not related. She’s a complete stranger!” He began explaining.

More eyes looking at him with suspicion.

“Not like that, we’re married, legally. We didn’t have any familial relations before that,” He is aware that he’s explaining to very suspicious people who might or might not call child protective services on him the longer he tries to explain.

“My wife is not my daughter,” He realizes that he needs to take his troublesome child and leave this park if he wants to salvage this.

[sunlightfeeling]

｡ﾟ･ (>﹏<) ･ﾟ｡

smapxsmap: 2009.6.1

[brionysea]

El and Lucas are about to be good. Of all the things El has mirrored from other people, mirroring Lucas saying "I'm sorry" to her with an explanation of what they each did wrong was the most healthy.

[blueskittlesart]

you are the reason I decided to finally buy botw, the very first of the games I've played. I really like botw and still haven't beaten ganon bc reasons (it has been years)

so many people i know who bought botw as their first zelda game avoid beating ganon like the plague and i truly need you to understand that he is like. nowhere near the most difficult boss in that game. i'd call thunderblight more difficult personally ESPECIALLY without the master sword. as long as you're a decent shot with a bow and you either know how to deflect with a shield or are good enough at dodging and have urbosa's fury you will be FINE. you will finish the game and get to experience the very good ending cutscenes and then you will be dropped back into your unchanged save file anyway. there's no reason to not at least TRY it i promise you it's not nearly as difficult as you think it is and the spectacle of the battle and ending cutscenes is more than worth it imo

[piningpercussionist]

Since yuri is gonna get canceled, can we be yuri for the time being? I promise to not throw you into a river!!!!!!!!

*She stares flatly at you for several (painfully long) seconds before answering.*

... No.

Also, why would you feel the need to add that last bit? I trust you people approximately not at all to begin with, but that just... does not help your case. Ever.

[swaps55]

When Sam sent in Kaidan's recommendation to N-school, did he know Kaidan would turn it down?

Oooh, this is a REALLY good question.

I'm going to say he didn't, and Kaidan turning it down came as a surprise to him. Should he have known? Probably. But as intuitive and observant as Sam is, I think in this case, the N program is so integral to him, that he couldn't step outside himself enough to understand why Kaidan wouldn't want it.

From the beginning, the allure of Kaidan Alenko has been that he's hard for Sam to figure out. Sam likes puzzles, and Kaidan is one he never quite solves. People don't often surprise Sam. Every time Kaidan does surprise him, he becomes even more interesting.

So turning down the N program recommendation would have set Sam on his heels a little. He would have taken time to over analyze why, sit with it, and have a little moment of clarity over the ways he'd misunderstood Kaidan's experiences, or just not given enough consideration them. I very deliberately gave Kaidan and Sam very different experiences with developing and learning biotics. Their perspectives are VERY different, and Kaidan's reasons for not wanting to be an N would have helped Sam broaden his own understanding of how un-universal his own experience was. For all the things he knows about Kaidan and BAaT and Vyrnnus, this would have driven home a little harder the ways in which they shaped him.

Sam also would have marveled a little at the ways Kaidan is so relentlessly himself, and rigidly follows his own code.

Truthfully, that was probably a small but important moment in Sam's long, slow fall. The relief he would have felt, however, at Kaidan staying put on the 'Yang and remaining with the squad is something he would have carefully tucked away somewhere he didn't have to think about very hard.

Other people are puzzles, after all. Less fun when the puzzle is yourself. :)

[mira0000000-blog]

getttt me out hereeeeee......

[chirpsythismorning]

☎️🎲 🤼‍♂️ ✈️🚪 ➡️ 🫀🎮⌛️

I've Been Losing You by a-ha

previous ⏪︎ now playing ⏩ next back to playlist

[lord-squiggletits]

for the director's cut meme: I am very fond of Cooling Off, and interested in the "thank you for protecting me"/"not shooting you is an obvious tactical benefit", because the one doesn't quite follow from the other and I've wondered what your reading of that is...

Cooling Off, the fic in question, and the relevant excerpt:

"By the way... thank you for protecting me during that battle. I appreciate it." [...Prime, not shooting you is just an obvious tactical benefit,] Megatron said. [And since when did you need anyone to protect you? I think you hit your reality processor on the way down here.] Optimus' chuckle was low and quiet, resonating slightly through the barrel and grip of Megatron's alt-mode. "I would shoot you any time you let me. I enjoy the feeling of a well-crafted gun in my hands."

Ah, this one was written almost 2 years ago, so it's super not fresh in my mind. But this bit is easy enough for me to explain! The intention was to show some subtle megop banter: as in, they aren't lovers in this scene, and they can't even really be friendly because the (mostly irrelevant) background of this is a temporary faction truce. But nevertheless, I wanted to have some banter in which the pair of them betray their fondness for each other. Also, Megatron is really tsundere about his side of the affection, obviously.

In this part, Optimus is trying to distract Megatron from transforming out of gun mode (bc he wants to keep holding him) and opts to show gratitude towards Megatron. Basically, trying to distract Megatron with soft, friendly feelings.

But Megatron, being tsundere and unable to acknowledge for pride/political reasons that he likes being around Optimus too, deliberately sidesteps Optimus' gratitude by essentially expressing "Don't thank me, I would be shooting you right now if it weren't for the fact that keeping you alive helps us fight our common enemy." He's essentially rejecting Optimus' attempt to connect as people via compassion and gratitude and responding by saying their relationship is pragmatic, nothing more. Which is also followed up in a subsequent line:

[You're a good shot, Prime,] Megatron eventually replied. [Why don't we keep it at that until we get out of here? And stop fondling me, you're embarrassing yourself touching a gun like that.]

Again, Megatron is deflecting Optimus' soft and affectionate emotions by putting on a veneer of pragmatism, a "we only work well together because we have to" style of deflection and denial. But this time he returns Optimus' emotion a little by giving him a compliment about his shooting-- a useful, pragmatic skill, not one about OP as a person. So Megatron is returning OP's warmth a little, but being sure to do it in a way that maintains the plausible deniability: he is, of course, only working with Optimus because it's a tactical advantage, and he of course only likes being held in gun mode because Optimus is a good shot. But he also leaves a little bit of mystery by saying "Why don't we keep it at that until we get out of here," as if implying he's interested in reciprocating OP's affections in a more optimal location.

TLDR: Megatron is being coy.

Remember that ask I answered a little bit ago about how Megatron and Optimus are the kind of people that have invisible conversations underneath the surface of every seemingly superficial/everyday discussion? This is a prime example of that.

[57sfinest]

Are there any flaws in the story of Disco Elysium that you would change if you could?

honestly in terms of narrative and structure? no, not really!

i think a popular answer to this question would be to say "make them not be cops!" but that feels to me like something you'd say to try to absolve yourself of the "guilt" (or whatever you want to call it) of liking characters that are cops, because the fact that they're cops is an intentional and meaningful part of the narrative, not just a lazy or convenient character decision.

however i will say that i would definitely change the inherent racism in just... everything about seol. yes the isolas are not a 1-to-1 copy of earth continents/countries but many of them are meant to be strong representations, and seol- which is both an isola and a nation, somehow- is just, like, all of asia. so not only does *every asian country* just get thrown into the same basket, it also happens to be a racist-isolationist culture that's Mysterious and Fascist and Closed-Off and Hostile and Exotic etc etc. it feels like they couldn't be bothered to be even the tiniest bit more culturally aware in that regard, didn't feel like talking to any asian people about how to go about things, and just took the western view of north korea and threw "asia" into it and called it a day. it's a really disappointing thing to see in a game that seems otherwise aware of those kinds of issues.