#everyone else has actually aged which i like

[shiftyfly]

[interview with fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett]

O: You’re quite a writer. You’ve a gift for language, you’re a deft hand at plotting, and your books seem to have an enormous amount of attention to detail put into them. You’re so good you could write anything. Why write fantasy?

Pratchett: I had a decent lunch, and I’m feeling quite amiable. That’s why you’re still alive. I think you’d have to explain to me why you’ve asked that question.

O: It’s a rather ghettoized genre.

P: This is true. I cannot speak for the US, where I merely sort of sell okay. But in the UK I think every book— I think I’ve done twenty in the series— since the fourth book, every one has been one the top ten national bestsellers, either as hardcover or paperback, and quite often as both. Twelve or thirteen have been number one. I’ve done six juveniles, all of those have nevertheless crossed over to the adult bestseller list. On one occasion I had the adult best seller, the paperback best-seller in a different title, and a third book on the juvenile bestseller list. Now tell me again that this is a ghettoized genre.

O: It’s certainly regarded as less than serious fiction.

P: (Sighs) Without a shadow of a doubt, the first fiction ever recounted was fantasy. Guys sitting around the campfire— Was it you who wrote the review? I thought I recognized it— Guys sitting around the campfire telling each other stories about the gods who made lightning, and stuff like that. They did not tell one another literary stories. They did not complain about difficulties of male menopause while being a junior lecturer on some midwestern college campus. Fantasy is without a shadow of a doubt the ur-literature, the spring from which all other literature has flown. Up to a few hundred years ago no one would have disagreed with this, because most stories were, in some sense, fantasy. Back in the middle ages, people wouldn’t have thought twice about bringing in Death as a character who would have a role to play in the story. Echoes of this can be seen in Pilgrim’s Progress, for example, which hark back to a much earlier type of storytelling. The epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest works of literature, and by the standard we would apply now— a big muscular guys with swords and certain godlike connections— That’s fantasy. The national literature of Finland, the Kalevala. Beowulf in England. I cannot pronounce Bahaghvad-Gita but the Indian one, you know what I mean. The national literature, the one that underpins everything else, is by the standards that we apply now, a work of fantasy.

Now I don’t know what you’d consider the national literature of America, but if the words Moby Dick are inching their way towards this conversation, whatever else it was, it was also a work of fantasy. Fantasy is kind of a plasma in which other things can be carried. I don’t think this is a ghetto. This is, fantasy is, almost a sea in which other genres swim. Now it may be that there has developed in the last couple of hundred years a subset of fantasy which merely uses a different icongraphy, and that is, if you like, the serious literature, the Booker Prize contender. Fantasy can be serious literature. Fantasy has often been serious literature. You have to fairly dense to think that Gulliver’s Travels is only a story about a guy having a real fun time among big people and little people and horses and stuff like that. What the book was about was something else. Fantasy can carry quite a serious burden, and so can humor. So what you’re saying is, strip away the trolls and the dwarves and things and put everyone into modern dress, get them to agonize a bit, mention Virginia Woolf a few times, and there! Hey! I’ve got a serious novel. But you don’t actually have to do that.

(Pauses) That was a bloody good answer, though I say it myself.

my creative writing prof also HATES fantasy. as in if she asks for an example of symbolism in a book, and you give something from a fantasy novel, she’ll ask for an example from a “non-commercial book” instead.

I dunno man, people can have preferences, but the second you discount the artistic merit of sci fi and fantasy I stop taking your opinion seriously. and there’s such a big culture in Canada of only valuing literary fiction, to the point where one of our biggest authors, Margaret Atwood, refused for a while to classify her books as sci fi or fantasy. she said they were “speculative fiction”, which is entirely separate and very highbrow (sarcasm).

and I could go on about how Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin wrote books every bit as intellectual (and honestly, even more so) than their literary counterparts, but I am also an enjoyer of schlock!! I think there’s artistic merit in animorphs, and in isekais where a japanese schoolgirl reincarnates into a magical spider who has to level up like it’s a video game! it’s like with everything, you can’t draw a clean line that separates ‘art’ from ‘non-art’ or even ‘lesser art’, and pretending you can do so just makes you look ignorant and goofy. in my opinion.

[dafterdarling]

pretty picture // leah williamson

leah williamson x reader

warnings: reader has lots of tattoos and is a little prickly, fluff

summary: you meet leah through a teammate of hers and fall in love immediately

word count: 1668

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Steph tries to encourage you and you scoff back.

You were currently sprawled out on your sofa watching TV with Steph leaning against the kitchen counter that, with the open concept, can oversee the living room.

It's a Friday and unlike everyone else you don't want to go out, it's actually the last thing on your mind. It's been a long week of non-stop work and all you want to do is rot on your sofa until you have to go back to work on Monday- you're actually very thankful that you don't have to work the weekend as well.

So you'd rather not waste your time in some bar or pub that Steph drags you to- or God forbid spend any time with people other than Steph.

"I don't want to go, Steph- All I want is TV and ice cream,"

You have a pint of chocolate brownie ice cream waiting in the freezer and it's begging to be opened. That was your plan- eat the whole pint while watching a crappy dating show that you had found on Netflix but Steph wanted to ruin all of that.

"Come on, you can have ice cream tomorrow and the TV will be here when we are back,"

You glare at Steph and then she looks at you with those puppy eyes that she knows melt your heart a bit- You bite the inside of your cheek and resist the urge to immediately agree.

You had known Steph for most of your life and the two of you had moved together to England so she knows exactly what works on you.

"How long is this thing?" You sigh.

Steph jumps up excitedly, "You'll be back before midnight, promise,"

Midnight? You try not to comment because you really don't want your age to show but you normally went to sleep before it hit eleven pm.

"Okay... who is coming?"

You secretly pray that she says it's just going to be the two of you but you know not to get your hopes up because the last time you hung out without a small crowd was in Australia- when you were seventeen.

"You'll find out," Steph says cryptically and you don't like the sound of that but it's too late to say no when you've already agreed.

You shake your head and mutter under your breath then turn off the TV before making your way to your room. You open the closet and sigh- because Steph has told you absolutely nothing about where she is dragging you.

"Steph?" You call for her and hear the semi-silent sock footsteps of her heading to you.

You turn to her, "What's the dress code?"

"Wear something hot," She smirks and you roll your eyes.

"I'm being serious,"

Steph chuckles and pushes you aside so she can look in the closet-

"So am I,"

You watch as she gathers some clothes and shoves them in your arms before turning and walking out the door.

You sigh because this is typical Steph behaviour but trust her anyway- you get dressed and look in the mirror. It's not bad, it's just dark washed jeans and a white t-shirt with a track top over it. It makes you think that this place you're going to isn't fancy, which you're thankful for because your bank balance is looking worse for wear after paying the bills this month.

Also because you'd rather not have to wear a turtleneck to cover your tattooed neck in the middle of July- last time you'd stepped foot in a fancy restaurant, they had asked you to leave and you really couldn't be bothered to argue so you did.

You meet Steph by the door to put your shoes on, you choose the least beat up pair out of your small collection- a pair of black boots that somewhat work with the clothes Steph picked out.

You give yourself one last check in the mirror- you would try to hype yourself up but you remember that you hate doing that more than anything. So instead you head out the door without any weird affirmations and Steph follows behind.

You make your way to your car- an old beat up little ford that is half your age and sometimes stalls, you get into the driver's seat and slam the door shut.

"Charming," She comments on a plastic bottle on the car floor.

You roll your eyes, "I've yet to throw it away-"

"No, no it adds to the... charm of it all,"

You laugh and turn the radio down slightly so Steph can give you directions. You eventually make it to a bar that looks like it hasn't been updated since the 80s but you don't comment on it. Instead you lock the car and follow Steph inside, she leads you to a table in the corner where you already can make out Beth- one of Steph's loudest friends.

"Y/N!"

You groan internally but not because you dislike Beth or anything- just because the music is already too loud and it's so hot inside this cramped bar.

"Hi, Beth," You greet her with a polite smile and a hug.

Then you sit in the semi round booth, immediately taking off your jacket because you'd rather not sweat to death. Beth and Steph sit somewhat opposite you and you begin to catch up,

"Any new ones?" Beth points down at your arms.

You smile since this is probably one of the few topics that you can discuss without issue,

"Yeah this one," You hold up both of your hands to show her the flowery design on the back of them.

"And then one on my back."

Beth smiles, "Must have hurt,"

You brush it off, "I've gotten used to it,"

The three of you discuss football, pets and a few other topics before the rest of the group arrive- You recognise Jen and give her a hug, then Alessia whom you've heard of in passing from Beth and a few others.

That's when you see her- Leah as she'd introduced herself and your breath is completely taken away because how can someone look so effortlessly good?

She's wearing a lovely leather jacket over a dress shirt that has the lightest of pinstripes with dark baggy trousers and so many rings- You immediately flush, half embarrassed at your own clothes and half in awe at Leah.

She greets you with a light hug and you think your heart skips a beat when she sits down next to you. You don't think you've ever been so starstruck by anyone and your throat is suddenly far too dry.

"So what do you do for work, Y/N?" Leah asks with a smile.

You can practically feel your face flush, you hope the bar is dark enough that Leah doesn't see it but you seriously doubt that because the pink lights from the dance floor are far too close. You try to play it off casually by leaning on the table and half turning your body towards her but all you can do is internally cringe at yourself.

"I'm a photographer... for an agency,"

You wished it sounded cooler but it was a little late to take it back.

"That's cool, what do you photograph?"

You swear Leah leans into you slightly but maybe it's just you,

"Err... Houses, like for sale."

It's not what you really wanted to do but it pays the bills for now and finding a new job in this economy was beyond difficult.

Leah nods then her attention focuses on your arms and you feel her touch you, making goosebumps flare up on your skin, before suddenly flinching back.

"Sorry- I have no idea why I did that-" She stutters out but you cut her off,

"It's fine, I did that one myself,"

You point at the small black blob looking cat that's surrounded by other tattoos, the rest of them looking much more professional than the self-made one.

You feel Leah's hand run up your forearm again, this time not pulling away instead tracing some of the tattoos. You swallow nervously and you have no clue why because you don't typically get nervous- not with friends.

You look away from Leah for a brief second and meet Steph's eyes, she wiggles her brows at you and you roll your eyes back before focusing on Leah again.

Her eyes meet yours and you swear that you've never looked at someone like you did her- It's weird because you don't believe in love at first sight but now swear it's happening to you.

You breathe out a soft sigh, "You're beautiful-"

"You're gorgeous-"

You laugh because you can't believe this moment, it's as if out of one of those rom coms that you secretly love to watch. Leah looks so pretty and you really want to snap a photo of her.

"Err..."

You clear your throat,

"Can- Can I get your number?"

You think she's going to say no because you're clearly out of her league and she must have a thousand different options lined up but instead She laughs and pulls her phone out,

"'Course you can, darling,"

You spend the rest of the evening talking to Leah whilst running your hands up and down her back or occasionally letting an arm rest over her shoulder. The two of you practically ignore everyone else, as if stuck in your own little world- Until it's time to go because it's way past midnight and Steph is pretty smashed.

You say goodbye to Leah outside the bar with a hug and kiss on the cheek that makes you flush red before walking back to your car with Steph.

The car ride, for the most part, is silent until Steph decides to comment,

"So you and Williamson?" She giggles like a little girl and you scoff but don't reply- letting her have it.

Mostly because yeah- you and Leah Williamson did create quite the pretty picture.

[doppel-doodles]

That illustration is making me want to slam my head against solid concrete, Art block said no, and I know when to pick my battles so fuck it we ball-

A normal post about Matthew Hallard from Poppy Playtime

I briefly mentioned this in the Jack post, the fact that I didn't think I had anything new or particularly interesting to say on Matthew as I always thought the Fandom had a lot of the bases covered.

But the more I actually thought about him, the more I wanted to talk about one thing in particular:

Let's talk about Doeys tape.

In game we find a vhs tape recorded by Doey, talking about how he almost ditched everyone in favor of running away, ultimately deciding to go back for them instead. It reveals a lot about how he truly feels about the responsibility that has been given to him.

I think it was so important to include this and the reason why is quite simple:

It humanises Matthew for me.

Why I point him out specifically is due to reasons I mentioned in my other analysis, Jack's control is mostly passive, Kevin only really comes to the forefront when he feels like there is a threat to assess or deal with and it has been confirmed that Matthew is the oldest of the children as well as having been a leader of sorts since he was still a human child, so in the tape it's basically him venting.

Which is great as it makes something crystal clear: He is not a perfect saint.

Matthew is a teenager who has been parentified from an incredibly young age, places immense pressure on himself, is suffering from more burnout than a college kid and not to mention the horror that is his current existence and life-

He doesn't WANT this responsibility, he only takes it on because nobody else will or can.

And nobody even thinks to ask him ONCE how HE is doing, no,no it's him who has to do that, he is not allowed to have breaks.

For godness sake he literally tells us in the tape that he is recording it because he feels like he can't talk to anyone about his problems!

The toys- The children having someone like Doey or more accurately Matthew is not a guarantee, it is a privilege but it's a privilege Matthew needs to!

And you rarely ever see kind characters COMPLAIN about having to be kind all the time, truly looking after everyone else drains you, it's exhausting to fulfill the needs of others, more often than not you'll have to put aside your own and when you really pull the shit end of the stick you get more complains then appreciation for your troubles.

It is such a CHORE and I think a character struggling with being so selfless actually can have such a massive impact instead of just being able to handle everything, it's that tiny bit of realism I love.

Despite how exhausted and miserable Matthew was over being stuck in this position in the end he turned back. Because he loves his friends that much, and he should get massive props for that.

And to think he still did so much but didn't think anything he did was good enough is just painful, like no honey you are enough, more than enough-

Also Poppy having once been the leader makes you think that maybe Matthew might have been hurt the most by her disappearing.

Like her leading was the closest thing to a break he ever got- and then she just up and disappears?? And it's all up to him now? Not to mention the concern? The worry??

Boy it speaks volumes that he doesn't seem to display more hostility towards her considering Poppy doesn't even EXPLAIN herself on why she left or why she couldn't come back.

He is even civil in discussing the fact that she demands for them to be okay with being blown up(also correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Poppy also include in her plan that SHE will get to live? If I heard that I would be flabbergasted.) But that's something I should discuss in another post.

For now that is everything I have about my boy, if you want to see what I have to say about other characters here is Kevin annnnnnd Jack, I'll also be adding one for Doey soon!

[thefreakpanda]

I will never understand how people keep using the good old "Nesta let Feyre hunt" line when it is the most nonsensical thing and the easiest point to debunk.

Of course, we have to mention that Elain also sat safely at home and, no, "Elain is Elain" is certainly not a good counterpoint against that... Doe eyes and pretty smiles do not make up for everything.

But let's get into my points :

Eldest sister's are not second mothers.

Nesta is Feyre's eldest sister of three years and has no authority whatsoever on her little sister.

Speaking from personal experience, my younger brother and I have the same age difference and, in his youth, he made a bunch of decisions that I thought were wrong. I didn't hesitate to voice my opinions to him and did he listen? Abosultely not. Because I'm his sister, not our mother and I was a kid myself. What did I know anyway? (Not to toot my own horn but I ended up being right anyway which wasn't hard because teenage boys are STOOPID!)

It wasn't Nesta's job to keep Feyre from hunting. Feyre CHOSE to hunt. She made her own decision and it had nothing to do with Nesta.

2. Nesta didn't want Feyre to hunt.

Something that is still important to note because the way people talk about it feels like she threw her sister into the woods. She didn't. She even hated her sister for hunting and saving her family which, I agree, was wrong on Nesta's part.

3. When was the last time someone told Feyre not to do something and she actually listened?

Seriously, the entirety of the first book consists of people saying 'Feyre, don't do this' 'Don't go there' 'You might get hurt' 'You might get killed'... and Feyre doing exactly what she was told not to anyway. It's almost as though the threat gave her even more motivation.

So even if Nesta had tried to tell her sister not to hunt, do you really believe Feyre would've listened?

If something needs to be done and there's a safe way and a risky way to do it, Feyre will pick the risky way 9 times out of 10.

She also could have found a job. For example, she could have asked Isaac if she could work on his well-off father's farm. But she chose the hunting instead.

For that reason alone, saying Nesta let Feyre hunt is not only unfair to Nesta, but a complete mischaracterization of Feyre. A character some people claim to love so much.

4. Feyre made a promise to her mother.

That woman should have demanded that of her husband and no one else. Not Nesta or Feyre.

But if there is a positive thing to take from that promise, it's that it became Feyre's lifeline. It gave her purpose and kept her from falling into a pit of despair. She held on to that.

5. The most important point : there was a fucking parent in that house!

They had enough money to live on for 3 years without Feyre hunting. He could have found a job. He could have created another business that, maybe wouldn't have made him rich as a king once more, but would have fed his family.

And no, his leg is not an excuse. The limp didn't keep him from making a cane for himself or carving little wooden figurines. Didn't keep him from dragging his cot near the fire every night.

And did everyone forget that when Feyre came back home in ACOTAR, she noticed his limp had gotten better after getting his money back?

His leg didn't magically heal. It was still shattered as he counted the trunks of gold his daughter came back with. Or when he crossed the ocean when the queens called. He still had a limp when he was on that battlefield, finally fighting for his daughters.

The problem was never the limp. The shame he felt was more potent than the love he had for his children, that's all.

That man started acting like a father when he got his money back MAGICALLY. But he gets a painting, of course. Not the sister who endangered herself and went out of her way to save the world. (Forever pissed at that!)

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 81

Looks like Kabru got promoted to "Honorary party member" after telling Laios he wants to be friends.

I recognized the pasta Marcille was holding was linguine, and I tried figuring out what everyone else was holding but had no luck. I found plenty of different types of noodles, but I don't know enough about noodle dishes to tell what most of these should be.

I think Shuro is holding soba noodles, Chilchuck has lasagna pasta, and Kabru has either elbow or orzo pasta.

I want to assume these are the ingredients to everyone's favorite pasta dishes. If so, Namari's seems to be a stir-fry of some kind. Laios apparently likes spicy food. And Falin's seems to be an Asian dish similar to Izutsumi's. Maybe Shuro showed her some of the foods from his homeland. Izutsumi's ingredients includes a leek, which she doesn't like.

I had to try figuring out what Kabru's dish might be because it's just pasta, cheese, and onion and the best answer I found was French Onion Pasta.

Why does Izutsumi always have to mess with Chilchuck like this?

Always lift with your legs, even if you don't have a back to break.

He should be voiced by a text-to-speech program. I read every line he spoke in the most monotone voice possible.

It really shows how little Marcille knows about monsters that she's filling most of her army with non-monster creatures like pigs, goats, and elephants.

Of particular note, all the definite monsters are things that nearly killed her or the party at some point. The red dragon would definitely have burned itself into Marcille's memories since that was what kickstarted the entire story, and the wyverns would have left a similar impression since they were a constant concern after the party angered Thistle.

I want to say those long-neck birds are a variant of cockatrice which would also have left a mental impact since one of them petrified Marcille. And of course, we have a type of dungeon rabbit. But Marcille summoned jackalopes instead of head-hunting rabbits.

The dryads are an interesting case though because Marcille wasn't with the party when they faced dryads. She saw the aftermath though and used some dryad twigs to repair Ambrosia. So the concept of a dryad might be in her mind, but since she didn't actually see them, she summoned a different type of dryad for her army. These ones are more woody and they have leaf hair rather than grass hair.

Chilchuck didn't even try to help.

I can think why they suggested what they suggested. Marcille made a big deal about how to properly harvest mandrakes (but she threw a fit when Senshi gave her the heads), she said she liked the fishman eggs in the porridge (but she didn't know they were fishmen eggs), and she ate a lot of kelpie liver (because she was forced to and she complained that she was only eating liver).

I think it's understandable that they wouldn't hang out much outside work. Everyone was employed by Laios and they probably would prefer keeping a professional distance in case they needed work elsewhere or any specific jobs that needed them came up.

I wish I could pinpoint when Donato died so I could better estimate Marcille's age. He said he had her when he was getting on in years, but that could mean a lot of things. Since Tall-men typically live to about 60, I'd guess he was maybe late thirties/early forties when she was born.

This shot was from when Marcille was around 20. Donato doesn't seem to be as fat as he was but he doesn't appear to be as thin as he got. So maybe he was around 60 at that time?

And he lived to 82, so Marcille was probably in her 30s or 40s when he died. But since I don't know what year he died, and Marcille's growth rate is erratic I can't easily say how long it was between Donato's passing and her joining the mage's academy.

She does look a lot like she did in chapter 17 during the funeral. She even has the same bangs.

At the very least, I can take this and add 10 years of her time at the academy to give her a lower bound age of 45. At this point, I can argue she's somewhere between 45 and 75.

Even as a child, Marcille liked designing her hair.

Little mini-Marcille saw how big her papa's tummy was and thought he was pregnant.

I don't blame Laios for what happened during the nightmare chapter. Marcille likely already had it in her mind to use it. At most, Laios just gave her the encouragement to think that he supports her. But Laios didn't know what Marcille was planning. He understood that Marcille was scared that everyone would die before her, but he probably thought she wanted the power to keep them from being killed.

And it's not like they knew things would turn out this way nor did they have any way of finding that out. Laios just defaults to assuming he's at fault for everything. He blames himself for all his bad social relations, he blames himself for the fallout he had with Shuro, he blames himself for Falin turning into a monster, and he blames himself for this.

I want to say that Marcille is from Kahka Brud or somewhere in the surrounding area. Meanwhile, the dish Senshi made is probably from the eastern islands given Izutsumi's reaction to it.

So I have a question. Senshi first discovered the dungeon when Gillan's team dug an underground tunnel connecting to it. And Senshi found an exit in a cave near the ocean. The dungeon seems to be wider than the island itself. So is it possible that some of the mainland dungeons are connected to this one?

What did Izutsumi do with Yaad after she found him?

Doppelgangers are mimic octopi. No wonder they couldn't properly grapple Donato. He was probably suction-cupped to the floor.

Oh dear. This is getting bad. Marcille is fully under the demon's influence.

SENSHI FLASH!!

back

[rei-ismyname]

Jean Grey is skeptical AF of Xavier and his school

There have been many rewrites and modernizations of the original X-Men, especially their early years. It makes sense - the 1963 run sucks badly and there's a lot to be gained by exploring those years through a different lens. For example, in Season One Jean has not drunk the kool-aid - not wanting to 'join a psychic bald guy's freak show' lol. She's not sold on the idea yet, let's say.

With the focus being mostly on Jean, the narrative isn't chronological. Instead it jumps around to better show her journey from skeptic to true believer. During Magneto's attack on Cape Citadel, Jean is there and doing her best but openly tells Xavier that this is dangerous and irresponsible. The story doesn't shy away from the ethics and danger of recruiting child soldiers, but it also shows why they might choose to stay (and why that agency might be diminished.)

Jean is kinda right! They're five hastily trained teenagers dressed in Spandex trying to stop the most powerful mutant in the world from setting off nukes. It's objectively fucked up. Magneto ends up saying he let them live out of respect for Charles, which is a thin reed to gamble their lives on. Dude is throwing around planes and battleships - he's having a blast. Skywriting and breaking the laws of physics.

Warren tells Jean about his press ganging recruitment and it's pretty funny. Old man Worthington calling Chuck 'Captain Eyebrows' and having the maid forcibly wheel him out is worth a chuckle, though Warren's acceptance of them being mindful controlled makes you wonder if he didn't get the same treatment. Angel had been operating as a vigilante for a while, and it's shown repeatedly that he loves it here. Still, it's kidnapping.

Despite thinking the Professor is skeevy, Jean is coming around. Rather, she does like some elements of the Xavier School - mainly the company and camaraderie.

Later on in Jean's tour of her new school, Chuck brings her to watch a Danger Room session. A lot to unpack here. Jean immediately clicks that 'school' is actually 'secret paramilitary academy' and isn't shy about saying so. Chuck (who can't see the future) frames it as him doing what's necessary for being a mutant in the world. Jean doesn't exactly buy that, so Chuck is like 'yeah okay, it's a secret paramilitary academy - except the goal is to change the world. To do that there's going to be violence and I can't protect you from it, only train you. Also, stay away from your family, for their protection.'

Jean's crossed arms and body language say that she's very skeptical about all of this. With parents out of the equation, school-aged teenagers arguably shouldn't be making these decisions for themselves. Personally I believe in bodily and personal autonomy for everyone - it's the subterfuge and a sense of wearing down the X-Men's objections that feel shady to me.

Scott, for example, has nowhere else to go and feels personally indebted to Xavier. Can he truly consent considering the power disparity and minimised ability to choose? Beast leaves the school in act two and is immediately thrust into poverty because he's very young and his family doesn't know he exists anymore. He was free to leave there, but he had to give up accommodation and other financial support. That's a big part of the parent/child power dynamic - being reliant on them for survival (plus the state's willingness to enforce it.) Xavier has supplanted most of the O5's parents and I doubt he'd have been successful recruiting older mutants with more agency and experience.

Jean has been here for three weeks and she doesn't agree with what's going on. They just got back from fighting Magneto (who could have killed them easily) and there's plenty more to come. She thinks her peers are messed up and that teenage X-Men is a bad idea. Despite that, it feels like home. Worn down or a natural fit for Jean's needs? Probably both tbh. There's a lot to be said for having peers that share your experiences.

Time to check in with Chuck again, who's concerned about group cohesion. They're kinda having two different conversations for a moment there, with Jean not wanting to discuss her feelings for either Scott or Warren, definitely not with this guy.

Despite enjoying herself and feeling at home, she still thinks Chuck is an irresponsible motherfucker for sending teenagers into danger. They recently spent several days in the Savage Land and it was terrifying.

Jean and Warren were captives, made all the more awkward by an unrequited crush and Warren being the OG himbo. Jean is justifiably rattled by being in constant danger for shit that's not really their problem. Warren has faith in field leader Cyclops, though.

That faith turns out to be justified, as when the pair were about to be eaten by a T-Rex, Cyclops optic blasted that anachronistic terror. Jean immediately hugged him then made out with him, though Scott's awkwardness has made things a little tense. DW, they start dating, but right now Jean thinks this whole X-Men thing is lunacy.

After a whole bunch of fights and public rejections, Beast ends up leaving, which we see from Jean's POV. Chuck is ... a condescending asshole about it, to be frank. Hank is blatantly picking apart the means and ends of the Dream, and I like that Xavier doesn't have a satisfying answer for him. The Dream is a faith-based ideology and the X-Men are an insane means of achieving it. Sure, it's probably a bad thing if Magneto takes over the world but he's going to keep trying. Signing kids up to a forever war with him doesn't feel like the best use of his time or resources.

Beast saw Chuck palling it up with Magneto and understandably thinks he's full of shit. I suspect he didn't tell them because he's a secretive MF, but also because they're children, and a black and white/good vs evil conflict is an easier narrative to swallow. Beast is gone so he opens up to Jean instead.

Here we start to see Xavier's God complex. Magneto made his own choices and they're not great ones, but neither are Xavier's IMO. They're both very stubborn men who think they are the chosen one. Xavier brings himself back down to Earth in the gayest possible way, and Jean is like 'ohhhhhhhh. That makes sense. Also, you're so full of shit. It's annoying that you chose to be honest about this one thing.' The X-Men eventually convince Beast to return, and Chuck sets him up with a lab to work in.

Then Magneto attacks the mansion. I wish I had more room for images because he subdues Chuck in the funniest way possible. Like his husband, he's incapable of recruiting like a normal person and decides to terrify and lightly torture the X-Men while beating up their boss for an entire day.

Something clicks in Jean and she's decided that she is down for hanging out with these weirdos, kissing Slim, and fighting Magneto forever. She likes it and feels confident. You know what? That's as good a reason as any. Chuck is still a delusional creep but if everyone is having fun then good for them. Everything is fine - it's Magneto that's the problem.

[pandoratelenor]

So far all the characters from previous dragon age games that i felt in still image did not look like themselves

Looks like themselves about a decade (or more older)

Northern thedas ruined all these characters fashion tho, but their faces looks fine

[bmpmp3]

finding out ur coworker is way older than you thought and having to very quickly reorient how you talk to them

[blueskittlesart]

do you have any thoughts on zelda not staying as a dragon? me personally I like it and am very cool with it mostly because I think zelda should get to be happy forever (and because I'm smart enough to know she changed back because of recall and not some ambiguous power of love lmao) but a lot of people seem to dislike that it made the draconification inconsequential?

i think there's like. some valid concerns surrounding inconsequentiality/"curing" the physical problems characters have as a way of giving them a "happy ending" but I think those concerns don't necessarily apply to totk in the way people seem to be applying them, especially irt zelda's draconification and link's arm.

most of the time when the criticism of this "magic cure" trope is applied to media, it's because the trope is used as a cure-all to erase a character's suffering or trauma and make them "normal" again, and often ignores the character development or themes of the story in favor of giving the character a happy ending. I don't think that applies to totk, though, because the "curing" link and zelda experience is both within the realm of possibility given the worldbuilding present in the game (recall could easily have done it, as you mentioned) AND thematically consistent with the rest of the game. One of if not the most important central themes of totk is the idea of failure and second chances. we see a hyrule that has been given a second chance after link's initial failure with the calamity brought it to the brink of destruction. we see characters who were deeply unhappy and entrenched in the shame of their precalamity mistakes like purah and zelda become active, beloved members of their communities. we see the people of lurelin village take back and rebuild their destroyed home. we watch this kingdom and its people make an unprecedented comeback after a century of struggle and ruin.

Similarly, totk's gameplay is LINK's second chance, his comeback from the initial mistake of losing zelda, of specifically being unable to reach her with his injured hand when they fell. The consequences of that--the master sword's corruption, the loss of his arm, and zelda's draconification, are all supposed to SEEM irreversible, because that's how LINK initially sees them. he believes that he doomed both himself and zelda all because of that SINGLE moment in which he wasn't enough, a viewpoint which is obviously left over from the pressure he experienced to perform to an impossible standard of perfection pre-calamity. The story of totk is about deconstructing that belief and proving it wrong. the mistake he made caused harm, but it's never too late to repair things. he can fix the regional phenomena ganondorf causes and rebuild those communities. he can revitalize the master sword. he can GET ZELDA BACK, with his own arm, uninjured and able to reach her this time. no matter how impossible those things may initially seem, no matter the perceived finality of his mistakes and their consequences, there is always hope. there is always a second chance. no one person's single mistake can doom an entire kingdom for eternity. the fate of hyrule was NEVER resting on link's shoulders alone. he was never their final hope. there was always going to be an after. the whole POINT of the draconification and the loss of link's arm is that they AREN'T final. they ARE inconsequential, because they were born of one mistake and ONE MISTAKE IS NOT THE END ALL.

[cluescorner]

I cannot imagine being a Damian stan right now. You've got both Zdarsky's bullshit (where he clearly doesn't give a shit about your boy) and The Boy Wonder (where Juni Ba clearly gives so many shits about your boy) coming out on the same day. The whiplash must be insane. I hope y'all get some nice warm soup for your efforts jfc

[girls-and-honey]

.

[wheelercore]

Theory with no coherent proof on my part: brenner only visibly ages rapidly when a portal is open.

[slamrink]

klay 0 points but he looked sexygorgeous doing it + lockdown defense + mavs WIN and dubs clinch so im leaving here with something 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

[bunkernine]

society if hoo had them at uni age and the lost trio went to chb and chiron is like "how tf are ANY of u alive and unclaimed". wilderness was just community college.

[70707070707o7]

why is the no.1 downfall of everyone who does visual typing just. thinking every sp-dom and especially spsxs are sosx. what's going on there

[itsalwaysdark]

ive always wanted to play dnd but truly i think its too late for me and i just dont have it