#half-insights

[thepersonalwords]

There is no one way to recover and heal from any trauma. Each survivor chooses their own path or stumbles across it.

Laurie Matthew, Behind Enemy Lines

[lucabyte]

siffrin starts the game with oddly empty pockets for a rogue who has a habit of stashing away every little trinket that isn't nailed down

and a hardy pocketwatch is an indispensable tool for oceanic navigation

[www-bestiemme]

The Smallest Church in Saint-Saëns

No smoke version and og picture undercut :]

[agentwashingcat]

The thing about Gale's hubris that gets me is that not all of it comes from wanting power for powers sake. I mean, yes, that's some of it of course, have you seen the wizards, they all suffer from delusions of grandeur in this game occasionally but like

Imagine you're Gale. You're in a relationship with the literal goddess of magic (who's also been teaching you magic since you were like 10 or something don't be weird it's totally fine) and you know. You know she's only interested because you're a wizard, and a damn powerful one at that. Wouldn't you also want to amass all the power you could, to keep your status?

And then when you run out of things to learn in Faerun well, there's always the magic of the gods. But they don't want you to learn that. Indeed, when you bring it up to Mystra, she just pats your head and tells you to be satisfied with what you have. Most mortals don't even get this much, why can't you be happy?

It's not like your time might be running short. It's not like there might be some new up and coming prodigy to catch Mystra's eye, and then where does that leave you? Alone with your broken heart and nothing to show for it.

So of course he's going to do what he can to maintain that status. Most people would. And hey, becoming a god would be a pretty cool side effect. It's not like it's that far outside the realm of possibility for mortals to ascend to godhood in Faerun. Even the current Mystra was once a mortal woman.

It just makes me feral that underneath the 5 layers of hubris is a core of insecurity that he's only wanted for what he can do and not who he is. But if he is only wanted for what he can do, he's gonna make sure he's damn fucking good at it.

[hedgehog-moss]

My top 10 nonfiction reads of 2023 (the asterisked ones are in French with no translation as of yet) :

Belle Greene, Alexandra Lapierre

The Indomitable Marie-Antoinette, Simone Bertière

Reporter: A Memoir, Seymour Hersh

Red Carpet: Hollywood, China and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy, Erich Schwartzel

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, Patrick Keefe

Servir les riches, Alizée Delpierre*

La Comtesse Greffulhe : L’ombre des Guermantes, Laure Hillerin*

Le Courage de la nuance, Jean Birnbaum*

The Book Collectors of Daraya, Delphine Minoui

Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea's Feminist Movement, Hawon Jung

[buckevantommy]

i doubt he'll do it again bc y'all botched and fumbled this one BUT if Oliver Stark ever does do another ama on insta here are the types of questions you should be asking.

(hint: focus on his photography bc he's, y'know, showcasing his friggin' photography)

Do you print and frame any of your photos? + Do you hang them in your house or give them to people?

Do you ration your film? (which isn't needed with digital so much but with film you only have like 30 shots to a roll)

Do you take time lining up and prepping a shot, or are you more spontaneous and shoot on a whim?

How have your skills developed in 5 years? + How has your style changed since you started your photography journey?

Are there any photographers that inspire your work or life?

Hardest thing about using film / photography in general?

..remember folks: he's here too!

[ratatatastic]

erod and his adventures with finnish media aka i think my job is to make mikksy giggle and provide emotional support and i will do my job well!

"imma support you" he says as he gives mikksy a good back pat so he understands that heres here for him and is making space for him. mikksy nodding along like yes very well i expected this thank you you will be the court jester by my side yes

their banter is so toptier "youre half finnish" and erods absolutely JOY when he processes it that he got mikksy of all people admitted him as half finnish like yeah you ARE RIGHT. I AM. I KNOW THE MOST FINNISH ON THE TEAM FOR A NOT-FINN the absolute pride that puffed up in him as being admitted into the finns i did not have mikksy teasing erod about being half finnish in my bingo card and yet here we are

mikksy interupting the finnish reporter just to get one last dig in "you can answer too" and erods just utterly delighted mikksy is being this playful i absolutely cannot stand the way they both look away (mikksy at the reporter to lock back in, erod to giggle into his lap before he cant help but look back at mikksy and their eyes meet in a beautiful- i have to stop myself here before i write romantic prose) and mikksy immediately taking the smile off his fave to focus because YEAH YOU NUMBSKULLS YOURE IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERVIEW YOU ARE NOT AT A DINNER DATE GOING WHERE THE MOOD TAKES YOU. FOCUS. LOCK TF IN.

when your secret husband teammate starts actually focusing on the interview and youre alone to your own devices listening to all the finnish and going from happy to be here! to oh dear god what are they saying my rudimentary finnish can only take me so far. you can see the way the cogs in brains are turning slowly and he's trying to recall words hes learned to get any semblance of whats being said but its fast paced for him he just gets lost and the big ass grin he got from mikksy teasing just slowly starts to fall...

not a single thought in that brain of his... the lights are on but no ones home...

the many faces of erod as he tries to say the only finnish words he knows "ah can i go now- no."

nows my chance i can make my secret husband ah i mean teammate giggle see i know finnish look how well im doing please look at me! "kiitos" he looks like a puppy waiting for approval and he got it mikksys proud little nod like yes thats a word good job you remembered and you used it in a- well certainly in a context not really the best context- you know what it doesnt matter good job

this is what i imagine its like when you take your secret husband teammate home to your parents and are like "okay after the several months of finnish lessons ive drilled into you to make a good impression on my parents so they like you and see youre assimilating my culture into our relationship and respect us do you remember what to say?" "kiitos :)" "...good enough. youre canadian its okay theyll be impressed with that. just sit there and look pretty and let me do the talking okay dear?" "kiitos :)" "just like that sweetheart keep it up 👍"

edmonton oilers @ florida panthers game 2 postgame interview | 6.10.24 (x)

[13eyond13]

love it when a character that's hard to read intuitively for you has like a dedicated fandom interpreter who can just glance at their blank face in a panel and then give you a 3k word essay on their innermost thoughts & desires & fears and neatly tie it back into the themes & whatnot as if it's the most obvious thing in the world

[chimerakeys]

Being non-binary transmasc is my biggest struggle because what if I wanted to date a butch and she said no because I call myself a guy

[manyothermusingsofmine]

genuinely love that in my mind Gale has become the defacto person people go to for information on things because now my brain will not let go of a scenario like Astarion, appearing from the ceiling like he's doing a spiderman cosplay: Gale- Gale: -immediately dropping everything he's holding and shrieking at the top of his lungs- Astarion: Stop screaming it's just me. Gale: How did you get in here, and more importantly; what do you want?! Astarion: I broke in, and whatever information you have on dhampirs.

[apollos-boyfriend]

cannot recommend this video enough for anyone with an interest in slenderman/his mythos sure but also just anyone with an interest in internet history and the history of internet horror/args. the first half especially gives a lot of insight and history into the origins of a lot of modern internet horror it's all so insane well done and well produced

[grapecaseschoices]

the ever lovely @lelianasbong tagged me [DAAAAAYS ago] to share my inky's face [using this picrew] and to share three facts about them.

Kendis' mother is Tal-Voshoth while her father is Vashoth. His parents [hypocritically] weren't happy with that. In a sense, it was like why invite that trouble into your/our lives? They had a fellow Vashoth who was "better adapted" in blending in planned for him. But he eloped! Kendis didn't meet her grandparents into her teens. [She did one of her father's sisters though. Not a good exchange.]

Though, she is proudly Vashoth. She does still consider themself a qunari. To an extent. She likes learning about their culture and incorporates parts of it to her day to day -- something that's occurred since her childhood as their mother's past would bleed through time to time. They're a big fan of vitaar and always collects them the way people might collect make up or jewelry or [in Leliana's case ;-P] shoes.

That said, her first company was for the most part human. She actually rejected the Valo-Kas at first. It's about money, you see? Nothing personal. Noble preferred mostly human groups and nobles had the coin. Thankfully the Valo-Kas never took it [too] personally. As Kendis made a name for themself, they sent another offer. Having left her previous group and bored out her mind, she took them up. No regrets [well. for the most parts ... those troublemakers ;-p]

Tagging @bansheeheart @thedeadthree @yes-prisoner @quaxorascal @serenpedac

@magebastard @mt07131 and anyone else who wants!

[yuwuta]

cute nurse yuuta but also unhinged nurse yuuta, you see? nurse yuuta with cold fingers and needles. white rooms and white gloved fingers touching you. nurse yuuta who is making mental notes of every detail of your skin, your needs. and of course the short exchanged words. and who is mesmerized by how softly the needle pierces through your skin, by how you trust him. he's done it a thousand times before, it shouldn't be this special. the delicacy in which his body moves as to not make it any more uncomfortable than it already is. he wonders if he could make you drift away slowly, warmly falling deep into unconsciousness without notice. those thoughts trouble him often. it's tempting.

I always liked hospitals and nursers. And blood tests. It's definitely not the usual harmless Yuuta.

oh…….. the more often he has to graze your skin, to draw your blood, to check your temperature, the more he keeps thinking about how he almost wants to keep you under his care forever…. how he kind of wants to be the only person to have to care for you. 

and it’s not that he wants to hurt you to keep you there, he just wants to be the only one to touch you, he wants to be the only one you trust. and he wants to know everything about you, he knows the ins but he wants to see it affect your outside too. he knows your blood is warm in the vials, but how does it feel against your cheeks when you’re flustered? when you’re happy? when you’re scared? does your skin feel cold everywhere—where are you warm? he’s seen the graph of your heart on ECGs, but who does it beat for? can he make it beat for him? if he gave you part of him, would you keep it, would he be able to live inside of you? they’re very tempting thoughts; troublesome, but tempting….

[eternalergo]

lil morning vent but. I'm disappointed there's so little artwork of pino in the art book like?? wdym the game's about him and yet we barely get any art of the puppet

[the-clay-quarters]

hello estival update: the geography of the kolomans is driving me insane. it is likely to continue driving me insane for the whole event. i cant wait! /excited