#hard to explain lmao GETTING BETTER FOR SURE THO

[key0-m0ve-al0ng]

"unmedicated undiagnosed ADHD gang" bitch our ADHD ain't even unmedicated despite being undiagnosed, it's not Adderall or anything but technically our anxiety meds get prescribed for ADHD as well..... Would be so cool if I remember to take it more than every few days

[asterdeer]

video called "pirate shirt tutorial that actually makes sense" with a thumbnail clickbaitingly copying bernadette banner's style, which does the exact same thing as bernadette banner's video but more confusingly and without a diagram in the video itself, also failing to understand that bernadette banner's channel is primarily a history channel and not a sewing tutorial channel so telling people they don't have to hand-sew the pirate shirt or they don't have to thread-pull is unnecessary because bernadette banner literally said "do this however you want, i just do it this way because it's how i learn about historical dress practices" in her own video. couldn't ask for better youtube entertainment

[sillyunknownkitkat]

hihi!! could i please request a ink sans x reader, in which the reader adores physical touch? tysm!!! Please take as much time as you need, and if you don't feel up to it, please ignore this!! <33

Ink Sans x clingy/touchy reader

[Btw sorry it's posted this late :( I hope you like it, tho!]

Now, we all know (I think) that Ink doesn't have any feelings of his own, he's has to take the vials to feel something right?

While I feel like he could be in a relationship, I hope you're not too sensitive because he doesn't actually love you because, you know, he literally can't feel any emotion

Also, I'm pretty sure that it's canon that he has a very bad memory (He doesn't have a soul, so he's just living). So he'll probably forget about you..

"But why would he ask me out then?" You may ask. Well, it's probably because someone in the Noot Noot gang (I stand by this name) or Error has a crush on you. He's just messing with them

Or maybe you belong to an Au where you being with him would create an unexpected reaction (at least to his eyes)

I have headcanons about the start sanses if you'd like more depth to this, but Blue will send reminder to Ink so he doesn't hurt you by forgetting you or something. He's definitely not happy that Ink is using you, but at the same time, he doesn't want to break your heart/soul by telling you the truth.

Dream probably avoids you. He doesn't know what to do, honestly.

Well, let's ACTUALLY start making headcanons for what you asked (after breaking you, lmao)

At first, he was really weird about it. He didn't get why you felt like you had to be glued to him to feel good, but after some recherches, (don't think I spelled that right but wtv) well more like after harrasing Blue about it, he understood. Well, no, not really, but he kinda gets the point

So when he's with you, he'll try to give you as much attention as he can. If he remembers you in the first place.

It goes from awkwardly patting you on the back to laying himself on top of you to clinging to you to the point that you can't move

Yeah... it's all or nothing with Ink, but hey! You got your touch (　＾∀＾)

No, but for real, you deserve way better, I'm sorry, but it is what it is

He's not a good guy, but it could be interesting to be friend with him if you do anything special around in the multiverse

Like he takes advantage of you, but I don't think it's that hard enough to take advantage of him either, actually

I'm so sorry for this, you waited so long and for what? Me telling you that it's pretty much impossible. (　ＴДＴ)

No, but for real, if you want to, I can explain why I feel that way about him, but like- I can't fake liking him 100%

I do think he's a really awesome character but he's not good per say (does this make any sense?)

Well I need sleep lol

Have a good day/night and again I'm so sorry for this garbage

[a-kinda-boring-writer]

🟧🟨⬜️🟦🟪Hey, there!🟧🟨⬜️🟦🟪

I'm not pro-ship nor anti or whatever. Both sides sound very silly to me. I frankly care very little about any of that discourse. May throw out some takes for shit and giggles, but I won't debate people on anything related to that. I just don't care enough. I'm only here for the funnies.

I can be a bit of a negative-nancy sometimes? So, like, expect me to have very critical takes about stuff on occasions. Oh and I'm a bit trigger happy when it comes to blocking. Just so you know <3.

Anyways... look at this cat! :D Not fully sure what to do with her character yet, but isn't she precious :3 (ignore what she has on her mouth 😉 don't worry about it 🙌)

(This is a commission I got from Sparklehounds. Go check her out!)

Also, I'm an adult (You should probably be one too if you're planning to keep reading any further 👇👇👇).

I write fanfics sometimes.

📖🐈Warrior cats fics!🐈📖

Rated between T-ish to M. Editing and spell-checking are against my religion lmao. And I think mildly suggestive humor is hilarious, so you'll find plenty of that in there, but no outright smut. They're still kinda boring, tho. And unnecessarily long. On the flip-side, there are lots of gay kitties in them too.

So... yeah. You'll find them here, if you wanna check them out, for whatever reason. Mind the tags, tho. PLEASE mind the tags.

[-----------]

Getting into specifics, my main thing is a Power of Three in RiverClan AU/Rewrite. This includes:

-the Three being Feathertail/Crowfether kits, raised in RiverClan (duh) -Med cat Hollyleaf, Warrior Jayfeather, and Lionblaze... well, he's there too, doing his best. -a bunch of headcanons (both personal and popular fandom stuff) -community jokes taken seriously (exactly what it says on the tin) -complete lack of interest in making a "better" arc than the original, just the desire to have fun and explore whatever theme is in my head at the time. -actually, I kinda take the canon and make it worse tbh.

Here is the link to the series. Again, please, mind the tags. It gets heavy at times.

[-----------]

Some one-shots I've written:

-And tender was the flesh: Hollyleaf being a cryptid and also a cannibal, but Cinderheart is into that. -Vamos a punguearle a esta vida amarreta un ramo de sueños: An AU of the RiverAU, in which Jayfeather and Pouncetail get their happily ever after. -Mercy is ruthlessness upon ourselves: Stonefur x Blackfoot. Sad and doomed old man yaoi 😔 -Heathertail's Harem: Pretty self-explanatory. The princess of WindClan gets her well-deserved harem 🙌. Not serious at all. -Why should we try to rebuild our broken bridge, if all we have is rotten wood?: This one is hard to explain. The jest of it is that Holly and Squilf try to reconnect after the former returns from the tunnels, but their relationship soon turns quite unhealthy. What I mean is Squilf x Holly. Sorry 😔😔😔.

[-----------]

Also participating on the Year of the OTP 2025. I'm writing 12 one-shots featuring Frostdawn x Whistlebreeze! It's one per month and all of them will be here. Ratings and themes will vary substantially.

[-----------]

And some WIP one-shots that I'm currently workshopping and/or working on include:

-Squirrelflight x Mothwing x Leafpool. (A soldier and a nun abandon their religion and become Farm Girls for pu-... for love, of course) -Lionblaze (PPD, yay!) -An epilogue for Ravensight (oc. He just keeps getting worse) -Mothwing x Icestar (Very old woman yuri) -Jayfeather x Kestrelflight (Bird bois deserve to be happy) -Leafstar x Firestar >>> Leafstar x Squirrelflight (bit unhealthy) -Tawnypelt x Nightcloud (fuck it) -Ivypool x Hollytuft (Complicated doesn't even begin to describe this) -There's a Ashfur Mpreg one too (that one is hard to explain...) - Something with Spottedleaf (it`s the ciiiiiircllleeee of... abuse...)

[-----------]

That's all for now.

<3

[buckysgrace]

Gator Tillman Headcanons

Just some random thoughts I had about baby boy tonight <3

I for sure think he was born premature? A teeny tiny little baby with big brown eyes lol.

Definitely got doted on because of his huge eyes and messy hair. Very hyper kid too, always needed to be doing something. Probably a biter tbh (spanked a lot sadly smh)

Threw an absolute fit when he was itty bitty and they were weening him off of the pacifier. That was his paci damn it!

Grew to love snakes because his mom hated them and he was quick to remove them from her garden. He thought it was funny to chase her while holding them

Roy use to make Linda keep it in a buzz cut because he hated how long it was on Gator. Thus, leaving Gator to find his own style when he was old enough.

He definitely showed cattle when he was younger. His favorite cow was named Rosie and he won several ribbons for how well kept she was <3

Knows how to ride a horse but doesn't have a desire to do so. Plus his lower back and hips are always so sore after

Prefers dogs over cats, but you best believe any time a cat is around him they're all up in his business

I also think he struggled with asthma when he was little too?? He hasn't had an attack in years but still carries an inhaler around

(don't bring up him vaping while having asthma, he gets very defensive and irritated lol)

Never been out of his hometown unless he needed to travel for competitions or for work. Probably never been on a real vacation before either.

I think he was always tall and lanky but stopped growing his sophomore year of high school?? He always wanted to be taller tho

Was in the FFA obviously.

Being an all-state quarter back I'm sure he had a ton of college offers? I imagine he was fairly average in school, probably enjoyed science more than anything else

Had a really hard time after his mom "left". I think he had a lot of anger issues at this time

His leg injury blew away any chances of him really believing that he could do better for himself, so he followed in Roys footsteps

He gets cold easy, so he always bundles up into layers and layers.

Sucks at cooking. Could not boil water to save his life. I think that he'd take cooking lessons later in life (or learn from someone hehe)

Has a surprisingly good green thumb if he'd keep up with it

Enjoys drawing in his free time and is actually really good at it.

Cannot survive anywhere where it gets too hot. He burns easily

He's in church every Sunday (sometimes Wednesday nights too, depending on his shifts) but it doesn't stop his potty mouth

Car lover of course. Likes to work on vehicles too. Occasionally welds I believe.

Loves going to car shows, or to tractor pulls lol

Most of his tattoos were random, little afterthoughts or done while he was drunk. I think he bought his own tattoo kit but opted out of it.

Flirts like a middle school boy. Will poke and prod at you, lots and lots of teasing. If you meet at a bar you best believe he's gonna be showing you all of his cool drinking tricks lol

A surprisingly good big brother, although Karen thinks he's a bad influence so he doesn't get to spend much time with them

Big fan of Game of Thrones but also loves Golden Girls lmao. And Westerns.

Does that thing where he acts like he's not interested in what's on TV but then he stands there with his hands on his hips watching the whole time lol

Do not ask him to pick you up something for the store, he will not find it

When he's high on weed he's very giggly; thinks everything is hilarious. Will absolutely lay underneath the stars and try to explain the way the universe works. Very snuggly and has the worst munchies (devours a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos in one sitting smh)

Will drink coffee (usually with a protein shake mixed in) but he 100% prefers energy drinks

Jack Daniels and PBR are obviously his drinks of choice hehe. Although he does love a good margarita occasionally

Absolutely devours some Taco Bell after he gets off the night shift. He always gets a box with a chalupa, beefy 5-layer burrito, and the fiesta potatoes but he's also getting a cheesy gordita crunch and the Cinnabon delights. And a Baja Blast. Mans has worked hard and he's hungry lmao

Hates ankle socks

For a late night snack he is breaking open something sweet. I imagine he prefers Heath bars and 100 Grand Bars.

He also loves carrot cake

[tentenismybitch]

oh my god all of those look so interesting!!! TELL ME ABOUT SASUSAITEN ROKUDAIME’S GUARDS THO!!!!! and also tenzo and tenten, and also tenten’s from kumo

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING!!

sasusaiten rokudaime’s guards starts out like many of my tenten-centric fics: tenten is depressed (lmao i project on her so hard.) this is a post-war fic, but tsunade is still the hokage. gai implores her to find something for tenten to do, b/c as is typical for a member of team gai, she needs to feel useful to feel like she has any value as a person and shinobi.

tsunade is stepping down soon but she’s like, hm. kakashi will technically need bodyguards as hokage. who could do this job…sakura is busy being my apprentice and creating a mental health clinic, naruto can’t do it for xyz reasons, sasuke is on probation….so it would be good for him to stick close to the hokage actually….sai is discreet, loyal, and knows kakashi well enough….tenten needs something to do. alright so boom, i’m going to send them on a long mission to see how well they work together.

at first, this is a nightmare. neither sasuke nor sai play nice with others. part of tenten’s depression is b/c her team has functionally disbanded so she does not want to team up with these two guys. they get into a lot of fights, almost kill each other multiple times, sasuke and sai have hate-sex on several occasions until tenten is eventually like “are you sure it’s hate that you feel? are you sure?”, they eventually learn to work together, but that does not stop them from increasing kakashi’s blood pressure <3

as for tenzo and tenten!

this one actually makes no sense. i first came up with the idea a couple yrs ago, before i got up to the part in my rewatch that explains why yamato can control naruto’s kyubi chakra. i had misremembered it as him being good at fuinjutsu, so in this fic, kakashi gets him to train tenten after seeing her affinity for it. it’s called tenzo and tenten b/c it actually starts when tenten is still a genin, so tenzo was not yet given the codename of “yamato.” idk if i will continue this cus i initially conceived of the idea based on incorrect knowledge, but here’s a lil excerpt from the nearly 2k words of it i drafted a couple yrs ago!!:

Kakashi rolled his eyes, already regretting having said anything. Now, he would have to turn a passing, musing thought into a conversation. Tenten leveled her gaze on him, staring him up and down.

"You're weird," she said with a frown. She stuck her tongue out and returned her attention to her squad.

"Agreed," Neji mumbled as he got back into his fighting stance. Kakashi had never felt so wounded in his life, and he lost an eye as a child. These kids, with Gai as their sensei and a near clone of Gai as their teammate, were calling him weird? 

"Tenten, where are your manners? It may be true that Kakashi is a bit strange," Gai said, to which Kakashi shot him an incredulous look that went ignored, "but he is a powerful ninja, almost on my level. It is a great honor that he is showing interest in your abilities."

Rock Lee chimed in, bouncing on his toes in excitement. "Perhaps Kakashi-sensei wants to train you now that his own youthful students have found better masters!“

Kakashi ignored the unintentional jab, his ego already sorely bruised by these children, and swiped a finger across his eyebrow. This was really getting ahead of him. "Well, not me, per se, but your advanced skill in fuinjutsu reminded me of a comrade I had in ANBU."

"ANBU?" Tenten repeated, eyes widening in awe. "That means they must be pretty powerful, right?"

"Yes," Kakashi smiled a bit, "he graduated from the Academy at age six and was promoted to chunin in the same year. Of course, this was during wartime, so promotions happened a lot faster, but he is a gifted shinobi."

Tenten squealed in delight, but Gai shook his head firmly, placing a hand on Tenten's shoulder. "Most ANBU are coldblooded, merciless killers. Kakashi, you remember how it was when you were an ANBU."

Kakashi lowered his gaze, remembering the Land of Wood mission that enticed Gai to plead with the Third to take him off ANBU service. At first, he was annoyed that Gai would interfere with his duties in such a way, but in hindsight, he realized Gai was right. Taking care of a genin squad brought out a kindness in him that he had locked away while in ANBU. His comrade had suffered much trauma, and, even worse, had been in the foundation. He probably wouldn't do well training a child.

"We're shinobi," Tenten said, placing her hands on her hips, "we all kill. Don't you remember how bloodthirsty those Suna nin Lee and I went up against were?" She gestured to Neji and Lee, who let their light sparring fall to the wayside as they listened. "And the Sound ninja that Lee, Neji, and I helped Team seven against? It wasn't just them either. Most of the other genin from different villages were ruthless. Hell, even Neji very nearly killed his cousin until you all stopped him. And let's be real, if she was from some unimportant clan, or was an orphan, you jonin wouldn't have jumped in. Shouldn't I learn from someone who will teach me not to have mercy, just as no mercy will ever be given to me?"

[dropthedemiurge]

Sangmin Dinneaw Ep.1 Reaction

I started watching Sangmin Dinneaw (despite all rational thoughts that I should finish other 7 BLs in progress now xD) and it's already cute since the very first episode xD

Okay, I didn't expect both main leads to be so charming and mischievous xD Definitely a fun dynamic to look forward to

Funny how Dinneaw just accepted his mom loves some other foreign kid as her second son and keeps bringing him up and there wasn't a single ounce of jealousy or bitterness (so far, let's see how it goes once he meets grown up version)

"I know the phrase 'annoying/stir up trouble' in Thai" Said with the sweetest and fake innocence xD Also cutely nodding to mom bringing up embarrassing stories about Dinneaw, I'm so sure they will clash a lot in the beginning xD

I listened to "petty/pretty" a few times and the difference is barely noticeable to me, I will never do well with intonational languages ���

Actor who plays Sangmin does a great job at giving exact face expression that is "I can kinda have a conversation in your language but also my brain is working at 200% trying to keep up and understand what's going on and behave accordingly" As someone who's currently living in Korea and trying to learn Korean, I feel his struggles so much (even if he doesn't seem to show them xD)

Honestly, geckos chilling on walls were my favorite part of staying in Thailand :D Much better than all other insects and spiders in bathroom...

Lol Sangmin is doing everything to annoy Dinneaw indeed, not sure if it's simply to get mom's praise but his smug smile doesn't seem perfectly genuine to me xD

This trilingual series is giving me life but I laughed so hard when subtitles in English said "Mom, go into the kitchen and eat the baby" as if there were not enough language shenanigans in show itself - ah wait, they gave up and subtitles became auto, okay

Sangmin told him "You must achieve your dream" in Korean, even if he didn't understand Dinneaw explain about "responsibilities" 🥺🥺🥺 (Is Dream as sleeping and as goal is the same word? Kkum and Fan? Got curious cuz in mine these are different words) And they exchanged "Sleep well" in their respective languages, awwww. I love it.

Dinneaw means Clay in Thai?😅 His mom is really going through all her hyperfixations

What a time to be alive and understand Sangmin's phone calls in Korean without subs (wait, isn't actor Thai? His pronunciation of both languages is good, is he bilingual? Mixed? I'm curious)

I am definitely learning a lot of Thai with this series (and 5 different pronunciations of the word Coffee, I didn't need more, thanks)

I would never go to Thai massage, that feels awfully intimate for two strangers (although these two have a lot of unresolved tension and playfulness to go around xD). Sir, why are you caressing his oiled nipples while holding down his other hand on bed?? Sir?? That's Thai people's hospitality, I guess, Dinneaw took his mom's advice -- Oh wait, I get it, yes, fooled me. Was right about unresolved tension tho xD

Talking about tension - the two boys at the market 👀👀👀 The flirting is through the rooftop but the merchant thinks his crush is unrequited or what? How?xD

Sangmin trying to do Thai dance - aww I want to try it too. This guy does the "look of wonder" very well.

Sangmin's looks were so striking that one guy got meatball stuck in his throat so Sangmin did Heimlich maneuver on him and they aren't even main couple? This series is so silly, I'm surprisingly having pretty joyful time xD

Guy flirts with Sangmin in Thai - Sangmin silently steps back and glues himself to Dinneaw - I think the choice was made here from the very first second, sorry, man)))

"Daddy Arthit" owns the "Yadong" bar?xD Certainly EVERYTHING screams about his reputation lmao And behavior suits the place as well.

Oooh poor Dinneaw is jealous and hurt from the way Sangmin plays as people pleaser and loved by everyone aww :( I knew it was coming. I like that we tackle this situation.

I wonder why Sangmin keeps using 3rd pov when he speaks Thai decently and both Korean and Thai use 1st pov so it's not a habit... Maybe simply a way to make character feel more foreign. Okay, wait, Dinneaw speaks like that too. Maybe my perception on Thai was wrong.

Yadong has returned sgdjssjakl

Okay, first ep done! It's silly, it's charming, it makes me think about Twins, I think I'll have the same sentiment towards SD too^^ And I'm definitely using this series to learn more Thai words, so it's a win-win :P Let's see what comes next.

[normystical]

I saw on your pinned post you have ocs! Wanna tell me about some? ^^

eehh i dont always enjoy explaining my ocs tbh,,,, buuut i might as well FINALLY get this out of my inbox lol

ok so there is this one oc group,, i havent named the groups of ocs for some reason. but it involves james, rixel, kybit, zerose, and volta. james is kinda jaded and boring and tired and is the only one in this damn household who even works. despite everyone being adults capable of working. rixel is kinda arrogant, kybit is a bit dumb, zerose is your average tumblr user, volta tends to be aggressive and stuff. i only have the designs for two and a half so far (as in the "half" i have the hair for but not the clothing). theyre not meant to have any important lore, they just exist for silly funsies ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i also have zefialte, and two unnamed ocs ❄️ and 🍒. i havent fully decided their personalities yet, but zefialte is fhe kind that tries WAY too hard to be villainous lol. similar to licorice cookie, master frown, sir pentious, spot (itsv), eclipse (pppidwtbamg), if any of those guys sound familiar. and yes he and the two kids bully each other. yes ge is a grown adult tho. lmao

uuhh ive also been working on this one group, consisting of carex, 🐩, 🖥, 🎭, 🟡1️⃣, 🎱🚬, and i plan to have more but so far its just them. idk carex is just some fucked up capitalist guy that can use this dumb mind powers or whatever to cause severe mental distress to the point of,, desperate measures. 🐩 is sure of this but nobody believes her. also carex is a bit toxic yaoiful with 🎭 who is completely emotionless and kinda lets him mistreat him to fill the void. and stuff. i could explain the others but i dont want to rn XD

also theres malori and jasmine. basically malori starts off like,, NOT a good person. largely encouraged by her friends who are also bad people just as she is. jasmine kinda prompts her to become a better person. tho i plan on adding some more nuance than just that yk?

and theres MANY more but those are jsut some of the groups im a lil bit more attached to;; i could share more if you want, i just didnt feel like it... also i was too lazy to get images, but i do have them! lmk if you want to see any of the characters i mentioned and chances are i can show you, and id be happy to oblige! ^^

[regina-massive-deal-george]

I wanna watch the world burn 🔥 💋

In case you WEREN’T there for the Opera Populaire Scandal/Callout of 2025, you’re so lucky to have me, cuz this is my DETAILED POST about what happened.

So the brilliant picture above was of an impromptu performance issues at the opera house, with a few people coming to attend and the whole opera house crew there, wherein I initially sang an aria version of the song @maggiemelodies09 had made- I really can’t take credit tho, when that song was released we all knew it was a bop. But then I used the moment to Burn-Book-world-burning expose this black-haired bitch (I won’t even say her name) who apparently picked fights with several ballet girls physically, and otherwise was being worse than Carlotta. She came for Maggie, AKA one of my literal squad members, and nobody does that without getting fucking buried. So I casually told everyone that she basically attacks people, needs to be stopped, and that she’s some lying, insulting piece of shit who’s a less hot greaseball version of me. Cuz starting fights I can get, but she seriously needs to work on who she targets. And she couldn’t dance worth a shit anyway.

As you all know, this all happened AFTER that creepy opera ghost guy came in and managed to stop the fight (AND stirred me and the other singers from practicing, might I add, due to his loud dramatic echoes that stopped the ballet fighting).

Apparently @megthegiry wasn’t really there for the fight, but after my performance, we all basically exiled her from the opera house, and Madame Giry lectured the ballerinas so hard the ones who agreed with the Wannabe Prima Ballerina were sobbing, and Meg was there too. She seemed kinda confused about everything that was going on, because she was probs with Christine again (and Christy, girl, when you get your account back from shadow ban hell you better explain— are you dating Meg or Raoul??)

It took a while, but after the bitch ran off, rumors already started to spread, and that’s how people who weren’t even there figured out about what happened. Rest assured Gretchen, Karen, and Cady are all incredibly aware of my genius (and apparently seeing this as the proof I’m not a total mean girl anymore, a very certain emo asked me out.. so I’m taken now, I know, cry and seethe.. and I’m sure everybody by now knows who said girlfriend is, cuz I won’t shut up about it— Janis, I KNEW you were obsessed with me! or am I obsessed with you? whatevs).

Anyway, after that big yell-speech, we all went back to what we were doing.. for a while that creepy ghost guy (@operas-phantom btw) stayed with Maggie and I yapped it up with her about Janis and how she kissed me on the cheek and by the way that black-haired bitch can’t hurt you again, and basically Mags was like lmao I know I heard y’all from here.

So now we’re screwing around in the lair, maybe this ghost guy isn’t too bad, and I basically gaslit him into showing me his face so I could teach him some skincare stuff.

Yeah he’s got a Punjab lasso on the ready. Thats in case she ever comes back <3

[bee-named-alex]

Ok so the promised thoughts about Interview with the Vampire s2e5 (keep in mind that i haven't read the books, i've only seen some posts by people who have) SPOILERS

This episode was... heavy I guess is the right word. Pretty dark. Some things real fucked up. But also like emotionally.

I'll start with the nice thing, which is the Daniel and Louis dynamic; I really enjoy their present selfs, finding out their memories together. I like that Daniel even seems to be disappointed when Louis say that they didn't do anything lmao. Yeah and them in past is super fun too, at least at the start; Louis being happy with, Daniel "I did what I had to" Molloy taking of his shirt the moment he gets an excuse to do so.

It's interesting tho, the way Louis talks about Lestat has changed. But yeah, time passes and changes perspective (or maybe they have met after this sometimes and that changed it, but in that case i would have to ask where is lestat now)

And I think talking about the 70s takes immense trust on both parts, but especially Daniel's. I mean uncovering what he knows is risky, even without Armand in there.

Speaking of, I like that we get to hear how he likes to hunt; they tell us ("he's gonna be begging for it in an hour" or something like that) and show us with Daniel, that Armand likes his victims to be so mentally broken by him that they basically offer themselves up to him (similar to what Santiago does on stage)

Now that I've opened up Armand's behaviour, I'll talk a little about their fight. Like I get it. I get them both, Armand more than I thought I would. But fucking christ. They are both saying the hard truths (which i doubt is common in their relationship) and so it's spicy.

Louis bringing up Armand's past is fucked. But also Armand being so jealous of Lestat, like he's been their whole relationship; i like to see that, this seed of hatred and resentfulness that keeps hurting them even in present day.

And then Louis runs out and that is something i did not see coming and i feel so bad for him, like omg. And the way Armand acts towards him then feels really cruel but in the light of their fight i guess he gets to be angry (but i still dont like it)

Armand listening to the tapes and promptly torturing Daniel for four fucking days. Crazy. I mean yea this is "Torture as foreplay, the show" but still? Mental.

I wholeheartedly agree with "Fuck your boyfriend"

I'm not actually tho sure if he's torturing him for the fun of it or out of jeaulosy or if he actually wants to find out "what makes him fascinating" but still, jesus (He really said, you could be on your knees in a second and you WILL, lol)

The Lestat-Armand scene broke my heart. This means that they both know that Lestat is alive because Louis didn't look at all surprised that he is, only shocked that Armand knew where he was. So id like to know if he actually found out (when? how??) or if he just assumed.

Now, what is Armand trying to do here? If it's to hurt Louis, he's successful but it hurts me to think that's it. If it's actually to make Louis happy, than he's doing it all wrong, like Louis tells him like a million times to stop. If it's to show that he's better, or like to give Louis a choice and hope he's the chosen one, I mean I guess? Still don't get it tho.

I really like that he refuses to say the "I love you", because, well, I'm not sure about the intentions, but to me it shows that he is scared that Louis would leave him if he knew. Which is not an unfounded fear really, not from the point of view of someone who's been listening to the tapes and hearing Lestat, Lestat, Lestat... over and over again. I think that the tapes kinda confirm Armand's fears that he isn't "enough" for Louis and could never be enough because he just isn't Claudia and he just isn't Lestat.

And the talk after that scene, "he is just my maker" yea no we both know you're lying. But then they explain why Armand's acting kinda like a servant to Louis (because to be tired of cleaning messes, you would have to have cleaned a lot of messes), because he's trying to undo something that happened in Paris? (Claudia is in danger, i fear)

Speaking of Lestat, where is he?? I mean he doesn't know where Louis is and Armand refuses to tell him, but I don't think that's just it. Like, I'm pretty sure if he could, Lestat would burn the whole word to find Louis. So it might be that he's been locked up somewhere? (i have seen people who know the books talk about some dungeon i think?? but idk)

Next thing I find quite fascinating (haha) is the very confusing Loumand power dynamic. It mostly comes from Armand and the way he seems to have two conflicting personalities that he switches between; one of them is the "cold, dark, manipulative, always in power, will torture you mentally", you know like he was acting with Daniel for most of the episode, and then there is the "devoted servant, looking to please and get love, yes maitre, of course maitre" or as Louis calls it, very 'tactly' I might add, "the bitch he was groomed to become", (it is obviously a horrible thing to say, i mean come on, louis.)

And I'm not sure what causes him to switch, if it just happens inside him or if the change is somehow (intentionally or even unintentionally) caused by Louis. It also kinda reminds me of the way Lestat has the mental stability of a rocking horse, but instead of it being "Everything is fine -> Rage", it's "I'm in power -> I will do literally anything you say".

Also idk how Louis feels about this. Because he will certainly use this side of Armand to get what he wants, but I'm not all that sure that he necessarily enjoys that power. Whatever it is, he saved Daniel thanks to it so yeah, good.

The ending, i am a little scared about, i will admit. Not sure how fast Armand can figure out what they know, and when he does, if they will know that he knows that they know. Dubai scenes are gonna be fun is what im saying.

Lastly, the trailer. Looks great again, more Loumand scenes that will hopefully be healthier than whatever this was. I am scared for Claudia as per Armand's "Have I atoned for my part of Paris?" i think the girl is done for. Also Santiago clearly play part in that, i've seen some people talk about a court?? and it looks like he's gonna do just that, probably court for Claudia and Louis (and possibly Armand?)

This didn't fit anywhere, but this episode somehow made me like Armand more? Not as a person, but as a character. I was always team Lestat and it might be because he was there first and i tend to be biased towards that, but maybe it's the fact that he was just more fun to watch. Like both his "normal" and his "fucked up". Armand was really cool too, but his "normal" i just didn't enjoy as much. But his "fucked up" was horrifying and also totally fascinating to watch so now i like him a little more than before (lestat still remains above him tho, idk what to tell you)

So anyways I hope you enjoyed my rant. I will happily read any responses also I might add to this if I remember something later.

[kimbapisnotsushi]

you seem to have a good read on HQ and your takes are great, so i have a question...and if you'd rather not go there, please ignore this! but i see oikawa get called "arrogant" quite often and i'm curious, would you say he is? what is it that makes people think that? imo he has a plenty of flaws, but i truly don't think arrogance is one of them. self-centered, sure, but not arrogant i think. i'm open to being wrong, i'm just legit so confused by that particular criticism, it makes me doubting my reading comprehension. i feel like that one post that's like "free my man, he didn't do that. he did a lot of other stuff tho" LOL. if you do answer this, then thanks for your time!

oh, dear anon. this is a very very big question and i'm honored you think i am capable of providing an answer that does it justice!! i don't consider myself an oikawa expert by far, but i'll do my best because he's still very beloved to me, and i hope whatever i say helps!

(but also - maybe take what i say with a grain of salt LMAO)

anyways, to get the main point out of the way: i completely agree that oikawa isn't arrogant! i actually haven't seen any commentary about that myself (bless!!!), so i can't say for sure why some people might think that, but my guess is that they think his pridefulness = arrogance — they think that the confidence he has in himself and seijoh contributes nothing to their actual power and is utterly meaningless if they don't win, especially in the face of ushijima. which, like, come on. what kind of captain would he be if he wasn't confident in himself and his teammates? is he supposed to tell them that they're going to lose??? is he supposed to discourage their hard work and effort???

or maybe it's because oikawa acts like he's all that, but doesn't have anything to show for it. who does he think he is? what does he think his pride is worth? what right does he have to go around making grand declarations when he has nothing to his name?

(which isn't entirely true, either, but we'll get into that, promise.)

now, do i think that he can, occasionally, be flippant, shallow, and/or petty? yeah, sure. he's got one hell of a personality about it. even iwaizumi says as much. oikawa is great at being a little shit. it's one of my favorite things about him!

but is oikawa genuinely arrogant, or self-centered? well . . . i don't think so.

see, here's the thing about oikawa: he knows he's good, but he doesn't think he's good enough. i think it'd be easiest to really explain what that meant if we broke this down into two separate parts, so let's give it a go, shall we?

(buckle up, friends, because it's about to get LONG. also: TIMESKIP SPOILERS!! and there's a tldr at the start of the tags because. WOW.)

so, first things first: if people are calling oikawa arrogant, then i'm like 99% sure that they don't actually know what the word "arrogant" means.

"arrogant" is used to describe someone full of themselves. it's used to describe someone conceited and pompous. it's used to describe someone so assured of and invested in their self-importance that they don't care for other people, and if it seems like they do, then it's usually wildly off the mark and still serves to inflate their own egos.

oikawa has never once been like that. he's been pretty much the exact opposite, in fact.

and yeah, sure, by his third year of high school, he knows he's good at volleyball, and that's fine! it's perfectly all right to claim you're good at something if you have the skills/experience to back it up. confidence is healthy as long as it isn't in overabundance, and we actually see a lot of this throughout the series!

(not to mention that this was where ushijima fell short. he was overflowing with confidence. he did not believe, for even a single second, that hinata shouyou and his meager, scrappy little flock of crows could beat him.

but oikawa? he knew. he knew what it looked like to make something bloom.)

the key to oikawa's confidence that made him better was that he could pinpoint others' strengths and weaknesses just as well as he could with his own. and (bear with me, please, i might get kind of boring here bc it's nothing that hasn't been said in the manga before) i don't mean it in the way we see the coaches or more analytical players do, as observations to be taken advantage of by everyone else; i mean that in the sense of how vital it is to his position as a setter. that was always the biggest difference between oikawa and kageyama: no matter how much more raw talent kageyama had, no matter how much better oikawa believed him to be, kageyama, especially in the beginning, struggled to do what oikawa could with a team. kageyama struggled to bring out the best in each player. and it wasn't because he didn't know how -- oikawa freely admitted that kageyama had the skill for it, that kageyama, once he got his shit together, could win against him -- it was because kageyama didn't have that same confidence in himself.

(not until much later, anyways. but that's another story, for another time.)

so, oikawa's confident. he knows he's good. he can bring out the best in each player. he's got a killer serve (and a killer smile!), a mind for tactics that borders on machievallianism, and cherishes the trust he is given like it's something precious. his coaches let him lead without leaning on them. his team has the utmost respect and admiration for him. he has a reputation. from karasuno to shiratorizawa to the whole of miyagi -- there is not a single character who knows oikawa tooru and would believe that he is, in any way, bad at volleyball.

but it's not enough. despite all of that, oikawa still doesn't think he's good enough. and that, friends, brings us to the second point.

oikawa tooru is nothing if not passionate.

so were the others, of course. kageyama kept going after his grandfather's death. hinata kept going while being a nobody from nowhere with no one to back him up. atsumu kept going while osamu didn't. it's not even about just those who went pro -- kenma, kuroo, noya, and everyone else found things that they were passionate about and kept going with it. the entire story revolves around loving what you do and trying to keep that love alive, and, sometimes, that can be really, really difficult when it seems like it doesn't love you back.

oikawa was so insecure over kageyama to the point where he nearly decked the poor kid. oikawa got crushed by ushijima-- who kept telling him that his team was not good enough, that his choices were not good enough, that there was nothing good enough to be proud of -- for years in a row. oikawa was taught that there would always be someone better than him no matter how skilled he was, but if he let that stop him then he didn't fucking belong on the court in the first place.

oikawa tooru is intimately acquainted with not being good enough, but he keeps trying to be. he keeps going. he tries to keep the love alive even if he's not loved back. he pushes and practices and takes a plane far from home to become even better. even if he doesn't have the skill, even if he doesn't have the talent, even if he doesn't have the love -- he still has his pride. and what does that mean, in the end? how far does that take him?

in the end, oikawa tooru walks across a world stage and sees people who believed in him on the other side and calls it a family reunion. in the end, he gets to play the volleyball that reminds him of why he loves it and how it gives him so much love back. in the end, his pride is unyielding and unbreakable, a product of the forge. he molded it with his own two hands. he will not let it falter so easily.

arrogance would not have taken oikawa tooru this far. i hope this has proven that he is anything but.

remember: instinct is something you polish. talent is something you make bloom. and never, ever let anyone else tell you what your pride is worth.

[nerves-nebula]

rambling about intrusive thoughts. under the cut cuz this got long

speaking of which, i've always found it a bit hard to describe what its like having intrusive thoughts because the definition is that you're upset by them or would rather not have them. but if you look into therapy it's kind of about accepting they exist and just moving on and I basically just did that on my own by figuring out my moral code and refusing to believe in thought crimes.

so like. sure i don't have these thoughts on purpose but at this point i don't really mind like 90% of them? like im not going to be very upset about the shit that flashes through my mind hundreds of times a day because most of it doesn't matter to me.

it reminds me of that post thats like, being in recovery/working on your issues can look like faking your issues to people who don't know better, because you arent performing how you are at your lowest.

I do not spiral about my more taboo intrusive thoughts. the violence the sexual shit the disgusting stuff is like whatever to me. I couldn't care less if i tried. its like if my brain says "you're a pedo" I'm like "L + ratio + you've been saying that since i was like 10 years old + who cares, I'm not a rapist so it literally doesn't matter either way + get off my dick" and at this point i basically just roll my eyes at the suggestion. like ok what are you catholic? shut uppppp.

the thoughts that REALLY get stuck and annoy me are the ones about, like, social issues. they can really bother me if I can't find a way to get them out of my head cuz i can't stop thinking about this thing that upset me like, morally. stuff that i wanna vent about but the subject matter is so complicated i'd have to write an essay and i'm so emotional that if i ever posted those essays it would NOT go well lmao. im thinking like that one email that character wrote in detransition baby but omg i can't talk about that book or we'd get so off track. it was good tho.

which is why the internet can be really bad for me sometimes lol. i keep seeing things that make me go "thats wrong/doesnt consider this perspective/stupid" and it goes round and round.

anyway this all got wayyy longer than i meant it to.

the POINT i was trying to make is that it gets strange trying to define intrusive thoughts if you're more or less dealing with them fine. cuz its like oh yeah i have all these thoughts that would scare a lot of people. but i dont care lol. do they distress me? no not usually. do i really mind having them? also no. at this point i don't care if i have them or not. does that mean they aren't intrusive anymore? i have no idea.

I can only assume they still are because they are ongoing and frequent and part of a bigger pattern and focused on taboo stuff that would upset the average person and all that jazz. but i am just not distressed by them at all (unless I am in a very bad place emotionally but that has to be VERY SPECIFIC and even then the usual intrusive sexual/violent thoughts I have do not bother me. it's gotta be the more niche shit to give me brain worms)

but all of that takes a long time to explain so i usually just say i have intrusive thoughts if it ever comes up.

[goldom]

HSR 3.3 pt 2

Ok let's go watch everybody suffer or something I don't know

First up, lemme write in Stelle's magic storybook...

Mem you're gonna die too. I know hoyo. Let's not pretend you're getting out of Amphoreus. And yours will be the death that hurts me the most.

Yeah but she's also usually right...

Man I don't know, probably being really cool and awesome just off camera

So okay, everyone is still saying Aquila is alive, what was the deal with Hyacine's grandma's story about how they already killed Them?

I don't know how we're planning to kill the sky but yknow if Himeko were here it'd be a lot easier

The way everyone is acting like we're about to finish the story when we have 4 more patches on Amphoreus is a little scary yo

Woulda been cool IF WE COULD HAVE SEEN IT sorry sorry I know hoyo is just a widdle baby indie company they can't afford to ani— oh what's that, this game earns millions of dollars a month?

??? literally what are you talking about game

biiitch yeah this place is all a big computer huh I mean it'd kinda be cooler if I hadn't called that like 5 minutes after we arrived, but sure, what are you going to do with that plot now, hoyo? Because your track record on this is not good.

This place being all dark and silent and then staying lit up after the scene (and also banger music comes in) very cool.

I'll be saying this all the time

E0 Hyacine with day-1 gear is out-DPSing E0S1 Jingliu I'm going to cry.

Okay, now they're explaining what happened with Aquila in the past.

I love Little Ica, but it woulda been way cooler if Hyacine got these two beasts as her summons...

Actually, could we elaborate for just a little while? Since it's very clearly gonna matter, and maybe if you explained it now we could save everyone a lot of heartbreak?

Re: this document, so Seliose very much "became" the new Aquila, even though a "cycle" hasn't passed yet. In the thematic sense.

girl what little ica is Seliose?? Ok no it's just saying Ica is Lunabis' descendant. The way they worded it tho, lol

Woulda been nice if Ica had actually existed prior to 3.3

"Hard drives" they are done being subtle lmao

I really love this zone. But it's too bad we're turning it so dark and dreary, it looked better lit up...

I love Hyacine

I killed god

...god unkilled itself.

LETS gGOOOoo

Back 2 Kitty. Not sure what that 300 years thing means if it's already been a thousand? Like, shouldn't everyone have died 700 ago then?

Ciphainon 😄

cmon game let me use all 4 Stelles together too

so... "if you believe a lie, it becomes true"... she told everyone the protection would last forever, and it did? Because... they believed in it and worked to make it be that way.

But like... why didn't they return Kephale's coreflame before they left? Then they wouldn't have had to guard it and all this

Aww, Mydei came to save his boyfriend :3

I don't want to hear anyone saying Dan isn't a good guy anymore.

I mean Phainon is right, we really ought to leave now...

I really hate how version trailers spoil scenes from the upcoming story. But you also can't skip them because they have unique material too.

"That thing"?

oh.

Oh people are gonna be shipping Cyrene/Phainon so hard for the next month pukeyface

A very odd spot to end the chapter. I think a better option would be we leave, see everything collapse and reset and then return again to the new world (especially if March's soul still needs saving). But hoyo always ends chapters either too soon or too late, so I'm not surprised.

I also really wish the lie that saved the city were written a little differently. If I were writing it, I would do it so that she tricked people into believing they could survive, and so they made that future happen by their own hands. Her lie starts it, but it's their will that continued it, rather than Titan Magic. But that's not the way it goes in game. Ah well.

And will they justify why Cyrene is suddenly alive and here again before the cycle resets, or will that just be a "well, we needed a cliffhanger" moment that gets forgotten?

Overall? Hyacine's dungeon is probably my favorite single part of 3.x so far. I still don't care about Amphoreus enough to be viscerally torn up over seeing it destroyed and all its people killed – like I would if this were happening to the AE crew or the Stellaron Hunters – but I'm invested in it as a story pretty well. I hope they can stick the landing in the next few parts.

[shootingstarrfish]

Do you have any tips on how you do shading ?? Your art really inspires me and I literally suck at shading lmao.

hello anon!!! im honoured i can inspire you sdfhkjh it's crazy to me that i can inspire literally anyone :,DDD <33

tbh i do all my shading purely based on vibes/what makes me happy so im not sure im a good advice person but ill show you a breakdown of how i go about shading and hopefully that might help a bit? :o i've left it below the cut because i have too much to say and it ended up being really long LOL

of course if there's anything you want more details on i'm always happy to explain, just let me know!

okay SO ill use this asmo as my example, i think there's enough to talk about here that it should be helpful hopefully

so here's my lineart and flats! i do all my flat colours in one layer because i find it easier to make everything look more cohesive when the pieces arent separated (i usually like it when the colours bleed into each other a lil), but i also just dont like the process of having to switch between layers for everything too LOL flats are unfortunately my least favourite part :,D probably because my lineart is so messy hahah

as you can see, the shading is very minimal here, just some subtle stuff in the wings/sheer parts of the fabric and some blushing on the skin, i also stole the orange under eye/liner thing from TBHK because <3

and then i clean up any messy stuff by just painting over top of everything on a new layer, i also rendered the metal at this stage because i felt like it i guess???

i dont think i did a suuper good job at rendering the metal here (because i was lazy), it looks fine but something to note about metal is that usually you want to push the highlights and the shadows a lot more, as well as the reflections because it is so shiny and smooth this is why you'll see a lot of pink and blue in the metal, to show the reflections of his hair and the sky

i would recommend using reference to get a better idea of how metal ACTUALLY works but again, i was lazy lol so that's a simple explanation based on what little i know/have observed

the jump here is a bit drastic and you might be like woah starr where'd all this come from?? but this is all in one layer-

('hard light' - 62% opacity)

this is how that layer looks as a normal full opacity layer, for reference:

lately i've been using hard light layers to shade! they're very versatile because unlike multiply layers i can do my shading and my highlights within one layer (do you sense a theme of me disliking having too many layers lmao)

SO this is where i have a bit more to say about shading you'll notice the prominent shading colour here is blue, this is because the main environment here (the sky) is blue. i dont know if that's how things work in the real world but it works for me LMAO i usually prefer to have my shading lean cooler purely for aesthetic reasons, i like how it looks more

you might also notice some areas where the blue is a bit brighter, this is to imitate reflected light, again because the environment is blue light tends to bounce around on things and reflect back even into the shadows so this is the effect im trying to get, i like to typically go with a brighter blue cause it gives things a sort of shinier? quality that i enjoy aesthetically, idk if its very accurate to real life tho it also helps me to give depth to the shading since shading isnt usually just one flat blob, and this is a bit of a shortcut to having more dynamic (?) looking shadows

i also want to point out my use of bright reds on the edge of the shadows:

i believe this is called diffraction- there's a real legit scientific reason why it happens but i... dont know what that is i just know it happens in real life (maybe not to this extent?) and it looks cool so i do it SFHJKSFH i usually blend it into the shadows though as opposed to into the lighter parts, i find that tends to look better

some miscellaneous things-

don't be afraid to throw random colours around!! who cares about realism, it's fun lmao

this artwork is a spoiler for asmo's bday so shhhhh but i did want to quickly show that you can also use hard light layers to create a glowy effect, i literally just painted the pink/orange directly on the shadows layer and it helped to make his eyes more glowy

of course i do go in and paint over a little after and add some layer effects but it helps to have that base there

now that you've learnt that i dont know what i'm doing, i wanted to highlight a couple of resources that have helped me! i hope they help you as well <3

this video gives some really interesting insights into this artist's process and some problems they had throughout, as well as how they overcame them! it looks a lil clickbaity but i promise it's good!!

this tweet also shifted how i think about rendering when i want to do something with dramatic lighting!

+ an attempt i made to replicate this (i wanna try this again lmao it was fun)

i hope that helps even a little bit, i did my best to explain but sorry if it was mostly nonsense though :,DDD best of luck with your art, anon!! <3333

[goobie-goo]

was thinking and had an idea. DSEM. this is dallas in honkai: star rail btw.

in HSR, there are things called aeons. they are basically gods. i consider them titans or like above gods. they aren’t human in any form and not seen often. each aeon represent a certain thing. lemme pull up the hsr wiki page for you bc i will be talking about them for this.

https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Aeon

the list of aeons will be under “currently known aeons”.

OKAY SO what im getting at is basically… if dallas entered hsr, would he be considered an aeon? well, i mean, by definition he already is one. BUT!!! im not sure if he would be an HSR aeon.

he might rise to aeonhood or just be an emanator. but if he was an aeon, idk what his Path would be. like… the ideas i have for him are already taken by existing aeons. like the Trailblaze is perfect. maybe Long, the Permanence, but we don’t know enough about it. The Hunt might also be a Path, but i think it would be better for younger dallas. The Recollection fits very, very well because of the nature of the Star-Weavers.

but besides those, i don’t know what dallas would be. like if i think about it, he could be the aeon of humanity, but that seems to fit Xipe, the Harmony. and i don’t think ‘the humanity’ is the right word either, because it’s a person noun and not like… yk? idk how to explain. the other Paths are more of concepts. The order, the Enigmata, The Elation, The Propagation, The Remembrance, The Trailblaze, The Voracity, The Finality—etc etc.

i’m looking for hsr aeon ocs lmao. i’m really thinking hard on this. i need ideas. i found ocs The Rebirth and The Renaissance (i love those). also The Morality. found one called The Raidance but idk what that means, one sec—literally nothing comes up. maybe they misspelled radiance? idkkk. JACKPOT ON THE FANON WIKI LETS GOOOOO. The Reverie, The Enlightenment, The Reality, The Euphony, The Genesis, The Longing, and more.

i’m not taking any of those bc they’re all someone else’s but hhhhh ideas, ideas.

ykw? dallas might be The Revolution. rebellion could also work but the definitions are different. rebellion is normally a violent uprising against something. rebellions may cause revolution, but one doesn’t indicate the other. however, revolution is a change, usually to the power structure. (also thanks reddit comment for that). The Resistance also works.

i also really like him as The Rebirth.

but also, he’s an outlier because he can do a lot of shit that other aeons can’t. so perhaps he could also be something like the outcast, the outsider, the unknown—ugh but those aren’t Paths.

lemme actually put this in an easier format

The Revolution

The Resistance

The Rebirth

The Reality (wow a lot of Rs)

a classic: The Guidance (which fits well since Star-weavers are. yk. Guides.)

out of those, i think my favs are The Guidance, The Rebirth, then The Revolution.

anyways what do you think? i personally was writing this to ask for input on Path names but i guess i got carried away lmao

for a good second i got hsr and pjsk mixed up and got really confused LMAO

ooooo wait ok these guys sound cool

i think i really like the revolution!! it fits him super well and feels the most like concept-y to me out of those options. the others sound really cool tho

[dovahvhenan]

taking a break from playing veilguard so i can eat something because i have been up since 5am staring at this screen lmao (it's 1:40pm now)

initial thoughts: i am really enjoying it so far, with only a few hiccups. i'm barely into the beginning of the game, tho.

the combat is really chaotic and i'm not that great at the block and parry timing so i keep nearly dying but just barely scraping through. i'm sure i will get better with practice! i'm playing on normal/adventurer difficulty, and as a spellblade mage.

having to hit tab to choose abilities, so it pauses the combat for the menu (like in mass effect), is both a good and bad thing. good because of the fast chaotic combat, it gives you time to breathe. bad because it's jarring and takes you out of the action. seems a hard thing to balance and i'm not sure they got it right. though it may just be because it's new in DA and unfamiliar to me right now. it has also been years since i played mass effect, so.

enemies seem to solely target rook, and not the companions at all, so there is NO breathing room outside of spamming to dash away.

neve's voice actor is... not great. lace and bellara are wonderful. not sure how i feel about rook's british fem voice. the accent seems to fluctuate between northern english, london rp, and some american inflection? it's strange.

writing seems good. i like everyone's characterisation so far. though i am an elven veil jumper and there was one point where my rook commented as if she didn't know about the elven gods, despite me in another scene earlier picking a dialogue option to claim the dalish gods as "my" gods and explain them to neve. so there's that.

also the usual dialogue wheel issue where you don't actually really know what you're going to say until you pick it because it only shows you a short summary.

the world is beautiful. the setpieces are beautiful.

the arlathan forest music sounds exactly like mass effect music, because of a specific 80's-style synth motif it uses (im no music expert so i hope those words mean what i think they mean). it's a little jarring in the fantasy game since it reminds me so hard of the futuristic scifi game.