#having specific rules how everything has to be done

[emmasmoke8]

I’ve been thinking about the rules of time travel in Sonic the Hedgehog (specifically gameverse and IDW). I’ve got ideas

We know from 06 and everything Silver has done that the future is malleable. You can go back in time to change the future. Whatever you change will ripple outward, erasing the timeline where you did nothing

Ex. In the future, Rouge and Shadow discover a shutdown Omega. When they return to their present, Rouge gives Omega a Chaos Emerald. Now, he has one going forward in time, allowing him to help Shadow

Now, it’s a bit tricky to say who remembers timelines. It’d be easy if there was someone from the future who didn’t go back to the past, but both Silver and Blaze did so they know about the future they originally came from and the future they helped change. Of course, that timeline was also erased, and presumably Blaze returned to her own time (or this became a timeline where she never needed to abandon her dimension? I’m still not quite sure why she was in 06)

Timelines can be erased, in which case no except time entities remember/interact with them (i.e. Time Eater retrieving Mephiles from a timeline that doesn’t exist). Except, it’s implied Sonic remembers, so… let’s not talk about him. I think Sonic’s an anomaly who doesn’t obey the rules of time (which kinda makes sense if he can go really fast because of the whole relationship between speed and time)

Another question is how does anyone time travel. 06 gave us two answers: a time entity (like Mephiles) does it or two Chaos Emeralds do it. We also know from CD that the Time Stones exist

Silver doesn’t seem like he’s interacting with a time entity when he travels, so… Either he’s found a way to use two chaos emeralds by himself (unlikely), he uses the Time Stones (possibly), or he has some other means SEGA won’t disclose

When I thought about that, I was left wondering why Silver ends up in the ‘times’ that he does. Why did he show up at the end of the Metal Virus arc, was basically my main question. This is the answer I came:

Let me explain:

In Gerald Robotnik’s journal, we get the line, “I don't want to get ahead of myself, but this robot may be the cause of the destruction of the Fourth Great Civilization.”

The Fourth Great Civilization is also referenced in Sonic Battle as the civilization the Gizoid (Emerl) destroyed

This means that the Earth in the Sonic franchise has gone through four “great civilizations” (and we’re likely in the fifth). I can’t confirm this, but the Ancients might have been one of these civilizations

If they are, they were more or less ended by the End (what irony) and evolved into Chao. The Fourth Great Civilization was ended by Emerl. They were civilizations that prospered and then were ended, giving rise to new civilizations

Another quote from Sonic Unleashed: "When the beast is complete, its dark arms shall encompass the planet, ushering in the end of times. The world, in death, will fall into a deep sleep in waiting for the time of rebirth to come." —Gaia Manuscripts, 4:28

Basically, Dark Gaia will destroy the planet and Light Gaia will return it to its natural state. Usually, this involves breaking the Earth’s crust, but sometimes, Dark Gaia just wipes everything clean. Light Gaia has to remake rather than restore

You might be asking what either of these have to do with time travel. The answer is that these prove Sonic’s planet is one of cycles. A lot of us probably knew that, but I just wanted to show proof.

At the largest scale, it is a cycle of destruction and creation on a planet level. A touch smaller than that, it’s civilization. They rise and have a cataclysmic event that makes them fall. Another rises in their place, destined to fall, too

Iblis/Solaris was likely supposed to be the Fifth Great Civilization’s fall, but Silver has prolonged this cycle

But, if we’re working on cycles, maybe Silver doesn’t have control over ‘when’ he appears. Maybe there’s a singular channel that cuts through the cycle. Silver travels along that cycle.

That’s where my illustration came in. Let me put it again to save us all from scolling

Sonic maintime is the “present” or the games. Silver is the “future” or whenever he is. The axis of time travel is the channel I was talking about. Silver rides it from his time to Sonic’s time. He can’t go backward or forward in Sonic’s time

Let me see if I can put this in the correct terms: this is why Silver cannot travel to a point in time that is before his latest visit. Present!Sonic will never meet a version of Silver that doesn’t remember every other visit he has made to the past

Here’s another picture

Slightly different, see?

Now, I think the cycle in question is the one for civilization rather than Gaia’s whole business. I don’t think Silver (or any time traveler except maybe Solaris?) can travel to a “destroyed Earth” or “Earth from a previous cycle”

OR—conversely—Silver is part of the next cycle, and he can only time travel to the corresponding point of the previous cycle. Like so:

This is also a possibility. In this case, maybe there are two Blaze’s. One from the Sol Dimension, and one from Sonic’s Earth’s next cycle. In this way, Blaze is still Sonic’s counterpart/equal (just in the next cycle), and don’t get me started on Silver being Shadow’s counterpart/equal

If you guys didn’t hate this, would you want me to explain my thoughts on Sonic/Blaze and Shadow/Silver parallels?

Anyway, that’s all I have to say. No idea what I was trying to prove. What do you all think? Is Sonic’s world an endlessly repeating cycle? Does time travel in this world hold up to any scrutiny? How does Silver time travel, and how much control does he have over when he ends up?

[prettyflyshyguy]

I've been playing too much Fear & Hunger I got tunnel visioned and forgot that the season finale of Murderbot came out this morning.

Let's get this done with so I can get this blog back on track for being more ART and less BLOG (except when Alien Earth episodes start dropping.... I'll return to these large episode discussions inevitably)

I gotta get onto the backlog of art I'd like to draw that's sprung from this show. I forgot to say this last time but: you know the drill.

"Where are my clients?"

"Don't worry about it."

NOT AGAIN HEHEHEHE NOT AGAIN

LOVE that we're seeing the gang in their preferred/home made outfits, the fashion choices are so fun and it really helps add to their personality when we get to see them in smart casual/formalwear.

Love that although this show has a lot of very modern hologram sci-fi interfaces, it still has a lot of the more traditional physical interfaces too. Not everything has to be sleep holograms all the time, I think both is good and this show strikes a really nice balance between hardware being very hard (Gurathin and the need for a direct cable uplink) and also so many things still being hologram based. Buttons and chunky devices and cables and handhelds, but also, soft screens and holographic interfaces that come and go connected to those chunky hardware bases with tactile buttons.

I'd need to re-watch Alien: Covenant but I remember feeling like it went too futuristic scifi (holographs galore) and lost the original aesthetic of the retro-scifi that Alien is defined by. Now I'm always going to love that, it's ingrained in me, but I think this show has more of a fresh take on the visuals that I've really appreciated.

At this point they're just getting AS to be a showoff. "got any neat but useless skills"

"Yeah guys check this out!"

Jokes aside - once again it's using colours in a really fun and specific way and I love that so much of the corporate aligned entities (people, uniforms, technology, locations) ends up being very limited in colour schemes and so specifically coded and associated to those assigned colours.

This entire scene was fantastic and I think it does a great job at highlighting once again how differently the CorpRim operates compared to PresAll - even just down to the majority of the Corp Reps sitting down (bar the Leader) so when Gurathin sit's down and so quietly murmers "we'll buy it" it's this timid but bold display of recognition that business is what they'll listen to. Business is what they understand, and just sitting down at the table potentially opens up that a communication that may be listened to more. It's a really subtle thing but the fact that he makes the move to sit down at the table first I think is very specific.

To then have the Corp Leader join him in sitting down - with recognition of the deal being presented, it's delightful. It's so uncomfortable but such a fun detail. It seems to insignificant on the surface but just the act of sitting at the table carries so much weight in this one moment. In an awfull, nasty and horribble way given the weight of capitalism bearing down on everyone and how painfull it is to have to 'play by their rules' (the corporations).

GOOD COLOURS. GOOD SET DESIGN.

Love how much this little clip of "the station" feels like public transport in australia. Like the big concrete slab walls with vending machines and big screens and arrows pointing places. These guys are authorised officers. If you're a vic resident you'll get that joke. (sorry international followers, I usually like to explain this sort of thing but it'll be a bit too long winded for this post)

UGH the decor. The wood! I don't know enough about furniture/interior design to clock what styles this is referential to or drawn from but I love how much this living space feels like it's a blend of so many things from both oldschool sci-fi series (it makes me think of the round table food scene from Alien, and various common room living spaces from other classic scifi like Star Trek) and modern architecture and design, but the use of WOOD in particular gives it a historical traditional feeling too. Combined with the concrete and the set in LED lights and it's such a wonderfull blend and contrast. Delightfull take on sci-fi architecture that as the cast and crew have said: might be in this world's future, might be in a galaxy far, far away. Who knows.

No but like: why does this look like it was filmed inside Melbourne RMIT???? I'm deadly serious.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUGHHHHHHHH that was a good line. "Then I became more of a customer." just the absolute clarify of the threat. It's always fun when you get a scene where someone's kid or family member suddenly appears and everyone has to pretend they live normal lives to protect the sanctity and the innocence. But no, Gurathin straight up said "I will tell your kid you sold me drugs."

And I love that for him. Just the complete "You had a hand in almost ruining my life. Now I have that power." it's a see saw and it's swung violently up in his favor.

Then the justification. "I thought you could handle it."

I love when a character gets to have a "remember me :) I've changed :) I'm not fucking playing now :)" moment. Especially when we've only known them in the Now, so this gives an interesting glimpse into a past life we're only privy to thanks to inferred information and a handful of comments and small conversations.

GURATHIN I DON'T KNOW IF YOUR BRAIN CAN STORE THE ENTIRETY OF THE RISE AND FALL OF SANCTUARY MOON IT'S A VERY LARGE SERIES

There are some HEFTY implications to this. I mean I'm not just talking about Gurathin - because importing the entire data backlog and effectively personality of a SecUnit is leaving me with questions I'm not sure I want answered - but how will this irreparably change him? How will this irreparably impact MB?

This is also bringing up questions the critically acclaimed videogame SOMA explored with regards to the concept of copies of oneself. I kind of doubt the show will touch on this, and it'll probably be kept fairly straightfoward as the main concepts this show is deep diving are a bit different. But we could have two cakes. Who knows.

Maybe I should just wait and see lol

What in the bold villain medieval torture device is this LMAO

Hi everybody it's me. I'm going to be irreparably emotionally impacted by the choices I made today. I have obtained immense psychic damage.

Bro's just like me on day 1 of AVCON when I threw up on the lawn outside our air bnb

Ok not to be a real weirdo about this but - is Gurathin drinking water out of that cup instead of wine :))))))))))) that'd be real neat if he was

:')

And nice to see it being a subtle thing and not something anyone's brought attention to either.

GOD.

STOP THAT.

Ok we got the "it walks around disguised as a human" but not really in the way that I wanted and I'm devastated. I'm gutwrenched.

I think the ending of it leaving is incredibly poetic and important. But I'm going to be really sad I know it because although I'm sure I'll enjoy season 2, there's things I really wanted to see explored with PresAux and MB after this resolution of sorts that I fear will never be touched on. Alas, do I have to write fic? I fear I will.

It was a damn good ending - in a really fun way it sort of reinforces one of my theories from episode 1 where it was nervous wearing clothes and hesitated and freaked out at being offered a spot in the habitat - because in the moment I interpreted it as being terrified and nervous because part of it deep down wanted to be treated like a person, but it wasn't the right time or moment and for a second it thought about it before leaving. It hesitated. The opportunity presented and it terrified it because it didn't know how to take it and it wished it could in a way, but in a way that people understood it. And now finally it has that chance but on it's own terms. So many times it's been treated almost like a child and not been giving the breathing room, but now it has that chance to discover itself truly. I find this very relatable once again.

Good ending, strong ending, sad is good and important, but I will dearly miss the dynamics and personalities and potential of the PresAux crew if we do leave them behind for the most part for the rest of the series.

I really hope they still play a large part of the show - I want to see them grow as people as much as I want to see where MB ends up.

And yeah if uhhhhhhhh I think I'm going to explode if they don't do anything with "hey you gotta pretend to be a person. Stop standing so stiff. You need to smile. No not like that. Quick put this outfit on so it'll diguise your literal arm cannons." I'll fucking write it myself I'm so frustrated. I need to see them all go on some fucked up heist. Please.

Do you see my vision.

DON'T TELL ME TO READ THE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just want to see TV show PresAux do it >:(

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

im not autistic but i believe in their beliefs (because i share like 80 % of symptoms typical for autistic women with yall)

[abyssalpriest]

God I could and should write a whole fucking book by the end of this life here on Lev and his symbols

ill write it then burn it before anyone else gets a copy. or i wont. im supposed to be helping him this incarnation here to get a better anchor in this plane so maybe it would help more than itd be weird - im just getting from him the energy of "yeah no people already effectively have these things, people on my plane already know me inside and out to an extensive degree, may as well have it here too" you know. fair

[steelbluehome]

I'd just like to clarify some things about Senator Cory Booker's marathon Senate speech in protest of the present administration and everything they are doing to the American people.

Senator Booker was NOT allowed to sit down, eat, or use the bathroom during his speech. Sitting or leaving the room to use the bathroom would be considered yielding the floor. Eating would have interfered with his speaking and the person who has the floor must continue to speak, except when listening to questions that they will then answer.

He only took occasional sips of water.

The person who previously held the record for longest speech on the Senate floor did have bathroom breaks and also did things like read from the encyclopedia.

Senator Booker did not do that. His speech was to point out the damage that this administration is doing and he stayed on that subject.

Senator Booker's speech did reach many people. It wasn't a silly stunt that was done so that he could take the record for longest speech. He wanted to show the country that democrats will do something to bring attention to the problems we are facing. That democrats are listening to them.

Senator Cory Booker spoke for 25 hours and 4 minutes to "make good trouble."

ETA Thanks for all of the reblogs and notes! I hadn't wanted to dirty this post with the name of the former holder of the record for longest time holding the Senate floor, but there are a lot of questions.

Senator Strom Thurmond, a segregationist and white supremacist, held the previous record of 24 hours and 18 minutes when he filibustered the vote on the Civil Rights Act.

Sen. Thurmond had someone put a bucket just outside of the doorway to the cloakroom so that he could keep one foot on the floor while pissing into this bucket, to hold the floor.

Senator Booker would never disrespect the Senate, nor "bend the rules" in such a way.

Because of this Sen. Thurmond could drink coffee or anything else he wanted, as much as he wanted, to keep himself awake, soothe his throat, and keep his mouth from becoming dry.

Senator Booker limited himself to a few sips at a time from two glasses of water at the podium.

Also, Sen. Thurmond began his speech immediately before a vote was to be taken and his speech was specifically to delay that vote. That is the definition of a "filibuster".

Senator Booker's speech was not designed to delay or prevent any vote. He did not know how long he would be physically able to speak. Therefore, his was a speech, not a filibuster.

ETA2: Strom Thurmond did also temporarily yield the floor to a colleague and took a bathroom break at that time. He also had some rye bread and hamburger to eat.

Source

ETA3: So sorry about all of these but I need to include just one more thing.

This is the transcript of Strom Thurmond's filibuster

He read the voting laws of all 48 states (this was 1957). He read from a book called "The History of the Jury Trial" speaking for quite some time about things like the justice system of the Anglo-Saxons. He read from other books, he read from the Declaration of Independence, he read from the Constitution. He yielded the floor for someone to be sworn in. All kinds of things about his filibuster made Senator Booker's speech a far superior feat, not just because it lasted longer.

[morrigan-sims]

oc anon my alias can just be 🐵 cus my username base off that lmao. i got some notes duh, favourite oc apperance wise, is 100% minodora or havoc!!! i love their character design and colour palette!! obviously i love rook but ill skip him just cus ive asked about him before. story wise i think carrion and avra!! love her bullet notes!

ANONNNNN, I LOVE YOUUUUU.

Yes, Minodora is probably my "prettiest" dnd OC. I love her visual design SO much. Sadly she was only for a oneshot, but I should absolutely revive her and use her for a campaign. Honestly she'd make a really good Eloquence Bard, even though that's not what she is right now. (Since yk, raised at court and all that.)

I'm glad you really like Havoc!!! They're one of my more "basic" OCs when it comes to visual design, but I am an absolute SUCKER for tieflings and I like the color red. (If you can't tell by my blog theme lmao.) I really would love to play them in a real campaign someday, although they don't have ANY backstory to speak of.

I'm really really really really really glad you like Carrion and Avra!!! They're two of the PCs I'm playing right now, and I'm absurdly attached to both of them.

I ended up dropping a ton of Avra and Carrion lore under the cut, plus a couple bonus lighthearted/silly stories from Rook's campaign (that I had nothing to do with, lmao), because Avra and Carrion's shit is SAD.

Fun bonus fact about Avra: The quote on her character page ("some things should just stay dead") was said to the party cleric about his actual literal daughter. YEAH. IT WAS BAD. Like, excuse me, but hypocrite much???? (Tbf, she does have some doubts about her own resurrection, which is something that I'll be leaning into again now that the DM adjusted how he's playing the Raven Queen. But STILL.) I love her, she's so messy.

She's also a werewolf because during her first ever session she failed a con save after getting bitten by a wolf (this is Curse of Strahd, they can ALL make you werewolves, lmao) with a Nat 1. (Her first ever roll was also a nat 1. On a fucking stealth check of all things. It was SO embarrassing.) Later, the druid rolled a nat 2 on a check to help her, then she rolled a nat 1 on a wisdom save so she transformed and started attacking the party. They knocked her down to 0hp, but then these idiots (affectionate) HEALED HER. WHILE SHE WAS STILL A WEREWOLF. So she just got up and started attacking them again!!! It ended VERY BADLY, and we are NOT on good terms with the hags whose house we were in. (Continually blowing them off and refusing to do the job they ordered us to do for days/weeks since then certainly hasn't helped, and I can't wait for it to bite us in the ass soon.)

On top of being a werewolf, she also almost became a vampire because she got brought to zero hp by one of those, but the druid used his "birthday point" (which we can use to break the rules) to undo that and just THROW the vampire into the woods before he could bite me. So that's nice. I really didn't want to be a vampire. We already have one vampire in the party and being a vampire AND a werewolf just seems unnecessary, lmao.

As for Carrion, well, there's MOUNTAINS of lore for him. During his first ever session he took 2nd watch, which happened to be when one of the people staying at our campfire transformed into a Delirium-fueled monster and attacked. He also transformed (that's what his rage is) and fought back. But when the party woke up they saw TWO delirium monsters fighting. And since they didn't know about Carrion's transformation, they attacked him too. (I gave them the OK for it, and I actually took 2nd watch on purpose bc I was hoping for this, lmao.) The only actual HP damage he took was actually from the warlock (Valeska)'s Eldritch Blast. (Since his shifter thing and his rage are one single combined bonus action he had temp hp which was all the monster got to hit at.)

After the fight he was expecting the rest of the party to try and kill him, but Valeska just started peppering him with questions and it was so unexpected that he stopped panicking and answered. A few days later, they were sitting in their shitty rented tiny house while the paladin was at the temple, and Valeska asked Carrion if he was afraid of his own transformations. He said no, he was afraid of other people's reactions to him. (Valid given that the last time people found out about them they left him for dead...)

And Valeska asked him if he wasn't afraid of the shifts, why did he call himself a monster. He replied "Because no one has ever called me anything different." And there was a long silence, and Carrion thought he had said too much so he just gruffly and awkwardly said "Goodnight, Valeska" and rolled over to go to bed.

And she says "Carrion?"

His reply (sounding annoying) is "What do you want, Valeska?"

And then. This 5'-nonthing, barely-an-adult, has less than no social skills girl says: "Nothing, just saying your name. See? I called you something other than a monster."

WHEN I TELL YOU I LOST MY SHIT!!!!!

Me and Valeska's player are now both absolutely FURIOUS with ourselves, because we will never, ever, ever be able to top that, and that was fucking SESSION ONE!!!!!!! We're both in agony over it.

Okay, we've had enough sad. I'll end with a silly dnd story. One of the funniest things that's ever been said in any dnd game I've ever played in was when the druid in Rook's party (WHO WORKS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE BLACK DESERT KINGDOM), said "The Black Desert kind of sucks if you like the ocean. Actually, the Black Desert just kind of sucks in general."

I was in TEARS over that one. Like, buddy, you live here??? And are a relatively important member of the government?????

That player is also responsible for the funniest thing that has ever been said about Rook in-character. We were walking through the city and we somehow got wind that Captain Wolf was walking towards us (she was looking for the bard, bc he and the wizard used to be really close with her and she was worried about him bc we had just rescued him from being kidnapped by his bosses). So Rook and half of the party take off fucking SPRINTING to get away, leaving only the bard, the wizard, and the druid behind.

Conversation is going fine until Wolf asks about Rook. Party scrambles to come up with something. The bard, obviously, has good Charisma. But hilariously, his player is a TERRIBLE liar. He spits out something vaguely plausible, but fails his deception check miserably. It's now the druid's turn to try. He has like, a +2 to his check (as opposed to the bard's +10 or something). He says "Yeah, we don't work with Rook anymore. He lies too much."

I had to mute myself because I was cackling too loudly, because not only is this hilariously accurate, the druid (both as a player and as a character) has only been back with the party for ONE DAY (2.5 sessions) after being gone for months. But this is the first thing that pops into his head. (In his defense, not only is it accurate, but one of the first things he saw the party do was lecture the shit out of Rook because they finally found out about the demon curse he'd been hiding for weeks.)

Wolf rolls insight and believes that Rook isn't with the party, but doesn't believe they left him in the other city. She asks again. Now it's the wizard's turn. The wizard has -1 charisma, and honestly acts like he has a -3 (we love him, though, it's okay).

He says that Rook did come back to the Black Desert Kingdom with the others, but separated after that, and that his parting wish was that they not tell Wolf he's still in the city. Okay, that's actually a really good lie!!! (It should be, I helped with it!!)

Wizard rolls, gets like, a 12. Bad, but pretty good for the wizard. We're all biting our nails bc we don't know Wolf's insight mod, but we know it's GOOD. DM rolls. He starts laughing. We're all SO TENSE. He says "she rolled a two". We all start laughing and cheering.

(I then had to roll an acrobatics check to see if I'd made it far enough away bc she had her navigator cast Locate Person for Rook. I rolled a 28 and was fine.)

[ms-demeanor]

How to avoid sharing Social Media Scams in the Wake of a Disaster

The world is full of disasters. It is also full of people who have learned to profit off of disaster. It is an unfortunate fact of life in the modern social media/online environment that in order to avoid spreading scams, you have to make a continuous effort and you have to be cynical.

There are a lot of wonderful, well-meaning people in the world who want to help everyone who asks for it. Unfortunately, those people are easy to scam.

These are some rules to prevent you from either falling victim to scams or from passing scams along to other people.

These are not suggestions, these are not things to take into consideration, the rules listed here are RULES that you need to adopt in order to keep from spreading scams on social media.

Rules:

Never, ever share screenshots of fundraisers or resources that you haven’t verified yourself. If you see a screenshot of, say, the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds Instagram announcing that they will be accepting evacuees with RVs, you go find the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds website, you find the social media linked on their website, and you check that the post you’re seeing actually came from the entity it’s claiming to. Once you have proved that the post actually came from the entity it’s claiming to, double check that entity with a couple of verifiable sources. So, for instance, if I was checking on the Guitar Center Music Foundation I’d check Guitar Center’s website and maybe I’d look for news articles about donations from the foundation. If I was looking up the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, I’d look for a local newspaper calendar of events that linked to the fairgrounds or would check the city websites in the area and search “fairgrounds” on them. I would not share a link to a social media page for an organization until I was 100% certain that it was actually associated with the organization. You shouldn’t either. If you see a post that claims to come from a specific group but all you have is the screenshot of the post, go find the group’s website and if it all checks out you may share it IF AND ONLY IF you add the link to the post. And if a post has a link already, click through it and STILL check that everything looks okay.

Never give money or information to someone with a free email address. This sucks. I know. But if the group you’re looking at only has a gmail address or a protonmail you have no way of knowing if they’re legitimately associated with the organization at a glance. And even if they ARE associated with the organization, the free email account demonstrates a lack of planning/commitment that has troubling implications for the handling of your money or data.

Do not share screenshots of “resources,” headlines, social media posts, or news articles. I’m done with screenshots. Screenshots are easy to fake and almost always remove context from the discussion. A standalone screenshot isn’t information, it’s a trap to get you to share something without thinking. Do not *trust* screenshots of “resources,” headlines, social media posts, or news articles. Always assume a screenshot is faked unless you have found the original post yourself. A screenshot isn’t a “resource” it is an un-source, it is intentionally removing information from the viewer and we are well past the time when people should have understood that sharing screenshots without a link to the original text in context is never, every trustworthy.

Do not give money or information to accounts without a history. This may mean individual social media accounts, or it may mean a shiny new mutual aid project that popped up near your house. It’s unfortunate that people have their accounts deleted, it’s unfortunate that new orgs have trouble finding support, but the likelihood that a new account is a scam is simply too high to trust your money or information with it. If someone is asking for money or offering help on an account that hasn’t posted for years, or that suddenly changed all its content, or that has only existed for a month with no links to other, older sites and socials, you shouldn’t trust that account.

Okay, those are the RULES. Those are the lines you draw in the sand. The TL;DR version is this:

Don’t share posts you haven’t personally verified

Don’t give money or information to accounts with generic email accounts like gmail

Don’t share or trust screenshots that have no links or further context

Don’t give info or money to brand new accounts

I absolve you of any guilt you have surrounding this. You want to share that post to help a stranger but they have only had an account for a week. You want to spread that resource, but unfortunately it is only available as screenshots of an anonymous instagram account. You think that perhaps that mutual aid group really can help people, but the only way contact them is to put your info into a google form and send an email to their gmail account. That post seems really helpful, but actually you can’t find anything that suggests that the Mt. Pacifico Aquatic Center exists outside of this twitter account. No more guilt! Guilt be gone! You do not have to feel bad for not sharing these things, or not reaching out, or not giving money because doing so would be irresponsible and would put other people at risk of being tricked by scammers or wasting what money they can donate on a potential fraud.

Now, some tips:

Always, always, always take at least ten minutes to think about giving someone money or your information online. Read the post that moved you, then re-read it, then go sit away from it for ten minutes and think about it. There’s a good chance you will still want to give, or sign up, but ten minutes away will give you a chance to consider if there are any red flags in the post that inspired you.

Independently search everything you’re going to share. Go outside of social platforms and check on search engines. Check Wikipedia. Look up the website and send a while clicking around. Go on a *different* social media platform and check their account.

Just straight up search “[SUBJECT] Scam” before you do anything. See if this thing you’re looking at is actually an old scam that’s revamped for a new disaster. See if you can find an explanation of how something might be a scam or risk in a way that you didn’t understand before.

Get used to getting away from social media. Go check websites.

Learn domain name syntax. “musicfoundationguit.arcenter.com” is a bullshit scam. “guitarcenterfounditaon.org” is a bullshit scam. “guitarcenter-foundation.org” is a bullshit scam. The actual domain is “guitarcenterfoundation.org” and the link to the correct page isn’t going to be “guitarcenter.foundationfires.org” it’s going to be “guitarcenterfoundation.org/fires”  

Tips for Orgs:

If you do not want your org to look like a scam you are going to have to put some effort into it. Unfortunately this will probably also require at least a little bit of money; I know it’s hard to get money together at the beginning, but it will pay off in the long run.

Invest in a domain and hosted email. You can get relatively inexpensive hosted email through most domain registrars and even if you only get one email address for your domain you can forward it to all the free gmail and protonmail accounts you want. But buy a domain, set up a simple website, and get an  info@[yourdomain].com email set up because you don’t want people emailing “MyOrgInfo@gmail.com” because it’s super fucking easy for a 1337 hax0r like me to set up “YourOrgTeam@gmail.com” and scam the people who want to reach out to you.

Make a blog on your actual website, not on a social media site. A blog means that you can make regular posts and establish a history to prove that you are real and you do real stuff; it will also help with SEO and help to ensure that when people search for your org YOU are what comes up. Keeping up calendars of previous activities with links to those activities is also good.

Set up social handles on all the sites you use, make a “socials” page on your website, and link to your handles so that people can verify if you’re the one posting something. If you don’t make it extremely easy to find your socials, that means it’s extremely easy to set up fake accounts claiming to be you. Then put the link to your website in the bio on your socials.

If you are offering something or holding a fundraiser or doing anything on your social media page, link it back to your website. If you have an IG post offering resources, you should include a url for your site in each image. If you share a photo on twitter with the info for a march, that should link back to your website with more info about the march. If you post a fundraiser on tumblr you need to link the fundraising page of your website on that post.

If you absolutely positively cannot set up a website and a real-ass email address, set up a linktree, choose a primary social media to post on that all the others refer back to, and very explicitly state what your email address is and that you do not have other email addresses somewhere that's difficult to miss. Build a history of posts and link to other orgs that you work with or any writeups or stories about your events or projects. The point of all of this is making yourself easy to verify. "northfullertonfnb@gmail.com" sucks but it sucks a lot less if it's in the bio of "@northfulltertonfnb" and that page has a two year history of posting meal share schedules and menus.

In conclusion, don't share things that you haven't personally checked. When in doubt, it is always safer not to share.

[gyudons]

despicable

updates as of 22 oct

Travis Dermott knew that he would draw attention with his actions in the Coyotes’ home opener against the Anaheim Ducks at Mullett Arena on Saturday. The Arizona defenseman just hoped that the spotlight might shine on the issue that he was addressing, not on him.

“You don’t really want to go against rules that are put in place by your employer, but there’s some people who took some positive things from it,” Dermott said. “That’s kind of what I’m looking to impact.

“You want to have everyone feel included and that’s something that I have felt passionate about for a long time in my career. It’s not like I just just jumped on this train. It’s something that I’ve felt has been lacking in the hockey community for a while. I feel like we need supporters of a movement like this; to have everyone feel included and really to beat home the idea that hockey is for everyone.”

“I won’t lie,” said Dermott, who is playing on a one-year, two-way contract. “From the outside, it’s easy to see that I’m putting my career on the line for something. I definitely went through some emotional ups and downs that night, not regretting anything by any means, but I’d love to have maybe done a couple of steps a little different by making sure that everyone was aware of what was going on before I did it.

“I don’t want to put my teammates or my coaches or my GMs or the equipment managers in any kind of bad light when it’s their job to kind of look out for something like this happening. It was definitely something that I did just by myself and was prepared to kind of deal with whatever repercussions the league decides to push towards that. I’m not going to back off and say that this battle is won, but we’re going to find better ways to do it.”

As Dermott noted, LGBTQ+ inclusion is an issue that he has supported for a long time. Without getting into specifics, Dermott said the issue is personal for him because it impacts people close to him.

“I’d be lying if I said I haven’t shed tears about this on multiple occasions,” he said. “So yeah, it’s something I’m definitely very passionate about.

“I’ve met a lot of people that from the outside, it looks like they have everything going right in their life and they have a smile on their face every time they talk to you. But sometimes when we get closer to people and get comfortable enough for them to open up to you, you can see that there’s some pretty dark stuff happening to some good people. It doesn’t take too many times encountering something like that for it to really change someone.

“I’ve been blessed to have some of those opportunities put in front of me to really change my view of what being a good person means; what being a good father and a good example and role model means going forward. You really see how people are hurting and it’s because of a system that maybe no one’s intentionally trying to be malicious about, but until you’ve really had that first-person experience seeing people hurting from it right in front of you, it’s tough to kind of take steps.”

It would be a surprise if the league handed down any sort of punishment. The optics alone would add to the public relations damage that the original ban created. Even so, Dermott reiterated his desire to bring the entire franchise into the fold before he takes similar actions in the future, but he also made it clear that he will not be silenced on the topic.

“It’s not like I’m shutting up and going away,” he said. “I know more questions are going to be coming. We’re just going to be as prepared as we can be to just spread love. That’s the thing. It’s gay pride that we’re talking about, but it could be men’s health. It could be any war. It’s just wanting world peace. Everyone’s got to love each other a little bit more.

“Like my parents said growing up, ‘How awesome would it be to be the guy that people look up to?’ That’s what really hit home when I was a kid, especially from my mom. You want to grow up and be that guy. You want to be the guy that’s having the impact on kids like NHL players had on you. If they had been racist or bigoted, that’s going to have an effect on you.

“With how many eyes are on us, especially with the young kids coming up in the new generation, you want to put as much positive love into their brain as you can. You want them to see that it’s not just being taught or coming from maybe their parents at home. They need to see it in the public eye for it to really make an effect.”

[unladielike]

    Vivian nods away in agreement for to her, having a considerable amount of burgers without any soda didn't seem like something that's really heard of... and yeah, perhaps there were way better palate cleansers to be had than carbonated drinks, but as this was a food truck and not a restaurant, the selection of beverages they could realistically order would understandably be a bit limited.

    "Welp, I wouldn't go as far as to say I necessarily understand 'everything', per say, but yeah, once you manage to live through twenty one years on this planet, you start discovering some pretty basic stuff... like, for instance, how the human body gets thirsty if you consume salty snacks yet do not occasionally bring yourself to drink water throughout regular intervals," Vivian states. Granted, most would consider that to be 'common sense', but as per usual, she frames it more like an academic study than redundant knowledge nobody would truly bother disputing.

    Either way, it doesn't take long for her bespectacled gaze to soon settle on the drinks menu, which was situated to the right side corner of the food truck... and to her delight, Coke was listed as one of the drinks that were available to order, causing her to clasp both hands together.

    "Ooh, what do you know?! They do indeed have Coke! No Fanta to be seen, though... then again, at least we aren't forced to choose Pepsi, which is the mid alternative to Coke," Vivian pipes up. Of course, after the final customer leaves, she'll then finally pull out her wallet before turning to Mizumachi. "Alright, so to summarize super quickly... we want ten teriyaki cheese burgers with two cokes?" Vivian repeats in order to ensure they were on the same page.

[水]

“Bia is so smart! I love it!”

Who knew there was such a place so close by? He hadn’t found the place yet, and who knew how long it would’ve taken before he found it. The food truck  now had a new fan who was bound to visit pretty often any time homesickness struck him- which was surprisingly often if he was left alone with his thoughts.

The jock laughs at the comment that the food truck wasn’t going anywhere. It wouldn’t sprout legs and run away—but it had wheels, didn’t it? Couldn’t it drive off?

“Yeah! A Teriyaki cheese burger sounds great!”

Sometimes, he’d go into restaurants and find that the food was very different compared to his expectations, but if going by the smell alone, he was sure that he was going to like the burgers here. He normally wasn’t that picky when it came to food anyways, but still! It was a kind of betrayal for someone who craved familiar tastes to walk into a restaurant and walk out of it confused over what he’d actually eaten. He learned the hard way that many ‘fusion’ places weren’t… the best. Guess not every fusion was stellar and epic. Sorry Goku and Vegeta.

“You really understand everything, huh? You’re right! If you’re going to be eating a lot of burgers anyways, ya gotta drink something that pairs well with it. Coke is the best! Fanta is also good, though.”

If you were going to be eating your fill of burgers, was there really any real difference if you chose to drink soda over water? The difference was minor at that point, so there was no point in picking straws. Water was his preferred drink for regular hours, but if he was doing rigorous exercise, then he would reach for sports drinks to replenish his electrolytes. Soda was for whenever he was treating himself to some junk food. Might as well go big or go home (and eat healthier).

[lizzybeeee]

DATV Spoilers - The Story We Lost

Posted earlier that I was compiling a list of lore/story threads that have been dropped with DATV's handling of Southern Thedas. The sheer number of things means that I've made this into two parts - this one focusing on all the story threads that have been effectively dropped.

Spoilers for the game ahead, of course.

If you've played the game then you'll know that Southern Thedas - everything from the past three games - was basically swept away by the blight.

A double blight should have catastrophic consequences for the entirety of Thedas, I don’t deny that, it’s nothing short of a mass extinction event – the absolute worst case scenario for all of Thedas.

However, waving away the fact that Southern Thedas - specifically every area you ever traveled to and interacted with in previous games – is gone, devastated by the blight, in a codex entry and line of dialogue makes it abundantly clear that BioWare is attempting to clean the slate so that they can move forwards with the game series with no ties to the previous ones.

The Warden, Hawke, and the Inquisitor effectively accomplished nothing.

As I put it in another post: I never expected them to consider every decision in game outside of the three options they gave us, but I certainly didn’t expect them to go scorched earth on the possibility of ever seeing the results of those decisions either.

How the lore has been handled in this game, summarized to “the elves did it” and “there’s been a shadowy organization in the shadows pulling the strings on everything” is absolutely devastating to the franchise.

The lack of care with which this was treated just bleeds, “There, we’ve answered all questions and finished with this era of Thedas. Moving on now.” At the same time, this destruction absolutely obliterated whatever story threads remained from the first three games.

Could BioWare bring these threads back? Yes, I suppose. But it doesn't change that it was so carelessly thrown aside in the first place.

If they didn't want people to care about their decisions and the impact they made on the world, perhaps they shouldn't have made that a feature of all the previous games.

-------------------------------------------

Story Threads/ Plot Points that were dropped:

Limited my points to what was in the Dragon Age Keep and what points were brought up frequently in codex entries, conversations, etc...

Edit: I never expected all of these points to be answered in DATV - this is just a list of what was effectively brushed to the side through very bad handling of lore and story.

-------------------------------------------

Dragon Age: Origins

What is the line of succession in Ferelden?

Things are looking very grim for Ferelden's succession and the Theirin/MacTir line if nothing is done. And nothing was done. The entire plot of DAO literally culminated in resolving this issue, yet no one seems to have learnt a thing from it?

- Anora ruling alone is unmarried with no heir - Alistair ruling alone is unmarried with no heir - Ruling together they have no heir - Alistair and a Cousland Queen have no heir - Anora and a Cousland King-Consort have no heir

The only potential candidate that can fit into several of those world states is Kieran.

Fergus Cousland, according to lore, is the second closest to the throne that is confirmed to be alive in DAI - potentially the brother in-law to the King/Queen of Ferelden.

Ferelden's succession with Alistair as King hinges on whether or not the Warden was able to cure the blight. Alternatively, it is hinted that he may be more resistant since he has dragon blood in him from Calenhad.

The potential implications of Kieran being the bastard son of the King of Ferelden.

Kieran being used as a political pawn to depose Anora using the Theirin bloodline.

DAI took away whatever destiny Kieran had with the Old God soul – that didn’t mean that BioWare had to take away everything else too. Regardless, it doesn't matter. Denerim and Redcliffe have fallen to the Blight - it's unlikely that any of this will ever be brought up again.

2. Did the Warden find a cure?

Unknown. Irrelevant.

Ferelden ended up blighted. Denerim fell. If Ferelden rises from the ashes, it will be without any sign of their influence. Any mention of them will likely be their title alone - no mention of their accomplishments.

3. General Questions about the Landsmeet

What happened to Anora if Alistair is named King? Who rules the teyrnir of Gwaren following the blight?

What happens to Alistair if he's exiled? We know Teagan finds him in DA2 but what happens after?

If Leliana becomes divine does that mean that Connor Guerrin is potentially an heir to Redcliffe?

4. Companion Plot Threads

Morrigan's sisters - the many daughters of Flemeth.

Shale's quest to reverse the process of becoming a golem.

Whatever the hell Nathaniel Howe was going on about when you run into him in DA2 in the blighted thaig.

What, if anything, Avernus leaned from spending a literal age or two studying blighted blood.

5. Zevran's Crusade against the Crows

RIP Zevran's one-man crusade against the Crows and their child slavery ring.

DATV messed up immensely by portraying the Crows as more of a ‘found family’ rather than the horrifically abusive organization it was set up to be.

The very same organization that preys on the weak and disenfranchised - honing them to be tools for the nobles/powerful of Thedas - are now the heroic freedom fighters of Antiva.

The literal decade he spent hunting down the Crows and their leaders is up in flames. No mention in DATV whatsoever.

Wasted a perfectly good opportunity to have a schism in the Crows, with Zevran at the helm of kicking out the antaam, taking in Crows who are are sick of what's happening.

6. The Dwarves of Orzammar

The impact of Bhelen/Harrowmont's reign - ruthless progression verses strict traditionalism

The rumours of an uprising of the casteless dwarves in DAI

Will we ever hear of noble House Brosca or Queen/Lady Rica? Nope.

Will we ever hear of the son that Aeducan can have with Mardy? Nope. (RIP Duncan Jnr - I still love you)

The Anvil of the Void and potential links it may have to the Titans.

If Branka lives what happened to her?

No more fine goods direct from Orzammar

The entire caste system has been simplified by Harding in DATV to effectively be: 'surface dwarves' and 'deep roads' dwarves.

7. The Magisters Sidereal / Awakened Darkspawn

According to a codex in the Descent: one went mad, consumed another, and the final magister fled into the Deep Roads.

Corypheous + Codex Magister + the Architect (most likely) = 4/5 magisters remaining? Possibly?

Reminder that it's hinted that there's an eighth Old God that was struck from the records of Tevinter.

The Architect and his Awakened Darkspawn.

No, it was all the elves. They're all dead now anyway. Thanks BioWare.

8. The Guardian and the Urn of Sacred Ashes

"Where did you come from, where did you go? Nobody in Thedas will ever knowwwww."

-------------------------------------------

Dragon Age 2

Dragon Age 2 was pretty self-contained, with most things being tied up in Trespasser or DAI. The worst of the plot points abandoned relate to the companions in the game and the lack of closure/answers about them.

General Questions:

Kirkwalls, apparently, endless line of 'provisional' viscounts and constant political instability since Varric ran off to go after Solas.

According to DA: Absolution the Red Templars are still in Kirkwall...yet the show is set after Trespasser - when Varric is viscount? When he mentions that they threw a parade when getting Meredith out of the Gallows?

Aveline, Varric, Merrill and whoever remains of the Kirkwall crew apparently just allowing red templars take over the Gallows?

What happened to Petrice if she lived?

What happened to Feynriel if he went to Tevinter?

If Hawke lives following DAI - where are they?

I have a whole list of lore that's also been brushed over: the Sundermount, Corypheous, the Band of Three etc... I decided to put them in Part 2 since I feel they fit in more with 'lore obliterated' rather than 'abandoned plot points'.

2. Companions

Merrill's Eluvian:

Merrill spent years fixing an eluvian with a piece of string, a potato, and some gum - managing to actually do it.

And it meant nothing.

Eluvians are now a fast travel hub - all mysticism and awe at this marvel of magic are completely gone. Whatever sacrifices Merrill went through to save her sliver of elven history is meaningless.

Imagine if Merrill's eluvian aided in the fight against Solas - if having it intact gave you an advantage against him. Imagine Merrill weeping as Bellara fixes every other single eluvian in ten seconds with her magical omnitool.

Fenris and Slavery in Tevinter:

DATV utterly trivializing slavery in Tevinter is abominable.

Disregarding everything Fenris went through, everything he ever fought for, and making it something barely touched upon in DATV is insanity.

You wouldn't know there was slavery in Tevinter if the Shadow Dragons didn't drop a line or two about it.

Fenris' entire story of going to help free the slaves is diminished because no one wanted to show the ugly, dark side of Tevinter in DATV.

DATV has retroactively made this choice for him to be so unfulfilling.

Where is Anders?

What happened with Sebastian's crusade against Anders? Was he ever captured? Was he executed? Are you telling me that no templars ever pursued this man fanatically after what happened in Kirkwall?

Does his fate vary if Hawke was friends/romanced him?

Varric appointing a new Viscount’s Keep healer called ‘Banders’ who just happens to sleep in the same room as Hawke and their children call him ‘daddy’ lmao

Does his fate vary according to who is Divine? Vivienne hunts him down, Cassandra puts him on trial, while Leliana pardons him?

How does he react to Leliana abolishing the Circles? How much does he weep when the rebellion fails and the mages are destroyed? This man instigated the starting event for DAI and drove most of DA2's major plot and he's just...gone.

The Hawke Siblings:

From DAI we know that Warden Bethany/Carver are safe, but what happened to them if they're in the Circle?

Give us Knight-Commander Carver and First Enchanter Bethany Hawke, you cowards! Have them dismantle the Gallows and be the shining examples of human decency we know they are.

What happens to them after DAI and the Mage/Templar War is concluded? In a world that can embrace or reject them - how do they find their place?

Varric

Trespasser gave him a satisfying conclusion - he's viscount, he's in his shit hole of a city, he's surrounded by the people that he loves and cares about. He has the chance to truly build up Kirkwall after all the shit its gone through.

It just feels so bitter, so meaningless, that they gave him the end that they did in DATV. Varric should never have been the one to go after Solas - the only reason it was him was because he's a popular character in the franchise and was used to draw interest.

Why not Cole?! Who was literally mentioned in Trespasser as being on hand to help his friends - who has the ability to get through to Solas in a way no one else could?

No proper send off - no acknowledgement from those who loved him as to his fate...Varric was reduced to a marketing gimmick to draw people in who wanted to see if he died or not.

Isabela

Isabela's story was brought to a close in DAI - she became an admiral, got a fancy hat, helped the Inquisition, and kept in contact with those she loved/Hawke if defended from the arishok.

Imagine bringing her back in a terrible outfit, having the most sex/gender positive character misgender another person, and making her part of the group that steals cultural artifacts from others.

The tomb of Koslun and Aveline would like a word with you?!

The entire Lords of Fortune group is also extremely bland? No commentary on the ethics/effects of colonialism/cultural appropriation - because confrontational topics/ideas are not allowed in this game. Just like topics of slavery/indoctrination.

Her entire character just seems to have regressed from DA2. Why bother having her cameo in the game if she's not going to meaningfully contribute/comment on whats happening?

Edit - Thanks to bunnyiscthulhu for reminding me that Isabela's mother sold her into marriage...yet she does nothing when Taash's mother is outright forcing them into a life they don't want. Isabela, who believed that everybody should be free - that no one should be forced into a life they don't want, just...lets it happen to another person?

-------------------------------------------

Dragon Age: Inquisition

What's going to happen to the Red Lyrium that's popped up across all of Thedas?

Ferelden, Orlais, Kirkwall - all areas are reported to have red lyrium on the surface.

What happens to the Red Lyrium in Suledin?

DAI speaks about how they can never stop the spread of red lyrium, only slow it – animals, insects, organisms - whatever life is in the ground is all susceptible to becoming blighted by red lyrium. Suledin Keep in particular was utterly devastated by the Red Templars - what happens to life there?

2. What happened to Corypheous' Inner Circle?

What happened to Samson? How long did he live *if* he’s given the chance to help Cullen? Can something good come from his cooperation?

What happened to Calpernia?

Looking at previous concept art for DATV she was a companion - freeing slaves, gossiping about Samson & Corypheous. Just...what a waste. Any potential insight we could have gotten into Corypheous is gone.

3. The Mage / Templar War:

How does the world vary if you conscripted vs allied with either?

How do the remnants of what faction was not chosen fit into this new world?

How does the world deal with abominations and weird magic shit now? Is an alternative to the Order made if it's wiped out in DAI?

How is Cullen's templar clinic doing? If the templars still exist, how is Divine Victoria changing/adapting the Order to better support mages/templars?

4. Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts:

How do Orlesian politics reflect who was made ruler?

Is Gaspard looking to expand into Ferelden once more? Are the elves being brutalized under his rule like they were by his chevaliers? Does he do away with the grand game like he threatened in DAI?

How does this differ if Briala has collared him? How do his supporters feel that Briala has his balls in a vice?

Do Celene and Briala stay together? Do things improve for the elves and for the culture of Orlais at large?

Do improvements for the elves mean that Solas' arguments to his elven agents are less persuasive?

If Florianne is alive what the hell is going to happen to her? How quickly does she fall on her blade after being forced to wear flat shoes for the rest of her life?

How quickly does shit fall apart if you get all three to cooperate lmao

Friendly reminder that DATV sets up that all of Orlais, except for the Winter Palace has been overrun by the Blight - and that a coup from the Venatori is inevitable, likely resulting in any ruler dying.

5. What is the line of succession in Orlais?!

Why does every noble family in Thedas have no contingency plans for if their head of government dies?!

Part of why we needed to resolve the leadership problem in DAI was because there was no clear, direct heir if Celene died!

Celene has no heir Gaspard has no heir

Florianne planned to frame Gaspard, murdering Celene herself, leaving no clear heir to the throne - Orlais was already in a civil war, the council of heralds/nobles would have all campaigned in their own interests...that was why this was so important!

Orlais shortsightedness and pride in their nation being the greatest in Thedas led to them almost falling in a single night!

6. Here Lies the Abyss:

What are the ramifications of having the Warden's exiled verses remaining in the south?

Trespasser literally states that there's a schism in the Order because some Warden's believe they should touch grass more often and not listen to some bloke up in Weisshaupt for what they do down in the south.

Perfect opportunity to have the wardens remaining in the south mean something! Greater numbers in the south means that there's a greater chance of holding against the blight - while greater numbers in the north can effect if Antiva/Tevinter end up blighted in the first attack!

How does public perception towards the Wardens/King of Ferelden change when they learn they were exiled for committing human sacrifice to demons?!

Give us a warden coup and First Warden Alistair / Blackwall, you cowards!

7. The Well of Sorrows:

What was the point of drinking Mythal's bathwater?!

It's been set up as something that changes you. Bound to Mythal forever?!

Retroactively, Solas feels like he's going mental about nothing! One of the few times he ever breaks - he begs you not to - and...for what? Nothing.

DATV does not acknowledge that in the slightest. Such a waste and disappointment of what was made out to be an impactful decision in DAI.

Imagine if the Inquisitor drinking from the well made us forced to fight against them during the fight with Solas - imagine if Solas, in a world state who hated the Inquisitor, used them as a puppet! Just like the envy demon in DAI - and no one notices until its too late. Imagine Mythal herself, wanting Solas to go through with his plan - (or one of the other evanuris) using an Inquisitor/Lavellan he loved as a puppet - imagine the horror he feels as another one of his friends is reduced to nothing more than a mindless slave of the evanuris once more. Imagine the devastation as he watches Lavellan lose all sense of self - perhaps swaying him to, maybe, not go through with his plan?! Imagine having Cole come back to help save the Inquisitor - or Solas begging Rook to save them.

8. DLC Implications:

What happens if Hakkon is not slain? What happens to Southern Ferelden and the Avaar?

How does the rest of Thedas react to the truth of what happened at Red Crossing and the Dales? How do they react to learning that Inquisitor Ameridan - First Inquisitor and leader of the Seekers - was a dalish, elven mage?

What happens if you do not save the mines in the Descent DLC? How badly is Orzammars economy crippled? There are already rumours of riots occurring within Orzammar - it this enough to push the caste system over the edge?

9. Elven Uprising and the War with the Qun:

The elven uprising that was implied to be occuring all over Thedas as a result of years of oppression, systematic abuse, and Solas’ influence? What happened to it?

Where are the agents of fen'harel?!

It was set up that Solas was planning to use this rebellion as a smokescreen for his plans - the elves, all rebelling for good reason, rallying to his cause while Solas planned to restore the world that once was. The rest of Thedas would only see an elven uprising, not knowing the true face behind it until it was too late!

The war between Tevinter and the Qun?!

Everyone conveniently forgetting that the Qun literally attempted to assassinate every noble family in Thedas? Why was there no exalted march because of this? This should have destroyed any accord between the chantry and the qun. There would absolutely be blood for this – Tevinter could have attacked the Qun and all of Southern Thedas would have applauded - no one would have differentiated between extremist qunari and the normal qun, especially not after Kirkwall.

The implication at the end of Trespasser that we could convince Solas to abandon his plans? Him saying that he welcomed giving us the chance?!

The difference that the Inquisitors friendship, love, or hatred could have in either convincing Solas to take another path or damning him to go ahaead with his plan, no matter the cost?

Have our decisions in previous games matter! How we treated the elves - if we worked to better their lives or 'put them in their place' - can be used to convince him that the world can change! Have the ripple effects of these decisions be seen when the elven gods return, blighted - does the world turn against the elves, hardening Solas, or does the world defend the elves from those who would blame them?

Why was Sandal in the Crossroads?! Where is Bodahn?!

10. Divine Victoria!

How does the world of Thedas change with Leliana, Cassandra, or Vivienne at the head of the chantry?

How does Tevinter react to having a mage divine?!

Do relations change between both nations because of this?

Leliana allowing elves, dwarves, and even qunari to join the Chantry! Leliana also allowing members of the chantry to get married if she's romanced by the warden.

What happened to the Seekers? Are they being rebuilt?

Does the chantry inform the masses, the rest of the mages, that they can CURE tranquility?!

If either Leliana or Cassandra was romanced - what are the implications that may have on the chantry?

-------------------------------------------

No wonder the writers insisted that none of the past choices would have an impact on Veilguard - they literally went scorched earth on everything we ever did.

Ferelden is blighted - any legacy of the warden is gone.

Kirkwall is destroyed - any impact Hawke had is gone.

The hard won peace/order of the Inquisition was rendered meaningless since every single place that you went to and helped is now destroyed by the blight.

Orlais' ruler will likely be assassinated by the venatori who are plotting a coup with the nobles - making whomever you chose obsolete.

AND IT WAS ALL THE WORK OF THE MAGICAL ILLUMINATI FROM ACROSS THE SEA???

[yet-another-heathen]

On conditioned whumpees...

Y'know, I think one of the things that people get wrong with conditioned whumpees is their rules. Specifically, when a whumpee was in long term captivity/training and they later get released or escape.

Most people write them as latching onto a caretaker or new whumper, and begging for new rules so they know they're doing something right. A new set of laws to live by, a new framework to behave to.

And that's... not really how conditioning works.

Conditioning means automatic reactions. Your body doing something that was trained into you without consulting your brain first.

There is no decision making. There is no choice. The trigger hits, and you are immediately performing the correct action regardless of anything else.

You're told to kneel? Your knees have already hit the ground. You're supposed to be standing in one part of the house when a certain noise is made? You've launched into movement before you even realize what you heard.

These rules are woven into the fabric of your body. And they are insurmountable. The conditioning overrides emotion, internal conflict, hesitation, beliefs, wants... everything.

Your whumpee may very well hate what is being done to them, and after the moment has passed they're cursing themself and their whumper. They're still a person on the inside. And that person is still very much alive. Most of the time, they will have some level of awareness that what's being done to them is wrong. They'll be angry. They'll be hurt. And they will hate that there is nothing they can do about it.

But the next time that trigger occurs, the response still hits them exactly the same.

So now take your whumpee out of that situation. They ran away, were rescued, were sold. They got out. Now they're with new people, a new caretaker, a new whumper. Or they're on their own and trying to make their own way in the world.

But those conditioned responses are still there.

There's no turning them off. You don't just replace them with new rules. They are in your every fibre. They have been built into the very framework of who you are.

The next time someone says the word "kneel", your knees are on the ground again. No matter where you are, or who you're with. The response happens before you can stop it. If they don't know why, everyone looks at you like you're insane. And you feel like you are.

Deconditioning is an agonizing process that takes more effort than I can even begin to describe to someone who's never experienced it.

Every time they hit that trigger, that response will still be there. Over, and over, and over, and over.

Breaking those rules down takes YEARS. And it is a constant effort that the whumpee has to choose to undergo every single time. Progress is measured milimeter by milimeter. You're told to kneel, and you kneel. You're told to kneel, and your mind catches up with the fact that you already did it— but a little sooner than it did before. Then a split second sooner. Then as you're doing it. Then you feel the impulse just before your knees hit the ground. Then you have a split-second of resistance before you go down. On and on and on and on, inching toward progress despite the fact that you're fighting with all your might. And that progress is anything but linear.

You don't just start obeying new rules. You don't latch on to your caretaker's new way of doing things and drop everything that you were conditioned to do before. These rules don't just get replaced.

Conditioning is not a belief system. It's a flinch response. Programmed deeper than the instincts you were born with.

You can be ordered not to obey the old command, and moments later when the trigger comes, you will anyway. Because in conditioning, the action comes before the choice.

These rules, these laws of your existence, come above everything else. And if your new whumper wants to replace them, they are going to have to beat the new rules into you so often and so severely that the pain becomes stronger than the old conditioning. At which point, the newly desired response will very, very slowly start to take over.

You're not swapping out new rules. You're layering new, worse conditioning on top of the old. And your brain will spend time stuck in that split-second between both responses before one finally grows stronger than the other. And even then, the change will not happen quickly.

That is what your conditioned whumpee is up against. That is what makes it such a horrible—HORRIBLE— and powerful tool.

[moonstruckme]

Hi Mae :))

I know this is kinda similar to one of your other fics, and also weirdly specific haha so I totally get if you don’t want to do it, but would you be willing to do an

emt! Maruaders x reader who’s getting surgery, and has a panic attack in the pre-op room bc the nurse and anesthesiologist are just being really dismissive of her, and the Marauders get protective and intervene, and comfort reader?

This is based on irl experiences—I’m not scared of anesthesia, I’m scared of not getting properly sedated/anesthetized during procedures. I have lots of health issues and ended up with ptsd because during one of the procedures that was supposed to be ‘deep sedation’ (where you’re technically awake but you’re completely doped up and don’t feel/remember anything), they didn’t give me the proper dosage, so I was fully awake and literally sobbing and screaming and the nurses and doctors were just like ‘no we gave you the meds, you’re fine, you’re not in pain’. So now I have panic attacks when I get procedures done if I feel like i’m not being listened to, and that something similar could happen again😅

That sounds so scary babe, I'm so sorry that happened to you! Thank you for the request <3

cw: hospital, not-super-compassionate reponse by healthcare professionals, panic attack, I feel like probably a lot of this is inaccurate/against most policies so sorry about that

emt!marauders x fem!reader ♡ 573 words

“Sweetheart, sweetheart.” James’ hand is clamped over your IV, his other arm around your shoulder as he wards off the nurse. “You’re okay, my love, just—could you give her a bit of breathing room, please?” 

His voice sharpens when he speaks to the nurse, and though you know that tone isn’t meant for you, it rubs against your already frazzled nerves to send hot tears tumbling down your cheeks. The two other people in the room, the nurse and anesthesiologist for your surgery, both look more harried than alarmed at your upset. 

“We have to take her back—” the nurse begins to say. 

A sob wrenches out of you. “Wait—wait, wait, please—” 

James shushes you, pressing his forehead to your temple. “You’re okay, angel. I’ve got you, yeah? You’re okay.” You quiet, and he stamps a kiss to your wet cheek. “She said she needed a minute,” he tells the nurse. “Just give her a bit of time, she can relax if you let her.” 

The door to your room opens. You begin crying anew as Sirius and Remus come toward you. 

“Hey,” Sirius coos, wrapping his arms around you tightly. He’s a good deal taller than you standing by the bed, your face pressed to his chest. “What happened, baby? You were so calm just a few minutes ago.” 

It’s all you can do to sniffle against his shirt. In your periphery, you can see the nurse and anesthesiologist take a step back to make room for your boyfriends. Earlier, you were told it was a rule that you were only allowed to have one guest come into the pre-op room with you; it appears that circumstances have led them to bend the rules. In quiet tones, you can hear James explaining to Remus how you’d asked for a moment to prepare yourself before being given a sedative, and how the anesthesiologist beginning to go ahead with it anyway for the sake of time had led to your fright. 

Sirius must be listening, too. His grip on you shifts, his hand cupping the back of your head protectively. 

“Oh, sweetheart.” Remus sounds compassionate. He takes your hand, fingers twining with yours, and James finally lets go of your IV, reassured you’re not going to try pulling it out again. “That must have been so scary. You’re alright now, though, yeah? Take some breaths.” 

You try, feeling the heat of your tears on Sirius’ shirt. He rubs your back encouragingly. 

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” you choke out. 

“Shh, you’ll be alright,” Remus reassures you. “I understand you felt rushed, but it was only a misunderstanding. Everything can still go perfectly. Soph knows what she’s doing.” 

Your anesthesiologist—Sophie, as she’d introduced herself—offers a sheepish smile. 

“And,” Sirius says pointedly, “they’re going to listen to you. Okay? I promise.” 

Your breaths are coming easier now. It feels good, hiding in Sirius’ front; you can almost pretend everything outside of this doesn’t exist. 

“Okay,” you say tremulously. 

You feel Remus raise your hand to his lips. “There’s our girl.” He kisses your knuckles. “Keep breathing like that, love. You’re doing beautifully.” 

“Can you please stay?”

“Yeah,” James answers before anyone else in the room can, “they can stay.” 

“Do I have to go back now?” 

“No, lovie.” He rubs your leg soothingly. “I know your team’s got a schedule to keep, but I’m sure they can spare a few minutes. Take your time.”

[greengoblinswifey]

Making Hwang In-ho work for your pussy.

From the moment you and In-ho met, it was clear he wasn’t used to waiting for what he wanted—especially not when it came to intimacy. Yet, here he was, two months into a relationship with you, frustrated but captivated.

You’d been upfront from the start. “I don’t do casual, and I don’t rush into things. If that’s a problem, you can leave now,” you’d said on your first date, holding his gaze with unwavering confidence.

In-ho, used to a world where his power and wealth cleared every hurdle, had been taken aback. But instead of walking away, he’d leaned back in his chair, a smirk on his lips. “Challenge accepted.”

And a challenge it had been.

He’d tried everything to win you over, lavish gifts, private dinners at the most exclusive restaurants, bouquets of flowers that seemed to appear at your doorstep almost daily. He wasn’t just trying to impress you, he was trying to prove he could play by your rules.

“You’re making me work harder than anyone ever has,” he said one evening over champagne at a rooftop restaurant he’d rented out just for the two of you.

“You don’t have to,” you replied with a sly smile. “But you do if you want me.”

And he did. Oh, he wanted you. Needed you.

In-ho found himself doing things he never imagined. Like taking time off from overseeing the games, something unheard of for him—just to spend an afternoon with you at an art exhibit you’d mentioned wanting to see. Or the time he drove across the city to find a specific book you’d been searching for, presenting it to you like it was a trophy.

“You didn’t have to do all this,” you said one night as he handed you a pair of diamond earrings.

“I wanted to,” he replied simply. But in truth, he was growing more frustrated by the day. Every lingering kiss, every time your hands wandered but stopped just short of crossing the line, left him aching for more.

Still, he waited. Because as much as he craved you, he found himself liking you more with each passing day, your wit, your intelligence, the way you held your ground. You were unlike anyone he’d ever met.

When the night finally came, it wasn’t planned. You were at his home, sharing wine and laughter on the couch. His hand brushed against yours, and when your eyes met, there was something different in your eyes, something softer, inviting.

“In-ho,” you said, your voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes?” His voice was calm, but his body tensed, like a predator sensing its moment.

“I think I’m ready.”

His eyes darkened, and his hand moved to cup your cheek. “Are you sure?”

You nodded, leaning into his touch. “Yes. I want you to fuck me. I want you.”

It was all the encouragement he needed. He kissed you deeply, his hands sliding over your body, memorizing every curve. He carried you to his bedroom, laying you down on the silk sheets as if you were something precious.

“You’ve been driving me fucking crazy for months,” he murmured against your skin as he kissed down your neck.

“I know,” you teased, threading your fingers through his hair.

“I’m going to make this worth the wait,” he promised, and he did.

He worshipped you that night, his touch both rough and tender, his words a mixture of praise and moans of your name. It was as if he were trying to make up for all the time he’d spent wanting you, showing you just how much he’d been holding back.

He started slow, savoring every moment, every taste of your pussy, every clench of your walls around his cock. Until, he remembered this was the first of many times he’d be fucking you. Until he remembered how long you made him wait to have you. After this realization, he fucked you like no one had ever done before.

He gave you long, deep strokes, stretching and filling you to the brim. His hands trailed all over your body, touching you as though you would slip away. His lips never left you, whether it be on your lips or tits. He worked hard for your pussy, and he’d get all that it was worth.

“Made me wait so fucking long for this tight pussy,” he grunted in your ear, pounding into you. “You’re lucky you feel good.”

His hands wrapped around your neck as he rolled his hips harshly against you and that did it. The past two months of restraint and underlying tension finally built over and you both came undone with you absolutely soaking his cock and the sheets below. You were just as deprived as him.

“You’re perfect,” he murmured against your ear, his voice hoarse. “So worth it.”

In the quiet aftermath, as you lay tangled together, he pressed a kiss to your forehead. “I’d wait all over again for you,” he said softly.

You smiled, your head against his chest. “Good. Because you’re not going anywhere.”

[angelsndragons]

hi, veilguard peeps, can we take a moment to talk about rook mercar? because rook mercar is possibly one of the most batshit rooks in the game and they deserve to be recognized as such.

but not only that, mercar's backstory shades the shadow dragons and venatori conflicts in very interesting ways so let's talk about them.

so first, the nessus job.

i don't blame you for forgetting (or not knowing, i know the shadow dragons aren't everyone's cup of tea) so here's your quick refresher from the shadow dragon background blurb found in the character creator:

Breaker of Bonds

“Rook risked everything to liberate the enslaved people of Tevinter, even knowing it would anger the ruling elite. The foundling Rook was adopted into a military family and joined the Shadow Dragons to fight from the shadows for change in Minrathous. While guarding a visiting dignitary who was investigating a slavery ring in the nearby city of Nessus, Rook concluded that the mission would fail without throwing caution to the wind. Alone, s/he(/they) sneaked the dignitary deep into Venatori-controlled zones and brought him back, along with the rescued slaves. These actions brought Rook to the Venatori's attention, and the Shadow Dragons decided to keep Rook out of sight.”

that is the nessus job.

except this doesn't quite square with what the game has to say about it.

the background:

first, here's the viper's letter about the job:

so right away, note how weird it is that the viper's writing mercar's letter. i say this is weird because, with the other factions, the person writing rook's letter is someone they're familiar with, usually in a position of leadership. antoine and evka are the notable leadership exceptions here, having actually been involved in thorne's backstory actions.

here's the rub: mercar doesn't know the viper. they've heard of him, certainly, but when that little popup telling you that you've worked with these faction agents before appears, mercar doesn't have the option to act like they know the viper.

the lines mercar gets are:

it's an honor to stand beside a legend

i know he likes to make an entrance

i know he gets things done

now, i will grant you that some of the responses to mercar's comment indicate tarquin is familiar with both rook and ashur (his response to the honor line is 'well, that'll go straight to his head' while the entrance line earns the viper's comment 'no one watches the rooftops' and tarquin's exasperated 'sure, that's what he says') but the point is, for a character mercar is "supposed" to be very familiar with, neve still tells them about the name ashur. like, seriously, it's the same dialogue tag every rook gets.

which is weird because veilguard is actually pretty good at keeping track of rook's faction and seamlessly changing up the conversation while still getting across the relevant information.

but it doesn't stop there, oh no.

during mercar's unpacking scene, we get these default shadow dragon lines:

now, these right here ping for the following reasons:

varric isn't the "visiting dignitary" that rook was guarding, given that rook had to get to nessus before meeting varric

the fact that rook's backstory happens dao style, where all events are true but only one has duncan varric available to pluck rook out of the immediate consequences

minrathous slaves, specifically, are mentioned as being freed here, even though we're supposed to be in nessus. now i'm not saying that minrathous citizens can't be enslaved and sent elsewhere, i'm just pointing out the phrasing here

the magisters who were financially benefiting from the nessus ring (aka venatori and their backers) knew enough about rook to put a name and a face on them. the structure of the sentence here is that everyone knows who is "too much trouble" to keep around and that is fucking wild kids. no, seriously, that is wild. there is so much wild here, put a pin in it.

no, seriously, this matters and matches the backstory blurb that the job "brought Rook to the Venatori's attention." put a fucking pin in it.

whatever rook's feelings, they always take pride in freeing those slaves- impulsive rook just dislikes that it comes at the cost of putting the shadow dragons in danger (put a pin in it), righteous rook thinks that the shadows should have used the crackdown to start a full out war with the venatori and their magister backers mind you while finally stoic rook just hopes that the shadow dragons weathered the storm safely.

okay, so ready for more batshit mercar?

the next solas conversation is the one where rook tells solas why they're going to stop the gods and here's what mercar has to say about that operation:

i just want y'all to marinate in that little gem of a line for a sec.

done screaming yet? it's cool, take another minute. no one's doing it like mercar.

okay, so finally a fuller picture of mercar's backstory comes into focus, if you ignore the weird bits. like the fact that the shadows made a plan with varric to rescue a friend, which does not appear to be the original nessus job, mind you.

mercar met varric, something went screwy, and mercar and varric decided the only way they had a chance was to start an armed rebellion in the city of nessus. the slavery ring is busted, said rebellion is (apparently) put down, the venatori and the magisters know who to blame for it all, and mercar hightails it out of the country with varric. simple and straightforward, right?

wrong, we have so much to work through.

the fallout:

like why the fuck are ashur, mae, and dorian squatting in dock town, exactly? tarquin lives there but those three surely have a high town shadow dragon cell they can go bug, right? and why is ashur the only one of the three making any cell decisions? i mean, points to mae for being a decent house guest, i guess, but what exactly is going on here? why are the venatori breathing down the shop's neck, to the point that they knew its location well enough to deliberately target it in the save treviso route?

remember those pins? it's time to pull them.

i repeat: this is real fucking bad for the shadow dragons. unlike the rest of the origins, the shadows are a covert operation. they don't want anyone knowing who their members are, who their backers are, any of it. the people in power being able to identify shadow dragons is how you lose shadow dragons: to arrests, targeted killings, beatings, destruction of their livelihoods, etc. ya know, like the viper mentions in his letter.

the fact that the first warden can not only link rook's face and name to the shadow dragons but to very specific crimes, crimes for which rook can absolutely be arrested, should set off all the alarm bells. as dorian says, the man is more politician than warden and as charter's letter from marnas pell states, "Assume every noble Tevinter family not with Shadow Dragons has Venatori pulling strings." this is extremely bad.

after nessus, the venatori had rook's identity as mercar and what did they do? they started looking into every single person mercar had known contact with, every path they took, their home, their family, the bar they stopped in for breakfast that one time. that's how resistance cells die, by the way. including, potentially, mercar's. this is why the shadows were more than happy to see mercar out of the way for a while where they couldn't cause any more trouble; so long as they're not around, they can't compromise more of the various cells' activities and members. it's the safest move for literally everyone involved.

because the damage has been done:

mae's related to varric via marriage, by the way, if the full picture hasn't come into focus yet.

mercar and varric were id'ed in that rebellion, the venatori were pissed at the lost revenue streams and suddenly mae's knocked out of the magisterium?

yeah.

my guess is that there is no high town cell anymore because of the nessus job. for all that mae worked to ensure that dorian was out of the line of fire and squeaky clean, the shadows and their backers couldn't stop the venatori crackdown after nessus, as mentioned by ashur's letter. ashur and mae are here specifically because there is no other cell to go to.

this is why tarquin is snippy, by the by. mercar and the highbloods are drawing attention to him and endangering all of his people just by being there.

hang on, it gets worse.

because the venatori are obsessed with the viper and proving that he's the divine (he is the divine, for the record, there are too many ambient dialogues, codices, and missions pointing in that direction). and to that obsession, i say, what the fuck? how did they come to that conclusion, exactly? what trail did the divine leave behind that first got the venatori on his tail?

well, he's related to and has close ties with mae's family. secondly, the divine is known for being quietly supportive of slave liberation. but the real reason, i think, is the original nessus job.

because again, why were the shadows in nessus originally? why was mercar in nessus to meet varric in the first place? who was the "visiting dignitary" that mercar was guarding?

yeah, i think the dignitary was the divine. and i think he was there in his official capacity. it would handily explain the discrepancy that ashur knows mercar but mercar doesn't know ashur. while the divine might not have a lot of actual power, the power of the press and drawing attention to issues and plights should never be discounted. especially when it's a plausible excuse to get several minrathous shadows in place to shut down the nessus slaver ring.

the divine being guarded by a now known shadow dragon (the viper likely made an appearance, ashur is known to pop up when slave rebellions start) combined with his anti-slavery views and ties to anti-slavery politicians turned the venatori's eye on ashur's night job.

remember, the shadow dragons are officially labeled as insurgents; if the venatori can tie the divine and all his people to them? that would be a death knell for any political support for liberation. the checkmate for the anti-slavery cause for the next age.

tldr: mercar exposed their ties to the shadows (and possibly the divine's) by starting an armed rebellion with varric to free slaves and shut down a slaver hub. in response, the venatori sniped several cells using mercar and varric's likely contacts, which led to ashur, mae, and dorian squatting in the dock town shadow dragon cell instead of some high town cell.

lucky the gods show up to cause trouble, huh?

god i love this game.

[sabertoothwalrus]

your character designs are incredible! do you keep anything/any thought processes in mind as you draw fanart vs how you draw ocs?

OOOOOO what a fun question...

I'd say my general thought process about how to build a new character-- figuring out who they are and what they do and what they're like-- is all pretty much the same across the board. The main difference between designing fan characters vs original characters is how I answer those sorts of questions.

For original characters, it can be almost overwhelming because I get to choose everything. I can make everything perfectly suited to my own tastes, except I have a broad range of things I like, and my tastes change constantly FJHFHD so depending on the project, choosing a more specific direction helps narrow things down.

Here's some old ocs I redrew recently. They're from an old story I'm not planning on revisiting, but it was about an art student, her little brother, and some grim reapers. Can you tell who is who?

I wanted the alive characters to have a lot of Opposites from the reapers. Warm vs Cool colors. Round vs Angular shapes. I wanted the reapers to look skeletal and sickly looking, and it was important that they all had some kind of hood. They needed to wear black & grey, but their colors still needed to be interesting, so they're all tinted with a color (one is sort-of blue, one is sort-of red, one is sort-of purple).

The story is more serious, so it felt appropriate that the characters were more realistically proportioned compared to some of the cartoonier designs I tend to do. They're still heavily stylized, and I tried to push myself to go harder on the shape language and Appeal™.

For fan characters, it's actually a lot of fun because so much of the work has been done for you. The more source material you have to work with, the less you have to come up with.

So, an example I'm going to use is Hugh Dini, a character I came up with as part of a fan concept for a new entry in the Ace Attorney series.

Phoenix Wright's daughter, Trucy, is a magician. She was 17 in her last appearance, and my fan concept takes place 7 years later, so she'd be 24. I decided she'd have a boyfriend who is also her assistant, and went from there.

I knew Hugh was going to be a defendant, which according to Ace Attorney rules means that he'd be falsely accused of murder. I needed to create a guy who was sympathetic, someone that you'd WANT to help prove his innocence.

What I did was reference existing characters from the games who fit similar archetypes and took a lot of design cues from them. I also referenced characters like Fukuo from Kiki's Delivery Service, who is a delightful himbo wifeguy that looks a little intimidating but is actually just kinda shy. And then I looked at actual photos of stage magician costumes for additional inspiration. THEN I go back to the source material to compare design details I want to add (ex, Hugh's high collar, his cuffs, the collar, the cape being turned into fringe on his jacket) and see if it already exists somewhere. No point in reinventing the wheel if I don't need to!

I wanted him to be like a "sexy magician's assistant", which I thought was a funny contrast to his restrained demeanor. He needed to be flashy, but not TOO flashy that he'd upstage Trucy. And additionally, since this is a game series where the characters are mostly seen from the waist up, I tried to keep his most interesting details in the top half of his design (but honestly in hindsight, I could have given him more. like Zak Gramarye's thigh-strap belt bag, perhaps).

Some other things I like to do when creating fan designs is to "roleplay" being the designers of the source material. If concept art is available, I reference that. I like to find the design quirks the character designers favor, and use them to make my own designs more convincing. If I'm designing something for, say, a european tv show that came out in 2005, I'd refer to the fashion and design tendencies that were most prevalent in the culture then, because that's what the actual character designers would have been most inspired by. But I'm not perfect, I'm gonna have the biases of an american lesbian living in 2025 no matter how hard I try LMAO

Hopefully I was able to answer your question!

[f1cflcfic]

Won't Say I'm in Love (SMAU ft Lando Norris) part i

pairing: lando norris x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n); past carlos alcaraz x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n)

summary: As a general rule, y/n does not date athletes. You've been there, done that - would not recommend. Besides, you definitely don't do love. There's no time in the world for complicated feelings when there's a career Grand Slam to be won. But what if your heart just refuses to listen?

genre: social meda/mixed au, friends to lovers

note: this is RPF and is obviously in no way, shape, or form reflective of real persons

January 2025

[Excerpt post-match interview]

“I’m with Channel 9, Y/N – do you think that it’s fair to say that you were struggling a little bit this match, making more unforced errors than strictly needed?”

“Well, I won in the end, didn’t I?” Y/N answers, not unkindly. “I think that she’s a very strong opponent, so I had to take some more risks, which might result in some mistakes, but it also gave me the points I needed to take two consecutive sets. So no, I wouldn’t say I was struggling.”

“How did you feel going into the tournament here, knowing that there’s also increased rivalry amongst fans of Carlos Alcaraz and yourself? Does that reach you on the court?”

“I think there’s always fan rivalries, and it’s very normal to play some matches where you know you’ve got the public support, and sometimes you won’t. One of the things I like about the Australian Open is that there’s usually a really positive atmosphere in the crowds though.”

“But there’s obviously more eyes on you than on your opponent, doesn’t that have consequences for how you mentally prepare yourself?”

Y/N sighs. “I really thought we’d exhausted these type of questions already. There’s a long season ahead of us, and I’d really like to move on.”

“Hi, I’m here with ESPN. Congrats on the win today, and for getting into the semis. Last year didn’t end on the best note, and your early exit at the US Open cost you a lot of points on the WTA rankings. But you’ve certainly shown here so far that you’re ready to get back to that #1 position. What do you think has changed?”

“I really feel like I’m in a great place, I’m physically and mentally fit and just super focused. Of course I’d like to gain back the #1 position, but it’s honestly not really my main goal. My mentality is that each of these matches is just another regular match, until I’m holding a trophy in my hands.”

"Would you also say it's easier to excel when you're not constantly having to balance a relationship on top of everything else?"

"I think that greatly depends on the other person. But I'd say that the most important relationship for me as a player is with my coach, and I'm really grateful to have had Kim's support over the past year."

"Hi, I'm with Sports Inc., congratulations on your win. We saw you hit the fastest forehand of the tournament so far. Do you ever watch back your own matches to see where you can improve?"

"Thanks so much for the nice question. I don't watch things back, but usually if I or my team feel like there's bits and pieces we want to analyse, we might look for specific footage or film during practice. And what a nice stat, I didn't know, is that across the entire tournament?"

"Fastest average speed amongst all players, fastest forehand amongst WTA players. As you probably well know, Carlos leads the ATP players. Are there other players that you look up to or get inspired by?"

There's a tick in Y/N's jaw, and she whispers something to her publicist before answering the question. "I'm really excited to potentially play Coco if I get through the next match, because we train together quite often and can really push ourselves to play our best, most fun tennis. That'd also be great for the crowd, I hope. Thanks for everyone's time today."

Semi Final Australian Open, 2025

[Excerpt interview with Oscar Piastri]

"What a joy to have another Aussie athlete here in the Rod Laver Arena, enjoying some beautiful tennis today! Is this your first time visiting the Australian Open?"

"It is, actually. Which is funny, because I grew up around here. But it's definitely been amazing to come here and soak up the atmosphere, especially so close to home. So I'm super grateful to Mastercard for the invitation."

"Are there any players in particular that you're rooting for, or hope to see advance into the final?"

"Well, I'm of course rooting for our own, but I have to say that I'm also quite excited to see Y/N L/N take the win."

"She's also good friends with your teammate Lando Norris, isn't she? Had you two met before?"

"Yeah, she's also been to a few of our races. I'm honestly surprised that I got to see her here before Lando did - they're proper mates. And Carlos, too."

"Carlos?"

"Carlos Sainz. Yeah."

"So can fans of Y/N expect to see her at one of your races this year, too? Will she be in Williams or McLaren getup?"

"Gotta be papaya, of course."

Final Australian Open, 2025

Men's Final Australian Open, 2025

A/N: welcome officially to this new universe! I'm hoping to have part ii up next week and keep to a semi-regular weekly schedule.

part ii available now here

taglist (open): @linnygirl09

♥ likes, comments, reblogs are always very much appreciated ♥