#i just want to exist and observe

[maudiemoods]

Ohh the urge to go completely incomprehensible

[xxplastic-cubexx]

cant stop thinkin bout charles and erik readin together on the couch but instead of reading with him charles is listening to eriks thoughts while he reads. Live mind commentary ……..

[usagifuyusummer]

Timmy with his found family your honour. *sobs furiously*

[bumblingbabooshka]

S'chn T'gai-Grayson Family Memes

[wizardsix]

I can't remember who said this but there was this one dev who said that when making romanceable characters they have to be attractive in some way (personality, looks, not too morally fucked up etc). and since I read that, the statement hasn't left my mind and I'm very aware now of whenever outside influence and modern discourse get to me or other writers. like just yesterday I found myself rewriting a scene to be more "comfortable" to witness, even though the point was to be emotionally charged and face a difficult topic the character had been actively lying about. but some things can't be glossed over. sometimes it's good when media grabs you by the shoulders and makes you face horrible shit. it's good when media makes you uncomfortable even if it's coming from a ~romanceable companion~. that means it's working. if you remain comfortable forever you learn nothing.

I bring this up bc the veilguard companions are the perfect example and victims of the "romanceable characters need to be attractive" mindset. they don't have ugly sides, they don't fight with each other--and I mean really fight--they don't have controversial opinions or do problematic things. they don't ever question your authority over their lives and why you're the guy in charge. they are nice and perfect and their problems aren't really that serious and can be fixed by simply having a therapy session w rook (bc being possessed or gaining new magic isn't a big deal in a world where previously such events are Very distressing and hard to control). they are further proof that trying too hard to make something attractive has the complete opposite effect if your brain isn't the size of a pebble.

it's overall very frustrating that big game developers continue to be so spineless and I'm not giving anyone a pass for shallow writing, especially from a franchise that is known to have complex characters. none of this is impressive after the first three dragon age games, which were well loved and dissected and debated for years after their release. that isn't to say these games don't have kind characters, having that balance is why I personally like dark fantasy and liked what the dragon age games offered (whenever the writing was good..). it's not dark for the sake of being dark (see grimdark), there's a reason why these things are happening, and in this world no one is completely innocent even if they have good intentions. most people like when their characters aren't always kind or agreeable, bc it's extremely rewarding to finally find that middle ground (of course I have to bring up larian, who made bg3 and proved just how much people appreciate flawed characters, see astarion). conflict is the driving force of a story, no matter what it is. even the most sickeningly sweet cozy slice of life story will have some kind of conflict. it's unavoidable. that's life. taking that away is setting yourself up for failure and all that remains is a boring story full of boring people. no one cares about characters who have their lives together.

(the post is technically over but I wanted to put some final thoughts under the cut bc this got longer than I meant)

I want to go back to the statement real quick... like i do agree, it's true as writers we'll subconsciously (or consciously if you're insecure) try to make our characters appealing, but this is the common trap writers fall into by giving a shit about what others think and want from Their work (which btw I fully believe in writing what you want even if it's "bad" because something with genuine soul will never be as bad as soulless cashgrabs). romanceable characters can and should be as flawed as you'd make any other character, bc trust me there's an audience for everything. even a random npc with two lines will be attractive to someone.

the pressure of an imaginary audience is what pushes writers into a corner and prevents writers from writing and exploring what They want. it's the writer's story first, not the audience's. I think the romanceable companion trap can be easily avoided if writers just 1) grow a bit of a backbone and 2) ask themselves if this is even a necessary or insightful mechanic that will help develop a character further. ask themselves if this character even has the capacity to handle a romantic relationship bc everything else is subjective and it's impossible to appeal to everyone (which apparently this is a controversial take). I won't sit here and pretend that I don't appreciate a good romance, but sometimes all someone really needs is a friend.

obsidian is a good example of self aware devs. they tried to do romance for pillars of eternity 2 bc of fan demand, and it didn't work very well. now for avowed, they didn't explore romance bc they know it's not their strong suit and don't feel it's necessary for this story, instead that time and effort went to developing the characters in other meaningful ways. I have nothing but respect for such a decision bc they know what they want from their story instead of lying and trying to be everything at once. less is more as they say.

[nautilusgays]

If I were making a mini series of 20000 Leagues Under the Sea I know how I would end it.

Aronnax is working on his book. He is feeling out of place and lonley in Paris, even though he's surrounded by people at the university, at the museum, and Conseil (and occasionally Ned) remains at his side. Even though he loves them dearly.

Pierre is walking around the museum looking dead and models of marine animals. They are nothing compared to the vibrant marine life he witnessed aboard the Nautilus.

Conseil suggests 'Monsieur should spend some time by the coast for his health?'. He knows.

Then we see Pierre working in a house with a beautiful ocean view. He is trying to finish his book but is constantly distracted and look out of the window, out at the sea - just in case..perhapse?

The final shot is him just standing knee deep, fully clothed, in the sea, staring out at the horizon. The camera just keeps zooming out and backwards across the sea. Pierre's form is getting smaller and smaller until he disappears. Now it is just the sea and the waves. The screen darkens into black, ready for the credits, but at first we are left with nothing but a dark screen and the sound of the waves.

[ichthyorelationships]

an idea i invite anyone else to write about / run with lol....

the premise that The Change gets all messed up for alberto, say it's something that can happen from stress, &/or happens rarely and you just have to wait for it to resolve itself....used as some parallel to struggling through some emotional turbulence / upheaval / questioning / Realizing Things, etc etc

[clawsextended]

in my perfect world everyone makes so many lesbian muses the men then have to deal with the exact same behavior when every single post ever written isn’t about dick.

[aparticularbandit]

Okay, just finished rereading the Koizumi exposition chapter, so gonna talk about the implications of his everything a bit.

Closed Space exists.

Closed Space occurs when Haruhi is in emotionally unstable.

Within Closed Space are big blue monsters that destroy the world around them.

If left unchecked, Closed Space will grow and encompass the entire world, destroying it.

Koizumi and his agency woke up one day knowing all of the above - and also that they had the power to fight the monsters.

Like. Consider.

Haruhi subconsciously took her desire to destroy the world and start over, compartmentalized it, and then sent other people to take care of it so that she wouldn't, you know. -gestures-

Haruhi took her depression/despair/anger/etc. and compartmentalized it where she wouldn't ever have to address it and where if it wasn't taken care of it would consume everything and then trusted that other people (chosen by some unknown process in her subconscious) would fix it.

Which, like, one - that is a great metaphor for shoving your emotions down and not addressing them while your friends and family both notice and are trying to change things.

But also, like. clearly Haruhi, subconsciously, very strongly does not want to destroy the world. She can clearly move herself into Closed Space with Kyon and have everything she thinks she ever wanted - we see her do that at the end of the first book - but her priority is actually no, I don't want to destroy the world, but also I cannot acknowledge ever that I have the power to do that, so I'm going to put those instincts elsewhere and trust that it'll get taken care of by other people who also maybe don't want the world destroyed.

Because like.

The only one who could conceivably have designed this entire -gestures- is Haruhi herself.

[yellowistheraddest]

people on internet say use references when drawing, and im tired of being stubborn for no reason this is the end of yellow as you knew me

[bredforloyalty]

honestly um ,. one part of me understands why those posts were made but, are these poser incest enthusiasts in the room with us now

[arttsuka]

how are you?

Honestly I've been better. Thanks for asking!

[goldensunset]

i want to properly hit people with the keykid dalia lore but unfortunately i’m a perfectionist and i believe text should be accompanied with pictures in order to have a stronger impact which means i gotta draw which means it’ll never happen

[raspberryjellybrains]

yknow I've been thinking about what dream looks for in friends and lovers and I've noticed that it's not necessarily people that are mean to him, but people that are direct. dream himself deals in metaphor and manipulation, it's simply what he is, so just about everything within his realm that he's encountering consistently will be such that as well. considering both his own tendencies, the environment it breeds, and his whole Thing about guilt and choice, it makes sense he would choose people who are clear and honest with him. he wants someone who will tell him how it is, but not what to do with that—even when it's not really what he wants, dream knows it's what he can need. I think that's why figures like lucienne, matthew, death, and yes, mervyn can be important! on some level, dream knows he's convoluted and shifty by nature, and he's tried to combat that with concise words and mind-melting beauracracy, but it can't fix everything. he likes people to keep him in check and I think that is the most self-awareness he has ever been capable of. so... clap? no? idk. nod acknowledgingly.

[hotsugarbyglassanimals]

i know im not breaking new ground for saying legend of korra is disappointing but so much of the series is genuinely off putting to me. the setting, the tone, how the narrative tortures korra it feels like

which is a shame because I love korra as a character (even if her writing isn't The best at times). but there are so many aspects of the show I don't like. fuck there's so many characters in the show I dont even like either

[ningningkittie]

tbh i feel like a couple of ppl are just weirdly mad and annoyed by the fact that i am not conventionally attractive but since i treat ppl w kindness and respect and understanding (a lot of) ppl still like me 💀