#i won't tag this as negativity because it's not?

[phoenixangel13]

#the fact that even well-meaning agents of history in thedas are deeply biased and flawed sources is so good#and this puts it into words so well!#and in turn I think it helps me put something into words about why da2 is my forever favorite: it brings this core da principle#of unreliable narration both out into the open and into a deeply personal and psychological space as well as historical#like to really understand what's going on in da2 you have to be thinking 'who exactly is varric tethras?#why is he telling this story and telling it like this to cassandra specifically at this point in time?#and perhaps most crucial of all#what exactly is wrong with him (a lot of stuff and you'll have to go looking for half of it in the negative space around what he's saying)'#contrast how much you learn about hawke's family vs. how much emotional insight you get into the tethras family#da2 is a character study of a dude who would rather elude study but SORRY BITCH you love hawke so much#(slash are obsessed enough with studying them like a bug forever depending on friendship or rivalry status)#that you're constantly telling on yourself. telling a story -- however you strive to obfuscate the traces of yourself within it --#is an inherently revealing act. in part varric is talking about hawke because he won't -- or can't -- talk about himself#but he's everywhere in da2; we're seeing through his eyes. we're colluding with the unreliable narrator b/c that's the price of admission#sorry I went a bit hog wild there in the tags. but in short this post is brilliant#and this principle really underlies so much of dragon age it's the secret spice that makes the brainworm wiggle perpetually#it's at work in the grand scheme of historical forces *and* right down to the level of psychological interiority#dragon age#varric tethras

(@vaguely-concerned's tags)

i am so obsessed with how much of these games are unlearning what the world tells you is fact, ESPECIALLY veilguard

One of the craziest things about Dragon Age (and this might help those of you who don’t go here kind of understand what people are yelling about in the coming months) is its lore. But I don’t mean that in the way you’re probably thinking.

I mean, quite literally, the way it presents its lore to you. In picking up notes and books as you go along and sifting through the codex, the game effectively asks you to act as an anthropologist. You’re met with a host of primary and secondary sources, some many hundreds of years apart from one another, written by anyone from the highest Chantry scholar to John Farmer, and you’re meant to constantly be questioning every piece of information you’re given. What biases are present in what I’m reading? What is fact and what is complete fabrication and what is, potentially, a slightly twisted version of a fact? How does one source potentially contradict another? The lore is one giant mystery-puzzle that you get to piece together across three games, and what conclusions you draw are going to be entirely different from someone else’s, and so on.

And yet, the series still does something even cooler than any of that. You realize, at a certain point, that this idea you have been engaging with on a meta-level — this idea that history is biased and fallible, that it’s written by colonizers and conquerers, genocidal racists and religious zealots, that the ability to control historical narrative is the prize you win for spilling the most blood — that idea is one of, if not perhaps THE most important, overarching theme of the series. The way that we remember history — what we remember and what we don’t, and why — and the impact that has on people on a sociological, political, cultural and psychological level, on both a macro and micro scale. It’s the entire thesis of the series’ main villain’s whole motivation.

And there’s gonna be a lot of people that don’t care about all that but me personally it makes me want to gnaw on a cinder block and scratch at my walls

[royalarchivist]

I say this in the kindest way possible, but I think this style of prose is more appropriate for a personal account rather than an update account. I have no idea who's being talked about half the time. 🥲

[ Tumblr meme via @mikaikaika ]

[khaire-traveler]

There's this interesting thing that happens where someone will support people blocking other people for mental wellness, but then when it happens to them (as in they're being blocked), it's no longer ok. I think some things people need to reflect on are:

1. Why is it no longer ok when it happens to you?

2. Does someone else's view of you need to alter or change your view of yourself?

3. If yes to 2, why?

4. Why is your support conditional only when it involves you directly?

None of what I'm saying implies that people who act this way are truly "at fault" for anything; it's just something to think about when you support a concept only to reject it when that concept applies to you.

[wannabe-f-f-friends]

Tell me why boys kissing is too nasty for television, but they keep showing me the Hundred Holes curse and that's just fine not traumatizing at all.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

the thing that actually irritates me the most about that post isn't that it's clearly about me, because eh, whatever, i have certainly received worse on and off anon. it's that it has no place in the jgy or jc character tags, because it's not about the characters! why did you tag this when it's just about your weird beef with me? it's irrelevant! nobody else cares about this! but they have to scroll past it to get to the fic and fanart and meta that they might be looking for. very annoying.

whatever.

[resident-sean-expert]

Even when you take Nandermo out of the equation, there's no denying that this season's writing is bizarre.

It's as if they've made every effort not to follow logical plot ideas.

Only the actors manage to make some of scenes funny, but objectively, there are SO many missed opportunities.

I understand the desire to include all the ideas that couldn't be exploited in previous seasons, but sometimes less is better.

[froganni]

Maybe a little overly serious approach to the situation, but y'all have GOT to be more respectful towards the creators you watch and consume content for. fWhip's message about getting a lot of hate is honestly abysmal.

Like, don't get me wrong, I love lore-related series! I think they're a lot of fun and I love watching them.But give non-lore series a chance! They're also a lot of fun!

These creators are all responsible adults who are very capable of creating boundaries for themselves and deciding amongst themselves what rules they want to follow when joining a project.

Obviously, there are many viewers and community members who this isn't directed at. :D

Please don't send hate to anyone, it's not helpful. If you don't like something, don't engage with it. Just leave it at that. Show respect to the community you're apart of, and to the creators that head it.

(It's fine to be annoyed with something and talk about it, but don't force a creator to see that negativity. It's not benefiting anyone.) The more hate a creator gets, the less they engage with and organize fun things for the community. Please remember to be kind.

[whipplefilter]

Richmond (2) 2024

A story told in five parts:

And me hating Austin Dillon, below the cut:

Hi! That was the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. Viscerally disgusted. My least favorite track won by the only car in the whole field I think is an actually irredeemable scourge!!! And then had the gall to go ahead and win badly!!!!! I'll accept "do what you gotta do" and I don't particularly mind people who drive like jackasses when push comes to shove (Denny and Joey, for instance), but driving through someone when you're multiple car-lengths back looks dumb as hell. Chick Hicks behavior, except Chick Hicks was tied for the points lead at the end of that season. AT LEAST HE WASN'T P-FREAKING-32 FOR THE SEASON.

Not that I dislike AD because I think he's bad at driving. I simply think he's a worm of a man! And I hate that the 3 is trash garbage all year long, every year, and then will whip out his singular win for the biennial to shunt his garbage car into the Round of 16, and half the time win a crown jewel while he's at it.

hate hate hat ehat ehate hate hat ehate hate hate hat hate

[autumn-applepie]

University ever pushes you so low you have to go buy a couple of beers? /srs/neg

I'm gonna vent in the tags for a moment humor me for once /gen

[stromuprisahat]

I read once on Tumblr that Malyen was not a real first name and that the most exact one would have in Russian variant is Malyn which apparently means small according to my memories. A child with such a name would certainly be harassed. 😂 But I can't help but think it fits Mal's character very well.

I know it as an adjective- малeнький, which Google transcribes as "malen'kiy",- and yes, it means small. Czech dictionary also makes difference between this word and малый- ordinary term for size-, explaining further that this one is tiny in a way a child is, as in not grown up.

I have to agree with you, although I'd say the bullying wouldn't end with adulthood. Infantilizing is a great way to humiliate someone and this is better than "boy" will ever be. Plus points for the possibility "Old" Ravkan doesn't specify it as a word for age, and gives us a chance to use Malyen's own name for demeaning dick jokes.

That said, LB could've used this amazing opportunity to prop up her true protagonist by making some of his female conquests note something alongside: "Not so tiny after all..." She had (probably) lesbian point out he's hot, so it wouldn't be below her.

[jinglebuckrock]

.

excuse me I'm annoyed and I'm gonna rant for a second :)

...

[goldenpinof]

Wait do we not even like SuperSeizer’s editing? I thought the worst edits by far were CasualGuyy’s and those seemed to calm down a bit with the last ones, but i found them more busy than fast. Seizer just has the best jokes, she really seems to me like she shares their brand of humor but can contribute her own Gen Z jokes. I think I’m used to Kris by now sfsgd. Like i think the thing i enjoy most about him is how much dnp clearly trust him.

This was long i would actually most of all love a concrete example of what you guys mean by “fast” editing, especially if you have an old video to compare it to. And only if you (or someone reading this) feels inspired!!

i personally don't like SuperSeizer's editing. can't speak for everyone, though. i agree that she puts funny jokes, but i hate the way she cuts moments. too many jumpcuts, a lot of them are unnecessary right in the middle of the sentences just to make the pace go faster. her editing took me out from the beginning. that spooky golf video? hate the editing so much, i couldn't even make myself gif the video because of the jumpcuts. stopped watching the sims videos partially because of that as well. wii sports was fine though, gonna give her that. others? too fast, too many jumpcuts. and from a gif-maker pov, very hard to gif. too many moments ruined by zooms in/out or just, like i said, cuts in the middle of the sentence.

overall, even though i also like Kris' editing the most (and here his ap videos are not as fast as dnpg videos). still can't make myself rewatch anything because it's just not the vibe i'm looking for. the editing of all 3 of them makes me anxious. and i'm not particularly a fan of the sims series but i'd rewatch pre-hiatus just fine, because they are kinda slow and i don't have to worry or pay attention to every second of the video.

dnp's editing on the other hand.... don't scream and poppy playtime 2 — bro, could watch it again and again. but i can see that even they are trying to go faster now. not to the extent of their editors, thankfully.

can't really give you examples right now, because it would mean rewatching stuff. and i can't :( if anyone wants to contribute, feel free <3

edit: speaking of Kris. the push the button video is edited awfully. idk what happened, but if you compare it to the pre-hiatus push the button, the difference is scary. i can't for the life of me understand what is going on in 2024 video.

[lectern-fullcauldron]

so for anyone who doesn't know, my hermitcraft process is to start a season subscribed to every single hermit, and to watch every single video and slowly whittle down whose vibes I'm feeling this time. anyway, I'm sorry to say I've lost a hermit, and I'm getting the sense I might drop another two soon

[fruitsyrups]

Random yes but thank u for making that frusan art awhile ago it's adorable and i love seeing more art of this underappreciated ship :D!!!

ahhh thank you!!! frusan is so underrated FOR REAL, i guess it's probably because after Islands they all but disappeared (like i think they were only shown twice after that and that's including in Fionna & Cake (which i actually missed when i watched it bc its such a brief glimpse)) but like. still. I actually have a little idea for another frusan drawing (frieda and susan talking on a roof grown-up edition) but I have to break up the dialogue into parts & think of more Susan Reactions so it's not just Frieda monologuing at her lol

[ofcrossrcads]

oh

[heretherebedork]

Tul's pain over choosing to lie to Waan about his name because he doesn't want to upset Waan or hurt their friendship despite how much he wants more from him is the exact pathos I was missing from VV with the secret name thing and I am so grateful that I can finally label that because I was starting to see the similarities and wondering about the difference.

The difference is that in Between Us it matters and we see the reasoning behind it. We understand why Tul feels he needs to keep his name and identity a secret and why he wouldn't tell Waan while we never got a reason or any emotional payoff in VV. Between Us has already given us that emotional pathos and that pain because we see how much Tul is hurting himself by lying.

This is what could have been if it had just actually mattered in VV,