#i wonder how far could it go

[smilefullofcaligari]

well that was entertaining

[rhupi]

Hiiii I love your swap au and was had an idea for it :)

Kushina finds obito walking around at an ungodly hour reading a medical book and she's obviously concerned and obito basically almost passes out and she calls the entire team to come help put as they figure out he's sick and kakashi and minato scold him whilst rin and kushina draw up a schedule for him to follow so it doesn't happen again.

Hell yeah🔥

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

A gift horse for @piosplayhouse

[stayatsam]

"Varric used to be mean and a centrist" the first time we meet Varric is roughly 20 years prior to Veilguard, and the Varric in Inquisition, who we see become a responsible father figure to Cole, is from 10 years prior to Veilguard

i think its' actually very fortunate that we got to see Varric grow from being a carefree, kind of jerky guy running a spy network in Kirkwall to someone who learns that he has the power to change the world for the better to make a safer place for him and his friends to live in, and also that he feels good when he knows he can be responsible for other people

just a thought idk. i see so many complaints about missing DA2 Varric as though he didnt see Kirkwall's destruction firsthand. he's really shaken by it in Inqusition dialogue and banter, he developed as a character. this isn't a new sudden change brought on by veilguard

[tetzoro]

the day the earth stood still is the day i felt your presence leave it, and then every day after that.

[the3rddenialist]

(( What time is it? Yeahhhhh, more @slay-the-heroine by @tai-janai, traditional edition))

Another Sly Spectre

Chapter 3 Buddies (something something narrator things fucked them up)

[unordinary-diary]

Remi and Swimming

Why can’t Remi swim?

That’s a genuine question. Why does Remi, at seventeen years old, not know how to swim?

After some quick research, I found that being unable to swim is actually way more common than I thought. Still, I want to speculate on Remi’s reason.

The Red Cross lists fear as the top reason people cited for not learning to swim. Other reasons I can think of for not learning to swim are: couldn’t afford lessons, didn’t live near a pool or body of water, disability, or simply never made time to learn.

However, in Remi’s case, I think it’s much more likely because of her ability than anything else.

It could be because her parents wanted to wait until she had better control of her ability before putting her in water with other kids. This of course, raises the question of why she didn’t learn before her ability developed. It could also be that someone in her family had an incident in the water, and the family was very cautious after that.

I personally like to believe that Rei had an ability-related incident when Remi was quite young, and her parents wanted to keep Rei out of the water until he could control his ability better. Because it would be mean to take Remi swimming and make Rei stay behind or on land, Remi’s lessons got put off indefinitely until they were forgotten about.

Of course, this scenario also means that Rei never finished learning to swim either.

I also like the idea that their mom was the one who had a swimming accident, and was somewhat traumatized by it and therefore extremely paranoid about putting her kids in the water. This explanation would also mean that Rei probably couldn’t swim.

I will now kindly place here for my own enjoyment, a reminder that Blyke was the one who taught Remi to swim and it was cute as fuck:

♡

[thyhauntedmansion]

Since they often end up on opposing sides, occasional acquaintances turned on eachother by differing morals, beliefs, and end goals, battling until they are battered and bloody, despite knowing the ultimate outcome:

Would they be doomed to the same fate in another world?

Cassandra betrayed by her only friend?.. sound familiar?

[isitwrongtotrytopickup---dragons]

Was that first glance truly a gay little moment between Mizu and Akemi, or was she actually surprised (maybe even a little jealous?) that femininity could even look like that? Lavish, spoiled, seemingly loved or at least, something to be desired. I think it's pretty sure that she does not grasp how Akemi's life is a prison just as much as hers. That much is clear in their dialogues and her behavior towards her.

What if that dialogue (you, magical forest creature spoiling your good chances at a good life etc etc) was actually lowkey jealousy? of a life she herself would never get to experience as a woman? of being allowed to be a woman AND have a chance at happiness?

[barnabyboppins]

Hopefully lukewarm take (i haven’t checked)

I recently finished reading the Heroes Of Olympus series (having read pjo immediately prior) and I think it’s pretty shitty that the worth of all of our good guy characters are, to a notable degree, measured by their ability to find and engage in romantic relationships and are then greatly defined by those relationships. (Disclaimer; I don’t think I’m in a justified position to discuss lots of the racial criticisms for HoO but I do agree with a lot of em and that aspect does factor into this topic)

7+ important recurring characters is quite a lot of people to balance, even in a five book series and all of the non-pjo characters suffered immensely for it. But one character arc I anticipated over and over again that never ended up happening was any one character finding fulfillment from the non-romantic relationships around them by de-prioritizing the idea of a perfect someone in favour of accepting the support of their friends/comrades/campers/family/etc. (Second disclaimer: I don’t expect a novel saga from 2010 to have characters declaring their orientations (or lack thereof) aloud but the idea of a character learning to define themself by or through something outside of romance isn’t a new one)

I think Percy and Annabeth are very cute and work well as a couple (are they the only white couple?) and I don’t really see any chemistry between Piper and Jason (I feel like they’re on very different paths from each other and Piper stagnates greatly in favour of supporting jasons development) but I think literally every other Good Guy character had the potential to not need romance in their arcs. Frank could have been raised to praetor by consensus and recognized by his peers and grandma, actively validating his growth rather than him achieving great feats and no one noticing or really caring except for Hazel. Hazel could’ve been shown learning about the modern day with Frank and Nico during downtime and reconciling her identity and trauma with the diversity of today while discovering a new freedom in acceptance (from the Seven) of who she is from back then and who she may yet want to be (and also not dated a 16 y/o at 13).

Leo, Reyna and Nico were the main ones I was thinking would forgo the need for a partner at least as a necessity for their growth/healing as all three have severe familial trauma, are distanced from other demigods socially somehow, and all were explicitly ousted from conventional romance in-writing.

Initially with Leo I had hoped he would confront his struggle being the “seventh wheel” by expressing how he was feeling overlooked as a friend (and as the ONLY shipwright) in favour of everyone’s romantic interests, which would lead into further emotional vulnerability in the party but, that never happened save for a few stoically non-communicative gestures of support to Frank and otherwise weird hang-ups on Hazel before he fucked off to Calypso, letting his friends think him dead for weeks. Leo lacked connection and felt inferior and less important than the rest of the Seven and the narrative validated that by only fulfilling him through an a Rapunzel-like hot babe trapped on an island who is physically dependent on his emotional dependence on her. That’s not a recipe for healthy relationship! I related to Leo initially as an aromantic person with 9 siblings, half of whom are already coupled so it was very disappointing when I realized by the third book that RR just didn’t take what was to me the most obvious arc for a character who is vitally important to a team but least noticed. Also the Hazel-Frank-Leo pseudo-love shape didn’t need to happen, at least in the way it did, and I think the Leo-Hazel-Sammy weird love thing was stupid.

I think Nico and Will are a very cute couple and I’m looking forward to reading their book when I come around to it but I felt unsatisfied that the thing that got Nico to stay at camp after 5 books was a guy who had little significant presence until the last book and not like, any of the other deeply important connections he made during his journeys? Nico’s been talking about never returning to either camp for a while and none of the Seven or Reyna (I think) thought to check in with him? I get that Will is supposed to be like the first person to insistently want Nico around but if Will really is the first then that’s kinda fucked up given the whole like, eight books worth of people he’s met. It’s a bit fucked up that after years of Nico’s presence, seemingly the first connection to anchor him down is an unspoken suggestion of a romance

Reyna’s character journey confuses me because I don’t if I missed or forgot it but I don’t remember her having a conclusion to her internal struggles. Aphrodite telling her she’s doomed to singledom gets brought up again and again and it’s mostly just to make you feel bad for her. She doesn’t tell anyone else. She doesn’t seek fulfillment in the platonic or familial connections she has. They visit her house, trauma dump about her abuse AND fakeout her sisters + the hunters + the amazons deaths just to have Reyna be even more hurt. Reyna and Nico come to understand each other while they’re travelling but by the conclusion of the series she’s just gone back to her isolating and stressful role as the praetor, but now with more work to do! Aphrodite’s words are never explained and their veracity is never tested and all it serves is to give Reyna more misery porn.

I guess what I’m saying is I think the story would have been better if The Seven & Co had a little more connection with each other and not just with their respective partners and if we could have seen some internal growth come from that.

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

the x files au where everything is exactly the same except mulder takes home the child neanderthal from the jersey devil episode and raises them as his own

[bluerosety-blog]

Lol the "sure sure" 🤣 But the Spanish version is even better, they put it quotations jajaja I can't! "Amigo de la infancia"! 🤣🤭

Lol this doesn't help my "they have a height difference" agenda~😌🤭 I know Kacchan wants to hold Izuku's hand. 😏

[demaparbat-hp]

For the Spirits—

Chapter IV: To Be Human.

To feel like crying, but say you're fine

To think you're losing all the time

To never truly know your mind

Just to breathe, and to bleed

Is how to be human

—How To Be Human by Amber Run

.

The Painted Lady hummed, “I was beginning to think you’d pretend I wasn’t here.”

“Are you?” he muttered, leaning over the rail. She tilted her head.

“Am I what?”

Zuko turned to face her.

“Here.”

[batsplat]

as someone who keeps an eye on academy boys growing up, just throwing out some random info<3

luca said he’s pretty good at tennis, and all i know is he’s a one-handed backhand player. pecco mentioned this summer that he often plays tennis in the winter, i’m guessing he means during the offseason. he said he hired a coach and takes three lessons a week. of course he’s one of those guys who got more into tennis because of jannik sinner

please ALWAYS throw out some random info

luca having a one-handed backhand makes sense because like. i genuinely don't think there's anyone else on the grid who is more one-handed backhand-coded than him. he very much comes across like a one-handed backhand type of guy. anyway i bet I could take him. and ohhh i didn't know that about pecco, that's really sweet!! i mean the taking tennis lesson obviously, not the being a sinner fan thing. have had to develop an extremely high tolerance for riders delving their toes into tennis opinions after Certain Beloved Riders keep posting instagram stories (?) about australian open finals that send me into a deep depression. not expecting them to have enlightened takes but they just keep rooting for their countrymen (very much only men #lmao) and that just has unfortunate implications given where they're from. alas. did see musetti was at the qatar grand prix chatting to pecco when he should have been on the practise court to support his child, which is at least marginally better taste in players. and pecco taking tennis lessons is nice

[corellianhounds]

Idk why everyone thinks Crosshair was the chaotic misbehaving brother as a cadet. Mr. “Good soldiers follow orders” even without the chip? Mr. “Loyal to the Empire” even after they destroyed all Kaminoan cities and facilities and didn’t care enough to come back and see if there were any survivors? Mr. “Not immediately swayed by emotional convictions” even when they belong to those closest to him who he should trust above unseen authorities?

Even if you think obedience and compliance was hammered into him by those in charge and he had to learn to keep his head down or face the consequences, that doesn’t explain why it takes him so long to eventually accept the truth, despite the mounting empirical evidence he receives after the most dire possible circumstances that should show him that those in charge are wrong. It isn’t until Mayday’s death that Crosshair finally accepts the truth because it’s then that he’s being directly told by the people in charge that he and everyone like him is expendable and unnecessary.

Somebody with a rebellious youth is much more critical of authority figures even if they’re presently obeying them, and they’re much more ready to drop said authorities the second it’s a viable option and they physically can. Crosshair doesn’t behave like a dog that’s been beaten its whole life, he’s constantly making active decisions not only to follow the Empire but to enforce what the Empire dictates, even when he’s the one reaping the direct consequences of pushback on the ground for it. Because that’s what good soldiers do.

This guy was the kid following the rules by choice and getting mad at the others for finding loopholes or accomplishing things the ‘wrong’ way, especially if and when it got all of them in trouble (because they were kids and wouldn’t have always been right). Rules and structure are there for a reason. We’ve been here less than ten years, what on earth makes you think we know more than the people in charge? Why do I have to be punished because you guys couldn’t do as you were told?

To me the four of them (and Echo later) are a sliding scale when it comes to decision-making based on head vs heart. Crosshair and Tech are on one side, using logic and reason over emotion as their basis for decision-making and how they see the world, and Echo and Wrecker are more on the heart/instinct side of reasoning, putting people and ideals ahead of simply accomplishing objectives despite what the odds might be against them. Hunter’s the balance in the middle, being able to see both sides and weigh what the best option is based on the evidence and the context within which it’s being given. All of them have different fluctuating percentages of what’s going to motivate or drive them day by day, just based on the context of their circumstances, but that’s the general scale.

I think Hunter as a kid probably realized if he could get all of them to learn the rules as quickly as they could, then they’d know how to break them effectively with the least amount of repercussions and collateral damage. They were an experimental group for a reason and were likely given a modicum of wiggle room when it came to problem-solving, the Kaminoans not just allowing but pushing them to be more creative, flexible, and adaptable. They all know the hard rules of structure, chain of command, and behavioral compliance, but after that they’re given more freedom of choice. Their personal convictions inform both the why and how of following orders.

Wrecker is easier to figure out because he wears every thought and emotion on his sleeve and sees no reason not to. He’s more of a follower— Thinking is for other people, he’s a busy guy and man of action, give him something concrete with actionable directions and he’ll accomplish it with aplomb.

Tech, as a kid, likely knew both the spirit and letter of the law, which means he could see problems and solutions objectively regardless of his personal feelings/opinions and knew that rules are there to be guidelines: No structure is perfect and always following rules exactly was never going to always be the right decision. He would choose whichever seemed like the most logical, obvious route to success, finding loopholes and workarounds where he could as a means of balancing the consequences or fallout of said decision.

Hunter also knew both the spirit and letter of the law, but he was able to read situations and people better than Tech was, relying more on his gut instinct to tell him what the best course of action would be, even if that choice wasn’t the most logical. He’s a mediator and the best choice of leader because of his ability to get people working together by knowing how to convince each of them in their own way that this plan will accomplish their objective AND lead to the most amount of people being satisfied/happy in the end, them included. Despite the fact Hunter’s more reserved, he’s still a people person. It just happens to come from empathy, observation, and instinct, the latter two being qualities he was designed to specialize in.

Crosshair obeyed the letter of the law because structure exists for a reason and if that structure has yielded the best results and most success for the longest amount of time, then it’s obvious it must be the right one in place. Loopholes can be taken advantage of, but only when there isn’t an explicit wording against it or there is clear and mounting evidence that the rule doesn’t apply to him. To deviate from the majority in matters of how something is achieved is acceptable; to do so in matters of why is not.

[enchantrum]

Secrets of the Obscure is alright and all but am I the only one kinda miffed that they ripped off a lot of it from Dragon Age: Inquisition and didn't really add or change enough to be it's own unique thing?

even the rift hunting mechanic is Exactly The Same, because you Open the rift, then fight something then close it. the animation is almost 1-1 and even the eye in the rift looks like the Inquisition eye. if it wasn't for the fact that Even The Mechanic is the same I might not have noticed it so much, but the more I play the more blatant it feels

and then their wizard lore also just feels like how demons come out of the Fade in Dragon Age to possess mages. it's almost exact

disclaimer that I'm still enjoying it because it's fun and I like that we get to see Zojja again and have a better map for practicing skyscales for those who don't have one yet, but uh...this whole plot was stolen!

and yes I know there are certain fantasy tropes that re-occur in fantasy over and over, but this doesn't feel like that. it feels like the writers legit just snapped the base ideas from DAI and then barely added or changed anything to make it uniquely Guild Wars

imo it's definitely the weakest of all the packs

which is a shame because I LOVEDDDDD the intro. the whole sequence of having to defend yourself and run for your life was so ridiculously tense, I really felt like I was playing a horror game

but now I'm on Ep. 7 and all the potential feels wasted because I feel like I'm playing the underwritten fanfiction of another game that I already played 10 years ago and didn't like that much the first time