#i'm just gonna role w/ it

[pocketgalaxies]

okay no bc i agree w you on this. there’s too much Plot happening AROUND the pcs right now that’s just the nature of where the story is at rn but it feels like they aren’t really leading the story so much as being dragged along it and being told what to do. and also we have just ended up with a party that would all rather sacrifice themselves for each other than have one (1) conversation about their real feelings. before all the ludinus stuff like properly kicked off it felt more like they were leading. but since they went to the moon idk it hasn’t really felt like much has happened bc the party was looking for it. also i miss delilah fr she could be counted on for some inter party drama fr

yes exactly!!! delilah most reliable juicy drama instigator fr. the fact that it took one (1) hour for delilah to be ostensibly neutralized for-fucking-ever is the cherry on top of the most disappointing cake ever

esp as someone who's been watching c2 at the same time it's just wild to compare. in c2 it feels like most everything is happening as a direct result of the m9's interference, and m9 is doing those things bc they want to and decided to, for their own personal reasons. this recent stretch of c3 episodes has legitimately been like 8 hours of level 20 npcs telling bh what to do and bh going "ok. thank u for telling us what we're doing next and also for letting us do something" it feels so shallow. and this is episode ONE HUNDRED AND SIX. m9 was turning the tide of the war on their own terms in like EPISODE FIFTY. *SHAKES THE NEAREST PERSON'S SHOULDERS* DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING

[arigatonamuse]

you know the brainrot is strong when i'm starting to think of an A3! fan cast for it

[britneyshakespeare]

you: nicholas alexander chavez, the actor from ryan murphy's recent work

me, a mama's girl and daytime tv viewer:

[unproduciblesmackdown]

has happened plenty around iconis goings on but what an all-timer

[icouldhyperfixatehim]

love having to provide non-misogynist caveat like "ah some of my best friends are women" but god cheum sucks lmao. i can't feel anything but bored and annoyed when she shouts at the rest of them. it's like having someone from the audience analysing the problematics of the show - but IN the show. jojo babe why have you done this to me? why have you made the only girl a permanently high horsed whinge who is sexlessly girlfriended on your MESSY SEX MESSIER PEOPLE SHOW

[miraluking-respectfully]

man while i'm on my felix kick it fucking sucks that they keep not knowing what the FUCK to do with this character when he's actually very strongly characterized. i went off about this last night but like, underutilized aspect of felix: he's like, a really good leader?? and i'm not talking an uber-inspiring protagonist-type leader like the PC; i'm talking an extremely functional organizer of people that you especially need in a military context. it's kind of hard to clock at first if you're not paying attention, especially because you're introduced to him while he's desperately trying to stave off a mutiny; but considering he's on a shithole iceball with a group of restless 18-to-25-year-old recruits who, as far as they're concerned, are trying to kill an immortal enemy, the fact that only one of them winds up ultimately raising a hand against him is impressive. he boosts morale, he makes good tactical calls on his own while not being too proud to take assistance, he metes out swift discipline without being needlessly punitive. and when the squad splits up, people keep in touch with him!!!

like, felix is extremely good at his job, and that aspect of him kind of deepens the tragedy of his permanent stagnation in rank when you compare him to other soldier comps like Rusk or even early-game Jorgan. i'm not a fan of fictional or real militaries but this character's skillset as an officer has been a repeatedly underutilized resource narratively & it makes me want to eat glass

[moe-broey]

Love Loses 😔💔 (aka second-worst festival you could possibly drag Moe into)

+ some rough sketches of the outfit!!!

I'm not too committed to fleshing it out, but I imagine it would most likely have a green color scheme, forget-me-nots and possibly pansies incorporated into its design (would probably have to figure out how all that would work together LMFAO but again. Not super committed to the thought!)

[wildflowercryptid]

⚠️ spoilers for year 5 fireworks festival cutscene below! ⚠️

the year 5 firework festival focusing on takakura being considered apart of your family is kicking my ass, especially since i got the anniversary event the day before. the way this game handles the farmer's family is so freaking sweet and impactful, i love it so much... 😭💕

[rustbeltbabey]

boo hoo sad pity party posting hours LMAO but I rlly truly don't think I will ever be in another relationship again. I don't feel that I will every b desirable or deserving enough, and I don't feel like I will ever even b seen as a guy n idk. I just don't know.

[dlnqnt]

baby this is the worst example of career inspiration i have ever read

[callixton]

much to say abt that boy today but mostly i think watching him play orin is going to take me the FUCK out

[mikumixtwix]

relistening to Genesis Girl Gretel and it's taking everything in me rn to not start actually writing something for my ffxv/evillious au like, rlly trying here to at least commit to and finish this one bit of my jaune timeloop fic

[notmoreflippingelves]

So I know, I know, we all hate it when people add comments and especially lengthy ones to posts that are no openly encouraging them. Nevertheless, I'm gonna do so in this particular case because the novel that I was writing in the tags just got too too long and I was frighteningly close to the tag limit.

The things that would fix Esteban Flores are (in roughly this order)

A found family (preferably one totally divorced from connections to his bio family) and/or a small child to take care of.

A heartfelt apology from his biological family (definitely Luisa, probably Elena, and maybe Francisco as well).

A hug x1000

Being shaken

Enough sleep

But most especially the first two.

Esteban's issues stem from being made to feel like an afterthought and/or an obligation to his family of origin. In his mind, he was not chosen or wanted. He was liked, loved even--but he was loved because he was familia--not because he was Esteban. He was not enough in and of himself, especially not when compared to Elena.

Do you know why he continued to tend the cacao trees during the Dark Times? Yes, it was out of love for his family, but I think there's a bit more to it than that. His abuela shared something private and meaningful (i.e. how to take care of the cacao trees) with him that she didn't also share with Elena. He was welcomed into Luisa's world--if only for a moment. This was his, the rare thing that he didn't have to sacrifice to or share with Elena. No one could take this away from him--the moment of feeling seen and chosen. Not even the fact that this moment was very very much an anomaly and the rest of his youth (and his adulthood) consisted of him being shoved into the corner of some family portraits and left out of others entirely---and no one noticing this for years.

In "Something I Would Never Do," Esteban outright states "Years ago/ I did not know/Just how much they cared for me." He's just now realizing after 40+ years that his family just might love him (50+ years if you go back to when Esteban moved into palace); he's genuinely surprised about it and terrified that he's going to fuck it all up. Yes, Esteban has atrocious self-esteem, but these impressions did not come from nothing. Even now, his family keeps him largely at arm's length. He doesn't appear (or isn't even mentioned) in the two family vacation episodes, suggesting he was left behind. His Navidad plans (the ones he has been dreaming of , all alone for 41 years!) are rejected outright by Luisa, and no one even bothers to ask what the Dark Times were like or how he is coping. Everything has changed and yet nothing has changed. He's there, sometimes he is shown attention and affection, but he's still made to feel that he's not really a part of the family in the same way the others were.

All this is pretty bad in and of itself, but it's made worse by the fact that he's not getting his emotional needs fulfilled from outside the family any more than he is within it. As far as we can tell, Esteban's only real friends as a child were Elena and Victor. (Maybe Felicia as well, but she was far more Elena's friend than his). And neither Victor nor Elena could give Esteban what he needed: the feeling of being liked and chosen for himself and that alone.

Elena is family--the same family has made Esteban feel like an afterthought and obligation, merely liked at best and tolerated at worst. But that's oversimplifying things. Elena is also the impossible gold standard that Esteban will always be measuring himself against. (And it's especially galling that she was 1-2 years younger than him, and he was still nowhere near her level). She's the favorite (and Luisa is not subtle about hiding that fact), the priority, the important one. She's the one who has always been and will always be secure in power and confidence and their familia's love--the exact opposite of Esteban.

Victor, meanwhile, was a horrible influence on Esteban, and not just where Shuriki was concerned. His selfishness rubbed off on his amigo, and his competitiveness and callousness brought out every one of Esteban's insecurities and worst tendencies. It's also very strongly implied that their friendship (at least on Victor's side) was rooted in how 'useful' Esteban was. Through El Segundo, Victor got closer to power/the crown and also found someone that he could feel "superior" to. Someone that Victor could consistently beat at races, so that he could feel like a winner. Someone who wouldn't tell Victor to go to hell if he subjected unflattering nicknames upon.

So yeah, Esteban's childhood primary source of affection/attention outside his family were two people who exacerbated Esteban's already huge inferiority complex. One of whom was part of said family that enabled said inferiority complex in the first place, and the other of whom is wrapped up in the event that caused Esteban to lose his family as well.

And then, Elena was trapped in the amulet and Victor was banished from Avalor, and Esteban was without anyone at all for 41 years. His primary source of attention and affection during this time was the woman who conquered his kingdom and took away his family. Someone who had preyed upon his vulnerabilities from the very start and who kept him alive only so long as he remains obedient and "useful" to her. There's nothing even remotely close to equal or mutual about this dynamic, and Shuriki did even more damage on Esteban's already battered psyche than all of the others combined and multiplied by ten.

Even after Shuriki is gone, Esteban still doesn't have anyone in his life that voluntarily chose to be in his life. His entire social circle is comprised of people that he knows through his family and/or his role as chancellor (and later his magical abilities). There's Naomi, except there isn't, because their dynamic is rooted exclusively in their shared devotion to Elena and their roles on the Grand Council (which is also directly tied to Elena).

Similarly, Doña Paloma interacts with Esteban almost exclusively in reference to his role as Chancellor. Would she give him the time of day if he had no political power or influence?. Doubtful, especially as she seems to really dislike him most of the time. There's a bit more potential for a genuine friendship to develop with Julio or Professor Mendoza, but again, these connections were formed through Esteban's job and we don't really see any interactions that aren't in service to that.

Higgins is explicitly Esteban's employee and given how insensitive he can be to Esteban, it seems unlikely that he has any real non-professional loyalty or affection to him. Same with Armando, except things do seem to a bit more cordial between them.

Esteban seems to have a good rapport with Avalor's allies, especially Toshi and Shoji, but these are unlikely to be anything more than friendly diplomatic connections and ones separated by distance.

So yeah, my boy literally does not interact with a single character on the show without at least one of them doing so out of obligation/duty/job requirement and/or ulterior motive. Fifty years later and almost nothing has changed, Esteban still has nothing and no one to call his own.

[britneyshakespeare]

you know i'm usually the last person to have strong opinions on movie casting announcements but the idea of jacob elordi playing heathcliff stirs a fiery sense of indignation in my heart

[unproduciblesmackdown]

truly lmao 2024 lambda literary award finalist wynnstannery

[roseband]

broke my cousin's delusion on what a decent paying graphic design/product development design entry-mid level job looks like day to day by having her come over yesterday while i was working

successfully before she applies to colleges, yippee!! (i don't want her wasting a year like i did in architecture program)