#ignore my lack of lore knowledge

[bajablastflavoredsaxreed]

quivering rn what the heck

baron from the baronies is something that can be so personal actually

ough

[prodigalren]

kylo ren has very little interest in history. he knows the bare minimum of the clone wars & jedi execution , but nothing of its key players . he cherry picks events that he does know to better suit his narrative . . . particularly , darth vader and the galactic empire's reign of terror over the galaxy . this could partially be from the shielding of his bloodline as a child or the simple erasure of the past . . . but mostly, he just doesn't care. knowledge doesn't fulfill his needs in his pursuit for power & meaning .

this disinterest predates even ben's fall to the dark side. master luke often hand selected ben solo to be his companion on jedi artifact recovery missions because of the padawan's inattention during traditional 'classroom' history lessons ( among other reasons ). and while ben did express an interest in these field trips , he found more joy in leaving ossus & the stuffiness of the jedi temple than the education itself. it's easier to drone out your master when there's places to EXPLORE. distractions. imminent danger.

ben solo / kylo ren is very much a study of the phrase those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it .

[gilgil-machine]

Someone: Gilkidu is boring. I need drama! I need struggle!

Meanwhile Gilkidu (and a bit of Gilkingu):

Their story is very beautiful and quite tragic as well. It's a story about friendship/love, loyalty, death and grief.

And I could write the whole essay about their relationship and how Enkidu's death affected Gilgamesh but this post is already quite long and I've already talked about this a bit HERE, HERE and HERE.

[lostlegendaerie]

Veritas Ratio and Autistic Representation

Chances are you know autistic people in your life; autism itself is a fairly recently coined term, dating back to 1911, and can encompass a wide variety of symptoms and eccentricities which have existed since the dawn of humankind. (The 'fey-touched' child or changeling in European lore shares a lot of traits with autistic children.) Autism is a spectrum, encompassing and overlapping a lot with ADHD and other neurological disorders. There are probably millions of people out there, especially from older generations, who are on the spectrum and have no idea. I did not even get my diagnosis until I was 27.

So it is entirely possible that the creators of Veritas Ratio from Honkai: Star Rail did not intend to write him as autistic and based him on people they knew in their own lives, who, diagnosed or not, are on the autistic spectrum. However, the point of this piece is to talk about the ways in which Veritas Ratio is good autistic representation (in my opinion as a autistic person), and how people who want to write characters like this can take a page out of Honkai's book in their own work.

1) SPECIAL INTEREST. Ratio shows a *staggering* amount of dedication to the pursuit of knowledge and his quest to cure the world of ignorance. This quest of his tends to supersede everything else in his life, with no mention of any friends, family connections or romantic partners in his character story. (Said as a Ratiorine shipper - not sinking any 'ships, here) His dedication to education started early, with reading college undergraduate education levels while still in middle school - seven or so years ahead of his peers. Autism is considered a disability, yes, but it does not exclude you from being smart, and the fixation on your chosen topic(s) can be extremely useful in motivating you to reach the top of your field. His path being The Hunt also outlines this dedication; he is seeking his target without rest or distraction.

2) SENSORY ISSUES. Ratio very explicitly can become distracted and disgusted by the feeling of dirt or sweat on his skin, something that tends to be more prevalent with specific clothing textures but absolutely can manifest in a need to feel clean. He also can apparently become very irritated and overwhelmed by lights and sounds, and wears his plaster mask as a way to deaden and deafen the amount of sensory input that he receives. This allows him to think better, and is a fantastic example of what it feels like to suffer from sensory overload. (If you find yourself getting stressed in crowds, try bringing earplugs and putting them in the next time you're in a noisy restaurant and see if doesn't help you out.)

3) STRONG SENSE OF MORALITY. Autistic people tend to suffer from a somewhat black-and-white feeling of right and wrong, and can hold themselves and other people to an extremely strict moral code. This does not mean that they are always correct in what they believe is right and wrong, but it means that they can be extremely passionate about following those rules. Ratio's beef with the Genius Society and their selectivity is indicative of his unwavering passion towards sharing knowledge with the masses, but the tactless way in which he wishes to cure ignorance bleeds into our fourth point.

4) DIFFICULTY WITH SOCIAL CUES. In one of his earlier conversations with Aventurine (where he is clearly irritated at how careless Aventurine seems to be about their entire mission), Ratio inadvertently insults Aventurine's his lack of education and parents. He apologizes afterwards, stating he did not intend to come across that way, but he maintains the same imperious tone of voice. Autistic people often, but not always, struggle with social cues and can often be considered rude when we are trying to be direct and easily understood; and we can especially struggle with understanding sarcasm or sounding sarcastic when we intend to be sincere.

With my reasons for believing Ratio to be Autistic coded firmly established, let's move onto why I think he is good representation. The two most important parts of representation, in my lived experience as an Autistic person, are RELATABILITY and EMPATHY.

Ratio exhibits some of the same mentalities and symptoms I've had, such as being misunderstood and accidentally offending people and becoming extremely stressed in large crowds due to overstimulation, so he checks off the first box. But the way that the other characters in the game respect him and do not ridicule him for his eccentricities marks the second. Whether in marketing material or in character dialogue options, Ratio's love of baths, his plaster bust, and his ceaseless drive to educate other people (whether they need it or not) are seen as charming and generally positive, and those attributes are not constantly brought up (and mocked) in his interactions and dialogue with other characters. Aventurine doesn't constantly ask Ratio if he needs to leave the Dream to take a bath, and the TB's text conversations with him allow you to engage with his special interests such as his requests for problems to solve and debates to wage against you. He is canonically seen and respected as a brilliant individual, and not reduced to a joke or viewed as comic relief (e.g. Sampo, who almost exclusively is given negative dialogue options for the player to use when interacting with him and who almost every character in the story openly despises.)

Some of you are going to disagree with me in the comments (which is fine, it's my opinion), but for the few of you who read this all the way through, thank you. I hope that this helps you view Ratio and Autistic people overall in a new light, and I am excited to see where else we go from here with him and the rest of the cast!

[ckret2]

How do you (personally) rank the validity of different canon sources?

Ex. Show, Books, Livestreams, Panels, Deleted Scenes ect.

Disclaimer ahead of time that this is solely for my own personal canon-compliant fic writing purposes and I don't expect anyone else to follow this or even think they're obligated to write canon compliantly

Tier one: the show is more canon than the books, but only 1% more canon. In defiance of Alex's decree, I do treat Little Gift Shop of Horrors as canon.

Tier two: everything in the books (plus the books' tie-in websites, like Shmeb-You-Unlocked or TINAWDC) is canon UNLESS it's contradicted in the show. If there's a contradiction, usually the show wins, but it has to be decided on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes contradicting book info take precedence over show info if the book's info is better. The best outcome is when the info can be smoothly synthesized. (Note that having to weigh a book against the show only applies to CONTRADICTIONS; if the book just ADDS ONTO our knowledge of the show in a way that doesn't actually contradict it, it's automatically canon.)

Also in defiance of Alex, I consider Time Pirates' Treasure wholly canon, with the "official" timeline being one of the ones where they get the treasure and all of the other choose-your-own-adventure branches being things that happened in neighboring parallel timelines.

Out of the books, Journal 3, TBOB (+TINAWDC), and Lost Legends (+Shmeb-You-Unlocked) are the most canon. TBOB takes precedence over Journal 3 on matters where TBOB's lore is clearly intended as an upgrade on prior ideas (ex: the shaman's portal and the pyramids). Dipper & Mabel's Guide, Time Pirates' Treasure (+ the Axolotl page), and Don't Color This Book are secondarily canon. Lazy screenshot-based novelizations of existing episodes are whatever.

I choose to selectively semi-reject some of the skeevier conspiracy theory claims in the books as "Bill's lying about these": outside of those exceptions, going "there's no evidence Bill's lying about this part but I've decided that he is just because I don't like it" is the coward's way and dishonorable.

Info in the Bill Cipher AMA is third tier canon, since it was written in-character and comes directly from Alex. (Some quotes from the AMA were recycled directly into TBOB + TINAWDC.) Gus Burnside's twitter account is also third tier.

For the first three tiers, all info is canon unless something in a higher tier contradicts it.

The Cipher Hunt is 3.5th tier.

All out-of-universe materials—livestreams, panels, interviews, DVD commentary, tweets, doodles & concept art, etc—are fourth tier. If it's contradicted by anything in the higher tiers, they take precedence; but, for lack of a conflict, out-of-universe materials fill in the gaps. But the person involved matters: show writers' statements on the characters are more canon than voice actors' statements. If fourth-tier materials contradict each other, the newer one takes precedence. Fourth-tier materials can be selectively ignored if so desired, but better to find a way to twist them to make them work.

The Gnome Gemulets game is fifth tier; all the lore from it is canon, but the events may or may not have actually happened, or else only loosely happened like that. Gnome Gemulets may occasionally rank higher than the out-of-universe materials.

Disney.com flash games and the like are semi-canon; you CAN take lore and details from them if you want but the events probably didn't literally happen unless you really want to make it work. Okay to imagine that events happened that were loosely inspired by the games.

Deleted scenes and cameos (ex: Bill in the Simpsons) are semi-semi canon. They probably didn't happen, especially if it contradicts canon; but you can freely take ideas and vibes from them and use them as examples of the kinds of things that could happen (ex: Bill would try to con people into buying crypto just for the heck of it).

Unwritten episodes are semi-semi-semi canon: they definitely didn't happen, but by god, you could MAKE them happen.

The How Not To Draw Grunkle Stan short is as yet unknown. Under normal conditions it ought to be semi-semi canon, but since TINAWDC did some stuff with the Henchmaniacs escaping to reality shortly before this clip came out about Bill escaping to reality, there's a slim possibility this is part of a budding storyline about Bill & the gang in the real world, so I'm reserving judgment for now.

[rottenpumpkin13]

AGSZ goes to Yharnam (Bloodborne world)

Written by @heraldofcrow , Bloodborne expert:

• Angeal dies first (lol) and ends up in the Hunter's Dream. Charmed by the Doll, fascinated by Gehrman's sagely regret, and delighted by the mixture of cool weaponry and garden atmosphere, he ends up staying there and ignoring the hunt. After a few hours, he has bonded with Gehrman over the mutual agony of training unhinged students and inevitably being separated from them via some form of suicide.

• Genesis somehow ends up in Cainhurst and first gets lost in the library because he's distracted by all the old books. But every time he tries to start reading, several of the ghost women screech at him, giving him multiple heart-attacks. He can't believe he will never stop being tormented by people with long silver hair and sharp objects wherever he goes.

• Then, after accidentally killing the frozen popsicle man (he melted him with a single firaga in a panic because he got jump-scared), he meets Queen Annalise (the vampire queen) and thinks she's Minerva, so he pledges loyalty but he doesn't get why she keeps telling him to fetch tadpole-shaped blood for her to consume. (Do NOT question why they look like tadpoles).

• Sephiroth ends up in the nightmare realms because he kept following the Amygdala to "free them from the lives of misery Hojo definitely created them for," and then he gets zapped into The Layers, where he somehow comes across Micolash (Hojo 2.0).

Micolash: Ah Kos...or some say Kosm....

Sephiroth: I have gained 99+ insight and the voices have spoken to me. You are my father. You have been my entire life and you never once admitted it to me. How could you, Hojo?

Micolash: Wait what

Sephiroth: Was I nothing but your greatest experiment to you? Was I like those abominations you created for the sole purpose of communing with Jenova?

Micolash: What the fuck

Sephiroth: And even worse! You were British this whole time! I can't believe this. My life is an overarching, singular lie crafted by your scientific hubris. I have no choice but to kill you now, Hojo.

Micolash: WHO IS HOE JOE?

*Sephiroth throws Masamune at him and misses because Micolash jumps through a mirror screaming*

Written by yours truly, lacking all knowledge of Bloodborne lore, relying solely upon the miracle of Google images:

Zack: Cool! Mutated dog beast!

The hunter: That is in fact the scourge.

Zack: It's the s'cute! :)

[mwolf0epsilon]

Sometimes being in the SW Fandom is about diving into the annals of the internet researching the most obscure tidbit of batshit insane Canon or EU Lore imaginable to man (which is honestly my favorite thing to do because people have done some pretty insanely funny things with this universe and characters). But for the majority of the time, being in the SW Fandom is also watching people repeat a cycle of asinine arguments that make an absolute ass out of them for the worst possible reasons.

So here's a quick reminder of past arguments to be mindful of and always consider, when you see something in the tags that makes you wrinkle your nose at:

Everyone has something they like or dislike about the overall universe and story. Be it the Original Trilogy, the Prequels, the Sequels, the Animated series, the Live-Action series, EU stuff, Novels, etc. No one is above or below anyone else just because they don't love the entirety of the universe and/or the direction the current writers are taking it.

Canon can be a good baseline for your own creative purposes. You don't have to love it (because yes the whole thing can be inconsistent as hell), but don't get to a point in your fanfic/AU world-building where you vehemently deny that canon is an actual thing. This goes hand in hand with your personal depiction of characters vs someone else's depictions. Reading comprehension and the creative process depend on perspective and how you process the information you're given, so it's only normal that no two person's idea of a character is the same. But saying that your headcanons are how the characters should be written by everyone is not gonna do you any favors in the long run, because it's not up to you to decide on that. Don't forget Blorbo's actual roots and what it took to get him where you took him, but don't try to force someone else to accept the journey you orchestrated for them!

No one's OC should be put on a pedestal. It's good that people feel comfortable enough to play Barbies with each other's OCs in roleplay sessions, or even add a cameo in a fic to a character of a friend and/or artist/writer they admire from a distance. Hell, the fact many people are passionate about someone else's little fella/s is great! But the moment someone's OC becomes an object of obsession within a Fandom community, things can go a little wrong... It stops being fun to be in that kind of space that goes from welcoming OC discussions to suddenly shunning new people in favor of someone's Ultimate Blorbo who now has a Cult Following and should be written into every fanfic ever.

No one is evil for lacking knowledge or self-awareness of certain grievances that people rightfully have with the source material. The SW Fandom has always had a long-standing issue with racial stereotyping, whitewashing, cultural appropriation, sexism and many other equally serious topics that have been more eloquently explained in posts made by people much more eloquent and qualified than I am or ever will be. However, one must recognize that not everyone who joins the Fandom is immediately aware of these things. Especially the younger generations that have either not been exposed to these concepts due to one reason or another (upbringing, biased educational curriculum, etc), or because they were simply never in a position where they could delve into these topics with someone knowledgeable on them (some experiences simply aren't universal, especially if you come from a more privileged family). For the most part, SW is just a silly sci-fi universe that is nothing more than a simple means of escapism or dumb fun. Not everyone is going to study it under a microscope or go through it with a fine comb. That said, another important thing to remember is to listen to those who know their stuff and that have had personal grievances with any of the topics above. You can be excused for lack of knowledge, but you cannot be excused for purposefully ignoring the voices of those who provide you said knowledge for free if you go searching.

This is kinda returning to the second and previous topics, but I really need to put emphasis on this: If you're going to cling to certain design choices with an iron first and incorporate them into your personal ideas/headcanons, please always consider how it SOUNDS when you say characters that are written with basis on real POC people/communities are much better/superior if they have phenotypical trait expressions that are not present (or considered rare/atypical) in their real world basis. This is a CONSISTENT problem I have seen crop up specifically within the Clone Wars and Bad Batch sides of the fandom, especially when talking about Rex (who is a blond) and Clone Force 99 (who do not look like standard clones). Always remember: The problem isn't that Rex can't be naturally blond (genetics can be unpredictable and we really don't have an extensive look into the cloning process), the problem is the way some people think he'd be inferior in some way if he were a bottle blond who chose to distinguish himself (almost as if having darker skin, darker hair and darker eyes is somehow worse than having lighter skin, lighter hair or lighter eyes.. How curious isn't it?). Needless to say, I don't think I need to elaborate further on why CF99's "desirable mutations" giving them considerably lighter skin and less ethnic features, while also making their most POC presenting member look and sometimes act like a moronic brute (something which this Fandom pushes further by infantilizing him relentlessly), is a bit of a red flag...

Star Wars has always been political. It is literally in the name and in the meat of the writing. The entire thing is basically a political and social critique presented in a sci-fi/fantasy wrapper, with colorful plasma swords, cool spaceships, and kickass explosion bow on top. You cannot separate the political conversation from the universe's overall lore, and trying to do so makes you look foolish. Disney may have taken creative liberties with some of its shows, but at the end of the day they can't ever eliminate what the Original Trilogies and even the Prequels tried to tell us about. With that said, complaining about how some of the new shows are "too Woke" or PC is the equivalent of saying you read Romeo and Juliet and that the story is relationship goals. You might need to revisit the original material.

For the love of god if you don't like something, don't go after someone who does, it's not worth it. Sometimes the best thing you can do is either filter something you actively dislike/that makes you feel uncomfortable, or simply unfollow/block whoever is repeatedly bringing it onto your doorstep. And you also have no real obligation to explain your decision to block someone, especially if they hound you for questions. Rule of thumb: Don't like something? That's perfectly fine and valid. Take the steps to make yourself comfortable then, but don't go out of your way to be a royal asshole to someone else just because they themselves enjoy it. This encompasses things from anti-jedi demonization, actual ethnic cleansing in canon, siding with personifications of alt-right extremists, proshipping apologism, etc. The block button was added to this hellsite for a reason. Use it.

Sometimes you can't change someone else's opinions on a matter and that is perfectly fine. Just don't start a feud. People come and go, and their opinions vary (we're all individuals with out own perspectives and unique experiences after all), but getting up in arms every time someone either refuses to yield in a long-winded argument, or continuously tries to shove their unsolicited opinions/advice onto you, or even makes incredibly uncomfortable/forward/gross comments that they definitely shouldn't be saying to a complete stranger on the internet, is kind of pointless and will drain you of energy faster than you can say Death Star. You're not the lesser person for walking away from a lost cause. It's ultimately not your job or responsibility to fix/better someone else. Especially if they don't want to change.

[thebramblewood]

If the Vatores stand united on one thing, it's their absolute disdain for Old Man Vlad.

Previous / Next

(Psst... there's some bonus lore under the cut for those who can't get enough.)

More on the Vatores' complicated relationship with Vlad to come, but for now I will say that settling in Forgotten Hollow despite hating his guts was absolutely a (petty) power move on Lilith's part. Vlad doesn't have any qualms about killing humans. In fact, he has little interest in the affairs of humans at all. But what he doesn't care for is Lilith's ostentatious style. He's very old-fashioned and set in his ways regarding how a "proper" vampire should behave and doesn't like when they draw too much attention to themselves because he believes it puts vampires as a collective at risk. He once hoped to mold Lilith in his image, but that obviously didn't work out, and he now finds her indiscreet, disrespectful, and lacking manners, and he finds Caleb a wimpy annoyance who should have never been turned.

I also wanted to explain a bit more about vampire telepathy in my universe. There's a psychic link between sire vampires and their children that allows them to communicate internally (as we've seen Lilith and Vlad do before - and we'll explore the circumstances of her turning in the future!) and also to probe each other's thoughts/memories (which, for example, is what allows Caleb to track down Helena). Physical distance weakens the link, and stronger vampires can establish barricades against intrusion (like Caleb is trying to do now with Lilith). It's also not a constant thing. It's an active choice to enter another's mind. Caleb is considerate (yes, even with his sister), so he does it sparingly and accesses only the information he needs. Lilith and Vlad couldn't care less, so they'll shamelessly dig for secrets. Most vampires are also able to wield telepathic powers over humans, although obviously this takes skill and practice. Humans' minds are more vulnerable and as such more susceptible to hypnosis. This allows vampires to control humans for feeding and other purposes and also to erase or alter their memories. I don't think any of this greatly deviates from what you would expect, and I've tried to imply most of it through the storytelling, but I just wanted to explain it all in one place.

Caleb: [stiffly] Straud.

Vlad: It seems you’re out and about these days more than your sister is. How is Lilith anyway? I can’t imagine she's finally come to her senses and decided to practice moderation for once in her life.

Caleb: Why don’t you rummage around in her thoughts and find out for yourself? She picked up that habit from you, after all.

Vlad: She’s learned how to keep up her guard against me. [pointed look] As I’m sure you’ve learned your own tricks against her. No matter. There are things in that girl's head beyond description. I’d rather not get mired in her depravity. Surely you know what I mean.

Caleb: I never acquired a taste for extracting people’s secrets without their permission.

Vlad: Of course not. You’re a peculiar creature, aren’t you? I warned her you wouldn’t be suited to this life. Well, in this case, you’re likely better off. Maintaining blissful ignorance is undoubtedly more pleasant than holding the eternal knowledge of all she’s done.

Caleb: [impatiently] Is there something else you wanted to discuss?

Vlad: That man - what is it, Benali? - and his charming little book… It’s not going to cause trouble, is it?

Caleb: I haven’t seen any angry hordes yet. This is your town, old man. There’ll be no trouble so long as you don’t let it in.

[presidenthades]

could you expand on Rheanyra’s relationship with the Targbros in the AU where her and Deamon are their parents? like how do she feel about Argon being her heir? Aemond’s lack of dragon? how it is a little unsettling how angry and lowkey homicidal little Dearon can get? or like how she feels about Helena’s dreams?

I finally have time to catch up on my Ask inbox!

Aegon: Rhaenyra sees in him her younger self, who was also rebellious and preferred a life of freedom over duty. She can be exasperated by his behavior, but as someone who underwent growth and maturity over the years, she knows Aegon has the same potential if he’s steered the right way. She also remembers how she felt ignored by Viserys before she became heir, so she would want to make sure Aegon always gets that guidance from her.

Aemond: In this AU, I guess Vermax would switch from being Syrax’s egg to Meleys’s egg, hence Jace gets Vermax in her cradle instead of Aemond. Aegon and Helaena don’t have cradle eggs either, so it isn’t until Daeron that Rhaenyra’s kids get any egg. Rhaenyra might be a bit worried about the lack of eggs, but she sees how Aegon and Helaena eventually claim dragons anyway, so Aemond has the same potential. It helps that Daemon also claimed a dragon later in life, so Aemond probably has less of a complex about being dragonless if he has his father’s example to look up to.

Helaena: Rhaenyra earnestly believes in the Song of Ice and Fire, so she wouldn’t dismiss Helaena’s visions out of hand. But first she needs to realize that Helaena’s visions are visions, not random mumbling. It’s hard for characters in-universe to realize Helaena’s prophecies have significance, because they aren’t getting her dialogue highlighted on-camera like us the audience. I think Rhaenyra at least suspects that Helaena’s prophecies are more than just rambling, but she doesn’t have enough lore knowledge to piece it together completely.

Daeron: He is the baby, and his latent homicidal tendencies remind Rhaenyra of his father. 😂 She’s most prone to coddling him of all the children, but not at the expense of his siblings. Honestly, the older kids probably don’t want Rhaenyra fussing over them all the time anyway. Aegon and Aemond definitely feel like they’re too old and cool for coddling.

[utilitycaster]

If you've read that recent article on polygon about Candela Obscura - "Critical Role’s Candela Obscura fails to differentiate itself enough from its inspiration" (6 November 2023) - I don't know much about the other systems and have trouble being objective about things I love, I was wondering what your opinion is

Hi anon!

I have! I will also admit I don't know Blades in the Dark terribly well, or rather, I have roughly the same BitD knowledge as I have Candela knowledge: I've watched (or in this case, listened) to a actual play show run in it (TAZ Steeplechase) and I've looked at the SRD. The Candela full rulebook doesn't come out for a week, so I really can't judge it for myself. So this isn't going to be objective either, but hopefully it will point out what I think the flaws in this article are regardless of the merits or failures of Candela Obscura as a game.

I think my overall issue is what I said about Polygon on the whole earlier this week: it really feels like their metric is first, is this innovative; and second, "does this reinforce my pre-existing political values in a way that allows me to feel warm and fuzzy and virtuous because I played a fun game/watched a fun show and lets me continue to ignore that I haven't actually engaged in any of that tiresome and inconvenient meaningful anticapitalist action."

I also, for what it's worth, think that this mentality very explicitly conflicts with what Critical Role is doing. I think a lot of people interpret the whole "a group of friends playing games" image as encouraging parasocial behavior (which, frankly, is weird in that while the CR fandom has had a parasociality problem, it's no different than any large fandom - Laurisha shippers or the Twinnies & Husbands crowd are literally just the Actual Play Fandom equivalent of Gaylors and Larries; also like, the pitch for WBN earlier this year was basically "hey, we're four friends playing games" and no one has blinked at that, nor should they have) when I think it's intended to mean "we are friends having fun making and playing the games we want to play; it's great if you'll join us but we're doing what we want." Given that Polygon has shown something of a bias towards those shows that give them early access, I do think it might be that they're just cranky they're not being given any special treatment or catering by an actual play show they've been shitting on for years, and this is simply a vicious cycle.

All that aside, more importantly in this case, I think the article shows a notable lack of Ebert's law: "A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it." Samantha Nelson, the author of this article, appears to be both incapable of evaluating Candela Obscura outside the context of Blades in the Dark - which is frankly, in my again admittedly limited opinion, vastly overstated as an influence (the Forged in the Dark engine is certainly a strong influence, but that's purely mechanical and also it's still only an influence - more on this later) - and also seems to want Candela Obscura's rulebook to flesh out Newfaire and Oldfaire in the same way that Blades in the Dark fleshes out Duskvol.

The thing is, those wide-open spaces and the vagueness of OldFaire? That's deliberate. The Looper interview with Spenser Starke and Rowan Hall as well as the Tabletop News interview both make this clear. The aim of Candela Obscura is to be very easy to pick up, to not have a bunch of intimidating lore that players and GMs need to know before they jump in (and I say this as someone who, when invited to her first D&D game, was the person who read the PHB and sent the other new players a brief summary of each race and class; I love intimidating lore), and to accommodate a wide range of styles. They considered making Oldfaire much more detailed in the book and then decided not to so that GMs felt more free with the world. Again, my knowledge of Blades in the Dark is heavily skewed by an actual play of it that's explicitly not in Duskvol (which I think is a very interesting commentary, namely, maybe Nelson just really fucking loves Duskvol but no one else gives a shit). I genuinely think they are, as more and more Polygon TTRPG/Actual Play coverage seems to be, barely paying attention to what's in front of them and just deciding based on who put it out.

As I said in my earlier posts I do think Candela distinguishes itself from BitD in a number of ways mechanically. The gilded dice mechanic is obviously one of the biggest ones. The lack of flashbacks - a pretty core element of Blades in the Dark - is another. The fact that scars change your stats rather than dealing a permanent penalty (as Trauma does in BitD) is seen as a flaw, as is the lack of lair-building, but I think these things work in tandem. Blades in the Dark is very much about growing territory and becoming a more and more powerful crime syndicate; while four traumas will take you out of the game the same way scars will, there's a lot more opportunities to heal and I believe you have much more room to take stress. Candela Obscura, as another interview I read states (ScreenRant), is a gothic/eldritch horror game about normal people in unfathomable circumstances. You don't really get much better! You adapt, but progress against these monsters is always a long shot. Candela as an organization has been operating for millennia, and the war seems to be one of attrition, and the mechanics, from what I know from the show, reflect that.

The bit about the criminal crew and the lair is honestly kind of funny to me, because in the TAZ Steeplechase wrap-up I listened to last week the McElroys noted that the lair element of BitD was actually really hard to incorporate and they largely ignored it. Obviously that's not true for everyone, but famously D&D in the earlier editions guided high level play towards running one's own dungeon, and there is a reason that hasn't survived to the newer editions, namely, that shift from being a crew out there doing wild and exciting heists and adventures to painting the walls of your clubhouse and hiring guards is not actually fun for a lot of people.

So in summary: I really don't think the author of this article paid a single scrap of attention to the motivations behind design choices, is mad the horror game doesn't give them a kiss on the cheek and tell them they're So Good at Leftism (the comment about not understanding that the restrictions on scarlet aren't tied to anti-immigrant sentiment is particularly egregious), and generally is like "why is this game that shares some similarities but ultimately rather different goals than Blades in the Dark not literally Blades in the Dark but with slightly more aggressive ghosts."

[bitedownme]

I had an idea for the lore behind the HK route and I wanted to share it. Imagine this: MC somehow ends up in Alagadda, and depending on the circumstances, there are a couple of ways they could have gotten there.

If MC isn’t the Scarlet King’s "pet," maybe they stumbled into Alagadda via a dream or through a magical object. But if they are the SK’s pet and live in his realm, they could have found their way to Alagadda through a portal. It feels fitting that there might be a portal connecting the two realms. Now, picture this: MC, bored out of their mind, decides to have a little fun and experiment with the portal, only to accidentally teleport themselves into Alagadda.

The problem? Once they’re in, the portal disappears, leaving them stranded in this bizarre and dangerous realm. MC now has to find the portal again and get back FAST because if the Scarlet King ever finds out they’re gone, they’re in serious trouble.

As MC searches for a way back, they eventually find themselves in Alagadda’s throne room,where the HK resides. HK recognizes them immediately, either from sensing their aura (since it’s likely tied to SK’s realm) or because they’ve seen or heard of them before. Knowing that MC is someone important to the SK, HK decides to keep their presence a secret, not informing the other Lords or even the Ambassador to prevent any unnecessary chaos or confusion.

But here’s the twist: MC doesn’t know HK and isn’t afraid of them (probably because they’ve already met countless gods and eldritch beings). Instead, they start bombarding HK with curious questions: What is this place? Why is it so lacking in colors? Why does everyone wear a mask? This catches HK completely off guard. For the first time in centuries, HK feels something close to normalcy,an interaction that doesn’t treat them as a fearsome god bound to their throne, ignored or feared by everyone.

Noticing HK’s loneliness and sadness, MC makes a promise before returning to the Scarlet King’s realm: They’ll come back to visit. And that’s how their secret meetings begin.MC sneaking back to Alagadda, not just to escape their own monotonous life but to bring a little light to HK’s dark and isolated world.

Honestly, took every single word from my tongue directly. Put my thoughts into words better than I would've ever done. Probably because I am more of a visual storyteller, it seems.

I imagined it exactly the same. Although not really with SK. If there are no connection to him, then just curiosity will drive them to the same place, they never knew HK and his supposed reputation after all. He is unsurprisingly confused by both MC's appearance (which he won't disclose anyway, as there's probably no need, it'll all end naturally) and their lack of knowledge of this wicked place.

And still "Are you... Lost?" "A little bit, I think? What is this place?" is the first line that starts their conversation in my head, lmao.

[yuki-asahina]

Rules of my little blog~

Please be kind and respectful there is no need for hate

No need to spam my inbox i would try my best to respond to all of you but life is busy

No nsfw content for now im still new to writing in tumblr so keep it swf a little spice is ok though

Keep in mind that English is not my native language so please ignore the little mistakes i sometimes make

Feel free the describe what you want in detail so i can have a clean idea of what to write

Don't expect them to be too long I'll try my best to write much as possible without going of topic

Don't ask for a character x your oc fics it would be very hard to write because im not familiar with your ocs

The Fandoms i will write for

This blog is for otome games only for the moment

Ikemen prince (mainly)

Ikemen villans

Cindrella phenomenon

Bustafellows

7scarlet

Obey me!

Tears of themis

Note: Much as im very familiar with the lore and characters stories in general of the ikemen games I've mentioned above i haven't been able to read them all of the characters routes due the lack of time but im still confident in my knowledge of both ikemen games

I have completely finished the other games above

Feel free to request

Headcanons of a character in any topic that doesn't violate the rules

Character x the mc

Character x yn

And anything else that doesn't violate my rules ig

Thank you for coming to my vlog i hope you enjoy your time here<3

[death-in-a-handbasket]

This is a different Edgar anon, been reading their takes on Edgar so I’d like to add a few facts.

(Spoilers for idv lore)

Edgar is arrogant and mean (as seen in trailer) but he isn’t just that, in Game 5 lore he’s described to be polite, quiet and level headed that Kevin likes Edgar and Vera was creeped out by the way Edgar acts as she thought he was just a rich coddled boy. Either way, he isn’t the type get into arguments directly.

Edgar has a big hatred for Nobility due to his past and has distaste for attending parties hosted by nobles.

His sister died on his bday-

According to Vera, Edgar’s paintings that stuns hunter in gameplay canonically has that affect to draw people into their art. (He also drew something unsavory to see the horrified and shock faces of other survivors and he was implied to have been amused by it?-)

He assigns the people important to him with colours like his mom, his sister and Mr Sarai his mentor being red like his blood.

In his original story by his creator he used to have a cat named Mary that also tragically died.

He can definitely be mean and arrogant though especially about his art and he has a lack of trust for others.

He’s neither a soft boy nor a guy to brag about his status as a noble to others or look at them for being different or being ‘peasants’ as fanfics or fan arts made him out to be.

Anyways, I’m so surprised to see the lack of Edgar x reader content. I’m pretty sure there used to be more (I read a lot of them) but so many idv writing blogs has deactivated so unfortunately not a lot for Edgar now 🥲

Sorry for info dumping, please feel free to ignore if you want lol.

- 🎨 anon?

again, never apologize for infodumping, I quite enjoy it :D

also I think most of the points you covered I saw on the wiki when I was doing my research for these Edgar asks, I like doing a deep dive to form an opinion of my own before I start giving commentary on other people’s asks shdbjndkfj

I digress the point about him being rather level headed in the face of the match while everyone else was either losing it or forming personal issues amongst each other was interesting, especially since his game file was written from the baron’s third party perspective and is less liable to be biased in watching people act batshit

I think around most people he chooses to hold them at a distance and play at being a more solitary third party observer, it’s only when you get up close in his business that he opens his mouth and rudeness comes out. I 100% second you on the notion that he’s not going to use his status for bragging rights or hold that over people, he’s had enough of that bullshit already

I do still think he holds a superiority complex though, just not due to class origins (though it does bias him a bit) but rather he holds himself highly because he thinks of himself as the most authentic. I also think he holds himself as knowledgeable and has bias against those who he considers stupid, alas that’s where the thread of his upbringing him biases him shdbfjnfkg

He’s only argumentative if you pick a fight with him first or insult something he cares about/considers himself knowledgeable of, so while he would take the backseat in other people’s triflings and scoff at whatever they’re bickering over, should it turn to something that’s relevant to him his insufferable tendencies surface

that’s my thoughts on him thus far with the addition of your thoughts and infodump, feel free to critique/add in more asks :D nice seeing you here

[jacqcrisis]

Alright, stupid scene idea about my dragonborn man that I have that I'm going to put under a readmore since its about Ronan's anatomy and its long:

Actually first, context 1: I hate the dragonborn genitals in game. They suck. They're goofy. I know in lore, dragonborns are technically mammalian, but they also lay eggs and shit, so I'm ignoring human cock and balls much like im ignoring the fact that in game, I cant give my dragon man a strongman chubby bod. For any writing purposes, Ronan has hemipenes and they are inside of him until they aren't.

Context 2: in lore, it seems like by the time BG3 happens, dragonborn have only been around for like...100 years. They are still a pretty new thing to the planet of Toril, and especially to the continent of Faerun, where the game takes place. Not new enough that in a cultural hotbed like Baldurs Gate that you'd be shocked to see a humanoid lizard, but still fresh enough they're still weird and their anatomy isn't common knowledge outside of rumors, erotica stories, and still as of yet published scientific journals.

ANYWAYS

The dumb idea is that since Ronan's a clean boy, in Act 1, first few nights camping together, it becomes pretty clear he doesn't have much shame around his body or who sees it as he strips down near the water to clean off. He's just going to do the thing, people watching be damned, and thankfully the new company he's been keeping all politely look the other way.

Except Gale, who establishes a habit on night one of talking Ronan’s earholes off while he’s washing up. Why is he doing it? What is he up to? What are they talking about?

All questions had by one paranoid member of the party who decides to come over on night three of this to see what’s going on. Gale’s sitting on a rock, nearly falls off it when Astarion makes his appearance. He’s a little pink in the ears, sheepish and stumbling over his words when he explains they were discussing the merits of taking a deal with a cambion like Raphael.

Ronan grunts, back to them, water above his hips and clearly finishing up his washing as Astarion makes pointed comment about how this seems like an interesting occasion to have such a conversation with someone. Gale stutters out weakly that it's not like they’re doing anything else and that its just an efficient use of their time. It starts a small back and forth about Gale's real intentions that Gale is extremely losing but that argument ends rather quickly as Ronan walks out the water, nude and clearly ignoring them while he reaches for his clothes and some dry rags he left near where Gale was sitting, presumably before he was sitting there.

Astarion's mouth clamps firmly shut as he sees a strange lack of…anything discernible between the cleric’s legs. There was already an idea in his mind of who he could seduce in the camp to secure his safety here and part of this charade was to discover what he may have to work in order to do so. But now…

Gale doesn't seem bothered. In fact, he's only gotten redder as he hands Ronan a cloth to wipe down with and continues their conversation from where Astarion interrupted it. Astarion leaves them to it, high tailing it to the rest of the party eating, where he immediately starts asking if anyone's noticed anything strange about Ronan.

Everyone has.

It starts a heated debate. What's going on down there? There's no penis. No vagina. Just a bulge under some wrinkles. How do dragonborns become dragon…borned?

It's mostly between Astarion, Wyll, and Lae'zel as Shadowheart is present but silent and making a sour face about the whole thing. It isn't until Lae'zel suggests, gleefully, Ronan is perhaps a eunuch or maybe castrated for some crime in his past and Wyll wonders if perhaps this is part of being a worshiper of the platinum dragon that Shadowheart speaks up. She snaps that no, that has nothing to do with Bahamut as far as she knows and also this is a very childish and unnecessary discussion to be having about one of their group.

Until Astarion interrupts to ask in a small panic if this is part of having the tadpole in their brains and what if he's slowly starting to turn into one of those things, and that gets Shadowheart’s full, horrified participation. The conversation turns to that; what if this will happen to all of them and is that actually what's happening? Should they be worried? Wouldn't it look…smoother?

Gale parts with Ronan as the dragonborn is now dress and intends to journal, Gale getting shooed with a glare and yet there's a skip in his step during his short trek back to the party, where he is immediately subsumed into the conversation. This makes him giddy as all hell when he realizes what the topic of conversation is and he’s quick to dismiss the more outlandish notions, his too many hours reading ahem non-academic works on the anatomy of various non-humanoid races lending confidence to his lessons on how how their cleric’s whole business probably works. Which is all well and good, until, in the midst of his excited explanation, he lets slip that there is a rumor he’s read, never confirmed of course, heavens forbid he ever ask anyone something like this, that male dragonborns could, perhaps, have a second appendage tucked away.

And then all hell break’s loose again, Wyll standing up and stating he’s going to go do anything else while the other four continue a heated argument about that. Across the camp, with a light spell and his journal in hand, Ronan steadfastly ignores the conversation he’s been catching snippets of. It's not the first time a company he’s joined has taken special interest in parts of him and, if he lives through all this, it probably won’t be the last.

If any of them get the pleasure of finding out, then they should feel so honored.

[sweetchildcloud]

Welcome Tenshi(Angel)✧⁺⸜(●′▾‵●)⸝⁺✧

/ᐠ. ｡.ᐟ\ᵐᵉᵒʷˎˊ˗ Welcome to my humble writing/art blog, i will start by saying this: I'm Italian. My English isn't horrible but, it isn't the best either. I am bound to make mistakes and there will be misunderstandings but, I am learning! If you are bothered by anything I might say please do tell me right away! Most of the times that happens I do not mean it! So I'm sorry in advance if I say something bad! i'm a writer as an hobby so my work will not be the best but i will hope it will entertain you!( ๑‾̀◡‾́)✨ I'm an adult, if you're uncomfortable with that you're free to ignore me. I'm also sorry if I make anyone uncomfortable by asking their age. I don't want any misunderstanding to happen. So, if you're an adult we can chill whatever it's fine. If you're a minor I will most likely not talk to you unless you need help with mental problems. I'm happy to help with that.٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و "By "misunderstandings" I mean people thinking I have bad intentions when I ask "what's your age" to someone. Unfortunately because of my lack of knowledge in English, (since it isn't my first language) people in the past thought I was something I'm not. It made me disgusted and very hurt. I just want to relax and not worry about problems like that again. I'm just trying to make friends not start drama. Thank you. ( •̯́ ^ •̯̀) i go by Von mostly but i have many other nickames too such as Hoen,Momoko and Minty you can choose wichever you like. i have adhd,autism and neurodivergent. (｡- .•) i'm emo (kinda still doesn't have the clothing but ehh i will) pansexual and gender fluid (ฅ́˘ฅ̀)

ʚ(´꒳`)ɞ .｡✧･ﾟ:* ~♡ (｡>﹏<)

i mostly wrote about Gojo (what a surpise uh?)(ugh,shut up not now)(ok angel *winks*)(*rolls eyes*) *ahem* as i was saying i mostly write about Gojo but i'm starting to love Choso too and many other jjk characters. wanna check out my more dark themes? check out: @rabbidbunwy (this account is jjk runt,writing and really REALLY dark themes,so minors DNI) —ฅ/ᐠ. ̫ .ᐟ\ฅ — Request: My jjk master list: My Hazbin Hotel master list: fic challenge list: Daddy!au masterlist: Cowboy bebop masterlist:

HSR[honkai star rail] masterlist

check them out!:

one piece blog

i'm into fluff,comfort,drama,NSFW,SFW,gore,blood,angst and vent so my writing isn't for everyone (lol). ( ⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝) i love making suffer anime characters in my writing,especially Gojo,just for fun or own entertainment.( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ i'm into furry,cute stuff such as Sanrio characters and similar taste,urban legend,japanese lore,cartoons,cryptids and videogames. so if you dont like any of that stop following me and/or harassing me in my dm,it's not cool and i will block you ( ˶ˆ꒳ˆ˵ ) i'm dealing with depressin,anxiety and many problems in my life so if you see me not replying and/or writing a lot of angst/vent i'm just probably venting. ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)

but as i said i hope you will have a wonderful time here (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈)

ଘ(´•×•)⊃━☆.•° ✿ °•.

[ganondoodle]

so, i have thought more about what we now know about botw2 and honestly, setting aside the smaller things i am not a fan of (like the building aspect) my biggest gripes about it are the plot looking like its gonna be very generic, especially regarding ganondorf, while i hoped it would perhaps finally give us a little more interesting take instead good vs evil; and the oh so mysterious figure you see in in the trailer very likely to be hylia, since shes mentioned constantly in the first game (among other things like her design being pretty much a carbon copy of zelda for the most boring reasons imaginable)

and no its not just bc of my stupid little fanworks (that i do bc i love the franchise, as much as i am critical of it, it comes from being very passionate about it, hence me working my fan lore around the canon so it doesnt disturb it much, its more meant to expand it on parts i think are a little lacking without me trying to sound superior, literally just as an act of love (and a little spite ill admit that) to add something to it)- BUT bc i have little hope they would do anything more than just going full blown "this monstrous beast is pure inherently evil, and this is the pure inherently good white little girl goddess whos just protecting her god given perfect and unshakable good tm monarchy" with no little to no nuance (theres also alot more to be critical of the general structure and implications like racism, orientalism, nationalism, that while i can see alot of wrong or questionable things in the games i lack the eloquence to talk about in its full range) yes i am personally biased bc i just .. hate that kind of story/worldbuilding structure, but i dont think im the only one who would think of it as boring and .. disappointing?

i dont need ganondorf to be redeemed, i dont need him to be the good himbo bf that some people think all ganondorf stans want, i just want him to be more than to shout "i will conquor this kingdom bc i am evil and want it" and send a horde of monsters after you, at the very least id want the game to just aknowledge that there must be a reason for it, why it turned out like this

the zelda series and its world has so much potential, which is probably a reason for its popularity in fanworks, but also keeps not using it, no i dont expect a company like nintendo to deliver on all my hopes, of course not, im not that delusional, but the further i think and learn about this universe and concepts they created i find myself asking "why" more and more where the games never elaborate, never question

i like a clear structure, i like when your choices dont have a big or any impact on the story bc i want to live the story, not worry about every decision like i already do every second of my life IRL, i want to partake in a movie, in a theater piece i can influence the pace of but not change the outcome, yet i feel kind of ... ignored? let down? asking why and how, how do they know this is right and this is wrong, how do they keep enacting this seeing it never works out, keep saying defeat this evil, but evil yet returns stronger than before over and over, how do they never ask "is this the right way?", they say "we need to kill it more next time"

i know they are fictional little characters made up to sell a game, with a convevient plot point to ever repeat the same structure, but it cant be wrong to say "i love this world, i want to see and know more, i want to see it grow and change, break the cycle and be better, show me characters not puppets"

theres very surely nuances and ideas i am sorely missing bc i lack the knowledge of japanese as a language, culture, and mythology, but i dont think it invalidates all that i feel for it ..

.. right?