#imo that's the whole game but again even when it comes to people who Do Like this game

[bibiana112]

There's nothing wrong with people having their dearest most specialest blorbo be Eric ztd it is unironically good for the ecosystem and I always love seeing the different perspectives from other fans but what I am here today to ask is why is no one like that about Mira. whatever happened to feminism.

[endiness]

not to go off on this again (and because of a bullshit clickbait article from screenrant as if that isn't their entire business model in the first place) but it's still so fucking mindboggling to me just how much henry cavill was able to brainwash people. like, the idea that he was the one that made the show and he was the only good thing about it and the only good casting choice when he was very noticeably the worst actor on the entire show and meanwhile the rest of the cast is extremely talented and easily acted circles around him. not to mention that he has all the charisma of a black hole sucking all of the chemistry out of the room.

and the whole idea that he is some uber fan of the franchise and the only person on the entire show that knows anything about the source material and cares about it which is also always said in conjunction with the idea that he's the one who made the show. when he didn't even know that the books existed, he only read them once after lauren told him about them, he's only played tw3 (and not even the dlc for it), and by his own admission he didn't do any research for the role. and then meanwhile you've got joey who wrote a whole ass song in ~24 hours and showed up in costume with a lute to audition and who's read the entire series at least 3 times as of 2023; therica, whose books are all annotated and she tries to go back and reread the series before each season and even goes on youtube to watch video essays to refresh her memories; cassie, who has a binder full of notes on philippa and her backstory and everything; and many, many other cast members who've done a lot of research into the books and their characters and the universe and the franchise. but somehow henry cavill is the massive superfan. because he said that a lot in interviews. while never actually giving any examples of that beyond, like, having said he played tw3 for a ton of hours. (which, duh, 'cause a playthrough of that game can easily clock in at +100 hours.)

and speaking of the idea that he just cares SO much about the source material and that's why he ragequit the show because the writers weren't following the books closely enough, likE. he is the one who made geralt's characterization book inaccurate in s1 because he would cut his lines and either just say nothing or grunt instead. (and he also gave his scene partners zero indication he was going to do this and just left them hanging and wondering what was going on and if he was actually going to say his lines and put them into the position of having to improvise and take his lines just to move the plot forward.) and the only reason why he suddenly started to advocate for a more book accurate geralt come s2 is because he got dunked on by reddit for his performance in s1. (which he also took virtually no responsibility for whatsoever and just passed all of the blame off onto the writers for HIS acting choices. wait, that's not entirely accurate. he also blamed yennefer and ciri's prominence on geralt's lack of dialogue even though ciri's scenes were the ones that were cut in s1. yennefer's, too, btw.) he also fucked up geralt and jaskier's friendship by cutting his lines in s1 (and imo there is a lot of implication that the things he was cutting in their scenes was actual affirmation on geralt's side of things that he actually cares about jaskier) and by his own admission, he didn't want to play them as being all buddy-buddy with each other. and his refusal to play geralt struggling with fatherhood and with any negative character traits in s2 led to the domino effect of eskel's death (which in itself led to vesemir trying to create new witchers and lambert's harsher attitude toward ciri), yennefer's betrayal, and voleth meir being the big bad of the season. he also cut a sex scene between geralt and yennefer in s2 because he didn't think it would be in character of them to have sex after reuniting (lolwut) and he cut a scene between geralt and triss of even them just platonically finding comfort in each other (that's what happens in the books.) but yeah, HE just cares about the source material SO MUCH. that's why everything he had a hand in went against the books.

(not to mention that the thing he was clashing with lauren over was that he was not the main character (ciri is the main character of the main books, btw) but rather co-lead with two women and he was mad that the show heavily revolves around women (the books heavily revolve around women) instead of men.) (in s2 interviews, he goes on about how important men being three dimensional characters is to him as if women being three dimensional characters on the show somehow means that men can't be. which is ironic of him to say anyway, tbh, considering he didn't want geralt to be a three dimensional character. as three dimensional characters have flaws. and he didn't want geralt to have any.) (oh, and just to mention but when talking about how violent men can be three dimensional and caring, henry cavill lists who men can be caring towards: other men, family, children. weird he doesn't mention women at all. i'm sure that's not an indication of anything especially when it's said by someone who's a self-professed nerd, lorebuff, redditor, and gamer. because they're always known for non-rancid takes about women. especially when they've already gotten flack for their "i'm afraid to flirt because i'll be accused of being a rapist" #metoo takes. 💅)

(also, just with the conspiracy theory that henry cavill ragequit the show because it wasn't following the books closely enough. like, that is just a conspiracy theory though. the only "proof" there ever was of it was henry cavill going on about how important adhering to the source material is to him. except everything he had a hand in went against the books, so that can't be true. and the thing he and lauren were clashing over was how he was not the main character (geralt is not the main character) and the prominence of women in the series (the women in the books drive the plot forward in massive ways). so that can't be true. and s3 was the closest adaption of the books anyway, so yeah. that really can't be true. and the only other thing that's "proof" is the rumor that the writers hate the source material. which was started by henry cavill's buddy, a writer who was fired from the show for allegedly being emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive. so i'm sure his word is totally trustworthy and he wouldn't have a vested interest in lying and creating a rumor to incite the fanbase against his former co-workers whom he was allegedly fired for mistreating in the first place. (btw, witin the past year, the same writer was fired again for allegedly the same kind of reasons.) also, i'm sure it's jut a coincidence how that rumor, which was started by henry cavill's friend, to disparage the show and the writers dropped about a week before henry cavill announced he was no longer going to be on the show. like, it definitely couldn't've been a coordinated effort between them or anything.) (psst, the rumor that hc was fired for being sexist actually has the most evidence supporting it. js.)

[zapshazam]

idk something really rubs me wrong about the way fandom treats Astarion's reactions to the Halsin poly romance and ESPECIALLY the Drow twins stuff. like yes. i get the kneejerk reaction to feel really uncomfortable once you get the line from the narrator about Astarion disassociating during sex with the twins - it's not fun to deal with! you want him to have enthusiastic fun the whole time and your character at that point is definitely in love with him and he's reciprocating, so i get it.

but..... like.... he's an adult man who is coming to terms with how he views himself his sexuality and his desires. he DOES enthusiastically want to try having a big fun sex party once you've completed his personal quest. healing from trauma, certainly SEXUAL TRAUMA, isn't a one-and-done thing. just because he's ready to initiate sex with you at his grave doesn't mean he's going to be 100% comfortable all the time forever going forward.

it happens sometimes. even at your best and most thriving-est sometimes something happens that triggers you and if that's your defense mechanism? boom, you're far away, you're going through the motions. he isn't having a ton of fun but again, he didn't know going in, it's an experiment.

but like. reloading as soon as you see that line about him disassociating because it makes you feel icky (which again, fair, I get the impulse) is kinda. idk. babying? like he's SO enthusiastic about doing it when asked. it doesn't end the best. for me that just means he and Tav/Durge have a conversation afterwards where he comes to a realization that yes, he's into the IDEA, but probably only with people he trusts and knows aren't only banging him because of how hot he is. all the dialogue during that scene, as sexy as it is, is EXTREMELY objectifying toward Astarion. it fits his story that it would make him uncomfortable once it becomes clear that that's The Vibe! let him come to that conclusion, he's a big boy! you don't have to treat him like he's made of glass - he's a survivor and he's his own person who gets to make these decisions and deal with the consequences. with a partner who loves him and can help him through it! that's that real good shit imo, that's the shit that makes this game's relationships and character moments feel so real even when they have to veer into headcanon territory.

[nickssidewitch]

👾🕹️ List of Games the Triplets Should Play if They Stream Again 🕹️👾

Can y’all share this everywhere if you like my list because I’m sick of Fortnite-only streams and I damn well do not want to constantly see Roblox…

Obviously no hate to Fortnite because yass kings grind 😤💪🏾‼️. But like… let’s switch it up a lil’ bit, boys. Get sexy idk.

Horror🔪

💉 Outlast: Horror. Thee scariest game on this list!!! Great story, but even if you’re not interested in the story, the gameplay is interesting and nostalgic. May be a bit jumpscare-y at times. Not too much gore, but enough to make the spine tingle.

🧸 Five Nights at Freddy’s: Horror. Honestly, I highly doubt they’d actually play this because it’s probably the second scariest game on this list and they don’t seem like they could handle it. But, a one-off stream of this game would be nice idk. If they do, I’d suggest the first and second ones because they are good, Otherwise, the third one is ass, and the fourth one is way too scary. The other installments are forgettable (no shade 🥱).

🌙 Little Nightmares: (Mild) Horror. One of my personal favorite games. Right amount of scares, but definitely nothing like Outlast or FNAF. The main character is literally the cutest little thing!

🌺 Poppy Playtime: Horror. Similar to FNAF in the sense that you’re in a world where childhood characters come to life wnd become murderous villains, but the story is incredibly unique and eye-catching. There are a few Gaming YouTuber surprises in there as well.

🩸 Fears to Fathom series: Horror. This series is an indie gaming community favorite! Real-life people sent in submissions of their actual true experiences, and the developer made each story into actual games! I love the simple retro feel of the design, and the stories are very intriguing especially since they are all true stories.

🧟‍♂️ The Walking Dead: Horror, Story, Action, Adventure, Apocalyptic. The hype for this game never dies (imo)! Matt would absolutely fall in love with this story and its characters!! I feel like it would definitely cement his love for TWD as a whole. And if he ever played the Michonne DLC?? omg. Someone get this man to play TWD! Chris and Nick would love it too I feel.

Story 📖

📸 Life Is Strange: Story. A story-based decision game series. You play as young adults who have special powers that develop through difficult life experiences. Each game delves into different aspects of sexuality, love, mental health, and other real-life experiences. I’d like if they played only the first one, but the other games are also pretty cool if they like the first story.

🌄 Until Dawn: Horror, Story. A story-based decision game set u like a classic “cabin in the woods” thriller… with a twist. There’s a new remake as well, so that adds a bonus point to the overall enjoyment and the hype of the experience.

🤖 Detroit Become Human: Story, Sci-Fi. I know the hype for this game is gone, but I need it! The world is set in the future where robots and androids roam the Earth amongst humans. It’s such a great story with great graphics. And every single one of the choices matter. I feel like they’d genuinely enjoy it if they immersed in it.

😷 The Last of Us: Horror, Sci-fi, Story. It’s the game that inspired the TV show. I personally think the game is better than the show, but I digress. Great story, the best characters with such various traits.

🐈 Stray: Adventure, Sci-fi, Puzzle. (This is more for Matt than anyone else lowkey highkey). You play as a stray cat, but it’s more than just a cat simulator— it’s a journey set in the future. Everyone, but especially Matt, would love this. Very great graphics. Pretty calm, but can definitely get the heart racing at times. Will pull at the heartstrings.

Miscellaneous 👾

🍄 Mario Kart / Mario Party: Multiplayer, Party. This is a given 🤷🏾‍♀️

☠️ Dead By Daylight: Multiplayer, Horror. When Nick’s computer is finally fixed, they can all play together and probably even get some friends (or play online).

💎 The Sims: Simulation. Honestly, this can be like a game they play ironically. 🤷🏾‍♀️ I just wanna see them argue about how to customize their characters.

🌚 Among Us: Multiplayer. They’ve played it before both online and with fans, but I’d love if they played some rounds that were more organized with real-life friends and maybe even their mods/subscribers on Twitch!

🔫 Call of Duty (any of them): Shooter, Action. Literally just wanna see how good they are since they were flexing in that one stream they did a while back. 😒 Like where’s the proof?

🤺 Mortal Kombat: Fighting, Action. Any of the recent additions. I don’t need Story Mode if they don’t care to know the lore! I just wanna see them beat tf outta each other 🤫 ! Nick playing as Mileena would be a gag! 🤷🏾‍♀️

🦸🏻‍♂️ Injustice 2: Fighting, DC Universe. It’s similar to Mortal Kombat, but just set in the DC universe with characters like Batman, Harley Quinn, etc. I think made by the same developers as MK? Wanna see them beat each other up.

🎰 Liar’s Bar: Multiplayer, Gambling (not actually, but—). You play as up to four characters. You get cards in your hands. It’s up to you whether you play truthfully, or lie and place whatever cards you want all without getting caught. And if you get caught, now you gotta survive a round of russian roulette. It’s actually so fun for a few rounds if you have a good party.

Please share this across platforms! I’d love that! I really wanna see them at least try some things from this list. It’d make my little gamer heart so happy 😭 And I’m sure the other fans who like videogames as well would agree.

And I’m sure the boys would definitely appreciate the ideas since they seem open to them. 🥰🤍

[journeysfable]

Making this it's own post cause I think I already made an ask about Gem's lore in Martyn's inbox and don't want to bother him about it anymore

Anyway I think Gem is more powerful than the watchers

hear me out

(this is both me presenting an idea for the Eyes and Ears lore and also me begging people to pay more attention to Gem's lore pls am lonely over in the loving Gem's lore corner) (And this also accidentally turned in A Character Gem character study of sorts I think. Oops)

During the Empire's crossover, Scar, in at least Joel's pov, said "did anyone else think this was a new life series?" cc!Scar had no reason to ask such a question meaning he was in character and his character, who just came from the Hermitcraft world and was now in the Empires world, wondered if he was in a life series game, which puts all three servers in the same universe imo. For at least Scar.

In the crossover Gem revealed her HC and Esmp characters were one and the same and that her character is a being that can casually move between worlds by sleeping, an ability no one else had. And because she can just hop between worlds and slip into whatever role fits best for that world and she doesn't realize that not everyone is just playing like she is.

A person is merely a costume to c!Gem.

And again, this is 100% canon

From "I have a SECRET?! Empires x Hermitcraft" "I have a secret. You see, when you join a Minecraft world you can be anyone that you want to be. Sometimes I'm a princess, but sometimes I change. And then I'm an elf. And in some worlds, I'm just me. And you see, where I'm from. That's kind of normal."

And then the following line has something interesting in it.

"One day I was just walking casually in the Empires world, playing DnD as I always do as a princess with my friends."

The Empires world is a game of DnD to c!Gem. That's haha silly meta but if you've watched the other esmp povs you know not everyone's character is role playing.

Like yea the content creators are role playing but Sausage's character is not roleplayong. But Gem's character is.

For example: In Empire's Shubbble plays Shelby the witch. Geminitay plays Geminitay the world hopping larper. Shelby the witch isn't larping, though.

But Geminitay The World Hopping Larper is seemingly not aware of this.

Further evidence that c!Gem is so powerful and used to playing a character she doesn't realize that Real People exist comes in "Exanding my Medieval Kingdom! Empires x Hermitcraft"

After patiently explaining to Sausage that she can move between worlds and that she's role playinng, Gem is greatly confused by the fact that Sausage (who through the whole season has been hopping across time and space by accident) can't control his abilities.

And at first it's seemed like Gem was aware that Sauasage wasn't roleplaying as she explained her world hopping and role playing to him. But then his freak out causes Gem to make this comment that I can't tell if it came from cc!Gem poking fun at cc!Sausage or c!Gem realizing that c!Sausage isn't roleplaying "He's not role playing is he? That's genuine. He's actually crazy"

There are a lot of implications that come with the fact that Gem doesn't even realize that the other Empires members aren't roleplaying. What else does she not realize because she can move between the worlds and be whovever she wants on a whim?

In "Empires 2: Building my BEST Medieval Minecraft Village!" Gem says she's a celestial being.

What does that mean? Well, the word celestial means related to the sky or heaven and is synonomous with heavenly, planetary, stellar, and godlike.

It may allude to the fact her name is Geminitay, a constellation(stellar). But it also sort of implies she's a fucking god or at least similar to one.

So what does all this have to do with Eyes and Ears lore?

I think c!Gem is so powerful it makes her dangerously naive. Not to herself but to others. Because she's possibly so powerful she potentially doesn't realize that danger exists.

And perhaps she's so powerful that the watchers can't feed on her emotions. Or at least not all of them.

Or maybe they're too scared to. Afraid of what she could to do them if they angered her in any way.

[outivv]

I’m so disappointed with the natlan teaser because like. Girl. All of those characters would straight up look better if they had even the tiniest bit of melanin don’t even lie hyv.

I’m gonna go on a fat rant here so below the cut, fair warning because it’s messy as fuck I’m just pissed off

No because how are you going to straight up take the inspirations, and clear liberties from Aztec, Māori, Qichwa, Nigerian, Hawaiian, Native American, And Mayan (according to this image from @ HYVboycott on Twitter highly recommend btw they have good info imo)

And then you’re not gonna represent them in terms of their skin color??? Yes there are pale people in all these countries and pale people apart of these cultures, HOWEVER the vast majority of people, or the native people are not typically fucking white. I am white and I literally am darker than the majority of the genshin characters, even in winter when I don’t fucking tan. Like the genshin characters don’t even look ALIVE for Christ’s sake. Hyv are a bunch of cowards who take inspiration from poc, and don’t properly represent them, even in their other games like honkai Star rail. Boothill is Native American. Blatantly. “Oh, no he’s not!!” Yes the fuck he is, his entire backstory is based off of native people, he’s also part Hispanic because the original cowboys were Hispanic people called vaqueros, his home planet in the original CN version of honkai Star rail is literally two native tribes put together I believe. He is Native American, and Hispanic, and hyv TOOK that inspiration and that culture and then was too much of a coward to AT LEAST make him tan. Don’t even get me started on aventurine. So it’s not just with genshin that they do this shit, it’s a hyv problem as a whole, but with genshin it’s so like… common, and genshin has so many issues that make it feel like a cash-grab kinda game, and like the devs are just spitting in our face CONSTANTLY, especially when it comes to characters, and representation. It’s so depressing to see a game that at first had so much fucking promise, now just be such a fucking letdown after like what? 5? 4? Years? Like you’ve built up so much hype, and lore, and excitement just for Sumeru and Natlan not having any representation like fuck off. Hyv CAN fix these issues, they just don’t want to and they have expressed that time and time again by making dark skinned enemies, and enemies with dreadlocks. They know that they can, they just don’t want to because they’re too pussy. And it’s not because they’re a Chinese company, I mean obviously I understand that there is a complicated relationship with tan skin and China, HOWEVER that is no excuse because genshin, honkai Star rail, zenless zone zero, and honkai impact 3rd are all worldwide games and they need to appeal to their WORLDWIDE customers, and I’ve seen plenty of CN players fucking just as pissed off that there isn’t any actual diversity for like any of their games. Plus other Chinese companies have made diverse games, like Dislyte which I’m honestly a huge fucking fan of because of their diversity. Having diversity would BENEFIT hoyoverse a hell of a lot, but they are just trying to appeal to greasy old white men who are the same men who have a tantrum while making a reaction video to a game trailer and go “OH MY GOD SHE ISNT GOT ENOUGH!! LOOK AT HER!! SHE ISNT SEXY!!”, “OH MY GODDD THEY HAVE PRONOUNS NOW!! THE WOKE SNOWFLAKES GOT TO THEM”, and “OH MY GOD ASSASSINS CREED IS MAKING A BLACK SAMURAI THE MAIN CHARACTER!! NOOOO THATS NOT HISTORICALLY ACCURATE!!” Because they’re all pathetic, and that’s who hoyoverse is trying to cater to.

Okay I’m done, this went all over the place but I’m so pissed off so fuck hyv, give them the feedback they deserve, have a great day.

[utilitycaster]

Unpopular opinion: parts of the cr fandom are really dismissive/ reductive of Travis’s characters. It feels like it’s due to Travis being seen as THE cis het man of the group, and by extension his characters must be heteronormative and bad, despite the fact that you could have queer interpretations of his characters. At the very least, Travis’s characters explore masculinity and the different ways it might look. It’s like the people who are all “ew men are gross and shitty” and act like that’s an absolutely normal reaction to a man just existing.

So this is another one in that I agree with the initial statement, but I'm actually not sure re: the reasoning why. I think it's possible but I could not tell you for sure.

I used to, again, think this was people carrying through Campaign 1 elements well beyond the point where C1 had ended, and so Grog having an intelligence of 6 was being applied to Travis; and this definitely does come through to an extent when people treat Fjord (objectively as smart as Beau without her circlet) as stupid or act shocked that Chetney is the brains of Bells Hells or that he can play a Cerrit, Fjord, or Nathaniel. However, again, I think this is one of those opinions that pops up among people who weren't around for Campaign 1 (or early enough in C2 to be exposed to it regularly) so I don't know if that's the case anymore. It could still be - it could be that Approved Fandom Opinions get passed down even when the logic behind them has long since been lost; that's a really common thing in institutional memory. But I can't say for sure.

I also have in the past credited it to, as you said, people assuming his characters are the cishet guys and then writing them off. That's still possible - I've seen both Fjord and Chetney called "token straight" despite considerable evidence of bisexuality, and they also paradoxically are both commonly headcanoned as trans while still getting called "token straight," which sort of ties into a post I would need to find from someone else from quite some time ago about which cast members are granted agency by the fandom in their choices vs. which are assumed to be the victims of circumstance. And I do think that there are people in fandom who have decided men are icky or whatever, and I used to think this came from a place of bigotry and a slide towards t*rf ideology but I now do genuinely think it's just idiots who don't grant interiority to characters outside their own limited understanding.

But I think it's also useful to consider a few things, most of which I've brought up before:

Travis is extremely offline. He is not here to entertain your headcanons; he has been politely but openly dismissive of some (imo, really fucking dumb) fanon/fan theories. I think the cast frequently talks about how it's their table, and I think that's valid and correct, but Travis is one of the players who lives it the most. He is playing this game with his friends, and he'd like it to be a good story, but if you don't like it, he is not here to make you like it. I think that really fucks with the parasocial connections some people desire with the cast.

Travis's characters tend to examine masculinity as a performance but also the general performance of the self, and the fact that you cannot in the end control how you are perceived entirely, and I think that really unsettles people who have equated presentation with reality and are again, looking for external validation of the self.

Travis can play it big but he's often extremely subtle, especially with his more serious characters, and he's not as easily quotable out of context as some others at the table. I think because he is a lot more naturalistic than dramatic at times (Chetney notwithstanding) and isn't as pithy and quotable in his characters as many of Taliesin's PCs are, and a lot of the strength is in the delivery, he gets overlooked despite being very good with words on the fly.

And finally: this would be a whole post on its own but people are still very foolishly wed to this idea that pressing the big red button in D&D is Wild and Chaotic and haha Big ADHD Man when it's actually how you play D&D if you're not a coward; the button is where the story is stored, and a lot of Travis's strength is that he is extremely good at understanding what the GM wants and supporting it with sufficient grace that it's only visible if you know what you're fucking doing.

[astaldis]

Why is House of the Dragon allegedly so much better than The Witcher?

Just watched House of the Dragon S2 and I must say - I found it pretty boring in many parts?

Sorry, but the whole thing mostly and disappointingly feels like a very long and repetitive prologue to what might come in S3. And they do many things that are loudly criticised in The Witcher, some even a lot worse, but with HotD people seem to not mind? Honestly, this really puzzles me. Yes, the costumes and make-up might be better, but:

It's all over the place on the whole continent of Westeros and even outside of Westeros with people traveling from place to place in no time at all. OK, on dragon back, you can do that, but they also do it on foot and by boat. I remember some of the geography of the continent because I was very much into Game of Thrones some years back when it aired and also read all the Song of Ice and Fire books that were available (not the ones HotD is based on though), but the constant jumps from one place to the next are really confusing imo and you'd need to have a map by your side all the time to remember where is what. When the Witcher does that, it is criticised heavily.

Same with people, there are so many main and minor characters, some even with similar or the same names, how the fuck are you supposed to remember who's who and who is related to who and how, who belongs to which house, and who's allied to who and who's feuding who without looking it up again all the time somewhere on the internet? With all the incest and extramarital activities resulting in a host of illegitimate progeny, I found this extremely confusing, a lot more so than in The Witcher.

And does anybody have a shimmer of an idea of how much time has passed since the old king's death? Must be at least months but you hardly ever get any hints about it. And this poor girl, how long is she wandering around the desolate highlands alone trying to find the wild dragon? Must have been weeks judging by the other things that happened in the meantime ...

Maybe it's just me, but I did not find any of the characters really compelling. Not that they are not well acted, the acting is good enough, but emotionally they did not really leave any impression on me. Maybe the only character I find a bit interesting is Queen Helaena and this very young Lord Tully who shows unexpected spine and stands up to Daemon in front of the Riverlords. There are so many seemingly random new side characters popping up all over the place, too, miraculously gaining importance that one is supposed to keep track of, but also none of them that was in any way inspiring it me. And the poor cute Bracken knight only drew his sword and was already dead in the mud on a battlefield with hundreds of men hardly a second later ...

Rhaenyra suddenly and out of the blue kisses this lowborn woman (was her name even mentioned? I cannot for the life of me remember it). I don't have anything against women kissing, not at all, but why? There is no mention of anything going on between those two at all afterwards. Are they in a secret relationship now or not? I haven't read the book and don't know if it's in there, but how is that kiss, as it seems to have no relevance to the plot at all, not 'woke' catering to the LGBTQ community? But everything the Witcher does is?

Then there are the dragons you have to keep track of in addition to the many people and places. How many dragons are there? And who rides which one? And why the heck would a dragon in its right mind choose this dubious Ulf character who accidentally stumbles into its cave as a rider???

And the plot? Honestly, was there, beside the one fight between the three dragons, anything that was really exciting? I remember nothing, no battles, no good sword fights, nothing but TALK. At lest 90% of the plot is repetitive talking about politics and plotting and scheming. I have nothing against a nice political intrigue and of course that's what happens at courts and it can be interesting too. It was in Game of Thrones where you had really interesting characters, too. But here I found it mostly boring and uninspired. And The Witcher is criticised for having too much politics and too many side characters although it has a LOT less so than this season of HotD.

They also seem to have conveniently forgotten that in GoT they established that Targaryans would not burn from fire. In the books this happens only once because some kind of blood magic was performed, but in the show it happened several times, so it seemed to be the rule, not the exception. HotD thus kind of refutes their own made-up lore, which I found confusing and had to look it up online. (They could easily have made Aegon suffer from bad injuries due to the fall instead.)

The music was rather uninspiring, too, imo, except for the intro which is the well-known one taken from GoT and the music at the end of E8 which was partly based on the Rains of Castamere, otherwise there was not a single piece of the soundtack that would make me want to buy and listen to it. The Witcher has quite a few that I listen to again and again (including, of course, Jaskier's songs, but many more).

What I also like a lot better about The Witcher: It does not take itself that seriously and there is quite a bit of humour in it. In HofD S2, the imo funniest piece of dialogue was: "I want you to fuck my wives." - "How many wives do you have?" (that was between this pirate commander, don't remember his/her? name, and Lord Tyland, was that his name?) . And maybe the truest sentence in the show by this random braggart in the tavern who miraculously turns into a dragon rider Ulf: "A sense of humour would do you all good."

All in all, the only thing that I have found to be really good and outstanding about HotD S2 are the dragons. Without them, it would be less than mediocre. I don't think I would want to rewatch it and feel no desire to look up any of the characters and their relationships etc to find out more about them. I cannot say in how far it is or isn't faithful to the source material as I have not read the book(s?) HotD is based on, but even if it's more faithful to the source material, this has failed to make it a great watch like GoT (minus the ending, that was worse than the poorest fanfic could have thought it up). With the dragons it is alright to watch once, hoping for a more exciting S3, but there is absolutely no way it deserves higher critic/audience scores/ratings than The Witcher S3, the contrary.

Update: To clarify, I don't really mind many things that I mentioned about HotD, I can totally live with an unclear timeline and many characters, even if it's not easy to remember every name, relationship etc. If I really like a show or character, I simply look it up, no problem. But these are all things I have seen people criticise The Witcher for on social media, and then they say HotD is so much better. That's what really puzzles me. What I definitely liked about HotD is the diverse cast and that there are many female characters with a lot of screen time and importance. It's not a bad show, only I like The Witcher much better despite its flaws. This is not meant as an anti HotD post but a pro Witcher post.

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

KATHERINA MINOLA (THE TAMING OF THE SHREW) (CW: Domestic Abuse)

1.) We had to read this for English my senior year. I got so mad at the way she's treated. She's the titular "shrew" of the play. She has to be married off before her younger sister can get married, because that makes sense.

Then the most dogshit man imaginable comes along, and everybody thinks they're perfect. He literally gaslights her and denies her food and water.

Fuck Petruchio and Katherine Minola deserved better!

2.) Literally the whole play is about how she is so awful that the main guy needs to change her entire personality, which he does as a challenge not because he likes her, and then proceeds to her abuse her for the rest of the play. Yet, he is portrayed as the hero, not a villain and she is shown to have "improved" at the end. People will say, oh it's open to interpretation, it can be played different ways, it's satire, but i don't find abuse funny and there is a distinct lack of commentary in the play to count as satire imo. Taming of the Shrew is a tragedy not a comedy, I will die on this hill. Kate deserves better!

3.) The title isn’t joking, ya’ll. She literally gets broken like a rebellious feral animal and it’s treated as a happy ending.

BARBARARA GORDON (DC COMICS) (CW: Ableism)

1.) Famously fridged in 1988, which was so popular with misogynists it became canon. After almost 2 decades of being one of the only disabled characters, was rebooted to a younger, more fun version of herself whose only history is that she was fridged but not disabled by it.

2.) The Killing Joke is one of the biggest comic examples of a female character getting hurt to motivate male characters. Also tbe way different cannons will trade off who her romantic intrest is out of Batfamily is pretty disturbing ranging from Bruce Wayne in Batman the Animated series universe (ew) to Tim Drake in the Arkham games (ew). Not to mention DC now is not letting her grow out of being Batgirl taking away her legacy of other young female heroes taking up her mantle and her getting to mentor them instead forcing her into a Batgirl cycle of purgatory when she was always better as Oracle (Its a little more complicated in the new Batgirl book but its still not solving the issues in a way that feels meaningful enough to make up the damage).

3.) Was shot as angst value for Bruce and her dad, implied to be sexually assaulted in The Killing Joke with absolutely no respect for her long career as Batgirl. When Alan Moore asked if he could, the editor said "cripple the bitch." She became paralyzed from the waist down. THankfully, an actually good writer picked her up from there and then wrote one of the best stories ever written (Oracle Year One: Born from Hope). Was one of the most iconic disabled characters in comic book history, hell, as Oracle, she was definitely up there as one of the most iconic disabled characters ever as well as a fantastic character, period. There were a few moments where people kept trying to make things out of her disability and had her be shitty to other women for no reason but for the most part, she was awesome. During her time In 2011, Dan Didio and some other misogynistic/ableist comic book writers were responsible for "curing" her disability and forcing her back into Batgirl, despite her having shown absolutely no desire to do so, as part of the New 52. They also made it an editorial mandate that she couldn't have glasses, a cool secret base, and her time as Oracle couldn't be referenced. This was because those writers were nostalgic for the 60s Batman show where Babs was played by an actress they all had the hots for and couldn't accept she'd grown up and moved on. That was bad enough, but over time, she's been increasingly deaged and reduced even further to just Dick Grayson's on and off again girlfriend and a generic girlboss. Batgirl of Burnsides burn in hell.

[daydreaming-scheming-demon]

i know undertale is like, almost a decade old at this point, even older if you count the kickstarter’s age, but i still cant get over how flowey/asriel is literally such a cool fucking character. he’s like a player that plays a game too many times and stops being able to see the characters as people as their brain sees them acting the same and doing the same things on each replay and how he loses his sympathy bc of that. and this makes him come across as a typical pure evil antagonist at first, but then you learn his backstory, and it’s all just, aghhhhhhhh. and then you learn in the genocide route that he helped people at first, he used to be kind, but he got bored, and how that contrasts the player on the genocide route with flowey, the genocide route where the player is now in the role of the pure evil villain, just like flowey was.

and also i love how the guy is literally just an edgy kid. like, he comes across as an adult at first, but the guy’s just like one of those cynical little kids who only wants to see the worst in everything. and how that’s portrayed in the true pacifist route where he gives himself this edgy name and transformation sequence that feels like something a kid would come up with. tho the idea that he’s a kid does kinda come into question when you consider all the resets he’s been on, but even still he never got to grow up.

i wanna hug this lil dude so badly, even in flower form, he deserves a hug.

i fucking love this dude, he’s kinda like a pure evil antagonist, but actually has a backstory that makes you feel sorry for him and make his actions feel understandable, even if he can feel like some insane cartoon supervillain, his actions still feel reasonable with his backstory in mind. it’s like taking the idea of an unrealistically evil villain and asking yourself what couldve possibly made them that way

and his whole life as asriel with chara as a sibling. aghhhhhhhh, i love it.

and how in the beginning of the game he probably hasnt even realized his powers are missing yet, and that may just be a small thing but i find it a fun small recontextualization. that in this moment where you seem like you’re falling into his trap, he doesnt even realize that you have far more power over him than he thinks. and something i never even really thought about for a while is how he probably had a bit of a mental breakdown realizing his powers are missing sometime between your first and second time meeting him, and how he probably had to get himself all ready to talk with you again and come across as confident and threatening. like, there’s no way he just brushed off the fact that his powers are missing so easily, his plan to use you to retrieve the souls probably helped him feel better, but there’s no way this dude just brushed off losing the powers he’s been relying on for who knows how long so easily. he definitely got all angry and scared at his missing powers sometime between your first and second meeting, for at least a little while.

honestly, i feel like undertale didnt have enough of him. he deserved more screentime imo. which is why i was really happy to see his characterizationin done so well in undertale yellow, i fucking loved how that game built on his character. and his whole boss fight in that game somehow outdoing his boss fights in the original game. and how a lot of his attacks involve self harm in some way. and how he acts as the save points for the game so you get to hear a lot more from him throughout the game. i feel like undertale yellow gave me some characterization for him that i really fucking needed.

genuinely one of my favourite characters in all of fiction. would love to have a conversation with this lil guy.

[lostiel]

Ooof, I've been seeing a lot of people writing off veilguard because prev choices don't matter as much, and while I get where that frustration is coming from, the reaction on the whole seems a bit... extreme? It's a new story with new characters and a new setting, plus the world is kind of... on the brink of ending? Idk Inquisition had a lot of flavor text, but objectively, it still wasn't a good game? I love the Warden, I love Hawke, but I get why they are not important to THIS story, and that's fine? The Well of Sorrows plotline was kind of resolved in Inquisition when Solas consumed Mythal (it was a bit like heeey you were worried about that Well when really, you should have paid more attention to your weirdly knowledgeable companion). Personally, I think it would have made more sense to take into account who ended up ruling Orlais because THAT kind of stuff is of interest internationally? But then again, none of us have played veilguard, and it seems like act 1 alone packs a punch and could have been an entire game in and of itself — it genuinely seems like a well-crafted, high-stakes story, and trespasser already made it pretty clear that da4 would be all about stopping solas so the "why is solas at the centre of this story" salt makes NO sense to me? (and here's the thing – he is not! he is the catalyst, but the story itself is about... the veilguard + rook's journey, so a completely new set of characters 😭😭😭😭).

Idk, I'm curious about your take on the situation?

to be honest i can't say much on this as a relatively new fan but i appreciate your ask so i'll try!

my general attitude is to ignore the bits of canon i don't like and use the bits that i do like as prompts for my headcanons so even if veilguard had no mention of previous choices/characters at all i'd still be excited about the new game bc we get a new story to play with

if the choices are a deal-breaker for someone it's understandable to stay away from the game that makes them unhappy. though i do hope they still give it a chance bc there's soooo much fun stuff to explore like the locations and new companions alone are worth it imo

[thefinnishcap]

I love how much from what we’ve seen, echoes of wisdom feels like it’s going back to the era of game boy Zelda. I don’t really know how to explain it. There’s a certain… mischievousness that the game boy games have, and this one has it too.

It also reminds me of them because there’s this laissez faire attitude that the game boy games had when it came to the direction of the series, they didn’t give a flying fuck about continuity, or the lore (cause it didn’t really exist at the time, and still doesn’t imo). Echoes feels like it’s really returning to that attitude towards the lore. totk and botw also did, much to the chagrin of Zelda “theorists”.

Echoes seems to yet again be muddying the water on what the triforce is and how it functions. The triforce’s specific function and how it works has literally never been as consistent as people like to pretend it is. But this game seems to be doing something pretty drastic with it. Now there’s a fairy? Are they like an avatar of the triforce, maybe the triforce itself? And the rod that they give Zelda, creates duplicates of things? I mean, technically the triforce could be used to duplicate something (in some games), but that just seems like a very out of “character” thing for it to do. I also think that tears of the kingdom heavily fucked with the way the triforce works despite many people believing it’s not in the game (I believe it is, it’s just different), but that is a whole other thing.

While I’ve been a bit disappointed with some of the decisions when it comes to game design in recent entries. I really love the energy Nintendo has had towards the timeline lately. They tried to make an official timeline and confine themselves to it because fans wouldn’t stop whining about wanting one, and then they realized they hated the way it restricted them. So they released botw as a huge middle finger to the timeline, and totk as an even fucking bigger one. Zelda has always been and will always be a series about mythology. Just like with any real world mythology, there should never be an “official”timeline, you can’t make a clear timeline out of a bunch of disparate stories that have been passed down for generations by word of mouth. I love hypothesizing about a possible order for the games, I think that’s fun, but that’s all it should ever be. Timeline discussion was a lot more fun when people were open to other possibilities for the order.

Wow that sure was a tangent that I’ve went on, thanks for listening to this idiot who’s very autistic about Zelda ramble for a bit.

[kirkwallguy]

Veilguard so averse to transition that your Inquisitor, the character you already know and have spent time with, is forced into a binary gender and cannot have transitioned in ten years if they had a non-bisexual romance partner. Even though it would have been a handful of lines to change at most, and for the vast majority not even that.

Flynn is left super nebulous. Isabela cares so little about Taash feeling isolated that Hollix being non-binary is a throwaway line near the end, in the worst scene in the whole game. One of the companions (Lucanis? Might be Davrin, I can't recall) stumbles with Taash's pronouns even though he addresses a non-binary Rook without ever missing a beat.

We know nothing about Tarquin's HRT (is it blood magic?? tell me! we know so much invasive shit but nothing here?), they gave no grace to Taash's mom, and trans identities don't feel integrated into the world thanks to all the modern lingo and apparent disdain for the bit of language that does exist. Clearly they cared about depicting a trans Rook but the moment I heard them utter the word "trans" without any context felt a bit sad. Yeah we exist but where is our community, beyond twenty genders in Tevinter codex from a non-Tevinter character?

EXACTLYYYY... it's just a bunch of tiny missteps that all come together to create this really weird and anti-transition image

the inquisitor is like. fine. they have engine limitations and already can't account for worldstates as well as having to reckon woth gay and lesbian romances so it would need a level of sensitivity that they don't have time for. but imo continuing to gender-lock the only romance that actually matters is kind of antithetical to the game's branding as queer friendly. if you want to experience as much romance as possible your inquisitor HAS to be a cishet woman, and by default the inquisitor is this cishet woman. no other inquisitor experiences extra content aside from a queer man who will have some weirdly homophobic 'we're old friends' bs... when talking about inquisitor limitations i feel a little silly because mine was so obviously not going to be catered to and i wasnt expecting that but like... It so clearly reinforces this odd binary heteronormative lean that it feels extremely weird

and yeah. i think the best parts of the trans writing come from rook. they say some really interesting things but then as soon as a companion or anyone else responds the illusion is broken, especially the discussion i had with davrin during my romance (and potentially any other romance?). it just feels hollow and meaningless and not something that affects their character in a material way. i definitely felt like it was more about the player being trans than the player character being trans. which, again, is fine! but i won't praise it as good writing nor will i say it works well in da worldbuilding

it does just feel like trans characters are thrown in with little thought and their experiences aren't cohesive at all. if we're suddenly in a utopia where transition is fine and trans people are rarely discriminated against even in conformist societies such as tevinter (unless their parents are from a Bad Evil Regressive Backwards Qunari Society such as taash's or Poor such as tarquin's), then why not have the world around us reflect that? it's origins trying to say that misogyny doesn't exist then throwing you into a clearly patriarchal society all over again. it's a massive undertaking! to write about a world like this it honestly has to be your main goal because of how much your real-life experiences in a binary society will creep in. even some of the best writers that try to capture this experience often can't do it fully - just look at the discussion surrounding the left hand of darkness (one of my favourite books of all time, if you're at all interested in gender in spec-lit PLEASE read it despite its shortcomings.)

[ubtendo]

Now that I'm finally though with DBZ here a some ver general bullet points I made while watching of things I'm still thinking about after watching the whole thing (- the movies, I'm still gonna catch up to them) in a somewhat chronological order

The fact that we had that Goku and Gohan eyecatcher for 200 episodes and Gohan wore that outfit for 5 episodes at most

Every jump or dodge is on an olypmic gymnast level of complexity, like why was Goku doing so much when he jumped down from the Nimbus to face Raditz? Did he learn that from Kami or what?

Saiyans wearing only slips under their armor

Nobody mentions the complete colour change of Vegetas pallete from his first appearance; red head Vegeta will always be true to me 😔

I'm still not sure if they ever restored the moon after the second time they blew it up

How is Yajirobe getting up and down Korrins tower? I know he has a flying car, but where does he park it?

King Kai's presence as an unreliable narrator irritated me somehow

I don't get how Yamcha's death is such a meme? Like I don't question it's existence but him getting dragged so much even though there were way funnier deaths imo

I think this was also the last time Chiaotzu was relevant in any form

Why introduce the Saiyans as this cool alien giant monkey race if you never go anywhere with it after the Saiyan saga?

Vegeta crying out all the pent-up frustration from being used as a slave by Freeza at Goku's feet and Goku being emotionally unavailable to the whole thing

There is no way Goku would have been able to start Freeza's ship if it didn't crash into the core, I refuse to believe his button mashing had any thought behind it, that man does not know how to start a spaceship

The sounds of the planet exploding everywhere while Goku and Freeza are fighting haunt me

Bulma is so freaky for flirting with Porunga

Death has literally no consequences

Popo and Kami running for like an entire episode while Piccolo Gohan and Krillin were fighting was so funny

Also, Popo and Kami are a married couple, don't come at me. I'm just stating the facts

Freeza coming back from death and introduced back as this bloodthirsty entry out for revenge along with his father, who we've never seen before, only to be cut up by a teenager with a cool sword immediately upon arrival

So many situations and problems could have been avoided if Goku actually properly used Instant Transmission and I'm not fighting on that one

ChiChi must be the most loyal and faithful person on the planet if her man is dead or absent throughout most of the time

The whole drivers licence episode is peak to me

Piccolo telling Kami he needs to fuse with him again, Kami rejecting the idea saying he still needs time to think about it then agreeing immediately after 5 seconds

I don't get the logistics of Trunks hair growth. At the same time, boy drop the routine

The super saiyans of the Cell Saga were peak designs

Somehow Goku being really relaxed the days before the Cell Games really unsettled me

ChiChi saying thery were late to Kame House because Goku left them in the car and non of them knew how to drive while KRILLIN, who we have seen driving a car in the beginning of DBZ, was sitting in the back; I guess he just didn't want to drive with ChiChi

What's the purpose of the guardian of the Earth again? Except the making the dragon balls neither Kami nor Dende ever really did anything

When I first saw 16 all those years back I was judging him hard, but he has grown on me a lot

Imagine getting hit so hard by a 11 y/o that you start throwing up people

Except 18, there aren't any female fighters. I wish ChiChi would have stayed one

The new eyecatcher, especially the one with King Kai and Goku is so funky I love it

Goten and Trunks are a better depiction of children acting their age then Gohan was (tbf he was casted out in the wild for a year on his own but I digress)

Goku speaking to his son from the dead after 7 years of silence, only for him to announce that he basically has a day off from being dead and wanted to join a fighting tournament because he is bored

I had to stop and sit for a moment after hearing Daboras english voice

Vegeta really said "I started loving my life and I hate the fact that I love my life so I'm evil again"

Out of all the traumatic events happening in the series, Goku yelling at Goten and Trunks to stop whining after they learned that Gohan and Vegeta are dead has to be the worst one

"Super Saiyan 2" "Super Saiyan 3" Man just give the forms actual names

I didn't like SSJ3 at the beginning, but I've come to like the neanderthal look of it

Piccolo throughout the whole Buu Saga was peak, man was so lost and terrified

Also the interactions between Gotenks and Piccolo

Gohan and Goku playing catch with a sword and a boulder probably counted as "Father-Son bonding time" to Goku

Gohan and Buu getting in the same fighting positions as Goku and Vegeta did in their first fight wss actually really dope; I was kicking my feet on the bed

I've cried tears of laughter when Tien showed up for half an episode, almost died and then left

They should have used Solar Flare way more often

This is so random but ChiChi, Bulma and Videl chilling with Dabora

Goku and Vegeta throughout the whole saga had me like🤨

Vegito 💖💕😮🫵💖💕💞

Humans are the worst race in every Sci-fi; they get told that they only have to raise their hands to save the universe and they still don't do it

If Goku and Vegeta had a mad make out session after the fight with Buu I wouldn't have been surprised

People get shot in the right shoulder/chest way too often; PICK AN OTHER SPOT THE HEART IS ON THE OTHER SIDE

Everyone has goldfish memory. They keep forgetting things that have been established MULTIPLE TIMES

Ngl, the end had me a bit emotional

Aaaahhh, sorry for the long post. I got way too enthusiastic about the whole show because I really loved it 😔🥺

[crguang]

glad 2 see you are also not a topaz enjoyer, idk why she's so popular but i firmly cannot like her ass

i personally don’t find topaz interesting, i don’t think her character has any depth to it worth mentioning. she’s in the same tier as skott to me just bc she has no life or personality outside of the IPC and the only words that come out of her mouth are “market” “profit” “job” “numby” and “IPC” like oh my god we get it. i know they “saved” her planet from ruin and she’s grateful for that, that she was likely groomed into her role as well but that doesn’t stop her from perpetuating their toxic mindset and personally im just sick of it. any character that is IPC affiliated is getting a side eye for me except for aventurine because he actually wants to leave that evil corporation so he’s ok. at least jade has intrigue around her character outside of her job, and a hobby. something that topaz desperately needs.

i don’t find the IPC as a corporation interesting at all. they’re just evil capitalists and i think they should be eradicated, i dont see anything remotely interesting about that tbh like there are enough to go around irl. i also believe that you have to be a little evil to have such a high position in that corporation so i don’t believe the people who tell me that topaz is a good person just because she helped belobog once, cause right after that she called them servants for accepting the help of the astral express twice (while she wanted them to accept the help of the ipc??😭) then admitted that the ipc only cared about profits so… shes not dumb, she knows the basis of capitalism is exploitation and shes good with that. again, morality is not something that will determine whether i hate a character or not but topaz is not a fleshed out character at all, there’s nothing to her but her sob story about her home planet. if i want an evil, intelligent woman im not going for topaz, jade is right there. if i want someone who’s always ten steps ahead kafka is right there. if i want an analytical mind, there’s ruan mei and herta. like what exactly is topaz supposed to do for me when these characters all have unique personalities and lore. granted, we dont know much about jade (yet) but her abilities and collected personality already makes her more interesting to me

i felt insane playing the wardance and having that pile of junk with a camera for a head reprimand luka for his distrust and “prejudice” against the IPC — they treated his life and all of belobog like stock market numbers?!?! then he always had to concede to the others’ points like i was going crazy. then the scrap metal goes around calling MY BEST FRIEND boothill a dangerous savage oh i was mad, the IPC glazing and propaganda in that event pissed me off. luka getting an ipc sponsored mechanical arm just like igor did when the whole point was that igor had to sell his body parts to please rich egocentric snobs just for the hope that they would care about something other than themselves. he made himself a merchandise to save his planet and failed. i hate that the luka situation was portrayed as beneficial for both parties so there was no harm done and topaz was just helping him. that’s the thing that makes me feel crazy about hsr, they will show us every instance of the IPC being evil, greedy and cold then will turn around and try to make them likeable because some playable characters are IPC. i feel insane.

i also don’t like her design, imo it’s very basic for a 5* character. i remember playing the belobog quest and being surprised that she was a five star character because i found her so boring 😭 they didn’t even try like, man whatever. she’s not cute to me. she’s the only character in the game that i can rant about hating like that’s crazy. i hate ratio but i wouldn’t type an essay on him, ive had to argue about topaz too many times to be chill about her. and jadepaz also contributes to me hating her. what those ship brained gays did to jade after her release is criminal nobody cared about her on her own i felt crazy. i went through that with black swan already, no more. i need topaz deleted off the game

sorry sev

[pavlovianpanic]

first off, i just want to say that sometimes i just look at how a game is made to operate in the way i was taught game storytelling, so to me, it really always comes down to this: hope vs. despair, good guys and bad guys. all stories really rely on that formula in a way, even danganronpa straight out just goes "it's fucking hope or despair!!!!" and we ran with it. it's the most basic of storytelling. there have to be antagonists to the protagonist(s). without it, a story kind of falls apart. no one wants to watch a bunch of really good guys doing really awesome cool things with no conflict. that's just boring.

i know there's a lot of discourse, it's even on the wiki, about what communications nathan is and is not having with his dad and jefferson. his dad emails him. we don't see direct contact with jefferson. however, arguably, nathan lives right on top of jefferson's work. they don't have to really be too secretive in too many ways. it's not unusual for jefferson to speak to students, and he openly favors nathan in ways that we can infer and sort of see. he has openly kind of been nathan's mentor because ... i really don't think anyone would notice or question it. the principal? noticing anything? okay, sure. and the other students? who are young teens worried about themselves, more worried about if nathan is going to kick their ass or not? they aren't paying attention unless they have to. max wasn't. she only notices things when they become important at first and then later picks up details as she knows to start looking for them actively. because she is a video game character and that's usually how that goes. we don't know what to do until we know what to do, ya know?

so ... it's split in the assumption of nathan is also communicating with his dad on his burner phone or not. i think he was. i think sean will often block nathan's number because nathan "asks too much of him", and will unblock him later to talk with nathan. if he really needs to, he can just email him, but there's something too instantaneous about nathan texting him all the time. ask me how i know rich dads act like this? how they also have two phones and you have one number? how they never text back unless they need something from you or need you to make them feel better? but when you can be used as a way to boost them? they're all over you finally. it's nauseating.

and it's harsh, but it's true. a man like sean doesn't want to be bothered by nathan. nathan is his son, yes, but not always his priority. that's just how rich people can be. that's how anyone can be.

personally? sean is a huge red flag as having npd imo. he made his son have borderline, that's a condition you are not born with but bred to have if that makes sense. a lot of nathan's uncontrollable urges are because he saw his father never have to control his, and only in public does sean really "control himself" but he's described as mean, so he's not trying that hard. the people he tries hardest with are the people above himself. and in reality, everyone is beneath him, they just don't know it yet. learn, nathan. learn your place.

nathan only exists to sean when he needs nathan to exist (and almost vice versa). when they share the same space, one must become very small in cohabitation and submissive ... and that's not going to be sean. sean is the dominant force of that house, he is the decider, he is the moneymaker, and he is the man. being a man is very important to nathan, i wonder why.

i don't think jefferson really acts as this like "catch you when you fall!" and then pulls the rug on nathan by ignoring him until nathan finally makes it up to him. again, no one cares if a teacher is talking to their literal favorite student who they mentor, especially in a college-like environment. it's a high school masquerading as a college, but like ... no one notices, they care about what's going on with them. additionally, you know no one in this school cares. look at kate? the whole thing? her own friends ditch her because the literal bully bullied her who likely bullies them. come on, man. i know kids are like that, but jfc.

do i think he communicates with jefferson on that phone? of course. i think nathan is also a person that gets very high and sometimes doesn't even know what phone he's on. like, if we as sober people sometimes can't even remember what tumblr accounts we're on and mess up, i imagine a boy on all the drugs he's on is probably prone to making a mistake. i mean, a lot of his story is making mistakes. but again, i think he reaches out to his dad because his dad is ignoring him and he "needs" sean's help. in the end, only "daddy can save you, nathan" kind of vibes. i think he knows his dad will hurt him, but keep him alive, whereas now with jefferson ... he's beginning to not be so sure. i think nathan was hot and heavy in pursuing this dynamic with jefferson, was mad it got cold when he fucked up, and then was also scared when it heated back up again as it started to spiral out fast.

additionally, for sean, he has a very limited voice, especially taking bts out entirely. we know him almost not at all, we know an idea of him. but we know enough to know what he would sound like, how he would treat nathan, and all of nathan's telling us the whole game what he's like is pretty clear. nathan is desperately trying to reach his father, who will and will not listen depending on if he wants to or not. sometimes, he just doesn't want to hear what nathan has to say.

i think victoria is a choice from jefferson to pressure nathan. he knows victoria isn't the right choice, but it's also victoria that nathan really reveres and protects. jefferson knows that. he talks to nathan. he knows what he's about. nathan is all but literally screaming out for anyone to listen. that's all jefferson had to do, just like sean said: listen. nathan will come undone instantly. so, in putting victoria on the chopping block, it encourages nathan to act harder and faster to go for the ones he really wants nathan to get. this is all fear tactics and emotional manipulation with these two.

additionally, i could talk about their (nathan and jefferson) mutual fascinations with kate and max (and rachel) ... but that's another post for another time.

also my last important late addition: nathan is always screaming about his dad in public. thus this is why his dad tells him not to do that anymore. he still does, but that's why.