#is this fucked up and evil? yes. but its also accurate

[theribthatgrewback]

if i had the patience to figure out more questions i would make a "which jthm character are you" quiz that includes the question "which character do you WANT to be?" and picking nny would actually give points to jimmy

[erabu-san]

You are literally French. What would you know about any of this, an issue and drama stirred up by anericans.

Blackwashing exists and is used by bigots that hate white people. Its used to erase the ethnicity of asians just because people dont think they are "poc enough" because of their pale skin. Its used to demonize people with pale skin because its becoming more and more the norm to view anyone with pale skin as evil. That anyone who is "too pale" isnt enough or a human being.

They arent real people, and their skintones are fine as is. You wouldnt go up to, for example an albino or mixed race black/poc person and tell them they arent "dark enough". They dont even need to be special like that to be pale. Some just are pale.

Whether you think there should be more characters that are dark or not is not the issue. Its that you think they wouldnt be/arent good enough as is with pale skin that shows how much of a bigot you are.

Blackwashing is not the progressive act you think it is. Its obvious that your only experience with it is through genshin drama. You obviously know nothing about how much red haired pale characters & asian ones are substituted with black characters. How characters are simply replaced in the name of "diversity". How this forced inclusivity and diversity is just bigots trying to "get revenge" on the white people they hate so much, and to tick off DEI boxes on their little bigoted checklist.

You tell me to educate myself but its actually YOU who needs to be educated.

Many are complaining about sumeru and natlan characters with names similar to gods in cultures of our world that are pale when their inspiration is dark skinned. Claiming they want representation and for it to be accurate, to reflect our world on a 1-1 scale.

Yet these same people will make xiao, zhongli, Ei, and many more asian characters darker " because asians can be dark skinned too". Yet so can mostly dark skinned races be pale.

So why cant you (gen) respect such characters, who are gods and divine beings based on a culture where pale is more beautiful, and gods of such cultures are pale?

There is hypocrisy in everything to do with blackwashing. Its okay when its done to pale characters because in real life black people have been oppressed? But these characters are not real, nor are they a reflection of our reality, as far as we have seen they dont even have racism in this fictional world.

It is one thing to explore a character like with the recent hatsune miku trend, atleast there most people arent going at each other's throats saying black miku is better than japanese miku(as far as i have seen)

Seriously how can you even begin to justify this. And who ever told you that dark skinned characters "scare white people" is an absolute fucking liar trying to justify their own bigotry towards white people.

No black washing IS just as disgusting as whitewashing. Neither should exist, and you shouldn't feed into the stupid circle jerk of bigotry that both of them are.

Aaaah that's what I like ! Yes ! Thank you for telling me your opinion, explaining what is wrong. I absolutely love to learn, and I prefer to read this long text calling me ignorant and explaining why that just a simple text of you saying you are annoyed by a fanart.

Thank you for telling me ! First yes I am french, and indeed my culture has more an european pov. But again, I also grow up as a minority "race" with my parents culture !🙏 in france, i don't look like a french. Well. Still I am aware that it doesn't remove anything from what I said

And I totally agree with you, some are just pale !! It just happens I draw Kinich black because I like it like this. Is Kinich true inspiration are actually pale ? Tell me more, I wish to learn !!

Tbh when you talk abt gods being pale is beautiful, I thought about Nahida. I did research when she were out and yes, I do agree, there is character who are fine as they are.

And because I live in France I also see "dark skin scare white" as a true fact. It happens and it is harmful. 🧍 not only in France tho, in country where pale skin is portrayed as beautiful, people who have tan skin are less represented even if it is the majority. I suppose the contrary happens too !!

"Character are not real" and yet you are annoyed, I guess it is the action of "blackwash" that make you mad, more than "a fictional character w diffent skin tone" tho! My opinion is fiction does affect real world, as do real life affects fiction, and this is something I won't debate on

"They don't have racism in this fictional world" sorry but it does in Sumeru. 🙏 about this one npc she is reject by forest and desert because of them being mixed, desert not being access to book and even Cyno said his scholarship was complicated because he is from desert

If you wish to continue, please send me DM with arguments. I don't know if I would change my mind of not drawing Kinich pale, but I am super interested about what you have to say !! 👍👍

[kiruyeen]

rambling abt my danny johnson hcs bc I dont have anything better to do

alright so the fog most definitely changed everyone in it, but while most of them are for worse, Danny for better, actually. not for the "hehe I can mutilate people without worrying abt consequences" part. by all means I believe danny would get bored. of the same methods of killing, sacrifing, stalking for short periods, the same realms, same victims, etc. Danny, as patient as he can be while stalking, is a thrill seeking man, and only human, whether he likes it or not.

but this is a key part of him actually getting to explore who 'danny johnson' is. he spent his entire life putting on masks, physical or metaphorical, that he has no idea who 'danny' is otherwise, and this would give him a chance to explore, since, well, being painfully average isnt any advantage to him here and he has nothing better to do since he cant focus his attention on stalking and studying other people. when theres no one left to study, one is forced to study themselves.

he could actually grow out his hair, give himself stick and poke tats (maybe with the help of the legion, who knows), grow a beard to see if he likes it (I dont think he would), etc.

going from this, if he forms genuine bonds with anyone (especially any survivors) bc yk what else is left to do, he could actually, just maybe, open up about his past and realize oh fuck, that shit wasnt healthy or normal at all. I dont think itd fix him, but itd give him a better understanding of himself. I dont think he would ever upon up about this if it wasnt for the fog.

similarly I dont think he'd form any romantic bonds with anyone if it wasnt the fog as well, I fully believe danny used to cut himself off (more accurately, cut THEM up) as soon as he felt his feelings for anyone would get in the way of his mission. I dont think he even recognizes romantic love anymore. the difference in the fog is, well, you cant get rid of your problems by murdering them here bc they just come back like a boomerang.

he semi-canonly has NPD (as in the devs called him a bit narcissistic once and I stuck to it like a starving leech) and I most definitely believe he has the symptoms, as a lack of a sense of self is common with NPD anyway. I never wanna think too much abt this since I have a deeply set fear of misrepresenting already stigmatized disorders esp due to not having NPD myself but I will say, 1, he definitely has an internal hierarchy but the way he feels abt those above and below him are different than you'd assume, and 2, he would have been a murderer regardless of his npd and the npd has nothing to do with him becoming a murderer, it does influence it naturally yes bc its a PERSONALITY disorder but its not what makes him evil yk. its the ritualized abuse he went through all his life with the explicit intent to make him the way he is.

other, small stuff

so since the entity can and does change a few things with the killers, I love to think Danny has tapetum lucidum in his eyes, like a cat, to see better in the dark, esp beneath the mask's eyes.

the way his costume's... strap.. tentacle... things work is similar to a cat's tail as well. swishing furiously when upset, resting naturally when calm, curling slowly when curious etc. it makes it a little bit easier to guess how hes feeling with the emotionless mask on, for the theoretical audience at least.

he's actually not a fan of physical contact, unless it is to cause discomfort to or fluster someone. he's simply not used to it, but he will tolerate it when necessary. he's likely just touch starved but doesnt recognize the sensation, though.

he would not care enough to label his orientational identity but it'd definitely be pan and somewhere on the a-spectrum.

returning to the only getting to know himself after the fog bit, he'd probably realize hes at least a little bit gender queer. (I also love trans man danny headcanons I just cant seem to make it fit with my other hcs)

alr thats abt it I believe. feel free to share ur ideas as well I love reading abt different interpertations for a character esp when it is the silly sopping wet cat that is danny

[unifi3dtheory]

ZALGO HCS

Its hard coming up with a base for a character who can really just be summed up with “evil meme wants to destroy humanity” but I tried because he is my husband and I Iove him dearly.

Zalgo feeds off of chaos, destruction, and corruption. He emits this aura that makes people easy to charm, or irrational and angry.

Yes, Zalgo occasionally directly ruins, influences, and corrupts people for fun. But it would not be accurate to point at every single sign of evil and blame Zalgo for it.

Rather than making people evil, or corrupt, or a bully, Zalgo focuses on tormenting the already tormented.

Zalgo just pushes people over the edge.

Where there is chaos, violence, evil, corruption, Zalgo is aware of it. He isn’t “there” spectating the ordeal with a ghostly bucket of popcorn, but he is aware of it and he feeds off it.

He can take a look at one person and know exactly what they have went through, and what has shaped them and ruined them, and he credits himself for it and uses it to his advantage. This is what I mean when I say Zalgo is aware of all the horrible things that happen.

Does Zalgo deserve this credit he gives himself? Most of the time, no, but it makes him feel good and his ego is too massive for him to acknowledge the truth.

There are many factors that led to creepypastas like Jeff going insane and Eyeless Jack turning into what he is now, but Zalgo just claims that he is the reason why they are what they are and takes pride in it, even though his claim is false.

Zalgo can be only closely described as a “force of nature” only when he is confined to or trapped in the UnderRealm. When confined to the UnderRealm, Zalgo is unable to manifest himself and become tangible. He is nothing but a voice in people’s heads, trying to mess with their thoughts and/or an invisible force fucking with people’s emotions and rational.

This is where the “corrupt media” part of him comes in. Zalgo corrupts media, messes with people’s minds and emotions to gain more influence, to cause more chaos, so that he can manifest himself into a physical form where he is much more powerful and influential.

The UnderRealm is not a tangible place, you cannot go there, you cannot take a step in there, it is not a place, just a state of existence, you are dead, but also alive at the same time.

Obviously being non-existent and existent at the same time sounds extremely conflicting and unpleasant, so no wonder Zalgo does all he can to keep his influence to prevent himself from being banished back there.

Please feel free to ask stuff. I find it easier to come up with stuff when I have an actual question I can focus on answering. ​I’m writing this very late at night so it might not even be that good.

[glitteringcrab]

Prime Fight (4 theories)

Did both Evil Morty and Morty Prime do more than we realize? (based on the Freaky Mortys: Unmorticken Edition theory, which you should totally go read, although I no longer think any "brain control" took place, just wireless communication)

Theory 1: Evil Morty did more than we realize

Here you can see Evil Morty just barely avoiding becoming a pancake by a Diane Bot:

Here you can see that Rick C-137 becoming a pancake apparently made a big impression on Evil Morty:

At the time I thought he was thinking:

"Ooh, did this do it? Are ya dead? No? Yes? No. Crap. WAIT! If our tank is down, I have to take over--" (I mean, I doubt Evil Morty would shed a tear for Rick C-137 dying, but he definitely doesn't want to get killed himself, sooo... go go go go)

However, if the above mentioned Unmorticken Freaky Mortys theory is correct, what he's really thinking is:

"Oooh, this thing is tough enough to bring a Rick down. Should destroy them all asap..."

And soon after, we indeed see an eyepatched Morty (whoever he is) shooting the Diane Bots down, so presumably that's what Evil Morty was thinking.

However, before that happens, this happens:

Right before Eyepatched Morty shoots them down, one of the Diane Bots hits Rick Prime.

AND EXPLODES.

That's new.

(even the way they strike is new)

I mean, it's weird enough that it hit Rick Prime in the first place! He's smart, wtf. Did he get sloppy? Does he have residual regrets about killing his wife? Does he like a challenge, and finds having to avoid his own weapons entertaining? Did the Diane Bot get confused because of the C-137 leg that was in Prime's shoulder? Technically all the above are possible explanations but we aren't given a specific explanation for such a crucial moment in the fight (which is kinda suspicious) and the Diane Bots had seemed accurate up to then.

And, uh... why did it explode? Is Rick Prime himself like a bomb, set to explode if he ever gets squished?

As the next scene pans out, we see that its fingers have been cut off by the explosion, and are all yellow. Which I get in this setting means "red-hot", but it could also be a color-coded message for us viewers that Evil Morty had something to do with the malfunction of the robot.

Like this moment:

And I'd like to point out that when Rick cuts something in half with his own knif-y thing, the cuts are traced blue:

Anyway there is a suspicious pause between the last moment when we see Evil Morty fighting (using the palm canon of the sliced Primebot to save Morty Prime's life) and the next moment we see him, kneeling on the floor with his arms over his head. Did he do nothing in between that time? (obviously he wasn't able to hijack the Dianebots like they did with the flying drone because then he wouldn't have guided Morty Prime to go shoot them down, he would have kept using them... But maybe he managed to only partially hijack its arm or do something else?)

So maybe when he was staring at C-137's incapacitated body, what Evil Morty was really thinking was:

"Oooh, this thing is tough enough to bring a Rick down. I should use this on Rick Prime."

Theory 2: Morty Prime did more than we realize

This scene? With the little salute?

Yeah, I'm now convinced that's Evil Morty gesturing while telepathically telling Morty Prime "Fly up to shoot the Dianebots, I'll go help Ri-FUCK"

And Morty Prime nods in agreement.

(I mean, we use gestures when speaking normally. It wouldn't be too weird to use them when speaking via brain linkage of eyepatch, too.)

And initially I thought that Evil Morty was brain-controlling both Morty Prime and the drone, but now I realize that would be pointless, and nothing but a drain for his concentration.

We've seen instances of Evil Morty's puppeteering, and it seemed he mostly had to pause what he was doing in order to puppeteer Evil Rick, at least when it came to key fighting moments.

Note how they had to shoot one by one and didn't attack simultaneously?

But even if he got better with practice and by now can totally control more than one person's body... if Evil Morty was able to control the drone, he didn't need Morty Prime to also be riding it, getting in great heights and risking breaking his neck.

So yeah, that Morty flying up, piloting the drone via eye-patch, shooting Dianebots? That is Morty Prime being extremely cool all by himself (I think lol, all this is just speculation).

Theory 3: Evil Morty' story keeps getting sadder and sadder

I no longer think any actual temporary brain "control" took place, because:

a) I doubt that Morty Prime would ever agree to that, no matter how Evil Morty could have presented it as a perk.

b) It'd be creepy as heck for Evil Morty to just have a spare brain control eyepatch lying around in his space mansion, like, uh, that feels too much even for him. I mean, he lives all alone, he didn't expect anyone to ever visit, it'd be like he was obsessing with the idea of mind controlling Morty Prime this whole time. That's that's that's way too creepy. NOPE.

c) Evil Rick needed brain surgery to be mind controlled. Cables wired in his brain and stuff. Sounds time consuming to perform when you have to hastily prep before a big fight, even if you can pause time in your awesome space mansion with time crystals. (And Morty Prime got scanned while being a kuato, if there were cables in his skull Rick would have spotted them). I doubt Evil Morty would have been able to substitute doing a brain surgery with something as simple as wearing an eyepatch, otherwise he'd slap one on Rick Prime. The closest thing to instant brain-override on a person we've seen are those fingergun things.

But I totally think Morty Prime wearing the eyepatch allows him to wirelessly communicate with Evil Morty's brain (i.e. with Evil Morty's own implant) in real time. Which feels a lot more exposing for Evil Morty, because while Morty Prime only gets a screen before his eyes, Evil Morty would be basically linking his own freaking brain to an object gifted to a third party, which if used maliciously could probably be turned against him (*hold that thought). And therefore it is a lot friendlier, and nicer, and more likely for Morty Prime to agree to see Evil Morty's thoughts presented to him in text form than it'd be to agree to get mind-controlled. And I can totally see Evil Morty creating such a nice eyepatch for his potential companion in the same way he built a second seat in his spaceship. (Which, in turn, would mean that the little yellow robotic-brain-override cylinder that Morty Prime uses to control the drone was also equipment specifically made for Evil Morty's potential companion so that he, too, could have a mild version of Evil Morty's signature brain-related capabilities)

And yeah, because Evil Morty trusts no one, the extra eyepatch has a built-in mind-blower-like gimmick, scrambling Morty Prime's memories of what happened, so that:

(a) he cannot tell Rick C-137 details of Evil Morty's space base, and

(b) Evil Morty cannot get disappointed when Morty Prime inevitably turns his back to follow Rick C-137. The whole experience can be reduced to a single "thanks for the assist".

And maybe I'm just grabbing at straws, because Evil Morty has a very small range of casual expressions ranging from annoyed to deadpan to the one I call tired & miserable so you can never really be sure what he's thinking or feeling, but... uh...

His expression does change the moment he turns his back to Morty Prime, to the tired & miserable version.

I doubt that he informed Morty Prime of the built-in mind blower thing beforehand, but even if he did I feel like Morty Prime would understand this particular precaution.

(*did you hold that thought?)

Theory 4: A worrying scenario

We've seen Rick C-137 using a Prime drone (that he got from that time portal travelers were reset) to begin tracking Rick Prime down.

(Evil Morty's first puppet)

(Evil Morty's first eyepatch)

(freaking evidence)

(Evil Morty's awesome golden sword)

(Evil Morty's communication eyepatch and the remains of the drone he overrode, with the little golden override cylinder presumably still attached)

(Evil Morty's awesome finger gun brain-overriding bullets)

Boy, I know you're not used to people going after you, specifically, because you appear either too innocent to be dangerous, or you appear too dangerous to be worth attacking (and I know you're a clone so you're not used to someone telling you to clean your room), but please stop littering. Stop leaving remains of your tech just lying around. I don't want anyone to trace you back by studying your awesome brain tech. Please stop. Stop stop stop.

[somedeadbeatloz3r69]

Since I've been seeing so many people shit on joker 2; folie a deux, so will I. (i saw it a daily earlier before most because it came out a day earlier in my area lol THE JOKER 1 IS VERY GOOD, POTRAYS PYSCHOTIC BEHAVIOR PERFECTLY AND IS BEAUTIFUL. BUT, JOKER 2 IS NOT ON THE OTHER HAND. YES, IT IS BEAUTIFUL, BUT HOLY FUCK ALL THAT SINGING WAS UNNEEDED, AND ALSO IT MADE BARELY ANY SENSE, ALSO JOKER IS MEANT TO BE THE ONE MANIPULATING HARLEY, NOT CODEPENDENT ON HER?? AND SHES NOT EVEN PYSCHO, JUST GOOFY AND WEIRD. JOKER 2 IS VERY HARSH AND REAL, AND VERY ACCURATELY CONNECTED TO THE ILLNESSES FEAUTURED IN JOKER 1, BUT WHAT THE PROBLEM IS WHO THEY'RE POTRAYED BY. THE ILLNESSES ARE ACCURATE, THEY GO TOGETHER, BUT THEY DON'T MATCH THE CHARACTER OF JOKER. THEY DON'T MATCH HIS ACTIONS, THE ILLNESSES OF JOKER IN PART 1 MATCHED HIS CHARACTER AND MADE SENSE; PERCIEVING HIM TO PEOPLE AS A CHARACTER THAT FINALLY BROKE FREE, SOMEONE WHO ENJOYED THE HIGH OF BEING KNOWN, AT A HIGHER RANK THAN EVERYONE ELSE. HE FELT AS IF HE WAS ONTOP, AND HE LOVED THE ATTENTION. HE WAS CARELESS AND RELENTLESS, YET DELUSIONAL AND PYSCHOTIC. THIS ALL HAPPENED WHEN HE FINALLY BROKE; FINALLY GOT SET FREE, AND HE WENT CRAZY AND YET WAS STILL DELUSIONAL. BUT, IN JOKER 2, HE IS MUCH MORE CO-DEPENDENT AND WEAK SHOWN, NOT MATCHING HIS CHARACTER IN THE 1ST ONE. YES, HE'S BEEN IN THE ASYLUM FOR AWHILE, BUT THAT SHOULD JUST MAKE HIM MORE CARELESS AND INSANE. BUT NO, NOW HE'S MORE SOFT AND DELUSIONAL, THE DELUSIONAL PART MAKES SENSE, BUT THE PART WHERE HE JUST GOES BACK TO NORMAL AND SAYS 'THERE WAS NEVER A JOKER'? NO. HE'S BEEN BRAINWASHED AND IT DOESNT MATCH HIS CHARACTER. HE CLEARLY FELT HAPPIER THAN EVER WHEN HE WAS THE JOKER AND IT DIDN'T MATCH HIS CHARACTER, THERE'S NO GOING BACK. YOU CAN'T JUST GO BACK TO BEING ARTHUR FLECK, THE YOU THAT YOU DESPISE. THE YOU THAT WAS WEAK. AFTER A TRAUMATIZING EXPERIENCE, IF ANYTHING, YOU SHOULD BECOME MORE EVIL. MORE REVENGEFUL. NO, IT'S NOT INVALID IF THAT'S NOT HOW YOU REACT, BUT IT'S INVALID FOR THE JOKER BECAUSE IT WAS INACCURATE TOWARDS HIS CHARACTER IN JOKER 1.

THEY BOTH POTRAYED MENTAL ILLNESS VERY WELL, AND THEY DO GO TOGETHER, BUT NOT FOR THE JOKER. THE JOKER IS EVIL AND RELENTLESS. NOT SOFT AND VULNERABLE. HE KNOWS WHAT HE DID. AND HE'S PROUD OF IT. HE FINALLY FELT ALIVE, SEEN, AND THE MOVIE OVERALL WAS MUCH MORE REALISTIC AND STRAIGHTFORWARD. HE MEANT TO DO WHAT HE DID PURPOSEFULLY. IT WASN'T JUST AN 'ACT'. ARTHUR FLECK WAS THE ACT, WAS HIM GOING INSANE, ARTHUR FLECK WAS THE BUILDUP TO THE JOKER. THE JOKER WAS THE REAL HIM, THE HIM THAT COULD FINALLY GET RELEASED. THE HIM HE'S BEEN CONCEALING FOR FOREVER. SO HIM BEING HAPPY AND CARELESS, AND EVEN ENJOYING BEING EVIL, DOES NOT MATCH HIM BEING SOFT AND VULNERABLE. YES THE DELUSIONS MAKE SENSE, DEEPLY, BUT THEY'RE JUST TOO CORNY AND TOO CO-DEPENDENT. BEING DELUSIONAL MAKES SENSE FOR HIM, BUT HIM HAVING CO-DEPENDENT DELUSIONS, SAYING ITS 'ALL A FANTASY', IS THE HARSH TRUTH, YET ALSO INACCURATE. HE WAS DELUSIONAL, IT WAS JUST A FANTASY, BUT HE LOVED IT, IT WAS PART OF HIS CHARACTER, HE WOULDNT JUST ADMIT HES A TERRIBLE PERSON, AND HOW IT WAS ALL AN ACT, BECAUSE IT NEVER WAS, BECAUSE DEEP DOWN HES ALWAYS BEEN THIS PYSCHOPATH. TO SAY IT WAS JUST AN ACT?? IS INSANE. IN HIS DELUSIONS ABOUT HAVING A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP, IN JOKER 1, THEY WERE NEVER TOO CORNY. NEVER TOO CODEPENDENT, FOR EVEN IN THE DELUSIONS HE COULD RELY ON HIMSELF, FOR EVEN IN THE DELUSIONS HE WAS CONFIDENT. BUT IN THE JOKER 2, HIS DELUSIONS ARE CORNY, AND VERY MUSICAL-LIKE WHICH WASNT NEEDED, VERY RANDOM AND KINDA DIDNT ADD UP. THE MOVIE WAS GREAT WITH GREAT SCENERY, BUT HOLY SHIT THEY TRIED WAY TOO HARD AND WENT OFF TRACK. IT WOULD BE A GREAT MOVIE, BUT MAYBE RELATED TO A DIFFERENT JOKER. BECAUSE THE JOKER IN JOKER 2, IS NOT THE JOKER WE SEE IN JOKER 1. ITS LIKE AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT JOKER. OVERALL, IT WAS AN OK MOVIE. BUT IT WOULDVE BEEN BETTER IF NOT RELATED TO THE JOKER. WHAT WAS REALLY FASCINATING ABOUT JOKER 1 IS HOW IT SHOWED HOW PEOPLE BREAK, IT WAS A MOVIE ABOUT CHAOS AND HOW HE WAS SLOWLY LOSING HIS SANITY. SOME PEOPLE COULD EVEN RELATE TO HIS SHITTY LIFE, PEOPLE FELT COMFORT. PEOPLE FELT SYMPATHY; EMPATHY. BUT IN THE JOKER 2 THEY COMPLETELY TAKE THAT AWAY, RIDDING OF HIS TOUGH, CARELESS, 'I'D DO IT AGAIN.' PERSONA AND REPLACING IT WITH A SOFTER, 'I REGRET IT ALL', PERSONA. JOKER 2 OVERALL DIDN'T MATCH HIS CHARACTER, AND PRACTICALLY WAS CHARACTER REGRGESSION RATHER THAN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. PEOPLE WANTED THE JOKER TO GO INSANE, THEY WERE HAPPY HE WAS TAKING REVENGE ON THE CRUEL WORLD. BUT IN JOKER 2, HE WAS EXACTLY LIKE HE WAS IN THE START OF JOKER 1. WEAK, SAD. YES, IT WAS A GOOD MOVIE WITH VERY WELL POTRAYED MENTAL ILLNESSES, IT JUST DIDN'T FIT HIS CHARACTER.

[yellowspiralbound]

Since season 3 of The Witcher Netflix comes out tomorrow...here are some of my concerns on adaptation from this season onward. Potential spoilers for the future seasons and definite spoilers for the books. Long post ahead.

The Hansa's Dynamic

I am so worried about how the Hansa is going to be handled in the show. Like shaking in my boots terrified. The showrunners already really messed up Dandelion & Geralt's dynamic...and that's one of the easier dynamics present in the Hansa imo. The dynamic is already going to be screwy because Cahir is a middle aged man and not a petulant teenager if he's present in the Hansa at all (though I think he will be since Emhyr called him and Fringilla out at the end of s2).

Emhyr as a Character

Speaking of Emhyr...I think they might attempt to give him a redemption arc, and I cannot emphasize how bad of an idea that is. They're going to retcon the whole "wanting to impregnate Ciri" bit, which I have mixed feelings on. Like yes, on one hand that's fucking gross but on the other hand, that bit is in there to show how fucked up Emhyr is and why Geralt needs to get to Ciri so quickly; it adds a sense of urgency to the Hansa's travels. If I see Emhyr sympathizers on my dash after this season I will lose my fucking mind.

Milva's Pregnancy & Related Scenes

I suspect that Milva's pregnancy is going to be cut entirely or play up the rest of the Hansa's concern for her as a weird "men think they can control women's bodies" thing which Milva will have to fight with them about so the show can be appropriately pro-choice without exploring any of the pro-choice nuance the books bring up. I can just see Regis talking to the guys about it being turned into a "the father deserves a say in a woman's choice to abort" scenario instead of the "I will give this woman her abortion regardless of what you all think about that (and I've made that VERY clear) but I think she's making this choice because she believes you all will abandon her/not support her if she wants to keep this baby and someone needs to make sure that she knows that won't happen" scenario that it actually is. This is also plays into my concerns about the Hansa's dynamic as changing that scene changes it irreparably.

Characterizing Nilfgaard as a Nation

Right now I feel like the show could go one of two ways 1) Nilfgaard is wrong in everything it does or 2) Nilfgaard is right in everything it does (if Emhyr gets a redemption arc). The show has already made a show of the Northern Realms' racism, which is book accurate mind you, but I fear this will translate to a sort of "Nilfgaard is the better nation as its less racist" scenario. While Nilfgaard is better in that aspect and a few others, it is still a militant slave nation. Nilfgaard and the Northern Realms both have their evils and their virtues; that's a big point in the books and the games. Neither nation is 100% good or 100% bad - they're just nations. I don't think the show will be able to handle that kind of nuance.

Jaskier & Radovid...

Apparently, Radovid is supposed to be one of Jask's love interests this season. Radovid is a massive racist, a war criminal, and a teenager. I'm sure all of that's going to be retconned but for fuck's sake just make a new character if you're going to age up and completely change the personality and insanity of an existing one. Important note: I am 1000% in support of queer Jask. I have never shipped that man with a woman in my life (even in the books and games) but for the love of God why did his LI have to be fucking RADOVID??

Mistle & the Rats

If they make Ciri and Mistle a love story, I am going to be disappointed but not surprised. Let me be clear: Mistle is a rapist and an abuser. I suspect they will change that to shoehorn in a queer relationship (even though Triss and Philippa are RIGHT THERE if they want a semi-canon wlw couple). The Rats as a whole are definitely going to be made into more robinhood-like characters because God forbid a main character like Ciri is morally grey or does questionable/bad things.

Geralt's Disability

If this season ends with the Vilgefortz and Geralt fight, as I suspect it might, Geralt will be disabled permanently by the end of this season. The dryads do not fix it. Magic does not fix it. Geralt becomes disabled and stays disabled. His disability becomes a hindrance during the books and the reader actively sees him grapple with the fallout of this. I do not trust this show to handle that - especially with how much more closed off Geralt is in the show compared to the books. If I had to guess, Geralt's disability will be handwaved away or mentioned in passing and never actually shown to impact him which is not cool.

[byfulcrums]

*shows up twp weeks late without Starbucks*

I would love to hear why the Lantern Corps and the Jedi would hate each other.

showing up late w/o starbucks is basically my life history lol

idk that much about gl, i'm still reading the comics, so what i say might not be 100% accurate!!

an important difference between the jedi and the corps, is that one of them has control, and the other doesn't. the jedi are all about peace, the guardians are the ones who care about control

the guardians are basically in charge of everything. almost everything. they're the all powerful and mighty ancient ones who created the corps to keep the order in the galaxy (and lowkey control it). they care about themselves more than anything. when a gl doesn't act the way they want them to, they kick them out. as hal pointed out in emerald dawn 2 --- the main difference between sinestro and the guardians is the extremes they go to. sinestro forced his planet to revere him, but the guardians did that too, so it's a little hypocrital of them to kick him out, right?

well. the guardians might be controlling, but at least they don't force the ones below them to chant their names everytime they show up!! right...?

anyway!!

the jedi are not in control. they are peacekeepers forced to fight a war. they care about the universe being in peace (can you really blame them for that, if they can literally feel the galaxy's pain at all times?), not about controlling them. they're the ones being oppressed, in this case. sure, they're not perfect and they mess up a LOT (see hardeen and ahsoka's trial), but the good jedi (jedi that aren't like anakin specifically) are more good than they are bad. when a jedi doesn't act the way the council wants them to, they merely show their disapproval, and maybe remove them from the battlefield if it happens during the war and the-one-they-don't-like's actions lead to others getting hurt

the guardians left oa when it was attacked and basically left the lanterns to fend off for themselves. the jedi mostly, only, retreat when it's clear that they can't win the current battle and they need to plan a counter attack. the jedi are also not that good at war and strategy, because they were never meant to fight a war in the first place

the jedi have shown "resentment" towards the ones "in control", like palpatine and the senate. they can tell that being in control of everything is quite fucking stupid, and that the goverment's need for control is only harmful for everyone else. however, they cannot do anything, because its the goddamn goverment and they can't just go and become criminals

besides, there was a war happening. so, more important things

(also,,,,, ik that in the ot they overthrow the goverment. but there is a very clear difference between a corrupt goverment and a dictatorship. the republic wasn't good, but the empire was worse, and no one doing anything about it led to billions of people dying)

and!! their views on emotion!!!!

the jedi are meant to be in control of their emotions. this does not mean they're not allowed to feel them. the thing is,, that one badly controlled, strong emotion can lead to a jedi turning dark, and one jedi-turned-dark can quite literally destroy the entire order, as we have seen with mr skywalker over there

it's hard, yes, and often unfair, but if the jedi aren't taking care of their emotions and how they feel + react to them at all times, many people may die

"no, we don't want ppl to not feel emotion we just want them to not kill over them"

they have amazing power. if one of them goes evil, it all goes to shit. we have seen that many, many times

the guardians tell their gls to just, straight up not feel and use their logical thinking in every situation. feelings are important too!!! the jedi recognize this!!!!! but the guardians want their gls to be soldiers, not people, just robots that do their bidding without second thoughts

there is also the cult mindset of the corps VS the way being a jedi means having a very, very big family. ppl are allowed, and sometimes even encouraged,, to leave the jedi. they let dooku hang out post-resigning b4 he became a sith lord!!

the guardians, meanwhile, see leaving as betraying. i think there isn't anything else i should add for this, it's pretty obvious how bad it is

basically what i'm saying is that the guardians are super controlling and all, while the jedi just want to leave in peace

they wouldn't hate each other, but their morals and ideals are wildly different, so their opinions and actions would often clash

bonus: anakin and hal, and luke and kyle. it all depends on how and when they meet, because if their first impressions on each other suck, they Will Not Get Along. the parallels, though.....

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Katsuki Bakugou

trust me bro

Dark Pit

PS: THIS IS ALL ONE PROPAGANDA

Most of Dark Pit's mischaracterization comes from the fact that he's in SSBU- everyone assumes he's like every other nintendo clone; evil and just a 'bad' version of the original. But he's not!! Even the characters in his own game think he's just cruel by nature, when he's never actually done anything wrong. He's a dick, yes, but wouldn't you be a bit pissy if you kept getting dragged into a war you want no part in, called a name crafted specifically to belittle your own existence?

Dark Pit was created when Pit, the original, was on a mission to destroy a mirror that would copy anything that stood before it, since the villians were using it to create an army. It's incredibly important to note that it does NOT create 'evil' versions or even just copy the body and leave the personality at home. It's a 1:1 conversion. Unfortunately, the villians also knew Pit would destroy the mirror quite directly, standing in front of it (or more accurately, flying kicking towards it) and triggering the copy to be made. It was shattered midway through creation, creating Dark Pit- something the villians were hoping would happen, as Pit is the last angel to exist and they REAAAALLY want their own angel.

Immediately everyone assumes Dark Pit is just evil by default- even the villian is gloating about her new minion, but he immediately rejects that and punches the villian and helps you in the fight. He steals her power and flies away after, but its important to realize that Dark Pit could've just allied with the villians for the same result, and instead chose to be alone. Sure, he's kinda a dick to Pit, but he hasn't done anything outright evil. Just took a dead god's power in order to fly and left.

Cue the next mission where Palutena calls Dark Pit 'twisted' and 'inherently corrupt' like ma'am where??? Hes just an asshole cmon, you would be too if your birth parent is a reflective piece of glass. You go off on a mission to try and KILL him, and he obviously defends himself- once again, he's done nothing outright wrong. He's rude and aggressive, yes, but he literally doesn't want ANY part of all this war between gods shit, and here you are killing him for merely existing. During the final battle of the mission Dark Pit tells Pit that he is his reflection, and that they're the same person- Dark Pit is just more than willing to say the things Pit refuses to admit to himself.

AND HE'S RIGHT. Dark Pit believes the gods are selfish, are using Pit as a tool for their own gain, and that the world would be better off without them since all they ever seem to do is cause war and destruction. If you pay attention to how Pit reacts to the world around him, he DOES share these beliefs but instead of acting on them, he just buries it. Pit will even snap at the gods about half-way through the game, telling them outright that its THEIR war that is destroying the planet and that THEY'RE all at fault. Dark Pit is NOT an evil clone; he's an inversion. Everything Pit hides away, he wears on his sleeve, and interestingly, everything Pit openly is, DARK PIT STILL IS TOO. He, just like Pit, hides it away instead of admiting it.

After the fight Dark Pit runs away, and shows up mainly as an ally to Pit going forward. The game mentions further how kinda fucked up Dark Pit's whole situation is- if Pit's soul is removed from his body, Dark Pit just DOESN'T EXIST during that time. If Pit dies, Dark Pit dies, and he has no control over it. He never even gets his own name- its either Dark Pit, or his nickname of 'Pit two' (Pitto). If Pit ever attacks Dark Pit and tries to kill him, there's little Dark Pit could ever really do; In the game he'll defend himself and try and kill you, but at that point he's dead either way. His life is barely his own.

Worst part is, SSBU confirms Dark Pit allied with Viridi after the events of Kid Icarus Uprising. I cannot STRESS how horrible that is for his characterization so far. Viridi is the god of nature and hates humanity for even existing, with her first appearance being her dropping NUKES onto towns and cities to purge humanity. And Dark Pit now works as a commander under her. Either Viridi has to mellow out REAL damn fast and stop nuking medieval humans, or they accidentally wrote Dark Pit to be a Human Murderer (we specifically know Viridi sends her commanders to kill off anyone who survives her nature nukes). Really hope this stays in the realm of 'not canon' because holy shit there's so many better options to pick from than the 'little girl god with a hit list and a factory of bombs'.

(Not even sure WHY Dark Pit, who thinks gods are selfish and use angels like tools, would want to ally with a god. Yes, he can't fly without a god's help, but even then why ally with the most vindictive and murder-happy god that isn't Hades??? Poor dude really just needs a break from all the gods to sort out who he is and to start building his own life independently from Pit)

[kafus]

i'm thinking about this image i drew ages ago (like in 2021 or something. the art is so old. help) and how much it frustrates me. i think i really missed the mark on what i was trying to convey

i still agree with the intention behind this art, like i was trying to convey that DID is not eternal torment with evil alters trying to possess you and make your life a living hell as is often stereotypically thought, and actually i have supportive and loving alter experiences, in my case literally being in a romantic relationship with an alter.

but the way that i framed it was as a dichotomy where only one or the other is true. this was partially for the comedic effect of the sharp contrast and like... its ability to be easily consumed on social media (something i unfortunately cared a lot more about back then) REALLY influenced this image's presentation. but that's just not accurate and i didn't view it as two direct opposing sides at the time either, despite my flawed art.

DID is a fucking nightmare sometimes where my alters hurt me (there is nuance to this, even persecutors are trying to protect themselves or simply repeating what they've learned from trauma, but i digress) or i feel like i'm being possessed. sometimes "what people think DID is like" is how DID is, without any overtly magical elements of course, and the real issue is that people ONLY see DID that way and cannot see DID as a wide range of experiences from positive to negative.

really i just want people to see me as a whole person and accept that i have a really fucked up disorder stemming from childhood trauma which is bound to suck sometimes but also that i am still a person who experiences the full range of human emotion, including love and joy, and surprise surprise sometimes that is represented through my DID experiences too, which affects and ties into my entire life and identity.

this post is kind of messy, i'm just stream of consciousness-ing this shit, but tbh i'm just really irritated with the ye olde social media-ifying of my DID art and the oversimplification of my actual thoughts on the subject. i'm glad i've been moving away from that

[justabackroundcharacter]

Thoughts while watching Wish:

- base princess personality trope

- Never getting over the face that the goat is named Valentino

- 7 dwarfs vibes with the friends

- Hans type character

- Weird ass love song to wishes

- Evil Chris Pratt went from 1-100 really fast

- The wife was 1000000% the kings wish and he used magic to get it

- Angry guy is played by GIZMO MY BELOVED

- 100 year old man move like a 60 year old fr

- Asha also goes from 50-100 real fast

- My favorite song was a little disappointing:(

- What she’s singing and what the animation gives dosent match

- Wifey is CLUELESS

- We could’ve had A STAR BOY INSTEAD WE GET THIS THING

- Star is still cute

- When you are a Star and accidentally make a devils trap in the tree lol

- IM A STAR ⭐️

- thanks for not eating me John

- Throwing books like your cramming for a test

- King is bipolar like actually tho

- EVERYTHING IS FINE

- What are you five ?

- DANCING CHICKENS

- Best friends help each other commit crimes against the kingdom

- King really is evil he made everyone go to an assembly and they aren’t even in school

- WAIT WAS KING SUPPOSED TO BE AN ALIEN

- how old is the king ? Do we know at all ?

- Casually dooms yourself to an eternity of pain because you got insecure

- HE HAS A SECRET LAIR LIKE HAWKMOTH

- ok how do wishes work again ? Was gramps not free to still inspire people

- Not the mom pleading for her daughter to only get her wish trampled on (definitely don’t need to look at how accurate that is)

- Star said SQUARE TF UP

- He’s literally just your king hit him with your bookshelf

- Returns to your stable if anyone asks pLaY dUmB

- when you have to speed run the 5 stages of grief bc you are the main character damnit

- I know what your thinking- WELL I DONT girl that star doesn’t have an expression on his face

- I can not swim *proceeds to jump into the water with reckless abandon *

- You’ve been hit by, you’ve been stuck by LOSS OF YOUR WISH

- ‘AMYIA darling your just in time come meet my new TOY’ why would you WRITE IT LIKE THAT

- Hot take anyone who calls their partner darling is on THIN FUCKING ICE

- King man went insane that is fun

- HANS KNOCK OFF BETRAYED THEM I FUCKING KNEW IT

- Dont worry im a talking mouse but very clean

- When you only want to be a loyal knight but you end up betraying your friends- happens to the best of us dude

- Good find Valentino - my butt found it

- introverts deserve sanctuary— louder for the people in the back

- STRIKE, STRIKE newsies vibes

- YES fulfill your Sabos wish

- doc and dopey slayed

- They all did

- They are like any queer friend group fr

- the chase scene is cool

- YAZ QUEEN GET YOUR HUSBAND

- I was fooled by the love I felt- Its ok queen you were definitely manipulated not your fault

- Don’t destroy never land you bastard

- A stick ? What am I supposed to do with this ?

- The MUSHROOMS 🍄

- Poor gizmo can’t catch a break no matter what universe he’s in

- a dress on a tree more likely than you think

- Dude bro dear got into the mushrooms fr

- Sometimes a plan is just you and your six friends jumping from a high place

- FUCKING HANS GOT ME AGAIN

- thanks John

- Your so right bunnies are terrifying

- Nope nope nope nope nope

- StAr GeT aWaY fRoM tHeRe

- WAIT IS HE MAGIC MIRRIR GUY

- Yay singing again

- THE power of collective singing will always save the day

- GREEN SMOKE

- MyWiShEs dude get a grip

- Simon and queen should be besties now

- LONG LIVE THE QUEEN

- Peter Pan origin story 👀👀

- ZOOTOPIA ?!?

- bippty boppty boo the magic wand is fixed

- Give GIZMO THE WAND 😭he deserves it

- Fireworks yay

- 5/10 movie

[gorebek]

Bro you should def infodump e v e r y t h i n g about your Torbek swap au

only if you wanna of course 👉👈

Its hard to do literally everything because im stupid and cant put thoughts to paper but i can talk about a lot of stuff i have in my head

big disorganized yap session below cut

I plan on drawing a ref EVENTUALLY but some of the core stuff i want to add is gorebek being younger and shorter because he got the operation done a couple years before torbek

and he gets it done willingly so its less of a botch job like toebek the pipes that go through his body are more neat i guess is the best word they look cooler and he has actual clothes that are also adapted for his new additions

im thinking hunter fit like torbek but also idk... I still want to incorporate the suit but idk how i hate designing clothes

For how they met they never had any pre operation interaction like no working at the carnival but he was released post operation like hey go hunt people trying to fuck with us and given the carnivals whereabouts or something idk and when he gets to the inn and threatens them and powers up torbek fronts and just immediately starts crying and hides gricko is the first to reach out and realize hey this dude is pretty chill and then they take care of torbek until gorebek fronts again

Gorebek in this is probably like early ouaw torbek whos very new to things and the world torbek is that but way worse they both only know operations and experiments and whatever they were told without really experiencing the outside world while gorebek socialized torbek literally never has in his existence (himself, probably has cofronted and seen gorebek talk but its different)

idk how exactly this would go but i feel like he would follow them at first after the fight being like yess yes evil secret intel and slowly get accepted into the found family realizing they actually care for him and dont treat him like a creature to test on unlike insert evil people (release the duke backstory after hiatus so i can make this more accurate pls ouaw)

i think this process would be WAY way longer for gorebek then it is for torbek torbek probably fronts more often and connects with everyone while gorebek rarely lets himself get the chance to bond with anyone

in this i dont think gorbek is like explicitly evil i think he is acting on his beliefs and can be more connected to the carnival then canon gore

but i think that connection will be very co dependent after being held for so long and being told he was a tool he would probably crave that feeling of being needed again even if its warped and fucked up and probably act out but also crave love and the acceptance like torbek gets so gorebeks relationships would all be extremely hot and cold and constantly changing while torbek is just chilling (mostly)

Gorebek is also very self destructive i can see a shit ton of stuff they do being fucked up because gorbeks ego takes over or he just doesnt care what happens to him or those around him and when torbek is fronting for quests hes just clumsy and still very unaware and fucks it up like that

In canon ouaw torbek gets smarter and more leader-y even if the group doesnt wanna go with what he says and i think gorebek would try to be like this but fail he would definitely get smarter and learn a lot but leader-y not so much i dont think he would plan anything and fail because of it

Talking about reverse gorebek makes me want to talk about canon gorebek parallels and how i think canon gorebek plans everything meticulously and is an extremely good leader because hes given the skills to because he doesn't front he controls the witchlight while reverse was thrown to the wolves without developing skills because he cant harvest it like torbek can but torbek was given up on like canon torbek and just kinda tossed out as well idk idk

I did not reread any of this sorry if theres a bunch of mistakes im just ranting

[faorism]

niche crossover of the day that im too lazy rn to clean up and post to ao3 but may in the future: alec hardison (leverage) plays bg3

hardison balances playtime with hacker hours well, which means he moves through hyperfixations but has learned through working with the crew how to prioritize when there's a friend's life on the line. (there will be no more repeats of his crew sitting on a bomb without him right next to them.) sometimes though his partners lose him for a week after a new release, but now that they live together at least parker can drag him to bed for cuddles (and to sleep) and eliot will kept him fed.

it should go without saying that hardison loves baulder's gate 3. he heard such good things about it during early access from his dnd buddies, but hardison refuses to play EA because he will end up encountering bugs and basically writing the code that the devs will end up doing anyway, so why waste his time.

he plays without any prior knowledge, doesn't even know the characters really except from glimpses at their promo pics. but he's excited. he downloads the game, kisses his partners """goodbye""" for the foreseeable future (as long as a job doesnt spring up, but even then it would be a quick one because eliot sprained his ankle and needed to rest it no matter how much he complained he was good).

he decides to play his chaotic good halfling wizard mendula from two campaigns back - fresh enough in his mind to remember the character, but not too recent so that he wont feel conflicted if the tav storyline doesnt allow for precise oc characterizations. hardison gets super into it, but he doesnt linger on side quests, not yet: he wants to get a feel of the game without mods and follow its arc. hardison doesnt usually romance on a first playthrough, but wyll!!!!! wyll was right there being perfect and beautiful and righteous and black and bi and yeah, hardison had to fan himself off during the dance sequence

his party is wizard tav, shadowheart, wyll, and lae'zel, and barely switches them out. when astarion drains him dry and kills him, hardison is so annoyed he kills astarion. he feels very proud of himself when he sniped wyll's devil karlach without much fuss. then he skips a lot of the companion sidequests because he just wants to rush to the end. he gets married to wyll, then starts right over and plays wyll origin, now able to take his time and understanding the mechanics of the game. he also downloads QOL mods that have already come out for EA, and he has notes about ones he will make if no one else does when he's ready for playthrough #3. he purposefully avoids any major ones (so no Polyam Mod for him, though he does eye it, but he wants to see how multiple romances play himself).

he plays will as accurately as possible, which means engaging heavily with the very companions hardison spent ignoring because wyll? wyll cares (and fuck, hardison loves him for that because yes yes, that's him too!). and......

ah. okay so. maybe hardison shouldn't have ignored the companions so much since they do add a lot to the game! and..... maybe, just maybe, hardison was too hasty killing astarion and karlach the first go around. maybe a lot. he thought they would be companions for evil tavs/origins only! he played kotor and [insert game references here, i dont play games like this usually...], so he thought he knew what was up.

anyway, he is drawn so much to these two out of the novelty of them that he puts them into his party (the fourth spot he switches around, thought once hardison gets him, halsin is a fun mainstay because BEAR. hardison gets up romancing both astarion and karlach (and a little halsin, HALSIN IS SO EASY TO FLIRT WITH, larian WANTS you to fuck him)

and....... okay. okay. maybe romancing them both at the same time was a mistake because. because he loves them both. so much. for very different reasons. hardison feels so deeply and then he's forced to make a decision, and hardison crumples a bit. considers downloading the polyam mod but opts out of it to suffer vanilla game logic to its very end.

when he breaks up with astarion, who plays it so damn cool, hardison had to walk away from the computer to mourn by burying himself in his nearest partner's arms (eliot, this time).

he finishes the game, makes wyll go to avernus with karlach (as he made them do during this tav playthrough) and... thinks about astarion.

hardison had carried over the breakup scene save this whole time, and he decides fuck it, and goes back and tries it the other way this time.

he didnt know karlach will just... die on the pier. wtf. wtf. or wyll will go and there wont be any interaction with astarion?? hardison is Distraught. he downloads the polyam mod and while it doesnt force the issue, he can just feel at the edges that nope, this isnt authentic

finds partner's arms again. parker this time. she asks whats wrong with his make believe people, and he pauses for so long that parker thinks he fell asleep or didnt hear her, and then he quietly says that wyll has a heart big enough for two, a romance can be fairytale when made for three, dont they know there's nothing more beautiful than being held between by both the people you love?

parker kisses his temple as tears legit well in his eyes (and he feels embarrassed) and she yells for eliot for emergency group hugs.

eliot, with hardison squished between his two partners, usually doesnt get involved with hardison's gaming but this time he's just like, okay what is it about these characters that's getting to you like this? and why them together? who are they?

and hardison had already talked about wyll a little because disney prince. so he reiterates some of that with a major case of projection. and then when he turns to talk about the companions, hardison stops. and just.

oh.

a black man who was forced to make impossible desperate choices when he was still a teen, which got him into trouble as a consequence, and then being alone and wandering for years until he ran into a pack of different people come together for a common purpose. trying to be good, the best he could be, and hiding behind a flashy name to hide some of the more raw parts underneath. ravenguard and nana have strikingly similar cheekbones.

then theres a rogue with a deeply traumatic past who can be selfish and kinda insensitive and likes shiny things. a pale thief who likes a little bit of chaos even when running good alignment, and who can't help sticky fingers reaching for unsuspecting belts and also... well, also is a top, through and through. a top who likes to bite. vicious when upset. also... also touch adverse and who at first laughs at sincerity and then basks in it but only once your commitment is fully and well established. the only bit of code hardison wrote as he played his wyll origin was to remove astarion saying dont touch me when you switch to him; hardison flinched every time, hearing the cadence of parker's voice scratching at him when she's triggered.

then, a barbarian who handed from one handler (who ended up being a totalitarian dick) down the road until being owned by the literal devil. body put through hell, scars littering a body that spells strength at a distance. once escaped from the nightmare, only wanted their own perseverance. their own life. wanting so desperately for a touch, to be loved, to be held in a way that didn't spell murder. "heartless" after years of working for, again, literal devils, but so full of life and kindness and (also eliot is more coy about it) a deep sense of joy for the world. kind to children. protective of children. wary of deals too good to be true. willing to die than return to a life they once lived. death feels imminent, despite the protestations of everyone around them. really good bedroom eyes.

so.

yeah.

maybe... maybe

hardison couldnt get the words out to say all of that. all he says is, they're a lot like us. (like with astarion, if hardison spelled out the exact overlaps of the characters.)

the games dumb then, parker says. or at least broken. if the game isnt right, just go fix it?

and hardison has protests about the limits of what is possible within someone else's game and...

parker is like, you made a guy hold up a bank in like, 10 min? on a laptop with spotty internet and without a mouse or any preparation?

and this takes some time between other projects he really has to get to, but.... he does it. codes like a motherfucker and bribes eliot & parker into mocap and also genuinely pays the VAs to voice lines for him. shit hardison does for the love of his ot3:

script out unique banter for karlach and astarion in your party that hints of their attraction to one another

code in an extra option when astarion or karlach confront you for to prompt them to consider their own feelings for the other (different from the current but i want to be with you both! line)

a short nighttime cutscene that with dialogue that implies the three have just finished talking and have agreed to be together. they are all holding hands

include astarion and karlach in each other's act iii scenes (they arent the most chatty, admittedly, but they are there and integrated)

outside of camp, if you three are standing near each other, you can cast a spell that cuts to astarion and karlach kissing either of wyll's checks (this is admittedly somewhat buggy but!

edits out astarion cowering on the pier from the sun, just rushes the three to avernus which hardison doesnt have to edit; just uses astarion origin version for wyll.

nexusmods community begs desperately for him to do this for some other ot3s and he is willing to hear them out for shadowheart/lae'zel/tav, he absolutely refuses to break up karwyllstarion and only offers wyll pov. will not even allow for edits being made for a tav/karlach/astarion mod. he deeply pisses off some people, but overall this mod is downloaded a fuckton as the only truly viable polyam romance option in the game. people start writing fanfic specifically for this one mod and eventually it is just integrated into canon lore that karwyllstarion exists as an option

[the-priestess-of-dawn]

thinking abt ur validar post because i actually thought about that a little in my stupid werewolf fic. I had to really sit down and be like "what the fuck would people even FIND attractive about this guy enough to have a baby" and I didnt wanna just use the occult angle and it hit me that Validar isn't self-caring because he hates he's not the vessel he wanted and yeah he definitely IS the equivalent of That Parent. You know the one. What I'm saying is maybe there's a commentary to be made here abt how the Plegian people and him in turn felt so dehumanized in general after a point even the extremist sects of Grimleal were better bc well, if you become food for Grima/BECOME Grima's body then you're useful and good and righteous. What gets me is Plegia isn't poor, either, but its poor in sustainability outside the ocean... idk, a lot of food for thought with Validar here. I didn't expect to think abt him in FEH so deeply but here we are.

Honestly it's kind of embarrassing how much I HAVE deeply thought about Validar. I've been wanting him to get into FEH for a long time now. A lot of his lines in Awakening are so poorly written that it's hard to make sense of him as a person. But even though you can't really argue that he's in any way sympathetic in the text... For me at least, there's no such thing as a completely unsympathetic villain, and I can't help feeling sorry for both him and the other members of the Grimleal...

I mean, yeah, when Aversa explains that Plegia suffering under Gangrel was useful because it drove the people to worship, I think we ARE supposed to feel bad for the common people. But I think it's easy to fall into a trap of trying to distinguish those ordinary citizens from the evil, manipulative leaders like Validar just a little bit too much. Aren't they all trapped in the same vicious cycle, in the end?

Over the course of the game, we occasionally fight some Grimleal enemies who are... really just nasty, and not supposed to be given a second thought at all. But I can't help but be moved that they call out to Grima with their dying words... "Master Grima... my life force... is yours..." (Chalard, Chapter 8). "Lord Grima... Rain down... retribution..." (Jamil, Paralogue 6).

The Grimleal... love Grima. Even Validar loves Grima. Aversa says he's everything she knows of love, but she also doesn't presume he loves HER, so of course it's his devotion to Grima that she sees. Notably, it's this form of love that makes her content to die for him.

So I end up feeling deeply moved, even though (or more accurately, BECAUSE) the entire philosophy behind the Grimleal is so horrific. The deep despair these people must feel in order to see salvation in the form of humanity's destruction... It's NOT just "hee hee powerful dragon will make me powerful" because these people, including Validar, do not presume that they are special and going to survive. Even the leader of the Grimleal is nothing. Grima alone is everything.

And... okay I talk a lot about the symbolism of Grima's name meaning mask, which I love so much, but lately I've also been thinking about the meaning of their Japanese name, Gimurei—from Norse, Gimlé, referring to the place where the righteous will dwell in happiness after Ragnarok, which will stand "even when both heaven and earth have passed away." So... yes, I do think that for the Grimleal, giving their souls to Grima is a way of becoming righteous. The world is cruel and ugly but Grima will make it right :::)

(Of course, because they believe Grima is the only answer, no one does anything to make the world they have any better. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. One that Grima is drawn into as well. When this is what they wake up to, what are they supposed to do? If they don't destroy the world, they will be letting a LOT of people down.)

[wandering-free-and-queer]

3, 7, 12 and 20! polytheist asks >:D

Oh you want me to THINK? You want me to use my BRAIN??? You are EVIL Cheshi lol

3: Is your practice more ritualistic or casual? What does it look like?

Oh my practice is extremely casual. I always hated the strict religious upbringing I had. "You do it this way, or else!". Nah fam, that's not cool. Everyone is gonna have their own way to worship, have faith, and perform religion (Yes I believe religion is a performance, but that's for another time lol). Anyways, I don't generally do much in the way of ritual because that's so much fucking work. I prefer just kinda chilling with Nyx on the full moon and calling it a night lol.

7: What does your ideal altar look like?

Chaotic, unhinged, and personal. I don't need it to be set up perfectly or invoke certain vibes, unless trash fire goblin is a vibe lmao. I really just put whatever on my altar I think fits. Right now, unfortunately, my altar isn't exactly what I want, because I don't really have space and the last time I set up an altar, Goose knocked it over. She was a brand new baby then, but even so I'd rather play it safe. I have this great cabinet at my parents house I plan on repainting and using when we have a house of our own. Its a really great size, glass doors so I can see what's inside, and bonus: cat's won't break any glass bottles on my altar lol. Rn I just have this very cue little moon shelf about 3 inches wide on a windowsill.

12: How important is mythology in your practice? How much credit do you give it?

I mean, mythology is the sourcework of all of my beliefs. I wouldn't have found Nyx, Hekate, Athena, and Artemis without Greek mythology, Bast without Egyptian mythology, or Loki without Norse mythology. Do their stories have any bearing on my beliefs? Not really. Them being the deities of their respective realms is all I really need. I know Nyx as the night, Hekate as magic, Athena as wisdom and intelligence, Artemis as the protectress, Bast as the keeper of cats, and Loki as chaos. How I interact with them is more based on my needs, versus what they have "done" in the myths that survived. Myths aren't any bit literal, just like any other religious text. We as humans are always interpreting things based on our own preconceived notions, our own beliefs, and that's not always what the original source intended. In fact, I'd argue that any human interpretation of the divine is automatically wrong. No single human belief can 100% be accurate. We will all have our own ideas of how things work. I, as a singular person, should not put any undue influence on myths that I personally think are worth "more" just because they are considered to be valid religious texts (cough cough Christians and the Bible cough cough). Myths are stories. They're fun, its fun to imagine our deities in various human scenarios. But the Divine are much more complex than their myths. I give the myths the same level of credibility I would any other that indirectly influenced my way of viewing the world. I wouldn't be who I am without the sum of the things I've read and learned over the years.

20: List a few of the deities you worship and associate each with a quote you think represents them best!

Oh lordy, you're killin me with this one Chesh lol.

Nyx: "I see the moon and the moon sees me/Nyx bless the moon and Nyx bless me" (see what I did there lmao?)

Bast: Specifically the same noise my cat makes when shes singing in the mirror. That it that's the quote lol.

Athena: All that bullshit about "tomato is a fruit but you don't put it in a fruit salad" lol. Also "Ho don't do it... oh my god" for whenever I do something (even mildly) foolish lol

Loki: OKAY SO little bit of backstory here: when I was just getting into my paganism, I was in a really shitty spot in life, physically, mentally, you name it. I came up with this phrase to help get me through it, and I generally proclaimed that anything wrong in my life was because of Loki (AS A JOKE, THEY LOVED IT). The quote was: May the deity who looks upon me in disdain look upon you with favor. It got me through shit, still does, and I still love Loki, even if they aren't my main deity anymore.

CHESHI YOU ROCK

[ceolona]

Exhaustion

Is anyone else exhausted from all the hate over The Acolyte? Dial it back

Lesbian Space Witches

Seriously? That’s the click bait the internet is going with? Gotta suggest they’re all bumpin’ uglies at midnight, instead of reasonable analysis. Misandrous or Androphobic is more accurate. This is why I hate people. Grow up.

As far as the Thread is concerned, all we know is that “some” consider the Coven’s use of it as “dark”. That’s a whole philosophical discussion summed up on one sentence, provided with no context or depth.

Gotta love the good writing.

The Sith Are Back?

More likely than not, but…. Yes, Darth Smiley (Smilo Ren?) is running around with a red saber. That just means that the Kyber crystal was “bled” by its owner, probably a dark side adept. Sith use exclusively crystals from defeated Jedi. Mae, however, is playing flag football, trying to pull one off a Jedi beforehand, and chose not to take Indara’s blade after her death. None of this connects.

It also appears that the entire setup of the show is not “evil twin joins the Sith to avenge her slain family”, but “confused twin does tasks from a dark master that coincidentally involve her past but changes her mind”. After all, Mae did just go all “fuck this shit I’m out” in Ep4

Right there with you, girl!

Nerd Fight!!

A retcon or a fuck up? Ki-Adi-Mundi is currently hanging out with Sol and company. The Acolyte takes place in the year 132 BBY, but every other source has KAM born in 93 BBY, which is almost 40 years after Acolyte. Take that, along with future KAM denying knowledge of the Sith in Phantom Menace despite possibly encountering them four decades before he was born, and you have the grand battle that went on in Wookieepedia.

Not worth the effort to sort through.