#it absolutely made my day though

[hinamie]

I'll give them shelter like you've done for me

[another-tired-little-demon]

an older man in a bakery excitedly asked me if i was australian and when my friend told him that i’m german, he was so surprised.

“can you believe that? she sounds like an aussie!” this is all i’m thinking about today.

[cutiesigh]

❤️🖤🩷

Wuthering Waves has taken over all of my free time recently, so here's a sketch of Scar!Ren I originally shared in da 14DWY Discord!!

[icantdothistodaybruh]

Happy New Year⭐

[egophiliac]

I feel like F/P/S was still a pretty weird one, even by Lance's standards.

sorry for (in an ironic twist) not doing much Ride Kamens art now that it's actually started; I've been pretty slow going through it and I feel weird posting about things I'm not caught up on! though I'm. definitely gonna have to set aside some time to actually get through episode 13, after what they posted today. (w-what did they do to my Leon) (NOBODY TELL ME I HAVE TO FIND OUT ON MY OWN) (LEOOOOOOOON)

[abyssal-ilk]

since i'm talking about bull today, i think its a bit of a mistep to say bull turning against the inquisitor in trespasser is an act of revenge for the death of the chargers. this isn't a result of the inquisitor betraying bull or hurting him. it is a result of the inquisitor reaffirming iron bull's place within the qun. it isn't something that the inquisitor "deserves" for killing a group of beloved soldiers. it is simply the consequence of choosing a political allegiance- the qun- and enforcing the idea that a small part can and should be sacraficed for the greater whole. the chargers can be sacrificed for the inquisiton, the inquisitor (and dorian, and vivienne, and sera, and anyone else bull befriended) can be sacrificed for the qun.

[numum]

very self indulgent doodle of an old fav 💜

[yepthatsacowalright]

Been wanting to try to digitally paint sunset clouds for a while now, remembered this shot in FOTR exists, and sort of blacked out the past few days working on it.

[loopyarts]

Day 7 free day Aceichiji

For my free day slot, I went insane and made a short scruffy kiss animation for them. :3c

[batwingsandblackcats]

Absolutely fascinated by Laudna’s “she has a debt to pay. She owes me her life like she took mine.”

This isn’t just a “I’m worth nothing so might as well smoke em if I got em” mindset with Delilah. It’s some of that, but it’s not the whole picture.

This is “might as well smoke em if I got em, and if this is the end of me god damn it I am taking this bitch with me.”

[is-the-milk-fresh]

"But the ship is pseudo-incestuous!!" THE GIRL CANONICALLY FUCKED HER ACTUAL COUSIN???

Like incest bad. Don't do incest. Don't be Lucy. But I feel like maybe thats not the grounds on which to be arguing here? Never mind that they are literally NOT related (no matter your personal headcanons). Ms. 'Incest is a normal part of growing up' probably isn't going to be morally hung up on that. Even if she (in the case of actual incest, not headcanon father figure pseudo-incest) absolutely should be.

I don't even ship it myself. But Lucy Maclean is a capital F Freak. You gotta accept that.

[northstarscowboyhat]

Yo. Lucky Clover mini-sketchdump. 👍

(also Charif because I needed someone to set up the Dess thing)

OHH MY GOD. OH MY GOD

FIRST OFF THE LUCKY CLOVER! Oh my god that pose is so cool and striking! Absolutely love the confident smirk you drew them with, they look both legitimately cool but still very dorky which is perfect. Your art style is so sharp and dynamic! They look so GOOD in your art style oh my goodness, I cannot stop staring at them.

THE FRISK WITH A GUN. Dodge this bozo. I am actually obsessed, get this kid a glock.

DESS AND CHARIF INTERACTIONS REAL! Oh my gosh I almost forgot that Dess is fighting the horrors in pretty much every AU. Charif's nonchalant "Yeah this is you in my universe :)" energy contrasting Dess' reaction is killing me. Obsessed with how you draw expressions these are SO GOOD!

THANK YOU FOR THIS I AM SO DELIGHTED!! Gonna revisit and stare at this lovingly all day now, don't mind me. Thank you so much!!

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

Sophie Shepard & Dominik Shepard (ME2)

Ft. Cmdr. Kaidan Alenko & Zaeed Massani MIRA'S MORE CANON ME2 "We both did the best we could do underneath the same moon- in different galaxies..." AKA: The aftermath of Lair of the Shadow Broker. Recruiting the Not-Dossier: Apollo. Mass Effect 2: Legendary Edition (2021) + Bonus :)

[rynnthefangirl]

In regard to JL&J vs. A&V, I wonder if the fandom animosity has anything to do with Viserys II being the absolute worst.

He forces his daughter to marry his rapist son and then steals his niece’s throne, using Rhaenyra as evidence to why women shouldn’t rule.

In contrast we have dashing Prince Jace who dies fighting for his mother’s claim and goes down in history as one of the greatest kings Westeros never had. George’s own words btw.

No one can say Westeros was better off with Daemyra’s son on the throne instead of Jace and most of us can agree that Rhaenyra’s definitely cursing Viserys II from the grave.

The ideal ending was King Jacaerys I Targaryen, the tragedy is that we end up with King Viserys II Targaryen.

Boy oh boy, you activated my Viserys II and Aegon III defense protocol.

First, to be clear I 100% agree King Jacaerys I would have been amazing, and (along with Queen Baela) one of the best monarchs Westeros would have ever seen. Westeros was robbed, and FUCK the Greens for that.

But Viserys II the absolute worst? Not even close.

First, the Daena issue. Viserys gets a lot of shit for this, but let’s look at the reality. He has just spent 14 years trying to protect the realm from the follies of his nephews, Daeron the Warmonger and Baelor the Religious Zealot. Now he has two options. Option 1. Let Daena take the throne. Daena was said to idolize her brother Daeron (the violent war monger who got 50,000 men killed to stroke his ego), and likely sympathized with the anti-Dornish (read: racist) faction at court forming since Daeron’s failed conquest. Viserys’ own great grandchild is half Dornish, and the peace with Dorne was hard won — does Westeros need a Queen who may threaten to break that peace? How many more will die if Daena decides to avenge her brother? Daena also has been locked in isolation for 10 years— while obviously she should not be punished for that (and I cannot stress this enough, FUCK Baelor), you do have to wonder what kind of effect that may have on her psychology. Now I love Daena, I truly truly do, but there were a lot of red flags as to what kind of Queen she would be. Had Elaena been next in line (and her competence that we later see been known to Viserys), I think it could have been a different story.

Option 2. Take the throne himself. Viserys II is arguably the most competent statesman House Targaryen ever produced. He has buckets of experience running the realm, and truly put the good and prosperity of westeros above all else: above his ego, above his vanity, above his ambition. I don’t believe for one second that Viserys is some devoted male primogeniture advocate that believes women shouldn’t rule: but I think he (correctly) saw that he was more suited to the throne than Daena was. The major downside of Viserys is that his son and heir is awful. BUT Aegon’s flaws would have appeared to be excess lust and gluttony, something he was already indulging in as a prince, and theoretically would not have been so bad for the Realm as a whole if he had just sat back and let the council do the ruling for him, as Viserys likely expected he would. Like Robert Baratheon. And after Aegon, the next in line is Daeron, who at the point of Viserys’ ascension had already been shown to be smart, kind, capable, honorable, wise— all the makings of a great king. Viserys probably figured the realm could tolerate a decade or so of Aegon fucking around while the small council and Hand ruled, to be followed up by an ideal heir, Daeron. This is also all assuming that Viserys was not planning to disinherit Aegon and make Daeron his immediate heir; he may have simply died (or been poisoned) before he had the chance. By contrast, Daena has no true born children yet, so there is no telling how good or bad her heir might be. Would Viserys flip the coin on if her son would be Maegor come again, or go the way he knew had a competent heir one generation down?

I hate to see another Targaryen woman screwed out of her birth right, but please understand how vastly different this was to what Aegon II and the Greens did. This was not just “oh women shouldn’t rule, male primogeniture is great, fuck my mother Rhaenyra” or “oh I’m a greedy asshole who wants the throne and will screw over my own family to get it”. Viserys is simply a practical man who deals with reality the way that it is, not the way that he wishes it to be.

I also think it is worth considering another thing— from what we know about Viserys II, he deeply loved and was utterly loyal to his brother Aegon. I think it’s fair to say his love would extend to his brothers children. He served Daeron and Baelor faithfully… and they both died young, struck down after their personal follies were amplified to a horrifying extent by the absolute power they wielded. Perhaps Viserys worried that power would drive Daena to a similar fate as her brothers, and felt that he was protecting Aegon’s beloved daughter from herself. Now is that incredibly patronizing? Yes. But it may not have been entirely incorrect, and would be coming from a place of love and good intentions.

At the end of the day, Jace is amazing, but he never had to face the same difficult choices that Viserys II and Aegon III did. He was in a war where the goal was simple : win, and protect your family. But what do you do when forced to choose between your mother’s legacy (not her life, her legacy) and peace for your people? When the choice is ego and pride over safety and stability? When to preserve the future, you must let go of the past? Jace died at 15, before he ever had to face such decisions. At age 13, Viserys stood his ground against the Kingsguard, holding out against a secret seige for 18 days and using his courage and wit to undo all of Unwin Peake’s schemes. No part of me doubts that 15 year old Viserys would have jumped on his dragon and rushed to save a little sibling from the the Battle of the Gullet, dying for his family. Jace and Viserys simply cannot he compared. Jace is forever 15, forever flawless and forever brave and forever our perfect would be king. He will never make a mistake. Viserys had to grow up and realize that not everything is as black and white as sending Sandoq the Shadow to protect your lady wife. It’s kind of like what Maekar said to Duncan after Baelor Breakspear died: anytime anything went wrong, people would say “Baelor would not have let this happen, but the Hedge Knight killed him”. Would Baelor have been a phenomenal king? Absolutely. But it’s hardly fair to assume he could and would have fixed any issue that ever went wrong in Valarr’s (or as it would be, Aerys’) reign.

Now— the Naerys issue. I am not going to defend this one as I defended him ascending the throne over Daena. I love Viserys as a character, and rarely do I love characters because I think they are wholly good. Viserys doomed his own goddamn daughter to life of misery and endless marital rape. That cannot be denied. In truth, Viserys II is much the same as Jaehaerys I. Both great men, great kings… and absolutely godawful fathers.

I will offer some context about it though. Because Viserys did not marry 36 year old Aegon to 33 year old Naerys. He married 18 year old Aegon to 15 year old Naerys (and as to the age thing, this was a normal time for Westerosi women to marry, and Viserys in particular is going to have a messed up view on the matter considering that he was married at 12 and seemed to have developed a kind of fucked up Stockholm-esque love for 19 year old Larra). Now, the accounts make it seem like the extent of Aegon’s awfulness did not become truly apparent until he got a bit older, and the mistakes he made were written off by court and realm as the follies of youth. I think one of Viserys’ biggest mistakes and worst characteristics is that he allowed himself to get so caught up in his duty to his brother and realm, that he utterly neglected his own children. They weren’t living in a massive war as he and his brother did in their childhood, so what guidance did they truly need? I think he felt that Aegon had the lust and gluttony that many spoiled rich kids would have, and that time and stern discipline would set him straight. I don’t think he was paying enough attention to see that Aegon was a burgeoning sociopath. Viserys probably thought that sweet, dutiful Naerys would be a good influence on Aegon, and help shape him into a better person. I think it also was a politically motivated match, some classic oldest son-oldest daughter incest to show the realm that the loss of the dragons did not mean House Targaryen was abandoning its ancient customs.

Again, I truly am not trying to say Viserys was in the right here. He should have cared for his children enough to see how fucked up Aegon was and that he was putting his daughter in an incredibly dangerous situation. If Naerys hated her father and cursed his name and never forgave him, she would be so fucking right to do so. But Viserys in truth reminds me a bit of Maekar— I think he was (either through negligence or stubborn willfullness) ignorant (at that point) to his sons true depravity. Maekar thought Aerion (clear born psychopath, broke Tanselle’s fingers, tried to kill Duncan, threatened to castrate his little brother, threw a cat down a well, drank wildfire, Aerion) was a promising young man who just needed a shove in the right direction— until Aerion’s monstrosity got his Uncle Baelor killed. In the same way, I think Viserys saw Aegon as lazy and gluttonous and lustful… but someone who could still be put on the right path. Then by the time it became clear that that wasn’t the case, and he doomed his daughter to marriage to a rapist sociopath, it was too late. Divorce does not exist in Westeros.

The tragedy was not King Viserys II. The tragedy was King Daeron I, King Baelor I, and King Aegon IV. The worst thing Aegon III and Viserys II did was fathering these absolute fuckfaces. But their sons being the absolute worst does not make them the absolute worst. Even the best most noble and amazing person can be cursed with a psycho as a son. Aegon V, lord protector of smallfolk, had none other than Mad King Aerys himself as a grandson. Had Jace ascended the throne, I promise at some point that corruption and rot will rear its ugly head— whether in his sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, etc. Not because it’s endemic to House Targaryen, but because it’s endemic to humanity and having absolute power be inherited to every first born son no matter what is a terrible idea.

At the end of the day, I stan and love ALL of Rhaenrya’s children. Jace, Luke, Joff, Aegon, Viserys— every single one. I won’t deny Viserys is the worst of them, but he also lived the longest, and as such of course is going to have more fucked up shit to his name than literal children who died fighting a war. My original post was calling out Aegon and Viserys “fans” who shit on the Velaryon boys, and I stand by that. I’ll go to war for the Velaryon boys. But I’ll go to war for Daemyra’s boys too, the broken kids who had to pick up the pieces of their broken realm in the wake of the most catastrophic war westeros ever saw, who never asked or wanted any of it. They did their best.

Edit: I’m now realizing this may have come across as aggressive overkill considering that it is genuinely very fair to criticize Viserys. Apologies Anon😅 I’m just really passionate about him and Aegon III (they are my favorite Targs) and this gave me an excuse to talk about a lot of the thoughts I’ve been meaning to make posts about.

[skitskatdacat63]

Ik two days gone isn't a huge deal to other people but it is to me, since I feel like I woke up in a completely different world. It felt wrong to come back and blog and act like nothing happened, re: current events. I still feel pretty numb and empty about it all, along with many other emotions. I couldn't bring myself to look at any social media bcs it was like rubbing salt in the wound, and it still feels like its take a bit before I'm gonna be able to truly enjoy all the things I enjoy again. I was gonna write some long post about my feelings about it all but, I feel like atp I'd rather just try to indulge in what makes me happy I guess. Thankfully the fomo of not getting to commentate on all the F1 things that have happened have brought me out of the anxious slump I was in(new driver?? GPDA??? Zhou out??? Send me posts???)

On a completely unrelated note. Anyone interested in adoption?

[pencilofawesomeness]

What is Twisted Wonderland and how would you sell someone on it?

Ohoho. Ohohohoho. Anon. You have activated my trap card >:D

(I'm about to be soooo annoying/unhinged and I'm sorry. I'm not.)

Alright, so:

Twisted Wonderland is a Disney mobile game made in Japan and co-produced by Aniplex. (Yes, that Aniplex.) I'm not here to sell you on the game, so much as the story, but it is a sort of story-book rpg with turned based fights and rhythm games, where you build character units from a gacha pull. As far as gameplay goes, it's very simple, and most of the emphasis lies on the characters and the story. And it's wonderful.

The on-the-box description of this game doesn't do it justice, per se, but that might be because Disney has a little bit of influence on it and they suck at knowing who their target audience is. It is about a high school based on classic Disney villains—but no, not in the way you're thinking, because I once made that mistake too. It is not a villain school. Rather, the world of Twisted Wonderland is its own entity, with characters built as sort of nods or foils to classic Disney characters. The world itself is somewhat built with these films as its past, and history has become so twisted (ha) that modern society views some of these classic villains as the heroes or supporting characters of their stories, and respect them as The Great Seven. (The seven in question being the Queen of Hearts, Scar, Ursula, Jafar, the Evil/Raven Queen, Hades, and Maleficent. None of them are remembered by name, though.)

The game takes place in the modern era, a society with both technology and magic. Specifically, it takes place in a magic high school called Night Raven College, an all-boys dormitory prep school where the only requirement to get in is a magic mirror that peers into your soul and determines whether or not you can a) do magic and b) kin the Great Seven. And, of course, the player character is a regular-ass human who gets isekai'd in and gets stuck with a talking magic cat direbeast named Grim.

Now. That is the general synopsis. I, on the other hand, affectionately call this the Mental Breakdown game.

See, here's the kicker. The magic system is pretty nifty; while it's functions as a standard magic-is-magic sort of soft system, it has ✨consequences✨

Magic has this byproduct called blot. It's this icky stuff that builds up when you a) use too much magic and/or b) are emotionally distressed. But less so in a "I'm panicked right now" sort of way and more so in a "I have chronic depression and/or anxiety" sort of way. And, when a mage is powerful enough, and sad boi enough, and then goes and uses way too much magic and sad boi juice in one sitting, this amazing phenomenon occurs called "overblot"—which is pretty much a super-powered evil form that turns the mage into the darkest form of themselves and then uses magic until they die.

Naturally, this happens in the game. A lot. The formula is pretty much that each "book" of the story, there is an overblot. One for each of the seven dorms, which are based off of the seven villains/the movies they come from. (And "based on" is pretty loose. Yes you can see the similarities, but these are dumb teenage boys with their own hopes and aspirations, and, sometimes, the game completely lies to you about what character they emulate the most. The guy who's Jafar? Well yes but he's actually just a really stressed out Genie stand in. The Hades guy? Whoops that's Meg. Is that a card soldier or the White Rabbit? Doesn't matter, he's got problems.)

The characters are so well written. I could gush about them forever, and they are the driving points of this plot and it means everything to me. They are some of the most traumatized and messed up individuals, but also, they are dumb teenage boys who do dumb teenage boys things. It is all incredibly well balanced and startlingly realistic for a game that amounts to beating the emotional constipation around people. Mostly because it cannot be beat out of them. The blot can, but they have to deal with their emotions with their own two hands, with varying levels of success.

And the shenanigans!!!! Oh, the shenanigans. I call this the Emotional Trauma game but I have once laughed so hard someone heard me through the floor. It's not all doom and gloom for sure. Sometimes you're watching your friend fall apart because his toxic mother instilled debilitating perfectionism and slowly start making enemies of everyone and sometimes you're sending three of the most gremlin students plus one cinnamon roll to infiltrate a gala that a bunch of weather fairies are throwing in the greenhouse because they stole your temperature regulating magestone to be shiny jewelry and you want it to stop snowing inside your dorm room. And sometimes you can have the exact same character who experienced losing his little brother right in front of him gush about a magical girl sledding anime and all of his gacha games. It is the best of both worlds.

And, that's not all! No, no. We get amazing character interactions. Not just pre-determined friend group interactions, but also random interactions. Yana Toboso (the writer/artist) really likes to stick names in a jar sometimes and make them interact and it is the best thing ever. Every single one of these characters I hold in my hands. Every single one of them gets to have their moment to shine. You can emotionally invest in all of them and be rewarded for it.

The game itself is free and pretty easy to get into. There's not really a bad power creep so you can get through it with what you got. Of course the fun part of collecting cards is that there are stories attached to them that you can watch, and those are also sources of joy. (And it's well documented, so you can find things online pretty easily to catch up and see more.)

I just think it's neat. (Read: I accidentally became wholly obsessed with this game and its characters and they are all blorbos to me.)

You should definitely fall into this rabbit hole with me :))) It's so worth it :)))