#or at least not explicitly

[mebis-art-dump]

RW art month day 8: The Rot

[kittehscribbles34]

Is it fun, Kris? Playing around like this...

[bluehairedspidey]

[egophiliac]

how are u on gavv so far? because i need to scream about how insane it has been (and that zakuzakuchips and fuwamallow have won special places in my heart)

can't believe his mom got flavor-blasted to death. 😔 RIP.

[yesokayiknow]

okay rewatching lucky day & like yes i think that ruby's experiences in 73 yards left her with an above average ability to deal with unreal realities but also like. she IS disabled. she has ptsd (and that was BEFORE what conrad did to her)

[mylols16]

not people calling deadpool and wolverine queerbait im begging yall to learn what queerbaiting is. like why is it that straight characters can have romantic subtext and thats all well and good but the minute gay characters have romantic subtext everyone gets out their pitchforks and starts screaming about queerbait. queercoding and queerbaiting are not the same people! i feel the fact that a song about going down on someone plays while the two protagonists hold hands to save the world should be evidence enough that the gayness was at least a little bit intentional. if you want to be mad about the movie not being gay enough thats fine but i keep seeing people praise venom as gay rep when it also doesn't explicitly state the two characters gayness or romantic interest (i love venom btw don't come for me). just can we stop the arguing and enjoy a fun movie please

[s-h-a-s-e]

[renegadecreation]

Ethan having a long and varied history of guilt-themed nightmares about the people he loves whether he knows they're dead or not (Jim in m:i1, Lindsey in m:i3, Julia in FO, Luther in FR at the very least) is a wild trait to give your badass action hero. maybe that's why he keeps taking little catnaps here and there as he gets older. it's just getting harder and harder for him to sleep.

also I need like twenty h/c fics of him having nightmares and going to seek his team out for comfort when he wakes up, him trying to be close to people while he sleeps in increasingly convoluted ways to ward the nightmares off, him falling asleep next to someone and when they wake up it's clear he hasn't slept at all, etc. etc.

[highly-flammable]

On the topic of Gale being a jackass towards Katniss, anyone wants to talk about how he only got interested in Katniss when he saw Darius flirting with her? Possessive much?

[paperlifted]

Actually, the other turtle age-related hill I will die on is that I like that the 2k3 brothers seem a bit 'old' for 15/16yos.

Like there are still flaws in the portrayal. I get it. They were voiced by adult men (one of whom is very gravelly and yet, alas, perfect) and came out of an era where the writing of teenagers could undeniably get a bit Hello Fellow Kids at times. I'm not defending every choice that was made.

But overall I really like the vibe, and I think it makes sense for their situation! 2k3 commits to the fact that they are mutants who have been in hiding for most of their lives - no other family, no network of close friends, no society or government to fall back on. There weren't babysitters available when Splinter had to leave the kids alone to go foraging; they had to be responsible for one another from a young age, and as soon as they were able to contribute to the household then he had them out there completing them with him, because those chores needed to happen if they were all to survive. If ever he was ill or injured, they had to find a way to manage. Their playground was a spacious sewer with all sorts of hazards littered through it, and if something went wrong without Splinter in earshot - and we know it did! - then they simply had to step up and deal.

On top of that, they haven't had any peers to shape their interests and behaviours - they obviously model themselves here and there off what they've seen on TV, or read in a book, or witnessed on the streets, but their primary human contact prior to April seems to have been the homeless community. The internet was a different beast back then; they didn't have the same convenient exposure to all quarters of the world through an easily-obtained handheld device. They weren't hanging out with long-distance friends and learning to be normal teens on Tumblr.

Of course they seem more like college-aged young adults than high school sophomores! They're still kids, but their youth mostly shows through in the ways they're each still figuring out their own self-identities: sorting through personal biases, learning how to deal with emotional peaks and troughs, exploring where they stand in the context of the wider world they've been denied for so long.

And, yeah, in the ways they're sometimes just kind of short-sighted or gross or fascinated by something totally age appropriate. They're mature for their age, but they don't escape every trap of immaturity by any means. Which is a good thing!

Expecting them to be teens like any other teen rings more unrealistically to me. The MNT part is just as big a part of who they are as the first T.

[localvillagecryptid]

Can someone please explain to me what the enforcers Do. Like I was under the impression that they were the police force. So why the hell were they fighting in the war? Does Piltover not have an army? Are their police force and their military the same thing? Are you telling me each individual enforcer is trained both in police/investigative procedure AS WELL AS military tactics and strategy? 1) how the fuck do they have the time to invest THAT MUCH into each enforcer. 2) how fucking long is the training, especially considering how quickly Caitlyn joined the force 3) are you telling me the chief of police and the army general are the same thing? Are you telling me MARCUS was a trained tactician? A GENERAL?

Even if you argue they're all incompetent- are you telling me the Councilors were willingly paying what was probably exorbitant amounts of money to have a WEAK and ILL-TRAINED MILITARY? it's one thing for them to poorly train a bunch of cops, and maybe even carelessly allow a bunch of barely trained, "mindless gruntwork" soldiers- but eventually, the more they rise into the ranks, the more they'll have to scrutinize their skill. Are you saying their enforcers are structured like a standing army? Are you saying those pompous fucks wouldn't care if their military was actually capable of protecting them or not? How have they never been invaded before? How are they still around?!

[aroaceleovaldez]

It's honestly wild to me that ToA went through so much trouble to emphasize the fact that Will did not magically fix all of Nico's problems and was explicitly not Nico's only doctor.

Only for TSATS to have Will fix all of Nico's problems and have Nico be entirely reliant on him the entire book and literally helpless without him and LITERALLY have Nico's problems be magically removed.

[luuxxart]

it’s always sunny in the takeba family

[gingermintpepper]

Okay, let's finally talk about EPIC's Apollo

I feel very compelled to say, first of all, that I do not dislike Epic. In fact, I am very fond of Epic and have been following its production and status very eagerly! I attend all the launch streams, I watch all of Herrans' update videos; I am, at the end of the day, a fan and I want it to be known that my words are spoken out of love and passion as much as they are spoken from a place of critique.

So really, what my problem with Epic's Apollo?

In the briefest possible terms; the choice to have Apollo be defined by his musical aspect in God Games is thematically strange. And not in the 'oh well in the Odyssey, Apollo was important to Odysseus and his family so it's weird that that wasn't kept in Epic' strange, strange in the sense that Odysseus' character arc since My Goodbye has been getting more and more obviously Apollonian and so it is positively bizarre that when we get to meet Apollo, the god seems entirely disinterested in him and his affairs. So much so that he is not even defined by any station that would indicate that he has been watching over and protecting Odysseus and his family.

What do I mean by 'Odysseus has been following an Apollonian arc'? I'm so glad you asked!

Remember Them is the last song in which Odysseus explicitly uses his sword until Mutiny where he must use it to defend himself against Eurylochus' blade. He uses it to help enact the plan to conquer Polyphemus and, due to Polites dying in that battle, Polites who wished for Odysseus to put the blade down entirely and embrace a post-war life, Odysseus also retires his sword. This is an action that symbolically separates him from Athena - and the image of Odysseus as a traditional warrior set for him in Horse and Infant - as much as My Goodbye physically separates him from the goddess and her war-ways - from this point onwards, Odysseus will no longer be leaning on Athena's wisdom or methods to solve his problems. Likewise, he will no longer be able to rely on her protection.

Odysseus thusly solves most of his upcoming problems through diplomacy and avoidance. He approaches Aeolus - a strange and ambiguous god (both in gender and in motivation) and appeals to them for help. Circe too, he approaches not with wishes to conquer or for revenge, but for the safe returning of his men and an alternate way forward. In all of these scenarios, there is some Apollonian element which is subtly interweaved alongside the influence of other gods; it is with a bow and arrows that Polyphemus' sheep is slain (and thus it is this Apollonian element which is at the root of Odysseus' spat with Poseidon), it is a vision of Penelope that warns Odysseus that his men are about to open Aeolus' wind-bag, Circe's peace offering to Odysseus is to refer him to a prophet of Apollo who has since died.

In this way, Apollo is walking alongside Odysseus for all of his journey after Athena departs - even in the Underworld, he is guiding him. It is Tiresias' proclamation that is the last straw for Odysseus, it is by the power of a mouthpiece of Apollo that Odysseus decides to embrace his ruthlessness. It is with the bow and arrow that Odysseus subdues the siren who sought to trick him, likewise, Odysseus does not attempt to undermine or escape the fate of paying Scylla's passage price - he knows of the doom about to befall the six men and quite unlike the rest of the journey until this point, he does not fight against it. This all comes to a head on Thrinacia where it is a blade which sacrifices the sun god's cow and brings destruction upon the crew once more.

My point with all of this is that when I heard the teasers for God Games years ago, it made perfect sense to me that Apollo would be Round One - he is not Odysseus' adversary and has no reason to oppose Athena's wish to free him. From other teasers about what will happen in the climax of Epic, Apollo will still be walking alongside Odysseus - it is Apollo's bow that Penelope will give the suitors to string. Likewise, it is Apollo's bow that will prove Odysseus' legitimacy and identity. That bow will be the power by which Odysseus hunts his adversaries and cleans out his palace - it is Apollo who is the avatar of Odysseus' ruthlessness, not Athena.

So tell me, truly, what was the point of having Apollo raise a non-argument in God Games? Why have him appear unconcerned, aloof and slightly oblivious? Why have him appear in his capacity as the Lord of Music at all?? And if the intention was never to make Apollo an active player in Odysseus' life like he was in the Odyssey, why keep Odysseus as a primary archer?

The answer of course is that Apollo is inextricable from the fabric of the Odyssey - his influence and favour exudes from Odysseus just as much as Athena's. In Athena's ten year sulk, it would have been Apollo who kept Telemachus and Penelope safe. It would have been Apollo protecting Odysseus from Poseidon's gaze as he travelled the seas (according to the Odyssey anyway)

Forgive me for not being excited about something that I thought was being purposefully set up. I was extremely ecstatic about all of the little Apollonian details that litter the sagas because I know where this story ends up (loosely) but all God Games did was reveal that maybe those Apollonian details were not intentional at all, but merely the ghost of the Apollo who persistently haunts those he favours, even if he cannot explicitly come to their aide in an adaptation.

[blooming-cecilia]

i don't know dahlia all that well yet since i've yet to play the interlude (i'm waiting for miss erika's lines to be patched in 🙂‍↕️🤞)

buuut based on the vibes i've been getting...

in the context of lunasmr's wedding audio, i feel like if dahlia ever found out his bestie venti here got married WITHOUT any officiant or witness? he would set off and FORCE him to get a proper ceremony at the church lmfao 😭

i can see it happening post honeymoon audio, once windblume and venti get back to their normal lives

venti's at the tavern as usual but still kinda riding the wedding bliss. while on break from his Very Exhausting job of entertaining the masses, he's chosen to sit with a bunch of his tavern buddies and dahlia. everyone at that point has noted how extra happy the bard is that night, and venti accidentally says the truth without realizing it's consequences, happily yapping about his marriage and honeymoon bc hehe hes very in love so why wouldnt he yap about getting married to his beloved <33

and everyone's just ?!?! but dahlia. ohhh dahlia. he's appalled and after a few moments of silence just sets off on venti. what do you MEAN you got married. with no officiant? no other witnesses?? just both of you??? your marriage isn't OFFICIAL YOU FOOL

venti realizes his mistake and tries to get him off his back but nope! dahlia's not having any of that! he WILL have a proper ceremony This wednesday (aka, the Latest gap in his schedule) and NO he cannot get out of this.

doesn't matter if he knows venti's barbatos or not, dahlia feels like someone who would tell off someone even if they're above him in whatever rank. as long as there's something wrong, he WILL correct it. so there really is no other option but to comply 🤡

sooooo venti has no choice but to tell his beloved windblume that uhhh Well. that second wedding he promised them they'd have if they wanted?? Guess It's Happening Now

and even then it's like, the barest minimum wedding with the deacon and two other witnesses (one from each side)

(unless his windblume wanted to invite more folks of course!)

all because he's annoyed about having to been told to do another wedding just because he was told it wasn't leGaLLy biNdinG 🙄😒

grumbles about it to his windblume as they both get ready that fateful wednesday morning,

"i'm literally god. i should be allowed to legalize my own marriage. why does the church have to approve of MY MARRIAGE. shouldn't have said it with dahlia around, i knew he was gonna nag ..."

"to be fair, he's got a point. i did try to tell you."

"NOT YOU TOO >:("

windblume kisses his cheek and tries to soothe their (soon to be?) husband, barely holding back a laugh.

"well, aren't you glad to be able to marry me again? you were the one excited about having a bunch of weddings!"

the pout from venti's face falls into a small smile.

"that's about the only good thing from this whole nonsense, anyway."

he leans over to kiss his beloved,

"you know i'd marry you every day if i could, my love."

bonus: the best man

let me preface this by saying that because it's mondstadt and because i say so, i believe any person can be elected as a primary attendant/witness regardless of gender. so, i think venti could (and would) have chosen literally anyone available (lol) for his side

but i think it would be funny if he chose diluc as his best man

i was mostly thinking of this in the context of my yumeship, but also? he would probably be chosen because he:

1) knows who venti is so he likely understands the full context of this out of the blue wedding

2) he can roll with the punches and adapt fairly easily

3) venti has a sense of humor

i'm imagining him just dropping by the winery and asking like, "heyyy master diluc, r u free this wednesday? yeah?? ok can u come for a little thing i got going on at the church, promise it won't take up too much of your time <3 k thx see u!!!"

just making it sound super casual like he's asking to hang out. which was super sus already especially with that location. but he got no other clue on why, so he just gets there and BOOM. it was. a weddign . and he's. venti's best man?????????

was So confused getting there early and seeing an unimpressed dahlia waiting. he thinks he got it wrong and was gonna apologize but THEN dahlia goes,

"are you one of his witnesses"

".. what?"

"the bard and [windblume]'s wedding. are you their witness"

(realization)

"...............yes"

and he just sits there waiting along with windblume's chosen witness while inwardly groaning and cursing out venti in his head

not because he had to play best man. he wouldn't have minded. but he would have preferred to have been told he was attending a wedding!! he should have been in a nice proper suit rn!!

he doesn't even have a gift for the couple! though he supposed that can always come later, it still feels wrong to be THIS unprepared and it's on what he thought was gonna be a Perfectly Normal Wednesday Afternoon

somebody save him

[hellyrossum]

>mark knows his innie said "she's alive" and devon at least believes that could refer to gemma >milchick says innie mark has found love down on the severed floor (after bringing up gemma) >he refuses to elaborate when asked "with who?" but says that (outie) mark will start feeling the positive effects >mark is convinced to go back to work by this convo, then that night confronts cobel about what she knows about gemma

does he go back. not just because of the vague pleasant idea of his innie getting to experience happiness and love and that coming back around to him eventually, plus maybe separately the itching feeling that gemma might actually be down there somewhere

but because. milchick said just enough to leave open a world where his innie has met and fallen in love with gemma again.