#superficial changes

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt.

Horace

They change their sky, not their soul, who rush across the sea.

[keplerspacecraftofficial]

electing to believe this is what griddlehark looks like to everyone else

[ahaura]

im sure its been said already but as the election draws near more and more liberals will come out of the woodwork to shame people with a conscience to give away their vote to the democrats for free. i'm already seeing posts saying "why aren't people more concerned about a trump presidency?" you want to know why? it's because people already know he's bad. everyone already knows what he is and what he's done and what he'll do. there's nothing to discuss. he's a racist despotic worm of a man. there's nothing else to say.

biden is currently president. the genocide is happening under his watch. he's the one funding isra*l and arming them; he's sidestepped congress more than once to give them weapons. by oct. 27, the biden administration already knew that "Israel was regularly bombing buildings without solid intelligence that they were legitimate military targets." the state department/biden have engaged in atrocity propaganda, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the death toll recorded by the gaza health ministry, and so on. the united states is currently in the process of trying to pin the "war in gaza" on netanyahu (see sen. schumer's speech) after months of backing blatant genocide as a means to act as if they're "doing something" about the genocide (Instead of, say, threatening to cut off all aid to israel with the condition that all hostilities in gaza, the west bank, and occupied jerusalem are halted immediately and permanently, allowing palestinians freedom to travel, allowing aid into gaza, etc etc etc.)

the long and short of it is that liberals view their own lives as being worth more than palestinians'. that's it. they'll vote for another 4 years of the guy ushering in genocide and supporting apartheid + settler colonialism because he isn't outright attacking them (despite various laws and rulings happening both at the supreme court level and at the local level all over the country that will endanger people). they'll settle for the illusion of safety and security and shame anyone with a conscience and accuse them of "supporting the republicans" when in an actual democracy you would be able to use your vote as leverage to extract concessions from those who want to be elected. that's how it's supposed to fucking work.

democrats are not owed people's vote. if biden loses, it will be biden's fault; it will be his campaign's fault; it will be the democrats' fault. trump is bad; the republicans are bad. we already know this. this is not an endorsement of either. but if democrats are too cowardly and feckless and servile to the motivations of the american empire and never do anything for their constituents then why the fuck should anyone vote for them. you want to get mad at someone, why don't you do something useful and stop worrying about team-sports with a purely selfish basis and start hounding the people in power who are supposed to serve you, the voter.

[badpanduhmemes]

Okay, so the new design choices for Shen are bothering me. Like, I know it's Her impersonating him, but I don't like how fluffy they made him. It's messy to look at, and part of his character is metal.

Like, he was supposed to look cold and sleek, like metal. Because it makes him look more lethal, and sharp. (Like a stabby weapon.) But metal is also kind of his element.

I don't know, but to me the changes make him look less regal and imposing, and more... frumpy?

[daily-hanamura]

Hanamura Yosuke's first appearance vs last

[koriand3r]

Willow | Spike - Clothing

“Why are you still in costume?” “Okay, still having to explain wherein this is just my outfit.”

[bluehairperson]

Sometimes I see posts about how "I, Strahd" Tatyana has the personality of a cardboard but I don't think I agree honestly.

We only see her in very few scenes (all from Strahd's POV) and she's always very gentle and soft spoken.

Which makes completely sense since she was a lowborn orphan trying to make a good impression on her future brother in law, who is not only the ruler of the valley but also a feared war criminal. Of course she would try to be as nice as possible in front of him.

I also think that Strahd was extremely genuine in thinking he was in love with Tatyana, it's just that he never really knew her the way Sergei did. He only knew a facet.

[pinnithin]

yknow i didn't necessarily start my wyll origin run with the intent of romancing astarion in mind but the more i play the more i find their similarities amusing when it comes to like, the surface level personality they present to strangers in act 1.

wyll is a compulsive flirt. you see it in dialogue with shadowheart and lae'zel - he just tosses out a couple lines that clearly aren't supposed to go anywhere (asking lae'zel if she believes in love at first sight, blatantly reusing the same flirtation attempts with shadowheart) and i see this as part of his Blade of Frontiers persona. obviously a traveling vigilante would have no time for romance or relationships, but he's socially aware enough to have learned that people respond well to a certain level of rogueish charm. especially if his reputation precedes him. he can safely and positively engage in surface level flirtations with the people he interacts with because the person doing the flirting isn't real - at least not to him. he often says the Blade is his best self, but to him its an ideal he strives to achieve, not the person he really is. and i imagine that includes the ability to give discouraged people positive attention in a nonthreatening way. its safe. its superficial. he doesn't have to follow through.

this is overshadowed somewhat by astarion's tendency to flirt with anything that has a pulse, but the perspective they both have on it is pretty similar. theyre both coming from a place of not actually being interested in the recipient of their attention - whether that be through astarion's ulterior motives or wyll's lack of capacity for a relationship - but they both still put on this front because it's habitual. it's worked for them and it's gotten them through the varying degrees of social contracts they find themselves in. so they wind up trading lines easily because they've studied from the same script.

anyway what im getting at is bumping these two personalities against each other can definitely result in wyll and astarion committing to the bit so hard they accidentally wind up in a relationship. like, you're safe, you know the rules, you're speaking in a language i'm familiar with but we both understand that neither of us expect anything back on an emotional level. wait when did we start confiding our deepest secrets with one another. what do you mean you trust me.

[struggling-jpg]

Yanqing and Yunli Appreciation Post

Keep Reading cut due to 2.4 spoilers~ (also relatively long-ish post)

These two bounce off each other so well! As a writer, it feels so satisfying to see their characters shine through the quest and the event in the way their interactions highlight them. So I'm gonna use this space to ramble about it!

My previous post pretty much talked about it already, but Yanqing!!! My son!!! I was quite worried that any potential arc for him would be shoved down the road or to the side due to the scale HSR has, but the game's been actually holding up to his ongoing arc. As a result, at least to me, he's come through as one of the best written/developed characters on the Xianzhou so far.

The nature of the length of the updates lets what we get in previous quests settle in for a long while, and considering the mentioned of flow of time in-game, Yanqing's had the time to think and develop as a person. The fact that so many players have had their view and opinion of him finally turn around in this quest is a testament to that. We get to see more facets of him, as in, doing his job and the responsibilities of doing so, and how his insecurities are mentioned in a main quest for all to see. He's constantly referencing others and his past encounters. You can tell that Jing Yuan raised him with his manner and approach to things, which is highlighted by the contrast to Yunli (will get to that soon).

His position as a child soldier has made him mature faster, be quiet even when he's been wronged (filial piety/saving face (aka thank you person on Reddit who makes the banger character Yanqing (and other characters in general) appreciation posts)), take a step back and have to be able to read the room (though, reasonably, he doesn't catch on all the time), and much, much more. The fact that other official content has described him as being more worried about diplomacy and all that. He doesn't have the luxury to be as carefree or brash for someone his age.

There's a lot to unpack there still, even with the development he's had now and that's good! If the Hoyo writing team was wild enough, it'd be cool to see them address the grayness of his role and Jing Yuan's mindset in raising him as he did (We love Dad-Yuan and he loves his son dearly no question, but it'd be so interesting to explore his flaws/mistakes in this perspective!).

Now onto Yunli.

I'm saying straight off the bat, I'm irritated by her!

And that's a good thing!

Her being annoying or bratty or irritating doesn't automatically make her a badly written character! She only would become one if they don't do anything with her, and HSR most probably will, and she should be given the same room to develop in her own arc.

She acts like her age, and she doesn't have the same pressures as Yanqing does. Just like how you can see Jing Yuan in Yanqing, you can see Huaiyan in Yunli, if anything he says is to go by. She's tempremental and outspoken to a fault, and based on the way how quickly Huaiyan relented when she talked back, you can tell that Huaiyan isn't as strict/stern with her to give her a sense of being humble.

I had this thought that she's technically what the general fandom viewed Yanqing as initially, and I'm not saying that as a 100% thing, by the way. But like by some traits and the vibes. She, of course, has a lot more nuance that will be explored at one point or another.

But back on topic, she's a foil. They represent two different approaches and lifestyles and can clearly learn from each other. Her inconsideration of the fact that she's on the Luofu but enforcing Zhuming practices (which I noticed people were upset by, and same; which I imagine is the point), her bluntness to no matter who she's talking to—there's a lot to work with here.

Just like with their swordplay, Yanqing could learn from her mental strength while Yunli can learn from his focused speed and defense. He can learn to regain a more firm grasp of his recently found purpose while she can learn to mature and take in her surroundings and be more thoughtful in that front.

Another interesting note is that where we are with Yanqing currently is in the middle of his arc, we've had the time to see him take a long route of struggle to get to this point, exacerbated by irl players views of him. He's in the middle of his growth and we've had since 1.0 to get to know him. But with Yunli, she was introduced very recently, so we're technically at the "beginning" of her character arc. In a way, Yunli now highlights how far Yanqing has come and changed, and in a way Yanqing now is a potential show for the arc that Yunli can have (not being the exact same as him of course).

I think the idea with these two is that they develop to be more balanced. Balance is such an important thing, especially in Chinese culture (Daoism (Yin-Yang), etc.), and 2.4 has shown how much potential they have to make for amazing character arcs.

It's cool that while they have such similar base traits, they're so different from each other. Calling Yunli a female Yanqing or Yanqing a male Yunli is simply outright incorrect. Their backgrounds, upbringings, ideals, swordstyles, perspectives, and positions in life are so distinct. I'm looking forward to their futures!

[starrysharks]

chapter 1 of reassassination's nearly done script-wise! hopefully the next chapters won't take like 6 months of on-and-off work to complete lol

[flowerakatsuka]

just came to the realization that the sextuplets died a week before kuroba's birthday.

[haven-flare]

Wanted to give my two cents on the whole wuwa character design. The person saying that having distinct facial feature is not aspiring or interesting needs to watch their wording especially towards POCs.

Most game always suffer from same face syndrome. This is mostly prominent with the females. No matter what a distinct a character looks like with their hair color or eyes. You plaster them on another character they practically identical. Genshin Impact and League of Legends suffer this big time.

Genshin Impact

(Link to where I got the first 4 images: https://m.hoyolab.com/#/article/11600510)

League of Legends

Besides their face ornaments you would believe these are all the same characters right? Nope! They are all different characters.

This is just for a skinline. When compared with the other female characters og skinline they still have all the same faces.

As far as I know the males have distinct facial features.

https://www.tumblr.com/freyito/751527973863178240/i-need-people-to-appreciate-calcharos-nose-bump?source=share

Same person has point out that Taoqi is a thicker than most of the female girls and I agree. Look at the comparison.

Small things like these make the game interesting and unique. Ethnic features and facial differences are important to everyone because it makes the character feel unique and we can relate them physical.

Not everyone is going to have the same eye shape, lips, nose, and mouth. But society excepts us to have the same feature and shuns/discriminates those who lack them or chose to embrace their features.

Which is why character creation games like Baldur's Gate, Elden Ring, Sims 4, and Cyberpunk allows players to adjust and modify their character to look like them so they won't feel like they need look a certain way.

Sorry for the rant. That post really trigger me.

First of all, thanks for sharing your thoughts. A rant it may be, but it was really interesting! Mainly because I didn't think about it from this angle before, but now that you mention it, it's so obvious :9

As a person of color myself, it is a little disheartening when non-white characters look the same but with a different shade of skin, lmao.

I don't play LoL, and haven't actually seen anything about it at all, so I hadn't seen this, though it doesn't surprise me. It's a common joke that women have less variety in their designs than men, and it gets pointed out a lot.

It's mostly modern anime poisoning or something, it's in the water I swear. Where it's just the same character but different colors and personality...

About the Genshin vs Wuwa thing, I agree that the comment of "faces" not being enough seems almost... insensitive? I don't know how to describe it, but I get it. They are so focused in the intricate clothing of Genshin and the large amount of accessories and at the same time disregard what actually matters when it comes to uniqueness, lol.

(In my eyes, clothing in character design, doesn't have to be incredibly decorated, it can be either way as long as it portrays accurately the character that's wearing them. So that whole argument is moot to me, since it's just a matter of stylistic choices and how you wish to portray an environment, etc, etc.)

Meanwhile, the fact that Genshin only uses like two bases for their characters feels like they've streamlined their design production to pull out 'bangers' each time. Just dressing up the same doll each time, changing out the wig and repainting their faces. I still like some designs from them, but it's clear they don't put much effort in the actual body of the character LMAO, they just let the fancy colors and accessories do the talking.

Anyways, hopefully we get more characters with more unique traits instead of some outfit change, both in Wuthering Waves, and in other franchises.

[mpsideadump]

Funny thought that I may or may not expand into its own one shot later:

Gemini and P body swap.

Like, just imagine how Gemini would react to having an actual humanoid form and taking advantage of that immediately.

Meanwhile P can only watch in silent terror at the trouble Gemini gets into while looking like him. I mean, P gets in trouble all the time, but it's a different kind of trouble where the other residents of Hotel Krat just become utterly confused at "P's" suddenly more extroverted behavior.

Example:

Gemini (waving and doing all sorts of expressive hand motions while speaking): Heya Eugenie! How are you doing? You having a good morning so far? Watcha workin' on by the way? Oh, and good day to you Spring! Who's a good kitty?

Spring: *cautiously backs away from Gemini and retreats, hiding behind Eugenie*

Eugenie: I...uh...are you feeling okay P? Are you sick???

P (whispering): Gemini you're supposed to be acting like me.

Gemini: Oh, don't worry Pal. I got this!

P: I...*chirps and sighs as he gives up*

[creekfiend]

Hello hello hello does anyone have links/resources on low dose t? like the lowest dose u can be on without it just turning into estrogen like the world's shittiest hormonal magic trick. Just enough T to create more blood

[daily-hanamura]

[paranormaljones]

okay so. as someone with adhd/autism, is it like. a common experience for other neurodivergent folks when you have unspoken feelings/attraction towards someone to assume that if they were to become aware of your feelings, that they would react with disgust/contempt? and to feel that they wouldn't be wrong in reacting that way?

this has been my gut reaction for years whenever i'm in this situation and i don't like it, and i'm trying to identify whether it stems from my feelings of "other-ness" due to neurodivergence, or if it stems from specific experiences i had with specific people, or just general low self-worth.

it's very uncharitable of me to think like this and i hate automatically assuming a reaction like that from people i care about. and it's not exclusive to romantic feelings, either. i generally assume that if people knew me better they would not like me. and not even for some big awful secret reason like "i'm a mass murderer", literally just because i struggle with social cues and perceive myself as inconvenient and annoying to be around. these feelings are just generally exacerbated in a romantic context.

this is definitely something i should talk through with a therapist but you know. tumblr is free.