#they're not evil or good etc

[ettadunham]

the tragedy of media about robots and artificial intelligence is that it's now used to antropomorphise biased algorithms developed by corporations with a profit motive, when the point of that media was always about personhood and the way some people's humanity is stripped off of them.

but sure steve, tell me about how chatGPT is in love with you, i guess.

[samble-movedd]

"homura is an evil abuser who wants to control madoka and hates their friends" tired trope, canonically untrue, congrats on falling for the facade put up by a middle schooler.

"homura sees herself as inherently evil and abusive due to her upbringing, past actions, and status as a witch, which is still ongoing even at the end of rebellion" fresh, new, actually closer to canon, doesn't demonize a child for being mentally ill.

[front-facing-pokemon]

[canisalbus]

Vasco and Machete are absolutely adorable, your style is so lovely and you draw the softest beds I’ve ever seen in any art ever

.

[lucalicatteart]

A new sculpture! Finally... I feel like I never sculpt anymore since I'm always sick or have some 500 other things going on or projects to finish, but I'm trying to schedule time to do it more often this year hopefully..! Just a generic fantasy creature as usual, but did try making the eyes a little more sparkly this time.. hrmm..

[asmo-cosmetics]

it just bewilders me that anyone could write a character as perfect as julian and then so obviously begin to hate him. it's so weird how much open unabashed contempt these writers have for the character their game is basically about.

i've said this before but i think that the prologue was written for a different version of the game, before the team decided to make julian the heel to asra's face and the butt of every joke. "a gift from a witch who fears commitment" was so obviously meant to be foreshadowing for a major plot point, but they just hand-wave it away in the story with like two lines of dialogue and a prayer.

"no, no, that was a red herring!!" no it wasn't. julian himself is already the red herring, making his implied backstory another red herring is the definition of a hat on a hat. asra and julian were clearly written for asra to be the bad guy in the asrian divorce, but then someone (everyone? i don't know) vetoed it because god fucking forbid we make asra look like an asshole even once.

asra is the writers' favorite and it's extremely obvious. he basically has no flaws, to the point of legit cliche. oh mc my only flaw is loving you TOO much. so even though julian is already written with a very clear archetype of "guy who hates magic because he got his heart broken by a witch" that comes through in basically everything about him, they have to paper over it in the story because we can't make asra look mean!

so they just make up for their shitty coverup writing by being like haha isn't julian silly? he was wrong about everything and he doesn't like magic hehe haha. leeches! meanwhile the bones of the characters they actually wrote are in asra too, because it's clear he's meant to have his "villain moments," he's meant to have sharper edges and even be scary, but someone decided that he has to be an uwu softboy and ruined him in the process.

as always i am not looking for a debate, i will block you.

[picturesofsmant]

I can't let this video go by without a few pics of them both

[girderednerve]

currently all i want in my life is to have a reference librarian job at a library where nobody is doing weirdo power grab stuff/acting like sixth graders who don't want me at their lunch table. this desire feels pathetic to me & also probably wouldn't work anyway because i am incapable of showing up to a library but i immediately am like "i am CONCERNED! about the STATE of the FIELD!" and am constantly brimming with painfully earnest & deeply felt opinions. which is cringe, obviously, and also annoying to others. but in my defense the state of the field is fuckin bad. anyway. one simply should not dream of labor. etc.

[lesbianwyllravengard]

Not to sound like an ex-football player but what about a serennedy soccer au. They're on opposite teams btw

[lord-squiggletits]

I know there are as many religious good guys as there are religious bad guys in IDW, but I think I pinned down the reason why it feels like the most prominent religious figures are all bad guys and it's pretty much due to the worldbuilding.

Maybe my memory of the comics is just really bad, but the religious worldbuilding in IDW is....kind of trash honestly. I'm not sure there's a single religion or religious custom that doesn't exist solely to further the plot along. Like, it's one thing for the Camiens to worship the Primes and that causes a lot of stuff in exRID/OP, but what does that worship actually look like? What are their holidays, customs, religious texts? What about "spectralism" which basically the only thing we know about is the Festival of the Lost Light and some hippie color coding and aura shit? Like sure, there are characters who are religious and their beliefs come into play sometimes, but it honestly feels (especially in MTMTE) more like their religiousness only exists when it's relevant to the plot and it's just kinda. Disappointing eh. Lacking in worldbuilding. Plus the more religious a character is the more it's written as their entire personality and the driving force making them evil so it just kinda made me cringe to read honestly.

[tonyglowheart]

reading thru old meta posts on qian qiu and there's like, some stuff I agree with sure but there's also a lot I don't lol. w like yan wushi especially. there's a lot of. I think too much conventional-mindedness in approaching yws even from the ppl who did like him as a character. saying he's a difficult character, and is meant to be a difficult character, but then still framing him along more conventional moral frameworks. yet another apartment 'complex'? strange, I find it quite simple moments.

[mintytrifecta]

Anyway Parallax is so Rebellion Homura Akemi-coded

[avpdgirlfriend]

i loove being petty back to people who i perceive as being petty to me. my toxic trait. i will never ever be the bigger person. die

[lucalicatteart]

Poll adventure (paventure? lol) Day 16: read the small story tidbit below the poll for more details, OR just vote based on initial impression

(✦ see past poll results + further information HERE (link) ✦)

Yesterday's poll decided that The Adventurer should offer to help the travelers with their broken wagon.....

~

After much internal deliberation (and some zoning out staring at butterflies), The Adventurer decides it would be best to offer his assistance. Technically, he IS still following his goal of not getting distracted, because theoretically it would make his journey much faster if he were able to catch a ride on a carriage. So really, this is all an ultimate big brain genius strategy for maximizing efficient travel.. Or, at least that sounds like a good enough justification to him.

Gathering up all of his social courage, he approaches one of the travelers fiddling with a broken wheel near the far end of the carriage and meekly asks if there's anything he could do to help.

The man was so focused on his task, he seems initially startled to look up and find someone near him. "OH..! Oh, uhh.. help? With the wagon?", he smiles pleasantly, gesturing towards a few wooden boards that are just out of his reach, "Sure, kid. If you could just hand me th-"

"Apologies, but we actually won't be needing your assistance, stranger." A taller man, surprisingly almost matching the stature of the Adventurer, suddenly slinks out from somewhere behind the carriage, sternly placing himself like a barrier in front of the man working on the wheel. Wheel Guy nervously averts his eyes, making himself smaller, silently resuming his work.

The Adventurer tries his best to maintain composure against the weight of the tall man's bitter gaze, but can't seem to muster much of a response "Aeughh,,, uh… b-but, h- Bu--HHHh,,?.."

"Look, disregard whatever my father told you, he's old, never has any clue what he's talking about. It'd be best for you to simply move along." ('Father'? They don't look alike at all, and seem to be nearly the same age..)

"W-well.. he.. he didn't really tell me anything, I me-hhH,,.. I mean, I literally just got here, s-so...."

"Good. Even more reason to be on your way."

Placing a gloved hand firmly on his shoulder, the tall man begins to motion the Adventurer away from the wagon, but a strange noise interrupts, echoing from inside. Perhaps some sort of animal sound? Or a person faintly yelling about something? Or… both?

"WH-wHggg… whAT was t-that???!!" The Adventurer immediately stops in place, pausing to listen as the tall man keeps trying to push him ahead.

"I didn't hear anything, stranger."

"No, t-there.. was dEFinitely, UHH, a-"

"Likely something in the forest."

"Wh--aah... d.. do you think it was an animal?"

The tall man continues a dramatic struggle to 'subtly' drag him further down the road, whilst the Adventurer mindlessly digs in his heels, too distracted to even notice he's being so strongly prompted to leave.

"Many animals do, indeed, exist within forests. This should not be suprising."

"...It's just.. ..eughh… s… so weird…"

"I assure you, it is not."

"I-it really sounded like.. like it came f-from insid-"

"Yes, from inside the forest. Now, please, if you would.."

The noise interrupts again. It's definitely someone, or something, in some sort of distress.. And definitely from inside of the cart.

"wHoAAGH, aa!!! T-tHat's NOT from the f-forest, that-"

The tall man fully just shoves him now, sending the Adventurer toppling across the dirt, clumsily rolling and landing just past the other side of the carriage. A mother and young child who seem to be part of the traveling group simply stare down at him with empty blank gazes, wholly unconcerned about helping him up.

As the Adventurer fumbles back to his feet (still confused as to why he was even pushed in the first place), the tall man looms by the carriage, diligently watching to ensure that he leaves.

"Travel safe, stranger."

Despite his initial obliviousness, the Adventurer begins to piece the situation together as he stares back at the man, now fully convinced something suspicious might be going on...

…What should he do next??

~

~

~

Additional Information

the adventurer's current main quest: follow his map to reach the abandoned castle ruins and see the rare animal specialist about the mysterious egg he has

[illusions-in-octarine]

Every main female character we meet is rightfully blessed with a steel backbone and an indomitable will, true to the Jordanian vision. I can't wait for the cheers from the audience falter and die as the impending wave of executive paralysis at Armageddon rears its ugly head in the later seasons.

The later books can be read as the Armageddon of ego death.

What was it Rand/Lews Therin said? Ah yes. "We were an army of generals" and that is how the Age of Legends died.

[the--highlanders]

I do really think we're overdue a story with an unequivocally good ice warrior tbh