#this is an excellent analysis

[nipuni]

OUGUHH I'VE READ 'THE PILLOWMAN' 😭😭😭😭 It was absolutely brilliant and I'm already drawing about it lmao. Katurian K. Katurian I love you aaaaaaaa. It is horrifically tragic but also funny, thought provoking and Kafkaesque. It's also a very short and easy read. Here it is if you want to read it too!! The next time I'm in London I'm breaking into the National Theatre Archive to watch the original production with David as Katurian just look at him!!

[cctinsleybaxter]

one thing i think people miss about lake mungo is a thing people also miss about twin peaks, which is that you limit your understanding by only seeing yourself as the dead girl; sometimes you're one of the people who knew her

[greghatecrimes]

“And she comes to him and tells him that his offer to help her die was the best way anyone has ever loved her in her entire life. This is quite possibly the only time in the entire show, maybe in House's entire life, that someone tells him his love is good enough.”

I am going to sob.

House M.D. Gift Exchange Event || @housemdgiftexchange

House and Thirteen Moments, for @dualsouled

[transmascutena]

we watched the black rose musical last night and i'm still thinking about how much akio goes around just.. touching other characters, even in scenes he isn't actually really supposed to be part of. it's a really interesting directing choice. sometimes it's just a touch, like a hand on someone's arm or shoulder, but most of the time he's pushing people. very much like in the show, he is putting the actors (the characters) into the positions he needs them in. only here it's very literal. and instead of just telling them where to be, like a stage director might do, it's physical, hands-on, even kind of violent at times, yet still subtle enough that nobody notices. nobody ever reacts to it, they just move to where he needs them to be, stumbling into place and continuing to play their roles.

and i could talk about exactly who gets pushed when and to where (like how the first and last person he does it to is anthy-as-mamiya, how it's a light push, really just a touch to keep the momentum of what they're already doing going, as opposed to the way he kind of shoves other characters), but the thing that really stood out to me is that the only character he does touch but doesn't ever really push (aside from i think anthy, and i do have a lot of thoughts on the scene where they're dancing together that i may get into in another post) is utena. what he does instead instead is pull her.

in the opening number, there's a moment where it seems like utena is about to walk off-stage (like tokiko does in the scene, because their choreography is mirroring each other. very clever), but before she can, akio grabs her arm and turns her towards the center of the stage instead, where she lies down in her "coffin". the show proper starts, of course, with the once upon a time story of utena meeting the prince, and a recap of the first arc/musical. and of course akio is the one who puts her into position for it. she's still trapped in her coffin.

and, i don't know, there's just something especially unsettling to me about it compared to the pushing. maybe just that it's different from his interactions with every other character. or the contrast between the pushing being more direct and aggressive, compared to him subtly and gently guiding her around the stage, into the chair or closer to him. there's something horribly personal or intimate about it i guess, especially since he often takes her hand to do it.

[hydrus101]

One thing that I find incredibly interesting about Arthur Lester as a character is how he deals with interpersonal conflict.

We've known for a great while now that Arthur is a man incredibly prone to violence. If it's something he can fight physically, if violence is an acceptable answer, he is all in. Tooth and nail, snarling, thumbs dug into soft, yielding eye sockets or leaking open wounds. He is vicious and he is angry and he is wholly determined to survive, ready and willing to take the other party down with him if necessary, if object of his wrath is an enemy, something in his way, something he feels he has earned the right to destroy. The Widow, Kellin, Faust, Larson and his sons, Aldrich Ward, Antoine—near the end when secrets and patience came unraveled—and even William, that childhood friend he'd once cared for so much, they all fell prey to that violence. He and the Butcher are the same in that way: vicious snarling animals.

But if it is a situation that does not call for violence, that cannot be solved by burnt bridges and bloody knuckles, he is avoidant. Incredibly so.

His first instinct when fear took hold and told him that he needed to leave Bella, his wife, wasn't to talk to her, to discuss it like adults. His first instinct was to skip town without a word, without a confrontation, without a fight, like a shadow. He couldn't fight her physically, not that he ever would have. She wasn't something he could intimidate away and he didn't want her to come to harm. He didn't want that confrontation. Even in death, he avoids her. He doesn't attend her funeral.

He acts much the same with Daniel. When they arrive at his doorstep, Arthur pauses, hesitates, tries to turn tail and run from a man he cannot fight because he needs something from him, but John holds him steady and he stays. He talks. He comes out better for it. But he wouldn't have done it without John's help. He would have run.

And again with Oscar, and his proffered purpose. Arthur rejects it, with everything he is and has and believes, but he needs Oscar still. He cannot push him away, because of the stone that still sits in his pocket like a lead weight and threatens to pull him under. (Further still, he will avoid the letter Oscar writes to him, and will not read it until he is certain he is about to die, knowing then that there is no after, and there is no where else to run. And even then, he has waited too long.)

And later still, when John's fears bubble over, when Arthur acknowledges, fully, that John is lying to him, that avoidance drives him. "I don't want to...because of what you may say." He did not want that confrontation with John. He did not want that fight. Why this, out of every other argument they've had, of every other harshly spoken word, why was this the one that Arthur shied from? Why was this the fight that scared him? He's not afraid of conflict with John, we know this, they've done it a thousand times before.

Arthur's shell is thick and armored, steeled against innumerable physical dangers and threats, pain that he can shake off and bounce back from time and time again, but it is the emotions that wound him deepest. Internal lacerations caused not by blades, but words. It is the revelation of knowledge that he cannot fight or run from, of learning that the piece of driftwood he clings to isn't really there at all, or that its truly a cinder-block tied to his ankle, weighing him down. In terms of people he cares about, of people he loves, he would rather torture himself with a thousand possibilities of things

And we learn, from Parker, in the last of the words that he ever spoke, that Arthur always does this. Always pushes the ball down the road. Always avoids what can be confronted today. Always flees when maybe, the better thing to do is to stay.

[villainsidechick]

I have always seen Erik as much darker and disturbed than the highly romanticized version post the musical. He is sympathetic and is able to redeem himself in the end, but, again, he is one giant conundrum.

I would not put it past him to be abusive in the past towards women, however, one might want to take that. He has calmed down a bit in his solitude until Christine, but you can see moments where he is close to losing control even with her.

Christine wants to believe he won't harm her, or he's in capable of it. Hoping he remains a 'gentleman' and doesn't take advantage of her, physically, but it's definitely on her radar.

Damnit, I wish they'd make a faithful book adaptation to Phantom for a film. It's almost 100 years since the silent film in 1925 and we haven't had a proper reworking of this story in all that time.

What do you think Erik's past was with women, when it comes to dating and women. I'd like to know what your take is.

"dating" is probably not the word I'd use. Delving into the text of the book there are two parts that stick out to me as indicating that Erik may have a history with women other than Christine this segment here from the scene at Apollo's Lyre where Christine is recounting events to Raoul "You wanted to know what I looked like! Oh, you women are so inquisitive! Well, are you satisfied? I'm a very good-looking fellow, eh? … When a woman has seen me, as you have, she belongs to me. She loves me for ever. I am a kind of Don Juan, you know!' And, drawing himself up to his full height, with his hand on his hip, wagging the hideous thing that was his head on his shoulders, he roared, 'Look at me! I AM DON JUAN TRIUMPHANT!' And, when I turned away my head and begged for mercy, he drew it to him, brutally, twisting his dead fingers into my hair." Seems to indicate that this kind of thing has happened before. It is possible Erik is speaking generally and it's not definitive proof but it is interesting, the verbiage he uses.

And this scene towards the end of the book when he has Raoul and the Persian in his torture chamber

"What are you running away for?" asked the furious voice, which had followed her. "Give me back my bag, will you? Don't you know that it is the bag of life and death?"

"Listen to me, Erik," sighed the girl. "As it is settled that we are to live together ... what difference can it make to you?"

"You know there are only two keys in it," said the monster. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to look at this room which I have never seen and which you have always kept from me ... It's woman's curiosity!" she said, in a tone which she tried to render playful.

But the trick was too childish for Erik to be taken in by it.

"I don't like curious women," he retorted, "and you had better remember the story of BLUE-BEARD and be careful ... Come, give me back my bag! ... Give me back my bag! ... Leave the key alone, will you, you inquisitive little thing?"

And he chuckled, while Christine gave a cry of pain. Erik had evidently recovered the bag from her." He says he doesn't like "curious women" and makes a reference to Blue Beard, which is a fairytale about a serial killer who murders his wives. There's a scene in Blue Beard where the most recent wife discovers a room with the bodies of his previous wives. The first quote could be dismissed but this is the second time Erik has indicated a dislike for curious women. Erik's lair is canonically full of traps and features a very cruel torture chamber. By evoking the image of Blue Beard in particular the narrative seems to be further implying that Erik does have some history of women and not a pleasant one. It's possible that Erik is just trying to scare Christine out of looking in the room but it's equally likely that it's not an idle threat. He's shown that he's not above putting hands on Christine and treating her roughly despite his claims to love her. I have a personal theory that Christine is not the first but Erik knows she is going to be the last. I've always kind of run on the idea that throughout the book Erik is aware his health is failing and the clock is winding down for him and that's why Christine is different, because she's his last chance and in the end she does give him, not a living bride, but something much more needed: redemption and forgiveness from someone he's harmed. Proof that he's not unworthy of human compassion. A lot of people in the Phandom don't seem to recognize how dark of a character Erik is. I find him legitimately scary as much as I also find him sympathetic and I think he is fascinating in part because there is something genuinely terrifying about him that tickles my love for horror stories. I feel like it's vague enough that you can leave it up to interpretation, so if you don't really like the idea that he's had women in his past that he ended up killing you can chalk it up to Erik just trying to frighten Christine into compliance but I think it's interesting to look at the darker takes and speculate about the skeletons in his closet.

[kacievvbbbb]

Honestly with the workload these kids be getting, what they are studying in school and just generally how they are treated. You really forget these kids are like 6 years old.

Anya is the only one that consistently acts her age and so she sometimes comes off as immature which is insane when you think about it they are all literally 6. This also works cause we can assume she is a year or 2 younger than the rest of her grade, still, even then it’s insane.

Which is why when the other kids actually start to show their age usually in situations of great emotion, the bus hijacking for one. Or even when the kids think one of them is going to have to leave because his family is now poor and they all rally around this kid they never even really spoke to, or when they literally think that some macaroons will make them smarter and help them pass the test. Or when they simply want to play outside.

it’s so jarring and you’re left being like oh right they're six, this isn’t normal. Six-year-olds shouldn't be put under this kind of pressure.

It's another neat little insight into just what kind of society these kids are living in. And a little bit of irony that Loid who wants to create a society where little kids don't have to cry anymore is on a mission that requires the infiltration of a school where little kids can't even be ones.

[hahahafangirl]

a Revelation i just had from talking with my roommate is that wind breaker is uniquely a story about cultivating, developing, and protecting your *local* community, i.e. in a small town. this may be a response to a cultural climate that is increasingly remote and globalized, where the people around you, especially in a big city, becomes more and more anonymous (the bread sellers, the flowershop owners, the neighbors living next to you, etc— that we see the characters interact with).

specifically, in the shounen sphere, while community, friendships, teamworks are strongly emphasized, they are typically a secondary theme. friendships and empathy are vital to one piece, but its primary motivation and focus are on freedom and adventures. haikyuu, too, and all sports mangas that i have seen, is hinges on teamwork and connection, but the dominant context/motivation is the passion for sports and dedication/conviction towards your dreams. actually, haikyuu quite uniquely insists on teamworks and connections in ways i didnt see (as convincingly, at least) in other sports mangas. nonetheless, the primary focus is not on developing a community that you live in. so on and so forth. here is the difference: while all shounen works necessarily emphasized friendships, interpersonal connections, co-existence and teamworks, most of the time the community is something that the goal necessitates rather than being the goal itself. it’s a tool, not an endgoal.

that is not to say, i emphasize, that these stories are not good. it’s just that the premise of wind breaker is unique in the current narrative climates in a way that is quite reactive, actually, to the cultural climate today.

because the people around us are getting increasingly anonymous. in a big city you are not expected to know who your neighbors are. you are not expected to have meaningful conversations with the flowershop owners, the baristas that make you drinks every tuesday, or, hell, anyone that “serves” you. especially as the cities get larger and you never quite see the same people with any reliable frequency (yet another way in which the current economy (ehem, capitalism) configured our communities and interpersonal connections). this is a problem humanity never have before, in such unprecedented scale— but alack, social changes happen all the time, and most of them are unprecedented.

thats why the premise of a dying town — one that is explicitly ignored by law enforcement, quite literally left behind — is also symbolic of the smaller, more concentrated, and more personal social structure we are abandoning. the smallness is why bofurin knows everyone in town. the constancy is why bofurin and makochi care for one another. the premise basically necessitates the story to occur in this small, abandoned, relic of a town. and bofurin and the friends they made in other teams (that is, other local communities) is what revive these spaces that are on the decline. also, this intentionality of care from the youth (umemiya!!!) is what rescues the town from complete abandon to the cozy, lively place it is. literally, it started with one person, one smaller community— that spreads to the whole town. the smallness and mundanity is the point— things that our socio-economic focus on rapid “growth” and “development” is glossing over, the way makochi was.

do i have a solution for what i am portraying as a societal decay? no. do i expect every place in the world become makochi? would be nice, but probably not. but the narratives do invites and encourages me to notice more of the people i see day to day. maybe this will gets a lot harder once i move out of my undergrad dorms and no longer sees the same baristas, cafeteria workers, custodians, facilities workers that i know by name. but i sure hope i will know the names of the people i live with, in a community, in a new city.

anyway, wind breaker is very refreshing and yet another example of how culture and arts response to and interact with each other 😌 i can only hope that, regardless of whether people read so deeply into this or not, the narratives encourages them to be kinder and more noticing of their community. maybe nurture it too, like ume does and is inspiring everyone in bofurin to be :)

[murasaki-cha]

Me: *explaining the fact that Kitt was literally groomed into being the perfect king according to his father's ideals and constantly kept trying to please him even when he kept being compared to his brother, was never made clear of exactly what training Kai went through and does not know the full extent of their fathers abuse (shown in his bonus chapter in Reckless), felt like an outsider when it came to the familial bond between Kai, Ava and the Queen despite Kai and Ava never singling him out that's why he clung so much to their father, was literally emotionally manipulated to like Paedyn by their father as shown that he was the one that was pushing him to get close to her, was actually ok with Kai and Paedyn getting together as shown in the deleted Powerless chapter, got betrayed by the one person outside of his family who he truly considered a friend that thought he would make a good ruler when that was his biggest insecurity, was manipulated, gaslit and brainwashed by Callum for the entirety of Reckless and possibly mind controlled, was left to rule a kingdom and not grieve properly and what he truly needs is just reassurance, comfort and enough time for him to grieve surrounded with emotionally supportive people*

Other people: WELL KITT SUX! HE WANTS TO MARRY PAEDYN! HE'S RUINING MY SHIP AND I HOPE HE DIES!

Me:

[nights-at-crystarium]

HI. so. im going to dump a load of thoughts about this illustration on tumblr instead of bluesky because i have so many thoughts about this so please bear with me (feel free to post this if u want!)

like. one of my favourite soulcrushing parts of shadowbringers grahas characterisation is ironically: how hes portrayed in post shadowbringers - a free spirit with a thirst for adventure

its so clear therefore, from how he composes himself after hes been freed from his duties at the first that he wants to see the world. reclaim the joy that he abandoned to save a world. finally live after spending thousands of years as a dead man walking. a ghost in the shell

but in shadowbringers, that graha, the adventure-loving graha, is killed. stuck at the top of the crystal tower, forever unmoving. he didnt necessarily get cut and paste into his new body, he creates a second entity with all his memories and identity.

so THIS graha, the one with the crystal arm stays dead. his story has no happy end. and i LOVE how uve specifically placed focus on his crystal arm and intentionally saturated the blue. hes transparent. fragile. ephemeral. hes a dead man walking, half tower-half man. his state is unstable, like glass, the tower slowly creeping through every part of him until hes subsumed into it. theres such a specific sense of beautiful body horror that i think your illustration plays into and highlights. the red - his signature colour is slowly being washed away with the tide of blue, like his whole self is slowly being washed away as his duties literally eat away at his life

and god. that expression. its a little unreadable - partly because hes trying to cover it up, but yet you can still SEE that quiet anguish and terror show through. hes simply too earnest. any hard face he tries to put up will fall away with time simply because not him, nor anyone, can bear the burden of a whole world.

and i know hes portrayed as happily self destructive throughout the msq, him literally concoting a brazen suicide plan to save the first and the warrior, yet we know that he is someone who appreciates life, living. he was literally able to convince an unfeeling robot that life has joy in it in endwalker, so i dont think its too much of a stretch to say that theres a part of him in shadowbringers that is intimately terrifed of his duty. the horrific trolley problem of your life against the star, where you pull the lever. and this terror is so nakedly presented in your illustration, the way he tries to hide away from it, but simply cant, the way that his stare seems both anxious, afraid, yet resigned, a grim awareness that this version of him, the one stuck in the first only has one destination: the end.

but he still fights! still tries to hide away from it, appreciate life every step along the way. gaze at the night sky that returns after eons. make his loved one some sandwiches. try to hide that gnawing inevitability of his fated death. the one that he physically cannot avoid. the one that he knows will shatter him, like a pane of glass hit by a hammer.

youve nailed almost every part of shadowbringers graha that made his story so fucking compelling!!!!! god!!!!!

i think everyone present here will enjoy reading this

[purecommemasolitude]

when the choreography for the rumble has everyone standing apart and reacting to punches being thrown with no one throwing any punches, emphasizing how in the end no one is the true winner and everyone is suffering from the rage and violence and cycle of revenge... yeah that's the good stuff

[phanchester]

since there are so many data nerd phannies i decided to make a compilation of all the spreadsheets i could find - lmk if i missed any or if you want me to add any additional details <3

last updated: 30/06/24

actively updating spreadsheets

dan and phil uploads from 2021-2024

dan and phil’s upload schedule from all their channels with days and dates

amount of days in between videos in each channel

pie charts of days of the week they upload

made by @ahappydnp 

everything dan and phil related

all of dan and phil’s video links from all their channels from all their accounts (including super amazing project, snapchat, vine, tiktok and more)

all of dan and phil’s radio shows, including reuploads and playlists, as well as the dan vs phil, fan war and internet news if available for each show with misc clips and written recaps

all of dan and phil’s liveshows, including some written recaps and the app where it was originally posted

all of dan and phil’s vyous including the question they were answering

all of dan and phil’s collaborations and video features (even if they were in the background), including the channel they were originally uploaded on 

all of dan and phil’s interviews

all of dan and phil’s merch, including originally shop links and links to the phandom wiki which has further information

all of dan and phil’s professional photos as well as some fan photos, including the event, photographer and platform

the dates and statuses of each of these videos (lost, archived, unlisted or public)

made by @stillarchivingdnp

dan and phil 2024 upload stats

each of their 2024 videos with channel, upload date, upload time in uk, length, sponsor and editor/s (if applicable) with an accompanying colour-coded calendar

(for amazingphil videos) whether dan featured and (for dapg videos) whether it was gaming/talking and who tweeted it

interactive part where you can see the time period between two videos

averages, maximums and minimums for times between uploads, upload times and runtimes with accompanying graphs

percentage of videos with other editors, with pie charts for all channels and each channel

made by @dnpbeats

all or nothing: dan vs phil season 2

all of the games for season 2, with the year they played them and the results with and without all or nothing coming into play

how often all or nothing came into play and who suggested it

the general impact of all or nothing

made by @organized-chaotic-disaster

dan and phil saying “i love you”

when dan and/or phil said ily

the video and timestamp from when they said ily and whether it was prompted

pie chart of dan or phil saying ily

made by @ahappydnp

games where one of them decides the winner

date and link for each video

overall winner with the winner for each round

breakdown of the amount of times each of them have won each round and the percentage phil has won

made by @dnpbeats

dan and phil 2024 upload schedule

upload date for each video, with the day of the week and approximate time it was uploaded in cst, including the most common and second most common upload day for dapg

days between each upload, including the longest gap, shortest gap, average gap and first and second most common gap for dapg

a colour-coded calendar displaying the upload schedule for dapg and amazingphil

made by @kat-aa

completed spreadsheets

all or nothing: dan vs phil season 1 with a great accompanying document with further details and analysis of the data

all of the games they played, with the year they played them and the results with and without all or nothing coming into play

how often all or nothing came into play and who suggested it

the general impact of all or nothing

made by @organized-chaotic-disaster 

youtuber tours

(not necessarily dnp but it includes them!)

120 different tours, including the creators, names, dates, countries, links (if available) and producers (if applicable)

each tours’ venue capacity range, average and total attendance

individual tour show breakdown with city, state, country and additional notes

data on each venue’s capacity, number of tours, and which youtuber went to each venue

data on each country’s amount of shows, broken down into states and cities

made by @stillarchivingdnp 

gamingmas 2023 schedule

all gamingmas video titles from 2023

the time each video was uploaded in gmt

made by @cactuslester

spreadsheet screenshots in posts

listening trends in all or nothing

scatter graph for the correlation between track number and number of listens

analysis of the data

made by @serendipnpipity

analysis of dnp’s letterboxd ratings and movies with part 1 and part 2

(pt 1) rating distributions for all the movies they’ve rated, including details about which movies one rated higher than the other, and which movies they rated the same

(pt 1) a list of their five-star movies

(pt 1) a list of movies one logged but not the other

(pt 1) cute little misc notes about the specific movies and dates

(pt 2) ratings broken down into genre, studio and franchise with accompanying bar charts

made by @philsrosesweatshirt

views on post-hiatus dapg videos after specific time frames

i believe this is a work of progress!

video titles with the dates and months, along with details of whether they were sponsored or had external editors

view count after 24 hours, 48 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 months and 6 months

made by @goldenpinof

favourite dnp tour song statistics

years phannies started watching vs the year they joined the phandom represented in a bar graph

favourite dnp tour song in a donut pie graph and a bar graph

favourite song vs year joined represented in a bar graph

made by @serendipnpipity

terrible influence: the tour trailer video analysis

all the videos that appear in terrible influence with additional notes

the list sorted by date, view count and channel specifics

timestamps provided for each clip, both in the video and where they appear in the trailer

made by @emojackolantern

[malinthebodyguard]

I know that it may not seem super realistic that the queen just accepts Wilhelm's decision at the end of ep 6. But honestly, I think Kristina had always known that Wilhelm was going to do this.

He said almost exactly the same thing in E1S2 to both her and the court:

Of course, in this scene he's angry and upset. But the fact that he's being an angry teen about it doesn't necessarily make his words untrue. Even before he's CP, Wilhelm begins the story at odds with his roles and the expectations it put on him.

She recognises, of course, that he's being an overdramatic teen. She was probably a bit more dismissive of these comments before Erik died. But after everything that happened, I don't think Kristina has that luxury. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knows that Wilhelm is hanging on by a thread. I think this is why she tries to change the dynamic with him in season 2 and tries to negotiate with him. We can probably also see that reflected through Farima in S3, who's taken over as the person who tries to both appease and direct Wilhelm.

But in the car scene, Wilhelm no longer seems like an emotional teenager, being carried away by his emotions. This is Wilhelm growing up.

Kristina sees this too, sees that this isn' t the tantrum of an angry teen, but the realization of a young man who knows who he is and what he wants.

We're seeing her accept something that she's known, instinctively, was going to happen from the second Wilhelm became the Crown Prince. What can she do but let him go? As neglectful and unfair of a parent as she may be, I do genuinely believe she loves him. Closing that door would have meant losing him forever.

[dudewheresmynug]

Rook Character Study: Lydia Thorne

I really love reading about and seeing art of everyone's Rooks, and all of the beautiful content has inspired me to keep a little notebook about all things Lydia!

Today, I want to share (a lot of) details about Lydia's magical background 💙

Character study under the cut!

Lydia's magic manifested very early in her life-- she was about five years old (9:30 Dragon).

Lydia's magic became apparent during an emotional fit, where a temper tantrum over something that only a five-year-old can find devastating made it rain inside her family's cottage.

Terrified, her parents initially opted to teach Lydia to suppress her talents. Of course, trying to teach a mage child to control herself while lacking magical talents themselves made this impossible. Likewise, Lydia's magic proved to be too sporadic, and her parents made the difficult decision to send for the templars to protect Lydia from herself, and the rest of Crestwood, too. I want to emphasize that this decision destroyed Lydia's parents, especially her mother.

Lydia spent ten years (9:30-9:40) in the circle of magi in Ferelden, entering at five and existing at 15.

Lydia is proficient in both Arcane and Primal schools of magic, with a specialization in lightning magic.

Lydia has a desire to learn force magic, but no one will teach her :(

Growing up in the Fereldan circle taught Lydia to have an unhealthy fear of her magic. Growing up, her magic tended to be very sporadic. She had a lot of trouble controlling it, as it would flare up at any intense emotion, such as excitement or sadness. This also got her into trouble a lot, which led to her hiding herself whenever her emotions flared.

Because of this issue, she was made fun of terribly when she decided to specialize in lightning magic, as it was seen as an unruly and overly complicated element that would surely get away from someone like Lydia, who had so much trouble controlling her magic.

Lydia's mastery of lightning was surprising to many of her fellow apprentices and, frankly, many of her tutors, too.

Still, if wound up enough, Lydia's magic would spark uncontrollably, and a healthy serving of self-doubt kept her from feeling fully confident in her abilities to cast with power and precision.

When she was abandoned following the fall of the circle and was trying to make her way home to Crestwood, she refused to use her magic (she wouldn't even light fires for herself at night). It wasn't until she had a near-death encounter with a bear in a cave while seeking shelter from the rain did she finally use her magic to defend herself.

(Bear + rain + electricity = zippy zappy)

Once she returned home, she opted to use her magic sparingly, but ended up needing to use it in defense a few times over the seven years she was home.

Being so young when the circle fell, Lydia never had her harrowing. She wouldn't have one until seven years later, after joining the Grey Wardens.

Joining the wardens forced Lydia to incorporate more physicality into her casting on account of the order's warden and rogue-centric training styles.

While she does have her proficiencies, Lydia is not great at healing magic. She's working on it, though! She can heal minor scrapes and bruises. She tried to heal a fellow warden's broken foot once but um... that didn't work out very well.

Some of the other warden recruits tended to call her "Sparky" or "Zappy" even after they eventually learned her name.

Lydia demonstrates superb control of her element after years of practicing outside the damning eye of the circle.

Because of her choice in magic, Lydia makes it her mission to know all the best (and worst) conduits of electricity. For a long time, this is also why she was afraid to swim.

Even during the events of Veilguard, Lydia can be wound up enough for her magic to spark. Davrin and Harding in particular really enjoy this about her and do it on purpose. So does Neve.

And, yes, she has zapped herself several times :(

THANK you for reading!! I really love my Rook, and thinking and writing about her makes her feel more like she's mine <3

[raavenb2619]

So I just finished watching “Blade Runner” (The Final Cut) for the first time after re-reading “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”, and I just feel like…they took all of the best, interesting, thought provoking parts of the book and decided they didn’t belong in the movie?

The first seven pages of DADoES I was constantly remarking “oh this is an interesting thing to say about humans/robots/aromanticism-as-tied-to-robots”, and at that point I had to stop myself from making detailed notes so I could actually finish the book in a reasonable time frame. After BR, I don’t really have anything to analyze or remark upon except “they took all of the roboticism out of the allegedly robot movie, and now there’s no aromanticism either”.

[gnot-art]

=SUBSTITUTE(myFursona,"fox","lion") :: full body (midi) (2025)

He's broken into my spreadsheet