#two missed opportunities

[ragnarlothcat]

What made you get into obikin?

It really was the Clone Wars show! Which is funny because when I write them (and read them) I am very much imagining their live action faces and voices because cartoon Obi-Wan is great but cartoon Anakin has weird blob hair and I find it distracting.

But yeah, I was vaguely aware that obikin existed and understood it from the doomed tragedy angle but for all its flaws, TCW gave us more content of Obi-Wan and Anakin being friends and bantering and I think that was what I needed to draw me in. Don't get me wrong, the movies have excellent obikin bickering too but I think it was the episode where Obi-Wan, Anakin and Dooku get captured that had me curiously checking out AO3 because I liked the pair of them annoying Dooku so much.

I was like a year late to the party because I only started watching the show in 2021 but then the Obi-Wan show came out so I guess it all worked out in the end! Thanks for the question 🥰

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The indescribable tension between an overworked and underpaid smut writer, and his biggest fan hater.

(for @frummpets)

[the-magpie-collective]

Wyll seems to be the only companion who intentionally and repeatedly uses the mindflayer tadpole to communicate. I did a quick search through the dialogue files and the only other instance I found was at the beginning of Act I, when Lae'zel is captured by the tieflings, she'll use the tadpole to demand you free her.

And yet, Wyll is one of the companions most against using the tadpole's powers. Arguably, I'd say he's more against it than anyone save for Lae'zel. Which is why I find it so interesting that out of all of companions, Wyll is the one to latch onto and make use of this facet of the tadpole's powers.

The first time Wyll can use the tadpole is when Mizora bids him to rescue Zariel's asset. If the Player succeeds on their perception check, they can bargain with Mizora to free Wyll from his pact. Wyll link his mind with the Player's Character in panic, demanding to know "What are you doing?"

Then again when Wyll is finally reunited with his father, he uses the tadpole to show his father why he pacted with Mizora. Instead of explaining in his own words, he shows him the cultists as they attempt to summon Tiamat into Baldur's Gate. He'll do the same for the Player Character if his father isn't saved, even when he is freed from his pact and could say it in his own words. If the PC refuses to let Wyll show them, he will explain it, but clearly prefers to use the tadpole.

Finally, Wyll will also use the tadpole to bid farewell if he has a falling out with the player character, telling the player "Godspeed, and may your journey be true."

For Wyll, who had spent the last seven years under a devil's thumb, this narrative choice to use the tadpoles to communicate is telling. One thing all of these scenes have in common is that they all emotionally charged moments. They are also moments in which, in my opinion, it is very important for Wyll to convey his sincerity. Wyll has spent the last seven years always dancing around the truth and now here comes along a power where not only can he tell the truth, he can show the truth as he sees it, so that there is much less risk of being misunderstood. A power like that has to be irresistible.

Just another thing I wish was explored more in depth in game.

Edit: Thank you to everyone who pointed out instances when other characters also use the tadpoles to communicate <3

Turns out Wyll/Lae'zel's writer is the only one who bothered to use proper tagging in the dialogue system ('MINDMELD' if you're curious). This is why I can never find what I'm looking for in the dialogue files smh

[spiderzlover]

Deep Cut's palettes🐟

[kibutsulove]

azulon and azula happily frolicking in a field & holding hands because I have free will as an artist

[trappedinafantasy37]

There are multiple gods in the game that you can directly interact with and they all have ties to the narrative. You can interact with Shar via Shadowheart. You can interact with Mystra via Gale. You can interact with Myrkul via Ketheric when he takes on the avatar form. You can interact with Bhaal via Durge and in the fight with Orin. You can interact with Bane after killing Gortash and using "Speak with Dead" in which the soul you speak to is not Gortash, but Bane himself. I would include Vlaakith in this list but Vlaakith is not a god, she is a lich presenting herself as a god. And, of course, there is the Absolute which doesn't really become a god until it ascends into the Netherbrain (although that is debatable).

But, did you know that Lolth will also interact with you? As far as I am aware, Lolth is the only non-story related god in which you do have interactions with. One of them is only available if you are a Lolth-sworn drow, and the other is only available if you are a Cleric of Lolth (you do not need to be Lolth-sworn for it).

The first instance is in the goblin camp with the spiders in the pit. This does require that you are a Lolth-sworn drow and that you have the ability to speak with animals. When talking to the spiders, you will have the option to present yourself to the spiders as Lolth herself. If you fail the persuasion check, Lolth gets pissed off as she was listening to you and is not happy that you tried to present yourself as her. And she tells the spiders you are an imposter and they attack you. But if you succeed the check, Lolth doesn't do anything and the spiders will think you are Lolth. So, Lolth doesn't really have a problem with you pretending to be her. But if you are going to pretend to be her, you better do it right. If the spiders think you are Lolth, you can ask them about what's going on in the goblin camp and the spiders only talk about one thing. They immediately tell you that there is another drow in the camp who has forgotten her way and that she is forsaken. And, as I said, Lolth is here. She heard the spiders admit this. Lolth does nothing about it.

The second instance is in the Underdark with the Phalar Aluve. When you interact with the sword, you have two different checks, a Strength check and a Religion check. If you do the Strength check, you can just pull it out of the stone and be on your merry way. If you perform the Religion check, the narrator will tell you different things depending on certain conditions. If you are a Lolth-sworn drow and/or a Cleric of Lolth, the narrator will tell you that the religious rite to pull the blade from the stone is blasphemous as it pays honor to the weak. If you are of any other race and/or cleric of any other god, the narrator will tell you that the sword is of Eilistraee and the rite pays honor to the fallen. The religious rite is that you spill a little bit of your blood and the sword will rise out of the stone on its own. If you do this as a Cleric of Lolth (you don't need to be Lolth-sworn) you will feel hundreds of spiders crawl all over you as Lolth is warning you not to do shit like that ever again. Not only did you perform the religious rite of another god, you performed the religious rite of a god she hates. And she is letting you know how much she hated that.

These are the only two instances in the game that I have found in which Lolth interacts with the player but there are plenty of other moments in which Lolth could interact with you, but doesn't (such as with the Phase Spider, the baby spiders in Grymforge, Kar'niss, or the dead spider in the Gauntlet of Shar). Of these two moments where Lolth does interact with you, one of these instances is in the goblin camp, and the other is in the Underdark not too far away from the goblin camp. I don't think it is much of a coincidence that these two interactions occur in close proximity to Minthara. Almost as if Lolth has a reason to be in that area specifically to watch and monitor things, and you just so happened to be there. And the only things that compel her to interact with you is because you pissed her off. But, as long you don't piss her off, she will do nothing and she will say nothing.

When Minthara was being tortured by the Absolute, she prayed to Lolth and begged Lolth to give her the strength to fight her enemies. But Lolth does nothing and Lolth says nothing. In fact, that was the full extent of Lolth's "punishment" for Minthara, nothing. All Lolth did was not answer Minthara's prayers and not show up when Minthara needed her the most. Lolth did not torture Minthara like the Absolute did, Lolth did not turn her into a drider, nor did Lolth eat her. All she did, was nothing. And yes, Lolth is known for abandoning drow and no longer interacting with them. A drow has to do something incredibly awful in order for Lolth to just back away from them entirely. But you cannot convince me that Lolth is going to let one of her Baenre's go so easily. It's not as if Minthara has done anything truly awful either to make Lolth that mad.

According to Minthara, she herself has sinned against the Spider Queen, but it's not as if she chose to abandon Lolth, she was forced away and mind controlled into being devoted to another god. But would this make a difference to Lolth? Does it really matter if Minthara was compelled to have faith in another god besides Lolth? It isn't until Minthara is freed and feels the absence of Lolth that she chooses to no longer follow Lolth. Minthara even mentions how turning against Lolth is a big no-no in Menzoberranzan. Minthara herself at one point has hunted down and killed those who turn their backs from Lolth so she knows the same will be done to her if she were to ever return home. In fact, if you are a Lolth-sworn drow or a Cleric of Lolth, you are given unique dialogue options with Minthara to kill her because she is a traitor to Lolth and these options continue to show up until you recruit her into your party and she joins your roster. Despite all of this, Lolth does nothing. Minthara spews anti-Lolth rhetoric left and right, and Lolth does nothing. If you take Minthara to the tabernacle, she will spit on a shrine to Lolth, and Lolth does nothing.

Minthara is also able to walk through the Gauntlet of Shar, which is in the Underdark, and Lolth does nothing. Sure, you could argue that its connection to the Shadowfell and the fact that Shar is there via Shadowheart is enough to keep Lolth away. The lore of DnD does not make it quite clear what the relationship between these two goddesses are. But I am willing to bet that Lolth is smart enough not to step on Shar's toes because Shar would annihilate her. However, there is a small little section of the Gauntlet where it actually does spit you out directly into the Underdark and into Lolth's territory. Minthara can walk right out there just fine, and Lolth does nothing.

But most importantly, Minthara's default ending is her returning to the Underdark with the sole purpose of destroying House Baenre and then killing Lolth. Destroying House Baenre could lead to a chaotic and political disaster in Menzoberranzan, and Lolth does nothing. Minthara quite literally wants to kill Lolth and has intentions to do so after taking House Baenre, and Lolth. Does. Nothing!

If Minthara goes into the Underdark and destroys House Baenre, this will cause chaos and death. And the Baenre's won't be the only ones she has to destroy, but any and all allies of House Baenre in which they do have a lot. And Lolth will feed off of all the death and carnage and chaos that Minthara is about to bring to Menzoberranzan because Lolth loves chaos more than she hates traitors.

Maybe, Lolth has not abandoned her as Minthara thinks she has. Maybe, Lolth has done nothing and said nothing because Minthara has not actually upset her. Maybe, Lolth has done nothing and said nothing because Minthara is already doing everything Lolth wants her to do. And all it took, was making Minthara think that Lolth abandoned her. There was no need for Lolth to answer Minthara's prayers, because Minthara always had the strength to fight her enemies.

[parab0mb]

I HAVEN'T DRAWN CROSSCODE ART FOR ONE AND A HALF MONTHS I FEEL UNWELL

A "quick" semi-shitpost loosely inspired by this post; the world deserves more smug Shizuka.

Also in this house we love and respect Shizuka, even if she was a jerk (we support women's wrongs).

[1doesnotsimplyhavejust1fandam]

Need an acknowledgement after Buddie goes canon of them having had latent or explicit feelings for each other for years. This isn’t a case of “oh, we were best friends for years and then one day we woke up and were in love.” This is a case of “we’ve been best friends for years, and we’ve been falling in love with each other since the day we met. We just didn’t understand it yet.” We’ve already had Buck’s realization that he’s bisexual, but his arc was chock-full of obliviousness to his attraction to Eddie, his feelings for Eddie, whose attention he actually wants. He still doesn’t really get it, but he gets that he likes men too, at least. Eddie is a whole other ball game. From the Catholic guilt to the toxic masculinity to the childhood emotional neglect to the pressure he keeps putting on himself to perform in relationships. He’s repressed as hell, and he isn’t to “I’m gay” yet, but we see hints of him understanding that how he feels might be a little different (his pause at “follow your heart, not Christopher’s” from Carla, his two talks with Bobby, admitting to performance anxiety on dates to the whole team, his talk with Buck about Marisol being an ex-nun, his acceptance that Ana and a ready-made family was the reason for his panic attack).

We know that the two of them are bad at identifying how they really feel, or at least allowing themselves to feel it. So, it makes way more sense for the show to admit that they’ve had romantic feelings for each other for years, rather than trying to convince the audience that what we’ve been watching these past seven seasons isn’t a product of two characters’ struggles with their identity and relationships. And while I’d be satisfied with a light-hearted snark from Hen or Chim about how they’ve been seeing it for years, I’d be so much happier with a full circle moment of the boys actually fully knowing themselves, acknowledging that they were never just best friends, they just didn’t understand it yet. It would show their series-long growth, as well as being an enormous tip of the hat to the audience. Because we aren’t misinterpreting it. We’re reading the queer-coding directly from the show, yes through subtext of course, but also the literal text. There have been so many moments deserving of acknowledgement in this regard, and I would hate for Buddie to go canon without it being clarified that those moments were exactly as queer and/or romantic as we thought.

[hiro-of-hyrule]

version 2

Original Post

[eldstunga]

Does Rynn always rock a blaster pistol or does she like any other weapons? (Lekku slaps of gay power do not count :3)

Denied an opportunity to shoot villains or people with villainous hats as they are monologuing, Rynn will use her fists. A bizarrely poor tactic in EoTE as unarmed is superbly bad.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Fishing Interlude

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[yokai-girlie]

Personally, I believe that the time skip was a blessing in disguise because horikoshi has literally provided us a sandbox for what life is like for these kids post graduation. Anything is possible and nobody can tell you otherwise! Everything is canon compliant because there is no canon to comply to!

Like personally, me and a friend came up with the idea that Bakugo and Monoma became really good friends post graduation. We are having a great time coming up with scenarios and situations we think they’d find themselves in.

[yamsgarden]

aaa my buddy is slowly pulling me back into tales of vesperia OTL

idk if i have time to play it again anytime soon sadly, but i definitely want to redraw/ revamp some of my old art of it and make some new *3*

suddenly all my memories from loving judith and raven are rushing back to me... ughh i forgot how rare they are but i guess i'm not unfamiliar with super rare ships so

i'll become my own provider once more XD

[annamariedarkholmes]

the “would you return as your x-men character in deadpool 3 if they asked” starter pack

aaron stanford’s lack of poker face + mentioning, unprompted, his “lasting friendships” from those movies - months before the first trailer confirmed pyro was back - made me clock that the other two must be returning, too

then they had equally terrible poker faces in their own interviews lol

[nightmarefuele]

something i find poignant about the song choices in arcane s2 is the presence of childs' voices. particularly in tracks during important moments ("sucker" and "to ashes and blood"). i've mentioned a few times the significance of familial dynamics in arcane (& how i seriously hope they plan to expound on them through acts 2 & 3; not just jinx/vi but jinx/silco, vi/vander, sevika/jinx, etc), but what's specifically important about them is how central they are to the main throughline of the show: we are who we attach ourselves to and where we come from. silco and vander are both byproducts of their birthplace & each other; their histories carry into how they shape jinx and vi & how jinx and vi shape each other; jinx and vi carry their histories into the new generation; the children of children of children, and so on.

basically, something something, the structural integrity of the world around these people slowly devolves through the generations based on how they devolve in their relationships with each other. i'm hoping the inclusion of isha, too, is meant to be another mark of that.

[lloydfrontera]

related to this do you think part of the reason javier wanted to be a knight of the frontera family so badly was because. that way he could stay. that way he could always be with them. maybe he wasn't and never would be part of the family, not really, but as long he could stay with them... couldn't that be enough? wasn't being allowed to stay worth giving his loyalty and even his life for them?

and do you think arcos accepted javier's oath as knight because he thought that maybe this way he could get him to stay. this way the child he grew to love as his own son would never have to leave. that he saw the kid he'd raised all those years, barely an adult and already ready to put his life in the line for someone else, and when he was offered the chance to keep him at his family's side forever, he took it with guilty relief. aware that if javier left he would go on to do great amazing things, so talented he'd be sought after by kings and emperors, but equally aware of the dangers that carried. that if javier left there was a chance he would never see him again. but if he stayed with them, if he stayed in their quiet and boring estate where nothing really happened... maybe he wouldn't become the great hero arcos knew he could, but he would be safe. and he's not javier's father, he missed that chance and he doesn't know if he can ever have it back, but he loves the kid like he were and isn't a father's duty to worry about his children's safety above anything else? isn't it worth it for the world to have one less hero if he's keeping his kid where he's safe?