#we don't do love declarations

[the-tenth-arcanum]

my dad wishes me a happy valentine's day every single year and I used to find it a bit cringe but now I'm like "I am loved 🥺💕"!!! I'm getting old

[kaiser1ns]

You thought it was over? It's not. I'm not done yet, understood. (Imagine Endo saying this like aaaaaaaa)

i think i have a type nom nom men with tattoo sleeves. APPRECIATING ENDO'S ARMS BECAUSE HE DESERVES IT. also adding my other man jeon jungkook because why not (⁠｡⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠｡⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠♡

LOOK AT THOSE MUSCLES LOOK AT HIM OH MY GAWD IM IN THE OUTER SPACE SCREAMING HIS NAME UNTIL MY VOICE REACHES ANOTHER GALAXY, ANOTHER DIMENSION, ANOTHER MULTIVERSE.

[chrkrose]

To those reading "To Love a Lannister": I'm sorry for the delay but I forgot to pay for my drive subscription, which in turn deleted some of my files, so I'm having to rewrite the two chapters who were mostly done and I AM ANGRY. But I'm halfway through the last one, and will post both of them probably over the weekend. Good thing that I keep rambling on about my fics to @swordmaid and because of that a very important love declaration is saved on hour discord chat lol.

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

ah yes, she's concerned about the aggressor and attacker who was invading them six months ago. something is wrong with the empire right now, poor edelgard; whatever could've happened to her? :(

like... what. why do you care about what's going on with her specifically when she's the person who made the decision to invade leicester? does the whole war just mean nothing to marianne? it's just totally fine that all those people died in a war edelgard started? poor edelgard, something happened to her after she started her attack? you're concerned about the leader who gave the order to attack your home?

hopes has stupid lines but this one is top tier of the top tier and just an excuse for more edelgardjerking from the writers.

[lieutenantselnia]

I'm still sick because I completely exhausted myself with finishing my thesis, but something that comforts me a little is imagining how Heinz would take care of me🥺 He'd make sure I have everything I need and bring me food and medication to the bed, or get me a hot-water bottle if I'm feeling cold or prepare me a warm bath💕 And he'd give me lots of little kisses to my forehead and cheeks (he'd insist on it even if I tell him we should be more careful and I wouldn't want him to catch the infection as well). He would also tell me to just rest and focus on getting better while he takes care of everything and I don't have to worry about anything. He's the best husband🥹💖

[cainite-bite]

When it comes to getting married, all I can say is in the end I'm just really glad I took the route of getting a quick courthouse one instead of just... well anything else

because anything like church weddings and cruise ones, to me, are somehow both too flashy and too boring

[journey-to-the-attic]

Lesson vibe check! What lesson are you at in NB?

i was gonna say i'm now fully caught up, but lesson 19 just got released so hang on let me save this as draft and then come back later

okay NOW i'm fully caught up!!!! (in normal mode anyway, in hard mode i'm still on like 11)

[snowfea]

Before my parents left for three years, leaving me alone in France when I had just turned eighteen, I felt like they didn't listen to me, didn't really understand when I told them I was in pain (which, also, if the pain was there before they left, that is chronic pain indeed).

Tonight my mom cleaned my kitchen for me, because at lunch I told her I wanted to do it, needed to do it, but physically couldn't, as my hands, back, legs, and everything, were acting up.

She just started doing it without saying a word, just asking if I had more dishsoap.

[gascoignes-homewrecker]

Ublock Origin

Youtube: SponsorBlock (skips ads within videos), DeArrow (replaces clickbait thumbnails & titles), Blocktube (block channels), Enhancer (Quality of Life features), Youtube-Shorts Block

Youtube Mobile: Youtube Vanced/Revanced Manager

Twitter: Minimal Theme extension

Tumblr: xKit/xKit Rewritten, Dashboard Unfucker, Stylus with "Old Tumblr Dashboard" userstyle

Spotify: xManager (desktop & mobile)

Firefox: High chance you'll love it and curse holding out for so long.

Linux: No whiney search box trying to Edge you, no ads in the start menu, no trending searches reminding you about celebrity gossip & politics.

i would move heaven and earth to avoid hearing one single advertisement

[vaspider]

Listen to me. Listen very carefully:

They are trying to wear you out.

They are trying to wear you out, and they own most major social media now, along with many major media outlets. The disinformation machine is cranking along. You are going to have to slow the fuck down and read things before you help them wear out other people, too.

So you just saw a post about a real scary bill, hunh? Republicans want to make it a capital offense to pet dogs and repeal The Sky Is Blue Act of 1793, declaring the new official color of the sky to be squant? Damn, that sounds scary.

Let's go look up this fictitious "Make The Sky Squant Again Act" on GovTracker* & on the official legislative tracker on congress.gov!

Well, let's see... GovTracker estimates it has a 1% chance of even getting out of committee and a 0% chance of being enacted, while congress.gov says this bill has 2 cosponsors who have been in the House and combined total of less than a month. The bill doesn't have any actual text, and it was referred to 5 different committees.

That fictitious bill and a hundred others like it are quite literally not worth your time, and more than that, continuing to wring your hands about it and tell other people about the scary scary squant sky bill only does their work for them. It scares people, it makes them spend time and energy on it, and it wears them out. It is a legislative Gish Gallop, meant to throw so many things at people that we can't keep up.

Even calling or messaging your Rep in this case means their staffer has to waste time responding to you and letting you know that Representative Buttzonheads definitely won't support making petting dogs a capital offense, a thing that will never, ever happen regardless.

Staying engaged in this environment is going to require protecting your heart and protecting your energy, yes, but also protecting the energy of others. This is why WWII propaganda posters also included ones taking people to task for spreading panicky rumors and undermining morale.

Do you know why most observant Jews don't eat chicken and dairy together, even though the ban is on red meat and dairy together bc you're not supposed to cook the calf in the milk of its mother?** It's not because we think that chicken might secretly lactate or Just Because. It's because the rabbis decided that if I'm sitting out in public and eating turkey and cheese together, someone might glance at the turkey and mistake it for red meat and think, "oh, well, I know that Spider is a good Jew, there must have been a change, or maybe I can just justify it to myself that if Spider does it, it must be permissible to bend the rules just that much." And I would then be accidentally leading my fellow Jew astray. We are responsible for being even more careful for the sake of others than we are for ourselves.

It's the same principle here. We need to really be careful about the information we are spreading and check things past reading a news site. Is it true? Is it relevant? Is it meaningful? Is the news site one I recognize? Can I find meaningful independent corroboration on another site, which is to say, if I find an article about it on a second site, is it just quoting or rephrasing this site?

Yeah, that is a lot. But that's how we keep them from using us to lead our fellows astray.

*GovTracker is an independent site. They explain their methodology in their About section.

**I cannot say enough how I am not at this time interested in going on a Jewish Side Quest About Dietary Laws on this post. Usually, I love it, but hold off this time, please, y'all. Let's stay on target this once.

[dieverged]

nima who probably didn't plan to be visiting thedas again and ending up trapped there for 2+ years having to deal with the inquisitions politics. they are mad as FUUUUUUUUUCK

edit: thinking about them stuck in thedas for 10 years dude. in the event that it's relatively canon compliant & they don't get help from, like, anyone so ... kind of a worst case scenario for them basically? on a personal level. because them getting help would require plotting

edit 2: okay i'm mad as FUCK i forgot tumblr puts a bullshit limit on tags. i had an entire section dedicated to dorian & varric & the inquisition, how it all culminates into an eventual home for them & how they would go back n forth between tevinter & kirkwall with varric taking her under his wing (and the outlier in that nima would end up telling varric about their circumstances eventually if they were close enough but hey! varric dgaf about that, he sensed the bs, he knew they were hiding something, as long as it doesnt directly harm him/his people/the fucking world whatever man it doesn't change who nima is potentially) & also nima's complicated struggles & relationship WITH hiding this information because she isn't thedosian. she is a complete outsider, a mimic, an imposter wearing the skin of those around her. while she doesn't lie, she also doesn't speak the truth of it either. & as a traveler, you'd think oh why does this bother her so much? it bothers her bc she can typically escape in other circumstances but here, she can't, she is trapped for the forseeable future and/or permanently, she can't return home. & the FURTHER struggles of what that means for her identity & also of her relationship to people within the inquisition

I'M SO MAAAAAD I'M SO MAD THOSE WERE SUCH GOOD ANALYSIS' fuck off tumblr i can't believe i forgot. okay well reminder that i need to write some relationship metas. specifically with solas, varric, dorian & then the inquisition at large.

also the conversations between these four would be funny as fuck is all im saying. discussing theoretical magic & the fade & like varric is just There dude it's too early for this shit. he was dragged out

also augh cole was another element in this as well but cole is... difficult because nima just avoids him straight up a lot of the time, but i think she would really like his insights :') i really do. i think they would have such engaging conversations

but anyways yeah there was so much haha.... gripping my desk so hard it splinters & shatters can you tell im mad as fuck. im also tired, writing essays with no sleep lets gooooo

(though honestly, maybe their character arc is centered Around never actually finding out how to return in inquisition & making peace with that too; at least not until Trespasser. i.e, they are entirely vague about everything, researching all sorts of old forbidden magic & the history of it, & part of their character arc's resolution is that they aren't alone in this yknow? they aren't alone, they have to come to terms with their placement here, and hey people do give a shit or something to that effect anyways. because them going at it alone, e.g you didn't do their companion quest, is going to result in them just leaving once they have what they need information wise whereas doing their companion quest results in them staying & begins the gradual process of relying on the people around them, relinquishing that iron grip independence but also trying to learn not to have this... fixation on home and what that means for them. which is an objectively important concept throughout their entire narrative, it drives them, BUT yknow in this it's finding a way to be healthy--- they don't let go of it obviously, although that would be an element brought up (and also if that was a choice you picked, basically telling them to give up, it would result in them leaving too), but it's more so .... that they aren't losing parts of themselves by not finding the answers that they need like home isn't one place & it definitely isn't lost. basically just easing their grip on it, like they're not losing who they are. i had something more profound to say here but i forgot where i was going originally lol so this'll just have to do--- it's just coming to terms with a lot of things about themselves basically)

referring back though to the best case scenario, it would probably be like. plotting territory & the baseline is always going to be a mage, spirit, a... god? if they interact with one? or an ancient? basically someone with profound arcane knowledge. & the plotting would come from like, hey, can we actually find a way around this in all its forms (im talking fade travel, im talking dabbling with old, forbidden magics, going on long adventures, uncovering mysteries, hell. possession would be awesome dude, spirit or fragment, or literally whatever the hell else)

& the consequences of that bc fucking around with ancient magic that counteracts your own innate magic AND with nima already having a god's mark on her by virtue of being revived. all of that...... it would be very much hey, let's see where canon can take us, let's do the implausible, let's keep making ideas etc.

because while i do just default on, even in a plotted situation, nima being unable to find their way back home by virtue of not being able to use their specific abilities to unlock that access (which, haha, im just saying wouldn't it be awesome if someone helped nima only to use her powers for their own gain. like it would be awesome) it would be very fun and very tragic for them to finally find their way home. maybe them gaining access to their own powers again causes fucky shit to happen! maybe they are blocked from ever returning to thedas! many things can happen.

& also side plot but equally as important in this ^ is them being able to recover some or all of their memories via fade shenanigans which would be peak but made worse by A. what if by doing so, they've made it so their own spirit is bound to thedas & they can't leave so they have these memories but at what COST or B. idk maybe they just die dude straight up. maybe there's some crazy ass consequences that follow. there has to be some kind of tragedy i can't let nima be happy. ever. or even some crazy shit happening to Ur muse in all of this bc who doesnt like seeing their muse suffer (& which would hurt nima in the process yippie)

but yeah ultimately their worst case scenario is arguably the best case scenario and the definitive canon bc anything else, like actually helping nima, requires nima to A. tell you they aren't from this world (& by virtue of that their memory loss maybe bc hey all hands are on the table now, but tbh they would've probably mentioned the memory loss casually Anyways so its not a big deal) B. probably a fair bit of plotting but it'd be really fun devil emoji

[relicfragment]

Genuinely don't know what the fuck we're going to do lmao.

[batshit-auspol]

As is tradition we held our annual "Batshit Aussie Moment of The Year" poll on twitter this month, and as is also tradition it was a complete dumpster fire and we ended up having to delete our account again. Such is life, as the French don't say.

Nevertheless we had a lot of great nominations from what was truly a year full of the utmost topshelf batshittery which we shan't be letting go to waste. So we preset:

Batshit Aussie Moments of The Year, The Now Undemocratic Countdown

Leading the nominations there was of course Raygun, the little Aussie PHD breakdancer that couldn't. Recently she has trademarked her name and there was a whole lawsuit around using it so no further comment on that.

Dr Ray was followed close in second place by Australia's former Deputy Prime Minister being filmed drunkenly making phonecalls while sprawled across a sidewalk.

This glorious video saw the good people of Australia rise to the occasion with all the pisstaking the moment deserved, complete with chalk crime scene markings, a plaque being installed, and a candlelight vigil held by locals.

Also making a strong showing in the polls was Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart pulling a Barb Streisand by demanding her unflattering portrait be removed from Australia's National Art Gallery, which of course made it immediately go viral.

Lol. Also noteworthy in the nominations was the horse that escaped its enclosure and tried to flee by catching a train, making national news headlines in the process.

But for all those big names/horses who we're sure would love the limelight, the crown title of this year's Batshit Aussie Moment of The Year is being awarded to a regular everyday Aussie (and tumblr user) who fought the system and (almost) won:

After 23 year old Aussie racecar driver Oscar Piastri won the Hungarian Grand Prix, our very own @the-prophesied-mouse "jokingly submitted an e‒petition" to Australia's parliament asking that the day become a public holiday, "assuming it would get thrown out".

Instead their request for a yearly national "Oscar Piastri Day" crossed the threshold of signatures required for a response, being then escalated all the way to the Prime Minister's desk after the responding minister decided it was of utmost importance.

After being sternly considered by no less than three government ministers, sadly in November it was declared that the petition would not be ratified, due to the small issue of the federal government not having the power to create holidays (it's apparently a state thing).

The government did however point out that many national days are celebrated without official proclamation from the Australian government, and so it is, with the powers vested in us by all you loveable weirdos, that we do solemnly declare from this day forth that the 21st July shall be forever known as Oscar Piastri Day, and may all non-believers fear our wrath.

Anyway, happy new year to you all from us here in Aus. Farewell to a truly Batshit year, and here's to no doubt more of the same in 2025. We will leave you with this heartfelt reminder of a true national treasure we lost this year, the progenor of perhaps the most iconic Aussie batshit moment of all time, The Right Hon. Mr Democracy Manifest:

Happy new years to youze all!

[shitpostingsapphic]

I want to talk about THIS moment. Right before. There's a TON of people misreading Caitlyn's intent because she's using such a playful demeanor after Vi's sorrowful self-deprecation. To be honest, it's the best response she could have had, and the best tactic. Her demeanor serves as a stark contrast to the spiral of self hatred that Vi is going down, and it's an excellent distraction. Caitlyn is stopping her line of thinking, right then and there, and she does it while delivering one of the most romantic and understated declarations of love I've ever seen.

Stay with me here.

Let's be very clear: Caitlyn did NOT come to the cell with the goal of seducing Vi. Not even. How do we know? Aside from several context clues that come before this scene, the way Caitlyn responds to the kiss is very telling:

See how long it takes Cait to even register what the fuck is going on?? She's literally like "oh. OH. we're kissing? WE'RE KISSING." And Vi also OPENS HER EYES very briefly, to check that Caitlyn is as into this as she is, right as Cait settles into the kiss, likely sensing her hesitation/delayed reaction. This scene is NOT Caitlyn seducing Vi. This scene is Caitlyn giving herself to Vi, and Vi choosing exactly what she wants to do with her, which is VERY different.

What does Caitlyn say right before the kiss? She says, "Do you really think I needed all the guards at the hexgates?" Translation: I left Jinx's cell unguarded on purpose. I want you to know that I heard you during our last conversation. I want you to know that I trust you. I want you to know that my love and care for you is more important than my need to sate my grief and desire for revenge. I choose you.

And following: "Sorry to say, you've grown a bit predictable." Translation: I know you. I see you. I knew you would choose this, coming after your sister, and I facilitated the circumstances in which you COULD choose this. You don't choose wrong. You choose love, and I understand that now. I want you to know that I support your choices, and they won't cost you the people you care about, at least not me, not anymore. I know that you'll always choose your sister, and I've made peace with that. What you want is what I want.

That is MONUMENTAL. That's quite possibly one of the most romantic things I've ever seen in media. Because who the hell has the guts to give up their grief and forgive their mother's murderer, all for love? That's a level of sacrifice that not enough people are acknowledging.

People say Caitlyn never changed, never felt remorse, never grew from the bad choices she made. I say wrong. And this was the turning point.

[shigussy]

kahoot was kinda after my time bc it was only ever used in a class once when i was in my last year of school but i feel like it was definitely bc someone named themself the n word but dw i know who did it it was a black guy who was trying to frame his white friend for it

[lgbtlunaverse]

I've seen a good number of people ask a question along the lines of "why do characters like Falin and hate Laios when they're so similar?" and i've also seen good analysis on the differences in how the touden siblings carry themselves that would, despite their shared traits, make a person gravitate to one more than the other.

But i feel like we've overseen one very central thing here.

People don't like Falin

Like... the average person in dungeon meshi doesn't like Falin. She was deeply ostrasized by her home village, in magic school she had zero friends before Marcille and the others generally saw her as strange and a bit offputting.

Characters like Namari and Chilchuck like her well enough but not necessarily more than any other member of their party, including Laios. Neither Kabru nor his party think much of her. The canaries don't give a fuck about her. Toshiro's retainers don't see her as anything else than the weird foreign girl their boss has a crush on.

The reason we think everyone loves Falin is because, despite all the indifferent side characters, the 2 most important and central characters of the story are Laios and Marcille. Who are NOT representative of the average attitudes to Falin! But necromancy georg number 1 and 2 are our main eyes into the story and they love Falin so much that it colours our perspective of the whole world.

The only side character who qualifies as liking Falin and not Laios is Toshiro (at least at first, as he ends the story on much better terms with Laios) and that says a lot about his character, with him drifting to the quiet Falin precisely because of her oddness but being both uncomfortable with and deeply jealous of Laios' much more open expression of that oddness. Because he's a repressed guy from a culture where etiquette is incredibly important.

But like I said, that's a specific aspect of him, not to the world at large.

Because there's also people that click more with laios than with Falin.

Kabru, for one, who is initially distrustful of laios but clearly also deeply fascinated by him and drawn to him.

Minor spoilers, and you don't have to read too deeply into this, because I don't think Kabru particularly dislikes Falin or anything. But it's interesting that when he talks about his distrust of the toudens in ch.32 he's talking about them both. But his big friendship declaration in chapter 76 is aimed squarely at Laios, he doesn't say "you and your sister" he says "you"

And Senshi!! He instantly clicks with Laios, well before he does so with anyone else in the party– who he also becomes friends with, it just takes a bit longer– specifically because they bond over their shared special interest in monsters!! Senshi is kind towards Falin and cares for her wellbeing, but he also... doesn't know her. The reason he is even here, helping to save her, is because he and Laios bonded over monsters and he wants to help his new friends out!

Of course, the theme of neurodivergent isolation is very present in Laios' story. I'm not denying that. He does turn people off, without meaning to and unable to fully understand why! But so does Falin. And just like there are people who like her despite of or even because of those traits, there are people who do the same with him.

In conclusion: "Average person loves Falin and hates Laios" factoid actually statistical error. Average person is neutral on both Falin and Laios. Georcille, Laiorg and Geoshiro, who live in the dungeon and think over 10,000 Falin-loving thoughts a day, are statistical outliers adn should not have been counted.