#what purpose would it serve

[normal-nightmare]

"Dick and Jason aren't gay in Gotham Knights" then explain THIS

[arcadecoconut]

There's a lot of great meta about how Bells Hells never seemed to realise how powerful they became over the course of the campaign, and how this skewed perspective gave them a strange and at times hypocritical relationship to authority. There's also been a lot of discussion about how having a single-focus plot established early in the campaign was detrimental to individual character development, but I don't think I've seen much about how the single-focus plot is directly connected to their ignorance about their own power level. I think one of the key benefits of having various smaller arcs across c1 & c2 was not only that it supported individual character development better, it also gave the parties a sense of their own growing capability and power scale in the greater world. By having distinct arcs with enemies who were overcome and defeated, the PCs have concrete evidence of their own growth. Each arc follows a mini heroes journey too. For the MN, the Lorenzo and Obann arcs both involve PC characters being killed or overtaken early on, setting high stakes and establishing difficulty. Eventually, with persistence and planning, the Nein were able overcome and eventually defeat them. For Vox Machina, it's the Briarwoods, then the Chroma Conclave, then Vecna. At the start of each arc, every mission feels like an impossible task but again with persistence and planning, they conclude each arc in a stronger position - not just on their character sheet, but with concrete in-world elements too - the resources of Whitestone, key allies in powerful government positions, etc. These victories give each party a material sense of their achievement, which is mirrored by their internal acknowledgement, which is so natural it's mostly not explicitly acknowledged unless they're pointing out how they're capable of stepping up and helping more people. Bells Hells, by comparison, got very few distinct arcs. As a result, they never really achieved the same smaller victories to give them a sense of escalating power and agency over the course of the campaign. To be clear, it was possible this could have been achieved anyway, even within the constraints of the moon-plot. Defeating Otohan, defeating or flipping Lilliana, severing the alliance between the Unseelie Court and Ludinus, explicitly winning allies out of The Volition, or the Grim Verity, or Vasselheim and the Judicators - each of these could have been distinct arcs with victory conditions that would have served as markers of Bells Hells growing power. If they'd had concrete mini-goals to achieve along the way to dealing with Ludinus/Predathos, they could have taken time to focus and plan. In this way, we could have gotten larger investment into the world and NPCs. Imagine what it could have done for her personality if the party had to research Otohan’s role in the Apex War! Maybe if they needed to broker peace between the Grim Verity and Vasselheim to unite them against a greater threat, we could have seen Bells Hells establish their own authority in Exandria. Instead, all these potential villains and world building hooks ended up largely ignored or accidentally achieved along the path of some other muddy goal. By not giving the characters this sense of growth, BH and particularly Ashton and Laudna ended up with a very skewed perspective of themselves. They never realise their power grew well above average, putting them in a much more privileged position than the average Exandrian. It’s this skewed perspective - and their resulting attitudes towards various NPCs - which gave many viewers an 'ick' factor about their interactions. I also can't help but juxtapose this with exu: divergence, where the party's relationship to power (both their own and others') has been a core element. Their story has also been conducted over a very short time period in-world, yet their responses show a marked difference in awareness and empathy.

[aroacecaduceus]

One wish I have for the Mighty Nein series is that Caduceus does not know how to fight at all.

Like not even a little bit. Like he’s completely useless in a bar fight.

Like, I want him in the fights, don’t get me wrong. I want them to show him cancelling crits somehow, like one of the Mighty Nein is about to be fucking destroyed and vines form around them and yank them back or something. I want them to show him casting holy weapon on Beau’s hands. Maybe he creates some fun shields when things attack.

But most of the time in battle, especially at the beginning, when he’s the new guy, I want him to be the most cringe-fail fighter to ever exist. I want them to get into a fight with pirates and just get knocked unconscious in one punch. I want them to rush out and accidentally steal that boat and realize they left Caduceus behind on the dock bc he didn’t know what was happening.

My man grew up as a healer and a graveyard attendant. If this boy threw a punch he’d break his hand on the other guy’s jaw. But don’t worry because he’d never think to throw a punch anyway.

In the game, he needed to do some fighting sometimes. But in the show, I think he should just hide away for nearly every battle. He should not cause a single drop of blood. Even when he’s angry. He’s the healer. Not because of the god he worships (she’s actually a freak) but because of a personal choice.

The only time he should attack is if they show the scene with sheep Caleb.

[beatsheetromanroy]

i can't help it, i keep abandoning you//but in truth i get lost on the way back to you

[the---hermit]

I've unlocked a new level of anxiety. My brain is too tired to formulate anxiety thoughts so it's an apparent state of calm, while my body is full in panic mode. This is fun.

[starlight-eclipsed]

Enjoy these doodles of Dark from A Dark Among the Lights by LuckyLectio (with a bonus Wild!)

[hugs-are-good-for-you]

For any people that watch Wheel of Time and also were familiar with the Game of Thrones fandom reactions in season 6 or 7, remember when Baelish finally died and there were people streaming it in sports bars and the entire building was cheering?

That was absolutely me when they sent Child Valda up in smoke. He probably deserved worse and definitely has had this be a long time coming, but god, seeing the Cauthon girls light him up with their declaration of "For Mother.", agh, beautiful, showstopping, etc.

[solarxeno]

drew mice.. with my mouse (scratches head)

[winds-of-zephyr416]

Forever and ever in love with that genre of Sauron fanart that’s basically cosmic horror meets material girl

[nohara-rin-dot-mp3]

actually can we talk about tenten's infinite tsukuyomi dream 1- being the road to ninja au for some reason and 2- letting her be aware that she was just dreaming??? what was up with that. what the fuck does that mean.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

One day

One day I hope people realize that Kitsunami already "broke through his programming" back by issue #56 of Idw Sonic

He had an entire mini arc where he dealt with being without Surge for the first time, and in the real world. He met Sonic and his friends directly, tried to work out what his purpose would be without Surge in his life (gave it a shot trying to devote himself to Sonic, seeing him as the next best thing after Surge). And when it was all said and done, he decided after experiencing more that at Surge's side is where he wanted to be.

As of the recent IDW issues, Kit isn't sticking with Surge "because of programming" and "because he just needs for other characters to friend him and turn him into a better person". He is at her side because he wants to be. He protects her and aids her because he cares about her, not just because he's serving the strongest guy in the room. And he's not interacting with others because he's decided not to give a shit about anyone else other than Surge (because from his pov, even the "good guys" are fake. From his pov, everyone is someone trying to lie and manipulate their way into pulling him and Surge to their side)

Kit already has decided what he wants to do with his life. And he decided it on his own. Not because of anyone else's wants or wishes. That's the whole point of his speech at the end of #56.

He's burying whatever his and Surge's past is and moving forward with his conviction to be with Surge because it's what he wants.

[tropicalcontinental]

Miscellaneous notebook doodles

[0sbrain]

i think one of my least favorite troupes in tf2 fanfics has to be scout finds x and y are dating and freaks out/starts being openly homophobic towards them because "canon typical homophobia"

they are mercenaries. fucking contract killers. do you think anyone gives a flying fuck about homosexuality being illegal? you see, they are ok with murder and gruesome violence, HOWEVER they draw the line at two men holding hands because the words on the paper say it's a no no

he would probably tease them because, that's normal that's what friends and annoying coworkers do. and sometimes he might step on a line. but my dear friends. if scout was genuinely homophobic to any of the other mercs, im afraid he wouldn't survive the winter (irse a mimir). he would get snapped by a twig and it doesn't even have to be by the merc he was insulting. anyone in the vicinity would suplex his ass. son, we all suck dick here. get used to it

[captainjonnitkessler]

It would be easier for me to tear this house down and start from scratch than it is to renovate around all the fucking shit the original builders did for reasons that are now lost to time

[the-woman-upstairs]

Definitely A Choice to have Dennis listen to two different love songs when he’s alone in his car. One, when he’s picking up Arnie for the first time (“Not Fade Away”) and the other when he drops him off at home for what will be the last time in the film (“Runaway”).

They’re both about an ardent, enduring love that appears to be one-sided; yearning for the object of their affection to accept that love and be with or return to them. Dennis starts the film confident in his relationship with Arnie, that the love is strong and won’t fade, but when Christine enters the picture, realizes that his love has run away from him, that it wasn’t enough for Arnie.

[o-sunny-day]

Actively stuck on the thought that…its pretty hard to believe that both the humans and Caine will both get happy endings in The Amazing Digital Circus- Cause like if he does then theyre still stuck, but if they do, then whats left for him??? Like the happiest ending for him there is that he just dies/never gets turned back on again and thats 😭

Augh Why cant I be obsessed with things that are over why do I have to wait for TADC, Deltarune, and Silksong