#who does not move forward

[critter-wizard]

you are all I have, you are the eyes that see, the air that breathes, how can I worship anything else?

[strawberrybyers]

i truly would not be mad if nancy breaks up with jonathan and tells steve to move on. and for vickie to tell robin she’s not interested but is willing to be friends. so nancy and robin decide they need to hang out after a long day of heartbreak and throughout their convos of explaining everything that’s been going on, they realize they have feelings for each other. i truly would not be mad at that. in fact, that’s exactly what i want to happen 😌

[lunar-years]

There are wayyy too many “Roy would NEVER say that, how ooc!!!” and inversely, “Roy Kent is now #canceled and I never want him to so much as look at Keeley ever again” takes and not nearly enough:

“Roy is a flawed human person whose insecurities have always plagued him and tonight they got the better of him once again. He has a lot of apologies to make but hey, tomorrow is another chance at greatness. Also, he should really really go to therapy :)” takes!

[cassynite]

God this turned out way way better than I hoped....my pc Lune during their session 0 when they found a Totally Normal amulet just hanging from a tree randomly

[mistninja]

Big fan of characters who are somewhat aware that they are side characters and they struggle with that

[remyfire]

Weegi woke me up in the middle of the night for the third night in a row because of course he did, the big baby, but I’m wibbly because I realized I met my fundraising goal for Peach in under 12 hours 🥺🥹😭❤️ I had her post queued up another two times and I was able to go delete those augh. Thank you to everyone who boosted and donated!! Here is another Peach picture to celebrate

[cherryysundae]

You think I'm weak, don't you?

[pagesofkenna]

thing that makes me feral is its everyone else telling Jinx who she is

her friends end up dead and she's still got their voices in her head telling her who and what she is. Silco spends the rest of his life telling her who she is to him. one city is telling her shes a terrorist and the other that she's a savior. even Isha is the one who 'adopted' Jinx, deciding that they would have a relationship—Jinx just go to decide what that looks like

I don't even have a point to this, just. the relationship with Isha and the touching her shoulders scene could both be seen as moments of growth for Jinx—people rely on her, they trust her, they believe in her, and she seems to believe it for the first time since Vi returned—but they're also just more instances of other people telling her who she should be

[waltwhitmansbeard]

i have read a lot of criticisms of tlovm, particularly s3, and i've also read a lot of posts extolling its virtues. some of these posts i agree with, and some of them i don't. and as s3 rounds out, i've found myself needing to make an active choice about how i feel about this show as whole. i'm a deeply opinionated person, who cares and thinks a lot about narrative and the art of storytelling, and i find myself lacking many really strong opinions about tlovm, and i think i've finally figured out why.

tlovm is bonus content. tlovm is the icing on the cake. the perfect vox machina story already exists, and you can watch all 115 episodes (plus three one-shots) on youtube right now. i don't need or want tlovm to do what c1 did, bc c1 already did it! i've realized that i think of tlovm the way that i think of 4sd or the one-shots or the novels or any other ancillary piece of cr-related media: as ancillary media. it contributes to the overall story that i love, but it is not the core story itself.

BUT. this does not mean that tlovm is therefore exempt from criticism, or that i think that this show, as a show, is perfect and great and can't be improved upon. i have fun watching it, but i don't delude myself by thinking it's a rock-solid narrative. it's not. there are holes. there are things i'm confused by and i have infinitely more context than someone who watches tlovm and nothing else. the character development is severely lacking, and i would not understand the fandom's obsessive love of these seven characters if i had only ever watched this animated show. that's a problem. i think that in many ways, the cr team has done themselves and their groundbreaking storytelling efforts a disservice in the way they told this story in this medium.

and so i have to make a choice. i have to choose how i feel about this show, how much i love it, whether i get excited about it. and i've decided that i like this show. i don't love it, and tbqh, i won't be watching s3 again (or the other seasons) until right before s4 drops, as a refresher. this won't be something that i return to the way i return to the main campaigns. and that's okay. i'm not mad about it. i don't feel like my time has been wasted, and i don't feel like tlovm has in any way ruined my love for c1. i love the way that tlovm has reinvigorated the fandom, and i love talking with y'all and seeing everyone on my dash be excited for something new. i'm never gonna regret the existence of tlovm, but i'm also never gonna ask it to be something more than it is. i just don't think i care enough. i'm here for a good time, not a long time, and hey, each season isn't that long, so ig that works out. so as we head into the final 3 episodes of s3, i'm choosing to have fun with them, even the parts i don't like, even the parts i don't agree with, bc i love the people who made it and i love the community who watches and at the end of the day, it really ain't that serious.

[musee-de-muse]

The Tower

DWC November 2024

Day 1: Haze/Sexy

OC: Lilliana Whitedawn, Sindorei 'Felblood'

(I never wrote about the fall of Dalaran, and there's a couple characters who have feelings about it, so now is as good of a time as ever.)

@daily-writing-challenge

It was early enough that the morning haze of fog still kissed the sea's gently rolling surface, as it lazily lapped at the shore – well-worn leather boots carrying the fair-haired Sin'dorei deftly along the damp sand of the beach. Her gaze swept the strewn rocks, and debris – still in shock. One moment, all was well – the club had been as it was every other day, or night... teeming with gyrating bodies – while wishes were fulfilled in the shadows of her insidiously sensual domain.

And then all the lights had come on, the music coming to an abrupt halt as the crushing press of flesh below began to blink out of the fog of pleasure and lust, the exits blazing with a soft, red-tinted arcane glow – the emergency features put in place long before her time had cut the party swiftly short, and... with relatively little harm done, security had escorted all those in attendance either out of Dalaran itself through portals, or back into the underbelly to make their own ways to safety, family, or whatever else called to them in these frantic, confused moments of invasion.

It had been so fast. One moment, bodies pressed hotly against one another – dark secrets traded for dangerous desires; drugs, alcohol, flesh, magic... or simply a release from the expectations of every day life... this was the legacy she'd been handed. The club she'd practically been shaped within, herself – the walls therein holding secrets the likes of which she'd no doubt have killed, to keep.

It was the one, big thing that had still tied her to those now forever gone from her life.

“Was it too much to ask for just this?”

The waves shushed her as gently as they could.

“Not only was a whole city I loved utterly destroyed – a symbol of what we can achieve with alliances, instead of war. A testament to our prowess over magic, and our ability to bring that power to everyone...”

What was she even trying to say? That not only did it hurt her, as an Elf... but that it felt like a knife in her gut. It felt personal. It felt like Ythgar leaving all over again. It felt like Iloam's goodbye, in which he had accused her of being a demon in disguise - in which he had told her to never speak to him or his again. It tasted like having had love at her fingertips, only to lose it over, and over again.

It was a whole era of her life being ripped away from her again.

It was an anchor to the young woman's humanity that had allowed her to not only stay rooted in a safer mindset, bound up in memories and legacy...but it had allowed Lily's demonic side to be sated in a convenient manner without causing anyone any real harm. It was a tie to a part of her life that had felt so safe, in the early days – a time that, despite the turmoil it had all ended in, had forced her to take shape in her first days truly on her own.

And so Lily let herself grieve there on the shore, by herself – she let herself grieve in a way she never really had had the time for, since all the loss. She'd been busy mourning herself – her mortality, and her fel corruption - and raising a daughter, and fighting to save Azeroth, and sating her demon, and getting her estate back on its feet in the strain of the years since the fall of Quel'thalas... and she'd barely been an adult, when it had all begun. She grieved for the that girl, too – the Flower Girl. The one who hadn't known any better. The one mocked for her naivete.

She was a mother to a preteen now; beloved friend, and trusted ally of dragons; half a demon; still, as ever, a Crusader to be called upon by the Argent Crusade; a hobbyist historian, a professional relic-retriever with her own ship and crew, now... who would have to return to piracy on the sly, with the club now removed as a 'hunting ground' to sate the demonic side of her.

Lilliana was all those things, and more – this towering woman, who now sank to her knees in the sand... one hand firmly in the moist earth, gripping the sand tight between her fingers, as the other clutched at the 'silver' pendant of a lioness that she'd worn since the day Ythgar, the Marquis of Vynguld, had gifted it to her.

As the pendant dug into the flesh between her knuckles, the Elven woman shuddered – taking a steadying breath, as the memories... as the anger and the grief washed over her... and she let it pass, pushing down the demon it rankled to life in her breast.

���But a bilge rat always survives.”

Soft and hoarse, these words to the empty beach – and yet, the lessons Iloam had taught Lily as a naive, young paladin had buried themselves deep in her psyche, and still held her in their grip. One knee comes up, plants a booted foot under her, and she hefts herself up in a singular motion – the hand that cleans her face leaving a smear of sand in its wake... and behind her, the pristine, damp sand is broken only by steady footprints that lead away from the messy disturbance she'd left in the sand, in her moment of delayed grief – all that hurt put neatly back in a box, and away out of sight to haunt her another day.

[jecook]

i just wanna say that it was so refreshing to see Matt Stone get to talk about the rise of antisemitism rn. like yeah start the season off on that!!! it was angry! scathing! yet funny! Matt Stone deserved this episode, you can tell he's fed up and it's unequivocally against antisemitism and nazism, so hopefully the episode hits a lot of people well, ik how sometimes south park can be... interpreted very oddly by some viewers of the show, but I think it's angry yet sympathetic enough to say that people can choose to deny/leave behind violent and bigoted beliefs. It was a good season premiere and I am really excited to see what's next

[jabeur]

okay like the thing is that suicide jokes and such are probably not that bad or that big of a deal if you're not really suicidal but if you're For Real suicidal or have been before and are not doing well mentally and you keep making them and start finding comfort in the thought you could kill yourself if you wanted to. be careful

[suburbanbonfire]

this piece is killing me slowly but at least i got lost in the sauce and dunn looks great??

[cosmicrhetoric]

i don't know if fishman island era sanji is genuine flanderization or im somehow giving him too much and too little credit at the same time. and maybe i was just frustrated that he regressed so bad after two years on Gender Island when i erroneously assumed (after watching iva + co at impel down express that queerness is as close to the ultimate ideal of freedom that one piece is about as you can get) that he would be better for the experience. and i know im going to turn around on him by the time i get to whole cake island but literally brother can we cut this shit out lmao

[youremyonlyhope]

Who gave Sondheim the right to write a song as bittersweetly perfect as Sorry-Grateful?

[3416]

the thing about the mitch talk that makes no sense is like. yes, an organization CAN get someone to waive their nmc by saying they're not going to pay what he wants and it would be better for everyone involved to get on board with the idea of a trade if that's the path the organization has Most Certainly decided on, but mitch marner has all the leverage with the leafs in this situation, and it still hardly makes sense to force that or be sure of it at this moment. IF they approached him about not wanting to sign him for what they know he's going to ask which is prob 11.5-12.5 i'd guess (which... why THIS year would suddenly be the year they changed their mind about having a forward group make so much after signing absolutely ridic contracts last year is already lol and before a huge one comes off the books w jt... like.. flkdjs it feels like a fan fueled narrative of frustration here), that would essentially force him into giving them a list of teams he'd be willing to go to. it will be a short list of competitive teams who also are not going to want to be giving up much. the LEAFS would then have to find a trade that works within those very specific teams and is worth it to them, and they might say fuck it, mitch will be the better option to try to get us to the post season this year. and then be a) forced to let him walk for nothing in return if they still don't want to sign him at the end of the year or b) tempted to give him an extension where he MIGHT have driven up his own price based on performance that year. like it just. this narrative that mitch marner in the last year of his contract with a full nmc will be somehow forced out of the leafs and that's the LIKELY outcome is so ????????? tell me one trade where this team improves w the guys out here on expiring deals as it stands rn and why the organization would see improvement bc i can tell you they aren't just going to trade for the sake of cap space. i know the trade deadline and everything will also come into play if he hasn't been re-signed by then, but there's a very real chance mitch marner drives up his own price the way nylander did and then what. people are going to be even more furious like ??? just the surety with which people act like it is happening and Has to Happen despite not knowing whats available on the market or having a genuine proposal is actually terrible for the leafs, lol.