#“something fragile about this man”

[fascinationstreetmp3]

i would love it so much if in the show the picture of armand that jesse looks at is the same one louis took of him by the seine in the 40s. not that armand couldn't have had his picture taken by someone else before or after that, but they did make louis a photographer and we never see that photo again in dubai do we? so maybe it's sitting in the talamasca archives, perfectly preserved with its little singe mark at the bottom from when louis thought about getting rid of it...

[cup-o-stars]

Last part for old GF sketches

(Actually, most of these aren't old at all, but their average is brought down by the last picture, which I drew back in August and kept forgetting to post)

[thevillainsfangirl]

There are some ships that you just know would be 100% canon if they were an M/F ship, and that's mainly what pisses people off the most in these situations.

It isn't just about the ship; it's also very much about the homophobia (whether the creators know it or not) that is preventing the ship from being canon when they otherwise would be.

(Addition.)

[fistfuloflightning]

I just really love Dusty and Mayday’s relationship, the way they care for and look out for each other

[zenless-zideblog-zero]

What if I cried? What if you, Asaba Harumasa, made me cry?

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

[dutiful-wildcraft]

Like, I know Simon would absolutely dispatch an animal, especially if it's a danger to himself or his team. But it kills him to have too. The dumb animal is just doing its job, or acting as nature intended it too.

Simon Riley, who's vibes are so chill that the cat that hides from everyone is the first one to give him a sniff, or sit in his lap.

Simon Riley who becomes the official best friend of whatever dog is at the house party, the goofy mutt continuously bringing him a ratty tennis ball that Simon was gullible enough to toss the first time.

Simon Riley who would probably dig baby ducks out of a drainage grate and look pissed the whole while doing it. Sternly dropping them back off to their mum with a gruff "Do better next time"

[vaguely-concerned]

you ever have a public transport experience so harrowing that you know in your soul you could have recreated the odyssey from first principles blind

[antaripirate]

Kell Want-To-Make-My-Captain-Proud Maresh

<3

[arthur-morgans-last-journal]

RDR2 Horse analysis - Dutch Van der Linde

Hi, hi, don't mind me I'm just going to ramble incessantly into the void about the horses in RDR2 and how they reflect their riders. The RDR2 game developers and writers clearly put a lot of time and effort into designing the horses and the various breeds and choosing what horses the gang would ride specifically. There are lots of discrepancies between how the horse breeds and colors are represented in game and how they would be referred to in the real world, and I'm choosing to believe this is fully intentional. Any such discrepancies I point out are therefore not intended as a criticism, just. FYI.

This will of course contain spoilers for both RDR games.

First up is the easiest! Dutch!

Dutch rides a horse called The Count, and this is a very obvious allusion to his own sense of self-aggrandizement and import. Dutch fashions himself an outlaw prince, a king in waiting, a philosopher, and so of course his horse must be named for nobility and royalty. Dutch on The Count also just references a lot of imagery about european kings and riding noble white horses (like that one very famous painting of Napoleon on his grey horse) which also evokes imagery about man conquering nature and such.

The RDR2 wiki indicates The Count is an Arabian, which is probably the best breed of horse in the game--there's only four available to the player, one of which doesn't even show up in the game until the epilogue and therefore is never made available to Arthur. I suspect perhaps The Count's breed information is in the game data, but in game there is no way to know this. It does not show up in the compendium and the study feature only lists the color and stats. The information is blocked from the player, as if Dutch himself is preventing you from knowing The Count's breed lest you find a horse of similar quality.

The only information you get to know about The Count in RDR2 is the handling (elite), the stats (awesome) and the color, albino. Albinism exists in horses just like in any other animal, but it indicates very little about which breed the horse is, because it's just a genetic quirk. There are a couple of physical characteristics that differentiate an albino/white horse from a grey horse in real life--namely, there will be no pigment of the skin, hooves, and eyes in an albino horse. It is far, far more likely that a horse would be grey with a white-appearing coat, with dark skin, hooves and eyes. The Count does appear to be an actually albino or "white" horse as it would more commonly be called in the horse world. Dutch choosing to call it "albino" is an intentional choice and is probably intended to reflect the "specialness" of his mount and therefore himself.

This is important because it lends a credulity to Dutch and everything he says he is. He may be a narcissist, he may have delusions of grandeur, but he does have the rare, unique horse, the one that is unlike any other horse in the game, the only one of its coloration, because the other "white" Arabian horse in the game actually is grey in its coloration as you'd define it IRL (dark skin, hooves, eyes). He does mean what he says, he doesn't intend to get everyone killed, he just--can't help himself. It's not enough for Dutch to have the rare thing. Dutch has this fantasy of himself as an outlaw prince and so of course he has to ride a "white" horse like Jesus is supposed to in Revelations. That image is something Dutch proves throughout the game he'd go to any length to protect. He needs to gatekeep and protect it to maintain power, and prevent anyone else from obtaining something even close to similar.

And what's more, we learn of The Count that he's tempermental. He bucked Arthur off the one time he tried to ride him, because The Count "will take no one but [Dutch]." IRL that is very unusual behavior for a horse tbh. There's such a thing as incompatible horses and riders, especially if the rider isn't very experienced, but it's much more likely Dutch trained the horse to buck anyone else off, especially since we see Arthur is capable of working with and riding pretty much any other horse in the game including others of the same breed. And if he did train the horse to do so, it just lends more creedence to the idea that Dutch did so out of ego, to protect his image. The Count has to be the most temperamental and special of all the horses because if it wasn't, if Dutch had anything less than the best then he would feel his ego slighted.

Add to that the fact that The Count is the only horse in the group--of the gang members at least--that has "elite" handling is notable as well. These people are thieves and outlaws, they SHOULD all have "elite" horses, especially the ones who are actively taking part in all the action. But no, only Dutch. Because he has to be above everyone else. Because under no circumstance can he allow others to be faster, better, stronger, not even his allies. Arthur can't even purchase an "elite" horse until Sant Dennis, where there's a black Arabian in the stable.

And Dutch shames him for it! They have a horse race in Lemoyne to the second base camp, and he criticizes Arthur's skills as a rider, despite the fact that he's the one who rigged the deck. He tells Arthur it's "a shame he never really got the hang of riding" and it's because Dutch needs Arthur, needs him thinking he's dependent on Dutch, needs him thinking that he'll never be the man Dutch is. The fact that he knows Arthur loves horses, the fact that he is good with them and has been able to work with any horse he tries to ride except The Count, only makes the comment meaner, more effective, more humiliating. Your mileage may vary on what you think Arthur's internal reaction to this was. Mine was indignation and outrage on his behalf because Arthur has been the only reason the gang managed to stay together to this point and Dutch knows that, and is punishing Arthur for it here.

Dutch may love Arthur, may even know Arthur loves him. But he doesn't believe Arthur would stay with him and stay at his side no matter what, and he spends so much of the early half of the game trying to make absolutely sure Arthur has no thought of leaving, whether he has to use cruelty or kindness or praise to do it.

This is actually why in my first playthrough I chose to ride Bluell as soon as I got him, because firstly, he's a breed and color that actually exists (Cremello, Standardbred), and like The Count he's "elite." He also mirrors The Count's coloring in a way that's actually real and "obtainable" so to speak (Cremello colored horses are not common but they do exist in the world, you can go out and buy one if you like, you can breed for it). Dutch can have his dreams and fantasies, Arthur has something realler than that, more meaningful.

Bluell represented (to me) Arthur's blossoming into a truly redeemed man even as he died (obviously I played high-honor Arthur). And on top of that, Bluell was originally owned by a man who, imo, in this game represents the kind of person Arthur could have been, had he never met Dutch. A man who loved nature and loved living despite his suffering and struggles, who could have lived peacefully if Dutch had actually wanted that for anyone.

[gilded-sterne]

humans really saw sexual dimorphism and said "hey that's really cool, let's expand on that" and made an artificial version of it (strictly enforced gender roles based on what kind of junk a person is born with) on top of the baseline dimorphism.

[carrionsflower]

i keep thinking of the path to the hidden folk and how insane the entire journey is. it plays on so many (personal) fears of mine; the dark, caves (we are not gonna talk abt the luray caverns vacation) and just what in the hell could be down there, feeling alone, isolated, disoriented ect ect.

everything about it was terrifying and intense and so beautifully done. every single one of your senses is instantly on high alert from start to finish and i love love love how “you are nothing without your sword” hits not only senua but the player as well. it brings me right back to the shard trails in the first game and how senua / you just had to push through to the other side.

not to mention the music, the flashes in the dark as you’re coming face to face with your own nightmares, and way those things move … every other enemy in the game really seems to have a set way of fighting but for some reason these little fuckers grapple and dodge and move in a way that reminds me how senua fights and THAT creeped me out. it was like … fighting yourself and in essence…i guess you really are.

[njwinterquartz]

I guess the showrunner apparently can’t tell you what the intended interpretation of scenes or episodes are. Apparently you don’t have “media literacy” if you take them for their word.

To be clear I get that the intended interpretation is not the only possible interpretation. But to go out and say people are dumb for agreeing with it and attack someone for pointing out the flaws in a flawed interpretation that is not based in the actual show and actively ignores a lot. Says a whole lot about a person.

[spamtoon]

(Out of nowhere, you are approached by a familiar lightbulb-headed Cog.)

Ah, it's you, cat. Thinking you're oh-so-slick. Muttering and whispering under those raggedy whiskers of yours... Thinking I am unable to hear it all...

Well, you've simply underestimated my fantastic hearing. You probably want to know the reason why I'm here, taking a 'break' from my incredibly important scientific breakthroughs? It's quite simple, really!

(She gets close, and squints her eyes.)

I know what you are.

Farewell, now!

(She then leaves the way she came from.)

(Spam giggles immensely, covering her face... it always seems like she's giggling, isn't she? This lasts... at least thirty seconds. Longer than usual.)

And I know what I am too, Sparky! You broke through something, that's for sure. Really, broke through...

(She looks down, continuing to laugh nervously.)

You know, I find it odd you Havent tried to bulb blast me into the stratosphere by now. I mean knowing how you acted with Frostbite. Is there something peculiar about me that you perhaps can't quite track? Something about me that you... don't know what I am?

I know, I know, I'm talking to nobody again. But you were there when I had a moment today with the one the only Frostbite The Bravecog. You may be remaining. Lurking in the shadows. Knowing about these thoughts that I'm thinking.

(The giggling resumes, lasting far shorter this time.)

Your brother's a piece of fucking barp, by the way

(She braces for impact for a few seconds, wincing while smiling, before comically looking around to realize nobody's there. She sighs.)

Wow, okay maybe toony superhero show logic doesn't apply in this situation. Cool.

WAIT I JUST FUCKING REALIZED WHAT SHE MEANT but like. Dude if she meant that then what's the point I mean the whole ahh sellbot department barping knows unless you're Really low on the ladder. Heheh... maybe she did mean what I thought she meant.

Oh i'm so fucking screwed. What kind of bitch gets filament fever

[lqfiles]

y/n calling jisung princess and cutie is so me core but i used to call my ex either princess or bro. no in between. calling ur bf princess is jst so feminism idk # downwiththepatriarchy

-🩰

i used to call my friend stuff like that too lolll either something cute or BROSKI. BUT WORDDD this is #FEMINISM

[talmud-babely]

“how dare you ask me to explain why I believe what I believe and how I know I’m correct” idk it’s giving insecurity! it’s giving unexamined positions!