#its in the same thread

[sumamitt]

fuck realized alecto saying "this is how flesh loves flesh" someone had to teach her. john WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER

[loredrinker]

Trespasser Dream Slides - Fade Dreaming and Continued Connection

The Trespasser dream slides for a romanced Lavellan mark a subtle but interesting divergence in the story of Lavellan and Solas, in that not every player who romanced these two gets these slides - depending on choices.

If Lavellan ends their relationship with anger or finality, vowing to stop Solas no matter the cost, even if it means killing him - these dreams never appear. And I think that detail is brilliant. The story is using the absence of these dreams as a narrative device, one that, to me, actually reflects how the Fade responds to emotions. So when Lavellan emotionally disconnects from Solas, when she severs the bond and chooses to carry nothing of him forward, the Fade has nothing to echo and Solas never appears, honouring her choice. The absence of these dreams in this path becomes the story’s way of saying this relationship is indeed over.

But for the Lavellan who holds hope, who vows to save him from himself and his own destruction, who has expressed her love clearly to Solas - the dreams do come. This narrative path reflects the choices of a player who's decided that their bond endures.

And through these dreams, the game shows how these two people continue to affect each other, be drawn to each other even across distance and years.

The Dreams 

What keeps drawing my attention to these slides is they never confirm whose dreams they are.

“Lavellan sometimes came awake from dreams in which her lover watched her sadly from across an endless distance”

It doesn’t say her dreams, or that she dreamed of Solas, nor does it deny they may be his. And I appreciate how that ambiguity again mirrors the nature of the Fade, leaving open the possibility that these dreams belong to either of them, or to both.

The dreams could originate with Lavellan, stirred by hope and belief, with Solas drawn into them by her emotional presence in the Fade. They could originate with Solas subconsciously pulling her into his dreams, revealing his own hidden ache for her. Or it could be a mutual convergence - neither initiating, but both arriving, called into the same dreamscape by the strength of their bond. These slides allow for all of these possibilities in it's refusal to define the source.

What's interesting is that Solas is always withdrawing from them. When Lavellan reaches for him he doesn’t speak, doesn’t approach - he vanishes. It suggests that he’s not drawn to her to control or watch her possessively in dreams, but allows himself to be near her, pulling back before any contact is made.

Remember, Solas himself confessed to Lavellan she draws him away from the Fade. It's logical to assume then that she draws him in the Fade as well. Because Inquisitor Lavellan is still Fade Walking.

Lavellan - Fade Walker

What we know for certain is that the Inquisitor has demonstrated the ability to find Solas in the Fade before. In the Haven dream sequence, the Inquisitor locates him while sleeping. After they wake, Solas expresses surprise that they were able to find him and that he changed the setting to Haven once they did. At the time, it’s assumed that the Anchor is what allows the Inquisitor to remain conscious and lucid within the Fade. But that may not be entirely true, the Trespasser dream slides complicate that assumption because at that point in the story, the Anchor is gone and yet:

“Still she searched, and dreamed, and waited, for a way to change the Dread Wolf’s heart.”

The way “dreamed” is used here - alongside verbs like searched and waited - positions it as an act in itself. It implies that Lavellan isn't just sleeping, but actively entering the Fade to dream and seek. Here, dreamed carries intention, movement and purpose.

Whether she communes with spirits, follows the traces he’s left behind, or navigates the remnants of memories, we aren’t told. But the phrasing highly suggests that Lavellan is looking for answers, information, ways to change the Dread Wolf's heart while in the Fade. (Which continues to support my theory that the Inquisitor has been forever altered by the Anchor.)

Do the Dreams Continue?

We’re never told that the dreams end - and the use of the plural dreams reinforces the sense that the tension between Lavellan and Solas remains unresolved. It suggests an ongoing, quiet pull that continues to draw them to one another. Perhaps unconsciously, they return to that shared space again and again, a connection that spills forward into Veilguard.

Maybe that ongoing pull is why Lavellan receives the wolf statuette, why she can tell Rook she still loves Solas, and why Solas, close to his goal of reshaping the world, stops to write her a letter. It even colours the way he speaks of her to Rook - “She is a good woman.” Not was, not someone I once knew: she exists for him in the present because their dreams keep finding their way to each other.

For the story, eight years separate Trespasser and Veilguard. For us as players, that’s a long time - but for them, if their dreams still connect them, still reach across the Fade? That distance may not be felt at all. Time moves differently in memory, and even more so in the Fade. Their last shared dream with each other could have come the night before the ritual, close enough to stir old feelings and sharpen Solas’ need to send those final words to his vhenan.

[lucabyte]

Stardust.

[s0fter-sin]

nikolai hunting ghost down whenever they're on the same base and plucking him from whatever duties he has to whisk him away somewhere private. he has no authority, nothing more than his reputation as a rogue pilot with a few screws loose, but the way he fearlessly manhandles the ghost has people ducking out of his way anyway

behind a locked door, he offers ghost the choice of either curling up at his feet or sitting pliant in his lap, his full weight against him with his head lax on his shoulder; warm, comfortable, boneless

he then tucks his mask up above his lips and plies him with fruit and sweets; things he'd never buy for himself, indulgences he’d never entertain, wasted on a hollow shell like him

but nikolai? oh, he knows how much he deserves them; these precious moments of peace where the only thing ghost exists for is the next delicious bite

he feeds them to him one by one; thumbing strawberry juice and powdered sugar from his lips, humming in pure pleasure as he sucks it away, and smiles at ghost’s involuntary shivers when he feeds him his favourites. ghost doesn't even know what most of the sweets even are; what they’re made of or even what country nikolai buys them from. he just knows he loves them; loves the chase of nikolai’s fingers on his tongue after each one even more

nikolai always brings plenty for him, always draws it out, wanting these rare breaths of contentment to last for ghost’s sake as much as his own; offering plump bites of tart, homemade treats, letting rich chocolate melt between his fingers so it's soft in his mouth and watches his eyes flutter shut as he savours it

decadence incarnate; slow taught and hard won

ghost licks the dregs from his fingers and suckles them long after they're clean; the thought of an empty mouth so wrong to his sweet-clouded mind. nikolai coos in russian down at him, brushing his fingers through his hair as he holds him close, but he's too far away to take in any of it; the only thing holding him in the present the sugared fingers held gently in his mouth

after all, nikolai's always been his favourite sweet

[sparring-spirals]

I was initially clipping this to capture the overwhelmingly accurate, absolutely devastating hilarity of "you went for realistic, and sadly, you nailed it". And then just kept recording because I really fucking love the discussion about how to balance the line between like:

You are trying to tell a story that feels good and gives you the kind of lift you might be looking for in an explicitly fantasy story,

vs

How to ensure it still feels grounded and rewarding in a way where you can "bring this good feeling back to earth" at the end.

Like they're talking about TTRPG's but they clearly make parallels to other forms of storytelling/worldbuilding mediums, like movies, and. like. Yeah. Yeah.

Like the framing of "you really recreated the feeling of powerlessness..." and wanting the fantasy element to manifest in there being the clearer, straightforward ways to solve complex issues, vs trying to ensure that you can have a victory and it feels feasible and substantial and applicable in some way, and has something you can take out of the fantasy world and hold with you back on "terra firma".

Its tricky! Its a tricky thing to balance, and I don't think there's a single "right" answer nor should there be because it depends. It depends on the story, and the intent, and the setting, and the medium, and etc. Big fan of this framework to explain it.

[ohzone]

aa1 edgeworth you will quite literally always be famous

[leothil]

I think another element is a mistrust for the writers. Like... I'll admit, I've been nervous since Holy Mother of God that they're having their cake and eating it too, getting to continue to play into Buddie subtextually, and never have to actually get them together, and then when people get upset at the end with no Buddie, they'll turn around and point at this episode and be like "We literally said that Buck doesn't have those feelings. It is right there, in that scene." And no matter how stupid that'll sound, and how many things that can be pointed out that was clearly them implying otherwise, they'll have this one episode they can point at and say it's proof that they never intended to go down that path.

I hear you, but the thing for me still is that they didn't need to do all that. They've gone so many seasons without ever acknowledging "what Eddie and [Buck] have" that they comfortably could've continued doing that. Instead they decided to actually pull it out in the open and have basically had buddie as a B-plot for four straight episodes now. They've suddenly called Eddie straight on screen three separate times when it never was in question before; no other character has had to clarify that they're straight. It would simply be very weird of a network procedural that doesn't have any history of being cruel to its fanbase (looking at you e.g. The 100 and BBC Sherlock) to suddenly care about loudly shutting down a non-canon ship like this on screen.

[caeslxys]

Something I think is extremely interesting thematically when it comes to connecting what Downfall and the ideas it tackled to the overarching narrative of campaign three is that the things Downfall made a point to showcase of Aeor—Cassida, Hallis, the visual of an aeormaton proposing to her partner, the specific and intentional decision to shed light on a far from insignificant amount of the population being civilians or refugees—is that it plays in perfect parallel across from what is happening (and, really, has been happening) to the ruidusborn on Exandria in present.

Bear with me for a moment. Aeor is ultimately a city that was collectively punished for the decisions of its leadership. We could (and, judging by the amount of discourse around this particular topic already, probably will) argue about what the Gods’ motivation for all of this was—whether it be that they could not, in the end, bear to kill their siblings or that they were terrified at the prospect of mortality—for me it is a very healthy dose of both—but for this I am much more interested in the latter. They were scared. That, really, is the driving force behind both this arc and their role in c3 as a whole.

Why I point this out is: It is far more interesting to me, especially as we go back to Bells Hells this week, to dissect the Gods and their decisions not purely on sympathetic motivation alone but as beings in the highest seat of power in the highest social class in Exandria.

So, having established that the Gods (in relation to mortals) are more a higher social class than anything we could compare to our real life understanding of divinity and that Aeor was eviscerated largely because of their fear—what is the difference between those innocents in Aeor caught in the trappings of their autocratic government leadership and a divine war on the ground, and those of the ruidusborn being manipulated both by Ludinus and by the very thing that inspired such visceral fear in the Gods to start with. I would argue very little.

I think of Cassida, doing what she genuinely thought was right and good and would save people, her son, and the object of her worship—and how that did not matter enough to any of them to spare her because of the fear they held at the very concept of mortality. I think of Liliana and Imogen, one of which we know begged for the gods to help her or send her a sign for years on years, and how every single one of their largest struggles could have been avoided had the gods loved them, their supposed children, as much as they feared what they could be. I think of how the thing that did save Imogen, in the end, was a woman who herself existed in direct defiance of the gods will. I think of that young boy, sixteen years old, that Laudna exalted on Ruidus.

I think it’s completely fair to judge Aeor’s overall society as deeply corrupt—it was!—but its leadership and police force are not a reflection of every one of its citizens. Similarly, it is fair to judge the Ruby Vanguard as corrupt—it is!—but its multiple heads of leadership and even the god-eater further are not a reflection of every one of its members.

Notably, and what I think the Hells will latch onto, this did not matter to the Gods. It did not matter that Cassida was trying to help. She was still too much of a risk. Will it matter, what Imogen does? Will it matter, if that young boy is in the blast radius when they decide to take no further chances?

I’ve seen a lot of people say that the Hells will side with the gods and I don’t think I agree. Especially as Imogen has been scolded and villainized over and over for daring to try and save her mother—who herself has been seen by some as an irredeemable evil in spite of her drive being the exact same—her family—but when it’s the Gods it’s justified? When it’s the Gods, it’s sympathetic? Too sympathetic to criticize further than “they’re family”?

I obviously do not think the Gods should die or be eaten or what have you, and I certainly don’t agree with Ludinus (though I find him much more compelling than just a variation of hubris wizard), but when talking about the Gods in Aeor and in present it isn’t really at all about their motivation or their family. It can’t be. Too many people, including our active protagonists, lives have been effected for it to be as cut and dry as “they’re family”. These are your children. They are your family, too.

[hyakunana]

✨💖 Winner gets desir———

[sacriou]

Experimenting in my lab with my pet homunculus

[solargeist]

Oh oh if we're feeding Grian, I'd like to offer him a White Person Taco. (Don't want it to he too spicy for him!!!)

-Lunar (a white person who also can't handle spice)

omg right he's british he cannot handle spice ADJGKADJGK

i imagine Watchers can spawn food bc they know how it's made, like, every single component, i think if they offered him a taco he'd be genuinely impressed, like, its so much to remember.

he's also a bit iffy about the meat.

[sunnyknight-original]

Comfort sona - Felicity - 2025 Reference Sheet!!! + Theme song :3

Felicity is my second out of..3/4 fursonas!!! I draw “Arch” most often and usually in shitpost, just cause…main sona. I don’t often post full illustrations of furry stuff BUT STILL, thinkin itll be fun to show the gangs updated refs as I go.

Felicitys voice box thingy sounds like/is inspired by the My Pal Violet/My Pal Scout dolls. This is important info some how

Just in general, their aesthetic is based off of old toys I used to have cause- comfort sona.

If you know, you know

may or may not make a moodboard for em cause HHCDHBDEHBD oh its such a good vibe. Love Felicity…. Actually my oldest sona technically, 3 years old! my baby…….

Arch is coming next….

[rcsea]

discord domoai psa

Seeing a lot of misinformation about that new discord "ai bot" so hopefully this will alleviate some concerns. They are not scraping (as far as we know*) and though generative AI is icky, the bot only interacts with what you give it access to via the AI editing apps integrated into discord. There are still valid concerns to be had, but let's not fearmonger. Everything is at risk to AI when you post images in public spaces these days, but as this person tactfully explains below, you are no less safe than you were prior. Do with that what you will, but I encourage you to read through the entirety of this thread to address further concerns. It's one thing to be reasonably cautious with the information that we do know, and another thing to fearmonger over information that has either been disproven or has no proof to support it in the first place outside of public paranoia. Everyone has a right to make informed decisions and misinformation fearmongering interferes with that ability to remain correctly informed.

tl;dr

domoai is not scraping images (as far as we know*); it can only access images that you choose to edit in discord via the app integrations when you access that option yourself

domoai is not automatically in servers; it is an integrated app into discord itself

You cannot ban domoai because it is not in the server; if you do the "ban ID" trick people are suggesting, it appears as if it works because you can ban people who aren't even in your server and it will show successful every time. But the bot isn't truly a bot, it's an app integration and cannot be fully banned, no matter what the "success" popup may say. The way to really "ban" it is through outside permissions with discord itself.

The biggest issue with domoai in discord is not that they are automatically taking your images to train their ai, because they are not. The biggest issue is that other people in your server can use the ai apps on images you post in these shared servers, even if you don't. THAT is the true problem here at the present; your consent may rely on your fellow server mates.

GenAI is bad. Period. It's okay to be cautious. But you are at no greater risk of your images and artwork being stolen from discord than you were before, as is unfortunately the risk with posting art in any public forum these days.

READ THE FULL THREAD HERE

[xmoonlitxdreamx]

the difference in opinion re: ferris bueller (character) on tumblr vs on reddit is so wild. I know he's kind of a dick but cmonnnnn....... he's so funnyyyyyyy.... he's just a little wacky, let him be annoyingggg

[skunkes]

biggest downside of not having many experiences or meeting many people is not having anything to feed into the art machine

[cuiizhu]

meme redraws after a long break again? its more likely than u think