#just musing in general

[sailoreuterpe]

A thought: Phillip J Frond.

[tinystepsforward]

idk how many of you remember this but a few years ago tumblr ran a universally panned ad campaign for (us american) pride month that went "the gayest place on the internet".

well someone planning that campaign dropped in to ask the queer automatticians for advice on that and universally me and the other trans people involved were like "don't do it. i am so serious. don't do it. people on tumblr won't understand that it wasn't automattic who instituted the porn ban, or they will, but they'll recognize that automattic hasn't done anything, hands tied or not, to reverse it. nobody will like this. it will be a disaster." and they thanked us for our thoughts and went ahead with it anyway and then had to do retrospectives about how badly it went and were like "we just didn't know" and [gestures] yeah [edit: i think the person who rbed saying it was queerest place on the internet was right, my brain is fried, sorry! and that's... even worse lmao]

[nonbinaryeye]

I'm not saying that you should not write Hans Capon as cringe and little bit pathetic because that's definitely who he is sometimes.

However the mistake most of fanfic writers do here is that they forget that Henry is despite his brighter moments the exact same brand of cringe and pathetic.

[manguopudding]

finally got around to watching the anime 🥹 the teensy mithrun bait wugh!!!

[lucabyte]

putting their asses in ancient japan

[invinciblerodent]

This is going to be very ranty and disjointed, probably borderline incomprehensible post, but with the "return" of Dragon Age Discourse (and really, did it ever go anywhere?) and me repeatedly seeing the complaints and dismissals of DA:I as a "chosen one"-type of a narrative, I just.... I keep finding myself thinking about the relationship of truth and lies within the game.

Throughout the course of DA:I, the idea of a malleable, flexible personal identity, and a painful confrontation with an uncomfortable truth replacing a soothing falsehood, follows pretty much every character throughout their respective arcs.

There are some more obvious ones, Solas, Blackwall, The Iron Bull, their identities and deceptions (of both those around them and themselves) are clearly front and center in the stories told about them, but this theme of deception (both of the self- and the outside world) is clearly present in the stories of the others as well.

Like, for example, ones that come immediately to mind are stories like that of Cullen, who presents an image of a composed and disciplined military man, a commander- all to hide the desperate and traumatized addict that he sees himself as.

Dorian grappled with the expectations of presenting the image of the perfect heir to his father's legacy, the prideful scion of his house, his entire life (he even introduces himself as the result of "careful breeding", like one might speak about a prized horse)- all while knowing that his family would rather see him lobotomized and obedient, than anything even just resembling his vibrant and passionate self.

Cassandra calls herself a Seeker of Truth, and takes pride in that identity- only to learn that in reality, she has been made a liar, a keeper of secrets, without her knowledge or consent, and it is up to her to either uproot the entire organization and painfully cut out the abscess it is to build it back from the ground up into something respectable, or let the information she had revealed sit, and continue to fester.

And this theme continues and reframes itself in, among others, things like Sera's own inner conflict between her elven heritage and her human upbringing, or in Cole being caught in this unconscionable space in-between human and spirit, between person and concept, etc.

The Inquisitor isn't exempt from this either.

I feel like this is where the core of the many misunderstandings of this plot come from, why so many people continue to believe that Inquisition is a "chosen one" or "divinely appointed" type of story, because I think many might just... not realize, that the protagonist's identity is also malleable, and what they are told in the setup/first act of the game is not necessarily the truth.

The tale of the Inquisitor is the exact opposite of that of a "chosen one" story: it's an examination and reflection of the trope, in that it is the story of an assumption that all wrongly believe to be the truth, and thrust upon you, even if you protest. The very point is that no matter who you choose to say that you are, you will be known as the Herald of a prophet you don't even necessarily believe in, and then that belief will be proven wrong, leaving you to cope with either a devastating disappointment if you believed it, or a bitter kind of vindication if you didn't.

There's a moment just after Here Lies the Abyss (when you learn of the lie you've been fed your entire journey in the game) that I don't often see mentioned, but I think it's one of the most emotionally impactful character moments, if you are playing an Andrastian Inquisitor who had actually believed themselves chosen (which I realize is a rather unpopular pick, lol): it's when Ser Ruth, a Grey Warden, realizes what she had done and is horrified by her own deeds, and turns herself in asking to be tried for the murder of another of her order. As far as she is concerned, she had spilled blood for power, and regardless of whether she was acting of her own volition at the time, whether she had agency in the moment, is irrelevant to her: she seeks no absolution, but willingly submits to any punishment you see fit.

And only if you play as an Inquisitor who, through prior dialogue choices, had established themselves as a devout Andrastian, can you offer her forgiveness, for a deed that was objectively not her fault- not really.

You can, in Andraste's name, forgive her- even though you, at that point, know that you have no real right to do so. That you're not Andraste's Herald, that Andraste may or may not even exist, and that you can't grant anyone "divine forgiveness", because you, yourself, don't have a drop of divinity within you. You know that you were no more than an unlucky idiot who stumbled their way into meddling with forces beyond their ken.

You know you're a fraud. You know. The game forces you to realize, as it slowly drip-drip-drips the memories knocked loose by the blast back into your head, that what all have been telling you that you are up to this point, is false. And yet, you can still choose to keep up the lie, and tell this woman who stands in front of you with blood on her hands and tears in her eyes, that you, with authority you don't have, grant her forgiveness for a crime that wasn't hers to commit.

Because it's the right thing to do. Because to lie to Ser Ruth is far kinder than anything else you could possibly do to her, short of refusing to make a decision altogether.

There are any number of criticisms of this game that I can accept (I may or may not agree depending on what it is, but I'm from the school of thought that any interpretation can be equally valid as long as there's text that supports it, and no text that contradicts it), but I will always continue to uphold that the Inquisitor is absolutely not- and never was a "chosen one".

They're just as small, and sad, and lost, as all the other protagonists- the only difference is that they didn't need to fight for their mantle, because instead of a symbol of honor, it acted as a straitjacket.

[ephemeralinstance]

It seems to me that seeking to avoid criticism by eliminating grey areas and telling the audience exactly what they are supposed to think about everything is sort of self-defeating, because it actually makes you more vulnerable to criticism. 

The inevitable consequence of having a prescriptive approach to morality is that you are then committed to morally endorsing all of the implications of your story: if you are trying to tell people what to think, then you can be criticized for telling them the wrong things! And if you present something without explicitly condemning it, then in the context of this prescriptive approach to storytelling, you are naturally interpreted as endorsing it. 

Whereas if you write a story which simply presents events and lets characters react to them naturally and does not dictate to the audience what they are supposed to think, then you are not committed to endorsing everything in your story. If you are self-evidently not trying to tell people what to think, you can't be criticized for telling them the wrong things. And though of course there will always be people determined to misunderstand, usually audiences will come to appreciate that the occurrence of an event in your plot does not necessarily indicate approval of it, even if no explicit condemnation is made. 

[mylols16]

i like to think demon summonings are like phone calls in the way that if the demon is busy or just doesn't wanna talk they can just hit ignore to add to that the idea that they cant ignore it and just pop up there whenever someone summons them is also funny like "why do u have a margarita in your hand" "i was at girls night so this better be important" or theyre just about to finish the finale of a show theyve been waiting ages for then suddenly theyre in jeff and friends basement staring at their terrified faces

[johannestevans]

inconvenient lapcat

[riddlemearose]

okay but Muse's comic appearance being a mask/'costume' in Born Again is such a good design choice, and perfectly reflects not only the duality of real-world serial killers, but is also a really good play off of his comic-version's powers.

If Muse is meant to be an uncontrolled void that negates any sensory information about him, making him difficult to perceive, then the choice of him donning a mask is a great interpretation of that.

You're not meant to see Muse. You're not meant to hear him or feel him. He is not meant to exist in any physical way than his 'art'.

But serial killers still exist outside of their murders and their victims. They have regular lives where ordinary people don't know about the blood on their hands.

So, when Muse takes that mask off, he fades into the background. He becomes part of the everyday minutiae; unperceived to be important or relevant by anyone around him.

It's a very good design choice.

[cutekoala1001]

POV: You’ve been drawing for clients all week, and you finally decide to stop and draw something for yourself. Wyd? 👀

Anatomy practice

That present for your brother

Backgrounds

Hands

♡✨BUSTER MOON✨♡

[aliasnz]

there's something about an "excuse me" coming from the person that you would least expect it from that is very ✨️💫✨️

sneeze, sneezing fit, cough, choking, nose blow, throat clear, sniffle -- you never predicted them the type to even acknowledge it, but they do and they do it so dreamily 💖

it shows a side of them that seems so polite and opposite to the character they maintain in all other circumstances, around all other people, that is about as revealing and vulnerable as the display of symptoms itself.

[cripplepunkbarbarian]

I am so glad that the kid spectrals have such normal and caring spirits who will definitely not physically endanger and/or cruelly betray them in the midst of their lives already being destroyed by cults, monsters, and interpersonal drama. It’s so cool and nice 👍

[shitpostingkats]

I want to one day read the og yugioh manga for many reasons, but chief among them is I want to see if my read on the worldbuilding mechanics of how Yugi/Atem's reincarnation works is even remotely supported by canon.

[altarfates]

i don’t want to apologise for it because I’m actually happy and that doesn’t feel like something that needs to be apologized for ?? but it’s been a long time since something has had its claws in me the way pkm does now.

[hexitca]

you know i was just thinking this

why cant they just...make a show just right in the middle of DMC again like 2007 anime? I get that Netflix DMC is taking inspo from DMC3 and whatnot but it looks like they're gonna be just doing their own thing. Im only one episode in but it looks like having certain characters like Enzo and whatnot in their original roles but then have Lady as a cop? (sry i could be wrong bc im 1 episode deep sry sry sry)

but idk as a long time fan I would LOVE a show that is just not really so much an introduction or some AU but a continuation (and obvious the stories would be new but not the universe?)

like 2007 DMC the animation is set between DMC 1 and DMC2 and does a main plot with monster of the week and all that. Why not just do that again but like...right after DMC3 leading up to DMC1? or DMC4 to DMC5? I personally would LOVE to see an exploration of that vs just an adaption/retelling/etc

this isn't a hate post i havent seen enough of the Netflix DMC to form a total opinion but just something i was thinking about. Something for the already fans. And for any new comers just go play the games or watch some lets plays.