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i think all the best sci-fi is the sci-fi that looks dirty and lived in. like yeah we could have space travel and lasers but people are still gonna leave dirty cups by the side of their sleep pod and get weird alien mud stuck on their boots and put off fixing that faulty light on the lower deck of the spaceship. its relatable. its humanizing.

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Concept art by Claire Keane from The Art of Tangled

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if a character means enough to me i will truly never stop thinking about them. i just retire them into a little back room in my brain and periodically bring them out to stare at them under a little light

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don't be fooled. disney wants your money, not to honor their best stories. don't watch the live action lilo and stitch. don't pay to be fed garbage. you are smarter than that. leave the gum on the ground and keep walking. force them to get good.

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pet him

gently.

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It’d BETTER be the pollen

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"Holding."

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Peebee ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

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Do you think she’d like Lana del Rey.

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I really like her

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All this talk about companions in Veilguard not having a lot of direct reactivity to things that Rook is going through, made me think of Andromeda and that fantastic conversation on the Tempest you get with the love interest right before the final confrontation.

I don’t know how many of you experienced this, but if you don’t romance anyone Cora is the one that comes to check on Ryder and I have no words to describe how strongly that scene landed. Cora, the one Ryder has been indirectly and involuntarily competing with because she was, by right, the second in command to their father. Cora, who’s been struggling with it as much as you - it just… it felt so fulfilling. It felt so organic and rewarding and it spoke of the crew seeing and caring about Ryder.

Cora: I saw what happened out there.

Ryder: (trying to deflect) Waste of a good speech if you didn’t.

Cora: Not that, and you know it. Using remnant without S.A.M hurts you. A lot.

Ryder: Believe me I know. But… it has inspired everyone. We have a shot.

Cora: Everything or nothing. We keep making that deal. Maybe you can raise a fleet and make a bunch of explorers act like soldiers for a day. I only know one thing: We CAN’T bury another Pathfinder.

Ryder: We’ll always be standing at the end, I promise.

Cora: Ryder… I’ll hold you to that.

I will always defend Andromeda. It had SUCH a strong premise for a trilogy and it will always be dear to me.

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I'd loveee a fantasy setting where healing magic is unstable!!!

Archer missing shots because their finger calluses are gone.

Warrior struggling to intimidate the enemy because their hoarse voice was made softer.

Mage with fresh eyesight blinded by their own spells.

Unable to remove enchanted piercing jewellery because the piercing holes aren't there anymore.

Magical tattoos dripping off the skin.

Sensory overload from better hearing, eyesight, smell, touch, and taste.

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Visual development for Treasure Planet by Peter Clarke

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I think there's something to be said about this line and Danse's worldview during his tenure in the Brotherhood.

He's someone who was promoted to Paladin under Elder Lyons. Paladins are held to a much higher standard than Knights regarding ethics and conduct. Elder Lyons shifted the East Coast Brotherhood away from preserving technology and more towards actually helping the people of the Capital Wasteland. Danse has shown that he does, in fact, care very much about humanity, and this was probably what made him stand out and be promoted under Lyons. The Brotherhood may not have been perfect, but their cause under Lyons was noble.

There's no reason to think Danse joined the Outcasts who split due to ideological differences with Elder Lyons. He was on his own mission as a Paladin elsewhere when the assault on Adams Air Force Base happened and Kreig (his mentor) was killed. Danse most likely genuinely believed in the Brotherhood's mission under Lyons.

Once Maxson became Elder, the priorities of the East Coast Brotherhood shifted more in line with the West Coast's BoS in preserving (hoarding) technology. This is what helped Maxson broker a peace with the Outcasts. Because of this, the Brotherhood took a much harder stance not just on technology but also on civilians. They're not a charitable organization anymore.

This was probably a difficult transition for Danse. He probably still very much wanted to believe in the Brotherhood's mission, but he still needed to be convinced. Maxson and those aligned with him justified their stance by amping up the strong man rhetoric while doubling down on getting technology out of the hands of the people. Danse reluctantly took to it. What else could he do? Maxson was the Elder now. For him it was the same Brotherhood as before. He wanted to believe in the Brotherhood so he chose to believe in Maxson.

Danse still clings to an outdated version of the Brotherhood. He knows the BoS is capable of immense good because he's seen it. He's one of the old guard who remembers what it was like under Lyons. The problem is it's not the same Brotherhood anymore.

The thing about Danse is, as much as he tries, he's not a true believer. He'd probably never admit it, but he's not loyal to Maxson. He's loyal to the Brotherhood. Unfortunately, with Maxson's cult of personality, Maxson IS the Brotherhood of Steel. Some of the indoctrination did slip through and took hold of Danse, make no mistake. But every once in a while, that little bit of doubt creeps up.

The first instance is when he tells the Sole Survivor about Cutler. If you tell him he did the right thing putting Cutler down, Danse says it's what he was taught. He doesn't know if it was right. If you walk through the Prydwen with Danse as a companion, he expresses his discomfort with having children aboard an active war vessel but concedes, saying Maxson thinks it's important to train them under fire. (Siding with the Institute or the Railroad more or less proves him right for being concerned.)

Make no mistake, Danse bought into the rhetoric because he wanted to. His biggest character flaw is that while he has a very strong personal code of ethics and strives to be an honorable person, he still chooses to go along with the Brotherhood even when he doesn't agree with it or knows it's wrong. While I think he'd still hold the same prejudices towards synths and ghouls outside of the Brotherhood, it probably wouldn't be any more than any other (presumably) human wastelander would have. It certainly became more pronounced because of the Brotherhood. (This isn't to excuse it, but more to illustrate the effect that indoctrination has had on him)

By remaining loyal to the Brotherhood above all else, he's betrayed his own ethics. He's become a hypocrite. Danse is a very good example of the phrase “you are the company you keep”. You can have your principles, but when it's attached to an organization that does bad things, it ultimately reflects back on you.

There's probably a part of Danse is very jaded under Elder Maxson. There have probably been several instances over the years where his personal morals were at odds with Maxson's orders and he chose to follow orders every time. During Blind Betrayal Danse says “After all I've done for the Brotherhood... all the blood I've spilled in our name, how can you say that about me?” I can't help but wonder if Danse has regrets.

So when he mentions the lion being a noble and majestic creature, it's a shame they're extinct, I almost wonder if that's Danse expressing his own disillusionment. Seeing a lion reminds him of the previous Elder and a time when the Brotherhood was a force for good. Too bad that doesn't exist anymore.

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They gave Paladin Danse ridiculously big puppy dog eyes to distract you from the fact he says 'Ad Victorium' after sleeping with you

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Mount Rainier, Washington (by Protik Hossain)

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I checked on your brother — still no change. But if you can pull through, so can he. A bit of your dad in both of you.