#COMING OF AGE/COMING TO TERMS

[humming-fly]

I love how Gerald was trying to keep Shadow from spoiling anything about the future meanwhile literally everything Shadow says and does around Maria is the biggest death flag ever

[bm-beautifulmen-atw]

DANIEL WEBBER, Australian

MILES SZANTO, Hungarian/Australian

[cup-o-stars]

Part four of old GF sketches

The twin thing, Stan and Ford edition

[mellowwillowy]

“RABU”

Original story by @merakiui

So my dumbass didn't reread the fic and forgot Reader was 44 already. So here we are, young and fresh.

Funny story 2, I forgot what Rabu was until I finished all the drafts and realized, “It’s love isn't it??” (right?)

Rabu might not be categorized as my fave (coughs SK series coughs) but the ending makes me think late at night, how many options did Reader have?

So here I am, spawned to speed-run the vision in my head. Azul’s hair is too annoying so I'd rather have Floyb first (even though I really want to see Zuzu smoking). Jade’s route(?) is still vague in my mind so he’s no good as well.

I just love the idea of Papa Leech caring more about his sons, doesn't matter what Jade does, Papa Leech will forever cover his track. In this case, Papa Leech didn't care about Reader’s well-being at all, it was probably something done by Jade anyway. That’s Papa Leech’s love~.

Anyway, as I said in my previous RB, long live the seafood (by Chef Meraki!)

[felassan]

What kind of spirit do you think Felassan waz?

Swag

[reasonsforhope]

African poverty is partly a consequence of energy poverty. In every other continent the vast majority of people have access to electricity. In Africa 600m people, 43% of the total, cannot readily light their homes or charge their phones. And those who nominally have grid electricity find it as reliable as a Scottish summer. More than three-quarters of African firms experience outages; two-fifths say electricity is the main constraint on their business.

If other sub-Saharan African countries had enjoyed power as reliable as South Africa’s from 1995 to 2007, then the continent’s rate of real GDP growth per person would have been two percentage points higher, more than doubling the actual rate, according to one academic paper. Since then South Africa has also had erratic electricity. So-called “load-shedding” is probably the main reason why the economy has shrunk in four of the past eight quarters.

Solar power is increasingly seen as the solution. Last year Africa installed a record amount of photovoltaic (PV) capacity (though this still made up just 1% of the total added worldwide), notes the African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA), a trade group. Globally most solar PV is built by utilities, but in Africa 65% of new capacity over the past two years has come from large firms contracting directly with developers. These deals are part of a decentralised revolution that could be of huge benefit to African economies.

Ground zero for the revolution is South Africa. Last year saw a record number of blackouts imposed by Eskom, the state-run utility, whose dysfunctional coal-fired power stations regularly break down or operate at far below capacity. Fortunately, as load-shedding was peaking, the costs of solar systems were plummeting.

Between 2019 and 2023 the cost of panels fell by 15%, having already declined by almost 90% in the 2010s. Meanwhile battery storage systems now cost about half as much as five years ago. Industrial users pay 20-40% less per unit when buying electricity from private project developers than on the cheapest Eskom tariff.

In the past two calendar years the amount of solar capacity in South Africa rose from 2.8GW to 7.8GW, notes AFSIA, excluding that installed on the roofs of suburban homes. All together South Africa’s solar capacity could now be almost a fifth of that of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations (albeit those still have a higher “capacity factor”, or ability to produce electricity around the clock). The growth of solar is a key reason why there has been less load-shedding in 2024...

Over the past decade the number of startups providing “distributed renewable energy” (DRE) has grown at a clip. Industry estimates suggest that more than 400m Africans get electricity from solar home systems and that more than ten times as many “mini-grids”, most of which use solar, were built in 2016-20 than in the preceding five years. In Kenya DRE firms employ more than six times as many people as the largest utility. In Nigeria they have created almost as many jobs as the oil and gas industry.

“The future is an extremely distributed system to an extent that people haven’t fully grasped,” argues Matthew Tilleard of CrossBoundary Group, a firm whose customers range from large businesses to hitherto unconnected consumers. “It’s going to happen here in Africa first and most consequentially.”

Ignite, which operates in nine African countries, has products that include a basic panel that powers three light bulbs and a phone charger, as well as solar-powered irrigation pumps, stoves and internet routers, and industrial systems. Customers use mobile money to “unlock” a pay-as-you-go meter.

Yariv Cohen, Ignite’s CEO, reckons that the typical $3 per month spent by consumers is less than what they previously paid for kerosene and at phone-charging kiosks. He describes how farmers are more productive because they do not have to get home before dark and children are getting better test scores because they study under bulbs. One family in Rwanda used to keep their two cows in their house because they feared rustlers might come in the dark; now the cattle snooze al fresco under an outside lamp and the family gets more sleep.

...That is one eye-catching aspect of Africa’s solar revolution. But most of the continent is undergoing a more subtle—and significant—experiment in decentralised, commercially driven solar power. It is a trend that could both transform African economies and offer lessons to the rest of the world."

-via The Economist, June 18, 2024. Paragraph breaks added.

[brekkie-e]

Ok. I am all for giving Veilgaurd the space to be it's own game and appreciate it for what it is, but every time I see a person who openly talks about only getting in to dragon age this year or some other nonsense go off about how long term fans hate the game cause they cant handle change I see red.

I mean, to be a Dragon Age fan, you have to be able to accept change. Change is at the core of the experience. Whether that's a good thing or bad thing is a different question. But if you're a long-term fan of the series, you've succeeded in the task of accepting change.

The criticisms of Veilgaurd are, in my opinion, a little unique to the franchise. For all Inquisition tweaked certain lore and it irritated a lot of people- it did so with self-awareness and intention. I am thinking about how it did the Dalish dirty in many respects. For all I do not agree with that writing direction, the game itself atleast acknowledges it is 1. New information. 2. Dependent on the clan. 3. Gives you the room to roleplay your character according to previously established lore. This is just one example, of course.

Veilgaurd is unique in the fact it ignores much of the series pre-established lore and in no way owns up to it.

I have seen a lot of hateful comments about how Origins hasn't been the framework of the series since 2009. And yeah, sure to a degree that is true. The gameplay certainly got tossed out. But in many ways, Dragon Age 2 is a direct continuation of that world and setting. DA2 and Origins and the lore they established are solid and share a vision. Play as a Mahariel and engage with Merril's clan. It's the same world. The same npc's. Inquisition does not deviate that far from that vision when you look past the companions all playing devil's advocate.

I really don't think everyone disappointed with this game or finding it lacking are "blinded by nostalgia." Most Dragon Age fans will be the first ones to tell you the franchise is a mess. But acting like the games that established it as beloved to it's fans are no longer relevant is so nasty to me. You as a newer fan would not be able to play Veilgaurd if the older fans had not made the previous titles financial successes. If they had not kept the love for the series alive, this new game would never have made it out of development.

The game is good. It's enjoyable to play. It's not without its charms. It should be given room to shine for what it is. It's a miracle we have it given the development journey it went on.

But it's also a massive smack in the face to many people who loved all three previous titles. And that's a bad thing. And I hope future titles remember the lore and tone of the series better.

These two things can both be true.

[wheretheresawyll]

Picture it. You spend a year getting ready to confront the Big Bad so you can then get everyone to focus on the whole End of the World thing. The Big Bad has a Second Guy who tells Big Bad they should hire an assassin. Second Guy then hires an Assassin with Big Bad's money to go and kill you. The Assassin fails and is at your mercy. You end up sparing his life. Now he's your friend. You finally confront the Big Bad. You duel. The Big Bad loses and you end up sparing his life. Guess what. Now he's your friend. And then a few months later some guy is in a jail cell because he wanted to assassinate you. Turns out he's Second Guy's son and he wanted to kill you because you killed his dad and he's really upset about it. You end up sparing his life. Now he's your friend. This happened to my good friend, the Warden.

[ww2yaoi]

SIDLECKIE: wild thing

[blusandbirds]

derek and peter hale - the borders

"all for power." "for my family's power to be rightfully inherited by me."

[variksel]

i present to the court this evidence: in the dennis switcharoo episode, where they pretend that ashly burches character "dennis" had been with the s1 daddies for the entire time, the dads call erin in the middle of a discussion. erin pretends that she hates dennis and has beef with him but immideatly confesses to ron that she only pretended to hate him to play hard to get because shes actually really into him.

with this evidence in mind, we must consider who else erin hates but has WICKEDDD sexual chemistry with? glenn. thats right glerin real i yield the remainder of my time

[bookishjules]

i feel so bad for the kids who have known little more than a post-trump america

[bottombaron]

you know, i can handle a little bit of fun "Nandor is dumb" talk, but i have a net-zero tolerance for any implication that Nandor is not educated.

Nandor would have been incredibly educated in his lifetime.

even (or especially) as a soldier in the Islamic World. being a soldier was more like getting sent to boarding school that's also a military camp. they weren't just concerned with creating loyal fodder for war. they were building the next government officials, generals, accountants, advisors, etc. it was important that young men knew how to read, write, speak multiple languages, learn philosophy...sometimes even studying art and music was mandatory.

if he was nobility (and its most likely he was), take all that shit and multiply it exponentially. Nandor would have been reading Plato at the same age most people are still potty training. he would have been specifically groomed in such a way to not be just a brilliant strategist and warrior, but also diplomate and ambassador of literally the center of scientific and cultural excellence of the age.

so like yeah, he can be a big dummy sometimes, sure. but that bitch is probably more educated than any of us will ever be.

[notedchampagne]

wait what ur 22 now omg😭😭 i remember when i was 14 and i admired ur art so much i told myself id draw as well as u when i was 18.. now im 18 lol time is weird. and ur art is still so amazing :’) uve improved so much

this is so kind what in the world!! im happy ive been on tumblr this long honestly its been a great place to archive art progress and growth. keep drawing and creating im whispering motivation over your shoulder in spirit

[silverhalla]

reading someone say “Lucanis would devour her like taking communion” and realizing “ohhh, his guilt is so sexy because he’d be EXTREMELY catholic about it”

[bluerose5]

The thing about my Second Talon AU is that I like the idea of Zevran and Lucanis knowing each other before Veilguard because it's ripe with potential. I'll entertain the idea that Zevran has lost the Warden either due to the Ultimate Sacrifice or due to the Calling at this point. He lost someone who was either his closest friend or quite possibly his love interest, reader's choice on these options because I could work with it either way. Then, he returns to the Crows when Antiva faces the threat of a potential Qunari invasion. He doesn't return with the intent of "reforming" them for their own benefit, but he returns because they're essentially Antiva's defense system, and if Antiva stands a chance at weathering this storm, then her Crows need to be strong. When all else has been lost to him, he is Antivan first and foremost, and he cannot stand idly by to watch her fall to ruin. Even if that means he must return to his gilded cage in order to protect his home from within, then he shall. Maybe after all of this has been dealt with, he'll return to his life on the run. Maybe not, but he has to do something.

Befriending Lucanis isn't something he expects, but he's curious about him. He has privileges as a Crow that Zevran could only dream about growing up, but there's something different about him compared to some of the others, which is reflected in the company he keeps. It's no surprise that he finds allies in Teia and Viago, because all three of them stand out in the fact that they care. For Antiva. For her people. They're good at their jobs. They accept their roles as Crows, but they extend that role as a duty to protect their home from any threat, both outside and within.

So, Zevran meets Lucanis, the First Talon's grandson, and while this rich boy can come across as a little out of touch with your everyday Antivan at times, Zevran is more than happy to remind him who and what they're fighting for, just as Lucanis is ready to remind him that it's okay to be selfish and have someone care about him and his needs for a change. They spend time together over the years from the moment Zevran takes charge after Guili Arainai's death, and they grow close, often raising questions from others about Zevran's motives, which Lucanis tries his best to brush off. Nothing really happens romantically between them until the last year or two before Lucanis gets imprisoned, but even that is more of a "will they, won't they" dynamic than anything actually occurring between them. They're okay with being just friends, but the potential for more is very much there. Of course there is some uncertainty for both, Lucanis and his inexperience, Zevran and his history of loss when he allows others that close (Rinna, Taliesen, the Warden).

But then the chance is gone. Lucanis is imprisoned in the Ossuary. Zevran spends day after day trying to search for answers, but nothing ever comes from it. To tie in Zevran in the role of Rook, Varric finds him at that point. He's trying to hunt down Solas, and Bela passed along his name. Said that he would be the perfect person to help him find him. That his history with the Hero of Ferelden and the Crows could prepare him for almost anything they face. Thinking about what the Warden would do in his situation, Zevran leaves his second-in-command in charge, and sets out with Varric.

That's not even getting into the relief of Zevran finding Lucanis. The situation with Spite. All of the unresolved feelings between them, and the fact that Lucanis gets to experience that same loss that Zevran felt when Zevran eventually gets trapped within the Regret Prison for weeks.