#FREE MEEE!!!!!

[mythalism]

blah blah thinking about the popular rebuttal to complaints about veilguard's politics being "bioware was never leftist so you shouldnt have expected veilguard to be" which is... interesting.

true, of course. the expectation part i disagree with but thats not what ive been thinking about. im thinking about what made it feel so different to the very similar centrism of da:i. and maybe someone who didnt black out the entirety of veilguard as a cognitive protective mechanism can speak to the specifics but i think ive settled on it being that da:i is undoubtedly neoliberal and centrist just like da:o and da2 before it but despite their clear framing and limitations there was always the encouragement to think and the freedom to do things that the game might condemn narratively as "too radical" but you could at least do them. or say them.

this erodes by the time you get to da:i but in veilguard its absent completely. like making leliana divine or putting briala on the throne, for example. the game presents these options in a very neoliberal and centrist way. the un-softened leliana divine epilogue slide features much of the "radical violence bad!!!!! bad choice!!!!" connotation that all of veilguard has. but you can still do it. briala has incredibly limited power as gaspard's puppetmaster and her epilogue slide similarly slaps the player on the wrist for behaving so radically by putting *gasp* an elf in power resulting in Bad Disruptive Uprisings throughout orlais. but you can do it. hawke can spare anders and let him go. again, the game slaps you on the wrist via character disapproval and the fact he becomes a wandering hermit or whatever the fuck but. you can still let him go. in origins you can make shianni bann and the consequences are disgusting and horrible and writing it that way is literally sickening, but the game lets you do it. origins lets you do a lot of buck wild shit, some decisions less real-world politically coded than others, but you get to DO IT. even if the game and its writers scold you afterwords for getting too disruptive. YOU CAN STILL DO IT.

and this goes the other way too. there is a reason people like greg ellis had a home with dragon age for so many years and his beliefs were able to go under the radar for so long. there is a reason transphobic gamerbros love origins. there is a reason there was backlash to da2's rampant bisexuality. because dragon age let you be leftist about as much as it let you be a racist misogynistic asshole. you can do horrible things in these games. you can quite literally sell people into slavery. templar aligned hawke lets the kirkwall circle get annulled and becomes viscount as a reward for their loyalty. the inquisitor can just execute literally everyone they judge. now, i'll be the first to say that a lot of those options are not nearly narratively condemned enough. bioware has fumbled many a topic in their misunderstood pursuit of "grey morality" that leads them to feel the need to morally equalize situations of clear, unambiguous injustice (cough mage templar war cough). in fact, decisions like sparing anders are often far more clearly narratively punished than things like giving fenris back to danarius, (which kind of just blows over after some approval loss???) and in my opinion that is a writing flaw. i do think RPG games should have choice, and allow players to be evil, but i also think that writers have a responsibility for the message their writing sends to the world. some decisions in dragon age are well-handled. many others recreate and reflect real life racism or misogyny or islamophobia, and reveal the writer's bias against real-life groups of people or political movements. this is the risk of writing stories like these.

but veilguard does not let you do anything. in either direction. ive been calling it a "thought-terminating fantasy cliche" because... it really is thought-terminating. you are not supposed to think about alternatives that may be too radical in the writer's eyes (what if i let anders go instead of face the justice [haha] the game clearly thinks he deserves? what if i install an elvhen puppetmaster on the orlesian throne despite all of my advisors recommendations? what if i support the murder-pope in reforming the chantry through violence and bloodshed?). veilguard has..... what if i save this city over that one? the only one i can think of is saving isseya. are there any others? genuine question. theres nothing to decide and therefore there is nothing to think about. you dont get to think of possibilities past the narrow centrist path presented to you. you dont get to think about an end for solas that doesnt end in jail. you dont get to think about who becomes tevinter's archon and what policies you might like to see them have. you dont make choices between major factions based on ideological and/or practical differences like recruiting mages vs templars. you barely even get to decide anything for the characters, half of the choices are purely cosmetic.

like i feel like theres something to be said for having the choice even if the overall narrative still condemns it. the writer's bias leaks in to the world's reactions to your decisions but you are still allowed to make them. i always intentionally leave leliana hardened because i think radical insane murder-pope who diversifies the church through ASSASSINATION is based. i dont give a fuck if david g/aider thinks its too crazy and tells me so in a thinly veiled epilogue slide reprimand about "the consequences of my actions". idgaf! 1. its a video game and 2. idc what he thinks.

and yes, nothing ever actually changes. dragon age has never allowed you to make radical change within its world even with the decisions that brush up on the possibility. but you can still be someone who believes in the possibility. you can play a mahariel who hates humans and poisons the ashes of their prophet because why should they care when they stole everything from the elves first? you can play a blood-mage circle-abolitionist anders-apologist hawke doing their best to survive in a city where survival and self-preservation sometimes forces them to act against their values. you can play a lavellan inquisitor who refuses to believe in andraste or the maker, advocates for elvhen liberation, and installs an elf on the orlesian thrown despite being forced into the role of figurehead for a religious empire. sure, you cant really actually do anything for the elves, but you can be someone who believes that change should happen. its not perfect. its certainly not some radical revolutionary fantasy nor does literally anyone expect it to be and when people say that its always in bad faith.

bioware has always been canadian liberal centrists and so have their games. but they used to let you get a little fun and crazy and then just reprimand you via epilogue slides or retcons in later games that we all just got to complain about online. but veilguard forces you to roleplay someone else's ideology; a boring centrist status quo loving fantasy with no opportunity to do something different. elven rooks cannot question dorian on tevinter slavery like elven inquisitors could. rook cannot ask lucanis about the child recruitment practices of the crows the way the warden could to zevran. rook cannot ask davrin about the warden's pressure into conscription, joinging and eventual calling the way the warden could alistair or hawke can to anders in legacy. you cannot ask about alternatives or question a single authority or character of any kind. you cannot voice dissent. the dialogue option does not exist. what was once a slap on the wrist in previous titles has become reactionary and preemptive. you wont get slapped on the wrist in the first place because you're stuck in a boring, empty room for after-school detention, railroaded into "good" behavior and confined to one path so you cant get into any trouble on your own. thought-terminating fantasy cliche. it didnt need to be some insane groundbreaking revolutionary work of marxism or whatever the fuck hyperbolic nonsense people are trying to straw-man the criticism into to disprove it as unreasonable. it needed to not advertise itself as an RPG and then force me to roleplay white canadian millenial neoliberal afraid of getting canceled on twitter simulator 4.0 because if i knew thats what i was signing up for i would have respectfully declined and saved my $70 on something that doesnt condescend to me for enjoying bald war criminals and stories about revolution

[xiaeom]

i miss the original obey me game so much...

super secret alt version (i hate it but the pose doesnt make sense without it)

[brightestcritter]

a cute little thing i noticed is golden experiences helmet resembles giornos past self or well harunos bowl cut!!

and GERs head shape resembles the hair giogio has now!! spiky and free...

[faeriecoma]

[saetiate]

cora! this event is such a cute idea :’) humbly requesting temperance with rin itoshi please. gn reader is fine!

itoshi rin x reader (gender neutral), wound-tending, fluff wc: 0.5k ❥ valentines event (requests still open!), co-written with @venustrvck a/n: AAAH i feel so nervous u r the first req i'm posting :')) THANK YOU SM for participating friend !!!

There's blood. More blood than he thought, down his face, down the sink. It trickles down the curve of white porcelain and coalesces at the bottom; rivers of blood conjoining into a lake.

There's a knock at the door. "Rin."

He ignores it. Who would want their partner to see them like this? Bleeding out his nose and his cheek. Weak, Sae would say. Lukewarm.

"If you don't open this door," the white lacquered wood separates you, a barrier he's put up on purpose, muffling your voice. "I'm going to break the door down."

Rin snorts. Like that's about to happen. He draws a stinging line down his cheek as he slides an alcohol-soaked cotton across the cut.

"You think I can't do it? Haven't you seen those videos where babies get stuck under cars and the mothers lift the car?"

The door swings open, his long arm catching it at the edge. Rin's hair is in his face, bangs clinging to his forehead with sweat. He's giving you the worst side-eye, bright blue shining in slits from behind his strands under the unforgiving bathroom light. "I'm not your baby."

You step into his space, too close for his comfort, not close enough for his needs. Let yourself into this part of him that he's been trying to hide from you. "You might as well be."

Rin busies himself with his reflection, making every attempt to ignore you, ignore the unfurling shame in his gut, despite your concerned face creeping through his side-view.

"How bad is it?"

Rin doesn't answer. You cup the uncut side of his face with one hand.

"I'm here for you. You can show me."

Warm hands enclose his own as you gingerly grasp the cotton pad; you take it away with gentle fingers. He doesn't turn. He doesn't look at you. Your voice turns into something gentle. "Let me do this for you."

He wants to hide. Wants to run away. That furrowed space between your brows is the last thing he wants to see. He can't do either of those things, so he closes his eyes.

And then all he knows is your warmth, your body pressed against his. There's the sound of shuffling, and a new, cool alcohol-dipped cotton ball is pressed to his cheek. He wants to hiss at the contact, but he bites the inside of his cheek instead. He's shown enough weakness to you today.

"It's okay, Rin." You say it almost knowingly, your hand moves to the back of his neck, bringing him down so you can better reach. "There's nothing wrong with letting someone else take care of you."

You think he mumbles your name.

"It's me, isn't it?" You're so close to him that your nose brushes against his. The cotton pad moves down over the abrasion on his jaw, clearing away the grime and leaving rough, red skin in its wake.

"It's just me, so you can show me if it hurts. No one else has to know."

It's like a cleansing of sorts, his body relaxing against the counter, leaning his face into your hands. A cleansing from the situation, from all the times he wasn't able to say what he needed. Don't you know that there are those who would take without remorse, what you give to him so freely?

This time, when you press against his wound, his hand tightens where it holds your waist.

[monhiio]

"Leave. I want to be alone."

"Please don't make me"

"I wont repeat myself."

"At least look me in the eyes when you send me away. Your Highness."

[eggsdrawings]

Can you do ShinDeku (Hitoshi X Izuku) it's my favorite ship in the mha fandom!

i had a little free time

[hood-ex]

Will I ever get over this moment? No. But life goes on. Not for me.

Batman vs. Robin #3

[jellyaibo]

HOORAY! my stickers are neow on ko-fi ^_^ come and get some while supplies last!!!!!!!

[thebatsandthebugs]

Dickkori truthers before u get mad about them being so sidelined consider: Tom Taylor hasn’t had the chance to happify ur faves

[oy--with-the-poodles-already]

I got this message while in an attack with a shadowguy, wondered if anyone else had noticed it. It’s the first battle in act 1 of the game show. This battle had been going on for a long time, so maybe that had something to do with it?

[divinit3a]

finally went ahead and made a ref of their outfit for my own sanity while writing/drawing-- (not color accurate, but for the vibes)

for "just keep playing along" :D ! ! !

[cementcornfield]

explicit rpf stuff below the cut! move on if that’s not your thing :) 

so i hope we all saw the post fifi posted this morning where ja’marr says he doesn’t even LIKE ufc, that it’s too bloody and violent (lmaoooo) despite saying that he watches it with joe sometimes and despite joe LOVING it. (and despite like...play fighting ufc stuff with joe 🫠) and of course i’ve gotta read into this Way Too Deeply :) (along with a few other Likeminded Correct Mutuals) 

and it’s like…i’m obsesseddddd with the idea of ja’marr 'cries during sex' chase and joe ‘loves to get hit in ANY circumstance’ burrow being together and just having the seemingly most incompatible sexual tastes 🥲 like the first few times they’re just not on the same page at all 😭😭

but!! they love each other! and it’s not like it’s the first time they’ve had different tastes and perspectives on things, but like joe said a few weeks ago, they’ve grown together as humans and they’ll continue to do so! plus they both LOVE a challenge (and challenging each other even more so!) 

so maybe ja’marr’s never liked it particularly rough (certainly not as rough as joe likes it!) but maybe he learns to appreciate how big his hands look around joe’s neck and wrists, the thrill he gets when joe’s leaner frame can still manhandle and shove him around to get him where he wants him, the joy of the struggle, slipping out of each others’ grasps like breaking tackles, using their body weight to keep each other still, pushing himself to his limit, pushing joe to his, like it’s a throwing session, like it’s a game! the incredible amount of TRUST inherent in all of it. and maybe that last part is what gets his emotional ass the most <3 

and maybe joe’s never been that into sweet, gentle sex (or at least he’s never really let himself, with his complicated feelings about what’s considered “manly”). but maybe he realizes that it’s okay with ja’marr, the trust coming into play again (because who does he trust more in this world? at this point??) and it’s more than okay actually, sex that lets you rest in a way, lets you just be. gentle touches, reverent kisses, looking into each others eyes. seeing the emotion there and letting yourself get overcome by it. experiencing an emotional release that he neverrrr lets himself feel (thinking of him sobbing during his heisman speech lol, and afterwards saying it’s the most he’s EVER cried!!) Slow, overwhelming, torturous in its own way really, looking into someone’s eyes with no way to hide everything he’s feeling, all of that vulnerability and trusting someone to take care of you in that moment, trusting yourself to take care of them right back!! 

and honestly yeah, i just think that’s Fun. to think about 🙂 both of them exploring these different parts of themselves and different ways to Be with each other. maybe one night it’s more focused on one end of the spectrum than the other, maybe a bit of both when they’re feeling Ambitious. 

(but also lol let’s be real, the vast majority of the year - i.e. in season, i imagine the sex is mostly just quick sloppy blowjobs and handjobs and then they pass out from exhaustion. because of the whole professional athlete thing 🥲 and that’s hot too actually!!) 

[artbyfuji]

Rosebird Week Day 6: First & Last Kiss 🥀

"The Lovers II" - Rene Magritte (1928)

[furryamoeba]

furryamoeba try not to hyperfixate on random ass things challenge IMPOSSIBLE! anywyas go my Generation 1 exclusive Pokemon NPC

[mourning-at-night]

IF IT (the fabricated nature of the reality you’ve been sucked into/the creeping realization you should be somewhere and someone much worse) SUCKS, HIT DA BRICKS!!