#I mean I think I've been clear enough with the choice of posts i reblog abt this but yeah. official statement i guess.

[gayvampcentral]

I've seen a lot of posts (and reblogged/queued a few as you might've seen) abt the HP game recently which I'm assuming means it dropped? Anyway I don't want to put this in the tags of posts by jewish people as I don't want to add onto those even in tag form as a gentile and reblogging someone else's post that says to unfollow me if you support the game doesn't feel direct enough, so I'm making my own post for it:

Please unfollow/block me if you plan on playing this game.

Yes, pirating counts. I don't want you here. If you don't care about the safety of jewish people enough to do the bare minimum of not fucking playing this game then I'm begging you to reevaluate. If you still are into HP in the year 2023 then I don't know how to help you.

Hating nazis and terfs is not enough. You have to love transfem and jewish people more than you claim to hate their oppressors and that starts with shit like this. So once again: If you plan on playing this game because you still can't let go of a franchise the support of which directly harms the people you think you care about then never talk to or interact with me again please.

[oldguardleatherdog]

OLD MACDONALD BOUGHT THE FARM: "Barking and meowing" by students is being banned in a hysterical panic by another ignorant Florida school board. How long are we gonna put up with this insidious nonsense?

I've had it. These nutcases are about to regulate onomatopoeia in elementary school. Don't laugh - it's hiding something ominous, and it's deliberate.

First: If you're in the furry fandom - as I've been for 26 years (longer than the average fur has been alive these days) - TAKE THIS SHIT SERIOUSLY.

If they're actually banning K-12 school age kids from wearing anything animal-themed (yeah, it's that broad) and restricting the sounds they can utter for Christ's sake, you can be sure that the wild-eyed crazeballs chick who runs LibsOfTikTok and singlehandedly caused the wave of library closings over the mere existence of LGBTQ+ characters in books - to the extent that the State of Missouri legislature has defunded the entire statewide public library system! - already has her sights trained on Midwest FurFest, and the lunatics who closed down Boston Children's Hospital with bomb threats are already booking flights to bring the Nazis-with-guns to every furry convention in America by the end of this year, AND IF YOU DON'T GET WITH THE PROGRAM THEY'RE GOING TO BLOW YOUR oWo uWu ASSES OFF!

Enough dicking around, my fellow furballs. You know what to do.

Here's what I posted to Reddit last night - piss-poor metrics for my posts about the Wile E. Coyote anvils over our heads, but my groaners in the r/3amjokes and r/dadjokes subs get 35,000 views. Go figure.

In the meantime, read, heed, and reblog like your life depends on it, because it does:

---

You may laugh at first glance, or shake your head at "Florida again" - but it's a stalking horse for their next milestone: banning student behavior and appearance that to the MAGAs and right-wing nut jobs carries even a *hint* of LGBTQ+, and then - say it with me -

Identifying students who are mature enough to have come out as LGBTQ+ fully or in part (friends, family); those who are known to be "questioning" and on their way to coming out; those who are beginning to identify as other than heterosexual or show "tendencies" or "predelictions", and students too young to be self-aware in those ways but are seen as suspect by teachers and administrators - and then, gradually at first, then quickly and deliberately separating, isolating, and ultimately barring them from access to public education.

Kentucky has said it out loud just this week, clearly, plainly, with no room for ambiguity: "It's time to eliminate 'transes' from our schools."

If you're still on the fence about getting involved with activism and protests to put this movement down for good before it becomes too big to stop - and we still have time to stop it and crush it - do you think they'll stop after just banning kids?

You don't need to have psychic powers or a crystal ball to see what's heading our way. Soon.

You can choose to do nothing - or you can choose to act. One or the other. Simple, plain, clear.

Joni Mitchell once sang, "it all comes down to you," and she was right, of course, but if you listened closely, her meaning was clear then, and applies now - one choice will save you, the other will not.

Only one of these choices has the potential to turn the tide, the clearly visible, quickening, rising tide that's got crazy Jesus in its eyes and a list with your name on it.

I cannot choose for you, of course. No one can.

Last time I looked, this was still a free country.

But if you do not make the right choice - *you*, Constant Stranger, she sang - no one will be able to save you, or us. And the choice is upon us, sooner than we thought, and now.

Time to choose.

[o-uncle-newt]

On the Job minisode and Good Omens as a work on religion

(Note: This was originally a reblog of someone who then expressed that they were unhappy that I reblogged their post. As a courtesy I have reposted it as its own thing- for context, the person was upset that Neil Gaiman's take on religion was stale and said that of course if you have only a surface view of the Torah and the book of Job you'd come away with these kinds of negative impressions.)

I went to Orthodox Jewish day school for thirteen years. I thought the Job minisode was fine, as an adaptation of the story. Not breaking any ground theologically or whatever, but fine. (Though they did definitely get the number of Job's kids wrong, presumably for narrative simplicity, and the shoemaker joke doesn't work because he's really Bildad the ShuCHite.)

And, I mean, I don't think it should be MEANT to be anything but fine...? Good Omens is a fantasy novel in which heaven and hell are both the bad guys- Good Omens the show has basically kept in that model. The whole thing is about a simplistic look at the Christian Bible and a kind of cynical but light hearted agnosticism that doesn't really lend itself particularly to sophisticated religious analysis or whatever. It's not meant for that.*

The Job minisode was written by John Finnemore rather than Gaiman, a writer of whom I am a massive fan and, however, to whom I don't really look for sophisticated religious takes. He's done a Bible/religion sketch or two on his sketch show- I don't particularly love them, they're pretty surfacey- and he's self aware enough to make it very clear that he approaches everything from an "I don't believe in God but I grew up in a Christian country" perspective. (He's a lot more honest about that than a lot of other atheist/agnostic writers I've seen who do takes on religion, incidentally... so many people think they're being "objective" or whatever.)

The thing is, I actually really love the Job minisode as a Good Omens story, working within this complete fantasy world. I was disappointed in a lot of S2 but this felt like the characters, this felt like an interesting meditation on their roles and their choices... I don't know, it just really worked for me.

And I feel like part of the point is to pick one of those "well obviously on the surface this looks a bit fucked up" stories (rather than for there to be an implication that they're the only ones who noticed)- because they're working in a fictional universe in which it's been established since the nineties that heaven/God is at least a bit fucked up (no matter what I as a Jew may personally believe) and so they can just take it and run with it without having to explain! Gaiman did the same thing in S1 with the Garden of Eden and the Ark. It's just a canvas to put an Aziraphale/Crowley plot on. The original book is a Book of Revelations satire!

Honestly, I'm happier to have a pretty basic retelling of a story that's obviously fucked up on the surface, rather than them picking some midrash or something that's more subtle and nuanced and super Jewish-y and then turning it into something about how God or the angels or the demons are bad- partly because Jewish angel/demon stuff doesn't map well onto Good Omens's approach, and also because the whole point of the book from the start has been critical of organized Judeo-Christian (yes I know) religion writ large, and that's not going to change. That was weird for me to get used to as an Orthodox Jewish teen in a Bais Yaakov school when I first read it, but getting past it made me realize that all that meant was that they'd created a Biblical fantasy universe with certain tropes in it.

I think the Job minisode works perfectly well within that particular Biblical fantasy universe, and while I think that you can potentially criticize S1 (and in a slightly different way, the book) for that Biblical satire/fantasy not being particularly sophisticated about religion if that's something important to you, I don't think that it being sophisticated about religion would have improved it as a story.

*I did kinda sorta write a fic that tries to cast Aziraphale and Crowley in a more traditionally Jewish lens and... it was actually really hard. As I said above, the way the Good Omens world is set up doesn't really work for the Jewish thing. I had to make it really clear that angels don't have free will and that Heaven and Hell aren't two different sides.

[retirement-home-rumble]

just caught up on this tournament and I do want to say that you definitely are biased towards that one tie bc you reblogged the post multiple times saying you wanted a tie; so it’s not just tagging it “in this house we love tiesweeps” that makes people think you’re biased. also people saying “it’s not that serious, it’s just a tumblr bracket” goes both ways - like if it’s not that serious and we’re all just having fun then why should anyone care that the votes actually say it should NOT be a tie? like, weren’t you pretty “seriously” invested in this specific poll being a tie, enough to make an exception to the existing rule?

at the same time it literally would have been at most two votes that decided it (sorry to the other anon but their math was wrong). only 968 or 969 out of 1896 would show up as 51.1%. and while I am not in favor of tiesweeping it personally, it is your poll and you should do what you want & what makes you happy. but if you have thousands of people voting in these polls then you have to expect that a decent number of them might be upset if you do make that choice rather than following the rules.

I mean as to your first point, I reblog all propaganda I see, no matter what side it's for. Sure I miss some, but I try my best to get all of them. So along that same vein, if a post gets a lot of propaganda, of course I'm gonna be reblogging it a lot. It just so happened that most of the propaganda that one was getting was for a tie. If there had been tons of people reblogging it with anti tie propaganda, then I would have been reblogging that just as much.

Also, as to me saying I wanted it to tie: I have literally stated that I want as many polls to tie as we can. I also reblog all polls that are close to a tie when it's down to the last few hours, just to give people the chance to tie it if they want.

So combine those two points together, and it just happened to be that after I reblogged that post with the last call for a tie, that it got reblogged a lot by others. So of course I would then reblog their propaganda. And since it's been stated that I'm biased towards all ties, I don't think it's exactly fair to say I was biased specifically towards this one tie. Like if any others were close enough, I would have been just as invested.

Idk. I guess I just don't get people acting like I'm not allowed to be invested in and have fun rooting in my own tournament? When I make it perfectly clear that I love ties, maybe don't act surprised when I get excited about a potential tie?

Even then, I wouldn't have even said anything if it wasn't, as admitted by you, decided by less than 2 votes. I understand that some people could be upset by this, but it was a weird situation and it's impossible to please everyone.

I put out that second poll to try to make it as fair as possible. I've also been trying to share both sides of this (posting asks with people explaining their opinions about it and reblogging the propaganda against the tie) so that everyone can make their own choice. Yes I said I personally would like them to tie, but I didn't force anyone to vote. Everyone has their own agency here. I said I would honor the results of that poll, and people have voted for them to be allowed to tie.

Anyway, sorry for the long rambling answer. This whole situation has just been a bit exhausting and I really don't want to lose interest in this blog because, before this, I was having the most fun I'd had in forever. I felt like I actually had a purpose.

[danceswithdarkspawn]

You've got me interested in Dragon Age with all the content you post or reblog, but I've been a bit curious about the actual gameplay itself. Can you tell me about some of your favorite portions from the game series?

First of all I'm flattered you decided to come to me, the backwater dumbass that lives in a ramshackle hut and yells at the sky about this godforsaken franchise. There are probably far better people to ask this question. I hope you are okay. Second, I meant to get around to answering this a few days ago, I Forgor. Third, buckle up, it's Dinosaur Post all over again but extremely long.

I'm going to split this up into the actual, technical gameplay bits and the other stuff because both of these play a role in why I like or dislike certain aspects of all three games. Also, I will be including some things I don't like or didn't work for me, but that's a small portion. I'll label each part so you can skip to whichever section.

To preface: Dragon Age: Origins was THE game (along with Skyrim) that got me away from MMOs and into single-player RPG games. DAO will always be special to me because of that and thus I have some bias towards it. Because I can't do anything in short-form, this is long as hell, and contains my thoughts on each game.

Before we begin: GIANT DISCLAIMER that these are my opinions, not fact. I love these games despite their many flaws, and if I didn't want them to be better, I would not be critical of them.

I will not be going over any of the DLCs because frankly there are a lot of them, but in my opinion, all the DLCs for all the games are excellent additions to the base games they belong to.

The Technical Gameplay Stuff

General:

All of the combat in Dragon Age plays out something like this: You have your party of up to 4 consisting of your Player Character (PC) and three other companions who you recruit at different points in the story. You can choose to fill out your party (meaning you have the max of 4) or you can go solo, bring only one companion, etc. You control one character at a time while the game controls the rest, but you can freely swap between characters, pause mid-combat, move your camera around the battle, and give direct commands to individual party members that will execute when unpaused. Combat is persistent, not turn-based, and will only end if all enemies are killed or the player gets far enough away to disengage battle.

Each game also has their own 'tactics' system that dictates what other members of your party do in certain situations when not controlled by you

Dragon Age has a condensed classical RPG class setup consisting of Warriors, Mages and Rogues. There are subclasses of these (known as Specializations, which unlock stat bonuses, new skills and passives). Each class has unique advantages that encourage you to have at least one of each in your party. This is especially true of Inquisition with obstacles which can only be cleared by certain classes.

Furthermore, Origins was a little more flexible in its class choices because a: weapons and armor were not restricted by class, but by stat investments and b: warriors have access to all weapon talents (two-handed, sword and shield, dual wield and bow) while rogues only have talents for dual wield and bow.

Following Origins, weapons and armor types are restricted by class.

Dragon Age: Origins/Awakening:

DAO's combat is fairly slow and a bit clunky and perhaps dated, but I think that's the charm of it. As far as how interactive the combat is, DAO is the least interactive of the three games. That does not mean you can let the battles play out on their own, especially if you're playing harder difficulties. You will still need to do some tactical positioning, switching characters, using items, etc. But DAO does not require you to hold down a button to perform basic attacks on your controlled character. You simply select your target and start attacking it, and activate skills as you see fit. What i mean by 'least interactive' is that, compared to the other two games, you'll be doing less actions per minute most of the time.

For me, the typical combat gameplay loop for Origins is something like this:

combat starts, pause game, move party as necessary, unpause

mage controller AOE paralyze largest cluster and/or stunlock the most dangerous enemy

warriors to largest cluster > tank AOE taunt, melee DPS AOE/Stun

ranged DPS target ranged enemies; intercept with warriors/melee characters as necessary; dual wield rogues with max stealth can also be sent to kill enemies in the back, or flank at largest cluster and AOE/stun spam

pause to adjust as necessary (heal, use items, reapply crowd control)

Your options early in the game will be limited, as AOE taunt and mass paralyze require a few levelups and stat investments to unlock. In the early game, you'll be using single-target stuns, knockbacks, etc to keep the battle under control. Luckily, each class has access to a stun early on. The Mabari hound is also great to bring along for an early-game AOE stun if you're struggling.

You'll need to carefully choose which skill trees you want to invest in, particularly for your primary tank and a controller-oriented mage (highly recommend for the utility), because there isn't an easy way to reset skills.

Also, many mage skills have Friendly Fire, particularly with AOE damaging abilities. Be cautious with these.

The tactics system in Origins/Awakening is, in my opinion, the best in the series. It's very in-depth, you can have multiple loadouts and change them as needed, iirc you can switch them on the fly through the menu, and generally make your life easier, especially if you just want to stick to controlling one or two characters.

These settings operate largely on a 'if X condition, then Y' set of logic. For example, when setting tactics for a two-handed warrior, you can have, "If surrounded by X number of enemies, use AOE ability,' or 'If Controlled Character is targeted by EnemyClass/DamageType, do X Action.' On harder difficulties, I wouldn't solely rely on tactics but it is very, very useful.

Origins also had craftable and placable traps, flasks and poisons that largely got baked into skills or potion crafting in the other two games, which is neat and fun because you could do stupid shit like this to oneshot a fucking dragon. Also Muh Roleplay.

TLDR: I like Origin's combat loop because of how simple, but effective it is. It's influenced by DnD-type strategy and is complex enough that I have to think about what I'm doing, I can't just bumrush through, but not so difficult that it feels impossible or unfun.

Dragon Age 2:

DA2's combat departs from Origins somewhat; you still don't have to hold down an attack button for basic attacks, but the combat, in my opinion, feels much faster paced, more akin to an ARPG. In comparison to DAO, I am constantly pausing the fight to move targets or use my next ability. There are also far more enemies per fight than Origins, as they come in waves instead of all at once. They typically have lower health, but their numbers combined with the amount of waves can make some fights challenging and a slog. There are, however, a plethora of AOE abilities to assist with this.

I'm not sure about the complexity of DA2's tactics as I don't use it that much and just opt for intense micromanagement during combat, but from memory it does also have some depth. DA2's difficulty scaling is, in my opinion, pretty steep compared to Origins and I prefer for play it at the normal setting. Personally I have the most fun playing as a rogue and flipping around stabbing people and kicking them in the face. Overall, fun, flashy.

Typical loop for combat is something like:

Miasmic Flask largest group > AOE the shit out of that group > Warrior Taunt > heal > repeat

Mostly though, it's a loooot of pausing and unpausing for me personally.

Dragon Age: Inquisition:

Somewhere in the middle of DAO and DA2 with a few extra bells. You can jump now! On keyboard the jump button is spacebar, which happens to be the button that pauses the game in the previous two games. I'll let you imagine how that goes mid-fight. Anyway, the combat for DAI is fairly interactive and now requires you to hold down a button to perform your basic attacks. The game is much more open-world ala Skyrim with different contained regions you can travel to. I hate to say it, but combat outside of boss battles in Inquisition is somewhat boring. It's very pretty thanks to the Frostbite engine, but that's about it.

Additionally, you no longer heal out of combat. Your healing options are also limited. You start the game with a fixed amount of health potions that are shared across your entire party. The potion-sharing is similar to DA2, but there was no max potion cap on DA2. You are limited, always, periodt. You can expand this number through crafting upgrades, as well as healing effectiveness. There are also potions that heal over time with an upgrade that heals in an area around the user, and a grenade that heals in the target area. (idk man don't ask)

There are some skills/ultimates/weapon abilities that give some healing or shielding, but combat is made artificially harder because of this change. In longer missions, there are typically one or more supply caches where you can resupply, however (unless you turn that off in Trials). I'm not saying this is a bad thing, just trying to be thorough. This only becomes a pain in the ass for long fights like bosses or high dragons.

There is a learning curve to Inquisition's combat, which the prologue tests you on (Pride Demon my beloathed). While initially challenging, there is a point at which combat outside of boss battles/high dragons feels trivialized, even on Nightmare. The DLCs, however, bring some punch back to combat and are actually difficult, which is nice. If playing on Nightmare, it is much harder to brute-force your way through, especially if doing it for the first time without the special schematics you obtain from them. I was literally shooketh when I took my endgame Nightmare build through Trespasser the first time and got clapped. (Just to be clear, this is a good thing. I like a little difficulty in my combat, so I play on Nightmare to suffer, but you don't have to.)

Hands down the absolute worst thing about Inquisition's combat, especially if running on Nightmare like I do, is the tactics system. It is hot fucking garbage for Nightmare. It is so far condensed from Origin's tactics that it's laughable. I had to google optimal tactics settings for Nightmare because some DPS character would inevitably stand where the tank was standing and eat an entire dragon's breath and die regularly, no matter how much I micromanaged.

I do, however, very much like most of the skills/specializations in Inquisition, especially for Warriors. Compared to the previous two titles, it is FAR easier to keep everything's attention on the tank and not your squishes (even more so if you have Trespasser DLC). Also, performing cross-class combos feels much more satisfying (and is far easier right out the gate) on Inquisition comparatively. There's nothing like freezing an enemy and having your 2-hander warrior cleave into them for a chunky combo. Big number make brain go unga bunga.

Additionally, it also doesn't take much skillpoint investment to get a decent handle on fights. This is especially true if you have the Trespasser DLC, which adds new upgrades to active abilities. Two taunts can be acquired pretty early (three with Trespasser) and all are relatively low cooldown. Also! If you fucked up your build (or want to respec for something specific/try something new) you can easily reset your points to reinvest them! Keep in mind you can't change your specialization once you've unlocked it though.

The Story Gameplay Stuff

In my opinion, the thing that makes the Dragon Age franchise great is the characters and the relationships experienced with them. The games are as much about their stories as they are about the conflict that brings the characters together. This is the type of thing that makes me stick with this franchise; the characters really make it for me. The characters are well-written, feel unique, and have their own strengths and flaws that make them grounded. There are characters I don't enjoy, but I appreciate them because, again, they are well-written.

DAO and DA2 is very much the flavor of RPG where your choices matter, and this includes both what you choose in the story and with individual characters. You can befriend said characters or you can let your rapport with them get so low that their disposition toward you can change, and they might even leave your party. There are some companions whose dispositions you can change. Known as softening or hardening, this can sway a character's decisions and make them more likely to go along with certain player-made choices.

DA2's Friendship/Rivalry system, in my opinion, a nice middle-ground approval system. Your decisions/interactions will garner approval or rivalry, changing your companion's disposition toward you, but a high-rivalry companion won't abandon you simply for having high rivalry. Rather, the companion will still go along with what your decisions, but there will always be underlying tension. You're also not locked out of romance simply because of high rivalry levels. Honestly, I enjoy some rivalmances more than a high friendship romance, but either way, the system gives you more ways to freely play your character and interact with the cast of companions. Companions in DA2 may leave/become unavailable because of decisions made in the story, but not for approval, which I think is nice.

DAI is also a game about decisions, but doesn't do it as well as DAO or DA2. The first two games do a good job of "show, don't tell" with your impact on the game. Inquisition does a lot more Telling than Showing, which I think is a shame for an RPG with its premise. Regardless, DAI's approval system is back to an Origins-esque style, but your total approval with individual characters is hidden from you. Furthermore, companions will approve or disapprove of major decisions you make regardless if you bring them with you or not (which feels much more realistic to me).

While I feel that Inquisition squandered a lot of the potential it had with its main conflict, it handles its characters, their relationships with the player and other characters very well. In fact, a lot of the Show part of "show don't tell" in Inquisition is displayed through your companions, either literally by changing their tarot cards or their reactions/interactions to you and other characters. As I said before, the characters are what makes the franchise for me, and Inquisition, for all its faults, does its characters exceptionally well. Their backgrounds, motivations and personalities are diverse and complex, and is what makes Inquisition replayable for me.

Each game also features its own protagonist/player character, which is probably my favoritest thing about Origins, specifically. A lot of the replayability for Origins is playing through each origin and/or class combination. Aside from simply adding more ways to roleplay, which is always welcome in my book, each one gives different perceptions to the game's conflict with some interactions specific to your chosen origin. If playing DAO, I highly recommend working your way through each origin.

DA2 technically only has one origin, Hawke. While I personally see Hawke as a more defined character compared to the Warden and Inquisitor, Hawke is still a malleable character, and of course, headcanons are free and cool to have. Anyway, you can play Hawke as any class, and I'd recommend to play through the game at minimum as a rougue/warrior and mage. Given the subject matter of the game, this gives you a different look at the game's conflict.

Inquisition offers more race options once again, but forgoes an origin prologue like DAO. While there is some depth to Inquisition's origins, they're not as complex as DAO's. However, this does lend the player some flexibility to fill in the gaps, if they choose. Why use a canon backstory when you can make your own? That's the fun of RPGs, no? I'd still recommend playing through one or two of the origins, while not quite as impactful as the previous titles, some things change depending on which Inquisitor you choose.

But Dances, what about the other stuff you like?

Maps:

DAO and DA2 have a level/dungeon system (idk what else to call it) that are self-contained areas/sub-areas that you explore. Each area is initially concealed by Fog-of-War and some of these areas can be quite large and (especially in DAO) lead to secrets/loot/sidequests etc, which encourages thorough exploration. This is less so in DA2 because of how many assets and areas are reused, but still shows up from time to time. DAI uses open-world maps that allow you to explore huge areas in different locales across Ferelden and Orlais. Kind of like in the spirit of Skyrim, except the maps don't feel "lived in" if that makes sense. A lot of them are big and open with not enough in between for my tastes. DAI encourages the player to explore each of these maps through quests, completionist objectives, minigames and more. These areas are beautiful and I appreciate them for what they are, I just wish they were a little more robust. If doing exclusively the main story, there's a lot you can miss in DAI and that's honestly a shame.

Sound Design/OST:

Ok so this isn't technically gameplay but I didn't know where else to put it. But the music completes the atmosphere for me. I typically do not play anything with the music on; typically I'm listening to a podcast or something in the background when I play. I don't do that with Dragon Age. I want to be immersed in it and the background music etc. plays a good part in that. DAO and DA2 use what I'd describe as dark fantasy music that's more atmospheric in nature. It's very simple with few instruments/vocals, but effective for what it does. DAO's main menu music and I Am The One are good examples of this.

DAI's OST is done by Trevor Morris and is much more orchestral incorporating many different instruments. Morris' work for this game did some heavy fucking lifting because it's honestly incredible. Always a high-fantasty feel, but each track perfectly captures the tone of its setting and immerses me into it. Whether its the subtle background music drifting through Halamshiral, or eerie chords plaything through the Fade, or you just got to the end of Trespasser and time is running out for your Inquisitor, it is a crime to play without music. In my opinion. Don't come for me. Please listen to Morris' work I beg you. He gave Dragon Age the grandiose music it deserves.

Lore:

LORE! I love lore. Dragon Age's lore is somewhat nebulous and has unfortunately been subject to retcons and a few questionable decisions. However, the depth of the lore is something I really, really appreciate. While somewhat frustrating, said retcons and inconsistencies, along with some areas that are more ambiguous in nature, allows speculation and gives me PLENTY to think about if I really, really wanted to. Also, because the lore is so sprawling I learn new shit all the time. It's fucking unreal. I will rarely go a playthrough without learning (or relearning) something new.

The only downside is that a lot of the fine print of the lore is hidden in codex entries, which can get easily passed up if you're the type of person to not pay attention to things like item descriptions, for example. If you're familiar with how Dark Souls tucks a lot of lore into item descriptions, it's kind of like that. Some codecies will be displayed on-screen when you acquire them which you then have to close out of, but many just get relegated to a 'Codex Acquired/Updated' notification somewhere on the side of your screen.

Additionally, for Inquisition specifically, some deeper context and nuance is lost because of two books published before Inquisition's launch. While forgoing these books doesn't make Inquisition's story incomprehensible, knowing the events in these books might change your perception of major events and give further insight to some of the characters.

Final Thoughts:

absolutely none. I just delivered an essay upon thine lap. head empty. I like this franchise a lot if you'd like something really really specific please hit me up.

Bonus:

[septembersghost]

Kind of random but saw that post you just reblogged and had a few thoughtsTM

So I'm a religious person, meaning I might be biased, but it is kind of weird to me the way western society in general will act like it's the biggest tragedy to not experience/like certain things. Or like you're not normal.

For example, there is an insane amount of people who will act like it's a horrible thing to not drink alcohol "omg you poor thing" or "you can never know what fun is" or "damn, you're missing out"

People will act like there's a problem with you if you haven't been intimate with someone by the time you're 19

people will act like it's weird if you've never tried a smoke (or weed even)

and that's always a bit insane to me, even outside of religion, because it's not just religious people that might not drink alcohol/smoke, etc...

like I don't understand why these are considered milestones or 'you're missing out' if you CHOOSE not to do them.

I don't understand why not drinking something that's unhealthy and could intoxicate you means you're a boring person who is deprived of fun when there's a lot of other things that can bring joy and fun. Like I'm sure partying and drinking can be a blast for many people, but that doesn't mean other things aren't equally as entertaining, right?

I also don't understand why there's an expectation that you have to be intimate with someone otherwise you can never be mature enough or have meaningful relationships, etc... and you have to do it as soon as possible. like that post said, what if someone isn't interested? what if someone is uncomfortable? what if someone wants to wait for the right person? why is there judgement?

Sometimes I feel like I'm being crazy thinking this way, because these ideas are just so prevalent; it's been such a big cultural shock.

(to be clear, I am in no way judging people who do these things,I just raise a different opinion, because I also feel like people who don't do these things shouldn't be judged for it)

the societal pressures centering around these issues are wide-reaching and bizarre and far too much for us to even begin to unpack, but there's a lot tied up with the exaltation of youth and there's a lot tied up with damaging double standards (gender-based and otherwise). many things upheld as "milestones" or "rites of passage" for measures of "maturity" ultimately mean very little, and vary in profound ways from person-to-person, and boxing individuals in by expectation of when something ~should~ happen (or whether it must at all!) is unhelpful. no one experience defines a person or their identity/importance/value/uniqueness/relationship to themselves and the world.

alcohol is perhaps the easier subject to use as a placeholder - i don't drink as a choice, i never have, but i have an "excuse," which is it being potentially dangerous with some of my chronic illness issues. that said, i shouldn't need a reason to justify not drinking, or not ever smoking or using drugs, it's no one's business, right? we do what we can for ourselves and our own bodies, identities, and/or values. but people act like you're somehow rejecting social convention and depriving yourself. no one should need to justify why they choose to abstain from anything - hence why that post said that supporting the choice to not have sex isn't only about ace people (though that very much matters!), it should be acceptable and not questioned or shamed for anyone! just like, as long as they're safe and consensual choices, no one should be judged for making a choice to participate in something either. sex positivity is intended to support autonomy and individual agency, thus shaming someone for *not* being sexually active is inherently antithetical to the concept as much as slut shaming is. the reason behind that ought not to be up for debate or judgment, and there needn't be this stigma of disdain/shame/pity around it either.

idk it's hard for me because there's a LOT that i've always been out of step with (and i don't have the cultural reasons and understandable shock that you do!), i've addressed before how i was always somehow both older and younger than everyone simultaneously - what adults called an "old soul" and what my peers saw as strange otherness/shyness/naivete, some of which i never had language for until i started to discover more understanding online, and i'm still continually trapped in liminal spaces, so i can't give you a reason for any of this since i struggle to understand it myself! but i definitely hear you and know what you mean and agree!

[stuckstucktrolls]

Ok I don't need advice on this just more talking this out for myself and so people know where my brain is at

I think I get frustrated in part because I USED TO enjoy drawing, at least some things, and I USED TO have a style that was alright or at least heading in a direction that I wanted.

And now I don't, on either front.

And it's not really my fault that I dropped drawing and digital art, what with being chronically ill and having to help support myself and hubby. And trying to focus on writing which I was comparatively "better" at, which I was STILL having a hard time keeping up with even then.

But I COULD have made the other choice, to keep working on drawing and maybe I'd be closer still to a style I like (although you'll always hate your style as long as you hate that it looks like you made it. But hopefully that's not my problem? Or I can get past it if it is?) But I'm annoyed that I'll see other people's art and it's like, if I could broadcast what's in my head onto paper, it would be in that style. I don't mean jealousy because I don't begrudge the artist their ability. But I'm frustrated because I know people can draw what I'm seeing in my head the way I see it (or pretty close) but I keep trying to get my brain and hands to work that way, at least in a general sense, and I just can't do it.

Even saw some art recently where the artist drew themselves pretty similar to how I'd draw myself if I could get my hands to do the thing. I hope the artist appreciates their ability even if it might not be the style they want. And if it is the style they hoped they'd have or really close, then I'm happy that the hard work they've put in has paid off.

Hell, I try not to be down on my writing since even if it has some glaring weak points in my own eyes, people have said they wish that they could write like me.

But the few times people have said they like my art, my first assumption was "You must have mistaken someone else's art as mine even though I credit the artist either by reblogging from them when I get comms or mention who drew it if they say to post it myself." And then I panic that I haven't been clear enough about credit.

Granted they always came out of the blue when I hadn't posted my own art recently, so assuming someone was just mistaken made more sense. It's still hard to believe people like my art, because whether or not it's "good", it's not the style I want/am trying for, and on top of that I ALSO don't think it's good. So it's kind of a double whammy of "even if you don't do art yourself, this must look like shit, right? Unless it was from some little kid still figuring out how their hands work. Maybe at best it would be good for a 10 year old who took their first art class recently." But all of this is because I actually WAS a "better artist" by a lot of standards when I was 10. I can see how much worse I've gotten since then, and any improvements have been in a direction I don't want to go.

Somehow that last line feels like it could describe my life in general, not just my experience with drawing and digital art.

[infernalinvert]

I just had a realization about my mental health- and it's why I'm having trouble writing this, and why I almost never reblog anything, much less write my own posts. And, why I actually struggle to do pretty much anything.

Idk where to even begin re: if I "have" it or not, but looking at myself from the perspective of OCD is making a lot of things make sense. It's difficult for me to see it as actually OCD because what I do is just. Not do things. If I can't decide on the "right" way to do them.

I'm always always thinking about how to "improve" things, like even when I brush my teeth in the morning I'll feel this oppressive weight. I have to make sure I'm doing it right. I have to keep reminding myself to make sure I'm getting the backs and the sides and behind each wisdom tooth and between each tooth and the gums but not too hard because my dentist said not to but not too light because then there'll be plaque left behind and I shouldn't leave anything behind and am I sure I did this part am I sure I did it hard enough, I'll do it again, and this tastes weird, does it always taste like this, is there something wrong with my brush is there something wrong with my mouth but I can't stop because I should only have to do this once, it shouldn't be this stressful, I think I got everywhere so I should stop, I could scrape my cheeks but I'm not sure how to do it right so I can't. And then I'll keep checking my teeth with my tongue for like an hour afterwards, I am right now.

And this is every single time, pretty much everything I do is like this! I have to do everything right in one go or not do it at all, and that's if I'm even sure it's the "right" thing to do in the first place. Brush my teeth in the morning? Sure. Start a new project? Well, I don't *have* to do it today, and I could always take more time to research, and make sure I have the right tools and materials and I know the best techniques, and that I do each step in the right order and I clean as I go and I don't leave any mess after and I have the perfect place to store it, and really I should make sure the plan I have is the best one for my needs, so I should research more but I can't get the information from just *anywhere*, and I could ask here but what impression would that make on people do I really have to burden them with my problems and okay that's kind of insane so I should probably ask but how exactly do I phrase it what tone should I take what approach is it even the right question are there other questions i need to ask how do i know i can't be sure so how

I've been doing it with this too, I've been agonizing over my word choice and. The structure, cadence, thesis, what even the point is, like it's a college essay. I always do, whenever I write anything, and half the time I can't decide whether to post it or delete it so I just. Don't do anything with it

And now I don't even want to do this. I mean I do, but I can't be certain. I feel like I shouldn't. I must be doing something wrong so I should stop trying to do anything.

Since I started seeing this, it has been easier to just remind myself that I don't have to worry about these things. Before I was trying to deal with everything by just forcing myself to do what I know I should do. But that was just another thing I was doing wrong, still a failure, just a slightly more acceptable one... If I didn't still feel so guilty about it, another incorrect action.

I dunno what the point of this post is! Probably just externalizing my thoughts for once. As I was saying, I have found that once I release myself from that anxiety, it's much more clear what I actually want to do. I just regret how long my self-image has been totally blind to that, and how much I've aggrandized correctness. I really imagined my life as just, a process of correcting myself, until I was "correct" enough to be... "good", I guess. Acceptable. Honestly, acceptable enough to be a part of society.

I hope it's a good sign- or, well, "correct"- that change feels almost inevitable now? It's definitely imperfect, *I'm* definitely imperfect, in learning to separate what's an actually desirable correction from what's just the result of my obsession with it. And I am worried about the consequences of ignoring what's "correct" maybe too much? But that's probably better for me to lean into than what I've been doing.

I guess I feel pretty satisfied with that. Usually I try to end these types of things with something actionable, or like a summary, and I think I do genuinely want to? So uh

- I think that I'm going to change how I act, significantly, since I've realized the thing that dictates most of my behavior is something I can let go of

- That's scary, which I hope is good?

- I should. Or, I do want to, share this soon, and. I mean it's probably worth switching tacks in finding a therapist, to picking one that specializes in ocd

- When I do that, I mean this is kind of a compulsion, but I think I should ask whether ERT would be a good/necessary thing in my case, or if we should go more towards that I-CBT thing?

- I think I will post about that in the subreddit I found when I have more time cause I gotta go soon

- I should do the worksheets I found even if they're not perfect

[becca-e-barnes]

The "minors DNI" posts that I've been seeing crop up everywhere by fic writers are always so interesting to me.

First and foremost, I 100% support your decision to post a "minors DNI" for your safety and their safety. You're being responsible, doing your due diligence as a responsible adult, and trying to ensure that everyone enjoys what you put out there in a safe way.

And I know you specifically have not said this so this is not a slight on you by any means, but I think you'd be more open to the discourse of such an interesting topic like this—the problem I have with some fic writers is that is them saying they will block anyone who does not have their age posted in their blog.

This, I believe, is an incredibly dangerous precedent to set. On the one hand displaying your age if you are over 18 seems like a non-issue, right? Sure. But setting the precedent that people should display their age in their blog encourages minors to share their age on the internet which in turn can make them an easier target.

Personal preference for me—I'm a thirty-two year old lady (plz sing this appropriately) and do not share my age in my tumblr because, well I don't want to.

We're all technically violating TOS anyway, so it doesn't really matter if a minor interacts with your fic or not at this point—by interact I mean like/reblog/comment, not DMing you to talk about sexual stuff. That stuff you should absolutely block/delete for obvious legal and safety reasons.

And while I understand the legality thing, if you are not explicitly engaging with said minor, there's not a whole bunch that could hold up in court. How many lawsuits do you think E.L. James gets for 13 year olds waltzing into a bookstore or buying 50 shades of grey off amazon and reading it? There was actually an interesting article written about the "common sense" engagement with this book back in 2012.

Anywho, you are right to ask and set a boundary, and do what you feel is right to protect yourself and using the DNI minor blanket statement is ultimately a good thing, especially if it's a personal uncomfortableness with minors reading your work. However, even if a minor just decided to lie and say they were 21 and read your stuff anyway, unknowingly interacting with a minor is just as bad legally as knowingly doing so so at the end of the day, we're still just taking risks. The safest thing for all of us would probably be to not interact with anyone or ask everyone to use anon, but there's not fun or friendship in that. Your mutual who has stated they're 25 could still be 16 and you wouldn't know it.

My perspective may also just be entirely outdated as well because I grew up in the internet age of it being a lawless wasteland and everyone lied about everything, so I don't see the value in trying to police my work when people will just read it anyway and I don't have any control over that at the end of the day other than to tag appropriately and/or not post anything at all ever.

This was long and not necessary to answer, I'm just always fascinated by the rigor at which fanfic writers are so quick to banish people for not putting their age in their bios when I think it is inherently more dangerous for minors to do so because it puts a target on their back.

Before I start, I recognise that we’re of the same line of thought! I saw this long message and panicked thinking that someone had taken an issue with my stance on it and I’m glad that’s not the case 🙈 Anything I raise here is in the interest of discussion and I completely respect your point of view. 💗

This is really interesting actually and truth be told, I’ve avoided any discussion on this topic for a very long time for fear that I won’t adequately explain my stance on it. I feel like I’ve had a chance to do that and I hope it’s been taken up by everyone as I intended.

I will admit; as a minor, I read smut. Without going into detail, it entirely warped my perspective on how relationships should look. To provide a little context on my stance, at 14/15 (and younger), I had no business reading the things I was reading. Unfortunately, I was in a “relationship” at the time and I fully believed that I had to engage with my boyfriend in ways that mirrored what I was reading. I ended up in situations I didn’t want to be in. To me, it’s my responsibility as a writer and as someone who learned the hard way, to ensure that younger people don’t make the same mistakes I did.

I do fully agree, minors stating their real age on their blog raises all sorts of different issues, as you rightly said. You’re absolutely right, to a minor there are no advantages to displaying your real age on here. Fic writers will block you, creeps will be more likely to engage with you. So I fully understand that this might seem like a reason to lie or provide no age at all.

Leading on from that though, if a minor lies on their profile and claims to be over 18 and they interact with my smut, from a legal perspective, that is not going to have any repercussion on me. I have put my disclaimers up, I vet as many profiles as I can and I do everything I would be reasonably expected to do in the eyes of the law. (This isn’t an area of law I studied in significant depth but that standard of reasonable expectation would still apply). I do as much as I can to protect myself and them.

You brought up 50 Shades and I understand your point but the issue here is not just the fic itself. If anyone comments/ reblogs my fic, I like to send a little reply back! I love when people take the time to give me feedback and I want to thank them for it, as a lot of other writers do! The issue here being that if the blog commenting is a minor, the writer would be engaging in a conversation about sexual material with a minor. And that’s fucking messy. This is mainly where fics differ from a teenager buying a copy of 50 shades. In that situation, there’s no interaction there between the author and the underage fan so it loses that personal element.

On the issue of blogs with no age, I see where you’re coming from and I see that you both read and write fanfiction. But I also see it from the other perspective given that a lot of writers like to do as much as possible to protect themselves and potential minors.

I totally support that’s a boundary that you set and it’s your choice. In the same sense that it’s a fic writer’s choice to protect themselves by blocking you. It’s a matter of boundaries clashing at the end of the day. I really do see both sides here. I’m a really organised person so honestly, if anyone wanted to send me a private message just confirming they’re over 18, I’d put them all into a list to make sure I don’t accidentally block them for interacting. But of course, not every writer would be able to do that and I’m sure many readers would want to do that either! I just see it as the only way to compromise on that issue and keep everyone happy.

Thank you for sending me this! I hope I covered everything and if I haven’t been clear enough in some areas, feel free to come back to me! 🙈 And I really appreciate actually having a discussion on here! It’s so great to hear others’ points of view in a nice, respectful way. Tumblr loses that sometimes! Have a lovely evening 💗

[confessionsofa-roleplayer]

i was feeling burnout by a ship, but i respect the writing partner too much to not be honest, so i instead gave them a headsup i didnt have a lot of muse for some of our heavier threads and wanted to focus on the others. they appeared to be fine and understanding about it until a few days later they told me they were crying all night over it and having a breakdown, because they were afraid i was going to drop the ship.

on top of them admitting to that breakdown they've been getting really guilt trippy on dash. whenever i am gushing about my other ships, they post things like "oh when will [insert their muse name] be loved" or they will even straight up post that they miss certain events with muse or that they miss when "people gave their muse attention" ???

am i wrong to feel so uncomfortable? i truly love our ship but i do have burnout from it, and this clingy behavior is not helping. more distressing is the fact it's affecting them enough to cause them to have breakdowns is very worrying to me. i kind of want to step away but if simply wanting a break from certain plots was enough to make them cry irl then im scared to think what stepping away would do.

how do i address this?

This is a really tough situation to be in, anon. And no, I don't think you're wrong to feel uncomfortable with how your partner is handling the situation.

First - kudos to you for wanting to do the right thing and communicate openly with this person. I know making that choice isn't always an easy one, and even people you thought would handle things well, don't always manage to do that. But the fact that you're trying is important. If you were my partner, I'd appreciate it beyond words regardless of how things turned out in the end - so thank you for that.

How I would handle your current situation might go a few different ways depending on a lot of different factors:

     I might try talking to them again, if I thought they'd listen, but I'm also really wary about trying to tell anyone (even politely) what they should or shouldn't be posting on their blog. I'd also be worried that my own regret over needing to take a break (and their reaction to that choice) might be biasing how I interpret certain posts. I cannot tell you the amount of 'weird coincidences’ regarding posts and their timing I've seen during my stint on tumblr - things that seemed completely connected, but never really were. Anyway, trying to talk again is definitely an option, if you feel comfortable doing that.  Just try not to turn the conversation into a ‘threat.’  (“If you don’t stop doing this, I’m not going to want to ship at all anymore,” or anything similar.)

     Another option is backlisting their blog for awhile. Give yourself a chance to breath without unfollowing them (and potentially freaking them out even more.) The age-old saying 'out of sight, out of mind' has often worked wonders for me. It gives you a chance to take a break from their posts and just relax for awhile.  If they tag those kinds of posts a certain way, you could also try just blacklisting the tag/s they use.

     Another possibility (which might not be one you’re willing to do) is to back up a little and offer a little give.  I’m really wary about suggesting this because it feels like ‘rewarding bad behavior’ to me, but the situation is yours to handle, and if you like this idea, then that’s your call.  Let them pick one of the hiatused threads to pick back up.  Just one.  And make sure it’s clear that you still might not reply to it as regularly as everything else.

     Along similar lines, just because the two of you aren’t doing shippy threads doesn’t mean you can’t still share images / quotes / aesthetic posts / etc. that remind you of the ship or specific threads.  Whether you do it privately or via tumblr reblogs - this might be enough to reassure your partner that you still care about the ship, and that it’s still on your mind.

     And finally, if/when you feel that - regardless of how much you enjoy the ship/their friendship - continuing to write with them will do you more harm than good, then you need to tell them and step away. Yes, how it might affect them isn't a pleasant thought, but it’s not your job to help control someone else’s emotions.  Staying in a situation that no longer makes you happy just to keep someone else happy is rarely healthy.  If/when it comes to that, try to be as empathetic as possible when you tell them.  Make sure they know this isn’t a choice you’ve made lightly.  It’s also important (as gently as possible) to make them aware of how their own choices exacerbated the situation.  You don’t want to be, ‘This is all your fault!’ but if they don’t understand why you’re ending things, then they’re more likely to repeat the same mistakes with others.

Okay, I think I’ve exhausted my thoughts on your next possible step.  Do our followers have anything they’d like to add, or any other potential actions you think our anon could take?

~ Mod MJ ~

[yetanotherreader]

Useful—1

Genre: College AU

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Y/N, a pinch of Lisa sprinkled in.

Summary: The school's most popular boy wants to be friends with Y/N, out of the blue. It definitely doesn't have anything to do with her hot best friend, though.

Word Count(for the chapter): 1,494

Warnings (for the chapter): Nothing as such. Slightest language?

____________

Useful Masterlist

Chapter-1

Good girls always fall for bad boys.

Now, did they? At least, that's how the legend went. All your life, it was exactly what you had read in those books you carried in your bag. And they were the reason you were starting to believe this pointless theory. Or was it your irresistible attraction towards that leather-jacketed classmate of yours? Obviously, the former. You weren't falling for him of all the guys. And you weren't exactly the good types, were you? 

"Y/N!" You heard your friend call from behind, "You up for tonight's party at Jo's?

"Jo? I thought you hated her?" You raised your brow in your friend's direction, continuing your walk down the hallway.

"Nooo, why would I hate that beautiful babe?" 

"Lisa," deadpanning, you continued, "Cut the crap."

Lisa smiled at you cheekily, squinting her eyes and you obviously got the sign.

"Boys" You said with the roll of your eyes, whilst she echoed simultaneously with an excited squeal. Shaking your head, you smiled at her excitement, whilst she continued to grin your way adorably. At least someone's looking forward to living their life.

You and Lisa were totally different, to the extent it got you thinking about how you were even friends in the first place. She was one of the most popular girls of the college, whilst you were a hidden hermit. She loved partying and drinking, whilst you made excuses to stay home and read one of those fanfictions they wrote. Not that you got a lot of invitations, but ever since you started hanging out with Lisa, they were more. It was uncomfortable at first, and quite frankly, it still was. You weren't used to it—the attention, so many people around you, people talking to you. Although before you met Lisa, you felt way lonelier than you'd ever like to admit, you still sometimes missed the calm in it. But again, you did you. You still ditched parties for books, still said no to drunk boys, still wore baggy hoodies and Potter glasses, and still ate street food. Uncool? Fair enough. Uncool it is, then.

"So, you coming?" She tugged at your backpack just as you were making your way into the class.

"No"

"Please"

"No"

"Y/N"

"No"

"Today's food on me"

"Yes"

"Yee!" She squealed and hugged you, locking your hands to your body, as you froze in your place. You really did like to maintain that reputation of the tough, unaffectionate girl you had among the few people you talked to.

"Yeah, yeah. It's the free food." With a fake scowl, you went in the lecture hall, as she made her way to hers.

_____________

It was a rather boring lecture, and you would sell your soul to bunk the other one scheduled after the break. All you did during the whole class was scroll down your Instagram feed, or Tumblr checking for another part of the fanfiction you were currently reading. Hunters. How cool was that! You lived to read such fantasies, or who knew if they existed in real life too.

"Didn't take you for the one to use your phone during the class." You looked up to see him, and tried your hardest not to gawk at his entire confident demeanor. Leather jacket, spiky short blonde-ish brown hair, green eyes and—were they...freckles?

You cleared your throat locking your phone, "Didn't take you for the one to talk to unpopular girls during the break, either." 

A smirk started to grace his lips as you quickly averted your gaze back to your phone, unlocking it and scrolling through the posts again.

"Ah! That hurt," he mocked hurt as you found yourself resisting a smile at his antics, "Did I see a smile there, and can I sit?" He smiled to himself.

"No," You said with a roll of your eyes shifting to the seat next to the wall, "So what brings you here, Winchester?"

"Low attendance," He chuckled to himself but it subsided soon, clearing his throat, as he heard no laugh from your side, "Sorry, wasn't funny." 

"No it was, I'm just trying not to laugh." You said, the bored expression not leaving your face, as you again turned back to your phone, just before it was snatched from your hands.

"First, it's very rude to use your phone when someone's talking to you," He smiled in return to the glare you threw his way, "And second, Y/N, I've come here to be friends with you.

Now that piqued your interest, as you raised your right brow at him, "No, I mean it. I'm buddies with everyone in the class but you. The only time we ever talked was back during the first year, and it didn't quite end well."

"Sweets. Tempting but no," You gave the freckled man in front of you a tight lipped smile, "Winchester, what kinda bet you at, this time?" You said nonchalantly, definitely not believing a word of what he was asking for.

"No bet, I promise! I genuinely want to know you." And he thought you'd believe him, didn't he? As if.

"Guess what, Dean?" You smiled at him sweetly, as he started to grin, "Buzz off, not before giving me my phone back."

His grin faltered midway as he sighed, "You really are a hardhead, are you not?" He handed you over the phone and walked out of the hall.

Well, wow.. that was weird.

_____________

Dean knew it wasn't going to be an easy task. She wasn't a soft nut to crack. Not that he had expected her to just believe him like that. He wasn't joking when he said that their first encounter wasn't the most pleasant one. A bet. That's what it was.

New to college, he knew he needed to make a reputation to survive those four years. He couldn't go down on his first day, after all. He wasn't going to. And as his seniors dared him to throw the next student out of the door into the pool, he did. He was very hesitant, he knew it was bullying and he sure wasn't in favor of that but he also knew that if he didn't, they'll make the next three years of his life hell. He had no other choice.

That's when she walked out of the class—baggy sweater, round glasses, reading a book, your typical nerd. Her appearance just made him more guilty for what he was about to do next, she was too innocent to be a part of any of this. Other bullies of the school would just make her college years a living hell after today, if he did that- when he did that. Although, he was determined he wouldn't let anyone near her after today, it did little to no good easing his guilt.

Next thing he knew was that she was scooped up in his arms, her book on the floor, deep Y/E/C wide orbs staring back into his apologetic ones and her arms tight around his neck as if to make sure she wouldn't fall down—oh boy, only if she knew—and splash!

It was all a matter of seconds when he realized she was struggling to keep up on the surface, "The bet's over, I won!" He yelled at the couple of boys and three girls laughing behind him as he jumped into the pool to save the tiny bean.

"Look I'm sorry, I know it was an ass move but you gotta believe me, I didn't mean any of it. It was a bet, I mea-" He looked at her still baffled expressions, as she tried to regulate her breathing, "Are you okay?"

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" His eyes all but widened at the unexpected not-just-an-outburst but a hard slap to his face.

Turns out, she didn't need all that saving after all.

He chuckled at the memory. It's been three years, and they were still not friends. Gosh, what did he not do after that. Passed her sorry notes, apologized to her in person, waited for her outside her classrooms and even sneaked into her dorm earning an earful from the warden. Oh, Y/N still didn't know about the dorm one, not that she ever would. Finally, after all those efforts she sure forgave him, but they decided that they won't talk ever again. 

And they didn't.

It wasn't that he never wanted to. He did, he really did. Y/N really intrigued him, to the point he found himself staring at her just to study her, in hopes to look past the mysterious aura she carried. If he didn't know better, he would have thought he had a crazy crush on the girl. 

Right then, though, he hoped she came to Jo's party that evening, and he sure as hell hoped he could get some help winning over the beautiful girl he had gotten a crush on.

Lisa. 

______________

Chapter 2

_____________

A/N: Wellllll. I tried my luck again. I don't know how it turned out but ah. So it will have more parts, so if anybody of you wanna get tagged, send me an ask or reblog it with your comment. Feedback is really appreciated, so I can know if I should continue or not. Love❤️

Tags: @bi-danvers0

[bludragongal]

I've been struggling with motivation lately, after so much of my work gets ignored. I know a lot of online artistic success is due to tagging, consistent posting, and other such problems in addition to a heavy dose of luck, so I'm hoping to fix what I can and see if that makes me more visible. Do you have any tips for tagging or posting at certain times? What variables can I control better?

Hi there, Brie! 

I’m very sorry, but this is going to be very difficult answer for you to hear.

Every so often I get a message in my inbox with the time old “How do I be popular?” and my heart breaks every time. I don’t know how to be popular. I don’t know what people will like, and I certainly can’t predict moods and receptions to ideas. There are entire companies and careers dedicated to making their best guess, and some of them figure out formulas that work, but it’s still nebulous and uncertain at all times. 

You are asking yourself the wrong questions, and you are especially asking me the wrong question. If your goal as an artist is to be popular or to get a lot of messages and notes, you will never be content. 

To actually answer the question you sent me: most of Tumblr’s userbase are teenagers, who are most active at night. Post in the morning and reblog it around 9-10 pm. Draw fanart of popular things. Buy advertising to boost your content. But none of this will actually guarantee that people will be responsive to what you’re making. 

Here’s what you actually need to do:

detatch yourself from the emotional investment of getting a lot of notifications on social media (easier said than done)

focus on improving your draftsmanship

follow artists you admire, study how they make their content, when they post it, and how they interact with fans, do studies of their work

recenter yourself on your craft, make quality content production your priority

share this journey of improvement and discovery with others so that people can identify with you and become invested 

Desperately appealing to people does not and will not work. I know you’re having a lot of trouble with motivation right now, and that’s the real problem here you need to address. You need to get back to the spirit of what it is that you’re making and why you want to make anything before you will see any kind of improvement in your craft or the public response to it. Ask yourself what you really love. Find out what makes you inspired. Feel no shame for your interests. People will respond to and feed off of your enthusiasm, so try to learn what you are enthusiastic about. 

Your real problem right now is motivation. Lots of responses to your work is validating, but it will not give you motivation to make more art. Trust me. There are thousands of different pieces of advice you can find about getting your motivation back, and I encourage you to research as much as you can. Here’s my bit of advice, though:

When you stop treating inspiration as the only reason to make art, and start treating art like work, a job you have to show up every day for, you have started down the path of becoming a professional. Motivation is not a feeling, it’s a choice you make and carry out. 

Here is my advice: find the thing in your artwork you are unsatisfied with. Is it your proportions? Do you have a hard time drawing hands? Do one study of that specific thing every day. Start small: like 15 minutes of drawing a couple feet, or 10 minutes doing gesture drawings on some site. Post these things - people like seeing your process and those rough drawings. When you build the habit enough that you find yourself doing it consistently, increase the time you spend on these things. A 30 minute study of a wolf, or an illustration of something you have a hard time drawing. Draw self indulgent fanart. It will get easier and easier. 

Frankly, it will be a long time before you see any kind of response to what you’re doing, if at all. That’s the reality of it. But if you want to pay your bills using your craft, you have to shut off social media and actually focus on your craft. Treating it like a job is how you get a job. If you live for online interactions, maybe a Social Media Manager position is a better career path for you. 

Looking at your art, you have a very clear handle on color theory and your costume designs are really, really good. The skill and potential is obviously there, you clearly have the makings of a great artist. You have the tools and the eye, so there’s no reason why you can’t make it. It’s just going to take a lot of work and time, if you’re game. You’re going to have to do it every day, no matter how uninspired you are. But I think you can do it. 

Look, this is something I’m struggling with, too. My next job starts in two weeks, and I haven’t been making something every day like I should. I feel really hypocritical writing this answer to you. That means, no matter how long you do this, no matter how much you accomplish, this is something you will always be struggling with, that every artist struggles with. Now is the time you develop the skills to address this problem, and once you master that, you will be unstoppable. 

I hope this helped. Good luck in your artistic journey, and keep me updated.

[secondsofhappiness]

Curios anon on cheating. I've seen you write that cheating is unacceptable in any form, but I've also seen you reblog Vadam content. The 2015 Vadam story is very similar to this current Robron story. Adam is also a serial cheater as well who has cheated on every partner he's had, Scarlet with Mia, Mia with Mia's mum, Vic with Vanessa. Can you explain why this is so different?

Ok, this is my final discussion post on this.

I’m happy to talk anything but if you want to know my feelings currently (and I can’t see them changing soon) on this situation then this is it. Feel free to chat about all other things as I adore talking to you all. Most of it is under a cut as many don’t want to read this stuff.

As I’ve said before, cheating is a really difficult one for me and if you’ve read my posts, you can understand why. I don’t understand the desires for that stuff at all and I can’t empathise on a human level with those feelings so I don’t think I can really ever understand cheating. I try to relate it to issues like trust and respect and view a relationship in those practical ways because I will never have the impulse to cheat, not because I’m perfect or a saint but because I don’t have any interest or natural wish for anything sex related with another person. So yeah, I approach this stuff from a really different view point.

Cheating, as I understand, can be something that people do because they can’t help it, they are self destructing, they are needy and emotional… this is what I’ve seen on TV and movies and I have to just accept that’s a thing. I’ve never had any experience of ever feeling in any way interested in being with someone that I like romantically in that way and so I can’t confirm why people cheat or if that is something that’s understandable. To me, it isn’t understandable.

So I hope you can see why I struggle with it. I know it sounds weird and a lot of people might not be able to understand but that’s the best way I can describe it. I may sound broken or whatever but it’s just the way I am so I have a different perspective.

So I try to view cheating objectively as best as I can. I actually wasn’t watching ED at the time that Adam cheated on Vic. This was for personal reasons because of Laurel’s alcoholism storyline. So I haven’t actually ever seen those scenes. I understand they were broken up following Vic freaking out about a proposal.

But I view each relationship on its merits and as I’ve said before, I approach it all from gut feelings. Adam has cheated before. He’s a serial cheat. So is Rob. Adam did most of that when he was a daft kid (see 99% of Rob’s escapades). None of that is an excuse but the whole Mia and her mum nightmare was tacky as all hell and I hated it at the time mainly because I really wasn’t a fan of the that family - Declan aside.

Many characters on ED cheat and have cheated. So many of them I adore. I adored them before and will adore them still. Take Chas. Chas is a problematic fave. She has cheated before. I still adore her. That’s because many of the stories she was in, the writing supported the situation. See Cameron. That was DRAMATIC AS ALL HELL but it actually made sense in a twisted way. Back then, Chas was a mess and Debbie was tied up with a dying child. It felt dark and difficult but at neither point was either relationship played out to be wonderful or framed as Aaron and Rob’s has. Rob is (I want to say was but I am holding back till I see what the show is doing) a problematic fave. He has cheated on numerous occasions - every single relationship.

With Chas, it’s not a specific character trait. She has made poor decisions (mainly fuelled by Carl King!) With Rob it is. He is a serial cheater. It’s what he has used for power / purpose for most of his life. He has made stupid decisions like this for years. This is nothing new.

The reason I have an issue now is because of the framing of the storyline. Adam and Chas and Laurel etc have all cheated and they were all WRONG in doing that. Rob is entirely wrong in cheating now and it is cheating, to me, regardless of alcohol and according to him he did it on purpose out of spite.

His storyline has been couched in “change”, his quest to be a better person and NOBODY expected him to be perfect. I was reasonably ok with November, he has messed up in plenty of ways through the period of change and that was all reasonably logical for me. I don’t like perfect characters.

Cheating is NOT out of character for him. It is in character for 2015 Rob but the following are the reasons that THIS instance is very different for me:

- He has kissed Rebecca a total of three times now. All of them intentionally. And used words on two occasions that specifically relate to lingering feelings and a reminiscence about their time together. That’s a pattern of behaviour. There’s a reason for that.

- Aaron expressed, on multiple occasions, that he was uncomfortable with Rebecca and I didn’t feel Rob was acting wrongly assisting her with work but he was entirely aware of Aaron’s feelings on the matter so much so he took off his ring and they had a blazing row… that argument and many problems prior were because of Rebecca.

- Rob has promised specifically on more than one occasion that he will be faithful and not just throwaway lines. Frequent and pointed references to fidelity and how Aaron is “different” for him. He’s it.

- Aaron’s jealousy re: Rebecca and torment due to his mental health and Rob’s actions was the trigger for his situation with Kasim

- The scene in the prison did in no way indicate that their relationship was over. They have had horrific arguments and this was absolutely one of the tamest. And I still don’t understand what Rob meant on Friday about them being over. I’m not clear on what he thought or if he lied to Rebecca etc

- Rob has specifically said that he did this out of spite to get back at Aaron whilst knowing the significant impact it would have on him

- They are mere weeks beyond a commitment ceremony and I appreciate that both broke vows, those vows were made honestly. So are the show suggesting that this ceremony meant so little that even this show of commitment is not enough? How could any formal wedding be enough? Are they suggesting that the circumstances were too much to cope with and two broken people made enormous mistakes? Well don’t have Robert stating he did it to hurt Aaron and don’t have the scene that is intended to cause the fall out so weak and nonsensical in terms of their entire relationship (aka it was a mere chat to half of the stuff they’ve been through) that it felt like a nothing situation

- I’ve already talked the Bisexuality issue to death but it is important and a very valid issue. Don’t have your character state time and time again that bisexuality will not make him cheat, bisexuality does not mean he’ll act on attraction to another person and then have him state that he loves lots of people before sleeping with someone else. That was utterly cruel and gave an appalling message. He is more than his sexuality and cheating doesn’t have anything to do with his sexuality, yes, but by previously (and on more than once occasion) linking fidelity to bisexuality you have created that link yourself… ?

- This cheating scenario was out of spite but also due to feeling down… ok, Rob is a grown man and a broken one and people aren’t machines… we hurt and we do stupid stuff and yes I don’t understand cheating but Rob drew Rebecca to The Mill, he pressed the issue, he used his words to get her to sleep with him, in the bedroom he intends to share with Aaron in their home. That alone is enough to make me uncomfortable and it’s entirely cruel.

- Alcohol, to me and in my experience, brings out truth.

- Robert comes off much worse here. If the show’s intention was to depict two broken men as destroyed as the other and making poor and misguided decisions then they failed in my opinion because Aaron’s situation is entirely different and he has made poor choices but has no freedom, limited support and has undergone specific and systematic violence so used a crutch. Robert has been a bit stressed, has missed his fiancé, has had a few kid problems and finds Aaron making a mistake and is told to leave… then goes out of his way to hurt Aaron in the worst way imaginable. That’s not the Rob I know. That’s Rob of 2015 and it would have been in character but these circumstances are no where near bad enough for me to logically accept that this would be where Rob would go at this present time.

Aaron is in no way an angel and is 100% in the wrong but the storyline balance is vastly skewed in my opinion. Robert Sugden is not a baby and can cope with stressful situations. He has has Aaron telling him he hates him and still stuck around. Aaron said “do one” and Rob tipped over the edge… why?

There are numerous other reasons. Many cheating storylines on this show are either done in a quick and empty way (Nicola and Dan, Kerry and Ross etc). The build up is neither focused on fidelity or post marriage… it normally comes due to a break down in the relationship etc. It also doesn’t entirely break the relationships around them that have been fostered for years. They are not normally engineered to depict a situation that has been specifically stated as the worst possible for the other spouse - aka this is Aaron’s worst nightmare, the situation he drove himself nuts about for weeks.

So in answer to your question, I view each situation separately and try to judge it objectively. I have not enjoyed or supported many cheating storylines in the past. Some are so pointless and hardly touched upon I forget they ever happened (Moira and Pete) and some are logical and I get it (Laurel and Marlon) because the writing shows how this person may make this decision and although it may be wrong, how their mindset may impact them to make a mistake or act unfaithfully.

Nothing made this, to me, logical or understandable it was framed within an already rushed and uncomfortable storyline for me. The writing has confused me (did Rob lie to R about being over? Did he think they were over? Did I not think it? When did he ever question he didn’t love Aaron that on the morning he realised he loved him again? Does he want to remain friends with Rebecca? WHY? Why does he think it’s acceptable to keep it from Aaron and only agree to admit due to Chas & R’s actions? Why did he not ask Aaron why he was saying those things? He has pushed plenty with Aaron in the past when he’s been self destructing.)

None of it made sense to me and the limited info we have from writers was that, well Rob was having a hard time so he made a mistake. The writing doesn’t tell me that in its entirety. The writers etc also suggest that this was to cause drama and contention in their relationship… was there not already contention? Was Aaron’s drug use not enough? Was Rob’s already present issues with R not enough? Was their previous well written and explored argument not enough? Was November not enough? Was Aaron’s assault not enough?

It was cheap and I don’t understand it and I definitely haven’t considered this storyline or the characters the same since. I can’t be positive about it because I hoped there’d be some logical way to understand these actions and I can’t find one!

The powers that be don’t seem to see that any of this is an issue. They think it’s ok that they have a popular couple and can do what they want with them and it feels as if character driven and logical story telling is devoid here and is replaced with an incentive to use their popularity to create headlines. That’s not something I’m interested in.

It’s terribly sad. I ADORE these characters. I truly truly do. I have grown up with them, loved them, supported them, learned with them, shook my head at them, cheered them on, shouted at my screen at them and enjoyed their growth and humour and pain and happiness.

It’s not an enjoyable thing to not find any joy in that anymore but that’s where I am.

I choose to see how it plays out and maybe my opinion will change but I need to wait to see if they intend to keep the cheap drama surrounding this storyline. I’m not used to ED being like this. If they choose to do it and have R pregnant then I don’t think I can stomach a Sugden/White baby (The Whites are one of the worst families ED has ever had in my personal opinion) and I certainly can’t stomach R as a character because she’s so poorly written and flip floppy I really couldn’t care less anymore! I need characters who make sense not ones who are expected to be adored because they say nice things then act appallingly.

Love is not enough in my opinion. Love comes from action. I have been told I was loved and then treated disgracefully. To say you love someone and yet to treat them without respect, thought or compassion (that includes one catastrophic mistake out of spite) is not love. This is my personal opinion and many will disagree.

So I will see and I expect the show to play this out to flesh out these issues and explain and to satisfactorily develop the characters to address the parts of them that need fixing without using it for cheap drama. I need the show to not change a character’s personality just to climb the peak again because it’s “fun to test relationships”. It is! It’s great fun to watch but only if it makes sense. If it doesn’t then it isn’t enjoyable for me.

That’s the last I’ll say on it. I’ll no doubt post if I change my mind and when the show develops and I see how they’re intending to progress with this storyline but until then I choose Faith Dingle and her ridiculous seances, Bernice and her terrible love advice etc.

I hope this covers everything. Sending love to you all :)