#PLEASE don’t take this the wrong way

[waltricia]

I had a thought. Apropos of nothing, really. Please don’t give me shit for it.

For a long time, I didn’t understand Polin. I think there are certain tropes, like enemies-to-lovers or forced proximity, that are quite straight-forward. The attraction is always immediate and evident. Friends-to-lovers is more complicated because it’s layered with history and platonic feelings. But I think that Polin is even more complex than the typical friends-to-lovers pairing. It seemed to me, and I’m sure it still seems to many people, particularly unrequited. Particularly unbalanced a dynamic. Particularly impossible to everyone around them and to audiences. ‘How could he ever be interested in her?’ The possibility of their love is not believed. I didn’t believe it. And, of course, as is probably the case with many Polin fans, I relate to Pen more than any of the other characters.

I thought about it and I came to realize that the not-believing actually came from a more insidious place than I had been willing to consider. It came from conditioned bias and internalized fatphobia. Purely. Because it’s one thing to see a love story that you don’t know the ending of and to not believe in its possibility because it starts out as unrequited. It’s another thing to know where it’s going and still not believe. The seeming impossibility of their love story comes from a deeply-rooted societal flaw.

I want all Polin fans to know that to love Polin, to truly believe in it, is to be a radical. It is truly to say, ‘fuck everyone’s expectations.’ The non-believers are brainwashed. I want all Polin fans to know that we are right and they are wrong. Maybe they’ll come to understand. Maybe they won’t. Whether or not they choose to try to understand is up to them. But we must not ever let them put any doubt into our minds or our hearts about the possibility of this kind of love. I know they’re a fictional couple. But they are representative of something very real.

I’ve been rewatching the show and there’s something else I’ve come to realize. It’s easy to fixate on the scenes in which Pen feels rejected by Colin. They’re devastating. But those moments are just loud. They scream at us, whereas the moments of mutual feeling whisper. But they are there.

They’re here.

✨✨✨

[aotearoa20]

My Brain: So your opinions on Mary Sues

Me: Fun to make for yourself and if people enjoy them thats greay but imo usually lead to really bland characters and boring plots because of how unrealistic it is to have no weaknesses and the entirety of the story and supporting characters depend one person

My Brain: Okay and what’s this

Luthien: I’m gonna just march straight up to Morgoth to defeat and/or humiliate him, a feat that has been attempted no less than three times by other main characters with devastating consequences and it’s all gonna work out because I’m just built different and based on the author’s wife who he thought was the ✨best✨

Me: An exception

[butcherb1rd]

whenever a karen page segment shows up, i get so incredibly nervous. like i support women’s rights, but she should uhhh take the hint and maybe shut up too? her ass is gonna get killed with all her poking around

[espinosaurusrexex]

bucky with uranium hand😳

I really hope you mean vibranium because I don’t know if I can get on your kink train if you didn’t 😅

[joel-millerr]

dear fic readers, I know you probably mean well but please stop comparing one writer to another. even if it’s meant to be a compliment, we don’t need to know that you think one writer is just as good as another because it almost sets a precedence for what story is deemed good or bad. we’re all different and shouldn’t be compared to someone whose stories are considered the “most popular” in any given fandom

[miintlxtte]

it’s weird to me when people make the argument of “respect is earned” in prn arguments because, I mean idk, aren’t you supposed to treat people like people??

[wooahiexist]

I had a vision ya’ll 😭😭😭

I also just made this for fun I don’t plan to do anything with it though

But other than that this was just made out of sheer boredom

Thank my friends for helping me with this btw

🫶🌝

[ace-disgrace-on-the-case]

Based on true events

[riveluart]

Queer fairy headcanons for pride This is just some fun doodles and headcanons my brain chose when rotating fairies around in my head

Ko-Fi Commissions are open!

[chaosangelmp3]

saying it again. nancy wheeler has a type and it’s shaggy haired brunette losers that have an awkward run

[dreamingofthewild]

I was thinking about the ways in which Astarion & Gale are mirrors to each other.

They both rely on the protagonist. Gale needs help feeding magic to the orb whilst Astarion needs to feed on blood. Both conditions can potentially cause harm to the player character.

Speaking of the protagonist, they are both desperate to gain the trust of the player character and use their respective skills to do so. Whereas Gale tries to make himself useful by using his intelligence and being of service, Astarion attempts to seduce you. Because to the both of them that's the only way they know how.

They are both the only characters who approve of using the tadpoles power.

They are on opposing ends of the morality spectrum but have the potential for change. Gale's desperation to live can cause him to be manipulated into following an evil character. Whereas Astarion can be pushed towards the path of redemption by the way of a good player character who respects his boundaries, autonomy, and doesn't play into doing everything Act 1 Astarion approves of.

They both have scars which are directly related to their abuse.

Both hide their true selves at first. Gale masks his desperation, self-loathing, and past mistakes with polite charm. Astarion uses arrogance and wit to hide his fear and past trauma.

They are both witty and capable of blunt, even cruel, honesty when needed. Gale's is demonstrated more in an evil playthrough. I see it that he always acts as the voice of reason in most cases.

Gale worships a Goddess whereas Astarion was abandoned by all the gods.

Both of their abuse involves coitus in some way. Astarion being forced to use his body to lure victims. Gale, although it is not explicitly stated in the game, intimately worshipped Mystra.

Despite their outward appearances of confidence, both Gale and Astarion harbour deep-seated insecurities and vulnerabilities. They both think that they are not worthy of being loved.

Astarion does not know how to love and Gale only loves deeply.

Gale finds beauty in everything. He is an emotional, highly empathetic, and self-sacrificing person. In contrast to Astarion, who has learnt that empathy and kindness only bring more pain. Who has learnt to give up on kindness and hero's. He thinks the world is a cruel, dark, and unforgiving place. Whereas Gale thinks the world is full of magic.

Gale's unending empathy and moral compass could serve as a stabilizing influence on Astarion's more selfish and morally ambiguous tendencies. Conversely, Astarion's pragmatism and survival instincts could help ground Gale's idealism and prevent him from being too naive or trusting. Their contrasting strengths and weaknesses could complement each other, allowing them to support and uplift one another.

I think they can understand each other and see each other in a way that the other companions can't. Even if they do not end up in a relationship, they are best friends at best.

In a romantic relationship, Gale is a slow burn. He does not care for lying, and I think he sees right through Astarion's theatrics in Act 1 because deep down, they are not unalike. This is why he does not fall for Astarion's attempts to flirt twice. Due to the fact that he was unable to successfully seduce Gale, Astarion acts slightly antagonistically towards him because he sees Gale as a potential threat. I couldn't seduce him. Therefore, why would he want to protect me?

However, Gale continues to protect Astarion anyway. From the Gur, from Araj, from their enemies. Not because he was seduced by Astarion, but because he is fundamentally a good person. Through Gale, he learns that there are truly good people out there.

Astarion is against Gale using the orb in Act 2. Through his brutal honesty, he would be the one to break all the holes in Gale's warped worship of Mystra. He would be the one to catch on and make him see their relationship for what it is and that the god's do not care for mortals. Chosen included. A romanced Astarion would not let Gale ascend to Godhood, especially after being denied ascension himself. And Gale is against Astarion ascending. I think Astarion would also be the only one to recognise it if Gale dissociates during a depressive episode. They both know what it is like to be isolated and condemned to death.

Gale, who would marry his love interest as a Mind Flayer, looks past Astarion's vampirism. He breaks down the walls that Astarion built around himself and gets through to the genuine Astarion. The tiny sliver that is still there desperately seeking redemption and tells him that he is worthy of being loved. He is worthy of a better future.

They do have the potential to draw into each others negative traits and make each other worse.  Astarion could push Gale to abandon his carefully maintained moral front, while Gale might try to drag Astarion towards a more empathetic path. And this all depends on the player choices.

The main difference is that Gale's conflicting motivations offer a more nuanced moral struggle for Astarion. While Wyll represents a clear oppositional force (good vs. evil), which can result in redemption or death, Gale straddles the line. His desperation and potential for greater darkness mirror Astarion's own complexities.

Gale and Wyll would be healing for each other and possibly better for each other than Astarion. However, it is the least popular of the three potential pairings.

Both of them are very compelling ships. Enemies to lovers, opposites attract, monster vs. monster hunter is a very popular tropes in fanfiction. The potential for one to act as a catalyst of change for the other, or to potentially destroy them (either in death or corruption) is more interesting to write about than a balanced couple who mirror how most relationships are in real life. Some of the most popular romances have drama (Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice, etc).

Astarion and Gale can be redemptive or corruptive. They can transform each other or be each others catalyst's for character development.

They compliment each other in other ways. Astarion needs to reacquaint himself with his body, which involves not having coitus in a while, whereas Gale sees the act as the combining of the body and soul, not just a means of release. Gale falls for what is inside a person, not what is on the outside. But at the same time, he is not the heroic type which Astarion has come to hate. Gale is also not like any of Astarion's victims.

I have read many fanfictions where they both, in character, make each other better. Their intense need for love, validation, and belonging working well together. They can be content with each other. Gale devoting everything to his lover and Astarion who never had anyone care about him before.

They are mirrors of each other, and this is why I like Bloodweave. It is not out of character for either one of them to fall in love with the other one. But it would take time. They are a slow burn. They're not perfect, but life is not all sunshine and roses. We communicate, we learn, and we get better.

To understand the ship, one has to believe that Astarion can be redeemed, albeit only through a good person. Gale is a very complex and forgiving person who chooses to see the good in everyone. Who holds other people tl standards, which he does not himself. They don't hate each other. But they understand each other.

This, to me, is why the ship is popular. Karlach & Wyll and Lae'zel & Shadowheart are also thematic parallels who are shipped together. The nature of fandom is to ship characters who have compelling romances, different dynamics, or maybe just because they like both characters. Each one is valid. However, in BG3, any pairing can be shipped together by nature of the fact that you can play as an origin character and romance another.

Ultimately, when you play the game you are in control of the narrative and how the romance between the character you are playing and your chosen romance partner goes. The companions are complex, flawed, broken, beaten, beautiful people and who are we to say that a character would not react in a certain way in a given situation.

I realise that I am rambling and have strayed off of the topic of Bloodweave specifically and on to ships in general. But I just wanted to explain why I like Bloodweave. I am a Galemancer, and I am not particularly attracted to Astarion, yet I ship him with Gale due to the aforementioned dynamics.

I also ship Gale with Wyll, Shadowheart, and Lae'zel. I think Astarion with Wyll or Karlach is also nice. And I like other ships in the fandom. But it is the sheer complexity and naunce of Bloodweave, which attracts me to it above all else.

[boinky-spoinky]

🍥 Took me a while but it was worth it 🍥

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

Why is it that fictional women with vices like alcohol and smoking are attractive when in reality I find them kind of repulsive. People need to stop making so much good art and photography of attractive older women smoking cigarettes or being pathetic and drunk while still being sexy somehow, please it’s for my health and wellbeing

[cowchickenbeefpork]

List of cluster b characters I like

(DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT HAVE ANY CLUSTER B DISORDERS I DO NOT KNOW MORE ABOUT THE DISORDERS THAN DOCTORS OR PEOPLE WITH THEM DO I JUST LIKE LEARNING ABOUT CLUSTER B DISORDERS SINCE I LIKE LEARNING ABOUT MENTAL DISORDERS AND I HAVE FRIENDS WITH CLUSTER B DISORDERS ANYWAYS. DO NOT EXPECT ME TO BE 100% CORRECT I AM NOT THE BEACON OF ALL KNOWLEDGE IF SOMETHING IS OFFENSIVE HERE I WILL APOLOGIZE AND TAKE DOWN THE POST)

[spiritsofprogress]

People shocked at the Hatbox ghost being the bad guy like the most major story about him is the urban legend he was too scary and gave someone a heart attack in the sixties. Now the effect works and the face is dialed down a bit and I think there’s been nothing but fanon for so long that it’s shocking people that some think he could be a bad guy?

Just to clarify, I’m not saying your wrong for having a kinder interpretation or even liking the character (I think everyone does) but you have to keep in mind it’s possible for others to have a more sinister interpretation. Also now that I think about it the heart attack legend may have shaped some of how his character works within the film- very major plot point stuff. That’s actually really cool.

[calciferstims]

tiktokers be like “I am going to create the most beautiful, relaxing, aesthetically pleasing video ever, with gorgeous lighting, and deeply satisfying content”. …….. “and then I’m going to cut the video fifty thousand times in thirty seconds-”