#also me: *this*

[kradogsrats]

Now we know What Viren Did(tm), and...

My personal side-eye aside, that denouement is actually an incredibly elegant application of the story's themes, within the scope of restrictions imposed by this particular medium (i.e. a cartoon targeted for pre-teens and younger). Like, I personally assumed for a long time that we would simply never find out the details, because it would be either too grim and/or violent for the story's intended rating or... kind of a let-down. On the surface, what we got seems like the second.

Most of us have looked at Claudia killing the baby deer to heal Soren's paralysis and went "well, it was obviously that, but y'know... worse, somehow," which is a completely reasonable assumption to make. It was definitely what was narratively implied, which makes the supposedly-damning ingredient being "your mother's tears" instead of like... idk, "your mother was pregnant again and I used the life of that unborn child to save you" or something kind of "... oh. Okay, then."

To be fair, that might also be why they went so hard in the IMO inadvisable male-dominated writer room direction of "so I held her down and took what I wanted" to convey the requisite "he's doing A Bad," which is what all my side-eye is toward. But here's the thing:

On some level, dark magic is about violation—of nature, of others, and of the self. Even violation by Aaravos, ultimately.

But it's also not just that.

Dark magic also sits at the center of one of the primary themes of the whole story, which is the evil of denying others' personhood. We see it again and again from the angle of the heroic cast: "You keep calling it a monster," "You knew he was a person, just like you," "She's not 'the elf.' She's Rayla." The evil they do not allow to take root is seeing people as things, the place where all other evils begin. (GNU Terry Pratchett, IYKYK.)

So Viren's damning crime, the crime that is dark magic, is this:

In that moment, he looks at his wife, and sees only a source of what he needs. One that he can take from as he wills. That's why Lissa leaves—Viren has pulled the circle he draws around "people" versus "abstractions, things to be used" in so tightly that she has found herself suddenly on the outside of it. That's not something you come back from, in a relationship.

As for it all being over something as innocent as Lissa's tears, as opposed to something like her blood, her unborn child, her heart, her last breath—that's also, I think, part of the point. It's a renewable resource, harvested without doing permanent physical harm, but it's still a violation of her. This is the ultimate refutation of the "but what if ethically-sourced phoenix feathers" argument as being, for the final time, bullshit.

When Viren bursts in looking like he walked straight out of hell and demands use of her tears, could Lissa have given them freely? Sure... but she didn't. Could he have talked her around, if he invested the time and respect for her that would require? Probably, but again, he didn't! He took what he'd decided was necessary, did what he decided he had to do, because he could.

And like, he knew, even then. Because while dark magic twists your perceptions and reasoning, dragging you deeper each time—it can't twist you so much that you no longer have a choice. It will do everything it can to make you rationalize making that choice, over and over, but it can't erase that it is a choice.

Like, I'm honestly kind of emotional about it because while the surface level watching experience is kind of hmmmmm, it delivers so well on a thematic and meta level that I'm just like idk. Fuck. It's good.

[lunar-soren]

…as duke fraldarius, felix worked for years to revitalize and rebuild his territory. he became the king's right-hand man, serving as a trusted adviser… later in his life, he inherited his father's nickname and was known throughout the kingdom as the Shield of Faerghus's successor…

…as margrave gautier, sylvain devoted his life to improving relations with the people of the sreng region. with oration alone, he succeeded in helping to create a new way of life for nobles in which relics and crests were no longer viewed as necessary…

…after his coronation, dimitri spent his life reforming and ruling justly over fódlan... he lived for his people and alongside them, and was thusly dubbed the Savior King…

he will tear your city down / o lei, o lai, o Lord!

thoughts on composition under the cut bc im Super Proud of this one

starting with felix, the Soldier, carrying the sword of moralta, raised to swing. he's seen from the back because I wanted to put emphasis on him being the vanguard, the Shield. also because this angle emphasizes his eyelashes.

sylvain, the Poet, is framed centered on his mouth and hands as he speaks. he wears no armor, only a quilted coat, leather gloves, and a cloak — pinned with the crest of gautier, struck through. the pin crossing through the crest was very deliberate.

and dimitri, the King, is kneeling. his head is bent to obscure his expression, hands raised to cover his mouth. the crown is floating because I wanted to emphasize the divinity of the title "savior king." I also made his scar as ugly as possible for the "thorn" in the lyrics.

each of their crests is visible in their piece as well!! I replaced the crest of chevalier visible on the sword of moralta with the crest of fraldarius, sylvain's cloak pin is the crest of gautier, and the blaiddyd crest is etched on the crown!

all in all this was a very experimental piece for me!!! I usually rely on eyes and eyebrows to convey emotion, and with both dimitri and felix's mouths covered it was a very fun challenge to get the vibes I was going for :3c

[fuckyeahisawthat]

Still my contention that while you can shit in a stillsuit, you really would not want to unless you absolutely had to.

Have you seen the butts on those things? Skin tight. Where is it going. How is it getting there.

Earth humans who wear a thing into which they shit have to have that thing changed frequently to avoid getting rashes and stuff. Even if the Fremen have the best moisture-wicking technology the universe has ever seen, the solids have to go somewhere and that somewhere is either on your skin or on the inside of the suit.

Your body has already extracted the water from that, that's why it is solid. How much more are you gonna get and is it worth the tradeoff?

I think if you were out in the desert for multiple days at a time you'd just dig a hole somewhere out of the way like Earth humans do while camping. If you're someone who does this all the time you probably get used to pooping first thing when you wake up or right before you go to sleep, because trust me you would also want to be taking that stillsuit off from time to time.

[hugogetspowerbottomed]

*chin hands* tell me about oops all omegas varigo with hugo realizing he's an omega stereotype teehee

OH MY GOD SHUT UP I ALREADY FORGOT ABOUT THIS AND IDK WHAT MY IDEAS WHERE BUT HERE YOU GO SIR:

hugo probably dated a whole bunch of alphas when he was a teen + young adult bc he thought thats what he was supposed to do. when he started having sex it was fine like the knotting was great the hormones were great the smell was great but it didn't really SATISFY him yknow? except he didn't know that bc he didn't know different yet

he maybe dates a few betas in college and likes that okay bc they're a little softer than alphas but it still isn't his thing so he just kinda aimlessly sleeps around, having a good physical time, but emotionally he's so unfulfilled and so unhappy that he's starting to get depressed and spiral (this isn't to say that ppl who don't date will have this happen to them btw bc that's a very allo way of thinking, i just think that hugo is someone who craves a romantic partner)

anyway he meets varian and it all clicks together bc hes IN LOVE and varian is so compatible with him emotionally and mentally and he's finally with someone who challenges him and makes him feel good and makes him laugh BUT VARIAN IS AN OMEGA??? he's so conflicted and upset

varian is also deeply into hugo and can tell that hugo likes him!! but cannot figure out why hugo won't do anything about it bc hugo isn't shy or anything but he keeps patiently waiting until he finally snaps and tells hugo that he likes him

this goes badly bc hugo gets really upset and is like WE CANT DATE!!! and its all horrible third act of a movie breakup where everything is awful until nuru gets fed up with them and literally locks them in a closet. varian asks hugo why they can't be together and hugo starts listing all of these reasons about omegas having to be with alphas and incompatibility and varian calls him dumb and kisses him and its the best kiss hugo has ever had.

they start dating obviously and hugo finds out that guess what omega heats sync up. i'll save the smutty goodness for another post bc thats going to be a WHOLE THING ITSELF but needless to say that its the best sex of hugo's life and fucking someone he's in love with changes his brain chemistry.

there's probably a few hiccups where hugo gets upset about something that he thinks is supposed to happen given his nature/biology or whatever, but they work it out.

anyway just like. hugo working on his internalized issues and finding love and shit. it makes me insane

[grasslandgirl]

talked w my mom today about how im stupid (read: don't know how to read flirty social cues) and she asked whether i flirt w people i talk to online (read: here on tumblr) and i fully blue screened sav.png is not working etc because i didnt even consider. that one could be flirting. on tumblr dot com. OR LIKE. i guess i did know that it happens IN THEORY but like. i never considered it Could Be Happening (read: TO ME) so i guess. to be opaque. if you have/are/want to flirt w me here online on tumblr. you are welcome to do so (hiii 😳🫣) but also you will have to be SO CLEAR (read: say "i am flirting") because I WILL NOT AND HAVE NOT NOTICED. xox

[jemandthesingalongs]

ziskandra

oh my god you’re so right for all your wynne feelings like…. people really do think every mage should be like. dismantling the system with their bare hands and it’s like. that’s not how it works!! and calling the MAGES part of a cult?? Out of everything?? what on earth… and yknow what if she is trapped in a cult like. free her. Christ FJDJDJJDJ

I hope you don’t mind me taking this reply as a further excuse to ramble about Wynne dslkfdsf...

But yes, it’s always struck me as strange Wynne is never given the same understanding as Anders, or really any other mage character that’s been in the Circle. Anders is the one I focus on because he’s the most developed and there is Something Different that I can’t just put my finger on about him vs Wynne. A true mystery.

After skimming her page for answering purposes, and they are actually so similar.

I learned she never even had a name herself, she was also named for where she was found! Just like Anders! Both of them taken in young, no true names, and alone. They took different paths with how they coped with this, Wynne turned to the Maker and by extension took on the belief that mages need to earn their place and help humanity, and Anders tried to escape several times. Both of them even took on romantic partners, and Wynne even bore a son from it (and the heavy implication/confirmation? that, Rhys’ father was a templar SO).

Of course, this doesn’t matter in the slightest since it’s not so much similar backstories as just, hating Wynne because? She’s a woman? Not actively trying to free mages with explosions? Old? Upset you because she made you mad about your love interest? All of the above?

And I’m not against disliking her character, but Wynne, along with characters like Aveline and Cassandra never get the mountains of meta concerning their worldviews, their place in the world, and the wider implications of their writing and flaws. Wynne stood out to me more because, well, she’s a victim too. Just because she’s not “actively fighting” doesn’t mean she’s not, and in fact pretty much states in Asunder that she knows it’s either accepting your fate within the Circle or fearing a mass genocide.

And guess what happens after DA2 lol!

[crossdressingdeath]

Teehee.

[glitch-e-stardust]

I fukin love picross/nonograms

[fooltofancy]

sometimes u get bullied by gods and THEN u get bullied by the universe. also. because life has been way, way too easy lately obviously.

[thebendsbyradiohead]

i didn’t think it was gonna be miley as my top artist but i forgot that they don’t base it just on the one song u constantly play but on general discography and i gotta say plastic hearts was on repeat

& if ur wondering what happened on july 16th, i returned home after spending a month with my parents & that was the celebration

[mexashepot]

Let me get this straight: Dude wrote an entire concert saga/plot surrounding 1 song, but then the song was not ready for the first installation of the saga, a concert which took place in August 2021 LITERALLY TITLED AFTER SAID SONG, because naturally, he did not finish writing the TITULAR FUCKING SONG on time, so he just...went on with the show without THE TITULAR FUCKING SONG, then created 2 additional installations in the saga in the form of 2 concerts, and now, a year and a half after the first concert, which was supposed to be the song's debut, and 4 days before the 4th and last concert, at 02:24, he finished writing it...

He managed to learn to play A WHOLE ASS NEW INSTRUMENT for that 1st concert, but not to finish writing 1(one) song...

Dare I say, chaotic procrastinating icon?

[frozen-orbit]

THE BEST ANIMATED FEATURE NOMINATIONS HAVE ME ON A CHOKEHOLD WHY CAN'T THE FIVE OF THEM WIN 😭😭😭😭😭

[ladyseidr]

anyway [into a megaphone] let will talk abt his dogs

[ferretrade]

some sort of sports au where cody's goal/walk on/whatever song is unstoppable by sia, that's it that's the whole idea

[jackyjackdraws]

I got this idea at 3am.

No, I won't elaborate further

[itsscaredycat]

so ok yeah fine i watched gravity falls again and read the book of bill