#and i don't have the energy for any Discourse(TM)

[daytaker]

NightBringer Satan is a Gift.

I understand everyone has their own opinions on how good/not good NB is as a game or a story or whatever, but in my opinion, Satan's characterization is soooo enhanced by it. I know that this isn't an opinion that everyone shares, but to me, Satan felt emotionally artificial sometimes in the original game (more on that below).* He felt kind of awkward and like he wanted to connect with MC but something was blocking the kind of connection they develop with some of the other brothers. (Disclaimer: I've only done season 1 of OG, so I can't speak to how he's characterized later on. I know, I know, shame. But I'm trying my best.) Getting to see what Satan is like when he doesn't have any control over his emotions makes the stiffness and artificiality make more sense to me, and they become admirable because we get to see just how hard it is for him to get everything under control.

I think they did a really good job with the pacing of his development in NB too. Satan in Lesson 1 and Satan in Lesson 19 are different, but there isn't a moment where he suddenly starts controlling his emotions better. I think there's a lot going on behind the scenes with him as far as his emotional growth and self control are concerned.

Also let's not forget some very important things about Satan that make him, IMO, one of the most interesting characters to work with as a writer:

Satan was never an angel; he had no fall from grace.

Satan was created from Lucifer's wrath---he is literally the product of trauma and self-mutilation.

Satan is significantly younger than his brothers.

He spent the first year of his life more or less trapped in a castle with his deeply emotionally wounded brothers.

He has a deep resentment towards Lucifer that sometimes defies reason---he wishes he didn't dedicate so much of his time and energy to him, but it's basically a compulsion.

He hates his deep association with Lucifer, and he hates that he has a lot in common with him.

And these lead me to some headcanons that live rent-free in my brain every day of my life.

Satan sees himself as a reminder of the Great Celestial War and everything his brothers lost in it, including Lilith.

He is divine retribution against Lucifer for his failure, for leading his brothers to failure, for letting his sister die.

He acts as a counterbalance to Lucifer's pride by bearing the weight of the shame that Lucifer can't fully accept now that he is the Avatar of Pride. Even if Lucifer pushes it out of his mind, Satan never forgets that he failed in the worst way possible.

His biggest aspiration is to become a full and complete person outside of any association he has with Lucifer. He feels like some sort of parasitic tumor that exists only in opposition to his brother, and he wants desperately to escape that role that he feels he was born into.

Anyway, Satan is great, hail Satan, all that good stuff. Did you know I have a lot of thoughts and opinions about Satan? I know, shocking. For more of my takes here's my fic about him (on AO3).

*I think Satan almost metaphorically represents certain elements of autism---emotions that don't come out the way you intend, masking and its limitations, hyperfixations that are barely under control. In Fandom Discourse(TM) there's sometimes a level of focus on more 'cutesy' autistic traits that we find endearing in characters, like social obliviousness and gleefully indulged hyperfixations. But emotional control, emotional masking, emotional seepage, emotional artificiality---these are also real and messy and often times they aren't cute and they're uncomfortable to see in yourself or in someone else. I really don't like diagnosing characters so I'm not about to claim Satan "is" autistic, but as someone who has been called essentially 'spectrum adjacent' by doctors, I relate to the awkwardness and the desire to appear normal despite knowing you're not and emotions spilling out in ugly ways---um. That got really long and personal.

[titleknown]

...On the voting discourse going on, I have a few thoughts I may as well articulate.

Like, firstly... witholding votes as a way of "punishing" the Dems or getting people to engage with alternate political systems hasn't worked. Like, ever.

If anything they've seen it as carte-blanche to go further right while ignoring the reasons why their "base" is disengaging due to the awful Skeksis running the party.

Granted an organized "boycott" of the Dems could theoretically work, but if we had an org powerful enough to do that (Which we don't at the moment), we could probably spend our time way more productively in other ways.

Like, I do not get why we think that "vote shaming" will work for us when it works for the Dems...

...But that's not to say I have many nice things to say about the whole "Vote for the lesser evil" dynamic either. Because "telling people not to vote doesn't work" and "telling people to vote for the lesser evil doesn't work" are statements that can very much coexist!

Like, even beyond the burnout as things still keep getting worse, there's people who the US state has never done a decent thing for, and of course people who's families overseas Biden is currently paying for the bombing thereof.

Like,from talking to them, the "read Settlers" sort of leftists often have very good reasons from their personal lives for being as pessimistic about voting's capacity to change things as they are. Especially those who're marginalized and living in the South, they have every right to be disillusioned and angry with the society of the racist; bigoted monsters they're surrounded by.

To hold that wonkish realpolitik "hold your nose" as a cudgel those people is not only more than a little ghoulish, but more relevantly ineffective. You're not going to get past trauma with Facts and Logic (TM)

Like, for all that Trump's Project 2025 is fucking terrifying and (full disclosure) I think voting for the sake of avoiding that is warranted, I also think vote-shaming to that end is also Not Helping, and we're going to need to put our organizational energy elsewhere if we want to get out of the deathloop of voting for DemSkex or RepubliSkex.

Like, relating to @mostlysignssomeportents idea of activism, if activism is an ant moving forward on its legs against the flood, and one of the legs can't go any further, they should probably try to find where the other legs can go without the other one going into the drink.

So, fuck "Vote Blue, no matter who," or "Fuck voting" it should be "Either way, join the DSA," at least IMO...

[cannabiscomrade]

I've never heard of mmj helping fatigue, could you say more on that? I don't like the way recreational mj makes me feel spacey and forgetful, this increases my anxiety even if I'm more "relaxed" but as a person with a fucked up gi system (undx, but nausea & vomitting feature prominently in my day to day) and dysautonomia that causes debilitating fatigue, I might be interested in trying it in a medical capacity if it really assists with fatigue and nausea. Is there any way to feel less spacey amd dissociated when you use it?

So this will definitely depend on the person, but since you're a lot like me, I'll speak from my experience!

I think the mechanism of the person's fatigue is what really influences how they respond to cannabis. Now that I've isolated that I'm getting adrenaline dumps (and then fatigue afterwards) I'll have to experiment with my medical usage to see how it helps to manage or pad that reaction.

When I use CBD dominant or equivalent strains and items I find that it's able to manage that sedative effect more. I personally have to use high THC for my nausea/vomiting, but I try to get a 1:1 if possible, or at least something with .15%CBD or higher if it's a concentrate or flower. You can also try low dosing and/or microdosing on pills, like RSO/concentrate capsules to see what your lowest effective dose is for nausea without the overwhelming fatigue.

Trying to lean towards sativas and sativa dominant strains helps me as well, but I know that there's Discourse (TM) over whether or not those really make as big of a difference as we anecdotally claim they do. I think it has to do with the terpene profile specifically. Any of the OG strains I've found boost my energy and creativity, and Fire OG is my absolute favorite strain for the high CBD/THC and the nausea relief.

[banavalope]

Thank u for the thought out discussions. Shipping discourse is like the most difficult thing to talk about with any sort of nuance (in American fandom spaces) cause a huge number of ppl will take anything you say to mean “I literally love seeing irl children getting abused” I’ve never wished more to be fluent in another language so I could step out of this US-centric bubble

While I can't speak to what fandoms of other countries are like - though I have made a large number of fandom friends outside of the US - I can say at the very least, US fandom is among the most reactionary. If I'm going to be brutally honest, I can't even blame anyone in fandom for being reactionary. So many people acting in bad faith or just being too exhausted having to explain themselves, people trying to protect themselves; like, man I get it.

But like, I'm an artist working hard towards posting more of my own original content yeah? I want to have a discussion with My Audience(tm) about my characters and the narrative I'm constructing around them. I see art as a conversational device. I can use fiction to temporarily place myself in the role of "agreeing" with a perspective I disagree with, for the purpose of exploring a theme that asks a much bigger question. Maybe that's what we're failing to break down what we mean properly, and why so many people in fandom will jump to the immediate assumption that writing about a topic in fiction places you in support of it.

Like, in my writing of Amadeus, he uses his status to manipulate a situation to his advantage, and it ruins his life. In narrative I've loosely constructed this as "he's outed for cheating in a battle of the bands type concert, he parasocially manipulates his fans and pays off another band in order to win. when he's found out for this one incident, other actions of his are put under a microscope; as a result, he's banned from participating in concerts altogether, and his career takes such a massive hit that he's unable to respectably recover" This is my way of starting a conversation about cancel culture, neither in favor of nor against any side of it. Amadeus has a redemption arc as a means to explore how artists relate themselves to their art, how we place our worth on the consumption of our art, social (media) expectations, the sensationalization of innocuous events, what puts someone in a position where they feel they have no choice but to make a very poor decision, and how an artist reconciles with the mistakes they make.

The twist is, I don't actively care about making a stance on my opinions of cancel culture. You'd think I do with the way I gave a character this entire backstory, but I've tricked you. It's a thematic device.

That's the energy of discussion I want to support having with people. Far be it from me to tell people how I think they need to live their lives or experience them, all I can do is ask questions and hope I find someone with the same level of enthusiasm who wants to answer. My world becomes more informed that way.

[actuallyitsstar]

3, 4, 27, and 51 for fanfic asks?

✨ send me a number to ask a fanfic question! ✨

3. what is the best fandom you've ever been involved in?

my answer is twofold! if we are not basing this on fictional fandoms only, i think i have overall the most fond memories of being a mythical beast- to elaborate, there's these two lifelong best friends with a youtube show, called rhett and link, you may or may not have heard of them- and i was on ground zero for the peak of their career. i had a lot of friends in that fandom, a very big fandom blog, i helped organize and participate in fandom community stuff, and the energy and the vibe and the fun and creativity and sense of community were like no other. definitely my fandom honeymoon era, and i still love it dearly in a nostalgic sort of way. unfortunately, it came to an end, tho, as most things do; people started infighting, there was lgbtq+ discourse that i felt very much ostracized by, as this was during the big "asexuals aren't lgbt+" wave and i was getting lowkey harrassed about it; and a lot of people just started being downright nasty to each other out of nowhere. the whole fandom pretty much imploded, and as far as i know now there's only 10 or 15 blogs remaining (i used know if at least 1k+, which to me is a big fandom, tho i know lots of fandoms are much bigger!) that post about rhett and link / are mythical beasts.

i sometimes wish i could get back to that. i do rly miss that sense of community and positivity and friendship. i still absolutely love rhett and link and i will cherish my internet dads forever <3 but that old community is gone now, unfortunately, and i don't think there's any chance of it coming back. (my close second in this category has to be dan & phil and the phandom, so much so that i was peer pressured into making a sideblog for it, but it's so much larger and more impersonal feeling- still a great community tho! with its occasional discourse, as most communities tend to have i suppose)

if we are talking about specifically ~fictional~ media fandoms, then believe it or not, top gun! i've never received such a warm and kind welcome bursting into a fandom late with my bullshit, lol <3 we are small but mighty, and i'm gonna be writing for this fandom until it's just u and me reading it, probably, so there's no taking that away from me, lol. everyone i have talked to has been so lovely and insightful and i've loved all the creativity and amazing works that i have read/seen/etc!!! <3<3 very sad that i missed out on the original top gun summer tbh!

4. do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

i don't, actually! i was never that fully intertwined with a fandom and its discourse for whatever went down to really effect me that directly, except for the mythical beasts, and i can't regret that- a formative experience that gave me friends and fun and a lot of laughter at the time! everything has a time and a place and sometimes it isn't meant to last forever, and that's okay. i still had fun!

27. which do you hate more: writing summaries or picking titles?

SUMMARIES !!!!! summaries are so yuck oh my god. titles are easy. titles are chosen by listening to Music from Blorbo Playlist (tm) until i hear a line and go !!! THAT ONE !!!! and thats the title <3 its so easy for me <3 but summaries. blood sweat and tears ??? stressing that it doesn't sound interesting enough so no one will click on it???? trying to reveal the ~vibe~ of the fic w/o spoiling anything ????? Impossible!!! it cannot be done

51. rant about something you love/hate about fanfic! go!

I LOVE THAT FANFIC IS A GROUP PROJECT LOVE LETTER TO LOVE. whether it be to the things we love, the people we love, the stuff that helps us escape or makes us feel better or brings us joy or drives us to make something or inspires us. you can't get into fanfic for clout or for money. you can't be stuck up about fanfic (or i suppose u can try but. u won't get far!), you can't be a fanfic influencer. you write fics because you love something so much that you just have to talk about it or you feel like you're going to burst, and so do the people who have also seen the something who may or may not have the same feelings as you- so you all share that love with each other!

and idk. i guess i just think thats neat <3 i love u fanfic authors <3 i love u fanfic readers <3 that is All

tysm for the ask and sorry it took 18 million years and that i have um older asks to answer still 😭 we are getting there slowly kids akdhdjfhf

[calliopechild]

This is an old thought I’ve been kicking around since Infinity War, but I’d really like to survey those who are all ‘Steve & co. got so many people killed when they should have just killed Vision from the beginning’ (people with agency who made their own choice to fight and were following T’Challa, not Steve, but I guess accuracy isn’t important when people just want to blame everything possible on a character they don’t like), and ask how many of them would have supported the decision to try and remove the Mind Stone if someone else had made it. Tony is the guy who goes ‘I would just cut the wire,’ who responded to JARVIS telling him he could only support X number of people by figuring out a way to surpass that number, so if people think he would’ve been in the ‘kill Vision and let’s move on’ camp, I can’t say I agree. (Plus, Vision is all that’s left of JARVIS. Did people forget that? ‘Cause I guarantee you that Tony didn't.) Or if the Mind Stone wasn’t stuck in Vision, but instead stuck in Tony or Peter or Bruce or whoever, would the prevailing sentiment still have been ‘pull the trigger’?

Now yes, killing Vision could have prevented Thanos getting the Mind Stone...except that nothing they did on Earth would have changed Thanos getting the Time Stone on Titan. They could have destroyed the Mind Stone, and Thanos still would have showed up and undone it, just like he did in the movie. I’m genuinely wondering how many people are in the ‘Vision should have died’ camp because they genuinely disagree with the ethics of one life vs. many thing, and how much of it is just anti-Steve sentiment. I mean, if Tony had been in Vision’s place and asked them to kill him, and Steve had gone ‘okay, sure,’ and done it without even trying to save him, people would have lost their shit.

I believe destroying the Mind Stone earlier would’ve been the smarter choice, absolutely; I was sitting in the theater during IW going “look I get why you don't want to, but it’s more logical.” But I also know that I wouldn’t have looked at any of the characters the same way if they hadn’t at least tried to find another alternative. If it’s just that people don’t care about Vision as a character because he was poorly developed, I’m right there with you. The only real emotional impact for me re: his death was his interactions with Wanda, because holy shit someone having to kill the person they love is hard to watch; other than that, there was no real emotional investment in his character/death for me. But like...android or not, he is still a form of life. I’ve seen people more upset about U and Dum-E getting destroyed, but when it comes to Vision, a sentient being with consciousness and life? Bruce even said that Vision wasn’t just the stone anymore, that there was part of him besides that, “maybe even the best parts.” Canonically acknowledged personhood, and yet I’ve seen comments saying that they should have just ‘killed the walking toaster’ and that Wanda ‘can buy a new vibrator.’ I mean, holy shit, guys, what the hell. If someone is the partner of a character you hate, they automatically don't matter and it’s fine if they die?

And yes, you can argue that it is a matter of respecting Vision’s choice, but if that’s the case, does that mean Hulk shouldn’t have tried to catch Tony in the first Avengers movie? Tony thought he was going to die when he chose to fly the nuke into the wormhole; he accepted that and made the choice anyway, so should Hulk have just let him hit the ground? Steve and Natasha were risking lives in by not closing the portal as soon as Tony went through it with the nuke, but I’ve never heard anyone argue that they should have closed it as soon as Tony went through. Every second it was open meant the chance for more Chitauri soldiers or ships to come through who could kill more civilians; that was another case of ‘one life vs. many,’ but I have never seen anyone say keeping the portal open was the wrong choice ethically. Steve was willing to die to take down the helicarriers in CA: TWS; should Bucky have respected his choice and just let him drown? Should Sam and Nat and Maria have just left Steve on the bank of the river? (Yes, Maria listened to Steve’s choice and detonated the carriers--because unlike in the situation with Vision, there was no alternative and no time to try and find one.) If someone makes a sacrifice, you should respect that, yes, but if you can solve the problem without making the sacrifice, why wouldn’t you even try to do so?

And this doesn’t even touch on the biggest point: even if they had destroyed the stone and killed Vision, that’s...not going to stop the alien army? They already knew the Stone was on Earth/in Wakanda. I mean, what were the good guys supposed to do, send a message to Squidward and friends and be like ‘hey, we destroyed the stone, sorry, you guys will have to go home now’? Thanos’ lapdogs wouldn’t have believed them, and even if they did, they probably would’ve attacked anyway because they clearly don’t have a problem with rampant slaughter just for giggles, as evidenced by what they did on the ship full of Asgardian refugees.

Tl;dr: would sacrificing Vision to keep the stone out of Thanos’ hands have been the more logical option? Yes. But if they’d just thrown one of their own under the bus without even trying to find an alternative, they wouldn’t be the people--the heroes--we’d fallen in love with over the past ten years.

[buttonsthenerdy]

What I think your ESO Alliance of choice says about you:

Daggerfall Covenant: You like fairy tale fantasy. But not Disney-style. No, you like Welsh folklore, Lovecraftian horror, and Grimm Brothers fairytales. Pathfinder is your ttrpg of preference and you give me horse girl vibes, but are also a staunch Dog Person TM. You play ESO for the exploration and dungeon crawls, and have played (if not beaten) at least one Dark Souls game. You have Bi Wife Energy.

Ebonheart Pact: You like grimdark survival fantasy. You either drink tea or black coffee, no in-between. Ttrpgs of preference include anyting sci-fi and Vampire: The Masquerade. You are a reptile person and don't understand or don't care about cats vs dogs discourse. You play ESO for the pvp and will min-max the shit out of your builds just to see how broken they can get. You probably play fps games and are still upset about how Mass Effect 3 ended. You are the Even Meaner Lesbian.

Aldmeri Dominion: Everyone thinks you're elitist when you say you love high fantasy, but the reality is you grew up in a staunchly religious household & only had access to Tolkien & Lewis until you started sneaking ya dystopia & romance novels home from the high school library. You are a Cat Person TM, but love most animals (except for that one specific animal, you know the one). Most people would assume D&D is your ttrpg of choice, but you actually like indie rpgs better and will use any excuse to pitch your fave to whoever's listening. You play ESO for the lore and role-play your characters. You are also the kind of person to only play one game at a time but fixate on it obsessively. You are either Ace or the Token Straight That's on Thin Ice.

[azenta]

I think the reason your 3 fix typing doesnt make sense bc u said you feel unique already and don't have to prove anything is because 3 fixes don't think this way about themselves. 3 fixes feel they're not worthy unless they're achieving something. they have trouble understanding they're unique because they're worthy human beings and should stop trying to prove something. you may be a very healthy person who has learned self love but it takes years for 3 fixes to accept they're unique and worthy

u said you feel unique already and don't have to prove anything

I try to prove myself constantly to a point it's really dumb of me. I don't remember if I said I never felt like proving anything, but I can tell you if I did it's because I am conscious it's useless and more harmful to want to prove myself, but can't acknowledge I do so because I need to be "irreprochable". So, what I do doesnt match what I should be, thus a beautiful almighty Denial mechanism from me there.

Tho, I said I dont need to prove that I am unique, and this is true, I dont try to prove that i am unique. However, i don't claim i am unique in the sense that i am SO SPWECIAL compared to others, because I am aware that not only me but everyone else is unique. Claiming you are unique is not a 4 statement in itself anyway, like wtf. Needing to feel unique is a basic human need. We all need to feel we have something separating us from others, and all the need to also feel we are not alone and not TOO different either. However, 4s/fix developed a fear around that need, and fight the feeling(/belief) of being so normal that they are obsolete and totally unworthy of almost living. Or they have felt so different that they understood from it that it was problematic about them, and decided to embrace it as a counterphobic measure (thus their self deprecating annoying discourse). "Fuck yeah i am different, while all of you losers are just some sheeple without personality" or "i know i suck but at least i have a personality" is some 4 catchphrase i have heard unironically many times when they were on a reactive strike.  

3 fixes feel they're not worthy unless they're achieving something.

True. They seek being competent and capable, and do so by achieving things they deem are valuable (Je and IVs dependent).

They have trouble understanding they're unique

This is 4s, not 3s. 3s dont care about unicity on its own unless their unicity is an asset to make them do better and achieve excellence (3w4). Their unicity is a tool to stand out and be noticed for their greatness.

3s are cp like 4s, so they go and act against their inner belief of worthlessness. Both 3s (<< 3w4) and 4s ( << 4w3) pretend to be either better(3) or more unique(4) than they are. Both fear being bland and ordinary, of being a nobody. But 4s want to be acknowledged for how "unique they are" as a person, how them as an individual stands out and matter, while 3s want to be acknowledged for their "achievements and successes", for their excellence and Competency TM. 4s want recognition for their traits, for their personality itself, with their flaws and qualities (4w5 > 4w3), while 3s want recognition for their doing, they want to create an image of success, of something greater than they feel they are, that would make up for their flaws (3w2 > 3w4). 4s embrace their identities, 3s reject it ; until of course they become healthier and 4s learn that their flaws can be worked upon without losing authenticity (improvement -> 1) and 3s that their flaws are alright, that they don't need to prove others, the world even, that they do good despite their flaws, and that others are here to help, not to deter them from it because they are too worthless ( -> 6). 

You'd be righter to say 3w4 can feel more threatened on their uncity and have some cp reaction more so than their 3w2 counterparts, but 3w4 are less likely to feel attacked on unicity itself (vs 4w3) as they know they are ready to bend part of their identities to achieve whatever they want to and therefore know the limit of their unicity, and authenticity especially. 4s do not bend their identities, 4w3s will show off the part that makes them feel the most unique, but they won't by any mean hide any part of it. They want all their whole self to be acknowledged. 3s doesnt want you to know their shitty part, 3w4s are aware of those shitty flaws and will only present them if it makes them look better, ironically.

But still, 3w4s are likely to brush away anyone telling them they are a fake bitch because *cp voice* "I am better than you, and your opinion has no value, inSigINficAnt fOoL". In other words, attacking their unicity is more a low threat to their "excellence" and that's why they'll react, so not because of being fake, but more because fake = you suck, and 3s "do NOT suck", they are "the best". 

And well, if I retyped as a 3w4 fix I'll let you guess which fear and beliefs I noticed the most in me.

you may be a very healthy person who has learned self love but it takes years for 3 fixes to accept they're unique and worthy

It's been years. But of course, i still have a lot to do or else i wouldn't be on a burnout. Self-work is never completed, it's a work you have to do all your life. Still, it's my last fix, and with the amount of therapist apointment + my job that still also offers me apointments to take care of myself (not just offered to me tho), i can tell you it's not my last fix that is causing me the most problems in my life until now. Even i'd say, it's the one the least problematic and that caused me trouble only when i reach my limits and meet unhealthier levels. It's in part because of that burnout that i had to notice the image i tried to protect really wasn't about unicity, it was also about competency, about how much i was reliable and the best at what i master (x 1 x 5 influence here). "Look how much i fucking stand out because of how good i am" is the image i wanted to reflect.

I dont mind if you arent convinced that I am a 3 fix, and you are more than welcome to object yourself and argue furthermore if you want. I kinda like to explain stuff a bit too much, and the frustration to be doubted fuels me of motivation and energy, ironically.

[relentless-endurance]

For the character meme: Tataru and Estinien!

Tataru:

Why I like them

Gremlin omnicrafter who just wants her friends to be safe! She's been there from the very beginning and I am pretty sure the scions would fall apart without her.

Why I don’t

I have no reason to dislike her!

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

There is a really sweet scene when you depart for the first leg of Endwalker that makes me tear up everytime I think about it. There is a leg of quests in 5.3 that I also really love.

Favorite season/movie

I love Stormblood Era Tataru tbh, esp in the four lords quest chain (Which I strongly recommend doing its very good and has fun lore about a previous Warrior of Light!)

Favorite line

No particular line comes to mind, actually. But thats okay. She's just good.

Favorite outfit

Oh her Kugane outfit was so cute.

OTP

With Wedge or Krile! I think both are really cute.

Brotp

Her dynamic with Hancock makes me laugh a lot tbh

Head Canon

this is basically canon, but I am a firm believer either way that she is one of the very few people the warrior of light is actually scared of.

Unpopular opinion

Are there Tataru hot takes/?? is there.. fucking Tataru discourse??? alfjalkfja but honestly if people hate Tataru i don't trust them

A wish

I would love to see her in some side chain again like she was in Four Lords.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

I don't know??? I guess I wouldn't be thrilled if she betrayed the scions or something but like ??? idk.

5 words to best describe them

terrifying. adorable. caring. my friend.

My nickname for them

i do not have a nickname i typically don't give nicknames unless they're a meme alkaflksjaf

Estinien

Why I like them

he is the most accurate depiction of a 32 year old man- but no I just love how he's a gruff on the outside but cares inside and also how he's a big brother(tm). Watching him grow as a character has been so wonderful

Why I don’t

less him and more the fandom but I am really not into the popular ships for him some of them are very ??????

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

My ultimate favorite is a fucking YUGE SPOILER. get back to me on this one however I also love his bits in stormblood where he just

>shows up >serves cunt >refuses to elaborate >leaves

Favorite season/movie

this... also spoilers. big spoilerino. you are free to ask me about it after endwalker tho bc i want to yell and cry about it

Favorite line

"Yet lasting peace does not come to those who simply retreat from conflict. No, you must be willing to confront it. To stare into the face of your foe... And see yourself in him. Only then can you break the cycle of torment and tragedy."

(do not look up this cutscene is spoiler but I felt like the blip itself wasn't overly revealing bc its just. its so good. i cry thinking about this scene)

Favorite outfit

I like his armor upgrade a lot.

OTP

Wolstinien!

Brotp

also the wol if its not a ship. and two different spoiler characters.

Head Canon

I do not have any that come chief to mine? as much as I love him, he is not my blorbo, as it were.

Unpopular opinion

I don't know. Well I do, but its kind of mean and I do not have the energy to be mean (not to you directly mind just. its a harsher opinion)

A wish

need more big brother estinien tbh

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

Nothing chief comes to mind.

5 words to best describe them

I am. I am not sure? weird. i have a lot of feelings but this is ???

My nickname for them

I don't have one!

[libraford]

So, as someone who is both a witch and a scientist (mineralogy, geology, etc) I often find myself caught in the crossfire of "this kind of rock has x energy!" and "Crystals aren't magic, you dumbass!" I grasp the science behind rocks and minerals, and I also appreciate the metaphysical properties/concepts. I have an internal balance of knowledge vs faith (don't soak water soluble rocks, cinnabar is toxic, etc) but when others bring up the subject I have to pick a side. Do you have any advice?

Well, my advice for just about anyone in the witchcraft community is to take anything that anyone says about anything with a grain of salt. (See that’s a joke because salt is a key ingredient in a lot of spells AND is also a mineral! Ahhh... I kill me.)

When someone says: ‘This stone has x energy,’ they are usually quoting from a book and that book is quoting from a book, which is quoting yet another book, which is probably mis-attributing another quote from another book about a practice that was based on a personal experience but written like it was empirical fact. 

The short version of that is: ‘A lot of metaphysical studies are in a state of flux and no one is the definitive word on that.’

I sit between believing in crystal healing and not believing in crystal healing. 

Do I believe that stones have energy? Of course! The geode that I cracked open at the ren faire, one half of which has been sitting on Evie’s altar and the other half of which belongs to my girlfriend has abundant energy. The piece of brick that I rescued from the demolished ‘adult theater’ while they were tearing it down has energy. The stones that I set into my garden, the one that my friend wears on him at all times, the one that I trip over every time I’m on my way to the dumpster- sure! Totally. 

Does the $300 amethyst specimen that I saw marketed as a healing aid for anxiety have energy? Oh, yeah. Is spending my entire paycheck on it going to heal my anxiety? 

Likely not. 

I generally think that the specification of energies of minerals is a little far-fetched. (And also... exploited, but I’m not going to get into that.) I think it suffices in most situations to say ‘it has an energy, but I cannot say anything further.’ 

One of the important phrases that I have learned in the wide world of Discoursetm is ‘I agree with you partially.’ It is very easy to put these particular issues into sides because the idea that there is a right or wrong answer to everything is comforting to us as humans. But because a lot of the evidence for crystal healing is not quantifiable, taking a partial stance on the subject from the perspective of scientist who knows both sides of the issue is a perfectly understandable answer.