#and was also a horrible choice for that character lmfao

[clefclefairy]

self care is literally swapping the audio around multiple times an episode just so i don't have to hear chuuya's dub actor wheeze through clenched teeth and call it acting

[konigsblog]

7, 17 for könig. . . and 22 !! i’m curious on what your headcanons for him are 🫂

also, how have you been faring in this shite weather ?? 🌧️ i swear scottish winters last til autumn 🥲

STEVIE !! 💐 i have been struggling with this shitty weather, it's horrible. :') i'm hoping for a little bit of sunshine soon, i don't know how much longer i can deal with the cloudy, windy, and rainy weather. ☔🌫️🌬️

these are mainly going to be related to könig, because well... even my blog is named after him, i don't think i even have to explain myself LOL 🌷🌷

is there a piece of clothing you think [character] is particularly fond of/that you imagine them wearing a lot or like to draw them in?

i can see könig wearing sweaters pretty often, and to be specific, a striped sweater. he'd wear a quarter zip up hoodie or fleece, or a basic loose t-shirt. he's definitely into cargos, i don't see könig to be the type to wear jeans at all, ESPECIALLY if they're lightwash. similar to the ones his character wears!

what's a book, movie, or show you think [character] would like?

könig definitely likes horror movies, things like saw, the conjuring, etc. he's a huge, huge thriller and horror fan and collects any figurines he can find. i'm a true believer that könig is a bookworm, i don't know exactly what books he'd choose to read but i think his interests depend on his mood that day. he'd own an entire library inside of his office, LMFAO

give us a headcanon for [character]

i have lots of headcannons for könig, but my main headcannon would be his choice of food. he devours anything strawberry flavoured (especially ice-cream and milk, he'll chug a gallon, DON'T dare him.) his appetite is big and he isn't picky—until you bring out brussel sprouts or broccoli......

i also believe that könig is a morning person. he's the type to start his day at 5 o'clock in the morning. he'll hop in the shower (freezing cold, or absolutely BURNING HOT) and will make his breakfast. his day starts off pretty healthy with a nutritious breakfast, but ends with könig snacking and drinking alcohol later in the night. i could see könig suffering with BED, especially as a teenager.

[autistichalsin]

Ty for putting Halsin/abdirak in my brain this is a lovely development. May or may not be opening my art program of choice, who really knows (/j I absolutely am drawing something with them)

anyway

I’d absolutely love to hear what you have to say abt them (mainly bc I’ve seen such a wild variety of takes abt abdirak and I’m curious where you fall in regards to him)

Abdirak is such an ambiguous character so it makes sense to me that there'd be a variety of takes!

There was a lore tweet from his writer a while back that he lost his family as a child and was found by a Pain of Loviatar, nearly dead, and taken in. To me, that paints a picture of a somewhat... I don't want to go as far as to say a tragic figure, but there is something tragic about the idea that this child lost his family and was then taken in by a sadomasochistic cult. That would have been an intensely horrible, abusive environment to grow up in (fitting the themes of this game wrt cults).

By contrast, Halsin also lost his family at a young age, but rather than being taken in by an evil cult, "the Grove became [his] family, with Silvanus as [his] teacher." Halsin got a healthy, supportive environment after losing his family, and given his extremely high levels of empathy and compassion, I imagine he'd be aware of just how much not having that shaped Abdirak.

But then we get to the idea of them meeting, and I'm honestly a bit still confused because that requires clearing up a huge contradiction. Basically, some of the goblin leaders are fully aware Halsin is the bear (Gut and possibly Dror Ragzlin as well), while Minthara goes back and forth on either knowing or not knowing (she says she hasn't seen Halsin if the player asks, yet if he dies and the player uses SWD, his corpse HEAVILY implies he was killed by Minthara personally). Did Halsin ever come out of bear form around any of the leaders?

If so, then it is possible Abdirak was brought in to torture Halsin as well as Liam, which would make for interesting interactions. If not, then likely it was solely for Liam, but there's still ways to imagine them interacting- maybe Abdirak took a wrong turn and found his way to the warg pens? Maybe Halsin had been knocked unconscious, reverting back to his elf form and letting them talk?

From there we have a LOT of directions this could go, ranging from dark (what if the Grove is raided and Abdirak talks the goblins into letting him 'keep' Halsin since they don't need him anymore?) to acrimonious (Abdirak torturing Halsin and Halsin deciding that's just one indignity too many to stand) to sexy (Halsin getting turned on and leading to a consensual but confusing encounter) to strangely sweet (them opening up to each other for reasons they're not entirely sure about but that lead them to see something in each other). Maybe a combination of the above.

I have entirely too many thoughts about them considering Abdirak has like 10 minutes of screentime tops lmfao

[littleeggrock]

feeling insane in the brain about Arcane again why do i keep rewatching episodes when I know I'm gonna fixate on everything again lmfao

BUT ANYWAYS episode 8? rewatched it for the jinx and singed scene because that still freaks me the fuck out its horrible i love it but paying attention to the bits with Vi and Caitlyn? when they're discussing stuff in Cait's room, when Vi's recalling how Powder and her used to be, she specifically says "I didn't want her to start crying and wake my parents up, so I'd pretend to chase my own monsters away "

and while I could be reading this ABSOLUTELY wrong why did she say my parents specifically? Are they not biological sisters? or does Vi subconsciously not view "Powder" as her sister anymore, after seeing her break down when meeting Caitlyn.

the latter seems unlikely considering Vi's actions in episode nine, so I'll stick with my first case. I mean it would make sense, provide a deeper bond with vi beyond blood if she was indeed adopted, or taken in off the streets. it would also explain why powder was less affected seeing their parents dead on the bridge, maybe she never really formed a solid connection with them, and knew that this would really hurt Vi.

or I could again just be reading way too far into this like I always tend to do, could have just been an unimportant choice in words on the writer's part, and Powder just wasn't processing everything that went down on the bridge because she was a literal child at the time

also a little parallel I noticed, when Vi is recruiting Jayce to help her take down Silco, she states that "when we got out of the undercity you were the first person Caitlyn looked for" and my brain immediately went "hm solid reasoning but even still that seems like an oddly specific thing to judge character off of" and then I remembered that "oh my god, when vi got out of prison the first person she looked for was Powder, she's using her own experience to base her judgment of him" and while I feel that is kind of obvious already it took me a few rewatches to catch that lmao

anyways gonna tag @flunkett cus i want ur thoughts on this

[onecantsimply]

Headcanons + scenario (if you want to.)

High school au for Jack, Noah, Heracles, and Alaric.

Teacher decides that the students need to learn to prepare for the future and sets everyone up individually to take care of a fake baby that mimics a real one. (None of these characters are shipped together.)

Bet bet-

— 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕣 —

• He isn’t experienced, but he’s a fast learner. He just needs to learn exactly what to do lmao- Seeing as how he’s never taken care of a baby before, he only knows certain basics, and knows fully well it is NOT gonna be enough-

• So, he decided to ask Adam and Eve for advice, seeing as how they were his best choices. They taught him pretty much everything, and he ended up taking care of the baby by second nature.

• It was slightly bumpy at first, but he got the hang of it eventually- Although he was slightly confused at what to do at times, even with the advice, seeing as how babies give certain cues that are slightly deceitful, he got through it-

• I’m sure the guy got a good grade. Maybe at least a B+ or an A.

— ℕ𝕠𝕒𝕙 —

• He’s experienced in taking care of a baby, and also has experience with taking care of children in general due to his step siblings. He already knows what to do for the most part-

• But even if he does know what to do for the most part, he doesn’t know everything- So he may struggle for a little, but he takes down notes and everything to figure out what to do.

• At one point he might go to Anne or Luna for help, but that’s literal last choice consideration-

• But he doesn’t have much trouble with taking care of a baby. The man is a natural-

• He most likely got a B or an A-.

— ℍ𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕤 —

• This can go two ways. Either horrible, or really good-

• I see Heracles as being good with babies and children, but he doesn’t know how to take care of them, additionally to the things that are on his list-

• This man plays multiple amounts of sports, so he’s gotta show up for practice and everything- He can’t exactly take care of the baby, and it has him distracted somewhat, so he can’t pay full attention to anything-

• But whenever he’s done with practice, he’ll always rush back to the baby and try his best to take care of it. He’d definitely go to someone for advice.

• Honestly he might go to Shiva since the guy took care of Ganesha- It wasn’t the same experience considering that Ganesha is… quite different than the biology of a regular baby- However, Shiva taught him the stuff he knew, and even included his wives in it.

• They taught way better than he did HH-

• It was definitely rocky, but the man pulled through with the advice he got-

• B- for effort- But literally it might end him with a flat C.

— 𝒜𝓁𝒶𝓇𝒾𝒸 —

• He’s not good at it, but he’s not bad at it. And he doesn’t dare go to any of the people in the club he’s in. Not even Morton. Everyone in there is busy and he knows fully well none of them are gonna want to take care of it. He’s ignoring Hummer entirely.

• But Alaric searches up how to take care of a baby and remembers everything. Please take note that he doesn’t exactly care for the baby. He just wants the grade HH-

• So, Alaric doesn’t exactly care too much for his grade either. His attention is more focused on helping the club, which is taking control of most other schools.

• He’s getting a Flat C too HH- When he gets his grade, he’s done with the baby. He’s returning it. He’s gone. He’s D O N E lmfao-

[iceman-maverick]

TA-DA with a day to spare! this was a blast and really made me venture outside of my comfort zone fic-wise. thank you to all the wonderful writers in this community and also ty to @topguncommentbingo for putting together this super fun event!

(also i'm now user @billpaxton on ao3 - don't ask why, i was a half a bottle of wine deep and now i can't change it back LMFAO)

1. fic rated teen - Centrifugal Motion (Perpetual Bliss) (Brenda)

2. fic with fewer than 5 comments - Luck (Theresa_Marxen)

3. fic completed in June 2022 or earlier - between the lines of fear and blame (boasamishipper)

4. fic with 5k- 15k words - to make it through the day without you (knoxinterlocked)

5. canon compliant fic - Naturally Migratory (saurora_borealis)

6. fanvid - Slipping Through My Fingers (harrowfuckley)

7. first comment on a fic - why don't we pack and leave this? (silas705)

8. fic completed in June 2023 or later - Bodies in Motion (elwenyere)

9. platonic fic (character & character) trust in death (blazingstar29)

10. fic with your favorite tag - Tom "Iceman" Kanzansky Needs A Hug, you can set my broken bones and I know cpr (quantumoddity)

11. fic with a trope you love - "There Was Only One Bed", Rhythm of The Rain (Inquaire)

12. a 5+1 fic - Wide Open Skies Above Me (VarjoRuusu)

13. FREE CHOICE - (MOST FIC OF ALL TIME) Hold Onto Your Heart (elizabethgee)

14. fic set during TG86 canon - The Irony of Disco Inferno (saurora_borealis)

15. fic completed in July or Aug 2022 - working overtime (dracculaura)

16. fic completed between Dec 2022 - Feb 2023 - Fight, Flight, Freeze (Wolfcry22)

17. fic rated gen - an empty page to fill (quantumoddity)

18. fic tagged fluff - Ice Cold (blazingstar29)

19. fic rated explict - Rivalry (thedevilchicken)

20. fic tagged first time / getting together - no brighter diamond (qin_ling)

21. fic that's the first part of a series - Iceman Kazansky's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Lolibat)

22. fic you forgot to comment on - i'd give all i have, honey (hangsters)

23. AU - Dragons, it's called freefall (you could get it all go (quantumoddity)

24. fic from a fandom event - Coming Home (Katastrophe)

25. fic rated mature - and sings the tune without the words (susiecarter)

[iheartbookbran]

yeah ita with everything you said! imo the major difference between a show like breaking bad is that the writers were always fully aware of how horrible walt was, and his actions were never excused or whitewashed by the narrative. whereas on hotd the writers are determined to find every excuse in the book to whitewash the greens and make them look like victims of circumstance. and i completely agree with you that the both-sidesing of the greens and the blacks is incredibly fucking annoying! like i’m sorry but the notion that the greens and the blacks are equally bad is ridiculous! i’m not saying that the blacks are perfect or that they’ve never done anything wrong, but the greens are the ones who START THE WAR IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! like the greens literally START A CIVIL WAR DUE TO MISOGYNY and and we’re supposed to think these two sides are equally in the wrong??? i mean i could go into all of the ways that the team green is worse than team black, but i feel like the fact that the greens initiated this due to their opposition to a woman on the throne is the most crucial thing. the “both sides are equally bad” take is apologism for misogyny and it pisses me off to no end.

Like I get the need to flesh out the greens and not making them as outright villains as they are in the book. I get it. But I also think there’s ways to do that without taking away their bite? I mean in asoiaf the Lannisters are very obviously the villains, they are presented to us from the very beginning as the bad guys but they’re still allowed to be sympathetic and fleshed out and even, dare I say, characters the readers can find themselves rooting for.

And yeah, the Dance is a conflict in which everyone does bad things at the end but the greens still end up coming off as worse because at least the blacks get to have characters on their side who are always portrayed as wholly heroic, like Jace, Baela, Addam, and of course the rest of the squad that includes Good Guy Houses such as the Starks, the Tullys and the Blackwoods—no seriously the biggest indicator we get that the blacks are supposed to be the heroes is the fact that the Blackwoods are supporting them, that’s GRRM’s default Manic Pixie Cool House lmfao.

Even Daemon, who orchestrated what’s arguably the worst thing that happens in the Dance (B&C), is still presented as heroic during his lasts moments, maybe he’s undeserving of that heroism but that’s the direction the story takes.

Funnily enough, f&b as a source is heavily biased against Rhaenyra, and I think that’s a deliberate choice on GRRM’s part because he still manages to make Rhaenyra come off as sympathetic and likable at times, even if she does her fair share of war crimes. She, of course, gets the brunt of the criticism out of all the characters on her side, mainly because she doesn’t behave as a “good woman” ought to lbr. People love to bring up the fact that she’s called Maegor with teats in universe as a gotcha for how terrible she was as a ruler without realizing that A) they’re falling into the same misogynistic propaganda that was used against Rhaenyra to hurt her reputation and B) how fucking disrespectful that is towards Maegor. I mean he didn’t kill and torture his own teenaged nephews, kidnaped and forcibly married several women, almost single-handedly annihilated a religion, and brutally murdered anyone who opposed him, only for y’all to claim Rhaenyra was just as bad as him? She fed one (1) guy to her dragon, ordered the execution of a few people and failed to carry it through, and raised some taxes on KL. Being like Maegor? PLEASE, she doesn’t have the flair nor the commitment to be Maegor.

The point about Rhaenyra is that we simply don’t know how she would be as ruler, without the war and the trauma she underwent and affected every single decision she took as queen. Maybe she wouldn’t have been great at the job, but we can summarize Aegon wouldn’t have been any better. It doesn’t matter because that was never the point, and I’m aware I sound like a broken record but idgaf: the Dance was never a conflict in which both sides were equally in the wrong, even if both sides do terrible things, merely because the circumstances that lead to it were a woman being usurped and betrayed on account of simply being a woman. Rhaenyra may not be a perfect victim to some but that doesn’t mean she isn’t one, she doesn’t need to be an enlightened third wave feminist for us to understand that the patriarchy was weaponized against her in order to undermine her, that she was shamed for her sexual liberation and attacked at every turn and made to feel as if she was the irrational one for not peacefully giving up her power to her shitty little brother.

Honestly it’s self-parody at this point because the Venn diagram between people who claim that slaver lives matter and Dany is a monster for wanting to end the practice while not being nice about it, and the people who try to justify the greens’ every action because Rhaenyra started it all by having sex outside of marriage, is almost a complete circle. And they will bend over backwards to try to poor mew mewify Aegon, who in the show is a child r*pist who enjoys watching kids fight to the death, and say that Rhaenyra is just as bad for having children outside the sanctity of marriage with the blessing of her own gay husband who loves and claims those children as his own anyways. Ok.

[remnantsofthepast-if]

Monthly Update - August 2023

This month has been horrible with the heat... Both my energy and mood drop massively in summer, I hate it >.< But at least that's the only bad thing that happened lol

--

First of all, chapter 7 was released! Although there were three scenes I decided to delete in the end because it didn't feel right. It was a bummer, honestly. I really loved those. But hopefully I'll be able to use them in later acts :D Now I'm planning how chapter 8 is going to go. I'm a bit stuck at the moment. There are two things I had planned for this chapter and I have zero idea of how to implement them... Oh well, I'll think of something hehe

I'm also taking notes about all the things I'm going to change in previous chapters, especially from the prologue to chapter 3. There are a few scenes I'll add, others I'll change, and a few dialogues to improve that I didn't think about at that time. But that will be done once act 1 is finished, and it almost is! There are only 2 or 3 chapters left to start act 2. It's like those stories from CoG that consist of more than one book, but I call them acts lol. Which reminds me that I found this story just a few days ago that I've become totally obsessed with already xD The Wayhaven Chronicles. I've seen people in the if community mention it a lot throughout the years but I've never felt like reading it until now. I'm not really into vampire stories or supernatural in general, but dude... I think it hasn't even been a week and I already bought all the books hahaha! And I'm amazed at how well the author uses the choices to give the main character a unique personality. It has given me a few good ideas to implement in Remnants too ;)

I also bought Baldur's Gate 3... Not a good decision for working on this project. If I was slow before, imagine now lmfao (Karlach my love <3) But I promise it won't distract me from writing. Not too much, anyway xD

--

Have a fantastic month! See you at the end of the next one ;)

[heavensong]

Rules: list five comfort characters & tag five people

Thank you for the tag! @theboarsbride 🥰

1.) Rusty Venture /venture bros - This dude got me through a really traumatic hospital stay when I was first diagnosed with t1 AND I’ve liked him since like 2004-2005 so, like, he’s earned this spot LOL

2.) Captain Boomerang/ DC comics - the CHOKEHOLD this guy had on me from 2016-2020 like dear lord I’m still obsessed actually. I bought a $100 comic for him LMFAO a character that I adore thinking about and learning about and I’d always feel my day brighten any time I got to see a panel with him in it.

3.) GB (007)/ Cyborg 009 - another character that got me through a difficult time in my life! One of my close friends and I had a very sad end to our friendship and this guy’s charm and humor really helped me feel like I was gonna survive the heartbreak I was feeling. He is also so so cute.

4.) William Birkin/ Resident Evil - okay okay an odd choice BUT another character I was obsessed with for like a year straight. My friends and I played through a LONG resident evil themed TTRPG that was unfolding alongside the canon of RE2 and it was such a transformative experience. So much creativity and emotion all centered around one horrible night in a video game haha. This character inspired me to make so much good art and to connect with some of my friends and fellow players on a deeper level than ever before. I love him!

5.) Moe Szyslak/ the simpsons - feels real cringe to be including such a recent special interest but he’s making my brain light up with endorphins every time I see him or think of him so he fits the bill!!! He’s funny and cute and I’m having a lot of fun talking about him and self inserting with my OC. What a treat to exist in a world where I can enjoy these characters!

I tag: @fang11803 @tsukikoneko @joons @momolady @alabasterpickles if y’all feel like doing one of these! 🥰

[lightningandfireinmybones]

Okay, i know you were worried about the reception of the newest chapter but honestly if you ask me it was pretty spot on. Yes it was a bit more dark than it usually is, yes it was a bit more mature and serious in its content ( in my mind when there's bad stuff happening around pregnancies it's worse i.e. imagine the red wedding if Talisa wasn't pregnant and murdered in such a way. It would still hurt and be horrific but not AS nightmarish)

But honestly, I am very happy about Daeron making it through, I am anxiously waiting to see what happened to the rest of their lot and find out what will happen to Dragonstone - meaning the castle- as a whole. I am mostly reverently awaiting for Aemond's reaction to.... Everything honestly. It felt like her return to him in her condition, in the midst of her painful delirium was earnest in a way it hasn't before. For what it's worth I felt like her making her way to Aemond was almost... Gentle. Emotionally speaking. At her most vulnerable the first instinct was to go where it was safe and that was him. Once he realizes that i think he's going to faint. For all his talk I dont think he really is emotionally ready for her to completely be on board and stand beside him and lean on him as he should lean on her.

It was a great chapter and the ones to follow are sure to be on the same level. Great work!!!

P.S.

Helaena my PRECIOUS i would die and kill for you ilysm please be safe and happy

HELLO THANK YOU FOR THIS my little smooth brain worried I went too far but I also really wanted to stress that aegon (not tgc my beloved) and Cole have gone too far, and make it impossible for aemond to continue playing both sides anymore, it has to be truly horrible. Book aegon (depending on how much you believe mushroom and the whole conspiracy about the maesters vendetta against the targaryens) did some real fucked up things and this is just like,,, tip of the iceberg lol

I think Valaena and aemond are so emotionally repressed they find clarity in pain and suffering and they never would be honest with each other without external circumstances forcing them into it. Aemond has never thought it through from beginning to end but now, he’s finally faced with the consequences of what they’ve done means, he has to make a choice

But like for Valaena, the worst has happened, she’s finding the only consistent person in her life is actually,,, aemond. Like the man is crazy and obsessed but she never has to doubt that she is safe (relatively speaking lmfao not the 😸) with him

Also i love softness followed by unhinged retribution if there’s one thing aemond is gonna do it’s take care of his girl even if he is too emotionally constipated to figure out what the emotion he feels for her is

THANK YOU FOR THIS I love talking about characters and motivations

Also I love Daeron and helaena and they are precious and pure

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

For Ship Bingo, a collection of problematic men: Alucard/Anderson, Kirei/Gilgamesh, and Hannibal/Will.

Hey! Sorry this took a minute, I was too lazy to actually download the bingo board to edit it 😂

Andercard:

I loooove them! Narrative foils do it better! But also I am just not into any remotely fluffy or cute depiction. That is simply not the point, their entire thing is expressing interest and even respect through violence. And also the tragedy of their dynamic is infinitely more interesting to me. So I just like it more as a missed opportunity kind of thing? And idk I think fandom kind of just ignores their personalities very often.

Anyway you know I love their final battle. I love how Anderson keeps being narratively compared to Van Helsing. I LOVE how Anderson’s death facilitates Alucard’s very public breakdown, and biggest display of emotion we’ve seen from him. Just on his knees sobbing over his own past, over mistakes he’s made, over Anderson’s similar choices. Just so good. It’s also such a great choice to have Alucard try to dissuade him from using the Nail of Helena earlier. Idk they just have such an interesting dynamic and I don’t see that being explored very often?

Btw people who think Alucard tops are wrong

Kotogil:

I hate it (affectionate) Idk this is such an absurd! delightful! pairing. Gilgamesh might as well be holding up a sign reading “bratty sub looking for a dom ❤️” throughout all of Fate/Zero lmfao

Also like idk isn’t it canon though?? They live together for ten years! When the holy grail grants Kirei’s greatest wish it’s a small scale apocalypse and Gilgamesh in a physical body (aka not leaving after the war) and naked.

I’m obsessed with the idea of pre Stay Night Kotogil as Rin’s horrible evil dads. I know they canonically aren’t super involved in her life, but I do not care. Let me have this. Fate canon contradicts itself a million ways anyway.

For what it’s worth, I (clearly) think the ship is very interesting. But simultaneously Gilgamesh’s impact on Kirei and the story is also very fascinating. Like what a moral spiral! Idk so just on a narrative level I really like it.

Hannigram:

God idk these two are insane. I think people frequently frame it as bizarrely… uncomplicated? As if it’s only a story of Hannibal idk… showing Will his true self or something. And that’s simply not true in my opinion!

Hannigram, and the entire fucking show, hinges on the manipulation and cruelty. Diluting it is simply boring.

Anyway re: conflicted feelings, I just idk dude I want Will to be happy and that’s never happening with Hannibal’s insane shit. It’s a fantastic gradual villain romance imo and the way it’s handled is very interesting! It manages to walk a fine line of keeping Hannibal fucking horrible while also maintaining the romance and that’s tough generally.

I personally wish the narrative was a little more open to having Hannibal experience real weakness? And that’s a general issue I have with the show, but it’s definitely a concern with the ship as well. I would’ve just liked to see him torn down a little more, or being allowed to display any genuine desperation when things are ostensibly going bad for him. (Like when he’s held captive by Verger for instance) That would’ve brought more stakes to his character, and by extension his dynamic with Will. But also I do still like their dynamic a lot as it is. And I think the way Will is just completely disillusioned by and done with his bullshit as the story progresses does help a lot.

Tangential, but this is also another ship where violence is explicitly framed as a vehicle for true understanding and tenderness. And idk it’s so fascinating. These two make deeply violent scenes insanely romantic. Like Hannibal literally fucking gutting Will just as an excuse to touch him? Insane! Unhinged! Will talking about how he fantasizes about killing Hannibal?? “With his hands” and Hannibal is clearly really really into it???

[msommers]

4, 21, 44, 89 for riya, jorina and maeve! (i know theyre not all dnd kiddos but i thought they would be fun!!)

i give you keeses xxx // warm up questions

What relationship does your character have with their parents and siblings?

RIYA — i could make entire wiki pages about riya's relationships with all of her family members lmao i'll dumb them down tho to avoid a monster of a post. mommy priscilla: her and priscilla aren't super close due to her mother's intense focus on business and politics (and mama's disapproval of certain choices from her), but the love is still very much there and they know it. even if riya can kinda forget it sometimes. daddy loren: surprising nobody, riya's a daddy's girl. he's adored and spoiled her since birth, that's his only baby girl right there and she's never done anything wrong in her life. ever. he'll fireball anybody who says otherwise. brothers: she's closest to the eldest (regulus, dad of stowaway bellamy) because he always encouraged her and shared incredible dragonhunting stories; loves but isn't super interested in the middle two brothers (magnus and daimon, the mortalitasi and the family business heir) because they're honestly boring af 90% of the time, stop talking about work at the dinner table losers; and she has a somewhat tense relationship with the youngest brother (sebastian, only a few years older than her) because of his pivot into chantry zealotry :// they were a bit close before he was pulled into that life, actually.

JORINA — have also spoken a lot about this for her. mama wenna: a very good relationship that was sometimes tested by an introverted child's frustration at an extroverted mother trying to rope her into things, any negative aspects were forgotten after she died because jorina missed her so gd much. papa renehn: two peas in a pod until mom died, he withdrew into severe depression and it forced jorina into growing up to provide for the family. their relationship only starts getting some work done once da:i ends, after they've both done great deals of growing with the absence of jorina in the home. idk they probably get to a real good spot if thedas doesn't blow up from the veil or w/e lol. siblings: doted on them when mom was around, turned into a mom figure once she was gone and it formed a sizable rift between them all because of how jorina chose to “parent” them (she was trying her best under all of the stress but they didn't want to learn or be bossed around), and then they came to the conclusion she was the coolest person ever after reading the letters she would send them with [carefully chosen] details on her work for the inquisition. she loves them to the thedas double moons and back even if they have annoying teen attitudes

MAEVE — everybody knows she has a horrible relationship with her parents. no contact level of dreadful. they were terrible to her as she grew up, sold her off to The Worst Guy without thinking about it, then never sent so much as a letter to check on her. i imagine she may see them once or twice during her travels but she would never choose to engage with them, especially seeing that they’d chosen to start a whole new life in another location with a second child. never decided much on what happens after that. i don’t imagine she thinks of them as she’s grown so much and they’re essentially strangers. her parents Might have the audacity to try writing her now that she’s rich and influential, but that letter’s thrown into a fireplace straight away (by her or literally any partner of hers, they know she’d never want to read it lmfao).

Does your character have any noticeable scars? If so, what are their stories?

RIYA — none. she'd never seen serious combat before being recruited, and if there Had been any injuries that could result in scarring then priscilla would have undoubtedly had the top healers of the city making certain her daughter was healed right back to perfect, tip-top shape. i just know riya's gonna have a whole fit when she gets her first scar i just know it god

JORINA — probably a bunch, yeah. i think she'd have one on her side from years ago after taking a tumble in denerim and being unable to get a find to heal it properly. she took that as a pretty hard lesson in staying focused and careful while traversing heights that day lmao. i don't have a number but she certainly has many from her time with the inquisition due to scouting and fighting, some she'd have detailed stories on and others would just blend into the numerous memories of danger-filled scenarios.

MAEVE — a small one on the neck so kindly given to her by carden when he thought he was being a real big man holding a blade to her. another along the underside of her left(?? can’t remember) arm, this one from a burn she suffered trying to rescue her first writings from the flames after carden tossed them into a fireplace. a few earned during her adventures with witchers, she can’t avoid being in the thick of danger every time y’know, but i don’t have any stories crafted up for those. she literally died one time, you’d think i remembered exactly how so i could determine if she got one there, but my brain won’t find that memory so oh well.

Does your character think more with their heart or their brain?

RIYA — unfortunately she's going off of vibes, which would count more as her heart i suppose. not to say that she doesn't use her brains from time to time when the light bulb moments hit, but by default she's going off her feelings.

JORINA — definitely her brain, and i personally want to shake her into checking in with the heart more often. it only wins out on rare occasions smh

MAEVE — she’s all heart, baby. on special occasions as a treat she’ll resort to WWDD (what would dietrich do) and rely on logic instead, but that heart of hers is arguably her biggest strength and she prefers using it more often.

What is your character’s relationship with magic? Are they scared of it, wish to know more about it, indifferent to it?

RIYA — this question is So Much for her that i don’t know where to start or end. magic is a big part of riya, and it’s the one that she’s most proud of. to her, magic will always be inherently awe-inspiring, even as her views on everything surrounding it are forced to change as she sees more of the world outside of cumberland. it makes her feel powerful and capable, as well as incredibly attractive but like that’s not the main point, and she’s excited by the idea that she’ll only grow stronger the more she works at it. absolutely cannot stand 5 minutes of magical theory but could watch mages casting for hours on end, she thinks it’s so sickening (in the fun, sexy way). how can she ever have a negative view on it when all her life she's been surrounded by such positive, excellent uses of it, and has witnessed even more wondrous uses since her adventuring began—talking of course more on cian's healing, and not the nasty villain acts. user error kind of thing, there's always going to be somebody who abuses what can (and should) be used for good.

JORINA — neutral for a long time, i guess. it wasn't in her life until she joined the inquisition and then it was suddenly everywhere, more often than not lending her aid or healing her wounds. which would lead to her having a more positive outlook on it, especially because she wasn't influenced by any beliefs/opinions on it growing up.

MAEVE — i never really thought about this, which is insane to say at this point. magic has numerous forms and has affected so many parts of her life, in both positive and negative aspects, that i think she'd be largely curious about it. not to the level of a dnd wizard studying so hard they learn a few cantrips, but she'd enjoy talking to magic wielders about it and putting in research on occasion to better understand. she's frightened of curses because they're so powerful and difficult to break, and that was before learning of the one placed on her soul lmfao

[vampkaashis-wife]

JUNEEE HELPHDJDJHS im so proud of you for somehow beating childe on your own bc i.. would not have survived GJSJJDJS and omfg i cant use archer characters either HFKSHDJSJ LMFAO for the longest time amber was my only pyro so i had no choice but i got yanfei and i havent used amber since HFJSHHDHS bye im horrible at aiming so my faves to use are catalyst users bc i just needa roughly point them in the direction of the enemy and theyll do the rest 🥹 who are your faves characters!! like maybe in terms of their story or who you like using :o

hello ms ann!

i walked into the childe fight and texted my genshin friend "omg childe" and they were like "he's so easy!!!" and i proceeded to spend 4 straight hours dying before giving up for a few hours and coming back but HONESTLY half the fight is learning how to dodge him.... and i'm shit at dodging anything

agree about yanfei i was so excited about her for the same reason of "pyro that is not amber!!!" tbh tho i like polearm and sword users best bc i like the way they sound when they hit things lmao. i'm a very auditory person so a lot of the satisfaction is in the sound for me

favorite character to use: xiao

favorite character story: xiao

i'm fucking obsessed with that short emo kid (if you couldn't tell from how much art of him i rb lol) my whole life is now just xiao-centric he's so jieajri i'm in love with him ann i really am. although i do also like kaeya a lot and need more of his backstory. (fun fact: i like talking back to him. when he dodges and says "what's the hurry" in my head i go "the hurry is that you're dying/a slut")

i do also like chongyun! i'm still getting used to the play style but i like his design. once i get used to him he's probably replacing kaeya on my regular party but we will see

[no-psi-nan]

Kuboyasu is kind of a dark horse candidate for Saiki ships and honestly it's @oatmealcrisp-freak's fault that I gave the ship any real thought. I think it's a much less obvious pairing because Saiki doesn't really have eye sparkle character growth moments with Kuboyasu. Because Kuboyasu speedran his own character development without Saiki's help, which is genuinely so impressive TBH.

Unlike Kongo, who had to be shadow-gamed into cleaning up his act, Kuboyasu figured out how to control his own violent impulses in the first few episodes he's in, saving his fists for bullies and troublemakers. After that, he's consistently the most reasonable character after Saiki, and becomes a classroom leader and friend-group co-parent lmao.

He stands up to Saiko (and was going to clean up the graffiti on his desk), he volunteers for the class cultural festival, and he manages to get non-failing grades despite the fact that he spent his entire school career fighting instead of learning and still has trouble reading. He protects not just his friends but also anyone being threatened in front of him, takes care of everyone during the shipwreck episode, and generally keeps Kaido and Nendo out of trouble (except for the escape room thing, but I don't think he knew about Kaido's horrible map skills at that point).

Kuboyasu also has the kind of positive, can-do attitude that is so important in a partner for Saiki, who tends to be more negative about things (for very valid reasons, but still).

You can see this in the chapters where Kaido shows the boys his novel, his first YouTube video, and his secret hideout. Saiki (and Nendo's) reactions to Kaido's efforts are "wow this is shit".

But Kuboyasu's opinion isn't "wow this is shit". It's "wow this is shit BUT if we work together then we can make something amazing".

While things don't end up working out for the manga, the videos, or the hideout, the fact that Kuboyasu was so supportive is a huge point in his favor. Kuboyasu's not going to let Saiki lock himself in his room by himself to avoid facing the world, he's going to make him get dressed and hop on that motorbike to at least get some fresh air and sunlight and baked goods into the bastard.

Kuboyasu's instincts are also bonkers sharp, and he's able to detect even an invisible Saiki. He's strong as hell too, able to take on and beat Saiko's professionally trained bodyguards, and probably a dozen miscellaneous gangsters at once.

Saiki doesn't have to worry about his mystery anxiety ninjas when he's hanging out with Kuboyasu, even if he decides to wear his germanium ring, and the usually hypervigilant psychic would definitely benefit from that feeling of safety. And Saiki doesn't have to worry about accidentally breaking Kuboyasu as much as he'd have to worry about any other normal human, since even getting yote off a cliff couldn't take Kuboyasu out permanently. Dude is a tank!!

Anyways, Kubosai made a lot of sense when I gave the ship more thought, so Kuboyasu ended up in my top choices for Saiki's partners. And apparently the director of the Saiki live action movie agrees lmfao.

[snailsnfriends]

The Importance of Word Choice and the Dream SMP

Recently, I saw a tweet that gained my interest about c!Tommy and c!Dream’s relationship and the replies got me thinking about something that I’ve taken notice of on here and on Twitter. This thing was the importance of word choice. Here’s the tweet I was talking about, which can be found here if you would like to see it and the replies for yourself.

Now, whether or not you personally agree with this take is irrelevant to the points I’m going to make, but it’s here for reference. Let’s begin!

The importance of word choice

As we are all aware, the Dream SMP is not real. It is all written and acted out. Everyone is part of a planned narrative, and none of the characters of the SMP are real, however, like other pieces of media, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t realistic elements to the SMP, just like any other piece of media you’ve ever consumed. In this case, it just so happens that the realistic elements of the SMP are mental illness and abuse. 

So, why is word choice important here? Let’s do an exercise to help show the importance of word choice and what it may imply. Every time “c!Tommy” or “Tommy” is written here, replace it in your head with “the victim.” Do the same for Dream, but instead replace it with “the abuser.” We’ll also replace “exile” with “abuse.” Let’s start with this reply:

If we replace the words, here’s how this tweet would read: “i mean i agree with you but i also think some people need to realize that the victim kept provoking the abuser. they were both awful to each other and i think thats the whole problem” Let’s do it again with another example:

If we replace the words, here’s how this tweet would read: “the day when people realize that the abuser was willing to compromise and the only reason why the victim was even abused was bc he couldn’t keep his mouth shut is the day i finally feel peace” Let’s do it one more time:

If we replace the words, here’s how this tweet would read: “You do realize that the victim was given several chances and was originally just going to be put on probation but he fucked up that chance lmfao / i’m not saying he didn’t go through shit in abuse, blah blah blah but he was given chances and he decided to make shit worse for himself”

“Okay, sure, cool, but why does this matter? It’s just a Minecraft roleplay. You changed the words!”

But now that the words have been swapped, you can understand how poorly these takes are worded. When these character names are put into their relationship contexts, things become obvious. Instead of these being “c!Dream apologist hot takes,” they very clearly become victim blaming and abuse justification posts, stating that the victim had it coming. That they were given chances. That they deserved it. That they made it worse for themselves. I don't think I need to explain how horrible these statements are for you to understand the problem.

This is just a Minecraft roleplay, and this is just a story, but all stories have realistic elements, and when these realistic elements are mental illness and abuse, word choice is very important, because these things are real. There are real people who go through mental illness and abuse, and when c!Dream’s abusive tendencies and c!Tommy’s victimhood and trauma responses are textbook examples, you need to be very careful when discussing them, because they are bound to be relatable and they'll hit home for many people.

“Well, why do I need to be careful? Why does it matter?”

You need to be careful, because, as I said earlier, these things are real. There are real-life abuse victims who will see these responses. There are real-life people who relate to c!Tommy’s response to trauma. They will see people who are so willing to excuse or diminish abuse, and if they’re so willing to defend abusive fictional characters, how willing will they be to defend real ones? How susceptible are these people to abuse if they can’t make out the clear signs of it? Have they gaslighted others? Have they gaslighted themselves? How does this show their implicit biases? What message is this trying to send? What real-life implications do these posts have?

Everything you have ever read has been written that way for a reason. Every historical document, every textbook, every speech, every monologue, every piece of dialogue, every descriptive paragraph in a book, every news article, everything. This is exactly why word choice is important, because it implies intent and gives the text impact. You send a message through your words, so they are never empty. Whether it’s discussing the Dream SMP characters or listening to a president’s speech or reading a textbook given to you by your school, you should always try to be aware of what words are being used, why they’re being used, what emotion they’re trying to invoke in the reader, what message is trying to be conveyed, and what the words being used imply about the speaker or narrator. The entire beginning of one of the first big Dream SMP conflicts relied on words being used for battle instead of weapons because of their importance.

And with that, I’ll leave you with this:

“We don’t win wars with battles and with armour. We win wars with our words, Tommy. We’re starting a revolution, not a war.” - (Wilbur’s The Wall: 4:54, 29th July). 

Word choice is important. Always think critically about the message you’re sending with your words. They have an impact, and they matter. 

[blorbosexterminator]

Just to add : I'm sorry if I'm going to hurt someone's feelings, but I *really* wanted Denver to betray the Professor. I was always very bothered at the way he guilt-induced him to participate in the new heist when he clearly didn't want to, how he minimized his loss as a "we all made mistakes, so stop victimizing yourself and move on" as if Moscow's death didn't matter. [1/2]

I know eventually Denver joined because of Stockholm's insistance on being part of it, but Sergio used him - all of them - to fill his own agenda (avenge his brother's death, not even saving Rio) and I really wanted the show to expose the Professor as the selfish man he too was, not just the genius with an answer always ready to throw and save everyone's asses. [2/2]

First off, I'm sure no one's feelings here will be hurt; all we're doing is discussing the show! Nothing is personal, and if views differ, then that's normal. But yes! I essentially very much agree with this. The more I think of it when I remember the finale, the more I wish that had happened instead. I wholly believe that would have elevated the effectiness of the finale to a whole other level. This finale was good in a very neutral way, and while I prefer it to some GOT-like ending, I still can only think of it a sentimental AND a coward's way out. There was no risk taken in the writing of the ending, no really pushing the show to another level; they were obsessed with the war war war thing, but what actually happens in wars is that people do betray each other, people do choose to save their own skin, people do go to abhorrent lengths to save their familes and loved ones. The show wanted grandness and war-level action and imagery, without dealing at all with the complexity that comes with this. Which is very stupid in my opinion, why create situations like this if the characters won't act accordingly? If the situations won't get actions out of them that would have otherwise never would? At the end, an entire season was wasted on just cool action scenes, that was all Alex Pina wanted from the "war" lmfao. Denver betraying the banda to save his family would have been iconic. It would have been horrible, yes, a terrible terrible thing that's happening in a terrible terrible situation. But it would have been magnificent, and it's tailor-made for Denver. Not that Denver is a shitty person, on the contrary, it's exactly because he's not. He named his son after a city because he saw these people as family, he loves them. What a wasted chance to put him in front of this impossible decision and have him actually choose. Wrong or right isn't the point because there is no wrong or right choice here, it's a horrible situation and yes, some people would hate him, other will say his decision is understandable, but what it would certainly have done is lead to some actual real consequences, it would have left a true mark on the plot.

While I see where you're coming from in the next part, I don't wholly agree with you. Sergio's speech was guilt-tripping and manipulative to a certain level, but I don't think what he was saying is 'Moscow's death doesn't matter' or 'Don't victimize yourself and move on', I think it was just more 'we've all done horrible mistakes that others from this very team had to pay for, including my brother with his life, and what Rio did is a mistake too, but he doesn't deserve to die with no one coming for him.' Sergio is a very complex character, and it would be unfair to him, as it would be to any character, to simplify his motivations to just one or the other. He's definitely a selfish man. He's also a man who deeply loves his brother and doesn't know how to grieve without avenging him, and without bringing his dream-heist to life the way he did with his father. He also cared for Rio and felt responsible for the banda. He can be all of those things at once, and I think volume 2 did that part justice; it completely addressed it! The scenes with Raquel, the scenes with Alicia, with Martin, etc. The show did focus on this, on Sergio's own desire to do this, and Sergio himself admitted it.

On a certain level, Sergio might have used them to fulfil his own desires (the heists are his after all, it's always going to be his own motivations behind them) but all those other characters went into this for their own reasons too, which weren't all that "noble" or any less selfish, so I don't think they were really victims of Sergio's manipulation.

But that's not really the point. I wouldn't say Denver had the right, moral right or otherwise, to betray them because he was manipulated into this from the start. It's not about justification to me. It's about a reaction that would have been more real, more interesting, and one that is simply hard. On the battlefield they were on, the line between right and wrong is eschewed. Just like Palermo said, in Hell there is no right or wrong side. It would have been much, much more interesting to me if Denver had betrayed them and the professor forgave him anyway. Because he understood.