#at least he's fictional

[artsyitzy]

tag yourself i'm his socks

I love this man, and he isn't even real. At least it's not real male I'm down bad for.😃👍

Also currently sick. Yay!

[blueskittlesart]

what'syour thoughts on everlark yuri

objectively good concept but can you imagine how fucking annoying gale would have been about it

[snarkspawn]

I really enjoy playing through tnp again like hi it's been a while

[saessenach]

Thinking many thoughts about Miss Andarateia Cantori tonight because what do you mean we get to be in her house for the entire game, in which she and her boyfriend/partner-in-crime run a gambling den, assassin guild ANd find the time to argue with the public administration while opposing a military occupation?? who does it like her??

Joke aside, I think she's an incredibly fun character, and I'm really happy that hers was the lens through which we saw the Crows this game. Whenever I see random posts and critiques commenting that the Crows were too "sanitised" or "found-family", I want to yell a bit, because DATV never claims that to be the case!! Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but what we see is anchored in a very specific context: not just Treviso under Antaam occupation, but also the Cantori Diamond, which falls under Teia's jurisdiction.

She's an elven orphan turned Guildmaster and Talon, who desperately wanted to find family in the Crows! While the other Talons resisted her attempts at every step (some more succesfully than others ksks), that implies 1) her approach towards her own House was probably not dissimilar and 2) it got her the Talon position in her 20s. Ergo, her modus operandi was probably fairly successful.

For all that she threatens to evict anyone who treats her like a landlord (lol), the Diamond is very much a reflection of her as a character. It's all completely in line with both her general characterisation in 8 Little Talons and with the point she reaches at the end of that story when confronting Emil. I don't think it's a coincidence that out of our two POVs in 8LT, she's the one discussing Crow ideology with their would-be-murderer:

and

and

Following this particular set-up, of course orphans like Jacobus are treated kindly; of course fledglings have time to gossip in quiet corners while training; of course she helps the Dellamortes however she can?? She decided these people are family to her, and she wants to do better by them than what she got. This is wildly compelling to me personally, because she's such a delightful mix of idealism and disillusionment, honesty and manipulation, compassion and retribution - and she's so fucking obstinate about it!!!

There's also the little connection with the Crows' beginnings, specifically in Treviso. Iirc, it's mentioned in 8LT that her base is Rialto (she's also got gardens there), so a part of me wonders whether the Diamond was an inherited property from a previous Cantori Talon, or whether she got it up and running between then and the events of the game. I think that between that little tibdbit and with Lucanis being named First Talon at the end of the game, it's pretty obvious that the theme of rebirth is very much the point in the Crows' plotline - a messy, hopeful and spiteful rebirth.

All of this is to say, what we get doesn't at all negate the other aspects we've seen from the Crows in previous games, but rather puts them into perspective. The game just goes on to ask - isn't there another way to do this? what else is there room for us to be? is there any chance we might find some kindness in this world? and one of the ways these answers are explored is through Teia's character (we start this series with Zevran's story within the Antivan Crows - an elven orphan bought from a brothel, who doesn't have the power to change this guild, and end with Lucanis, Viago and Teia, who is, specifically, an elven orphan picked up (?) from the streets, who remains one of the powerhouses of the organisation. I love a bit of narrative symmetry ✨)

And honestly, I find this entire thing delightful - it's cheeky and dramatic and a lot of fun, and it makes sense for these characters, if you only sit with it for a second and give it a bit of thought!

(PS the way she draws Viago into her orbit and the way their partnership works is another rant entirely, and they drive me absolutely insane nghhh)

[kan-be]

and there’s a special kind of sadness that seems to come with spring

it’s blorbo’s birthday yay 🥳 🥳🥳

[honeysticksz]

Henry Jekyll and Victor Frankenstein are either hardcore rivals that hate each others guts and always claim their science is better than the others. OR. Henry can see this 20-something year old with issues and take him under his wing immediately.

[rosieleej]

It’s crazy that the twins are turning 25 today because at this moment probably Dipper has already finished his degree in engineering and is doing a masters and maybe a PHD, Mabel having finished hers in art. At this rate they’re old enough to drink, and drive, and vote and reflect on what-the-f happened to them as kids. Right now they’re probably celebrating their birthday in a small private party in the shack. Now the grunkles are 80 yrs and too old to sail at sea. Maybe now Greta is about to marry that duke; she’s as confident and beautiful as she’s ever been. Maybe Candy has some interesting stuff going on. Soos has a child with Melody, and the grandma has passed away, Waddles as well. Wendy is probably not working at the Mystery Shack ( she still cuts wood in her free time). The Weirdmagedon was so much time ago that all of Gravity Falls now can laugh about it. No one really talks about Bill, or the monsters, or the destruction, death and fear that came with them. For more than a decade the town has been at peace. For more than a decade Ford hasn’t feel like a freak. For more than a decade Stan has had what he had wanted for the most part of his life. For more than a decade the Pines twins, both sets, have been loved.

Mabel is now longer afraid of growing up. She already has, and she’s thriving. Dipper doesn’t fears he’s not good enough. Maybe their parents divorced, maybe they didn’t, but each year instead of going home in summer break from college they go to the same small town that opened their arms to them so so many years ago, and they feel like children again.

They. The children that taught me that growing up maybe is not so bad.

Happy Birthday indeed Mabel and Dipper Pines

[screwpinecaprice]

Just a silly guy, with silly silly thoughts.

@glowweek Day 2

Casual | Surprise

A casual surprise?😬😬😬

[gabelew]

I wanted to draw teen Sidon and Bazz hanging out in Sidon's room, so it was a good moment to finally plan out said room study (that is just a part of his quarters).

It's actually Dorephan’s old quarters, repurposed after he outgrew them. He's responsible for like, half of the clutter, the rest is all Sidon.

[confuzing]

My Super secret AU were Airplane and Cucumber Bro live in the same apartment building but don't figure that out until the entire building and it's tenants get transmigrated into Proud Immortal Demon Way post realms merging.

It's super secret because the stuff that's interesting to me is the apartment residents banding together to figure shit out. If I wrote this we'd probably be 20 chapters deep before any known PIDW characters showed up, and Demon Lord Luo Binghe isn't showing up until after the retired electrician grandpa and the engineering students (apartments were near a college so there's a bunch of students in the building) have figured out how to make their own solar panels.

(Also this is secretly about giving Mu Qingfang a happy ending because his canon PIDW situation is Real Sad- he shows up at the apartment and adopts the small gaggle of med students and starts a clinic.)

(Also he might start a lil cultivation school because a bunch of the residents got brand new shiny spiritual veins when they transmigrated and they have no idea what to do with them.)

Ok I gotta stop talking about this.

[tea-cat-arts]

Shen Yuan getting transported into pidw isn't "the system punishing him for being a lazy internet hater," but instead representative of "step 1 of the creative process: getting so mad at something you decide to go write your own fucking book" in this essay I will

[gothamite-rambler]

Talia: Bruce, give up your code—

Robin!Dick (9 at the time): No!

Talia: Bruce, it is in your best interest to ki—

Robin!Dick (answering again for Batman): No!

Talia (annoyed): I simply think you could benefit from using more lethal—

Robin!Dick (jumping in front of Bruce): Nooooo!

Talia (glaring at the child): Do you mind?!

Batman: He's giving you my usual answer. Thank you, Robin.

Robin smiled with a nod.

-----------------------------------

Talia: My father is the greatest, bravest, and most intelligent man, and you will not insult him!

Robin!Dick (13 at the time): The man has the unbridled charisma of a Taco Bell buffet!

Talia: You wanna go, kid? I will hit a teenager; I don't give a fuck!

Batman: Touch him, and I'll beat the shit out of your father.

Talia (pointing at the teenager): He started it!

Robin!Dick: I'm just an innocent kid speaking my truth.

Batman: He hasn't said anything wrong. Leave now.

Talia growled and stormed off.

---------------------------------

Before Bruce discovered he had a son.

Dick (looking at Damian): What a cute kid. Where’s his mom?

Jason chuckled, pointing at Talia.

Dick: She’s his… adopted mother?

Damian: Am I?

Talia: He’s mine! I pushed him out of my vagina! So there! And guess who is the father!

Dick looked closely at Damian, and it clicked instantly.

Dick: No.

Talia: He is!

Dick: He can’t be!

Talia: But he is! How does it feel? You were wrong! I told you I’d bear him a child, and there he is! I win, you lose!

Ra’s: You having his seed doesn’t mean you won against this strange rivalry with his eldest Robin!

Ra’s sighed, shaking his head while Dick blinked for a few seconds before walking off.

Dick: Oh God! Why did an innocent child have to be born from a crazy woman?!

Jason (who knew about Damian's existence): If it helps, I’m guessing it was a booty call!

Jason laughed as Talia glared at him, then her father when he started laughing too.

[ficauthor]

Tale of two Stans never fails to make me sad. What do you mean these two overly dependent assholes both end up at the worst lowest points of their lives at the same exact moment? What the fuck!? How was it that of everything in their lives to coincide it's them being at their lowest that meet.

What do you mean their childhoods never gave them a chance to be individuals and so all of their weaknesses and blind spots caught up with them in the end. What do you mean that without Ford, Stan was destined to get himself into trouble? What do you mean that without Stan, Ford was destined to get himself in trouble? What the fuck!

What do you fucking mean that they depended on one another because that's all they ever knew.

What do you mean Ford never bothered to learn to read when people wanted to use him cause he had Stan? What do you mean Stan never learned to think ahead because he had Ford?

I'm so haunted by the fact that Ford was able to mostly keep his life stable for a few years but in the end his inability to truly read and connect with people got to him. Why did filbrick make him think he was only good for one thing so he pushed himself too far in a way it was easy to take advantage of? What do you fucking mean his fatal flaw is he's convinced he's never good enough and thus is easy to manipulate?

I'm gutted by the fact that Stan was never doing well by any means but he was surviving against the odds and doing better than terrible. Until his tendency to push things, to prove himself, got him in too deep. Why did filbrick convince him he was good for nothing so he pushed himself to find something he was worth? What do you fucking mean his fatal flaw is he's convinced he's never good enough and thus he's always pushing himself to the edge at great risk to his own safety even?

What do you mean their flaws as people are reflected and can only make full sense with the context of the other. What do you mean!

filbrick Pines how the HELL did you fuck up your sons in a way so poetic and fucked up its beautifully tragic?

[yinyuedijun]

anyway I joke a lot about mydei getting cucked in okhema and also being paranoid abt losing you but like the undercurrent to all of this is actually quite sad.

(cw slavery, war, discrimination etc)

mydei has only ever known you within a framework of violence. he led the kremnoan army to war with your city-state, he abducted you from your temple and took you to kremnos, he put you in chains as his people's laws demanded. yes, he was an unwilling participant, and yes, he tried his best to protect you, and yes, he wishes to usher in an era of peace for kremnos where such crimes will never happen again - but the fact of the matter is that mydeimos is the heir to a millennium of violence, and you are the ultimate reminder of that violence.

then you get to okhema, and mydei sees you for the first time in a framework of peace. living outside a reality that is hostile to you, in an environment where you laugh and smile and walk freely without chains. and mydei adores seeing you like this, thinks that there is no sight more beautiful. but the novelty of all this is also painful to him: the only reason you ever cry in okhema is out of joy, whereas in kremnos you only ever cried out of grief.

the people in okhema know, too. your former townspeople, the okheman natives, the refugees from the rest of amphoreus that warred with nikador over the years - all of them know this about you. yes, they are wrong about much of kremnos, vilify him and his people unfairly - but there is still an ugly truth to what they assume about your relationship.

you try your best to deny it. you always defend mydei steadfastly, make it clear that you are by his side willingly, always say that he has been nothing but good to you - but they disbelieve you. they pity you, grieve for you, want more for their innocent priestess that was taken by a kremnoan prince as his war prize. they have no doubt that he defiled you, that you were coerced into laying with him. you insist that this is wrong, that you are his lover - but they will always see you as a bed-slave so long as you are with him.

and they aren't wrong for that, are they? mydei has only ever known you in a framework of violence. the two of you fell in love, yes, but you did it while you were still in chains. no matter how gentle he is with you, his loving you has always been an inherently violent act.

so when mydei sees you in okhema, no longer existing under violence, he sees a life that he stole away from you. a life where you are free, where you can fall in love with a normal man rather than her captor, where you can get married as a legal wife rather than a concubine, where you can have children who are freedmen rather than nothoi who are in chains. mydei is trying so, so hard to create an era where this is no longer the case - but a great part of him fears that your relationship will always stay in this old era of strife.

when your aunties giggle and tell you to retire from your post and get married, to find someone from your town or maybe even a nice okheman boy, he knows what they mean to imply. you're free now, they're saying. you don't need to be the slave of the kremnoan prince anymore. you don't need to spread your legs for the monster who abducted you. you don't need to be his whore.

you can be happy now.

and they aren't wrong for that, are they? you are free now. you can finally escape the chains that castrum kremnos forced upon you - the chains that mydei put you in.

[whaliiwatching]

gay people judging you

[casscainmainly]

If we're going to reduce Stephanie Brown to 'waffle girl' we should at least know the history. Everyone read up on the Waffles For Stephanie campaign:

From CBR, published June 26 2012.

Even funnier is that Dan DiDio claimed there were only 'ten waffles sent', but the Bleeding Cool interviewer (Rich Johnson) was not having it:

We may never know how many waffles were actually sent, or whether the campaign helped Steph come back or not, but we do know it ticked Dan DiDio off:

So for all intents and purposes it was a win!