#but a lot to chew on instead

[atlas7seo]

Genshin 5.7 spoilers specifically for a space and time for you. (I havent gotten to skirks thing yet)

My disorganized current thoughts on the new main quest

OKAY. Istaroth!? What are you doing????? How many times has it been now? First with the ancient Sakura, the before sun and moon parable, and now this? Also samsaras but I don't know if thats actually Istaroth's doing.

Its so interesting. Also i wish we could have found out a way to not start the loop.

Istaroth has done so many shenanigans now! Also lowkey this kind of mildly meddles with the boxed time theory of Teyvat. But also not.

Also Surtalogi and Dain were classmates!? And and! It was probably the sibling's power the five sinners stole. It was pretty much spelled out for us by Haden but like also we shouldn't take things at immediate face value too? I mean its Genshin.

Also Vedrfolnir is the reason Dain doesn't rot!? (Lowkey forgot they were siblings) He gave him a ring!?? I wonder if Pierro is the same. This also has a lot of fun hints with The Ring Cycle which Khaenri'ah takes a lot of inspiration from.

Dain really out here knowing all the sinners personally. Like it was assumed since his hatred was so strong but its funny. His classmate, his older brother, I don't quite remember if he has close ties with the other 3 but like this is funny right? And then being a personal companion to our sibling the prince/princess. Dain out here as a main character man.

Also maybe the fact that our sibling forgetting their memories is part of the reason why they're not a descender because they consider themselves part of the world. One trait I find really interesting is that our Traveler genuinely doesn't care that much. The moment the sibling says "let's go", the traveler wouldn't even hesitate they'd be out of there. Traveler just wants to leave, the only reason why they're still here is because of their sibling. But its our Twin's pride and connection to the world that makes us stay. Like we're a trapped star.

Also technically there's three hibernation keys at one time sorta. Imagine we use the third for Paimon.

On another note

Also 3 of the four Samsaras being named after locations in the game Hyperborea, Remuria, Natlanese ect. is interesting. And Khraun-Arya sounds awfully close to Khaenri'ah. Ya know what's interesting about all 4 of these locations. They had some sort of major revitalizion/rebrand(?). For example, Hyperborea is the original location of the Frostmoon Scions who relocated to Nod Krai. Remuria had the Grand Symphony and turning people into machines. Natlan relocated from Ochkanatlan to current Natlan. Now Khaenri'ah is being remade whereever our twin places the Atlas. Maybe this is why we're in the fourth Samsara because Khaenri'ah hasn't been remade yet.

Or it could be time travel

I had a really random thought about Samaras about how maybe each Samasara is a loop we're involved in. So like the first one being The Sakura, the second being this one from 5.7 and so on? But thats really far-fetched I don't really buy it either

[stormsbourne]

Me up again metaphorically pacing my room thinking about how datv is a game about hard choices that don't have a right or wrong answer (but the answer you choose still shapes you and your relationships the same way it shaped Solas and his own relationships)

and a game about regret for things you had no choice but to do (the same way Solas had no choice but to struggle against the rule of the evanuris including his best friend/lover/elder sister)

and a game about how even then you ultimately did have a choice (the same way Solas could have refused to make the dagger or could have allowed flemythal to do whatever she had planned or could have not tried to tear the veil back down which he knew would kill everybody before it fixed anything)

and a game about how sometimes you do your best and do things for good reasons and you still fuck up and you can't save everybody and people will still be frustrated with you (the same way the veil was an accident and Solas was only able to save a tiny fragment of mythal and even that fragment seems bitter about him holding her there even though he does it out of love)

and a game about what leadership does to its leaders (the same way Solas killed his blighted allies, the same way he betrayed felassan, the same way he ultimately betrayed the shard of mythal in flemeth)

and a game about GRIEF and how rook is trapped in it and not being allowed to move forward by blood magic, and how grief cages you (the same way Solas feels caged by the loss of mythal and he's just as trapped as rook is but it's of his own free will and how he uses rook as a method of self absolution for what he did to Varric)

and how every character arc and story touches on at least one if not multiple of these points and how it's all layered in with area quests, side quests, main story quests, that do the same thing. I'm tired of feeling like I have to qualify my praise of datv with "it has problems" because it's a fucking dragon age game. They are all, in their own ways, hot messes. Each one has its weak hinges and its stress points but the level of sheer thematic cohesion and thought in datv is absolutely fucking unparalleled and I don't think I'm wrong to say so

[moeblob]

PDA-aversive Saizo my beloved.

[inorganicorgan]

[smile-files]

sorryyyy i'm thinking about bftff again. here's a quick drawing from a few months ago where i'd decided on the teams (team logos are liable to change. except for home & home. that's perfect)

[bereft-of-frogs]

wow, moving into the final trilogy of Expanse books -- having to emotionally process that time skip -- and starting the last High Republic YA entry, ok and probably the two glasses of red wine, have all joined forces to put me in quite the melancholy mood on this friday night

[torchickentacos]

i like how the ZA trailer didn't show enough of the plot for us to theorize about yet so now everyone's having sociopolitical arguments about a single bench in the background

[pergaminaa]

Modern au:

When Dorian started dating Manon, he was able to see a few things in her that made him suspect something was off. At that point, he was able to see the pressure her grandmother put her under and he felt helpless in the face of that kind of thing.

Manon was really going out of her way to make sure everything is perfect and yet her grandmother kept scrutinizing her.

At formal events, he got to see that first hand. Manon would be super stressed, it would get worse about 2-3 days prior where her anxiety is at it’s peak; she won’t be able to sleep, and can’t keep anything down.

Dorian can see all of her effort and yet her grandmother’s responses are a variety of

“Don’t embarrass me,”

“What a disgrace,”

“This is worthless,”

And it really angers him.

But that was nothing compared to what he saw when they moved in together.

Prior to that, Manon was able to maintain her mask of aloofness and perfection. It was only when they lived together than Dorian saw how she struggles with insecurity and abandonment issues.

He learned of the long months she’d spend at boarding school, her grandmother wouldn’t allow her to return home if her grades are anything below a 100%. She’d call her an embarrassment and let her spend the holidays studying and making up for those grades.

He also saw how she struggles with boundaries sometimes. Moreover, he noticed that she instantly panics whenever she thinks that she made a mistake. Like forgetting her jacket on the counter, or leaving some of her work behind on the coffee table.

Dorian hates hates hates how her grandmother turned her into this person. She honestly believes that as soon as she commits the tiniest mistake, Dorian is going to leave and find someone better. He told her time and again that he doesn’t want anyone else, better or worse. He wants only her and nothing will ever change that.

But of course, his reassurance does nothing to elevate those issues that have been there for two decades. All he can is promise to always be there, that no matter what happens he isn’t going to leave or find someone else.

Now another issue is their families. They attend the same social circles and their families no each other. Chaol is against their relationship because he wants someone other than a Blackbeak to be with his friend. Aelin doesn’t care much, she tries to get along with Manon but the two of them don’t spend any time together to have any sort of relationship.

Then there are his parents; Georgina wants to pick her son’s lifelong partner. The fact that he’s with the Blackbeak heir infuriates her to no end.

Now normally he would ignore everyone and does as he pleases. However, now that he lives with Manon and knows exactly how vulnerable she is, he had a meeting with his parents and Chaol.

He sat them all down, and told them in no certain terms that if he brings Manon over for a visit, if any one of them make her feel unwanted, he’d get her out of there immediately and never return back there.

Dorian is serious, she’s been though enough and he sees how she struggles. That the perfectly put up woman is hiding a lot of things underneath and he hates how he can’t shoulder some of those things. All he can do is love her through it all and hope that one day it will be enough.

[cathymee]

maybe it's to maintain a sense of tension & turmoil that would eventually reach an explosive peak, a sense of tug-of-war, a back-and-forth to hammer home the ideals they want to deliver and for the viewers to chew on, but although these arguments regarding hiroshi & his stance as a man torn between his loyalty for his country & the loyalty for his Filipino friends and lover is of course important, how they write these scenes & the points they present from this week alone is getting too repetitive...? literally the argument scenes from last night & tonight between adelina & hiroshi is basically the same; the ideas were the same, the dynamics were the same: the aggressive, radical adelina, bristling rage and fear over the injustices she's seen thus far, and the cautious, inspiriting hiroshi, all hopefulness and reassurance one moment as a lover, defensiveness and sternness as a japanese soldier in another. this debate will be ever-present ofc, it is one of the series' biggest conflicts, but it is unfortunately so easy to tell when it is a.) being pulled up as a main topic to move the plot along / be a necessary conflict for character development/introspection / be the conflict to deliver the morals & messages the writers want to send to their viewers, or b.) when it is being pulled up only for the drama and filler to pass the time. like watching the characters sit down to argue for 10 minutes, do other things for the plot for 2 minutes, then sit down again to argue for the next 20 minutes. lol.

[kaoharu]

both minjaes (though esp jminjae to me) chinese is honestly like super good and clear lol. all of chewing gum did so well... ughhhhh its seriously such a shame i really think they performed the best but at the same time xo killed their sexy concept so bad like Wow. and generally theyre harder to pull off considering the avg age of the contestants... and people also gravitate towards them so in the end the staff votes ended up being do you like sexy boys or do you like cute boys. sad !

[teethwasbones]

Some of yalls cats are not "perfect little precious good beans" they are little bastards whom you've given behavioral problems by improperly raising just sayin

[kay9leo]

#MCtober2024 - Week 3 Amortentia Potion pt 1

Based on @lamieboo's #MCtober2024 event (click on #MCtober for more info).

Amortentia Potion To Sebastian, Iñaki smells like the following:

1: Freshly Brewed Coffee/ Hot Chocolate

Iñaki is known to drink some coffee -or as she likes to say it- café con leche in the morning. Not so much because of her American culture and using it to wake her up like her British peers like to assume, but more so because of her Latino upbringing. Her Latino-ness shows more when she is drinking coffee at night with a small roll of bread and cheese to eat. No one knows how she can sleep at night after drinking coffee in the evening. Sebastian is rather shock to hear she's been drinking coffee since she was a toddler. If Iñaki isn't drinking café con leche, she is mostly likely enjoying a cold Scottish morning or evening with chocolate caliente - not the American style of coco powder and hot milk, but from a chocolate tablet she brought from her parents' homeland and hot water.

When she is drink either café con leche or chocolate caliente it's one of the few times Sebastian catches Iñaki being still, content and happy at Hogwarts. The hot beverages' scents is something that makes Sebastian think of her. 2. Mellowsweet

If no one has what is the canon smell of mellowsweet, I would like to imagine it smells like a sweet citrus mint with a dash of chamomile...like a chamomile mojito. Iñaki is always up doing Merlin trials and sometimes drags Sebastian with her, so she always carries mellowsweet around with her. It's one of the smells Sebastian always associates Iñaki with since she always has it on her. Iñaki sometimes likes to chew on it for the minty citrus taste it leaves in her mouth so after the two do have their first kiss at some point in the future, all Sebastian could taste is mellowsweet.

3. The Beach/Sea Air

Iñaki misses home, especially the beaches she went to on Long Island. Often Sebastian would find her hanging out in the beach portion of the vivarium in the Room of Requirements and would sit next to her, just listening to the waves. Or she would ask Sebastian if he wanted to go to the coastal beach in Scotland, despite how cold it can get. The beach always makes her feel like at home and it's where she would spill whatever is bothering her or her life secrets to him without any pushing. There's just something about the beach that relaxes her. It's also where she is the most happiest whenever she feels down. Sometimes the two would just sit in the vivarium beach, listening to the waves splash, the seagulls flying and wheeling as they watch the sunset (this is one memory both would later use for their patronus - moreso Sebastian than Iñaki). The one constant all beaches have is the salty tangy air that reminds Sebastian of Iñaki

...

More on Iñaki "MC" Martinez Cariaga

[deepsixsquid]

Would you fuck with Splatoon the way that you do if you didn't have anyone to play/talk about the game with? No splat social media, forums, discord, or friends. Just you, Nocchan, and the solo queue

THAT is a really good question, had to think about this one for a long time For about as long as I can remember, I've been fine with enjoying a vast majority of things by myself, still kinda do even now. BUT, while I know that I would still enjoy Splatoon if I were completely solo, as I went into this series on my own in the first place, I would definitely NOT be as into it as I am now if I were on my own the whole time. A lot would be different if I didn't have places for clips/videos, talking with people, learning from people and, most importantly, if I didn't have my team. Honestly, without them, Nocchan probably wouldn't be here, I'd probably have an entirely different, and far less intense, squid being my main OC, and I definitely wouldn't be as confident, or as much of a fighter, if I didn't have all this.

I could ramble A LOT about this one, it got me thinkin about so many things But, to sum it up, nah, I wouldn't be as into it as I am without everything else, especially my friends It'd be more like "Man, this game's fun~" instead of "This series has gone on to have a profound impact on my life and changed me, as a a person, on a fundamental level"

[bitchfitch]

Idk why Lasha and Casimir are such a problem for me. because like. I have Such a clear image of their Vibe and how they work together and what I want their story to be about. But actually stringing it all together? Hell.

I keep bouncing between formats. The story should be told entirely through Lasha's visits to confession. The story should follow Lasha and his journey of realizing he's miserable as an angel and wants to be human. The story should follow Casimir as he sees something that could destroy him in a heartbeat that's in such a vulnerable place that he sees and takes the opportunity to manipulate it to fitting His image of what Lasha should be. The story should flip between their perspectives. no it should be told from one of Lasha's brothers. No it needs to be in the form of Casimir telling the story decades later. no it needs to be Lasha explaining himself to his brothers. it's just. Frustrating.

and this has been a consistent problem with theses two. it doesn't matter how often I pick them up and drop them. The same problem of format comes back. I know the archs and beats I want to include. I know how their characters develop. I know where it ends and where it begins. but I can't Pick which way to tell it because every format has its pros and cons.

[dullanyan]

who the hell designed this cone ????

[neganium]

That. Took me most of the day. I got nothing of value done. (Tho at least I remembered to eat lunch...?)