#it handles bad btw.

[electric-butter-slug]

Listen man, I play sonic because it's FUN. I don't play the games to challenge myself emotionally and mentally.

The difficulty of Frontiers was FINE.

Extreme mode felt like a fun challenge but i didn't actually play it on extreme all that much because Hard Mode was good enough. It extended the bosses a bit but they were still fun.

This DLC tho??? Holy fuck I am LIVID. The controls are not good for a lot of aspects of the additional characters, the towers try my fucking patience, and the bosses are insane for no fucking reason.

The stages are visual vomit and I don't even know what I'm looking at. It's too much. Suddenly there's new power ups in the stages that I've never used and oh suddenly there's an exclamation mark above Sonic's head. Usually that's like an emerald mark or something so I'll go closer! Ha! Just kidding! You blew up! For fucking real? Save all three animals! Collect 5 reverse numerical rings, 5 silver medals, now there's a hidden goal, now there's a shadow character race! I'm fucking tired. It's still visually terrible and I can't see what's happening.

Sonic goes fast? Here's some fine fucking platforming! Careful, there's no checkpoints so you better not fall or you'll have to start over for the hundredth time.

That last point goes quadruple for the towers. And what awaits you at the top? Trials. You've spent the whole game leveling sonic up? Well fuck you cuz his stats are "fixed." Fixed at what you might ask? It doesn't say. You have to google it to discover it means fixed at level. Fucking. One. And the tricks to getting through these trials? Yeah, you're gonna need to google that too. Nothing prepares you for the new skills you suddenly need to use like apparently how you can sidestep targets and parry things you normally wouldn't think to parry. And speaking of parry, only perfect parry is available! What's perfect parry? We'll never tell. You should know already, right? Time to fucking google again.

Final boss time? Better use that perfect parry. But this time at least we'll actually fucking tell you HOW to. Oh but the boss is connected to this thing with a cord. You've been attacking it for half an hour with no opening to do real damage? Better Google that too. Oh remember how we never told you you could do that sidestepping thing ever in the course of the game? Yeah now you need to do it or you'll never progress the boss. Oh you wasted a half hour waiting for some mysterious opening? Yeah it's not coming. Better just know what to fucking do I guess.

I have never needed to google anything for a sonic game until this dlc came out. I got to go through and actually have fun. This DLC has NOT BEEN FUN because I have spent more time angry about how shitty and impossibly hard for NO REASON it is. It's unfair for too long with too little payoff. The extra lore is barely worth this. I'm not even sure I care to finish the final fight anymore. I'm just tired.

Y'all who complained about the difficulty better be fucking happy now. I shouldn't be struggling like this on EASY FUCKING MODE.

[herotome]

Warden on Tiktok

So there's these Paul Wesley Q&A clips that have been living rent-free in my mind...

[magicandmundane]

I have this hilarious mental image of like 17-year-old Omega coming home drunk from a party on the beach, and Hunter’s asleep, but Wrecker and Crosshair are awake (Hunter tried to wait up for her, too, but he started doing that classic dad “I’m just resting my eyes” thing before the other two convinced him to go to bed lol). One look at their drunk kid, and Crosshair breaks out the vodka. He and Wrecker start doing shots so that when they inevitably wake Hunter up he’s just confused/amused rather than flipping his shit about Omega wandering home drunk in the middle of the night.

Lo and behold, he wakes up a little while later and is greeted by the sight of Omega rolling on the floor giggling about some shit like how pissed Hemlock had been when she got into his walls, Wrecker happily babbling on about fishing, and Crosshair crying about how much he loves his mom (“Crosshair, you don’t have a mom.” “Yes, I do. *sob* Where’s Echo?” “Oh my Force.”). Hunter just shakes his head and gets them all safely in bed after Crosshair gets sick.

[skrunksthatwunk]

actually i'm still thinking about the moral orel finale.

he has a cross on his wall. do you know how much i think about that bc it's a lot.

a lot of stories ((auto)biographical or fictional) centering escape from abusive/fundamentalist christianity result in the lead characters leaving behind christianity entirely. and that makes complete sense! people often grow disillusioned with the associated systems and beliefs, and when it was something used to hurt them or something so inseparable from their abuse that they can't engage with it without hurting, it makes total sense that they would disengage entirely. and sometimes they just figure out that they don't really believe in god/a christian god/etc. a healthy deconstruction process can sometimes look like becoming an atheist or converting to another religion. it's all case by case. (note: i'm sure this happens with other religions as well, i'm just most familiar with christian versions of this phenomenon).

but in orel's case, his faith was one of the few things that actually brought him comfort and joy. he loved god, y'know? genuinely. and he felt loved by god and supported by him when he had no one else. and the abuses he faced were in how the people in his life twisted religion to control others, to run away from themselves, to shield them from others, etc. and often, orel's conflicts with how they acted out christianity come as a direct result of his purer understanding of god/jesus/whatever ("aren't we supposed to be like this/do that?" met with an adult's excuse for their own behavior or the fastest way they could think of to get orel to leave them alone (i.e. orel saying i thought we weren't supposed to lie? and clay saying uhhh it doesn't count if you're lying to yourself)). the little guy played catch with god instead of his dad, like.. his faith was real, and his love was real. and i think it's a good choice to have orel maintain something that was so important to him and such a grounding, comforting force in the midst of. All That Stuff Moralton Was Up To/Put Him Through. being all about jesus was not the problem, in orel's case.

and i know i'm mostly assuming that orel ended up in a healthier, less rigid version of christianity, but i feel like that's something that was hinted at a lot through the series, that that's the direction he'd go. when he meditates during the prayer bee and accepts stephanie's different way to communicate, incorporating elements of buddhism into his faith; when he has his I AM A CHURCH breakdown (removing himself from the institution and realizing he can be like,, the center of his own faith? taking a more individualistic approach? but Truly Going Through It at the same time), his acceptance (...sometimes) of those who are different from him and condemned by the adults of moralton (stephanie (lesbian icon stephanie my beloved), christina (who's like. just a slightly different form of fundie protestant from him), dr chosenberg (the jewish doctor from otherton in holy visage)). his track record on this isn't perfect, but it gets better as orel starts maturing and picking up on what an absolute shitfest moralton is. it's all ways of questioning the things he's been taught, and it makes sense that it would lead to a bigger questioning as he puts those pieces together more. anyway i think part of his growth is weeding out all the lost commandments of his upbringing and focusing on what faith means to him, and what he thinks it should mean. how he wants to see the world and how he wants to treat people and what he thinks is okay and right, and looking to religion for guidance in that, not as like. a way to justify hurting those he's afraid or resentful of, as his role models did.

he's coming to his own conclusions rather than obediently, unquestioningly taking in what others say. but he's still listening to pick out the parts that make sense to him. (edit/note: and it's his compassion and his faith that are the primary motivations for this questioning and revisal process, both of individual cases and, eventually, the final boss that is christianity.) it makes perfect sense as the conclusion to his character arc and it fits the overall approach of the show far better. it's good is what i'm saying.

and i think it's important to show that kind of ending, because that's a pretty common and equally valid result of deconstruction. and i think it cements the show's treatment of christianity as something that's often (and maybe even easily) exploited, but not something inherently bad. something that can be very positive, even. guys he even has a dog he's not afraid of loving anymore. he's not afraid of loving anyone more than jesus and i don't think it's because he loves this dog less than bartholomew (though he was probably far more desperate for healthy affection and companionship when he was younger). i think it's because he figures god would want him to love that dog. he's choosing to believe that god would want him to love and to be happy and to be kind. he's not afraid of loving in the wrong way do you know how cool that is he's taking back control he's taking back something he loves from his abusers im so normal

[jorrated]

as a kid, i was so mad we didnt get to see an anti-fiona. so here she is as Ciara... and anti-nic is there too i guess

[gilded-gheists]

My feelings towards ao3 this morning.

[silvermoon424]

How it feels to learn about the Sweet Baby Inc controversy against my will, making me realize that there really are mfs out there who want to start up gamergate again

[unovaslankiite]

Prolly gonna be my one and only rwde post (cus the fanbase is rancid and I'm not rlly a rwby fan, just a person who watches the show): some of you rwby fans are too comfortable using your queerness as a shield to silence BIPOC voices about the racist writing and your 'precious' bigoted CRWBY. You guys unironically act/think that just because you have to deal with queerphobia; you are IMMUNE to being bigoted yourself and you are INCAPABLE of parroting bigoted beliefs. Cus I know there will be a dumbass ant1-rwde posters who will try to drown out this post by saying its 'lies from the EVIL RWDE!!!': You would rather weaponize your queerness to bash on BIPOC voices, while claiming to care about our voices. You would rather be complicit with the racist writers and their racist writing, just because your racist writers gave you a queer ship. There is no shame nor issue in projecting the abused you suffered onto the characters, however you refuse to see through the characters and their writing through a BIPOC lens. You do not get the right to impose your perspective of the characters at the expense of BIPOC voices, you do not get to twist our voices to be alt-right bigots because we called out RWBY's rampant racism. You do not get the right to say you give a shit about BIPOC and have #BLM in your bio when you fervently defend your bigoted company. You do not get to pretend to care about racism when you buy merch off of your bigoted company. My fellow BIPOC (especially the queer BIPOC): why are you guys so comfortable dismissing your fellow poc about their discomfort with RWBY's racist writing? BIPOC are not a monolith with the same opinions about racism in media; but some of you guys are weirdly comfortable with turning a blind eye to your fellow BIPOC getting dogpiled by the white fandom. We can and will disagree, you not agreeing as a BIPOC about RWBY's racist writing is not what I take issue with. The issue lies within you upholding the racial colourblindness in the fandom; like how the fandom was ok with throwing the racism under the bus in favour of queerness, you are ok with throwing your BIPOC peers under the bus for white queerness. Sincerely, a POC who has been watching the fandoms rampant racism problem ever since 2019.

[taffy-glitch]

rewatching fantasy high (freshman year) and tbh i don't think i appreciated kristen applebees enough as a character when i originally watched it years ago. like i kinda get the feeling that her arc was meant to be more drawn out but got speedrun by her literally dying and meeting god in the first two episodes and getting SLAMMED into that crisis of faith head-first, and it honestly makes her into both a VERY FUN character to watch and a fascinating one

[bonefall]

longtime dc fan and i think a lot of people are angry because alex is obviously one of the most culturally relevant instances of misogyny in media. that being said being more culturally relevant doesn’t mean it’s the worst instance of misogyny and i think bumble definitely experiences more profound misogyny in the way the actual content is presented, if that makes sense

I get you, and that's a charitable way of looking at it.

I think what's rustling my jimmies is that like, there was a couple of WC fans being mildly dismissive of Alex in that note minefield, after dozens of comments of "fuck you how could you let the fridge woman lose" and "Bumble didn't deserve to win ANY rounds" and "how could A CAT experience misogyny." But then WE get blamed for the toxicity because THEY were butthurt that the Funny Cat People have the 'audacity' to win something they feel entitled to.

Like, we've gotta be endlessly charitable as we get openly insulted because they're upset about Alex losing, a very well-known and culturally relevant character with a legacy so massive we have a whole term named after her. But condemnations of "She's just a cat, letting WC into this poll was a mistake, Bumble can't even be a victim of misogyny" only started coming around once I started talking about it.

as if it's OUR fault people got passive-aggressive or even OPENLY aggressive towards us, and that we're "just as bad" for retaliating

But like you said, it's not a "Most Culturally Relevant Misogyny" tournament, it's a "Canon Misogyny Victims" tournament. And you're not even supposed to give a shit that Bumble died. The fat, woman abuse victim is beaten to death by a dictator, and your takeaway is meant to be, "It's so sad that Clear Sky is being blamed for murdering her, now they're all preparing for self-defense against a homicidal maniac, oh nooo :("

And I think that DOES make her deserve the win here! Alex is a MARTYR. Everyone with a brain agrees what happens to her is bad. It happened in her canon because it was bad. We talk about her and keep her memory alive. Bumble gets dismissed entirely out of hand because she's "just a cat in a kid's book" as if that doesn't make it worse, and as if the kid's book didn't treat a domestic abuse survivor like a moron for even asking for help.

Anyway, just to reiterate, I love DC fans. It's not all of you guys. Alex was done dirty and deserves justice-- and it's even kind of a shame that all she became is "The Fridge Woman." I haven't even heard people talk about how she was a wary, responsible person who was still ready to rock with Kyle's new weird glowstick powers, or that she was a journalist, or that she just got brought back in another edition as a Green Lantern only to be revealed as an illusion and re-absorbed back into Kyle's mind. Nope. Even her fans just remember her as The Fridge Woman.

[jenna-louise-jamie]

thinking about yassen gregorovich instead of sleeping (because i love him) and how he is a catalyst. yassen stabbs ash -> ash kills john rider -> ian rider raises alex -> yassen kills ian rider -> mi6 blackmails alex into becoming a teenage spy.

i have so many thoughts that i can't properly articulate. obviously this is a simplified chain of events, but yassen and his choices set off a chain reaction of the world's most unfortunate dominos. especially when you read russian roulette. to be clear im not necessarily trying to blame him for everything because that feels very mean. he was also just a 14 year old kid when everything in his life went wrong, just like alex. only difference being yassen literally had no one.

i think i should write an essay about this because i haven't even gotten into my thoughts about what yassen and alex's dynamic would look like past eagle strike. i would imagine it'd be similar to ellie and joel from the last of us part 2.

where obviously yassen loves alex and alex on some level cares for yassen back but struggles to reconcile that with the fact that yassen is responsible for his uncle's death. a very unforgivable act. it would be so messy and complicated and angsty, because on one hand here is an adult who truly cares about him and has a connection with him through his father. yassen could tell alex about john, and trust that yassen truly wants whats best for him. but he killed ian, and he cannot take that back.

while alex reels from those feelings, yassen is also trying to reconcile his love of alex with the knowledge that he on some level is responsible for the suffering alex endured at the hands of mi6. and possibly even the fact that alex's godfather is the one who killed john and helen.

[suspichui]

kunibram angst!! (very quick made) (im sorry)

ok so imagine kunibram "in love" like, they hangout very often and are raising aya together. they both flirt with eachother sometimes and are just waiting to feel 100% sure about their feelings before confessing. but the more they get to know eachother, kunikida fells more inlove bc.. well, u dont PLAN falling for a vampire but they have their charm yk, listening about their old life, how things used to be, even the way they act, talk, move, EVERYTHING; but this doesnt happen with bram, the more he gets to know kunikida, the more he realises he doesnt have anything in common with his dead wife, just the looks and the need to have everything planned + organized, but bram *knows* and *sees* how much kunikida is falling for him, and he tries so much to feel the same, but he just can't bc the reason he was ok with developing this kind of relationship was bc bream rlly thought kunikida was the reincarnation of his dead wife, he was *so* sure that this situation didn't even appeared in his mind. so, now, everytime kunikida flirts, he just tried to react like he used to do when he saw *her* in him, but its just not the same, kunikida is slowling realizing somethings wrong, but he trusts bram to tell him whats wrong; maybe he just started to feel bad about falling for a man, afterall ppl was even more homophobic when bram was not a vampire, but that never happens rlly. he just sees day past day how bram stops looking at him with so much light in his eyes, he starts treating him like the others in the agency, and now he only talks to him when he needs to communicate something about aya, but why? well, bram just feels rlly bad about himself, he feels so stupid for believing that he found his daughter *and* his wife at the same time. a few months later, kunikida is re-writing his ideal woman bc he ripped the page when he fell for bram, believing he wouldnt need that ever again, but here he is.

[foervraengd]

Thinking about my former neighbours, a sapphic couple who were vegans and cared so much for animals, they lived out in the rurals next to a field so they often had problems with mice and rats. They obviously refused to use any poison but they also only used non-killing traps. And every mouse or rat they captured they put in their car and drove several miles away to release it.

They also wanted their lawn to grow naturally with native plants and not just grass, i dont remember seeing them ever use a lawnmower tbh. Their garden was so pretty with rose bushes and they grew their own veggies that they gave away to me and the other neighbours.

One day their dog got bit on the nose by a viper, the dog survived but afterwards i saw one of the owners walk around their house with a shovel in their hands. I don’t think ive ever seen such anger and bloodlust in her eyes as she tell me “I’m gonna fucking kill that snake with my own two hands.”

(I dont remember if she ever found the snake. But after that the lawn around the house was a bit more trimmed down.)

[letsdeweythis]

gang hear me out. Dear Theodosia but it’s bad future Leo and Casey about Casey Jr. listen guys

you have my eyes (stripes), you have your mother’s name. domestic life was never quite my style. when you smile, you knock me out, I fall apart, and I thought I was so smart. literally that’s just Leo

my son, look at my son. you outshine the morning sun. my father wasn’t around, I swear that I’ll be around for you. Casey knows she can’t promise that but she wants to. she loves her boy so much I just know she does

I’ll do whatever it takes, I’ll make a million mistakes, I’ll make the world safe and sound for you. we’ll bleed and fight for you, we’ll make it right for you. we’ll give the world to you and you’ll blow us all away. someday, someday. you get it. you get the themes. I don’t have time to do it justice. just look at it it’s on the ceiling/ref

[phantom-alpha]

this was for school, but since i had never used the program i drew this in until i drew it, i pretty much spent the entire time trying to figure out what i was doing

well, if nothing else, at least i got to draw fellow my beloved

[anxiously-sidequesting]

So I don't know if it was ever revealed how Duncan felt when we killed Malistaire all three times but I'm wondering if maybe some part of him could hate us for that too. Like you hear that and you go "but why. Malistaire was terrible and even Duncan knew that(?). Why would he hate you for getting rid of him."

But like I think it's so....... interesting in a very, very, very sad way how Duncan so easily latches onto anyone who directly feeds into his delusions of grandeur. And that's no fault of his own that he was manipulated by the nasty Schism but when you think about how desperately clung to the idea that Malistaire, easily one of the greatest necromancers any of us had ever heard of (at that time), somehow actually recognized Duncan's talents (even when canon supports that Duncan wasn't all that talented, at least no more than the next necromancer) and then praised him for it so often that Duncan believed that he would be the next Death Professor is. I mean ☹️

So like with that mindset I unfortunately feel like it would be quite easy to twist even Malistaire's death as something that's horrible and awful and all our fault. ESPECIALLY if the Schism was feeding into Duncan's already broken mind and shattered ego and was constantly telling him that everything bad that ever happened to him ever in his life was Our Fault. That's like a realistic conclusion that someone like Duncan could come to

And like, at this point in time, are Malistaire's crimes even a factor in how he thinks????? Was Duncan ever able to separate Malistaire's talent and skills and prowess from the terrible and awful things he did? If Duncan wasn't able to consciously tell that distinction in the first place I can't imagine it would be any better during the years he was being manipulated and isolated and lied to

Like in Duncan's mind it probably isn't, "maybe I shouldn't idolize a national criminal, or idolize anyone at all for that matter, and aspire to be like someone so harmful when I can recognize my own talent and build from there" it's probably more like, "you (the wizard) permanently got rid of a brilliant mind, an innocent person who just made a few mistakes, and someone who believed in me no matter what just so that you could be the better than me and loved by everyone else" and that's! very sad actually!