#literally just be nice to him okay

[ghost-proofbaby]

WAIT can you elaborate what you mean by things???

I'm also buying the game and playing because of you and wanting to romance the vampire lol

in the great words of the vampire himself... "sex, darling."

astarion is one of the first characters in the game that will proposition your character to have sex (in act 1 it's him and lae'zel, all other characters take a little longer to romance and get there haha). i cannot stress this enough - turning him down will lock you out of his romance. doesn't matter if you have spoilers for his storyline and don't want to have sex. if you want to romance him, you will have to sleep with him in act 1. i have thoughts on this but it is what it is

putting a read more because it's technically game spoilers below, but just to be a little more helpful...

you can turn him down once. if he propositions you before the tiefling/goblin party (this party will depend on your playthrough! but regardless, it's a party that occurs during a long rest, and it is when most romances are triggered to begin!), you can say no, and i'm pretty sure he'll still offer a second time. so you could say no, and then say yes, or say yes both times.

you'll only get one detailed cut scene/sex scene. if you say yes before the party, and then yes a second time, you won't get to see the sex scene twice. it'll just fade to black the second time!

saying yes to having sex with him and allowing him to drink your blood when you find out he is a vampire are the two most crucial bits to gaining approval and starting a romance with him. beyond that, just... idk be nice to him? there's plenty of specific scenes i can tell you guys about, but i think it's more fun to experience it first hand as you playthrough. there's nothing like the thrill of getting unexpected astarion approval. it's like, did i commit a war crime? was i just a terrible human being? who knows !

all jokes aside you don't need to be fully evil or a terrible person to get his approval. your choices will actually affect him as the game goes on. I.E. whereas he might disapprove of very heroic or kind acts in act 1, if you're consistently a good person while romancing him, by act 3 he might start approving of those things.

just remember he's very self-serving. he isn't a great person - especially when you first meet him. he's traumatized. he has reasons. the player can either literally make him better, or make him worse.

i could go on for way too long about this game but this is the basics. god speed to any of you who are playing because of me because what the fuck but... have fun! i believe in you lol <3

[findafight]

Robin chose Steve. Robin made the conscious and deliberate decision that she could and would trust Steve. She already liked him! She had fun working and bantering with him! They were already on their way to being weird little bffs and the torture just expedited the process. Steve chose Robin just the same! He thinks she's fun and cool and likes her so much! He chose to be honest and open with her too, putting himself out there.

Even though their interests on the surface level don't match why wouldn't they share them? Steve clearly caves when Robin wants to watch a movie he doesn't think he'll like, Robin can watch a March madness game or five.

Stop trying to take away their bond oh my god people can be close to more than one person!!! Their best friend doesn't have to be dismissive or mean or whatever in order for a romance to be special to them!

[ryllen]

Look what came through the mail today! The letters & ( •̀ω•́ )σ 3 little gremlins from letterstoear.

Just wanna say i adore the flower stickers on the letters too much, they are that much worth mentioning.

[worstloki]

there is a difference between being born to a throne, maliciously vying for a throne, stealing a throne, and having a throne thrust upon you when you are already in the midst of an identity crisis. And I fear Loki's place in the line of succession has people unable to differentiate between any of these

[shokupanko]

Did you think I’d miss Fukase Friday? （｀Δ´）！

[fujii-draws]

OKAY! Chatot rant in tags below! Read at your own discretion.

[dilutedconfusion]

I did a thing…again.

Just realized that ya’ll need to click for better quality for some reason this post looks especially bad 🤚

[skeletoninthemelonland]

i'm a lil sick rn :'D oough

[thecrowsart]

👁️🦎🎯

(crops under cut)

[pinksilvace]

I really do wish that the Owl House had managed to stick with its original goal of being subversive for so many reasons, but right now I'm thinking about the finale again and how Belos was framed as a downright evil dude. A lot has already been said about this decision, from how it hurts the development and arcs of multiple characters to how it neglects a lot of the subtext that made Belos such an interesting villain to begin with, but it also just generally falls into common tropes from a character design standpoint.

Belos is designed, inside and out, in such a way that ensures the viewer KNOWS he's the villain based on pre-existing stereotypes prevalent in media. He's not young or conventionally attractive; I've seen fans go so far as to call him ugly because of what is essentially a skin condition. Season 3 confirmed that he has OCD and psychosis. The curse is shown to give him some sort of chronic pain (+limited access to relief medication, which loses effectiveness [note that Eda will likely always have access to elixirs while the same can't be said for Belos and palismen]). He has a foreign accent. He was given a rough childhood (that the audience is expected to disapprove of) to "explain" how he got to where he is.

Something about it feels really rotten. He's a villain, no doubt about it, but a lot of his traits - many of which are heavily stigmatized - are not present in any other cast member (the closest I can think of is Hunter, who has facial scarring and undefined trauma symptoms potentially (?) including psychosis [the big difference here is that Belos is shown to have had episodes repeatedly while Hunter was shown to have one moment of non-possessed hallucinations for what looked like the first time]). It would have been nice to see a show shooting for subversion not use such commonly villainized attributes for the villain, or at least, for the villain and only the villain. It especially stinks considering how the showrunners pressed the message that he's evil through and through.

[casualbugenjoyer]

I'm rewatching water 7 and ennies lobby and oh my God. Both Franky and Robin are super fucked up in water 7, but the each have a moment in ennies lobby where everything makes sense and they start behaving like somewhat normal adults. This happens after they've met each other and realized they were in the same boat and are somehow almost the same level of fucked up. Not to mention, it's the first time Robin openes up to anyone- let alone someone who is similar and has similar circumstances.

Anyway all I can think about is Frobin. They are everything to me. And they make so much sense. They both have autistism lmao .

Things that are not often looked at in future arcs that are really highlighted here include: Franky's anger management issues, Robins propensity to skip people's feelings for "a more logical solution", and of course both of their traumas influencing their decisions (based off of how people in their past got treated). Later both are more used for action and jokes. Franky being super 'super' and Robin being morbid. Give me more content with them that isn't flat!!!!!!

This arc is truly amazing, and honestly nothing in post time skip had gotten to this point yet. I hope it does, because it's really beautiful the way Oda highlights how trauma never leaves you. How unless you get help, or can get help, things won't change.

Idk this was a message that really struck with me. I really loved the idea that no matter who you are and what you've done, if you want to overcome adversity your have to trust other people. And I know that's a common theme in every arc, but it's one of the best in this one imo.

[klonoadoortophantomile]

killing him with my mind (affectionate)

[frozenhi-chews]

I don't mind projection onto fictional characters that much, heck I do it myself. (Aspec characters my beloved.) But sometimes peojection just turns into overly sanded projections of the canonical characters themselves.

Heck not even projection, sometimes they'll just do whatever to the character to the point they're barely recognizable. Making them sanded and flat to put in the most bare bones stuff for like, memes and other forms of projection. Thinking it's cool or funny to have them be that way when it very clearly goes against canon.

Idk I'm just tired of seeing characters dulled down for whatever headcanons and ships and whatnot just because people can't handle nuance and think of them deeper than a surface level interpretation. PLEASE go back and look at the characters in canon and study them for a bit. Build headcanons off of that. Sometimes they'll do things that you won't do and that's fine. Not everything is for personal projection. (Though there's nothing wrong in being a self indulgent a little)

[tothepointofinsanity]

Do you have any super into detail thoughts on kyosaya? I know you've drawn a few art pieces for the ship, but I haven't seen any written think pieces about it from you.

I know there are some who don't like to use ships as a way to tie to a characters personality, so I guess I'm curious what your overall thoughts are on it and how it ties into sayaka as a whole.

"Think pieces" is a pretty neat way to put it...The primary foundation of KyoSaya to me revolves around a uniquely sapphic relationship that I hope would be expanded upon in future shows in the series.

↑ Yet, what are all these words supposed to mean? Sayaka has always done things for the sake of others. Her sense of justice elevated to the point where she views herself as a knight, someone who kneels in the face of goodness in respect of whatever is honourable to maintain it. But a knight is just another form of a pawn, just a stronger one whom everyone perceives has the ability to: 1) protect others 2) kill The Enemy.

Sayaka used to only ever have been able to interpret this in an extreme and binary vision. If she has to defend others, she has to devote herself fully to the cause. To her, the notion of self-care and self-preservation is difficult to comprehend since she feels as though she always has to be a monolith of one singular thing, of one side of things. To her, everything is like a chessboard. There is no way to play knight for both teams at once: either you prioritise yourself, or you prioritise others.

I understand that it is also a realistic depiction of how individuals like Sayaka constantly push through their own struggles alone while always uplifting others, a demonstration of unbalanced relationship dynamics. When this vision is challenged, Sayaka does not know where and how else she is expected to just "move forward" when she realised reality is not a simple game of chess. So she shrinks her view of the world further by clashing with Kyoko, since Kyoko is The Enemy who obstructs Sayaka's own perception of all that is Good and Just. Sayaka knew she was manipulated by Cubey™, but it was not only in the later movies that she comprehended the full extent of it. Something like that feels too complicated in her mind, so it's easier, much less burdensome to just lock onto one person to be angry with. This mentality is almost a sort of fallacy for Sayaka given she becomes a Witch in every cycle she becomes a magical girl.

Sayaka wants to feel relied on by humans. Kyoko does not desire nor expect anything from people, and thus balances out the extremes of Sayaka by being detached from worldly expectations - at least, that is what's consistent with Kyoko's perception of herself. A puppet without strings. She is not a pawn, not a knight. That's why she was angry when she realised the wish-granting alien omitted information on magical girl mechanisms and their life cycles. Instead of shovelling forward headstrong like Sayaka, however, Kyoko reconsiders her childhood memories and her desire, and it was to die with Sayaka so that Sayaka would not have, in Kyoko's eyes, perished for the sake of The Greater Good, because Kyoko believes still in the Self, not the vague promise of a better future.

Uhm. It's probably nonsense now that I put it in legible words. Some other KyoSaya fans who are big brained enough should educate me more on their dynamic, but I find their relationship to be interesting. It's very fallen angel x demon coded. I feel...as though Sayaka and Kyoko are hard to separate given they exist as characters that neutralise and support each other. Perhaps not codependent, but Sayaka was unhinged enough for Homura to not threaten her once, but twice whenever Madoka's feelings are involved. Meanwhile Homura was more...tolerant of Kyoko. Kyoko is there to keep Sayaka in check to make sure she doesn't piss off the Devil to the next century, and to me that is also funny.

[Although, it is tragic that since Sayaka embodies the sea, the only way Kyoko can only be with her "in death" due to the theme of Ophelia, her lover and the flame of the witch. Who could have predicted the doomed yuri is doomed. A sinking ship, even.]

[dazais-guardian-angel]

kinda wild to me that one of the most compelling aspects of both Chuuya and Kunikida's characters to me, that I never really see talked about, is how they're heavily set on a doomed crash course towards complete and utter destruction, and how I am so, so worried for them both.....

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Since, if the trend continues and it should, Kingdom Hearts IV should end with Sora and Kairi's hands joining again, here's my idea for the ending of the game:

We close on the two of them holding hands, of course, but it's Kairi pulling Sora back into the Realm of Light.

This also keeps Sora from, technically, ending up back in the Realm of Light in KHIV (like early on, I mean), as most don't want that (including myself. It would be far too easy). So, technically, he would be back there at the start of KHV.