#more normal about her than usual

[chainreh]

they raised ferdinand death flags and then killed off edelgard instead wtf is this game

[butchtwelfthdoctor]

ok so death and the queen in Really Really good and you should all listen to it ( here it is!!) but there another one of those bits where donna gone off to do something and ten thinks shes leaving Forever but THIS. THIS. LITERALLY HE JUST SAYS THAT?

(sorry for the bad audio quality i was recording it off my computer speakers into garageband lol its wayyy better than that in the actual thing)

Transcript

[end of doctor who theme]

Ten : I'm sorry, because, I lied to you.

Donna : Oh? About What?

Ten : I said... I was fine. Fine about you leaving, and, I'm not. So many of you have come and gone, I never get used to it, you'd think I would've done by now, but, but, but, no... just when I think it's all going well, and we'll be... together forever, you're wandering off to go and save another universe, or, get married - How do you lot fall in love so quickly?

Donna : Well,

Ten, interrupting : I just don't get it!

Donna : Funny you should say that,

Ten : It's- ehhhh short lives I suppose - still! So long as you're happy, and, you're with the right man, and, and, he is the right man,

Donna - *starts to speak, gets cut off*

Ten : Yeahhs yes of course he is-

Donna : mhm-

Ten : -course he is I mean - I mean, well, no man ever gonna be good enough for my Donna, but yes, yes! Off you go, every time, one of you leaves, I'm not ready, I never am. You lot. Euurgh. *sharp inhale* Every one of you a heartbreaker.

Donna, indignantly : That's why you've got two of them, stupid, listen, I'm -

Ten : I mean yeah, I s'pose, but it doesn't make it -

Donna : mHMHMmm

Ten : - make it any easier, you all leave... even the robot dog left me. Twice.

Donna : Alright, Doctor, I'm trying to tell you-

Ten : And another thing - the universe never gives me a break!

End Transcript

[shorthaltsjester]

i do not want to dig a hole but i am too much of a laura bailey pc enjoyer to not make this post so:

selfishness ≠ a lack of kindness 

selfishness is a theme that has come up with all of laura's main campaign pcs. that doesn't mean that her characters are always making selfish choices or that they don't care about the rest of the people they're with or that they're not good. it's just that, for the most part, the first thing they're thinking of when they take action or make choices is themselves. 

in jester and vex both it is more typical and obvious selfishness. vex's developed because she needed it to keep herself and vax alive and as safe as possible and it grew into a behaviour that she had to actively work to avoid. it's evident in her greed, her theft of the broom, her reaction to her own death which relied heavily on i'm okay/i survived to which keyleth reminded her that she wasn't the only one who had to witness and reckon with her death. in jester's case, she grew up in an environment that literally trained her to make every decision based on two things - her mother's opinion and her own. so, when she's out in the world without marion for the first time, her choices are those that will benefit her and her actions are those that consider her own thoughts and not really many others' (aside from the traveler's). 

it isn't a criticism of either vex or jester to say that they are characters who act selfishly. in fact, i'd argue that to claim otherwise does a great disservice to exactly how immense both of their character arcs are. because the nuance of both jester and vex is that they are selfish, and they also hold extreme room for self-sacrifice and empathy. vex is much more brash than jester is, and jester is much more trusting than vex, but both of them are characters who begin with selfish impulses who grow with them. neither ever truly shed those impulses, but they use them in new ways, typically transforming them into impulses towards things that are in the best interest of the party. 

you may have noticed the lack of imogen in this post about laura bailey pcs and that's because of two reasons. one, we are an unknown amount of time into her story, i can't analyse her development the same way i can vex and jester's. two, imogen's selfishness isn't the blatant quasi-self-aware selfishness that we see in things like jester complaining about her lack of money to caleb or vex stealing a broom. instead, imogen's is very internal, like a lot of laura's character work with imogen. it is a bit similar to jester’s in the sense that it comes from a lack of awareness moreso than vex’s practiced behaviour, but imogen’s is a lot more tied to inherent beliefs she has about the world and the people in it.

as a consequence of her powers, imogen sees people's thoughts as their entirety, she holds it above their actions to be the truth of who they are - to act against what they think or to say something that doesn’t cohere with what they’ve thought is akin to lying, so for her to act empathetically is to act in tandem with what someone else’s thoughts are, not how they act, which is typically not all that wanted. the same as vex’s greed and jester’s naivety, this is a trait that makes narrative sense and it’s one i find quite compelling, especially when read in the vein of someone struggling through trauma that has made them assume that the world is against them. imogen’s cynicism is coherent cynicism, i can’t say that in a similar situation i wouldn’t have the same predisposition towards the world.

the part that is particularly self-interested comes in if you look at how imogen has actually been treated in the campaign (quite well) in comparison to the cynicism that she’s developed from her past (something that speaks to a world out to get her). certainly, a bunch of shitty things have happened to imogen in the time we’ve known her, but the same can be said for everyone in bell’s hells and pretty much everyone in exandria at this point in time. but, in a fight to save the aforementioned world, imogen’s focus was getting her mother back on her side. which, while very consistent with her character and a choice that i enjoy, is a very selfish one. the fun thing (to me, obviously) about imogen is that she has, more than most, an insight into the opinions of others and she also tends to seek others’ opinions out and genuinely engages with them and supports their choices. but she still very much acts towards what she thinks is best. it’s one reason i enjoy looking at the dynamic between her and orym as one between foils, as orym tends to be stalwart in his beliefs and doesn’t care too much for other’s opinions if he’s already sure of his own, but his actions tend to favour collaboration and protecting others.

as i mentioned earlier, imogen is a harder case to look at because she is still in the process of her story. however, the circlet is clearly influencing how she interacts with the world and in the wake of the solstice, the hostile reaction towards ruidusborn people has started to become more and more apparent and i’m interested to see what route that ends up leading imogen down and how it will influence her relationship with the rest of bell’s hells. (for better, i think, based on recent conversations, but if it's for worse i will be just as seated and excited).

all of this is just to say, please stop assuming that claiming a character has a trait you think is a bad one is criticism or a hate post. in light of the fact that i know that people who don’t believe this will continue to not believe this, i’ll encourage anyone confused about the ability of a character to be good and kind and selfish all at once to look to what the text itself says, specifically scanlan’s words to pelor when asked what vex means to him:

“Her name is Vex, and she is greedy and mean sometimes, and she can steal a lot. She’s a little bit not the greatest person, but her flaws highlight everything that is right about her, which is she does all these things to protect her friends and her family. She would give her life for any of us and for anyone who was truly in need. And she’s not perfect but she’s the most perfect of all of us.”

would you look at that... an ability to be a multitude of things, some in conflict with one another. i know that's hard for fandoms to believe, especially about female characters with agency, but i promise its true!

[derpinette]

SPERG YOUR HEART OUT

[xdevilrushx]

Yuffie: You gotta admit - it's been awesome having me on the team, right?

Cloud: Hasn't been boring.

Yuffie: (fondly) You can say that again. It's been a real trip.

Cute Clouffie moment during the Jenova Lifeclinger fight.

They both have such a hard time admitting it, but they really do care for each other a great deal more than they're willing to let on (especially Cloud, with his usual too-cool-for-school attitude). Even though they might squabble like siblings at times, it's obvious that they have a soft spot for each other.

[creativity-deficient]

Soooo what are y’all’s hcs on the Tweak family 🤔🤔🤔

[vaugarde]

speaking of tawnypelt its so funny when people go “mothpool is bad because people reduce mothwings character to just this fanon relationship! why not focus on her relationship with her thunderclan siblings!!!” 

like. girl WHAT relationship?

[perhaps-mr-collins-has-a-cousin]

Hello praying people, I'm not doing well and would really appreciate your prayers right now <3

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 6!!!

[demigodofhoolemere]

Me through most of Boom: Wow, this is a really solid dramatic episode.

Me when Moffat needlessly sprinkles in anti-faith sentiments without specifying that it’s blind faith in bad things that the Doctor doesn’t like, which makes it come off like the Doctor is just against religion generally:

[kavehater]

Chappel Roan saying she’s sad she’s demisexual and then there’s me being aroace as a whole like don’t you think I’m even more sad 😭

[im-still-watching-anime]

rip my mom casually asking me what the worst shakespeare take i’ve ever heard was and unlocking a two hour rant at 3 am

[emdotcom]

*remembers what they did to Vanny* 500 FUCKING PIPEBOMB ATTACK.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

I actually have a crazy amount of respect for Nabsgan, I think Nabsgan shippers are so powerful and I'm not even into ships that much most of the time.

I think what makes me back down and write an OC and kind of get her in a Nabsgan-adjacent dynamic in my own fanwork (sort of, there are notable differences between classic Nabsgan and Saeruk) is that I kind of always felt like Nabooru was one generation younger (it's the "little girl" comment from the Twinrova + the physical differences --but then again OoT is working with 3 polygons and a bad case of Woman Sexification, and also I suppose that anyone would be a little girl to 400 year old witches), and I guess I didn't feel strong enough to dive into the fucking mess that is the "seven years under mind control" situation if there is a romantic undercurrent involved. I'm all for absolute bubbling toxicity if Ganondorf is to be shipped with anyone (I mean, also an extreme AroAce!Ganon appreciator obvs so he doesn't have to be), but I'm kind of hesitant to dive in that sort of territory given the baggage surrounding Ganondorf and his perception in fandom regarding possessiveness and the such. I have a hard time picturing him showing any interest in someone who is incapable of resisting him or biting back when he fucks up, or even agreeing to putting someone he genuinely respects and loves/appreciates in a way that may approximate love in such a mindless state (possessing their body to do weird magic stuff? yes, that's just convenient. actually breaking their resolve until they are a mindless doll he can shape in any way he likes? I think he'd hate the result and wouldn't want anything to do with it --but that's just me!)

Of course, there's always the "he didn't know/he didn't care anymore/he didn't show up when that happened and that's between the Twinrova and Nabooru, he just did not really bother to get involved", but it's still generally loaded territory!!!!

But again, enormous kudos to people willing to work that complicated line, because the dynamic is explosive and inherently interesting.

[coridallasmultipass]

[ Nikke spoilers for mid September 2024 update mini story / my comments on it. ]

Closeted trans dudes dressing up at the family function like:

It's such a familiar scene, for family to see you dressing up out of obligation and then being like, 'Oh, NOW you're so beautiful, you should do this more often.' And internally, your body is screaming that it feels so wrong, why did you perform your perceived gender for this event! Or like, for me personally too, the whole missing the vibe of the event and dressing up way more than anyone else, and then feeling so out of place. I've joked before about Red Hood having older brother vibes, maybe she has trans vibes for me too now, lol.

Also, strange that Liliweiss is saying 'for the future' to Red Hood. Who, y'know, is basically terminally ill (corrupted). Red Hood doesn't 'have' a future, she just has the present and past. At this point in this mini-story thing (I'm assuming it takes place around the time of the Red Ash event), is Liliweiss aware of the plans to integrate Red Hood into Rapi, and therefore 'have' a future? Or am I just reading into this way too much? Lol. Just sounded like a really weird and inconsiderate thing to say to her.

-

That aside, why the fuck did y'all vote the dress over the other two Red Hood skins?! I'm so disappointed, the other two were way cooler and not out of character:

((I mean, I guess it's technically in-character since it's canon now, and has to do with 'old music' but c'mon, man...))

Image description below cut:

First image: Red Hood from Nikke: Goddess of Victory is in a strappy and revealing dress. It's the same colour as her hair. She's embarrassed and standing next to a gramophone, while holding a champagne glass. She is also wearing fingerless half-palm leather gloves. Text: Red Hood: Oh jeez, I can't do this! I just can't!

Next two images: Text: Dialogue:

Commander: You did well in that outfit.

Red Hood: Anything was better than staying at that party, even fighting raptures. I've never been so glad to have a bunch of them show up.

Rapunzel: Your dress is all dirty, though. And the hem is all torn...

Red Hood: Who cares? It's not like I'm going to be wearing this ever again.

Liliweiss: Why not? I thought you'd be keeping it for the future.

Red Hood: No thanks. Not a chance.

Snow White: That's too bad. At least I finally got to see you all dressed up. Can I at least take a picture for posterity?

Red Hood: Absolutely not. I don't want to leave any evidence of this humiliating sight.

Last three images are the Red Hood skins/appearances that we voted on. First image is the feminine dress with the gramophone mentioned before, which won the poll. Second image is Red Hood on a motorcycle with a leather jacket, crop top, mini shorts, and thigh highs. Third image is Red Hood standing next to a wolf, and she is wearing form-fitted high-rise pants, a strappy harness bra-top and collar, and a cropped blazer.

[monsterhugger]

if you shame or berate people for pirating things. please consider that being able to buy/watch/read/listen to/play things legitimately is a privilege

not even necessarily a "having the money" privilege but sometimes a "living in the right place" privilege or even a "speaking the language said thing happened to be released in" privilege