#needed to ramble about it cause like

[camping-with-monsters]

Genuinely speaking, what was up with people (on Twitter, mostly) spreading around screenshots of random artists posting their art improvements and people getting upset that their art had a “downgrade” and that they actually went backwards on improvement with their art. I remember there being an underlying issue that was the cause of this sudden thing, frankly I don’t 100% remember what it was. Now I don’t know too much about the people they usually did this with, if I had to be honest. Maybe the people/screenshots they always referenced were not great people. Regardless of whatever, here’s my two cents on that action as a whole, completely disregarding whatever that original issue was, cause I’m not opposed to believing that this still happens to unassuming artists trying to mind their own business.

I guess y’all have never once considered that improvement is a versatile thing with art. Maybe people’s art styles seem to change to, what you consider as, “for the worst” because you look at it with a blind eye based on a scale of “high quality art” vs “low/lower quality art”. That’s black and white. Whatever happened to considering the art process? Maybe for some artists, the style changes you consider “downgrades” are easier on the artist to work with. More efficient for them, even. The efficiency of making the process easier for them plus having a style to correlate with the tweaking of their process is improvement on it’s own. Sure, maybe their art looks different than it did some time back, but that’s because art is ever changing for everyone.

People draw what they want however they want, and if they want to switch up the process on how they make art, that’s not for you, the person who did not draw their art, to judge. I promise you that the artist probably doesn’t actually care if you miss their old style. Maybe they don’t miss it. And maybe they don’t miss it for a number of reasons other than quality. Maybe they didn’t like a certain thing they did with their shading, or didn’t like that they were spending 5 hours on perfecting the linework (I’ve been there before, it’s tedious.). Maybe that artist wanted to add steps to their process or rid of unnecessary ones. Improvement with art is not specific just to the changes of quality of their art. Drawing is a process— it’s not easy without practice and can sometimes be stressful and strain you. Your body hurts from arching your neck so low into a sketchbook or your fingers hurt from using a pen for so long. Your eyes and head hurt from staring into a digital screen for so long, and often you forget about your own physical needs because you just have to get this one detail right first.

Everyone who doesn’t draw will digress. “Art is easy”. No. It’s. Not. It’s only easy for you because all you have to do is look at it.

You do not get to decide if or how an artist has improved or whether or not they have improved at all. You will never be able to see a piece the same way as the artist who put time and effort into their craft as if nursing their own young. It’s not your job to make comments or even critiques unless the artist has opened up to the idea, whether or not you mean it with lighthearted or helpful intentions. Your job, as the viewer of the art, is to view and to share the art. That’s literally it. You are not, and never will be, entitled to tell an artist that they have somehow not improved. You didn’t make their art. You don’t know why they made these changes. You don’t get to question that. Their art improvement does not lie just within whatever’s on the canvas. You love the art, but often forget that there is a person behind said canvas who meticulously plans every stroke of their brush, what colors to use, and like Atlas with the world on his back, they carry with them years worth of practicing how to draw eyes, hands, backgrounds, perspectives, this thing, that thing, you name it. You forget about the fact that people (the same kind that you are criticizing) are the only things that can create the things you love with their love. By insulting what you deem as “bad improvement” by your standards, you insult the entire process; not just what you see firsthand. Think whatever you want to think in your head— but you best trap it if your words could offend, lest you find yourself taking just one organism off of a food web, throwing the entire course on its side.

Honest to god, what happened to being happy for someone making a positive change for themselves that they are happy with themselves?

[jacobtheloofah]

hell world!!!! hell world!!!! hell world!!!!

[bubblingsteam]

[somegrumpynerd]

Thinking about how Nightmare has 4 mortals and 3 of them are so so bad at taking care of themselves

[inusmasha]

Sometimes it’s hard to read fanfic when you’re studying herbalism.. when they have the character preparing a tincture to use that same DAY!!?

Baby those dried herbs need to sit in that jar with high proof alcohol for at LEAST a month!

That’s why before the use of calendars ppl use to prepare their tinctures either on the new moon or full moon. A a full moon cycle is usually 28 days or so. And they would give the moon names so it’s easier to remember when/what month said tincture was bottled.

This is also why herbal medicine is prepare in small batches. You have to take your time preparing your bottles. Making sure everything is clean so you don’t end up with mold. Diluting your grain alcohol. Heckkk knowing when to pick your herbs for max potency! Drying your herbs! That takes a lot of time too!

I didn’t mean to rant lol

[lazylittledragon]

what do you mean youre technically a detransitioner cause of terf bullshit?

it's a v long story but i detransitioned for a couple of years when i was 16/17, for multiple reasons but mostly because i fell into the blaire white/kalvin garrah chamber of "you have to be This way to be trans otherwise you're not real".

i was already Deeply insecure about myself and my 'passing' and i was led to believe that i couldn't want to wear makeup or skirts, and i couldn't choose not to have bottom surgery, and i couldn't do anything but bind for 12+ hours a day to the point that my ribcage is still misshapen. basically i thought that if i wasn't suffering enough doing 'feminine' things, i couldn't really be trans, so i should just go back to being a girl and suck it up.

the terf bullshit is because i'd seen a lot of terfs/detransitioners talking about the 'dangers' of testosterone and how it would turn me into a horrible ugly evil monster and how there was nothing worse than wanting to be a man. which combined with 'you need to fully medically transition to be valid at all' creates some very dangerous and upsetting feelings to cope with.

it also came from trying really hard to put myself in a little box before i realised that my sexuality/gender are very fluid and it's FINE for me not to have a label and just do whatever i want. when i was 19 or so i went back to using they/them (and eventually he/him) and changed my name again because even though i like doing 'feminine' things, i don't want to be seen as a woman.

tldr: i was conditioned by transphobic/terf rhetorics to think that i was being trans the 'wrong' way so i couldn't be trans at all, so i believed i must actually be a girl if i still wanted to do 'feminine' things. nowadays i am a transmasc who does feminine things because i don't give two shits about what any transmed prick thinks of me anymore.

[captaincolorblob]

Everyday i think about this screenboard scene that got semi-scrapped from Donnie vs Witch Town, like it just explains so much about Donnie as a character and i’m very sad we didnt get to see it entirely

[fruitsofhell]

I used to be one of those guys when I first joined the Kirby fandom, but everytime I hear a discussion of the series writing that starts with "So the Lore is InSaNe-" and not like, "Kirby has a fun writing style that takes advantage of its cute exterior to tell cool stories that reward player's curiosity and leave lots of room for imagination-" I cringe so goddamn hard.

I kinda just hate that people approach things that encourage investment when they don't expect it as inherently absurd. Like it is fun to joke about how absurd Kirby lore can be, but it really often comes with an air of disrespect or exhaustion rather than like, appreciation that these games are made by people who want to tell interesting stories when they could easily make as much money just making polished enough fluffy kiddy platformers. And when it's not met with exhaustion, it's met with - like I said before - that tone that it's stupid for a series like this TO have devs who care about writing stuff for it. Which is a whole other thing about people not respecting things made to appeal to kiddie aesthetic or tone.

Maybe the state of low-stakes YouTube video essays just blows cause people play up ignorance and disbelief for engagement, but like I STG I hear people use this tone for like actual narrative based games sometimes. Some people don't like... appreciate when a game is made by people who care a shitton in ways that aren't direct gameplay feedback. And they especially don't appreciate it when it comes from something with any sense of tonal dissonance intentional or not.

Anyways, I love games made by insane people. I love games made by teams who feel like they wanna make something work or say something so bad. I love that energy, especially when invested into something that could easily rest on its laurels or which obviously won't be taken seriously. I love this in a lot of classic campy 2000s games, I love this in insanely niche yet passionate fanworks, and I love it in the Kirby series and its writing. Can we please stop talking about it like it's an annoyance or complete joke?

[strawglicks]

flint fascinates me bc he comes off as rlly polite and kind

but also. not really. at all

they apologize often and it seems like they try to be nice to others, but then u look deeper and take into account different details

one of the biggest things abt flint that gets overlooked is that he likes drama .

i dont think liking drama itself is bad, why else do we have reality tv shows yk. but i think they actively indulge in it and one of the biggest things that points to this for me is how they treat the satellite investors

he seems to talk bad about them behind their backs, then can't handle the comeuppance of cosmo yelling at him.

this is further implied with cosmo saying they're "goin' around spreadin' lies", meaning flint does actively talk shit on what might be a regular basis. and flint saying "oh, no, I shouldn't have said that" implies FURTHER that they KNOW they're gonna get yelled at for it but continue to do it anyway with the hope cosmo wont find out. like hes not sorry for doing it, only sorry for getting caught.

cosmo gets HEAVILY neglected both in the community as a whole and whenever flint is brought up even though they have a really interesting and honestly hilarious dynamic (but thats for another post..)

whenever cosmo DOES get brought up in the context of he and flints relationship, people defend flint and blame cosmo for being "mean" to him. but tbh, i think cosmo has a fair point in this particular text. Flint can talk all he wants, but at the end of the day can't handle the consequences of it and lacks the confidence to put his foot down. He's a follower, not a leader (unlike cosmo, who flint looks up to canonically. WHICH NO ONE TALKS ABOUT!!!!!!!!!!!)

flint also seems to have an interesting habit of apologizing even though he actively and intentionally attacks the toons right after

which i think is interesting. i think it's just a habit of his to say sorry when he knows he's doing/has done something wrong (especially bc he doesnt like facing the consequences), even if hes not actually sorry. Considering this is the same person who claims they like setting toons on fire, i dont think any of these apologies are sincere:

speaking of not being able to handle the consequences, when flint does get defeated by toons, there's a line that sticks out.

Specifically the "i'll be back" feels vengeful. Like he takes the defeat personally, and doesn't want to give up because it makes him feel weak and he wants to come out on top.

something else i find interesting and almost jarring in flint's dialogue is some of their Power Trip dialogue:

this dude is incredibly power hungry. he craves confidence and the ability to be a leader, given how he looks up to cosmo and is drawn to graham, who also appears confident.

speaking of graham, i think it's important to note that earlier, when flint was talking shit abt the satellite investors, he was saying that specifically to graham, who encourages flint not to "let people walk all over him".

graham encourages flint to feel more confident, which is not inherently a bad thing. confidence is great! and its something flint deserves. but i think there's an issue with how they choose to express this "confidence" on the rare occasions they do.

shown throughout this post, flint's way of trying to be confident is being power hungry, talking shit, and fighting toons . i think it's pretty clear that flint has been walked all over in the past and present, and it's caused them to become shy and a bit of a doormat. which he clearly doesn't like (more evidence of this is the fact that he explicitly dislikes belittling.)

and on the rare occasions when they're "allowed" to be confident, they proceed to belittle OTHERS, like toons. in a lot of their dialogue, they come off as condescending towards the toons, even if it's pretty awkward.

i think Flint deserves to feel confident, but the way they go about it is unhealthy. They've clearly been treated like a doormat and is fed up with it, and it seems like they lash out as a result. I think he has a good and genuine heart, but he almost comes off as bitter due to being walked all over constantly. its rlly interesting to dive into flint's flaws and the way they act due to their desperation for confidence, something they really lack.

[violet-kink-rambles]

Do you realize just how large you've gotten baby? Have you noticed how far your belly folds over your thighs when you sit down now? Or have you been a bit preoccupied lately... I can't remember the last time I came home and there weren't empty dishes or crumpled up fast food bags surrounding your taut groaning gut.

Awww don't blush now sweet heart ❤️ I'm not criticizing you, I keep the fridge stocked full for a reason. You may not have noticed all of this recent growth, but I have, and I can tell how happy you are when you're so stuffed you can't get up off the couch. That's all I want baby, and if all I gotta do to keep you happy is keep the fridge stocked then why would I not? And eventually if you get so big that the trips to the fridge are a problem.... Well, we can cross that bridge when it comes

[majorproblems77]

Festival of Light - Skyloftian New Year

I had some interest so here it is! Now I cant draw to save my life so this is very much a wall of text. That's why I've got a read more for you :)

What is it?

The Festival of Light, or Skyloftian New Year's, is an event that takes place around the longest day of the year. (summer solstice for us. - So June time But in our case the skyloftian calendar begins here.)

What it's for?

It's the celebration of the year thats past, as well as looking to the year ahead. The skyloftians do this to remember where they've come from and where they are yet to go.

What happens on the main day? (Run down)

Loftwing riders 'bring the sun' from beyond the horizon. Rituals are performed by not only the riders but the townsfolk too. There are skyloftian dances, and a huge feat to celebrate the coming of the sun.

Skyloftians are expected to stay awake for the duration of the entire celebration. (The 24 hours after the riders leave). Families create lanterns to decorate their houses and the town with food for the feast that feeds the whole town.

After the riders have left is a moment of reflection, with gentle music to remember the year that's gone by.

When the riders arrive, the feast is had and as the sun continues to rise toasts and wishes for the new year are had.

Sky's place in the festival

Sky has performed in every part of the festival, his most noteworthy being the flight path the year of demise defeat. (As you can imagine that went down a treat with Zelda, who tried to fight the result of the choosing of Sky right after his journey. But Sky insisted on performing the flight.)

He was granted the green harness and it was decorated with the exploits of his journey, with feathers from Zelda, Groose and the headmaster. (Though almost everyone in Skyloft offered a feather which Sky made into a separate sash which he wore the day of the flight.)

Sky performs in the flight of tomorrow at least once while with the chain, but is exempt from being chosen for the sun flight due to this adventure he is on.

More detail about the stages of the festival are below. Including preparation stages, As the stages begin almost six months before close to the shortest day of the year.

Six months before

Day of Free Spirits (Winter Solstice festival) - I'll happily talk about this one too but the important part is this.

On the day of free spirits, all suitable Loftwing riders (over the age of 18) are chosen to select a box. Three of The boxes contain a blank night harness while the others contain normal loftwing harnesses.

The three-night harness riders are those chosen three riders for the Festival of Light. And must begin preparations with their loftwing to prepare them for the sun flight.

The harnesses are, Red, Green and Blue. (The green one is recent)

(To allow for fairness, the one's who flew in the year before are not given a box - due to being the ones to prepare the boxes)

Six month time span before festival - night flight training

Over the six months, these three riders are given night-time loftwing flight training, (even experienced riders are given this.) They often take up nightshift above Skyloft to get themselves and their loftwings used to flying for extended periods of time.

During this training, the riders hand off the night harnesses they were given to family and friends. To decorate the harnesses with the stories from the person from the year.

Key items added to the harnesses are loftwing feathers from the flier's closest relatives. They are often embroidered with names of loved ones, key events ect etc.

Harnesses are not given back to the riders until a week before the celebration is set to begin so exploits are added to the harness until this point.

(So, For example, Skyward sword Link, (Sky, because this spanned from an LU fanfic) was handed one of the harness boxes the celebration following his defeat of demise. So his harness was decorated with the tales of his adventure to defeat the demon king.)

During this time they also practice the flight path a few times.

Three months before the festival - Ceremonial outfits

Sun Riders are fitted for their ceremonial outfits. these are knighthood outfits based on the colour of the harness they received.

What's key about these outfits is that they are imbued with golden thread, in skyloftian terms this is an indication of the goddess's blessing over the garments to protect them from the darkness as they bring the light.

I see them as more, refined Knight Academy outfits. Embroidery often includes loftwings and the sun.

Three months before the festival - The secondary flyers

At this time, volunteers are chosen to perform the Dance of Tomorrow, A flight 'performance' performed after the main flight team returns to the skyloftian settlement.

This dance is a set performance that the skyloftians have been performing for generations. It's designed to depict the passage of time from the past ( the flyers grabbing the sun) To the future.

Week before festival - lanterns and feast preperations

Skyloftian families create lanterns, each house has three decorating their doors and then they make several more to string across the town.

Each one is decorated with family memories, loved ones key life events etc. (Normally parents and children will make separately but this differs from family to family)

The Knight Academy creates one per student to decorate the halls with. (Apart from the flight riders, theirs are made for them)

This is also the time to begin preparations for the feast. Each family creates a dish for the collective town to share. Could be food, drinks etc.

These are agreed upon amongst the community. So there's not a bunch of pumpkin pie/ soup.

Day before festival

Tables and lanterns are set up, with the main grounds for celebration, the riders are given time to tack up their loftwings with the ceremonial harnesses to check they fit etc.

Riders are given their favourite foods and packs for the journey. As the trip is a long one, filling water skins and food packs etc.

Departure (24 hour period of wakefulness begins)

The riders are sent in the late hours of the night before. With the whole town sending them off with quiet goodbyes.

The final thing said to the flyers before they depart is

"May you bring Hylia's light on the back of your loftwing's"

Reflection

During the dark of the night while the flyers are away, the skyloftian people undergo a period of reflection. Its a quiet time for the normally bustling town, the light of the lanterns the only light permitted over the few hours the flyers are away.

Quiet conversations occur and set up for the dance of memories. A slow dance with little music used to remember the times in the year that are harder. And how they persevered through it.

Dance of memories -slow

A slow dance, with no music to begin with. Used to reflect. Various members of the town perform this dance, depending on the events over the year.

Arrival

The riders arrive over the horision with the sunrise behind them. And the music then begins again. Begining with the harp more instruments enter as the riders get nearer and nearer before they land back with the town. The sun risen behind them.

Those performing the dance of tomorrow then mount up and begin their flight.

Dance of Tommrow - upbeat

The Dance of Tomorrow is a flight which shows the past changes to the future, it is a dance that has been done in skyloft for generations and requires at least three riders. It is performed to upbeat music by the people on the ground while the riders of the sun flight are allowed time to rest before the feast.

Feast

The feast lasts the remainder of the day, with singing and dancing as the skyloftians celebrate the first day of the year. Before taking the second day to sleep.

I hope you liked it! :D

Please feel free to ask my questions I will happily answer them.

Tagging people who showed interest, @vaathnaos, @fortheloveofhylia

[witchspeka]

I dont think Mob is naive as much as he's socially unaware, like the reason why he trusts Reigen so blindly is a bit more complex than just him being naive

Cause Mob reached out to Reigen because he was desperate to find someone like him, someone who understood his psychic specific issues, someone that could truly know what he's feeling and going through and give him guidance and support

Post incident Mob's thinking process was something along the lines of my powers hurt people -> my powers are bad -> my powers (my emotions, my instincts, myself) cannot be trusted

So he lost all confidence and trust in his own actions, resigning to being as passive as possible to avoid any further damage to anyone else, thus he started doubting his own perception of reality too

He's a kid already struggling with being ostracised for being socially inept, who just got traumatised and all of his insecurity increased by the tenfold, he doesn't know how to process what he's going through. He needs help.

And here comes Reigen, seemingly reliable, a responsible adult in a child's eyes, someone who claims he can understand him

Even tho Reigen doesnt. But it doesn't matter, because Mob finds comfort in his words and takes them to heart

Even if Reigen doesn't fully get it, even if he doesn't see the bigger picture, even if his advice isn't always the best

Eventually, Mob grows up, realises Reigen isn't as honest as he seemed through his 11 year old perspective, but like most things, he refuses to acknowledge it on a deeper level

Mob knows, but never tells Reigen, never thinks about what all those lies mean to him (ofc until he forces himself to face those doubts regarding Reigen, to properly acknowledge both of their flaws and accept them as they are, I should scream into the void about Confession Arc more God)

Due to his lack of trust in himself, Mob has relied on Reigen for years now to shape his moral compass, his thoughts, his decisions

Because well, Reigen lies, sure, but he isnt a bad person. When he hurts Mob, it isn't intentional or with ill intent, he still wants the best for him, what's the issue?

Except that it stunts Mob's growth. He doesn't develop as a person, doesn't have goals or wishes or ambitions, can't make choices on his own, he doesn't even let himself acknowledge his own emotions, he refuses to let himself exist

But Mob realises in time that he wants more than that, he wants to become better and be independent and feel again

Still, he puts the acknowledgement of the lies on hold for as long as he can, unwilling to question the way things are

This can make him feel a little naive, he constantly relies on Reigen and trusts his decisions and raises questions rarely until separation arc when he finally puts his foot down

And I do think that moment is the most resounding proof we have that Mob knows and allows himself to be used by Reigen, not wanting to shake the status quo, until he gets fed up

I mentioned the social ineptitude at the beggining but idk if I should even elaborate on that, you've watched the show, you know what I mean

He's blunt and can't read social cues or tonality that well and can't speak in front of crowds and is overall pretty awkward and I do think some people conflate that with naivety

Mob is still a child, he doesnt fully understand how the world works at the ripe age of 14 years old, but some folks take that as him being inherently naive/innocent/whatever which I don't find true

[foldingfittedsheets]

Getting wedding finery for Saturday. I found a cute vest/pant combo and we snagged a nice dress for my betrothed. I do want to look nice even if it’s just the little courthouse thing but damn the month has been expensive.

[aroaceleovaldez]

im rick rordian ur right nico is autistic

okay i know this is a silly goofy haha and I could just respond to this "so true thank you rick" but i haven't talked about this in awhile and i feel like it again since this is apparently an under-recognized topic -

Nico is, in the books, autistic-coded! This is not a headcanon thing I personally have, there is textual and contextual evidence that he is purposefully autistic-coded.

The main point for this is that the first series featured a very overt theme about awareness for learning disabilities, particularly in the first three books. Obviously The Lightning Thief focuses primarily on characters with ADHD/dyslexia - Percy and Annabeth (since we don't actually know if Grover has adhd/dyslexia or not). But in Sea of Monsters the scope begins expanding and we have Tyson as a major character, who is very clearly coded as having down syndrome.

Then in Titan's Curse we have Nico, who upon introduction is very stereotypically autistic - He's immediately introduced as having a clear hyperfixation, missing social cues or otherwise behaving socially inappropriately/having difficulty with empathy and emotions, getting easily emotional particularly due to change, relying heavily on familiar things/people for stability, etc etc. And this is clearly described as being different to standard demigod ADHD. Especially given TTC was written in the mid-2000s, this is basically neon arrows pointing at Nico saying "look! This kid's autistic!" except not explicitly saying that, just like nobody explicitly ever said Tyson has down syndrome (or Percy having PTSD from Gabe, or Reyna being ace, or etc etc etc) - because that's what coding is. It's implying it without explicitly stating it. That doesn't mean it's not canon, it's just you have to actually read between the lines of the text to go "ah, okay, this is what this character has going on."

And this isn't just a thing that goes away with Nico's character - it's a basis for Nico's characterization for the rest of the series and into the next two series as well. He continues to explicitly have difficulty with emotions and social cues. He continues to reference having hyperfixations (mythomagic, pirates). Heck, we even get more notes about him having both sensory aversions (touch, potentially implied also bright colors/lights, etc) and being sensory-seeking (wearing oversized layers often, seeking out clothing with specific patterns [skeletons/skulls], etc), and stimming (twisting skull ring) later on.

So yeah, Rick Riordan, I am right, Nico is autistic. Because you wrote it in your books, very clearly. You just didn't explicitly say "autistic." And you didn't have to, because the point is for people to figure it out on their own.

[camels-pen]

the difference between zosopp and sanuso (romantic OR platonic) is that Usopp is Zoro's specialest little guy and Zoro is someone Usopp hangs out with and looks up to and hides behind when things get scary, but Sanji and Usopp are best friends. They horse around, they beat each other up, they confide their worst fears trying to one up each other. Usopp hides behind Sanji sometimes, sure, but idk, Sanji's weaknesses are more obvious (bugs, fighting women, etc) so there are times when Usopp has to stand in front of Sanji too, yknow?

Like, how do I say this, all the crewmates are equal- Usopp and Zoro are equals- but with Sanji it feels like more... comradery? Zoro's a rock in a terrible storm- even rocks tend to get weathered and chipped and worn down, but they overall stay strong and steady. He has trouble being vulnerable and there are times when the burden he's placed on himself to keep the crew safe is crushing his chest. Usopp would help with that and be very understanding, but the point I'm trying to get with that is that those moments are few and far between. So I feel like Usopp, especially after Water 7, would take Zoro's lead on something like that, and keep most of his worries to himself or only talk about them sparingly unless they're really bad and/or he can't hide them.

Sanji is like a tree in a storm; he can be strong, yes, but it feels like he bends and sways with the storm, and has more obvious breaking points. He can relate more to Usopp's struggles rather than resorting to blunt honesty that might border on callous like Zoro. And while, with Zosopp, I tend to think of scenarios with Zoro being blunt like that as a good thing- because sometimes when you're spiraling, it's nice to have someone say exactly what's great about you and shoot down all your worries with straight facts that you can't argue with- I can also see this as being a bad thing. Anxiety can really twist up your brain sometimes, you know? And despite the words, the tone could still mess someone up if they're already feeling like a burden on others in some way.

With Sanuso it's a lot more understanding and thoughtful words. It's distractions and comfort food and patience- the kind reserved for Usopp- until Usopp talks about whatever's troubling him. Compared to Zosopp, it doesn't take as long for Usopp to open up, since he's done the same thing to Sanji at times and it's more familiar to him to talk and commiserate with Sanji about his worries and doubts and such. However, there are times stuff like this has absolutely no effect and Sanji will end up at a loss, no idea what to do or how to help over the course of several days with Usopp being quiet and keeping his distance, and he'll end up working himself up about it which will only serve to make Usopp feel worse and. yeah. bit of a vicious cycle with them.

So it's like. Usopp can be weak with both of them, but since I see Sanji as the type of guy who'd be more open with his worries (at least compared to Zoro), there's less of a need to 'perform' and be his best self around him. He's comfortable around Zoro, yes, but he is constantly wanting to show that he won't be a problem to him. On the other hand, while he's more open with Sanji, and Sanji with him, they tend to relate a bit too much with each other and they both have issues with causing trouble for others and being 'deserving of love' so failed attempts at consoling one hurts the other and creates an unpleasant cycle of misery and avoidance before some other crewmate (Zoro) tells them to quit being stupid and just fucking talk to each other.

[sanasanakun]

Gortash acting as an enabler for The Dark Urge is so interesting imo. I can easily see redeemed DU feeling extremely betrayed and angry by it given that they now have a chance to contemplate their past self’s situation. They easily could accuse him like “you say you were my ‘nearest and dearest’ but you never saw how much I suffered? Or did you just not care because my misery advanced your (our) goals? You never wanted to help me? You could have stopped me.” At this point in the story, DU’s come to understand friendship in a way his past self never could have and Gortash’s previous inaction is a betrayal of those values. If he never helped them, then Gortash never truly saw the real them nor understood them.

In my personal headcanon (and somewhat supported by canon imo), I think Gortash tried to helped DU in his own “Gort” way. Aka promising that they’d one day rule as “Gods” which is essentially a promise to DU that they’ll rise above Bhaal or be free of his influence (as others have previously pointed out). However, I don’t believe Gortash has the emotional capacity to help DU in the way they needed. He doesn’t understand it or he might even be afraid to hit that particular nerve. He liked the routine they fell into, so why change it? It is also definitely pragmatic. The Dark Urge’s condition advances their plans. Gortash puts progress and the plan above all else even if it hurts loved ones. He rationalizes his inaction with cold logic, weighing the pros and cons of his intervention. Therefore, I don’t believe it’s necessarily malicious enabling. Gortash acts with the idea of pursuing whatever is more “comfortable” for him personally and their joint plan.

From my personal experience, this type of enabling is pretty common (at least in my irl situations). They don’t know how to act and are afraid to confront their loved one, so they do nothing. It’s “easier” to do nothing. Definitely would like to write something for it at some point because I feel like this would be a key tension point in their post-tadpole relationship (or lack of). Maybe even pre-tadpole where the Dark Urge just quietly endured but desperately hoped Enver would say or do something to save them, but he never did.