#not sure what else I'm missing?

[a-la-campanella]

Spent the week so far grinding away at Swarm Disaster, trying to complete Trailblaze Secrets and wrap up the Trail of Pathstrider. I should've tried to think smarter about it instead of running headfirst into stages I'm not stat ready for yet, so this one is all me. Best case scenario, I'll be done within a few more hours of AFK farming and ready to shelf this part of SU for Gold and Gears. Worst case, I'll be grinding between both after the new version update and losing my mind.

I should get around to finishing the backlog of companion missions too, but I'm taking my time with those. It's the whole "as long as I enjoy the journey, who cares how long it takes to get to the destination" thing. Bless Star Rail for not being annoying about quests like Genshin is, this is saving my life out here.

[somegrumpynerd]

Truce au part 5 - Dream gets answers

Start Last part Next Part

[verdigrispatina]

I've mostly experienced Discworld through the audiobooks but recently I've been buying print copies of my favorites to have for referencing and loaning to friends and WOW, there's a lot of textual and visual quirks that don't carry over to the audiobooks!

The biggest ones I think are when characters' accents are written into the text and Death's dialogue being in a gothic font, but I'm skimming through Soul Music right now and just shouted because I noticed that Imp's dialogue always has extra L's because he's from Llamedos. That's such a funny small touch, I love it

If anybody has any favorite visual gags/quirks in the Discworld books, or just jokes that may not work in an audio format, please share!

[lab-gr0wn-lambs]

The walking dead managed to get me so invested in hetero couples it's not even funny. I love these freaks.

[fawna12]

Theater is

Theater is a kid, trying to figure out what clubs to do in second grade, knowing that they've seen musicals and plays before and loved watching them and seeing drama club on the list

Theater is

Audition

Casting

Rehearsal

Theater is the kid, old enough to sing in the musical, memorizing their lines and others, loving every second of being onstage

Theater is

Memorization

Blocking

Choreography

Theater is the kid, now in middle school, deciding to do the theater class since there is one at their school now, meeting the theater teacher, meeting new friends, being good at it, finally auditioning for their first actual musical

Theater is

Stage Fright

Friendship

Confidence

Theater is that kid getting the main role, doing theater again the next year, knowing so much about all of it and teaching the newer kids, painting set pieces with their friends, the friends that they now have because of theater

Theater is

Props

Costumes

Lights & Sound

Theater is the kid going into high school, leaving their middle school theater teacher and younger friends, so anxious about it but quickly finding their place in their theater class, volunteering at a drama fundraiser and meeting older theater kids there, learning their names and being able to make an impression

Theater is their first high school audition, for the fall play, multiple smaller plays directed by seniors, and having fun, getting cast in one of the biggest ones with the best directors they could've asked for, still anxious about being a good cast member but getting more confident again

Theater is rehearsals 3 times a week after school, the kid finding their footing in the cast, making friends with the older kids, being able to make suggestions or point things out that need fixing in the show

Theater is the kid being able to impress people, being able to memorize their lines, being able to be confident, being able to fix things, being able to say hi to their cast in the halls, at first just smiling at their director when they passed each other during passing period but then saying hi, even talking for a minute or two, the cast walking to the grocery store together at the start of a rehearsal for almost no reason, the kid being able to talk to their castmates, their friends, and not feel out of place, being excited for the bigger productions later in the year, not being worried about stage makeup because they know the older kids will be there, knowing that the older cast members and their directors will help them if they need it, knowing that they'll still be able to spend more time with them, knowing that they'll be so sad when the seniors graduate, but knowing that they still have almost all of the school year with them

Theater is

Belonging

Safety

Laughter

Freedom

Joking

Focusing

Acting

Acting, but with people that you trust. With people that even though you met them 2 months ago, that you know. You know their mannerisms, how they laugh, their sense of humor. You know that they're kind, you know that they care, you know that all of you love this. You all love this so, so much. You know that if you make a mistake on stage, that they'll improv and cover for you, and that you'd do the same for them. You know that no matter how anxious you are before the show, that they'll be someone with the same nerves and you can comfort each other.

And then the last show will end, and the audience will applaud. You will bow, with these people, these people that you may not have known a few months prior, but that so much trust has formed between. You've played improv games with these people, walked to the store with them, rehearsed over and over and over again with them, learned so much from them, taught and helped and been taught and helped, and it's over.

Until the next show, and the next, and the next year with more new freshmen, some of the kid's younger middle school friends now there too, until the year that the kid will direct their own show, as a senior, and try to be just as good a director as the ones they had their freshmen year.

And they will belong.

They will all belong.

[mattodore]

found out while putting together matthias's oc page that his name has the exact same etymology and meaning as theo's name...

i’m sure this is information matthias is very normal about…

[cienie-isengardu]

The Brothers Sun

Warning: rant not spoiler-free

Recently, I watched Netflix’s The Brother Sun and to be honest, I’m still not okay, because my mind is for days processing everything and analyzing over and over again.

I don’t watch much TV series and I decided to give the series a chance mainly for the titular brotherhood between Charles and Bruce and the series did not disappoint me in that regard. I’m absolutely drawn to Charles, not just because of his good look (and he does look very good), but his whole character and development through the story and also, how despite being such badass, he was also the one in need to be saved from the life (trap) set by his own father. But above everything else, how much he is similar to his mother, how both sacrificed so much for the family. 

I swear, I don’t remember the last time when a female character captured me the way Eileen “Mama” Sun did. All female characters were pretty cool and each interesting in their own way, but Eileen definitely stole the show and ultimately, it is her and Charles' relationship that glued me to this series. And I still think about the parallels between those two characters, especially in regard to Eileen’s two lines, from episode 3 (how those who cook for you and clean after you are those you forget about) and from last one (how much she sacrificed for Bruce and no one ever asked what she wants). Because Charles is the one cooking for people he cares about and who was showed doing widely understanded cleaning (getting rid of the dead body, unpacking Alexis’ things and making her flat more home-like, tidying own room before sleep and we were told he always loved do that as a child) but also the one trapped, the one who never had a choice, the one sacrificing everything for the family’s sake - even when he was allowed to pursue his own dreams, the family came first. And I’m so, so much thinking about Eileen and Charles, as he was the one that would fully support her when she finally decided to take something for herself, to take control over triads as the Dragon’s Head. Bruce, understandable, didn’t want her to be involved with gangsters and murderers, especially after everything they've been through, but also, he didn’t want that for his own sake. She was his mom, there was a normal life to choose and I don’t think he truly gasped how much Eileen sacrificed to spare him the cruel life his older brother was forced into. But Charles would step away from the position of head of family - something he may never want but would carry on as a dutiful son - just to make her plan (desire) come true and later step away from the one thing (baking) he desired for himself to support and protect her. And I’m truly touched by their relationship and how it evolved from each doing things their own way into a well-working team, but also, if Charles will learn from his mother how to be so cunning, he is gonna be a much more dangerous figure in the future.

[nebulous-rain]

kicking off my post spam with some fnaf because every year i go through the same phase... except this time i Drew Something

the puppet was always my favorite as a kid :)

[end-orfino]

I know it's not a new idea (idk where I heard it before. But I did) but I don't really think Felix was like. The only one orchestrating all the murders and all

[lovelyfoolish]

tbh i’m not really a meta person but i’m a bioethicist by training and i thought this could be interesting to discuss 

i think n and m’s routes both have this underlying, unexplored discussion of bodily autonomy (which is what vampirism is all about when you’re a bioethicist. i am not just here for the sexy fangs, i am here for the ethical questions that will give u a headache!) 

and their experiences diverge and parallel and form this complete picture of what it means to be and have a body and it would be really fascinating to see a love triangle route for them because of it

m’s route, with its focus on the conflict between physical and emotional intimacy (putting aside, for a second, the shallowness of the separation between the two, because to be physically intimate with someone takes just as much bravery as sharing your feelings with them, actually), has to place an emphasis on the consent aspect of bodily autonomy, where choices you make about your body require your complete understanding and allowance, free from undue pressure

n’s route has a preoccupation with their vampirism. there’s this psychological concept called moral injury, where you feel like you’ve done something (or acquiesced to something, or allowed something) that is deeply against your morals/values/life, and your moral injury can become a disorder. it’s similar to ptsd (and often walks hand in hand with it), and people who experience moral injury feel intense shame or guilt about it. i think maybe n becoming a vampire caused them some fictional equivalent of a moral injury, especially considering the circumstances in which they were turned 

so n’s route approaches the question of bodily autonomy from the opposite side, when you have no choice but to consent (which is really common with disability, where you have to do things you don’t want to do because you do want to live) because to not consent would be death 

does that make sense? 

it’s like. m’s route is about what you do with a body. n’s route is about what you do to a body

[shocking-speed]

if the volt protoframe ain't dressed like this then i don't want him 😤

[shopcat]

i think there's probably something to be said about like. how a concerning amount of your own rights and life are locked behind red tape and prerequisite knowing how to do something "official" and how legal situations work and everything. as well as how technology is being integrated into it all. bc fundamentally a lot of people just will not be able to do these things without help and they don't know how to get that help and the members of ur community that are vulnerable to this like i don't know the disabled the elderly people whose first languages aren't english even just quote unquote "the uneducated" or those who struggled to get an education for any reason are all just CONSTANTLY being fucked bc the formula is locked away and those who put it in place just go "well you should have known". like how could you know what you DON'T KNOW. and these aren't a small percentage of people like i'd say it's literally just. laymen. people you know.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

[mooremars]

Generally I think the 2023 Camelot cast recording does a very good job of conveying the onstage vibe of pretty much all the songs with the dialouge snippets. However in my heart of hearts I truly believe the Simple Joys of Maidenhood feels incomplete without the moment of Arthur realizing Guenevere has run away and right to him after she sings her intro. I'm sure I could choose many hills to die on for cast recording opinions but apparently the one I feel the most is a particularly good delivery of the word shit.

[atomicsuperrobot]

Rereading again, and it's really interesting to note just how different the early art style is from the later style- and especially from the anime itself. With the manga, you can at least see where things came from; in the anime, it's a fairly radical departure that is only barely recognizable as what it's meant to be, at least in regards to Joker himself, specifically.

The early manga has lots of sharp points and angles, creating a character that, even if he behaves in largely similar ways, still feels almost entirely different from his animated counterpart. No wonder I was so put off by the anime's designs, originally- and that I had gotten the impression that he was older than he actually wound up being, or was type-cast as. Funny how I now largely prefer his anime design and personality, even if it's altogether not that different!

Fun fact, when I first started reading, before I had started watching the anime (and even for a bit after I had started), the voice I had for Joker in my head was the same as Kaito's, from Magic Kaito- which, as far as anime goes, would be from Detective Conan and Magic Kaito 1412, specifically. Even if he seemed older, at least in looks, in my head he very much still read as a bratty teenager, it would seem.

[yo9urt]

local man completely obliterated by strength of narrative and character writing in 2023 game of the year