#which i did enjoy using for a while

[nmzuka]

I 100% get tumblrs need to grow their userbase to continue. Fully support that

But literally @staff any changes to the dashboard or adding an algorithm HAS to be able to be opt out or you will completely kill the use of this site by longtime users who have been VERY vocal about not wanting an algorithm

Tumblr's advantage over other sites is that you can control what content you see and taking that away from your users is downright stupid

I get new users arent use to that and can understand it benefiting them to have an algorithm to help get the hang of the site but again one should be able to opt out of it

That way long time users can continue to use Tumblr the way they enjoy it and if new users get the hang of things and want to turn off the algorithm they can

[ajastu]

god okay. sorry for yet another text post. but i'm just still thinking about the argument that veilguard is bad because the only option re: morality of your player character that it gives is kindness.

Now, to preface. I understand where this criticism comes from. Veilguard IS a departure from the general scheme of the previous games, in several aspects. And i understand how people would be upset at not having quite the same kind of options/ways to influence the world. It took me some getting used to, also.

What i do disagree with, however, is using that to claim that the game is bad, irredeemable, and also meaningless n soft or whatever.

Because it's really not. It's just different, with a different narrative focus. I've played the previous games several times, and as i said before, origins is in first place for me. Veilguard is a very close second. And i'm not more right or wrong in this opinion than someone who thinks datv is the worst game in the series.

You can still make choices that will influence the world in wildly different ways, they're just not... ''genocide or no genocide'' kinds of choices. Which i can see how some people would not consider the difference significant enough to be interesting for them personally. Which is whatever, im not their dad, i dont really care.

However. I think it's kind of weird to say that ''the game made me resent being a nice person'' or that "kindness you dont have the choice not to offer isnt worth a lot"

Like, game criticism aside. That is just an objectively weird thing to say.

There are ways to phrase that particular dissatisfaction in a way that will not make most people side-eye you. This is not one of those ways.

The thing is, it was a deliberate choice in characterization. Since game development at AAA scale is. an incredibly complex beast, i suspect there were many different reasons for it, and not all of them purely narrative. It is also not 2009 anymore. We are not getting another Origins, like, probably ever.

But. Rook is established in the very second cutscene to care about other people. It makes sense narratively, too, with Varric being the one to recruit them. Their backstory also shows that they gravitate towards the 'moral' choices. It's not bad writing. It's deliberate.

That does not mean that everyone has to like it. And i don't think the people who are upset about the change in this gameplay aspect are stupid or wrong.

We are all different people with different preferences, and i really am sorry if the game ended up being a disappointment for you. I know how it feels, and it does suck.

But i also do think it might be worth to examine the way people choose to phrase this complaining. The claim that kindness is somehow diminished in value if you aren't offered the choice to be cruel alongside it. I just think that, like. misses the point of what kindness is?

I know what those people mean when they say it, i just...fundamentally disagree with the sentiment. And i think phrasing it in this way is incredibly weird. sorry 🤷‍♂️

There is a better way to talk about this particular complaint. I just never actually SEE that being done. and i do think a lot of it comes from not actually engaging with the source material people are trying to criticize. Like, the person i sort of quoted earlier explicitly said they have not finished the game. If you never give something a chance in the first place, if all the information you have is second-hand, then i do not find your criticism valuable in any way. There is no substance to it, no backing. You are not proving a point, you're just chasing your own tail at that point. There isnt even a bone to chew. You've only heard of the bone. you havent actually experienced it.

Another part is people being too twisted up in the emotion of disappointment to actually see that they're not making compelling arguments, necessarily, and that they're actually being a tar pit.

I know not everyone thinks as much about the push towards dismissing the value of kindness for kindness' sake as i do. But like. It really is very weird to see this insistence that game bad bcs it didnt have the option to do a murder to an innocent person, or something. While also dismissing the horrible things we Are shown as 'not in your face enough'.

And honestly, personally? I dont love origins or any of the other ones specifically for the ability to choose the evil options. It's never even been a choice for me, because you can very well play the games without having to make the bad choices. theres always a workaround. And that workaround doesnt even harm u in any significant way. there isnt an actual like. terrible complexity here. I enjoy the dwarf politics quest a lot but ultimately, knowing the outcome? its EASY to choose Bhelen. Unless you're playing a dwarf noble origin, i guess. Rip Harrowmont 🙏 you would have made a terrible king.

And again, my personal opinion is not more right or wrong than that of someone who adored the prev dragon age games exactly because they allow you to make some terrible terrible moral choices.

At the end of the day. why are people still so pissed about a game that came out almost 6 months ago that many of them havent even played in the first place? Relax. take a walk if you can. Maybe move a snail out of the road if you find one. There tends to be a lot of them after it rains. Think about the ones that didn't make it. Try to find compassion for lives so easily dismissed. Maybe that will make you think about whether or not kindness on its own really is so lacking in value.

[governmentmandatedryujinstan420]

releasing this from the hj discord dungeon because the public populace was in agreement also i'm chronically offline on tumblr and need to fix that for my chronically online ahh

[cherrari]

Chirlie playing the "Dead Cat" card to get out of responding to why she's supporting a white driver instead of one of the POC on the grid, am I surprised?

Sorry about your cat but that doesn't change that bad things happen to bad people. I hope this makes you reflect.

i played the "dead cat" card as way of explanation to my beloved followers (of which i know you are not a part of) on why i would not be responding to messages for a while. and because i wanted to emphasize how fucked up this is

going around accusing people of being racist because they support a white athlete is just deranged. do you realise being racist is a serious thing with serious consequences and you are making serious implications about my character based solely on the fact the driver i chose to support is white. you don't know anything about me other than the fact i like charles and cars like can you let that sink in for a minute... you think my cat is dying as karma for liking charles. what the fuck is wrong with you i sincerely can't fathom what would lead you to this point not just to my inbox but as a human being

[pushing500]

It's a nice thought, Mechi. Eventually, though, we do want you two to be matchy-matchy with bionics as well, so hairstyles really are the only thing telling you apart.

Besides, Kwahu's hair is pretty iconic at this point, and I like drawing it.

Oh, uh... Bye, I guess. Thanks for hanging out. Don't come back.

Don't worry, Brandy! You will be avenged!! The perfect opportunity to field-test our bionics.

We're in the middle of fighting evil dog-killing cultists, and bugs decided to try and outmaneuver our killbox (it did not go well for them). Silly bugs.

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[spacedlexi]

"i could keep going about wellington/alone but then its gonna start getting psychological" ooooh you want to get psychological 🌀🌀🌀 oooooh you want to share wellington/alone clem analysis 🌀🌀🌀🌀

oooohh you know i always want to get psychological anon

i feel like the wellington/alone endings are the two strongest endings for both s2 and clems character. i feel like s2 is about her learning to stand on her own. learning what she wants. learning to let go. to recognize the unstable person kenny has become (and that jane isnt so great either). bonnie tells clem to start thinking about what it is She wants, to not just follow others (who repeatedly let her down), and that maybe theres another way (ie: be the one calling the shots for once). its about clem believing in herself and her ability now that shes spent an entire season carrying the cast on her back, and fighting for respect from those same people who dont give it to her because shes still just a kid (a kid who has proven herself to be incredibly capable)

imo the kenny and jane s3 flashbacks are pretty weak and just feel like we’re dragging out their characters past their expiration dates (plus all the “youre such a good mom, clem” talk they both do really irks me 🙄 theres a difference between a character actively choosing to become a guardian and a character being told what a good guardian they are (when theyre still a child themselves with an actual adult still present). alone clem has no one to rely on but herself and she Wants to look out for aj. she needs him as much as he needs her because he gives her something to fight for. hes all she has left). kenny being so happy and talking about boats is wild to me after everything he does in s2. and so is jane killing herself before even trying to induce a miscarriage. They both still die and clem still ends up alone anyway. why not make her active in that decision? so, can she shoot or not? will she stay with someone she knows isnt completely reliable? or will she stand on her own?

honestly narratively i like the alone ending a lot for s2, because it feels like her fully realized arc for the season. being able to stand on her own, to make the hard choices. knowing what she wants for herself, or at least what she Doesnt want. wellington is just better for her and ajs wellbeing so i consider it the "good" alone ending since the actual alone ending is the hardest position clem is left in. wellington ending kenny knows hes no longer fit to take care of her, recognizing the unstable and violent person he has become, and again clem is put in the position of making the choice to stand on her own. also wellington was what her and christa were looking for since the beginning, so narratively it still feels fulfilling for a clem who couldnt pull the trigger. i think it would be really hard for her to shoot kenny, so while i like the alone ending, i also like her not being able to make the call in time, paralyzed by choice (you dont have to shoot to still get the alone ending, just choose to walk away, but if shes going to walk away id rather her do it at wellington). either way its a choice she'll have to live with, and i do like the idea of her having regrets for not being able to make a choice in the moment, and letting jane die because she just couldnt shoot kenny. and how that perceived failure impacts her decisions in the future (like with the javi david fight in s3, her actions being impacted by her choice in s2)

which all ties in nicely to: the implications in regards to vi shooting minnie to save clem in s4. a clem who couldnt shoot and a vi who could. the fear clem would have in that situation, knowing she herself couldnt pull the trigger on someone she cared about to save someone else she also cared about. i think a clem who shot kenny would still have that fear, knowing the position vi is in at that moment, but a clem who couldnt shoot i think emotionally carries more weight. it emphasizes her uncertainty in what violet might choose (or fail to choose in time. because its not necessarily about choosing not to shoot. its will she hesitate long enough for it to not matter? just like with jane and kenny). which just makes it all the more satisfying when vi IS able to make that choice in time, and is able to save them both in the process (something clem herself only learned after s2)

[sysig]

Smooth cover (Patreon)

Bonus alt:

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Asunder

slow-paced high fantasy

a woman who has a contract with an eldritch entity allowing her to see the dead & survives by taking various jobs

when a job searching for stranded smugglers in a cave goes wrong, she ends up with the soul of a dying stranger bound to her shadow

along with a scholar and her old childhood friend, they travel to his home country to find a way to unbind him and save them both

dark fantasy world with gods, demonic entities, arcane magic, and semi-sentient beasts used as transport

[storytellering]

I saw your art on my Instagram for you page and I was kinda shocked because I didn't know you had Instagram account.

I don't support incest but brooo I really love your art style and I'm desperate for new Vergil artworks 😭

Thank you! Yeah haha i saw your dm, no worries. I do have an ig but I only have the link in my carrd/strawpage since I made it ages ago, doesn't have the same name/kind of presence, and I try to keep it free of anything ship related since my family, professors and coursemates follow me there. Not that I have anything to hide or that I wouldn't openly show them my ship art if they wanted to see it, but it just feels kind of awkward to all but directly show to people I see irl who aren't my close friends who I know are into that kind of thing, y'know? And worry not, more Vergil is definitely in the works!

[character-obsessed-fem]

i think meeks should be allowed to have three sisters and a single mum... as a treat. bonus points if all of the sisters' names also begin with 'st' - i know thats like the most cliche thing ever but i think her mom would be silly like that alright

i imagine her having a twin sister, named stephanie, (who is older by like, an hour) and two older sisters, named stacy and stella (four years older and seven years older respectively)

"what about her dad??" i am choosing to pretend that her father simply does not Exist™ because i think it's funny if all of the dead poets had some form of daddy issues

[kiwi-luminaryofthestars]

Lolll uh no progress update today (daily streak is broken 💀) ‘cause I had much going on and then got distracted by some awesome people who I was grateful to have my time taken up by 🫡 We will get back to it tomorrow yahoo!

[sinkthoseshipspoll]

Would you believe, this was my first time ever seeing the Pacific Ocean?

I got the opportunity to go aboard this beauty on one of my days in California and honestly between the hype of rollercoasters (one of my hyper fixations, with me constantly talking about Arrow Dynamics like an old lover) and the delight I had doing laps around The Queen Mary? I’ve never had a more perfect and delightful experience ever in my life.

[claitea]

progress pt 2!! base all sketched out :)

[sukibenders]

"Cannibalism as a metaphor for love is such an interesting narrative choice!" Until you add poc into the narrative and here come the millions of "think pieces" that either 1.) dehumanize them for the same thing their yte counterparts are praised and, sometimes, even...applauded for (eg. Yellowjackets and other supernatural media), 2.) or use it inappropriately to justify harm brought on to poc communities. But that's a conversation for another time.

(tw for some of the tags as well)

[kiwi-luminaryofthestars]

03/07/2025 Progress Update:

TLDR: About an additional 1.5K drafted today. Reworked some more dialogue. Made a character motivation chart, as promised, for the character I was struggling with getting motivation down.

Yeehaw we another 1.5K deep, so about 21K-ish. Mostly fleshed out the first section a bit more, but could still absolutely use some more detail, so I'll probably be working on that heavy these next couple of days.

I said I was liking where the Rantaro conversations were, and then I re-read the second one over again today and.... erghhhhh wasn't feeling it anymore. This sorta thing happens to me constantly lol BUT I don't think it's a bad thing. Dialogue is probably the element of this fic I rewrite the most of (Kirigiri and Shuichi's conversation in chapter 4 was rewritten I couldn't even tell you how many times lol) and I try my absolute damndest to get them right. SO we'll probably be tweaking it a bit AGAIN. Whateverrrr it's fine, I want it to sound right. However many times I need to rewrite it to get it there is necessary.

I did end up making a character motivation chart, as I said in a previous update, to help me with some of the later sections of the chapter. This is probably going to sound strange, but Shuichi is the only one I did this for. I've got the hang of everyone else, but Shuichi's actions gave me trouble. There's a very particular reason for this (which I've alluded to in a comment, but I'll never tell which one lol) and it's making his decision-making a little harder to get down. Just have to balance, and that can be difficult, but we're trying!!

Didn't realize I have a fuck-ton of homework tomorrow (NOOOOO WYYYY GOODDDDD) so idk if getting a ton of shit written will be possible this weekend anymore, but I'll still try. Still no ETA on when this chapter will be done, but as you can tell I'm actively working on it lol so you don't need to worry about it happening eventually. Just takes time, which I wish I had WAY more of lol.

I hope you have a wonderful night!! Manifesting as delicious a dinner I had tonight for you (number one comfort food: broccoli chicken pasta my boyfriend and I made for like every goddamn meal when we first left home, and we had it again tonight YESSS). Reading more of the phantom thief au to him tonight too (it's like a mini event lol, reading fanfiction to him on Friday night.) We at chapter 2 and he keeps forgetting which of them is rich, so he asks me constantly lmao. I'm sure that's confusing af for someone who knows jack shit about Danganronpa, but my lovely indulgent boyfriend is tryna enjoy it anyway because he knows I love it lolll so we grateful to him <3

[deepspaceclawstation]

This is just me being kinda obnoxious but being good at a certain subject at uni sucks because you then end up having to become an unofficial (and hence unpaid) TA for the rest of your class, or else you earn the reputation of being a stuck up bitch. Uni doesn't reward talent or hard work, it just means you get more leaches attached to you