#hey you can ask me things!

[optiwashere]

Please write your thoughts about the importance of Shadowheart for Shar/Selûne :D

I FEED on character analysis.

SO!!!! This got long as fuck and also morphed into what you asked + a general character interpretation.

I relied on a combination of 2nd, 3rd, and 5th edition D&D lore, R.A. Salvatore novels, and of course BG3 as sources. Shadowheart's characterization adds up the most coherently on the purely romance / "get her away from Shar" path, and that is what I'm using as a basis for this post. Even when you're playing an "evil" route, she behaves in ways that betray a lot of what I get into under the break. This post, however, is biased towards the "good" path of her personal quest for the sake of my sanity and a somewhat reasonable word count.

First, a preamble for people that are maybe less knowledgeable about Forgotten Realms lore.

One of the biggest characterizations of Shar and Selûne in the Forgotten Realms is that they are twin sides of the same thing: night. Night as an aesthetic is symbolic of, among other things: mysteries, being lost without guidance (such as in faith or purpose), and finding oneself when one reaches for the truth. I.e., reaching light from the moon, stars, or daybreak (which is itself a symbol as the natural conclusion of darkness being light for redemption following suffering, goodness defeating evil, finding faith, etc.)

Shar and Selûne are sisters that also share the Night domain in 3e, a sort of fulcrum they both work around — Shar as the "malevolent" darkness with Selûne as the "benevolent" night. There is even a recognized heresy called the Dark Moon heresy in both cults/religions that Shar and Selûne are actually the same goddess playing one gigantic trick on Faerûn (this comes from a 3.5e splatbook called Power of Faerûn) but it's been pushed time and time again that the two sisters are, in fact, two separate entities. But duality of divinity, and how worshipers interpret their god, is a theme we see played up a ton in BG3.

What we know about Shar is that she despises her sister. Loathes her. Not only does she loathe her, she tricked Selûne's followers during the Time of Troubles, about 140 years before BG3, into worshiping her instead of the Moonmaiden. The Time of Troubles was a period when gods walked the Realms, rather than tossing avatars around everywhere. This lead to the formation of a fanatical group of cultists that followed the real Selûne, called the Lunatics (I'm still proud of managing to reference them in a goddamn Explicit PWP fic)

Meanwhile, Selûne is seen as a calming force. She wars with her sister every single night, and does not like her one bit, but she does it as a means to protect others from her sister rather than as a spiteful game. She's not as omnipresent in people's lives, she is just a natural force to a lot of her followers.

How does any of this relate to Shadowheart? Spoiler stuff and the actual character analysis under the break.

We know that Shadowheart was a "chosen" of Selûne as a child, per her parents' dialogue under the House of Grief. However, it's important to note that most religions in Faerûn name potential clerics as "chosen" ones of gods and goddesses.

We know that, throughout the game, Shadowheart learns that she is being manipulated by the Lady of Loss to do acts that go against some sort of internalized moral code that Shadowheart has. We see her approval go up when you do good acts (as long as you ask for compensation, or if it's to help helpless people/animals) and we see her disapprove when you press her boundaries or act unjustly cruel. "Unjust" is left so vague because she does not behave at all according to how the vast majority of Sharrans behave. There are numerous other flags for approval/disapproval such as her enjoying playful chaos, or disliking when you're too trusting of other companions when you first meet them, but we'll focus on the first set I mentioned.

We also know that Shadowheart was continually subjected to memory erasure via the cult of Shar in Baldur's Gate. This gets mildly restored here and there via the tadpoles and Dame Aylin, but her memory is mostly gone. So this moral code is something ingrained in her somehow, because Sharrans don't have kindness training. There's another entire character analysis to be written about Viconia's role in this as it relates to her own character in Baldur's Gate 2, but let's ignore that for now.

In the cloister under the House of Grief, there is a note you can find that outlines the squad sent to find the artifact that protects everyone from the Absolute's domination. The squad has a leader, and it is not Shadowheart. She is listed as "healer" and the text before this explicitly states that the entire squad is expendable. None of them matter to Shar.

BUT!

Divine visitation by a goddess is incredibly rare. It usually only happens to high level clerics, which Shadowheart isn't really even at 12th-level, and to those that the goddess has an extreme, vested interest in. If you free the Nightsong/Dame Aylin instead of killing her, Shadowheart is wrenched out of the Material Plane and made to suffer for an indeterminate amount of time. That, plus literally meeting Shar in the conclusion to her personal question, is very odd given what we know about Shadowheart.

If we presume that Larian did their jobs, and I'm going to because I trust them, then there is an immediate dilemma presented here. Either Shadowheart matters to Shar (she is not expendable), or she is just another zealot (she is expendable.) There is no half-truth in that logic table that really works for Shar, she's an absurdly dogmatic goddess. See: literally any Sharran you encounter in BG3 that isn't Shadowheart. It's possible that the writer of the note didn't know what they were talking about, but I think that's a lazy out that doesn't hold water with the rest of the evidence.

So, which is it? This being the part where I'm mostly in interpretation territory, Shar views Shadowheart as the perfect puppet, a toy to needle at her sister, not because she is important at all as a person, but because she's a representation of Selûne that Shar can mold to suit her image as she did in the Time of Troubles. We hear that in the game when Shadowheart basically says that she was just a thing for Shar to use. She's beaten into (what Shar believes will be) submission for not becoming a Dark Justiciar, but it only serves to sever the tie between cleric and goddess.

Shadowheart is Shar's answering play to Selûne beating that trick from the Time of Troubles, and there will be another Shadowheart after her eventual death. Shadowheart is both incredibly important and utterly worthless to Shar in the same way that an abuser uses affection and trust to hurt their victims. Love bombs in the form of divine power, sending her on this important mission, and offering the title of Dark Justiciar are followed by pain when Shadowheart displeases her. As if, on a whim, all that supposed mutual respect could turn into non-consensual, extreme violence.

Shadowheart is an objectified opportunity for Shar to fuck with Selûne for the entirety of a single half-elf's lifespan (anywhere from 150-200 years) and nothing more. A plaything to discard when all is said and done after a microcosm of time where a goddess is concerned. Whatever Shadowheart thinks she's benefiting from with Shar, it's all a trick. It's a massive delusion with which she's been brainwashed into participating.

And deep down, deep deep way deep down, Shadowheart knows this even in Act One. She spouts random sayings and the sorts of 2edgy4me one-liners that you would expect from a somewhat goth-y, slightly sassy Stock Evil Cleric in a fantasy RPG. For a good portion of Act One, you wouldn't be wrong to assume she's extremely one note and a total zealot. That is, unless you know two things:

That Shar is a fucking menace in Faerûn, and nothing good ever comes naturally from her cult. Anyone that knows FR lore was probably like me when they first interacted with Shadowheart. I know I basically said, "What the fuck, you're not a Sharran lmao. Either Larian goofed hard, or something's fishy here."

That extraordinarily devout people tend not to babble in verse, prayer, and all that unless they are also trying to convince themselves to have more faith in a set of beliefs that they're not entirely sold on. This isn't 100% of the time, but it's something you see in people whose faith is not very strong. People who have ironclad faiths and hold consistent ideologies tend to rely more on personal interpretation of faith, for good or ill. You see this all over BG3 in the people that are more confident in their beliefs, as well. Isobel, Orin, and Z'rell are three wildly different angles on that, for example. It's really all over the game in the NPCs.

That second point is the more important one here. Shadowheart, in Act One, is constantly talking about her goddess. If she's not hiding the artifact from you, she's couching an event in concern over what Shar would think of how she behaved. Like she's still a scared child who doesn't know how to handle what's happening around her despite being completely capable in scenarios as hectic as melee combat with ogres. The difference shines bright as day if you play a follower of Selûne and push back on her beliefs, though you do of course get a lot of vitriol in the beginning. Even so, it's clear that Shadowheart knows something is off about Shar whenever confronted with actual Sharran activity/belief, but she's been brainwashed and abused so horrendously that she constantly tries to "correct" herself to appease her abuser.

Selûne, however, isn't really a "part" of Shadowheart's quest in the same way as Shar. The Moonmaiden is not an active participant, she is not a guiding hand or even a faint idea in Shadowheart's thought processes because of how intense the memory blending got for her. The most we ever really get of Selûne's opinion comes from external sources (pretty much entirely from Shadowheart's parents, Isobel, and Aylin when she's not PROCLAIMING DIVINE RIGHTS.) To the Moonmaiden, Shadowheart is really just another of her many, many children spread throughout the Realms. Yet, Shadowheart retains that sense of inherent goodness that Selûne instils in her followers.

Unlike the Lady of Loss, Selûne's indifference isn't hateful or spiteful at all. For Selûne, the ultimate goal of any of her followers is to find themselves. To illuminate who they are meant to be by moonlight. Two of her domains in 3rd edition are Protection and Travel, and in 5e she has Knowledge as well, while one of her "mantles" (the domain equivalent for psionics) is Freedom. She wants to give her followers the ability to freely tread whichever road will lead to self-actualization.

Selûne demands almost nothing of her own followers so long as they act according to the basic tenets of a traditionally Chaotic Good deity. She accepts flaws, faults, and failures in her clerics as much as she rewards strengths, virtues, and victories. There is no divine intervention from Selûne because she accepts Shadowheart intrinsically as long as Shadowheart finds herself. All it took for Selûne to take Shadowheart back after forty years of being a fanatical Sharran was saving one person, and trusting one of two people that we know she's let in for that forty years (the PC, as well as possibly Nocturne) — Selûne sees that she's an abuse victim at the heart of it all.

Side-note: Selûne's primary holy symbol is two eyes surrounded by stars. She is always a passive witness to her clerics' deeds. I don't think I need to get into that symbolism.

Whenever given the chance, Shadowheart values freedom incredibly highly. Even in someone she can take the entire game to warm up to, such as Lae'zel. Her dialogue after Lae'zel denounces Vlaakith speaks directly to this. It's seen repeatedly in her comments on other characters' personal quests such as Astarion, or Karlach, and with Lorroakan's intent on imprisoning Aylin in Act 3.

Once Shadowheart is pulled away from Shar's influence in the end of Act 2/early Act 3, she is... not a completely different person, but she is absolutely a calmer individual that also allows her emotions to surface more intensely. If you're romancing her by Act 2, she confesses that she wants to be with the PC (forever) IMMEDIATELY after being punished horrifically by Shar; she progresses the romance far faster once Shar is out of her brain; she cries, alone, in front of the PC if she chooses to listen to her parents and spare herself from Shar while also killing them. She's known this entire time that she's purposefully holding parts of herself back, and this is her immediate reaction to being set free.

Of course, it's a video game and things aren't always perfectly paced, especially considering the implementation of the Long Rest system. Much of this interpretation requires you to accept that.

After the small dialogue about Shar's intervention after the Gauntlet, the narrator comments that you're not sure if telling Shadowheart where her divine power now comes from will break her spirit forever. That's interesting, and it makes her almost manic change to "I have to be with this person forever" in the romance so utterly sad. Shadowheart is an almost textbook depiction of someone who struggles immensely with vulnerability and emotional openness due to childhood neglect and abuse. Even worse, she's been suffering that neglect and abuse for forty-plus years and she cannot remember what life was like before the time when she constantly yearned for the approval of her abuser. When she's set free and given the appropriate space to manage her feelings (all of the times she asks to be given space/asks the PC to respect her boundaries), support from friends and loved ones in the way Larian handled the camp crew's reactions to everyone's personal quests, and a purpose in life that extends beyond her abuser, she flourishes almost immediately.

To Selûne, Shadowheart is simply another person finding themselves in a world that's incredibly difficult to navigate. Under Shar's domination, Shadowheart will never be anything more than a useful puppet that dances happily whenever her goddess asks, pleased to be what she thinks is useful as she wears the false title of Dark Justiciar. With Selûne watching but not pushing, Shadowheart can be free of everything but her own choices, her own mistakes and victories. Her own person, freed from expectation.

P.S. "Breaking out of toxic thought patterns" is a common thread in the companion romances and quests. In a similar way to how Astarion uses sexuality to mask a part of himself in his romance, Shadowheart sees all this time she's spent holding herself back as an excuse to reverse course and accelerate ridiculously fast by comparison.

My point is, she is a U-Haul Lesbian.

#hey you can ask me things! #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 spoilers #bg3 spoilers #shadowheart #shadowheart analysis by yours truly #there is so much to analyze about viconia in bg3 as well #shadowheart's romance has some interesting mirrors to viconia's from bg2 #there is a phenotype for unsure sharrans and it comes back to “why do I trust this person so much?” and battling with that #it is - as they say - girl dinner #also shar should absolutely share the Twilight domain in 5e #and on a final note: if you ever want to know where my shadowheart kink headcanons come from hellllllllloooooooo this post #bc as sweet as she is goddamn that girl loves when you degrade people and she has a CONSISTENT interest in sadomasochist behavior

[jicklet]

Nancy Drew (2019-2023)

Thank you for 62 spooky, funny, wonderful episodes about love. ♥

#nancy drew #nancy drew cw #nancydrewedit #drew crew #v posts things #v watches nancy drew #flashing gif cw #i can't watch the finale until tomorrow if i can ask for no spoilers in the tags ♥ #i wanted to make this post because this was the show that actually got me into gifmaking #there have been so many things worth noticing and connecting that i wanted to show to you guys and go Hey isn't this neat! #and now i have like a bajillion of these things #these are a mix of gifs i never posted and some of my old faves that I spruced up a little #though i didn't realize how much i haven't giffed nancy x ace until i made this asldkfjad oops #you guys got it covered! i'm trying to round out the ecosystem 😅 #this has been such a lovely journey #typing the caption may or may not have made me cry ha h a #love you guys :) ♥

[royalarchivist]

Quackity: Lately, I have been participating in events and projects, and unfortunately it's become clear to me that my presence and name have only been used to attract the attention of my national and international community with the objective, as I see it, of generating more attention towards controversies - destructive controversies, and a rupture that is very clear in the community. [...] In advance, I ask the organizers of any type of events and projects like this to please show more respect to me and my community, because I've shown lots of sympathy and cooperation in these various projects and events, but it's become clear to me that their only interest is in using my name. My name and my community have been used to attract all this attention for distorted purposes, and I will no longer allow that to happen. That is not what my content is about - not me nor my content nor anything I’ve done.

Here's Quackity's commentary on respect and his reasoning for distancing himself and his projects from future events and awards shows.

[ Full Transcript ↓ ]

-

Quackity: Before I leave, I would like to talk about something that is very serious for me and something that I would like to tell you about. Because for me it is a very serious topic and it is a topic that- well, I had my mind on and I want to express it- [reading Chat] yes, thank you. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas.

Anyways, lately I have been participating in events and projects, and in these events and projects, unfortunately it's become clear to me that my presence and name have only been used to attract the attention of my national and international community with the objective, as I see it, of generating more attention towards controversies - destructive controversies, and a rupture that is very clear in the community, and this is what I want to say: I'm NOT ok with these types of dynamics or stuff like this, and I want to make it very clear to my stream, my community, and everyone that, for this exact reason that I just mentioned, I want to make it clear that I want to distance myself and any of my projects from the Esland Awards, which you all know is coming up.

Sadly, the Esland Awards have been an event with a history of much controversy, a lot of division, and a lot of divisions within the community, and as you guys know, as you know, my content has never been characterized by seeking controversy or divisions or anything like that. It's for this exact reason that I don't want to be involved with these awards.

In advance, I ask the organizers of any type of events and projects like this to please show more respect to me and my community, because I've shown lots of sympathy and cooperation in these various projects and events, but it's become clear to me that their only interest is in using my name. My name and my community have been used to attract all this attention for distorted purposes, and I will no longer allow that to happen. I don't want it to happen. That is not what my content is about - not me nor my content nor anything I've done. That's what I want to make very clear here.

That's about it. I'm going to continue with the projects I'm doing and I want to thank my community so much for the support and love. I appreciate it very much, but I wanted to make this clear - I wanted to make this clear. This is just a topic I wanted to address quickly.

Thank you for all the love and support, I love you all so much.

#Quackity #QSMP #December 23 2023 #Translated #I tried my best but as always; if you have any suggestions or corrections please let me know #For context: Quackity and the QSMP have been repeatedly snubbed and undermined but very recently (as in like. the last 48 hours) #the ''Hispanic rewind'' aired and they were VERY rude to Quackity and his project #like straight up in the video itself they were rude about his project (and many other projects). It was basically a Spain-centric video #Then the creator double-downed on it on Twitter and was an all around asshole about it #I don't like sharing ''drama'' here but this is a matter of respect and communities so I think it's important to share #Especially since I know some people will ask ''hey why isn't Quackity / the QSMP nominated at this award show?'' #The Esland awards are a whole 'nother can of worms but the dude who did the Rewind is tied to that too #The Eslands have had a lot of problems though so frankly I can't blame him #I wasn't planning on posting this but I wasn't seeing any translations or clips floating around on here #despite the discussions people were having #so here it is for folks if they want / need to reference it #Anyways. Good for Quackity #He never speaks up about this kind of stuff but this was long overdue #k I just updated the wording on this I didn't like how I phrased a few things

[sysig]

You keep underestimating others and it’ll come back to bite you (Patreon)

#Doodles #UT #Handplates #Sans #Gaster #Papyrus #And a touch more Fellplates for the road lol #Fellplates #Starting with Sans tho! The poor tired thing </3 #He has to put up with an awful lot for all the didn't-ask-for-this and single HP about it #Since it's been so long away I forgot how fun he was to draw - so many lovely designs all over ♪ #Onto Fellplates - technically a spacefiller idea that ended up being fun and silly #As much as attaching metal GPS devices to your experiment-children hands can be anyway #Fell!Gaster makes them rose gold to go along with his whole pastel vibe lol #That doesn't make it better Gaster! That's literally just a veneer! #I do love just how extremely done Sans is with him tho lol #Goes right to Papyrus like ''Hey so y'know those ideals could you maybe bend them just a little bit for me as a favour'' #Little baby Fell!Papyrus having to think about it! But from which direction hmmm #The Nature vs. Nurture of Fellplates really does interest me quite a bit ♪ #Very especially the idea of being told you are ''bad'' and how that shapes you - classic Handplates also explores it! Why not Fellplates #And then back to classic lol - Sans is Angery™ and Gaster as usual Does Not Care #What's he gonna do about it throw him into the Core? Pfsh #Do not 1v1 your child Gaster it doesn't go well for anyone #And finally a couple more sillies of he #Being rude - of course lol - just don't let whoever it is you're insulting see you! #''I wasn't using my own hands'' ''It's the same thing! >:0'' lol #And just a simple one of him inspecting his own bullets :) Gotta make sure they're strong and sturdy! Got a lot of ATK/DEF to do!

[zellk]

Forgot to share here.... old doodles of when I finally came around to finding a design I like for Qalaari's mom !!

#it's so fucking funny to me that i inadvertently gave her a variant of the “mom about to die” haircut because... well... #surprise... she did die when Qalaa was young (12) :'^) #Qalaa (now between 20 and 22) still hasn't gotten over it #her mom had really weak health and really shouldn't have had a child but she made her choice #it turned out to be not the best one for her health LMAO #who wouldve thunk #but hey she wanted it and i'm pretty sure she doesn't regret it #but well... Qalaa does feel like she was a participant in her mom's death #(the other participant being her biological father who ran away before she was born and shattered aamira's heart) #ANYWAYS #i love qalaa's messed up familly #it's like a regular messed up story where actually no one (and everyone) is to blame (except Qalaa lmao she asked for NOTHING) #Aaamira gave so so much love to her child ;;;;;; this built the unbreakable core of Qalaa's kindness #aamira #aamira croquelune #aamira molandine #croquelune #still thinking about making that potentiel small DnD 'lore addon' of Qalaa's village that you can take and plug in your very own campaign #as long as you have 'far from civilization' woods or mountains you can put them in there #a village that welcomes the 'monsters' and the cast out #(like aamira) #look at me rambling in the tags lmao i just love qalaari (& her background) so much #last thing tho : you have to understand that Aamira is small and very slight and Qalaari was a HUGE baby and is a really big girl overall

[luck-of-the-drawings]

"I think this is the most inhuman; and human, that I've ever felt.." MUCH CAN HAPPEN IN A YEAR. IN FIVE YEARS. A DECADE. imagine how much can happen in a century. just ONE (1). How will you grow? what phases do you find? even in 5 years, you will find patterns.

#jrwi fanart #jrwi show #jrwi suckening #jrwi suckening spoilers #jrwi the suckening #arthur bennett #HEY SO THE REALLY FUNNY THING THAT THE CHARACTER DID THAT SEEMED RLY SILLY N GOOFY IN THE MOMENT? #LIKE THE WHIPLASH BETWEEN SERIOUS N SILLY ALMOST PISSED YOU OFF? WHAT IF I FOUND A WAY TO MAKE YOU SAD ABOUT IT #this was meant to be a scribble that would be a bigger part of a bigger page.might leave it on that page. #but still. bc o that i nearly posted it onto my wacky side blog.BUT NAYY I SPENT TOO MUCH TIME N ENERGY N YOU GOTTA SEE IT #ARTHUR BENNETT DRIVES ME CRAZY. I FEEL LIKE ITS ODD FOR HIM TO BE SO TECHNOLOGICALLY OUT OF TOUCH #WHERE HAS HE BEEN. HAS HE BEEN IN WAR? IS THAT WHERE MAGNUS CAME FROM? WHERE WAS HE WHEN HE WAS WITH EDWARDS CREW? #ARTHURRR I HAVE QUESTIONS ARTTHUUURR!! HEY CAN I ALSO ASK; WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU BECOME #DO YOU THINK HE HAD ANY IDEA HE WOULD VEER CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE MONSTER HE DESPISES. ALL BC HE DESERVES IT. OR WATEVER #HE FASCINATES ME SO MUCH. TO LOOK AT THE STONE COLD STOIC FOOL FROM THE START OF THE SHOW #AND TO FIND OUT THAT HE USED TO BE A BAD BOY.. A DELINQUENT... A LIL PRANKSTER.... MY GODDD THATS ADORABLE #I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW MORE.... BUT I DOUBT THE LAST EPISODE IS GONNA ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS..i love arthur bennett so much.... #AS FOR THE ART!! i mostly used the fire alpaca watercolor brush. tbh im not a brush guy. anti aliased default pen tends to be my main game #but LATELY IM SQQQUIRMIN OUT OF AN ARTBLOCK so expirimenting like this is helping #DONT LOOK TOO HARD AT IT!! im still proud tho. colors are fun :3 im also very proud of the backgrounds #I LOVE THE CARTOON THING where the background looks all fancy n painted but the characters are solid colors #what else can i ramble abt. OH YEAH. i looked up the bikes to make sure they were time accurate tehehehe. 1913 to 2012. #almost a century apart!! isnt that neat? ALSO FUUUCK CAN I JUST MAKE A QUICK CONFESSION. DOWN HERE IN MY TAGS. #only the strongest can read my tags anwyay. SO I REALIZED WHY I LOVE ARTHUR SO MUCH. TIME IS A FLAT CIRCLE #while arthur is a Stoic and Cool vampire w a knack for being playful/silly; who alsos been alive fora century thus witnessing HORRORs #THERE HAPPENS TO BE A ROBOT FROM A BAND W A TITANIUM ALLOY SPINAL COLLUMN #WHOS A Stoic and Cool ROBOT w a knack for being playful/silly; who alsos been alive fora century thus witnessing HORRORS #the fuckkkiiinnngggnn The Spine from steam powered giraffe. WHATEVER. i cant escape from my heart. i guess. #i think The Spine and Arthur could be friends. Arthur saw the band perform back when they were the Steam Man Band #EDIT: WOOPS I DIDNT REALIZE THIS WOULD END UP IN THE SPG TAG. HI GUYS DIDNT KNOW U WERE STILL ALIVE SORREE 4 THE CROSS CONTAMINATION

[plaid-maniac]

Do you ever think about how there totally could have been an old classmate of Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth in the audience during like turnabout sister or turnabout samurai. Do you think they would realize? Like “hey, were those the guys in my class in like fourth grade? I kinda remember them. Wonder if they remember each other. But it was so long ago, I doubt they would even care.” Meanwhile Edgeworth and Phoenix are undergoing the most insane mental battles where both of them are going “I recognize my best friend across the courtroom and I desperately want to be close with them again.” And “god he is so god damn annoying I wish he would die already.”

#ace attorney #miles edgeworth #Phoenix Wright #not specifically ship so I won’t tag it but kinda ship if you get it #the classmate usually sits in courtroom trials because they love the drama #and honestly they like miles Edgeworth’s cases cause ‘hey I know that guy’ #but of course they don’t like go up and talk to him cause they weren’t really that close and he left kinda abruptly #cause knowing someone for like a year in elementary school and then pestering them about why they left 15 years later is a weird thing to do #course Phoenix comes in and now the classmate now has to deal with the knowledge that the defense and prosecution used to always eat lunch #together and play superhero’s during recess with that really weird kid who was always up to no good #what if one day the classmate was like ‘maybe I should introduce them to each other again. sure that we would all get a laugh or two in and- #-that would be the end of it and they would continue with their lives as normal people. they certainly wouldn’t get super gay and awkward- #-about the whole thing and just be completely chill.’ #god what would happen and Edgeworth v state? #the classmate would probably leave the third day like ‘I am a changed person. I can never go back to not knowing so much about this person.’ #and like they wouldn’t be able to say or do anything cause like??? how do you even have that conversation??? #‘hey I know you don’t remember me but I like sitting in the audience of courtroom trials and I was there for your case and I just want to- #-ask are you good? like honestly do you need someone to talk to?’

[askblueandviolet]

macaque, denial is a river in egypt..

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#lego monkie kid #lego monkie kid fanart #monkie kid #monkie kid fanart #lmk #lmk fanart #lmk macaque #monkie kid macaque #blue and violet #the most hilarious thing about this is the fact thay yes Macaque can swim #but even he doesn't know what this means given the context of this ask #do 'I' even know what it means? #lmao no I just thought it would be hilarious if Macaque just blurted this out thinking he was making a point #if you want me to come up with a deep meaning behind this on the spot: #Macaque is indeed in a river of denial but he can swim so he is content and fine #struggling but he can still swim so he isn't too concerned on trying to escape the river #but of course this silly monkey can only swim for so long - just like any other person he will eventually get 'tired' or somewhat #swimming in denial won't get him anywhere #but hey he can still swim so... #eh what am I even saying #this is all bullshit

[calamitys-child]

My purpose and singular mission in life is to make sure queer and/or neurodivergent kids know that sometimes it really is their parents who are stupid and other adults are on their side. This, unfortunately, does not make me popular with their parents. Gonnae keep doing it though.

#kid was very overwhelmed by the theatre environment and panicking and didnt want to see the show cause it looked scary #and the mum was trying to get me to tell the kid its not scary (no i dont lie to kids i told her there are lots of funny bits but a couple #of maybe scary bits too) #and I told her hey listen the bravest thing you can do is tell people you arent comfortable somewhere. youve done so well to do that #and i gave her a program so she can learn more and make an informed decision if she wants to come another time #and i asked her what her favourite things are and she said science and animals and i told her to try the museum its super fun #and her mum was all 'ugh shes a nightmare she's ~on the spectrum~' #and i went yeah me too. and told the kid this isnt for everyone and she did well to tell me and i hope she likes the museum #and like. her mum yelling at her was making everything worse. talking to her like a person with agency? #got her from full panic attack to actively smiling at me in under 5 minutes #sometimes your parents or guardians are in fact being stupid or rude! neurodivergent adults exist! other people see you and hear what you're #saying and won't be mad! #anyway. now IM very overwhelmed but i really hope that kid remembers this and i hope she has a great day #im going to get a coffee and sit under a tree for a while

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

One thing I think many gloss over when it comes to Godzilla is the motivation and personality of each iteration, and how their design reflects that.

Shin is a being of pure agony, a living cancer that kills and destroys as much as it can out of pure rage and hatred at its own existence and those who made it be so. Over the film, it goes from what looks like a dead shark to a monster with razors for teeth and eyes of pure suffering and hate.

Minus One is basically hate personified, a monster that somehow manages to hold a deep personal rage against each and every individual member of humanity. It's hatred runs so deep that it commits actions just to terrify and kill. And it's design forces a terrifying glare, one so viscous you'd believe it really hates you personally.

Monsterverse is more of a disgruntled hero. He kinda gives the vibe of a dude who stands in the corner at a party acting like he doesn't want to be there. He has specific motivations in taking down particular kaiju, motivations that are often confused for attacks. He does what he needs to do and retreats back to the ocean when he's done. And he looks consistently miffed. A face that does lean into a menacing rage when necessary.

Classic goji is, like most iterations, an already existing being from the sea, enraged at the destruction of its home and mutation of itself. It has come to simply destroy, destroy all that has allowed this to occur. It causes hurt and suffering, agony and destruction all in its shared pain and rage. Its design is literally shaped like a mushroom cloud since, yknow, nuke mutation.

#and i can go on and on #showa goji is just a silly funky guy #godzilla #ugh and i love how shin and MO adapt the story of the original #shin focuses on the suffering of the creature. the nuclear mutation caused an immoral suffering. an existence of disgusting agony #MO focuses more on the rageful revenge #and monsterverse has its own little thing going on #i love it #goji is so versatile he can be literally anything and i think that's so fucking cool #gojira #kaiju #toho kaiju #king of the monsters #monster island #anyways hey with the monsterverse headed into silly territory i only ask one thing #PLEASE let me see my boys anguirus and gigan i beg of you. and maybe jet while we're at it #godzilla minus one #godzilla minus 1 #monsterverse #monsterverse godzilla #legendary godzilla #shin godzilla #anyways I'm super late but CONGRATS GOJI LET'S GO #and congrats to the team who put that amazing film together #that Oscar was well deserved #godzilla king of the monsters #ooh and minilla too maybe please 🥺. i bet he'd look real cute with his dumbass face in modern effects #oscars #godzilla oscars

[lotus-pear]

Any thoughts on BSD winning anime of the year?

good for us ig but compared to jjk s2 and aot finale i'm literally shocked and quite frankly feel it was undeserved. mappa worked their ass off this entire year w csm and jjk s2 not to mention the last two episodes of aot and either of those deserved the number one spot over bsd 100%.................this has nothing to do with my personal vendetta against studio bones btw i just feel like mappa solos in every way w their animation and art style and esp their anime adaptations (more than i can say abt bones)

#congrats mister osamu dazai you won crunchyroll or wherever the poll was #i'm pretty indifferent if i'm being honest like good for me as a bsd stan but i am so upset as an aot girly #like that is literally the best piece of fiction of all time imo and it lost to goofy queer detective anime? be fucking forreal #sry i bet all of you can tell that despite how much i talk abt bsd it's nowhere near my fav and i will continue to cry abt it winning aoty #sigh. hate it here. i'm sorry studio mappa maybe next time #ANYWAY one thing i will say abt bonesis they ATE w mp100 this year so hey that's smth #lotus’s asks

[optiwashere]

How do you feel about Shadowheart's romance in game/ I've seen some complaints about it being shallow and vapid. I blame this on Act2, the lack of a romance scene

In general?

I think it's a solid exploration of what it's like to try and be with someone that is struggling with their sense of self, navigating an abusive relationship, and who has what might seem like oxymoronically intense and lax boundaries over personal details and feelings, etc. Is it like, The Perfect Story of All Time? No. That doesn't exist.

Also, it's a video game and Larian has limited budget/time. Shadowheart has a ton of content dedicated to herself as it is. Part of enjoying these stories is accepting the constraints.

However, I think Act 2 works spectacularly for her romance BECAUSE it lacks a dedicated romantic scene until the end of the Gauntlet/Nightsong sequence. A lack of it says way more than having it would.

She's a zealot on the brink of realizing a goal in Act 2. She won't realize it, and it's an unrealistic goal, but she doesn't know that.

She's being presented with the opportunity to finally be accepted by her abuser as Good and Right and maybe that she can be Special — while also trying to hide herself from the PC that does care about her, someone who actually respects her boundaries, because that's new and unique and strange and not what she's been taught she deserves as a Sharran. Loss and emptiness cannot abide a full heart.

If she adheres to the conformity of her religion, she'll be accepted by a goddess that won't get out of her head or her body. (Extratextual interpretation, but) If she allows herself to accept love from an external source, that means she's capable of being loved and that's very difficult to accept for someone who is programmed to be a certain type of way. Go look up actual cult deprogramming practices and try to trace the lines between that and what Shadowheart experiences. This is an exercise left to the reader.

My take is the people that find the romance "vapid" have never been in a relationship with someone who has a harrowingly troubled past. Not that I expect them to, or that that's an aspiration anyone should have. But they've never tried to love someone who is VERY hesitant to even call it a relationship in the first place for X, Y, or Z reason. A genuine real world example is trying to maintain relationships with folks that have borderline personality disorder.

It's literally the meme of "you accept my neurodivergence until it looks like something that isn't out of a John Green novel."

#hey you can ask me things! #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #shadowheart #shadowheart analysis by yours truly #gotta stop blasting character analysis on a weeknight #this post assumes non-sharran shadowheart ofc

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

I'm surprised you haven't posted any Welcome home stuff recently! Honestly kinda makes me sad since I love your WH art and stuff

yea y'all are gonna have to be Patient w/ me bc

a) i have like. a week left to pack all of my stuff before i need to shove everything into a uhaul and leave, so its crunch time! leaving little to no energy/interest in anything else

b) to be honest my mental health is the worst its been in years - which is fine, its whatever, i can deal. it's not as bad as it could be and im handling it! like a champ, even! but also its leaving little to no energy/interest in anything else

c) had a minor crisis over my art and how i interact w/ WH, and i realized im not scribbling enough of what I want. ive mostly been trying to please people and do as asked and thats! not good! so i want to temper expectation & reassert that im Not a WH art blog - its just a hyperfixation / something i love rn. i draw what i enjoy & what i want in the moment.

#i picked up my tablet last night and all of my motivation died on the spot #so im just. eh whatever ill get back into the swing of things eventually #but yeah im spending my time packing & keeping myself afloat! not much room for other things at present! #rambles from the bog #but yeah i was starting to feel like a commodity of sorts? #like the majority of asks are just some form of 'can you draw this' 'draw this' 'id love it if youd draw this' #which is. fine. im an art blog! thats what i do! #but its also like hey. im just some guy doodling what they enjoy. im not a machine churning out content for consumption #& it gets to the point where there's so much expectation and obligation and 'demand'- #when do i ever sit down and truly indulge in what i want? #like the monster scribble i posted the other day! it made me so happy! i love monsters and Beasts! #when do i ever allow myself to draw them? #rarely bc i feel like people Expect puppets from me. and thats not a great feeling! #i love puppets i love wh and everything but i would like to enjoy it w/o pressure yk yk.... #& for a second there i Was feeling the pressure and scribbling puppets was starting to feel like a chore #something i Needed to do to please people #so! im focusing on real life & taking a break from creation & keeping my mindset away from 'jump into traffic' thankyew <3 #theres just too much going on right now #in my head And outside of it. #so ill stick to packing & binging psych & i'll lovingly place everything else on the backburner

[blueskittlesart]

do u have any navi thoughts from your oot replay

i've been waiting to answer this until I actually beat the game in my current playthrough because navi is another one of those characters that i think of in like a "set" with several other characters who serve relatively the same thematic purpose; in this case that purpose being the "mother" character, and i wanted to have all the characters in that set fresh in my mind. it's notable that while oot shows us very clear and consistent instances of the ways in which the adults of hyrule fail to protect their children, there ARE several adults who DO go out of their way to both oppose ganondorf and protect and nurture the children under their care. All of these characters are adult women, and all of them explicitly help the children out of some sort of parental responsibility or sense of duty towards them. in this group I include link's late mother, impa, nabooru, and navi.

all 4 mother characters, despite being adults or adult-coded, reject the inaction mentality which characterizes other adults in the game. they become either direct supports or shields to their children from the conflict the world has to offer them, and they are always explicitly punished for their interference--link's mother is killed trying to protect her son, impa's village is burned, nabooru is brainwashed. The mother's fatal flaw is that she will protect her child above all else, even in a world in which children cannot truly be protected. however, with the exception of link's mother, these characters manage to persist even in the face of her punishment, and this is where I think navi becomes the exemplary character.

Navi, after a lifetime of being link's only support system, the only adult in his life he could truly, consistently count on, receives her punishment at the hands of ganondorf--in the final battle, she is pushed out. she is unable to reach her child. she cannot protect him. However, BECAUSE link has grown up with her at his side, he is strong enough to take ganondorf down. and when ganon rises again, navi is there to support link, promising not to leave his side, and the intuitive targeting of that battle (a mechanic which navi is inherently tied to!!) makes it a cinch to win. Navi, and the other mothers we meet, are a reminder to the player that the world doesn't HAVE to be the way it is. Their persistence when punished, their insistence that their children ought to be protected, is a reminder that good adults do exist, and that good adults raise good children. link and zelda are able to win in spite of the adults who refused to help them, but also BECAUSE of the adults who DID. It's a reinforcement of the core theme of oot--that childlike idea that the world SHOULD be good and fair and if it isn't, it should be changed until it is. The mothers of oot are examples of what the world COULD be, reminders that it is possible to grow up without losing hope or growing bitter, and they are examples of the next step for the children they've raised to change the word--to continue fighting even in the face of punishment, to refuse inaction, and to foster that same hope and persistence in the generations to come.

#one thing i've really been noticing this time around is the specific way in which navi's targeting works #because even though other 3d games have that targeting mechanic navi's targeting is noticeably different #in two ways. the first being that she specifically targets weak spots in enemies almost as if she is pointing them out to link #and the second being that she is capable of targeting things link himself doesn't see #whether it be invisible enemies or triggers that are out of his reach or scarecrow points or whatever #it's really reminiscent to me of the way you teach problem solving skills to a kid. you see them struggling with something and beginning to #get frustrated and you say 'hey let's look around. do you see any solutions?' and if they can't see the solution themself you might point #and say 'hey what's that?' just to get their attention on it and help facilitate that train of thought for them #because like in most other games targeting is sort of assumed to be link's own intuition in battle #and therefore it will usually allow you to focus on one enemy within a swarm of them but it won't explicitly light up the weak spot for you #navi does that for link because she's essentially the mother teaching her kid how to problem-solve. #and when she's taken away in the final battle link is able to fight anyway BECAUSE she put so much time and effort into raising him #that he no longer needs her to facilitate that problem-solving process. he already knows how to beat ganondorf #because he's done it with her before. and that's exactly the mother's role in her child's life #protect him and raise him as best you can so that when you can no longer be by his side he isn't afraid. #foster that sense of justice and encourage him to keep fighting to change the world even when it seems unchangeable. #god. ocarina of fucking time #zelda analysis #asks

[daily-hanamura]

#p4 #p4g #persona 4 #persona 4 golden #hanamura yosuke #yosuke hanamura #hey heres a fun thing to think about does it bother you that yosuke asked yu for two promises when they first met #to solve the murder case together and to not go into the tv world alone #and yu can break both of them but if you go into the tv world alone to sre adachi yosuke knows #yosuke made yu promise that in december after they first confronted adachi but the fact that hes just #reaffirming the promise they first made in april. makes me feel like. yosuke could already predict yu even though thats like what #one week since they met #he's good with his queue

[allieinarden]

Immigrant Simpsons character introduced in 1990: I have many flaws but I’m working on them, my “weird” religion is widely-practiced and I ask that you respect it, I have an advanced degree and own a convenience store by choice because I like the freedom of running my own business, the struggle to embrace what I love about my new country without abandoning my roots is ever-present and real to me.

Immigrant Simpsons character introduced in 2014: Waifu sushi Studio Ghibli anime manga seppuku.

#Why is this #Ftr I do love Comic Book Guy’s wife after they got a Japanese gal playing her cause she injected some life and humor into that character #The story about her wanting a baby was cute. Now they DID also do a similar thing with Apu and his wife but I’ll allow it #because Maggie singlehandedly starting a baby boom in Springfield is the most believable development the show ever had #You can totally see where everyone is asking themselves hey why don’t I have an adorable little nugget who will gun down Mr. Burns for me #The Simpsons