#i love high stakes

[laufire]

"this piece of fiction would be better if it was normal and mundane and low-key and not melodramatic at all" never speak to me again.

#i love DRAMA #i love high stakes #i want ENHANCED EMOTIONS and LARGER THAN LIFE characters #i get low-key elsewhere #talking to the void #my thoughts #fandom nonsense

[lgbtlunaverse]

It seems the dash has been talking about the Lan Xichen - Nie Huaisang post-canon dynamics and it's gotten me thinking about how discussion around post-canon Lan Xichen's absolutely horrendous mental state often center around the question of "who is Lan Xichen angry at and who does he feel guilty about" which, at its worst, seperates into 2 camps where according to one side he feels guilty about not protecting jgy and hates the Nies and, on the other side he has completely flipped on jgy and despises him now while being filled with regret towards both nmj and nhs.

And I dislike both of these takes not just because it often feels like people projecting their own Blorbo opinions onto Lan Xichen which is never a fun time but also because that central question is flawed to begin with. It treats anger and guilt like opposing emotions that can't coexist or, if they do, have to compete until one wins and cancels the other out.

And that's not how that... works.

To be clear, the reason why Lan Xichen is so supremely fucked up at the end of the story is that he believes on some level he fucked over everyone in this situation. And, even more importantly, that even with hindsight he can't actually think of what he should have done instead. Every attempt to do better by one seems to involve fucking over the others even more because these people were in conflict with each other and choosing one would mean standing against another

And none of this would actually stop him from feeling angry at any of them. It's not "who is he angry at and who does he feel guilty about" it's: "he is angry at everyone and feels an immediate and bone deep guilt for daring to think badly of them."

Speaking from personal experience here, but feeling like you're not allowed to be angry at someone because you wronged them really doesn't stop the feeling, it just maks you feel like shit for feeling it. And this is all worsened by the fact that what he's in seclusion for is, at the end of the day, a moral question of what he, Lan Xichen, did wrong and every single emotion serves as further proof of the ways he's failed them.

Is he angry at Jin Guangyao, for killing his oldest friend, using Lan xichen's trust in him to do it, and then lying to him about it and countless other things for a decade when Lan Xichen thought of him as the person he trusted the most in the entire world? Yeah. That's a thing people get angry about! Except Jin Guangyao also saved his life and protected and helped him more times than he can count and never ever hurt him and can Lan Xichen say the same? No. He had to clean A-Yao's blood off Shouyue, he has to be haunted by the fact that if he just hadn't listened to Huaisang- hadn't been just like everyone else, in the end, and believed a lie about Jin Guangyao just to think the worst of him- then Jin Guangyao might still be alive.

Is he angry at Huaisang? For orchestrating the death of his best friend? For making him do it? For knowing what the real cause behind Nie Mingjue's death was and never telling him until he found out in the absolute worst way? Absolutely. But didn't Huaisang hide it from him for a reason? Wasn't it his clan's techniques and his personal faith in Jin Guangyao that cost Huaisang his brother? How dare he demand that Huaisang let him in on the secret of his brother's murderer when Lan Xichen is here wondering about how he should have protected that murderer better!

And I do even think he's angry at Nie Mingjue, sometimes I think it's pretty normal to be angry at your friend for kicking your other friend down the stairs and threatening to kill him, even when you know his mind is being poisoned. And years later the last thing he ever saw of Nie Mingjue was Nie Mingjue's thoughtless corpse coming to kill him before Jin Guangyao pushed him away and then proceeded to graphocally snap Jin Guangyao's neck in front of him. And if what he wants to do is protect Jin Guangyao, shouldn't he be mad at Mingjue? Didn't this whole mess start because Jin Guangyao was afraid Nie Mingjue was going to kill him?

Except holy shit, can you imagine? Lan Xichen feels like he personally has Nie Mingjue's blood on his hands. Your oldest friend is killed in front of you and you happily believe it's an accident for 11 years and now you think you have the right to be mad at him? You watched him get worse as he was being poisoned and attributed it to his illness and not to the techniques stolen from your library with the token you give his murderer. Does he think Nie Mingjue knew who he was in that moment and wanted to kill him? That he blamed Lan Xichen for his death? (For the record, I don't. I don't agree with most of what Lan Xichen thinks about himself, but I've been in a self-blame spiral and I know how it feels)

But what was he supposed to do then? Choose Mingjue's side and let A-Yao die? That's also unacceptable. But so is letting Jin Guangyao get away with it. Every single outcome is unacceptable. And really, if Jin Guangyao felt like he had to kill Nie Mingjue to save himself, when it was Lan Xichen who was supposed to keep the peace between them, isn't that another mark of his failure? That he couldn't protect Jin Guangyao well enough that he felt he had to do something so horrible?

But that's not an answer! He's supposed to know what he should have done different, and all he can come up with is "what you were already doing, but without failing this time" He can't pick a side because that means betrayal, but he's already tried not picking a side and it ended like this! There is no right answer, which can only leave him with the idea that he was simply doomed to hurt the people he loved from the start. No wonder the guy looks like shit when we see him post-canon. They put him in a real life trolley problem and gave him the lever as a souvenir.

#mdzs #mdzs meta #lan xichen #nie huaisang #jin guangyao #meng yao #nie mingjue #personally i LOVE high stakes ethical dilemma tragedies where there's not a clear right or wrong #and i can enjoy them without picking a side because it's fiction to me and i can admire the complex web of love hurt and betrayal from afar #but this is lan xichen's actual life. he HAS to have an answer to this question in a way I don't #but there isn't one

[tvc12]

3x07 42

by Chris Chibnall 2007

#doctor who #tenth doctor #10th doctor #martha jones #david tennant #freema agyeman #not too much to say I just like this episode. high stakes for td and criminals in love w sad ending

[nat-without-a-g]

I probably shouldn’t find this funny, but as someone who was Terrified of learning to drive, I could never imagine being in TJ’s position. Your first time driving, you are the oldest of your peers, and you EXPLODE THE ENGINE? I would never sit behind the wheel again. There’d be no recovering. Even IF someone manages to force me to take lessons long enough to re-learn and get a license, I’d never want to sit in the driver’s seat again in my life, I’d burn the liscense.

Aaaand I just realized that I think TJ is the only dad we never see drive a vehicle in season 2 so he probably feels the same way I do.

#Lark and Grant both drove their respective teen to detention in Ep 1. #Sparrow drove the cat van after the Calzone incident #and Nick drove the… van after escaping the FBI #Lark also drove a hummer #dungeons and daddies #dndads #dndads season 2 #dndads spoilers #dungeons and daddies season 2 #terry jr #terry jr stampler #i genuinely love him not wanting anything to do with cars it’s such a fun character quirk to me #mostly because the circumstances that brought are both so traumatic but also Incredibly low-stakes #so you can laugh at it without being like LOL you almost DIED #plus i laugh because i relate to the fear driving is a terror #idk if terry is actually the oldest but someone said he was and i trust them #if I for any reason needed to signify that a Terry Jr. was not OUR T.J. I’d put him behind the wheel of a car #in a high stress situation so there’s deniability ofc

[novelconcepts]

I’m sure I’m not the first person to say this, but I am so grateful that the Yellowjackets creative team has proven themselves flexible storytellers—in a lot of ways, but particularly regarding Van. ‘Cuz how many times do we get a lesbian in a show (especially a funny, lovable one) and resign ourselves to having to say goodbye in some catastrophic way? And this is absolutely the kind of show where, until you see the adult counterparts, any one of those kids could bite it. And that Van was SUPPOSED to die—or at least, wasn’t necessarily supposed to live—but Liv Hewson did such a fantastic job and the character became so enriched and so charming that she not only gets to live past season one, but gets to live into adulthood.

And that she gets to be so herself in adulthood; Van feels the least changed, in some ways, of any of the grown versions. She’s, as Ambrose and Hewson point out, dimmed down and calcified, but she’s still dressing the same, she’s still proudly gay, she’s out here acting as a sort of snarky cinema mentor to the kids who come into her shop. No, she isn’t happy, because none of them are, but she is alive, and she’s out and proud, and she’s a fundamental figure in this narrative when she could so easily have been written out in a blaze of fire or a wolf attack. I’m so grateful, because it means no matter where adult Van’s journey takes her, we’re getting to hang on to Hewson for as long as the show runs, as one of the core six members of the ‘96 cast, and that is fucking huge. We’re getting the message that at least two of those six characters are gay and get to grow up, and that gayness has nothing whatsoever to do with their trauma and problems in 2021. Like. Goddamn. That’s enormous.

#yellowjackets #yellowjackets spoilers #van palmer #liv hewson #am I worried about what will happen to Van the adult? fuck yeah #am I worried about what will happen to Van’s mental state in ‘96? of course #but we get to find out. we get to see her story continue to evolve #one of my favorite things about the structure of this show is that it manages to keep really high stakes #but also has sort of an underlying safety net of comfort for these characters we love so much #because they might die in the present timeline but at least for these core six we know we always go back to them in the past #it gives the meta energy of telling the story of a loved one after they’re gone #to keep them alive #and that we safely have that comfort with Taissa off the bat and now with Van as well? makes me so fucking happy #I cannot wait until we get more of this show. I can’t think about anything else

[stonemasons]

You seek what all who search for us seek.

#gow ragnarok #gowedit #gowredit #gamingedit #god of war ragnarok #kratos #postsstonemasons #postsgow ragnarok #i loved this part of the game #they made heimdall's battle so high-stakes

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

sorry im coping with aus again oopsie daisy. anyway here's my take on a fantasy au

it all started with me rewatching the D&D movie and thinking "hm. what (broad) classes would the neighbors have?"

and after much thinking i came to the conclusion: Barnaby = Bard / Eddie = Paladin / Sally = Sorcerer / Julie = fighter / Frank = monk / Howdy = Artificer / Poppy = Healer / Wally = 'Wizard'

those seem fitting! BUT i don't like restrictions or rules so in this very light worldbuilding for a casual (strongly glaring at myself here) CASUAL au, it's only dnd-esque. not actually dnd yk yk

in my head, they're not technically puppets for this au. they're flesh and blood, they've got bones, etc. they're actual Creatures, though they still look like Them! Julie's still pink w/ candy-corn-horns! Frank is still a gray tube! Barnaby is a big blue dog! they're just... not puppets. it's the same for the other beings in this fantasy world - they all keep the style, but they're all flesh n' blood if that makes sense. a cartoony fantasy world

so they have their little found family adventuring group titled, of course, The Neighborhood. because when they were first forming, Wally went "oh! are we a neighborhood? i've always wanted neighbors!" and it Stuck. so they all lovingly refer to each other as neighbors, even though the closest they get to being actual neighbors is pitching their tents next to each other & staying at an Inn in neighboring rooms

like your classic group of adventurers, they're almost constantly on the move. the longest they stay in one place is a couple of months - the rest of the time they're wandering! they take quests, get roped into general Shenanigans, etc. they adventure! and get into a lot of battles of varying severity

so Barnaby is still kiiiiind of a bard? best i can describe him is jack-of-all-trades moral support! he provides battle music, keeps the mood light, and stands off to the side to offer quips and tips. he prefers not to fight, and only Gets Involved when the others need Backup. even then, he usually takes the role of defending his neighbors. he has a good eye for whether or not physical support is needed - he never needs to be asked when there's a legitimate need for him! unless he's thoroughly distracted from the goings-on. he does have magic, but it's more for show / defense-based

Eddie's still pretty classically a paladin. healing powers, armor, there to be on the front lines and Protect! the group's sword and shield! he technically serves a god but he forgot who <3 he just makes the occasional general offering and mumbles some vague prayer. he's super friendly! super helpful! super willing to dive into the line of fire! Will disregard his own safety without a second thought! his magic is pretty much restricted to healing, and it's weak healing at that (maybe because he can't properly serve his god...), so it's mostly good for quick mid-battle heals and little wounds. temporary fixes!

Sally has innate fire/light magic, and she's very showy with it! she puts Flair and Pizazz into all of her casts and is very dramatic on the battlefield - she manages to turn her fights into a performance. She tag-teams keeping the Neighborhood entertained with Barnaby. he handles the humor/lightheartedness, she handles the escapism/encouragement. she writes scripts & stories in her off-time, and often reads them (or spins a new one) after dinner. when they have weeks / month breaks in one spot, sometimes she'll recruit local thespians to create a play

Frank is all about that hand-to-hand combat babey! he wants to feel bones break under his fists! he wants those split knuckles! he very often starts fights, and even more often finishes them - what he lacks in raw power he makes up for in vicious tenacity. he just Keeps On Going! he seconds as the group's Knowledge Guy. while his hobby is studying insects, he also catalogues/studies monsters and enemies and terrain so that the Neighborhood can always be prepared. the only time he stays out of fights is when he's researching or note-taking. he tries to micromanage the battle from afar anyway

Julie is like... put a druid, a fighter, and a barbarian in a blender. she's got a big sword! she's got seemingly endless energy in battle! she can talk to plants, especially flowers! her flora magic is very minor, so it's not like she's making giant roots burst out of the ground and strangle people. but plants can give her information, and if she asks nicely and they feel like it, sometimes they'll help her out. in battle she's a force to be reckoned with! nothing will stop her and her sword! she's usually the second (closely following Frank, with Eddie hot on her heels) Neighbor charging into battle - but she's the one with the stellar war cry! & where Sally and Barnaby tend to the Neighborhood's emotional wellbeing & entertainment, Julie keeps things fresh with Physical Activities during their downtime!

Poppy is a powerful healer! she draws on an individual's energy (often taps into her own as well) to convert it into healing power. it's draining but it's damn good healing! she also takes the role of the Neighborhood's cook (the others still like to help, especially Frank who is essentially her sous-chef) and makes sure they're all healthy. she hangs back during battles, waiting to (and hoping that she doesn't have to) heal a wounded Neighbor. if one of them is badly hit, she forces herself to run into battle and drag them to safety before working on their injury. she has a tiny bit of illusion magic, which she'll cast from afar to assist her Neighbors. she tries not to use it outside of emergencies - it takes a lot of energy, which she tries to conserve just in case.

Howdy has Zero Magic! none! four hands and none of them are magical! however, he's a damn good inventor & a whiz at potion making. he can Use magical items like there's no tomorrow - he just can't wield it himself. he supplies the group with potions, helpful items, all sorts of goodies - given that they can trade for it with anything he'd accept in-canon. the only exception is when they're mid-battle - he hands stuff out when needed without haggle. he supplies the group with their cash when they're not getting it from looting/quests - he has a magic backpack that can unfold into a fully-stocked merchant stall! he sells at towns, on the road, anywhere he can! In battle he hangs back with Poppy and, yes, supplies items, but he also uses ranged attacks - magical weapons that cast for him, magic 'bombs', that sort of thing! but there's a little secret - he's the Neighborhood's secret weapon. he invented fantasy guns! four magic revolvers that, when the 'second safety' is turned off, multiply into a giant clusterfuck of guns (with ammo ranging from magic 'bullets' to essentially rocket launchers). unfortunately he can only use this setting once & for a limited time before the guns overload & have to be manually repaired. so he either uses them off of the first safety (i.e, they're 'normal'), or not at all. you know shit is Really hitting the fan when he joins a fight

and Wally! Wally Wally Wally... you may have noticed that i put his class 'wizard' in quotes. that's because he says he's a wizard, but he's not! he just says he's one due to the automatic stigma and fear of what he really is - a Warlock! his patron is Home, an eldritch horror that many would classify as a demon. they have a very special, codependent pact that neither of them can live without - Wally wears their 'seal' as a house-shaped pendant on a choker (necklace) hidden under his clothes. Home is extraordinarily powerful, but Wally barely taps into that power. he has a grimoire that Home inscribed with a bunch of sigils that convert into spells when drawn & then cast in the air. the only other powers he uses are seeing-in-the-dark, seeing-magic, and opening teleportation doors! Wally can't sleep, but he can doze - though he's never fully unaware of his surroundings (its kind of like how dolphins only sleep with one half of their brain). he still eats with his eyes, which both feeds him & acts as a form of providing daily energy to Home, since Home can't exactly consume souls every day. If Wally uses too much magic, he has to rest inside of Home's house-form, which is the only time he actually fully sleeps. no one knows about Home, or that Wally is lying about his wizard status.

Home is a lovecraftian being with three forms. the first is the lowest power level - a cute one-room house with Eyes! i.e: Home Classic! Wally's pendant unfolds into it, and it's the main way Wally and Home physically interact & communicate. the second is possession - if Wally explicitly allows it, Home can completely take over his body and kind of 'tuck him away' to have a nice deep nap while Home takes the reins (Home can technically force this, but it's very difficult and would not go over well w/ Wally - it would also be an unstable possession). the third is Home's true form - a massive shadowy eldritch monster made of writhing darkness and nightmares that no one in their right mind would look at, let alone fight. Home has very complicated feelings about Wally & the Neighborhood. they are also, quite literally, Wally's heart - which is part of their pact.

i have some scene ideas & little Plot Concepts (most notably the times the Neighborhood learns two Very Big Secrets about Wally, one of which being the warlock/Home reveal).

but yeah that's moooostly it. basic stuff yk, not very in depth! just fun things to feed my maladaptive daydreaming & escapism

#warlock-masquerading-as-a-wizard wally is fun #cause youve got this funny little guy! in his little wizard outfit and his staff and classic wizard eccentricities! #but he has a lovecraftian horror curled up in his chest excited for its next opportunity to consume souls #home when making wally's body: ah fuck how do people eat again??? with their eyes right??? that sounds right... thats how i eat... #home a week later: shitshitshit their MOUTHS they eat with this Mouths goddamn it.... too late to fix it now #cut to wally internally panicking while watching other people drink/eat normally #hm i Realized that like... half the Neighborhood more often than not doesn't outright fight #poppy hangs back. howdy hangs back. barnaby rarely joins. frank is often busy researching #and then you've got eddie & julie going full-tilt nonstop absolutely mowing down enemies like there's no tomorrow. sword besties <3 #wally and Sally casting from the middle ground... #wh fantasy au #maybe the howdy enthusiast in me is jumping out lately but hes soooo good in this au i swear #he's out here bargaining over a potion with his own neighbor mid-battle #bc he Will be funny about it when the stakes aren't high #forcing them to go through transactions even though he'd give the goods to em anyway #him vibing with poppy & barnaby while explosions go off in the background #and then when shit hits the fan he gets to be a Certified Badass and whips out the big guns with the cockiest grin you've ever seen #hes fun. i love him. #they're all fun. i love them. #home & wally make me especially Ough in this au. their relationship is so messy and you literally cannot have one without the other

[presiding]

How you'd rewrite Dishonored death of the outsider if it was fully fledged game with 10 missions? (like Dishonored or Dishonored 2)

Oooh!! Enrichment in my enclosure - thank you for asking! Thinking about a total rewrite was a great exercise. Fair disclaimer: I haven’t read the books & their canon-status can’t hurt me. To me, the Dishonored games stand out due to their immsim design philosophy, and thinking about some of the industry reasons for DotO’s departure from that, if I could make a standalone game with ~ten levels I would, but with the same budget I’d also happily make two DLCs made slowly over a longer timeframe with greater attention to detail.

Game structure

Finding Daud // Billie’s past

The fate of the Outsider // Billie’s future

Game story

Setting & Characters

Billie: What has Billie been doing since she’s returned to Serkonos? Knowing the Dreadful Wale will sink, she’s sold it for scrap & has set up an agency in Lower Aventa. She’s something of a detective/odd-jobs man (& assassin when it suits her). Business is booming, life is good. I think a long-running implication that she's becoming Daud in some ways would make for an interesting subplot.

Karnaca: a city that unfolds. In the first levels, Billie feels like a forgotten woman, a ghost slipped through the cracks, but as levels progress there are hints & references to how her past actions have affected others & shaped the city

Alignments: Witches, gangs, religion, industry; missions for clients who can’t necessarily pay their way. Missions that allow the player to explore/understand Karnaca in a deeper way.

Daud: Billie is unsure if Daud again will bring her any closure. She’s been thinking of him since her time with Emily, and his name keeps popping up.

Deirdre: the charm is a more functional heart, similar to Jessamine, as well as her own character design. Perhaps she doesn’t see Deirdre until she chooses the powers, or until she’s in the void (see next point)

First arc: Finding Daud // Billie’s past

Powers: the Outsider offers Billie powers even though her life is finally, actually good, so she’s pissed off. A choice - she can take them, or play no powers mode.

Breanna Ashworth is this arc’s villain - she wants Delilah back, and knows that Daud has banished her before, wants to know how he did it. Grief & desperation has changed her, and she no longer has her high society veneer. The remnants of the Karnaca coven, now powerless, have stolen from the Overseers to arm themselves to the teeth, and to neutralise Daud’s powers, in addition to black bonecharms.

Billie’s in a race against time against Breanna to find Daud, but by the last level it becomes clear that Breanna *has* found Daud, and has been torturing him for information about the void. Her dynamic with Billie is complicated by their past.

I think betrayal would be an interesting theme, so maybe one of the levels gives you the option to ally yourself with Breanna under false pretences.

Second arc: choosing the fate of the Outsider // Billie’s future

Delilah is the core villain, but she’s obsessed with killing the Outsider so she can take his place, having been violently ripped from her perfect world in her own painting by Breanna (who meant well), & knowing the Empire doesn’t hold her interest... but a perfectly mouldable void & infinite power does take her fancy.

As remorseful Daud is obsessing about preventing Delilah from taking power, Billie’s doing some detective work and learns more about the Outsider (he’s not showing up and monologuing - she’s finding this out herself. A level idea could be a raid on a ‘haunted’ houses where the void is thin)

Delilah succeeds in taking the Outsider's place, leaving the Outsider dead or mortal depending on if you are able to save him. Delilah has split her soul from herself before and she’s very much clever enough to learn the Outsider’s name to render him mortal.

Daud knows he’s dying, though, and it might be an ultimate sacrifice to save both Billie’s life, and the Outsider’s.

So during the final battle, there’s an option to make Daud the Outsider, because Daud wants Billie and the Outsider to have a shot at a normal life, and his life was forfeit in his own mind…

… or, reluctantly accepting the Outsider’s help, Billie finds a way to cut the void’s access to the world, rendering Delilah an all powerful god over a dead & silent world.

Because of the past/present focus of this you could even have levels set in the past - missions with Billie & Daud. Perhaps Billie as POV character, and Daud dropping by the way that Billie did in Knife of Dunwall. That’d be neat.

A heap of ideas here, hope there was something you liked :)

#dishonored #death of the outsider #daud #delilah copperspoon #billie lurk #the outsider #i dont know why you asked me this but i love that you did. thank you anon! #i wanted to stick to the topline ideas rather than dig into what the levels could look like #and you'll notice i mostly avoided the things introduced in doto. ie plot points & new characters #because none of them really pass the fandom test to me. i just dont see anyone obsessed with things from that game #and i could write an entire separate essay about cults in videogames & morality #i want billie's choices & life to have felt like it has meaning and made a difference #and i wanted the game to feel like it was more about billie even if its also about power & the fate of the world #and though i dont love where they went with the outsider & daud in the game. i do love having really high stakes

[kyshiwarrior]

has anyone brought up how great it was for them to change hahn??? i didnt have that on my list of things i needed necessarily but it was so refreshing and touching. i loved the lack of miscommunication and love triangle tropes because you actually dont need them for a good story or root for characters. but the fact that they changed him to not be an ignorant jerk to someone i could actually see getting approval as a leader. hes honorable through and through. it made his ending tragic, as it should be in cases of young people joining a war because they had no choice. i went from being like ‘oop thats what you get’ to leading into such devastation that added to the northern water tribe tragedy. i loved that change.

#hahn #northern water tribe #atla liveaction spoilers #atla liveaction #atla #avatar #i saw someone emphasize it elevated sokka as a leader by his knowledge #love the lack of toxic masculinity where he was OPEN MINDED and could ask for help #and sokka still came out on top #friendship over rivalry in high stakes is the way

[vaguely-concerned]

I feel like there's got to be a hairdresser somewhere on ds9 and they are constantly having the weirdest time anyone's ever had

#maybe except for o'brien he is the weird times king #star trek #star trek ds9 #ds9 #brought to you by my thinking about cardassian men seemingly having one (1) haircut available to them #and spinning out wildly from there #I love thinking about hairdressers in sci-fi universes. not because I am interested in hairdressing in any way (I am not) #but because it's the perfect blend of the magical and the mundane #the stakes may be high and the stark coldness of space between stars vast but somewhere out there in the universe #someone is getting an inadvisable haircut they have to live with for a while. and I think that is beautiful

[volstruckerz]

had a little thought about the implication that lucy and kipperlily were close but in the end, lucy refused to give up worshiping ruvina even just for kipperlily's sake vs. how fig became cassandra's paladin because "kristen needed a little help" and about the president and her security detail and "kipperlily was especially fond of lucy." i just...they are so similar but so tragically different

#i also know that following ankarna is SO different to cassandra #and the stakes for fig weren't the same (part of that tragic different between both parties imo) #but something something would u choose to worship a deity for the sake of those you care about? #is your faith in the divine or those you love? who are you believing in? #fsjy spoilers #fantasy high junior year spoilera #fantasy high junior year #fantasy high

[gideonisms]

one thing about the tma & tmp writers is I know they understand having a job where the social vibes are incredibly strange. I appreciate their commitment to depicting work environments that are so unnecessarily stressful where everyone is trying to backstab everyone and form alliances but meanwhile it's just filing items on a computer. The petty drama feels very true to life

#i never get tired of workplace horror. give those people silly jobs #idk if anything can top the jon/tim unhinged combo of petty coworker drama with genuine hurt and pathos and tragedy but it's a fun start #don't get me wrong i love canon jonmartin but i just feel like the aspects of it i like are not really the aspects i see discussed most #jon really sent martin to his possible death because he annoyed him in s1. and i just think that's fun #then in s4 when the pining was REVERSED #s5 when martin weaponized jon's love for him to get his way in the most high stakes couple's argument of all time. chef kiss #they should have been more toxic i would have eaten that up #anyway. tmagp horrible coworkers sweep

[pastelpaperplanes]

alternate cover for the ✨Ultimate Cheesey Romance✨ now let’s throw in the Ultimate Agonizing Torment >:]

is this the climax of their quest? maybe a guilty confession? a stalemate? who really YIELDED?? who knows

no text version under the cut!

#thorns and thrones au #my art #transformers #for all the goofiness and romanticism of this AU I have to remind myself that the stakes of the quest are. SO HIGH #and op is traveling with the arch nemesis of his people :’ deceit throughout the whole trip #for survival or the sick game of it all…or for protection and LOVE he doesntKNOWWW all Op will feel in that reveal is HURT #I live for the dramatics can you tell lol #megop #maccadam #transformers animated #tfa optimus prime #Optimus prime #tfa megatron #megatron #tfa megop

[starredforlife]

i'm assigning my followers animation homework u have to study these two battle scenes and tell me why they're both so goddamned effective. i could tell u all the answers myself. but i want ur answers

#i had the entire script of the second movie memorized guys when i say i like kfp i fucking mean it #i know the music beat for beat i could probably hum it along to every note #the sound design in both of these....immaculate #BUT THE STORYBOARDING. GOD THE FUCKING STORYBOARDING. #jennifer yuh nelson i love you forever #watching the 4th movie i was SO disappointed in the storyboarding #it was completely uncinematic!!!! and compared to the final fights in both movies the second movies and even the 3rd #the stage was so limited and not played with #it never felt grand and it never felt like the stakes were high enough #like it sucked so much ass AUGHHHGHHGHGH AND IT DIDNT HAVE TO #also the character animation???? also just not great???? #like i LOVE how they did tai lung and tigress in the bridge scene ok #you have all the character motivation behind the way they hold and express themselves #and in the gongmen fight. po is just so SO well animated in all his idiosyncrasies #and the way he gets intense. and the way shen panics. and the boss wolf's turn. SO WELL DONE. #this is my fucking white whale guys this is it #videos #kfp #Youtube

[kmartmithril]

I keep trying to put into words how much I’m enjoying Mentopolis but I keep coming up empty handed. I could have easily watched through the whole season yesterday, thoroughly invested in what’s happening there. The PCs are doing such a great job playing off each other, Brennan is such a great GM, I love the noir Osmosis Jones vibes. Definitely not making the brain rethink itself -

#mentopolis #I love how it doesn’t take itself too #serious y’know? #the stakes are high but the vibe is chill #seeing Hank green at the table is great I hope he comes #back for another season in the future. get the man on make some noise #that would be fun

[drawsmaddy]

[ID: A page of digital illustrations of Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth from Ace Attorney. All the drawings are sketchy and roughly coloured. On the left Phoenix looks to the right with a sceptical expression and a thought bubble next to him reads "what in the shit..." In the middle of the page small doodles of Edgeworth and Phoenix are facing each other, Edgeworth says "That autopsy report is out of date!" and Phoenix looks at him with a tired expression. An arrow points from the small doodle of Phoenix to a larger drawing of him with the same tired and irritated expression. A thought bubble next to him reads "murder is okay, actually". On the right Edgeworth smiles, looking smug. Text above him reads "smug bitch who I hate". In the lower left and right hand corners of the page "Hold it!" and "Objection!" are written, imitating the font from the game. End description.]

So I'm playing the silly lawyer game for the first time

#ace attorney #phoenix wright #miles edgeworth #my art #i know with time i'll come to love edgeworth because that seems to have happened to everyone else to ever play these games #but right now i wanna fist fight him #also i didn't realise how young phoenix wright was until i started playing the game #my poor guy's barely out of law school and yet he keeps having to take on incredibly convoluted and high stakes cases