#Anyway... genuinely I actually love this screenshot so much

[murmuringbug]

hes in the window <3

#So cutesie #I love this screenshot so much #Also completely un related but i think I spend to much time in the ghostie chat kkkk #My brain keeps wanting to use emotes XD #Nothing conveys a feeling like bbhaloSkeppyjrsad #Kkkk #Anyway... genuinely I actually love this screenshot so much #I just like it :3 #Badboyhalo

[zyk1ng]

I was gonna make this post way way earlier but I forgot lol but Uhm

I have played through the splatoon 2 story fully and am replaying it (for a future post bc a lot of the dialogue is rlly funny) and honestly while I absolutely loved it it makes me even sadder that splat 2’s story mode was kinda tossed aside (for valid reasons ofc) because it’s so Cool.

Excluding the gameplay, I think they did marie so well, because she sells the desperation of someone who’s got nobody she knows by her side. While she of course keeps the sassy attitude of sneak dissing her best friends (agent 3) and also telekinetically telling you to fuck off if you talk to her too much it’s very clear she genuinely cares so much about agent 4 and is so grateful they’re doing what they do.

these are only two screenshots of 8(?) of Marie randomly being really sentimental to 4 because this stranger chose to help her in her time of need rather than just ignore this GROWN WOMAN hanging out on a sewer drain

It’s like heavily emphasized multiple times that Marie could not be more grateful for 4’s help in retrieving not just the zapfish but also her cousin.

But then revealing that 4 knew about Callie the WHOLE TIME (I have a lot to say about this part but it’s mostly hc so) which is so KIND OF THEM???? this random woman recruits them into a secret military agency and hides the fact she rlly misses her cousin but they help anyway bc they WANT TO. (They didn’t even know either of them were famous btw) Marie shows a lot of gratitude toward 4 ESPECIALLY after the big reveal.

(You could make arguments for 3 being similar bc an old kook made them do it but this isn’t about them..)

And it’s not just being grateful for the one time, she genuinely enjoys 4’s company and wants to be better friends with them and chat after the zapfish and Callie are saved 😭😭😭

It’s so cute too, because 100%ing the game and even just being a little nosy is something that Marie picks up on, and remembers way later in the game. (More abt this later)

god I love this socially inept squid woman and her adopted child soldier that likes finding pieces of paper

Speaking of said soldier! I think the way they characterized 4 via the actual gameplay rather than art/statements/whatever is so cool

4 doesn’t have many illustrations besides the chaos splatfest and that one group photo where they’re being funky in the corner (and the apartment) but I feel like the reason for that is the fact that a lot of Marie’s dialogue as well as how splatoon 2’s hero mode is structured/designed speaks a lot about how they wanted to represent 4.

From a realistic standpoint, of course splatoon 2’s story mode has to be more creative both prompt wise and secret wise. But it feels like the reason its that way is because both 4 and Marie are separate types of people from Craig and 3.

The bosses help a lot with this too, being more gimmicky and weird (subtracting stamp.) Octo shower and samurai being bosses where you have to either react well or change your positioning to effectively beat them. (Octo shower is my fave btw I loved fighting it the first time)

The level design also shines in this aspect because if I’m honest I remember none of the splat 1 levels significantly besides the few octoling ones. Splatoon 2’s levels are very detailed (and also insanely pretty) and have some rlly fun puzzles in a handful of them and even the more fast ones are a blast to play through

And then all the little extras (sardiniums and scrolls alike) are hidden so well and you usually have to go out of your way to find them and even the secrets that aren’t either of those things have substance

Small note, a lot of extras are also made so that it flows well with the levels design (like the first dualie request mission) which is also extremely fucking cool.

the way marie touches on those little discoveries is so smart too because it (as I said before) characterizes 4 as someone who loves to look for things even if it’s on a whim especially since the sunken scrolls in the game are so much harder to find than in splat1.

And the fact that unlike splat 1, you can (technically) 800% the game by playing EVERY SINGLE LEVEL WITH EVER SINGLE WEAPON TYPE. to me it feels like it deepens the fact that 4 likes to be really thorough. marie goes “you have a problem.” When you break like two hidden egg crates in this one level and it’s so great.

I love what they’ve done with 4, whether it was intentional or I’m over-analytical.

Nothing gets past them, looking in every nook and cranny whether or not there’s secrets to be found. They’re too nosy and thorough and they like to be around marie after completing missions, they don’t know who the squid sisters are, hate balloons, may or may not be ok, have impulsive secret finding, partake in many extracurriculars, can be needy at times, go with the flow and they apparently smell better than agent 3.

Agent four, of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

#agent 4 #splatoon #splatoon 2 #marie splatoon #marie cuttlefish

[ot3]

Hi, I just finished the AA trilogy with my bf and we fell in love with it! I found your blog the other day, and it sometimes feels like you're the only one giving correct takes on these characters' writing and the minutiae of everyone's inner worlds (or the fumbling of, see Godot).

I just got here, but, something that's been bothering me about the fandom's approach to the sequel trilogy is like... the imperialist undertones are glossed over, or swept under the rug. Researching "The Dark Age of the Law" and beyond puts a sour taste in my mouth. And with Khura'in the country vs Kurain the village? It all feels racist at best (the concept of the Divination Seance gives me squick). If you have the time, I'd love to hear your thoughts about AA5 and AA6 in relation to the world of AA as a whole. Thanks again for all of your thoughtful and nuanced takes on this series!

so glad to hear you guys liked the games!! thank you for enjoying my posts, i always appreciate it.

the tl;dr of it is that i do think they are genuinely bad enough additions to the franchise that they have signed mainline ace attorney's death warrant. picking out the dark age of the law stuff and aa5 and the imperialism in aa6 you've pretty much honed right in on my two biggest critiques

however i do want to say that although they're being bundled and sold as a 'second trilogy' that's not quite accurate either experientially when playing the games or from a development perspective. aa4 had scenario design/creative direction by series creator shu takumi, with the art director being kazuya nuri (responsible for character design for rise from the ashes in the series previous to this); aa5+6 was spearheaded by takeshi yamazaki, who had been with the franchise since its first game, with the slightly less tenured takuro fuse on art direction/character design. yamazaki and fuse are not without skill, but i think they're both significantly less skilled than takumi and nuri respectively and. it really shows.

pair that with the fact that aa5 and 6 fundamentally do not follow up on any of ace attorney 4's established characters or plots more than superficially, i don't think it's particularly useful to critique 4-5-6 as if they're a single body of work in the same way the trilogy is. apollo justice isn't a perfect* ace attorney game but it's a good one.

anyway i think buying into the 'dark age of the law' stuff in ace attorney 5 necessitates cheapening all of the events preceding it. the implication that 1. the law wasn't that bad before but it Is Now and 2. a single case was the tipping point for whether or not the entire legal system would be bad just ruins the times when ace attorney has managed to acknowledge corrupt systems as a massive source of problem for the everyman in the past

i think this screenshot from the dark age of the law wiki page says a lot:

For starters, that phoenix quote. He would not fucking say that. I don't think there has ever been a point during or leading up to phoenix's career where he thought the legal system had 'glory' he would then want to restore it to. you seem to get it so im not gonna harp on this too much on this but. jesus christ

then, then there's fact that even by stating the most basic details about the franchise's events undermines the whole premise. like okay notice that the corruption that happens during the trilogy/investigations spinoffs is coming from all of the actual agencies that represent law and order/the system: the prosecutors, the police, and the prosecutorial investigation committee. however in aa5 the thing they choose to paint as responsible for supposedly unprecedented levels of corruption in the legal system is defense attorneys resorting to more drastic means, and the general public; aka not the people who are responsible for upholding the legal system but the people who are victimized by it and in opposition to it.

i don't think this was an intentional choice as much as it's just sloppy, inconsiderate, and contrived writing.

aa6 is just flat out racist. 'imperalist undertones' is i would say the gentlest way you could phrase it. like. japanese characters going to a made up south asian country that needs to be taught how to govern itself to quash its internal rebellion is like. so high on the yikes meter.

making a bunch of fake 'ethnic sounding' nonsense names filled with apostrophes to make them into silly sounding english phrasing was a disastrously tone deaf thing for the localization to do. they're really unforgivable. the worst of it all is probably "Inga Karkhuul Haw'kohd Dis'nahm Bi'ahni Lawga Ormo Pohmpus Da'nit Ar'edi Iz Khura'in III" i'm unsure if the names are quite as offensive in the original japanese because i haven't looked too much into what they actually are and have a really limited knowledge of the language. but. this name in japanese is "インガ・カルクール・ククルーラ・ラルバン・ギジール・ホフダラン・マダラ・ヴィラ・ヤシマ・ジャクティエール・クライン３世" which is written in katakana. katakana is, in contrast to kanji and hiragana which are used for writing japanese, used to phoenetically transcribe foreign languages or to write loan words. so the foreign-ness of this character is being emphasized here in the original text as well.

the supposed cultural inferiority of the khurainese people is baked into the game at pretty much every level, down to the gags. khura'in has the 'plumed punisher' show, which is actively criticized by the characters in game for just being a cheap ripoff of the steel samurai. they don't even get to have their own tv.

i believe the reason the racism is pretty much glossed over a lot in the fandom is for several reasons. for starters, ace attorney fans overall tend to fall into three camps: 1. people like me who fucking hate these games, refuse to acknowledge them, and would retcon them out of existence if possible. 2. people who have found things they like about the game and have a Good Version of the characters and plots that they have constructed in their head and 3. people who view all of the hate on these games as completely overblown

the first camp Does talk about how the game is racist but we're all already in agreement about that so it's kind of preaching to the choir and a bit redundant to keep going on about. the second camp tends to acknowledge the stickier aspects of the game but focuses on making content around the elements they like rather than critique. the third camp is the type to throw the baby out with the bathwater re: critiquing a thing they like. it's all haterism to them. but either way i think its kind of fucked up how many people will be like 'aa6 isnt that bad you guys are just mean' without even acknowledging these complaints.

anyway the khura'in country vs kurain village thing is really weird to me it shows both a lack of imagination and a disregard for the series' own established lore. why would a girl from a village where almost everyone is a spirit medium need to go to a place where only, like, two people are mediums to train.

i will say though that the divination seance is kind of one of the only things i found about aa6 to be an interesting addition. for a franchise with ghost summoning and murder solving, the two have a kind of hilariously low amount of overlap so i found the idea of bringing ghost bullshit into court really fun. mechanically speaking, the divination seances also felt a LOT better to play than the mood matrix segments of aa5.

in general, i think the biggest weakness of the mainline franchise under takeshi yamazaki's stewardship is its misunderstanding of stakes. both aa5 and 6 prioritize more bombastic and impressive on paper material stakes. oh no! the ENTIRE JUSTICE SYSTEM BEING GOOD OR BAD depends on this one case! on no! we have to DEAL WITH REBEL INSURGENTS! complete horseshit when there is not competent and functional enough character writing to get us emotionally invested here. yamazaki seems to think bigger is better, and that just simply isnt true for something like ace attorney

i've pointed this out in the past when critiquing aa5 and 6 but if you look at the actual material stakes on the line in ace attorney, they're at their highest after rise from the ashes. ousting the corrupt chief of police is the most impressive and impactful thing phoenix does with his career (arguably until the jurist system, but definitely in the trilogy.) but that's not the big Finale case for his character arc. his finale case is defending his college girlfriend; a nun who lives in the mountains, whose conviction would have had zero implications on the larger fabric of ace attorney's legal system. because takumi's writing clearly shows that he understands what makes a plot impactful is the emotional stakes the characters have invested in the events.

before taking over the main franchise, takeshi yamazaki was responsible for the miles edgeworth investigations spinoffs. i do enjoy both of those games - aai2 in particular is really strong. yamazaki does a great job with edgeworth's character arc even if i have some specific gripes with the duologys writing. i think theyre solid additions to the franchise. but you can see traces of this sort of misalignment in narrative priorities here as well. for example, the last case in aai1 is notorious for still going on for, like, an entire hour or two past the time when the last remaining plot point we care about has been revealed. because yamazaki seemingly had no understanding that That was the thing the case should have been about, and that should have been the final mic drop of the game. it just keeps going! he didn't know the game was done and he added a bunch more bullshit busywork after it that no one likes!

so yeah. without going into anything even as specific as how individual plotlines or character arcs were mishandled in aa5/6 that's really my overview What Went Wrong of those games.

#i genuinely might need to put my opinion on aa5 and 6 in my faq at this point #not because i mind getting a chance to talk about how much i hate these games. but just for due diligence #ace attorney #*there are two perfect ace attorney games: aa1 and plvspwaa #this got so long im so so sorry. #i think ill just hotlink this post in my faq because it hits most of my talking points about these games

[josephquinnswhore]

Hi 🌸

What about a fic where reader is walking with Pedro and they are at the airport but they get swarmed with paparazzi. Everyone wants to talk with Pedro so the reader falls and the paparazzi start to push her around and he freaks out trying to find her 😩☺️

Breaking Point

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x female reader.

Summary: pedro looses his shit after you get hurt from paparazzi.

Word Count: 2k

Content Warning: paparazzi being assholes, reader gets hurt, slight panic attack, Pedro losing his shit.

Note: I FUCKING LOVE YOU ANON. TRULY. Anyway I’m gunna source Pedro’s rage from that video of him at the airport where he’s frustrated but make it 100 times worse lol. I cant believe people are actually requesting my fics, I love you guys.

It’s no secret that Pedro spends a lot of time in LA when he’s not at home in New York, snaps of him plastered on the internet for the world to see; exposing his location within the day of him arriving. Privacy wasn’t a luxury you could afford, especially after his upcoming fame after his role as Joel Miller in the last of us, paparazzi just seemed to be everywhere you went, no matter if you were ordering a coffee, driving to a family members house or even going to the gym. Pedro was often apologetic about the lack of privacy and how intrusive the paparazzi could be, your life has changed drastically since being with Pedro. It was hard to acclimate to, being followed and having hundreds of photos of your face and personal life plastered on the internet and magazines worldwide. You had put your big girl pants on and learnt to deal with it, Pedro admired your resilience, even though the paparazzi were moderately tame up until today.

Today was one of those instances where you and Pedro were on your way to LA, a frequency that had become a fortnightly occurrence, the airport was nearly empty, a few people floating around, you try not to draw to much attention to yourselves regardless as you pull your luggage behind you, the few people that occupied the airport seemingly recognising Pedro despite the cap and sunglasses in an attempt to hide his face. He never minded the fans approaching him, in fact he loved it, as long as they were polite he would entertain them, what he didn’t need however was for someone to post online that he was in the airport, much against your luck that’s what happened when a particular fan approaches the both of you.

“Oh my god Pedro! Could we get a photo please, I’m such a huge fan!” A young girl asks him, his attempt of a disguise obviously failed, Pedro offers a polite smile, “yeah of course, thank you for your support.” You step to the side while she takes a selfie, not wanting to intrude on her moment, “I can totally take a picture for you if you like?” You offer kindly. The girl smiles and is trembling as she hands you her phone, you snap a picture of them together, Pedro wearing a genuine smile, his tired pose captured in the image on the girls iPhone.

You hand the iPhone back to her and she thanks you both, speed walking back to her friend that had been left by the seating area, showing her phone and seemingly posting it to the internet. Within minutes your phone is buzzing from a text notification, Lux sending you a screenshot of the post on Twitter from the girl, in her excited high she exposed your location to the world; worse off the paparazzi. You try to prepare yourself for the shit storm bound to happen.

“This isn’t good.” You mumble to yourself, a loud sigh leaves your lips that catches Pedro’s attention. “What’s wrong honey?” You simply turn your phone to him, he squints through his sunglasses and exhales loudly. “This is going to turn to shit.” He looks around the airport as you walk toward where you’ll be boarding your plane, about to stick your luggage on the belt carousel when you hear shouting and clamouring heading in your direction, that didn’t take long. Pedro turns your body away from the audience as to give you some privacy from the invasive images being snapped of you. He wished just once that the way he touched you would be kept private, he gentle hand on your back, his lips on your temple, nothing seemed sacred between you and Pedro despised it.

“Pedro, Pedro! Look here!”

“Please here look! Just one picture.”

“Someone move the girl out of the way.”

The paparazzi were screaming over each other, pushing and shoving their way closer to you with every second. Their desperation to get a new picture of Pedro outweighed any morals they had, if they had any at all. You struggle to make out their sentences and demands as they rush you, pushing you a few steps back, separating you from Pedro as they surround him in a half circle as they scream at him, each trying to gain his attention for their news report.

You begin to panic once you’re separated, never having death with paparazzi that act like this before, the noise and clamouring becomes too much to handle, it’s easy to become overstimulated when the screaming overlaps each other and the noise becomes havoc, you try to squeeze between the gaps to get back to Pedro, reaching out to him as you try to get his attention, to no avail. Pedro is polite in the way he’s shielding his eyes from the blinding flash as he calls your name, asking them to move out of the way so he can find you, unable to see you past the swarm of strangers. “Pedro!” You call out, voice breathless and strained as you panic, you’d never been around paparazzi like this before. “Please move out of the way so we can get on with our day.” Pedro pleas.

One man shoved past you harshly, seeing the gap you occupied in order to get the perfect picture of Pedro once he had taken his sunglasses off. You trip backwards at the force of his shoulder barging you, stumbling over your luggage that’s pulled tightly behind your legs and as if in slow motion, it takes a few seconds to register the pain in your head as it smacks into the floor as you fall onto the cold tile.

“Baby! Oh my god look at what you people have done! Move out of my way!” Pedro tries to shove his way past in an effort to get to you, seeing you being brutally shoved to the ground, groaning in pain set a fire inside of him.

You grunt in pain as you cradle your head, the area hot to the touch where it met the cold floor, the throbbing spreads to your ears leaving a ringing noise to squeal through them. “Oh fuck,” you mutter which comes out slurred, your own voice sounds unrecognisable, unable to stop the room as it spins around you, the dizziness sets a nausea in you that climbs from your stomach to your throat.

“What the fuck is wrong with you people, have you got no dignity or respect?” Pedro snaps as he rushes towards you, seeing your face paler than normal and the pained look on your face as it scrunches. He kneels above you, your eyes seeing doubles as he comes into view. “Baby, are you okay?” His hand is cradling your head and one is waving in front of your eyes, you blink slowly, trying to gain a clearer view of your surroundings.

Pedro slowly helps you sit up, leaning against your luggage as the clicks of the camera are still shuddering throughout the ordeal, not caring that they’ve physically hurt you. Pedro’s face is red and a large vein in his neck and forehead begin bulging in his rage. “You fucking cockroaches, you did this to her. You can expect to hear from my lawyer for this stunt. Get that camera the fuck away from me.” Some of the men flinched, never seeing this side of Pedro. It was a first for you too; the indescribable rage he’d shown was a direct result of your injury at the hands of these people. The clicking and flashes of the camera finally stopped, your vertigo stops to a standstill and you’re brought back to your senses. “We’re sorry man, we just wanted some new pictures. I got a family to support you know.” The man who pushed you excused himself, the irritated tone didn’t go unnoticed, Pedro scoffs, “go and get a real fucking job. All you do is harass people it’s pathetic. Now get the fuck away from us before I call the police. You’re lucky I don’t beat your ass for this.”

“I’m sorry man, I can’t afford a lawsuit.” The man stutters as he realises Pedro is dead serious in his threat. Pedro helps you stand and you wobble on your feet, his arms hold you upright as he leads you away from the crowd. “I don’t give a fuck if you can afford it or not you spineless prick.”

“Come on baby, you need to get your head checked out.” The paparazzi that lingered snapped a few more shots of Pedro leading you to the front desk as they’re escorted out by security.

You’re sat down on a small chair, an EMT approaches you, kneeling down so you can see him.

“Hey, how’re you feeling? Heard you had a bit of a fall.” He starts, opening his medical pack as he observes you. “A fall? She was shoved by those heathens.”

“Its okay.” You turn to assure Pedro, but it was totally not fine, he just shakes his head at the way you’re still trying to make this out to be no big deal. “I think I’ll live. I still feel a little dizzy though.” The EMT takes out a torch, you blink harshly a few times as it blinds you, you try to adjust to the bright LED light. “Just follow this light for me. That’s it, now look up.” Your eyes follow the light lazily, seeing Pedro with a concerned expression on his face out of the corner of your eye, made you feel guilty for ruining his whole day.

“Your reaction is a bit sluggish. Just going to check your head now okay? Where does it hurt?” You nod and point to the area at the back of your head slightly to the left and wince as his gloved hands part your hair where the giant egg on your head was. Pedro’s hand sits on your knee, rubbing it to reassure and offer some support to you. The man gently prods the sore spot and you tense, holding your breath, a headache coming on at the sudden contact with the sore spot.

“It’s very possible you’ve got a concussion. I’d advise not getting on a flight until you’ve been cleared. It may take a few days.”

You sigh, “thank you for looking over me.”

“It’s no problem at all, look after yourselves,” the man farewells as he walks away. Your hands are aggressively rubbing your hands over your face in annoyance, you’ve just delayed Pedro’s flight and now you would have to stay home while he flies to LA for his interview.

“I’ll call a cab to get home, you should still go to LA. You can call me tonight once you land.” You offer weakly and Pedro frowns deeper, the stress lines on his face making him age a few years by the whole ordeal. “You’re out of your mind if you think I’m leaving you here after that, concussion or not. I’m staying with you honey.”

Before you can protest Pedro hushes you, pressing a kiss to your forehead, “I can rebook the flight and reschedule the interview for next week. I need to be here to make sure you’re okay. Don’t ask me to leave without you.”

“Okay.” You accept which helps Pedro relax, his face red from where the stress lines had been a semi permanent fixture on his face. “Let’s get you home baby. Gotta make sure my girl is looked after.”

Pedro calls a cab outside the airport and helps you into the car, the taxi driver loads your luggage for you. “They’re going to point the narrative about you being awful. You know that right?” You look up at him through your lashes, Pedro scoffs, “let them, they can get fucked.”

He tucks your hair behind your ears and slips his fingers in between yours to hold your hand, a sincere look in his eyes, “no one fucks with my girl and gets away with it.”

#pedropascal #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x from reader #pedro pascal rpf #pedro pascal request #pedro pascal comfort #pedro pascal boyfriend

[avoicebehindthestars]

What's in his mouth?

Okay, so to be honest, I've been pretty grossed out with the recent theory that Crowley used the kiss to pass something into Aziraphale's mouth. Firstly, because it's eww for me, but that's just me. And secondly (and more importantly), because it reduces that fabulously heart-rendering scene to prestidigitation. And I hate that. If in s3 it really turns out that there was an ulterior motive in that kiss, I'm going to be extremely disappointed. Motivations we don't fully understand - yes. But not a trick, or a pretext for something entirely different.

Anyway!

Recently I finally upgraded to a 4K screen and decided to give the kiss a careful rewatch. And what I discovered...

Here, Aziraphale's mouth's open wider for the "I lo-". Nothing other than saliva shining on his tongue...

I get that many people still wish the kiss wasn't what it actually was. We've all been over the coffee theory, the body-swap theory, the time-stop theory, etc. And I realise that until we get s3 all theories are valid. But I'm also convinced at this point that most such theories are denial and bargaining - and when you think about it, it's amazing that the Final Fifteen has affected us so much that we actually go through the literal stages of grief over it.

The infamous "bullet thingie" visible. Unfortunately, I don't know how to make gifs, but between the previous and this screenshot there is no mouth movement that would in anyway point to Aziraphale moving anything around in his mouth (let alone allow MS to do so). His lips open and close, but never go to the side and neither does his tongue reach forward to gather something he might be hiding between his lower lip and his teeth. What you see here, ladies, gentlemen and non-binaries... is a perfectly innocent bubble of saliva!

It took me time to come to terms with the fact that the Final Fifteen was most likely exactly what we all saw it to be - proof of desperate and genuine love that cannot yet be.

(It has been put to my attention that in the initial version of this post, I have expressed myself rudely. I have since edited the post.)

#good omens #ineffable husbands #good omens 2 #ineffable divorce #good omens meta #aziraphale #ineffable fandom

[ghoste-catte]

I'm on my hands and knees asking you about your favorite gaalee moments (spin offs count bc why wouldn't they)

Anon ... I'm sorry I took a while to answer this for you, but it's because you activated my trap card. But without further ado ... here are my top 10 GaaLee moments.

(My 10th pick and rationale beneath the cut)

The Drop Kick So, I feel like we don't talk about this kick often enough. Because this is actually the first time anyone draws blood on Gaara (we see the scratch on his face once his head pops back up). As much time as was given in canon to Gaara's reaction to Sasuke drawing his blood, I don't really understand why Lee being the first to cut him wasn't as big a deal.

The Primary Lotus This is ... probably the first time Gaara's been touched hand-to-body in years. I've written a few times (and shout out to @egregiousderp for their hand in this headcanon) about how this was probably the first approximation of a hug that Gaara had since Yashamaru. He replaces himself with a sand clone halfway down, but for the initial drop, that's just Lee holding him.

The Rescue I wasn't able to find my favorite screenshot from this moment, which is the one where Gaara's sand is rushing to save Lee and it kind of looks like a heart, but anyway, I just love this pivot. The fact that Gaara uses the very weapon he used to crush Lee's dreams to save him. The way Lee still tries to be an equal partner in this fight despite his injuries. The "I don't hold a grudge!"

The Talk This moment means a lot to me. It's a deep conversation to have, and it's one that happens on two levels that I think aren't fully addressed by the narrative. Of course, on the surface, they're talking about Kimimaro and Orochimaru, but the subtext goes something like: Gaara: Even if people love me, I'm still a monster. All they would need to do is be desperate and lonely enough, and I might seem like a good choice. Lee: The fact that people love you proves you're not a monster! Obviously Gaara gets the final word in this conversation, but I do like to think it sinks in later on and influences their relationship in the future.

The Walk Home I hate that we only get to see this in flashbacks in filler episodes (although we do get to see it twice from two different perspectives!)

But I love this moment because of the way that Gaara chooses to carry Lee: he slings him over his shoulder with one arm. If you go back and watch Gaara and his siblings returning to Suna after his fight with Naruto, that's exactly the way first Kankuro, and then Temari, carry him when he's wounded.

This moment is during that time where Gaara's still learning how to be a person and not a weapon, and the fact that he chooses to carry Lee with such care … it feels relationship-defining.

6. The Eighth Gate That flashback that Gaara has to Gai and Lee's relationship shows that he's really internalized the defining impact Lee had on his life. The genuine care and concern that he looks at Lee with in that moment despite Lee's stubborn insistence that he won't be sad makes my heart ache for the both of them.

7. The Retreat If you've ever read one of my fics that's set during the war and notice that I mention Gaara carrying Lee around on his sand, this is what I'm talking about. I love that Lee sees the sand as an unequivocal source of safety instead of threat at this point (to the point of entrusting it to carry Gai-sensei in his frail state). And I love that this seems to be Gaara's default way of pulling Lee out of danger ... it's at least the second time he's done it, after all:

8. Gaara-kun! This was one of The Moments for me. We as a ship had been speculating so long about the degree of intimacy of Lee and Gaara's relationship. We'd spent, I think, a decade at this point writing fics where Lee called Gaara "Kazekage-sama". Then the Perfect Day for a Wedding arc dropped, and here's Lee calling Gaara "Gaara-kun" just like he does the rest of his friends ... wind was blown into the ship's sails on this day.

9. The Double Date Gaara and Lee go on a double date with Tenten and Kankuro to Ichiraku Ramen. This is canon. 'Nuff said.

And now, for number 10 ... drumroll please ...

10. The ILY I know, I know - those handsigns don't mean the same in JSL as they do in ASL. But my little hard-of-hearing heart can't help but see Lee shooting double "I love you"s at Gaara in this moment. And even if he's not, the starry eyes and blushy cheeks say it all. This is flirting, y'all.

#answered #Anonymous #naruto #gaalee

[larkspurglove]

Messy spoiler heavy Aventurine appreciation post

I am so so so so so so so in love with him it’s unreal. Anyway.

I am SOOOOO happy he’s got a present and active role in the story so far. I’m used to my favs in Hoyo games not showing up a lot because they’re either ‘side characters’ who’s lives are usually expanded upon in limited time events or they have a Deep Dark Secret Past and as such they don’t get screentime because their past is Too Much. Can you tell the deep dark secret past is about Luocha and Jingliu ANYWAY

Even if he’s a bit of a bastard, I genuinely enjoy his personality. I find it funny that he’s a gambler yet supposedly doesn’t put himself in situations where he could end up with the short end of the stick. It’s contradictory and stupid to believe you’re above bad luck but I love him anyway. He’s smug and clearly has an eye for charming his way into favour.

Not to mention he’s smart and in a way his gambler persona plays into how he acts. He keeps his proverbial cards close to his chest, and doesn’t let on what he doesn’t want others to know, only stepping into the fray when he knows (or believes) he can’t lose. Penacony as a whole seems to have heavy themes about deception but that’s besides the point.

The whole talk about his past is interesting too, from the tattoo that appears to be an actual word (and possibly a way of the IPC branding him?!), the implication his home planet is full of ‘wolves in sheeps’ clothing’ like how Kafka is from a planet where its residents physically cannot feel fear, him being an orphan??? and the implied debt he has towards the IPC. I know deep down below his smug exterior there is a sad traumatised man.

His dynamics with the other characters is entertaining too. From his underlying distaste for the more diplomatic characters (Himeko, Sunday), the passive aggressive banter with Sparkle and Ratio (although Ratio is just straight up condescending at times) and the way he’s very clearly trying to manipulate the trailblazer onto his side.

As a final note, he’s actually short compared to a good majority of the male cast. The hat adds a decent amount of height I did have a photo of him next to Luocha for a better reference but I forgot to save it, so take this Ratio screenshot instead.

#if this is hard to read sorry #I’m writing this late at night #and I can barely form coherent thoughts about my favourite characters normally #hsr aventurine #aventurine hsr #aventurine #honkai star rail #hsr #penacony spoilers #honkai star rail spoilers #hsr spoilers #lark rambles

[ace-reviews]

WINTER 2024 ANIME RECOMMENDATIONS

I counted and there are 8.5 blonde ladies in either a lead or primary love interest role this season (8 if you count the one whose hair is sometimes black as half of one). Do what you will with this information. I only share it because it’s something that was ticking me off that I noticed.

Anyway, we’re trying out a new format this season: Instead of only recommending anime we’re not familiar with, we’re each picking one we are familiar with and one we went into completely blind.

ACE’S RECOMMENDATION #1: MR. VILLAIN’S DAY OFF

After the deluge of isekai that try to teach the importance of having a healthy work-life balance by having the lack of one kill off it’s main character in the first five minutes of the episode, it’s really nice to have something that teaches the same lesson by choosing to model what one looks like rather than killing anybody. It’s also got a lot of pandas in it, which is always nice.

ACE’S RECOMMENDATION #2: SENGOKU YOUKO

Satoshi Mizukami seemingly can’t catch a break with anime adaptations of his manga: Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer sucked and this one is being seriously overshadowed by all the other really good and/or long-looked-forward-to adaptations this season. (Planet With was an anime first so it escaped the curse.)

Anyway, please watch this and have your friends watch this and buy the Blu–Rays and have your friends buy the Blu-Rays so my dream of a (good!!!) Spirit Circle anime can someday come true.

---

CHARLIE’S RECOMMENDATION #1: SOLO LEVELING

(for the sake of our more sensitive readers, actual screenshots of the anime cannot be shown at this time)

If you like Cheat System anime, and don’t mind “a bit” of graphic violence (read: so much. There’s just so much violence.) , give this a shot. It’s based on one of the Korean manhua that made the genre what it is today, and as far as I’m concerned, they’ve done a good job being faithful to their source so far - they didn’t even give them Japanese names, you guys.

CHARLIE’S RECOMMENDATION #2: A SIGN OF AFFECTION

(adorable)

It’s cute, and disability rep is always a bonus. I like how they animated the sign language, which seems fairly realistic to me, someone who speaks no sign languages.

---

FEN’S RECOMMENDATION #1: LOOKING UP TO MAGICAL GIRLS

This is a series I’ve been following since there were only five chapters out in the manga, so I would like to preface this recommendation by saying I’m the only one who’s actually right about it. I’m a veteran, a true soul who’s stuck with it for the past x years since it first released, and as such everything I say about it is valid and correct and anything people who aren’t as familiar with it says is complete horseshit pulled out of their ass. This is a factual statement.

Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete, which has been translated for the manga as “Looking up to Magical Girls” (correct) and by vile HIDIVE as “Gushing Over Magical Girls” (bad and wrong) is a trashy, over-indulgent yuri series for weird perverts that is good, actually, (genuinely), and if the adaptation manages to capture Onanaka Akihiko’s remarkably deft hand in weaving the series’ fetish gags with the story’s genuine moments of pathos and surprising character depth then the anime will also be good, actually.

Dude trust me.

FEN’S RECOMMENDATION #2: METALLIC ROUGE

This is an anime original series about super fighting robots on Mars doing a hitman shit on android rebels for the government and also yuri, maybe. ACAB includes Rouge Redstar, watch this show.

---

BONUS RECOMMENDATIONS: DUNGEON MESHI AND ‘TIS TIME FOR “TORTURE,” PRINCESS

A recommendation to watch Dungeon Meshi is the most redundant thing on the planet this season, but even so you should still watch Dungeon Meshi. Also, Fen and I had a bit of a back-and-forth over who would recommend Torture Princess since it was something she was familiar with and something I had only heard of and I wasn’t going to recommend it because I thought she would and she apparently chose not to recommend it because she thought I was going to so take it as a recommendation both from someone who is and someone who isn’t familiar with Torture Princess to watch Torture Princess.

#solo leveling #dungeon meshi #metallic rouge #sengoku youko #mr villain's day off #a sign of affection #looking up to magical girls #it's time for torture princess #winter 2023 #first impressions

[keepthebeanscool]

hi !! ok so i got this rb on my post with a screenshot of mariah’s tweet abt jon matteson signing the mariah ethan petition and i figured i respond to it cause ive seen other people saying similar things.

firstly, i didn’t create the actual petition, idk if this person thought i did but i thought i’d just make that clear. the person who created it did use my art and they tagged me so that’s how i originally found out abt it.

anyway, i basically agree with everything said here, i don’t expect mariah to take over the role, i dont WANT mariah to take over the role, i love joey ethan and when i drew mariah ethan my only intention was to create a fun little hc that could stay within the fandom. and that’s still my intention, i love seeing art of her and ppl talking about her but i don’t want mariah to actually take joeys role.

however. i realize that a lot of stuff ive said probably comes across like i do want her to replace the role which is mostly why im making this post bc i don’t. want people to think that. and i am sorry if anything i said or did was disrespectful, i did not mean to but i can see how the petition situation definitely was and i apologize.

specifically with the post this rb is on, i was honestly a little weirded out by the petition as well, i talked about it with some friends and we kind of came to a general consensus that it was kind of toeing the line of disrespectful but overall that it wasn’t a huge deal. and when jon apparently signed it and mariah tweeted about it i figured the actors didn’t mind too much either, so i made that post just being like “wow the actual actors are engaging with our silly bits again.” that’s all i meant to convey with that post, i figured the petition was just a bit that would last a day or two and then everything would go back to normal. which is pretty much what happened i think

Anyway. this is so long sorry but my main points are that my intention with mariah ethan is just a silly little hc and im sorry for being disrespectful and making it seem like i was trying to genuinely switch the casting.

and basically like. directed at the general public, don’t actually try to pressure starkid or mariah into doing anything! we can have joey ethan and also have our mariah ethan hc and love them both!

#mariah!ethan #ethan green #hatchetfield #starkid #jaspers thoughts

[1863-project]

For the anon Pokémon asks: which battle subway conductor is the cutest?

Okay, this may get long, so bear with me.

First, a little disclaimer: Ingo and Emmet both make me feel incredibly seen. I was born in 1989 and wasn't diagnosed with autism until 2009, and I never got to see characters like me. I'd see some who were similar to me, or some with things in common with me, but Ingo and Emmet feel like looking in a mirror to me, to the point that I don't go in the Submas tag because I've seen too many people perpetuating the ableism that got me bullied as an undiagnosed autistic kid. Every time an autistic or autistic-coded character is portrayed as "weird" or "off-putting" or "too intense" or "scary," it's repeating things that my bullies used to excuse their behavior towards me and essentially treat me and my autism as entertainment. Most people aren't doing this, of course, but since I'm in the process of working through a lot of that trauma, I choose not to take the chance of exposing myself to it because I'd rather heal instead of open old wounds again and again.

Anyway, with that said, I adore them both, but only one of them makes me act like a giddy teenager.

I have the most ridiculous fictional character crush on Emmet. It's unreal. Part of that is likely the fact that if he was real we'd actually be extremely compatible, but unfortunately for me, he is not, and so I can't take him on locomotive photo charter dates and kiss him on the City Hall looparound on the 6 Train. That aside, here's what I genuinely like about the goober.

He's deeply passionate about what he loves.

It's that passion that often gets people like him and me labeled as "too intense," but when he likes something, he really likes something. Battling is like air to him. When you befriend him in Masters EX, you find he'll actually talk your ear off about battling if you give him the opportunity. He vibrates with excitement when he sees strong trainers.

[Image description: Emmet and Ingo, two adult identical twin men with knife-shaped sideburns wearing exaggerated versions of railroad conductor uniforms, stare off to the left at people who are off-screen. Emmet, in a white uniform, is holding his hands at his sides but his hands are in an excited, almost 'grabby' position; Ingo, in a black uniform, also has his hands at his sides but his hands are balled into fists. Ingo's Excadrill, a Pokemon that looks like a mole combined with a tunneling machine, stands in front of him. End description.]

In this screenshot from Masters EX, Emmet and Ingo have just run into Steven Stone and Roark. Emmet is barely holding back, and you can tell by looking at his hands. He wants to battle now. It's delightful that he's in a franchise of video games where that passion is normalized and encouraged. (As long as he never visits Paldea, anyway. Nemona is proof of how well that would go.)

Battling makes Emmet genuinely so happy and excited and I love when people get that way about their hobbies. It's so nice to see passionate people. Emmet even says he's excited about it when you battle him in Black and White and beat him at the highest level possible:

"I am Emmet. I am a Subway Boss, but I lost against you again. But I feel good. Because it was very fun! You want to win, and I don't want to lose. That's real. When we clash in battles, I feel very excited!"

[Source]

He lives for this, so much that even losing a really intense, serious battle feels good. And it's a delight. But, of course...

[Image description: Emmet, described above, claps his hands together excitedly and says "Winning a serious, hard-fought battle is the best feeling in the world!" with a huge smile on his face. End description.]

...he, in his own words, likes winning "more than anything else."

He's verrrry direct in his communication...but also verrrry supportive.

Autistic folks are often told we're too blunt, and to neurotypicals, who are used to saying things more indirectly, we can come off as a bit...too direct to them, to say the least. Arguably the best example of Emmet doing this is in the PokeSpe manga, where he just says things without a filter.

[Image description: a manga panel in which Emmet bluntly tells trainer White, "Yes, we're studying you as an example of a trainer who gets overwhelmed and loses every single match." The next panel leads off with Ingo saying "That's not nice, Emmet..." End description.]

But that bluntness isn't intended maliciously, he just has no filter and says what's on his mind. In reality, he's delightfully supportive and friendly, and that honesty leads to the most wonderful exchanges with him:

[Image description: two screenshots of Emmet from Pokemon Masters EX, smiling softly. His dialogue reads, "Hi, Steph! Your smile is always the best. Perfect! Whenever I see you, I can't help but smile, too! I'll have to make sure my smile is just as good as yours!" End description.]

As a side note, this dialogue has been destroying me for over two years now, and every time I boot up the game and he says this I feel my face get warm. He's actually helped me stop being self-conscious about my smile.

He has a habit of listening in on things, even if he has no intention of gossiping or anything. He just likes knowing stuff.

It's a habit he seems to share with his brother, but Ingo is significantly less obvious and more apologetic about it. Emmet's just really funny about it.

[Image description: two manga panels and one screenshot from Masters EX. The first manga panel shows Emmet marching over to White and Bianca as they have a discussion, saying, "I'm overhearing an interesting discussion over here. It seems profound, so I'm going to stand nearby and listen in. Oh, don't let me distract you. Go on. Keep talking." The second panel shows Emmet cupping his ear with his hand and still attempting to listen in on the discussion from one subway car away, with Ingo standing behind him. The screenshot from Masters EX shows Ingo hiding his eyes with his hat and saying, "I apologize for eavesdropping, but we happened to overhear your conversation at the Pokemon Center" as Emmet stands beside him, hands on his hips and smiling with no shame. End description.]

He doesn't use the information maliciously, and a lot of the time he doesn't even use it at all. He just enjoys hearing these things and knowing all sorts of weird drama is going on elsewhere. It's like when you find out about drama in a fandom you're not in and you read the posts and eat popcorn. It's great.

He likes his work uniform because it helps his posture.

As a fellow "leans forward too much" autistic, this one really resonates with me and I love it.

[Image description: A screenshot of Emmet in Pokemon Masters EX. He's standing straight up and holding the brim of his hat with his hand. His dialogue reads, "Wearing it gets me motivated, of course! It also helps me stand up straight and tall!" End description.]

He stops scripting when he gets to know people better because he's able to trust them.

Notice how his dialogue in BW and BW2 is on the Battle Subway - "I'm Emmet. This is my job. I like doubles. This is why I like doubles. Here are the safety checks." He's scripting around people he's not familiar with, and it's the sort of thing that gets autistic people labeled as "robotic" by people who don't know it's a way to help us maintain some semblance of control over an unfamiliar situation. The preprepared dialogue is a coping method in an ableist world. But when you get to know him in Masters, the scripted dialogue shows up a lot less. He's able to talk genuinely and excitedly to you, because he knows you're safe to be around and you're not going to judge him for who he is. That hits me hard.

He has the most adorable goddamned laugh in the world and it kills me on the daily.

This is a lot more in line with my personal tastes, as everyone who knows me well knows, but that damn laugh makes me all fluttery inside and weak in the knees. And he does it a LOT.

This update to Masters EX, where the characters laugh if you tap on them on the upgrade screen, destroyed me, and multiple people were apparently waiting for me to find it and die because I'm really predictable. I may or may not regularly pull the screen up just to poke at him and hear this. It's...not fair.

This one is...also unfair. I won't elaborate in public on what I think when I hear it because it's embarrassing.

So, uh...yeah. I really, really like Emmet a lot. I'm really normal about Emmet. I promise.

#replies #Pokemon #Submas #this man literally makes me so giddy and ridiculous #it's so silly but I'm having a good time and he's helping me work through a lot of stuff on the side #I spent hours on this #I always spend hours on posts where I talk about Emmet

[classpectpokerap]

How do you feel about the portrayal of plurality in Homestuck? Because it’s not good.

Cherubs are “supposed” to predominate over their other personality. With Calliope being portrayed as naive for trying to co exist.

Horuss is mocked for being a system. But I’d say it was a king fun of people who pretend to be mentally Ill on social media for clicks.

Then their are the sprites

okay so

i guess we're doing this

HOMESTUCK AND PLURALITY: A PRIMER

BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST THERES SO MUCH

SO SO SO MUCH

okay. so

homestuck is one of the best pieces of media of all time for plurality and i fuckin mean it. no shot do not pass go i have NEVER seen anything that is more built from the ground up to Support plural reads. like, to the point where it feels impossible to read homestuck without it.

as a work dealing with two huge primary themes of a) finding yourself/identity/growing up, and b) ideas coming to life, plurality is pretty much the Perfect intersection between the two of them. like.

take rose for example.

rose is plural and it's great.

when the doomed timeline evaporates, future dream rose does not actually "cease to exist." she ceases to exist as her own person -- her memories, experiences, personality, thoughts (or, as shorthand, her selfstuff) all flows back into rose prime. and that experience is just something rose has to roll with. one becomes two -- that other rose is still in her mind.

jade's plural and it's great.

when her dream self awakens as jadesprite, jade has a horrific argument with her. if you're plural i'm sure you understand. fighting with an age-regressed version of you, stuck in a traumatic past, who WONT FUCKING LISTEN -- we've all . been there.

she has involuntary barks, she can't stop seeing images of fire, she wants to go back to nonexistence but she doesnt want to die and it's torture,

and then in cascade, jade fuses with her.

dream jade is still in there. that part of her she has to grapple with is still real. her dog who she loves is in there, too -- but, yknow. woof

then grimbark gets forcefully introjected into her. i've seen a few fics play with the idea that the grimbark personality is still residually there (read ygtpoasu), but it's not a huge thing that's explored in the text. more backgrounded. but still! her crisis of identity is in there.

wanna know what's NOT backgrounded

tavros's plurality is like, a pretty big factor in his character!!!! it's one of the bigger points vriska uses to bully him with (because she's projecting because she's projecting because she's projecting, because she's also plural and kins mindfang), it's like. a big thing that he has to cope with and figure out.

kanaya suggested tavros treat his self-confidence as his own brain guy, like, completely sincerely. she genuinely thought it would help, and it sorta did!!!!!

and like

it is FAR from the only positive example of plurality in the comic.

like. look at sollux and aradia defending "alternate reality copies" of characters -- which can be pretty easily extrapolated to them talking about fictives

like. !!!!

i dunno, man. i think that homestuck is a DEEPLY plural story. you should read mtm and kgtac for more exploration of these themes. read detective pony too while you're at it. like.

i havent even TOUCHED on horuss or dirk or karkat here because there is just so much. there's so much! like ultselves. oh my god i completely neglected to talk about ultselves or cherubs or --

augh

but anyway here's The Screenshots from mtm

homestuck is, like, the single most fictive compatible fictional work i've ever read.

"oh im being sent to another universe as a brain ghost? that happened to my buddy dirk"

"oh im one of many incarnations of myself, and perhaps not even the most 'canon compliant' one? haha dream bubbles moment"

"ive been isekai'd into another world? lol sburb"

it. yeah. god. i could literally talk about this all day. but instead im gonna direct you to my ao3.

check out no metaphors and then scroll through the "multiplicity/plurality" tag on my page

and if youve got more specific stuff, send in another ask!

#hs meta #homestuck #plurality #etch asks #tavros nitram

[collegeoflore]

i do not have the screenshots i need to make the post i want to make but i’m going to ramble abt this for a second because i’m thinking abt it now.

this line is in direct conversation imo with the “this isn’t you” “it should be” line in the dungeon (that i don’t have a screenshot handy for rn). whether or not he actually believes what he says here is irrelevant because in order to do the ritual it needs to be true. and i do think to some extent he believes it because well. he’s astarion. but at the same time you can look at dialogue astarion has with durge where he makes it clear he thinks whatever is happening to them wrt to the urges and bhaal is wrong, and see that it is not so cut and dry as he wants it to seem. (at least for a romanced durge who resists the urges, which is the only route i’ve played so far! and again i don’t have my screenshots. this is a failure of a meta post LOL)

i think honestly a lot of what’s going on for astarion in this part of the game is less about how he actually feels and more about how he Needs to feel in order for the ritual to be a viable option. if he acknowledges, at any point, that what cazador has done is wrong on a broad scale he will also have to acknowledge that he is going to become cazador and deal with the emotional fallout of That and, well. that’s not something he necessarily wants to consider at this point. not to say i don’t think he feels like what cazador did was wrong only because it happened to him, i do think he does, but even if he didn’t it wouldn’t matter. it Has to be true or his whole plan falls apart. it doesn’t matter if it’s who he is or how he actually feels because it should be.

also like. being back in baldur’s gate makes him revert to the behavior and feelings that are familiar despite any progress he may have made up until this point. and the behavior he has the strongest reinforcement history for it cruelty. of course he’s cruel to the other spawn, of course he feels no remorse for planning to sacrifice them for his own gain - that’s what has kept him alive to this point. pity and care have only ever been punished, and it was a little easier to feel those things when the context and environment were different but here and now? back in the place where it all happened? it’s nearly impossible. of course he’s cruel and heartless and awful, anything else will (according to his mind and also his entire central nervous system that has been trained this way for centuries) get him tortured or killed.

anyway. all of this to say he’s horrible and i love the way they gave his cruelty substance and motivation and layers. even when he’s cruel for the sake of being cruel there’s an underlying Reason there that doesn’t make it okay but Does make it so much more fun and interesting. and i love that he is genuinely just awful. even spawn!astarion is still an asshole and that’s beautiful to me.

#i will remake this post with more screenshots and better thoughts. someday #[guy with dog training autism voice] well you see it’s about reinforcement history #astarion #bg3 meta

[lemonthepotato]

Reminder: What Peaches allegedly went through is horrible, if true, but that does not excuse him from what he did to Rosa. As an autistic person, his and Lio’s actions remind me of downright horrible bullies I’ve dealt with (I am not a victim of bullying, at least in the traditional sense, but it’s a long story.) and it’s deplorable the way they treated her.

Peaches has called people the r slur, and another derogatory term for an autistic person based on the word aspergers (I have my own issues with the term itself anyway) and clearly enjoyed what he did to Rosa. In some of the audio recordings he released, he did show remorse for what he did to Rosa, however, he went into those conversations with Lio with the intent of recording and publicising it to throw Lio under the bus. I was only vaguely aware of the Rosa call before, and Lio had given me weird vibes, but I always excuses his behaviour with “oh, well, they’re predators, who cares if he’s mean to predators?” But nope, turns out he just treats everyone like shit. And that’s the thing with these moral grandstanding people. They channel their anger into self-proclaimed righteousness to avoid being seen as the unhinged mf they are. Nah. Fuck ableists. Fuck this shit.

Deplorable behaviour. To think it took 3 hours for anyone to say anything. Everyone who was in that call should be ashamed of themselves, even if they were silent. You’re an enabler.

I hate these internet vigilantes. I actually give a shit about these topics, so here are some resources about topics I care deeply about.

Fuck ableists. Bye.

Here’s the video of these grown adults bullying a mentally handicapped woman for not having a job and needing a carer for three hours. Oh, and she’s not the predator in this case, she just didn’t ban the predator, and likely didn’t even KNOW there was one in the server, might’ve not even had permissions to kick them! I run a server, and unless someone is a very obvious troll, I don’t just let my mods ban who they want, most servers don’t. Seriously. This video is repulsive. Check tags.

Video #1 - Lio tries to act scary

Video #2 - Cowards in a VC harass a neurodivergent woman for 4 hours

Video #3 - A video of a cute dog unrelated to this ableist nonsense

Edit: btw the rosa call isn’t the only fucked up call these two participated in, but that wasn’t what my post was about so I didn’t mention it. u can google shit bou it. Might wanna look int2 the Jibz situation. There’s also niche situations like some ND dude called Robert who got bullied by senate for… not liking harassment, lol. Senate sure be a lovely bunch of people, ay? Oh, yeah, recently found out ‘ay’ is pronounced ‘I’ and not ae. Unrelated. Also talking about shit like this just pisses me off. Really fucking much.

Edit 2: I said I was “vaguely aware” of the rosa call before. Turns out I was pissed about it 8 months ago and completely forgot, cuz I liked two comments from back then on the original call (not the 4 hours one) criticising it. Btw, the comment section there is full of ableists. Have fun reading that.

Edit 3: LioConvoy released his video. While I haven’t finished it, I have mixed thoughts on it (like I’m skeptical of some things but generally the screenshots don’t make Peaches look good regardless) I just got to one part, and can I just say how fucking funny it is for Peaches to have a genuine fit over not getting imposter in among us? That’s all I wanted to say.

Edit 4: Not Lio trying to argue with a lawyer 😭 it’s so funny that he tried arguing with a lawyer. You know what getting pissy when someone doesn’t cower to you is? You know what kind of behaviour that is? Bullying behaviour. I’m not doing an argument by authority I’m just saying it’s very audacious to assume you’d know more than a lawyer. And why does this mf like saying “oh, but THIS person is also bad!” Yeah, a lot of people talking about this situation are pretty fucked up themselves. And??? How does that make you look good?? “Soapbox house of cards and glass so don't go tossin' your stones around.” E

Edit 5: I ain’t gonna ride anyone in this situation the only things I advocate are is A) animal rights B) myself. With that said, why is “this video covering the Rosa call is CATTY and MEAN” a criticism now lol? Like okay… and? They were being catty and mean in the call. You don’t have to take the assholes in the call seriously to take the situation seriously? What a strange criticism. I can’t see the likes/dislikes on the video, so idk the consensus, but yeah.

Addendum: Lioconvoy be like: The Rosa call was abhorrent (the language we used not the fact we were screaming at a mentally disabled woman) and it’s fair game (it was over a year ago though why are people bring it up) and it was not okay in the slightest (rosa is a deceitful, bad person) and I won’t make any excuses for my actions (rosa was still in the wrong) and I want to apologise for the ableist language I used (no I won’t show proof I apologised to rosa)

Like yeah rosa might’ve done something wrong (depending on which factors are true, which are false) but if you’re gonna apologise to someone, just apologise. “Sorry, but…” is not an apology. If you’re gonna double down, be blunt about it at least and don’t pretend you’re actually sorry. But pandering, am I right?

You know I remember criticising Mamamax and Lioconvoy once in my server, and someone said “well at least Lio gets people arrested.” No hate to that person, but knowing what I know now, couldn’t be further from the truth. 💀 I wouldn’t say it’s ironic, but there’s a word there somewhere for that.

No, I’m not saying you can’t be criticised if you have a disability. I’m saying the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. She was literally blackmailed into remaining in the call. That call was verbal beratement, blackmail and power-abuse; I’m not sugarcoating it.

#tw ableism #cw ableism #lemons random rants #lio convoy #hopeless peaches #tw grooming (referenced in linked video) #tw misogyny (in the video) #tw victim blaming (can be seen that way in the call.) #tw shaming #tw ableist language #tw r slur

[self-indulgent-paw-patrol]

What are your favorite Chase moments from the show so far?

Just like with Zuma's post, it's in no specific order, I just really loved all these moments

That first Mission PAW episode when the Princess chose specifically HIM to be the watch dog and guard her crown. That was so adorable I can't even. He seemed so genuinely proud and happy there! Plus he's so damn cute wearing that tux lol

When they were going to rescue Skye and Chase was so worried upon hearing that she was the one in need of rescue. Then when Ryder was choosing which pups would be part of the rescue, that moment he was like "Pick meee pick meeee-"?? That was so cute, he really cares about her and wanted to impress her so bad lmao personally make sure she would be safe (Bonus points for his excitement over being picked for the rescue and everyone else like Go ahead king, we all know you wanted this XD)

The entire time he spent with the owlet and working to rescue the mama owl from that fallen tree. It was so sweet!! The fact I also love owls surely didn't help AUSHAUSHAUSHAU I love that episode SO MUCH

That moment when he finally turned into a Merpup. Poor boy was so fixated on "being on duty" despite wanting SO BAD to go and participate in "the fun". And he couldn't even enjoy being a merpup immediately because he was transformed just because he needed to swim faster for the rescue but he was so overjoyed anyway! Only after that mess, he could go and finally have the fun he wanted and deserved so much.

That moment in the first Sea Patrol episode when he and Skye were left behind at the beach while the rest of the team went on the first mission with the Sea Patroller. His face upon SEEING the HQ turn into a ship and sail away was just priceless XD (Also it's rare to see Chase being put on the sidelines for once lmao)

The first Ultimate Rescue episode!! God, Chase was SO HAPPY. He's THE Police Pup, he gets to lead the mission, supervise, plan, give orders. And the way all the other pups clearly loved the experience and were SO ON BOARD with being Police Pups with him, it was just awesome!

So far these are my favorite moments! Actually I legit just got to watch this first Ultimate Rescue episode like one hour ago. Not to mention it took me five days to think of these moments and then go find the episodes again to take the respective screenshots XD

#Scheduled post #I'm leaving it ready as of 6 AM yeah guess who barely slept this night again hahaha :') #Would you guys believe it if I said it's a bit difficult to pick favorite Chase moments?? #I feel the show lacks a bit of creativity on what to do with him #It only became more diverse on situations after they started having different special kinds of missions like Mission PAW and Sea Patrol #Otherwise it's always the same thing over and over again #“Use your net to catch something/someone falling!” #“Use your megaphone to keep people away from the danger!” #“Use your cones to redirect the traffic away from the streets we'll be working on!” #I swear he needs more actual action #He also needs more moments with the other pups like playing around or whatever #Or to have a hobby maybe #Zuma clearly has a lot of hobbies XD #Chase is a GREAT Pup but they're doing him wrong with all that #He can be so much more! #It makes me want to WRITE #HI I'M LARYSSA AND I'M FALLING FOR THE “LET'S WRITE SOME FANFIC” TRAP ALL OVER AGAIN #Anyway XDD #Thanks for the ask!! #Paw Patrol #Paw Patrol Chase #Chase

[mumms-the-word]

A random thought I had about the whole illithid soul thing. It's totally possible you touched on this somewhere in one of your posts and I've forgotten about it lol so sorry

So if we think the special tadpole that turns tav/karlach/whoever into a mindflayer at the very end is some kind of advanced tadpole that allows them to retain their souls, or at least a little bit of it, what do you make of Omeluum? He's the exception of course but he comes across as caring, empathetic, etc. He cares about Blurg and the society and the citizens of the Underdark. And he's grateful to tav for saving him in the iron throne and wants to help them defeat the Absolute. I just wonder how much of his original personality/soul is still in him. I guess it could be the same as Balduran. The emperor says his personality was just so strong that he retained at least part of it.

ANYWAY a follow up question: do you think when someone turns into a mindflayer they IMMEDIATELY lose their soul/any sense of their nonillithid self? I'm thinking specifically about the cut scene in the final battle where civilians start turning into mindflayers and immediately eating brains. Are they just following this new unfamiliar instinct while their former self is still somewhere in there thinking wtf is going on? Or like, soul gone, evil now, eat brain, previous self destroyed completely?

Excellent questions! I actually avoided talking about Omeluum because I felt like it was too much side lore but I love him and I’m delighted to talk about him

disclaimer that this isn't like...super well-thought-out or amazingly organized because the brain isn't functioning that well today but I didn't want to make you wait 2-3 business days while I dug up screenshots and crafted a whole ass deep dive. so the thoughts/theories below the cut are my Best Guesses lol but there are plenty of thoughts/theories!

First it’s worth thinking about how Omeluum was able to break away from being enthralled to an elder brain. Omeluum explains that he was able to break away because he was a spellcaster, probably a sorcerer who studied to become a wizard:

Player: How did you escape your colony? Omeluum: I was born with a propensity for arcane magic my people despise. It gave me the strength to resist the elder brain. Every waking hour, I pushed back against its dire hold. My wizardry empowered me. The moment its control shattered, I fled before the colony discovered I had defected.

So it sounds like he has some memory of who he was, or at least what he was capable of, before his transformation. But it's also a smidge unclear. For example, is "my people" the mind flayers, or his original race? Because mind flayers also hate arcane magic because they think psionic magic is better. But perhaps he comes from an anti-magic people group and is referencing them instead.

That said there’s no way of knowing whether the personality we see in Omeluum right now is the same one he had pre-transformation. There are hints in his dialogue that suggest he’s been around for a while (he's certainly not a brand new mind flayer) and I do think over time mind flayers change and adapt who they are, whether or not they’re enthralled to an elder brain. Whether this is merely a product of time (everyone changes over time), or because they consume and retain memories, or it’s an intentional choice they make, it’s not entirely certain, but I'm sure mind flayers do change as they mature and develop.

But I think his caring, empathetic qualities are genuine. It’s possible these qualities were part of his original soul/personality but it’s equally possible these qualities are ones he learned by interacting with Blurg and other Society members. Mind flayers aren’t emotionless, they just feel…differently. They might have a smaller emotional range, and typically every emotional thing they express appears muted or subtle (we see this especially with Karlach, who loses a lot of her usual exuberance, and even Blurg is like "Omeluum isn't given to strong emotions" when discussing him), but as long as they’re not enthralled, they’re capable of care and empathy. It just might look different.

I mean, even Omeluum phrases his relief and gratitude toward you in distanced terms when you save him from the Iron Throne. He says stuff like "It is...pleasurable to see you" when you talk to him at the Society of Brilliance and when you say that you like him, he responds with "I too feel some...warmth at your presence." He picks both words with hesitancy and there's a kind of distance there, but he does feel those things.

There are other hints in his other dialogues, but I don't want to clog up this response with tons of screenshots. But from the datamined dialogues we see that he is capable of joy, warmth, pleasure (words literally written in dialogues and narrator observations), as well as empathy, concern, and good-aligned morals (he actively tries to make the world a better place, wants to help stop the Absolute plot, and is even trying to research ways to eat fewer brains to sustain himself).

But whether all of that is due to his prior personality, I doubt even he knows. I'm sure there is a pre-transformation influence there, but he doesn't pretend he's anything other than a mind flayer. For example, if you tell him about the nautiloids, he says "What a brilliant experience. To feel one step closer to my ancestors is a fine gift indeed." Elsewhere he talks about the illithids being his people and while he doesn't group himself with their goals, he still talks about them being his collective people-group. He'll say stuff like "our warships" and "the gith rebelled and ended our dominion" when talking about mind flayer history, but then in act 3 he'll say "Given my kind's involvement in creating this evil, it is only right that I do my part in helping you defeat it" to explain his actions in helping you and say "I do not share my kind's opinions on the value of other living beings. I would have seen them all saved, if I could." when you point out he could have just looked after himself and not the Gondian hostages and Ravengard.

So basically, while I think there might be some prior influence or some of his original soul/identity still lingering in him, I think he's just a genuinely empathetic mind flayer. My theory is some of it existed prior to his transformation, but he nurtured that empathy while living as a mind flayer. I don't think he's empathetic because he's got more of his original soul still lingering around than most other mind flayers, I think that he's just...genuinely nice. An outlier for a mind flayer, for sure. Anyways I'm hoping that all makes sense.

As for your second question, I think normally yes you lose essentially most or all of your original identity the moment you transform (some memories typically linger, but not always) but you don't suddenly go feral. Normally you lose your soul/identity because a normal illithid tadpole literally ate your brain matter, so what’s left, essentially, is a blank slate (whereas for your soul my theory is that it morphs and transforms). You'd be hungry and instinctively you'd crave other brains, but I don't think you'd suddenly go about killing hundreds of people in your path. But you'd also not really be thinking independently, since you'd be connected with an elder brain who is issuing commands to you. So normally, just after you transform, you’re basically a mindless puppet at the start, though I’m sure as time goes on mind flayers grow a little more autonomous (as we see with Omeluum). But they don't suddenly go evil and attack everything on sight...at least, from what I understand of normal lore.

The cutscene you're referring to is not at all a normal situation. The people in that mid-battle cutscene are infected with Netherese tadpoles which only transform a person at the express command of the Netherbrain. Also, in that specific moment when they transform, the Netherbrain is actively shouting commands for everyone to destroy each other. So I think for those people, the sudden transformation would have been overwhelming because it came completely by surprise, and then their brains (which theoretically should also be capable of retaining more personhood like Tav and Karlach do because everyone's got the same kind of tadpole) is literally filled with the irresistible voice of the Netherbrain who is very loudly like “TRANSFORM. DESTROY.” over and over and over again.

Like, seriously, if my "the Netherese tadpole makes you special" theory holds any water, then anyone with a Netherese tadpole could potentially retain their soul/personality after turning into a mind flayer so long as they have access to the Astral Prism's shields to get them through the battle. Unfortunately for the city of Baldur's Gate, the Emperor is extremely picky about who he lets in.

The only reason we and our companions don't end up the same mindless, destructive mind flayers as the Baldurian citizens is because of the Astral Prism, and even then, we get close. If you trigger forced ceremorphosis (using Gale's orb in act 2, trying to go back to act 1 after killing Ketheric, attacking the Emperor in the Astral Prism without having a way to free Orpheus, etc), then you see how helpless we are to resist the Absolute's command to transform and then become her thrall. But also, if you get Orpheus to transform you into a mind flayer by him reducing his mental shields around you, there's a hint there too:

Narrator: With the withdrawal of Orpheus' power, your mind is rushed with the full force of the Netherbrain. You feel a compulsion unlike anything you've ever known - excruciating and exhilarating in equal measure. You wish nothing in the world but to evolve. Then - complete silence, as you are once again closed off from the Netherbrain's mind.

I'm sure that's more or less what is happening to the people in the streets too. But since they're under the Netherbrain's command, they're also getting commanded to kill and destroy. I doubt they have time to get their bearings or even understand what's happening because they're just reacting to commands at that point.

So it's kind of a unique case for them too. I think when they transform, they don't have the mental capacity to think beyond what the Netherbrain is forcing into their minds. If they survived the battle and were conscious when the Netherbrain went silent, maybe there was a chance they could have remembered something of themselves, but we'll never know, because they were all being killed in the streets.

Theoretically, those people could also have retained their identities (because again, Netherese tadpole) so there's a chance they might have "watched" their horrible actions from afar without having the power to stop themselves from acting. But there's also a chance that everything was just completely overwhelmed by the Netherbrain's voice and any chance at keeping personhood was taken away, first by the Netherbrain's incessant voice, and second by the very quick culling of mind flayers after the Netherbrain was defeated.

So...TLDR, normally the transformation would be like you waking up and being like "who am I? I'm hungry. That voice seems sensible. I'll listen to that voice." But the mid-battle Netherbrain transformation would be more like "OH GOD PAIN--The Voice says I must destroy, I must kill, I must eat, I must destroy, I must kill, I must eat" and maybe there's the original person deep down inside going "wtf is happening" but also maybe not.

So...maybe that helps?? Happy to chat more or clarify if I need to!

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 meta #bg3 lore #bg3 discourse #mind flayer #illithid

[justarandomhelluvablog]

alright it's official I'm rooting for Ozzie/Fizz/Blitz/Stolas polycule 👍

"You've lived rent-free in Fizz' head for years, so I can't help feel he values your take on things." - Ozzie going to Blitz for backup

"Well, my special skills are killing things without giving fucks and pointing out people's flaws... alright, count me in!" - Blitz being Blitz

"Come on, it's just like old times. I'll make sure no one gives you shit today." || "You mean besides you?" -Blitz & Fizz banter gives me life

Fizz covering Blitz' ass after Blitz insults Mammon, love that

Also another Fizz-Blitz banter moment: "He thinks he's funny." || "Offended." (Fizz & Blitz, respectively)

the ATTITUDE. Blitz coming in with the comeback and Fizz changing up his posture/attitude to match Blitz', just. Them.

He protect 🥺 but also the fact that he didn't kill this guy right here for everyone to see after seeing Fizz' expression hh

Blitz is so gentle with him now that they've made up I love him. We all know he's a softie underneath but ya know, ya love to see it

Don't have a screenshot for this bc it's a whole scene but can we talk about how before, Blitz claimed Fizz didn't have to try for anything, but in this episode Fizz is saying how he needs to do this to prove he's still good enough and Blitz (as well as Ozzie) are telling him he doesn't need to prove anything? Just. Ugh, THEM.

(also Fizz finally calling Blitz "Blitz" and not "Blitzo" I'm hhhh)

"That guy is a fucking dick, and he's USING you for everything, 'cause you're likeable, and he's a fucking trashfire."

Blitz' absolute worry when Fizz runs.....

Unrelated to Blitz and Fizz' relationship, are we gonna. Uh. Talk about how Fizz' scars aren't pure white? Blitz' are but Fizz' aren't (Blitz' scars are the same color as Fizz' foundation). I assume it's a stylistic choice to show that he hides his "undesired" markings here (the makeup comes off and shows his original markings, and having the area around it be different from his makeup better shows what's going on) and they're actually the same color but I thought it was interesting. Also the black of his horns is super faded out so...

And of course that whole scene with Ozzie was heart melting but enough people talk about that, so moving on-

FIZZ' SONG. God it was so good. And Mammon just dancing along... beautiful. Fizz quitting so publicly, YESSSS KING.

Anyway this

I hope we see more of them honestly. Blitz becoming Fizz' go-to bodyguard/Blitz just sitting in the rafters of his shows waiting for someone to be Weird™ would be so fun actually. But also probably the first time Fizz has been so DELIGHTED to see Blitz kill someone they are everything to me.

Again I would need a whole video but Fizz ripping his clothes as he goes as he sings his "I fucking quit" song, I hope it means we get to see him out of the clown costume/persona (tbh it would delight me if he ditches it for good, ripping it up isn't very good symbolism if you're just gonna put it back on again). I want to see more of who he genuinely is <3

VERY sad it took Fizz so long to finally see/understand what Blitz saw immediately. Wonder if things would have been different if Blitz had just... told Fizz what he really thought of Mammon when they were younger. If Blitz' opinion mattered so much... of course, maybe he did. It would explain why if Mammon was the one to separate them.

just them <3

"So, uh.... who tops?"

This is so funny but also Ozzie's smile I love that. They all know the answer.

#helluva boss #spoilers #fizzarolli #blitzo #Ozzie #poly bitch just wants them to all hold hands sorry not sorry