#Fallout has some great examples of this

[gauntletqueen]

When a non-horror game has a horror section, I often find it a little more effective or memorable than a full-on horror title's horror, in a way. I think that's because, for characters in fiction, they usually don't know they're about to experience a horror story, so they aren't mentally prepared at all. As the audience, we know that when we boot up Silent Hill, we're gonna see some scary stuff and can mentally prepare accordingly. But when some innocuous children's platformer or RPG or whatever suddenly throws genuine horror elements at me, I'm taken out of my comfort zone much more roughly since I don't expect it at all. I think that's neat :>

#Fallout has some great examples of this #A Hat in Time and Rayman as well #the Zelda series of course #One of the most fun uses of this trope to me is in games with sidequests #Where you're send to some location that might be kinda suspicious #maybe sent to get an item or look for someone who got lost #and Oops! The places is Haunted by Actual Ghosts! #An until now unknown element of this world! #That's so fun #you get to feel just like some investigative journalist or whatever from a horror story #who has no idea what they're about to get into

[flamingbluepanda]

How to Camp for Beginners

Hello! Tis I, your local boy scout/girl scout/avid gay camper, here to give some top notch Advice™️ about camping! The season is nearly upon us and the woods are a callin' so let's get out there and be safe kiddos!

Before you Go!

Make sure you find a campsite you like and that fits your comfort level! There's ZERO shame in picking a place with cabins, public restrooms, showers, heated pools, hot tubs- whatever your looking for!

Once you pick your campsite, make sure you know the area around it- especially if camping somewhere your unfamiliar with! Example questions to make sure you know: Where's the local hospital? Where's the closest grocery store? Gas station? Are there rangers at your campsite and how do you get in contact with them? Does your campsite provide anything at all as a courtesy?

Also make sure you know the wilderness around you and prep accordingly -- if your camping in a site with bears during their non hibernating months, make sure you bring bear safe trash recepitecals if your campsite doesny provide them

Bring people with you. People you know and trust. Seriously, the buddy system saves lives. Do NOT camp alone unless you are an EXPERT and know the area EXCRUCIATINGLY well. This is also not the place to go with your new romantic partner/friend/friend or partners family -- some people are very good at pretending to be safe and getting you alone in the woods is when they stop pretending.

Pack layers. Make sure you bring at least one set of sweatpants and hoodie, bonus points if their insulated. It gets very cold at night in most wilderness locations, even in the summer.!

Bring at least one set of waterproof clothes, including rain boots and a waterproof coat.

Pack however many sets of underwear and socks you think you need to bring, then pack more. Bring an overwhelming number of socks

Bring good sneakers that are broken in but not worn out

Flashlight with extra batteries and a portable battery cube, fully charged

Make sure you have sunscreen and bugspray, your skin will thank yoi

While packing food, make sure you bring things that will last the trip in an insulated bag or cooler. Don't buy your ice until your close to your camp. Some campsites will even offer bags of ice at the ranger station!

Bring PLENTY of water. My brother always packs ten nalgenes full of water, others bring a big pack of water bottles. Stay hydrated!

If you're bringing a furry friend, make sure they are fully up to date on their rabies and Lyme shots

Pack In!

Make sure you have a full tank of gas when you arrive at your campsite

I personally like to leave my phone in my car while I camp. Bring books/art supplies/journals or whatever you do for fun -- if that's your phone and you have service, great!

Having said that, if you ARE having a technology free camping trip, pick one person in your group with the best phone and declare them the emergency phone person

Best doesn't mean newest -- your friend who hates capitalism and has a Nokia that can survive nuclear fallout should be picked over your friend with the brand new super fragile iphone

Make sure the emergency phone remains fully charged and comes with you when you leave the campsite. Most emergency calls will work without cell service, but a dead phone can't make calls

Make sure you get the rangers number! Rangers are your friends, they want you to have a safe trip and are there for all your questions!

Also make sure to respect the rules of whatever campsite you're at -- if you're on boy scout property for example, you absolutely CANNOT bring alcohol. If you're having a fun adult camping trip, make sure you know the weed laws in that state before your puff and pass.

While setting up your campsite, try to find somewhere dry, that's not located near the bottom of a hill or next to a river.

Try to find places that don't have a ton of loose rocks or dirt, but where the ground is soft enough to nail in stakes for tents/canopies

Most campsites will have an assigned area with a fire pit, but if yours doesn't, make sure you collect enough rocks to build a fire circle before roasting any s'mores!

If your campsite doesn't let you bring cars past a certain point, make sure you know the fastest and safest route to the parking lot

I cannot stress how important it is to make sure you know the emergency numbers -- if theres a medical emergency, you may not be able to get someone to the car. Rangers will have ATVs and paramedics will have the skills to get people out of situations

Make sure your first aid kit is well packed with plenty of bandaids antiseptic and gauze- triangle bandages are also a versitle tool that can help with sprains splints and holding bandages in place. Preferably bring someone who knows at least basic first aid or CPR -- if you can't find a friend with that knowledge, make sure to be extra nice to the rangers

Bring an extra large bottle of your preferred over the counter painkillers -- dehydration and too much time in the sun can cause headaches! Also nifty for twisted ankles or sore backs from sleeping on the ground.

If you forgot your tent stakes, that's okay, put a spare cooler/bag/something heavy in the center of your tent to weigh it down in case of high winds.

If you forgot your rain canopy, a ripped trashbag will work in a pinch, but be warned: it's gonna get hot as HELL in that tent

During your Trip

Sunscreen and bugspray every day- even cloudy days have high UV rays, melanoma kills

Whether cooking on portable grill or campfire make sure your meat is fully cooked.

Chopping your produce and meat and cooking them in two separate packets of tin foil makes delicious meals, plus it's easy to check how done it is

Speaking of fires, make sure you have fireproof gloves and tongs if cooking over a campfire

Zip tents if rain is predicted but believe me, tents are like fucking hot boxes, so try to get as much air movement as you can.

If your campsite doesn't have latrines/portapotties/bathrooms (and you didn't bring one) be a good friend and make sure your camp's designated potty site is down wind of your camp. Also, human droppings can attract animals, so make sure it's a good distance away

(seriously though consider bringing a porta potty they make ones for campers)

CHECK FOR TICKS!!!! CHECK FOR TICKS EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU CAN!!!

Ticks like warm, dark places, so make sure you check behind your knees, under your arms, the back of your neck, in your socks and your privates! Ladies- that includes under the boobies. Wearing long pants, high socks, or long sleeves can be a simple and efficient tick deterrent, especially in marshy areas or tall grass. Don't forget to check your pets if they came with you!

If you find a tick, get some tweezers, grasp as close to the skin as you can, and slowly but firmly pull down on the tick- remember, you want the head out. You can also use a credit card or any other dull edge to help push downward.

Wet feet cause blisters, so always wear socks and change them often. If you get a blister, DONT POP IT, cover it with a bandaid or surround it with moleskin

Hydrate hydrate hydrate hydrate, drunk water every fifteen minutes even if your not thirsty

Remember to respect the nature around you- don't go pulling leaves off trees or disturbing animal dens, stay away from pretty much any animal- yes, even deer, bucks can and will gore you If frightened enough, deer can tramble you and even the cutest little Birdy can carry rabies and other diseases.

Poison Ivy has three leaves, poison oak looks like a strangling vine, and poison sumac has berries. Make sure you know what grows in your camping area.

If you brought a pet, don't let them eat any plants!

Make sure to use the buddy system especially if someone starts feeling ill- a lot of really dangerous illnesses start out looking a lot like colds and flu

Make sure to have a bucket of water next to your campfire, and every night make sure to completely douse your fire before turning it. Splash water on instead of dumping and make sure every ember is out- remember, only you can prevent wildfires

If you brought a gas powered generator for your campsite, make sure it's as far away as possible from the fire pit. Also, they're quite loud, so maybe don't put it near your tent. Put it on the outskirts of the campsite and don't leave it running when you're not there

Pack out!

LEAVE NO TRACE!!! make sure you clean up ALL your litter, all of it, every single one. Check and triple check your entire camp site.

Make sure everyones tent poles and stakes end up with the correct tent- you'd be surprised how brand specific stuff like that is.

Especially don't leave any food items -- there's likely going to be another person filling that campsite soon, they don't need moldy food attracting critters!

If there's a sign out sheet, don't forget to sign out at the ranger station! If they had to evacuate the campsite for whatever reason, they'll need to know you're gone!

Do a final tick/other bug check- you don't need to be bringing bugs home with you! Also check that there are no critters are in your supplies -- this sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised where snakes and mice can end up.

Give your pets an extra good bath when you get home. You don't know what could've gotten stuck in their fur!

Tick/spider bites tend to look like bullseyes. If you develop bullseye shaped rashes after you get home, seek medical attention.

Most of all, have fun and be safe!!!

#camping #advice #adulting

[most-normal-eccles-cake-ignorer]

Good Omens: Lockdown and Crowley not mentioning his living situation in S2*

*till S2E6 when he asks if he can have his apartment back bc he's bored of living in his car but Aziraphale doesn’t hear bc mentally he’s in Alpha Centauri.

Having read the 'Crowley doesn't tell him' Neil Gaiman ask close to when I first listened to Lockdown (I lived under a rock until recently), my initial thought was HAS HE BEEN LIVING IN HIS CAR FOR YEARS?! but I think he was still in his apartment in 2020:

as far as Hell knows, Crowley just had a pool party in holy water (the holiest) so the higher-ups are probably willing to give him some space (plus Beelzebub is busy going on pub dates w Gabriel)

while there should be ~8 months between the end of Season 1 events (The Very First Day of the Rest of Their Lives on Sunday, Aug 25, 2019) and the Lockdown phonecall (on or near the 30 year anniversary on May 1, 2020), I can't imagine that's a very long time for Hell, especially if you're understaffed and busy dealing with fallout from Almostgeddon / going on pub dates

Shax dropping off mail and asking about the boiler seems like something one does in the first few months of living somewhere, not ~3 years in (if S2 is in 2023)

That said, I think the phone call underlines why Crowley never directly tells Aziraphale that he is living in the Bentley in S2, and it's just a great conversation (all hail Gaiman) sooo I wrote about it:

***Note: This post analyzes the Lockdown phonecall from Crowley's perspective only. Our heroine is feeling quite emotionally vulnerable at this point in time so things are going to hit him harder than they normally would.

I do not think Aziraphale meant to cause him pain (!!) but Crowley can't see that yet and I've written this post in a way that reflects that missing insight. (I explain in more detail in this reblog if you are interested) I am working on a companion post for Aziraphale's side of this conversation and how I think it affects his behavior in S2 because if we know anything about these two, it's that their exactlys are different exactlys.***

Crowley’s habit of sleeping to skip time like an RPG character by a campfire amuses me to no end, but in this context it feels heavy. Crowley already worries about losing time with what he loves and he probably hoped things would be different between him and Aziraphale after the events of S1. But things don’t change much. Then lockdowns start, and Crowley is trapped in his apartment alone, transcendentally bored, and unable to make his brain shut up. Sleeping a month away starts to sound less awful.

But Crowley hasn’t given up yet; he’s still awake when Aziraphale calls, and he’s even giving it two more days. Was he waiting for Aziraphale to call? Is it even possible not to at least kind of wait for someone’s call when you are cut off from everything and the caller has been your only friend and crush for millennia?

Aziraphale asks why Crowley isn't "out and about" tempting people or setting a bad example and he responds:

C: Everyone's so miserable and cooped up right now anyway, and I just… well… don't have the heart for it. A: *glowing audibly* I'm not miserable~ C: Really?

Crowley sounds genuinely surprised at Aziraphale's happiness and quickly assumes it's because the angel has been around people. He's so lonely/depressed/in his own head that he hadn't even considered someone enjoying being 'cooped up'. *sob*

Aziraphale goes No actually I put the closed sign up in the window and I'm having the Time of My Life, never had so few customers, not in 200 years!, etc. Although, he says:

A: …There were a few young lads a couple of nights ago who broke in through the back and tried to steal the cashbox! But they soon saw the error of their ways~ C: *clearly amused* Did you smite them with your wroth? A: Well I certainly gave them a good talking to, and I sent each of them home with cake~ C: *annoyed, swooning* Cake? A: Quite a lot of cake, actually. C: *physically ill from having such a giant crush on this dumbass baker/security guard* eeeekkkgghhh I'm gonna regret asking but.. ...rrgh.. *30 seconds of Aziraphale joyfully describing his baking while Crowley probably tries very hard not to imagine the angel eating each item in sensual slow motion* I stg you can hear him struggling in the background once or twice

A: …And once I've baked them, I have to eat them all myself, which was why I was so delighted— C: To send your burglars home laden with baked goods, yes, nnyeaayeah I follow…

Crowley interrupts, finishing Aziraphale's sentence in his nervous hurry to say the next bit:

C: *loud inhale* You know, I could.. hunker down at your place. … Slither over and watch you eat cake. I could bring a bottle--a case of… something… drinkable…?

He's trying to sound so casual about it but this is someone who was rejected/abandoned by actual literal God after asking what he thought were welcome, uncontroversial questions. Asking makes him vulnerable. He's supposed to be the rescuer, not a demon in distress. He does not feel casual about asking.

Crowley knows it's unlikely but he's so miserable and desperate for company that he can't help but ask, just in case. Even the smallest chance of spending time trapped indoors with Aziraphale—with nothing to do but drink, watch him eat, and talk about things they'd normally avoid—is too tempting.

A: *panicking* Oh I— I— I— I— I'm afraid that would be Breaking All The Rules! *nervous breathing* Out of the question! I'll see you… when this is over. C: Right. gnnehh. I'm setting the alarm clock for July. Good night, angel. *dial tone*

And just like that, Crowley doesn't need two days to decide. The depression nap doubles in length. He doesn't hear how badly Aziraphale wants to say yes behind the fear, or maybe he does and it hurts worse because why isn't Crowley enough for him? You can almost hear the spiralling:

SHOCKING, asking made it worse. It always does doesn’t it? Why even bother? you just embarrass yourself.. SLITHER over? why did I say that *grumble grumble* of COURSE His Holy Holiness, your only friend in the universe, would rather eat cake by himself while everything goes to shit than ~deign~ to have you in his presence. "AsK aND yE sHaLl ReCeIvE" bugger this for a lark im going to bed

(a bit dramatic but we've all been there)

I imagine sleep doesn't come right away. Maybe his thoughts drift to when he sat beside the angel at a dark Tadfield bus stop after a rather eventful Saturday. Crowley must've felt a tiny bit hopeful when he invited Aziraphale to stay with him: Heaven had withdrawn its favor and the bookshop was gone; Aziraphale was like him now. Didn't that mean things would change?

"I don't think my side would like that." Apparently not.

In the end, Aziraphale did ride the bus back to Crowley's apartment and stayed till the next morning when he caught a cab, but only to sell the illusion. Crowley understood that as far as sides went, the angel was still on Heaven's, even if Heaven wasn't on his.

And now this: the entire world is shut down; there is nothing for Aziraphale to do but stay in and read and bake in his magically reconstituted bookshop and he still won't invite Crowley in. Burglars and un-fallen angels only—nobody who asks questions.

So... of course Crowley doesn't tell Aziraphale when he loses his apartment. He already knows what answer he would get; the angel has told him so many times. Aziraphale is a company man first, a companion to one very sad owl when convenient.

If Crowley works up the courage to say 'please take me in, I have nowhere else to go' and Aziraphale goes 'sorry, no, far too political, but I WILL risk being erased from the Book of Life to protect this nude amnesiac former coworker who always hated me,' it's going to be too much. You can't sleep long enough for that type of hurt to go away. Better not to say anything.

"Then nothing has to change, does it?"

#edited to add the note about crowley's perspective right after the cut! apologies if it seemed anti-aziraphale before! #good omens meta #good omens lockdown #good omens 2 #ineffable husbands #ineffable spouses #ineffable divorcees #i can't even imagine navigating the pandemic brain scramblies while pining THAT HARD #Aziraphale is a company man (gn) but i think S3 will cure him of that #long but if i can't write essays about this on tumblr then where #good omens spoilers

[orange-coloredsky]

The two most popular reads of the synth plight in Fallout 4 are that of the race allegory and the Red Scare/McCarthyist allegory. In the former example, synths get racialized in a similar way to Black Americans in the late 19th and early 20th century, but just barely. The Underground Railroad is quite literally remade, synths are subjected to slavery at the hands of their human creators and punished harshly for escape attempts. Others have likened synths to fears of immigrants or asylum-seekers from nonwhite majority populations. Synths in these imaginings of Fallout 4 are painted as needing to be saved at the same time as they are vilified and dehumanized – sometimes by the same character over the course of the story. This duality could be a great opportunity for a dive into how white saviorism tends to play out, but in reality it ends up being a messy, deeply uncritical exploration of the impact of race and racism in society. The factions doing the racialization and/or saviorism’s motives are never questioned, and there is a very clear depiction of “good vs. evil” being the end-all-be-all of anti-racism work (again, with no critical thought as to how the “good” side is made almost completely of non-racialized people making decisions on behalf of a marginalized group). Worse yet, it’s contrived. The android-racism analogy has been a thorn in the side of the science fiction genre ever since Isaac Asimov wrote the 3 Laws of Robotics. There’s very few iterations on the idea that have come from popular (white, Eurocentric) media that aren’t riddled with the same aftertaste of white guilt and fundamental misunderstandings of how racism plays out in day-to-day life.

The less common, slightly more agreeable interpretation is that of the Red Scare – which, given Fallout’s inspirations and the setting’s original critique of reliving America’s “good old days”, makes perfect sense. In this example, synths take the role of the Soviet spy: watching over everything Americans are doing and reporting back to a secret base that is plotting to overthrow the world as we know it. Psychological screenings as well as inhumane tortures are utilized to pick synth “spies” out from the good, red-blooded residents of the Commonwealth. A neighborhood is founded entirely around the protection of the “old ways of life”, complete with a white picket fence comically decorated with automatic machine gun turrets. While this is a more charitable analogy that’s grounded in a slightly-deeper-than-surface-level exploration of American history, the Red Scare interpretation is victim to the same pitfalls that plague the racism interpretation. Midway through the game, the player discovers that there actually is a secret base of evil villains hiding underneath our feet, plotting to annihilate our beautiful Commonwealth lives. People do get taken and replaced by synths, they are in our governments, there is an actual reason for synths to be feared. Sure, some synths are perfectly fine people with no wish to be made tools of the Institute’s tyranny, but that is greatly overshadowed by the fact that the Institute’s stated goal is to use synths to gain control over the Commonwealth. There is no real critique of McCarthyism, there is no ideology to be challenged, because the Communists are here and killing your loved ones in their sleep.

#4 #txt #my art #long post #meta #working on a transcript of a instagram highlight i made ages ago #with updated language and whole new paragraphs -- this is one of them #eventually i will be talking about acadia & how far harbor handles synth marginalization waaaaaaay better than vanilla fo4. of course #you didnt think this WOULDNT eventually devolve into dimaposting did you? oh you know so little of me <3

[tea0w0stache]

I would like to ask you about the parentification of John Dory if you please

cracks knuckles.

this was inspired by a few things:

during the argument before branch leaves, jd says this; "well i'm not allowed to change!! im the oldest, i had to be the leader ! why do you think i moved into the middle of nowhere? so i didnt have to be in charge of anyone. four little brothers a LOT of responsibility!!"

and as silly as it is,

2. the way grandma rosiepuff acted during the fallout at the beginning as well as the lack of their parents in the movie.

im gonna go ahead and combine lack of parents and the quote from the movie. for starters, the way john dory phrases it implies that he had to take care of his brothers for the majority of their time together. we have absolutely 0 information on their parents yet we can safely assume they werent present for most of their lives if jd had to be in charge of the four of them that much. hes shown signs of stress and anxiety as well as the obvious perfectionism, but he really does care about his brothers.

now onto grandma rosiepuff. i love her, and from what we've seen, she was a great grandma to branch. but in families, there are favorites. i mean, come on. i know it was probably a gag to have her play cards/gamble, but it also makes you think; why the hell did she not do anything to stop brozone from breaking up? im not saying she left everything to jd, but i wouldnt be suprised if she accidentally contributed to his perfectionism and stress.

'hes the oldest, he had to be the leader.' it sounds like something a grandmother would tell their oldest grandchild. that they have to set an example for their siblings, help them out, etc. not to mention, shes an older woman. the pressure of having 4 brothers to help take care of plus a grandma can be a LOT.

so yeah, i think tbt did a REALLY good job at portraying some of the issues brozone has. branch's abandonment issues, clays desire to finally be taken seriously, bruce's desire to move on from his past, floyd's guilt and the acceptance that he may literally DIE, and of course jd's parentification. so many of these issues are realistic and are portrayed so WELL.

okay i think im done for now but yeah its been in my head and i needed to get i out. also im absolutely gonna use this as an excuse to say GO READ TOUCHY FEELY FOOL ON AO3 pretty please!! its a jd centric fic about said parentification

#tea rambles #ask #trolls #trolls jd #trolls john dory #sorry if these rambles are dumb #all of brozone has their issues #theyre so messy but they as a family still love and care for each other

[fictionadventurer]

For various reasons, I've been spending a lot of time the past few days pondering the purpose, the aims, the point of storytelling, especially of fictional storytelling. In a world with so much reality demanding our attention, fiction needs to have a purpose, to have some role in bringing about our salvation.

And then someone sent me the link to a Catechism in a Year episode about engaging in public life where Father Mike just happens to give an explanation that addresses a lot of the issues I was thinking about.

I think that there's such a need for us to be able to tell those stories that don't just describe the way forward but they paint the way forward, right? They wouldn't just say, "Here's what you need to do next." They show pictures. They show, they reveal stories of, like, "Here's what it is to live justice. Here's what it is to be honest in this world. Here's what it is to be brave or courageous. Here's what it is to choose others before yourself. Here's what it is to lay down your life." And we get those stories in the Gospel. And that's one of the reasons why I think it's so important and so necessary for us to fill our minds with our Biblical stories so that we can shape our lens and see this world, as incumbent upon us, any of us who have any kind of authority over anyone, to tell those stories that say, "This is a good way to live. This is the best way to live. This is the wrong way to live. And this is a great way to live." And I think that's what all of us are called to do when it comes to participating in our community, participating in advancing the common good.

Anyway, I think that's what we're doing when we're writing stories from a Christian worldview. We're using stories to show those truths. Not using it as a soapbox to preach, but using those stories to explore questions and show truths about life in a way that mere preaching can't do. Engaging not just the mind, but the imagination and the heart. Providing examples of problems and showing how people like us face them and solve them or deal with the fallout from failing to solve them.

I'm not saying that authors have to shove in some greater message or purpose to their stories. Stories don't have to--and shouldn't just-- be puppet plays where every character has a role in a parable to teach some abstract concept. But I'm saying that a lot of times, that message will be there naturally--the way the story turns out says a lot about how the author thinks the world works.

And those stories will shape our internal life, and can have an effect on how we view the real world and how we act within it. Showing a character who acts courageously can give us strength to act courageously. Showing us a weak, cowardly character can remind us that we don't want to be like that guy. And so on and so forth. Seeing the characters live out a story can remind us that we have a role to play in the great story of human history, and can shape our approach to that role.

Stories are powerful, and we have to use that power wisely.

#adventures in writing #adventures in the inklings challenge #once again probably not saying anything new but i gotta get my thoughts down

[beautifulterriblequeen]

We're getting to close to seeing how Callum and Runaan are going to interact! They both love Rayla, but will they let that outweigh the fact that Runaan killed King Harrow?

Rayla and Callum love each other, but their fathers were on opposite sides of a deadly clash, and one of them didn't survive. It's going to be intense, no matter how it falls out.

But we've seen this particular tangle come up before. And there's a wide range of results so far:

Zym and Ezran are bonded closely and can read each other's thoughts when they want to. But Ez's dad killed Zym's dad, and before that, Zym's dad killed Ez's mom. Yet that doesn't stop them from seeing each other as friends. They don't blame each other for the choices their parents made.

Rayla and Soren have talked through what Viren did to Runaan in TTM - as far as Soren knew and could guess at, which was that Runaan was messily dead dead at Viren's hands. And Rayla was still happy to be his friend, when he showed his true colors. She didn't blame him for what his dad did to hers, even when she still thought Runaan was gone.

These friendly pairings are all about people from the same generation, people who were hurt by or who were not involved in the deaths that occurred.

It's a little different for Claudia and Rayla. They've generally been on opposite sides all along, and we might see some closer context for Rayla and Callum from looking at their situation.

On one hand, they both know that Viren cursed Lain, Tiadrin, and Runaan into coins. There could be plenty of fallout to come from this knowledge on Rayla's part, and maybe even on Claudia's if she gave those coins away when Viren had some kind of plans in mind.

On the other hand, they also both know that Rayla tackled Viren off the Storm Spire, and he died, and it took Claudia two years to fix that.

Just like it's been taking Rayla two years to "fix" Runaan's coin situation (with vengeance, which will probably now shift to rescue instead?)

But when Claudia and Rayla clashed in S4E9, their issues with each other stuck to what they had done, not what their fathers had done.

And though the angst potential is great with Runaan and Callum potentially squaring off and forcing Rayla to choose a side, etc etc, I think there might be one more example to look at first:

Ezran and Rayla.

They've already bonded as children made to carry a heavy burden of responsibility by their fathers, of feeling separate and weird, not fitting in. They both know what it feels like to have a father who takes lives, a warrior who defends his people - and who kills the fathers of other children. And they're still friends. They're very good friends.

I think Callum has every right to be angry at Runaan, when they meet again. I think he will be angry. He's an angry person with a lot of hurt and stress. And that might be how he deals for a while, because I don't know that Rayla or Runaan himself will really be in a position to help smooth things out.

But Ezran could be, possibly more than anyone else. Harrow was his father, too, so he can speak to Callum from a place of true empathy. But Harrow took Avizandum's life and left Zym without his dad, too. Ezran could help Callum see their shared pain from the outside, even when he's angry. Ezran is the King of Katolis - made so by Runaan's attack, in fact. Ezran rules because of Runaan's actions as much as by the good people who rescued him from Viren's cell.

Oh yeah, how about that: Ezran knows what it's like to be locked up by Viren, too.

They were both betrayed by supposed allies, and Viren pounced on the opportunity to lock them both up.

Bringing Runaan back might divide Rayla and Callum for a while, if Callum can't sort through his feelings. But I think Ezran is the key to helping everyone involved move forward.

#runaan #rayla #callum #ezran #release the drafts #the way i've totally flipped on who's gonna take rayla's side now lol

[slocumjoe]

some things I love about the companions 💞

Ada; is best girl. She's a cool ass robot who gives me glue and doesn't judge me. No, this is not my "transformers prime permanently rewired my brain" bias for robots. At risk of sounding like a 12 year old boy, Assaultatrons are just badass designs. And she's blue!

Cait; is a lot funnier than anyone gives her credit for. Also, weirdly educated? For example, she wonders if Raiders like tunnels as a "Freudian" thing. Few people she'd have met would known about Freud, so she'd have to have gone and read about it herself. Also also, is on Danse's level of romantic sweet talk. Girl makes me swoon.

Codsworth; somehow hates the wasteland more than X6. His wording and tone is very optimistic but you can tell that, underneath his chipper facade, Codsworth is so fucking grossed out by everything he sees. Also, the only two companions he doesn't trust to keep you safe, are Piper and MacCready. Make of that what you will.

Curie; X6-88 (like, 10 years old) calls her unqualified and she (200ish) basically tells him to get the fuck back in the play pen

Danse; Sending his eyebrows to space by showing the smallest amount of care and affection. I'm pretty sure this man would die if someone asked if he was okay.

Deacon; talks a big game about being a liar, and being very good about it, but if you don't read that 'recall code' ASAP, he bugs you about it constantly because he hates lying to you. It's not even that you're being naive, he genuinely hates that he's being trusted when you were supposed to question him.

Dogmeat; my favorite thing about Dogmeat is that I'll spend an hour scrapping all dog houses in Sanctuary, make him a little area in my backyard with a house, food bowl, toys, a rug, and classical music, and he thanks me by getting up on my countertops to sleep, using my antique pie collection as bedding.

Gage; Wears a fake eyepatch and throws hissy fits when my army of sexy chads curbstomps his furries, Nepo babies, and Joker stans. This is entirely wishful thinking and I get why this didn't happen, but I would have liked an option to convince him "Hey, I'm coming back with my army to wipe out all these raiders, but I'll give you a chance to join me or leave since you also seem to hate these chuckleheads." I appreciate his shady convict uncle vibes. I would let him teach Shaun how to cheat at cards.

Hancock; takes mentats to feel "intellectual" when he has the second highest INT of all the companions. Also, his puppy dog eyes. "IM FERAL NOW" as he gets his ass kicked by a legendary god roach

MacCready; dork man. he has more cliche stock line jokes than Deacon. I unironically vibe with his taste in trailers, fucking LOVE leopard print (fake bc we don't fuck with wasteful animal hunting like that). He's a very cozy companion to travel with, for lack of a better description. Like if a thermos of soup was a human.

Nick; Nick is what I imagine Mac would be like as he got older—just a laid-back weirdo who wants whats best for you and will insult you so you understand that. I love his tacky ass agency sign. I wish you could put him in other clothes, because I need him in a bathrobe wielding a cane against my enemies. Just really succumb to the grumpy uncle vibes.

Old Longfellow; reminds me strongly of my old neighbor, an elderly southern gentleman who was a sniper in the military, had a chunky rottie named Baby, and once watched me play Fallout and gave his opinions on the design of the weapons in game. That man is now in Thailand with his girlfriend. I've never traveled with Longfellow but I'm pretty sure its a 1 to 1.

Preston; if you don't take Preston to Quincy, I don't blame you, because oh man, does he not have a great time there! Preston sounds five seconds away from snapping his gun over his knee and going for strangulation in Quincy. King shit.

Piper; I was pretty harsh to Piper but I love her gaslight gatekeep girlboss approach to her life. She's like an adult Junie B Jones. Piper has never had her shit together and is self-medicating with sugar harder than Hancock and Cait do with drugs. She's a cringefail woman. If Bethesda was brave they would have gone with her pixie cut concept.

X6-88; a blank canvas for me to go wild on with the fanon. But I love how he's just an asshole 10 year old murderbot that's scared of heights, thinks Power Armor is so cool he privately fangirls over Danse, is scared of children, and gushes over how awesome the Survivor is to his courser buddies. What a babe.

#fallout 4 #fo4 #fallout 4 companions #paladin danse #preston garvey #piper wright #robert joseph maccready #nick valentine #john hancock #i have literally nothing to like abt strong sorry #hes real big and green. i guess green is a nice color? #oh wait. Mack Ree Dee. there. good Strong thing

[mageknight14]

I think what’s interesting about Neku as a protag is that while I’ve seen some people talk about how he’s one of the deeper/most complex characters in the franchise, I’d argue that he’s actually one of the most straightforward characters in the TWEWY duology-and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. That’s not to suggest that he doesn’t have depth, far from it. His trauma and the way that he goes about in trying to dissociate from others while still genuinely loving them deep down, even if he says otherwise, is genuinely interesting to see in action, especially in how he approaches his relationships. But compared to the others, I don’t find him as fascinating to explore in comparison to, say, Shoka, Joshua, Sho, Kanon, Motoi, Shiba, Mr. H, or even Rindo as a protag, even if his reappearance in NEO as well as how he tries to keep his trauma/emotions under wraps is still interesting to see in action.

That said, he’s still one of my faves for how much he embodies TWEWY’s themes in general, his development just being great to see in action, and the impact he has on the people around him in various ways. In a series where a lot of the characters like to hide parts about themselves and how those affect the relationships around them, Neku in the first game is blunt to a tee, almost to a fault, and confrontational, which makes him the perfect receptacle for the themes/lessons the game imparts on him. We're privy to almost every single one of his thoughts, feelings, and emotions throughout the game, to the point that it almost becomes a first-person narration at times. He hates lying and it shows because when the characters have doubts about themselves, he’s the perfect guy for the job of setting them straight instead of trying to dart around the issue, getting them to look at themselves and try to press forward anyway.

This is also part of what makes Rindo such an effective foil to him as a protagonist. Like I said in another post, while Rindo SEEMS more socially well-adjusted compared to Neku on a surface-level, once you look into his actions and mindset, you can see that he's also quite the dysfunctional mess. Whereas Neku is blunt, brutally honest, and incredibly confrontational, Rindo is much more passive, self-contradictory, and incredibly insecure about himself and the people around him, which feeds into how he puts people at arm's length, including his supposed best friend. The kid can't even tackle a simple-ass puzzle without needing to consult his online friend first or ask them about their identity because he's afraid of rocking the boat. Whereas Neku is alone AWAY from the crowd, Rindo is alone IN the crowd.

This also extends to their inner thoughts, where Neku will let us, the player, view into his mind and have him lay out exactly what he's feeling, the conclusions he comes to, and be confident enough in what he's feeling to then express himself in exactly that manner (with some exceptions such as some of his interactions with Joshua, which is justified because he doesn't want to risk anything happening to Shiki if their partnership goes south so he tries to keep what he says in check, even if it internally kills him inside, and even then he still spills out how PISSED he is with Joshua towards the end.)

Meanwhile, in NEO, while we do play as Rindo and get the majority of the story through his perspective, we don’t get to see his inner thoughts/turmoil as much as Neku’s…because he DOESN’T want to recognize his issues, instead trying to rely on everyone else to solve his problems for him so that they can take the fallout in case something goes wrong and a lot of it shows through his actions/outspoken dialogue instead. Nagi’s Dive and Haz’s conversation with him are some of the only times someone directly calls him out on his flaws within the main story but when you pay attention to how he acts, his flaws pop up quite a bit. For example, how he claims that An0ther's quote of "never miss your chance to make a friend" is one of his favorite quotes yet he balks at the idea of recruiting other potential team members as well as grimace at the concept of the first game's Reaper's Game.

So we have a guy who’s constantly internally struggling with himself while putting on a cold/blunt persona because he doesn’t want to get hurt and recognizing that maybe he’s wrong on a point and letting us in on how he's feeling a vast majority of the time in his head versus a guy who constantly bitches and moans internally while passively going along with everything in spite of himself, constantly self-contradicting/being hypocritical without recognizing himself as such until he gets a much needed wake-up call later and I think that’s really interesting.

#the world ends with you #twewy #neo twewy #ntwewy #neku sakuraba #rindo kanade #analysis post #character analysis

[maddymoreau]

I read this interesting post:

https://www.tumblr.com/rocket-69/691648665881886720/its-sixxers-fallout-fallen-knight-let-me?source=share

That discusses how while Victor is a lovable character he's a product designed to lure Courier Six into New Vegas. This post got my brain juices flowing so bad I made Tumblr glitch with how much I tried writing in the tags. So I had to make my own post.

I find it EXTREMELY interesting how all the AIs Mr. House created while fun and lovable are also products.

Jane being a copy of Mr. House's favorite girl a starlet he dated before the Great War. She's designed to entertain him similarly to how the workers at Gomorrah "entertain" customers.

Jane: "Mr. House has a lot of needs, sugar. I take care of all of them, and a lady doesn't kiss and tell."

There's also an emotional aspect to the services she provides him.

If he wanted her just for sex he wouldn't have specifcally scanned her brain. He could've gotten anyone. While famous Jane wasn't even a star but a starlet. A young actress with aspirations to become a star.

While he might have liked Jane's personality which is why he picked her. Ultimately their relationship was a business transaction.

Raul: "She said they never, um... don't make me spell it out, boss. Anyway, she said all he wanted to do was scan her brain and make her dress up in different outfits."

Mr. House scanned her brain to create an artificial relationship (separate from the real Jane) designed to satisfy his needs post Great War. Mr. House had the technology to save the real Jane but chose not to.

A lot of people also seem misunderstand the reason why Mr. House doesn't have sex with Jane. It's because he physically COULDN'T.

Ignoring cut content. Mr. House was already attached to the machine keeping him alive. He's connected to an Electrode-studded command helmet on the day of the Great War.

It's how Mr. House protected New Vegas:

Raul: "I remember there were some weird stories about him, especially near the end." NEAR THE END.

Mr. House takes Jane's personality to the EXTREME. Designing her to stoke and inflate his ego by being able to only say positive things about him. Jane is a product designed to provide Mr. House a service all while managing his snow globe collection. She doesn't even respond when the player says goodbye to her.

Then there's Mr. Vegas who was an AI created before the Great War. A charming DJ for Radio New Vegas to play music but also spread the news.

Mr. House also did to the same to the tribes by turning them into The Strip AKA a money making product.

He molds people into exactly what HE wants for his benefit.

The BIGGEST example of this was Benny! However that didn't work because Benny is human. Benny had his own ambitions and desires.

Mr House: "I have to think that he found out about the Platinum Chip and mistakenly convinced himself that he could use it to his own ends."

Mr. House even flat out admits it to the player.

Mr. House: "Benny has led the Chairmen ever since I recruited his tribe seven years ago. Until his recent misbehavior, I'd planned to make him my protege. Maybe if I'd begun grooming him sooner, none of this would've happened..."

Protege meaning a person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person. He wanted to GUIDE Benny into a specific role. Which the player can even ask about.

Courier Six: "What use would you have for a protege?"

Mr. House: "To achieve my aims, I require a capable human agent to perform certain . . . tasks."

HE DOES THE SAME WITH COURIER SIX!!!

Testing them to see if they can get to New Vegas on their own.

This awesome post goes into more details about it:

https://www.tumblr.com/maddymoreau/741007168343588864/veronicaroyce-it-always-bothered-me-that-mr?source=share

Mr. House even mentions you being a more-than-suitable replacement for the role he wanted Benny in.

ALSO during your first meeting with Mr. House this exchange can happen:

Courier: "Why the VIP treatment? I'm just a courier."

Mr. House: "Oh, don't be coy. You've been playing a high-stakes game ever since Victor dug you out of the ground. Don't be afraid to admit it."

DON'T BE AFRAID TO ADMIT IT. HE'S TEACHING YOU!!!! HE'S GUIDING YOU INTO THE ROLE HE WANTS!!!

Mr. House: "You see that you and I are of a different stripe, don't you? We don't have to dream that we're important. We are."

While Mr. House may act like he's above feelings and relationships. HE'S NOT!!!! It's why the player's karma can affect his ending SO MUCH!!!!

Another incredible post discussing it:

https://www.tumblr.com/maddymoreau/740922764666585088/veronicaroyce-something-i-think-a-lot-about-is?source=share

A lot of people think Mr. House is an idiot for picking Benny but people forget Benny's drive. Hell just rewatch the intro cutscene where he shoots Courier Six.

Mr. House being human is also WHY he picks Benny despite Swanks being far more loyal. Swanks is an unimaginative employee.

MR. HOUSE LIKE'S BENNY'S PERSONALITY. HE NOT STUPID HE KNOWS WHAT BENNY PERSONALITY IS LIKE!!!

Mr. House: "I have a certain tolerance for greed. I expect my business partners to be self-interested - but smarty so."

However he misjudged Benny and even admits it.

Mr. House: "Obviously, I miscalculated his drive for supremacy."

In the Yes Man ending we learn.

Yes Man: "I found some code snippets in one of Mr. House's databanks that will let me, um, reprogram my personality! To be a little more assertive, basically!"

Meaning while small Mr. House has programming to allow characters like Victor and Jane free will. He WON'T use it though because he wants the specific services and relationships they provide him.

HE'S A WEIRDO CONTROL FREAK WHO ACTS LIKE HE'S ABOVE HUMAN EMOTIONS BUT HE'S NOT AND I LOVE IT!!!!

In the ending with high good karma it even says: "Mr. house afforded him/her every luxury at his disposal in the Lucky 38, out of gratitude - and a quiet sense of pride for his choice in lieutenants."

Of course because of his ego (look at the obituary that appears when he dies) but GRATITUDE. Spoiling Courier Six with all the luxuries he can provide doesn't sound like a basic employee and employer relationship he likes to act like what they have is.

Mr. House: "In any case... this is an employer - employee relationship. I've given you an assignment, and the directions are clear."

If you want to take the G.E.C.K script notes into consideration they even says:

Mr. House: ''You know, I've had thousands of employees in my time. Few met my expectations, fewer still surpassed them.'' {You know, I never had much time for a family - if I did, you'd be the daughter/son I wish I'd had. Benny was almost like a son to me, but well...}

Courier Six being loyal to Mr. House means so much more to him then he'd ever want to admit. EVEN AT THE END OF THE GAME WHEN THE PLAYER HAS FINISHED THEIR WORK AT THE SECOND BATTLE OF HOOVER DAM HE AUTOMATICALLY GETS EXCITED DISCUSSING THEIR NEXT PLANS!!!!!

#Courier Six doing and being exactly what he wanted them to be allows Mr. House to feel comfortable with them. #I wanna ramble about this emotionally stunted 261 year old man HE'S SUCKS SO MUCH I LOVE IT *EXPLODES*!!!!! #Please correct me I'm wrong about anything or just talk about him with me akjdlfhnov; s #Anytime I make a long analysis post about a character I get nervous that I missed a detail that would contradict everything I wrote. #Fallout New Vegas #Mr. House #MadisonPlaysFalloutNewVegas #Long Text #MadisonHouse

[robotlesbianjavert]

What's the problem with Deku's writing?

well for one he's a main character. which is strike one.

technically that's a joke but also not. there's a lot angles i could take in order to complain about deku, so for now i want to take the angle that as a main character, there are things that are going to be taken for granted as endgame for the narrative, but it's so taken for granted that the story forgets about the actual material needed to reach the endgame.

i'm going to use ofmd s2 as an example of this, because it's another thing i like to point at and go :) bad writing. so for that, it's very evident that the writers are aiming for "ed and stede are together and are ready to embark on a new, more mature phase of their life together". you can tell this because the showrunner was constantly talking about it in interviews. and indeed, the season ends with ed and stede parting ways with their crew and pirate life to try their hands as innkeepers.

but to reach that endgame, the series has to a) get stede and ed back together as soon possible, meaning they have to lean heavily on coincidence rather than any real efforts on the part of the characters, b) resolve the very emotionally stark situations the characters had left s1/started s2 in a way that makes the happy innkeeper endgame possible, but this makes the segue from drama to resolution unbelievable because the series can't really dedicate the time to dealing with that fallout before hopping onto the next big issue, which c) means that the ways that the other characters have been hurt as a result ed and stede's relationship drama have their pain sidelined and shrugged off, and in turn d) the focus on ensuring that ed and stede are together and in love means that their relationships with other characters get de-emphasized and feel much less lived, which rebounds and makes ed and stede feel more one-dimensional without the magic that fleshed them out. and most dire of all e) the audience is expected to believe that "sorry i was a dick" "you're not a dick life's a dick" is meant to indicate a development of maturity that means they are able to go off and be innkeepers together. it is NOT there.

essentially, the focus on a specific endgame without care about how that endgame is achieved ends up undercutting the triumph and catharsis of that endgame, rendering it much more hollow. people still enjoyed ofmd s2, and they're allowed to! but they enjoy it because their otp ended the season standing next to each other. three feet part. not for any genuine critical acclaim.

it's a similar issue with deku, especially in this final arc. his obvious endgame is that he'll affirm shigaraki's humanity and pain, "save" him (what that looks like yet, we don't know), and in turn become the greatest hero. we've got all the bones of that - just recently in 411, deku did his whole "you ARE human" declaration. but the lead up to deku and shigaraki's confrontation is thematically shallow and heavily dependent on us knowing that deku is a great kid and a great hero.

deku starts the third act realizing that if he understood the villains that he's faced, things could have turned out differently - the set up is that deku has to understand shigaraki as a person in order to stop him. the lead up to this is. well he asks muscular "what's up with you" one time in the middle of battle. that didn't work out. and then he had his nagant confrontation, where he was more shocked about her killing the former commission president than he was about the commission ordering a lot of evil assassinations. and then never thought about what that meant for society at large. and he was just like "well i know the world has some greys in it now" and that fixed her i guess. overhaul was there and deku made no real effort there to get why he was so frantic about seeing his boss. and then he has that conversation with ochaco where they both go "isn't it crazy that we have empathy for villains".

so basically the most work that he actually put into "understanding villains" was with nagant, who is a completely new character who has the baggage of "hero commission assassin is ANYONE in series gonna talk about that", and the potential she possesses as a shigaraki foil and a stepping stone for deku towards his endgame gets muddled. she's also basically, while a significant confrontation, is one beat of many in the third act.

so the set up for "understanding villains" as a factor in deku's endgame, in seeing villains as human, is pretty weak. and deku was honestly really dependent on getting that build up and using other villains as a learning experience, bc his actual dynamic with shigaraki is sparse. compare it to uraraka and toga - the "understanding" thread fares a lot better there, because uraraka has had specific and charged interactions with toga that deeply affected her and made her think. deku's most constructive interaction with shigaraki was way back at the mall, before the training camp, but that's not enough to carry chemistry through their supposed arc as hero & villain.

but the story already knows that deku, one way or another, is meant to succeed, so it acts like he received the necessary development to be able to understand shigaraki as human in their confrontation.

there's a similar lack of meat for many other aspects of deku's characters - like his relationship with the vestiges, where yoichi could be 2nd and 3rd around on deku's behalf, and his mastering of the new ofa quirks, which we get TOLD has consequences or that he's struggling with, but it's never in a way that actually causes him substantial issues that he must overcome.

but actually, we can move all of that aside and ask one simple question about deku's character: what does he think about the floating death coffin the other heroes built for shigaraki?

deku gets confronted by the vestiges about having to possibly kill shigaraki, and his response to that is "yeah i guess but i gotta try saving him". which is very nice, but it just ends there. deku doesn't have to deal with how everyone else - people who are scared, or have been hurt by shigaraki and the villain's actions - might feel about this initiative. at no point does deku have to stand his ground against the other heroes after shigaraki's head, he doesn't have to convince anyone of his point of view, he doesn't have to look inward and understand why he wants to do this. it's just "well if i can!"

deku doesn't have to have any thoughts about the floating death coffin. he never has to be in scene with it before it started malfunctioning. he doesn't have to have any opinions about its construction, about the heroes deciding to take this path. he doesn't need to have feelings about it, he just has to save shigaraki.

and when that happens, the narrative will celebrate him, and the heroes will be like "wow deku really is the greatest hero, kids these days are so great". they don't need to have thoughts about deku wanting to do this in the first place, because it's going to happen and no one can stop it.

in a similar way that some ofmd fans can walk away happy with season 2 because they don't need anything more than their otp standing together three feet apart, a lot of fans would be happy with deku and shigaraki's likely endgame because what matters is that deku is the hero and that he saves shigaraki. but from where i'm standing, deku has so little substance and build up to this endgame (or at least the build up is THERE, but poorly done) that it's hard for me to be impressed.

also everything @codenamesazanka said here. everything she says i nod and go hell yeah.

#if i wanted to take another angle i would probs compare deku with koichi. but i'd want to reread vigilantes. #bnha bloggin

[ceilingcow]

Howdy, folks! I’m Hoff or Wes, and you might know me as the mod for @yeehawgust, as the merch mod for @falloutghoulzine or from around the Fallout fandom here on Tumblr.

I have a top surgery date set for early December, and though I was able to pay for the surgery itself, it was more expensive than I’d anticipated so I’m going to struggle paying for the day-of hospital fees, travel and food. I’m super excited about finally being able to get this surgery, but I could really use some help! I’ll try to keep things brief, but here’s how you can help, aside from just donating to my Ko-Fi. I won’t stretch this post with a ton of merch examples, you can check them out at the links below.

I’m doing a pre-order for Benny Gecko stickers over at my Ko-Fi shop. Stickers will be 4″ tall and professionally printed on clear, waterproof vinyl. Preorders will be open until noon CST on November 25th. See the full art and details at the link above.

My Ko-Fi Shop has buttons, stickers, and PWYW Mystery Packs if you want to donate more than the cost of the pack.

Check out my main Etsy shop, Tigers Eye Adventure Co, where I have tons of LGBTQIA+ buttons, including custom name and pronoun buttons, plus artisanal glitter options. I’ve got gift packs that make great presents!

Check out my new Etsy shop, Stranger Pastures, where I have Fallout and other video game buttons and stickers.

Reblogs and support are greatly appreciated! I hate to be asking for help like this, but I’m coming up short on the final stretch on my journey. Thank you! <3

#my shop #top surgery #signal boosts really appreciated #TOP surgery fundraiser #thank you for reading! #lgbtqia+

[artsekey]

Do the other players in your game know about cas's origins as the blob boy? Was it a suprise to them when he was resurrected as a monster or just a suprise to their characters?

The first hint that ANY of us had that Casimir might not be entirely human was about 5-6 sessions in. My DM (who I've played with for about five years now) is a great storyteller, and I always trust her to play with the backstories I send.

If you've seen a lot of Cas's art, you might've noticed he's got a strange accessory-- a glass lens.

He used to use it whenever he saw aberrations to check whether or not they were actually "there". Before coming to Barovia, it helped him stay grounded in his day-to-day life, but since arriving in Strahd's domain it's gotten a lot more practical use. The way it works is simple:

When you look at the real world through the lens, it blurs and distorts the subject as you would expect a lens to do.

When you look at something that's not really there (an aberration enjoying a brief jaunt through the ethereal, for example), the subject stays crystal clear.

Early on in the campaign, our party's cleric-- Tao-- was struggling with hearing and seeing things that he thought couldn't possibly be real. Casimir offered to let Tao borrow the lens and check to see if what he was looking at was a hallucination, and when he glanced back at Casimir, well...

He stayed crystal clear.

Tao didn't bring it up in earnest for a long time, instead trying to use spells like Detect Good and Evil to discern exactly what was going on with Casimir (at this point, Tao and Casimir barely knew each-other, and there are plenty of deceptive monsters in Barovia), but eventually came to the conclusion that Casimir didn't have any ill intent. He was just a little... weird. Detect Good and Evil revealed that Casimir was both undead and an aberration, which generally left Tao with more questions than answers.

This revelation was swept to the wayside as Tao was forced to face his own problems-- false gods, crises of faith, a soul sucking plague... but that's a story for a different post!

Fast forward an arc or so and we catch back up with the present. Of the party (consisting of Ireena, Izmark, Nimir (Kasimir in the module), Van Richten, Ezmerelda, Tao (PC), Borovoj (PC) and Casimir (PC)), only three had any inkling that Casimir had something unusual going on: Tao, Borovoj, and Ireena, who's been with the group since the beginning. Everyone in the group knows the spells that he casts are strange...

But given how helpful those spells are, most of the group doesn't pay it much mind. Unfortunately, after last session, there's not a lot of room to ignore just how strange Casimir is. The players (including myself!) suspected something like it might happen, but the moment he came back up confirmed it for us. As for player characters: Tao did his best to help; of everyone in the group, he's the one who's suspected something the longest. Borovoj didn't actually see it, I don't think. Van Richten, Ezmerelda, and Izmark had no idea. We haven't seen the fallout yet, but it was probably pretty jarring for them.

Nimir, who's kind of the resident expert on aberrations, tried to preform some type of ritual as soon as Cas kicked the bucket. Van Richten thwacked him and broke his concentration mid-spell (fortunately).

Casimir, who remembers nothing about this incident but has seen ample evidence to support that something weird is going on, is doing his best to reaffirm that he is just a lil' human person. Which... he might be. There's some weird stuff going on with the Ethereal plane, and we've only scratched the surface of finding out why Casimir is the way he is. I'll keep y'all updated, though!

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #blob boy #comic #campaign update

[rey-jake-therapist]

Fandom and misogyny (spoiler Endless Nights)

I never cease to be appealed by the way some people will constantly find a way to dogpile on female characters, most often for no valuable reasons.

Take Killala of the Glow, in Endless Nights for example: this morning I woke up reading a post that said, "Dream and Desire used to be best friends, it's so sad they're strangers now, I spent an entire day cursing that BITCH Killala for cheating on Dream and ruining the good relationship he had with his sibling. She did them both so wrong!"

I read Endless Nights entirely (not just the excerpts that circulate online) so my eyes popped out when I read that, a bit like this:

Just because it is, you know.... it's a lie! Or at least, it is one, partially: it's true that Killala dumped Dream for another immortal being - Sto-Oa aka the Sun, no less, - who seduced her that day, but who started this, hmmm? No, not Dream's who didn't do anything wrong this time, it's someone else, search better....

It's THEM, Desire, yeah! They're the one who had fun pushing Killala in Sto-Oa's arms, and who made fun of Dream afterwards and didn't understand why he was upset!

I think maybe people forget how powerful Desire are? They are also the one who, eons later, would canonically cause Nada's infatuation for Dream and probably Dream's for her, because they knew it was forbidden for an Endless to love a mortal and wanted Dream to be caught in the act of wrongdoing...

Also, a bit of context is important here: Killala wasn't Dream's long time queen, she had just met him in her dreams a few days ago. Ok, it doesn't make cheating better, but she said herself to Destiny she wasn't sure she loved Dream yet. And once again, it was Desire who orchestrated the whole thing, as seen in this panel:

I wonder how come it's rarely pointed that he would repeat exactly the same trick eons later with Nada: he made Nada want Dream after she saw him in a dream, then made his lonely brother want Nada, because she wanted him and he was flattered by this attention.

Coming back to the subject, Endless Nights, it seems to me that Desire's intent was ALWAYS to mess with them -Dream and Killala -, because they wanted to have fun at their brother's depends!

And I genuinely believe they didn't think Dream would react so badly: nothing is serious for Desire, who lives only for the moment. How could they imagine it would be so serious for Dream, and that he would hold a grudge for so long?

Let's see a bit of context:

When we meet Killala, she has just met Dream - she tells Desire Dream visited her in a dream "some days ago"- doesn't know him much and isn't even sure she loves him. It doesn't excuse cheating on him, but I think it's fair to assume than it this story, it's more Dream's ego than his heart which was hurt. All he does after catching her in the act is telling the young Sol she will find her way home, and that her new lover will probably transport her. If he's big mad at Killala, he does a really great job at hiding it. At the end of the story, it is said by Sol's son - who tells the story to his own son - that Killala eventually died, but at no point it's suggested that Dream caused her death.

Another interesting fact to put the situation back in its context:

Killala has a little chit-chat with Destiny, Dream's big brother and the oldest of the Endless. He asks her if he loves Dream (she doesn't know, thinks she does) and tells her that "a millennia from now", the Endless will be forbidden to love mortals and that her case in particular will be heavily discussed:

Why though? It's often believed that the drama with Killala caused the "no romance with mortals" rule, but Destiny says it would be decided a millenia after Killala's era so frankly, it's doubtful that her fallout with Dream caused this.

However, it occurred to me that it may be the tension between Dream and Desire, caused by Killala cheating on Dream with Sto-Oa, that was discussed. Think about it: Dream and Desire probably worked together before Desire did that "joke"... After that day, they worked AGAINST each other, or at least Dream looked down on Desire's realms and Desire hated him for it. I don't think that Dream having a failed romance with Killala had any influence on the universe per se, but isn't it very likely that the shift in Desire and Dream's relationship did? 🤔

Another reason could be that Sol, the future sun that would shine on Earth, wanted the not yet created mortal humans to look like Killala, who he found very beautiful.

Who knows if Dream didn't have a negative reaction to this idea, and caused the higher instances to decide that it was better for him and the other Endless to not have romanced with mortal beings who liked the woman who had previously hurt one of them? All speculation of course, since we don't know much about this "no romance with mortals" rule after all, but it's so fun to speculate!

But I digress (bless Tumblr for the absence of text limit!). The subject of my post was the misoginy which Killala of the Glow, among other female characters in The Sandman, were subjected to by a part of the fandom. Don't get me wrong: what she did to Dream was very bad, cheating is wrong! But let's not accuse her of "separating the siblings" while:

1) she was surely under Desire's influence (see the screenshot below: Desire was watching her and Sto-Oa engage in a discussion, smirking),

2) the only one who can fairly be accused of doing that was one of the siblings themselves, Desire, when they decided to make fun of their sibling by humiliating him.

3) Also I'd argue that if Dream was entitled to be angry at his sibling - it was a very bad joke... - he should have moved on after a while.

Fun fact, by the way: Dream was disappointed by Killala's change of heart, but he didn't seem angry at her, and he let her go. He even understood immediately what really happened and Desire's influence! That's why he directly went to Desire after he caught her kissing another man. It was Desire's actions that hurt him, way more than Killala's, because he valued his sibling's affection and considered him his favorite sibling.

But sure, let's blame the blue skinned lady for not being able to resist the manipulations of an immortal being, who's got exactly that kind of power. Let's just do that! 😒

#the sandman meta #fandom sexism #Killala of the Glow #desire of the endless #dream of the endless #endless nights #the sandman spoilers #fandom misogyny

[clogginbloggingoggin]

Thanks for engaging with my posts!! I’ve been such a fan of westerns and old Hollywood for so long that finding a new blorbo that isn’t a. Dead or b. In their 90s and retired is absolutely shocking! (Eli Wallach/Toshiro Mifune/Roger Livesey some examples)

Whilst I plan on watching Fallout again, please would you give me recs for Mr Goggins’ faves of yours? Movies/TV whatever media is fine!

I have literally watched the worst early tv tapes ever to watch teleplays of Hemingway texts starring Jason Robards and Eli Wallach…

Thanks for the content and I hope I’m not bothering you by asking for a list!

of course!! well, that’s a great reason to be into walton goggins, glad you found him!!

i totally get you, i will watch absolutely ANYTHING walton is in, even finding myself watching old bad movies as well, haha.

and absolutely not, don’t worry about it! i love talking about this old man, lmao.

if you’re really into westerns, i highly recommend justified. it’s more of a neo-western but it’s absolutely amazing and perfect television and is the whole reason i came to love mr goggins! the hateful eight is also amazing and probably my all time favorite movie. it has great action and stunning cinematography. django unchained is an amazing movie as well, but his character in it sucks. also shanghai noon is absolutely hilarious although i haven’t finished it yet and he’s not in it that much. outside of westerns, the righteous gemstones and vice principals have got to be one of my favorite shows ever. they’re to die for funny and danny mcbride and walton are a dream together. the shield is great television and extremely stressful to watch, lmao. so definitely not a have on in the background type of show.

anyone else is free to rec anything else in the comments!!

thank you for the ask!! 🩶

#walton goggins #tal

[jennagrinsoverml]

hey if it’s not too much to ask, what are some of your recs for longer fics, as in like over 10k words? i tend to enjoy them more than shorter ones but they’re a bit rare, and vary vastly in quality, too. btw i loved your fic Love Is Blind!!!

[image description: Do you have any recs for long fics? Not super picky on which corner of the love square but I’d be super pumped to get some fresh fics (I’ve reread Back To Us, Happiness, and TLBATB one too many times lol)]

Thank you 💖🥰💖 (Love is Blind for anyone else who wants to read it)

I love long fics too, although I don't read as many of them as the short little one-shots due to the time commitment required. (There’s probably another dozen fics sitting in my marked for later list that would be great additions to this list.) 

I contributed to a rec list of long fics previously, and I’ve tried to avoid duplication, so I recommend you check those out as well! I actually had trouble narrowing these down. Here are my recs of fics that are over 30k. (Also, in case people aren’t aware, you can search by word count on AO3. Here’s an example searching for complete works over 30k sorted by kudos.)

The Unintended Consequences of Being a Superhero's Boyfriend by @karkalicious769​

"Adrien Agreste, is it true that you're Chat Noir?"

The world fell out from under him.

"The two of you do look remarkably similar." A second microphone was shoved into Adrien's hands and he took it instinctively. "And what do you have to say about the footage that showed Chat Noir going to your home after a successful akuma battle?"

"Yes, Chat Noir did come to my house. But not because we're the same person. See, ah—" His tongue stuck in his throat. And then, either by good luck or bad, Adrien thought of Ladybug. "We're dating!"

Or — With his back against the wall and his secret identity about to be revealed, Adrien blurts out the first thing that comes to his mind. Now, he has to manage the consequences.

129k. Once I started reading this fic, it was hard to stop! It’s just such a ride with a lot of ups and downs. This fic starts out kinda crack-y with Adrien blurting out that he’s dating himself to protect his identity. But things quickly spiral out of control from there and, while it’s still fun, there are a lot of serious bits too, and it’s all handled so well with a satisfying ending. I really loved this!

When The Morning Comes by @into-september​

Gabriel Agreste has been unmasked as Hawkmoth, and the girl who was fighting him all these years turns out to be Tom Dupain's daughter. And standing between them is Adrien Agreste with his life in shatters that Tom Dupain has no way of piecing together.

But baking is at least a place to start.

42k. This fic detailing the fallout, especially for Adrien, of a Hawkmoth defeat is so well done and has such an air of realism to it. The whole thing is told through Tom’s perspective, and it’s so interesting both because of the insight we get into his character, as well as all the things he sees--and all the things he doesn’t. He doesn’t know what happened between Adrien and Marinette, so neither do we, but we all see the ripples, and have to wonder. The relationships here are all so well done, especially relationships that haven’t gotten much (or any) development in canon. This one hurts, but it’s worth it, both for the journey and for its conclusion.

The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir by @kasienda​ 

After Ladybug admits to Chat Noir that she told someone her identity, she insists that he do the same. He wants it to be her. She insists it has to be anyone else. He suggests they use the snake. She finds this to be a reasonable compromise.

After many heartfelt five minute conversations that Ladybug doesn't remember, she decides he should keep the snake. That way he can always confide in her if he needs to. He also realizes it means he can talk to anyone… for five minutes... on repeat.

Contains many Season 4 Spoilers.

40k. This is one of those fics that I come back to over and over again because it’s just so good. The use of the snake miraculous here is different from any other use of it I’ve seen and it’s BRILLIANT. The way we get reveals over and over again, only for them to be taken back, and the development that happens. There’s amazing love square, but also platonic adrino, djwifi, and incisive and heartbreaking Gabriel and Adrien scenes. The heart and the angst and the development are all so well done. The concept is amazing and there’s so much emotion and the entire fic is intense af. This is seriously one of my favourites.

Imbalance by @thelibraryloser

Chat Noir is fighting evil all on his own, not aware he’s supposed to be half of a whole. Hawkmoth is desperate to get his hands on the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculous, knowing that if he causes enough destruction the world will demand balance and the Ladybug will have to appear. And when she does, she's not what anyone expected. Chat thought having a partner would feel different- maybe like how he feels talking to the girl on the balcony.

42k.  This is a great AU where Adrien not only never went to school, but got his miraculous under different circumstances. Instead of Chat Noir and Ladybug meeting as fellow superheroes, we have Chat operating on his own for years before the story starts. I don’t want to give away too much and spoil it (though Marichat fans will especially enjoy this one). The writing is fantastic, and the storyline is unique.

Heroes and Lullabies by @botherkupo​

"There is something you can do," he says, mouth dry and his heart thumping faster and faster. "But I … I'm not sure if I should ask you."

Adrien risks everything when he reveals his identity to Sabine. Now, he has to deal with the consequences.

40k (but it’s the fourth in a series after 3 short fics which you should really read first). When Chat is badly injured in battle, he asks Sabine to take his place, resulting in his identity being revealed to her. And then Master Fu takes the ring and ahhhh there’s a lot of pain but also a lot of beauty and found family (the relationship between Adrien and Sabine is so beautiful) and a brilliant ending that really, really worked for me.

Maintaining a Professional Distance by @buggachat​

“I mean, how dumb does the mayor think we are? Offering us a permanent hotel room as a ‘gesture of gratitude for all our work for Paris’, like it isn’t clearly just some half-baked political ploy to place him more in the public’s favor after the whole school funding scandal, like we’ll allow ourselves to sleep in a hotel that we were publicly offered, making ourselves sitting ducks for Hawkmo—”

“It’s a pretty big building,” he countered, and at least he seemed amused, because she certainly wasn’t, “Nobody knows which room we were given but us.”

“It doesn’t matter!” she scoffed, “It’s still a security risk that he can narrow our location down at all! Also,” she jutted her arms out towards the bed a second time, “May I remind you? ONE. BED. ONE!”

———

Or, Ladybug and Chat Noir receive a hotel room from the city, which they most certainly will not use. After all, that wouldn't be very professional, would it?

Yes, it's a Ladynoir bed sharing fic.

43k. Immediately after finishing this fic for the first time, I did a speed read through because I wanted to experience it again 🙈 I loved the way the boundaries slowly shifted and blurred between ladynoir until cuddling was just a normal thing they do every night. I’m obsessed with Chat being so completely thoughtful, Ladybug being jealous (of herself!!), and the inevitable conflict with all of its hurt and beautiful resolution. Just absolutely love.

A Cat of Their Own by @sariahsue

Tom and Sabine have learned Ladybug's secret identity, it's obvious their relationship It's also obvious to them that Cat Noir adores their daughter. How deep do those feelings go? And how far are they willing to go to mother the boy underneath the mask?

30k. (Okay it’s a little under but rounding rules!)  This fic is so great! Once Tom and Sabine figure out Marinette is Ladybug, they want to be involved in that part of her life, and that means reaching out to her partner. And I am absolutely soft for Adrien finally getting loving parents in Tom and Sabine, with "Tim" and "Serena" taking Chat under their wing, even if they can't exactly meet. I love the way this impacts his relationship with Ladybug and the way Marinette feels about him and it all builds to a beautiful happy ending and identity reveal!

Can I Steal You for a Second? by AsAlwaysMir

Adrien is forced to participate in a new dating show, but becomes more excited when Ladybug says she'll participate as her civilian self.

AKA: AU where Adrien doesn't know Marinette, the superheroes are 22 and Gabriel is mean and ruthless but not Hawkmoth.

156k. This is an AU where Adrien and Marinette never met before, so ladynoir are in love. When Gabriel forces Adrien to go on the Bachelorette, Marinette decides to compete so they have a chance to be together. The catch is that, eve though she now knows Chat’s identity, she won’t reveal herself to him in order to be “fair” to the other contestants. The whole thing is pretty ridiculous, but really what’s reality tv without that? It’s a fun and crazy read that should definitely keep you entertained for a while!

#ml #miraculous ladybug #ml fic rec #ml fanfic #ml fic #ml love square #ladynoir #marichat #adrienette #adrinette #ladrien #ml long fics #jennarecsml