#it's literally losing all the functionality and then just making the only thing it does well (reading) horrible with all the ads

[tumblingxelian]

Trope - Disney Princess Syndrome

"Disney Princess Syndrome" is my personal name for the trope of a rich or powerful character portrayed as "Nice", "Good" or "Down to earth". Because they want to hang around "Normal/Real people" and want to be treated like a "Regular person" or otherwise does not think their phenomenal wealth makes them abnormal.

This trope/character concept is usually contrasted against another rich or powerful persons who flaunts their wealth intentionally, is aware they are rich and tends to be snooty, cocky or otherwise act in a manner that is more reflective of their phenomenal wealth.

Usually these characters are contrasted so that we like the former but hate the latter but weirdly… I often find myself either disliking both or liking the latter more. Largely cos they at least seem self aware of their circumstances and so come off as less frustratingly flippant or willfully ignorant.

Examples will be drawn from, Miraculous Ladybug.

I will largely avoid talking about how X character was raised, or trauma that might influence this behavior. But keep in mind people with bad home lives can often act out in ways that don't make them a "good" victim.

In ML, you have "Wants to be a normal boy" Adrien, "Wants to meet sincere people" Princes Ali, and "This is all so artificial" Musician Jagged Stone. They are contrasted against hotel heiress, Mayors daughter & smug about it Chloe.

Now:

Chloe's a brat, a jerk & a snob to be sure, however I still somehow find her less hypocritical or deluded than these other three because at least she seems aware of her circumstances and what they mean for her VS others. Jagged treats doing a small autograph session with the mayor like its some horrible imposition and he flips out at being expected to follow trends he deems artificial. But he also drags his literal assistant with him everywhere to manage his life, keeps a pet alligator on him at all times & can be extremely rude and demanding. But it never feels acknowledged in the same way as with Chloe, because he's 'real'. Prince Ali acts like its weird for people to try and charm or otherwise please him when assigned to give him a tour for a whole event about himself. He also seems to neglect what would be fairly typical greetings for someone of his class & position despite likely being taught them. This again ties into making him seem 'genuine' but comes off as just odd. Adrien balances it best by wanting his father to be less controlling and his father is indeed controlling. But he's also only bothered by Chloe, her parents or his fathers haughty behavior if it alienates him or people he wants to be friends with. He laughs it off or otherwise tends to ignore it with staff but is meant to be better.

This isn't to say a character 'can't' want these things, or find the trappings of wealth utterly unsatisfying. Especially children who are not themselves actually rich and exist at the whims of their parents who are often functionally immune to the law.

Its more an issue with how the trope tends to be executed. Both in terms of the "Disney Princess" who wants to be "Out there" having no self awareness of their wealth, or internal hypocrisy. With this being framed as more endearing than anything, despite often coming off as entitled or selfish by accident.

Or in how the rich jerk just ends up feeling more grounded, or accidentally becomes sympathetic because they are usually an antagonist. Thus meaning they not only have to lose, but usually are surrounded by people like themselves. Leaving the impression their behavior is less to do with having the money to get away with t and more born of mistreatment.

& that as they say is that.

#Meta #Text Post #Miraculous Ladybug #Disney Princess Syndrome

[maybankiara]

wattpad excluding fanfiction from the wattys is actually a joke. just don't give the winner money and give them a nice little sticker to put on their book. this is ridiculous

#d.tag #i feel like i should have a tag for hating wattpad #they went from being the best place to read books to something horrible #and it all happened when some authors went to radish to get money #so wattpad thought they could do the same #and just fucked everyone over and made a perfectly good app unusuable #not to mention that the website has been horrendous since the interface update like ten years ago #and it's only been getting worse #wattpad needs to remember it's not amazon #it's a social media yet they keep getting rid of features that make it social media #i wish someone would explain to me what their 10 year plan is for the company/website #is it going to be a bookshop??? is it going to be a library?? #cause it sure as hell isn't going to be a social media app #i miss seeing what other people read on my newsfeed and the comments and everything #i miss the forums where you could meet people #it's literally losing all the functionality and then just making the only thing it does well (reading) horrible with all the ads #i have no idea how it's still an operational app and i honestly hate that there's no real good alternative #(that is if anyone has one i'm all ears)

[poptartmochi]

dear god... suddenly emo about Magdalena and Isaac 😢😢

#this is funny because i have so little of their relationship defined in comparison to Gioia and Benedictus #but 🥺🤌🏻 thinking about isaac losing his whole family and fighting like hell to get his sister back.. it's so 😭 #but once he gets her back she's painfully quiet. always looking over her shoulder. and simmering with anger! #i think he struggles to reconcile the past version of her + her present self. and how to connect with her through all the muck 🤔 #OH.... WAIT i figured it out! just like regular bennie and gioi (fun fact. i realized her name doesn't really shorten nicely just now lol) #i think they build that strong underlying connection because isaac invests attention and care into maggie's music. he shows up to all her #recitals ykwim!.. it's a little different from B+G because isaac isn't maggie's stand-in parent for their neglectful parents. #he functionally Is maggie's parent. but I think Maggie still takes away the same love from it as gioia‚ for different but similar reasons. #I think this is so important for her too because it is. Very Difficult for Maggie to make friends because she's so shaken up.. #i feel like bennie would try to get her to go therapy but she'd either refuse on the basis of not trusting authority anymore? OR‚ just like #kat‚ they'd tell her her experiences weren't real... in any case‚ music is maggie's Only outlet. so isaac taking interest and supporting #her in that endeavor‚ when she has very little else‚ would mean a lot to her. i think this all adds a level of 😢 to isaac and vergil's #relationship too because. originally isaac just didn't like vergil due to the whole underground rebellion schtick. that's what got his and #maggie's parents killed. BUT since Magdalena literally had no friends once she came home‚ I think Isaac is really overjoyed when she and #vergil strike up a friendship‚ since this is before Vergil's realized his true nature- the order is a collaborative thing between the two #of them after all. so at first Isaac is glad that his sister finally has a friend. and‚ just like in their future‚ Vergil helps Magdalena #grow into herself and come out of her shell. so isaac likes Vergil in the beginning‚ is grateful for him! plus V's his bosses/sponsor's kid #so there's a nice little 😊 there too. BUT THEN magdalena starts helping vergil remember things - dante - and they start #creating the Order‚ and i think Isaac feels this Great Dread. because vergil is maggie's only friend. vergil saved her! #but the things magdalena gets up to with vergil will get them killed in the future. (and it does lol!) #i think this is where the great split happens between B+G and I+M‚ because Benedictus disappeared before he had to make any Tough Parenting #Choices with Gioia. he was functionally a parent to her‚ but she just saw him as her Super Cool Older Brother. #Isaac is magdalena's older brother but he's also her Guardian (derogatory) ykwim? so. i think when he puts his foot down and tries to #forbid Magdalena from doing anti-demon stuff‚ which evolves into her not being allowed to see Vergil‚ it causes a rift between them. #i'm not sure how severe i want the rift to be... 🙁 by the start of the game it can't be super deep because kat has to be familiar with #isaac 🤪 but then ig he doesn't need to know Magdalena knows her Because of the Order? kat could just be... a friend... 😳🤫 #although this then begs the question of whether or not he even knows Magdalena was still involved with the Order all this time? because on #the surface Maggie's schedule really is just work work work. he doesn't have to know What her work is... #that also adds a ☹�� when Magdalena goesmissingdies and then comes back possessed by a demon because it's like groundhog day for him- again‚ #he could do nothing to protect his sister from the demons BUT this time it was him raising and watching her‚ not their parents

[qqueenofhades]

what's been particularly vile to me is this group of white online leftists who insist that anyone who cares about more than this one issue for the election is a bad person, like, as if us black and brown people are making up reasons to be afraid and not.....believing the gop when they say they are coming for us. believing trump who has said previously that he does not bluff, that he will do the things he's said he will do (i hate what social media has gone to the word gaslighting but it feels like gaslighting. we lived through four years of trump. we saw the damage. stop treating us like we're being dramatic). it must be great to not have to worry about that i guess? "life won't change under trump" is such a telling admission because maybe theirs won't but mine will. and so many others' will.

and it is often again these (white) online leftists that love to call anyone who disagrees with them a white liberal (derogatory) because they know it would be racist (bad) to be this shitty and condescending to poc but they don't want to actually listen to anything black and brown voters are saying. it's easier to just call us white liberals and throw our opinions out, to ignore the work of black people for decades to gain the right to vote, to disregard the weight of telling them to not do that. it's genuinely appalling. they care so much about racism until it's time to engage with poc who have different opinions than their online echo chambers, then we're just stupid liberals with terrible opinions like..... wanting to live. not wanting four more years of trump. so sorry for that.

sorry for this vent in your inbox, i'm just so fucking tired of white people trying to rewrite history as if trump wasn't that bad. he was for my family and countless others and i am terrified for what's to come if he wins.

The thing about (the often-white) Online Leftists is that they have become just as much as a radicalized death cult as the diehard Trumpists. If you don't want to die for The Revolution and/or sacrifice your life, friends, family, the rest of the country, etc., then you're Insufficiently Pure and must be Purged. (Which I think is just complete BS, as none of them could actually handle sacrificing anything, but it's increasingly the only kind of performative rhetoric that is acceptable in leftist-identified discourse spaces.) This is functionally identical to "if you aren't willing to lay down your life for our Lord and Savior Donald Trump and the Great White Christian Nationalist Dictatorship, you're a liberal cuck," but with the names and justification changed. It doesn't change the underlying radicalization, nihilism, and insanity of the premise.

Another thing the Trumpists and the Online Leftists have in common is that they are busily rewriting just how bad Trump was in order to serve their Ideology. Ever since January 6, 2021, the Republicans have thrown everything they have at revising and whitewashing any suggestion that it was an "insurrection," and the Online Leftists have done the same, in an attempt to "prove" their insane point that Trump "would be better" than Biden. This is embodied in the recent ultimate-brainworm-nonsense maximalist-online take that "Biden has to lose so the rest of the world will see that the US rejects genocide!!!" That's right, the message that the rest of the world would take from Biden losing to Trump is that the US rejects genocide. Never mind if Trump literally wants to commit all the genocide possible and to install himself as a fascist theocratic dictator. In the deeply twisted minds of the Online Leftists, this is the only possible interpretation of Biden's loss, so they'll push for it as hard as they can! The Trumpists and the Online Leftists, at this point, are working pretty much in concert to damage Biden for similar insane reasons and get Trump elected. Etc etc., one Nazi and ten people at the same table is eleven Nazis.

Like. Sure. Four years ago, when Trump was president and people were dying by the thousands because he didn't want to wear a mask because it smeared his bronzer, just to name literally one of the terrible things he did every single day (and not even mentioning how much worse a second term would be) we were absolutely better off. Super-duper great. (Sarcasm.) Either that or "there is suffering and evil in the world and the only solution is to drastically increase the suffering and evil for everyone and to destroy what progress we have managed to make because It Does Not Fix Everything Now" is an absolute moral imperative, and either way, yeah. I'm calling bullshit.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts

[hypexion]

The thing about Murders at Karlov Manor is that from a story perspective, it couldn't have been set anywhere but Ravnica. And it especially couldn't have been set on New Capenna.

The story of Murders is ultimately about the fallout of March of the Machine on both Ravnica as a city, and on Kaya personally. The motivations for the high-profile deaths that litter the set are tied directly to elements of the Phyrexian invasion. The manner of murder is specifically set up to overcome the barriers Ravnica as a setting provides to a murder mystery. And Kaya only gets involved because of her questionably defined but always present relationship with Teysa Karlov.

Ravnica also comes pre-built with a host of established characters, who conveniently all hate each other. This enabled readers to theorise about whodunnit, as each daily chapter provided more information and more intrigue. People considered all kinds of threads: Could Jace be involved? Might Azor be pulling the strings somehow? How does Judith plan to survive her crazy plan? Lazav?? By the time Proft said "I know who the killer is", you too could get it. (then for some reason they delayed the reveal chapter so they could reveal the killer in a spoiler stream. even when the story is good, the management is bad)

If you move the story out of Ravnica, the whole thing falls apart. You lose everything that makes it work. A new plane would be functional, but a lot less engaging. Fiora is about political scheming, even more so than Ravnica. And New Capenna...

New Capenna is not a particularly well constructed setting. It works as a sparse background for a Magic set, but when you start poking at it, it falls over. Like, one of the nicer ways to describe New Capenna is "discount Ravnica", because you are comparing it to one of the game's most successful settings. And that's what New Capenna is - a city controlled by a number of distinct factions, built out of specific colour combinations. But the New Capenna factions are not as good as the Ravnica ones (and the Obscura are literally just the Dimir). There is crime on New Capenna, but there is no authority against which that crime is committed, which makes things rather hollow. Ravnica, as strange as its laws are, has laws, along with people to enforce them. (note: I am aware of the Doylist reason why New Capenna has no police. Watson is still crying.)

Ravnica being well-developed allows it to function as a backdrop for a different idea. New Capenna's issues do the opposite. In fact, any return to New Capenna would need to reckon with how the setting got completely turned over by the return of the angels. You can't just say "well the crime has punishment now, onto the mystery". You have to actually engage with the big change, or you're just dragging New Capenna into a deeper hole.

conclusion: When the Magic story is good it's because the writer looked at the setting and characters they were given and used them together well. This is only possible if you have a setting and characters that can be used well. Ravnica has that, the crime plane does not.

#magic: the gathering #magic the gathering #mtg

[starcurtain]

Interpreting Aventurine's Situation

(HSR 2.1 spoilers, watch out!) I think one of my favorite things to come out of Penacony is that the plot has left us with two completely opposite but equally valid interpretations of Aventurine's character. Is he a chosen child or just a "lucky" dog? The story leaves the door wide open for both possibilities.

Under a read more for space:

One Interpretation: Unfortunately for Him, Aventurine is Actually Blessed by an Aeon

If you work from the assumption that the Avgin mythology is correct, and Gaiathra Triclops is actually real (possibly a minor aeon of an unknown path or Ena, if you're on that train), then it's entirely possible, in game, that Aventurine has been blessed by a goddess to the point that he functionally cannot lose any gamble he makes. The odds are, literally, ever in his favor. In this interpretation, it doesn't matter how many gambles he takes with his life as the chip because he will always succeed. Despite how risky his behavior looks to everyone else, he's actually been perfectly safe all along.

But this is especially tragic because it means that, despite his mother's and sister's belief that his blessing will help everyone in their tribe, Aventurine's blessing has only ever extended to himself. He's not an omen of good fortune for his people. His luck was never going to protect his parents, sister, or friends. The goddess of the Avgin chose just one person and left the rest of her people to die.

This is where Aventurine's doubts stem from. He asks repeatedly: If the goddess can bless people, then why is life so miserable for the Avgin? Why do they have to live in pain, suffering, fear, and abject poverty if she could make them lucky enough to thrive? Why do people live if it's just going to be horrible?

(To be honest, I don't think this is out of line for the behavior we've seen of aeons so far. Even with aeons like Yaoshi, described as gentle and benevolent, with no intention to cause harm, their gifts often create horror in the human world.)

Aventurine's hands still tremble when he bets. He doesn't really believe he's blessed and still expects his own downfall at every turn--but it's never going to come because he is one of the few human beings in the entire universe with the direct favor of an aeon. Even Ratio, a skeptical, evidence-based genius, seems to think this might be the case.

(Choosing the Chinese because the text is a little clearer than the English, but basically: "This guy always has a way of dragging himself up out of the abyss, which can't be explained by just 'good luck.' Everyone is waiting to see him fail... Maybe even he's waiting too. But as time passed, I couldn't help but wonder: Will that day really come?")

This means Aventurine has lived a life of fear and uncertainty for nothing. He's spent his entire life awaiting a failure and painful death that will never come. He can't recognize the love of his own goddess nor trust in the faith of his own family.

The central question of this interpretation becomes "What does it mean for a single human to be favored by an aeon?" Can Aventurine really be called lucky after losing every single thing that has meaning in his life--all because an aeon chose him and only him? Should that be called a blessing or a curse?

The Opposite Interpretation: Aventurine Isn't Lucky At All, He's Just Skilled

On the other hand, the story leaves the door open to interpret Aventurine's situation in the complete opposite manner too. If, as the IPC seems to think, Gaiathra Triclops isn't real and Aventurine isn't blessed at all, then that means every single risk Aventurine has taken has actually been life-threatening--and that every single achievement he's reached has been by his own merits alone.

If Gaiathra's blessing isn't real, then Aventurine's life becomes one long self-run psyop: Everyone tells him he's blessed, he's lucky, he's favored--so young Kakavasha starts gambling early. Banking on this idea that he's favored, that he's chosen, he starts paying attention, he learns the tricks of the trade, figures out how to slip cards up his sleeves, how to word things just right so people will take his bait--he practices, practices, practices, until he can spot winning odds a mile away, until he can predict every possible outcome, until he's seen it all before.

In this situation, every single gamble he's ever made or will make carries a very, very real risk of failure--but Aventurine continues to succeed because he's just that quick-witted, just that aware, just that good at reading people. (He's been doing it for so much longer than everyone else he meets, after all.) He is the gambler extraordinaire, the archetypal charming rogue who can squirm his way out of any tight spot he gets into, time and time again.

He fears every gamble he makes because he has good reason to--there's literally never any guarantee that he will succeed, and he's constantly just flipping a coin to see what outcome he'll get. His personal skill and quick wit continue to turn things in his favor, but it's inevitable that one day he'll meet a situation that outwits him, a gamble where only a supernatural force could have saved him. And if you take this second interpretation, Gaiathra isn't real, so there won't be one.

This story choice would be interesting because it implies a greater degree of responsibility for everything that happens. If it's Aventurine's own quick wit and skill that continually save him, shouldn't he be able to help others with that skill? Shouldn't he have been able to help himself? How was he able to save himself from death but not from slavery? If it was skill, not luck, all along, then who do you blame for all the misery he still experienced?

This interpretation leads to greater questions of self-doubt and anxiety: Is it actual skill or just sheer dumb luck? Does Aventurine have what it takes mentally, psychologically, emotionally, and even physically to always come out on top by his own merits, or is he just the benefit of the wheel of fortune--statistically speaking, a one in a million chance still has to come through for that one, right? And when it all comes crumbling down eventually, will he have only himself to blame?

A Life of Uncertainty

The story doesn't actually give us any firm indication whether Gaiathra is real or not, or--even if she is real--if Aventurine is actually genuinely blessed. We just don't know, as players.

And Aventurine doesn't know either.

His faith in the goddess of the Avgin is shaky. He seems to want to believe and hold on to his people's mythology, but he has valid doubts that a goddess would choose to bless one person while leaving everyone else to suffer.

Is he the chosen of an aeon? And if he isn't chosen, then what meaning does any of it have? Is he just unbelievably skilled? Has he merely been lucky up to now? When will this blessing or luck or skill finally fail him?

Aventurine's most defining character trait is the extreme uncertainty that has plagued his whole life. What is true? What should he believe? Is he blessed or cursed? Does he have the talent to back up his massive boasts? Should others put any faith in him--should he put any faith in himself? Should he cling to his people's beliefs or reject the goddess that left him the sole survivor of a cultural extinction?

He can't trust anything. He can't trust his family's faith; he can't trust that he's actually a "chosen one" (because how could he chosen and his family be left to die?). He can't even trust that he's lucky because maybe it was just the years of suffering practice he put in. Then again, he can't trust in his own skill because maybe he's just blessed?

Which is it? Which is it? Which is it?

Nothing is certain. Nothing can be taken for granted. Nothing can be proven empirically true or false. There are no guarantees for Aventurine.

Every single thing in his life is a gamble, and none of that is his fault.

What an amazing character. What a great story. Thank you for the treat, Hoyo!

#aventurine #honkai star rail #hsr meta #aventurine meta #alternate character interpretations #gaiathra #damned if you do #damned if you don't #2.1 spoilers #penacony spoilers

[bwabys-scenarios]

Heyy what do you think Chrollo’s icks would be? 😵‍💫

IM SO SORRY TO THE CHROLLO STANS BUT THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG

Chrollo’s Icks

-MANSPLAINER

-literally learns everything there is to know about your interests and then explains the complexities of it to you like you’re a fucking IDIOT. he thinks you’ll love it because he’s interested in YOUR interests, but it only pisses you off

-he tries so hard to be suave and cool that it makes you cringe. you’re pretty sure you heard the line he just used on you from a shojo anime…

-he’s really rude. it’s not on purpose, I swear, but if you wear something he doesn’t like he’ll just look at you all displeased. “are you really going to wear that to the function? I did tell you it was formal… right?”

-analyses everything you do, but is often wrong. will try to predict what you’re going to say/do next only to be proven wrong, embarrassing himself

-snobby when it comes to books, even if his favorite thing to read is manga. will criticize you for liking the Percy Jackson series with a copy of Naruto in his hand

-he’s handsome and he knows it. is a bit too cocky about his looks and ends up relying on them too much. unfortunately, you don’t care about how handsome he is after he’s missed the fourth date in a row

-speaking of dates, he’s bad about canceling last minute and/or leaving mid date for his job(if you can call it that)

-he’s so clingy at times, sometimes when you would rather not be held. then when you’re in need of some comfort or cuddles, he’s distant and cold. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME

-has definitely used a line from fifty shades of grey in the bedroom, turning your coochie into a desert immediately

-gives you gifts that you don’t even want, like expensive jewelry and clothes when all you wanted was some roses and a teddy bear. he often buys you things that you can wear that are HIS style. not yours

-if he’s gone for a while he may send someone to watch over you, that person often being Feitan or Pakunoda. Pakunoda is okay, bringing you desserts and hanging out. Feitan however watches you from a distance, and only after you call the police on him because he looks like he’s going to murder you, does Chrollo inform you that Feitan is his friend. Feitan isn’t a bad guy though. Once you invite him in his creepiness dies down. A little.

-talks down to you a lot

Things that ick him out

-people that smoke(he hates the smell)

-sloppy/messy people

-if the person he’s interested doesn’t like his friends, he loses interest in them immediately. He may not want you to be around the Troupe a lot, but you at least have to like them. They’re basically his family!

-never, and I mean NEVER try to convince him that his lifestyle is wrong or try to change him. He’s not changing, and you’ll only give him the ick. If you want chrollo, you gotta accept him, flaws and all. And those flaws are him being a wanted criminal

-he doesn’t like people that are ungrateful or take life for granted.

-anyone that insults Meteor City will not only give him the ick, but will cause that person to lose a limb. if you aren’t from meteor city, you don’t get to trash talk it

-he hates strong perfumes/lotions. it gives him a headache

Random HCs

-despite all his icks he’s actually a really sweet lover. genuinely cares about you and your well being, and his icks will improve over time if he’s pushed in the right direction,

-I think we all know this but chrollo is a huge cock warming fan. it doesn’t matter if he just wants to read a book at his desk or is out at a restaurant, he’s amazing at hiding the fact he’s buried deep inside you

-if you two get a pet the pet will always end up hating him or loving him more than you, there’s no in between

-he’s so silly, he pretends that reality tv is below him but will also watch it from the kitchen when you’re not paying attention, gasping when they do something shocking

-he’s actually a little shy the first time you two have sex! it’s not that he’s a virgin, he just loves you so much he’s a bit scared he’ll cum too quick. he’s been imagining this for a long time, and just seeing you naked underneath him is enough for him to be leaking profusely

-he has autism. this is a very biased headcanon because I’m also autistic, but just look at that guy, it screams undiagnosed autism

#chrollo lucifer x reader #hxh chrollo #chrollo x reader #hunter x hunter chrollo #chrollo lucilfer #chrollo headcanons #chrollo hunter x hunter #chrollo hcs #chrollo smut #chrollo imagine #chrollo fic #x reader #anime x reader #headcanon #requests open #reader insert #hxh x reader #hxh imagines #smut requests #hunter x hunter x reader #hunter x hunter #hunter x hunter headcanons #hxh headcanons #hxh hcs #anime x chubby reader #chubby reader #chubby!reader #fem reader #female reader

[superectojazzmage]

Watched the Nimona movie last night. Review I guess. It was pretty damn good. Definitely would’ve probably been regarded as Blue Sky’s magnum opus if they’d gotten to release it instead of being fucked over by Disney. Very cute, very funny, very powerful in the right moments. A thing that stuck out to me is that it’s really only an adaptation in the loosest sense of the word. It takes the core premise and beats of the comic but is functionally an entirely different kind of story that does its own thing. And given that ND Stevenson was heavily involved in production, I suspect that was intentional.

The comic was much darker and more downbeat in a lot of ways, plus it was significantly longer and thus could afford to be slower paced. But more than that, it was a lot more meaty in terms of themes and scope. The whole “LGBT allegory” element was there, but it wasn’t the sole focus, the comic was a story about a lot of different things; not just an LGBT experience, but also discussion of fantasy genre tropes and clichés, criticism of other fantasy deconstructions, character study, exploring what it means to be a hero or villain, critique of the glorification of crime and cruelty in underprivileged communities, corruption in governments, peer pressure, the senseless and self-perpetuating nature of violence, the worthlessness of revenge, etc.. And above all that, it was a story about trauma and people’s responses to it, with Ballister representing people who actually deal with their problems and move on while Nimona represented people who let their mistakes and suffering and grief consume their identity, or worse, use it as an excuse to indulge their worst qualities and take out their feelings on everyone around them.

The movie, by contrast, has a much more narrow focus. The LGBT allegory is front and center and basically the entire focal point of the movie, aside from a spattering of themes about the danger of zealotry and rigid fundamentalist thinking. This gives the movie a much tighter narrative and pacing that suits its inherently shorter runtime, but also leads to a ton of changes to the story either to convey a different kind of message or just work better in a different medium. Most obviously in how Nimona is vastly more sympathetic in the movie and essentially really is the silly gremlin the comic fakes you out into thinking she is, scrapping the comic’s twist that she was a genuinely bad person who was completely serious about wanting to be a villain, caring nothing for the lives she destroyed with her behavior and idolizing Ballister because she thought he was the same as her and would thus tell her what she wanted to hear (i.e., that she was justified in killing and destroying everything around her in the name of getting even). And in the changes to the Institution’s history and nature. And all sorts of other things.

All in all, I feel if you go in comparing and contrasting the movie and the comic, arguing which changes are for the better or worse, you’ll be setting yourself up for disappointment in either direction because they’re two different beasts and it’s like comparing apples and oranges. So keep that in mind if you’re a fan of the comic watching the movie or a fan of the movie wanting to look into the comic. I think ultimately I still like the comic better, but that’s purely my personal opinion and there’s plenty that I think the movie did better.

Some other observations:

Riz Ahmed my beloved, thank you Mr. Stevenson for this perfect casting. Literally perfect for Ballister.

Acting in general was very good. You can tell this was a passion project for a lot of people, not just Stevenson.

Only two changes that are objectively bad are Ambrosius losing his awesome Van Halen hairdo and changing Ballister’s last name — Blackheart is a way cooler name than Boldheart and it’s a pointless change, one that I’d argue even hurts the narrative since it makes it too obvious that Ballister isn’t actually a bad guy.

The animation is really great with fantastic expressions, stylish movement, and wonderful aesthetics that perfectly suit the story, but there’s times where it feels a little off. But there are parts where it looks less “movie” and more “cheap mid-2000s CGI-and-Flash cartoon show from France”.

The humor can be a hit and miss, in a “going through the motions of a Hollywood animated comedy for kids” way. The movie excels when it’s either imitating the comic’s Old Internet sense of humor or going hard on the drama, but there’s bits where it seemingly slams on the brakes to do Illumination-esque Twitter humor and those bits definitely throw off the vibe.

Having an actual straight up attempted suicide in the climax was shockingly ballsy. I genuinely can’t believe they went there, but I’m glad they did because the film wouldn’t have felt nearly as raw without it.

I don’t know how they managed to make the Director even more of an asshole than in the comics, but they did.

#nimona #nimona film #nd stevenson #ballister boldheart #ballister blackheart #ambrosius goldenloin #movie review #animated movies #movies #films #comic books #dc comics #webcomic #web comics #indie comics #netflix #blue sky studios #lgbt film #lgbt fantasy

[wordstome]

I am having a goddamn nightmare of a time writing the university au (mostly because I have a shit ton of work to do…for my university…lol) so have some headcanons about the most toxic couple you’ve ever met. mdni under the cut

They’re like the definition of a situationship. They’re dating in every aspect except by name

At first she does try to sleep with other guys like she did before König but that doesn’t last long, because nobody else is as good as him. She will never admit this outside of the bedroom

Meanwhile he literally calls her his girlfriend behind her back

She’s emotionally unavailable toxic, he’s obsessive and possessive toxic

König enjoys the pursuit and just thinks it’s normal for women to be difficult like this. I would say “poor König” but he has a bad habit of picking her up and carrying her places against her will so he’s not that poor

She likes to tell herself she has no attachment to him, but she loves the ego boost he gives her by acting like a lovestruck puppy and following her everywhere. She’s also secretly into him being controlling

She does have her moments of genuinely caring about him, though. She brought him lunch once and he looked at her like she hung the moon the whole day. Her excuse was that she just happened to get/make an extra portion, but she did, in fact, get him a portion on purpose

She basically lives with him after a certain point. Her roommates barely see her anymore since she only comes and goes from her old place to get things. He constantly threatens to change the locks on her, but they both know it’s an empty threat. He much prefers to punish her in sexy ways

She'll just be minding her own business talking to a classmate or perhaps flirting with someone when König will come up behind her and put his arms around her. If she was just talking to someone she'll pat his face before attempting to shoo him off. If she was flirting with someone, she wrenches him off her and storms off in a huff (whoever she was talking to has definitely fled from König's evil eye by that point)

They don't really fight, they just have spats because König is endlessly amused by her anger and she is unable to stay mad at him for long. The one time they had a real fight was nasty, and they didn't talk for days afterwards

She's usually quite a chill, go with the flow person (because if she allowed herself too much stress or anxiety at once it would destroy her), but König brings out the spitfire in her

In equal measure, König is a bit of the shy and quiet giant type, but she brings out the brat tamer in him. They alternate balancing each other out

It's kind of easy to look at them and go "why are they still doing this to themselves" but when they get along (i.e. he's behaving himself and she's not pretending not to know him) they're as functional as any other couple

This definitely goes without saying: the nastiest most bed-breaking sex. They fuck like they’re trying to murder each other

I know it's a pet peeve of many people when they say the reader is ooooo so small and delicate next to the cod men, and I tend to agree. However, unless you are also nearly seven feet tall and built like an olympic swimmer, I'm just gonna say you're smaller than König

That being said, he LOVES using his size against her. Picking her up, bending her over things, bending her in half (mating press, his beloved)

If he wants her to stay, she'll stay. He'll have one hand on her throat pinning her down, the other keeping her open to slam into her

This brat will look him dead in the eye and ask "is that all you've got?", which obviously makes him lose his mind in the best way

She definitely has more experience than he does, which actually works out in his favor: him getting better at fucking really just means he's getting better at fucking her

They're so goddamn nasty they've definitely fucked in semi-public places because she teased him to the point of madness and he popped a boner so hard it was painful

Oh, the dirty talk. König is such a gentleman outside of the bedroom, but the degradation that comes out of him while he's fucking her is toe-curling. A lot of "nobody else can fuck you like this" and "all you're good for is taking me in your tight little hole"

He growls??? I don't know if y'all have heard his voicelines in German but he snarls at her when he's trying to teach her a lesson and it turns her into putty

This post is dedicated to @kneelingshadowsalome, who is waiting for this fic so patiently and is my shining beacon of motivation at this point lol

#könig #cod mw2 #call of duty #konig #könig cod #konig cod #könig mw2 #konig x reader #König x reader #konig x you #König x you #cod #mw2 #König call of duty #könig fanfiction #university au #fic: now playing

[carionto]

The recoil makes it fun

Most everyone in the known Universe agree that a stable and noise-free space ship is preferable to anything not that. You know, due to space being so bad for your health. Stability means safety, noise-free means things are not breaking, which is always great!

Pure silence, however, can be deceptive, so you do want controlled noises in there, such as small beeps at regular intervals indicating that everything is fine. Soft green and blue lights are good.

By that logic, Johann Utsushima then must hate green and blue. His ship, Kitaiyohdzha, is always blaring orange and red lights and barking annoying warnings at him.

Things like: "Low pressure" "High pressure" "Not enough power" "Overload detected" "Insufficient oxygen" "Dangerous oxygen levels"

Like, make up your mind! One or the other, stop it with the extreme ends. Johann has resorted to do the time-honored tradition of ignoring the check engine light and instead stays in his suit all the time. It's his rickety mess and he knows exactly where everything is and how it should be, don't go telling him how to run HIS ship. Especially you, ship, don't tell me you know better.

An astute observer may notice the fact that Kitaiyohdzha is a giant rail gun with a cockpit, engine, thrusters, and basic life support systems attached. Or what's left of them anyway.

Mr Utsushima loves guns. And I mean LOVES them. This one in particular. He can't get enough of it. Literally. He couldn't, so he kept ordering bigger and bigger ones. Kitaiyohdzha is the biggest one (21 meters long) he can legally get without being part of or associated with the military in some way, or registering as a "redistributer". He would not pass the background check to do either.

This, however, does not stop him from modifying his guns. It's a lot of effort, very expensive, and quite complicated. Well, for him. Because he does not document anything and not even God knows how many iterations and past modifications he has made to Kitaiyohdzha to make it what it is today.

None of the matters though. The only time the world makes sense, when everything is exactly as it should be, is when he pulls the trigger.

Space. Quivers.

You can't hear the discharge, but you can feel it from a great distance.

Johann is not at a great distance. Everyone would say he is dangerously close, and be factually correct. Not even a meter from the power generator that enables the rail gun to fire a piece of tungsten at relativistic speeds in order to completely obliterate a poor and unsuspecting little asteroid just gently floating through space. Or is it a meteor? Comet? Doesn't matter, they all explode more or less the same.

Johann likes to watch the recordings of him firing the gun. It lets him know what happened, because the moment he fires Kitaiyohdzha, every time without fail, he loses consciousness from the sudden g-forces hurtling him and the "ship" backwards for thousands of kilometers before the barely functional automatic stabilizers return him to rest.

But that moment right before his mind goes blank. THAT is something you cannot explain to others. You FEEL it. The power. The force. The raw... just, THAT.

It's the only thing that keeps him going. Where to? He doesn't care. Simply forward through life.

#humans are space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are space oddities #humans are deathworlders #humanity fuck yeah #carionto

[adventuringblind]

Drive With You Forever

Chapter 4.5: the one where Charles has more experience

Max Verstappen x Charles Leclerc x Lando Norris x Reader

Chapter summary: things heat up between the trio

Warnings: uhhh smut? Kind of? Talks of sexual things, dom/sub dynamics, lots of communication, Max does some research, Charles has a massive sex drive

Notes: This was way more intimate than I was expecting, but I just kinda ran with it.

Previous <-

Masterlist

It's certainly interesting how things can come up in conversation. How it can start innocent and the become the most filthiest thing you've ever spoken.

That's how Charles feels right now.

He wasn't meaning to say it. He just wasn't thinking when he did.

They'd gone to a club after their most recent race. It's not all the time the female can go do these things since she is merely nineteen years old.

Clubbing together didn't look weird since there were so many people around. To the naked eye, it seemed that they were merely good friends.

But something was different about her tonight.

Max had whispered something in her ear when he arrived and immediately started looking for the pair.

She walked over to him first. More like swayed. Her hips moved side to side in a dress that complimented every aspect of her.

He didn't even have anything to drink yet. And since when did she get so bold?!

They'd had small conversations about sex life. How Charles could join them at some point if he wanted to. And he definitely does. But the insecurities that form in the pit of his stomach make him back out every time.

Is it his eyes? Maybe her lips? How about all of both of them.

Having two good-looking people invite you to have sex with them is not an opportunity that comes around every day.

She's so close now. Her hands spread flat against his chest. "Wanna dance?"

He was already gone.

Max must have deemed he needed a push or something because he downed a shot and then let her drag him to the dance floor.

Max just watched. Eyeing both of them for their reactions.

The Monegasque knows how things work between them. Max had literally sat him down after a few months of dating and decided to go over the entire thing.

Long story short: the female their with has no idea about sexual things unless Max has explained it to her (someone sent her an article about how to please a man you need to fake an orgasm sometimes, Max was livid about it and now keeps her away from reaserching sex online). Obviously, Max is in charge. What he says goes. She is ridiculously keen on putting his pleasure above her own. Max pointed out he learned when she's faking and made sure he took care of her cause she would do exactly what she's told and not think twice about herself. Apparently, he learned that the hard way. He went through the comprehensive list of their kinks. A yes and no chart. Then kindly asked Charles to add his (he got the red pen, of course).

Knowing what he knows now about them, it's no wonder she clings to every word Max says like it's her lifeline sometimes. He couldn't imagine being eighteen and only knowing the basic function of sex.

Regardless, now he's here, her ass grinding into his hips to the best of whatever was being played. She keeps looking at Max, his face and hands moving to lay in different ways like they were communicating by code.

She's guiding his hands now. He didn't realize how awkward he was standing there until now. Good grief he's useless sometimes.

He loses himself in the feeling of where his hands now lay across her hips, on the cusp of touching her ass.

If everyone else wasn't drinking, they would be screwed for sure. Max isn't even trying to look jealous! He's just smirking at the two if then together, probably getting off on it.

She makes eye contact with Max again. He taps his ear a few times. Then she's facing Charles. "Can you take me home?"

Oh, it could be so innocent. But he knows it's not.

He doesn't say no, though.

~

Charles covered his mouth when he said it. They'd been making conversation before thing escalated like they inevitably would.

"Have you done this before, Charlie? Because I've only ever had one partner at a time." Max had asked. Trying to keep the theme of complete transparency with one another.

"I got invited to an to a sleepover at a friend's house right after I turned eighteen. He took me out to a party his friends were hosting. Things got going, and everybody was having sex with everyone at one point. That's when I found out I like men also." Charles laughed nervously. Then, mentally hit his head on a rock. He sounded like a slut.

"Glad to know we won't be completely lost then!"

Charles stared blankly at the Dutch. "So you don't care I did that? Or that I've done this with multiple partners a few times since?"

"Why would we care, Charlie?" The girl beside Max practically whispers.

On the bright side at the lecture from Max, they'd handed over clean blood panels. So he's not left explaining that he is clean and isn't going to be spreading anything around.

~

The girl watches closely as the two males move about the room. She'd been told to stay put in the chair while Max pulled things out that they needed.

Charles looked like he might throw up from anxiety, and she wanted nothing more than to console him.

He'd just talked about how he'd wanted this for so long. Why did he look so nervous then?

Thankfully, Max didn't tell her she couldn't speak. "Maxy-" he turns to look at her. She could already feel herself falling into the stupid fuzzy head space he likes having her in. "Can I sit with Charles?"

Max asses the Monegasque, noticing his now sick complexion and far away stare. He nods to the girl in approval.

You'd think she wouldn't like being told what to do because of her upbringing. She'd tell you differently. Max knew how to make her feel things she couldn't on her own and is always trying to keep her safe. His words bring safety and comfort to her mind. They make it so her mind can't overthink the little things.

You'd also think Max would be similar in this setting like he is on the race track. Here, though, things are different. With her, he has an unrelenting calm amidst his never-ending storm. She can calm Mad Max with a singular, gentle touch. And for that, he makes sure to treat her right. Whether that be going hard because she tried to do something stupid or being gentle because she's feeling insecure that day.

She pads over to where Charles is sitting on the bed and plops herself down next to him. "Charlie? You don't have to do this if you don't want to. It's not like we're in a rush."

"No-" comes out faster then he would've liked and his face flushes again. "I'm just in love and don't want to mess it up here."

She taps her chin with her index finger. "I think if you can mess up a relationship because of something in the bedroom, then it must not have been working to begin with"

"She's right. Someone ignoring a safe word stems long before they actually get in bed." Max calls from the bathroom. Whatever he's looking for is somehow eluding him. "I give up. We'll have to do that on a different day."

Both the girl and Charles send Max equally confused glances. "Remember the stuff we purchased yesterday? I cant find it."

The girl nods in understanding. Max had been furiously exploring some new things. He had never been with a male before and was feeling wildly unprepared for this certain event. He wants to know and understand how things work so Chatles isn't left with nothing.

Things were read. Some videos watched. Then, he made a few purchases. Nex things to add to the ever heavier box in their closet.

"Are you speaking of... lube?" Charles is laughing. She is glad to see him relax a bit. "You realize I've been single for far too long, yes? Did you think I wouldn't have any?"

"To be fair, I wasn't thinking much at all."

"See Charlie! You're not the only one who's a bit nervous!"

~

Charles' hotel was across the street. Thankfully meaning they didn't have to walk far in sweatshirts and hats with the hoods pulled over.

She felt odd not being in her own room. But her thoughts go back to Charles and how maybe this would be more comfortable for him.

Charles pulls a bottle out of his travel bag and tosses it to Max, who catches it with ease. "Someone's been horny." Max smirks. Once again, pulling out that furious red color onto the Monegasques cheeks.

"In my defense, you two are incredibly sexy."

"Want to find out just how sexy?"

"I think it would be a sad waist of time if we didn't."

Max glances at her patiently waiting form. "Remember how I said this is going to be different than when it was just the two of us?" She nods her head. "It's okay if you don't know what to do. If you have a question just ask." She nods her head again.

"Knees on the bed." Ah, there's the demanding Max she knows so well.

She pulls herself onto the bed and faces the two males on her knees.

Max pulls Charles in by his better loop. Then, he leans over him and plants a hungry kiss on his lips. She'd seen them kiss before, but this was different. This was more.

She watched as Charles relaxed into Max. His arms wrapping around the Dutchs neck to pull him closer.

They allow themselves to lose themselves in each other.

She squirms around a bit. Her knees sinking further into the plush of the mattress. She wants to join also. Is that allowed? She doesn’t know but she doesn’t want to interfere with their moment.

Max pulls away breathless, panting both for air and more of Charles. “One thing we don’t know yet is where you fall Charlie. Do you like telling people what to do? Perhaps you like being told what to do?” Their eye contact is intense but Charles meets it and doesn’t back down

“Perhaps, a bit of both at times.” Then he’s pulling Max in.

This is new. Max always says what to do. Max is always in charge. Is Charles also in charge now?

She wished she’d come up with these questions when Max first sat her down to explain this to her. She curses her lack of knowledge. Sometimes she wishes she knew what to look for so she could figure it out on her own.

She fidgets a bit. Her eyes attempting to focus on the two boys in front of her. Was she supposed to find this attractive?

Max attacks Charles’ neck with his teeth. Surely staking his claim with a mark on the monegasque. Charles’ half squeak half moan only confirms her theory.

“Mon Amour, I think are girl want to join.”

Max detaches himself from Charles. His eyes graze over your body as if he’s inspecting a piece of jewelry. “Is that what you want? Do you want to come join us?”

It’s a question about if she’s comfortable or not. She wants to join but doesn’t know how. A simple nod of her head is what she can get out. Words don't accurately explain the mess of thoughts in her head.

Charles looks to Max for guidance on their next move. "I've never done this before. Show me how you do it, yeah?"

Charles just about buckles as his knees. How did Max's voice become that much more sexy than an hour ago. It seems a but ridiculous.

He steps over to the girl on the bed, wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her closer to the edge.

She yelps in syprise at the action. Her mind takes notice of the difference between their hands. Max has rough hands. Large enough to grip around her with ease. Charles has nimble hands. His fingers are gentle as the dance across her skin.

Charles tilts her head up to make her look at him. Then, he slowly places a wet kiss on her lips. A string of saliva still connecting them as he pulls away.

She closes her eyes and gets lost in the new sensations. Scaqred to open her eyes and see Max and Charles no longer there.

Charles reaches behind him. His palm open towards Max, indicating for the Dutch to join him. "You realize you're allowed to touch me, right?" He giggles.

"I'm going to remind you once again that I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Good thing I do because we're never going to get anywhere at this rate." Then Charles is peeling off his shirt and tossing it to the floor.

Max has obviously seen Charles shirtless. Now, he just got a chance to let his gaze linger. He lets his fingers run through the lines of Charles' abs and grace the start of his V-line.

Meanwhile, Charles has started his work on her. Delicately undoing the zipper of her dress and sliding it off her.

Something between shock and excitement covers his face as he sees her lack of undergarments. "Max made you out to be so good, I guess he lied, qhm?"

She looks like she might cry for a brief moment. "I am good! Max said not to wear anything..." she blushes and returns her gaze to the floor. "He said it might make you want to come back with us tonight."

Charles cranes his neck to look at Max. The Dutch does nothing but wink at him. If there is one thing he appreciates about the Dutchman, it's his the way every one of his moves is calculated.

Charles turns back to the girl and takes a moment to admire her body. His fingers dance across her skin like when he plays a soft melody on the piano.

Hands are everywhere, exploring the most intimate parts of each other. The air in the room grows thicker with every moan.

When they're thoroughly fucked out, Max goes to start aftercare preparations. Leaving the Monegasque to keep an eye on the female.

Charles does the one thing Max told him he does every time without fail. It doesn't matter why or how, but it always ends the same way. Charles could see the obvious look of disappointment on her face as he left.

Charles leans back over her body. First, he starts low and kisses the scars on her legs. Then, he moves up to her thighs. Gentle and slow, savoring every inch if her skin.

"You are so beautiful, mon amour."

Next are her sides and chest. The dull marks here take up the majority of her skin. These ones he peppers.

Her arms come after, moving all the way from her hands to her neck.

Then, he plants rapid kisses to her cheeks, forehead, and nose. Lastly, landing on her lips. The love pouring into every second of the connection.

Max watches on. And endearing and warm smile creeps onto his face at the sight of them.

Most people could never fathom this working, but here they are. They love each other endlessly. They hold respect for each other. It's something that not many people have.

Her father may have wanted her heart to himself, but it found them, and that's all that matters.

~

Next ->

Tags: @styles-sunflower @purplephantomwolf @boiohboii @reblog-princess @jjsprobablywrong @Ipab @jayda12

#x reader #fanficion #f1 fic #formula one #formula 1 #racing #angst #max verstappen #f1 fanfic #charles leclerc x reader #lando norris #max verstappen x reader #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc #redbull racing #formula racing #lando norris x reader #max verstappen x y/n #max verstappen x you #mclaren formula 1 #charles leclerc fic #mclaren racing #fluff #f1 #max verstappen f1 #lando norris x you #lando norris x y/n #charles leclerc x y/n #scuderia ferrari #redbull f1

[scientia-rex]

How Much Does Water Weigh?

It's not a trick question. One liter of water weighs one kilogram--the science is set up that way.

How much is a kilogram? Approximately 2.2lbs.

How much of you is water? Approximately 60%, though this varies by organ type.

If you're about 70 kilos, or about 154 pounds, that means you have around 42 liters of water in you--about 92 pounds.

You cannot function with less water than your body needs. Many people, when they think they're losing or gaining "weight," think they're talking about fat when they're actually talking about water. The underlying structure of your body doesn't change that fast. You didn't "sweat out" fat. You dehydrated yourself, and since water weighs quite a bit, that made the number of the scale smaller. Your body is the same, except it works worse when it's dehydrated.

It is normal to see shifts in weight over the course of a day, because your hydration status changes. You wake up and you've been using up water without replacing it, so you're lighter. You have a salty breakfast? The salt gets pulled into your bloodstream by the digestive process and then, thanks to osmosis, more water goes into your bloodstream. Your weight goes up. Fluctuations of multiple pounds are not a sign that your diet is succeeding or failing--it's a sign of the salt content of what you're eating and whether you're drinking enough water.

Diuretics are frequently abused to increase short-term weight loss. Again, the only weight this can take off you is fluid. Diuretic abuse can lead to life-threatening complications, like kidney failure; kidneys need to see fluid constantly to filter your bloodstream, and if they don't get it, imagine a wetlands where you choke off the water supply and silt chokes the channels. It's bad. Kidneys are very bad at healing. Damage can be permanent. You can also give yourself a condition called hyponatremia, which is not at a chemical level a lack of salt, as the name might suggest, but an excess of water--your body dumps so much urine that it takes salt with it and now you don't have enough to go around how much water is still in you. Guess what you need salt for? Neurotransmission. If you go hard on diuretics, you can fuck up neuronal transmission so much that you need to be in the ICU and/or die.

Recognize when "weight loss" bullshit is actually a diuretic, because those motherfuckers do not care if you are seriously injured or die as long as they get their profit off whatever "purge" tea they've just sold you.

(Things that make you shit yourself "thin"? Same deal. By the time food makes it through your intestines, you've reabsorbed all the nutrition you're gonna, even if you're shitting lava thanks to a laxative tea--but what you're shitting out is a lot of water, so yeah, your scale tells you you're thinner.)

#the attending dr. kristophine #eating disorder cw

[gnomeniche]

i'm thinking so hard about the dhmis trio's characterizations and how interesting i find all of them. let's start by framing this discussion with a quote from this interview

i want to talk about them in terms of their surface levels and their hidden depths. you can see the roles that they're supposed to play on the in-universe "show world", but then you dig deeper and you find something more real.

...

yellow? plays the role of the innocently stupid one who's always the butt of the joke and can't see that his friends are jerks.

but we find out that he's the one with the most awareness of their situation and that his knowledge was literally taken from him. and he knows full well that his friends are jerks! throughout the show that is made clear. and even after he's functioning at full power and he admits that he thinks his friends are trying to control him, he still loves them enough to bring the book back to them so that they can all escape. he's shown to be genuinely kind, not just unwittingly innocent. and even when he's at low power he displays some memory of their situation, but he just can't express it.

red? plays the role of the chill and laid-back one who's always handy with a sarcastic comment and doesn't care very much.

but we find that he cares quite a bit about many things. he seems to have a rather sensitive heart, is prone to existential dread, and is distressed by the nonsense of their world. he wants so strongly; he wants something better, something more gentle and more sincere and more real than all this. he wants to feel comfortable somewhere but can't quite find that in either this life or any other. he's curious and imaginative but repressing it due to arbitrary standards, whether it's by the show world's rules or social rules (original 6's "real world" and new 3's illusion of a family).

duck? plays the role of the the high-strung, fussy one with an overinflated ego, dramatic emotions, and a sharp tongue.

but we see that, even if he can be cruel, he finds comfort in being with his friends and loves their daily life together. he sees them as a family! he can't just be by himself, and he genuinely doesn't want them to be separated. and pedantic as he is, he seems blind to the inconsistent nature of their reality. it's only when the status quo of their daily life is disrupted that he really freaks out, like when yellow goes off-script in 6 or when red disappears in the original series' 5. but this also makes him grounded in who he is; he just does not assimilate into new roles as well as the other two, and as dramatic as he is, he's often the most stable.

...

and it's their inner traits that lead to their downfalls, when they do occur. yellow's love leads him to go back downstairs and lose his memory over and over and over again. red's curiosity for more strands him outside of his world with no way back in besides intervention from a higher level, in both the original and new series. duck's stability makes him unable to deal with some lessons and thus liable to be violently removed or changed (perhaps this is why he seems to be so often replaced?), in both the original and new series.

and they all have their deeper personalities masked by the roles they must play in this tv-show-world. yellow's is most easy to see, because he is literally forced to lose all memory and return to his role as lovable idiot, but the abrupt shift in demeanor that red and duck experienced in 6 when a ray of stage light came back into the dark is also notable, as was red's sudden reset from desperate in 5 to apathetic in 6, right after the group came too close to knowing what was going on.

and on a level wider than the individual characters... you can see it with the undercutting of any almost-sincere moments by gags. you can see it in how full of holes their memories are. there are moments where their selves beneath the roles shine through anyway, but the status quo is always god. nobody can grow or change or be anything other than what they are supposed to be. and that's the tragedy of it

#dhmis #dhmis red guy #dhmis yellow guy #dhmis duck #dhmis theory #not really this is more of a character analysis. but #it's 'dhmis is a tragedy' hours with am #am.txt #dhmis analysis

[mycurrentobsessionis]

I get why people are so mad at Milo, I really do...

(spoilers for The Night Market)

But, first of all, accidently summoning fucking Cthullu because you literally Do Not Know how to do your job is, uh, relateable somehow. Then proceeding to stab Cthullu because you panicked is objectively funny. Like. I got over the initial shock of that ending (because wtf, Milo?!?!?), and the confusion (like what did I do to get the bad ending???), and then it was ALL laughs. Like, daaaaamn, Malcolm is gonna be pissed, dude!

Legit, Milo isn't even malicious here, y'know? He's, like, a horse loose in a hospital -- he's just as confused as you are! He's never been in a hospital before!

Also, on a serious note, it's like, fair enough, okay. Because Hazel won't leave the Market, because she won't leave without Malcolm (living, dead, or undecided). Malcolm either can't or won't leave. Every probably can't leave. Milo probs doesn't care if he dies, but that's his family. And, I mean, the MC was dying irregardless. In his brain, this was the thing that would save them, too. All he had to do was give up their trust and love (platonic or otherwise), and they walked away. Limping and heartbroken, sure, but alive. Not saying it's fair, but you know. People do massively fucked up shit for love and for fear, and Milo has both. What he does is selfless from a certain point of view -- he gave up the affection and goodwill (that he probably thinks he doesn't deserve anyway), and everyone lives. He loved them all enough to lose them. And yeah, it was in fucked up way that is not the way to do shit, but.

As a future trauma-informed clinician, Milo's brain is legitimately built different. That man is on fight-or-flight 24/7, and I'm not convinced he isn't in a manic episode for at least part of the book. We know he's not sleeping and is drinking pretty heavily toward the end. That does not bode well.

Honestly, it was a shocker ending only because I didn't expect the author to go there, but it makes sense. This is a severely mentally ill man who spent ten years literally carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, on top of his own unprocessed grief and trauma, and trying to make sure his equally mentally ill friend is alright, and sort of single-parenting a dead child. Then you have the fact that he was meeting pretty regularly with Baron fucking Palpatine, who was probably manipulating him. And yeah, you can say that he's a grown man but... When you live your life focused on survival, you literally do not develop the kind of executive functioning skills you need to withstand that shit. You can develop them later in life, but it is significantly more difficult.

In a lot of cases, I do not argue for mental illness being a defense for the kind of fuckery that he got up to, but shit, man. Milo has such a deep-seated sense of self-loathing, and the amount of vitriol thrown against him so intense and utterly unsympathetic. The whole cast uses the MC for their own ends. They all put the MC at direct risk. At least Milo believes he's saving them.

Anyhoo... romanced him because Zinnia won't let me play as his therapist LOL.

#milo next #character analysis #the night market #the night market if

[markantonys]

I came across a Twitter thread that said the set up for the docks when it comes to the Warder bond between Lan and Moiraine was handled much better in the books cause in the show they feel like the mechanics of the Warder bond was too vague/not explained well in the show that they weren't able to connect with Moiraine and Lan's emotional conflict in s2 because of it. And I am a bit confused cause honestly I don't think the books explain how the Warder bond works at all from what I remember. Just making a lot of wild claims about how everything about the books are better and how the show is fumbling when they haven't even read half the series yet (show first to book reader). Just this trend to shit talk every choice the show makes when you don't even know the full complete story is wild to me

haters: the show hasn't done enough to explain how the bond works

all the screentime across 2 seasons the show has dedicated to showing how the bond works which the haters kept complaining was a waste of time better spent on rand having swordfights:

like literally what do they want lmao some people will never be satisfied!

but the mention of the "mechanics" of the bond is interesting to me because i think we may be hitting upon 2 different types of viewers here: the minority of lore enthusiasts who need to understand every single detail about how things work or else they will be upset and lose immersion, and the majority of audiences who are content with a general understanding of how things work and don't get hung up on details, or will at most go "hmmm i'm not sure if this makes sense, but it's a cool story beat so i'm happy to shrug and move on".

the former category were going "but what weaves is moiraine doing now? did they actually unbond and now she's remaking it from scratch? i thought the bond was only masked? this is such a plothole, it doesn't make sense, i can't concentrate on anything else about the scene" during the 2x08 moiraine & lan beach scene, and the latter category were thinking "what a beautiful and emotionally satisfying moment of seeing them come back together!" and that's it. and probably similar for the rest of the season. if somebody felt unable to connect with the emotional aspects of that storyline, i would bet it's because they felt too unclear about the mechanics of the state of the bond and couldn't let go of that confusion enough to sink into the emotional aspects. (which is really more of a personal thing; my show-only mom was definitely keyed into the emotional aspects of this storyline and didn't get bothered about some mechanics being left vague. in fact, i think she would've just gotten confused if they'd tried to explain the mechanics in more detail djkfjg bless her.)

undeniably, the show does not explain magic mechanics in as much depth as the books do. but that is because it's banking on the very fair assumption that the majority of audiences don't need to have this level of detail in order to enjoy and understand the story (and may get more confused than they need to be if they ARE given this level of detail). i'll admit that s2 was a bit muddled on What Exactly Is Going On with moiraine and lan's bond, and i found myself a bit confused by the mechanics at times, but that never impeded my appreciation or understanding of the emotional aspects of the storyline because i'm someone who is happy to shrug and move on if the mechanics of how something is functioning in a fantasy story aren't making total sense to me.

also, moiraine & lan at the docks won't happen until the end of s3 and it's very very possible we might learn even more about bond mechanics earlier in s3 via elayne and birgitte (who will be good candidates for explaining some New Bond Basics that it wouldn't make sense for moiraine and lan to talk about since they've had theirs for 20 years), so like..........maybe they should just Watch And Find Out.

it's also very interesting that this is coming from someone in the show-to-book pipeline because i honestly would not be surprised if a lot of their base knowledge for how warder bonds works was absorbed..........from the show. and they just don't realize it. granted, if they started with new spring it might be different because i'm assuming new spring goes into a lot of depth about how warder bonds work (though i don't know for sure, i haven't read it). but if they only read EOTW-TFOH, they sure as shit are not gonna have gotten much info about bonds *from the books* because we barely spend any time with characters who are part of a bond during those books. we get, what, maybe a couple chapters total of moiraine or lan pov and then start diving into it a tiny bit more in TFOH with elayne and birgitte, but it's really not that much from what i can remember - and i can't remember very well, because i went into the books already having a very solid understanding of the concept of the bond thanks to all the work s1 put into showing it. i do not remember learning anything significant about the bond in the first 5 books that i didn't already know from s1.

it's also so strange to me in general to see people start with the show, then go to the books, and then start hating on the show because as a show-to-book pipeline person myself, all going to the books did was make me go "wow thank fuck for the show, it will fix X, it will fix Y, it's already fixed Z" basically constantly. it made me 10000x more grateful for and appreciative of the show and the way it's choosing to tell the story!

#i won't lie a part of me is always like #'i bet this is a lifelong bookcloak making a fake account to pose as a show-to-book person' #whenever i see people claiming that they started with the show and then read the books and now prefer them djkfgjg #i know everyone prefers different things in stories and the show's priorities align way more with my personal ones than the books' do #and not all people will feel the same way. but it's just such an incomprehensible take to me as a fellow show-to-book person! #anonymous #answered #wot book spoilers

[lumienyx]

bloodless much?

I see @spacebarbarianweird's excellent point on Tav being unable to give Astarion blood that often since it would deteriorate their health.

But also listen.

One thing I love about DND sorcery is metamagic. At its most basic, it's ' twisting and adapting your spells to suit your needs.' Sure there are the canonical effects, but thinking outside game mechanics—technically as a sorcerer you can tinker with spells however you damn well please.

Which is what my Tav does when he makes a scroll that replenishes his blood faster than is humanly (or, well, half-elvenly) possible.

Astarion ends up drinking the extra blood, leaving Tav with just enough for him to function normally and go about his day as usual (something to be definitely included in touch too much ehehe)

Which means:

A totally valid canonical reason for Tav letting Astarion drink from him daily, sometimes several times a day, i.e. Astarion never has to go without a sentient creature's blood ever again and is always well fed

I'd assume the first times Tav attempts this don't go over that well and that makes his blood cells multiply a bit too fast. He ends up going over to Shadowheart, thoroughly embarrassed and asking for a complex healing session for the Serious Condition he really could not have ended up with that quickly, having to painstakingly explain to her what the hells even happened (spoiler: she is Not Impressed. “You’re seriously making me waste a day’s worth of energy fixing you up because you wanted to become an infinite blood bank for your thirsty vampire lover?”)

Alternatively, and this fits EVEN BETTER (thanks to @satanicspinosaurus for pointing it out), the excess number of red blood cells is called erythrocytosis, which is what Tav would accidentally end up with as he experiments. And one of the primary treatments for this is LITERALLY phlebotomy, i.e. removing blood. So Tav explaining the whole situation to Astarion would probably go somewhat like this...

“Uh, Astarion?” “Yes, my sweet—” Astarion frowns after taking one glance at Tav’s face. “What is it? You look a bit feverish. Is something the matter?” Tav bites his lip, feeling his cheeks grow warm as he speaks, “Well. Yes. And no? Kind of.” “Eloquent.” Tav heaves a deep sigh. “Anyway. Shadowheart sent me. She can’t heal this… disease I have—or, well, she can, but she actually said the best treatment is something you can do for me. And we need to get to it fast, otherwise I’ll die, so. Here.” Tav extends his wrist, bared and ready to be drunk from. Astarion only blinks at him, zero understanding in his eyes and now quite a bit more concern. “You’re going to have to be a bit more specific, love," he says. "Why exactly did our resident healer send you to get healed by me? Especially since this is serious? My talents lie in stealth, trickery, and necromancy as of late—and you still look very much alive.” “Blood,” Tav grits through his teeth, looking anywhere but Astarion’s face. “You need to drink my blood. A lot of it. I completely fucked up the strength of a spell.” “What spell,” Astarion demands, “would lead to you needing to lose blood?” “I wanted to create one that would increase the amount of blood I have by speeding up the body’s natural blood replenishment speed,” Tav explains to the clouds he’s distinctly observing. Anywhere but Astarion’s face. “And well. I ended up with far more of it than I need. It’s my first attempt, all right?” He forces his head to turn to look Astarion at last, who’s still staring at him blankly, with slightly parted lips. Probably thinking Tav is a massive idiot. “You can drink just about a quarter of my blood at this point," Tav offers weakly. "With no consequence.” Astarion doesn’t react at first. At all. Simply stands there before Tav, looking at him long and hard as if waiting for more words that never come, as the weight of embarrassment blocks all of Tav’s attempts at further explaining himself. “Well, darling,” Astarion finally says, taking the couple of steps that separate them—and suddenly, Tav feels Astarion’s hands on him, locking him in an embrace he’s happy to be captive in. Tav melts into it, mesmerized by the hungry look in those red eyes, as always comforted by the coolness of Astarion’s skin as he leans in to place a kiss on Tav’s neck. “How could I say no to such a delicious treat?”

Astarion gets his treat every day from now on. He is very happy with the arrangement

The result of Tav’s experiments is a Scroll of Blood Replenishment that I imagine Tav would stylize to look quite cool, red parchment and all. But since he would be making those scrolls on the daily, I guess the red would be a bit overkill to do that often and it ends up looking like any other scroll, much to Tav's dismay, but he needs to keep things efficient for his lover

In time, Tav learns to cast the spell sans scroll (does Gale help him out with it? sorcerer-wizard buddies ftw??) So, Astarion can just slide up to him, pull a Puss in Boots look, and Tav would just have to whisper a few words, his body instantly providing a filling meal for Astarion whenever and wherever they are

And I just think that’s neat, thanks for coming to my BloodTed Talk.

~~~

requests open

tag list (comment or dm to be added)

@spacebarbarianweird @satanicspinosaurus, @tallymonster, @tragedybunny

#astarion #astarion x tav #bg3 astarion #astarion headcanon #i just thought SO WHAT IF i'm bloodless after every long rest #Astarion is thirsty for Tav's blood and Tav is thirsty for his happiness #that's it that's the hc #astarion romance #astarion ancunin #tavstarion #baldur’s gate 3 #bg3