#these are getting longer aren't they

[stevetown]

Final Fantasy IV

Playtime: 16h 54m Completed: January 3, 2024

Ah, nothing like the smell of the first completed game of the year.

Or for that matter, the dulcet tones of a re-orchestrated soundtrack that was given way too much power. My god does the Pixel Remaster of this game have a repetitive, grating soundtrack. It's unbelievable that Square-Enix would omit the option to use the much softer-on-the-ole-eardrums original OST on the Steam version of the game. The console players get the option! They can turn off random encounters too!

But I digress. An essay on Square Enix's failures when it comes to ports and game accessibility will have to wait for another day.

Final Fantasy IV is...good! It's perfectly fine! I enjoyed my time with it! It is incredibly funny hearing people talk about how good the story and characters are though. I found them charming, sure, but the game doesn't do anything particularly noteworthy on the narrative front in 2024. I suppose it does introduce the now inevitable Final Fantasy third act twist where they raise the stakes by introducing aliens.

In fact, the game is at its best when you look at it more as a historical work than a game just on its own merits. Everything it did, mechanically and narratively, are table stakes for subsequent games in the series. It's charming though. An early scene that involves a character looking out over a lake before being attacked by a monster while his dead girlfriend cheers him on during the fight must have blown minds back in the day. A game using turn based battle mechanics alongside emotional dialogue to tell you a story about a named character? It's taken so far for granted that it's hard to believe it all started with Final Fantasy IV. No wonder this game was bundled with Chrono Trigger for the PS1 release.

Also present is the deftly handled episodic story telling the series is now known for. It's impressive how the game manages to provide a rotating cast of characters that weave their way in and out of your party because of story circumstances. I suppose it was to avoid you having to actually make up a party of your own, but it provides a forward momentum to the proceedings that Final Fantasy I-III lacked. They were really stretching things with five party members at a time though. Poor Rydia sat on the floor for the entire final fight.

As a time capsule for JRPGS, Final Fantasy IV is clearly a momentous entry. The effort they put into every aspect of the game still comes through when you know to look for it (the ATB system originates here!). I can't say I particularly have a desire to play The After Years, a sequel released seventeen years after the fact, but I admire the respect this game continues to garner.

Just please, Square, please let me change the music. I'm begging you. You ruined a perfectly lovely soundtrack.

#2024 video game journal #final fantasy #final fantasy IV #retro gaming #these are getting longer aren't they

[bookshelfdreams]

yk when you see someone share a finished handmade item that they clearly spent a lot of time and money on and it's just. The absolute tackiest thing you have seen in your life. And then you ask yourself why someone would waste all those resources on such an eyesore.

(no, of course you can't relate to that because you're a much nicer person than me)

In any case.

BEHOLD!

A wool coat!

The top fabric is handwoven and handspun, the whole thing is sewn by hand, too.

Leftovers. Barely anything, all things considered, which is very satisfying.

This thing took me well over 3 years to make, on and off. And now I'm done.

Thank you for your attention.

#carry on XD #i hope y'all realize that when I say tacky it's with nothing but love in my heart #yes it's ugly. that's the whole point. #everyone should have an item in their wardrobe that will get Looks and raised eyebrows #it's good for you #anyway can't believe I'm done! this is a huge boost to my crafting hubris I CAN DO ANYTHING #wizard bathrobe adventures #handweaving #handspinning #hand sewing #look what i made #crafts #overall I'm happy with it even though there's. things that aren't ideal #the pockets are set a bit too low #and i should have made it a tiny bit longer not much but maybe like 5cm #anyway #overall it's a nice coat i think #Now That's What I Call Slow Fashion

[canisalbus]

What if I told you that RoobrickMarine went and wrote an entire novella starring my 16th century dog couple? It's very canon-adjacent, well researched and thoughtfully put together, has inspired me a ton during these past months and it's now publicly available at AO3. I highly recommend it.

✦ Separation ✦

#content warnings for sex violence self harm and general angst #six chapters 41K words #people who have asked for longer stories of these two please give this one a look #I've watched this unfold since late may? early july? and it's been an exciting experience #I'm not a writer I think it's better than what I could've come up with #honestly though the way he managed to get inside Machete's and Vasco's heads was uncanny their mannerisms and thought processes are spot on #some of the events aren't canon but they might as well be #and most of the background details and backstory tidbits are accurate believe me he's very well versed on their lore #big history nerd so the worldbuilding is intense #you get to meet the dog pope #there's saint sebastian #roommate hijinks #it gets kind of bleak at times though so be mindful of that #it's not all fluff and good feelings #Separation #Heinaven #RoobrickMarine #own characters #own art #artists on tumblr #CanisAlbus #Vasco #Machete #anthro #sighthound #dogs #canine #animals #if you end up reading the whole thing it would be really sweet if you left a little comment as a thanks for his hard work

[spllwys]

endless ghifs 18/? ⛧ source — "the ancient serpent deceiver..."

#sorry this is only 2 gifs and they're not great but this shot absolutely kills me #there's no way i could make them any longer btw this was the max #for those who don't know there's a size limit here that doesn't allow something as powerful as papa iii year zero moves #i'd like to do this whole clip one day but the big gifs aren't going to work out #for now please appreciate his goofy yet serious moves contrasting to the ghoul in the background having the time of his life #making these gifs to cheer myself up sdjhbcjs #lgifs #alltag #eg_series #the band ghost #papa emeritus iii #terzo #nameless ghouls #even if i sharpen it a bit more it gets too big ripp #flashing gif

[findafight]

Robin chose Steve. Robin made the conscious and deliberate decision that she could and would trust Steve. She already liked him! She had fun working and bantering with him! They were already on their way to being weird little bffs and the torture just expedited the process. Steve chose Robin just the same! He thinks she's fun and cool and likes her so much! He chose to be honest and open with her too, putting himself out there.

Even though their interests on the surface level don't match why wouldn't they share them? Steve clearly caves when Robin wants to watch a movie he doesn't think he'll like, Robin can watch a March madness game or five.

Stop trying to take away their bond oh my god people can be close to more than one person!!! Their best friend doesn't have to be dismissive or mean or whatever in order for a romance to be special to them!

#if i have to see another fic or whatever that makes it seem like robin doesnt give a shit about what steve likes and talkes about im going #to scream and maybe even rampage #its nice to sit down and have someone who knows explain who the players are and what the stakes for this particular game!! #just because yall seem to not think anyone can be nutral towards sports doesnt mean people aren't #literally why is it so hard to believe robin would like to hear steve talk as much as steve likes to hear her talk #i am so close to telling some steddie shippers to not look at steve or robin or their friendship because some of yall do Not get it. #its like you can see them go 'have to make sure eddie is the most perfect specialest boy for steve...well that means robin doesn't Get Him ' #or 'robin ignores him/dismisses his interests/isnt told everything happening in his life' like okay dont ever touch them again thanks #robin is steves specialest sunshine cupcake goober girl. steve is robins bestest happy times sweet funnyman. dont u dare take that away. #omce again tsgs longer than the post but ah well. #stobin #platonic stobin #robin buckley #steve harrington #stranger things #finda's rambles #steve and robin #this is a scheduled post just to jazz things up i guess #but seriously some of yall need to STOP MESSIGN WITH STOBIN

[gamebunny-advance]

Rotating her in my mind.

#pikmin #pikmin 4 #gif #bulborb #i check for updates on the english pikmin comic about every other day #and i just now noticed that they're also translating the piklopedia #on the japanese site #you can rotate the creatures at your leisure #and even get aerial and bottom views #on the english site it just plays a 'video' of the creatures rotating like this and you can't change the angle #much like with the comic the english site is very behind with the creature profiles #there aren't even any arachnorbs up there #but they do have the waterwraith for some reason #i dunno. i just figured that would be one they'd want to keep secret for a while longer #but it was nerfed in pikmin 4 anyway so it's really not that menacing anymore i guess

[front-facing-pokemon]

#alolan raichu #holy shit these alolan forms are kicking the fuck outta my ass #the things i do for you all. my production value on this blog has increased over the years and i don't think i can get away with the same #weird shit i used to be able to when i couldn't find a good model so now i'm having to learn how to use blender and shit?? #downloading weird scripts off the internet just because i can't find the right models. and now alolan raichu has kantonian eyes #they have kantonian eyes. i know. i'm sorry. i don't know how to fix it and this is the best you're going to get because i had to work for #like an hour and a half just to get to this point. and i know the lighting is dark. it's. it's bad. it'll probably be like this for all #the alolan forms at least. and holy shit when we get to gen 9 it's going to be even worse #this is a wreck!! this is a wreck. i had to use the sv model for this one and it's like #i dunno the eyes in sv aren't textures?? they're procedural. they're fucking. shaders. in sv. which is why espeon's pupils #are no longer pupils and are instead reflections (lie‚ falsehood) #and i'm. dissolving. y'all're gonna have to bear with me moving forward bc i've gotten Very used to the “it just works” nature of #the older models that i was using but this is getting way harder on me as we move into newer generations

[sastiel-is-my-serotonin]

So, we have money set aside that we cannot touch for a place to live. We have incomes coming our way. We are simply trying to survive until we can secure housing. But we don't have the funds yet because we're waiting on approvals and such. We're going to try and stay at hotels until then, because sleeping in parking lots is scary with a car full of girls.

Especially when we break down and have to push the car. One of those nights we managed to get to a parking lot and most people kept their distance even with greetings. But while I was getting something out of the trunk, bend over looking for something, someone was trying to talk to me and calling me beautiful and it was gross. Saying things to me and my sister but she didn't notice. The only reason he left us alone was because some other guy shooed him away which I grateful for. But a lot of the times there aren't people willing to do that you know? And that was like at two a.m. or something, not an hour of politeness.

Plus it's been raining and that in itself has made me want to curl up in a ball and stay away from cars. Got too much car trauma for that shit.

Basically, trying to avoid more trauma for myself and my siblings, and my mother. If anyone could please help, whether it's a dollar or five, just whatever you can!! We appreciate it greatly!!

Paypal

Cash.app

Gofund.me

#Everytime we're just trying to make it just a little bit longer bc we have something to help #We go through absolute hell before and it sucks #Like I'm so fucking sick - my body is screaming at me to rest but I'm trying to get things done #Things that aren't guaranteed later bc we never know where we're going to sleep #If we'll get a place to rest our heads #Like it sucks and I wish so much better for my siblings #We're so close we just need to make it a little bit longer #That's what's keeping us going just a little bit more

[thesweetnessofspring]

Ok but imagine Katniss and Peeta learning to ride bikes together post-war. Katniss getting frustrated it isn't coming to her quickly, Peeta running beside her to help her balance. Peeta wobbling around, going slow, and Katniss getting worried when he falls over onto the ground, checking his hands for scrapes. And then the screams of joy when they finally get it down and ride around District 12 together. Peeta with a basket on his bike to store the groceries and Katniss putting a card Peeta made for her on the spoke of the wheel. And they always make sure the other has their helmet on, because they're not taking any risks with each other.

#everlark #the hunger games #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #because obviously d12 gets rebuilt to be a walkable city #so there still aren't very many cars there #but people get bikes to ride longer distances and just for fun #headcanon #everlark headcanon

[antianakin]

@theneutralmime

Obi-Wan and Yoda have no obligations to the Rebellion. There isn't even a Rebellion to be obligated TO when they go into hiding initially. And Obi-Wan IS doing his duty to the Rebellion by protecting one of Anakin's children (they believe Anakin's children might be the only people ultimately capable of taking down the Sith, but they also know that if Anakin and Palpatine get ahold of Luke and Leia and turn them into Sith, all hope is lost). Obi-Wan also clearly has a direct communication to Bail and Breha that they can utilize in dire need, so he's not completely removed from the Rebellion.

Obi-Wan and Yoda are intended to be last resorts. They're considered public enemy #1 to the Empire and if they were out there more obviously fighting in the Rebellion, they'd be getting constantly hunted down by the Empire's full might and probably wouldn't last very long. They might even, at least in the beginning, be more of a hindrance than a help because they could draw attention to a fledgling Rebellion and end up killing it before it has a chance to grow at all. Obi-Wan and Yoda are people the Rebellion has in their back pocket for if all hope is about to be lost and they need to pull out a miracle.

There aren't enough Jedi left to force the few survivors to keep fighting on the front lines, especially when there's next to zero support to keep them from being immediately hunted down and murdered by the Empire. It helps nobody to do that. Ahsoka fights from the shadows for most of her tenure in the Rebellion, but we see in the Kenobi show how quickly Obi-Wan is discovered when he does leave Tatooine. It's a matter of a few DAYS before the Empire is on his tail and he barely manages to escape with the help of other people.

I do think that the whole purpose of Obi-Wan and Yoda being in hiding has been made a little muddied by all of the Jedi characters who have been shown to be fighting in the Rebellion (Ahsoka, Cal, Kanan and Ezra) and so now people go "well if they could do it, why couldn't Obi-Wan and Yoda?" And I get that, but I feel like it misses the point of why Obi-Wan and Yoda chose to go into hiding in the first place. They're protecting the potential future of the Jedi and the last Force sensitive children they even know are left to protect, as well as protecting themselves as potential future assets to the Rebellion and the fight against the Sith and the Empire.

#star wars #obi-wan kenobi #yoda #i started this draft a week ago and then had to run a week long event and i no longer remember if i had other thoughts #i feel like this gets my feelings on this issue across well enough still though #obi-wan and yoda did the best they could in the wake of the genocide of their entire culture #they were not obligated to keep fighting and dying for a rebellion that didn't even exist yet #and remaining in hiding doesn't mean they AREN'T doing anything helpful #obi-wan and yoda are the last remaining jedi masters that they know of too #if their culture is going to survive then they ALSO need to survive in order to pass it along to the next generation #and as far as they know in that moment the next generation is several hours old at best so there's nothing they'll be able to do for YEARS #people claiming obi-wan and yoda abandoned the rebellion or whatever are just being assholes about it

[shadeswift99]

Thinking about how the players of Double Life immediately started subtly being more careful because of the soul bonds. Thinking about how even though this is a death game, even though the goal has always been to stay alive at all costs and take as little damage as possible, I heard so many variations on "I'm going to have to get used to taking care of you, too" from so many of them, followed by them taking much better care of themselves. Thinking about how out of their way they go not to take small amounts of mundane damage from falls and drowning because the harm feels different when it isn't just you suffering it. Just...thinking a lot about that.

#double life #It's fascinating to me #just....the difference in thinking it makes to imagine a person outside of yourself coming to harm or inconvenience from something you do #vs when it's just yourself #the extra vigilance that in the end doesn't really make much sense #because aren't all of them just people? aren't you also a person? #why does it feel different to take a hit alone than to share it with somebody else? why does that make us more reluctant? #it's very interesting and i think it might actually help all of them to last longer in the series #it's like the life series equivalent to being given a plant to take care of for your mental health #or like. one of those egg babies from home ec classes #because suddenly it's not just /you/ #i can't wait to see how that'll play out #(but also. if you're reading this maybe go get a glass of water if you're thirsty) #(eat if you're hungry，get a blanket if you're cold) #(because i bet you would if you had a friend soul bound to you who could feel the same things) #(and are you not soul bound to yourself?)

[bylertruther]

not to be too real but since we're talking about it... we always talk about will feeling lonely which is fair, but... it is such an Ugly, isolating, and genuinely heart-wrenching feeling to be the odd one out in your family, and to watch them treat others who aren't related to you the way you wish they would treat you, to watch them perform their familial roles with them and not you.

nancy's the only person in his family that mike could talk to, the only person that has the same trauma and would understand, and yet... he can't. they don't ever talk unless it's to be snippy and bite. nancy spends more time caring about max and will than she does mike, her own little brother.

holly is too young for him to bond with like that. she's just barely a kid, one that still needs to be cared for.

his mom tries her best, but he doesn't feel comfortable being vulnerable with her. considering the fact that she did everything "right" according to society's standards and married their dad of all people, i doubt he feels comfortable showing her who he really is. he lets her hug him when he's at his lowest, but we don't see them actually connecting.

his dad is just some ghost that haunts his house. he doesn't care about mike or think highly of him at all. the only times we've seen him pay mike any attention are when he belittles his interests, mocks him, punishes him, or shuts him down by telling him to listen to his mother. the only support he gets from him is financial in nature.

meanwhile, everyone else has a family they can turn to. dustin, despite lying to his mother to keep her out of his shenanigans, seems to have a decent relationship with her. even if he doesn't, he still has steve and robin. lucas is shown to have a healthy relationship with his parents and erica. will and el have their family.

max's situation is different, but she has the backing of the party; people that love her and actively try to help her and pull her back into the world of the living. she isn't thrust into a leadership role that doesn't allow for vulnerability. she has nancy who is willing to fight monsters for her, el who literally performed a miracle for her, and lucas who has stood by her since the beginning.

and mike... well. he has will back now, sure, but... things have been different between them for a long time now, even if they're both trying their best to be how they were before. and before then, will obviously was in california, not returning his calls or reaching out, making mike feel like he'd lost him for good.

so... all that being said, it's not that surprising that mike is the way he is: riddled with abandonment issues, wanting to be needed, immediately apologizing whenever he dares to open up, inclined to give others the protection and comfort no one's ever given him, prone to jealousy and possessiveness, unable to be completely and wholly honest about what troubles him, not exactly the most open to new people, and someone with appallingly low self-esteem.

you know how they say people that are drowning don't always look like they're drowning? that's mike.

#mike #mine #wheeler #mike analysis #byler #i can't think abt him for longer than two seconds bc then i make myself sad lol <3 #will's story is fucked up but at least he has people that love him and help him and SEE him and that he feels comfortable being his #true self with. but mike? :/ sigh. #mike just bottles it up and overcompensates / gets his mind off of it by caring for someone else. #like in the van scene when he's opening up to will and then immediately tries to deflect bc he thinks it's not important. #like... mike... you ARE important. you're feelings aren't stupid. you aren't some worthless loser with nothing to offer people. #the way that he talks about himself and the lack of support he has in his life is like ... actually so fucking sad lmao! #bc he spent all that time with el and sent her all those letters and yet they never actually got to know each other. it wasn't anything of #value. it was just company. and he had will but things started changing and mike felt like will was pulling away from him. then they both #moved across the country and he tried to call will all those times but couldn't reach him. and then will never reached out first so he just #straight up felt like he'd lost will. and the remaining party members are great but like mike says they aren't will. so he was just alone. #bites my own hand bites my own hand bites my own hand bites—

[microwave-core]

Every time I sit down to write... he haunts me...

Anyways, today's Leon headcanon is that I think he's scottish rather than british

#pokemon #pokemon x reader #indigo disk #pokemon scarvio #pokemon leon #champion leon #my bby girl... my malewife... #im gonna write for the dlc girlies i am trying #there aren't as many tho so maybe i'll make them a bit longer than normal #actually maybe i shouldn't make promises before i even get started don't hold that to me #also i want amarys's boots i WANT them #this is the second self portrait i've ever made #the other one was made in ms paint in 8th grade #and i am wearing the same kind of hoodie #i am a creature of habit #i realized i can make these types of pics in sai i feel so very powerful

[thefirstknife]

Getting real sick of a certain subset of Destiny players complaining that it’s a baby game and crying to Bungie to nerf exotics and abilities when their ENTIRE POINT IS TO BE STRONG in specific ways as if they are being locked into using them.

IF YOU WANT AN EXTRA CHALLENGE STOP BEING SUCH A DPS GOBLIN AND JUST EQUIP SOMETHING THATS NOT TOP TIER META AND STOP COMPLAINING JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

MOOD. Go off.

It's incredibly annoying to me. They always use the argument of "the game should FORCE me to do things, I should not SELF-IMPOSE challenges." And like. ? I'm sorry but what? It's a video game for a big audience, it's here to be playable and accessible to the widest possible playerbase. There are plenty of ways to make the game difficult for yourself, so knock yourself out if that's your thing, but don't force others into it.

Like, I enjoy hard content, I regularly at least attempt day 1 raids, I do master raids, GMs, solo and solo flawless content and all that. But only when I want to. Sometimes I don't and I don't want to suffer in a patrol zone or struggle in a seasonal activity I'm doing for the story. The majority of the players don't want that. Designing games for the professional gamers only has NEVER been a good idea and never will be. Fifty streamers can't sustain a video game. It needs casual players who will want to come back to the game instead of feeling defeated.

One of the reasons I really enjoy helping others is because I know that casual players tend to struggle in stuff that's basic activity for me. I've seen people unable to get through a strike. I've sat for 10 minutes rezing someone who couldn't do the jump in a seasonal activity. I want those people to be able to play basic content without feeling frustrated and I want them to know that there are people out there who will help them out.

And this doesn't apply just to basic content, although it should start with that. I think all dungeons and raids and everything should be things that all players can complete. Fine, doing a master raid with all challenges should be tough, but it should be achievable with time and practice, not impossible. What a lot of these "pros" want is just completely divorced from reality.

It takes days and days of practice every time a new master raid is out for me and my team (all with thousands of hours of playtime) to get comfortable to finally finish it. We're far from casual players and it still takes a lot of time to be able to finish hard content. Making it even harder is insane to me. Like, if something is so hard that my team full of people, each with 5000+ hours of playtime and a coordinated team that's been raiding together for years now can't finish it, that means it's absolutely impossible for probably 90% of the playerbase. That's wild to me. Raids and GMs should have more people playing them. If master raids are too easy for you, Mr. I-Play-Destiny-For-A-Living, that's on you buddy. Unequip the super god tier god roll meta guns and loadouts or play something else.

And ofc, another excuse they make is "if I don't use meta, I am not going to win a raid race!" Then don't. Idk. Let me play you the tiniest violin. This affects literally nobody except a grand total of 50 people. Run your meta in day 1, and play with random shit otherwise. Play raids with all white weapons. Play without mods. Play without a HUD. Do things solo only. I don't know, make up a way to spice things up for yourself. I'm not interested in that and neither are 99% of the players out there. The game is genuinely hard enough for the majority of the players. On top of that, I am here to feel like a powerful space fantasy superhero. I am NOT here to die to dregs in patrol zones. If there's ONE thing that I know for a fact that put people off from Lightfall (as in this year of Destiny), it's the difficulty changes. They're annoying, frustrating and for some a barrier to entry more than anything else.

#destiny 2 #gameplay #ask #long post #i really do love helping but i can't not feel bad because once the people i helped are out of my fireteam... #...there's no telling what other experiences they'll have #there's so many speedrunners and people who don't care and people who just aren't helping and are instead mocking others #you can only do so much for a few people you see in activities #this season's activities are super tough. every time so far I've played everyone in the team was struggling #i'm gonna have to start going into altars of summoning with my full support build warlock just to sit in there and help people #istg the 'pros' have to get their loadouts restricted. go play with non-god tier armour sets and guns #equip the same loadout that some casual player has available and let me see you then #this idea that everyone has minmaxed best equipment available at all times is bizarre. please get your head out of your ass #'i have perfectly rolled all artifice armour with perfect stat exotics for every loadout because i have infinite time to grind' okay dude #most of us aren't being paid to play destiny. lmao #'the game used to be hard' no. you got better. you mastered it #why is this so difficult to understand. everything is hard when you first start. 5000 hours later it no longer is #the game is fine. the 'health of the game' is fine. you mastered it and outgrew it #either impose challenges on yourself or find something else #like. when i first started GMs they were almost impossible for me #now i play them for fun. they're still challenging but they're not the same level of hard and I'm fine with that #i enjoy them as content and they're still entertaining #and when a new GM comes out it's a new challenge to master so it'll be hard at the start #as everything ever in the world #if that's no longer enough for you then you just outgrew the game and should probably move on #the only reason why some things used to be hard was poor quality of life that got improved over time #not being able to mantle in d1 is not difficulty. it's just not good design. it was fixed and improved #the bitching about light 3.0 as well. man. just don't use the 'OP' fragments. it's so easy to unequip them #i personally love the variety and all the options i have now as opposed to before #okay tag essay done. fhkajhakfhksjf

[lucabyte]

I am literally obsessed with everything you do that involves sifloop you are THE sifloop artist to me

thank you!!! it means a lot to hear that haha

I've been like... near exclusively an OC artist for like 8 years at this point so every time i post fanart and ESPECIALLY ship art i feel like i have to fight every screaming cell in my body to post it because i feel like... RUDE? for projecting my own thoughts onto another creator's characters LMAO... so it's reassuring to know people actually like what i'm contributing!!

as for sifloop as a ship. i really should draw more isiloops because . rotates all three of them in my mind. but yeah. I think the thing I like most about the dynamic really is the like... way Siffrin and Loop canonically aggress each other despite an extremely persistent undercurrent of caring about the other not suffering.

Like. the back and forth between Loop constantly talking past/through Siffrin to really painfully insult the pair of them, and things like the [Forgetting Mirabelle's Name] event being so astoundingly gentle. just as a general example. (RNG event that only triggers after certain actions so you may need to look it up)

THEN adding the element of throwing them in postcanon with neither of them wanting to upset the party and thus having to keep a lid on it... I like the potential dynamics of such a painful and conflicted relationship having to be almost hidden and downplayed so as to try and not worry anyone, and thus becoming softer and introspective while still keeping a bunch of the more insidiously toxic behaviour.

Both of them acting with genuine best intentions in mind but still understanding each other to have way *way* more sadness and anger and guilt than they let on, and thus being able to clock it. Both for good and ill. Neither of them enjoy confrontation, but it's almost unavoidable when they KNOW the other knows what they're probably thinking.

. but yeah i just think they're neat! also a bunch of stuff related to asexuality but . shh

#also since. well. i dont know where else im gonna put this. because its CERTAINLY not going in the body of the text #an early way i worded my reading of Loop's characterisation when talking to my friends was: #'Loop is sexually frustrated in the same way as a poorly kept parrot' #WHICH SOUNDS INSANE but hear me out. if you know things about parrots you know they'll imprint on their owners. and it ruins their brains #parrots like this will see humans as potential mates and get AGGRESSIVE when nothing is happening! because... they aren't human. #the 'sexual' part of my reading is a bit of shock hyperbole but i basically mean they are socially/romantically/etc frustrated in this way #they are asexual obviously (... as am i for the record). but yknow. they and siffrin are both still ravenous for physical touch. #and loop... no longer being human. having that disconnect. BEING human FEELING human. but not being. #as well as literally physically lacking the ability for certain things. (staunch 'loop has no mouth and cannot kiss' truther here) #+ i think this is FASCINATING in context of both Siffrin and Loop's asexuality. its something i like thinking about. #two freaks who want intimacy but not in the 'normal' way. again as an ace myself. i think abt it #lucabytetalks #isat spoilers #sifloop

[uncanny-tranny]

I think as we grow up, we have to be really conscious of romanticizing the world we grew up in in order to scorn how the next generations are growing up.

Nostalgia isn't inherently bad, but especially in political spaces, be very wary of this idea that there is an Ideal Past we must Harken Back To.

It sucks to feel left behind, but such is the human condition. It isn't bad to feel nostalgic, but that doesn't mean that these new generations are inherently "lost" and "need to be saved (by you)", and I think that is very important to remember and try to be conscious of.

#politics #'the world you grew up in no longer exists' frankly... GOOD! #the world i personally grew up in was scary and lonely and traumatizing. no kid today should STILL be growing up like that #the whole 'nostalgia as a poltical means' is rooted in this idea that... #1) we all grew up in a hegemony 2) we all turned out the same 3) the way we grew up had more privileges afforded to us #and i personally like nostalgia! i like watching videocamera videos from 2005 and looking up super specific shit #but nostalgia does not a good world make #INSERT UMBERTO ECO'S FOURTEEN POINTS ON FASCISM #(though i don't always think nostalgia can lead to this in a political sense there is a fine line) #be very mindful of what motivates nostalgiaposting #is it because people miss childhood and how 'simple' it felt? or is there a different reason that motivates this type of posting? #are you romanticizing childhood to the point you are not remembering your childhood /at all/ but the *idea* of it? #and honestly it is SO jarring when my peers are nostalgic because it's like... we aren't even that old!! #it comes across like... the world is hard and it's getting harder and so we cannot chnage and must wistfully think of the past... #...and to me it comes across as almost... doomerist in how end-stage feelings of nostalgia and hopelessness seen #i feel compassion for the impulse to feel like your old life is over and you need to grieve it... #...but certainly that isn't the younger generations fault? especially because WE are now the ones rasing them and we still yet live #(even at our completely decrepit age of not even close to a mid-life crisis (sarcasm and lighthearted))