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tossawary · 12 days

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So, the Jackson "The Hobbit" movies get rid of the dwarves having musical instruments, rather adding a very atmospheric humming to the "Over the Misty Mountains" song. And I like this adaptational choice just fine, I think it sounds good, and because the question of "What happens to the instruments? Are they taking clarinets and a harp and etc. on the quest?! Are the musical instruments magical?" has bugged me for years. And I do think this choice suits the general *waves hand vaguely* more "serious / grim / lower high fantasy" aesthetic cultivated by the previous Jackson "Lord of the Rings" films.

But I do like the mental image of the Company being a very literal band going on a quest, because I think it's funny and delightful and unique. If I was doing an animated movie in particular, I would not like be rid of the musical instruments during that scene. The vibe is very magical. Very whimsical. And whimsy does not have to be wholly separate from very serious subject matters! I think it would be very cool if the dwarves had more casually magical tools generally, which would do some easy additional worldbuilding for the level of craftsmanship in this world, and could fit in perfectly well alongside hidden doors and invisibility rings and mithril shirts and glowing swords and jewelry that never comes accidentally undone.

If someone did a version where all the dwarves are carrying musical instruments throughout most of the quest in this way and the creator really leaned into the music generally and audio-visual relationship in film specifically, I would absolutely watch it. That sounds amazing. It wouldn't necessarily have to be a musical or an opera as well, though that would also be extremely cool. (Personally, I would even also watch a "Fantasia" version of "The Hobbit" FOR SURE. I am an artsy dork like that. Though it might not be my first choice in my ideal creative project.)

I think you could could do some great, whimsical scenes with the dwarves singing at various points on the road, the musical instruments breaking at certain emotional points, the dwarves trying to do little musical spells at various points, and so on. A lot of this stuff could even just be other members of the Company fussing around with these things in the background (trying to play a musical spell to light a fire) while Bilbo has a foreground conversation with Thorin or Gandalf or something. I LOVE in animated (and live) movies when you can see supporting characters bickering or getting into hijinks in the background of a scene. (Also, this world was sung into being in a way, wasn't it? Why not have more magical music?)

(OHHH, the way that Smaug could be done in a more audio- and music-focused version of "The Hobbit" would be SO COOL.)

Alternatively, generally, I've also imagined that there are other dwarves with wagons nearby to take the musical instruments away again (let's say the instruments are not magical in any way and taking them along would therefore largely just be impractical), and that the night at Bilbo's house was actually also a RITUAL meal/meeting for the members of a long journey. You're going on a quest? You seclude yourself with your company, eat, drink, talk, plan, and sing a little to bond as an exclusive group the night before heading off together. Normally, this would have been done back at their own home or something, but they had to get their burglar first.

I think this would be a cool way to slip in characters like Dis and Gimli even just in the background, as family members come to see everyone off, seen fixing Kili's hair or hugging Gloin as the Company prepares to leave Hobbiton that last morning. Thorin and Balin could be exchanging a couple quick lines about how Bilbo hasn't shown up yet, and in the background, we could see Dis hugging Fili (the true purpose of a well-done adaptation of "The Hobbit" is to break my fucking heart) and Gloin's wife drawing off with a wagon full of musical instruments while young Gimli waves tearfully! You wouldn't even have to have them say anything to slip them in!

Just... I'm listening to the Andy Serkis audiobook of "The Hobbit" right now and I want to see some gloriously artsy visual adaptations of this world.

#tossawary tolkien #tossawary reading #the hobbit #long post

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pinesfamilyguidetotheweird · 8 months

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Gravity Falls Thoughts: Ford and Trauma™ (Part 01; because I know I'm turning this into a multi-part series)

So...when you start to think about it, Ford has been through a lot. Because of Gravity Falls' nature as a 2-season Disney cartoon, I feel that we've only scratched the surface of all the crap this man went through.

And thanks to the fandom...good Lord in Heaven, all the flippin' Trauma!!! Sweet Moses...

I mean, other than Bill Cipher and Weirdmageddon, Ford has a level of trauma that not a lot of people have.

Of course, Ford isn't the only one with Trauma™. Really, all four of the Pines are traumatized in some way. I mostly want to focus on Ford for now.

Now, most of the trauma Ford is given is fan speculation/interpretation. The thing is though, is that these traumas would make sense if Gravity Falls was given a more serious direction. (sort of like Steven Universe, a show that is more emotionally driven)

Okay...first things first, nutrition.

In a previous post I've made (I think it was about the Feral Ford headcanon; which I may or may not go into further detail in this series), I said something along the lines of how Ford wouldn't be all that bothered by weird looking food or could even stomach strange food combinations.

While a part of me still thinks this, another one thinks of something else thanks to reading a lot of fanfics of his essentially living off of nutrient pills.

This is from Ford having to be constantly on the move to avoid Bill's reach during his travels. I'd imagine it's a rare occurrence for him to be able to sit down and have a decent meal, either at an establishment or even hunting for food. Not only that, but you have to remember that a lot of the places he went to probably don't have food suitable for humans.

So, Ford has probably taken to nutrient pills so that way he's always on the go, among other foods he's able to preserve and carry.

The thing is, living on mostly nutrient pills could only take you so far before it could be more of a bad boon. Nutrient pills wouldn't exactly give you the appropriate amount of calories a human adult male needs. Especially if they are constantly in danger.

This can lead to some malnutrition.

Yes. I took time to research this so we can properly make Ford's life more like hell.

Signs/Symptoms of Malnutrition (according to NHS)

(Other than the main concern of weight loss and BMI being low)

reduced appetite

lack of interest in food and drink

feeling tired all the time

feeling weaker

getting ill often and taking a long time to recover

wounds taking a long time to heal

poor concentration

feeling cold most of the time

...feeling cold most of the time...

"feeling cold most of the time"

...And who wears a turtleneck sweater/trench coat combo during the summer?

And, lastly, Low mood, sadness and depression.

Furthermore, it would seem that Ford would have developed a low tolerance to actual food (other than bland, mushy stuff) and is probably incapable of eating a whole meal without throwing up.

It's a struggle to be sure, especially if Ford already has a history to forget meals, even as a child (may or may not be projecting here as someone who forgets to eat)...not to mention the months of paranoia due to Bill prior to being sucked into the Portal.

I'm honestly imagining a scene in which Abuelita (bless her soul) tries to feed Ford when she sees how skinny he is...or at least what she perceives as skinny. And no one (no one) can say no to Abuelita Ramirez. And it's Mexican food. There is absolutely nothing bland about it. And Ford does his best to eat it...only to scurry into the bathroom after three bites. He didn't mean to be rude. It was honestly very delicious. Ford's body just couldn't handle it at the moment.

At least Abuelita is understanding of the situation and becomes Stan's right hand woman on his quest to help Ford with his eating habits.

...Great, another idea for an upcoming fic...I had a title in mind but I feel like I should call it *Trauma* Ford Edition.

#gravity falls #stanford pines #grunkle ford #ford pines #gravity falls thoughts #trauma

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atom-writings · 9 months

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Could I ask for main 8 x telekinetic nation reader? Maybe Y/N waited until they're well into the relationship because they've been shut out and forced to be used as a weapon before.

hetalia main 8 with a telekinetic reader

1k words ~ a/n DIDNT READ THE NATION PART. WHOOPSIESS i kinda wanna do a larger nation reader thing tho.... so ill do that part later :3

tw - none!

America

Alfred is just so EXCITED, I mean, you’re like a superhero! Like something out of a comic book! You’re incredible, he just CAN’T stop gushing about you.

Which, you really have to get him to stop. He can be completely honest about his supernatural identity, so he doesn’t really understand why you can’t. If anyone tried to hurt you, you could just, like, explode them with your mind, right?

He’s very horrified to find out that… that’s not how it works. Although he’s not the greatest at comforting his partners, he immediately sympathizes. The thought of someone treating you like that hadn’t even occurred to him, like, you’re so cute and nice… who could do that?

Whoever did that, well… they’ll never do it again. The two of you will defeat them, no problem!

(Yes, he still thinks his life is like a comic book)

England

Woah, that’s incredible! You’re doing real magic, just like he can! Oh, it’s like a… scientific thing and not magic? Well… maybe the scientists are just trying to rationalize what they can’t understand. Trust him, you’re magic.

Exactly how much can you do exactly? Because if you don’t know, he’s excited to help you learn. He’s trained plenty of magic users over the centuries, you couldn’t be in better hands.

Don’t worry, he would never let anyone take advantage of you again either. You’re lucky that you happen to have someone in such a high position because he is absolutely going to make sure no one uses your ability against you. No, never his darling.

(He’s also definitely gonna lean into the Wizard couple thing now. Expect to move into a super stereotypical witch house with him in the near future)

France

How horrible! You’ve been blessed, and yet people only torture you for it?! Well, now, you won’t have to worry about that at all, Love. He doesn’t see you any differently.

Although he does appreciate you having telekinesis… for the simple reason of when you two are cuddling on the couch, he doesn’t have to get up to grab the remote.

Plus, now he can brag to Arthur about having a super cool magic S/O. He’s gonna be so jealous~

China

Ok, so you have superpowers. So does he, technically, so like, whatever.

Probably the least interested out of all of them. He’d appreciate you using your ability around the house, but if you didn’t, he wouldn’t care (he wouldn’t remember…)

Although, the thought of people mistreating you for it does make his blood boil. He’s had plenty of experience with that himself… and he is absolutely not tolerating it anymore. If any of your former abusers showed their faces around the two of you, they’re getting kicked in the face.

Russia

Wait, you’re serious? That’s… so cool! So, you’re magic, right? Can you make other people like him with your mind? Or make them think HE’S magic so they’re scared of him? No? Oh… well, still, very cool!

He obviously wouldn’t judge you at all. He’s got superpowers too, in a different way.

He’s been mistreated throughout his whole life for his supernatural abilities, so the fact that you were treated the same? It makes him want to rip everyone who did that apart. Which… you will have to stop him from doing (or let him, up to you, I guess.)

I’d imagine some people from his government might try to experiment with you again, but Ivan would absolutely not allow that to happen. He will hide you in a submarine in another country before he lets anyone treat you like a weapon or a science experiment.

Italy

His immediate reaction is gonna be to ask a bunch of invasive questions. Sorry. He’s just curious and has absolutely no social filter.

But as soon as he exhausts himself with his tasteless line of questioning, he’ll basically forget about the whole thing. The first time you use your ability after that, he’ll be scared out of his skin.

(If you don’t tell him it was you, he’d probably order an exorcism on his house…)

He might be meek, but he’d never let anyone treat you badly because of your ability. He wants you to think of it as a gift, not as a curse! It’s what makes you special.

Germany

Wow, that’s fascinating. For how long? How does it work? Does your family have it too? W-

Sorry. His scientific brain will immediately go crazy. He wants to run a bunch of tests and find out EVERYTHING about you. Which is obviously, very, very uncomfortable. He does care about you! He’s just a nerd

But as soon as you tell him about what people have done before, he’ll instantly regret his behaviour. No, you’re not just a weapon to him. Just an incredibly special person.

He’ll be a lot more casual about it after that, but he can’t help staring in awe whenever you display your power.

Japan

Much like Alfred, Kiku is very enthusiastic about the superhero angle of your ability. He’s so lucky to be with someone so unique, that’s all he can think whenever he sees you using telekinesis. Although he does sometimes secretly hope that you’ll get into some anime girl conspiracy plot… just because it’d be cool.

He’s a little insulted that you waited this long to tell him, but he’d never tell you that. Especially after you reveal why, then he feels extra guilty. Now he’ll put in a lot more effort to make sure you know that he’d love you no matter what.

Luckily, he’s still a fierce enough fighter to keep you safe from anyone trying to turn you back into a weapon. Not on his watch.

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lovingjingyuan · 17 days

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Sunday would call singer darling/reader "my Songbird" would wipe us off social media and lock us up in a bird cage so only he can hear your voice and admire your beauty.

Toxic relationship Sunday would manipulate us so bad. Even if yandere he's toxic. Would make you feel bad. Will he so stern and harsh and when you cry or feel sad he's be that sweet caring lover your fell in love with. that persona you know where he was hold you in his arms as you cry telling you he loves you.

Sunday will never be a clingy person but rather possessive. He don't do pubic affection displaying your guy's love. He needs to keep a reputation. He cares about how he's dressed in public so what makes you think he'll kiss you, hold onto you, hug you every second in public. Jing Yuan will definitely but very clingy towards his lover but Sunday won't.

Toxic Sunday being so strict on his lover compared to others so he lets his dealing see his true side. They know very well. Whenever his darling says out of pocket stuff he'll give them a disappointed serious look and say "you're speaking out of line again my dear"

Very religious! Cares about his representation. He'll hold your hands in public and maybe a kiss on the cheek but that's all! He's not even clingy either in private. Yes he's obsessive and possessive over you but won't cling onto you.

I've always liked to imagine miniature darling with Sunday where he turns his darling into those miniature. I immediately thought of that when I saw that in the game and played Aventurine quest. Can't bring myself to write it though but I fantasize about it.

Sunday will love a insecure, clingy darling! So it's easier for him to have power and manipulate.

Sunday loves when you come crying to him. You belong to him. So when you cry for comfort despite the manipulation and mind games he puts your through you come crying to him. He'll play with your hair comforting you!

Sunday loves power

Toxic relationship with Sunday!!!! Toxic yandere Sunday, manipulative yandere Sunday!!! Love reading toxic relationship fics but not IRL though it sucks and so time consuming makes me cry and feel miserable and guilty 😓

----

How I character yandere Sunday and will write him. Drabble, bad writing and messy here. Updates after May and finishing exams! Imm gonna write the request ASAP after exam week!

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abyssruler · 2 years

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The traveler is sick of those horny immortals lol. Imagine one quest being babysitting the kids just so these archons can bang their hot milf wife. Would Xiao count as Zhongli’s kid, too? Oh, and Scara being all uwu with his scarier sister is just *chef’s kiss*

Liyue legit going bonkers after each dragon baby???? Yes. Birthdays? National holidays. And then Zhongli fakes his death and there’s talk about maybe one of the kids taking on geo daddy’s position or something. So much potential for drama! How would they make the kids keep the secret? With a lot of struggles. The adepti showing up to bestow gifts on each dragon baby like the three good fairies from Sleeping Beauty.

Ei just vibing with her wife. Chilling while fondling each other and making out. So fun. So cool. Nothing to stress about here. Occasionally taking out their kids on a family outing with Scara being the cutest eldest child that he is. Like. Let them be happy!!!

Venti literally sobbing in Angel’s Share because he was NTR’d by two archons and Diluc just goes ????? every single time until Venti shows up with the rest of them and their kids. (Venti can recognize Reader anywhere anytime because he knows that ass better than anyone.)

I just mhmmmhhnnnngg this AU HAS ME BY THE THROAT

YES YES YES TO ALL OF THIS!!

zhongli’s kids would definitely have their eyes on the geo archon seat after he fakes his death. they can’t have scara getting all the glory of being the only sibling who’s an archon. zhongli suggests they make a tournament - whoever manages to stay awake until zhongli ends his lecture about the responsibilities of ruling liyue and going through its entire history and culture wins. none of them last an hour. the seat of the geo archon remains empty up to this day. fun little fact tho! zhongli didn’t tell them his plans to fake his death so they all thought he actually died. they were on the verge of tearing down liyue until you appeared and said ‘it’s a prank!’ they also help the adepti and the qixing in fighting osial!!

xiao is the honorary brother that scara refuses to acknowledge bc it would mean he’s not the eldest anymore. he half-raised those kids bc god knows their parents were too busy banging each other and spawning more of them. scara is actually a really good ruler!! the raiden shogun balances his softer side. xiao, scara, and raiden shogun basically half-raised their siblings. they bonded over it <3

AND VENTI LMAOO he would lament to diluc and the traveler about those two archons who “seduced his beloved priestess.” at windrise when venti’s telling traveler abt morax, he says something along the lines of “oh, and don’t trust that old geezer too much he’s a backstabbing little bitch who stole my wife.” traveler actually has a very different experience in this au. mostly bc traveler has to be the mediator whenever the three archons start complaining about the other ‘hogging you all to themself’.

venti arrives in mondstadt during the windblume festival with three other people and a boatload of other people who suspiciously look like a mix of their features. it’s better to not ask anything. jean didn’t ask to host that year’s festival with two additional gods and the high priestess herself who’s been quiet for centuries until now. oh, and now the electro archon is here in a grumpy mood, asking why they didn’t invite him over. um, probably because you have a whole country to rule? jean thinks it’s time for a vacation.

on a more serious note tho, their decisions could create a huge succession war on liyue. each kid fighting to become the geo archon. it could replace the inazuma archon quest since the traveler wouldn’t really encounter much problems there with scara as the electro archon. maybe scara gets involved at the succession war at some point as the eldest and the traveler gets dragged along. reader, ei, zhongli, and venti are all just watching and enjoying their retirement. it’s only a matter of time before the succession for the anemo archon’s position was put into question. luckily for them, venti doesn’t have kids with you. yet.

traveler: your kids are killing each other!

them: oh, they’re play fighting how cute :)

#the reader will set them all straight in the end #honestly with the amount of kids they have they could overthrow celestia alone #abyss sibling should take notes #traveler would love venti’s kids tho seeing as he’s their favorite archon #asks #anon #genshin x reader #venti x reader #ei x reader #raiden ei x reader #zhongli x reader #raiden shogun x reader #fem reader #1st mass #not sfw

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kess-in-the-perthchimzone · 9 months

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What the hell is Ben thinking in NLMG? Part 3 (poolside date at Chopper’s house to bathroom confrontation)

A quick recap for those tuning in for the first time — whether you’ve loved Never Let Me Go for years or are discovering Perth & Chimon in the excitement of Dangerous Romance, this 5 (?? please stick to only five) part series aims to explore what’s going on behind Ben’s sometimes enigmatic personality. Continued from part 1 here and part 2 here.

At this point in the show, Ben is in his third and fourth character arcs. Arc 3 = his quest to try and make up for what he did to Nueng.

Arc 4 = his effort to overcome a lifetime of homophobic influence.

(Note: both of these arcs will continue beyond this part in the meta series; unlike the previous two arcs, they don’t resolve nearly so neatly)

In episode 9, we get to see Ben & Chopper on what looks a lot like a date. Both of them are dressed nicely, they're outside of school, and even the lighting is warmer than what we’ve seen previously. This might be reaching, but I feel like Ben seems more comfortable early on in this scene — like something has been set right inside him.

They pretty quickly start talking about the future and wanting to move out of their houses (can you imagine them in the tenth grade talking like “when I’m older I’ll buy my own place!”? I cry.). I find this line by Ben very interesting:

The writers are telling you early on in this conversation that Ben still considers himself dependent on his dad. He says it easily here but this is trapping him - he isn’t ever going to be fully free to be himself until he’s out of his house (which is key to how their story ends).

I ADORE the immediate next sequence. Once again, this is a Ben essay not a Chopper essay, but Chopper is giddy and able to freely be in love and he is not holding back anymore:

@thirstkanaphan adds: The ease with which Chopper offers this makes you think that he's been wanting to say this to Ben since the tenth grade. And it's an offer completely without strings! This is purely Chopper's selfless desire to give Ben what he wants, the freedom to live and love freely (even if it isn't with Chopper waaah).

The sequence of faces they make at each other after he says this is a really nice way to show how close they used to be and what they are returning to.

At first Ben finds this amusing. Dare say he’s charmed

Ben is always at his most comfortable joking around; I think he can enjoy conversation like this if it remains a playful fantasy.

Except, Chopper brings out a newfound serious, sexy voice and ups the ante:

Here, Ben clearly gets overwhelmed. He immediately stops the flirty banter and tries to be realistic about their relationship. Right now, he can’t imagine a way where it would be possible for him to live with Chopper next year. It’s telling that quickly after he talks about his dad kicking him out — this is a real fear for him that he is making light of. I will come back to this but I think a lot of Ben’s ‘jokes’ are often him expressing his true feelings.

He also says: "If I feel worried or stressed, then I can come and see you". This is heartbreakingly telling of how much Ben is still struggling with his sexuality and what happened post outing.

But Chopper is in full on sap mode and not hearing Ben’s hesitation. He is the human embodiment of heart eyes. After so long, he wants to openly tell Ben how he feels. He takes Ben's hand and says:

So far that we’ve seen on screen, Chopper has now touched Ben five times and even in their earliest most awkward interactions Ben never resisted. This is different though: It’s real now — it means something when Chopper touches him — and it scares Ben. Maybe he’s thinking of Chopper’s dad seeing them, maybe he’s picturing those fliers falling from the sky, or maybe he’s remembering all the things he’s ever heard his own dad say. Whatever it is, Chimon shows Ben’s nerves in a few different physical ways - he gets fidgety. He bats his eyelashes MANY times in quick succession. He glances down at their hands.

For the very first time all series, Ben pulls away. He tells Chopper a tiny fraction of his discomfort (of course making a joke of it). If you watch this scene again, he then makes a very uncharacteristic move to push back his hair. Everything about his body continues to scream his nerves. He can’t even look at Chopper directly.

Then — and I recognize this also serves as a plot device — he makes up an excuse to give himself a moment to clear his head: he asks to go to the bathroom. But the show makes a point to tell you that some part of him, underneath the fear, is happy too. On the way, he turns back and he gives Chopper a really lovely — besotted is the only word for it — smile:

Then he stares at Chopper for several long seconds, as if wanting to take the full sight of him in. The music changes and turns romantic and upbeat.

Ben might feel as if he is standing at the edge of a very terrifying cliff — but it is one he wants to be on, with the person he wants to be with.

Then, there is a time jump. When he next sees Ben in the bathroom at school, Chopper lets us know that Ben has been avoiding him a little bit — long enough that Chopper started to notice but not enough for Chopper to really worry yet.

Something that jumped out at me in the bathroom scene only on the third watch, is that Ben starts off sad. Chopper immediately asks him “what’s wrong?” And Ben looks a little like he’s going to cry:

PLEASE LOOK at the smiling Ben above again and then at this. Ugh, Chimon!!

Before he talks, Ben shakes his head subtly as if steeling himself. I think he realizes that he’s about to really hurt Chopper (if Chopper doesn’t know about his dad already) or he’s about to break his own heart (spoiler alert! he does both at the same time). His care for Chopper still shows in really small ways here, even as he’s upset, like him not wanting to go somewhere public where Chopper could get in trouble (because their school apparently has magic bathrooms that only the exact people who need to be in go in) and him initially easing into the news on the chance it’s going to be a surprise to Chopper.

Ben gradually works himself up into a full on strop, but I want to emphasize that he starts off from a place closer to grief.

As he starts to rant at Chopper, one line really sticks out:

This is a tough line. You the watcher remember that Ben chose Nuengdiao ‘first’ and him pulling his hand away earlier this episode could (incorrectly) be construed as him not really being that into Chopper. It’s also really hard to take Ben seriously about him stopping Chopper’s dad when Ben couldn’t stop his own dad when there were much lower stakes at play. This whole scene leaves a lot of room to judge and criticize Ben, especially when he comes across so outwardly angry while Chopper is tearful and earnest.

But what’s really important to remember here is that Ben has told/showed us (at least) four times that he feels guilty and ashamed he about what he did to Nuengdiao and wants the chance to make up for it:

When Chopper sits at the table with him post outing - "I was a jerk."

In his reaction to bully kid - see part 2

On the rooftop with Chopper -- also discussed in part 2, plus he says "I'm feeling so guilty" & "I want to apologize to him. But I'm not sure if he will forgive me."

By the school pool with Chopper -- when he asks if Chopper has any updates on Nueng

Ben truly feels stopping Uncle Kit is his chance to make things right

Him wanting to make things right doesn’t lessen his feelings for Chopper. He is actively fighting against his feelings for Chopper here. In fact, he has to look away when Chopper says one of his several devastating lines in this exchange:

He is staring at the bathroom tiles because he cannot look into Chopper’s tearful eyes.

After that, Ben does this stupid cocky nod thing, clearly working himself up again to go back to on the aggressive, which is an easier place to be emotionally:

Notice that he breaks the contact - it would be harder to maintain the emotional distance he needs with Chopper’s warm hand secure around his arm:

This is a completely ridiculous thing to say. This is Ben trying to maintain his righteous anger. And Chopper disarms it immediately with his sincerity ("I'm not threatening you. I'm worried about you.").

Look at Ben’s face. The anger instantly evaporates. And that’s even before Chopper says his number one most heart crushing line:

Pretend is a good word. Ben is trying to pretend Chopper doesn’t care about him because he is in a position where he can’t make things right for Nueng without hurting Chopper (and himself by proxy). And Chopper won’t let him keep up that farce.

At this point Ben sways backwards. His eyes are shining. When Chopper takes his hand, Ben has to blink 7 or 8 times. He’s very close to bursting into tears and Chimon plays it masterfully. Look at Ben’s face when Chopper says "If he hurts you, I don't think I can bear it". Go back and watch him have to swallow the lump in his throat.

This scene is not about Ben’s feelings for Chopper. Ben is moved almost to tears by the realization of how much Chopper loves him. This is about Ben’s fundamental sense of self worth.

His ultimatum feels cruel compared to Chopper’s outpouring of emotion but it IS A CONCESSION he’s making:

This is difficult for us to watch because we know how scared Chopper is of his dad and it feels like Ben is forcing Chopper to confront him. But Chopper ASKED FOR THIS. Ben originally told him he was going to go straight to the police (see first photo in this essay). Chopper in fact, begged him not to. TWICE.

This is the most Ben is willing to cede on this point (“I will wait a little bit but I am not willing to be complicit in hurting Nueng again.”) At the core, he’s thinking: (If I knew Chopper’s dad hurt Nueng’s family and I let him get away with it, how could I ever consider himself a good person again?)

Ben ruins this gesture a bit with his last line and by yanking his hand away.

I think this is mostly self preservation though, however cruel it comes across. I think he was about ten seconds away from either comforting Chopper or letting Chopper pull him closer and he had to get away from him. I also think the words “I won’t care” can very believably be read at being directed at himself (“I’m not going to let myself care”)

If you watch this scene and tune out Chopper’s impassioned pleas (a big ask, I know), Ben is going through a whole lot more angst about it than immediately shows through. And Chimon uses a lot of micro movements to demonstrate this.

Since I am at 29 of the maximum 30 images allowed by tumblr, this conflict between them will continue into the next part of this meta series during which our boys are mostly apart but clearly thinking about each other a lot.

Continue to part 4.

#never let me go the series #never let me go #nlmg #benchopper #chopperben #ben nlmg #nlmg ben #chopper kiattrakulmethee #ben x chopper #meta meta meta #chopper the best boy in the whole world #chopper the fashion icon #perth is my bl boy #perth tanapon #thai bl #ben meta series

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fatuismooches · 9 months

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Fontaine Archon Quest Act 1 + 2 Spoilers beneath the cut!!! 👾 anon and 🎺 anon i responded to you here :) (Also lots of talking about Arlie because I LOVE HER)

I've also gone through Lyney and Lynette's character stories/voice lines regarding Arlecchino (and a rough translation of Freminet's) and I completely agree! To be completely honest she seems more nicer than I thought she'd be. Of course, she's still strict and evil but she still has standards and seems to care for the siblings to some extent. One of the lines I found most interesting was "Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Lyney's Founding Day magic show was its ability to have even "Father" lay down her heavy burden and enjoy a brief moment of familial love." I didn't expect her to have such a close connection with the siblings. Plus, when she denied giving Lyney a Delusion and also allowed Lynette to keep a box of cats? Loved that. She can be cruel and mean but she does have some sort of heart left. Not to mention Arlie's confirmed to be from Fontaine. I hope we learn her real name soon! Totally with you there with her being soft only for reader ❤️ She has the ability to be kind but expresses it in perhaps an unconventional way. Even when she's being soft she doesn't know exactly how to act. Really looking forward to her in-game appearance!!

HELP I WAS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE😭😭 Saved for months with absolutely no regrets. Currently saving for Arlie as well! I wish you luck on your primogem saving ❤️❤️

FR I LOVE THE SIBLINGS SOOO MUCH 😭💖💖 (Freminet was robbed of screentime though) AND YES ARLECCHINO I LOVE HER 😭 Ugh I can totally imagine that <3 Arlie shows her kindness in a stern and strict way but you're the complete opposite. You can't fathom being cold to these little cuties! You're the affectionate one and while Arlie does scold you a bit about spoiling them too much she can't get too mad because at least you can handle all the mushy stuff which she cannot do very well. I'm now brainrotting about the kids seeing you and Arlie argue and becoming scared for your relationship and trying to get the two of you to reconcile 😭 I'm literally bouncing in excitement for 4.1 i want to see her so bad!!

Moving on to me just talking about the quests. Did anyone else feel a bit upset at Traveler for how they treated Lyney and Lynette at the end?? I did considering everything the twins went through. I understand the Traveler not trusting the Fatui but they were literally holding onto Childe's Vision in that moment?😭 Besides that little piece, these two Archon quests were really solid and lots of fun. Was also surprised how many serious topics were put into it too. Usually they leave the dark stuff for side/world quests.

Navia. Definitely an amazing character i loved her in the quests. Really beautiful, great personality, and i love her two bodyguards. Her voice while yelling at Neuvillette was really raw 🥺 Also loving Furina a lot. I didn't expect her to be insecure of herself. Seems like her confidence is just a facade for her people's sake. Y'all already know how I feel about Neuvillette haha i didn't expect him to be so emotional but I'm loving him so much! (I love everyone lemme just stop repeating myself 😭)

But damn being dissolved into water is so grim 😭 Imagine just being Fontanian and all of a sudden you learn you could simply dissolve and no one would ever know. I'd literally be so scared that i could die at any time 😭

EDIT: I CANT BELIEVE I FORGOT TO TALK ABOUT CHILDE IM SO DONE. IM SO SORRY CHILDE LOVERS I GOT TOO SWEPT BY ARLIE. Anyway. Childe was so freaking cute. He is the kind of guy who would tell you every little detail no matter how minuscule it is about his siblings. Teucer told him about something that happened to him? Okay now you're getting the same story but more drawn about and longer because Childe can't help babbling about his family.

I know people are clowning on Childe for getting beat by Neuvillette but give my man some credit 😭 He managed to scratch A DRAGON THATS IMPRESSIVE OKAY.

#smooches talks #👾 anon #🎺 anon #the archon quests were an absolutely joy to play i felt really into the story!#just paimon stop talking after every dialogue please 😭

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wetcatspellcaster · 5 months

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astarion 5th because of act 2? did you not like his act 3 stuff?

(also whats the deal with spike because ive seen other people really like him)

Ahhh, no, my top 5 wasn't in a chronological order! I meant it in an affectionate, not derogatory sense - as in, Act 2 content was what made him enter the Top 5. This is probably an overshare, but tbh the way I walked into my therapist's office two days after the hug scene being like "not only is my favourite character I thought was masking confirmed To Be Masking, he's developed feelings and he's also having asexual spectrum anxiety and asked for a relationship without sex" and my therapist made a very serious face and said "written specifically for you, then?" (I know this is not the case, but it's a fun anecdote for why Act 2 Astarion was my very own brand of heroine.)

I love Astarion's Act 3 stuff as well, which you'd hope would be the case as Larian clearly put a lot of effort into it! I don't enjoy playing Act 3 bc of the overwhelm, but I thought they handled the Themes and Motifs in that personal quest very well.

Also. Dying. What's the deal with Spike? A question many people have asked, in their time.

Spike is a vampire on Buffy the Vampire Slayer who, through popularity with the audience/viewership, went from a Season 2 antagonist (kind of like, the nicest of three evil vampires, who ended up switching sides in the final episode for selfish reasons - he wanted his hot toxic girlfriend back) to a season regular and love interest because He Was Just That Popular. He murdered vampire slayers as a hobby, and then fell in love with a vampire slayer over the course of like 4 seasons.

As a result, he has (what I think to be) an incredibly compelling redemption arc that basically hits every possible trope imaginable: fated mortal enemies (and it's kinda hot, don't you think?), token evil teammate, uneasy ally, forced-to-be-good-but-doesn't-want-to-be, enemies-to-lovers, belligerent sexual tension, oh no I've caught feelings, "I'll do anything for you", "I want to be good for you but I don't know how", "every night I save you", "I'm the only one who understands your darkness", hate sex - like honestly, just the hottest sex of the entire show, "you can't fix me but I can make you worse", "oh no making you worse didn't work I now want to fix myself", redemption arc for real this time - all through his own agency, enemies-to-friends, friends-to-lovers, platonic bedsharing, love confession, heroic sacrifice-

(I am literally not making this up these are all hit, they even have a Sex Pollen episode only it's "we think we're married bc of a spell and so we're making out on the couch" like I feel like Spike got every single fanfiction trope under the sun)

Generally, Spike is also just a sarcastic platinum blonde haired vampire man with a British accent who gets most of the funniest lines in the show and also has a pathetic meow meow backstory underneath his bad boy exterior, so I think there's a lot of ingredients that contribute to his overall deal tbh.

#asks #anons #the spike to astarion pipeline really is quite real tbh

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frodo-with-glasses · 2 years

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Hobbit history, Aragorn

Hobbit History

If Aragorn learned about hobbit history from anyone, it would have to be from Frodo and Bilbo.

I mean, let’s be honest, if he’s gonna get any information about hobbits, it would have to be from the horse’s—or rather, pony’s—mouth. Hobbits tend to keep to themselves, and their doings and goings-on are generally of little consequence to the world at large. Of course Aragorn might know some things in broad strokes—at some point, he likely would have read in a footnote of some book of histories in Minas Tirith of King Argeleb II of the North-kingdom and his agreement with the Halflings concerning the settlement of the Shire—but information would be sparse, and many of the things hobbits would deem important about their own history would be completely unknown to outsiders.

Out of the hobbits he had the pleasure of knowing personally (he could say with all sincerity, if a bit of an ironic smile), the Baggins pair would be the best bet. Sam, though he did read and write well for his family, wasn’t terribly book-learned. Pippin rarely paid attention to his studies, if he attended them at all. Merry was more knowledgeable, but he was just as likely to share information that actually answered your question as he was to info-dump about his hyperfixation on pipeweed—on which he was a particularly good authority, if you wanted to know about that sort of thing. And then, there was Bilbo and Frodo, two old rich bachelors with nothing better to do with their lives than spend all day with their noses in books.

I can only imagine that some of those months in Rivendell—after the Council and before the Quest began—were spent with Aragorn, Frodo, and Bilbo walking in the gardens, or sitting on a high porch overlooking the valley, or huddling by the fire when it was cold and Bilbo was getting a chill, as they talked about hobbits and what they’d made of themselves in all these hundreds of years.

Aragorn would be surprised to hear that the Shire-hobbits sent some bowmen to the aid of the northern King in his war against the Witch-King of Angmar; “I have read many histories of Men,” he said, “and also the old Record of Kings, and I have heard the tallest tales of many lands, but never have I heard tell that the Halflings did this thing.”

“Well, we did,” Bilbo said with a huff. “We prefer peace, of course, and seldom go out looking for a fight, but we aren’t so fragile in a pinch, I hope you observe. Or do you think our aim is good only for darts?”

At that, Aragorn laughed. “As for darts, have beaten me soundly, my friend, and enough times that I should learn my lesson. I apologize. I did not mean to offend. If anything, I am more incredulous that such an act of valor should go without thanks or record from the Men of the North.”

“Well, that’s no surprise!” said Bilbo with a grin. “We’re used to being overlooked. Comes with the height, I suppose.”

Of course Aragorn would be very interested to hear about the Battle of Greenfields and old Bullroarer Took, and about the Thain and the Mayor and the general structure of power in the Shire (or lack thereof), but he was also interested in the little things—what Frodo and Bilbo called “family history”, and the invention of golf, and the gossip and rivalry between the Tooks and Brandybucks, about which he asked many intelligent and altogether too serious questions.

He had two motives in this, of course. The first—and the strongest—was that he wanted to know more about his new friends, and learning about their mundane and colorful history was an excellent way to do that. The second—less personal, but no less important—was to do his homework concerning this settlement of halflings that was, technically, still within the jurisdiction of Isildur’s line.

When he became King, he issued a proclamation that no Man should ever enter the Shire, and that it was a Free Land under protection of the Crown. When he came to visit his friends in the year 1436, he did not step beyond the Brandywine Bridge—even a King must honor his own edict, after all—but before he left, he did press a sizable purse of gold into the hand of the Mayor (that is, of course, Sam Gamgee).

“See to it that the best of your histories, and Frodo’s book, are copied by your finest craftsmen,” he said. “Your people have made for themselves an honored place in the history of our world, and so your stories deserve a place in the library of kings. This ought to cover all expense, and if there be any left over, keep it as a gift.”

Sam’s eyes went wide for a moment—the sum could have bought all the property in Hobbiton twice over!—but he was a little older and a little calmer than he was when he first traveled with Strider, so instead of a long string of exclamations, he simply clutched the purse to his chest and promised, “I’ll make every cent count, Strider. They’ll be the most beautiful books you’ve ever seen; save the ones the Elves keep, maybe.”

The work took years, but Sam would only deign to hire the best. Years later, when Sam travelled to Gondor with Rosie and Elanor, he had in his little wagon—wrapped carefully in cloth, and packed in water-tight chests—a beautiful little stack of books, bound in leather, dyed brilliant red and blue and green, with gold corner caps and satin bookmarks and woodcut illustrations on the inside pages.

Those books were kept in the royal library in Minas Tirith, and tended as long as their keepers could maintain them, and painstakingly copied for years long after the hands that made them had passed away. It was exactly was Aragorn would have hoped.

After all, hobbit history was Middle Earth’s history too.

WORD ASK GAME!

#word ask game #aragorn #bilbo baggins #samwise gamgee #lord of the rings #lotr #my writing #meanwhile on ‘fics i had to write with both the prologue and the appendices open’#have you ever written something and then thought ‘UGH i wish that was real ‘cause now i WANT IT’??#‘cause that’s how i feel about those books sam made for aragorn #i am attracted to pretty books with a fervor that approaches lust #a copy of lotr that was actually made by hobbits and looks like THAT?? YES PLEASE YES YES YES #WOULD KILL FOR THOSE BOOKS TBH

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viatrixtravels-a · 8 months

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RULES

General

No godmodding,

No hate

No racism, pedophilia, etc.

No drama

In short, just be a decent person.

NSFW content

I will not write nsfw or even midly suggestive content with minors.

Smut is not my strong suit, so do not expect me to jump straight into the spicy stuff, even if our muses are in a romantic relationship. (The occasional suggestive post might occur on Sinday but this should be taken less serious)

In regards to Lumine's age, I personal imagine her to be a young adult. (19~21)

Interactions

I accept asks from anonymous users/users I do not follow. However, actual RP threads are mutuals only.

I love chatting with my RP partners OOC so don't be shy to hop into my IMs or ask for my Discord!

I love OCs so please do throw your OC at me! It'd be nice if you'd have an 'about' page so I can read up on their backstory. If not, I might show up in your IMs to ask for further information. :3

Portrayal

This blog will try to stay as close to canon as possible, but with the Traveler often having very little voice lines, there is bound to be some personal interpretation. I do not expect you to agree with my headcanons, but I do hope you can respect them.

Shipping

I'm huge shipping trash so never be afraid to ask me to work on a potential relationship between our muses! <3

My favorite ships are Xiaolumi, Chilumi and Albelumi but I am open to shipping with other Genshin characters and OCs too!

About the mun

You can call me Vee. I'm a 28-year old weeb who lives in Belgium. I'm also a language teacher for people who have (recently) moved to Belgium and need to learn our national language. I love my job with my whole heart, but it is a very physically and emotionally demanding one (a lot of my students come from war zones and have been through a lot) so my activity might suddenly drop at times.

I am also fairly new to the Genshin scene, having only started playing the game in July of this year. I am far from caught up with all lore/content, but I do not mind written spoilers! (Please do not send me any videos of cutscenes though as I want to experience those for the first time in-game <3)

Current process: Finished Inazuma story quest and Ei's first story quest, working on unlocking the rest of the Inazuma story quests and hangouts.

#;; the admin speaks #;; rules #// finally made a rules page because I got a lot of questions about it #// sorry it took so long!

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nerosdayinanime · 10 months

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Lampshades on Fire

Well the lampshade's on fire when the lights go out- This is what i really call a party now- Well, fear makes us really really run around- A-this one's done so where to now? Our eyes light up, we have no shame at all- Well, you all know what i'm talking about- The room lights up, but we're still dancin' around- We're havin' fun, havin' some fun now- Pack up again, head to the next place- Where we'll make the same mistakes- Open one up and let it fall to the ground- Pile out the door when it all runs out

made me think of the aftermath of one offshoot where giyuu gets exiled, something something mother killed & replaced by a spy nin and giyuu found out and killed said nin- tsutako only saw giyuu killing their mother & she chased him out of the clan for treason in a fit of despair/broken heart/trust. Giyuu fled to the Urokodakis for comfort from his pack (Sabito & Makomo), they ended up fleeing the southern valley entirely for saftey & then its adventure time :)

they kinda just do their best to distract themselves from the pain of leaving their home the only place theyve really known (& giyuu from the despair & feeling of betrayal abt his mother & sister- their culture is super close so being outcast is VERY serious). really just exploring their wider world outside the word of visiting merchants and learning about the realities people live, avoiding getting killed as rogue nin, finding other rogue groups, meeting new allies-

tomioka to urokodaki & past sends them to the east side of the mountains in the land of Rain, smthn like the kamados get whiped out and im thinking either they meet the whole kamaboko quartet later & adopt em all at once or they rescue tanjiro & nezuko in the middle of a raid & end up also taking in zenitsu & inosuke, loop back north to the bigger Northern valley in land of Volcanoes and meet kyojuro senjuro mitsuri & obanai, group heads west along the northern shore of the great lake into land if Wind and get muichiro & yuichiro, around this time learning of an odd group searching for a way to harness power from the sun based on an ancient myth of the continent's early history(nod to the hq!! msby team, on their own little quest to chase the sun), head around the great lake and meet gyomei at the middle mountain, head south and meet kanae shinobu & kanao at the flowering edge of the swaths of forest and swaths of grassy plains either way, heading into the plains southeast-ward and meeting sanemi genya & masachika, swinging back southwest-ward to avoid the southern valley and heading into land of Forest where theyre caught in the middle of a war between the uzui and another clan, quickly heading back north with a new quartet to the group at their warning the wars only get worse further south around the borders to land of the Dead & land of Ice

its the widest-reaching branch so far, just a massive adventure around the ramshack continent i stuffed several different anime series into and pieced together with ducttape & spit- land of the Dead & land of Ice have vampires, bloodbenders, shadowbenders, demons, an assassin bloodline, ...gojo, its not very fun down there<3 and i didnt even mention land of Water or land of Sand to the west & north respectively- i imagine their journey already would take a few years though, especially between keeping a bunch of kids in line, happy & healthy, and teaching them how to fight & defend themselves while they dont know where they are

map #28363610 ive made for this au.. i fucked up on the bottom mountains, left 'claw' is supposed to be bigger and the middle one's supposed to like. seperate the bottom so Koori's split into 'west' 'east' and 'coast'- also the southern valley's thinner and higher up in the mountains than the north valley (i.e. Very Dangerous, tomioka & urokodaki got it set UP in there getting paid to guide merchants through) and i couldnt add it, but theres a massive frozen lake at the top of the mountains betweeb the southern valley & Koori

#kny clan au #loserboy giyuu posting #fratboy sabito posting #foxsquad posting #kny au #kny clan au: giyuu exiled #kny clan au: giyuu exiled - adventure #uhh #i dont have additional thoughts rn its all in the post for once #OH also not described bc the tool i used didnt have the option: its in the southern hemisphere- suna's desert and shisha & koori are #taiga/trundra/steppe/FUCKING C O LD

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lucky-pool-pond · 2 months

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My dear Brainrot and Roman Empire:

Almost finished playing BG3 and absolutely loved it despite all bugs, problems and mistakes. But one thought keep troubling me after revealing past of the Emperor and how touching his relationship seems to be with Ansur.

Guys, I'm serious, I need AMV, because these two being lovers or just written in stars legendary bromance, they have major vibe Arcade and Saturno. Honestly, they have too little time on screen, but it felt, all those pears were just perfect.

There is so little content in this fandom for me personally on many things, like Raphael and Tav as worthy combatants and all tension between them (I just can’t help myself), the story between Hope and Raphael, all his sayings about Tav in diaries, Haarlep being most iconic all the time (I need him and Raphael doing that barbie prison posing, because despite being smart he prefers being the best bimbo in the world and material girl, I can’t help but just adore him), sweet sweet Withers (my baby, my baby, you're my baby, say it to me), him, who, with his little riddles and simple phrases, just hanging around kept my/Tav's faith and sanity in check, because when you watch almost everything Laezel believed in turn against her, Gale being forced to kill herself by his ex-lover/his goddess, Shadowheart stuck between Shar's foggy future and Selunite's past, Arabella's parenrs, Astarion with all his baggage, Will with Mizora and his father, Karlach with a sick heart, so you come to him broken and still find some kind of stability and desire to keep going, thinking you're still doing right - well, doing everything that Scratch could not say, but always wanted - Stoney and Boney being my most healthy comfies (If I ever enter into a relationship, then let it be like this).

I almost cried at Jaheira story with her husband(I have utmost respect to him), Minsc and Astarion bro duo - is my favorite, despite i always enjoyed sarcastic banter between Astarion, Gale, Shadowheart and sometimes Lae'zel, then Jaheira and Minthara came - that moment I needed to stop all quests lines and just listen to them talking, then came Minsc and Boo and I fall, recruiting Minsc was one ofthe best decision in the whole game, and so on.

In the camp in the third act, I caught myself thinking that, I don’t have to glue them together, they can now stick together and communicate without me. I just look at them and my eyes rejoice, my dear babies, my big broken family, I will do everything to make you happy, safe and sound (also had a bug that the whole camp was hanging around with me, so this ralks in-between often made my day a day). I'm one step away from actually starting to make content, because AAAAAA what are you doing to me?

But Ansur and the Emperor became my roman Empire. I don’t care about the nature of their relationship, because whatever they are for each other, their devotion, their common past and non-romantic intimacy, understanding and knowledge of certain traits, it’s as if they have their own language.

Ansur’s despair, although he was there almost until the very end - I’m just AAA, oh glass, my favorite tasty glass. I can’t even imagine how hard it was for both of them not only to meet in person, but also the absurdity of finally seeing the corpse of their dear comrade. And although only one of them is technically undead, both are essentially looking at the corpse of their former friendship.

I can’t even express in words how much I feel about this. And it seems to me personally that for some reason Ansur knows that Tav and their group of adventurers will be able to overcome what Ansur could not prevent a long time ago, which is why he fights so hard. I just can’t bear this resentment, this bitterness, this story with all the little pieces that were shown to us. Someone do it, please

#bg3 #brainrot #baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #bg3 ansur #ansur #bg3 emperor #Emperor #balduran #shitpost

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crossdressingdeath · 1 year

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Not to harp on about Rick's treatment of Percy's fatal flaw again, but I think the scene that annoys me the most in regards to this is actually the scene in MoA where he takes Annabeth on a date in Rome before she sets out on her quest.

...That might sound strange. Let me explain. The thing is, this is actually a really good example of his love for her being a flaw. Yes, yes, it's very sweet, Percabeth date, yay, but think about the circumstances. War is brewing between the camps and the Athena Parthenos is the only thing that can stop it, and even once Annabeth's freed it it's still in Rome, thousands of miles from camp, and they can't even fly it back aboard the Argo II because they need the ship to get to Greece, so they really need to get the actual getting of the statue done so they can figure out how to deal with it ASAP. More urgently, Nico only has until sundown before he dies, none of them know where in Rome he is, they have to get past the giants to free him, and Piper and Jason can't even start looking until Percy gets back to the ship. Starting to see the issue yet? Percy just walking Annabeth to the river was already selfish even if it was understandable. The two of them getting lunch and having their cute little date in Rome was wasting time that as far as they knew they did not have to waste. It's not quite sacrificing the world to save a friend, but it is Percy putting lives (although not his, which feels like a misstep here writing-wise if he's supposed to be so loyal) in danger because he can't bring himself to let Annabeth go do what she needs to. And that's good writing! It's his fatal flaw actually making an appearance! Percy's so loyal to Annabeth that he's putting Nico's life in danger just to put off saying goodbye to her, you can do something with that! It could've been really compelling!

And then Rick... doesn't do anything with that. It's treated as cute and sweet and correct. It's left at "Aw, look at the fan-favourite couple on a lunch date in Rome before they both go on dangerous quests"; the fact that while they're eating lunch and joking about Italian pizza Nico is suffocating to death and waiting helplessly for someone to rescue him is an afterthought at most. Certainly neither of them express any real guilt that they're leaving a friend who's consistently risked his neck for them to suffer so that they can get lunch. This could've come up later! Imagine Nico finding out that Percy risked finding him too late because he decided that getting lunch with his girlfriend was more important than Nico's life! Imagine Hazel, Frank and Leo finding out that while they were out risking their necks Percy was having a nice little date and holding up the search! Imagine Jason and Piper pacing the deck of the Argo II, wondering what's taking Percy so long when lives are on the line, maybe worrying that something's happened to slow him down! These characters could and should be furious about Percy making such a selfish choice in such a serious time crunch! But instead it's fine, apparently. They're all risking their necks with only hours left on the clock before Nico (reminder, Hazel's brother who she's already gotten angry at the Seven for even suggesting they not put their all into rescuing once) dies while Percy goes on a lunch date because he's decided he can't possibly say goodbye to his girlfriend yet and everyone thinks this is fine.

Which would've been enough of a problem if Percy's supposed fatal flaw of personal loyalty had been written into the story properly from the start, but... it's not. It just isn't, Percy doesn't struggle with sacrificing loved ones or letting them risk their lives any more than anyone else would. So we're left with the one instance where Percy's loyalty actively causes problems for the quest first not having any downsides for him personally and second being treated as Fine And Good Actually. I don't think I need to explain how badly this undermines personal loyalty supposedly being his fatal flaw!

#heroes of olympus #percy jackson #at BEST it's a pacing issue #hard to take the SERIOUS TIME CRUNCH ONLY HOURS LEFT TO SEARCH ALL OF ROME AND FIGHT TWO GIANTS seriously #when percy and annabeth are here sipping coke and giggling about pizza #YOU ARE ON A SCHEDULE. GET BACK TO IT

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zevranunderstander · 2 years

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i miss how old big game titles were just allowed to be mean and weird sometimes and weren’t these super sanitized, disney-like, family-friendly, very non-political products that had to be consumed by the largest audience possible.

like, not every game mechanic in the old animal crossing games made sense, sure. there were festivals you didn’t get any rewards for or played minigames at, you just put some flowers in front of your house or your neighbours suddenly had christmas lights around their houses, but old animal crossing games were way more focussed on creating a community and interacting with characters you like. if you were mean to characters in animal crossing they would start to gossip about you and spread mean rumors, i remember i had so much fun making one character my enemy - i didn’t want her to move away, it was part of the immersive story i made myself. old animal crossing game came with legends to them, like, “if you do x, tom nook opens his shop in the middle of the night, but everything is ten times as expensive”, there wasn’t much of a mechanical point to any of these but they made you discover stuff about the game even after playing or a year or so. for me, animal crossing: new horizions is nothing like playing old animal crossing games - the game is so polished it loses all it’s weirdness and charm.

the early sims games were full of really mean dialogue lines about your characters, featured a lot of stuff that had no real gameplay to it other than the feeling of playing with barbie dolls and could get *incredibly* weird and while i still like sims 4 it is nothing like playing sims 2 for me. i recently checked out the new sims 4 feature where you can play scenarios, but almost all of the scenarios are like “you are rasing a young child/multiple children”, “you play as a person who works in retail” etc. while a similar feature existed in sims 2 where all the scenarios were batshit insane stuff you wouldn’t already play in the game as usual. like just this random scrap of lore says SO much about how much weirder the series used to be:

this next point is gonna be a weird one, but in the early video game days almost every game had a brothel or some other sex-related content (or both). don’t misunderstand this, i do not think objectifying women is the thing we lost in gaming over the years, nor do i think this is what we need to use the medium of video games for, but i think it’s one of these signs that games nowadays need to be very presentable for a large audience and e.g. a quest where you need to actually program a sex robot that you can also actually *have sex with* is way less imaginable in a game today, than it was in 2011.

this is not the only reason the game sucks absolute ass, but compare dragon age 1 and 2 to dragon age inquisition. dragon age games lived off of this weird level of chaos, incredibly humorous questlines, sidequests where you visit the brothel, have to strip naked with your friends or talk a bunch of hostile werewolves into being your friends and chatting with an oak tree that only spoke in riddles. i personally think the first two games had a certain charm to them, because that made them so incredibly unique. and dragon age inquisition tried so hard to be sanitized and marketable - they added crafting and grinding and chunks of open world and every other mechanic imagineable that was popular at the time, and they removed all the stuff that made the games so loveable in the first place - the game takes itself incredibly serious, has no real, memorable quests that are funny or messy and has more of a marvel approach to humor than the weird, niche, incredibly dirty humor the first two games had and it really shows

what im saying is. i hate you, super-sanitized AAA-titles, i hate you, age-appropriate marvel humor, i hate you “every mechanic has to make sense” game design approach, i hate you, shallow quippy dialogue, i hate you, crafting systems, i hate you, lack of negative reactions to player actions, i hate you, i hate you, i hate you, i hate you

#myposts #the sims #animal crossing #dragon age #da #da2 #dai #dragon age 2

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parfumieren · 10 months

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Amanda (Amanda Lepore)

Of all the celebrities in the world, I chose her. I could have had Britney, J.Lo, Maria, Fergie, Celine, or Elizabeth Taylor-- heck, even Tilda Swinton, if androgyny was so compelling….

But no. My very deliberate first choice of celebrity perfume came from an aging transgender socialite with a rampant cosmetic surgery addiction and four dance-mix EPs that can best be described as unlistenable.

Why her? Why Amanda Lepore?

For those not in the know, Amanda Lepore is the steely-yet-vulnerable, thoroughly unshockable, plastic-fantastic queen of Manhattan's stygian depths. During the legendary '90's, Amanda ran with the likes of James Saint James, Richie Rich, DJ Keoki, and the Club Kids' notorious Svengali, Michael Alig. Her über-smooth, surgically-enhanced visage -- complete with cherry-red lips pumped full-to-bursting with collagen -- provided photographer and lifelong friend David LaChappelle with decades of inspiration. On the other hand, it's also attracted a particularly nasty brand of social editorial, scathing in its rejection of the blurred gender line.

But rest assured, I am not here to wield that weapon.

On the surface, Amanda's world is as far from my world as Pluto is to the sun. But I have been attracted to it all my life. I myself have walked the gender identity tightrope, as have many of my idols: David Bowie, Patti Smith, Nico and Candy Darling, Lili Elbe, Justin Vivian Bond, Kate Bornstein, Charles Busch, John Cameron Mitchell, Eddie Izzard, Divine. I identify more with these outlaws of the gender frontier than I do with Britney & Co. any day. And because of all this, I desperately wanted Amanda not to fail. I longed to see her perfume blow away all the haters and baiters and nasty naysayers.

Due to its limited production (only 5,000 bottles released) and prohibitive price tag ($900+), it appears that precious few samples of Amanda ever made their way into the hands of reviewers. Most journalists, online and off, merely recycled the most shocking snippets from the office press release. Its bottle (encrusted with 1,000 Swarovski crystals!) and its preposterous ingredients (red lipstick! Steamed rice! A dash of real Cristal® champagne"!) set Amanda up to be a magnificent train wreck.

Yet Luca Turin swore up and down that the damned thing had merit. He raved about the marvelous job done by Christophe Laudamiel to harness and tame its sizable iris content (which -- more than any amount of tacky bling -- surely accounted for that massive price tag).

If this was the Holy Grail of trash fragrances, loyalty drove this kitten to undertake a quest. In the end I found a tiny decant listed at a 60% percent discount-- perfect for me, since naturally I don't have a month's rent to spend on a single perfume. What else could I do? I snapped it up.

While waiting for its delivery, I confess I began to suffer from buyer's remorse. Had I really stopped to consider what a former Club Kid's perfume might smell like? I envisioned sweaty cleavage encased in a cruelly boned corset, whose black organza and lace had absorbed an evening's worth of subway stench, cigarette smoke, spilled bubbly and lightly toasted ketamine. (What can I say? I've read AND watched Party Monster far too often for my own good.) Even worse, I imagined the smell of the corset's matching black lace panties. A boozy, sexy, sticky, spent-all-night-at-the-club-and-can't-be-bothered-to-shower-now sort of smell. An ANGEL sort of smell.

What the hell had I done?

When Amanda arrived, I sat staring at the spray sample vial as if it held Eau de Kryptonite. I decided to apply it after a shower, not bothering to dress in case I found myself forced to break a land-speed record to get back under the hot spray.

Please, god, please-- don't let it be a scrubber, I found myself chanting. Come on, Amanda….

The first note shocked me cross-eyed. Are you fucking serious? I heard myself saying aloud. Apparently, yes she is. Delicate, delicious, and without a doubt feminine, here was the scent of steamed rice. When I first read those words in the press release, I'd thought it was a joke. But what now rose from my wrists was a remarkable facsimile of steamer-cooked Japanese short-grain brown rice, bran-rich and faintly woody. A mandarin note rode atop it, veiled as daintily in curls of steam as Lady Godiva in her long golden tresses. (Again, Amanda: are you fucking serious?)

A faint hint of fruity plastic -- the so-called "lipstick" accord -- followed, tailed by a tinge of something alcoholic. Cristal®? More like Gekkeikan. Yes, it was the unmistakable scent of warm plum sake. After expecting to be clocked in the head with a disco ball, to be ushered instead into the tatami room of a traditional kaiseki restaurant was near about the limit. The repast Amanda set before me was simple, impeccable, refined-- but she wasn't finished with me yet.

After ten minutes, the iris kicked in. The scent of iris shares so many olfactory characteristics with the notes that came before it -- rice, steam, gluten, wood, even plastic -- that I found myself whispering, Yes, yes, of course, I see it! It's not listed, but I trusted my own nose and that of Luca Turin: there's iris in here, all right. (In fact, I think that perhaps it alone creates that starchy-steam accord.)

After an hour, I was still fully engaged with the interweave of Amanda's three main accords: iris, rice, mandarin. At any given moment, one seemed more prominent than the others-- but a moment later, it gracefully ceded the foreground to another. I kept expecting a hostile takeover by something loathsome a la Angel, but it never came. Over and over, eternal, tranquil, they braided closely around one another - iris, rice, mandarin.

The watershed moment came when my spouse came home from work. I'd warned him that morning that my pulse points would be the staging area for an experiment-- possibly hazardous. Now I held my arm out to him. Correctly gauging the smile on my face as a green light, he leaned in cautiously to inhale, then nodded.

"That's really nice; what is that?" he said.

"It's Amanda," I replied.

"It's quieter than I expected," he said. "Pleasant."

"A keeper?"

"A keeper."

That night I wore it to an art gallery opening. With my spouse by my side and Amanda on my skin, I felt as though I was in the best of company. How does that song go?

Well she's all you'd ever want; She's the kind you'd like to flaunt and take to dinner. Well she always knows her place; She's got style, she's got grace-- she's a winner. She's a lady… and the lady is mine.

--Tom Jones "She's A Lady"

Scent Elements: Iris, mandarin, strawberry, woods, cucumber, "red lipstick", "steamed rice", and "champagne" accords. And Amanda. Beautiful, fascinating, unforgettable Amanda.

#amanda #amanda lepore #perfume review #parfümieren

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