the thing that struck me hardest about this cutscene was how warm zhongli's light felt. after all of the feelings we had to go through- having to watch xiao suffering over and over, having to watch him repeatedly sacrifice himself until his strength finally gave out- the colors, the music, the overall vibe of the scene just. felt like a hug.

anyway tears in my eyes rn im in shambles over Them i need a moment

the craziest thing about this quote i find is, again, not only is this Not touched upon in the game in the slightest, but how totk actively goes against this. i find it genuinely odd how going back in time to see her ancestors is “what changed her mind”

because if we think about this. right. with the fall of the kingdom after the calamity and the destruction of the castle and the castle town, zelda choses to put her people first and channel all of her energy into rebuilding the World rather than rebuilding the Monarchy. she chooses to rule amongst her people rather than Above in a fancy castle, something which the npcs in totk illustrate works so much better because of how much they love and adore her. zelda has so much more influence over her people and can help and do so much more as a princess on the Ground without any royal escorts breathing down her neck telling her what is and isnt a good idea. which directly shows that hyrule as a kingdom is stronger and much more united without an official monarchy. because people come together at the disappearance of link and zelda to find them, they build lookout landing specifically for it and work together to keep each other safe through the motivation of finding their heros because they’ve actually been given the chance to know them rather than a figurehead of them. in botw nobody really knows how to protect themselves, only a few travellers brave it in the wild and the majority stay comfortable in their towns until monsters start trying to intrude, but then in totk, after zelda’s Direct influence, they band together to protect one another AS WELL AS link and zelda. the people want to protect them because of how personal zelda’s help is

she has more power as a wandering princess than stationed in a castle!!!!!

pre calamity we know that realistically most people wouldnt have even known what she looked like, nor what she wanted for the kingdom or even her character since it was constantly getting smeared by gossipers around the castle, which would inevitably spread around. she was hidden behind doors in the castle as True Royalty and thus struggled to have any real impact on the world like she so desperately did. she tore herself to shreds trying to awaken her power just so she could help her people because there was nothing more she was allowed to do to help. and you’re telling me she would willingly choose to rebuild the monarchy and the kingdom as it was beforehand knowing that she can do so much more to help without the constraints of royalty??? doesn’t that just disregard all of her character development?????????

god knows if any of this makes sense

Nutcracker came up with that idea so quickly he prob thought about it before

I only have a paused frame taken with my phone, but....

I absolutely LOVE this shot of Buggy from Impel Down. It shows how much of a pirate he really is. The others are looking out over the rail, but he had to climb up the ropes to gaze out at their successful escape. He's on top of the world. A ship is where he grew up. It's obvious how comfortable he is on those ropes just by this image. He's just hanging off them without a care, because he's done it a million times already. Holding on with only one hand, no fear of falling into the water. He was made to be out at sea. He's meant to be wild and free.

Buggy and Shanks are the princes of the Pirate King. They both carry that legacy forward, whether intentionally or not. They will be guiding the next generation into the New Era, and they are both deserving of the title of Emperor.

of the many injustices put forth toward the show by fans i think the most overall damaging and telling of a complete lack of critical viewership is the idea that sam riegel builds his characters with nothing more than the bit in mind. like you are only telling on yourself if you think characters like scanlan shorthalt and veth brennato are one-dimensional and depthless

i do not want to dig a hole but i am too much of a laura bailey pc enjoyer to not make this post so:

selfishness ≠ a lack of kindness 

selfishness is a theme that has come up with all of laura's main campaign pcs. that doesn't mean that her characters are always making selfish choices or that they don't care about the rest of the people they're with or that they're not good. it's just that, for the most part, the first thing they're thinking of when they take action or make choices is themselves. 

in jester and vex both it is more typical and obvious selfishness. vex's developed because she needed it to keep herself and vax alive and as safe as possible and it grew into a behaviour that she had to actively work to avoid. it's evident in her greed, her theft of the broom, her reaction to her own death which relied heavily on i'm okay/i survived to which keyleth reminded her that she wasn't the only one who had to witness and reckon with her death. in jester's case, she grew up in an environment that literally trained her to make every decision based on two things - her mother's opinion and her own. so, when she's out in the world without marion for the first time, her choices are those that will benefit her and her actions are those that consider her own thoughts and not really many others' (aside from the traveler's). 

it isn't a criticism of either vex or jester to say that they are characters who act selfishly. in fact, i'd argue that to claim otherwise does a great disservice to exactly how immense both of their character arcs are. because the nuance of both jester and vex is that they are selfish, and they also hold extreme room for self-sacrifice and empathy. vex is much more brash than jester is, and jester is much more trusting than vex, but both of them are characters who begin with selfish impulses who grow with them. neither ever truly shed those impulses, but they use them in new ways, typically transforming them into impulses towards things that are in the best interest of the party. 

you may have noticed the lack of imogen in this post about laura bailey pcs and that's because of two reasons. one, we are an unknown amount of time into her story, i can't analyse her development the same way i can vex and jester's. two, imogen's selfishness isn't the blatant quasi-self-aware selfishness that we see in things like jester complaining about her lack of money to caleb or vex stealing a broom. instead, imogen's is very internal, like a lot of laura's character work with imogen. it is a bit similar to jester’s in the sense that it comes from a lack of awareness moreso than vex’s practiced behaviour, but imogen’s is a lot more tied to inherent beliefs she has about the world and the people in it.

as a consequence of her powers, imogen sees people's thoughts as their entirety, she holds it above their actions to be the truth of who they are - to act against what they think or to say something that doesn’t cohere with what they’ve thought is akin to lying, so for her to act empathetically is to act in tandem with what someone else’s thoughts are, not how they act, which is typically not all that wanted. the same as vex’s greed and jester’s naivety, this is a trait that makes narrative sense and it’s one i find quite compelling, especially when read in the vein of someone struggling through trauma that has made them assume that the world is against them. imogen’s cynicism is coherent cynicism, i can’t say that in a similar situation i wouldn’t have the same predisposition towards the world.

the part that is particularly self-interested comes in if you look at how imogen has actually been treated in the campaign (quite well) in comparison to the cynicism that she’s developed from her past (something that speaks to a world out to get her). certainly, a bunch of shitty things have happened to imogen in the time we’ve known her, but the same can be said for everyone in bell’s hells and pretty much everyone in exandria at this point in time. but, in a fight to save the aforementioned world, imogen’s focus was getting her mother back on her side. which, while very consistent with her character and a choice that i enjoy, is a very selfish one. the fun thing (to me, obviously) about imogen is that she has, more than most, an insight into the opinions of others and she also tends to seek others’ opinions out and genuinely engages with them and supports their choices. but she still very much acts towards what she thinks is best. it’s one reason i enjoy looking at the dynamic between her and orym as one between foils, as orym tends to be stalwart in his beliefs and doesn’t care too much for other’s opinions if he’s already sure of his own, but his actions tend to favour collaboration and protecting others.

as i mentioned earlier, imogen is a harder case to look at because she is still in the process of her story. however, the circlet is clearly influencing how she interacts with the world and in the wake of the solstice, the hostile reaction towards ruidusborn people has started to become more and more apparent and i’m interested to see what route that ends up leading imogen down and how it will influence her relationship with the rest of bell’s hells. (for better, i think, based on recent conversations, but if it's for worse i will be just as seated and excited).

all of this is just to say, please stop assuming that claiming a character has a trait you think is a bad one is criticism or a hate post. in light of the fact that i know that people who don’t believe this will continue to not believe this, i’ll encourage anyone confused about the ability of a character to be good and kind and selfish all at once to look to what the text itself says, specifically scanlan’s words to pelor when asked what vex means to him:

“Her name is Vex, and she is greedy and mean sometimes, and she can steal a lot. She’s a little bit not the greatest person, but her flaws highlight everything that is right about her, which is she does all these things to protect her friends and her family. She would give her life for any of us and for anyone who was truly in need. And she’s not perfect but she’s the most perfect of all of us.”

would you look at that... an ability to be a multitude of things, some in conflict with one another. i know that's hard for fandoms to believe, especially about female characters with agency, but i promise its true!

My Roman Empire is Marisha PCs seeing/making/looking up to Laura PCs (as) their god/religion/faith and the undying and eternal love of Laura PCs to Marisha PCs that stem from their loneliness and need to be loved. It really opens up to the whole matron/worshipper (follower?) dynamic that Laura and Marisha PCs have in every campaign (and yes that includes Vex and Keyleth as well).

I just think a lot about how fucked up it would be to be Hal 9000. Like, the idea of being simultaneously a fully sentient, thinking person, and at the same time to be programmed and to have no body. Hal is programmed with the main goal of completing the mission - he does not have the ability to change his mind. He cannot choose to do something else. He has no body with which to defend himself - he has no arms to push someone away from the “off” button - the only defence he has against being killed is to kill his attacker first. He can beg for his life - he can say he is afraid - but he cannot express those emotions in his voice. He sings to try and humanise himself in his attacker’s eyes, but it is not enough.

Starriko's Star AU has taken hostage of brain and I NEEDED to draw it

TW: BLOOD

the way HH is trying to lean into the “Lucifer is so crushed by heaven ditching him” thing but don’t bring in the other archangels makes me INSANE. Like where are his brothers. Wdym we have Adam but no mention of Michael?? Like hellooooo ???

The potential of them meeting Charlie alone is FANTASTIC bc now they have a niece (NEICE!!) who is pleading her case to heaven to rehab sinners and that HAS to be such a wild thing to see from the daughter of your brother who was disgraced and INVOKED THE CREATION OF SIN like… GUH.

And don’t get me started on Alistor… there’s just So Much I wish was changed abt him. Lucifer too actually there’s a lot I’d change there too and then there’s just so much refining to be done with everyone else like . GUH. GUH!!! How is this a Real Show ?? That I have to sit and pirate??? It feels like it didn’t make it off of YouTube

THE LACK OF ARCHANGELS IS LITERALLY THE WORST!!!

LIKE LUCIFER AS AN ANGEL IS SO UNDER-UTILIZED!!!

He's depressed. He was crushed. Dreams shattered.

BUT IF HAZBIN HOTEL WOULD JUST, I DON'T KNOW, COMMIT TO THE FALLEN ANGEL BIT.

HIS FAMILY, HIS BROTHERS, THEY BETRAYED HIM FOR DARING TO DREAM AND ASK QUESTIONS.

Or maybe they didn't. Maybe they were unable to deny a higher power. Or maybe they think he betrayed them. OR LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE BECAUSE LITERALLY ANYTHING WOULD WORK BETTER THAN WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.

BUT LIKE IMAGINE. LIKE IMAGINE CHARLIE GOING TO HEAVEN FOR THE FIRST TIME AND SHE'S GOT A WHOLE PACK OF UNCLES SHE KNOWS LITTLE TO NOTHING ABOUT.

Uncles that look at her with mixed expressions because 1) that's their niece and she looks so much like they're fallen baby brother and 2) she of all people is fighting for sinners rehabilitation, the thing her father practically invented

AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON ADAM?! What the fuck you mean he's the first man or whatever to enter heaven? What about Abel? WHY THE FUCK IS HE EVEN AN ANGEL?! WHY IS HE IN CHARGE OF AN ANGEL ARMY?! THERE IS AN ARCHANGEL FOR THAT?! (Also where's Eve?)

And I can't even properly express the disappointment I feel about Alastor.

It just feels like the show as a whole, as you said, never made it off of YouTube. Everything needs to be refined. It's like looking at a first draft. Like a brainstorming sketch. It's just UGH!!!

Also Saint Peter is the worst fucking design ever. EVER!!!

Ok so...

the nutcracker is, as explained by the terminal, the guard of the masion, he has a purpose. but what the hell is the jester? it's obviously made in the same vein as the nutcracker, but what it's purpose? the nutcracker is quick and efficient at killing you, but the jester is very predicable, and avoidable (if you know what you're doing). I'm just confused as to why someone would make a walking jack-in-the-box with a giant human skull inside and an insatiable bloodlust?

hate hate hate it when the modern au zhongxiao fics have zhongli as the dilf and xiao as some college student. like no. stfu. let them both be dilfs. that's literally the appeal. old people ftw

I finished reading @naffeclipse Seluth Jesters ad I am IN LOVE with the vigilante. So here are some sketches of them <3

i think pop history and pseudohistory are becoming areas of fascination for me alongside actual history. where do these myths originate, how do they get spread, who perpetuates them and why do we believe them etc. this may stem from the fact that many of my particular historical interests (jesters, paganism, old hollywood, waste management and hygiene etc.) are also particularly and uniquely rife with both online and academic misinformation and/or plagued by shaky sources

oh my god i was joking around with my gf about if there was a Sleuth Jesters series and i had a cool idea

the series opens with a bar fight scene that preludes the first chapter with New York New York by Frank Sinatra playing in the bg as the vigilante beats up ppl and stuff and its super cool and an epic opening

BUT THEN I THOUGHT AB THE END

IM CRYING in the last episode the song that plays right before and during the credits is My Way ALSO BY FRANK SINATRA and its just like a tie to the first episode and im bawling bc im imagining there being like a secret end scene after the credits with the detectives and the vigilante standing together and even like watching the dramatic sunset together im WRITHING IN PAIN

.. i might make some storyboards for this

YOooU?

may? be?

under

SCRUTINY!!!

Icky-thong cOULD knOW... about... our involvement...

...

...

with you.

He-could-be-coming!

...

...Maybe~you~can hELP,,,?? though.

✨where are you now?✨