i don't know what order to start Dissecting, so i'll just start with:
it's absolutely fascinating how the dynamic Wally & Barnaby had - to my knowledge - before the update, and a dynamic i'd seen speculated elsewhere and generally accepted, has been completed turned on its head
see, given that Wally is the "main character" and Barnaby is classified as "his best friend", i got the feeling that Barnaby kind of... tags along on Wally's 'shenanigans'. that he's the sidekick, the best friend. especially since their dynamic has been previously & briefly described as "Barnaby is very polite to Wally." he's the Companion.
but the audios sorta paint a reverse picture. in the Interview, when Barnaby enters stage right, he completely bowls over Wally's introduction and dominates the interview. when the interviewer asks how the two of them are handling the fame, even outright asking Wally, Barnaby doesn't hesitate to answer the question himself, and only about himself. Wally doesn't get another word in edge-wise until the interviewer explicitly singles Wally out.
(now, an argument could be made that Barnaby knew that Wally was somewhat overwhelmed with all of the questions, and tried to take the reins to give him a reprieve. but, considering that the interview seems to be very early on the possible timeline - like, very soon after Welcome Home debuted - i don't think this is likely. i doubt Barnaby and Wally would've had the time to solidify their dynamic or really get to know each other that well yet)
and Barnaby continues to take point in pretty much all of their other conversations, too. like in the mystery Howdy/Barnaby/Wally audio, their interaction gives off the vibes that Wally is Barnaby's sidekick, his tag-along.
(on a related tangent, it's fascinating how the website described the episodes as "[beginning] with Wally introducing the focus or theme for the day before coming across other characters who would join him on his escapades until the end of the day." but from pretty much everything we've seen so far, it seems like He's the one who's just along for the ride, bouncing from neighbor shenanigan to neighbor shenanigan instead of having his own adventures.
of course, if the 14 audios are present time, which is honestly somewhat likely, this could be because the show isn't running. they aren't doing episodes - they're just existing, doing their things. no need for Wally to take point in any way shape or form. tangent over)
in the 14 audios with Barnaby, he doesn't even acknowledge Wally until the very end - which, of course, could be because that's how the scenes are set up. except that in some of them, the characters do directly acknowledge Wally's presence outside of the endings. Eddie in 5-14, Howdy and Poppy in 1-14, and Frank in 4-14 (technically, since he was infodumping to Wally at the very start before Barnaby interrupted). you'd think that a guy would try to include his best friend a little more!
maybe i'm reading into it too much. & given what we know about Wally as a character, it would make sense for Barnaby to be the go-getter Main Guy of the two. but it really seems like its Barnaby & Wally instead of Wally & Barnaby. he's just kinda... there. going along with whatever Barnaby is up to.
but also, on the other side of things - & it's occurring to me as i type this, it's interesting how in a lot of audios, Barnaby seems to seek Wally out. in "Just So", he shows up to fetch Wally. in 4-14, Barnaby interrupts Frank and Wally's gardening session, almost as if he's stopping by to check on his little buddy. in 7-14, Barnaby calls Julie's house (presumably) searching for Wally, or at least checking in once again. something to consider in all of this!
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i keep thinking about that line after you ascend astarion, when you pass that check to reveal he thinks you're degrading yourself if you continue to be with him. something about it seemed a little off to me, at least considering how ppl were saying it's because he sees you as beneath him, and it ties a little bit into some more general facts about his ascension. namely, that he didn't really get any powers out of it, and any powers seem to still be theoretical or projected into the future. he seems... excited about those prospective powers, but i can't help but notice an undercurrent of desperation. after all, why did 7000 people die for him if he can't even do the cool stuff like summoning wolves or walking on ceilings? sure, he can walk in the sun, but the worm already did that so there's no immediate difference. he can turn into mist, create spawn and has a more powerful bite, but isn't it all a little... underwhelming? imo after the ascension he's right back to posturing to hide his insecurities, which is why he says stuff about ruling the world (and i'm not saying he couldn't, but he definitely doesn't have that power immediately after his ascension).
i don't think the ascension is satisfying for him, i don't think he feels powerful (enough), and i think the reason he thinks you're degrading yourself isn't because you're beneath him, but because he thinks, deep down, that you're *better* than him. after all, you can't degrade yourself if you're already lowly. to degrade yourself, one has to have a height from which to fall. i think he sees you, either good and pure as tav or empowered by bhaal as durge and feels intimidated, either by your powers or by your inherent goodness. idk how people can look at ascended astarion and see a confident vampire lord, because all i see is someone whose worst nightmares came true and he doesn't even have the privilege of waking up.
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HI!!!!!! i was inspired by @star2stop 's post (GO CHECK THAT OUT FIRST BEFORE READING THIS!!!!) and made hmsw :3 and holy shit there is so many images HELP
moonlight shot (herb)
herb without blindfold!
and cutie mark ! + without wings in the way
static sunrise (meep)
and cutie mark !
eclipse eclectic (the AOULLLL 🔥🔥💯🤪🔥🔥💯💯🤪🔥 /ij)
and cutie mark ! + without wings in the way
harmonius shine (harmonica hole)
cutie mark n/a whole is a blankflank :3
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It's been incredibly difficult to hear from Palestinians in Gaza, not to mention center their experiences and platform their voices. Because ever since Hamas violently kicked the Palestinian government out of Gaza in 2007, it's denied Palestinians the right to free speech.
(Here's Palestinian human rights activist Hamza Howidy sarcastically wondering why Hamas isn't stopping the theft of humanitarian aid when it had the power to arrest him for a social media post within 4 hours.)
I'm working on a series of posts of Palestinians to platform. I came across this thread from someone who used Snapchat to talk to people in Gaza, so I thought I'd post it here in the meantime.
I've seen videos of Palestinians talking about not being able to evacuate because "Hamas has closed all the roads," a video of a Palestinian telling the IDF that Hamas has a car blocking the Salah-al-Din road (the evacuation route) and is pointing guns at people and telling them to turn around. But even as someone searching for Palestinian voices and looking for information about this, I hadn't heard that Hamas had been killing civilians trying to evacuate. (And probably reporting their deaths as part of the daily total.)
I mean, just the fact that the Gaza Strip is run as a separate country from the rest of Palestine is a huge barrier for Palestinians. It's hard to be accepted as a full member of the UN when your country functionally has two or three different governments.
(Confusingly, the PLO is considered the government of Palestine internationally. Abbas is the president of both PLO and the Palestinian Authority, so it sort of works as long as nobody has an election. But the fact that Palestinians have been denied an election for 18+ years, because Abbas keeps cancelling elections and Hamas is Hamas, is also a pretty big fucking problem.)
But it's also true that a huge number of the people in the Gaza Strip, while obviously having a big problem with the Israeli government, have at least as big of a problem with Hamas.
And for all of our decades of talk about Free Palestine, in the progressive movement, we pay shockingly little attention to that.
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My Alexia piece for @idrellegames Wayfarer 2023 Pin-up Calendar!
Very honored to be able to work with many wonderful folks and I had a great time working on this as well 💗
Bonus other sketches that I made while brainstorming ideas!
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