BALD

when the academic article is so good it has you giggling and kicking your feet

I cast: curse of the eldest (can’t ask for help)

struggling w art n motivation a lot rn so i forced myself to draw something silly featuring the robins!

my vision of what they are saying below vvv

I run a ytp sanctuary...yea a lot of them that once flourished 15 years ago tread close to endangerment now, so we do what we can to keep them happy and active here...oh look, that ones firin his lazar!! Haha he loves to "blahhhgh". It's a sign of contentment. We used to house them with the Kings but we found it was safer to seperate their enclosures on account of the threat of getting dinner blasted. Hm? Oh yeah thats Shaggys cage, he needs to be kept seperate to thrive since he keeps realizing we're the sherrif cuz we're out here and hes in there

influence

he loves those dumb twins sm, the found family aspect of this show makes me go crazy!!!!!!!

(1st pic is referencing this post lol)

But whose heart would not take flight? Betray the moon as acolyte On first and fierce affirming sight Of sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

i hope pedro knows or at least has some idea of how many people are so fucking proud of him. he's made incredible strides in his career and he deserves every second of the overdue recognition he is now receiving. there's no doubt that this has been his year, with huge shows on two of the biggest streaming platforms right now. i wholeheartedly believe he will get his roses and sweep those awards when the time is right.

GRIMS COMING!!! You gonna pull for him??👀👀

I'm gonna try, but...

I have mere hours to decide if I want to make one last attempt at Malleus or save a few to try for Grim...and this is all before the new event reveal on the 16th. truly the most difficult choice of our modern times. the gacha is getting its revenge for all of my Lilias.

people who are obsessed with passing are gonna be the death of our community i swear

THE SEABLINGS !!!

My first drawing of 2024! (couldn't finish before 12pm)

AAARGH I LOVE THEM I SPENT SO MUCH TIME ON THIS ONE AAUGH!!>!>>!>! Re posts greatly appreciated!!

a doodle that got a little out of hand

(more under the cut)

they make me so crazy

i read somewhere on here that fnc is like chip having a crush on an older sibling’s friend or something which i think rewired my neurons,,, like unrequited crush fish and chips is SO…….omg so smart

anyway that’s where this whole thing came from

i have been thinking a lot about mystra’s relationship with gale, how reducing her to “his ex” really is an understatement. she was and still is so much more than that. moreover, using the term “ex-girlfriend” in relation to her plainly feels wrong and diminishes the influence she has over him, as well as the role she played in his life since his childhood (and it also trivializes the abuse he suffered through her).

there are several instances where gale gets defensive when his companions mention or ask him abt mystra. he claims that their relationship was no less real even though most of their interactions were incorporeal.

we have already established that gale is an unreliable narrator in this particular case, still not having fully come to terms with the fact that he was groomed, manipulated and abused. he ping-pongs between bouts of realization (even in his romance), gaining clarity that he was merely used and eventually discarded and that mystra never truly cared for him, back to making light of his situation, idealizing her once again. realizing the extent of his trauma, that he is indeed a victim in this scenario, unlearning what he has been made to believe from a young age is a slow and painful journey. he is in the process of healing, but it takes time. time he deserves just like anyone else.

which makes me wonder what their relationship really looked like, once the lines between teacher, muse, and lover began to blur. i also feel like one of the reasons why part of the fandom still struggles to identify mystra as his abuser, is because she is a white woman who initially presents herself in a soft-spoken, benevolent manner… and well, the fact that gale himself is ambitious to a fault and a lil insane about the promise of power. he also briefly mentions "crossing mystra’s boundaries” when he confides in tav and tells them about his folly. (“i am, after all, the villain in this story.”) which led to a looooot of misinterpretations.

leaving the overall lore and mystra’s treatment of her other chosen aside — what we can discern from her interactions with gale in-game, is that mystra is civil as long as she remains in control and gale follows her demands, but as soon as there’s even a slight mention of challenging her power or defying her rule, she rather quickly changes her tone.

there is also one particular exchange between them that just won’t leave my head:

“you were many things to me, but never a threat. and never a savior."

even if we choose to blatantly ignore the fact that mystra is a deity, his goddess - there is no possible way that their relationship ever could have been equal by any mortal standards. the power imbalance that comes with her being his teacher and a symbol of his admiration, plus the sheer control she holds over him and his powers are simply too great. don’t even let me get started on how it is a common tactic of abusers to isolate their victims from any outside influences so they can exert full control over them. and how up to meeting tav and their merry band of misfits, every single soul he was close to was inevitably tied to mystra in one way or another. he briefly mentions his colleagues and then there’s elminster, also mystra’s chosen and former lover, and tara, who is a fine wizard in her own right. he spend so many years in service of her, dedicating his life to her, that now there is no one left he can truly call a friend. most of his little anecdotes and stories he tells are restricted to his childhood and university days, everything else was mystra.

evidently, ordering gale to detonate the orb is the most efficient course of action in her eyes. he is just as expendable as any other mortal, after all. maybe once significantly more useful given his status and the extent of his powers, but she doesn’t feel sorrow nor remorse for ordering him to end his life. his death is simply the most convenient means to an end.

another thing i would also like to briefly touch upon is the trigger/detonator itself. a dagger to the heart. it could have been literally anything else, a simple incantation. it is well within mystra’s power to stabilize the orb and also to remove it from his body entirely. but no, what she requires of gale is to stab himself. one might argue that it was simply a cinematic choice meant for a more dramatic effect, but it really leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. especially considering the fact that she is commonly known and referred to as a jealous goddess. it almost makes it seem like yet another form of punishment or mere pettiness. after his long period of isolation, gale is now surrounded by fellow humans. people he cares about, even perhaps people he might eventually consider good friends — which is enough of a reason for him to not want to die, to keep going and try to find another way, rather than to blindly follow mystra’s bidding. now there’s a group of people who support him and are genuinely invested in him staying alive. hmmm...

so what about one of those "jon was in the mechanisms in college and martin is currently a huge fan" jmart fics except we have an alternative/punk martin and for whatever's reason wore his battle vest/jacket to the archives and jon is so close to reprimanding martin for "inappropriate workplace attire" (the hypocrite) but then he sees the extremely detailed and lovingly hand-made mechanisms backpatch as the vest's centerpiece and he just,,, freezes and walks back to his office.