(🔥 for the unpopular opinion ask)

Wuthering Heights:

I find Heathcliff's treatment of Linton more appalling than his treatment of Isabella. Other readers often seem to view his abuse of Isabella as his darkest hour and not care as much about Linton because they don't like Linton. But to me, while of course what Isabella goes through is horrible, there's something more uniquely horrible about Heathcliff abusing his own mortally ill teenage son. It doesn't matter that Linton is an unpleasant person: he's still a dying teenager and he's still Heathcliff's own child. This more than anything else is why Heathcliff "stands unredeemed" to me.

🔥 Stardew Valley? Or whatever you'd like, if not that

stardew, huh? been a while since i've talked about that one!

easiest unpopular opinion is that clint is really really not that bad. he honestly has just suffered from the decay of his character arc since emily became a marriage candidate

🔥 Cassandra opinions

I use a picture of her with a flower crown as an icon/avatar on some of my private socials lol also I introduce her as "my wife" when people I know approach the games for the first time. I love her to death

But she's fucking terrible. Asking a non human inquisitor to welcome the Maker in their pantheon? Using violence on Varric out of frustration? Also, I'd love her to explain to us what happened to Dairsmuid's circle, since she has been the right hand of the Divine for a while.

We put her on a pedestal she doesn't deserve. I love her, I'll reiterate it forever, but she did some nasty stuff and we need to acknowledge that

🚩

Send me a 🚩 and I'll share my (seemingly) unpopular rpc opinions and hot takes (mileage may vary on the rating). Bonus points if you include a specific topic to talk about, like follower count, softblocking, graphics, etc.

No disrespect to mutuals-only blogs. I use to run this blog under that same style back when it was a tertiary account and not my strongest muse.

With that being said, I'm actually really enjoying my current style of selectively following but still being open to all interactions. Yes, I miss things - like opportunities to interact - because I'm not seeing them on my dashboard. But my fear-of-missing-out is much better than it was before, and with it being virtually gone my negativity has gone down too. I'm happier, more content with the blog, and vibing along. Plus, it's not that hard to pull up blogs I do genuinely take interest in but can't follow for whatever reason and just do a lil back reading once in a while. I might be late to the show but I was going to be anyway.

🔥 Action scenes?

Keeping an action scene engaging is hard or at least a lot of recent films have struggled to hold my attention recently. Part of the problem is that they're big CG smash-em-ups shot in ways that are incomprehensible due to too many cuts or too dim lighting. Another problem is that they often propel the plot but not character. They don't reveal anything about the way the character thinks or relates to the world and thus feel kind of flat.

How do you feel about the new upcoming Pokemon anime? I'm quite interested by the new designs. Here's the two designs that interest me the most. Also, here's a link to the trailer!

I liked both of these!

A few notes:

(1) The design for Latios/Latias doesn't seem to have made it to the final version. This was because one of the Pokemon company people who actually worked on the anime came to the design team with his thoughts on how this character should look and it had a big influence on the final design, which they liked a lot. They ended up just leaving Latios/Latias alone, but then when they designed Latios/Latias they wanted to go back and add some things like a darker blue color scheme for Latios, more white markings, a bit of a horn, a bit more of a "dark" color for Latias. (I like Latios/Latias as is; I'm a huge fan of "punchy"/somewhat unhinged-looking characters with more white than anything else on their color schemes. I guess if there's an example of this in the Pokemon world it is the "Pikachu/Raichu" line, or if anything Pokemon Gen 6. In the future I would love to see an anime focused on thematically different kinds of unhinged characters like they had with Gen 4's starters.)

(2) I've heard from people who have actually been working on the show that this animation style is very different from any previous Pokemon show. I don't know how to feel about that. (On the one hand, some people say that this style works better than others, so it's not necessarily the case that the style of the show will stay this way all the time. On the other hand, many people have expressed fears about animation styles becoming too different from the previous style, and this has certainly already happened in a lot of Western animation, so it would make me nervous if the anime went in the direction of not looking like any of the other ones.)

(3) I also liked the trailer, which was weird because I'm not super fond of CGI-animation or computer-generated imagery generally. The fact that the animation in the trailer seemed much better and more "real" than in other trailers in the series did not reassure me.

Unpopular opinion: why is emet-selch a sexy man?? All this fanart makes him look hot and then in game hes looks like a wojak meme

Sorta agree, but you gotta understand that he's a sexy man bc of his personality. I wasn't a fan either and then that fucker stepped out of the shadows and did a dramatic pose and he fucking got me. Instant KO.

HOW ARE WE FEELING TWST ROOK FANS

for the ask game: 🧡🖤💚

🧡: What is a popular (serious) theory you disagree with?

Until I see definitive proof that Ludinus is in fact as old as he wants people to believe he is, I will not believe it. I don't even really have an opinion on how old he is; I just don't think he's as old as he tries to suggest. And lest it be said that I am playing favorites, the thing about Ludinus is that he talks the way Essek talks in 91—and there are a lot of things Essek says at that dinner that I take with a good heaping of salt. It's this sense that they're talking around things that they would rather people not question; they're both very skilled at talking around things in a way where they aren't outright lying, but they'd rather you not think too hard about it because there's shit they're not saying. To be clear I also won't be mad if there does turn out to be some evidence in canon that he is that old, but thus far, there is nothing definitive, and I do not take the word of unreliable NPCs at face value.

🖤: Which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think?

I don't think this is really an unpopular opinion at this point, but Jester. Nice =/= good. I don't think she's evil, by any means! But her morality is a lot more complex than it's given credit for and I think it's one of the things that is most interesting about her. I'd actually consider her largely amoral; it's just not really an axis of consideration that she worries about. She doesn't want people to hurt her or her friends and she doesn't want something to destroy the world, but otherwise she doesn't really care much about what someone's morality is. "Just don't be evil to me" is an incredible sentiment for a reason. She cares more that Essek said they were his friends than the fact that he's the traitor they've been looking for. Ludinus is so insignificant to her despite his literally world-spanning evil plots that she has basically forgotten him six years later, even though two members of her friend group have spent the last six years trying to pin him down. Jester is hilariously amoral and I love that for her.

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

[cracks knuckles] OKAY, this is where I've got receipts, because hooo boy do I have an opinion and I will be proving it.

Essek does not have an opinion on the Prime Deities. He does not really have much of an opinion on religion. He actually does not by the end of the campaign have any real issue with the Luxon, and frankly he primarily expressed issue with the Dynasty's worship because, until he got to Aeor, he wasn't certain that the Luxon was a real entity at all—which he contrasts against the Prime Deities, in fact!—and he seems to believe there is compelling evidence in Aeor that categorically disproves his hypothesis that the beacons are simply constructed Age of Arcanum devices.

Originally he is mostly concerned that the Luxon religion is used as a "crutch" which is "distracting them from what other good things they could do with the time and focus". He does specify that any religion can be used as such, but he only remarks upon the one he knows. His theory about the beacons, as of episode 91, is that they may be "artifacts designed in the Age of Arcanum that have been misread" that could be put to even further use.

He also does parrot the Dynasty party line in their first meeting about the Luxon being "the basis of how we've been able to free ourselves from the binds of the lineage the Betrayer Gods left for us", and while I do not take him at face value here (see the above commentary about unreliable NPCs), I doubt the truth of this statement is lost on him, considering his familial connections to Bazzoxan, which I can only imagine would not exactly endear one to the Betrayers, though this is only conjecture. If we do care to take him at his word here, it's not unreasonable, since he obviously has a lot more interest in the power offered by the beacons than anything else.

With all that being said, his tune on the Luxon itself has at least changed by the time they get to Aeor. He discusses iconography found in Aeor and when prompted by the Nein about whether the beacons were created by mortals, says, "I do not believe that they are made by anyone but the Luxon. They are of the Luxon. But they've been around since the Luxon's been in Exandria, which is the beginning."

So we started with him largely apathetic to religion, uncertain if this god was real, and by the time we circle back to him, he has now sided fairly definitively with the fact that the Luxon is an entity that has been around since at least the Founding. (For those keeping track at home, this is longer than Predathos has been around. In the Dynasty's creation myth, it may also have been around before the Prime Deities arrived, which is technically not incompatible with the creation myth of Exandria at large, but I digress.) Like most of Exandria, and as is perfectly reasonable for both his culture and his region, he probably doesn't have any love for the Betrayer Gods, but doesn't express much opinion if any on the Prime Deities. He has no time for religion, but frankly, he doesn't have time for much except for his own research, so it's hard to really ascribe any noted contempt to that.

Like, look, I've written plenty of religious trauma Essek fic, and I don't doubt that that element of it exists, but overall, in terms of canonical statements, it's pretty tame.

With that being said, I do want to fast forward a bit to draw attention to something else. Because I actually do think he ends the campaign with some measure of respect for, at the very least, the Wildmother.

In 140 after the Raise Dead fails, he talks briefly with Fjord about the unfairness of it. Fjord passively directs him to "if you were to ask my wise friend Caduceus..." Immediately after this exchange, Essek challenges Caleb to not accept defeat, and admits he wishes there was more that he or any of them could do, but concedes that, "Unfortunately, this type of magic is beyond my purview."

Immediately after this exchange, Caduceus asks for divine intervention.

Of course, he then spends several weeks gardening in a temple to the Wildmother, and seems to find some genuine clarity and perspective there, but I think this alone is enough to argue that, for a person as driven by empirical evidence as Essek, this sequence of events in 140 would be plenty to earn a wizard's respect.

So my formal belief is that Essek is not in fact anti-god or anti-religion, let alone against the Prime Deities. My opinion is that it's very easy to imagine him on his post-campaign travels leaving a small offering at any shrine of Melora he might pass, not out of actual worship but as a sign of respect.

🔥

Should I pick a fandom?

Okay, I'll pick... Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I think Quasimodo and Esmeralda are mutually better as friends then as a couple, and I think the fandom is too hard on Quasi for his supposedly "toxic" feelings for Esmeralda. Yes, it's true that he doesn't relate to her as an equal the way Phoebus does, he idolizes her as an angel and sees her as better than himself. But Esmeralda doesn't relate to Quasi as an equal either: she pities him too much. When she rescues him at the Festival of Fools, she calls him "this poor creature" (dehumanizing) and "that poor boy" (infantilizing). Why are the fans so quick to cry "toxic objectifying" when he innocently calls her an "angel," yet don't seem to care that she calls him a "creature"? Just like she needs a partner like Phoebus who loves her as an equal, neither a "Madonna" nor a "whore," Quasi needs a future partner who loves him as an equal too, neither a "monster" nor a "poor boy." Esmeralda is more of a nurturing, protective older sister figure to him, which isn't a good basis for romance on either side.

🔥art and/or htf

as always, when you give me a choice of two topics, i choose to do them both 😁

on art, my most controversial opinion is that giving unwanted/unasked for critique to artists is rude as fuck, and the easiest way to scare off casual or beginner artists. we've all seen the memes about the young artist who can't take critique, but i am of the firm opinion that they should not have to. art, first and foremost, should be fun! it should be enjoyable for the artist! and maybe it's just me, but nothing sucks the joy out of me faster than when i work hard on a piece, really like it and am proud of it, and post it, just for some random to give their unsolicited advice about what i "should have done" or point out some trivial mistake i made.

(i am very passionate about the subject if you can't tell 😅)

and on the ooother hand, my unpopular htf opinion is that a chunk of the fandom is SUPER weird about how much they hate certain characters. i'm not going to sit here and pretend i'm head over heels for every character myself, i definitely have my favorites and ones i don't care for, but the genuine vitriol some people seem to hold is. concerning. i'm always tempted to look some of the fans in the eyes and just go brother. they're pastel animals with the structural integrity of a wet paper towel. i'm all for giving them depth but maybe we can take a step back and relax a bit.

🔥 Solas. Solas. Scramble the egg!

I'm okay with him, actually! I don't adore him, I don't hate him, I just think that personality wise he's a proud nerd with a great level of enthusiasm and many pearls of wisdom to share - if you want to have partial information on stuff of course lol

*gather whips and bowls* but he's so fucking blind and deaf to opinions that differ to his, he doesn't understand that the world has changed and it's normal for this to happen. He started it, he's responsible for it but instead of dealing with the consequence of his actions in a constructive way he just wants to make things even more complicated - like, does he really think that elves won't be harmed in the process??

I can understand why it's difficult to accept that his actions backfired on his people and who's beyond the Veil, but what he wants to do is not a viable solution for all problems. Like, the political social and cultural environments are way different from back then and most of the time it's fucking bad and oppressive, but he doesn't contemplate that below the structures there's just people trying to survive a hostile world. Those will be the ones that will get harmed.

I don't think he's a villain, I think he's irresponsible and I can't wait to see what's next

🚩

Send me a 🚩 and I'll share my (seemingly) unpopular rpc opinions and hot takes (mileage may vary on the rating). Bonus points if you include a specific topic to talk about, like follower count, softblocking, graphics, etc.

Reblog karma has done absolutely nothing except make the problem of not sending each other memes even more hurtful than it was before reblog karma became a Popular "Rule" to adopt. Like, it's extremely and painfully obvious when people are reblogging a meme they just saw someone they're following post, and decided that they wanted it for themselves but didn't want to send anything to the other person.

I get that sometimes the meme might not work between muses, and that's fine. You absolutely should work off of what fits and probably leave what doesn't fit. But when it's something as simple and noncommittal as a "send a symbol/number for a head canon question" then there's no fucking reason to be dodging the meme. That's selfish behavior, you're actively contributing into the issue of nobody getting any asks to answer, and you have no right to complain about it. This is an interactive, collaborative hobby. Fucking interact and collaborate.

🔥 movies

I had to think long and hard about this one. Was it going to be an old person rant about too-long movies that don't even have an intermission or something specific? I've decided to go with something specific, specifically about Marvel films and how done with them I am. Look, I get that they're designed to make Disney all the money by forcing you to watch every single one in order to understand who all these people are and what the fuck is going on, but I don't want to any more. At a certain point, staying current with a cinematic universe starts to feel like homework and that's no fun.

ask me my unpopular opinion

send me a 🚩 and i'll share my unpopular rpc opinions and hot takes. bonus points if you include a specific topic to talk about, like follower count, softblocking, graphics, etc.