I Dont Think I Posted These But Here I Made A Little Frog Pattern To Make Tiny Frog Toys With My Grandma

I think a lot about Shepard's fish tank wipeout in the Citadel DLC.

The entire DLC is this lighthearted love letter to Mass Effect, and it's beautiful. But then there's THIS moment. When Shepard falls through a fish tank.

The entire way down, they desperately try to arrest their fall. They have no shields. No combat armor. There is no one to catch them. It feels like this is one of the few times there is ever fear. And they don't land gently. And the cut scene lingers on it. There is no levity in this moment. Shepard is on the ground, groaning in pain, slow to get up, clutching their ribs. First instinct before they try to get to their feet? Reach for the gun. Have that first. Then see if you can stand.

And I think the only reason we can have this moment, where Shepard is vulnerable, injured, and in trouble, is because there is no one there to see. The moment Brooks gets on the comm, they crack a joke. "Yup. Feeling good." While unable to stand up straight.

We get this at the end of the game, too, but that's when the stakes are at their highest. That's when it's supposed to be hard. It's no less magnificent then, but now, in this moment? When everything was happy and fun and silly? MAN.

And afterward, everyone jokes about it. Every single member of your squad makes a crack about the sushi place. And Shepard plays along. Haha, yeah, fell right through it, while trying to change the subject.

No one knows what that fall was like. No one saw Shepard lying on the ground in the bowls of the Silversun Strip, water dripping off them, struggling to get to their feet.

And no one asks, because it's Shepard.

The progress of my hand-embroidered Sera character card from Dragon Age Inquisition.

75 hours, 11.5x19.5 cm

Things worn down by people.

PREACH IT!!!

a criticism I see of sao is often along the lines of “what’s the message? that video games are better than real life? that being trapped in the game was Good, Actually? that doesn’t apply to real life at all. that’s a useless thought experiment akin to contemplating the ethics of fucking your clone.”

the way the aincrad arc was about how you have to find love and happiness in the here & now, no matter how bleak things are. because when fighting for a cause, it’s so easy to deny yourself joy until that far-off dream is achieved; you tell yourself you’ll rest after you’ve saved enough money for early retirement. or when capitalism is over and homelessness eradicated. or when you’ve finally reached peak physical form. or when the war is over.

but so many people die before that happens. or they live to see it but shortly succumb to trauma or just the ravages of time. all those years spent fighting for your cause, but now you’ve won you’re an adult and you never had a chance to have any semblance of a childhood. or now you’ve grown so accustomed to misery, you don’t know how to treat happiness- so accustomed to pressure and hatred, you’re cruel and harsh to the people around you.

in sao, life went on, in its strange way. people went fishing. they got married. they cooked and ate for pleasure. they did quests and events for fun. people sarcastically say “they’re trapped in a death game and all they can think about is buying a cottage and fucking?” as if there wasn’t a very direct reasoning for this in the plot. them experiencing a sort of burnout, as well as distrust in the system as it was. them realising their own mortality, that they could be killed any day now; that it’s better to die in love than to die miserable.

I’ve been playing Dragon Age: Inquisition again lately, and I was pondering a new fic idea (and despairing because Josephine is so competent that she renders my central conflict moot the moment she appears on the scene) when the following popped into my head a refused to leave. I’m almost certain someone has done this before, but on the off chance they haven’t -

(To the tune of “What is This Feeling?” from Wicked)

DORIAN: Dearest Darlingest Felix and Maevaris

BULL: Fellow Ben-Hassrath Agents

BOTH: There’s been some confusion, over rooming here at Skyhold

BULL: But of course, I’ll do my duty

DORIAN: But of course, I’ll rise above it

BOTH: For I know that’s how you’d want me to respond. Yes, there’s been some confusion for you see, my room-mate is…

DORIAN: Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe…

BULL: A Vint.

(The rest of the song pretty much continues as originally written)

All of my dragon age inquisition companion portraits together 🥰

(◡‿◡✿)

(ʘ‿ʘ✿) “what you say ‘bout me”

(ʘ‿ʘ)ノ✿ “hold my flower”

Ok so another reason why I think Lucanis’ romance lock-in scene is peak romance is that, saying as a professional pastry chef, every SINGLE one of those desserts he makes is a pain in the GODDAMN ass, and he does it WITHOUT MODERN KITCHEN EQUIPMENT. If that’s not love I don’t know what is.

Something I love about M!iK and don't really see be often talked about is the morals of the story.

Shonen stories usually have to work under the same story restrictions of "power of friendship" and "we can accomplish anything by never giving up!", and while MIK certainly has that, I adore the way they twist it.

Yes, both tropes are present but taken to their absolute extreme. Power of friendship? Ok, here's a huge cast of characters who are all in some level Extremely Possesive of eachother. Never give up on your dreams? Alright, the cast are literal demons who feed on desire.

And the best part is that this is openly encouraged by the story. The story is saying "Yes, be selfish! Chase what or who you want without any shame! Take what you love and guard it ferociously because it's YOURS and no one is allowed to harm it."

Iruma's character growth is not connected to "how much more powerful can he get?" Or "how much better of a person can he be?". He's already powerful and he's already a deeply good kid. His growth is explicitly about how much more demonic he can be.

How much more tightly can he hold onto his loved ones and his desires.

How much more selfish.

Just how refresing is it to read a story where gluttony is a virtue and a goal?

I NEEDED THESE IN MY LIFE

Shadow army shenanigans:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [?]