Am I The Only Person Who Really Likes Video Game Bestiaries?

people have already talked about this but there is something so depressing about like....having a female character who's suffered unimaginable trauma and now her only character trait is Strong. she's so Strong and Powerful and that means she has Agency, right? right?

and like, well, no, not in and of itself??? like, you gave her trauma, DO something with it. don't just pay it lip service but then go "and now she's okay because she's so Strong and Can Fight or whatever". what even IS strength. are people who don't survive traumatic situations automatically weak by this logic? what are we doing here

me when a movie is bad: 👎

me when a movie is good: 👍

me when a movie is mediocre:

I wish all the time I could read or watch something for the first time again. I chase the thrill of having my mind blown and then long for it once I’ve experienced it because I can never do something for the first time twice.

I was in Minecraft, just started a new world. Spawned right next to a large structure like some kinda dungeon building. It was surrounded by iron fences and had tinted windows. I could see a ton of hostile mobs inside. I made plans to set up some kinda pit trap around the building so I could just break a wall and release them all into the trap to kill them. There was a new entity in the game, which was a large pink egg that would float and move around. You could capture the egg by surrounding it with blocks. It hatched into a Spritzee eventually. You could tame it with flowers and it had the effect of luring mobs with its scent.

Idk if this applies to neurotypicals as well or even other autistics but I think I figured out why I hate talking on the phone:

I can’t multitask and am understimulated.

An in-person conversation demands you pay attention to where someone is in the room, their expressions and body language, even if you’re distracted while talking to them *your* body language can make it clear that you’re still listening.

Text, on the other hand, does not need an immediate real-time response so I can be doing 3 different things and not have to worry about mishearing or not hearing something someone says because it’s in text right there.

But a phone conversation? I have no one to look at and have no expressions and body language to rely on for the “I’m listening I promise” cues, and I can’t see what they’re saying so it’s really easy to miss words unless I’m solely focused on the phone conversation. Which means I can’t do anything else that requires split focus and have to stop everything else that I’m doing to devote entirely to this call.

Text has its own problems lacking tone and inflection, but in terms of “why I hate phone calls” this awkward middle ground of focus is like an itch I can’t scratch.

Acknowledging that “critical thinking” means “thinking about things in a thorough way from different perspectives” and not “finding every flaw in a thing and fixating on it until all the joy is gone” is so liberating.

It’s supposed to be about intellectual curiosity, not about finding ways to devalue things that aren’t perfect or that we personally dislike.

Me when I can finally browse the tag without spoilers

i find it so interesting how people act like "critically examining a piece of media" is the opposite of "enjoying that piece of media." rip to you but i actually find it really enjoyable and compelling to dissect and think through the art i engage with

(Read on our blog)

Beginning in 1933, the Nazis burned books to erase the ideas they feared—works of literature, politics, philosophy, criticism; works by Jewish and leftist authors, and research from the Institute for Sexual Science, which documented and affirmed queer and trans identities.

(Nazis collect "anti-German" books to be destroyed at a Berlin book-burning on May 10, 1933 (Source)

Stories tell truths.

These weren’t just books; they were lifelines.

Writing by, for, and about marginalized people isn’t just about representation, but survival. Writing has always been an incredibly powerful tool—perhaps the most resilient form of resistance, as fascism seeks to disconnect people from knowledge, empathy, history, and finally each other. Empathy is one of the most valuable resources we have, and in the darkest times writers armed with nothing but words have exposed injustice, changed culture, and kept their communities connected.

(A Nazi student and a member of the SA raid the Institute for Sexual Science's library in Berlin, May 6, 1933. Source)

Less than two weeks after the US presidential inauguration, the nightmare of Project 2025 is starting to unfold. What these proposals will mean for creative freedom and freedom of expression is uncertain, but the intent is clear. A chilling effect on subjects that writers engage with every day—queer narratives, racial justice, and critiques of power—is already manifest. The places where these works are published and shared may soon face increased pressure, censorship, and legal jeopardy.

And with speed-run fascism comes a rising tide of misinformation and hostility. The tech giants that facilitate writing, sharing, publishing, and communication—Google, Microsoft, Amazon, the-hellscape-formerly-known-as-Twitter, Facebook, TikTok—have folded like paper in a light breeze. OpenAI, embroiled in lawsuits for training its models on stolen works, is now positioned as the AI of choice for the administration, bolstered by a $500 billion investment. And privacy-focused companies are showing a newfound willingness to align with a polarizing administration, chilling news for writers who rely on digital privacy to protect their work and sources; even their personal safety.

Where does that leave writers?

Writing communities have always been a creative refuge, but they’re more than that now—they are a means of continuity. The information landscape is shifting rapidly, so staying informed on legal and political developments will be essential for protecting creative freedom and pushing back against censorship wherever possible. Direct your energy to the communities that need it, stay connected, check in on each other—and keep backup spaces in case platforms become unsafe.

We can’t stress this enough—support tools and platforms that prioritize creative freedom. The systems we rely on are being rewritten in real time, and the future of writing spaces depends on what we build now. We at Ellipsus will continue working to provide space for our community—one that protects and facilitates creative expression, not undermines it.

Above all—keep writing.

Keep imagining, keep documenting, keep sharing—keep connecting. Suppression thrives on silence, but words have survived every attempt at erasure.

- The Ellipsus team

If you see me randomly start smiling out of nowhere, know it's not because I have a crush on whatever; it's because I'm thinking about The Characters