[minthe-drawings]

Info:

- Name: Eirwen or 'Winnie' -❄️Winter personality -5'4 -She/her -Welsh -Hobbies: Photography and singing

Info:

-Name: Ionlanthe or 'Lani' -🍀Spring personality -5'6 -Trans (MTF) she/her -Greek/Filipino -Hobbies: Fashion design and modeling

(This is a repost)

[forkingbrusselsprout]

Shall we go? Or do you have any other chaos you need to unleash here?

[inndelibles]

"I need writers/artists/people to stop–"

NO!!!

I need YOU to stop policing people in fandom!! Even if they have a "wrong" take!! Even if it's wildly ooc!! Even if you personally find it morally reprehensible!!

People are allowed to interpret texts however they want. That is the POINT of fanfic and fanart and any other fan creation. It is to expand on the canon in a way that you won't get to see in the actual text. You don't get to decide the "correct" way to do that. If Janet wants to make a character an uwu soft boi despite that being the polar opposite of the character in canon, she can. If Bobby wants to make a character a cringey edgelord even though that's a massive watering-down of the character in canon, he can. That is the nature of fanwork. If a different take of a character pisses you off that badly, you need to take a break from interacting with fandom and get some perspective. Take a walk. Bake some cookies. Think about how cool fish are. Do something that doesn't involve getting worked up over people on the internet doing things that have nothing to do with you.

You can have your opinions. You can disagree with people. You can critique various analyses; discourse isn't inherently bad. But that is actively different from talking in absolutes and deciding what people are and aren't allowed to do. The text and its characters aren't yours to protect.

[oiulse]

good morning ☀️

plus some other doodlies!

kuni told me to post this one too

[nigelgraz]

My new Astarion WIP that i already love <3

[crayoncat-works]

"I wish... I could stay." bonus:

and he did!!!

[differenteagletragedy]

OH MY GOD?!?!?!?!?!

[zalpacka]

We should 100% normalize saying "I love you" to friends in a platonic, non romantic way. Yes, I love my bestie with all my heart. Does that mean I want to do stuff that you'd normally find in a ao3 stuff with the tag "AJAOFHEIS SMUT" in it? NO!

I WANNA CUDDLE IN A BLANKET FORT WHILE BINGE WATCHING THE OWL HOUSE, NOT MAKE OUT!

Just cuz someone loves someone who isn't related by blood, doesn't mean that it's romantic

Annnnnd I went off on a tangent :/

[chaosroid]

I really don't hear enough people talk about the fact that Shadowheart was not only brainwashed as a child, but had her memories repeatedly wiped. This isn't just your run of the mill reeducation. Like we're talking about having your brain literally tampered with by magic on a metaphysical level which is so incredibly violating and just on a completely different level than the typical indoctrination you see an average cultist goes through.

Your memories and lived experience is fundamentally responsible for shaping the kind of person you are. We see how important memories are with Durge because once they lost their memories, they were no longer the same person and became someone entirely new. Shadowheart was frequently subjected to memory wipes since she was kidnapped as a child, forced to adopt Sharran dogma, and every time she started remembering things about her past or strayed from their teachings, they'd take her memories away again. Imagine the only memories you're allowed to keep are the ones your abusers let you, as they continue to alter your perception of reality in order for you to stay obedient to their control. This is gaslighting on a level we have literally never seen before irl.

It's no wonder Shadowheart says the things she says, and yet, somehow, against the strict doctrines and manipulation that's been hammered into her for decades, she always ends up reverting back to her true self. From Viconia's journal:

No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't erase the good in her. It's honestly impressive Shadowheart is able to fight the brainwashing to this extent. And when she's left alone for once with people who are patient with her and make her feel safe, when she's given enough time to find herself again without being reset back to square one every time she gained an inch? She thrives.

[thememedaddy]

[mycurrentobsessionis]

or alternately, these two +Franky.

[gothhabiba]

Hi my name is Shadow Dementia Dark’ness Raven Heart and I have long shadowy black hair (that’s how I got my name) with short bangs and a silver diadem and mossy green eyes like cool shaded ponds and a lot of people tell me I look like I could be a Dark Justiciar (AN: if u don’t know what that is get da hell out of here!). I’m a half-elf but my ears are elegant and tapering. I have pale white skin. I’m also a True Soul, but I’m on a quest to defeat the Absolutist cult. I’m a follower of Shar (in case you couldn’t tell) and I wear mostly black. For example today I was wearing black sandals and black leather leggings and a low-cut black corset top with leather straps and metal studs. A lot of Selûnites stared at me. I put my middle finger up at them.

[oonalovesastarionssimpleplan]

[rooji-r]

[mycurrentobsessionis]

@pink-pearl-plain-jeans took a few days but here. hope this is something you actually wanted lol. this is lowkey a ramble but it is an informed ramble.

First, you are gonna seriously regret asking me, because I have nearly 300 hours logged between these two games and half a masters degree in clinical psychology.

Second, to be fair, you don't have know a lot about ballroom dancing -- I know almost nothing. Toward the end of Step 4 on Baxter's route, he will joke to Jamie about the irony of ballroom dancing, which requires both a partner and a certain level of intimacy, is his most beloved hobby, when the ability to form close, intimate relationships is his biggest struggle.

Baxter is a pretty good example of what disorganized, or fearful-avoidant, attachment looks like in adults. He both desperately wants to form emotional connections with others and intensely fears those same attachments, viewing them as inherently unsafe and unstable. The player can see this in the way Baxter attempts to form lots of superficial connections where he overshares personal details while also being evasive about his deeper feelings. He is aware that he needs some level of human interaction and works to fill that need without leaving himself vulnerable to being hurt or abandoned. This can occur in individuals who had inconsistent parents growing up. Baxter's relationship to dancing mirrors his emotional progression with attachment to others.

As a child, he has a stable group of friends and dances at the country club competitively, and thus likely has a stable, consistent partner with whom he performs. We know very little about Mr. and Mrs. Ward, except for the following:

They are older.

They are wealthy, and likely old money.

They are bigoted, like being queerphobic and racist.

They expected Baxter to behave with greater maturity than would have been typical for his age and "at times, as if he was even older [than them]."

He did not want to spend his first summer after college with them, so they shipped him off to a tiny beachside tourist town, either not caring or not knowing that he is petrified of the ocean.

Something about Baxter would be a problem, and they would hate him if he were someone else's child.

From this, we can garner a few things. The first is that the Wards were likely emotionally immature, possibly parentified him, and likely played "it's okay if it's you" card. When we meet Baxter as a child in OLNF, he is clearly very fond of Qiu, Ren, and possibly Tamarack and Franky as well. These relationships likely provided insulation from parents who alternated between being emotionally distant and overcontrolling. It also makes sense that Baxter would be drawn to younger children here. Baxter chalks it up to his own immaturity, but I would argue that it is in fact because he is precocious that he chooses a younger friend group. Kids his own age would likely be put off by his attitude and may take it as condescending, whereas younger children would appreciate him as older and wiser. Additionally, younger children give him the opportunity to play and engage in silly antics that he may have missed out the first time.

I also wouldn't be surprised if there was some cognitive dissonance as well, since his parents probably espoused queerphobic ideals while also professing to love Baxter, who himself is bisexual and knew very well that he was attracted to boys by the age of 12. Given this, and the amount of bitterness with which he later speaks about them, it also would not surprise me if they had some influence on his drifting apart from Ren and Qiu as they got older. Not that this has to be the case, but I could see Baxter avoiding bringing his very-visibly queer friends (including one who is also a POC) around his parents to avoid hurting them.

He grows up and appears in OLBA as a teen who is somewhat adrift. He doesn't appear to have a stable friend group or sense of identity, and he has limited his contact with his parents to the minimum amount that he feels obligated to contact them. Now, shifting identity is pretty normal for young adults, but Baxter's seems less stable than it should be. What I actually thought was really interesting is the subtle shift between Baxter as he presents himself and as he actually is. He presents himself as accommodating, complimentary, confident, and friendly. The person he actually is -- the one he thinks no one will like -- is sardonic, self-effacing, mischievous, and lonely. In his desire to be included, he avoids imposing his will on others -- Jamie can even convince him to wear a swimsuit and go into the ocean if they really want, something he is terrified to do. He is only able to be genuine if either (a) Jamie has made an explicit effort to show him he is accepted or (b) he is emotionally dysregulated enough that he is unable to keep up the charade

Anyway, at this point, he is presumably no longer competing, and no longer has a steady partner. In his first interaction with Jamie and Cove, he is immediately offering to be their partner, which is a deliberate double-entendre. He comes on strong, because he needs the relationship to begin quickly in order the get what he needs out of it. He has no intention of actually taking the time to get to know people or build a genuine connection with them. It's about control here. Also note that he offers this with the implication that he would be teaching them to dance. Even in asking for a temporary connection, he's framing it as him offering a service in exchange for their company because he doesn't see himself as valuable on his own (Qiu also does this btw). In summary, he is dancing with people he barely knows because while the steps won't be familiar or comforting, he doesn't have to worry about mistakes either. (dun dun dun, the mortifying ordeal of being known!)

As an adult, he shifts this into a more formalized version. He isn't stupid, nor does he enjoy hurting people. He knows that most people are unwilling to abandon relationships so quickly, and he knows he's hurt people. The thing about attachment styles is that you can develop a secure attachment style as an adult. The problem is that you do this by essentially re-parenting yourself. Learning to treat himself with self-compassion is really difficult, though, because that's a learned skill. He needs community or a therapist. The problem is that because of his disorganized attachment style, forming a community is difficult and he would probably also have trouble finding a therapist because that would require a level of vulnerability that he struggles with. Baxter also heavily relies on avoidance as a coping mechanism. When he enters into a relationship, because he is primed to view them as unpredictable and conditional, it activates his fight-flight-freeze response. He then attempts to escape the situation by (a) leaving, (b) ghosting/ignoring, and (c) distancing himself using social niceties to avoid confrontation. If he is cornered (like the end of step 3), he switches to fight mode and becomes caustic. This may indicate that if he entered a therapeutic relationship, he is likely to end therapy prematurely to avoid thinking about his loneliness and attachment issues.

So, because he knows he hurts people by doing all of this, and because he doesn't know how to maintain a relationship, he formalizes the arrangement. People literally pay him for a service (planning) and because he is "in" on such an intimate event, he still gets the feeling of getting to know people and be included, without the emotional risk. Same thing with dancing.

That's why dancing with him after the wedding is such a big deal. Yes, it's a callback to a very special moment for Baxter, but it's also a metaphor for re-entering a relationship. He's been looking at and judging his relationships on the ruptures not the repairs, and to be able to repair a relationship after the mask has come off, the set's been wrecked, and the crowd is gone means that he has lived a lonely life for no reason.

Anyway, all this is to say that Cove was 100% right when he clocked that Baxter was insincere and interacted with people in a really weird way. No one listened though.

[karaonasi]

This is very well done.

To those that keep trying to claim that Baxter fans like him because they want to over sexualize him or because of his demographics, you’re beyond wrong. It’s this. It’s that he’s a hot mess. And yet he has such a loving/giving nature waiting beneath all of that.

his level of complexity is exactly why I fell for Baxter so very hard (despite not liking/trusting him first time through).

Thanks for this analysis. I loved reading it!

[inndelibles]

Can’t remember who I saw post it (if it was you pls lmk so I can credit you!!) but I remember seeing a post saying if THITCS series ever had a live action adaption, Michael Sheen and David Tennant should be Linus and Arthur respectively, and just. Yes. Absolutely.

Edit: This appears to be a very popular idea which means we are all correct 😎

[ginnyw-potter-archive]

Fanfic writers are like crows. If you give them treats (comments) they will bring you shiny things (fanfic)

[fortheloveofdeaddove]

I thought this said cows and thought, "Okay, tell me more..."

[ginnyw-potter-archive]

Fanfic creators are like cows, some people think you can just milk them for content, but actually they need enrichment (comments) and a nice pasture to graze on (kudos/likes) and they secretly also like cuddles (asks about their fic/art)

[one-true-houselight]

[id: a looping gif of a fluffy, brown baby cow looking around. /end id]

[kitkaloid]

saurian twins

[soldrawss]

I miss them I miss them so much I just wanna give them silly clothing and a fun childhood