take it.
THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOADABLE PDF OF THE BOOK BTW you don’t have to pay for it!!
since the link about is fucking dead, i took the liberty to provide a better one. You’ll need to copy and paste the passphrase, though >> kitten-mutual-refinance
AnasAbdin
Cosmic Funnies
d e v o n

No title available
Acquired Stardust
almost home
RMH
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
Peter Solarz
🪼
DEAR READER

❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
ojovivo
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
art blog(derogatory)

roma★
Aqua Utopia|海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
dirt enthusiast
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@tsfairy12
take it.
THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOADABLE PDF OF THE BOOK BTW you don’t have to pay for it!!
since the link about is fucking dead, i took the liberty to provide a better one. You’ll need to copy and paste the passphrase, though >> kitten-mutual-refinance
Some of my favorite, understated moments with heartbreaking implications for Halsin
1. Halsin threatening to turn into a mouse in the epilogue if the player brags about his achievements- he's so shy and humble that just being acknowledged for LITERALLY BUILDING A COMMUNE HIMSELF makes him want to hide. A mouse is a very symbolic choice here: not only easy to hide, but also easily overlooked and forgotten. The idea of his accomplishments being acknowledged is so terrifying for him that he wants to turn into an animal no one will notice, instead of his usual strong, large, noticeable bear.
2. "Sometimes, I think people look at me and imagine my feelings can't be hurt." This isn't the kind of thing that happens after one or two people act like jerks. This is years and years of cruel treatment, of his emotions being demeaned and mocked because of his size. Of people judging him before even meeting him- and forming an entirely wrong view of him. Halsin is a bighearted, tender, sentimental man, yet because he's big... Well, big people don't have feelings, surely. /s
3. "You and I may struggle to go unnoticed in such environs, Karlach[...] Folk of our stature can be a lure for drunkards seeking a brawl, I have found," combined with, "There is a particular discomfort to besting one you know to be weaker than yourself - even when needs must," from a different scene. People have sought him out and fought him because of his size (which had to have been terrifying, especially the first time), and he feels guilty when he takes out someone he knows is weaker, even if they STARTED it. How many times has the poor guy been traveling and then had to defend himself against someone 1/2 his size, making HIM look like the asshole to onlookers, and reinforcing that whole "people think I can't be hurt" thing?
4. "It was always destined to be so, if we prevailed. But the foreknowledge makes it no less bittersweet..." (About the players' paths diverging post brain battle), combined with "I see... After all my years of living, I know all too well that nothing lasts forever. Yet a parting can sting, nonetheless," if the player breaks up with him in the ending. This poor guy was having the time of his life adventuring with the group (and possibly falling in love there) yet never believed it would truly last (because of his abandonment issues). And then to have it confirmed.... he must have felt so awful in that moment, even if he was being dignified about it.
5. "You came for me... thank you. I feared Orin's accursed smile would be the very last sight I beheld," when Halsin is freed from Orin, combined with, "Orin's blades. I hoped my friends would save me..." If he is killed by Orin instead and Speak With the Dead is used on his corpse. The tone of his voice in the first line, especially added to that bit in the second... he never thought the player was coming to save him. He HOPED they would. Not "believed". Hoped. He thought he was going to die there- just like how he was in the Underdark for THREE YEARS and no one came to save him. And if it's confirmed... Yeah. That. (Sidenote: if you ask his corpse if he has any regrets, he says not telling Thaniel and Oliver goodbye, and not getting to see their land flourish. :( My heart. :( )
6. "I... have not had true confidantes for some time. The Shadow Curse robbed me of almost all my peers, and replaced them with the weight of responsibility. Perhaps that caused me to gild undeserving memories of my youth." Halsin was so miserable and stressed being Archdruid that he romanticized his past as a sex slave, viewing it as a safer, even happier alternative. There were actually times when Halsin thought he might rather be a sex slave than continue to be Archdruid. In a sense, for the 100 years the Shadow Curse was around, Halsin was just as much a prisoner as Thaniel was in the Shadowfell, but Halsin's prison had invisible bars. The Shadow Curse took away his entire support system, and being Archdruid forced him to be the strong one, always, never allowed to be weak or scared, forced him to take control of situations when he hated it, forced him to spend his time sorting out people instead of being in nature. And he was MISERABLE. For 100 years.
7. "You understand me almost perfectly. Only my late mother may have bested you." (Said if you get one question wrong at the love dryad test). He misses his mama. :( Especially when you consider that if you steal Balthazar's "Mother Dearest" and taunt him about it, Halsin disapproves (and is the only one to do so), while returning her gets you approval (which only Halsin approves of). And then the line when you look into a mirror while controlling him, "more like my father, with each passing day..." He really misses them. :(
8. "I am loathe to see anyone behind bars. It reminds me of my time as a guest of the goblins." He is, secretly, still quite traumatized from his time in the goblin pens, but he brushes it off. Just like every OTHER time he is hurt.
9. "I am aware [of having a habit of getting captured]. Perhaps I put too much faith in my skills of negotiation, or want to see good where there is none. It would be easy to resort to nature's fury whenever something stood in my way, yet I cannot help but feel I would be sullying the Oak Father's gifts. Naive perhaps... but I still draw breath." Halsin is aware he gets hurt often because of his desire to see good in people until he has no other choice, but refuses to give up anyway (which is backed up by that letter Gut had on her where she reveals Halsin TRIED to help the goblins, saying he could cure them of their tadpoles, only to be thrown in the cage, with Gut threatening to have his stomach cut open and maggots placed inside it.) Further, even though he is an Archdruid, and one of the most devoted, and explicitly has Silvanus's favor (Halsin says that gaining his favor was the only way he was able to open the portal to the Shadowfell), he still constantly worries about using Silvanus's powers, to the point of wondering if an actual threat to his safety actually merits using his powers. Which... combined with some other stuff, reads like one hell of a problem with self-worth.
10. "At least you were not present. Grim as [the ruined battlefield] is now, it was worse on the day of the battle. A vivid wound upon my memory[...] I was lucky - I lived, when so many did not. It would take me a day and a night to recite the names of all the friends I lost" combined with, "I was [present when the Shadow Curse was unleashed]. Part of my spirit was shorn away from me here, and never left," and, if Last Light falls, "All gone... devoured by the shadows. Oak Father preserve us, it's just like a hundred years ago[...] We are [still standing]. Yet there is a burden to being the survivor... the witness to others' tragedies. It only grows heavier with time." He has so much PTSD and survivor guilt from the Shadow Curse. :( No wonder it's all he can think about- to the point that some of the other companions even get annoyed at him for his obsession.
11. "I never quite realised how burdened I was, until I met you. The threat of the shadow curse, the politics of the grove... I was forgetting who I was, but you lifted the fog. Thank you." Not only does this tie in with the above, with his PTSD from the curse and his utter misery at being Archdruid, but this HEAVILY implies Halsin had depression. Like... that "fog" line hits HARD if you have or have had depression, because that's exactly what it feels like. And the "forgetting who I was" bit too. Not just losing his sense of self to the depression, but to the neverending responsibilities of being Archdruid. I keep repeating myself, but damn, this guy has really and truly spent an entire century being absolutely MISERABLE. :(
12. "Forgive me. I... lost the run of myself. Sometimes, if blood runs hot enough, it's difficult to tame the beast." With that little disgusted groan/sigh, the fury and disgust at himself visible on his face, and the way he rushes to get out the rest of it- he thinks he fucked up so badly that you're about to leave him, maybe forever. And then if you reject him after this? "Ah... I see. Well, of course. Back to camp then." He has the most heartbroken look on his face here, and the way he says "of course" like he just... knew this was coming the instant he accidentally wildshaped. He felt that the first time he let ANY of his imperfections show, the player would leave him. :(
13. "Death is nature's final slumber - it awaits us all. Do not punish yourself over those lost, or give in to despair - not while there are still folk in need of your help." (Said to a Dark Urge if they tell him they're not much of a hero and most people needing them end up dead) Not only is Halsin speaking from experience here, but it's very clear he is STILL doing exactly what he tells Durge not to do, to himself- punishing himself over those who were lost, struggling with devastating survivor guilt.
14. "The grove has cut itself off from the world, to jealously guard its own little pocket of nature. No one shall ever enter or leave again. And I have been evicted from the very place I was charged to safeguard. A telling summary of my time as Archdruid, perhaps..." If the Grove is sealed and you ask him about it later, this is what he says. Interesting that he views being evicted from the place he was in charge of protecting to be a "telling summary." He was forced to take the leadership role there, and yet it was clear he wasn't wanted or respected by a great number of the Druids (exempting Nettie, Rath, and Apikusis). He got a truly thankless job that took damn near EVERYTHING from him emotionally/mentally, causing him to develop depression and causing him to backslide in his previous healing from his trauma from his time as a sex slave, he still gave EVERYTHING to the Grove, and in return...... almost none of his Druids appreciated or even liked him. (I could seriously write at least five metas about how obviously miserable Halsin was at the Grove, despite caring for it deeply).
15. "You could have done anything, gone with anyone... yet you chose me." Said at the epilogue to a solo romanced player who went to the commune with him. There's so many layers of heartbreak here. He is still surprised, six months later, that the player chose him. He even thinks the player will regret it, and will decide they want an adventurer's life after all after seeing everyone else. He doesn't think he is good enough- doesn't think he deserves the player, and yet at the same time he loves them so much that he is heartbroken over the possibility they might agree with him. He thinks that given a chance, there is little chance they would actually choose him again. (He is put at ease quickly when the player promises they picked him for a reason, but even the explanation he gives for why he was so worrie is heartbreaking- that he's so used to a tumultuous life that he thinks something must go wrong. He has been so traumatized so many times over the years that he just has almost no ability to think that true happiness is possible [or deserved] for him.) Something about that is just heartbreaking, even though his ending is one of the happiest of any of the companions.
Someone give this sweet bear man a hug, please :(
I ran an Aliens rpg years back. But the players didn't KNOW it was an Aliens game until halfway through the first session.
They thought it was a sci-fi game but they also thought the monsters were going to be zombies.
Over a period of 2 hours they then proceeded to make EVERY Aliens movie cliche "mistake" known to man. Because at the time they all made sense.
The characters in a story don't know they're in a story or what kind of story it is.
They might think their in a romcom instead of a slasher movie. And if you're not in a slasher movie, why the fuck would you search through every closet in your house just because a cup mysteriously fell off a table in the dining room?
reading a book with a medieval setting and i was v excited for it BUT these characters have such modern hangups about touch and personal space that i keep forgetting it's meant to be the fourteenth century. lads. get in bed together, it's cold.
like this man is freaking out about sleeping next to someone (for warmth) because he has never shared a bed before
sir??? you are from the fourteenth century??? surely this is not such a novelty to you
also so far christianity does not exist in this book. we have not even so much as mentioned passing a church while travelling.
i repeat: sir, you are from the fourteenth century,
#I know there’s suspension if disbelief #but why make that the setting if you’re just going to ignore all the rules? #why not go in for ‘and there was only one bed with five other people in it’ debauchery (via @cardboardcupcake)
honestly i need somebody to write "there was only one bed with five other people in it" immediately, that sounds like it's either going to be incredibly full of repressed yearning, incredibly funny, or just an orgy, and i would love to see it go in any and all of those directions
#ok five people in the bed. the two on the outside are in the one bed trope #the two on in inside are also in a one bed trope #but they’re separated by the middle person #who's genuinely dying of hypothermia and it’s kind of bringing down the vibe
@fis-paprikas this made me snort-laugh, thank you
Also a follow up on my last ask, I don't understand why people are so upset having to choose between the two characters, they both represent two thematically different playthroughs, of course you can't have both.
I was actually surprised to learn there was a way of having both Halsin and Minthara that didn't require the sheep exploit.
^
There's also people who are upset that Halsin is the only one who can break the Shadow Curse, which shows they have been paying no attention to the story imho
Reminds me of that cut dialogue for the Shadowfell portal where a player can ruin it by touching the portal (I think?) and Halsin is angry and asks why? And player can say “I wanted the glory.” Like how dare Halsin, the man who has suffered and toiled to cure the shadow curse for a CENTURY, be the one who does it? 🤦 fans can be so insistent on doing everything just cause they’re the player
@catch-all Yep, if the player tried to enter the portal, originally it was going to collapse it and make Halsin leave for good. If the player says they wanted the glory Halsin SCREAMS at them that it was never about glory, that he had specific skills that made him the only one able to do it.
Piecing together hints and various dialogues he gave in that instance plus the things that made it in the final game, it was the combination of: years of research into the curse, empathizing with and suffering with the cursed lands and its people, years of doing rituals to gain Silvanus's favor, wisdom and understanding, Halsin's power as an Archdruid, and (it is hinted) him being there when the curse was unleashed in the first place.
The only other person who could possibly fit all of those other conditions is MAYBE Jaheira, but she was never as devoted to Silvanus as Halsin and it's not likely she would gain his blessings the way Halsin did.
Years of research might be an understatement. It's been a century since the war ended and the Shadow Curse began. Even if Halsin hasn't spent the entire time studying the curse and trying to figure out how to lift it, remember that at one point he says he tends to get so focused on things people call him "obsessed". He hyperfocuses. It's probably several decades, half a human lifetime at least. My own belief is that he's so driven by the combination of remorse and a sense of duty that he's spent the entire century thinking about this and researching it, only making time for other things when they manage to invoke that same combination of guilt and obligation (like rebuilding his former mentor's circle at the Emerald Grove). He's pursued that research with a doggedness that gave him a reputation for being obsessed.
If Tav asks him about it in camp in Act 1, he says that everyone else who might have been able to figure it out is dead now. The other people who survived the war and who might have been able to do this have died in the century since it began. If they weren't one of the longer-lived species, there's been time for the children of adults who fought in that war to die of old age.
I don’t even have anything to add besides- spot in analysis. This hits absolutely everything the game tried to tell us. The best way to help a trauma survivor succeed is to let them make their own choices.
college bully girl: you're such a teacher's pet
kinky nerdy college girl: how did you know?
"hey op what does this mean?"
it means I think my sociology professor is hot and I want her to pull me around on a leash!
Autumnal
“An old god comes.”
“What? No. That’s just a cold front. It’s Autumn.”
“Yes, one of the oldest gods of all.”
so rude that fantasizing about writing alone is not enough to actually get the fic done. you have to actually sit down and write it. insane.
That rabbit/hare post is messing me up. I’d thought they were synonyms. Their development and social behavior are all different. They can’t even interbreed. They don’t have the same number of chromosomes. Dogs, wolves, jackals, and coyotes can mate with each other and have fertile offspring but rabbits and hares cant even make infertile ones bc they just die in the womb. Wack.
These
are more genetically compatible than These
and that’s why morphology-based phylogeny has Issues
@aviculor
The problem is perspective. People always think dogs are the ‘standard’ animal, the metric to use for whether or not two organisms “look like” they’re related. When in fact they’re a massive outlier due to the fact that we fucked up this lineage of wolf beyond recognition with selective breeding. It’s why people always say “breed” when they mean “species”, especially when talking about groups like lizards which can’t even be defined cladistically since some of them are closer to snakes than each other. To say nothing of fish.
I once read an article that emphasized there is no such thing as a fish. Sharks and rays, lamprey, lobe-finned fish like lungfish and coelacanth, bichir and sturgeon, and of course the multiple infraclasses of more “modern” fish groups are all only very distantly related to one another. They’ve maintained semi-similar body structures only because there are limited ways to efficiently move through water as a vertebrate.
This
And this
Are more distantly related from one another than you and I are from a lungfish
Which is absolutely fuckin wild.
Not only that, but all of us air-breathing land vertebrates, all the lizards and chickens and people and frogs, are closer to one another than those three “fish” are to one another as well.
these
are genetically closer than these
and…
these
are genetically closer than these
and my personal favorite, it really fucks with people…
these
are more genetically similar than these
COOL.
i’d just like to add that this
is more related to this
than this
this is not a joke—elephant shrews, ends up, are not shrews but are actually closely related to elephants.
Convergent Evolution—where it turns out to be so helpful to be A Shape that unrelated animals can become the Shape and wind up looking really similar
Halsin, to ascended Astarion when he is worried Astarion is abusing the player:
To give oneself wholly, and to have a lover totally in your thrall...? A harmless game, until it becomes real. I worry for the two of you, Astarion. For your sake, I hope some of it is just a fantasy, deep in your heart.
Halsin to spawn Astarion as Astarion falls in love with the player:
Astarion, I am astonished. To relish in intimacy again after such hardship is a wound many never recover from.
Halsin, to player if the player sleeps with Mizora, then says they were manipulated into it:
Oh. Then I'm sorry to hear the encounter left a sour taste in your mouth. It can be... an unfortunate reality. I just hope it doesn't dissuade you from exploring nature's bounty. If you ever want to talk, my ears are all yours. Any part of me is yours, should you wish.
All of these are sweet, kind, supportive comments, expressing sympathy at either the player's or Astarion's trauma depending on circumstances (even understanding Astarion's behavior as a fantasy), hope for their healing, and giving solidarity. (In fact, in the latter, he hesitates before "an unfortunate reality" like he's considering saying something else.)
But what does Halsin have to say about himself when discussing his sexual abuse?
I was a foolhardy young druid, intent on seeing the beauty of nature's unworldly fauna and subterranean glow for myself..
And
It was not ideal... but not without its positives either. I did what was necessary to survive. And perhaps a few things that were less than necessary.
In other words- everything to downplay and victim-blame himself. His fault for being a "foolhardy young druid" who went exploring, and it didn't count because of him "doing some things that were less than necessary," and he thinks he should be grateful because he wasn't one of the elves killed and made into a decoration or put to work in the mines.
He has so much love and empathy for everyone, even the elf who likes to snark at him, but precious little for himself.
If your plot feels flat, STUDY it! Your story might be lacking...
Stakes - What would happen if the protagonist failed? Would it really be such a bad thing if it happened?
Thematic relevance - Do the events of the story speak to a greater emotional or moral message? Is the conflict resolved in a way that befits the theme?
Urgency - How much time does the protagonist have to complete their goal? Are there multiple factors complicating the situation?
Drive - What motivates the protagonist? Are they an active player in the story, or are they repeatedly getting pushed around by external forces? Could you swap them out for a different character with no impact on the plot? On the flip side, do the other characters have sensible motivations of their own?
Yield - Is there foreshadowing? Do the protagonist's choices have unforeseen consequences down the road? Do they use knowledge or clues from the beginning, to help them in the end? Do they learn things about the other characters that weren't immediately obvious?
Thank you so much for this!
As always, the Irish speak nothing but facts.
How many more innocent civilians have to be killed by Israel before you condemn that for it?
That is a genocide.
That this is a crime on all accounts.
And deserves to be punished to the full extent off the law.
fun fact! sex workers, as the name suggests, are working a job!
you are not entitled to free content just for being “nice” to us! (by the way, we can tell that’s what your intention is, and you’re usually not actually nice, just flirty and uncomfortable)
you are not entitled to any kind of personal relationship with us just because you engage with our content!
we are working a job! it’s not a typical job, but it’s still a job! you are a customer, we are a worker. you’re not entitled to us outside of work, in any way shape or form.
get a fucking grip. learn to treat people with basic respect. you’re a grown adult, start acting like you’ve been socialised like one.
not only is this fine to reblog i actually actively encourage people to reblog this can we please be treated like any other fucking person trying to pay their bills
"[...] I somewhat envy this naturally beautiful man He never knew or encountered the hatred and shame that I bear The doubt, the cloak of disgust and the all-devouring dread And if I told him about it He might only shake his head With kindly amused, melodious laughter He then would perhaps merely smile at my... Oh, so stupid silliness... And the beast that is raging inside."
In Der Palästra, Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble Of Shadows
#HE'S SO SAD???? #no listen #this man has NOBODY #his family is dead #the grove was a burden #his homeland is swallowed in shadow #he turned to alcohol in his grief #a grief so palpable that it fused itself to a weapon #he brushes off his trauma in the underdark like it's nothing #BECAUSE HONESTLY? WHEN DOES HE ACTUALLY LET HIMSELF BE VULNERABLE #PROBABLY NEVER #UNTIL NOW #'I've taken many lovers. My heart does not stir lightly.' #sounds a lot like a man using sex to cope #the same way he used alcohol i bet #grief is easily one of the top causes of addiction #and if you let him down here he says 'but i was sure we had a connection...' #case in point: halsin decides in this moment that he will be vulnerable for you #you are not just a lay to him. you are someone worth fighting his own grief for. #he wants to love and be loved no matter how scary it might be #and larian had better give me more options to show him bc i swear to god #if i have to sit here and listen to the 'i only want you, but you can be with whoever!' line one more time WITHOUT the option to tell him that he's all i want too #i will be sad forever #/endrant
I LOVE HIM SO MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCH
So uh….some dude apparently recreated Adobe Photoshop feature-for-feature, for FREE, and it runs in your browser.
Anyway, fuck Adobe, and enjoy!
Give credit to the 30-year-old who worked on this for free and offers this service for free!
WHAT?!
I study graphic design and my tutor recommended and used this in his classes at art college last year, it’s so good it has SO many features for free, I really recommend it, even if you’re just trying to learn the basics of PS, such a wonderful thing <3
Ok little rant here because I keep seeing this kind of comments pop up.
Let’s talk Halsin and polyamory.
Because apparently making ace characters allo and gay characters straight is a crime against god, but nobody seems to care when poly identities are erased. I hate starting drama but it's honestly heartbreaking seeing how many people are happy to disregard Halsin’s polyamory entirely.
Does Halsin need better writing? Yes, he’s been done dirty by a rush job and Larian leaning a bit too heavily on the horny. But I think it's very telling that what some of you consider bad writing is the fact that you can't have a monogamous relationship with him.
I see people very hung up on this line:
Like this is some proof that Halsin secretly longs for monogamy but he’s too traumatized to admit it. Which is. Very insulting. He’s traumatized. He’s poly. The two things need not be related. If the only way you can conceive Halsin being poly is out of trauma, I don’t think I need to tell you just how yikes that sounds.
I’m personally not a big fan of this line. I always found it a little fetishy, like the game is giving you the go ahead to build a harem. But I’d also like to point out that the line doesn’t preclude the possibility he doesn’t want other partners right this moment, but might in the future.
People seem to conveniently forget the other instances where Halsin states his position on polyamory.
But all of this keeps getting brushed off in favour of that one line, because for some of you it’s inconceivable that a person would be capable of romantic attraction towards multiple partners. Like love from a polyamorous person is somehow lacking, weaker, less meaningful, inferior.
And it’s not just him, I’ve seen people pull this shit with Astarion and Shadowheart too, claiming that they’re lying when they say they’re ok with Halsin joining your bed. “He’s insecure!” “She’s lonely!” “They’re scared of being abandoned!” The implication here being that polyamorous people are broken, because nobody in their right mind would be ok having multiple partners, right?
Polyamory rarely if ever gets any decent representation, but god forbid you don’t take away the only scrap we get just because it makes you uncomfy.