I don't know who needs to hear this, but you're okay. Things might be really, really tough right now. And you're going to be alright. You're going to do whatever that thing is you're worried about. You're going to find an answer. You're going to be safe. You are safe. You are on no one's timeline but your own. You are going to be alright. Whatever is scaring you? Tell it that it's being heard. You know it's there. And it can take a back seat for a bit. I'll sit with you while you figure out how to string those exact words together and that's alright. I see you working through The Thing. I'm proud of you. I know I don't see all the labor that goes on behind the scenes. And you got this.
[excited about an aro friend getting a boyfriend] congratulations! [remembers that presenting romantic relationships as a universal goal to be achieved perpetuates amatonormativity] I don't care about your relationship at all [trying to reaffirm that I am supportive of aromanticism] and I hope you break up
I'm trying to whimsifi my life more when the motivation to work gets too low. So I have a candle and I replaced the normal light bulb with a flickering flame light bulb and I have enchanting castle courtyard esq music playing in the background like I'm some distressed squire (grad student) preparing to present my scholarly endeavors (dissertation prospectus) before the council (my commitment rip) lest I suffer banishment and pain of death death (cry)
Everything ended bad in my first run of suzerain rizia dlc in case anyone was wondering my whole bit was I wanted my daughter to be happy and love is love. My dumbass didn't realize you had to actually sign things into law in the side button I thought you'd get a pop up so my romus spent the first two years doing absolutely nothing but making out with pabel apparently only for me to run out of money and budget and the power went out and yes I did get to bully speaker manus into coming over for dinner in front of the entire delegation and see Vina marry him and be happy but pabel left me the night before their wedding bc i couldnt pass the homosexuality repeal so of course my romus went off the deep end after that he had no money or energy or transportation or alliances to authority to do anything but bribe rusty into killing adarfo and slinking into a depression as his country fell around him and the monarchy lost all power and communists invaded 😭💀🫣
now i know you don't have any strong opinions on petr vectern, but. howsabout that guy. for the bingo.
Is there a box for "a sad old drunk and a lousy lay?"
Overly long Petr rant under the cut! (This has turned into more of an essay than a bingo thing, fair warning!)
Here's the deal with Petr — Petr is a fantastically well-written, realistic character. I enjoy writing him! He gets lots of funny lines, he's more casual and modern than most of the cast, he comes off as likeable and always on the protagonist's side. He's also drinking heavily, showing up late for meetings, and oh yeah, having an affair with the president's secretary, who happens to be a foreign agent for an enemy government. The most obvious way to read him is as a tragic figure, a formerly capable politician and Anton's oldest friend, an aging playboy in a failing marriage who is desperately trying to patch over his insecurities with alcohol and sex with young women, whose terrible mistake leads to devastating scandal and the end of his career (and his life).
Then you go a little deeper -- you talk to his wife Evelyn, who tells you that Petr has a history of going after vulnerable women who aren't in a position to say no to a powerful man. Secretaries, waitstaff, campaign aides. You talk to Anton's wife, Monica, who's known him since university. She tells you she was the only woman in their circle back then who he didn't harass, because of her relationship with Anton. And yes, you talk to Lucian, who has also known Petr and Anton for twenty years, who says that Petr has always been like this, you've never been able to see him for who he truly is, and you still can't. And the picture gets darker. (Unfortunately, all three of these exchanges are easily missable, which I think is a huge oversight on the part of the writers.)
The problem is, the suzerain fandom (talking about the reddit fandom, suzblr is tiny and I'm not calling anyone out here) can't even take that first step, seeing Petr as a tragic character brought down by his own flaws, let alone seeing him as a (disturbingly likeable!) sexual predator taking advantage of his proximity to power. He's valuable because he's so loyal. They parrot Anton's excuses for him — he did what any man would do! (What a thing for him to say to Lucian.) His wife is lying about him because she's bitter! He's totally great in bed, Livia was just being a bitch to hurt him! There's no media literacy, nothing deeper than I like this character because he's funny and supports the protagonist, so he must be a good guy. Somehow "appropriately holding him accountable for the national security breach caused by his actions" is "scapegoating" him. The golden path is apparently to either take an equal share of the blame so he can have a last-second change of heart and go into treatment, or cover the whole thing up. Sorry, but he did all those things!
This is way longer than I intended it to be, so let me just finish up with a "so fucking doomed <3" He sure is when I'm running things!
Bruh I missed all of those interactions saying how bad Petr was so I saved him, put everything on "Livia" and he stayed my vp and now I need to play again 😩 😭
me when I find the one (1) suzerain enjoyer on tumblr and they also love monica for the queen she is!!! I read about those two evil scenes where you slap her/deana begs you not to hurt her and I felt so bad even though it's not my game....
there's many of us here! and i'm pretty sure we all love and appreciate monica for the great character that she is!
god, it's suuuuch a red flag for me when someone hates her with a passion. i don't mean go against her in a playthrough (i've done those horrible things in my evil playthroughs, and tried to stop all her attempts at fighting for women's rights, even though it HURTS), but like...game aside, if she bothers and annoys you so much because she's such a bitch who won't just play the docile first lady? uhhhhhhh, yeah i don't like you.
but we all love her here, anon, you're in good company 👍🏼
one of my favourite relationships in this game is the one between anton and deivid, especially with the prologue combination of either middle-class/rich anton whose own father was abusive or absent and then going on to work with deivid in the foreign ministry. the idea of deivid stepping up as anton’s mentor and a healthy paternal figure for him is so sweet. plus the fact that whatever path you take, deivid is proud he got to see his student achieve so much. i just adore deivid so much and him being anton’s spiritual dad is soooo,,,, i love them
also, the thought of the coup ending, with deivid noticing the signs and having to watch the exact same thing that happened to his father now happen to the person he views as a son. and once again being utterly powerless to stop it. oh man
Bruh listen he went from literally fully clothed neck to toe to itty bitty vest to nothing on top AND his hair got taken down there is no other explanation than purposeful fan service and I'm okay with that
I have some thoughts/questions about the avatar the last Airbender movie AND spoilers below (I got it spoiled for me rip I don't want others to if they don't want to know)
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So Taga "killed" everyone. I want to know how. Like. Great motivator. Good to see aang crash out. But I wanted the full fight. We only really saw Taga throw zuko in the air and drop kick the dude into a crater. Not a lot of build up to anyone else. It just felt a little quick to me?? Like these people fought in a war years ago and have been training since it felt weird to me like they shouldn't have been taken down so easy unless they were really trying to keep him alive but that didn't look like it. Was Taga just that much stronger? Did that go to show how militant the air nomads could have been? Or just how militant Taga was? I want yalls thoughts.
Do you think Odysseus, as one of his first acts of being in front of his son after twenty years, tried to spare him some fear?
"I hear you dare to touch my wife and hurt my boy"
He doesn't say rape yet. He says touch. As if that is enough to warrant the suitor's slaughter which--yes. It is.
He doesn't say torture telemachus, he doesn't say rape, he doesn't say dismember or kill. He says hurt, and that too is enough to warrant the suitor's slaughter.
Then he gets more pissed.
"You plotted to kill my son. You planned to rape my wife."
Less mincing of words now. More to the *ahem* point.
Do you think Odysseus paused for just a moment?
"You plotted to-"
torture rape dismember
What if he thinks he cannot protect him physically, Telemachus already has been beat up. So instead he thinks, If I can spare him any fear of what might have been--if one of my first acts can be to protect even only his mind--I will.
What anguish could Marc face in his starring episode?
Most of the Heroes who debuted in "Penalteam" episode have had their starring episodes in season 6, the only one missing is Marc and I'm left wondering what his story and development will be... 🤔🥹
The other heroes who starred in episodes recently didn't fare as well emotionally at first, so it's going to be very sad to see Marc sad (he's one of the most tender and passive characters on the show)...
Does anyone else feel like the miraculous characters should be older than they are? Like, maturity wise, time passage wise, etc. I imagine they are 16-18. And I'm from the U.S. so I'm not super well versed in how French school systems work, and maybe it's just bc I'm older that the "immaturity" of the show still feels applicable to someone in their late teens (maybe also someone who was a bit sheltered). All of the mlb kids, to me, fit that description with their affluence and lack of on screen monetary issues while still being involved in politics and they all know what they want to do with their lives, are relatively independent, etc. Theyre doing it, theyre doing the life thing, extremely well for the on-screen age of, what? 13? I more so imagine it as a kids show with almost-adults than a kids show with kids bc otherwise someone needs to get then emotionally regulated before continuing to give them all this responsibility sheeeesh
And I know I know they wanna match who they wrongly thought their target audience is but STILL here me out