#even if not in a linear way

[skunkes]

old drawings i found and enjoyed while looking for something else

#a doodley #i dont know what happened. some of these are from so little ago and i cant do em anymore #i used to take full color full body couple comms now i cant even draw oc self ship interactions anymore. #granted the comms werent that good either but ykwim i cant even do it for leisure anymore #and its also so weird when i look at my old stuff that i always have like. non linear improvement. it rises and falls all the time #thats not good! why cant i Keep what i learn! and why does Learning make my art worse when im trying to make it better.... #its crazy seeing how well i could draw faces (sometimes) before i started studying faces. now they rarely look as good. #alas. once again i feel im the result of a non artist forcing their way to it ykwim #an equivalent of a land mammal trying to live underwater

[syn4k]

to be, or not to be (romanticization of the inevitable)

#ray's tag #keys' art #undescribed #skeletons #ok to reblog #the skeleton model that i traced for this was provided by the incredible kiku @kikunai whom you can find right here on tumblr! #so uh. This is a piece about chronic fatigue although the original idea i had for it drifted a bit as soon as I started coloring the linear #(i really enjoy shading and lighting things and got a bit carried away here but i stand by my choice because this is my favorite thing #that i've ever drawn) #anyways. i often feel especially lately with school being back in season that my bones are leaden with this sort of. weariness. theyre heav #it weighs on our mental health and energy a lot and although there's a couple of reasons we have been given for it #that doesn't remove the fact that this is still a thing that affects us in a very real way day to day although we are good at masking it. #often i come home to find that i do not have the physical mental or creative energy to work on things i really want to #especially project: nexus which i feel extra bad about even though i can't help it because i just started it so recently #it is a mild to moderate struggle to make it day to day and i just. wanted to represent this somehow #my original concept for this was a skeleton with some black goop gunk whatever leaking from its joints #but as i started adding the cracks and coloring them gold (a personal touch; kintsugi is a concept that is very dear to us) #i realized that the focus here was less on the condition itself and more on the body that it afflicts. #so i put it into a spotlight. #ironic i know since very little people acknowledge this irl or even know it exists at all but i added rim lighting. I added color gradients #I colored the lineart and made it all fancy and even added a flare for the head to get the point across that even at its core; disability i #a performance. this is not implying that disabilities are fake in fact this is the opposite of that. i wanted to show that with disabilitie #especially i think in my personal opinion the invisible ones #we are all masking at least a little bit during the vast majority of the day. humans are social creatures and it is only when we are alone #or with someone we deeply trust where we allow ourselves to be who we truly are without fear and even then that can be rare #so i wanted to show this bit of the soul in as broad a limelight as i could. idk this is a really abstract piece and i dont know if anyone #will even get it but it matters to me at least. and even though we've been largely bedridden for the past week i think that's okay #we will get it figured out. all of us. okay? okay. i love you. i fucking love you. we are going to fucking make it #(also the xes over the eyes are because i thought they looked cool they have no deeper meaning at least i think they dont #actually i think they do but i cant put it into words idk. Art is subjective assign your own meaning i'm gonna go get a shower)

[katebeckets]

i know this is very specific to me being a therapist but god I wish the stages of grief weren’t written into the album storyline this way 😭😭 it’s not her fault people think they’re sequential of course but just thinking about how things get perpetuated in media and the massive influence she has (“in my ___ era” is just… so normal now?) and I can already see the five stages becoming some sort of meme… miss swift I don’t need my job to be any harder

#also… TikTok is the bane of my existence because teenagers are already so delayed due to Covid #like working with 15 year olds makes me feel like I’m working with 12 year olds #and add TikTok to that… #especially TikTok mental health… #NO ONE GET MAD this is just so unfortunate #even kubler-ross regretted calling them stages #because the whole point is they arent linear #anyway. this is very specific I know #lmao it’s also worse because I hate the way she talks about therapy 🙃

[a-snow-decahedron]

NOnonono but the entire point of the promise Sans makes to Toriel about "protecting the human coming through the door". Is that he really doesn't know who she is beyond the conversations they've had so far. And he doesn't know who the human coming out from there is. But they still trust each other to make it happen, regardless of timeline.

This happens regardless of Toriel's fate in the game. If you kill her, but not Papyrus, he still comments on this promise.

And here's the thing. He has to make the decision of trusting this woman he is fond of, but ultimately doesn't know beyond what they've shared together.

And Toriel had to make the decision of trusting him too. She is convinved that the world outside the Ruins will be hostile, because she knows what's happened before. And it fucking hurts to think it could happen again. And yeah I've heard all about it how she "rejected" her duty and didn't make the right choice back then. I think Toriel is somewhat aware of that. Her moving to the Ruins was a choice she made while grieving too, but it is a decsion that goes according to her integrity as well.

ANYWAYS I'm getting sidetracked. What I mean with this post is that the implications of trusting someone else with something that is so personal, because you know your limitations (because of flaws or any other cause), and having that person receive this in a good way is so important.

And while Sans is not the best at actively doing that job, it is still remarkable how much this promise is on his mind.

The VERY LAST THING he does before his No Mery fight is apologizing to Toriel, or his memory of her, because he had to break that promise.

This post is a mess but... I need to rotate them. And also I always get a little mad when people assume that Sans doesn't make that promise when Toriel dies, like in No-Mercy. Because the whole deal about the promise is that it happens before the game, it is not something anyone, not even Flowey, can affect, and it is a reflection of the closeness the two have, so placing this as something Toriel does only if she deems the human a good person, and something Sans only "keeps" when Frisk is pacifist just takes away that weight.

Also go play neutral routes they're super interesting to make character analysis. Different events affect different characters in specific ways.

#undertale #safeutdr #sans #toriel #no mercy #ut meta #analysis #UGGGSDKJ i love to think about them #ive always wanted to write a fic centered around this promise #maybe one day #but toriel and sans are both difficult characters for me to write and easy at the same time #i just want to get them right yknow #also yeah that last jab at the end goes to people who think only two routes exist #when in fact its in neutral routes where you see the most interesting bits of information #in a jarring way because the timeline changes ever so slightly even when it mostly follows the sane linear course as a pacifist route #BUT MY GOD PLAY NEUTRAL ROUTES #fran rants

[bisexualbuckl-y]

i can't stop thinking about buck's future reaction to this new eddie storyline in like a best friend way, because i don't know how aware buck is of how much eddie is struggling with his mental health lol, like how long ago was the last time they spoke about shannon in relation to eddie? does buck think eddie is over her death? or maybe not over but at least he's come to terms with it? i feel like we'll see eddie trying to hide this thing with kim and buck will surely know something's going on but i don't think he'll ever imagine something close to what's happening, and then aside from the lying and bad feelings surrounding the situation he'll also feel awful because he just didn't know how this was still an issue eddie was having... yk?

#911 abc #911 spoilers #buddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #like that's grief for you and that's how healing isn't linear and probably buck is aware of this #but i feel that buck;like most of us; when it comes to the people he loves; he most likely wants them to heal super fast and eddie was Fine #then again this reminds me of that merry exmas episode when maddie doesn't want to celebrate christmas #and buck knows it's because of doug and instead of understanding the situation he gets angry at her because christmas is another thing #maddie lost to doug? #anyway i don't know if this makes sense? i just keep thinking if this was my best friend lmao and i saw her dating her ex's doppelganger #how part of my reaction would be shock over realizing how not over him she is? even though she hasn't shown anything for me to know #or help her with... like when was the last time buddie talked about shannon? *in 701 we have chris mention her #but one thing is christopher and another thing is eddie... anyway that's grief pals that's one of the fucked up ways grief works like

[sharksliveontrains]

stories that express the fluidity of time and that your actions have an impact on the future and the past and the present and that you influence the world and people around you and that you are meaningful and

#and ​when you feel like you aren’t important and you have no impact you do maybe you just dont see it yet but #maybe your past self would be proud of you and care about you the same way you can care about your past self even when you’ll never meet the #idek if im wording any of this in a way that makes sense but time beign shown in a way that is fluid and not at all linear #just does something to me idk #like #interstellar #tenet movie #orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #looper #anywhos #txt

[akimojo]

people love to use ffxiii’s messy development as a reason to completely shit on the game but honestly the fact they managed to sneak in so many little details in the gameplay in a way that reflects the characters and story despite all the miscommunication between the dev sections is just impressive to me

#was xiii horribly planned out and missed out on a lot of important feedback because of the poor time management? absolutely #does that mean you cant be impressed with what the game achieved regardless of whether you liked it or not? fuck no #also the fact theres next to no bugs (not counting the pc port because... yeah) is amazing all things considered #and the graphics still hold up to this day #the linearity is everyones main issue with the game but look at x dude #x was linear as hell too but it makes sense bc yuna had a pilgrimage to follow #just as how it makes sense for the xiii cast to not have time to stop and explore cocoon while they were being hunted by the government #thats why you have so much more freedom to explore when youre on pulse #theres not even anything objectively wrong with having a game be linear in the first place #and the people complaining about the story being ''incoherent'' are just... wrong? #they give you enough hints within the dialogue to piece the story together yourself while also not leaning on exposition dumps to tell it #and if you cant do that then the datalogs are right THERE #games have relied on ''notes'' to tell parts of their story for ages now and i dont understand why its suddenly bad when xiii does it #i dont like sitting through exposition dumps and i like being able to analyse and theorize about a plot WHILE im experiencing it #and a lot of other people feel the same way so its not an objectively bad aspect of the game's storytelling #you just need to pay attention and be patient and wait for the story to unfold #i went off the rails but ANYWAY #aki stfu #final fantasy xiii

[bloomingbluebell]

hi im ranting (positively! this game kills me but in a good way) about breath of the wild again

i know it's controversial but i love the way the story of the game is told. because you start the game in the middle, perhaps near the end, of the story. the game is entirely through link's perspective and he wakes up knowing and remembering nothing. in turn, the player starts off knowing nothing. the past is revealed as the story goes along, and the player learns about the past and about the land as link does. there are little tidbits about hyrule and about the calamity scattered across the land. an old woman in hateno village tells you of an age of desolation that she grew up in. the travellers you see on the road are younger people because they're described by older characters as more bold, whereas the older characters grew up being told to never leave the village, it's too dangerous outside (compare this even to tears of the kingdom, where travellers are more common because the land has been safer. even older characters have left their home to travel elsewhere (not including the lurelin villagers)). battlefields are still strewn with old rusty weapons and deactivated guardians that no one but monsters will go near. myths and legends about the princess and hero have been passed down, to the point where their legitmacy is questioned and everyone has a different opinion on them.

it's environmental storytelling. it's things like seeing drawings and a bow in zelda's study and seeing a child reading a storybook with a hero that wears a blue tunic similar to link's. it's the stories that the villagers share about old myths that turn out to be true. it's the ruins scattered across the land, long since overtaken by monster camps but still unmistakably being houses that people once lived in. it's the utter lack of civilization anywhere remotely near the castle and the feeling of dread in the ruins of the town that surrounds it. it's a kingdom entrenched in its past, with no ability to move away from it until the calamity is finally defeated.

#head into the wall. i love this game so much #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #and no i dont hate totk for getting rid of the sheikah tech and replacing it with zonai tech #the zonai tech is foreign and new to the people of hyrule and theyre EXCITED about it #how many zonai researchers are there in totk vs how many sheikah researchers in botw? #people are wary of the technology that destroyed their home a century ago #and they're terrified of the guardians that still roam the land #i still hold that link likely was behind the reason why the shrine of resurrection was completely dismantled #it's kinda like majora's mask in which half of the story is in the side quests and the characters #mm had a plot yeah but it kind of accompanied the rest of the setting #link had a goal but he also had so many people to talk to #botw is similar. link has a goal in mind but he's also one to help others #and if someone literally just lost their chickens or if their husband is sick and needs medicine. he's willing to help them out #the world is just as important as the plot itself and i think i like that more #than just a linear plot which is accompanied by the world #botw totk and mm reward you for exploring #(along with some of the others like twilight princess and a link between worlds) #but it's very different i think when half of the game is about exploring #or more than half even. you have your goal but you have to get there first #and there are so many ways you can get there and so much you can encounter along the way #biting screaming crying #the bow is in zelda's room but close enough

[goldensunset]

amazes me that people can remember information about routes in pokémon games. like ‘i loooove route 217 ❤️’ ‘route 209 has such a banger theme!!!’ ‘have you made it to route 225?’ ‘you can find this rare pokémon on route 210!’ bestie those are numbers. those are just numbers to me how do you remember which area is which. i think i have a general idea of most of them but i still have to look them up every time i need to refer to them in conversation

#of course i know some of them #but a lot of them are like uhhh #they do count up of course but it’s not like the map is a perfectly linear thing #how am i supposed to keep track of all those. please just name placed actual names #another reason i love pla the map locations are names and not numbers!!! goodness. #paldea is like. ok there are a total of four giant provinces simply and aptly named after the four cardinal directions #easy enough #however the sub-areas are once again. numbers. #and because once again a map is not a linear thing those numbers aren’t helpful #also the way they’re spread out makes no sense. the south province is huuuuge with six different areas #yeah uhh area six and area five are on opposite sides of the map!!! why. #i think they’re listed like that based on how early they expect you to get there #like you start in area one of course #you probably won’t get to area five right away even though you theoretically could fairly early. i believe #but you would have no real reason to bc there’s no main story beat over there it’s a very quiet area #area six is mostly alfornada and the cliffs surrounding it which you REALLY can’t get to until later #point being. i know there’s probably some sort of logic to this numbers thing. but it’s still a confusing system #pokémon

[many-sparrows]

If you don't have at least a couple beliefs that would have gotten you convicted of heresy before 1300 A.D. are you even a practicing christian

#christiological heresy is very boring to me #trinitarian heresies are ways on my mind #i might even have created a few #shout-out to the greek fathers for trying to make things “make sense” #you failed at making it linear and we are still trying to get around that 1500 years later

[bucklikethedollar]

what the fuck. why am i older than the doctor’s current companion

#not even in the ‘rose was 19 and i am now older than that due to the linear passage of time’ way #ruby sunday was literally born in the calendar year after me #which is insanely fucked up #doctor who #ruby sunday

[obsidiannebula]

Husband apparently found some posts of people complaining about trying to play Divinity: Original Sin 2 after enjoying BG3. And to that I say, just be glad you weren't playing with my husband, whose favorite battle strategies were "Laser Ray everything and I mean EVERYTHING in his path" and "use Internal Combustion on allies to turn them into walking time bombs if that maximizes the number of enemies hit, and also out of combat just for fun"

#dos2 #no but im not surprised some people who loved bg3 are bouncing off of it cause thats just how it goes #when a franchise or developer gets mainstream acclaim after already making a lot of games #a lot of people wont even bother to look at previous games #some will #and some will come to love them just as much as old fans #and others will bounce off it because its less polished or just plays a little different #to me bg3 felt a TON like dos2 except with d&d rules with which i was already quite familiar #to people going backward to dos2 it may not feel as similar #dos2 is also much more linear #also playing a custom character is even less interesting than making a tav is #in both games the origin characters are just FAR more interesting ways to experience the plot than customs #but idk it is actually kinda fun to make a custom tav. in dos2 i do not recommend doing anything but an origin run #ugh i cant stop rambling dos2 is so good you should really try it #if nothing else you need to discover the far cooler version of elves #uh. cw for cannibalism with them though

[wherestarsarestillasleep]

Tenmyouji biker speech is like the most important scene in vlr to me. Without that it looks like the narrative never even questions akanes explanations and plans and motives and like i guess that's easy to do when you playing video game are also viewing it from a dozens of timelines at once as means to the true end perspective. And the other characters in that bonus chapter like clover and alice are so bizarrely understanding and not mad at her for kidnapping them. But it being junpei of all people who forces you to think about how every timeline goes on and is the single linear world there ever was for everyone else in it. When akanes plan is so much "i am going to kill jumpy 6000 000 times so i can make a happy world with jumpy :)". It's so important and it singlehandedly fixes something that wouldve really really bugged me and it makes akane and sigma better characters when it's explicit the game isnt just like exclusively believing theyre simply correct

#seriously it #really contextualises akanes state in those timelines as a tragedy in a whole different way than she even acknowledges #my like Whole Take on akane is based around agreeing with junpei here i think #and that in real life i cannot time jump so how could i possibly not empathise more with that perspective i guess #this goes back a lot into how i write aoi even in just 999 also. ESPECIALLY the safe end so fucking compelled by the safe end #its kind of middle ground i guess cause he's operating under actions that align with akanes multiple world spanning plans but ive always #assumed hes a relatively shitty esper so even though he Knows she's right he can't Feel it. he is also just one guy in a linear world #that like. semi puts that aside #finding happiness in a world that hates it... #junpei you hearing this shit!? #tag later #(still does not have a tag for jumpy my top 3 character)

[nathanialhowe]

that line of astarions where hes like "oh dont pout because you're not getting your sweet, cuddly astarion. i can't be the person you want me to be" in act 3 makes me go crazy wtf

#its so tastey ....... how are people mad abt his ascended ending its so narratively yummy ... leaving the cycles of abuse unbroken #is kind of epicc sometimes #like i got that on venlis playthru which was 80 hrs of hope and love and seeing the best in people so it was very thematically appropriate #idk it was kewl and felt like a callout for ppl who think growth is linear and all that. not even like astarion tries to be a good person #usually cus he heel-drags and resents altruism but with patience he can come to care about the player character in exquisite ways #i dont even remember what this was triggered by i think venli was talking to the gur and told him he had to help their kids or whatever LOL #hes just crazy hes like im biting and killing you for trying to see the good in me hows about i become worse #personal #delete #but also what he says to dark urge when you resist for the last time and its like 'you see? you dont have to be what someone made you to be #exquisite ... . ... #but also victory absolutely ascended him and it was fun and yummy and also narratively satisfying to see him go insane LOL #bg3 spoilers #just to be safe

[sirenscriptures]

i know i’m just a silly writing blog but i hope you know that this is also a blog for the girlies (gn) who never feel like they can fit in anywhere. that wherever they go they feel like they can never 100% truly be themselves with almost anyone. the ones who feel like their soul is too big for the body they’ve been given. the ones who feel like everyone else knows what they’re doing and they’re just stranded in the storm. the ones who feel like their presence is never fully appreciated by others and just “tolerated”. i see you, i hear you, and i love you.

#life isn’t always kind or easy #especially when you feel a certain way or have a not so nice image ingrained of yourself in your mind #but i am here to say i am 100% rooting for you #because i get it #oh boy do i get it #and it’s exhausting #there are some days (like this week and last) where i genuinely thought i was losing my mind #but you and i are still here #still persisting even if it isn’t linear #and i love you for it. #𓆩⟡𓆪 — siren’s song

[placeofwonder]

holy SHIT I guess I passed maths for computer science

#mine #personal #uni #i?? i have no idea where they found all those points but they did #the most surreal part is i would have passed either way but because performance on one big question was so bad #they took it out and counted any points for it as bonus points #so instead of 'holy shit i passed?' it's actually 'holy shit i scored 67/69 points??' #like. what #even with that question disregarded less than a third of people passed so like. i guess i did less badly than i thought huh #i also passed linear algebra with the same grade so. hell yeah my guys i can do maths now #still waiting on the grades for the two computer science exams #but not worrying about maths anymore is nice