when gore showed up during the thalmor embassy quest I was legitimately overjoyed. I was so happy—I had honestly thought he was just going to leave me until I got out. and I was NOT fucking looking forward to fighting all those thalmor on expert difficulty with my weak ass restoration mage build. I heard loud clattering and swearing from behind the door and was like GORE???!
speaking of the horrors brian goosebumpsphantomoftheauditorium is still So funny for being like yeah i'm a ghost i know i'm a ghost. & he's befriended the horror fan menace duo who are giggling clutching each other like omg omg okay. we're fine. we're breaking into the school at night to investigate the horrors aaaa what if there's a ghost eek ok ok!!! & brian ghost who knows he's a ghost is like omg guys aaaa stopppp ;;m;; suffering thee Most but he's not putting on an act to conceal his phantomly destiny. he's just like that
I could pull apart all the mistakes I made on handling and I debated doing that. I also considered clipping out the mistakes and just highlighting our successes. But the truth is we're both still pretty green and mistakes and a bit of frustration due to lack of clarity are normal.
It's not flawless. But teamwork requires practice and practice makes progress. I'm proud of the work he and I are putting in. Mistakes and all. Because at the end of the night he and I both had fun training together.
yes my friend might be slaving away cooking an eight person christmas dinner from scratch single-handedly. but i am making him cups of tea and controlling the speaker and saying mmm smells nice every so often so really who is the actual hero behind this meal
idk i think what is interesting about astarion to me is the fact that you have a guy who started out an asshole (normal type) and then spent two hundred years in a very carefully and specifically crafted (by the writers of the game) Become A Terrible Person Or Die nexus. like it wasn’t just a Torment Nexus, he wasn’t just in hell, i feel like this is very important not to forget, he was in hell but it was specifically a hell designed to, over time, kill the empathy of anyone trapped in it, kill their brain’s ability to prioritize other peoples’ survival, to numb one’s conscience.
and then he gets yanked directly out of that nexus and despite that the fact that he spent, again, two hundred years in a situation that was sort of a rock tumbler for the human soul, there’s still a pebble left in there. and it’s a pebble that can be grown if placed in the right environment and provided with a support network.
so i think it becomes interesting because it really does i think force you to start thinking about the limits of free will even on as basic a level as the human personality. i think the fact that he becomes such a different character based on player choice, that his end morality is so hugely dependent on player choice, is uhhh. a big part of what the devs were going for probably.
it makes a lot of people really uncomfortable to acknowledge some bad people would be good people if literally nothing changed except they had a good support network and different circumstances. especially because it means the opposite is also true. which is even more uncomfortable.
you know that part in the beginning of fellowship of the ring where gandalf is talking about how gollum is ultimately only like that because of the ring and gandalf thinks his story is sad? astarion is kinda like if they sexualized gollum.
Hey guys I have an announcement to make but also want to voice out something
Just recently, I found out that Etsy has been pro-Israel and have been banning Palestinian merchs on their online store. It made me feel guilty but at the same time I’m not surprised since Etsy has become a tad too commercialized for my own taste.
I also happen to tell my Dad about me boycotting from Etsy but the he made a very uncomfortable statement that I’m being pro-terrorists for doing that. It made me…unwell just hearing about it and then he went on about how Israel and Hamas are at war with each other (when that’s not the case and that it’s a genocide) and whatnot.
This put me in an uncomfortable position cuz I shouldn’t have brought up the topic in front of my Dad, but at the same time, children have been exposed to horrors in Palestine every waking hour and it’s just heartwrenching to think about it. I wanted to change my Dad’s mind and convinced him that’s not the case and that it’s wrong to think that but I’m also scared that I might permanently damage my relationship with him and probably my Mum as well.
I apologize for typing this out but it’s a scary thought to think about and I’m scared of being disowned by my family in Singapore but I can’t turn a blind eye at what’s happening with the people in Palestine.
WATT AU where everything is the same except instead of a cheerleading sleepover they’re just working on a group project for school. I think more people would end up dead than in canon tbh
In the aftermath of my big post about censorship, multiple people have left comments that boil down to, "it's okay to show heavy topics in fiction as long as they're portrayed as bad."
Let's take a quick look at an excerpt from the full ext of the Hays Code, shall we?
No picture should lower the moral standards of those who see it. This is done:
(a) When evil is made to appear attractive, and good is made to appear unattractive.
(b) When the sympathy of the audience is thrown on the side of crime, wrong-doing, evil, sin.The same thing is true of a film that would throw sympathy against goodness, honor, innocence, purity, honesty.
note: Sympathy with a person who sins, is not the same as sympathy with the sin or crime of which he is guilty. We may feel sorry for the plight of the murderer or even understand the circumstances which led him to his crime; we may not feel sympathy with the wrong which he has done.
The presentation of evil is often essential for art, or fiction, or drama. This in itself is not wrong, provided:
(a) That evil is not presented alluringly. Even if later on the evil is condemned or punished, it must not be allowed to appear so attractive that the emotions are drawn to desire or approve so strongly that later they forget the condemnation and remember only the apparent joy of the sin.
(b) That thruout the presentation, evil and good are never confused and that evil is always recognized clearly as evil.
(c) That in the end the audience feels that evil is wrong and good is right
This is the same Hays Code that supported Nazis. This is the same Hays Code that forced Jewish artists out of Hollywood. This is the same Hays Code that targeted artists of color, queer artists, female artists, any artist who deviated from the white American Catholic ideal. And it was explicitly Catholic, which I explained in further depth here.
The idea that art has to have a clear moral, which lines up with the dominant morals of white American Christianity, is foundational to the Hays Code. If you sound like the Hays Code, you need to re-evaluate.
Censorship and moral codes enforced on art are never used for anything other than oppression. The second you try to dictate what is and isn't allowable in art, you side with people who will enforce those rules on marginalized people with no mercy and no hesitation.
Censorship does not create healthy relationships with media, even the censorship you might be tempted to think of as "good censorship."
(And, as usual, being an independent censorship researcher does very little to pay my bills. Kick me a tip on Ko-Fi or pledge to me on Patreon if you want to support my work! <3)
also just in the genre of [winston having an absolutely heinous time] a premise that would never happen is like, winston knowing he's autistic, and the company having an afternoon like imagine a nominal collective / preemptive Sensitivity Training(tm) type powerpoint about all the hypotheticals of not being sueably shitty towards an autistic person in the business realm maybe, and winston increasingly Seething through all of it (and like you know like all the guidelines / info would be mostly shit in the realm of Inaccurate to Insulting to both, anyways) (but also b/c it's like There's An Autistic Person Here The Whole Time And Everyone Gives Him Shit Always And This Is Never Seen As An Issue (it's winston)) and having this moment like jeez winston why are you so mad lol is it b/c you think you're such hot shit smarter than everyone and you'd hate to have to respect an autistic person b/c you think you'd be better than them or whatever else, cue a) any superficial kneejerk interpretations of winston must be accurate b/c also As Though he has depth & as though he deserves further effort at consideration and b) w/great overlap: any Negative interpretation of winston's shit must b/c accurate, b/c he clearly sucks. tl;dr this symposium on how to be respectful / considerate Enough to hypothetical autistic people one could encounter in the workplace (diagnostically disclosed of course) and a definite autistic person everyone treats miserably being bullied into being nonverbal for resenting the entire situation
(also this would never happen b/c hr shit just doesn't exist. wendy wasn't even unequivocally in an hr role this finale when why in god's name wouldn't she be. and when she Was, say, in s5's first episode, you had people clearly harassing the newcomers as well as basically staging these "pranks" that could easily be assault that would clearly target taylor re: a user of any nongendered bathrooms here, not to mention that party also just making the like homophobic/transphobic/misogynist jokes about everything as they're called to come together on this, and wendy's response to this plus "but also taylor's quants are unfriendly, maybe" is "i'm so disappointed in all of you, it's All your faults & you're not trying hard enough" like thank you wendy. and then she resolves it all by pranking everyone Pretending to have a violent altercation really hard (only so much pretending though, wendy vs random employee's hardware that episode) like And That's Mediation. so i’m pretty sure they wouldn’t / don’t have anything like sensitivity training and i’m pretty sure even if anyone knew winston was autistic it’d be like well winston you need to try harder too (as is also like the general attitude like ah to be nd means Your social skills....are bad/deficient) anyways like yet more things he could just up & quit about like yeah fire me even, is there severance)
Alfred was checking the mail the manor had received that day when he found it. In between bills, fan mail, and company missives was a regal purple envelope addressed to one Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth. Intrigued, Alfred set aside the rest of the mail and sat to open the letter.
Inside was a high quality cardstock invitation of a metallic silver color decorated with luxurious midnight green script. It declared on the front:
“You Are Cordially Invited”
Alfred raised an eyebrow and flipped open card.
Dear, Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth
You have been cordially invited to participate in the first annual inter-dimensional bake-off to celebrate the coronation of the young, King Phantom, age 21, Ruler of the Infinite Realms, the Great One, Protector of Souls, Keeper of Peace, The Perfect Balance, The Infinite King, Ancient of Space and Reality.
We have discerned that you are among the top 25 bakers in the 11 most stable and prominent dimensions with an open connection to the Infinite Realms. Thus, we would like to offer you the opportunity to show off and test your skills against talented competitors.
Should you accept, all transport, accommodation, amenities, materials, and potentially needed medical care shall be provided by the King and his court. If you would like to bring any specific ingredients or tools you are welcome to file a request for them when you arrive and they shall be summoned to you at the start of the competition. You are allowed one plus one either as an assistant or moral support.
Should you have any questions please write them down and place them on the sigil on the next page and recite the incantation bellow:
“bonvolu respondi mian demandon”
The event shall occur in a fortnight upon the weekend before the kings official coronation ceremony. In order to confirm your participation in the competition please burn this letter with one of your most recently made baked goods. In order to decline simply dissolve this message under running water. Please confirm your attendance or absence within a week’s time.
Kind Regards,
the Council of Ancients
Advisors to the Good King Phantom
Well, it seemed like Alfred had earned a place in a rather prestigious event. ‘It seems a finally have a reason to make use of all those vacation days Master Bruce keeps insisting I must utilize.’ He smiled to himself, tucking the letter into his pocket. ‘I wonder if Master Jason would be amicable to accompanying me for a weekend of baking in a magical dimension?’
~
Just in case anyone has trouble reading the letter:
Dear, Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth
You have been cordially invited to participate in the first annual inter-dimensional bake-off to celebrate the coronation of the young, King Phantom, age 21, Ruler of the Infinite Realms, the Great One, Protector of Souls, Keeper of Peace, The Perfect Balance, The Infinite King, Ancient of Space and Reality.
We have discerned that you are among the top 25 bakers in the 11 most stable and prominent dimensions with an open connection to the Infinite Realms. Thus, we would like to offer you the opportunity to show off and test your skills against talented competitors.
Should you accept, all transport, accommodation, amenities, materials, and any potentially needed medical care shall be provided by the King and his court. If you would like to bring any specific ingredients or tools you are welcome to file a request for them when you arrive and they shall be summoned to you at the start of the competition. You are allowed one plus one either as an assistant or moral support.
Should you have any questions please write them down and place them on the sigil on the next page and recite the incantation bellow:
“bonvolu respondi mian demandon”
The event shall occur in a fortnight upon the weekend before the kings official coronation ceremony. In order to confirm your participation in the competition please burn this letter with one of your most recently made baked goods. In order to decline simply dissolve this message under running water. Please confirm your attendance or absence within a week’s time.
Kind Regards,
the Council of Ancients
Advisors to the Good King Phantom
The Esperanto translates to “please answer my question"
In “What Was Meant To Be” and “What They Became,” I discuss how the turtles were created by Draxum to be weapons and then how the boys were embraced by Splinter to be a part of the Hamato clan.
I also discussed how Splinter viewed television as a window into his former life. He used television as a means to drown himself in a never-ending cycle of reminiscing the past and mourning his former self.
Splinter’s crushing depression, though never voiced, impacted the turtles’ emotional growth and development. As a result, all four brothers had to cope with their father’s lack of attention and his expectations for their lives in their own way…
However, I believe that no one had more pressure placed on them than Raphael Hamato.
Raphael is naturally easy-going, sweet, fun-loving, and supportive. But, as the oldest/biggest turtle, he became the impromptu leader of their little team by default. Consequently, he takes on several different roles for the sake and well-being of his family.
Their day-to-day training regimen is directed completely by him.
He is the boys' moral compass and who they go to for guidance.
He's the team’s backbone, support, and backup, which often cumulates in him acting as a physical shield when things get rough.
And, most significantly, Raph is the leader even when he himself wants nothing more than to crumble to pieces.
Raph is so physically imposing, strong-willed, and devastatingly kind-hearted that it’s easy to expect these roles from him.
But, Raph is also just a child.
In reality, these roles should never have been Raph’s to bear…
Parentification is a process in which a child or adolescent is forced to act as a parent to their siblings (or to their actual parent) through providing emotional support (Emotional Parentification) or physical support (Instrumental Parentification) in order to maintain the household.
I believe that Raphael was subjected to both, but was especially subjected to the former.
All of the roles described above are the roles of a supportive parent to their children (or Sensei to their students.) To verify this claim, you needn’t look further than the roles that Splinter encompassed in any other iteration.
With Raph, none of this responsibility comes naturally. He has to work hard to live up to the pressures and expectations placed onto him, resulting in a dissonance between his responsibilities and his true nature.
I believe that you can see the evidence of this dissonance in his chosen form of dress.
Have you noticed that when Raph casually dresses himself, he mostly wears white?
Even Donnie picked up on this trend when he chose outfits for his brother in "The Clothes Don't Make The Turtle."
(See "The Fashionista" for a full breakdown on Donnie's impeccable fashion sense.✨)
Yet, when Raphael is filling a role, or dressing to impress others, Red is his automatic go-to.
It’s almost as if the title of “The Red One” was not one that he chose, but one that was merely placed onto him.
But I digress...
Raph is able to be a pseudo-parent to his brothers and serves to fill in the gaps that their actual father could not fill. However, with no outlet for his own insecurities, all of that pressure had no relief.
And, if you understand chemistry, pressure, with no release, creates an explosion.
“Acting out” is an unhealthy defense mechanism in which one expresses their unacceptable feelings through physical actions.
In this case, the "unacceptable feeling" is disappointment, not at his brothers, or with his father, or with any external force, but with himself. And with no outlet and with no one to turn to for support, that disappointment turns into red hot anger.
He’s so disappointed with himself, in fact, that he reaches his breaking point.
Then finally, finally, he opens up.
And at long last, he gets the support he so desperately needed.
Thus, he is able to ultimately let it all go...
It's so lovely to see that his family does not disappoint.
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Next | Being Baby Blue • Being Purple ○ Part One • Being Purple ○ Part Two • Orange, Baby!