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vitos-ordination-song · 5 months

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I’m going to do other things now but. Here’s my final thoughts. They said that The Wire s4 was tragedy porn, voyeuristicly presenting the audience with misery so they can feel good about bearing witness to it. They also try to frame the show as so liberal that the only conclusion it can come up with is after-school programs, and that otherwise it’s acting as if all we can do is throw our hands up at the brutality of American life.

But what they’ve missed is that the show IS critical of the capitalist system. They must not have done research, because David Simon has said as much. And maybe the issue is just that they don’t think that shows up enough in the series. However, they don’t engage with the text and frequently get details wrong, so I think it’s more likely that they didn’t rewatch it, or only rewatched a couple episodes. I think that they originally saw it as young liberals and liked it, and are now trying to overcompensate by castigating it and thus their ignorant past selves, or something like that. But they’re remembering it through skewed lenses. Even if you think the show is too pro-cop or too liberal, many of their takes were simply factually incorrect. For instance, they say that the show is pro-Democrat and that voting blue is framed as the only solution. I don’t even need to explain to anyone who paid attention to the show why that’s wrong. And the NUMBER ONE solution that is ABSOLUTELY CLEARLY COMMUNICATED by the show and David Simon himself is ending the drug war. Call it reformist, it is still an actual policy that would make America a better place! The fact that they never even bring it up, and instead say s3 was a metaphor for the Iraq war, is incredible. And given that money, corruption, and economic disparity are the driving force of every single plot line, I also don’t think the anti-capitalist leanings are deniable. David Simon has even said that the Greek is meant to be the representation of omnipotent/omnipresent capitalism. Matt and Felix complain about the show being too obvious but they apparently missed this.

Let’s go back to season 4’s tragedy porn. Well, if all these themes and social critiques are the point of the show, season 4 is actually VITAL to the story. Viewers aren’t supposed to sit there being titillated by Mike, Randy, and Duquan’s stories—they’re supposed to want to do something about it! Is there something inherently explorative about depicting real-world situations people end up in? They said it Duquan’s story was “too sad.” Do you know what’s actually too sad? The fact that millions of children around the world are in similar situations. I’m not saying the show is perfect, there’s a hundred things I could say to criticize it. But to act like characters as well crafted and believable as Michael and Duquan are just there for liberals to stroke themselves to? I don’t buy it. They have too much dignity, too much agency despite their circumstances! They’re not only victims. Even Duquan still chooses where he ends up. The show just explores the sick circumstances which leads the characters to their fate—it does an amazing job of balancing individual and society’s interplay. But somehow while saying that the s4 storyline is just tragedy porn, they ALSO claim that the show doesn’t do enough to establish the many, primarily economic reasons kids end up being chewed up by the system. THAT’S THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE SEASON.

Frankly, the reason I love The Wire more than any other American drama is that it goes there. It depicts people from all walks of life, even those whose stories are rarely told. I may sound prudish or moralistic but genuinely: I’ve had enough of the protagonists from the kinds of shows they like. I enjoyed what I’ve seen of The Sopranos, it’s not like I thought Deadwood was bad, and I haven’t finished either so I’m not qualified to talk on them. But I’m tired of “[almost always white] man is evil and ambitious, let’s explore his psychology” stories. I can like them in movie form (There Will Be Blood), I can appreciate them when they’re well executed, but god they’re so overdone. We have a million of the fucking guys. We have only one of Mike, Dukie, Randy, and Namond. That’s why The Wire is superior to me.

Even tho I spent a lot of the night mad, I’m actually glad I watched that video. I’ve never articulated my thoughts on The Wire as much as I did tonight, fueled by pure rage. I’ve still only seen a few interesting takes on The Wire, but I suppose this was one of them for how bafflingly wrong it was. In my attempt to describe how, I came up with the above and many other thoughts. I also spit out a whole verbal essay on the portrayal of cops on the show earlier, as well as its journalistic realism vs. TV genre tropes and conventions. But anyway, I can understand why ppl don’t like certain things about The Wire, even if they don’t bother me, but this video was just ridiculous.

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klaus-is-the-real-number-1 · 4 years

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She moves in her own way (Number 5 x reader)

Ask: Could you do a Five x reader where the reader is sarcastic like him, but polar opposites at the same time? Like they are scared to talk in public and prefer tea with milk and sugar, they try to be very kind and sweet to others. They bonded over a book they were reading in a coffee shop and starting talking there, they were super shy, but after a few minutes of conversation Five got them to open up?

A/N: Hope you enjoy this! I changed it up a bit to being in a library first like getting the book then into a coffee shop. i uh posted this then deleted it so this is like version two that might be better but now im just stressin,, this could also be made into a pt 2 tbh

Words: 1559

Books towered high in the dimly lit building, the smell of paper resonating throughout with history dripping from every page. Aimlessly, your fingers skimmed over the spines of the many books, the worn down fabric feeling like a secret code telling all their secrets of every reader. As you walked you waited for a book to call out to you, for you to read every word as if it was the last time you would ever see a book again. Then a calling came, causing you to stop dead in your tracks. Pulling the book from its tightly packed shelf, you peer at the familiar cover; a book that you could recite every word without flaw yet every time you read it you felt like a child opening a toy on christmas. Gently, your thumb ran over the endented title of the book, The Odyssey by Homer.

Book in hand you walked down the stairs, hand running down the wooden banister that leads to the desk, it was a familiar walk down the spiral steps. Your gentle steps echoed throughout the library as you descended, preparing your library card to sign the book out for what must be the near 20th time. Smiling at the familiar receptionist, you slid the book along with your card towards her and watched her scan your card before taking the slip out of the front of the book, just before she scanned it she looked at it to be met with line after line filled with your name from checking it out.

“Hun,” She says as she just puts the slip back into the book. “I’m going to let you keep this book.” Before you could even open your mouth to protest she cut you off. “I insist, hunny, you seem to be the only one who ever signs it out and we can always order another.”

“Thank you so much.” You smile at her, slipping the book, your book, into your bag. She slides your card back over the counter towards you and winked as you picked it up, smiling again, you head towards the doors and onto the busy road. The streets were bursting with life, cars beeping and whizzing past and people loudly talking. It was a contrast to your slow quiet life, keeping out of the way and too yourself as much as possible. Most would see it as a tragedy but the ability to lose yourself into another world is something magical, to shut away all your problems and become someone else.

One drop of rain fell from the ever darkening sky, only to turn into two, to three to be an increasingly heavy stream, your pace quickened as you saw the neon light for the town diner coming into view, offering itself as a safe haven from the ever worsening weather. The bell chimed as you walked in, warm air hitting your face as it snuck out the door behind you before you could close it.

Once you were in you spot an empty table in the corner, out of the way of everyone and pull out The Odyssey, eyes reading the words that you had read over and over again. Your finger danced over the page as you read, getting ready to turn the page.

“Tell me, O Muse,” A boy said as he slid into the seat opposite you. “of the man of many devices-”

“Who wandered full many ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of troy.” You finish the sentence and lock eyes with him, only to look back down to your book when his eyes started to linger for too long, making your face turn red. You knew all too well the opening lines to the Odyssey, not even having to think about what came next.

“What can I get you guys today?” The waitress smiled at you both, yet the boys calculating eyes never left yours.

“Please can I get a tea?” You asked softly.

“With sugar and milk?” You just nod at her and smile, watching her return the gesture.

“Coffee,” He says still looking at you before sharply flicking his eyes to the waitress. “black.” Then his eyes landed right back on you.

“Thank you.” You say to the waitress before she walked away, your eyes trail down to your book but become distracted as holes were being burnt into your soul. “You know it’s rude to stare.” A smirk broke across his face at your words, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest.

“I didn’t realise people causally read Homer.” His eyes continued to burn into yours, clearly enjoying your ever reddening cheeks.

“Can one not enjoy a classic piece of literature?” You posed, placing your bookmark into the worn book before setting it down onto the table. Breaking his gaze to look at the waitress as she placed your drinks on the table, you smile at her before gripping your hot mug, letting the warmth seep into your fingers.

“Do you know it in ancient Greek?” He sipped his coffee, seemingly challenging you.

“Not yet but I’m learning, it’s hard to teach yourself a dead language.” You look down at your book, unable to match his stare without making yourself too uncomfortable. He clearly didn’t get the hint from your fidgeting and now crimson face how uncomfortable you had become, or maybe he simply didn’t care.

“I’m fluent,” He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe I could teach you sometime-”

“Yeah, let me just clear my schedule for a stranger who has been staring at me non-stop and being kind of creepy, seems like a solid plan.” You sarcastically say to him, taking a sip of your tea. For the first time he looked away from you and smiled to himself, being shocked at you sudden sarcastic outburst.

“I’m Five.” He stuck his hand out for you, your eyes flicked from his face to his hand before reaching over and taking it.

“Y/n.”

Five seemed to relax, talking in a softer tone and easing off the staring. He started asking questions about you, mainly your reading and opinions on Homer, as well as opening up about how his father made him learn it in ancient greek from a young age. Five was a very peculiar boy who hid behind a mask, he was a closed book with a lock around it but you were determined to find the key.

Somehow, you had cracked and agreed to his offer to teach you the dead language of ancient greek but the way his face broke out into a genuine smile made it worth it, as much as you didn’t want to admit it it, Five was growing on you.

The next day you found yourself sat in the library, legs swinging freely under the chair you were sat in, eyes following Five as he walked up and down the aisle looking for books. Just when you thought he found the right one, he’d sigh and place it back to then walk to the next set of shelves. Eventually he gave up his search, sighing in defeat as he returned to your table. “Come on, I’ve got the books we need at my house.” He pulled you up by your hand and began a fast paced walk with you trailing behind him like a lost puppy.

Not paying attention to where you were walking, you bump into Five who had stopped dead in his tracks, now facing a large building. Hand still in yours, he stepped forward and pushed the gate open and made his way to the door.

“You live here?” He just smiled at your question before continuing up to the door. His house was like a mansion, it was a mansion, taking up nearly a full block. Silence filled the air once Five closed the door behind you, the large building having no signs of any other life. He gently took your hand again and started walking through the mansion. Dust particles were floating like fairies in the streams of sunlight that beamed through the windows, illuminating the wooden furniture and portraits that looked as if they hadn’t been seen in years, stuck in time until someone would come along and free them.

Suddenly you found yourself in a brightly lit room, your eyes took a second to adjust before being able to get a good look. You were met with shelves on shelves of books, definitely being able to qualify as a library on its own. Dust caked the books, like it was a room frozen still. “Wow.”

“No one really comes in here anymore.” He says leaning against a large wooden table.

“If I lived here, I’d be in here all the time.” His eyes followed you as you walked over to one of the shelves, running your finger over all the pristine condition books, each one woven in fabric with a hardback cover. “You’re staring again.” You say as you turn to Five, his eyes locking with yours.

“I just haven’t met anyone like you before.” You smile at his words before walking over to the table and placing your bag down. His eyes lingered for another few seconds before he jumped into life, confidently pulling out books from the shelves like he knew where they were from memory. “Alright, let’s do this.”

#number 5 #number 5 x reader #number 5 fluff #number 5 imagine #number five #number five x reader #number five imagine #number five fluff #five hargreeves #five hargreeves x reader #five hargreeves fluff #five hargreeves imagine

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luanna801 · 3 years

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Your favorite story with a full-blown Downer Ending?

This is actually pretty easy for me, because a lot of stories I love are full-blown tragedies. The most obvious place to start is probably Shakespeare's tragedies, of which my absolute favorite is probably Hamlet. And that's such a cliche answer, I'm tempted to say something else, but I think it's also the honest one. I love the writing, the drama and the themes about family and revenge and loyalty, but most of all I think it just really resonates with me as someone who's struggled with depression.

I'm also a big fan of King Lear (the play that made me originally fall in love with Shakespeare!), Othello, and Romeo & Juliet. And I have to give a particular shout-out to the 1968 movie of R&J, which is one of my favorite movies of all time. Everything about it is stunningly perfect to me, from the actors (both leads are perfectly cast for their roles and the supporting cast is great too), the incredible score, the gorgeous (and, overall, quite historically accurate!) costumes. Literally my only complaint is that they had to cut a bunch of stuff from the play to fit the movie runtime, and I'd have happily sat through another hour.

On a related note, I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that I also love Marlowe's tragedies, particularly Doctor Faustus and Edward II. Marlowe's writing has a sharpness and power (and at times, a poetic beauty) that's unique from Shakespeare's, and I love his use of language and the pathos of his lead characters. Faustus has an incredibly complex and compelling dynamic between Faustus and Mephistopheles, and the themes about what it means to be damned and how you can be the agent of your own damnation are really interesting. Edward II is much more political, and I think Marlowe does a great job of balancing Edward's failings as a king (and a person) with his sympathetic qualities and his love for Gaveston.

I haven't read a lot of Greek tragedy, though I def. want to read more someday, but my favorite is probably Antigone. I remember reading it as a teenager and being blown away by what a strong and unique character Antigone is, especially for a female character written in that era. It's rare to see a woman portrayed as so devout and virtuous and yet also so strong and stubborn (to a flaw, really - the woman cannot back down or give a single inch, come hell or high water), and not see her be demonized or condemned for any of it.

Going a little more modern, two of my all-time favorite books are Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray, both of which end pretty dang horribly for almost everyone involved, but good lord is it a deep and satisfying and gorgeously written road to get there, in both cases. I genuinely think Frankenstein's Creature is one of the most interesting and compellingly written characters of all time, and it's a dang shame that adaptations so often take away his intelligence and complexity. And I think in both of these books, the supernatural/sci-fi elements and the Gothic drama are used in a great way to explore these questions about humanity and morality.

Depending on how you read it, I think The Godfather also qualifies here. Unlike the main characters of literally every other work I just mentioned (spoilers?), Michael Corleone is still very much alive at the end of the first movie, and for that matter the second we don't talk about the third. But I think seeing him go from a sweet and idealistic young man, to sinking deeper and deeper into the world of the mob and becoming the worst version of himself, reads to me like the arc of a modern-day tragic hero. He might be left standing at the end, but at what cost?

Then there's also the fact that I love historical fiction, and many times those are based on the stories of real people whose lives ended tragically. You could definitely mention Marlowe's Edward II in that category too, as well as a number of Shakespeare's history plays (though neither Marlowe nor Shakespeare was ever that concerned with historical accuracy). But again, going for something more recent, two of my favorite movies are Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), which tells the story of Anne Boleyn's rise to power, downfall, and eventual beheading, and Wilde (1997), which ends with Oscar Wilde's imprisonment and his life basically being destroyed by his conviction for "gross indecency".

I think there's definitely a certain fascination with tragic historical figures, and what their stories tell us about the ways society failed them, and thinking about the missed potential if they'd lived longer. But I think in the best tellings of those stories, the ones that really honor those people, it's about more than defining them by the way their lives ended. You have to remember their strengths and their joys and their triumphs and loves and everything that made them human, and not just portray them as walking tragedies or cautionary tales.

I think in all of these stories, they might end badly, but that doesn't make them joyless to read or watch. Because there's so much beauty and complexity along the way, and in some cases incredible joy before the tragedy, too. One of the things I love about the '68 Romeo & Juliet is that despite it being a tragedy, the early scenes are so dang JOYFUL. There's this scene I wish I could link, but I don't think anyone's posted it online yet, where after the balcony scene Romeo just runs off whooping and giggling in pure joy, like the smitten teenager he is, while there's this gorgeous swelling music and the Italian sunrise in the background, and it's honestly one of the most pure, exuberant, uplifting scenes you'll ever watch.

I've said this before, but it's also VITAL in a tragedy that the ending makes sense for the story and the themes, and isn't just being a downer for its own sake. I think in all of the examples I mentioned, the ending feels like the inevitable conclusion of everything that came before it, and that makes it satisfying to watch even though you might feel for the characters and wish things could have gone better for them. There really is a unique catharsis to watching an ending like that.

#replies #mirrorfalls #tragedy #this is such a long answer gdi #sorry I didn't just limit myself to one example #but I hope you guys find my thoughts on this interesting

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seance · 3 years

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2020 content creator tag

RULES: answer the questions and then tag 10+ other creators to answer the questions!

finally got around to do this, terribly late i know and i’m sorry but i swear i wasn’t ignoring all the incredibly talented people who tagged me! thank you so so much for thinking of me guys ♡ probably lost some @ in the process cause my notifs are a mess. @goinesjennifer @juliesmolina @faeryglass @almondchestnut @olisgifs @andyoudoctor @yenvengerberg @iridescentides @juliesmolinas

first creation and most recent creation of 2020: god, i already said this but giffing really became my #1 coping mechanism this year so i have a LOT of stuff just from this year. the first one is this THE WITCHER INTRO CARDS gifset and the most recent is actually my julie’s gifset from yesterday but i’m not satisfied with it so! i’m gonna say this KLAUS AND FIVE PARALLELS gifset instead.

one of your favorite creations from 2020: oof, this is super difficult because i get attached to most of my creations, even if they don’t come out as i initially hoped. i’ll go with this five gifset BIRDS HOVER THE TRAMPLED FIELD just because it’s a perfect example of a rare occurrence aka when both my inspiration and my vision and my skills align and i manage to create something exactly how i first imagined it. and also because i think there’s not better fitting poem for this man.

a creation you’re really proud of: i have a few but maybe this ODE TO NUMBER FIVE gifset just because i had a very specific vibe i wanted to give off and i think i managed alright with the colors, texture and design choices! and then i can’t not mention this YOU WERE ALWAYS GOLD TO ME gifset just because i literally poured all my heart into it. this song and these people mean so so much to me.

a new style you tried this year and a gifset that uses it: my style really evolved at the speed of light starting july and i still can’t believe the things i learned once i just let myself try. i keep having new ideas and trying really hard not to dismiss them and see if they work out, telling myself it’s okay if they don’t! i think this ALLISON HARGREEVES gifset basically has it all: the blending, the font work, the shape play. or even this JATP + BODIES OF WATER type of style, complex blending such as this one WILLEX SUPERSTAR is slowly becoming my trademark and i’m not mad about it, i love playing around with fonts like i did in this ALEXREGGIE gifset even if i know it gets really crowded and hard to read sometimes, or even with lines and block of colors like i did here JATP BORN FOR THIS, i finally got back to play around with textures JATP SCRAPBOOK and even JATP DISCOGRAPHY i also tried my hand at creating entire new “atmospheres” playing with specific visual choices like i did in the HARGREEVES AS PARANORMAL INVESTIGATORS set.

your favorite coloring: okay you guys know coloring is easily my favorite thing to do in the world and i’m usually pretty proud of every outcome because i remember how difficult it was for me, for years i thought i would never learn but i still did it, all by myself just keeping trying like a madwoman lmao basically all my the umbrella academy gifset are my pride and joy because did you see that show? how shitty the lighting is? gifmakers need a miracle every single time. so i’m gonna list a few that i still look at fondly ♥

THE SEVEN HARBINGERS OF THE APOCALYPSE

WILLIE AND CALEB

YOU CAN SET YOURSELF FREE (HARGREEVES)

SEASON ONE FAVORITE EPISODE

ALWAYS GOLD TO ME

THE OLD GUARD + RICHARD SIKEN

a creation that took you forever: basically everything i do ahah just because one way or another i always get stuck on something for hours at end be it the fonts or the colors or the scene choices. but i’d say this STRONGER + HAGREEVES SIBLINGS gifset just because my inspiration went off and i decided i wanted to try a bunch of different techniques all at once and my brain didn’t let me rest until i did it all. to think it all started with just that “everyone will know me by a different name” line, oh my god.

your creation from 2020 that received the most notes: this VANYA + HER SIBLINGS LOVE gifset with 15.406 notes that i kinda hate because what’s up with that font? and the ugly coloring?! totally gonna remake this one because they deserve far better.

a creation you think deserved more notes: oh my god deep down i want to be selfish and say so many because that number never really match the effort i put in most of my gifs but i’ve also learned not to get too bitter about that, few people rb it, even fewer people comment on it but those people are worth more than anyone else. if i had to chose i’d say either the ALWAYS GOLD TO ME set just because it means so much to me, this ALEXREGGIE set that was so fun to make and i love how the colors and the font work came out, this VANYA + EMPATHY set, and this SWEETIE LITTLE JEAN one.

a creation with a favorite scene/quote: i rarely do actual, canonical quotes and i never use just one scene gsjds- so i’ll go with this DIEGO + LOVE FOR HIS FAMILY one even if i don’t like the font and again ALEX&REGGIE being themselves.

a new fandom you joined and a creation you made for it: considering i was already the umbrella academy and the witcher obsessed i’d say the old guard (YOU KNOW ME WELL) and julie and the phantoms (FAVORITE FRIENDSHIP)

a creation you made that breaks your heart: oh, if you know me even one bit you also know i thrive on angsty feelings, they’re usually my main inspiration not gonna lie so choosing is not that simple! again, this KLAUS AND FIVE parallels gifset because of the sheer tragedy of their lives, this SWEETIE LITTLE JEAN five gifset, this KLAUS HARGREEVES one and this I WANNA BE NUMB AGAIN, this DEAR FORGIVENESS, YOUR BOOKER because this man is a walking tragedy (and this PIECES OF ME DIE ALL THE TIME too for good measure) and then this HARGREEVES SIBS + DAUGHTER gifset.

a ‘simple’ creation that you really love: i have brainworms and once i’ve learned how to do something i never manage to come back to the things i did before so i’ve rarely made “simpler” things lately. maybe this JATP + TIMES OF DAY still qualify.

a creation that was inspired by another one (add both your creation and the one that inspired it!): this FAVORITE JATP CHARACTERS with the circle text inspired by this gifset by the loml @evakant // this JATP ROLES with the triangles technique inspired by this work of art by @anya-chalotra and this WARRIOR JULIE set with the text layout inspired by a lovely gifset that now seems to be deleted :(

a favorite creation created by someone else: i love everything my mutuals make but there are some people who really pushed me to always learn more and their gifs are still my absolute favorite thing to date. for example: this THE OLD GUARD TAROTS set by @milkovivhs // this incredible HARGREEVES SIBLINGS one by @yenvengerberg // this GERALT OF RIVIA masterpiece by @anya-chalotra // this CROWLEY set by the queen of colors herself @meliorn

some of your favorite content creators from the year: really too many to count, my mutuals inspire me every single day, the keep my creativity alive and seeing their creations on my dash is always such a treat! so, all the above for sure and then: i‘m stupidly proud of @sunsetscurving i saw her grow into the giffing process with such speed and such vision, everything she does is so pretty, but all my mutuals are incredibly talented. they don’t do anything half-assed, everything they do perfectly mirrors their efforts! @captainheroism @emeraldphantoms @nora-reid @amandaseyfried @rockyblue @juliesmolina @juliesmolinas @lettersdeeplyworn @jakeperalta @kennyortegas @merceralexs @alexreggieluke @calebcovington @andyoudoctor @almondchestnut @iridescentides @number5theboy @evakant

and for good measure, another a couple more creations of yours that you love: excluding all the above i’ll go with

JATP FAVORITE QUOTE

HARGREEVES AS GREEK DEITIES

YOU ARE HERE TO RISK YOUR HEART

THE JATP GEMSTONE SERIES x / x

SOBRIETY IS OVERRATED

AMOR C’HA NULLO AMATO

IF MEMORIES COULD BLEED

this took me so long that everyone else already did it before me so i don’t think i can tag anyone, if you’re reading this and feel like doing it please feel free!

#text #creator tag meme #ari.txt #my eyes are burning so bad this took SO LONG #aodgsd- how did you guys do it so fast?!#maybe i just gif too much sh*t lmao #love you all with ALL my heart

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llendrinall · 4 years

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That ask about Ministry Spy Percy, do you think you could write it in the Pov of the British wizarding world please? Im curious how it all goes down.

I’m not sure about British wizarding world but I can tell you it goes down with Bertha Harrendal thinking about murdering Percy Weasley herself.

Not that she is much of a danger. Bertha was never good enough with charms to qualify as an Auror. Instead she entered the Winzegamot Administrative services, one of the many peons needed after the war to put the country back in order, at least the wizarding part. It is gruesome, tiring and necessary work. They can’t afford to make the same mistakes of the past, the people sent to Azkaban without trial, innocent people, while many guilty ones walked free claiming imperius. This time they are doing things right. They owe it to themselves and to the country. They can’t have another war in twenty years. They are going to be better and they are starting now.

Also, bloody Harry Potter, hero extraordinaire, comes every single day to the Wizengamot, every day, even on weekends, to tell them about Sirius Black.

(They are not supposed to work on weekends but they are all coming anyway because the work is immense and it keeps growing, lines and lines of names and heinous acts, people disappeared and murdered and people who did the disappearing and the murdering and it is only them to tell who is who).

Eventually Irene Necker who, legend says, fought a Death Eater with a stapler, snarls at Potter that Sirius Black is dead but the people in her considerable pile of files are not so she will bloody see to them first and isn’t that what Potter wants? To ensure that every file is reviewed, every person given a chance to talk?

It is, and Potter looks adequately taken aback at Irene’s fury and exhaustion. He keeps coming every day because Potter is punishment incarnate, but at least he brings chocolate flapjacks with him. From time to time he has some useful comment like “Malfoy says the Ipswitch attack was Bella Lestrange” or “Malfoy says Gibson is too stupid to be imperiused.” Always Malfoy this and Malfoy that until, finally, he brings with him Malfoy himself, looking insultingly beautiful in his healer’s robe. Malfoy answers all their questions and they even get him to agree to testify under oath and veritaserum once Irene offers him a full tray of flapjacks and Thomas, who hasn’t left the Ministry in three weeks, has a small breakdown that ends with him sobbing on Malfoy’s robe and mumbling incoherently that his hair is very shiny.

There are times when Bertha wants to do like their predecessors, draw a quick line of guilty and not guilty and be done. When she started in the Wizengamot she was horrified by Crouch’s cruel disregard. Now she is horrified by her understanding and almost sympathy. People demand justice and revenge and answers and reparations and none of that can be done quickly. It can’t. Rushing is dangerous.

There are two new newspapers now, in addition to The Prophet and The Quibbler. Even though The Prophet tries to take itself seriously, their reputation is too damaged. The Quibbler was the herald of truth during the war, but it is still The Quibbler. Last week they had an article on wendsing sightings on the Ministry and they all know that was just Rupert leaving the gen’s loo. There is a need for proper reporting, so new media has sprouted. This is good, except for how the journalist are camped by the Winzegamot’s door pestering all of them.

Irene has been wearing the same robes for the last three weeks. They know because someone in The Albion Post pointed it quite rudely. Thomas is working diligently from the nest he has built under his table and refuses to come out. He has a lock of Malfoy’s hair pinned on a drawer. Bertha doesn’t want to know what kind of oddity she has, but she is sure she is not unscathed. She might have chewed half of her wand, she is not sure.

Then on August, 20th, Bertha will remember the day the rest of her life, Potter comes with Granger bringing a clay pot full of silver mist. Dumbledore’s memories, he says. If Malfoy can help them find the guilty, Dumbledore will help them find the innocent.

On Thursday, Anna McAllister notices that most of the innocent (like Black and Snape and Lupin who was under Ministry surveillance for helping Black) are dead. The whole office begins to cry spontaneously and can’t do anything else for the next three hours. The war has ended but not for them. They are living in it every day, going after every atrocious act, every tragedy. At some point Malfoy come around, still in his undeservingly well—fitting healers robe, casting cheering charms and giving them calming potions. Thomas grabs him by the neck of his robes and plants a big sloppy kiss on his mouth. Malfoy’s look of utter, dumbfounded, confusion together with his posh “there, there, man, put yourself together” does wonders for Bertha’s mood.

And then they get to Percy Weasley, loyal collaborator of Thicknesse’s Ministry, suspected Death Eater, BLOODY UNDERCOVER SPY FOR DUMBLEDORE WHAT? Bertha goes all the way to the top floor of the Ministry, goes outside, and screams for a full minute (scaring a couple of pigeons). Then she realizes that she can’t remember when was the last time she was outside, so she goes home walking slowly and blinking at the white sky.

The next day, Anna McAllister tells her that she, Bertha and Thomas have been put in charge of the Weaesley Investigation (it is written like that on the blackboard, with far too many es), and that it is even worse than they thought because apparently Percy Weasley wasn’t just a spy, he was the spy and he was involved in everything. And they are the unfortunate sods that have to make some sense out of it.

Saturday is Percy Weasley came with the idea of Snape assassinating Dumbledore.

Sunday is Percy Weasley side apparating a whole family, including the dog, right when Dolohov was casting a killing curse.

Monday is Percy Weasley contacting the goblin London clan and saving them from being rounded up and killed.

Tuesday is selkie day. Apparently the selkies were very grateful that Percival Weasley had saved two dozens of their kind (when? They can’t find any mention of it) and they offered their services to pass information to the continent.

Wednesday is Percy Weasley telling Dumbledore off for raising Potter for the slaughter. This had nothing to do with any of the open investigations, but they all like to watch it.

Thursday is Percy Weasley finding MacNair, duelling him, disarming him, causing a permanent injury to his right arm, evacuating a family of goblins and then returning to MacNair, blurring his memories and implanting a spying charm on him before sending him back to Voldemort. The spying charm seems to be an adaptation of one of Weasley’s Wizards Wheezes products.

Friday, they have Fred and George Weasley down to ask them about the products, their involvement in the war and their brother Percy. Their presence puts everybody in a good mood. Then they say they don’t know where Percy is, he disappeared right after the Battle of Hogwarts and hadn’t been in touch since then. Thomas grabs George Weasley by the front of his robes and screams “I will eat your face” at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly it’s September and Bertha has not been to her house since the Percy Weasley reveal. She is crying on Rita Skeeter’s lap, saying that if Rita and all her ilk like questions so much they should ask themselves where the bloody hell is bloody Percival Ignatius Weasley, one eighty centimetres, blue eyes, red hair, glasses, no recognizable marks or scars. Please. It is not fair that bloody Rita and Reggy and, sorry, I don’t know your name Magical Times girl, they all keep asking her questions, but Bertha has questions of her own. The Ministry is looking for Percy Weasley in relation to 56 open investigations.

Bertha takes back every unkind thing she had ever said about Harry bloody Potter. Potter comes to them with a tub of ice-cream and the suggestion that perhaps the press could render the Ministry a service by helping them locate war hero Percy Weasley. The world deserves to know Percy’s story, and this is a great chance for people to see how the diligent Wizengamot clerks are working tirelessly in their quest for justice and reparations. He actually says “diligent” and “quest”. He has such a heroic aura that Reggie, from the Albion Post offers to swear an unbreakable vow right there and then to share with Bertha Weasley’s whereabouts and any and all information gathered about him just as soon as it has gone to the press. The others follow suit and Potter says magnanimously that he bears witness and their word is enough for him so they don’t actually swear an Unbreakable Vow.

Thus begins the hunt for Percy Weasley, which is an absolute failure because the power of the press amounts to nothing. They ask and ask and Bertha shares all she knows and every day they print a full page about Percy’s exploits, but they give back nothing.

In early October, George Weasley comes to the Winzengamot and informs them from the door that Percy Weasley is in a Greek island and doesn’t want to be contacted, further inquiries should be directed to Oliver Wood, the one found Percy.

But Oliver Wood is a very successful quidditch player and his coach protects him and the rest of the team like a mother dragon. No one is to bother his delicate players, not even Ministry officials doing official business.

They have to sic Thomas at the coach (“give me answers or I will pluck my own eyes!”) while Anna pretends to ineffectually contain him so Bertha can sneak into the locker room and talk to Oliver Wood.

It is a testament to how tired Bertha is that she doesn’t register that she is in a locker room with four handsome, very handsome, men in different states of undress. She doesn’t care about their chiselled abs. She just wants to find Percy Weasley so he can clarify his involvement in the Eynsham incident.

(Five hundred lives saved that day by their most careful estimations. Five hundred. And neither Thickness nor Voldemort realized a thing).

“I understand you are tired,” Oliver Wood says. Nice man. Seems very supportive. “So is Percy. He needs some rest.”

“I just want to close one file,” Betha begs, sitting on the floor. “We have 78 open investigations and they all involve him.”

She has personally written seventy-eight formal letters requiring Percy’s assistance and testimony. Seventy-eight, like that, 78 looks too short. It’s seventy-eight.

In fact, Bertha has actually written eighty-five letters. There are the seventy-eight formal ones and the seven demented informal letters in which Bertha let out all her frustration and exhaustion in the form of increasingly bizarre threats. It was very therapeutic. It is obvious Weasley is not reading any of them so he doesn’t know about Bertha’s promise to take the Order of Merlin, first class, and personally shove it through one of his orifices. The man has saved over a thousand lives. He shouldn’t have to read that kind of abuse.

“There, there,” says Oliver Wood, patting her on the head. He smells like a summer day.

XXX

On January, Potter drops by the Wizengamot, as always, and Irene screams at him as soon as she sees him, as always, because Potter is awful. As soon as Irene had closed the file on Severus Snape (acquitted of all charges and posthumous Order of Merlin awarded) Potter had coughed and said “So, Regulus Black,” and Irene had come close to achieving what the Dark Lord couldn’t.

Potter comes bearing donuts and some leftovers from Mrs Weasley’s famous fruit cake. He also comes with a present: a piece of one of Mrs Weasley’s tablecloths with a signed account of what happened in the Eynsham incident.

“Ron’s birthday is in March,” Potter says. “I can get you another piece of testimony then. Do share this with the press, will you? There is a dear. I saved this piece of fruit cake just for you.”

It takes Bertha eight years and ten months to close all the files. She hopes the press makes Percy’s life unbearable for just as long.

#asks #percy weasley #verse: percy ministry spy #harry potter #Anonymous

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gloriousxdarkness · 3 years

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what do you like most about elektra or writing her?

i mean how much time you got? XD been sitting on this for days ‘cause i have so many thoughts.

I think the thing I find most interesting about Elektra as a character is that... she’s someone who resists her goodness. She fights the parts of her that make her good. She tries not to care about the world, but she goes to war to save it, not for praise or recognition. She can’t abide injustice and cruelty especially when it’s right in front of her— often at great personal cost, because other characters disagree with her methods/cut her off for that choice. Even if she’d rather not interfere, she’s compelled to act against those villains who cause harm. To herself or others. Elektra believes that’s the right thing to do.

Her psychology is fascinating to me. She’s been described as a woman always torn between the two poles in her personality, always in the gray. She even resists and fights the love she has for Matt. These things that make her soft, make her weak, open her up to outside attack and pain. But ultimately in her stories, she fails that resistance, because the goodness in her is too strong. She’s never actually too far gone. She’s chock full of love and feels very deeply, though she may wish otherwise.

Secondly — Elektra is a character that does not allow the audience to ignore her violence. You will see the blood, the stab wounds, the whites of people’s eyes when they go down. It’s extremely in your face in the show and the comics. And you will have to make a decision about how to feel. Other characters have to decide how they feel about it. Her violence doesn’t occur off-screen, it’s not implied deaths, her targets aren’t (usually) literal monsters, and her villains don’t accidentally off themselves in a moment of comeuppance. She kills them on purpose, and even if it weighs on her to a degree, she doesn’t agonize over it the way other characters might.

But because she’s not evil/not a villain, this brings up interesting and complicated questions.

Does a person’s terrible actions mean they deserve death? How do we determine what’s terrible enough? Does any one person have the right to make that call? Can violence be morally good? Does letting an abuser go make you partially responsible for further pain they cause? If everyone killed who they thought qualified as bad, isn’t that antithetical to maintaining a civilized society? Even if the law/system in a civilized society isn’t perfect, shouldn’t we abide by it so everyone’s rights are respected, and strive for better? Is taking the longer/harder road to achieve civilized justice realistic? And if that harder road turns out impossible, how do some abuses of power get stopped? What about the victims?

And this is the cycle of arguments/questions presented between the characters in Daredevil that I find very interesting. No one is perfectly wrong or right either, it’s just a matter of belief.

Lastly (can you believe I’m trying to make this short?) — Her stories are generally about agency and choice, retribution (in a very old school Greek tragedy, winged Erinyes kind of way), the cycle of violence, and power, which I enjoy immensely.

I could literally go on for another thousand words, but I’ll just stop here. Thank you for the question!

#( elektra meta tag. )#answered #idt its a meme #anonymous #long post for ts;

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kali-tmblr · 4 years

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I’ve been seeing adam discourse again “I thought I’d finally put it behind me but I can’t avoid getting involved” so what are your thought? Manny seem to think he was just a hate sink like Jacques, and evil ex boyfriend and nothing more, essentially the villain from Scott pilgrim, Personally I disagree, I think Adam was meant to be more of a tragic villain, and unfortunate outcome of how remnant, more specifically atlas treats Faunus, a rabid animal that needed to be put out of its misery

I started an essay on Adam last year, and happily deleted it when the fuss died down. Basically Adam was a stock character from the better cop shows and movies of the 70s and 80s, the Capable Gang Leader. It's a type that seems to have gone away as cop shows became more violent in the 90s and their villains had to become more despicable to compensate. Tobias Whale on Black Lightning is the closest I've seen in a while, and he's really too old and too psychotic.

The Capable Gang Leader is a young person with all the intelligence and drive to succeed in the mainstream but who is inhibited in that goal by their minority status. They're an adolescent entrepreneur with a gun and a grudge. But they're still an adolescent, with minimal opportunities for oversight and mentoring and no real opportunities to get ahead, so all too often they don't learn to reflect on and moderate their approach.

Adam started out believing, in all likelihood correctly, that what happened to him wasn't his fault. He had someone else to blame, and that anger furled his meteoric rise. But eventually the Peter Principle caught up with him, and he found himself in a situation he couldn't handle on his own and he didn't know how to ask for help. Had he kept Khan informed of Cinder's attempts to recruit him, the larger organization might have been able to help him get out from under her thumb, or gone to the authorities. But he didn't, they couldn't, and everything went to shit.

So Adam found himself in a metaphorical hole after the train incident in Volume 2. He could have admitted that this time it was his fault, not someone else's. Instead he doubles down and digs himself a bigger hole. It's very much a child's response, with an adult mind and body driving it. Then everything goes to shit a second time at the Battle of Beacon. So he does the same thing again. He doesn't engage in any self-reflection, he just doubles down on blaming someone else and digs himself an even deeper hole, at which point everything goes to shit at the Battle of Haven.

By now it's obvious to everyone else that the problem with Adam is Adam. But he still can't admit it. Blaming other people has always worked for him before, and he can't understand why it's not working for him now. He takes off after Blake because he's run out of other people to blame.

In real life sometimes these young men are lucky enough or incompetent enough to run out of steam and opportunities to harm themselves and others long enough for them to grow up. But Adam is too violent and too good at using violence to get what he wants. He won't calm down enough to confront the failure in the mirror, and he's too dangerous for anyone to force him to calm down. It was only a matter of time before someone put him down like a mad dog. If it hadn't been Blake and Yang it would have been some other Huntsmen.

I suppose that qualifies as a Greek tragedy. He had plenty of opportunities to stop, but he either didn't no how to find them or refused to see them.

This show loves the Peter Principle. It took down Adam, and it's taking down Ironwood.

#rwby #adam taurus

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finelythreadedsky · 4 years

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Hi! do you have any recs for someone who has never read a greek tragedy before? such as the best ones to begin with & best translations? thank you in any case. :)

i answered a similar question here a while ago but i’ve just finished a seminar on greek tragedy so i feel a little more qualified to give recommendations now! there are three classical athenian playwrights whose work survives: aeschylus (seven surviving tragedies, including the only surviving complete trilogy), sophocles (seven surviving tragedies), and euripides (eighteen surviving tragedies and one satyr play). i’ve read about half of these in translation and three in greek.

for starting out, i’d probably recommend aeschylus’s agamemnon (the first and, in my opinion, best in the oresteia trilogy) and prometheus bound, sophocles’s antigone and oedipus rex (which deal with the same family but were written a decade or so apart), and euripides’s medea and bacchae.

alternatively, you could start out with the house of atreus, a family that all three wrote plays about. aeschylus’s oresteia (agamemnon, libation bearers, and eumenides) deals with this family, and sophocles and euripides both wrote electras that cover the same material as the libation bearers but with different takes, and euripides also wrote an orestes, a characteristically euripidean take set between the libation bearers and the eumenides. anne carson combines aeschylus’s agamemnon, sophocles’s electra, and euripides’s orestes in one translation volume that she calls an oresteia. euripides also wrote two more plays about this family: iphigenia in aulis (takes place before aeschylus’s oresteia) and iphigenia among the taurians (set in a time frame after aeschylus’s oresteia). his four plays about this family aren’t meant to be taken as a consistent or coherent narrative, but it’s interesting to look at aeschylus’s trilogy and at the later plays that treat the same or adjacent subject matter. each author has different interpretations of the characterizations of the family members as well as different narratives of the course of events. fair warning though: it can be pretty exhausting to sit with this family and their trauma for long periods of time.

in terms of translations, i’m a big fan of the greek tragedy in new translations series. their concept is to either get a translator who is also a poet or to pair a classicist and a poet “based on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can properly recreate the celebrated and timeless tragedies,” and i’d recommend those editions. the translations sometimes don’t end up being super literal if you look line by line, but i like them a lot. (also they generally have great introductions.) anne carson as a translator is kind of complicated and even sometimes controversial (she tends to lean more on the interpretive side of translation and parts of her translations are often easily taken out of context and reframed), but i think i really do like her work. apart from her compilation an oresteia (aeschylus’s agamemnon, sophocles’s electra, euripides’s orestes), she’s published translations of about half of euripides’s work and of sophocles’s antigone (both a more traditional translation, done for performance, and a more interpretive and artistic one titled antigonick). seamus heaney also published two translations of sophocles under different titles that i’d recommend: the cure at troy (philoctetes) and the burial at thebes (antigone).

#mine #recommendations #Anonymous

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kaedeichinose · 4 years

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Oh ya, so I was trying to look up what qualifies heroic spirits to become certain classes in the fate series and I really could find any concrete answer? I'm guess some are more self explanatory but like idk what makes heroes Assassins or how heroic spirits that didn't even exist in canon get classes (I think the the assassin from fate/stay night is this?) Are there rules or qualifiers for these things? Also could mickey mouse be summoned as a ruler?

generally speaking what causes someone to classify as a heroic spirit is undefined and vague but its essentially any person or entity to achieve legendary feats or achieve massive renown in some way/shape or form. The “heroic” part of the term is a little misleading bc they 100% do not have to do ACTUAL heroic things, like Nero did a lot of Real Bad shit in her life yet qualifies as a heroic spirit regardless. "anti-heroes” like elizabeth bathory qualify because her actions were not literally heroic but widely known, and over time she came to be viewed as tragic despite her actions (in her case, its the tragedy of noblesse oblige)

The hassans are also anti heroes but theyre a special case all unto themselves. They are all hassan-i-sabbah, 9? different individuals all sharing the name because each one of them headlines their organization at some point when they were alive, developing their own iconic assassination technique. They qualify as heroic spirits because the order of assassins the old man of the mountain founded was THE origin of assassination as we know it today, completely cementing them in the human consciousness. iirc back in fsn the assassin class consisted ONLY of hassans and they were the only ones summonable but that would be boring so theyve scrapped that over time. idk what actually determines which hassan you get though, if theres anything at all.

class requirements are also very vague and at this point its basically “whatever kind of reasonable bullshit we can come up with”. sherlock qualifies for an archer because like i guess sherlock would know how to use a gun and thats really all you need.

the only real requirements to be a ruler at this point is to be impartial, either towards the grail war or in a greater sense like being the literal greek goddess of justice. therefore given that mickey mouse is the embodiment of capitalistic greed i do not think he would classify for ruler.

#this is long but the joke hits better that way #Anonymous

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reading-while-queer · 4 years

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Less, Andrew Sean Greer

Rating: Great Read Genre: Realism, Comedy Representation: -Gay main character -Gay and lesbian supporting cast Trigger warnings: Anti-Asian racism, Medical emergency (Stroke), Age gaps in romantic relationships Note: Less is not YA, and contains depictions of sex

Less is a comedy about a hapless gay author rapidly approaching 50, who, when he is invited to his ex-boyfriend’s wedding, decides to accept every invitation to speak, teach, and attend writer conferences and retreats on his desk. While Freddy gets married, Arthur Less is on a tour around the world - it’s not that he’s scared to attend, it’s that he’s much, much too busy.

This tour is not a glamorous one, and not even a tour that Arthur Less finds himself qualified to go on. Arthur was the much younger paramour of the famous poet Robert Brownburn; as his paramour, Arthur grew up on the periphery of historic literary achievement - the poet, and his friends, are a winking reference to the Black Mountain school. Arthur Less himself, however, was never one of them - at those parties of literary greats, he always found himself in the kitchen with the wives.

Even after making a name for himself on his own merit as a novelist, Arthur Less is best remembered for his long ago connection to Robert - or that’s how Arthur would tell it. As he progresses on his odyssey around the world, however, his own work precedes him. Everywhere he lands, someone has read his novel. He is well-renowned in Germany (he blames the translation into German for unjustly elevating his work). He wins an award in Italy. Travelling companions on a vacation in Morocco are familiar with his work.

His work, as it turns out, is a prophecy for his life. Arthur’s best-known novel is a gay rendition of The Odyssey - and now, Arthur Less finds himself on his own odyssey, always uncomfortable wherever his plane lands, always unlucky, but always learning about himself, too. The comparison is subtle, never acknowledged, which I found very clever. The ancient Greek tradition of dramatic irony plays a role: the “news about Freddy” haunts Arthur, and while connoisseurs of romantic comedy can easily guess what that news might be, Arthur always stops his friends right before they tell him anything about his ex’s wedding. He doesn’t want to know.

Less managed to surprise more than one laugh out of me; the novel is a comedy first, an examination of the writing world second, and an examination of the self third. Far be it from me to recommend a novel where a middle-aged White man goes on a privileged birthday vacation to Morocco to find himself - yet, hear me out. The point of Less isn’t that Arthur is owed an explanation for his life and gleefully finds it through White American excess. Instead, when Arthur complains of his White middle-aged woes to a stranger he meets, she tells him exactly why no one is interested in his new book. There is something very cathartic in reading about a middle-aged White author learning that his oeuvre of depressing, masturbatory novels that center middle-aged White authors is stale.

Less was almost one of those novels - Less is set up to be one of those novels, and would have been, except that it twists towards self-deprecating comedy (that, in a way, is more honest self-love than any masturbatory novel about and by a White male author). The scales fall away from Arthur’s eyes. He learns of his reputation in the writing world as a “Bad Gay” and grapples with what that even means. He is not glamorous; his struggles with social anxiety, his embarrassing choices in boutique fashion, and his God-given bad luck put a stop to any chance of Arthur having an obnoxious self-importance, that’s for sure. But rather than wallow in self-pitying privilege, Less turns it around on him: Arthur learns something. He realizes that he can choose to see his life as a slapstick comedy instead of a tragedy.

However, Less is a comedy with something to say, underneath the goofy, over-the-top slapstick. Aging, especially, is at the forefront, as Arthur’s 50th birthday looms nearer. Arthur has been the 20-year-old lover to a man twice his age, and the inverse, the 40-year-old who took Freddy as a lover when he was fresh out of school. Depicting relationships with a large age gap from both sides, Less has something interesting and funny to say about White male privilege, aging as a gay man, and love, and I recommend it on those grounds.

Now, the racism. Part of the trouble with a highly symbolic novel, especially if that novel is a comedy, is that anyone and everything in the path of the protagonist is the set-up for a joke. Which becomes complicated when your character is travelling from Mexico to Germany to Italy to France to Morocco to India to Japan. Not every joke is a good joke; even jokes that are purportedly at Arthur’s expense drag the cultures of people of color into the mix. Much more-so than in Germany, Italy, or France, Arthur becomes the hapless victim of non-white culture in Morocco, India, and Japan. Perhaps it is meant to be a clever comment on how much of a fool Arthur is, that he can’t adapt to anything other than the Western cultures he’s been exposed to, but the joke just doesn’t quite come off.

In Morocco, a hostile desert sojourn on camel-back defeats all Arthur’s White travelling companions one by one, first by hangover, then food-sickness, then migraine. This section of the book was probably the least racist of Arthur’s slow trek east. The fact that Arthur’s travelling companions drop like flies, though suspicious, can be interpreted as a criticism of White fragility. For example, Arthur notes the finery set up in a large, luxurious tent for him and his travelling companions. There are little mirrors sewn into the bedspread, and he wonders whether that is a performance of Otherness for the White American tourists who delight in such novelty. Yet, even as Morocco bows and scrapes to accommodate (seen also in Mohammed’s mastery of English, French, Arabic, and German) the fragility of the tourists is too great, even to be catered to. They drop like flies.

In India and Japan, it’s harder to spin the depictions of these countries so charitably. In India, Arthur complains incessantly of his own cultural illiteracy - blaming India, of course. India is portrayed as dangerously overrun with wild animals that might attack you in the night, feral dogs, and vermin that are exterminated via snake. Arthur learns some humility, talking to the woman who runs a Christian retreat there - and Arthur’s thoughts on Christianity in India versus his own American experience are interesting - but the authorial impulse to criticize ends up swerving from slapstick comedy into mean-spiritedness when it comes to portraying daily life in India. Arthur’s misfortunes there, while intended to comment on his bad luck, end up commenting on Indian culture instead.

This is true for the depiction of Japan as well. Arthur goes to Kyoto to review several kaiseki dining experiences for a magazine. When he is served something unfamiliar, it’s a roll of the eyes - “just my luck.” Yet the joke doesn’t land as it would have if Arthur was served something unfamiliar in an American restaurant - in Japan, eating traditional fare with traditional ceremony, his dislike comes off as bratty Americanism. When a 400 year old sliding wood door gets stuck, trapping Arthur in his room unless he breaks through the paper wall and ruins a centuries-old piece of art in the process, the symbolic meaning is clear; Arthur needs to escape the rut of The American Novelist, no matter how old, storied, and beloved the tradition he is breaking. Yet by using Japan as the backdrop of this revelation, Less (accidentally?) sets up Japan’s cultural legacy as a parallel to his own issues; a 400 hundred year door that jams on unlucky Arthur calls Japan foolish and old-fashioned in the same breath as it ridicules our protagonist. But then again...isn’t that the perfect meta-narrative for a book by a White male American novelist criticizing White male American novelists? Parsing what is accidental versus what is satirical - and whether Greer has any right to be satirical about how White authors use race as set pieces for stories about White characters... That’s a complicated question.

My read of the above is perhaps the least charitable interpretation, and I feel compelled to say that despite it all, I don’t regret reading Less - I enjoyed it, and I think a lot of readers, especially those who write themselves, will find a lot to think about. I will also recommend against the audio-book for this one; absolutely anything sounds one hundred times more insidious when the Asian characters are read in a voice that sounds like it was plucked from the lips of a yellow-face wearing “comedian” from the 1970s - think Peter Sellers in Murder By Death. It’s hard to differentiate how much racism is inflection or text.

It isn’t really my place to recommend a book with a little (or a lot, depending on your read) of anti-Asian racism. I was able to read through it with a wince, blame most of it on the atrocious audio-book, and enjoy the merits that Less has to bring to the table. But that begs the question: if a book is definitively less racist than, say, Harry Potter, but doesn’t have the (rapidly deteriorating, mind) cultural goodwill of a beloved multi-billion dollar children’s series...is it okay to promote it as a problematic but enjoyable piece of writing? It’s not my place to answer that question, but I would enjoy hearing from others about their take on Less.

For more from Andrew Sean Greer, check out his website here.

#great read #less #andrew sean greer #realism #comedy #gay #reviews only #not ya

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veliseraptor · 5 years

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hey, sorry if you've already made this but do you have a rec list for female anti-heroes? or anti-villains? or... just fiction centring morally complex women? I'd just really like to read more lit like that but I don't know where to start :/

I don’t remember if I have done this! And the answer is…fewer than I’d like, alas. But let’s see what I’ve got. (A number of of these are series, which I’ve listed by the first book and noted.) I’m always looking for more of these, though, so if anyone has recs…

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth Trilogy)

Really any of NK Jemisin’s work would qualify, but I’m going ahead and going with this one. The main character(s) is a remarkable piece of work, and this series as a whole is just…incredible. Her realization especially of mother/daughter relationships and the complexity and possible ugliness thereof is really…augh. I cried at the end of the third book. (It also does great things with themes of oppression and power and dehumanization while telling a great story.)

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (The Divine Cities Trilogy)

Mostly I think the protagonist of the first book (this one) fits what you’re looking for best, but this whole series is aces and the second book also features an excellent protagonist who I think you might like. And the worldbuilding and thematics of this series are also just *kisses fingers* so consider this a general rec, too.

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone (The Craft Sequence)

I love this series, I really do. Taking place after the God Wars, in which the various gods of the world were overthrown by human sorcerers, not only is it super conceptually interesting with a lot of themes I’m personally really into (imperialism! religion and the relationship between humans and gods!) but also some really excellent complex female characters, especially the protagonist of this book, Tara, and my personal favorite, Elayne Kevarian.

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton

This is a retelling of King Lear and it’s one of the best retellings I’ve read in a while (I love reading retellings but I’m very picky about their execution). One of my favorite things about it is the way it brings Goneril and Regan (here Gaela and Regan) into prominence, keeping all their sharp edges while making them full characters, sympathetic and understandable.

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente

I love this book. I love Catherynne M. Valente’s prose, and this is probably my favorite of hers that I’ve read so far. It’s a retelling of the Russian fairy tale The Death of Koschei the Deathless blended with the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and it’s...really good, and Marya Morevna is a fantastic protagonist. It’s been a bit since I read this one, but from what I remember I think she fits the bill for what you’re describing.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (The Masquerade)

Fuck man, this book. Fair warning that it is brutal in a lot of ways - don’t come into it expecting to leave without some bruised emotions. But the main character is a glorious example of what you’re talking about. And I don’t want to say more than that, because this is kind of a book it’s good to go into without spoilers.

I’m just gonna go ahead, too, and throw in a couple of Ancient Greek plays that have two of my favorite morally complex women. Obvs they’re going to come with misogynist baggage because Ancient Greece, but I’d say they’re both worth a read.

Medea by Euripides

This was actually my first Greek tragedy and I fell in love hard and fast. It’s a seriously elegant piece of work - Euripides had a reputation as a misogynist but he writes really good morally complex women, imo. And Medea in this…dominates. She owns the stage and the story, and god damn does this do the work of making her ultimately murdering two people and her own children not…totally (at least for me) remove sympathy with her. And she gets away with it. In a motherfucking dragon chariot.

Agamemnon by Aeschylus

I wrote a paper about how Clytemnestra owns this play - she drives the action, she takes charge, the men around her are relegated to helplessness and impotence - the only person who stands against her at all is Cassandra (who, of course, no one listens to). I don’t like the rest of this play cycle nearly as much as the first one, but this one…hoo boy. I could talk about this play, Clytemnestra, and the gender stuff with Clytemnestra in this play for approximately forever. Also murdering Agamemnon with an axe is, as the kids say, a #big mood.

#anonymous #conversating #sometimes i read things #book recs

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hitchell-mope · 5 years

Text

(Third movie. Prologue)

(Mal’s wrists are bound in wrought iron chains. She’s kneeling on the ground in unimaginable pain. She’s surrounded by statues of Ben, Jay, Carlos, Dude, Gil, Lonnie, Evie, Hadie and Dizzy. Mal herself is screaming and crying and breathing bright purple and blue flames up into the sky in her anguish. Chad’s standing over her smiling in triumph)

Vision!Ben: yoo hoo. Hey. Hey you. Yes you. Over here. Yes I’m talking to you. Good. Now this looks really really reheally bad doesn’t it? And it is. And yes. It does bare an explanation. And you’ll get one. We just have to back a couple of days to get it cause you see an idiot prince is in possession of an incredibly powerful magical relic. And it’s not the one you think that caused all this. No. It’s oh hello. Older brother encased in stone. He escapes to aid the throne. Interesting. Hm. (He trails off. Then snaps back to the audience.) right. Sorry. Where was I. Yes! Yes. The statuary. Mal is not the only one affected by this. Of course not. What good would they be. Auradon has more denizens then ever before. The transfer program is very very popular. And if she fails. They’re all done for. Her fiancé. Her son. Her sister. Her brothers. Her best friend. All her family. Done. Kaput. Wiped off the face of this earth. And the next

(There’s a flash of bright grey light and he’s approached by a new figure)

Vision!Persey: would you listen to yourself. You’re making it all sound like some sort Greek tragedy

V!Ben: it is a Greek tragedy my dear sibling. We are part of the pantheon of Greek God’s unless you have forgotten

V!Persey: well. My ones never actually been to Olympus. So surely he can be forgiven can he not?

V!Ben: I suppose. ANYWAY!

V!Persey: owuh

V!Ben: sorry. Anyway. Shall we continue?

V!Persey: I should think so yes. Together?

V!Ben: together

(They look at the screen and high five and a dazzling grey/purple light shines from them. The light grows brighter and brighter and then vanishes to white leaving behind the title screen)

(On the island. Lumiere has driven Ben, Gil, Carlos, Evie and Dizzy right up to the entrance archway)

Ben: This is ok. Thank you Lumiere. Alright. Everyone ready

Carlos: I got the flyers

Evie: I got the food

Gil: I got the blankets

Dizzy (at full blast through a megaphone): and I got the megaphone

(Gil makes a high pitches shriek and passes out. Carlos covered his ears the moment he saw Dizzy had the megaphone. Ben and Evie don’t really respond. All Ben does his make his hands glow and put them on Gil’s ears who immediately sits up)

Gil: all better now. Thank you brother

Ben (chuckling): Gil buddy you’ve been my brother for a year you don’t have to keep calling me brother

Gil: awww I know. But you’re my favourite brother. The other two hate hate me

Ben: we won’t let them get you. You have my word

Carlos: and a sword.

Ben: yep

Dizzy: what do you have uncle Ben? HA! Sorry. Still funny. But seriously. Whatcha got?

(In answer to her question Ben reaches inside his own chest and pulls out his aorta. It’s still pure glowing red. Dizzy looks unimpressed)

Dizzy: is that all. Aren’t you afraid someone’s gonna crush it?

Evie: your aunts put a protection spell on it so it can’t be disintegrated

Dizzy: hm. Makes sense.

(They all get out of the limo. They’re surrounded by 19 more limousines each a different colour ranging from black to gold to white. Their limo is purple)

Ben: do you guys want me to come with you or do you want me to stay by the cars

Carlos: dad you ask us this every week. And every week the answers the same. Yes. Because you have a face people trust and apparently we qualify as class traitors.

Evie: which is kind of undeserved

Gil (jovially): don’t worry brother you can come with me and give our blankets.

Evie: that’s actually a good idea. Carlos you come with me. Gil with Ben and oh

Dizzy: I’ve got my scissors and my megaphone

Carlos: and you’re basically feral so that’s a plus

Dizzy: that too. Who’s on the definite list today

Evie: Celia Facillier. Squeaky Smee. Squirmy Smee. And. Oh no

Carlos: oh no what?

Evie: I made this list when I was pissed off at Mal so I put Matty

Carlos: no. Absolutely not.

Ben: what’s wrong. Who’s Matty?

Dizzy: Satan in a raggedy three piece suit.

Evie: he’s one of the youngest here. But

Carlos: he’s a dick

Gil: isn’t he right now?

Evie, Carlos and Dizzy: still a dick Gil.

Ben: who’s his parent?

Carlos: Bill Sykes

Ben: The loan shark?

Dizzy: yep.

Ben: oh. Well. Would he want to come to Auradon?

Evie (unsure): possibly. I don’t know

Ben (adamantly): then he has the option.

(Carlos gets the “my dads to nice for his own good” look he’s perfected over twelve months)

Dizzy: fine. NOT IT

Carlos and Evie: NOT IT

Ben: I guess I’m it then

Gil: can we get my boys. They kept running when I was in a suit.

Carlos: they’re on the list bud

Gil (elated): YAY

Dizzy: I’m gonna go get Celia

Evie (as Dizzy walks off): be safe. And if an adult comes near you

Dizzy: I know I know. Stab him

Evie: or her.

Dizzy: on it

Evie: ...notiftheydontposeathreat

Dizzy: dammit

Carlos: lets go get the kids

(This is when “who we are” happens)

#disney descendants #zendaya!mal #ben florian #evie grimhilde #carlos de vil #yes carlos is bal’s son #gil legume #dizzy tremaine #yes dizzy is devie’s daughter

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queenofnohr · 5 years

Text

Cu Alter Interlude 2 - Kill Like a Beast, Fight Not Like an Asura

Got commissioned by @tainbocuailnge for this one! Narration has no tags, player options are in block quotes if they both lead to the same dialogue, results of player choice are in block quotes if there is variant dialogue (for whatever reason this Interlude draws A Lot of attention to how tumblr does not have the best setup for this sort of stuff). Anyway, enjoy!

—He said that to understand himself is pointless. Understanding leads to hate. Hatred invites error. One must not think they can understand a Berserker. Because they are a Berserker.

Cu Alter: Tch…….

> You okay?

Cu Alter: I’m fine. Right now, I must keep winning.

> Can you fight?

Cu Alter: ……A good question, Master. But unfortunately, asinine. I am always able to fight. After all, I’m alive, aren’t I.

Cu Alter: Even though this is the worst possible situation. Leyshifting is impossible, communications are down, and I’m the only Servant here. On top of that, all the enemies seem to of the normal Classes.

> And on top of that, we don’t even know what era we’re in

Cu Alter: Yeah. No matter where we go in this untouched forest, strong magical energy pierces the surrounding air. It might be on the level of the Age of Gods.

> Do you think it’s a Demon Pillar?

Cu Alter: Who knows? It doesn’t matter.

> I wonder what the cause is

Cu Alter: It could be a Demon Pillar, but it doesn’t matter.

Cu Alter: What’s important are the seven other warriors. If we can’t defeat them, it’s pointless. Whether we defeat one at a time or seven all at once— To correct the singularity, this is unavoidable. We’d better get started without delay if we want to get this done. Because, in the first place…… you’re about to reach your physical limits. Isn’t that right?

> But……

Cu Alter: If you’re going to tell me to value my life— Then you are not qualified to save humanity. Now that the Grand Order is complete, it seems you’re just a shadow of a Master, fine with anything.

> Are you okay?

Cu Alter: Do not worry about my wellbeing. Crush that necessity regarding Servants for the sake of existence.

Cu Alter: Your hesitation will lead to an easy annihilation. Do not compromise, do not deign to protect me, do not treat me as a person. ……It will only blunt the tip of my spear. With that, I’m done talking. Fight, fight, fight until the bitter end - do whatever it takes for you to return. Are you prepared?

> ……Yes > Let’s go!

Cu Alter: The first two Servants……!

> Watch out for Robin Hood!

Robin: My, my, what a cautious Master to yell something like “Watch out!” in regards to a second-rate Servant. Well, I don’t make a habit of torturing Masters to death, so you can breathe a sigh of relief at that, at least.

> Watch out for Semiramis!

Semiramis: Hou, what a discerning Master. But the Servant is a Berserker; it’s like having pearls thrown before swine. It’s alright, though. When I am victorious I will express my respect by giving you a pleasant death.

Cu Alter: Save it. From the start, you two had no chance of winning!

[battle]

Cu Alter: There!

[attacks Semiramis]

Semiramis: Hmph, so I was only able to get this far……. I’m not happy about it at all.

[she disappears]

Robin: Oh well, the end is the end. I’ve done my duty so I guess this is fine…….

[he disappears]

Cu Alter: ……tsk.

[Cu coughs up blood]

> Poison……!

Cu Alter: Tch…… So that’s it. Don’t worry; even if I don’t recover, I’ll be fine.

> You need medical attention!

Cu Alter: Don’t waste your time. It’s poison from the world’s oldest poisoner…… Semiramis. You can’t treat it by normal means.

Cu Alter: Now about the remaining five…… I’ll defeat them before the poison can spread.

[at the sea cliffs]

Cu Alter: It seems there isn’t anything to identify the age or signs of a singularity, huh…… That’s fine. More important is being able to find where the other Servants are. ……What’s with that look. You’re worried about the poison, aren’t you.

> I’m worried about that, but……

Cu Alter: Oh?

> You don’t seem to consider anything about yourself

Cu Alter: ……It’s always the same with you.

> I don’t understand you

Cu Alter: It’s fine if you don’t understand. A Servant is just a machine. You can give affection to a machine, but there’s no point to it.

Cu Alter: ……I’ll return to what I was talking about before. This singularity is strange. It’s like it’s both the Far East and South America. Furthermore, it seems like a place humans haven’t found. There’s a limit to how much we can search. What shall we do? Master, do you have a plan?

> Can’t we go somewhere by sea?

Cu Alter: ……Stop. Both of those are bad leads. We won’t be able to get anywhere on the sea or in a cave.

> What about a cave……?

Cu Alter: Well, we could. Would it be wise to search for a cave, if it’s only so you can rest……?

Cu Alter: For the time being, I’ll aim for a cave. But before that—

[Karna and Medb appear]

Cu Alter: I’m going to strangle these nuisances to death. Stand back, Master. Karna: ……No hard feelings - this is simply work. Medb: Look at that, Cu-chan is the enemy. What a shame! So, what will you do? Won’t you turn traitor? Cu Alter: Very funny. That functionality does not exist within me. Karna: That’s wrong. You are simply faithful. Even as an Alter, that is a constant. Medb: Either way, a Cu-chan who betrays is not Cu-chan. So, with how things are in this Holy Grail War, I’ll be happy if you kill me! Cu Alter: “This Holy Grail War”? Karna: There’s no point in talking to those who are about to die. Let’s go. Medb: Taking on a poisoned Cu-chan feels as shameful as locking him a Geis for life, but— Just kidding. Just like before, my heart is pounding! I’ll mercilessly corner you, then kill you! Cu Alter: That’s fine by me. I’ll grind you both into dust……! Karna: I see. Of course one with such a ferocious disposition is a Berserker. Is it because the scope of vision is narrowed that one becomes greedy for purpose? But you would do well to remember this, O Warrior of Ulster - that part of yourself is a burden to your Master.

[battle]

Every time I breathe, a dull pain hits me. My thoughts are hazy, indistinct. What I must do is unclear. So, I tear through the enemies before me. I can devote myself only to this. From the start, I’d been a warrior like that. That side of me has only grown as a Berserker. Karna: A true hero kills —with his eyes! Cu Alter: Tch……! Medb: Come, now! Chariot My Love! Cu Alter: Don’t underestimate me, Medb! Medb: He stopped it head on……! Cu Alter: I’ll return the favor, Karna. Take this……! Karna: ……! Medb: Karna! Karna: ……So this is as far as I go…….

[Karna disappears]

Cu Alter: You let your guard down, Medb. Medb: ! Damn i— Cu Alter: Gae Bolg—!

[screen blood splatter]

Medb: *cough* Cu Alter: It’s over, they’re both dead. Medb: Fu- Fufu…… It hurts……. It’s okay- Ending it here…… This time, I lose. But…… I wonder if you can win against the remaining three with your body like that? Cu Alter: Shut up. Medb: Fufu……. I’ll be waiting for…… next time…….

[Cu coughs up blood]

> Cu Chulainn! > Alter!

Cu Alter: ......Next…… Let’s move on…… to the next one…….

> Let’s rest for a bit

Cu Alter: ? ……Yeah, alright. You stay here. I’ll…… go settle things with the remaining three Servants.

> You can’t trust me?

Cu Alter: ……No, it’s not a matter of not being able to trust you, it’s about both of us not getting killed. ……. ……. ……Karna said my way of being is a burden to you……. Maybe this is the correct answer. Without regard for myself, no matter what must be done……. I will end this my way, by myself. Friends, partners, brothers-in-arms…... Properly speaking, I am to shoulder your burden, but it’s something too heavy for me to bear. It’s the same for you, too, Master. My way of being is burdensome for you to try and take on, just as you are burdensome to me. So, wait in the cave. I will go forth to settle this.

[in the forest]

> He said that and left me behind, but- > I can’t accept this……

???: Oh ho, what do we have here? You must be Chaldea’s Master.

> Anderson……!?

Anderson: Right you are. It is I, the singular person in this entire war to voluntarily drop out, the third-rate Servant, Anderson. If you know me, saying any more than that is superfluous. Now then, why are you here of all places? Is your Servant not participating in the Holy Grail War?

> Although you say it’s a Holy Grail War……

Anderson: The form this one takes is certainly different than the classic battle royale. We seven are the defensive players, tasked with protecting the grail to the bitter end. The single offensive player must charge through our defenses. Well, my presence has no bearing on the battlefield. Therefore, I’m spectating from over here. In the first place, no matter how many are defeated, one will remain in the end. The great hero of Greek Mythology, Heracles, as your enemy.

> Heracles……!

Anderson: Indeed. If a normal Servant is a gorilla in heat, he’s a starving dinosaur. Fighting him is a fool’s errand. So. Why are you here, Master of Chaldea?

> Actually……

Anderson: Hm. So you’re fine with being alone, is it? I wonder if I can pin down Cu Chulainn Alter. The original seemed to be a Celtic warrior who could be friends with both enemy and ally alike depending on his mood, but— That is why Cu Chulainn Alter rejects everything. Other people are weak, is the way his logic goes, if I am alone, I am strong, and that is good. To keep away from those that should be protected, being injured is acceptable. What a comical script! And on the side of who is being protected, what tragedy! With the way it is, it seems you too will be hurt, cowering.

> I see

Anderson: Oi, if you understand, go.

> So that’s the feeling……

Andersen: Were you convinced? If so, there’s only one thing to do.

Andersen: Hurry and go to him. Past this forest and to the left there is a cave. That is the battlefield.

> Thank you

Anderson: Your words of thanks are unnecessary. This isn’t a situation where I can charge you the price of a book. Hurry on, now. And fulfill your duty as a Master. If you defeat the remaining two Servants, this singularity will disappear.

[in the cave]

> I hear them……!

Cu Alter: I’ll kill you———!! Heracles: *roaring* Cu Alter: *pant* *pant* *pant* ……! ……. ……. Master, you…… Why are you here?

> I came to fight > For your sake

Cu Alter: ......Tch. Do what you want.

> Right back at you

Arturia Alter: —So the Master has appeared. But, you’re too late. No blade will reach me. This Berserker will be the victor. Heracles: *roar* Cu Alter: ……! Not yet. I can still……! My body is breaking down. My spirit is breaking down. The strongest hero in Greek mythology. A man who overcame the Twelve Labors and became immortal. Even though he should have been killed many times over, each time he revives, and destroys. My bones are cracked. My flesh is torn to pieces. And for what. To win, to continue to win, that is what I am here for. ……I have no need for a Master. They should be unnecessary.

Cu Alter: Tch……!

> Healing! > Strengthening!

Cu Alter: I’m grateful, but move away. ……It’s fine if you stay over there.

—Yes, it’s extremely annoying. My power, my spear, seems only to increase in power by having her here……! Arturia Alter: —Hou. So you’re trying to hit me with your spear without defeating Heracles. ……So be it. Then I shall draw my sword as well. —Come, Warrior of Ulster. I will engrave this holy sword into your body. Cu Alter: Unfortunate. Master, don’t just stand there. Win.

> Yes……!

Cu Alter: All curses unleashed, no limits.

[Cu starts glowing]

Cu Alter: —Your death comes. Curruid Coinchenn……!

[battle]

Cu Alter: Haughhhh!!

[dark screen blood splatter]

[Heracles disappears, Arturia Alter is disappearing]

Arturia Alter: —Splendid. Cu Alter: A Caster isn’t showing up, but…… It seems you were the last one. Arturia Alter: Correct. Cu Alter: Then why were you summoned in the first place? Arturia Alter: —I do not know. There is only one thing I understand. We did not fight amongst ourselves, but simply waited for your arrival. We were given orders to kill you, nothing more. As for intention— It seems there’s someone out there who despises Chaldea - despises you. Cu Alter: ……I see. So this was a test. Arturia Alter: Perhaps. ……Be careful, Master of Chaldea…….

[she disappears]

Cu Alter: It’s over. Da Vinci: Heeeey, Gudako! Oh, thank goodness. It seems that more than anything, you’re safe and sound. Audio communications broke down, and we couldn’t track your vitals……. But it seems like you’ve been stable since the beginning. Did anything happen out there?

> I’ll tell you when I get back

Da Vinci: Hoho, my interest is piqued.

> Well, something like that……

Da Vinci: I see, I see.

Da Vinci: Well, seems like you finished up over there. Prepare to return. Well then, I’ll be waiting. Cu Alter: ……Resentment, huh? Is there a surviving demon pillar somewhere out there with a grudge? To be hated for restoring the human order seems like a rough life. But, well— If you need me to kill an enemy, just yell. I’ll come any time. That is my role as a Berserker.

—Ah, it really is annoying. When I die it will be in a truly wretched manner - that is inescapable. But it seems, perhaps, that in my final moments……. There will be a single person to mourn me.

#long post #fgo #fgo translations #fate grand order #my translations

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journeysintowebcomics · 5 years

Text

Homestuck Liveblog #183

UPDATE 183: Narrative Takeover

Last time everything went wrong for so many characters. John’s fight with Caliborn went awry, Jane’s plan to seduce Jake didn’t work because he kept thinking of Dirk, and Dave and Karkaroni’s political strategy meeting got derailed by Jade deciding it was a good time for romantic overtures. So now let’s continue.

So, now that they have been dumped in middle of the chaos that’s destroying all the known existence and reality, John checks the situation. Lord English is up there, in front of the black hole, seemingly impervious to its strong absorbing effect.

Unlike his younger form, his eyes aren’t flickering wildly. They’re locked in place, an eight ball in each socket.

If I remember correctly from the booklet about pool I read like six years ago when I started playing pool for fun, the eighth ball is the last one you must sink, so I’d say it indicates it’s endgame. I think it also had happened in Arc 7. Symbolism!

Tavros is over there, leading an army, Vriska is nowhere to be seen and presumably is very dead, and Meenah was supposed to be going away, I think? Anyway, it’s fight time! Everyone already has their weapons at the ready – all the weapons that are supposed to hit Lord English pretty hard – and Rose tries to remind them what exactly their plan is. She barely gets a single word out before she’s dead.

But Rose doesn’t get to finish what she was trying to say. Lord English’s mouth roars open and a wave of energy blasts through your group. Rose is the only one caught in it. She dissolves in slow motion. You can see the outline of her body in shadow. One arm thrown up over her eyes, shoulders pulled up defensively, cape billowing out behind her. She leaves an afterimage of shimmering light in her wake and then dissipates, drifting apart like a handful of salt tossed out to sea. You can almost hear the cosmic clock counting down, tick tock, and a chime to accompany her fate: Heroic.

This fight lasted like three seconds before it all looked grim as heck for John and friends. This is going to wreck everyone’s morale and ruin whatever effective plan they had, as I really doubt Rose was supposed to stand aside and let everybody else act. They’re so doomed.

As if to underscore how screwed they are, Jade tries to use her powers and finds out the black hole up there is where the green sun used to be. It made Lord English vulnerable, but she’s powerless now too. Whooops. Kind of a big oversight. How didn’t John or Future Rose foresee that detail? It’s kind of important!

With that, two of the four are now dead and they haven’t gotten started for real. Dave is trying to cut Lord English with the cueball sword, John is...standing around, I suppose, until he snaps out of it and surrounds Lord English with wind, capturing him until he tries to smash his skull with the hammer. Lord English eats the hammer. I’m...okay, I didn’t see that coming. I appreciate the move a lot. John can’t do much else because his glasses are broken, so he can’t see well at all. Good thing Meenah is around now! What a lifesaver!

Time to assess the situation and check how badly things have turned in...like a minute or so. As I always say: a minute is quite a long time in a fight!

Ghostly Tavros and another one of John’s hammers join the list of casualties, Meenah deciding to go in for the kill. Not unless you turn into Dave, gal! Not that Dave is faring much better, he’s trying to harm Lord English but he’s way too fast, even for Dave, who is no slouch in the agility department. That’s incredibly quick, and he’s not fueled by the green sun right now. Everything is awful for the heroes here!

Meenah is launched away and I can only guess she’s dead, because in this scenario being thrown away is kind of fatal due to the huge black hole up there. Dave is under Lord English’s foot, John barely saves him by throwing more hammer at Lord English for him to eat, and tries to set up a hammer barrier to prepare that silly thing he made with the legendary Zillyhoo and Vriska’s dice. If they need a lucky hit they sure need it now!

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < waaaaaaaaaaaait

...oooooooh no. I had completely forgotten this existed. Hey, what’s new? Will you be able to defeat Lord English? At least Dave is reacting with horror, which is the right reaction when you see a copy of yourself that was merged with a cat. Davepetasprite is being inspirational, trying to psyche up Dave, and it works!

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < i know it looks pawful right now but we can do it

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < in fact were literally the only ones who can do it

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < after all

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < it is our destiny B33

You also are the last three people left here, so I don’t think it’s much about destiny at this point.

Somehow, between the three of them they manage to do real damage on this monster. John’s hitting him with hammers even if Lord English keeps eating them, Dave slashes and actually gets blood, and Davepeta scratches with the claws. The cycle continues, Lord English almost eats John’s favorite hammer, just that this time he almost gets John himself. Well then. This story is truly something.

Apparently John got injured with Lord English’s teeth or something, because he’s bleeding heavily. I swear, if John dies because he got bitten by Lord English I’m going to be astonished, because that was never a cause of death I imagine would ever happen.

You lift your chin and see it: Lord English’s gold tooth cracked off at the base and embedded in your chest. It must be stuck between two of your ribs, you think, because it hurts like a bitch when you try to breathe.

Oof, you’re in big trouble! When you have something embedded into you you really shouldn’t take it out unless you’re in a professional’s hands, so it’s pretty likely John will have that tooth embedded into him for quite a while. Dave isn’t doing too badly, managing to stab Lord English with the cueball sword up the hilt, unfortunately leaving him vulnerable to Lord English’s maw. Oh god, he has tasted human blood, everyone run! Too late for Dave, though, he gets his head bitten off.

Won’t lie, that’s pretty brutal as far as deaths go. Damn!

Obviously this enrages Davepeta, who grabs Lord English and flies up to the black hole, dragging him along. That was an option? Maybe it’d have been great to have done that much earlier, before Dave died. Really would have been nice.

The black hole—the gaping, implacable, cosmic embodiment of the dead cherub, his long-departed sister—finally welcomes Lord English home.

English and Davepeta are sucked in with a subatomic whimper. The reunion sends shock waves across the pitiful remains of Paradox Space. And then everything is wholly, utterly, and categorically silent. It’s over. Lord English is dead.

Ding dong, the witch is dead. Somehow it’s done! Excellent! Now, here comes opinions about this whole sequence.

To be perfectly honest, this left a lot to be desired. The least of my complaints is the length – for a climactic fight it’s a little bit short. Which isn’t really a problem here, given this isn’t Homestuck anymore, it’s the epilogue. The fight not getting focus is fine and dandy, honestly. I’m actually surprised we got a fight at all.

What I will complain about, though, is that for something that pretty much only Davepeta got to do something worthwhile. It feels like pretty much everyone else who intervened, both alive and dead, were there just to die. It’s pretty disappointing, really. I think I’d have been okay with that if they at least had managed to do something before dying.

Curiously enough, if this had been incorporated into the story, characters dying so fast would have been less bad. I’d say this being part of epilogues is what makes this be treated differently to how it’d be otherwise. But yeah, Lord English is dead, and there’s plenty of epilogue left. I suppose that means the political stuff is what’ll fill the rest of the epilogue in this route, no?

You collapse against whatever is passing for the floor at this moment of utterly null corporeal conditions surrounding you. It doesn’t feel possible. You’re not sure you can even trust your perception well enough to believe it. But it seems to be over. You’ve convinced yourself of this truth well enough to allow yourself to exhale. Enough to allow yourself to suddenly acknowledge the agony coursing through your body, emanating from the gold tooth lodged in your chest. Enough to allow yourself to succumb to the overwhelming urge to sleep.

He’s so dead. And so, all the Wonderkids are dead, total party kill. They tried and they succeeded, mostly thanks to a timely intervention by what turned out to be the best sprite just for killing Lord English, and now they’re all dead. I’m pretty sure by now this makes Homestuck qualify as a Greek tragedy.

Ah, there’s the conversation Rose and Dirk are going to have. She starts by talking about that novel she wrote in her diaries, the ones about wizards. She feels the story as written by the adult Rose Dirk knew from his original world didn’t have as much passion as she did when she wrote the original draft in her journals. Maybe! When you write something for a widespread public, you have to kill a liiiiittle of your own passion to tailor it for a wider audience. It’s a cynical thought, I admit, but I believe I’m right.

ROSE: Anyway, my point is that I’ve long suspected my story was a pre-manifestation of my Seer of Light powers. I was seeing beyond my universe into another.

Doesn’t sound farfetched to me, I must say. It’s possible that, from her early ages, she was unconsciously starting to tap onto the many powers and abilities that come with her title and role. I mean, Mom Lalonde was there, and I believe in her own way she’d help pave the way for the kids to achieve what was needed to triumph. She may have done something, inadvertently or not, that led to Rose writing her novel in a fit of inspiration. Who knows. Certainly not me, and it’s such a minuscule point in the vast net of Homestuck I doubt it’ll be ever touched.

I hadn’t noticed until now that in the end a total of twelve players had crossed the door into the new universe. Fun number for that. Also, Terezi’s name is among them, so she did get to the new universe after all. What happened to her?

All these numbers may or may not have significance. Hah! Well it depends on what kind of author writes the story. Given it’s Hussie, well, I’m inclined towards thinking there’s some significance. Whether the reader will find out about it is an entirely different manner, of course.

Of course Dirk has given his current situation a lot of thought, he even has theories about what’s it. I’m listening, pal, enlighten me about this new plotline.

DIRK: I mean, some of us have stopped using our powers completely. Not a whole lot of need for emergency resurrections or complex timeline manipulation on a planet that’s never had a conflict more serious than a sportsball riot or a rumpled hat shortage.

DIRK: But even aside from how often they’re used...

DIRK: Some powers don’t lend themselves to the infinite expansion of one’s mind, the way ours do.

ROSE: I see.

ROSE: So what you’re saying is, it’s more a matter of one’s aspect than it is whether one’s powers are practiced further, or allowed to atrophy.

DIRK: Yep.

So it all depends on the power. It’s not like everyone’s going to start suffering this too, it seems to be limited to what aspect it is. Perhaps Jade and Dave would go through this too? Other than them, I’m not sure anyone else would.

ROSE: In that case, perhaps Terezi had the right idea.

ROSE: Getting away from this place, I mean.

ROSE: Maybe I was a fool for imagining I could settle down here.

Ah, so that’s what happened to Terezi. She left. Maybe she had a feeling things wouldn’t go well, it does make sense she’d be feeling the awfulness Dirk and Rose feel right now. With her Mind aspect, it does make sense she would. Where’d she go, though? Is she a nomad around the world or something?

Dirk’s taking this easier than most would because he’s used to multitasking. Ah, right, he did have his dreamself and his realself, dealing with both must have given him some practice. Still, two is nowhere close to the infinity of everything, so I’m skeptic it’s as good of a training as he says it was.

ROSE: I’m caught in the liminal space between reality and reverie, where people once believed demons dwelled. But the only reason the demon is still sitting on my chest is because I refuse to banish it. All it would take is looking directly at it.

ROSE: I’m forcing myself to stumble through my life as a sleepwalker. All this pain and sorrow could go away if I would just allow myself to wake up.

DIRK: Then why don’t you?

ROSE: Because I’m not sure that the person opening her eyes will be me.

Brings to mind that about us being someone’s dream and, when that someone wakes up, it’s all over. It’s the kind of thing that brings existential crisis when you think about it too hard, isn’t it? So, if Rose here’s experiencing something similar, she’s not going to have a good time because she’s the kind of person who thinks a lot. Nobody should be jealous of these two, that’s awful.

Dirk, in what’s unusually close to sympathy, crouches and takes off his sunglasses, looking straight at Rose’s eyes. He admits he’s a very flawed person and shouldn’t be always right, and that he knows all about his own flaws.

Rose’s eyes have grown distant, almost mirrorlike. Dirk can see himself reflected in her vacant stare.

ROSE: All the pieces in their place.

ROSE: The mechanisms all running smoothly.

She says this in a hollow tone. It’s the disarming voice a puppeteer ventriloquizes for a marionette.

...okaaaay, something happened. If I’m understanding this and the next few sentences correctly, Dirk pretty much took over Rose. I don’t know why, he just did. Althoooough...hm. It’s still early. Maybe the reasons will be revealed later. But hey, you can’t say this was predicted! Also, if I had to guess, the moment Rose was taken over was when he took off his sunglasses. It just makes sense, really.

Whyyyy is the text turning orange. Dirk, are you taking over the narration?

Yup, he did, and he’s addressing the reader. He sounds pretty bitter there are readers, and brags about he can make the reader’s perspective change and turn into a character’s perspective. No complaints from me for you doing that, really, be my guest.

But I haven’t revealed myself to you just to boast about the abilities arising from the gradual obliteration of the constraints on my consciousness. I’ve only taken a moment to answer a few questions. Not ones I heard you ask—because again, you are nonspecific and therefore do not matter—but ones I imagined you asking. And by imagining these questions, they became less fake, and as such, demanded similarly non-fake answers. No, in truth, the time has come to make my presence known in order to start bringing my plans to fruition. It’s time to get down to fucking business.

Eh. Sounds to me like Dirk wants to ramble and wants an excuse to do so, even if he has to make that excuse himself. Golly, pal, you have free control of the narrative. Ramble all you want, go ahead.

To continue the narrative, John has to wake up and does so. I suppose he being sleepy and exhausted after the fight was just he being sleepy and exhausted instead of being borderline dead because of blood loss. Dirk forces the narrative to make John apologize to no one for everything that happened in the battle, and it’s all so heavy-handed even John notices something’s going on with his head. Dirk, you’re not doing a very good job at being subtle.

Suddenly you remember: Lord English’s tooth is still embedded in your chest. You panic, wrap your hands around the base, and give it a little tug. It’s excruciating. The tooth makes an awful grating sound as it grinds along one of your ribs. You gasp and lose your grip, biting the inside of your mouth so hard that you taste blood.

Can’t blame you for trying, but I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Without someone to administer proper medical care, you’ll bleed to death pretty much instantly.

Yeah, exactly! Not that there’s anyone to administer proper medical care in the middle of literal nowhere, so he’ll have to transport himself somewhere else before he touches that tooth any further. Where’s John, anyway? Is he still lying around underneath the black hole? Did he zap himself somewhere else?

On the other hand, the tooth is poisoned. So you’re pretty much fucked either way, and that’s really all there is to say on the matter.

Oh. That’s a thing now? Well then, guess you’re screwed, John. Thanks for everything, have a nice death. I suppose it would count as a heroic death because he received that fatal wound fighting someone who was obliterating reality, so being revived isn’t an option, I suppose.

John wanders around for a very long time, depressed and feeling pretty awful, until he sees Dad Egbert’s wallet. It’s a coincidence to find it anywhere in the infinite expanse of reality! John opens the wallet, aaaaand...end page! Quick, make a distraction and go check some other place. It’s the usual Homestuck style, so that’s what happens.

Jade’s explaining Dave and Karkaroni’s political ambitions to Roxy and Calliope, once again using the terms ‘neoliberal austerity measures’. I’m still unsure what that’s supposed to mean, but whatever it is makes Roxy groan, no doubt because she has heard about said measures too much already. They’re bad, and Karkaroni’s underdog populism is the counter to those, she argues. Give him a chance! Unfortunately for Elect-a-Troll 20xx, it doesn’t seem like Calliope and Roxy are very interested in getting involved in this at all.

ROXY: i just dont rly

ROXY: care about politics that much i guess

I suppose this means she’s not going to support Jane either. Hey, better for her to not be interested than for her to be on the opposite side. This is a victory of some sort.

She’s reticent to supporting anyone not only because she’s not interested in politics, but also because it’s a fight between her friends and she sure isn’t eager to going against a friend. She also knows this is something Jane has been planning for a long time, so she’s not into ruining Jane’s plans – even though she won’t really go out and say she supports Jane. I really disagree Jane is fragile, though. She’s anything but fragile.

In the spirit of full disclosure, Roxy’s the only one left I haven’t been able to crack. Her mind remains a total enigma to me, just like it always has. If I had to guess, it’s her Void powers that make her invisible, even to increasingly omniscient parties such as myself. For all intents and purposes, it’s like her thoughts don’t exist. She’s the same person, as far as I can tell. She still wears her heart on her sleeve. But the bottom line remains: Roxy Lalonde is still utterly fucking inscrutable.

Which is a very good thing for her. I wonder if this means Dirk would be unable to do anything with the narration involving Roxy, if she’s invisible for even the increasingly omniscient parties. In that case, she’s the luckiest person in this entire canon. Good thing, too, given how Dirk is a fervent supporter of Jane, so he can’t manipulate her into doing anything.

Roxy’s staying out, but what about Calliope? She doesn’t want any of this either, because it’d be stressful as all hell and that’s a very valid reason to not want to get involved in politics, especially if it’s between competing friends. At least Jade understands well enough and doesn’t insist.

Apparently Roxy asking Jade to call both Calliope and her by ‘them’ throws Dirk off to the point he has to hastily say aloud he doesn’t care and that he’s very okay with this, you guys, it’s totally okay. I don’t know, when this kind of thing is written or said like he did I can only think that person is indeed not okay with it. Dirk really should stop his rambling for once before he shoves his feet deeper into his mouth.

For a person that’s starting to be omniscient and spent an entire page mocking the reader and being vainglorious he sure is pretty concerned with keeping up the appearances.

ROXY: i mean what am i gonna do

ROXY: get married and pop out 100 bbs?

I mean, with ectobiology that’s far easier and simpler than you make it sound. You don’t even have to get married for that.

I choose to believe Dirk has gotten so flustered by the conversation about Roxy and Calliope being non-binary he chose to make Jade be unconscious. He had to stop the conversation somehow, so he made her do astral plane stuff. Smooth, Dirk, smooth as a brick.

I may as well stop here for the time being.

Next update: next time

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