#inherent contradictions

[agentrouka-blog]

"That was the night I stole up to his bed to give him comfort. I bled, but it was the sweetest hurt."- Sansa(ASOS VII). "I think Brandon liked the sight as well. A bloody sword is a beautiful thing, yes. It hurt, but it was a sweet pain."- Turncloak(ADWD). Both Lysa and Barbrey recalling about how they have sex with LF and Brandon to Sansa and Theon. Though LF love Cat and Brandon was engaged to her. Barbrey was again slighted when Ned, with who her father wanted to marry, choose Cat.

Hi there! :)

I wouldn't narrow it down to these two characters and their relation to Catelyn, exactly. The idea of "sweet pain" is one that connects many characters, sometimes in good and sometimes in bad ways. Sometimes sexual, sometimes otherwise.

I think, it ultimately comes down to GRRM wanting to emphasize the blurred lines when it comes to life. Not all pain is sweet, but not all pain is bad, either, and it's not always easy to tell the difference.

Melisandre invokes a false constant duality, an in escapable constancy of war.

"The way the world is made. The truth is all around you, plain to behold. The night is dark and full of terrors, the day bright and beautiful and full of hope. One is black, the other white. There is ice and there is fire. Hate and love. Bitter and sweet. Male and female. Pain and pleasure. Winter and summer. Evil and good." She took a step toward him. "Death and life. Everywhere, opposites. Everywhere, the war." (ASOS, Davos III)

But Meera Reed and Jojen insist differently:

"Oh, I do. My lord father told me about mountains, but I never saw one till now. I love them more than I can say."

Bran made a face at her. "But you just said you hated them."

"Why can't it be both?" Meera reached up to pinch his nose.

"Because they're different," he insisted. "Like night and day, or ice and fire."

"If ice can burn," said Jojen in his solemn voice, "then love and hate can mate. Mountain or marsh, it makes no matter. The land is one."

"One," his sister agreed, "but over wrinkled." (ASOS, Bran II)

If hate and love can coexist, contradicting and not contradicting each other, so can pain and pleasure, sorrow and joy, bitterness and sweetness. Not war but a mere multiplicity. Life is not that simply, not that black and white.

The Mystery Knight adds a similar example:

"This is the proper way to fill a pie," Ser Kyle sniffed, cleaning off his tunic. "The pie is meant to be the marriage, and a true marriage has in it many sorts of things—joy and grief, pain and pleasure, love and lust and loyalty. So it is fitting that there be birds of many sorts. No man ever truly knows what a new wife will bring him." 

The sentiment is all over the books, in good and bad ways. Often involving sex, but also in other moments that draw a special emphasis on life itself. The pain of breathing in icy air, but breathing nonetheless. The ache of straining muscles. Some pleasures come hand in hand with some pain. But also the pleasure that can mask harm and abuse. 

Marillion’s voice becomes even sweeter when mixed with pain and fear and sorrow in his imprisonment - a sweet voice in a bad man in a horrible situation. How can beauty thrive in this, born from this man? Well, it simply does.

Victarion claims this:

"Always." Life is pain, you fool. There is no joy but in the Drowned God's watery halls. "Do it." (ADWD, The Iron Suitor)

But Jon and Sansa, respectively, claim this:

It was so sweet and silly that Sansa had to laugh, despite everything. Afterward she was absurdly grateful. Somehow the laughter made her hopeful again, if only for a little while. Smiling, she let the music take her, losing herself in the steps, in the sound of flute and pipes and harp, in the rhythm of the drum . . . and from time to time in Ser Garlan's arms, when the dance brought them together. (ASOS, Sansa III)

Jon had to laugh. Even now, even here. Ygritte had been fond of Longspear Ryk. He hoped he found some joy with Tormund's Munda. Someone needed to find some joy somewhere. (ASOS, Jon X)

And I think you can tell with whom the author agrees.

#asoiaf is not grimdark #sweetness #bittersweet #pain #coexisting parts of life #inherent contradictions #perseverance

[egophiliac]

still absolutely losing my mind over Lilia

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 spoilers #sebek: wow we're so lucky to see lilia-sama at his fighting prime. so commanding! so powerful! #lilia: (straight up stuffs a frog in his mouth without breaking eye contact) #seriously though i did not think it was possible for me to enjoy lilia even more. and yet. #'dragon eggs need love in order to hatch' #ten year old me: gasp. i knew it. #the IMPLICATIONS though! #forget true love's kiss we have true love's baby dragon over here #also twst. twst please. i do feel i need to call you out a little bit on malleus' age #i don't really have a problem with it i was just. surprised. #i mean i GUESS the description of dragon ages was vague enough that malleus being under 200 doesn't inherently contradict it #it could've been clearer okay :( #that said it is true that the younger malleus is the more hilarious his whole world-weary immortal schtick is #'ah...you are all as infants in comparison to me. ' - malleus (age 19) #also lilia being a foundling does explain him not knowing his real birthday. so i will forgive (1) birth-related shenanigan. #auuuugh the parallels between lilia and silver #brb i need to go roll around on the ground and mutter to myself for a while

[commsroom]

there's an interesting statement being made about identity if you accept all of the wolf 359 characters are equally themselves as of the finale: eiffel is form without memory; hera is memory without form; lovelace is both, but without continuity of experience; minkowski is both with continuity - and she's still not the same person that goddard recruited. if we're never the same people we were, but we're always ourselves, then the only way the self can be defined is through its own assertion - and maybe it can be argued that "my name is-" (and later, being able to say "my name is hera" reintroducing herself to pryce) and "i am captain isabel lovelace. no matter how hard you try, you are not taking that away from me" and "without me, who are you?" / "renée minkowski, and that is more than enough to kick your ass" are all the set up for (and part of the answer to) "am i still doug eiffel?"

#wolf 359 #w359 #it's about accountability but also about inevitable change and the willingness to learn from the past #and change for the better #holding those maybe contradictory ideas in your head #that we can't escape who we are. the limitations of the self or the people we've been in the past. but also #that there's no permanent state of self we're bound to #that the self is a constant negotiation of presentation and communication with others and can't exist in a vacuum #but also that it is about inherent worth and self-defined and self-named #i think that line is so interesting. 'we can't just change who we are but we get better.' #because depending on how you interpret it it either supports or contradicts this philosophy #and i think the difference in how hera interpreted it vs how maxwell might've meant it is part of how they misunderstood each other #and why it's an idea that stuck with hera and that she returns to. and feels like it was a lie. after maxwell betrays her #but that's another discussion maybe. #and also of course. the significance of names in wolf 359. but that's a whole thing on its own too.

[shinobicyrus]

Obviously, the Alabama Supreme Court actually putting fetal personhood into law is another victory for creeping Christian Authoritarianism and yet another attack on health care, womens' rights, and bodily autonomy....but watching the Republicans flip their shit now that IVF clinics are in danger of closing is hilarious in a "the clown car is on fire" kind of way.

Because of course this was going to happen. Fetal personhood and anti-surrogacy (especially in the context of same-sex parents) has been bouncing around in conservative religious and legal circles (but what's the difference?) for decades, with those pesky liberals warning about it for just as long. Anyone with an inkling of awareness of the issue could have seen it coming.

So the fact that they were caught so off guard is myopic enough. And they're panicking for a very good reason, because yanno who generally goes to IVF clinics?

The people who can afford it.

Certainly the abortion bans in various states were bad, but if you had a lot of disposable income you could just...go to another state. Extremely inconvenient, yes, but not insurmountable. But this?

Oh my god, now the far-right pro-life politics that you've been cultivating for going on fifty years is now in a position to affect people with money? People that matter? Now you have to try and contend with the very extremist judges you installed that don't have to worry about getting elected and whose decisions are now putting you on the political chopping block?

Join us the in misery you're created for everyone else, assholes.

#Oh no my own petard! #IVF #Fetal Personhood #Alabama Supreme Court #Politics #Republics #in vitro fertilization #Women's healthcare #Abortion #For real tho? #Watching Senator #Tommy Tuberville #stammer between the pro-life buzzwords and saying ''we believe people have to have more children'' #(which...interesting. Which people do you think should have more children and why?) #and the inherent contradiction of pro-life politics outlawing fertility clinics - places that HELP PEOPLE HAVE CHILDREN #because guess what assholes? Pro-Choice goes BOTH WAYS #helping with things like FAMILY PLANNING to people who want and are prepared for children #why...it's almost like dismantling healthcare and taking away people's ability to make decisions about their lives and bodies and families #is...bad?

[rustchild]

controversial opinion about incredibly niche subjects, but i actually like the use of the universal ‘he’ in the narration of Left Hand of Darkness. I like it for the same reason that everyone hates it, and Ursula Le Guin herself regretted it: because it doesn’t fit.

The book is ostensibly written and translated by Genly, or by the observers that came to Gethen before him, and the central struggle of Genly’s story is his inability to give up the gendered frameworks he’s used to in the face of a situation where they don’t apply at all. Having that baked into the language indicates just how deep that struggle runs. In order for him to understand Gethen, to connect to Estraven--hell, to understand himself--he needs to give up on this idea of gender that is so fundamental to his cultural background that it’s baked into his language, and that’s just as much of a barrier to true connection as Estraven’s memories of Arek are to their use of mindspeech. Having that reflected in the text itself, and showing Genly struggle with it as he writes, is actually a super effective way to not only show this tension, but also draw further attention to the limits of Le Guin’s English-speaking audience.

#lhod #the left hand of darkness #genly ai #i just think it's more effective for building tension and character voice #than it would have been if genly was using a third-gender pronoun the whole time #singular they... maybe #but a genly who is able to adapt a new pronoun from the get go is a different genly than the one we see in the text #the only counter argument i would buy is that genly's writing in retrospective #and by the end of the book has finally (too late) come to understand the limitations of gender #but idk #i like genly because he's a guy who creates problems #not on his own but as a reflection of the culture he comes from #and i think that the fact that there's an inherent contradiction to how the text is presented to us #is a good problem actually #mine #for the three people out there who will care about this

[faelapis]

crazy how often you see the exact same people who defend aang not killing the fire lord (usually for the fanon interpretation of it being about preserving air nomad culture), be the exact same people who say how "refreshing" it is that luz lets belos die.

i just think that's interesting. no comment here. just interesting.

#i could go on a long rant about how people try to make these two things both 'fit' with their own preferred politics #or the many ways they try to make it out like aangs decision is about everything Except pacifism which they really dont like and cant vibe #with without the excuse of 'cultural preservation' that they pretend is indisputable canon #but cartoon twitters overall ideology is a mess of contradictions #so trying to make a real analysis of it is in many ways an inherently fake idea #so i just... won't do that :)

[francy-sketches]

Still haven’t seen a single person explain why making alicent more sympathetic is bad beyond “well it was different in the book and book good tv bad always no exception” What’s so compelling about a one dimensional evil stepmother character that makes you throw a tantrum when she’s changed to have depth lol

#.txt #hotd #and don’t hit me with the ‘they’re misrepresenting the true characters!1!1!!1!!!’ bc these are not real people lol #who gives a shit about ‘misrepresentation’ #I need y’all to understand book accuracy isn’t inherently the best option #are you just upset you look deranged when you call this teenager a scheming hag. be honest #targ stans on twitter test my patience everyday #saw one of them getting thrashed for their shit take and then cry about it like ‘noo stop explaining f&b to me I’ve read it more than you’ #you must be a pretty shit reader then if you didn’t catch the whole ‘biased accounts’ thing #’the show is only good if you haven’t read f&b’ false lol I’ve seen plenty of people who’ve read it and still enjoy the show #it’s so weird to me holding up f&b as this perfect bible that must not be contradicted #when the majority opinion I’ve seen it’s that it’s pretty mediocre #imagine being this toxic over a fake history book lol

[lotus-pear]

hear me out for genshin x bsd-

atsushi would be a cryo claymore that scales off atk (since the tiger is shown as extremely powerful and can even cut through space) and optimizes physical dmg

dazai would be a geo sword support that increases elemental res, acting as a debuffer (as no longer human works in the bsd universe) he would also scale off em

kunikida would also be geo but catalyst that deals physical aoe dmg.. he'd be an in-slot dps but not an optimal one imao his talents are much better suited to make him a battery unit

akutagawa would be pyro polearm?? or sword?? and he's obviously a heavy dps that scales off crit rate/dmg and tenma tengai could be similar to cyno's burst when, once activated, increases def while simultaneously raising rashomon's atk

chuuya would be an anemo catalyst dps similar to wanderer bc of his gravity manipulation and he would have a melee stance where he atks from the ground and an elevated state where he uses gravity manipulation to be able to atk off-ground. his ult would be corruption obviously and would parallel xiao's where his atk and crit rate/dmg are sharply increased but he undergoes continuous dmg until the duration of his burst ends (in this state he is vulnerable as his def is lowered and he isn't able to accumulate energy meaning he needs a team built around him, preferably with a healer and a shielder)

how does it feel to be the sexiest person on this site w absolutely the most correct and banger takes anon??.. why are u correct on literally everything

#DAZAI BEING GEO IS A SMART MOVE I LIKE THAT. i would've seen him as cryo (bc nlh is blue and also bc cryo is the element of contradiction) #(much like how dazai lashes out against his inherently selfish nature to help atsushi) #(and how he does not see himself as human and feels alienated from human society bc of it yet he is written to be the most relatable- #-character in the show?? or at least i think so) #BUT GEO MAKES SENSE.. GEO REPRESENTS DETERMINATION AND PERSEVERANCE #GEO VISION HOLDERS HAVE MINDS OF STONE AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS #WHILE THIS CAN BE SEEN AS A NOBLE AND DILIGENT TRAIT.. DAZAIS MORALLY GRAY CHARACTERIZATION PUTS A WHOLE NEW TWIST ON WHAT THIS ENTAILS #HE IS MACHIAVELLIAN INTRINSICALLY. ITS WHO HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN. HE BELIEVES THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS #AND WHETHER HE ACHIEVES THAT THROUGH MANIPULATION OR THROWING AWAY HIS OWN HUMANITY.. HE WILL DO IT IF IT SEES HIS PLAN THROUGH #also kunikida would be dendro imao bc of his adherence and passion for his ideals #which parallels dendro users highly valuing and pursuing knowledge above all #anyway sry for rambling in the tags again those are just my thoughts feel free to disagree <33 #lotus’s asks

[fate-motif]

you know, i’m backtracking on what i said once that rigg would never join hoffman. i disagree. having heard darren lynn bousman’s and lyriq bent’s original intended ending for iv, i think rigg would have been a profoundly fascinating apprentice.

yes yes, savior complex, but look me in the eyes and tell me a man that wanted to beat up an elderly cancer patient and engaged and covered up his own police brutality couldn’t find it in him to go outside the law to enact some kind of grisly form of karmic justice. i think an apprentice rigg would be a paradoxical man deep in denial about what he’s doing, not unlike how john will scream that violence is distasteful, but look at the shit he’s doing. i think what would destroy him most about what he’s doing is that all along, the killing took the lives of his friends wasn’t all that different from what they were working for themselves. but instead of realizing the perverse nature of the police state, he would live both lives until it killed him.

#something something the inherent contradiction of being a black cop. #fully recommend listening to the saw iv director’s commentary for the suggested planned ending #it’s a banger and it’s My canon ending honestly #it would have made iv instantly more memorable and actually made you think #saw #saw franchise #daniel rigg #mark hoffman #jigsaw killer #fandom

[fite-club]

it’s still so sad when trans guys are like “transandrophobia is real, i lost my support systems when i started taking T” like i’m sorry baby but that’s just transphobia. they don’t particularly care that it’s a man you’re transing into, it’s the transing at all that makes those people stop being around you. losing friends/etc after transition is not a transmasc-specific experience, it’s a trans-specific experience. i’m not downplaying anyone’s struggles when i say this i’m literally pointing out the systematic oppression you experienced and calling it the correct name

#i mean this goes for like 90% of what those guys call ‘transandrophobia’ anyways #but uh. yeah. if your friends thought men were inherently evil before you transitioned then maybe they were just TERFs all along #and you’re only realizing it now because it’s directly affecting you #all this shit about ‘my friends tried to talk me out of transitioning/surgery’ #its not as simple as ‘they think men = bad so trans men = bad’ #its more like ‘these people see gender as something inherent and your identity contradicts that’ #like im not saying all these transandrobros came from TERF circles. but some of y’all are telling on yourselves #is the person in your life saying ‘testosterone is a dangerous poison’ really your friend?

[charmwasjess]

Still reading The Living Force. I'm actually much farther in now than when I took this pic over the weekend, before I got kicked out of the winery for throwing the book across the room--

No, no, I kid. In fact, there's lots to like about this book. Much of it is warm, funny, and full of Jedi details and lovingly crafted little scenes given to more obscure Council characters. Depa and Mace continue to shine.

I'm still... very much struggling with some aspects, some inconsistencies and contradictions that I can't tell are there on purpose to make a point in the narrative, or just unsuccessful writing. But I'll try to post an actual write up shortly when I'm officially finished.

#hey Protobranch crisis mention for you Dooku: Jedi Lost fans #one of the contradictions I was talking about actually lol #I really am trying to divorce myself from my inherent need to defend a thesis about how Sifo-Dyas did nothing wrong HE WAS A SAINT #you can see how successful I was when I write up my review #spoiler alert not very #but I'm also trying to keep in mind that a lot of my favorite Star Wars books I kind of hated at first #like actually I think my first reaction to DJL was “what the fuck did I just read” and the Yoda comic I did actually throw #not Dark Rendezvous though Dark Rendezvous you've never done anything wrong #star wars books

[spindle-fever-necklace]

made a meme to cope with my current thoughts and feelings

#quitting nicotine #quittingsmoking #quit vaping #fuckin god damn it #personal #cigarettes #it’s almost as if there are inherent contradictions in life that we must overcome??

[recents]

i swear to god there’s like 2 people in the world that agree with me on the character astarion is on a fundamental level and i know both of them. and i feel like that should be evidence that i am wrong. and it probably is. i am insane. but i am free. and i would rather be insane than be rotating a boring character in my head 24/7

#‘at his core you have to remember he is inherently a self-serving self-motivated person’ boring. so boring #so so so boring. we have very different tastes. #and i think frankly that that is contradicted by the text. #but even if it weren’t that’s such a one-note character it really is. #bgtag

[nightcolorz]

Head canon that Benji is v much not a powerful vampire at all besides randomly having inherited the murder gift (vampire power that Akasha and Marius have that explodes ppls internal organs) for no good reason, and like no other vampire “gifts” besides that

#random ass thought I had but it’s canon now #Idk if this is contradicted by the pl books haven’t read them yet #benji mahmoud #the vampire chronicles #tvc #vampire chronicles #vc #interview with the vampire #Iwtv #marius de romanus #akasha #I’m obsessed with how vampire powers have like no inner logic besides sometimes u might inherent ur makers powers maybe. And u get more whe #Ur older maybe #the vampire armand #benjamin Mahmoud

[spocks-kaathyra]

.

#vent #wow I will never be able to let myself have friends huh #I am unwanted and inherently unwantable #I have it all figured out I just can't DO anything right. why is breaking silence the hardest thing to do #I can't bring myself to make/maintain/deepen friendships bc I'm convinced that I'm unpleasant to be around and unpleasant to be friends with #my company is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy #<- completely unjustified belief. I am kind and friendly and capable of responding appropriately in the majority of social situations #they reach out and I shrink back every time. no matter how much they reach towards me I can't believe that they actually want me around #and ofc the reasonable thing for them to do is stop reaching! when I never reach back! why would they expect a different outcome this time #so I can't blame anyone. I can't sit around waiting for a saintly mindreader who can see that my actions contradict my feelings #I know I just need to reach out. but how could I do that when I'm convinced it'll only hurt them? #my presence makes their day worse. I'm a mangy dog begging for scraps I don't deserve at their table. I am harming them with my presence #how can I beg for their attention and company and time when I know their life would be better without me in it #<- false belief. when I reach out I make them feel wanted and they feel more comfortable reaching out to me when they know I like them. #everyone appreciates being reached out to. I am pleasant to be around. they like being liked by me. my company is a desirable thing #company in general is a desirable thing. my company is better than no company. people like being liked. #logically I know all this to be true. emotionally? they hate me and I deserve it and the more I show I like them the more they'll hate me #sigh. what a banal problem to have. I'll stop being 18 years old one day. I can't wait until I have better things to worry about #replies appreciated. btw. in the interest of asking for what I want instead of expecting ppl to read my mind lmao #narcissus's echoes

[thirdmagic]

one thing i like about slay the princess is that its like the antithesis of undertale where instead of creating fully developed routes and directly telling you not to do them, it directly encourages you to explore every route and to see what happens if you do different things, its very premise is meant to be repayable and it encourages exploring all the nooks and crannies of the world and the story. no matter how bad, cruel, or dark are the places you go to.

for the shifting mound, every story you experience and aspect of herself born of that story is a "gift"- it's an experience that makes her fuller and more complete as a person and expands her understanding of the world, herself, and the relationship she has to the long quiet. this game treats every ending and every route as equally worthwhile, just for its own sake, for the experience and the story told in it. every different story you can tell within its framework is equally valuable by its very essence of being a story.

and you know, there are so many time loop VNs and so many VNs that play with this kind of aware repetition and use it to say something, and you can be tired of it, and obviously not every such vn will be good, but i find that fun and cool, and i think theres a reason thats a big genre, and many people don't get tired of it. i think it's telling that many people approach visual novels and instantly think 'what can i do in this medium that i can't do in any other' and see the richness of this kind of story/game mechanic, and so many ways to approach it, and this is a unique way, to have a character actively actively asking you to repeat these loops to find these different aspects of herself because these different versions of her born of different choices enrich her. and in general, just the way it avoids the approach or concept of 'good' or 'bad' ending, where the dichotomy is between happy or unhappy, or in any moral assessment of your choices or actions, but the priority is always on the richness and depth of experience. which i think is pretty well embodied in the damsel route. in that one, you do everything right, it's by all accounts a happy ending, but it makes for a very shallow princess and a fairly shallow story on the whole.

and, you know, also in the endings you can get for the 'main' story with the shifting mound, every choice you can make about your characters' future and existence has its place and, aside of some specific sub-endings, none of them are necessarily bad or good. there's just so much meaning to read into it all and the ultimate ideas and messages of it are very open.

#“is this post dragging undertale” i like undertale a lot and i think it is very good and deserving of the accolades it gets #but i also think theres kind of an inherent dissonance within its messaging and a weird contradiction that i can never quite get past #and always makes me feel kind of resistant to what its trying to say #and i like that stp is the exact opposite of that and less. judgy is the word i am inclined to use i guess. #anyway. very good game. please play. #slay the princess