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ambrosiagourmet · 3 months

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Did Laios have a plan

... when he made his deal with the Lion? How much of it was intentional and how much of it was out of his control?

Well. If I'm being honest I don't really want to try and provide a definitive answer to that question, because I think the ambiguity is, itself, part of the story. I've gone back and forth a few times myself, and I don't think either category - "fully intentional" or "fully coincidence" - is entirely true.

That being said, I would like to point out a few things that I've seen taken for granted as true. Things that, imo, are much more about the character's perspective, or about what the character WANTS people to think (well, that's really just the Winged Lion).

Consider this not exactly an argument for "Laios masterminded everything from the start and saved the world with his cunning," but more... "Laios considered what he was doing more than people give him credit for." Make sense?

Alright then, let's go:

So to start with, I want to show every time (that I could find, at least) that the question of 'does Laios have a plan' gets brought up. This is specifically after his Ultimate Monster Form is revealed, to be clear - the question isn't about if he has a plan in general, it is if he has/had a plan when he made this specific deal with the Lion.

Here they are:

You'll notice, in all of these instances, there never really is an answer given to the question. Either because there is no way to get one, or, with Kabru at the end there, because he explicitly doesn't let Laios answer. There's even a bit of an arc here: we start with a sort of desperate 'I've mostly given up but maybe this isn't as bad as it looks,' then get a more optimistic 'maybe we really are saved,' and finally end on 'it all worked out in the end, so we maybe don't need to know.'

But, as much as there is some genuine growth in Kabru's 'accept the outcome, rather than dissecting the truth,' I also think it says a lot more about him than about Laios. Kabru is the one trying to handle his questions and his uncertainty - as he said, he wants to confirm his judgement of character. He wants to feel like he had control over things.

And he lets that go! But he also doesn't actually get the truth, either, and his implied assumption here (that Laios, the wide-eyed monster-lover, probably just followed his desires), still relies on his judgements and assumptions about Laios.

But okay, these bits are all focused on the characters theorizing about Laios. How about we look at the character who actually tells us the facts ("facts"): the Winged Lion.

The Winged Lion has quite a bit to say about Laios and his monster form.

He says that Laios hates humanity, and would rather be a monster

I've talked about this a bit already, but the Lion makes a lot of claims and assumptions about Laios that aren't necessarily true.

First of all, let's just make sure we clearly establish that the Lion is being manipulative here. That may seem obvious, but it's important to understand that there is a difference between 'the truth' and 'a version of the truth specifically framed to prey upon your deepest shame and insecurities about what you really want.'

To point out a few quick-and-dirty contradictions here:

If Laios really hated all other humans, then the Lion wouldn't hinge so many of his other arguments on Laios' love for Falin and his friends.

the Lion claims that Laios "[doesn't] even care enough about the future of [the] world to express an opinion about it," even though Laios has literally expressed opinions on what he wants for the world, to the Lion's face.

In general, the Lion does not make a distinction between urges and choices (see, for instance: him using Marcille's subconscious fear of the canaries as a way to keep her from stopping the monsters from attacking in chapter 86).

I'm not saying there is not a piece of truth here, but also... we are not our darkest thoughts, and we especially are not those thoughts as defined by someone who wants to hurt and control us.

But let’s move on to the stuff the Lion claims about Laios once he has been turned into his monster form.

2. He says that (or rather, acts like) Laios is under his control

The Lion really enjoys grandstanding about how Monster Laios is an ultimate tool he has control over. He gloats about making Laios fight the others, and has him smash through the magical barrier.

But smashing the barrier is kinda the only thing that Monster Laios actually does for the Lion. He doesn't attack anyone. He doesn't hurt his friends, despite Chilchuck thinking that Laios has "turned completely into a monster." And he certainly doesn't simply let the Lion go through with his plan to eat everyone.

This barrier smashing is actually an interesting and odd thing for Laios to have done specifically, so remember that one. I'll come back to it later.

But, yeah, to the original point... despite the Lion's dramatics, all that Monster Laios does is pose, smash up a magic barrier, and then eat him. Not exactly under his control.

AND SPEAKING OF EATING THE DEMON...

3. He frames Laios attacking and eating him as thoughtlessly violent

This one is pretty funny to me, and the Lion keeps it up for the whole scene. I'm not sure how much of this is his genuine understanding of the situation, and how much is him intentionally framing things in the most insulting manner, but like... truly. The ego involved in this. To see someone who has, multiple times, tried to stand against you - someone who has literally wished for your non-existence, to your face - to see this person attack you, specifically, and have your first reaction be 'huh, I guess he's a reckless weirdo to the core???'

Incredible stuff.

And this part, too:

He claims that Laios can't recognize anyone, that he's out of control. And yet, the Lion is the only person that gets eaten here. He is Laios' singular target.

Hell, Laios even specifically attacks one of the bodies that is actively hurting Chilchuck. I don't know if that was entirely intentional on Laios' part, but I do think it's notable.

The Lion torments Laios' friend, and when Laios does something that interrupts that action, the Lion reframes it as unhinged violence. I don't know, there's something here about the way that cruel people only talk about the things people do to resist them as violent, and ignore the violence that causes such resistance in the first place.

In any case, the main point is that the Lion insists on treating Laios like an unthinking animal during this fight, despite the fact that Laios is clearly trying to accomplish something here.

And what exactly is Laios trying to accomplish? Well, the Lion isn't entirely wrong. Laios is trying to eat something. He tells us as much.

And truly, everything Laios does as a monster points to this. He had a goal. And he accomplished it.

Let me back up a moment. I need to explain smashing the barrier.

So, Laios first starts considering how to kill the Lion when he is confronted with the fact that his only other choice would be to kill Marcille. Immediately and entirely discarding that solution, because of course he does, he tries to wrap his head around what defeating the Lion would even look like.

He clearly continues thinking about this, as a nearly identical conversation happens a few chapters later, when Laios is once again told that killing Marcille is the only way forward.

Only, this time, he's started to come up with an idea for how to do this impossible thing.

Harkening all the way back to the Living Armor chapter, Laios draws on the same lesson - if the Lion has made itself part of the world, if it has made itself into something alive, that means he can kill it. And eat it.

But there's an important extra detail to this. If he's going to try and kill (and eat) the Lion, he needs to strike when it’s vulnerable. He needs to strike when it's eating.

This is why he smashes through the barrier. Again, nothing else he does as a monster really benefits the Lion. He doesn't attack anyone else. The only command he obeys is to smash the barrier. Because the Lion has to think he has won for Laios to be able to eat him.

Beat him. For Laios to be able to beat him.

The question of why Monster Laios wanted to eat the Lion is, I think, the most ambiguous part. Was he curious? Hungry? Did he fight for his own life, for his friends, or for all of humanity? Did he know how to win because he had planned everything from the start, or because he was driven by an unquenchable instinct to do whatever it took to survive?

I don't know that it is possible to say for sure. But I do know that the Lion underestimates Laios, through it all. He underestimates Laios as a human, and he underestimates Laios as a monster.

And in the end, after he is bested, even then I don't think the Lion ever gets Laios. I don't think he understands how much Laios means his words about the Lion being burdened by hunger...

or what Laios cares about most...

or what meaning there is in life, for him.

So I don't buy what the Lion is selling about Laios, generally speaking. I don't buy that Laios didn't ever know what he was doing, and I don't buy that he was nothing more than a hungry beast.

Well. I mean. He was a hungry beast. But he was a more than that too. He was the Devourer of All Things Horrible. And he didn't just happen into that title by chance.

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #laios touden #winged lion #dissecting how the Lion's negging works is a great exercise in understanding manipulation honestly #dungeon meshi spoilers #dunmeshi analysis

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 3 months

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Am I the asshole for giving a random guy my friend's phone number?

(🍫📲 to find later)

I (22 NB/F) was working one day at my place of work by going around and putting various items for sale where they belong in the store, as well as taking out the recycling. As I was making my way up to the front of the store so I could go to break, this older gentleman needed help reaching something. I helped him pull it down, but before I continued I was stopped by this other kid. He had a healthy-looking emo haircut and wardrobe, so I didn't think too much about it at the time. I kid you not, his eyes were big and wide like some kind of bishounen anime (idk if I spelled that right). Literally looked straight out of one almost, he reminded me of an excited puppy too.

"Hello! Do you need help with something?"

"Uh- actually, I was wondering if I could have your Snapchat?"

I was completely gobsmacked.

"Uh- I don't have a snap chat." A lie, but only because my snap is exclusively for my BFFEAE (Best Friend For Ever And Ever). I don't pass it out to my coworkers, family, or any other friends. Just her.

"Can I have your number then?"

Usually guys don't like. Spend this long on me. I'm Demiromantic and Asexual, and for those who don't know, that means I have no interest in having sex with anyone and have no interest in dating anyone but close friends. I never thought I'd be in this situation. Ever. The idea of anyone asking me out of the fucking blue for this is so far out of left field for my expectations that I was just staring awkwardly at him for a moment.

"... unless... age is an issue?"

"Ah- no, I am 22, but I'm just not interested in a relationship right now."

And it's the truth, honestly. My mental health has been a rollercoaster of emotions and schedules that I've been struggling to maintain for months. I did have one at the beginning of the year, but dropped it because I realized I couldn't trust my lover (he was extremely conservative, and I had to hide a lot of my life from him, but it was nice while it lasted honestly. Broke up on good terms).

"That's okay. Maybe we can just hang out sometime or something."

I'll be honest, I haven't been in good health to try a brand new friendship with a complete stranger either (I have horrid social anxiety to the point where I am basically a shit in hermit, and with everything going on in my life I don't think I can handle pushing my anxiety well).

Now, years ago, when me and my BFFEAE first moved to different states, we agreed that we could use each other's phone numbers to give out if we couldn't handle it or just wanted the guy to leave us alone. We have each other permission to pretend to be each other for it, that way they're more likely to listen thinking it's you saying "no thanks" instead of her friend saying "get off her back".

So in the span of ten seconds, because this kid was really sweet and I was still pretty shocked this was even happening, I was giving my friend's number to this sparkly-eyed kid (idk how old he was but I assumed he was younger than me, that's just my natural assumption honestly) and continued on with my work day. I told him a semi-common nickname of mine instead of my actual name bc my name is hard to spell and I didn't feel like putting much time into it.

Of course, immediately after I called my friend up and left her a message saying I passed her to this really sweet kid and to be kind with him (she's a protective mama bear kind of person) but that I simply wasn't interested and didn't have the right mindspace for a new anything.

Fast forward to when I get off work and check in with my friend, she and the kid had been chatting back and forth. Apparently he was into drugs (I have sensory issues and can't handle that kind of thing, so I feel like I've actually dodged a bullet) but was getting along really well with her otherwise. We got chatting about it when I confirmed that I'm not open to hanging out with him and that as long as she's kind and doesn't try to set me up with him or anything, I'm fine with her discussing whatever with him.

"I get it girl, we all get like that for a time. I'll keep it away from ya.

By the way, he thought you gave him a random number. He was SOO excited when I responded as you lol"

I felt absolutely sick and was horrified. I figured he would have been like "sick", but apparently he had been like "FUCK YEAH". I feel horrible for deceiving him like this, but I genuinely am in no spot where I can mentally handle picking up a new friendship, much less a romantic relationship. It doesn't help that he genuinely caught me off guard, and passing him her number was my first response to handling it.

Am I the asshole for doing this?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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copperbadge · 1 year

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Hi Sam, how did you come to the conclusion you should be tested for neurodivergence? I've been reading a lot of Temple Grandin (Visual Thinking is fantastic) and see so much of myself in her books. But, I, too, am, let's just say well into adulthood, and I don't know if my life would change that much with a diagnosis. The only thing I can think of doing with a diagnosis is telling my siblings and childhood bullies that they picked on someone who had a reason for being "weird." But it doesn't change anything. Beyond the medication, did you find any solace? Thank you for sharing your journey.

I was just thinking I should do a post about this....

I don't recall the specifics and have never been able to find the post again, but sometime prior to 2019 I made a joke about having a short attention span, and someone said something like "Oh, did you finally get a diagnosis?" and I said haha no, I don't have ADHD, and a bunch of readers went, "Uh, you very clearly do." Some of them added that they thought I knew and was just being discreet about it. (As if I have ever been discreet about anything in my life.)

So I figured, okay, probably there's some level of neurodivergence there, given that my mother and siblings all have various diagnoses, and my father was clearly autistic. (Knowing what we know now about how ADHD can mask as other mental illnesses, there's a strong chance this comes from my maternal grandmother, who was the person in the family I was most like when she was alive.) I tried a couple of times to get evaluated and always had either slow or nonexistent responses from the clinics I reached out to, so I stopped trying. I had a ton of coping mechanisms in place and was in a good spot in my life, so I thought honestly, what would it change?

But by the end of 2021, while I was still in a pretty good financial place, and my career was doing well, I could tell that if things kept up as they were I was going to tank my job purely through being unable to get through a day doing productive work the way I used to.

I thought, well, if this is ADHD and it's getting worse because the whole fucking world is on fire, I have two options: I can assume I have it and just do the reading and figure shit out on my own, or I can get evaluated, get professional advice, and possibly get medicated. That seemed like the best return on investment, so that's what I worked on. My goal was primarily medication, because I didn't see myself being able to change much else about my situation on my own. And, truthfully, medication has been the biggest change -- I actually have an essay about that queued for the anniversary of my starting Adderall. But while it hasn't been a massive life-altering world-shattering change, all of this was worth it purely for the medication.

Uh, momentary sidebar in my memoir: there are downsides to having a diagnosed disability -- discrimination, legal barriers to certain things like holding government jobs or adopting, etc. Those have to be weighed when you're considering evaluation. If you think you may have autism, there's not necessarily an advantage to having a formal diagnosis unless you need accommodations; if you think you may have ADHD, the huge advantage is access to medication, which doesn't exist for autism as far as I'm aware. So your particular flavor of neurodivergence might dictate whether you get a diagnosis, or whether you just start operating on the assumption you have it. Both are valid, I think, it really depends on what's going on in your life and what you want to change.

Anyway, I have been doing other research, reading journal articles and pop psychology and talking to people, and that's been good, but even if I had none of that, the medication has been so helpful in getting me back on an even keel and then making life even better.

This sounds kind of weird to say but I'm not generally someone who needs a lot of solace. There is some relief in knowing that at least some of my fuckups in life weren't something I could have prevented by simply having more strength of character or working harder, and that's nice, but it's something I could have had without a formal diagnosis -- just like you could simply tell your siblings and bullies you have a diagnosis. (Being real, I doubt they'd care; bullies gonna bully whether you had a reason to be weird or not, and none of that would have been your fault regardless of your neurology. But it's all very situational, as I'm sure you know.) I wasn't badly bullied as a kid and there's nobody really to...tell, in the sense you're thinking of. But I didn't get into it for emotional solace; I got into it to fix a life that was, albeit extremely slowly, starting to fall apart. So if you're someone, as most people are, who derives emotional satisfaction or catharsis from having the diagnosis, I think it probably would be pretty helpful. But even if you aren't, like me, if you can get medication or accomodations, I think it's worth it.

#sam has adhd

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rippleclan · 6 months

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[Image ID: A pixel pride flag with the title "Clan Culture: Gender & Sexuality]

So... gay cats! I'll admit, RippleClan's Promise doesn't really focus on queer themes all that much, but there are gonna be some gay cats, and they're gonna be in realistic, well-written relationships, and I'm going to write them through the lens of a fictional culture! Yeah! I don't want the cats to see gender and sexuality just like modern humans do, so I want to give them a few quirks that you may have already seen in Moon 11.

Gender: Scent-Based Assumptions

Now I'll be honest, a lot of cats in the Clans are cis. It's just statistics, is all. However, cats don't have all the physical gender identifiers us humans do. Sure, ginger cats are more likely to be toms, and tortoiseshells are almost always born female, but there are plenty of exceptions! As such, Clan cats can't just assume they know what someone is from far away.

When meeting a new cat for the first time, when they are some distance away, a Clan cat will use they/them pronouns to define the newcomer. However, once the cat comes closer, the Clan cat then switches to he/him or she/her based on the cat's smell. This is because toms and mollies have distinct differences in their scent. The intensity of someone's hormonal scent varies throughout any given moon, but it is fairly consistent among fertile cats like those in the Clans. It's hard to translate tom-scent and molly-scent into human terminology, since a cat's sense of smell is far superior. However, based on research into actual cats, I have a few analogies.

Tom-scent is the stronger of the two and possesses a slight sour tint. Molly-scent, meanwhile, could best be described as both sweet and salty. Spayed/neutered cats possess either an extremely weak version of their birth-scent or none at all. In those situations, or when a cat's scent is confusing, Clan cats will check with the newcomer.

If your scent does not match up with your gender/pronouns, then you'll need to introduce yourself. This is common in Clan culture, so no one feels weird about it. It's weirder for someone whose scent matches their gender to specify pronouns, as in a Clan cat's eyes, its just restating something they already know.

Gender: Scent Affirmation

Since scent is the biggest identifier of toms and mollies, trans cats in the Clans focus less on changing stuff about their bodies and more on shifting their scents. Clerics have some treatments for this! Lemonweed is a common treatment to reduce tom-scent or molly-scent if the trans warrior eats some of it. When it comes to producing a certain scent, different cats need different herbs. Trans toms can use pine pollen, stinging nettle root, or sasparilla root. Trans mollies can add fennel to their diets instead.

If a cat is nonbinary or otherwise doesn't want their tom-scent/molly-scent, they'll focus on lemonweed. In theory, if humans kidnapped them and didn't kill them outright, they might be able to return with all that scent stripped away, but that's not really feasible.

Sexuality: We Care About One Thing and One Thing Only

Clan cats don't really care about sexual nuances. You can really date anyone (okay not really but not based on gender). They mostly look at individual relationships and ask a single questions: can they make kits?

I know, that's an icky question to us, but that's because we don't live in a society where our survival is contingent on a small population reproducing. All relationships are classified as either able or unable to have kits. Most straight relationships are in the former category. However, relationships between, say, a trans tom and cis tom might still fall into that category too (but I'm not writing that for... multiple reasons). These relationships have a cultural pressure to have at least one litter of kits that survive to adulthood. It can be hard to be in a relationship where kits are possible, but you just don't want any.

Meanwhile, if the relationship is physically unable to produce kits, there is some cultural disappointment that can linger over a relationship. However, this is resolved if the couple manage to adopt some kits (which considering how often Clangen cats just find random kits, isn't a long shot), as adoption is seen as the same as birthing kits right into the nursery.

(Up next, artisan lore!)

#rippleclan #clangen #warrior cats #warriors #rippleclan lore

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queenofmalkier · 6 months

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@shounenwifey "Whatever the hell was going on with Lan and Moiraine's bond being "masked" vs being "severed" in s2"

I LOVE THIS ONE. Honestly, I've been very annoyed with the word usage being thrown around in the show, in articles about the show, and in interviews. I don't watch/read much of the latter two, but others do and it impacts fandom perspective on the concept of a warder bond and how it functions.

Initially, I was in love with the visual aspect of what occurred (Okay, still am.). I felt like it was a good way to show them mending their relationship in more ways than one. I felt like they had a decent conversation (for them) that wasn't filled with hurt, derision, or scorn which hadn't happened all season.

And they did it without their bond doing the heavy lifting.

That's key for me because I think their arc in Season 2 very much was them learning how to function without a magical bond acting as a bridge. (I honestly feel like Lan not being a supercharged bro in Season 2 had nothing to do with the bond. He 'failed' as a warder because he was grieving.)

Lan even said the quiet part out loud: without the bond, they don't know how to actually talk, let alone work together.

But they did it. They got through a tough conversation and mended fences. That's going to make them so much better as a team going forward.

Approaching this just from watching the show - I'm a big believer in show, not tell, and if I have to read an interview to find out what happened in a scene or have book knowledge it's a Bad Thing - what I understood is that the bond was not broken between them. (Although it's been a month since my last watch and my brain is swiss cheese so I might be forgetting something.)

In the beginning it's hazy because of the fact that assumptions have been made and they're all wrong... but Verin and Adeleas don't even say Lan is unbonded despite believing that Moiraine was stilled. Moiraine also doesn't seem to think so, or else she'd have told a lie when she handed him over to Alanna.

Overall, nobody says they are unbonded, or the word severed, though I can understand why there's confusion. It's the drawback to playing with shielding instead.

When we see the two of them on the beach, I understood it as Moiraine unmasking the bond... but I saw a lot of people think that it was a reforging of the bond, or recreating it like the bond had been severed in some way.

I think where the show stumbled in depicting what they meant (unmasking vs rebonding) is that they never showed what it looks like when the bond is masked in the first place. There's no callback to the weave. We don't see the weave or how it works before then. This could have been done in season 1, or very easily demonstrated by Alanna given what Maksim says about her masking his bond.

That said, we are going to be getting bonding scenes in the series without question, and I think it will be categorically different in terms of how we see the bond taking shape. Enough to make what happens in Season 2 more clear in hindsight. Not ideal, but I genuinely think they just didn't realize that it wasn't clear enough.

I mentioned above that a lot of misconceptions are happening because, well, people writing articles be using that thesaurus yo!

In this article, the writer says "severed bond" to describe them.

NOW. In any other media you can say severed bond and read that as "Oh no, their relationship is broken!!!" But the words severed and bond are loaded terms in Wheel of Time.

Looking at the actual quote from Rafe what he SAYS is: "That loss of connection between the two of them is something that really is going to play a big role in Season 2 because they no longer have that currency of communication with each other" making it clear that it's their relationship, not their magical little bond, that's going through the ringer. He also clearly says later on in the same interview the bond is masked.

See how easily things get confused?

Looking at the wiki page on bonding, what it says about masking is interesting, based on the confusion as to how the "masking" would stay in place if Moiraine couldn't channel. "The ability is somehow related to the ability to channel, as non-channelers are completely unable to avoid feeling what the other person feels." To me, I understand that to mean masking would stay in place even if Moiraine was shielded because she can still channel, just not in the moment.

While I was there I also read about the effects of stilling on a bond because why not? "When Siuan Sanche's warder Alric was killed, she was stilled shortly after so she was saved from the pain an Aes Sedai would feel after losing a Warder. This indicates that stilling terminates the Warder bond. Once Siuan was Healed, she felt all the pain again, which indicates, Healing restores the Warder bond to that level, even after the death of a Warder."

This reinforces to me that Moiraine could still feel the bond, even if it was masked. But she was so afraid to hope, knowing she couldn't afford it - she needed to focus on Rand, on saving the world, she couldn't mourn - that she shoved it away somewhere in the back of her mind. Like she does.

OKAY almost done I swear.

So I did rewatch the beach scene because I wanted to refresh my memory on the exact language they used.

Lan "The bond, are we going to talk about it?"

Moiraine says "Do you really want it back? After everything I've done to you?"

Honestly, that's a lot more clear and direct than I remembered it being. To me, that's saying that it's still there and Moiraine is continuing to mask it for... Moiraine reasons. (He's her best friend. I don't think she can stomach feeling how hurt he is. How much she HURT him.) If it was gone I think he'd be using different words - "rebond me, you need a warder, etc."

Lan "I never asked for my bond to be released, nor will I."

Again, he's not saying it's gone. He's using present tense. He's not asking for his bond to be released ie the bond didn't break.

(The conversation they have really is so fucking raw and powerful here, because they're talking without any of their bullshit. Just two people giving themselves one moment to be human and forget the great task of their lives just long enough to reconnect. To remind one another why they're walking this path together. Why they chose eachother. Now I'm sad again.)

Lan "Let me back in"

Again, the language is clear. I kind of want to take back some of my harsher thoughts earlier now that I'm watching this with fresh eyes. To be any clearer he'd have to literally say Unmask the bond lol.

In conclusion, I think that the fault lies in the show not demonstrating a masking weave when it had ample chance to do so BEFORE the beach scene. Even if it was quick. I know CGI is expensive but I think it would have cleared up the confusion very easily. I also think the word choice of writers in regards to articles has inadvertently impacted fans understanding of the scene, muddying the waters when it should have been more clear.

#wheel of time #wheel of time tv series #can I make it work responses #wheel of time book spoilers

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grilledkatniss · 6 months

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Okay so I'm just now catching up on whatever this "why is she shading Joe if she's happy in her new relationship omg" and the comparisons with Lover's I Forgot That You Existed's reactions of "why would she feel the need to come after Calvin if she's in a happy relationship omg" and...

Alright, listen. Here's my super fresh out the over hot take: have we forgotten who we're talking about? Melancolia, and digging up the grave another time, and never leaving well enough alone, and remembering it all too well, and looking back, and recalling now, and seeing it all now that it's gone, and wishing she'd realized what she had, and the whole ass concept of midnights is her dealing with the past and coming to terms with the series of events (happy or unfortunate) that led up to where she is now. It's her coping and doing that hindsight is 20/20, introspective psychoanalytic revisiting of the past, a terribly underappreciated skill characteristic to someone who's very emotionally intelligent. She's like an Olympic Gymnast in emotional maturity and intelligence at this point, and as such she never stops training and practicing -as in, she never stops reminiscing and taking apart what was and isn't anymore, like someone who's trying to figure out what didn't work out, what was the last straw, where were the signs she missed, what should've gone differently, how they could have fixed things, etc etc- It's her niche, her field of expertise and trade mark. Why is it becoming an issue now? Like, our capacity for empathy is super selective, honestly.

Also, now knowing how long it'd been shelved, there's a new bigger book of itemized speculations from the public, many of which will hardly ever get any sign of official recognition, much less one of direct confirmation.

It was probably one of those songs that was meant to be just for her and never released, or that didn't fit any album yet. Hell, it was probably what nudged her into starting a whole new album after an entire year of putting out rerecordings. Maybe she was already well underway designing the concept for the album, maybe the concept was already set, maybe this one at the moment fit said concept and was a call back to another sleepless night that could've taken place at any point in her life, be that recent past or decades ago past, current relationship's past struggles, ancient relationship ponderings.. you know what I mean? She's not doing anything out of what we've learn to expect from her throughout her career but more specifically when it comes to her latest studio album, which literally, as the well established and expressively stated core concept foretells, is an exploration of a lifetime of insomnia inducing ruminations.

[That being said, at the beginning of the year she did spend quite a lot of time flying back and from NYC's Electric Lady Studios (but I actually think she was most likely working on the rerecording of Speak Now and 1989) so there's that on the table.]

But at the end of the day these are people we don't know personally, and unless Joe decides to write a memoir (highly improbable), write another few songs but on his own and make them public, or write/direct a piece in the audiovisual department that specifically addresses the end of a long and very scrutinized relationship, idk something of the like, we might never know his side of the story. Taylor has this very public outlet and a huge platform whereas Joe doesn't beyond his sporadic Instagram photo dumps every once in a while.

Anyway, I don't think her puting an already published song now out on Spotify is a dig. She probably knew this assumption was inevitable and by now super predictive, cause this type of speculation has happened with literally every single one of her songs. She simply decided not to shield away from the scrutiny that was to come regardless and not let the public frenzy censor her anymore. People were gonna think the worst either way, make up theories and demonize her and the intentions they imagine she had for putting out a song about her own life.

I also think she learned from the experience of the re-releases that now she doesn't have to limit her self expression to appease absolutely anyone other than herself. She doesn't have to keep the men in suits with the big pockets happy to get where she wants to go. The rerecordings are a passion project of hers, where the fans' impressions and opinions haven't weighed too much in the making of. Yet, the relentless encouragement she's received from said fans, along with the praise from the media as an after the fact result (which could have never been taken for granted since none of them were counting on it getting any sustancial pay off, keeping in mind an enterprise like that hadn't had that much commercial success in previous attempts by several other artists... which is exactly why she was doing it more for herself and her own personal moral and legal gain) have helped in getting her out of her head about releasing discarded projects. You know, stuff that for some reason or another had to be cut from the final more polished official version of the end product. And it reassured her in the fact that, in the position she's in, at least today, whatever she releases will most likely not bomb commercially. Also, as an added bonus, not only does she get to get things off her chest and speak her truth, but revel in the knowledge that it feeds both the media and her own fanbase with content she knows it's desperately being sought after and craved for, not out of necessity but out of greed for anything resembling an inside look into her up till very recently pretty much kept under wraps and extremely undisclosed private life. Yes, even if it's calculated, cause it's a taste of the type of flaunting and overexposing she was known for during the 1989 era, where everyone and everything clung to her for clout.

What was my point? Something along the lines of be thankful for the dashboard food she's providing us with, but also be nice??? Be more aware of the bigger picture and the inner workings behind the decision of putting out a previously shelved song??? And be empathetic??? It's not that hard??

And, sidenote: in case it was so -that she's still harboring some type of feelings towards Joe (anger, resentment, sadness, longing, etc)-, she's completely entitled to feel any which way she might deem appropriate in regards to her own life, her own relationships and situations, and act and react upon them accordingly. We, however, are NOT entitled to any answer whatsoever. All tidbits, drops of tea and crumbs of scones are hers to disclose if so she chooses and at will, not ours to demand.

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bcbdrums · 7 months

Note

For the Headcanon ask board, can you do number 3 and 5?

Thanks for the ask and sorry for answering so late!! Uhhhh.... Uhhhh... You gave me tricky ones!

3. Romantic headcanon for fave ship.

Okay so my fave romantic ship is actually SoMa. You probably were hoping for another pair from me though heheh so I'll do two for this one.

I'm realizing that I'm not good at thinking of romantic headcanons for SoMa, because I see them as kids and not getting too romantic till post-canon... So I guess these are more just...intimacies? I like the idea that Soul helps Maka on and off with her boots. Look at those things... They are HEAVY. And I honestly can't tell without going back to look at screenshots but it looks as if the metal? Is an external thing, kind of like the spikes you put on snow boots to walk through ice? It looks like the metal may be its own thing altogether that she wears just for combat's sake. Which...well man, her legs must be strong. But yeah... I feel like Soul helps her on/off with her boots. Which is quite a personal thing. And then Maka, I feel like she does Soul's laundry and specifically hand-washes his head bands for him. Rich boy don't know how to do laundry when he first comes to the academy, fight me... And rather than make fun of him, Maka just...helps. And with the head bands specifically she takes that extra care because they're important to him, to the look he's after. And she never says a word about it, and he probably only shyly and guiltily tells her thanks every other week or so. They don't talk about it. It's just something she does. And then...I like to think he lets her hear him play. Like if he's sitting in his room, writing a new song on his guitar... She creeps up to the door to listen, peering in the crack... He left it open to let her know she's welcome. And she just sits there silently listening to him compose, knowing that in itself is a gift. And he lets his soul be seen in that way, cuz that's so deeply personal.

As for Spirit and Stein, which is who I assume you were really asking about... Shockingly I prefer them platonically, but on the romantic side... And this is all post-canon thoughts for me, for these two, btw.

I think they're actually absurdly gentle with each other, when it comes to physical things. Too much past baggage for both of them individually and together, so they are extremely cautious together and make no assumptions. And if ever things heat up they take a step back and make sure they're both okay. They take things at their pace, neither rushing ahead of the other. Also, Spirit is the one in charge lol. Also I think they spend a lot of quiet time together. Spirit reading some deep book about the history of witch-kind, Stein next to him on the couch studying weapon soul anatomy on his laptop. Till one of them falls asleep against the other, and then oh well trapped forever now guess it's nap time. Just...quiet intimacies like that. They've been together so long that words aren't that necessary; just being together is enough. They already know what the other is thinking. Apparently I'm not creative with romance lol.

5. A crossover related headcanon.

Ho-boy. I don't care for crossovers, lol. But here we go...

Guess I'll pick Kim Possible because it's the thing I have spent the most time in for the last four or five years. (My gosh who let me do that oh it was me oops.)

Mental image of Stein looking at Dr. Drakken, the two sizing each other up, noting each other's similar scars... (my gosh I have a type and that type is mad scientist apparently) and Stein privately thinking to himself... Why is this guy blue? Why's his girlfriend green and have these crazy powers that def aren't soul wavelength? Gotta "befriend" these people and then dissect them.

Meanwhile Dr. Drakken is looking at the screw in Stein's head like, boy you got a screw loose for sure if that's in fact real and how are you still alive? Are you a zombie? Feeling a little scared of him.

Until. Spirit just de-transforms out of Stein's hands and Drakken is like....human weapon??? Okay time to "befriend" these people and figure out how to get my own human weapons.

Basically, mad scientists figuring out how to manipulate the other toward their personal goals.

I'm not creative lol I'm sorry. Crossovers are just not where my thoughts go. Hope it was entertaining enough anyway.

Thanks for the ask!

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phantomoftheorpheum · 1 year

Text

Just finished 1x07 of School Spirits, here are my (currently disorganized) thoughts-

*as usual, thoughts below a cut to avoid a massively long post.

Okay, well, first of all, glad that the Nicole stuff has come out now. It's pretty much exactly like I expected, though she has really muddled up the evidence (for the audience) by actively planting Maddie's bootprints. Is she behind any of the other "evidence?" I don't think so, but I'm going to have to consider that for a minute. I know that she and Simon were focused on the money, but it would have been nice if they'd talked at all about the fact that someone liked Nicole's social media post & since Nicole now also believes that Maddie is dead, they should be on the same page that it wasn't her.

It was immediately a red flag when Mr. Martin said his line about enjoying power & control. Obviously he's become actively more threatening throughout the episode. He's also in the fallout shelter when Dawn crosses over, so is he the one who died there? I have some somewhat vague theories about Mr. Martin, but I'll save those for the end.

Xavier called out that his own alibi relies on Mr. South, which does make him less suspicious to me again. Though I did think it was weird that he mentioned Mr. South whistling "the Titanic song" the whole time because he doesn't mention that he actually saw Mr. South the whole time. While Mr. South does feel like a red herring kind of character, I can't help but wonder if that will come back around in some way. Maybe it's something as simple as when we see what happened to Maddie, we hear him whistling that when she walks past the boy's bathroom, or something?

I know we needed to have various characters look suspicious and so Claire had a role to play throughout most of the season, but I really enjoyed her this ep & I wish we could have had more of this version of her throughout the season. I guess here's hoping for season 2!

I don't love that it seems like Claire & Mr. Anderson assumed the blackmail was coming from Maddie just because he hadn't given his number to any other students. It seems weird. Why would they even assume it's a student? What did Nicole say? But I think that's just the way it is, because I don't see how another twist fits in there well. It was a really bad and poorly supported assumption on Mr. Anderson & Claire's part, but okay.

Don't think I've forgotten that Mr. Anderson's alibi makes no sense, still. At least the alibi he told Claire. He said he spent the night with his father, Maddie was killed during the day & Xavier's alibi is for 8th period. Why would Mr. Anderson not be at school for 8th? That's never been mentioned/explained. The Sheriff claims he has a good alibi, but what is it?

Dawn mentions that people can be possessed by spirits. She is the perfect character to use to give the audience important information without them necessarily taking it too seriously. Plus, we later see that she's a lot "more" than anyone thought, and being taken seriously and appreciated seems to be what she needed to cross over. I think we need to take her concerns of possession pretty seriously.

Okay, I guess now is the time to talk about the fact that it seems like Janet didn't actually cross over & Mr. Martin clearly has something to do with that/is lying about it. I have about 12 different half-baked theories with this whole situation, so I don't even know which way to turn. Is Janet still around, or can he somehow absorb the energy of other ghosts and has basically killed her? Maybe through hypnosis? Perhaps hypnosis (or maybe any mentally altered state) on a living person leaves them vulnerable to possession, but on a ghost leaves them vulnerable to being absorbed or controlled? Does he have the ability to impact the real world? Is it possible that he can influence the actions of the living? Maybe not fully control them, but heighten emotion/anger etc.? Could he have had a hand in Maddie's death? Either by being powerful enough to hurt her, or by being powerful enough to influence someone else to hurt her? Maybe he can't make someone do something completely out of character, but he can push them past their normal limits? He was down in the fallout shelter and that may be his reset point, so it doesn't seem out of the question that he was nearby when Maddie died. Or maybe he didn't have anything to do with what happened to Maddie & he's just being set up as a season 2 antagonist. See what I mean about all the theories/thoughts?

So. Maddie's mom. I'm glad we're finally starting to address what she was doing at the school on the day of Maddie's death. I've said before in a post that if she killed Maddie, it would have been a crime of passion, imo (could she have been influenced by Mr. Martin? Is she more susceptible to ghosts because of being under the influence?) But I'm not sure she's capable of this level of coverup, and I'm immediately suspicious of any "revelations" that happen before the final episode, since mysteries like to leave an element of surprise for the finale. At this point, I think it's likely she and Maddie argued & that she has Maddie's necklace, but she didn't kill her. I think the necklace is likely what's in the envelope that she's keeping in Maddie's dresser. In Maddie's flashback with her mom she yells either "that belongs to me" or "that belonged to me" which I'm guessing is about the necklace.

Which brings me to- The Sheriff. He's a loose thread. He could have followed Nicole from Maddie's house and dug up the money. The last we saw, she was there with Maddie's mom and the police. We were reminded, yet again, about his re-election campaign and money. He would have the ability to plant evidence pretty easily (the backpack, the "murder weapon," etc.). And he can steer the investigation. Simon mentions that when he was shown Maddie's file it didn't have the ticket with the boot print. Why would that be left out, unless the cops know that was faked and that he might realize that? And how could anyone know it was faked unless they knew Maddie's shoes, or they killed her & know she couldn't have left the prints? Did someone maybe call the police when Maddie's mom showed up drunk at the school, giving the Sheriff reason to be there? Did he encounter Maddie after her argument with her mom? The question is, what exactly would be his motive to kill Maddie? He's an asshole, and they made sure to show us how much in the scene with Xavier, but why would he want Maddie dead? He does seem motivated by money/re-election, but Maddie didn't actually have any money & how would be know anything about that situation?

Could Mr. Anderson and the Sheriff have been working together to steal money from Claire's stepdad? I feel like I'm missing a piece here in this theory, because Claire's stepdad was donating to the Sheriff's campaign, so I don't know why he would need to steal money, but- is it possible the Sheriff was in on Mr. Anderson's plan, so he knew that Mr. Anderson thought Maddie was blackmailing him & had been given some of the money? The police told Simon there was no money in Mr. Anderson's wall when they searched, but maybe it was there & the Sheriff was trying to protect him/the stolen money. At that point, there was no proof. Once Simon produces the proof that Mr. Anderson stole the money, the Sheriff can no longer pretend & Ms. Fields tells Maddie's mom that Mr. Anderson turned the money over, but maybe the Sheriff already had it & was just now forced to acknowledge this. Mr. Anderson's supposed alibi doesn't line up with the timeline, but the Sheriff says he has a good one. Did Anderson kill Maddie (maybe he was told to get the money back by the Sheriff, but ended up killing Maddie when he became frustrated that she was denying having it) and the Sheriff is helping cover it up? So many options.

Is the hooded figure that we saw in the house the same person as the hooded figure we saw at the end of 1x07? Seems likely, but we have no proof, so we can't rule out anyone whose location we don't know during both of those two events (so, anyone, really).

Okay, those are my immediate thoughts. I'm in the process of constructing a timeline with some added conjecture/theories, but I'm going to post it separately, since this is already so long. Speaking of, do you think we'll get to go through events chronologically (like watch Maddie's last day play out) in the final episode. That could be interesting! Not as the entire episode, since obviously we want to see progress with the characters in the current timeline, but I'd like to see some of the events we've already seen put into the context of the new information.

#school spirits #school spirits spoilers #school spirits theories #school spirits 1x07 #school spirits 1x07 spoilers #long post #td

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ripdragonbeans · 11 months

Text

On Monday - Part 2

Modern Aemond x Reader

Warnings: FLUFF, recollection of Philosophy class I kept falling asleep in (I was having serious sleep issues rip)

You had never been more frustrated in your life. Nothing made sense and you wanted to shove your face in a pillow and scream. Or just scream, no pillow required. Helaena packed up for the night claiming that she has an 8am tomorrow but you knew that was just an excuse for her to get you and Aemond alone.

"This fucking trolly question is absurd. I'd rather just close my eyes and pray the trolly goes off the track," you complained.

"Now, now," Aemond chided, "it's absurd because it's supposed to make you think, Y/N." He mockingly patted your head.

"Well, I don't want to think, I just want to pass." You proceeded to actually shove your face into a pillow and scream this time.

"If you want to pass you're gonna have to think. Wow, you're just as bad as Aegon."

You chucked the pillow at Aemond as hard as you could. "I am nowhere near as bad as Aegon."

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Okay," he chuckled. "Let's take a break and then come back to it, yeah?" Aemond took his leave and went into the kitchen to get a drink.

"Thank the gods," you sighed as you let your body fall back on the couch.

When Helaena left, you took her seat next to Aemond thinking that it would be better if you didn't have to stare at his beautiful face the entire time. By sitting next to him all you had to do was keep your focus down on the notes and just listen to him, right? What a terrible assumption you made. Sitting next to him was worse than sitting across from him. It was easier to hide the blushes that crept up your face but being next him made it happen much more often.

It was the small touches that got you the most. The gentle brush of a hand. Knees bumping into each other. Shoulders leaning on the other ever so slightly. The few times you weren't thinking and you repeatedly hit your forehead on his shoulder out of frustration. It was a rough night for you but you certainly didn't want it to end.

You felt a weight drop next to you as Aemond settled back in his spot.

"Ready for more, Y/N?"

"Ugh, what choice do I have? It's not like I can say no," you grumbled as you sat back up.

"You don't have to stay and study, you know? You can go crash if you'd like. I won't be offended," he said with a smile.

You sighed. "I know, but at the same time I really want to do good on this." You looked at him with a smile to match his own. "You're just gonna have to deal with me being a piss baby for a while."

"I'm sorry, a piss baby?" Aemond looked both amused and bewildered.

"You've never heard someone being called a piss baby? It's just when someone is whining a lot, something I have done a lot of and will continue to do."

"Wow, you really are like Ae - shit!"

You smacked him in the face with a pillow.

"Y/N, was that really necessary?"

You grinned triumphantly. "Yes, because I'm not like Aegon and I refuse to be compared to a guy who can't keep it in his pants."

Aemond opened a mouth to ask how you knew but you answered him without the question.

"I've heard small stories here and there. The way he talked to me earlier was a good indication of his… desires as well."

He looked at you with raised brows. "That's a really formal way to say it but yeah."

When he laughed you couldn't help but laugh along with him. After the laughter had subsided there was a comfortable silence between you two. No pressure, no tension, just comfort. You couldn't help but glance his way and be drawn to his face. Everything about him was so perfect.

"Can we skip the trolley question and go to a different one?" You turned to face him but your head was down looking at your notebook." Maybe the one about the cave and -"

You looked up and your noses were almost touching. His violet eye was boring into you with an intensity that you couldn't explain. Your eyes darted to his mouth as he subtly licked his lips. Aemond's breath quickened with yours and all you could do was lean in. He was only a whisper away when he pulled back.

Aemond coughed. "Yeah, the, um, allegory of the cave." His cheeks were red as he fumbled through his notes. Trying to diffuse the tension he started going off about how it explained that people would see only what was presented to them and they would be stuck unless they ventured into the unknown.

While he talked you couldn't help but think about how close you were to kissing him.

Just a breath away.

#bean fics #modern aemond x reader #aemond x y/n #hotd #house of the dragon #modern au #college au #modern!aemond #modern aemond #modern house of the dragon #hotd fics #aemond x you #aemond x reader

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shirayuki7 · 11 months

Text

To preface, I don't play the assassins creed games. Too many buttons and too small words even at the largest setting. BUT! My husband asked me to play Odyssey because I wrote my bachelor's thesis about the Peloponnesian war times.

TL:DR: as someone who can speak confidently about ancient Greek history, particularly the Peloponnesian war, I appreciate Odyssey a lot!!

Long answer: okay so. I've only just left the beginning island, and I appreciate this game so much. The music. The landscape. The background noise and people talking. The goats. But you know what I appreciate most?

The women.

Particularly the depiction of these ancient women. It varies, obviously, but I have yet to see a woman in here who isn't actively about her business. Now to brag a little. I read Thucydaddy's The History of the Peloponnesian War cover to cover during my thesis. I didn't need to read the whole thing but I'm glad I did. It got me to really see and understand the ancient greeks zeitgeist/mentality. Thucydaddy didn't write about women tho. Who did? Playwrights and Plato and Xenophon. Particularly Xenophon. Now, what he had to say wasn't nice or really even pleasant from a modern perspective. If we took his words at face value, we would see a world in which women weren't valued, never left their homes, and were simply stupid baby making machines. Because that's how Xenophon thought they should be. SHOULD BE. not WAS. My thesis was based on two assumptions about ancient greece: one, that these ancient writers didn't write what they saw but what they wanted to see (And two, that women attended the Athenian theater). Xenophon's expectations for the women around him were completely illogical! How could she stay home all day and still get things done? Not all women were wealthy enough to have slaves. Here's where I appreciate Odyessy. The women are out and about. They are the spokesperson of groups. They have things to do and people to see. I was so pleased to see an old woman as the priestess of the temple of Zeus. The actual ancient greek society was slightly more egalitarian than the ancient writers want us to believe. Society, religion, and economy would stop if the Greek woman did exactly as Xenophon (or worse, Aristotle) said they should do.

The creators of Odyessy were smart enough to see that, or they did their research (Particularly of the leading researcher herself, Sarah Pomeroy. I highly recommend reading her if you're interested in ancient greek women history). And I just really appreciate it, as a researcher and historian. I know nothing about the assassins creed fandom or how this game was received when it came out. I just want to say to the casual history dudebros who didn't like it based on its societal "inaccuracies": get fucked. This isn't "feminist woke shit", these developers did their research and they did it well. Deal with it.

I look forward to playing the game more and seeing how they depict Peracles (Thucydaddy's golden boy) and the other Athenian generals/statemen. Maybe I'll be able to go to Athens and meet my number one guy, Euripides? We'll see!!

#assassins creed #assassins creed odyssey #history #ancient greece #seriously tho #go read sarah pomeroy #her 1975 'goddesses wives whores and slaves' is very easy to read and just blew my mind #i love it #i want to meet her someday #and tell her how she totally 180ed my perspective on the entire ancient world

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all-pacas · 2 months

Note

Are you comfortable saying what characters and what about the characterization you disagreed with? Just curious!

I don't want to get too specific because I'm not trying to do any kind of call out post! But it was a sort of situation where a specific character is highly whitewashed and can do no wrong, no matter how understandable or even welcome that would be. It's frustrating writing, not just because it's annoying to read about characters who can and are not allowed to Do Anything Wrong, but also because it's not human.

I'm a huge proponent in messy characters. People making mistakes, making assumptions, saying or doing the wrong thing. Good, well-meaning people who make mistakes, or get upset in the heat of the moment. Especially because they can and absolutely do exist with good or "paragon" characters! It adds so much more depth and interest and relatability! I love positive traits taken to the point of flaws! It's my crack!

And here's the tangent that's made me decide to answer this ask: I. Fucking. Love. That. So here's some very random examples of Good People and Characters with Positive Traits that can be flaws:

PETER PARKER. Amazing Spider-Man's semi-recent Sin's Past arc directly discussed this. Peter has a hero complex; he IS a hero. He compulsively needs and wants to save everyone, explicitly due to his own guilt complexes. It also makes him controlling. He will or won't allow help, will or won't share information. He keeps things to himself, he refuses to share, he intentionally keeps people out of the loop. He wants to save everyone. He thinks he knows how to do it. He dismisses and pushes friends away. He is a great hero and often a shitty friend.

CRITROLE, my guys Caleb and Nott. Best friends, they love one another, they are ultra found family. About halfway through the campaign, Nott begins to struggle with her personal issues, openly and obviously (Xhorhass and Flaskgate). Caleb cares for her a lot. He wants what is best for her. Instead of talking to her about her problems or calling her out on her recent recklessly dangerous behavior, he refuses to talk to her at all. He enables her, an alcoholic, with alcohol. It isn't that he wants her self-harming or in danger, it's because he loves her and can't bring himself to call her out or bring himself into conflict. He Fucks Up.

ALOY Zero Dawn. Another heroic type, she spends about half her time refusing friendship, help, companions, all of it. Her catchphrase is "I'm faster alone." She saves the world and skips the victory party. She's too busy. She has too much on her plate. She hurts her friends. They tell her this. She pushes them away. It isn't because she doesn't want friends -- she's actually a fairly warm person -- or even because she's so anti-social. She has the best of motives and reasons, and she is still a bad friend. She is cold. She is unkind. She is quite cruel to [SEQUEL GAME SPOILER CHARACTER], who we AND she knows does not deserve it, but she sees too much of herself in this person and lashes out. We know why she does it. It's still a dick move. We still love Aloy.

(you might think I'd include current hyperfixation smoothbrain vampire on this list. i cannot. he is an asshole on purpose. his minimal goodness is in spite of this, not because of it.)

I'm not for a second going to pretend that I'm a great writer worth bragging about. But it's something I like to do too. My current OC Tav lady is passive and easy-going. This is a flaw. She isn't passive and easy going because she's okay with shit, but because she feels like she can't and has no right to complain. If you give someone a Trait, follow it to its logical end. How is it good? How is it bad?

It isn't that "these characters are flawed" is some plot twist, it isn't that "characters having flaws" is news. It's that in all three examples, these are characters whose positive traits (heroism, love for another) have the side effect of hurting others. These are characters who are sympathetic (Aloy is isolated, Aloy lashes out for understandable reasons) but still make mistakes (being mean to someone who doesn't deserve it).

In the fanfic I was ranting about, there is neither. The person does not make mistakes, does not take their heroic, story-specific flawlessness into this direction. When arguing, they have the moral high ground, but also the flawless composure to not be rude or hurtful or controlling or a little bit rude in making their points. The other characters fall over themselves to apologize, to understand, to feel sorry for opposing them. It isn't just that they have no flaws (a subjective phrase), it's that the universe twists and conforms to them. There are no consequences, no stakes. They are the sun at the center of the universe. And I vastly prefer messy heroes.

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ennyxythegalaxyfreak · 10 months

Text

DLC TALK HERE!! No spoilers till under the cut tho.

SO!!!

While I said that the new chapter of the fic is FINALLY coming this week(or veery early next week) after having to write it, scrapping parts and doing a bit of a rework and a rewrite as well...

What I really wanna say is. I had the fortune of being able to play the DLC myself right on release instead of watching a letsplay as my first impression, which would be a first when it comes to FNAF! YAY!!

I just finished playing through it finally(still missing the tird ending tho), and my mind is a scramble trying to make sense and assemble puzzle pieces on a sleepy brain. Without going into detail, I feel like it neither confirmed NOR denied any of my personal fears on it and it just leaves me in a picky spot of observations, assessments, ideas, hypothetical possibilities of explanations that could go either here or there...

In other words, I enjoyed it, I had a lot of fun despite all my reservations, but story-wise(and as a person not the fondest of book lore or a couple fan theories) I'm in not even sure how to sort my feelings appropriately xD

In any case thankfully it didn't make me change my opinion on lil Gregs to be quite frank, tho he does have me thinking him over more now.

Now a lil more detail under the cut, with SPOILERS this time!!! Still not too much tho.

First, Eclipse had me FREAKING jfnjngrde I did NOT expect to see him there, that caught me SO off-guard.

Second, the V.A.N.N.I. thing still has me curious, but damn i loved that visually tho. Happy to see a Helpy in some shape way or form. With an "i" instead of "y" lol

Then there's Roxy. Though she's not my fave, I still love her to bits, so I was SO VERY HAPPY to see the way she was treated in the DLC. The bond with Cassie was just so qwq

Then oh god, the headless Freddy thing... At first I was abt to get sad abt it. Then I was like, what he doin in Fazer Blast if this is the Burntrap ending. And then I read the word "prototype" on his foot and was like, ooooh. Okay xD

I do wonder how our good old Fred is doing tho, hope he's fine, since we didn't actually see a hint of him in the game. And on the same note as that is Vanessa of course.

Okay next is the whole thing with the comic panels. Not rly a fan of basically saying all the other endings except one are less of an alternative timeline type of thing and more of, well, fiction, kinda as a much smaller extension of my pet peeve of "it was all a dream/fiction/whatever" but oh well. Don't think it's gonna stop anyone tho, least of all me.

Curious about the one that had two Gregory's in it(I know it's one of the ending panels but like, interesting choice of a panel there xD) but I suppose it could be a bit of a thing hinting to the fact that there ARE kinda two, "Gregory" guiding us being a sham

The whole thing with Gregory supposedly being stuck or trapped reeked of suspicious way before any of the Mimic stuff became known to me, since way back when I first saw the poster. Him guiding Cassie to Roxy Raceway in the game I was guarded on it the whole game, even just the littlest things like a weird and unnatural-sounding tone on a word or two and the everything... Doesn't take a genius is what am sayin. So my bestie who had to tolerate watching me play and ramble on about what i think may be happening being my witness, the reveal was an "i knew it" moment

Then post reveal when he says he's not even in the Plex anymore, there's a small part of me that is like "but what if it's also a fluke" still but under the assumption he IS the real one... He said "we" and "us" and there was someone with him, wonder if it's Fred or nah... Honestly never sure abt anything with this franchise and I'm not a big lore person or a theorist either.

And the whole betrayal thing... Not saying what he did is right, but considering the threat of the Mimic I can't really entirely blame him either. If it's genuinely him and him in his right mind (we don't talk abt ggy here thanks), and even if it's not the case, I can already smell people hating on a child cuz of a decision like they like to do

Is prolly not all and not best formed by am not home, my laptop is on 9%, my phone is not logged into tumblr and I didn't take my passwords here, soooo.... Thank you for coming to my ramblings if anyone actually read this lmao! Just needed to get these raw thoughts outta my system before going to bed.

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happilyvaliantkitten · 11 months

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So I met a trans woman who asked me why I identified as trans when I was comfortable wearing a dress. I'm not upset at her. She was just trying to understand a different experience. I just explained that my gender is non-binary and I wear whatever I want.

And then I got home and realized something else. I'm fat and carry my weight in my chest and hips. Most masc clothes simply don't fit me off the rack. I would have to get them tailored. That fact has given me so much dysphoria in the past, but I just locked those feelings away so that I could wear the feminine clothes that actually fit me. I'm legitimately okay with wearing those clothes now, but it was really hard to get to this point. I sometimes think of myself as non-dysphoric, but that's not entirely true. My dysphoria just comes in waves, and the water is currently calm.

I'm genuinely not upset at the woman who asked me. I wish I had shared a little more of myself in that conversation, but we were in public, so I didn't feel entirely comfortable announcing all that to the world.

I just want people to stop making assumptions about trans people based on how we dress. A lot of us don't have many options for clothes that fit well due to how our bodies are shaped. I know that transfem people experience this too, but I don't want to speak for someone else's experience. I welcome all trans people to share their experiences with this. Also, if you are going to comment, please don't say anything unkind about the woman who asked me. I'm glad she asked about my experience instead of assuming. It's all t4t solidarity here.

#transgender #trans #transmasc #i fucking hate shopping for clothes #dysphoria #dysphoria triggers

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duhragonball · 2 years

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I'm babysitting a machine at work today, so I'm gonna pass the time by disscussing more DBSSH spoilers. Well, first I gotta figure out how to put a read-more cut on mobile...

Yeah, there we go.

Okay, so I talked about Cell Max last night and I got so focused on him that I forgot to discuss anything else. Sorry, but Cell is objectively the coolest character, so even an off-brand Cell takes priority in a movie like this.

This time, let's talk about the lore that gets sprinkled throughout the movie. It's not the main focus, and they probably could have edited a lot of it out and made the movie tighter and more efficient, but it's better this way. The old movies worked that way, just dumping viewers into Dragon World with scarcely any introduction to the characters, but the 21st century Dragon Ball movies are events. They need to be long and have plenty of fanservice (not the sexy kind), and that's what we've been getting. Tidbits like finding out Vegeta is "Vegeta the Fourth" is half the fun, I say. So let's take a look at what we have here.

One bit I liked was how Videl said she teaches a martial arts class of some sort. I think she called it a "combat training course" in the dub, so it sounds a little different from a classic dojo, like the one Tien ran in the DBS anime, but it's the same basic idea. For years, fans have complained about Videl moving away from the badass crimefighter she was in high school. My feeling has always been that nobody is the same person they were in high school, and if Videl wants to settle down and be a housewife, that's a valid choice for the character to make. But I never understood the assumption that Videl stopped fighting. For all we know she's kicking ass off-screen. Well, it turns out that she's teaching other people how to kick ass, which is the next best thing. Maybe she still fights crime, I don't know, but I think it's important not to put her in a box. Just because her recent appearances always involve her taking care of Pan doesn't mean that's all she does.

They threw in a line to lampshade Goten and Trunks' growth spurt. According to Gohan, all Saiyan children are like this, staying small for a while, then suddenly shooting up like weeds. I think that's been the fan consensus for some time, because that's how it was for Goku and Gohan, but DBS really strained credibility by having the boys look and act so young for so long. At least the franchise is acknowledging the issue.

On a related note, it's nice to see they remembered to keep Dende looking like an adult. I'm pretty sure there were Buu Saga episodes that screwed this up, so you never can tell with that guy. I liked how Piccolo considered asking Dende to awaken his hidden power the same way Guru did for Krillin and Gohan. And Dende explains that he can't because he's not old enough to perform the technique, which neatly explains why no one has tried this before. Then he proposes modifying the Dragon to do it instead, and Piccolo's like, I didn't know that was possible, and apparently it wasn't possible back when Kami was in charge of Shenron, but Dende knows tricks that must have been innovated since Kami came to Earth.

However, now that this has been established, they need to account for any other character who can take advantage of the power boost. Krillin and Gohan have already undergone the process, but apparently Shenron's version is more potent than Guru's, so maybe it's worth doing again? But besides that, this would be a handy way for Tien and Yamcha to "catch up", if they ever plan to use those characters more seriously.

On Beerus's planet, Vegeta is seen meditating, which he explains is his attempt to duplicate Jiren's awesome strength from the Tournament of Power. He reasons that Jiren wasn't actually that much stronger than himself or Goku, but he dominated the ToP because he had such precise ki control, only bringing it to bear at the exact moment when it was needed. Something like that. I'm not sure if this is meant to lead into Ultra Ego or some other form, but it's cool to see some explanation of why Jiren was so Different from the others, and that it's possible for other characters to beat him.

And that's what I mean when I say they could have trimmed down the movie if they wanted to. Vegeta's barely in this movie, and he's about as far removed from the action as he can be, so we don't really need to check up on him at all, much less hear him analyze Jiren, a character who doesn't appear in the movie whatsoever. But it still awesome to get this sort of footage anyway, and without a TV series, they don't have anywhere else to put it. The manga, sure, but it's got to move a lot faster than a movie like this. Again, the movie is an event, and Vegeta's observations are part of the icing on the cake.

But of course, the biggest lore contribution relates to the Red Ribbon Army. We learn Magenta is the son of Commander Red, which is fairly predictable for a story like this, but what surprised me was the revelation that Colonel Violet is his mother. Did anyone else catch that? There was a shot of Magenta's desk and he had framed photos of Red and Violet, so I think the implication is very clear. I'm not sure how those two ended up together, but it adds a new dimension to that scene where Red watches Violet raid the safe before she deserts her post.

Also, we learn Magenta's been running Red Pharmacuetical Corporation, which was a front for the Red Ribbon army all along. After Goku wiped out the RRA, the RPC carried on, but they also funded Dr. Gero's scheme in DBZ. This is awesome stuff, because I always envisioned Gero as a lone wolf trying to avenge an organization no one else cared about, but the RPC is a much more intriguing idea.

We also see the first canon reference to Gero's wife and son. Toriyama revealed in an interview that #16's design was based on Gero's son, but I don't think that ever got used in a story until now. While Magenta and Carmine go over their plan, there's a graphic of Hedo's family tree, and a 16-lookalike is identified as Gero's son, named "Gevo".

Likewise, Gero's wife is named "Vomi", and she's a dead ringer for #21 from FighterZ. I'm unclear about whether #21 is Vomi in an android body or just an homage like #16, but I find myself suddenly much more interested in the character.

I already wrote about the idea of Gero's Cell data being in the hands of the RPC, but I guess that's true for all of his other android projects too. The thought occurred to me that this is probably where all the android/cyborg/bioweapon characters in Dragon Ball Heroes must have come from. Sure, it looked like Magenta and all his goons got killed in the movie, but the RPC probably has offices all over the world, and a robust succession plan. And even if the company collapses, the data could still leak and other aspiring geniuses might try to reproduce Gero's work. So that's a cool idea.

I think that's all I got for the moment. I'm sure I'll remember more stuff to talk about later.

#dragon ball super super hero #spoilers

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land-of-holly · 2 years

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Rings of Power Episode 1 Liveblog

Okay, I'm going to watch the first two episodes again and take some notes. These will be a combination of the thoughts I remember from the first watch through as well as some stuff that comes up on a rewatch.

"Nothing is evil in the beginning" Nice quote to start off with, in a show all about Sauron.

These kids COULD all be her cousins yes?

Magic swan origami!

They hit you with "Elves can be assholes too!" damn quick, don't they.

GIT HIM GALADRIEL

I realize that the captions label this guy "Finrod" but I'm going to headcannon him as Aegnor until further notice, it fits better imo.

The inscrutible philosophizing in answer to a simple question is Finrod-like enough, though. Comes of never having real problems, I guess.

The lighting in the Valinor scenes is really pretty.

"We had no word for death" Feanor is SCREECHING. This is actually something even a lot of fan writers get wrong; the pre Valinor elves certainly lost loved ones!

And we took the boats to Middle earth and it was all fine and dandy for everyone

See, Aegnor could totally have died like that

"Left Middle Earth in ruin" on a shot that everyone was CERTAIN was of Alqualonde. Easter egg?

"we learned many words for death" you are Quendi you damn well MADE those words

I'm hype that the first word used to describe Sauron is "sorceror"

Vampire Finrod confirmed! In all honesty, the "Sauron symbol" seems a little heavy handed of a way to give this plot a visual through line.

Aw, Galadriel's poor second in command. I hope he's having a nice time in Valinor.

He's still putting his concerns in unnecessarily poetic terms lol.

My spouse has a point-- you NEVER assume that a guy literally known as the Necormancer is really dead until you have seen a body and disintegrated it.

This place in Forodwaith is never NAMED Utumno but we can imagine.

I would honestly expect the Evil to extinguish light before warmth, but that wouldn't lead to very good cinematography.

Yeah! Punch a wall!

The teleportation accident orc is really freaky.

See, I know you can do better than a random rune as a Sauron symbol. I could do better.

"A trail for orcs to follow"? That's quite an assumption, considering you've only seen it once before.

Galadriel is that boss who's like "we're all family here" ^_^ and then asks you to work 30 hours of unpaid overtime.

They got guys still speaking Quenya well into the second age? I guess when you are getting attacked by a snow troll you are allowed to revert to your mother tongue

Okay, Galadriel's stone cold equanimity when she fights is pretty cool to watch

MUTINY!!!!

Ah the anvil. Well know symbol of evil.

And after all that, the antler guys are just random no names. Bluh, trailer shots.

They're not even out of earshot, guys, maybe wait before you pop out of the grass?

I do like their hidden village, being good at hiding from Big Folk is one of the core Hobbit competencies.

I love the Harfoots' ideographic/pictographic writing!

Not super thrilled with Poppy's intro as the fat best friend being stuck in a gate+falling in mud, I'm giving her treatment a lot of scrutiny.

Mmm, fresh blackberries

Awww, aspiring poet Elrond sitting in a tree with a book os a pretty good introduction

Okay, "Elf lords only" teaches us NOTHING about the actual political structure of Lindon or Elrond's place in it, and is of course completely incoherent with Elrond's canon heritage, and it doesn't even seem to faze Elrond much??? Why????

I actually like the ear prosthetics on the Elves, they look pretty neat

Elrond's just looking for a good story out of Galadriel.

Galadriel not really taking orders from Gil Galad is actually....extremely in character as far as how I imagine her.

At this point my predicted probability of whether Elanor's going to have her name explained ever is dropping steadily.

Elrond as Gil Galad's Alexander Hamilton is pretty great.

Poor Gil Galad, Galadriel must have been making his life harder for CENTURIES

I can't really say anything about Gil Galad apparently having authority to send people to Valinor that hasn't already been said. It makes no sense to anyone who understands how this works. But in context it's a brutally incisive political move against Galadriel.

I assume the memorial carvings don't hurt the trees.

Yeah, it does seem weird that they give no indication that going west brings you NEARER to your departed loved ones.

Galadriel have you considered that your inner turmoil is a you problem?

Galadriel his entire family got ripped away from him too, please don't play oppression olympics with him!

Galadriel has a point that leaving won't necessarily fix her if the problem is in her heart. It'll sure make Gil Galad's life easier, though.

Elrond promising to continue her fight isn't a bad move, and I do think he means it, even if he considers the probability low that he'll have to.

Hitting Galadriel's refusal to go West so hard is not a bad theme to give a lot of weight to, all things considered

I expected to seem more whole communities of color than I'm actually seeing, it's disappointing.

Arondir!

Did people use Knife ear as a slur for elves before Dragon Age?

I like how Arondir stops anyone from starting a fight on his behalf.

Something about Bronwyn's costume really bugs me. I realize it's the South and it's warm and everything, but her bare shoulders and cleavage still look...sloppy, almost, like she's missing an underlayer or something. Like, it's almost ancient Greek inspired but not quite, and the result looks just...unfinished.

Hey, Idril and Tuor did not die....that we know of. Still appreciated to point out that this romance is not a good idea

So, it seems Arondir is not Silvan or Avari, at least not politically. He works directly for Gil Galad. How do we feel about that?

Elf racism! I believe it! Let's really dig down into this!

Oh gross, that cow's got something way worse than mastitis

Bronwyn why are you going with him???

DON'T TALK ABOUT A MAN'S MUM LIKE THAT

:o The Sword of Evil!

Are the elves on the ship to Valinor just expected to stand at attention the entire time?

So Gil Galad's plan was to do nothing and expect Sauron to just chill as long as they didn't provoke him??

"i've admired his artistry since I was a child" now isn't THAT a loaded sentence if you know Elrond's history.

You can't just insult a woman's family like that, Arondir, I'd be upset too.

The armor removal ceremony was pretty cool, very symbolic. Who are these veiled maidens serving the soldiers though? Do they work for Cirdan? Do they just send a few along every time who are ready to leave? Who is driving this boat, anyway?

Birbs! Manwe says hello!

Jumping off the ship to Valinor is some crackfic shit, WTF?? Are we dealing with Hobbit movie senses of distance here, or does she actually expect this to work? Was she just hoping Ulmo would help a girl out?

Why does she need to take his hand? Is she gonna get left behind otherwise?

So Gil Galad is definitely sending someone to check out that gnarly meteor that just flew overhead, right?

Flaming eye symbology ahoy!

#rings of power #rings of power liveblog #rings of power s1e1

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