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#shifting perspectives
veilder · 2 years
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Tuesday is here and that means! Another prompt from yours truly! ^_^ We're rocking the Gavin Redemption Arc here tonight, everyone. Buckle up. XD
Prompt: Time traveler!Gavin AU where he comes from the nuclear ending and has been sent back into the past to try and prevent it from happening. Gavin's been fighting against the machines as long as he can remember and he hates them with every fiber of his being. It’s basically anathema to him, being forced to work with them in 2038. But he has a mission and a cover to keep. He knows full-well what a deviant is capable of and has vowed to stop them.
Too bad his best chance at that fails when the infamous deviant hunter knocks him unconscious in the archive.
Because he knows what an important figure Connor was to the Revolution. He was the key in turning the tide of things. So he knows Connor is just a ticking time-bomb when it comes to deviating. The archive is the last straw and, in a desperate attempt, he tries to stop a killer machine who far outclasses him. He remembers the terror of the future and so does the only thing he can think of to prevent it. And he fails.
So cue his surprise when the sun rises on November 11th and the humans are still around. Detroit is still a hotbed of tension, yeah, but nothing like the history books described. The news is spewing out stories about a ceasefire and peace talks and dismantling the recycling centers and he feels like the world has turned upside down on him. This is nothing at all like the history he knows.
And then, as the fuckin cherry on top, who but Connor shows up at his hospital room, looking far too remorseful for a ruthless deviant like he’s seen in the future? And then he apologizes for attacking him!
Gavin is completely lost here. He has no frame of reference for this at all. So he says nothing.
Connor seems satisfied nonetheless, and departs with a nod and a small smile for the bedridden man. And Gavin is left pondering the exchange well into the night.
But Connor comes back, again and again, keeping him company and sneaking him unhealthy snacks and acting so worryingly human. Eventually, Gavin has no choice but to converse. And he finds that he... doesn’t hate it. But when they eventually reach enough of an accord that Connor starts going personal, that’s when Gavin really starts worrying. Because Connor speaks so often of guilt, of remorse, of fear. He talks about his people and how he’d worked against innocents who only wanted freedom. He speaks of their struggle and how he feels he deserves no part in their victory.
And Gavin, fallible human that he is, begins to feel... kinship. Understanding. Empathy! With a machine! He wonders at how Connor’s words can so mirror Gavin’s comrades in the future, how he can hear echoes of his leaders in this synthetic person.
And most dangerously of all, he starts to wonder if he gave up his home and his life and his freedom... to stop beings he finds he no longer can hate.
And if Gavin’s not the only one who was sent back, too? And now he’s found himself on the opposite side of the fight, trying to protect people he’s only ever thought of as monsters from his own friends... Well, let's just say things are about to get pretty rocky for him. Or! The sorta-Terminator-esque kickass sci-fi backstory for Gavin that casts him as a human resistance fighter turned undercover time traveler turned android ally fighting against his own future, complete with action and thrills and a very unexpected romance. Come for the convoluted plot, stay for the character development, lol! ^_^
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anarchist-caravan · 1 year
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Hito Steyerl - In Free Fall: A Thought Experiment On Vertical Perspective
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pika2482 · 3 months
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AOTD 12-18-2023 - Crash Report (Shifting Perspectives)
8/10 [All albums are rated subjectively based off my own enjoyment] Traditionally, sound engineers and producers have fought against distortion to provide the cleanest sounding masters to their clients. Most genres heavily benefit from this, the ability to hear every nook and cranny of every instrument placed flawlessly in the mix
But what if we Like the distortion?
Well, in addition to many other producers of genres such as Hyper Pop and Garage (Or whatever MikkerJ does), Shifting Perspectives seems to like the almost warm, yet rough sound that juuust the right amount of distortion provides, and his album, Crash Report, seems to balance the Hi-Fi needs of most listeners and Shifting's love for that crunch. It was as if the distortion itself was a layer of the sound, and not just a byproduct of going well past a speaker or tube amps capabilities. It felt... Right.
Shifting Perspectives landed this album somewhere between the two aforementioned genres, in what I shall dub Electronic Garage. It opens with Momentary Bliss, a wonderfully over-processed acapella with a gut-wrenching melody that sounds almost as if it's crying out, with plenty of ambience between repetitions that help generate a massive soundscape. It then moves onto cantgetout, which is likely my favorite of the album. It started by laying down some processed vocal chops and a beat before going into a verse, which was briefly lived as it began building up to a HUGE drop. If you've heard Gaia by Aceta and Shifting Perspectives, you know what I'm talking about. The second verse feels much Calmer with an almost acoustic sounding synth driving things forward, before building up for the second, also fantastic drop. If you're cut for time, this is the song to hear.
dead sounds like a much more traditional Electronic track with a chorus that could Kill with it's wonderfully stacked and processed vocals that I'm gonna catch myself belting out in the car. Then the Back Half drop nearly blows that out of the water.
Moving along more quickly now, weak brings in a MIDI-sounding guitar for it's intro before moving onto a more down beat acoustic drum groove with for the rest of the track. Woe Is Me is an album intermission that goes WAY too hard for that, differences/similarities is an ambient take on the Electronic Garage sound before suddenly building up for an Ambient Drop? That somehow goes hard? How the fu-
feelthesame and myself sound like they came straight out a teenage love movies House Party scene with their 4-On-The-Floor house beat. feelthesame uses this to lead into a very rhythmic first drop, before changing gears and adding vocals for the second verse and drop, while myself keeps that beat through the duration of the song, with the exception of the builds before both drops. I REALLY love how the piano sounds in this one.
droplets sarts off much more open than most of the previous tracks, but not quite as ambient as differences/similarities, before moving into this MASSIVE drop section with an absolutely Blazing synth solo, followed by a Really Strange outro sequence. confiding decides to take its time before landing at another absolutely Massive drop after 3 minutes of intro, verse, and slow anticipation, paving the way for the much more energetic back half. Finally crash closes the album with a relatively rock-coded beat and melody driving the first verse and chorus before driving things up for the second verse, before gently setting us back down for the outro vamp.
My only gripes were some stray frequencies here and there and the balance between the instrumental and vocals. While this album wasn't "my genre", I still enjoyed it all the same. I'll be checking out whatever they put out in the future!
Favorite Songs: cantgetout, myself, crash
Least Favorite Songs: differences/similarities
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kc22invesmentsblog · 6 months
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Embracing Life: Overcoming the Fear of Mistakes
Written by Delvin In our journey through life, we often find ourselves facing moments of uncertainty and doubt. The fear of making mistakes can be paralyzing, preventing us from taking risks, pursuing our passions, and reaching our full potential. Elbert Hubbard once said, “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” In this blog post, we will…
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pryceonpurpose · 7 months
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The Power of Perception
How Our Minds Shape Our Reality
Perception is a fascinating aspect of human existence. It is the lens through which we view the world, shaping our reality and influencing our thoughts, emotions, and actions. Our perceptions are not simply passive observations of the external world; they actively construct our understanding of reality. Understanding the power of perception can lead to a greater appreciation for the complexity of human experience and can help us navigate the challenges of life with a more open and curious mindset.
Perception as a Filter
Our perceptions act as a filter through which we interpret and make sense of the overwhelming amount of information bombarding our senses at any given moment. Every sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch is subjected to our perceptual filter, determining what we pay attention to and how we interpret it. This filtering process is influenced by a multitude of factors, including our past experiences, cultural background, beliefs, and values.
For example, imagine walking into a crowded room full of strangers. Your perception will immediately come into play, determining who you notice, how you interpret their body language, and whether you feel comfortable or anxious in the environment. Two people can have entirely different experiences in the same situation based on their unique perceptual filters.
The Role of Beliefs and Expectations
Beliefs and expectations play a significant role in shaping our perceptions. Our minds are wired to seek confirmation of what we already believe to be true, and we often make sense of new information by fitting it into our existing belief systems. This tendency can be both beneficial and limiting. While it helps us make sense of the world quickly, it can also blind us to alternative perspectives and new possibilities.
For instance, imagine two individuals attending a job interview. One person firmly believes they are qualified and deserving of the position, while the other feels insecure and doubts their abilities. These different beliefs will influence how they perceive the questions asked, the interviewer's body language, and their overall experience of the interview. The person with a positive belief system may feel more confident and perform better, while the person with self-doubt may struggle and perceive the experience as negative.
The Influence of Emotions
Emotions also have a profound impact on our perceptions. When we experience strong emotions, they can color our view of reality and distort our judgments. For example, when we are angry, we may interpret neutral comments as insults, and when we are anxious, we may perceive harmless situations as threatening.
On the other hand, positive emotions can broaden our perception and enhance our ability to see possibilities and opportunities. When we experience joy or gratitude, our perceptual filters expand, allowing us to notice and appreciate the beauty around us. This positive outlook can lead to a more optimistic and resilient mindset.
The Power of Shifting Perspectives
Recognizing the power of perception offers us an opportunity for personal growth and transformation. By becoming aware of our own perceptual filters and biases, we can challenge them and open ourselves up to new ways of seeing the world. This process requires curiosity, self-reflection, and a willingness to embrace discomfort.
One effective way to shift our perspective is through mindfulness practices. Mindfulness helps us become more aware of our thoughts, emotions, and sensations, allowing us to observe our perceptual filters in action. Through this observation, we can begin to question our assumptions and consider alternative interpretations of our experiences.
Engaging in dialogue with others who hold different perspectives is another powerful tool for expanding our perception. By actively listening and empathizing with others, we can gain insights into their worldview and challenge our own preconceived notions. This process fosters greater understanding, empathy, and tolerance.
Embracing a Fluid Reality
Perception is a dynamic and ever-changing process. Our reality is not fixed; it is continuously shaped by our perceptions, which in turn influence our thoughts, emotions, and actions. Embracing the fluidity of perception allows us to approach life with a sense of curiosity and wonder, rather than rigidly holding onto fixed beliefs.
By cultivating awareness of our perceptual filters, challenging our biases, and seeking out diverse perspectives, we can expand our understanding of the world and foster personal growth. The power of perception lies in its ability to shape our reality, and by harnessing this power, we can create a more compassionate, inclusive, and fulfilling existence.
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mydairpercabeth · 1 month
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rollercoasterwords · 2 years
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the tiktokification of ao3
or: some of you fundamentally misunderstand ao3 and it really, really shows
i was talking about this with a friend a few days ago and since then i've seen multiple posts of various sorts that have just made me think about it more, so. here is me breaking down a disconnect i see particularly with younger members of the marauders fandom (i say marauders specifically just bc that's the only one i'm plugged into):
okay, so i've seen many (usually younger) marauders fans either talking online about how they wish ao3 was more like social media (specifically regarding algorithms) OR talking about ao3/fanfiction/fanfic writers as if they are operating under the same etiquette/guidelines/assumptions they would bring into social media platforms. this ranges from being mildly irritating to genuinely harmful, and i want to talk abt why.
first - you have to understand that social media, in this day and age, exists in a profit economy. and when i say social media here, i'm referring to platforms like tiktok, twitter, instagram, etc. all of these platforms exist in a profit economy where content is a product that can be monetized. this leads to a few important distinctions:
people posting on these social media platforms are generally posting with the intent to get their content seen by as many people as possible, as quickly as possible
they post with this intent because once their content is consumed by enough people, it becomes a product that they can monetize
therefore, if that content gets popular enough, these people can become influencers, where content creation is an actual job and their audience are, in a sort of vague and obscured way, similar to consumers purchasing a product
because of the profit economy surrounding social media, there are certain assumptions + forms of interaction that bleed across almost all social media platforms. the ones relevant to this little essay include:
operating under the assumption that anyone posting anything on the internet wants to go viral, ie. be seen by as many people as possible as quickly as possible in order to grow an "audience"
these influencers are creating content for us, their audience, so they should want to please us. they should also be trying to appeal to the broadest possible audience. therefore, if we dislike their content, we have a right to make that very, very clear.
in that same vein, we have a general right to critique content creators, as they are making a profit and we are the consumers purchasing their product--much like you might feel entitled to a certain standard of service in a restaurant where you are paying for the food.
when you carry these assumptions over to a platform like ao3, it creates problems. why? in a nutshell: because ao3 exists outside the profit economy
ao3 is a non-profit. it does not have an algorithm because it is not trying to sell you anything. this means that the writers posting their work on ao3 are not making a profit. we are not influencers. we are not creating monetized content to sell to a consumer-audience. where consuming content on other social media platforms might be comparable to eating at a restaurant, reading fanfiction on ao3 is more like coming over to someone's house and eating cookies that they made for free. you are in their house. the cookies are free, given as a gift. so what happens when those assumptions outlined above start to bleed over from other social media?
assuming that anyone posting fanfiction online wants their work to go viral -- i've seen this with popular fic writers getting questions like, "are you worried x isn't going to be as popular as y?" those questions are usually not ill-intended, but they demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding about why writers post work on ao3. it's not to go viral. it's not to build any sort of online following. most of us who post on ao3 have jobs or schoolwork or other commitments, and writing fanfiction is something done for fun, out of a love for writing. those sharing their work online might be seeking community, but that is fundamentally different from seeking an audience, and in no way involves internet virality. if someone is posting fanfic on ao3 with the hope that it'll "go viral," then they likely either won't continue writing fanfic for long or will reach a point where they have to re-evalute their motivations, because seeking joy and validation by turning your art into a product for consumption just isn't very sustainable.
influencers are creating content for us, so we have a right to let them know if we don't like it -- nope!! fic writers are not influencers. yes, even the popular ones. no matter how much other people might blow their work up on social media, fic writers are still outside the profit economy. they are not creating content for an audience. they are not creating content for you. they are writing because they love it, and they are generously sharing it. if you don't like it, don't interact with it. you are never entitled to loudly and publicly proclaim how much you dislike a fic. i talk about this more here
we have a general right to critique fic writers, the same way we do with content creators/influencers -- again, no. you should not be treating fic writers the way you would treat an influencer on another social media platform, no matter how popular they may be. this is not to say fic writers are beyond all reproach; rather, it is a call-in to check your entitlement. fic writers are not little jesters entertaining in your court. they are not subject to your whims. they do not have to do things for you. they do not have to write things you like. in that post i linked on point 2, i talk about what etiquette might look like if you're really concerned that a fic writer is doing something harmful, but that is not what i'm talking about here. i am talking about the proliferation of negativity i have seen, especially on twitter and tiktok, where people essentially just talk shit about fics or fic writers as though they are entitled to have those fic writers working to please them. this is gross, and it needs to stop. you wouldn't go over to someone's house, eat the cookies they baked to share, and then spit those cookies back in their face and start shouting about what a shitty baker they are. or maybe you would--in which case, congratulations! you are Not A Good Person.
anyway, at the end of the day, a lot of this can be boiled down to: Because ao3 exists outside the profit economy, fic writers are not influencers, and you should never be treating them as though they are. i think i see this disconnect largely with younger people just because they've maybe only ever really understood social media within this sort of influencer-consumer-culture economy, and genuinely don't understand how to interact differently with the internet. so, consider this post a call-in to reevaluate the way you interact with fic writers and the etiquette you use when it comes to engaging with fanfic on ao3! i promise that ao3 being different from social media is a very, very good thing, and also a very, very rare thing, so let's treasure it and focus on fostering community rather than trying to morph it to fit the mould of influencer-audience dynamics that we see almost everywhere else <3
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idolomantises · 2 months
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i keep getting weird passive aggressive comments about some comics not being centered on Dot and Arachne... does anyone read the description anymore? I never advertised Bugtopia as being exclusively about them.
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baskeigh-ball · 1 year
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Bonus Page 2/2
BEGINNING | PREVIOUS
Mikey’s intuition knows no bounds
And with that I bring part one of Mutant Manhunt to a close! There’ll be more coming, trust me, but probably not a multi-part comic like this one for a while (just to give myself a break, lol). In the meantime I��ve got plenty to share about this AU, so feel free to stick around :]
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themarginalthinker · 8 months
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completely normal thoughts on how one line in The Lost Boys changed the entire fucking view of the Boys
very totally normal how before, for nearly 90% of the rest of the movie was just 'bad boy vampire bikers' and 'wouldst thou like to live to sick 80s rock backdrop and leather' and 'come to the dark side of your lust and aggression'
but then
in the last fifteen minutes
Paul says something that a horror movie monster shouldn't, and it forever altered how every watcher viewed the supposed antagonists of this story and sparked every fix-it fic I've yet read in this fandom
"You killed Marko."
the pain. the accusation. the revenge for what we can only now see as a fallen family member
very, very normal thoughts.
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oddthingsndaydreams · 1 month
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Somedays the artblock wins. Somedays inspiration smashes you like a cadillac on a random dashboard recommend. @transformers-synergize your redesigns are so pretty ;^;
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golvio · 4 months
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Tried the Damsel route today.
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This shot and the sequence leading up to it is probably one of the most disturbing things in the whole game. It's to existential horror what the Prisoner sawing her own head off was to physical horror. If anything, the Prisoner's autodecapatation is now less horrifying, in retrospect, because at least she got to keep her personality and free will throughout the process.
But, also...even in the routes where we don't mean to hurt her, where we do everything in our power to avoid physically hurting her...we still hurt her.
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Even if we came in here with the very best of intentions and tried to "do the right thing," we still hurt her by our thoughts and desires hollowing her out until she was reduced to...this.
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Going through the "happy" version of the ending didn't feel so triumphant, after that. Not just because the ending wasn't quite as satisfying from a narrative standpoint without any sort of conflict to struggle against, but because the whole time it felt like she was following a script. Apart from the vague impulse to leave that all Princesses possessed, she'd been hollowed out of everything that had made her...well, her, before Chapter II. She didn't panic when the door shut, she didn't stop smiling when we suggested she might end the world or have to cut off her arm a second time. The only thing we noticed about her in Chapter I was her lack of response to pain and her sweet smiles, and our fantasies hollowed her out until she became nothing but that.
Can we say she was "happy" if she lacked the capacity to be anything but "happy" with our choices for her? Can you call that love? Or is it something that's even lonelier than outright being alone?
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Honestly, it was a relief when the Shifting Mound took her. Seeing her made so shallow felt incredibly cruel, given who she was before she was flattened, and what she would've been capable of if we had done literally anything else. At that point, "You molded her to love you" and "She has served her purpose" felt like both an observation and an accusation.
But, given that my time with the Damsel was paired with Shifty's third vessel dialogue...it got me thinking about what She wants.
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She says She doesn't want anything, that She's governed by the whims of whatever force is shaping Her at the moment, but...is She really happy, having who She is be subject to the whims of who's perceiving Her? Is She okay with not being able to hold a shape She's discovered she likes as soon as someone else perceives Her to be something different? Would She ever want to take a break from...all that? After all, She's drawn to us. The Long Quiet. The god of eternity and order. On a certain level, She craves stability.
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Is her "gift" to us what She's secretly wanted all along? The power to choose Her own fate, Her own identity, and the power to change it if She doesn't like the path She's on? And what does that say about our gifts? Do we yearn for the completion we offer her through the vessels, given that we keep shattering to pieces every time we go back into the breach and start the loop again? Is this some kind of wacky flipped-upside-down Gift of the Magi situation where each of us gives the other what they yearn for but lack due to our being permanently separated into two beings against our will?
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cock-holliday · 2 months
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Thinking thinking thinking about Leslie Feinberg in Outlaw talking about gender and zie described hirself as a “transgendered woman.” Leslie had ID’ed as “trans” but I had not heard til that interview zie saying “transgender(ed) woman.”
I know zie considered hirself still a lesbian, and something under a trans umbrella, and while many were quick to assign “trans man” or “transmasc” onto hir, I knew that somewhere in a sense of womanhood, zie identified with a woman-adjacent label still.
I had not considered zie would combine hir sense of womanhood with the label of trans but it makes complete sense, and gives a whole new layer to hir sense of sisterhood with (amab) trans women!
Zie was a woman in a transgressive, transitional, transgender(ed) way. A trans woman.
What a concept of gender and transness that would make so many spaces spit blood. But it makes total sense!
Oh, to have more people recognize the trans umbrella (and frankly entire queer umbrella) as a spectrum of transgressive gender and not as mirrors for cisheteropatriarchy.
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spirk-trek · 19 days
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S6E8: A Fistful of Datas ⋆.˚ ✧ · ˚⊹
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secretmellowblog · 3 months
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When I say "Victor Hugo's depiction of Jean Valjean's grief over losing Cosette is a reflection of Hugo's own grief at the death of his daughter" I'm not just theorizing-- some lines from Les Mis are basically just ripped word-for-word from Hugo's poems about the death of his daughter. Here are a few of them. Leopoldine drowned horribly with her husband only a few months after they were married; she was only nineteen. Jean Valjean's paralyzing fear of Cosette's marriage, his misguided useless rage at her husband, and his violent grief over losing her and never being able to see her again, is heavily influenced by Hugo's own grief. I have trouble finding good English translations of some of Hugo’s Leopoldine poems online, and would appreciate better links to English translations if anyone has them. But In A Villequier, one of Hugo's poems addressing God with furious grief over the death of Leopoldine, he writes:
Consider again how I have, since dawn, Worked, fought, thought, walked, struggled, Explaining Nature to Man who knew nothing of it, Lighting everything with your clarity; That, facing hate and anger, I have done my task here below, That I could not expect this wage, That I could not Foresee that you too, on my yielding head, Would let fall heavily your triumphant arm, And that you who saw how little joy I have, Would take my child away so quickly!
Which is almost word for word just Jean Valjean's:
I have left my blood on every stone, on every bramble, on every mile-post, along every wall, I have been gentle, though others have been hard to me, and kind, although others have been malicious, I have become an honest man once more, in spite of everything, I have repented of the evil that I have done and have forgiven the evil that has been done to me, and at the moment when I receive my recompense, at the moment when it is all over, at the moment when I am just touching the goal, at the moment when I have what I desire, it is well, it is good, I have paid, I have earned it, all this is to take flight, all this will vanish, and I shall lose Cosette, and I shall lose my life, my joy, my soul....
And this from the same poem:
I keep seeing that moment in my life when I saw her open her wings and fly off! I will see that instant until I die, the instant, no tears needed! where I cried: the child I had a minute ago— What? I don’t have her any more?
Is a similar sentiment to this angelic description of Cosette “taking flight” away from Jean Valjean:
Cosette, as she took her flight, winged and transfigured, left behind her on the earth her hideous and empty chrysalis, Jean Valjean.
And the moment when Jean Valjean realizes she’s in love with Marius, and has been “lost” to him without him realizing it:
The unprecedented and heart-rending thing about it was that he had fallen without perceiving it. All the light of his life had departed, while he still fancied that he beheld the sun.
This from the poem Demain dès l'aube, where Victor Hugo describes visiting Leopoldine's grave:
I will walk with my eyes fixed on my thoughts, Without seeing anything outside, without hearing any noise, Alone, unknown, back bent, hands crossed, Sad, and the day for me will be like night.
And Jean Valjean walking to Cosette's house, but never able to enter or speak to her:
There [Jean Valjean] walked at a slow pace, with his head strained forward, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, his eye immovably fixed on a point which seemed to be a star to him
This bit where Hugo talks about his faith weakening/cursing God in vain after Leopoldine’s death:
Consider how one doubts, O God! when one suffers, how the eye that weeps too much is blinded, how a being plunged by grief into the blackest pit, seeing you no more, cannot contemplate you.
Is similar to Jean Valjean’s spirtual self weakening and his consience “taking flight” at the idea of losing Cosette:
Any one who had beheld his spiritual self would have been obliged to concede that it weakened at that moment. (...) Grief, when it attains this shape, is a headlong flight of all the forces of the conscience. These are fatal crises. Few among us emerge from them still like ourselves and firm in duty.
Victor Hugo agonizing over his dreams of growing old with his daughter in A Villequier:
You make loneliness return always around all his footsteps.(...) As soon as he owns something, fate takes it away. Nothing is given to him, in his speedy days, for him to make a home and say: Here is my house, my field and my loved ones!
Jean Valjean:
“As one family! No. I belong to no family. I do not belong to yours. I do not belong to any family of men. In houses where people are among themselves, I am superfluous. There are families, but there is nothing of the sort for me. I am an unlucky wretch; I am left outside.
Victor Hugo's poetry in A Villequier again:
in the midst of cares, hardships, miseries, and of the shadow our fate casts over us, how a child appears, a dear sacred head, a small joyful creature, so beautiful one thinks a door to heaven has opened when it arrives; when for sixteen years one has watched this other self grow in loveable grace and sweet reason, when one has realized that this child one loves makes daylight in our soul and in our home,
Jean Valjean:
this man, who had passed through all manner of distresses, who was still all bleeding from the bruises of fate, (...) merely asked of Providence, of man, of the law, of society, of nature, of the world, one thing, that Cosette might love him! That Cosette might continue to love him! That God would not prevent the heart of the child from coming to him, and from remaining with him! Beloved by Cosette, he felt that he was healed, rested, appeased, loaded with benefits, recompensed, crowned. Beloved by Cosette, it was well with him! He asked nothing more! Had any one said to him: “Do you want anything better?” he would have answered: “No.” God might have said to him: “Do you desire heaven?” and he would have replied: “I should lose by it.”
Victor Hugo begging God to talk to his daughter again:
Let me lean over this cold stone and say to my child: Do you feel that I am here? Let me speak to her, bent over her remains, in the evening when all is still, as if, reopening her celestial eyes in her night, this angel could hear me!
Jean Valjean thanking God for letting him speak to Cosette one more time:
The good God says: “‘You fancy that you are about to be abandoned, stupid! No. No, things will not go so. Come, there is a good man yonder who is in need of an angel.’
I think the ending of Les Mis never made complete sense to me until I realized that Jean Valjean isn't grieving like a parent who has watched their child grow up; he is grieving like a parent who has just watched their child die.
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mona-bus · 4 months
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of all the characters in the hunger games to get hyperfixated on, my brain landed on GALE HAWTHORNE, which i did not see coming. don’t get me wrong, i don’t ship him with katniss — that boy never stood a CHANCE against peeta. but i believe that gale is fascinating, tragic, over-hated, and worthy of more nuanced analysis than i see on tiktok.
i’m not saying gale’s a perfect person, but he’s not some irredeemable villain. he’s a desperate, oppressed kid caught in horrifying circumstances that radicalize him to develop a very black-and-white, us-against-them worldview, which ultimately leads to his downfall.
katniss and gale’s friendship is a tragedy, it was never a love story. their fathers died in the same mining accident, they each became the sole providers for their families, and they both had to put their names in the reaping dozens of times to feed them. they were two children faced with the same trauma and responsibilities who teamed up to keep their families from starving to death. even if it’s not inherently romantic, they become codependent on each other. they trust and rely on each other. then they’re torn apart by the capitol, the same oppressive force that’s already controlling every aspect of their lives. the moment prim’s name is called, gale loses katniss, then he continues to lose her over and over and over again in a million different ways.
the girl he’s in love with, his best friend and hunting partner, is sent to the hunger games, leaving him to care for her family, which is traumatizing in and of itself. then katniss falls in love with a different boy on national television, while gale has to pretend to be her cousin. yes, she did it to survive, but gale didn’t know that at the time. then when katniss and peeta BOTH survive and come home, he loses her again in a whole new way. katniss is still confused about her feelings for both of them, she tells him it wasn’t real, but it definitely seemed real to him. OF COURSE gale’s fucking weird about it.
i’m not saying he expresses his feelings in a respectful or kind way, but he’s an angsty teenager too, and he’s allowed to have feelings about the situation. he may not have the trauma of the arena, but he gets whipped within an inch of his life, his best friend is sent to the hunger games with peeta AGAIN, his district gets firebombed by the capitol, and he has to save as many people as he can and lead them all to safety.
from the start of mockingjay, gale is irreversibly radicalized by the horrors he’s witnessed. this eventually leads him to take drastic measures under the guidance of coin, who (from gale’s perspective) rescued his people after their district was bombed off the face of the earth and provided them with the means to fight back. he’s too blinded by his anger toward the capitol to find any nuance in their circumstances or question coin’s motives. his worldview becomes “an eye for an eye,” no matter who gets caught in the crossfire.
which leads us to everyone’s favorite argument — that gale killed prim. there’s truth to that, but it’s not that simple. yes, gale had the idea for the bombs that killed prim, but he didn’t know that coin was going to use them that way. he was busy fighting with katniss and the star squad while the rebels were closing in on the capitol, he wasn’t in contact with them, and he was captured by the capitol before the bombs went off. the bomb was his idea and beetee’s design, but it wasn’t gale’s decision.
that doesn’t make him innocent, he is complicit in the deaths of all of those kids (and, more directly, the people in district two). but people talk about gale as if he authorized the bombs himself or intentionally murdered prim with his own hands, which is not the case at all. none of them knew prim was going to be there. gale took care of katniss’ family while she was gone, he kept prim alive that whole time, he LOVES prim. he wouldn’t let her die like that if he’d any prior knowledge or control over that decision.
the series ends with him having to accept that he’s at least partially responsible for the death of the person he was supposed to protect above all else. even if it wasn’t intentional, he knows there’s no coming back from that. he failed. he is as good as dead to katniss. after already slowly losing her bit by bit, over and over again, gale finally loses katniss forever, and it’s due to his own actions. he finally understands that war and death comes at a personal cost, which katniss tried so hard to warn him about, but it’s too late. prim is dead. katniss hates him. i don’t think he ever recovers from that.
TLDR — gale’s not some heartless, cruel monster. he’s not “the prim reaper.” at the end of the day, he’s still a traumatized teenager, just like peeta and katniss, and he deserves more credit than people give him. i understand why he views the world and humanity the way he does. i empathize with him.
you can hate him all you want, i understand. but if you’re struggling to understand the narrative significance of his character, take a moment and reframe your perspective of him. gale’s interesting as hell.
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