#third person limited is not the way to do this if that was the intended effect

[books-apples-socks]

i'm sorry was someone going to tell me i was going to have to suffer pages of overindulgent prose that treats disabled people like flesh husks steampowered by the brain or did i have to find out by stumbling onto it every time neelay gets his pov segments in acclaimed pulitzer prize winning novel "the overstory" myself?!

#worthless legs #see it's the repetition of for me ngl #i'm going to say this as someone who has also suffered a spinal injury that saw their muscles atrophy #it's one thing for the character to see themselves that way #if he carried the internalised trauma of his disability #but um that's the narrator speaking to me about neelay not neelay speaking to me about himself #third person limited is not the way to do this if that was the intended effect #this book is my nemesis #i wanted to like it so much #the overstory

[flamingpudding]

Drake's family secret

A/N: Another story idea I had and I probably will keep working on. I kinda want to continue on it I just have no idea how or with what yet.

Tim had a secret. Well, he had many secrets but this was one he had kept closed off for a very long time now. It was one of the reasons he fabricated a fake uncle to avoid getting adopted. After all, if you were put into the system how could you possibly get found or find your last living blood relative? His family didn't know and he never intended for them to know anyway. It was a secret well-kept of the Drake family, one that even the public didn't know about. His parents hadn't thrown around money to keep anyone involved silent for nothing after all.

But Tim had had vague memories as well as found the last remaining documents years ago. The problem had been that he hadn't been Robin yet at that time and couldn't do research like he can now. Tim had often wondered if one of the reasons he had followed Batman around back then was to see if he could help him with that matter too, yet he had never brought it up to Bruce nor any of his other siblings.

In a way it made Tim feel guilty now as he looked over that old piece of paper. The only hint he had until now.

He looked over the security video of Wayne Enterprise again. Watching that group of high schoolers that was there on a school trip visit. His eyes tracked one specific student among them. If things were different Tim would joke about how the boy looked like perfect Bruce adoption material. But as it was, Tim was not going to make that joke.

Because as much as the boy fell into the stereotype of Bruce's adoption problem, the boy had facial features that looked very much like one Jenet Drake. Tim could honestly see it, sure his memories were not the best in regards to his parents but he had kept at least some photos for references. But recognizing that threw in a whole other set of problems.

For one he would need to find a way to make sure the Drake Family secret doesn't get exposed to his family too soon. Second, he needed to find a way to approach the boy without looking suspicious. Third, he was on a time limit, according to what he found the school trip the boy was on lasted for a week. Once the boy was out of Gotham it would be even harder to find a passable excuse to approach him. Fourth, he would also need a blood sample. As much as the boy's looks alone could make Tim believe it, the rest of his family was paranoid and if he was completely homestead, he also would need it for his reassurance that he wasn't wrong. Which again he kind of doubted even with this little amount of evidence. The fifth problem in this was, how was he going to break it to the rest of his family.

Because the best kept Drake's Family secret, he was pretty sure he was the last remaining person in the know, was that Tim had a little brother. A brother that was born when he was around 3 or four years old. A little brother who had never gotten to grow up with him because Jack and Jenet Drake had used their constant traveling as cover so the public wouldn't know about him. They already had an heir with Tim, they didn't need a second child. So the moment his little brother had been born he was given up in a closed adoption. Never to be seen again and never to be connected to the Drake family.

Tim only knew about him because he had vague memories about his mother's pregnancy and also had later found the papers in his parents' office when he was around ten. He remembered how upset he had been at the discovery but also how he hadn't been able to do anything about it. Though it was back then that he had also decided that the moment he could he would do everything he could to find him. Things only started to change when he became Robin and then Red Robin. Now he had the resources and knowledge to find the little brother he had never gotten to grow up with.

But too much time had passed and his parents had been thorough when covering their tracks, which resulted in Tim having been unable to find that little brother of his. Having no name and no idea who adopted him, didn't help either. But Tim had had less to work with before, yet the search had given him massive troubles, to the point that he HAD contemplated getting the rest of his family in on it.

But now that wasn't necessary anymore, there was an actual chance again.

Thankfully he had come in late today, if he hadn't he wouldn't have seen the group of High School students on a school trip in the Lobby waiting for their tour guide. He wouldn't have seen the group of teens that lacked behind their fellow students a bit. But most importantly he wouldn't have seen that kid that looked like adoption bait for Bruce. That then by closer inspection had so many facial similarities to his mother that Tim had first thought he was hallucinating.

Now he was sitting in his office, watching the group of High Schoolers getting a tour through the building through the security cams while trying to come up with the perfect plan that didn't look too suspicious as he watched the boy who could be his blood-related little brother. Oh, Damian would throw a fit if he learned about having another brother, Tim mused for a moment as he noted down the boy's, Danny's, excitement about their aerospace department. He had already decided, if Danny was not living adequately he would pull all the strings he could to get his little brother home.

So far Tim had found out that the boy's name was Danny Fenton. He would dig into that later more. He would also make sure that if Danny was his little brother, he saw to it that he was getting treated right. He had noticed how his little brother appeared overly tired and there was a bandage hidden below his shirt plus through the security camera footage, he had also seen that there was a hint of scarring on his left arm.

For now, though he had sent a message to the tour guide to end the tour in his office, for something like a surprise introduction to Tim Drake-Wayne. He would continue to build up his plan of getting to know and confirm his little brother's status from there.

#dp x dc #danny fenton #dpxdc #danny phantom #dcxdp #tim drake #Danny was born a Drake but got given up for adoption #the Drakes didn't want a second child #Tim knew he had a little brother but couldn't find him yet #The rest of the Waynes do not know about this at all #Now Tim his hatching a plan to see if he can confirm if Danny is his little brother or not #Danny has no idea what was happening #Tim got one week to figure out how to make Danny trust him #than Danny would return to Amity with the rest of his class #Danny doesn't know he is adopted #and Tim just wants to confirm it #he might not reveal it if Danny has a good life #is having your parents hunt your secret identity and having a govermental branch hunting you too a good life? #Tim's going to have a field day (and not in the good way) when he finds out more about Danny's live #unedited #no beta we die like danny

[luimnigh]

A complaint often leveled at superhero media is the idea that Villains are Active, and Heroes are Reactive. That villains are agents of change, while heroes frequently defend the status quo.

And in a world where it's becoming increasingly clear that the systems and institutions need to change in order to make the world a better, more equitable, and habitable-into-the-future place; this is an idea that sees many decide that superheroes are symbolic of those standing in the way of necessary change, and are purposefully ideologically opposed to changs.

However, I don't believe this is an intended message of the genre, but merely a consequence of the fundamental premise of the superhero.

A superhero is a:

morally good

individual

who has the power to do great violence.

Atler any of those three elements, and you're no long dealing with a superhero. The first nets you a villain or an anti-hero, the second instead defines an organisation or a nation, and the third just leaves you with your average person.

But the problem is that those elements combine to create something that is not capable of the widespread societal change we need in real life.

The use of violence to enact change is morally contentious. It is a dangerous way to go about things, because violence is inherently a dangerous thing, and can easily escape the control of the person who starts it. It is generally seen as only acceptable in extreme situations.

But it is the superhero's main form of power. A superhero solves problems with violence. But to solve societal problems with violence is not morally good except in the most extreme situations. Therefore a superhero cannot enact change through violence unless the risk of violence is outweighed by the actual violence caused by the opposing force. Otherwise, they cease to be a superhero, as they cease to be morally good.

And at the same time, as individuals, superheroes cannot unilaterally enact change. That would be imposing the will of a single person, or a small group of people, on the majority. A single person who violently imposes their view of the world is a dictator, and dictatorship is generally seen as morally wrong. And thus, the superhero cannot be a dictator and remain a superhero.

So the very premise of a superhero limits them from enacting societal change, while remaining a superhero.

But supervillains are not bound by such limitations. At the same time, however, a supervillain not being morally good means the societal change they enact will always be a negative change, either because the violence of their methodology risks the innocent, or because of their imposition of their worldview on the populace will always violate the right of the populace to self-determination.

So that's why you only see superheroes fighting to enact societal change when they're up against explicitly violent oppression, either in the form of dictatorial governments or individuals violently imposing their worldview on others, i.e. supervillains.

This is all not to say that no superhero media hasn't ever been made with regressive politics in mind, or hasn't character assassinated an ideology before. Plenty have.

But I am saying that a genre where violence is the main form of power has to be very careful with how their morally good figures use said power, or risk putting out negative messages about the use of violence.

With great power comes great responsibility, not only in how to use the power... but also in how not to use it.

#marvel #dc comics #superheroes

[lobautumny]

Hey, genuinely curious and no offense intended, you can just skip this if you want to.

But this is the first time I am seeing someone giving "it" as one of their pronouns. Because so far I have seen it used only for inanimate objects or for small children. The only time it is used to refer to a human, is in a derogatory way or a way to dehumanize someone.

For example, in some fantasy fiction, an anti-werewolf person might refer to a werewolf that way, refusing consider them as an equal human, but as something lesser etc.

So, I am curious why you chose it and is it appropriate, etc.

Once again, sorry if this is insensitive or offensive, I don't mean it that way

Don't sweat it. Never feel sorry for simply being genuinely curious.

Anyways, there are many beings that use it/its for a variety of reasons. Some identify more strongly with animals, robots, or even objects than they do with humanity. Some feel empowerment and/or gender euphoria from the idea of being something less than human. Some wish to reclaim the dehumanization that trans people face. Some simply find dehumanization hot. For most, including yours truly, it's a combination of things.

Related to all of this, if you're wondering why this toy refers to itself in the third person like this, that relates to an internet subculture called Empty Spaces. To give a very short and heavily-simplified explanation for the sake of brevity, Empty Spaces is a community of artists exploring the connections between identity, trauma, and sexuality through a language of extended metaphor about dolls and witches (and angels and robots and shadows and moths and horrible monsters, etc). Many people within the community identify as dolls of various kinds, and many who do so refer to themselves in the third person. This toy identifies as a plush doll, personally.

Though it doesn't just see itself as an "it" in the sense of being an object. It also feels an affinity for the monstrous and unknowable. The idea of being a horrible force from beyond the limits of human perception wrapped in a disguise of flesh, or perhaps more of a dangerous concept than a fully-realized being, is very Gender.

TL;DR - Gender is a playground and this toy is doing backflips on the monkey bars.

If you (or anyone else) have any further questions, feel free to ask.

#autumn rants #empty spaces #dollposting #gender #otherkin

[mysisters-bike]

Where did Dylan’s third-person speech come from?

bear with me, this thought occurred 15 mins ago on my drive to the grocery store lol. i let my spotify dj play on my drive and the song “the becoming” by nine inch nails was thrown into the mix. i wasn’t really paying attention until i heard these lyrics:

“the me that you know, he had some second thoughts

he’s covered with scabs

he is broken and sore

the me that you know

he doesn’t come around much

that part of me

isn’t here anymore”

i had to rewind it and listen again. then, it all made sense. dylan’s idolatry — of course! below is an excerpt from my case study on the topic of dylan’s idolatry for a bit more background information:

“The amount of Nine Inch Nails references [in Dylan’s journals] in staggering. It’s not unusual for teenagers to identify closely with some aspect of pop culture; who were Elvis’s biggest fans when he first came onto the scene? Teenage girls! The Beatles? Teenage girls! One Direction? Teenage girls! BTS? Teenage girls! It’s not new nor will it ever stop; teenagers love a pop icon to relate to.

Xie (2021) points out that adolescents blossoming into teenagedom are thrown into emotional unpheaval and, while attempting to establish their own independence, still require emotional validation and nourishment from others. This concept is often over-exaggerated with the common trope of the over-emotional teenager. Pfeifer and Berkman (2018) describe this idea as a caricature and an oversimplification of the adolescent mind.

How does this explain idolatry? Simply put, adolescents that experience positive acceptance and peer relationships have a negative correlation with unhealthy celebrity worship. They feel connected to their peers and do not seek validation from influences even further outside their circle. On the other hand, teenagers rejected by peers have a positive correlation with unhealthy celebrity worship. In fact, teenagers whose social needs are not adequately met seek emotional attachment and submit to irrational worship or peers or celebrities (Xi, 2021, pg. 2).

Interestingly, Xie mentions the irrational worship of both the peer or the celebrity. Not only does Dylan idolize Nine Inch Nails and encapsulate himself in their music, but he intensely cherishes and requires the validation of his peers. His world falls apart when he feels they are slipping away, to the point of privately threatening suicide.

We often find that teenagers’ emotions are discredited. Societally, we may think of this in the context of teenage girls, portrayed in popular media as catty, over-dramatic, shouting, “Ugh, as if!” When they don’t get their way. However, it’s not only teenage girls that are dismissed for being dramatic – teenage boys are too. More simply, I believe the emotions of teenage boys are overlooked. Dylan’s emotional needs were unmet and, potentially, unachievable. If he had gotten to the point of placing these expectations on celebrities, he wasn’t ever going to feel satisfied without serious intervention.

He put serious pressure on himself and his peers to satisfy a hunger they weren’t capable of satisfying with their limited emotional intelligence and capacity. As the brain continues to develop, teenagers are still emotionally immature and unavailable, even when they intend to make the best possible choices for themselves and their loved ones. Adolescents continue to fall victim to their egocentrism until they eventually develop those crucial skills of moral differentiation and their imaginary audience begins to dissipate.”

this was an analysis i had already conducted quite some time ago. when i heard those lyrics, i was reminded of this observation. reznor writes in the third person, referring to his former self. dylan’s second journal entry reads: “Existence…..what a strange word. He, set out by determination & curiosity, knows no existence, knows nothing relevant to himself. The petty declarations of others & everything on this world, in this world, he knows the answers to. Yet they have no purpose to him. He seeks knowledge of the unthinkable, of the undefineable, of the unknown. He explores the everything…using his mind, the most powerful tool known to him. Not a physical barrier blocking the limits of exploration, time thru thought thru dimensions…the everything is his realm. Yet, the more he thinks, hoping to find answers to his questions, the more come up. Amazingly, the petty things mean much to him at this time, how he wants to be normal, not this transceiver of the everything. Then occurring to him, the answer. How everything is connected yet separate. By experiencing the petty others actions, reactions, emotions, doings, and thoughts, he gets a mental picture of what, in his mind, is a cycle.”

it’s a narrative. IT’S A NARRATIVE!!!! it’s a reference to a NIN-style narrative!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! felt like i gained consciousness.

references:

Pfeifer, J. H. & Berkman, E. T. (2018). The Development of Self and Identity in Adolescence: Neural Evidence and Implications for a Value-Based Choice Perspective on Motivated Behavior. Child Dev Perspect, 12(3), 158-164. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12279

Xie, S. (2021). The Relationship between Peer Influence and Teenagers’ Celebrity Worship Phenomenon. Frontiers in Educational Research, 4 (12), 88-96. doi: 10.25236/FER.2021.041219

#dylan klebold #columbine #eric harris #true crime #tcc #true crime community

[lucianalight]

Arrogance vs. Humility: Thor

There's an interesting post circling in fandom with many great metas and povs and it inspired me to expand on one of its threads. I have made a new post so the length and a different direction of meta doesn't bother op. I have also divided this meta into two parts. The first one is titled Thor because it is mainly an analysis of og Thor and og Loki in Thor 2011 . The second part will analyze Loki series for those who are interested.

Initially what sparked this meta was @tori-artemis (Artemis)' tags under an addition by @geehollow (Hollow). Initially I only wanted to write a short answer but I'm doomed by the narrative so I thought to first see what science has to say and I came across an interesting study and decided to use it in my analysis.

I used colors to quote each person because I'm going to quote two people, a study(indented) and add my own thoughts and I can't keep tagging or writing their names :P :D

So without further ado let's start. The topic was about the vice of Thor vs Loki. While perhaps the goal of the og post was to analyze the the topic through the concept of seven sins and virtues I don't intend to do that because it doesn't include every possible personality trait and it's not accurate enough from a psychological pov.

Vice is the first trait one should consider when creating a character. Vices embody the vibe that sparked the character in your mind, and in turn spark virtues, goals, backstories, everything. Of course it's different when dealing with characters inspired by already existing mythos, that already carry traits one has to grasp.

In the MCU, Thor's initial vice was arrogance. Deep seated arrogance born of being the golden prince, revered and indulged. Loki's initial vice was also arrogance, but born of thinking he's smartest than everyone else, due to having had to act covertly in order to get what he wants because he is not revered and not indulged. For both of them these are things we can and should infer during the first movie.

As you've read Hollow states that the vice of both Thor and Loki was arrogance but in different ways. Artemis wouldn't call Loki's arrogance because Loki clearly behaves in a different way than other arrogant characters like Thor and Tony Stark. Therefore we must first define arrogance.

According to a new study there are three types of arrogance that can be dissected into 6 components.

Individual arrogance: an inflated opinion of one’s abilities, traits, or accomplishments compared to objective truths; Comparative arrogance: an inflated ranking of one’s abilities, traits, or accomplishments compared to other people Antagonistic arrogance: the denigration or derision of others based on an assumption of superiority. The types and components of arrogance depicted in Figure 1 are meaningful together because some of the concepts seem to implicate others. One cannot be overconfident about one’s knowledge in a domain (second-largest box) without first having some relevant limitation in knowledge about that domain (largest box); if one disparages others unfairly (smallest box), one is likely to fail to take their perspective and, further, one is likely to believe in one’s superiority compared to them (third- and second-smallest boxes, respectively); and so on. Therefore, the position of each component in the figure reflects a close dependency. Yet, it is possible for causation to flow from smaller to larger boxes, as well. For example, if one hates an individual for any reason, one might be motivated to underrate their capabilities or motives.

From this definition we can say that both Thor and Loki have levels of arrogance from the start but while Thor until the point Odin banishes him has checked all the six components in the picture, Loki is at a level two.

Thor with limited knowledge and an overestimation of his power decides to go to Jotunheim. He resists the disagreements about his limits and chances and fails to consider perspectives of his friends, his brother and father and Jotuns. He considers himself and his race superior to others and insults and criticizes Jotuns and his father. Loki on the other hand has overestimated his knowledge, abilities and whether or not everything goes according to his plan.

After his banishment, Thor comes down from the level of his hubris. When he fails to lift Mjolnir and after Loki's visit, he realizes that his rash actions had terrible consequences not just for him but for his family too. He's left alone and powerless. He doesn't see himself superior to these humans anymore. Jane helps him see things from different perspectives and as weak as a human he learns his limits. He knows he doesn't have the power to fight the Destroyer so he tries to do the only thing he can do, apologize to his brother. And when it seems that Thor's dying, he doesn't care about glory or what tales Asgard would say of his bravery. All he thinks about is that Jane is safe and that humility and selflessness restores his power. Loki though, in his desperation for acceptance, has made all the wrong choices.

Just as Thor overestimated his power, his physical strength and fighting skills in his attack to Jotunheim, Loki overestimates his power which is his intelligence and planning skills.

Loki in his arrogance thinks he can stage and ruin a heist, prevent Thor's rampage, and get rid of Laufey and Jotunheim through his usual method of solo strategies. He learns consequences when his plans inevitably stumble into variables he hadn't accounted for–the guard taking too much time in warning Odin, learning he's a rejected Jotun prince, being actually made regent, the Warriors Three and Sif and Heimdall betraying him. It's not the fact that he grew up learning underhandedness was his most effective method, it's that in the MCU he applied it presumably for the first time to real big events and had to deal with the consequences.

Loki lacks foresight. Like he lacks seeing all of the possible outcomes of his own schemes. That's how he ends up in a lot of messes in the first Thor film. So yeah - he definitely doesn't fully think things through as much as he'd like to believe himself to. Tbf he's not psychic. But it's more of an over reliance on his schemes working perfectly. That he doesn't consider all of the possible ways that those schemes can go south real fast (and end up doing so). So to me...it's less of it being arrogance of his own intellect and more like his over reliance on the schemes themselves. As well as an overestimation of his own control over the situation. Which *could* be considered arrogance... tho I don't think the film really displays it as such. Or it's just not very *clear* in displaying it as arrogance - like aside from occasionally calling Thor an oaf basically(which tbf he's kinda right with that assessment). And like - considering humans and Jotuns as weak and inferior at best - and monstrous at worst(which is less of a character vice and more of a symptom of Asgard's imperialism).

According to the definition of arrogance, what Artemis describes is in fact a complete list of all the reasons why Loki is arrogant. I also like to add that even the imperialism that causes Asgardians to be biased toward other races is rooted in political arrogance and their sense of superiority(Although we can argue that Loki up until his conversation with Odin, did not believe the Asgardian propaganda as he asked why the truth was hidden from him. It was only after he thought his parents see Jotuns a monsters that he tried to radically separate himself from his race).

Like many aspects in this movie, these brothers are once again a yin and yang to each other. Thor's brawn against Loki's brain. Thor's strength represents Odin's warrior side and he is praised for it. While Loki's wit represents Odin's cleverness but unlike Thor, Loki isn't appreciated for a trait in which he is similar to his father and that's sth he wants to change.

Loki has a good plan, but he fails to consider how his action seem shady to those who didn't like and suspected him. And how that can motivate them to betray him. Everything would have gone according to his plan otherwise. He had managed to trick and kill Laufey, he unleashed Bifrost on those race of "monsters" and he had bested Thor in the battle of brain vs brawn. He was pinned but he thought he had won. He was at the top of arrogance level in his grief and madness.

"Look at you, the mighty Thor, with all your strength, and what good does it to you now, huh?"

He didn't consider that Thor, hot headed Thor who looked down on other races and tried to solve everything by throwing a hammer at it, would try to think his way out of this situation to save the people he previously hated.

In my eyes, Odin's banishment, Jane's and Selvig's and Darcy's companionships are only the stakes that make him walk in the shoes of the other side of the violence, but the real wake up call is seeing Loki behaving and talking as Thor used to.

Thor 1 is the origin story of both Thor and Loki, young princes who discover they were still untested, and Avengers 2012 shows the progression of their arcs after their vice has been exploited with one differing element: a support net being present or absent. Thor always had a support net, Loki never did, and their intertwined story shows exactly how in real life people go down their respective paths.

So if Loki's vice is arrogance why he doesn't behave like Thor or Tony?

Bc tbh I probably wouldn't have even thought of arrogance as a vice for Loki. Like my initial reaction was ''wait no that's Thor". But when phrased like the above... it makes a lot of sense. Like tbh I don't know if I'd call it arrogance in his own intelligence - while he's certainly clever he never seems to overbearing about it. Not in the way similarly clever + arrogant characters like Tony Stark display it anyways. Loki never really... seems particularly arrogant?? Like I wouldn't call him humble either but... arrogance just seems a bit exaggerated tbh. I'd say he definitely has pride... tho I'm not sure I'd call it a vice. Bc let's consider other characters that are clearly written to display arrogance at various levels. Like. Anakin is arrogant. Tony Stark is arrogant. Theon Greyjoy was arrogant. And then there's Thor. And like I know there are probably levels to this and it could be argued that Loki's on the less extreme side...But for a character to be arrogant there's almost always like an indicator to that arrogance in said character's personality? Like something about the way they carry themselves... something in the way they display their genuine belief that they're The Best. I don't really see that with Loki. Again I wouldn't call him humble... but he doesn't have *that* attitude I guess. Compared to Anakin ''I would even stop ppl from dying!'' Skywalker. Or Thor 'throws violent tantrum after dad said no to war w/ Jotunheim' Odinson. Or like... half the shit that comes out of Tony Stark's mouth. XD

Yes Loki doesn't have that attitude. That's because individual differences in unawareness of intellectual limits and personality traits affect how the components of arrogance show themselves in people.

We can illustrate potential relations between personality variables and Components 2 (unawareness of knowledge limitations), 4 (failure to consider the perspectives of others), and 5 (a feeling of superiority). Related to Component 2, Schaefer, Williams, Goodie, and Campbell (2004) examined how the Big Five can predict overconfidence in one’s performance. Only the trait of extraversion correlated with overconfidence (the difference between accuracy and confidence). The extraversion factor may be most related to the aspect of arrogance involving inflated self-appraisal relative to objective reality (Lee & Ashton, 2018). There also have been occasional findings of relations between overconfidence and other Big Five traits like openness to experience and agreeableness

Thor and Tony are both extroverts, so their arrogance or at least the part that involves inflated self-appraisal shows itself through overconfident extrovert behavior. That doesn't mean that Loki doesn't act overconfident. It just shows itself in more subtle ways, like the way he stares at his opponent and in his knowing grin. He's less like boastful I'm-the-best-and-I'm-going-to-beat-you, and more like silent I'm-so-smart-and-you've-fallen-for-my-plan.

Even in Avengers when Loki acts arrogantly more than any other time, his real arrogance is not in the way he presents himself to humans in Stuttgart. That was just theatrics. His arrogance is in the way he grins every time his plans work. In Avengers Loki is in his most arrogant state because he's being influenced by the scepter. The same scepter that can bring the worst of every person in its vicinity which almost made Tony and Steve fight, and even Thor reverted back to his old self calling humans petty and tiny. I also like to mention that it was Tony who understood Loki the most and one of the reasons was because he saw the same arrogance of himself in Loki.

Avengers 2012, Dark World and the stories that followed should have picked up the threads left from the first movie and continued the progression of the vice (flaws+virtues+background) Vs consequences. Some of them did. Some of them did not.

Tldr: both Thor's and Loki's vices were arrogance built in different ways and their arcs showcased how society's (=worldbuilding) support influences the consequences of the same vice until the franchise was rebooted (=different worldbuilding and vices)

Source: Foundations of Arrogance: A Broad Survey and Framework for Research

Next: Loki

#loki #thor #loki meta #thor meta #loki's vice #thor's vice #thor 2011 #avengers

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Since the announcement that Dune part three is in development I've watched a couple of youtube videos and read some articles announcing the news, talking about potential release dates and just generally talking about what they want for the third installment and in the comment section of them there seems to be a lot of discussion around how true to the book the third film will be.

Some are saying that they think Villeneuve will stick closely to the book Dune Messiah, others are saying that he will throw the book out completely and just make up his own story for the third film. Some are saying that after the changes made in Dune Part Two, particularly with the changes to Chani's character arc, its now impossible for him to stay true to the book.

Now I haven't read the book so not only do I have very limited knowledge of the book, I also don't have any special attachment to it. So my following views on the subject are coming from that perspective and are based on the two films I've seen and some comments that were in these articles/comments section.

(So mild book spoilers here, you can learn this from reading the blurb of the book.) One thing I did learn is that the book the third film will be based on, Dune Messiah, is actually set 12 years after the end of Dune Part Two's events. We don't see the holy war, we only see the aftermath. Personally I found this news a little disappointing because I feel like they've been revving the audience up with this holy war for the last two movies and so I was really looking forward to seeing it, to seeing just how far Paul goes, whether he tries to hold back at all, whether he has moments of hesitation etc, I was just really hyped to see this war they kept going on about. That being said I do think that seeing the aftermath would still be interesting too.

I've also seen some people say that the book itself won't translate as well to film as the first book does, apparently it has a lot less action and is more political intrigue, as one article put it, its a lot of people sitting in a room and talking. Again haven't read the book so I don't know how accurate that is, but on a similar vein, I've seen a few people say that whilst the book is good its nowhere near the level that the first book is and so they are worried the third film could be a let down for non-book readers.

So as I said above, lots of opinions going around, mostly from book readers because naturally they know a lot more about what is coming than us non-book readers. But it got me thinking how might Villeneuve approach the film and work around some of the concerns I've seen being discussed, the main ones seeming to be, there not being enough action/ it not translating well to screen and how they are going to deal with Chani, as it seems she plays a vital role in messiah and kind of needs to be at Paul's side in order to fulfil that role. So here are my theories and guesses at how Villeneuve might approach the last film. Again these are just my own speculations and opinions.

This first one could definitely be influenced by my own wishful thinking, but one way they could add a bit more action to the film is to spend say the first hour, for example, showing the holy war and using the time to explain how and why Chani returns to Paul, the birth of Alia maybe, etc and then have the time skip to 12 years later and cover the events of Messiah. These films usually have a long run time so if they keep the long run time for this film maybe they'll be able to cover both events. I do believe that the messiah book is considerably shorter than the Dune book, but then the Dune book was split into two films so I am not entirely sure on how well it would work. I guess it would depend on how well it is written.

Another possibility is what some have suggested and that they just throw the book out pretty much completely. The argument here being that Herbert wrote Messiah because when his first book came out the audience didn't get his intended message that Paul wasn't the hero, so he wrote Messiah to really hit home his message that this was a story about the dangers of false prophets and not a hero's journey type story. However Villeneuve has already achieved this message in Dune part two, which could give him some leeway to take the story in a new direction and add his own spin on it. It could also be an opportunity to make the story more appealing to modern audiences, the books were written in the 60's so political and world views were a little different than today. I do think that might be part of the reason why they changed Chani's character, the loyal concubine who follows along with the false saviour's crusade might not have been all that appealing to a more modern audience. The flip side of that though is that abandoning the book completely might not be a popular decision amongst the book readers. So you could end up alienating one side of the audience in favour of making the story your own and trying to appeal more to the general audience.

The third way could be to stick as closely to the books as you can given the changes made in part two. Villeneuve could just start the film with a narration from one of the characters like he did with Chani in part one and Irulan in part two, maybe this time they could have a narration from Paul himself explaining what happened in the war and how and why Chani came back to him etc, setting the scene so to speak. Then from then out just follow whatever happens in the books. Personally I don't know how satisfying I would find this but it would at least follow the same pattern as the other two films if it opens with a narration.

One other thought I had was they could keep the time-skip for the film but have a miniseries that is set during the holy war, I know they are already doing a miniseries covering the bene gesserit so maybe they can also do one showing the war to fill in the gaps. However I think this would be highly unlikely as I don't think they'd have the time to film both a mini series and an actual film. But you never know maybe we'll get really really lucky.

Out of all the possible options, I personally think the first one would be the best option. It would be the best of both worlds, the book readers will still get to see the book adapted, but spending some time at the beginning of the film showing the war could add that needed action and make it more exciting for those who haven't read the book and who might otherwise be disappointed.

But I am curious to know what others think. If you haven't read the book how do you feel about there being such a large time-skip? Do you care if they skip over the war? Or if you are a book reader are you hoping they'll stay close to the book or do you share the same opinion as some of the other comments I saw saying it won't translate well to film? How important do you think the change to Chani's character is and do you agree with those saying it has messed things up going forward? I am very curious to know. All of this being said I am still very excited that they are making a third film and I trust that no matter what direction he chooses to go Villeneuve will deliver another amazing piece of media for us.

#dune #dune part three #dune part three theory #dune messiah #paul atreides #chani kynes #dune thoughts #dune part one #dune part 2 #dune part two

[ixhkor-and-ambrosxa]

Hey #GreekMythology tumblr, I want ya’lls help on something :).

So, I’ve been thinking about starting this massive project. Like, would take years and years work of writing and research and sheerly finding the time and motivation for. And as I was thinking about the specifics, I thought: why not bring others into it as well? Because as much as I am interested in a lot of Greek Mythology, there are things that are simply not my interests and might cause writers block and my goal for the project would to be as fun as possible. So, here we are.

What is the project exactly? Well, hopefully, it’ll be a long Ao3 series/fic focusing on the individual perspectives of various figures/events in Greek Mythology arranged in (semi/good enough) chronological order. I personally intend to write for Poseidon in his/my version of the Titanomachy and (maybe) some events that follow, if you want a little bit of an idea on what I’m talking about.

The limits on this are almost completely free, all that I ask are that each of your submissions are one POV only (and by that I mean your main subject’s POV). Why do I say this? I say this because that is what I want this project to look like. It doesn’t matter if it’s First, Second, or Third POV along with all the other variants of those three, my main focus is on the individual experiences of these individuals. Kind of like character studies, if you know what I mean. I’m intending for it to be mostly formal but I will absolutely accept crack admissions that I will probably put into its own series to Separate the Vibes for whoever comes by :).

Ultimately, this is a completely open-ended project that has absolutely no deadline. I’m about to go to bed so I can’t go into too much detail, but if you want to DM me or send any asks, I am completely okay with that and we’ll all flesh out the specifics we go :).

What is my overall purpose? Not only is this project made for my own individual purposes of learning more about the gods and other Greek Mythology writers, but it’s also the chance to spread the word of other writers. I know how hard it is to get specific audiences, especially when you’re shy, so this is a chance for your work to be stumbled upon. Each post on the eventual Ao3 fic will include your socials, how to find you, and your other general works on either ao3, tumblr, wattpad, or other :)

Can you participate even without socials or a tumblr page? Yes you absolutely can :). My asks will always be open to anons and I will do my best to give credit when I eventually post everything :). If you want to post multiple submissions or simply just want a trackable (between works) name to your writing, just sign something at the end. It could be a name, it could be a potential username, I don’t mind at all :)).

How do I submit things? Well, the best way would be to DM me :). I have a personal writing email separate from most things that would be perfect to either share a google docs with or to just send a copy-and-pasted copy of it. Otherwise, I take asks. None of them will be posted unless asked or we’re ready to so it’ll be safe to just drop them off in! It’s also where I take questions :).

Any other things to note? I’d really appreciate some other moderators and editors :). There’d only be like two or three of each and we’d have to know each other decently well before officially starting, but some help would be appreciated! Also, I’d like to keep a working ‘spreadsheet’ of who’s working on what just for people to see what’s going on :). Maybe some people can collaborate or it’ll encourage those niche writers to write :). A third thing is that most questionable stuff is accepted. I’d personally rather not handle all those things other than posting it so it might be a while until I can officially accept (consensual and/or graphic) ✨spicy stuff✨ but, other than that, I’ll take any of it (also, it’s Greek Mythology, almost all of it already happened). If someone’s willing to take over the ✨spicy stuff✨ then please DM me so we can work out the details and see if it’s a nice fit :)

Honestly, that all should be it. The main point is that I’m trying to start up a long-term project on Tumblr and Ao3 about what is essentially Greek Mythology character studies that not only allows for mass communication across a wide audience, but also (hopefully) gets some recognition for the smaller writers :). Feel free to DM me or send me asks with questions but for now, I shall sleep

Tagging: @bluebellstudio @thirteen-deaths-later @0lympian-c0uncil @happyk44 @h0bg0blin-meat @sworeontheriverstyx @deathlessathanasia @gotstabbedbyapen. Sorry if I tagged you and you want nothing to do with it, I just wanted to get it out there /pos /gen

#ya know this is the one time I regret deleting all my old accounts :/ #I had such a large (ish) following on my old tumblr (neptunes-sea-of-writing btw if you recognize it) #that it’s kind of intimidating to restart again :( #need to do it tho. i just gotta #but I haven’t really written- #anyway that’s not this post’s problem #tagging everyone to try to get it out there #even if you aren’t interested #it’d be appreciated if you share anyway to get to a larger audience :) #i just. wanna build that community and know more things #as much as I’d love to tackle this project all on my own #I know I can’t and it wouldn’t be beneficial for me #but since a large portion of it is gaining knowledge #why not ask it from others? #tagging everyone to get it out there #also the general tag is going to be: #Neptune’s Big Ass Greek Mythology Project #bc why not :) #but seriously #consider it if it’s your thing #and if it’s not that’s fine #I remember being a small writer so intimidated to find people #and I’m feeling that feeling once again having started my entire platform over again :) #we’ve all got this. we’ll make it work /pos #greek mythology #also #you can write for absolutely any fandom #idc #as long as it’s one consistent pov of your focus character :) #also I’m like incredibly sleep deprived and tired rn ive been up since four am and its nine pm rn

[sonkitty]

Crowley S2 Hair Post #12

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 1, The Arrival, being in Hell

...

Sideburns Check

The sideburns are the same as when Crowley was in his car. He actually still is in his car. The main other character presence is Beelzebub, another demon, with many other demons known to be in the background. So, the sideburns stay the length they are with a standard demon reading.

The two thrones represent the two front seats of Crowley's car. He's sitting in his driver's seat. Beelzebub is sitting in the passenger seat.

As my overall theory goes, because Crowley is using the sideburns to manage his personal space, he has to stay in that throne, so that he won't leave too early. He stays in his driver's seat for his eventual exit. That limits his movement.

...

Brighter Red Streak Check

Instead of a brighter red streak of hair often found above the center of the left eye, the hair itself seems to have a general border where the left side gets a stronger red saturation. Meanwhile, the right does not and is darker too. It could easily pass for black with how dark the scene is even though it's actually a very dark red.

That creates a striking contrast at least.

I described this contrast in my older version of this post as that it felt like the intended effect of the brighter red streak seemed to have just spread all over to Crowley's left side.

...

Hairstyle Changes

Since it's hard to track the hairstyles with potentially subtle differences between angles, the following is based on the main front view provided. There is a much more clear picture of parts that are supposed to separate into shapes. When the scene in the Bentley started, the hair swooped upward with a narrowing curve to Crowley's right; then curls flared around in his movement. Here, the hair also swoops upward with a curve to the right, but the narrowing isn't as strong. In addition to the color border noted above, there's a more evident extra separation between tufts of hair above his left eye.

The lighting favors Crowley's left, so the saturation here also favors Crowley's left. The style itself generally intrigues me. I would love to have seen it in better lighting.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

This scene has notable crossover elements with the Sideburns Scheme and Earthly Objects.

With Crowley remaining seated, he ends up doing various self-touches. Early on, the touches involve getting the flies off him, spitting them out, and placing his hands on his legs. It's the best look at the tassels and belt, which is still not a good look because of his dark clothing in this dark location with its icky green-tinted lighting.

When the hands are placed on his legs, the right index finger is up, looking to avoid the touch. The right thumb is hidden. The left thumb is not easily visible but is technically partly on screen and part of the touch. The actual thumbs overall mainly become visible when trying to get the flies off him in this part.

Crowley asks two questions during the scene with the opening for Beelzebub to answer them. These are dialogue points for Earthly Objects, but they are also a way to invite the conversation he is having into his personal space that he's managing with his sideburns. I think he leans forward off the back of the throne and stays in Hell for that reason when he asks them.

There actually is a third question as part of "It is? It is, yeah." Then Crowley actually leans back instead of forward, so that one is not an invitation to his space. The questioner answering the question before an interacting character can answer looks to nullify the question in Earthly Objects. Aziraphale uses this tactic during the ball invitations and even as the first thing he says to Crowley during the Final Fifteen. "What's that lovely human expression? Oh yes! Hold that thought."

Beelzebub starts off the scene sitting in a throne as well but soon stands up to face Crowley and talk to him.

One of Beelzebub's questions is "What if I said Hell was willing to forget everything you did, that we were willing to accept you back, no questions asked with a hefty promotion?"

The next cut shows that with his legs crossed, Crowley's left hand makes a point to touch the other throne nearby on the seat with every digit visible. There is extra shadow between the pinky and ring finger and the index and middle finger. Meanwhile, the middle and ring finger are put closer together. That's a curious choice to me. The position also helps create a pocket between the arm and the throne.

His right arm rests on his right leg with a fair amount of his shirt sleeve stretched out. The right hand is not showing his thumb.

I'm not sure if the Tied Hands are no longer tied because even though he had his sunglasses touch, he is still sitting. It looks like sitting affects them in some way based on his first present day scene with the newspaper door and the parts I couldn't figure out with attending to the mail when he was getting up from a sitting position and going down to a sitting position.

Regardless, his position here hides the tassels though the clasps are visible. It's been extremely hard to figure this part out, but as best I can tell, he is using his right vest tip to hide the tassels. The lighting, dark clothing, and overall position also ensure hiding the snake head on the belt.

Perhaps the Tied Hands untied in the initial cut when they were shown since Crowley keeps hiding the tassels after that. The Belt Head receives the same treatment.

Later in the dialogue, Crowley does show and open his right hand to reveal its thumb. After that, the lower part of the tie and his thumbs are not seen again. While most of that is thanks to the camera work focusing on his upper body, he also folds his arms to help hide his actual thumbs.

There is incredibly deliberate framing with Crowley's head between the horns of the two thrones. That's a pocket in Earthly Objects though not a full-scale Pocket Frame found in the Threshold Tricks. Playing with the words anyway, because pockets and the game still do that, I would guess this framing is meant to be a Foreshadowing Frame.

The rope Beelzebub uses to summon a demon underling in a later scene is visibly untouched during this scene.

...

Story Commentary

I like to interpret this scene as what Crowley means by "fragile existence". As part of managing his space with his sideburns, he has to manage his own movement. He leans and touches in specific ways to help keep himself anchored to Hell while he gathers the information he wants. He continually looks like he wants to lean forward and move more than he does, but he won't. He'll lean to the side some.

The first exchange is about Crowley saying he thought they had a generalized understanding. Beelzebub says they don't. Beelzebub could put a price on Crowley's head anytime they wanted to. But...why don't they? While season 2's reality and chronology is confusing, the implication from the story is that it's been a few years since the end of season 1. Based on the information available, Beelzebub didn't put that price on Crowley's head during that time—and they won't do it for the rest of season 2 either.

The topic quickly changes with the question from Crowley, "Is that a new face?"

As I've noted in other posts, my understanding of Crowley's sight is that it's special. He senses with his eyes so that it looks like seeing, but he isn't seeing in the way many humans see. The story communicates that mainly through his sunglasses and what they may or may not reflect.

So, here, his eyes are sensing a difference when looking at Beelzebub. I also think this sense Crowley has is rather keen compared to other supernatural entities. Aziraphale recognized Gabriel but admitted some of that recognition was based on appearance. Saraqael does look at Gabriel as if they recognize him at first in episode 2 and just don't admit it, but that's not much to go on.

When it comes to other supernatural beings, they can't see or sense that Gabriel is Gabriel. While that could be from the miracle Crowley does with Aziraphale, the story leaves room for that to not be the case because so much of Gabriel is actually in the fly holding his memories. Michael sensed him better and nearly caught on when he the fly was near him in episode 2.

Crowley is the only character whose initial reaction to sensing Gabriel with his eyes was to call out Gabriel's name immediately, even with Gabriel having amnesia. The fly isn't shown to be active at all during that scene. Despite Beelzebub's words with "all your memories" and "all your you", it looks like actually at least some of Gabriel's memories were still inside him because of what little Crowley himself could access.

Getting back to this particular scene in Hell, Beelzebub tells Crowley they've had their new face "for ages," which I take to mean they changed it not long after season 1 ended.

The conversation shifts again to Beelzebub standing up off the throne, facing Crowley, and then flattering him by saying, "Such a pity Hell never really appreciated your talents, Crowley."

The funny thing is, Hell did appreciate Crowley's talents. That's why he got the assignments he did. Hell could be so badly understaffed in season 2 because despite Crowley's efforts to not work too much when he did work for them on Earth, he was effective. Satan himself said Crowley earned the job of delivering the Antichrist in season 1, specifying the M25 as a stroke of genius. Hell can't make up for losing him.

The staff issue could be another matter of course, but I like this idea in the meantime.

Crowley, understandably, finds this approach from Beelzebub mildly surprising but soon goes along with it. That's when he most obviously leans back during the scene. "It is? It is, yeah."

Then comes the prospect of "forget" everything Crowley did, accept Crowley back no questions asked, and giving him a hefty promotion. Since this story has something going on with memories, that "forget" word is suspect. Even in the full context with the other words, without knowing how season 2 ends, the offer is still suspect.

I agree with Crowley. That does not sound like the thing Beelzebub would be likely to say. He adds the word "so" at the end though the subtitles don't actually include it. This part is Crowley not literally saying No but implying No. He's not going to accept an offer he thinks isn't even valid to begin with. He even shifts his head to the side with this implication.

Undeterred, Beelzebub acknowledges it might be and then brings up that the Archangel Gabriel has vanished. Crowley does a mouth movement, suggesting he is trying to taste the air and get a feel for the atmosphere. Beelzebub keeps talking. They, being Hell in general, know Gabriel isn't in Heaven. They don't know where he is. The two talk some more with Crowley trying not to give away what he already knows and Beelzebub saying Crowley could name his price. They compliment Crowley some more with his knowledge of Earth.

The words "fall" or "falling" are never brought up, but that would theoretically be why Hell thinks they have a stake in where Gabriel is since he's not in Heaven.

Again, Crowley does not literally say No to the offer. Instead, he deflects it altogether and shakes his head as he says that it's a big universe, lots places an archangel on the lam can go, and so on.

By this point, Beelzebub is growing visibly frustrated that Crowley's not interested in the two preceding offers and not giving enough information for if he does know anything. So, they say he could have whatever his nasty little heart desires and name a rank: Duke of Hell.

Crowley barely has a chance to react as he nods in acknowledgment. Though not in the subtitles, he starts to quietly say, "Oh, well..." However, Beelzebub keeps talking before he can continue as they change tactics. Finally, they bring up a possible threat from Heaven to anybody involved with this affair.

That is enough to get Crowley's attention with another question. He leans forward and shifts from between the two thrones to being in front of his own throne once more as he asks, "How?" The cut mainly implies he has folded his arms since much of the arms themselves cannot be seen, but the changed touch will be confirmed soon enough.

Beelzebub smiles a genuinely pleased smile that they finally have something Crowley wants. It's enough to walk back toward the other throne, sit down, and say with dramatic emphasis, "Extreme sanctions".

Crowley's reaction is very interesting because he takes a moment, as if he knows something, to say that it's not actually a thing. With referring to something they used to joke about to frighten the cherubs, that implies he's talking about their time as angels and being in higher ranks together. They were peers.

Beelzebub insists it's a true threat, saying, "Anyone involved in Gabriel's disappearance will be erased from the Book of Life. They won't just be gone, they will never have existed."

This threat makes no sense to me. I know Crowley reacts like it's a real threat, and it's a fictional story where maybe that's supposed to work. But given that's not shown how in this season...I'm left baffled by the idea, considering how much a person's existence impacts others.

If the Book of Life wiped out Aziraphale's existence, the entire course of human history on Earth changes because he gave Adam and Eve the flaming sword.

Regardless, Crowley nods and acknowledges that such a threat could teach someone a lesson, alright.

There's an "It's a Wonderful Life" reference here, I realize. I hope it's not foreshadowing. With this concept of erasing someone from the Book of Life, I'm inclined to think that a person wiped from existence cannot learn "a lesson" because they don't exist anymore!

But wait. That is what happened in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". The angel Clarence showed the human George Bailey a reality where he, George Bailey, no longer existed because he had never been born. George learned "a lesson" about the value of his own life.

That path for the Good Omens overall story doesn't strike me as particularly interesting but noted nonetheless.

As noted in other posts, I do think the Book of Life is in the matchbox and a potential threat interested in Crowley himself, for whatever it actually does.

Beelzebub says, "So if you hear anything, you come to me first, yeah?"

The subject of Crowley coming back to work for Hell has effectively been dropped by this point. He never literally said No, but I felt it was stated within context. Beelzebub gave Crowley what he actually wanted instead: this information. Still, this scenario does leave an opening for Crowley to eventually become Grand Duke of Hell. I do think that will happen in season 3 though the path to get there would hopefully be interesting since the end of season 2 heavily implied Shax would be the next Grand Duke of Hell. Would Crowley even go to Hell to bring up the offers in this conversation or would someone else bring it up? How does Shax factor in?

I mainly suspect Crowley will be the Grand Duke of Hell because of the framing in the credits, in this scene, and the way the Good Omens story likes duality and parallels. Crowley's car is the threshold for him to Hell on Earth. The elevator is the threshold for Aziraphale to Heaven on Earth. But even Earth itself is in the credits thanks to the plants behind Crowley in his car. Plus, they're the Green maintained in the Rainbow Connection (theoretically).

Crowley replies to Beelzebub with saying, "I don't know anything about this, but I'll absolutely let you know." However, he is sent back to the car before the sentence actually finishes. He had leaned forward off the seat when he started to talk. The space read that business was done and sent him back, whether he meant for that exact thing to happen or not. That was due to how the sideburns help Crowley manage his personal space. The exact cut off point in the sentence is the end of the word "anything", so, there's a good chance Beelzebub would never have heard Crowley say he would let them know.

Nonetheless, after this encounter, Beelzebub makes no effort to contact Crowley directly again for the rest of the season.

...

Why is the red back in Hell but not before or after summoning? Is that part of the possible story edit with suspicious continuity errors or does Hell being Hell just do that to Crowley? The angle of his head changes in the cut between being in Hell and being in the car. He was leaning back away from Beelzebub, then he is leaning forward toward where they were. In Hell, he looked like had a lightning imprint on the upper left side of his forehead sometimes too.

I maintain my theory on this space within Hell being the same as the Bentley, Crowley's own home base, when Crowley himself is there.

...

I couldn't find every post I had in mind for making this one, but here are a couple:

Since this seems to be...

Something something about (referring to the posts above my reblog)

The main one I couldn't find but wanted to was, I think, about how angels who are not Aziraphale can't seem to recognize people by their faces. Crowley can recognize faces too. I can't remember if other demons were brought up in the post.

...

That's it for this post of mine. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI. I actually do hope to start editing some in the near future because I've been procrastinating, and it's a growing list.

...

Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme

...

Past version of this post:

Post #12 (being in Hell)

#crowley #good omens 2 #good omens #good omens s2 #david tennant #good omens season 2 #good omens meta #good omens analysis #good omens crowley #crowley good omens #crowley s2 hair project #crowley sideburns

[machinesonix]

Okay so chewing my way through Dune for the first time as an adult and there’s this chapter that’s got me wilding out so hard I’m basically just gonna paraphrase it here. Obviously concessions need to be made when switching mediums and I think the films have done a splendid job, but I think they sorta took the teeth out of this one.

When the Atredies first touch down on Dune, Lady Jessica is introduced to their groundskeeper, an elderly Fremen woman called ‘the Shadout Mapes.’ Now Mapes is extremely excited to meet a member of the Bene Gesserit, from which Jessica correctly concludes the ministoria protectiva has been here seeding the local mythology with favorable propaganda. Like a good third of the new movie is screaming about how fucked up all that is, so I will curb my enthusiasm to explain what the funny words mean in exhaustive detail, but suffice to say the Space Mom Cult secretly shapes cultures all across the universe to recognize them as cool people that everybody ought to listen to when they show up. So Jessica immediately code switches into Ominous Witch Mode and shows off some of her preternatural powers of observation by calling out the Shadout Mapes for having a weapon on her. In the movie the knife is a gift. The book has a little more nuance that has me absolutely salivating.

Mapes flips out and shows her the knife, which later we’re gonna learn is made from a worm tooth. She explains that Jessica might be the One, and if she is, the knife belongs to her. If she isn’t then she’s gonna kill Jessica with it because now she already knows too much. And to put her to the test she asks her what the knife is. Jessica hopes to establish her credibility by being well versed in ancient tongues, and intends to call it the ‘maker of death’ because in the language that the word ‘Shadout’ is derived from that’s the idiomatic translation of ‘knife.’

Instead Mapes starts screaming in religious fervor as soon as she hears the word ‘Maker.’ Because the worms make the spice, see. Jessica absolutely triples down on this, and this is what drives me wild. Immediately after narrowly escaping murder by a lucky stroke of linguistics she’s like FUCK YOU, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE NOT THINKING I WOULD RECOGNIZE THE MAKER. IN FACT, I’M GONNA STAB YOU NOW. Like okay, what she actually does is go ‘Mapes, now that the blade’s been drawn who’s blood is it gonna taste?’ And here I just have to say hats off to the Bene Gesserit for their training in genre awareness. Jessica has absolutely no idea of any of the customs surrounding a crysknife and risks blowing her cover here to flex even harder. She’s right, of course, and lets the Shadout Mapes off with just a scratch. It turns out Fremen have hypercoagulant blood which is not terribly important but still kinda cool.

So to put a bow on all of this, the Shadout Mapes ends up saying something along the lines of ‘She is the One, she will free us.’ This shocks Jessica. She recognizes this line from the ministoria protectiva, and knows that only the super fucked up horrible places wind up with the ‘we will save you from your oppressors’ prophecies. And I just love it because here we've got a microcosm of what this is all about. The ministoria protectiva did exactly what it was supposed to do and saved a Bene Gesserit life because Mapes heard her own religion in what's basically a cold read con. This exploitative power is so intense that Mapes is willing to give Jessica her life; there's no reason for a Fremen to expect somebody is going to show mercy with a crysknife. And then when she's feeling at her highest and mightiest she gets a wake up call. These people have context.

The Fremen don't have their finger on the pulse of galactic politics. They know there is a limited amount of moisture in their atmosphere and that the off-worlders in the palaces are going to take enough of it to keep themselves comfortable. As far as they're concerned, the Atredies are basically Harkonnens with better personal hygiene. The freedom the Shadout Mapes is talking about is freedom from Jessica's family. The ministoria protectiva doesn't exist in a vacuum. The Fremen's history of oppression has become inseparable from what was meant to be a means to control them.

#dune #dune meta #ministoria protectiva #lady jessica

[uneducated-author]

Dazai learned to drive from Oda.

Well, it wasn't so much learning as harassing Oda to give him lifts home (Oda dropping him a street away from the most expensive part of the city and then Dazai carving his way towards the container) and Dazai fixated on Oda's hands. How they adjusted the different features, where Oda was looking, how the way his balance shifted gave away the pressure on the pedals. Oda never mentions or gives away that he understands Dazai's ulterior motive, but he must pick up on it, because after the third time his movements become more obvious and defined, and he starts talking out loud about his own driving.

So Dazai steals a car every now and again. He starts with slow loops and then longer journeys. Graduating from backroads to highways. Until he can traverse the whole city, perfectly, safely and accurately. It's all patterns and reading, and it's so much easier in a car. All he has to do is look at the wheels and angles of a machine to know where a person is going to move to.

Then comes the fun part. Because once Dazai learns how to drive well, he gets to learn how to drive badly.

He learns how to skid and angle, drive double the speed limit without looking at the wheel, steering without hands, with his feet. He drifts in the middle of a motorway and does donuts until his tyre marks have left a tattoo in the concrete.

And then, when he's totaled two cars and wrecked four, when he could drive a car and put the passenger through hell, but get them to purgatory safe, he brings Chuuya along.

It's not planned. They're booking it on a mission, not gone wrong, but gone wild. Dazai spies a car, and a little voice inside him says 'now!'

Chuuya doesn't know why Dazai is suddenly going in a different direction, but like hell he's letting his partner go off alone, so like always he follows, throwing himself into a car that neither of them know how to drive.

'What the f*ck is your plan Mackeral' he intends to say, but he gets cut halfway through because the car shrieks and Dazai tears them away like a bat out of hell, and for a second Chuuya shouts for Dazai to go back because he thinks that he left his soul behind.

But Dazai is fierce and vicious and whoops as he turns the wheel much to far, spinning on the edge of a cliff like he's the one with gravity powers, and Chuuya can't breathe but the light flickers through and forges a light in Dazai's eye that he never sees unless they're quiet and alone.

And Dazai looks at Chuuya prepared for his partners screaming and clinging, hoping for it in fact. Or maybe he'll yell at Dazai, wondering where the hell he learned to drive. But instead the boy is smiling, face cracked open like a watermelon, whooping and shooting out the window and shouting for him to move and Chuuya will never stop surprising him will he?

The two tear away and it's reckless and dangerous, but they're built for these moments, covered in blood surrounded by fire, and both lay back panting, catching each others eyes just to erupt into laughter because 'can you believe we just did that?!'

Dazai can't help but smile when Chuuya angles himself so they can't break eye contact and asks for another ride.

Later Dazai teaches Chuuya to drive, except not really. The haze has worn off, and there's not really anything all that special about the dumb machine. He points out the gears and indicators and then veers off. The exhilaration had been fun, he guesses. But he can't expect it to last.

Two weeks later Chuuya shows up with a bike he's stolen, black and vicious, but Chuuya's brought him a hello kitty helmet, that Dazai will wear, just to be a brat. But his partner is smiling and reckless, with the spark that means he thinks Dazai is about to be outplayed, and invites him to take a ride too.

Dazai joined the Port Mafia because he wanted to find a reason to live. He never found one that stuck. But sometimes he remembers his partners screaming and that horrible ride where Dazai had no control but was forced to put his life in Chuuya's hands, and he thinks that he may not have found a reason, but there were seconds that he lived.

#bungou stray dogs #bsd dazai #bsd chuuya #bsd odasaku #soukoku #ao3

[flowerandblood]

Female characters in my fanfics

So what does female character mean to me 😨

I feel that I need to clarify and add to my masterlist what my "female character" means to me and how it differs from an typical "original character", "female reader" or just "you".

I use the third person form in my fanfics because it's more natural to me. I'm creating it as a story, not an RPG.

I once got a message that I exclude some readers by giving features of appearance or body that others do not have. But the truth is that I exclude a whole lot of readers when I describe the character's character, her behavior, her response to certain actions, what she will wear.

My female characters are not typical "readers". I am constantly changing the description in my old stories and chapters to "female" so as not to mislead anyone.

What my characters might have: length and color of hair, eyes, lips, body terms such as "firm, petite, slender, wide, long, fair."

What my characters don't have: names, ages, precisely defined heights, weights, figures, specific nationalities (apart from stories referring to existing culture, such as Greek mythology or Slavic demonology etc.)

I think it's fair to write about it and I want to stay true to my readers. I don't intend to create my OCs and I don't want to completely determine the appearance of specific characters, but I also don't want to be limited by the community to only use sentences that cannot exclude absolutely anyone.

I write here for free, no one pays me for it and I want to write the way I want. Period.

The purely pornographic approach to my fanfiction hurts me a bit − "It's me and I want someone to fulfill my fantasy by creating a story about me with someone" − it doesn't work like that for me.

I don't want to be a tool in someone's hands to fulfill their sexual fantasies.

I have also decided that I will give up some hashtags, even at the expense of the reach of my posts (unfortunately), so that I no longer receive unpleasant messages about it.

#aemond fic #aemond fanfiction #aemond x female

[aeternallis]

Ren's Meta / Rant List :: KPTS / Kimchay

I've had a number of requests from people to put all my metas and rants onto one place for better reading and access, so here you go! I'll update as I go, but for those who'd been asking me, thank you for your patience!

Since I've read the fan translation of the novel, my rants usually tend to center on the differences and changes from book -> show (with a hyperfocus on Kimchay, cuz they're my fave). This serves as a way to better highlight my own understanding of the story, as well as to speculate on BOC's intent with their changes. I personally think it's important, since the authors themselves-no matter one's own opinions on how problematic they are-were heavily involved in the production of the show (at least from the limited BTS footage available online).

Having said this, I'm not here to to tell people what they can and can't do with these fictional characters, and this should already go without saying. This is fandom, you're more than welcome to play with these mafia dolls however you like, and I shall do so as well.

Please don't take these rants/metas as self-appointed gospel for the show, these are just my opinions and thoughts, and in no way are they intended to attack anyone else's opinions and views, no matter how they may come off.

Y'all are also welcome to read the book and draw your own conclusions, and you wouldn't get any judgement from me!

Please don't argue with me about your headcanons and whatnot, since arguing with people online just gives me anxiety. Lol Headcanons are just headcanons and may not always be universally shared, so please treat them as such.

:: Updated as of: 01/30/2024 ::

Show-ONLY Meta Posts

A Deep Dive into Kim's Fight Scene in Yok's Bar

Kim's Morals Re: Incest Insinuations in the Show

How Kimchay's Love Story is Presented in the Show

Fandom's Views on Kim's Redemption Post-Canon

Kimchay Fic Trope: Should Kim Grovel?

Porsche and Chay's Reaction to the Theerapanayakuls' Wealth

Kim's Potential Aggression Towards Chay Post-Canon

The Third Song / Why Kim Rewrote Chay's First Song

Show/Novel Meta Posts

Porsche's Views on Kimchay's Relationship in the Novel

Kim's Place in the Mafia: Book vs Show

Porsche and Chay's Brotherhood: Book vs Show

Follow up to Kim's Potential Aggression: Book Comparison

#kimchay #kinnporsche #kinnporche the series #meta post #meta analysis

[cowboy-robooty]

Robooty Reviews: Oni To Tengoku (8.9/10) ROBOOTY PERSONAL FAVORITE

(in my heart its a 10/10)

Atsurou Aoki is an english teacher who has some mad fuckin self esteem issues. hes our beautiful pathetic man protag and he ends up tangled up in a relationship of sorts with the school nurse, Manabu Tengoku. Its a dry premise and honestly the first volume requires you to sludge through a lot of average yaoi evil shit but please please please im begging you endure okay. i have been an oni to tengoku-er since 2019 and ive been following the development of the sequel (oni to tengoku sai) and the (now third) sequel (oni to tengoku kyuu) of this series and GOD. ILL BE REAL IM A MANIAC AND PROBABLY GOT A LOT MORE OUT OF THIS SERIES THAN THE AUTHOR INTENDED AT ALL BUT IDGAF PLEASE READ IT PERHAPS YOU CAN EXPERIENCE THE SAME ENLIGHTENING AS ME. READ MORE HAS SPOILERS BE WARNED (PART 1 CUZ OF TUMBLR IMAGE LIMIT)

this will be a little different than usual because i have a whole lot to say about aoki and tengoku. Really, a lot of this will be just talking about how and why i like their relationship so if you end up liking this you should most definately read the full manga to experience it for yourself

Despite all the fuckin bullshit of the first volume, the manga is really fucking good at interweving in its core themes and setting up the psychological basis of Aoki. Aoki was abused by his mother as a child, but i think the depiction of abuse is really realistic because even though she whittles down his self esteem and makes him feel worthless she hugs him afterwards and still is motherly towards him, this aoki doesnt hate his mother and fully cut her off per say but she is a demon to him. its pretty realistic imo where parents can do awful things but they buy you a donut and then its like ermm well.. they bought me a donut and do this in my best interest so its okay. Aoki is fucked in the head though. because he doesnt feel like he can be loved deep down and his entire career path is something he chose only because it was expected of him by his family (and his entire life is grasping at straws in an attempt to not disappoint people)

he wants more than anything to just not be an embarassment and be "worthy" of being loved. I like how this is depicted because again it feels more realistic in that he isnt outwardly a freak about it or anything he doesnt have breakdowns in public or anything thats enough to warrent himself to feel like he needs to get help. but he definately does need help of some sort because his way of thinking and the constant guilt and shame he feels is just something thats normal to him now. hes just tired and a bit worn down, but its not like anything is exceptionally bad, since humans are surprisingly adaptable and hes just lived with feeling like hes an embarassment who disappoints people his entire life so its norm.

Tengoku obviously doesnt mean it in the way aoki is taking is. but its things like this that make the themes feel well interwoven to me. Aoki doesnt look tengoku in the eye and say "i have mommy issues and feel like being an embarassment is the reason i cant be loved" but he still shows it in a way that we the audience can see he means, since we can put together aoki's lifestyle and viewpoint from his inner dialogues and flashbacks to his mother's abuse. Aoki wants more than anything else to be a good boy because only good boys can be loved. and unfortunately for aoki san this kind of means he has developed a praise kink and good boy fetish which tengoku just naturally leans towards so erm haha tengoku just pushing those buttons all willy nilly!

Tengoku isnt an idiot though, as he pursues aoki he can definately connect the dots and all that shit for how aoki ticks. This isnt exactly hard to do anyways, since aoki passively talks about himself to tengoku during non crazy scenes and its not like hes an enigma or anything because again, he thinks that the way he lives is completely normal for a guy like him. Tengoku likes aoki and chases him and aoki isnt exactly a willing participant. Tengoku likes aoki because hes a fun plaything and interesting and pure hearted and everything tengoku is not and aoki begins to form an affection for tengoku because he itches the mental illness brain damage spot by pursuing and wanting him consistently and not getting bored.

These panels are true brain damage pages because it hits upon how all aoki wants is for someone to look at him directly and still want him. His greatest wish (that he doesnt even believe could come true at the bottom of his heart) is to have someone that could see him for who he is and despite all his flaws. despite how hes useless, despite how hes not good at anything (to him), despite how hes bad at relationships, despite how he cant talk with other people, and despite what an embarassment he is, still love and want him. Seriously, I must recommend you to read this for yourself. Theres the yaoi bullshit sludge but every chapter has bits and pieces of Aoki's mindset that is an insanely good representation and depiction of how that kind of mentality and acceptance is like.

Volume 2 is where things really pick up. Yaoi sludge has been toned down to make way for FUCKING SWAG!!!! the set up for aoki's mentality is done now were onto getting into the way tengoku and aoki's personalities actually interact with eachother. Along with dipping into tengokus crazy bitch syndrome

Over this volume, were shown that actually aoki and tengoku are a good match for eachother. At least, tengoku provides something special for aoki in that he doesnt know from personal experience the feeling of needing to earn love, but because of that he bounces off well with aoki because he shows basic interest in going "well your feelings and thoughts do matter though. youre a person too". this isnt explicitly said, but its little things liks this that end up making aoki fall in love with him. Aoki falling in love with tengoku is also interesting because this is his first time actively liking someone else because its what he wants, not because its what the other person expects. Despite how terrible their relationship was at first, it set a ground where Aoki was able to create a strong connection with someone without the initial fear of disappointing them since he even didnt like tengoku at first. Honestly with the way Aoki is I think that is why hes able to love tengoku out of his volition, since he already has shown his shameful parts to him and tengoku still wants him-- in fact tengoku is the only person who has seen Aoki's shame and refused to let him go, this lets Aoki take a breather and think about what HE desires for once instead of how to keep someone with him or do whats good for the other person/not shameful.

Also a new teacher is introduced who actually is one of the many guys Tengoku had play-boyed before who became a teacher just so he could try to win tengokus love lol. but he serves as a plot device for that yaoi jealousy arc WOOOHOOOO! I love the jealousy chapter a lot though because BOTH CHARACTERS experience jealousy in their own way. I'm not sure if what Aoki experiences can be classified under jealousy or not, but ill just say it is because thats easier. The chapter is wonderfully done though because see Tengoku has always been the one who chases Aoki but also the one who reminds him that he doesnt fall in love this is just a sex playboy thing. Aoki is the one who has fallen in love and does show this by treating Tengoku specially, but Tengoku obviously doesnt reciprocate this since the way he acts at least is more like Aoki is his favorite of a bunch of toys rather than his one and only like how Aoki sees him. Aoki feels bitterness over this because he wishes he could be loved by Tengoku since Tengoku is somewhat wishy washy and gives Aoki just enough to keep hope but also smushes that hope by refusing a drop more. (this is done though bc this is fucking yaoi ofc tengoku loves aoki to bits and pieces back but tengoku is just scared of liking aoki too much and showing it too much but hold on we havent gotten to tengokus insanity yet jeeeesus christ!). Also im kind of at the tumblr 10 image limit but I think showing these next three pages are really important so ermm me when i post this and then add a reblog or two with MORE BULLSHIT. I'll properly tag the versions with my reblogs

[venusinsilk]

Journal Prompts - 2024

I wanted to share these journal prompts with you, the tumblr girls. I hope these prompts help you look within yourself.

Journal Prompts:

Root Chakra (Muladhara):

What aspects of my life need more stability and grounding?

How can I strengthen my sense of security and foundation?

What financial goals or intentions do I want to manifest?

In what ways can I create a stronger connection to the earth and nature?

What habits or beliefs no longer serve my sense of stability?

Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana):

What brings me joy and creativity, and how can I incorporate more of it into my life?

In what areas of my life can I cultivate a healthier sense of pleasure and passion?

How can I better nurture and express my emotions?

What creative projects or hobbies do I want to explore or develop?

What relationships or connections do I want to strengthen or create?

Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura):

What are my core values and how can I honor them in my daily life?

In what areas can I boost my confidence and self-esteem?

What personal and professional goals do I want to achieve?

How can I embrace and express my personal power more fully?

What activities or practices can help me maintain a healthy sense of self-worth?

Heart Chakra (Anahata):

What relationships do I want to nurture or heal in my life?

How can I cultivate more love and compassion for myself and others?

What acts of kindness or service do I want to incorporate into my routine?

How can I open myself up to receiving and giving love more freely?

In what ways can I bring more harmony and balance into my relationships?

Throat Chakra (Vishuddha):

What truths do I need to express more authentically in my life?

In what ways can I improve my communication skills?

What creative pursuits or projects do I want to share with the world?

How can I align my actions with my words more effectively?

What conversations or expressions have been left unsaid that need attention?

Third Eye Chakra (Ajna):

What insights or intuitive messages am I receiving that I need to pay attention to?

How can I enhance my connection to my inner wisdom and intuition?

What limiting beliefs or perceptions do I need to release?

How can I cultivate a deeper sense of clarity and insight in my life?

In what ways can I trust my inner guidance more fully?

Crown Chakra (Sahasrara):

What spiritual practices or connections do I want to deepen?

How can I cultivate a greater sense of connection to the divine or higher self?

What beliefs or thought patterns no longer align with my spiritual growth?

In what ways can I invite more mindfulness and presence into my daily life?

What experiences or knowledge do I seek to expand my spiritual understanding?

----------------------------------------

I went to a yoga class a couple weeks ago that focused on setting intentions for 2024. In this class, the instructor shared 1 prompt from each of the Chakras listed with the prompts above. After telling us the prompt, we wrote a quick response. After 7 of these, we were asked to pick one word from each written response.

We wrote down these words and left them visible on our mats. She guided us through a Vinyasa flow for each Chakra, in which we focused on the corresponding word we wrote.

After class, she emailed us more prompts. I'm still journaling through these 2 weeks later. They are very in depth and some of the questions stumped me. It's ok to not have answers right away. I left a blank page and moved on, and I intend to go back and finish more. I've already made small changes to my lifestyle based on answers I wrote. I hope these serve you well!

#journal #prompts #journal prompts #journal prompt #writing prompt #journal questions #diary

[m1d-45]

hello!! i’ve been lingering on your blog for a while, but i’ve been too scared to request/reach out until now jfnfksk. before i do, i wanted to say that you’re one of my favorite writing blogs. all of the works i’ve read from you are beautiful and profound and, in my opinion, you have a great way of words and storytelling. your blog was one of my introductions to sagau in general, so thank you for that, too.

i’ve been having a lot of thoughts about sagau and fontaine recently, particularly revolving around the 4.1 archon quest. lyney and freminet are both amongst some of my favorite characters, and i have pulled for/have them both, and i use them both often. i personally disagreed with many of the traveler’s (which i’m assuming was the creator’s main vessel during it all?) actions, how we dealt with lyney and wriothesley and how we seemed to be neutral with both of them after. i definitely did not, and do not, like wriothesley after everything that happened, and i wished we were a bit more hostile/cold towards him at least. he put lyney and freminet especially in states of extreme distress and had no qualms about it, even if he never intended to hurt them physically.

how the traveler went about it all just felt very wrong to me. i would not have been so docile and friendly towards wriothesley afterwards, and quite frankly, i would’ve been way more worried about lyney and freminet than we were. i, personally, am on lyney’s side 100%, and i wish we weren’t forced to be in a weird state of limbo between our “loyalties.” i have none to wriothesley, and i wish i could’ve made that known.

in the event that we’re going with the creator being more omnipotent and a third party (such as in your piece “wandering”) rather than isekai’d, do you think that the characters would be able to feel/tell/hear the creator’s frustrations? considering that the creator’s vessels are supposed to be controlled by them, how do you think that would work — the creator mostly disagreeing with the actions their vessel have chosen, but basically being helpless against them? would that align/be possible with how you view sagau and its dynamics?

this could be viewed as a more formal request or just a rambling ask, depending on if you find it interesting/agree with it/wish to write for it or not; i don’t mind! my apologies as well — this got a bit longer than i intended. (also, could i be added to the taglist if that’s not too much trouble?)

oooh this is an interesting point!

now, from a gameplay standpoint, while it makes sense to have two kinds of dialogue when interacting with npcs—sort of like a nice and rude option to give players some room—a canonical single storyline for the traveller is much simpler and far easier in the long run, especially for the kind of story mhy wants to tell. this being said, i do agree we should have more flexibility in dialogue.

i do believe that even if you don’t verbally say something, they can still feel your emotions, such as frustration. the extent changes—i think too much about this game good lord—but the point is that they could tell that you’re dissatisfied with the actions you’re taking. the end conclusion could be anything from “the device they use to connect with this world isn’t perfect. they must not have regained enough power to fully control it.” to “still being kind even through their anger…. our lord truly is gracious” depending on the situation, character, etc. that being said if you out loud disagreed with something you’re doing, it would be pretty universally accepted that the limits of your influence are a Bad Thing. this serves as motivation to find a way to restore your full power; whether that means “we gotta motivate them from afar! how far can we push these boundaries?” or “ok. we have to bring them here.” depends on your flavor of sagau.

that should cover everything i wanted to say. thank you for the compliments, and i’m glad that you liked my writing. feel free to send another ask if you want to clarify or add on, and have a good day!

#m1d : [chats] #m1d : [sweethearts] #i’m so sorry if this is written questionably- #i am not the person you should have come to for this— #i spoke WAY too much about shit that doesn’t matter WHOOPS #like half of this post was deleted because i was just Saying Shit #over half*