#(The Absolute Implications I See People Elsewhere Make)

[jeannereames]

If you could change or insert one aspect of the common pop culture picture most people have in their heads when they think about ATG what would it be?

I'm going to jump this in the queue because I can answer it swiftly, but also because I have TWO things that are personal pet peeves.

FIRST: That "historians" keep insisting Alexander and Hephaistion were "just good friends" in the face of obvious evidence to the contrary.

SECOND: Alexander called Hephaistion his Patroklos (to his own Achilles), and they used this comparison frequently throughout their lives.

So, let’s take on the “Fake News,” shall we?

The notion that "historians" keep insisting Alexander and Hephaistion were "just good friends" in the face of what would seem clear evidence to the contrary is over 50 fucking years out of date.

Are there “historians” out there who say that? Sure. But they tend to come in two flavors: 1) people who aren’t specialists, Hellenists, or even historians,⸸ or 2) Greeks.* Since Badian, Green, Hamilton, and Schachermeyer (et al.) took over Macedonian/Alexander studies mid-century, few specialists claimed Alexander and Hephaistion couldn’t have been lovers, or Alexander couldn’t have been attracted to men. Even Hammond cagily acknowledged it.

Yet—TBH—I don't think those who repost that meme really care. They just want a convenient strawman/whipping horse to make them sound "smarter than the experts."

You don't. You sound as if you haven't read much about Alexander since about 1975. Historians who have died of old age by now said Alexander and Hephaistion were probably lovers.

But that raises another problem: the implication that anybody who might argue they aren't lovers must be an old, white homophobic dude. Again, this is wrong.

The current discussion centers more on source problems, and separates Alexander having male lovers from Alexander and Hephaistion being lovers themselves (not the same thing, actually). Those making the best argument for caution are young, very much not homophobic (but absolutely brilliant) women (e.g., Sabine Müller). Follow the link to see a picture of Sabine, if you don’t believe me. I don't agree with her, but you can't shoot down her argument by screaming "Homophobe!" at the top of your lungs. The points she raises are all good ones and any responsible (and smart) historian will take them seriously.

As for the Alexander-Achilles/Hephaistion-Patroklos pastiche… yeah, sorry, no.

I realize this torques off folks, as it’s become a mainstay of queer culture surrounding Alexander as a gay icon and owes more than a little to Miller’s The Song of Achilles.

Busting it probably makes me sound like a Grinch.

BUT…the facts just don't support it. Yes, Alexander compared himself to Achilles--but not as much as to Herakles and Dionysos. Not even close.

How do I know? I COUNTED THEM. Facts ... not impressions.

After all, looking closely at what the sources (not impressions) actually say about Hephaistion is how I came to the conclusion the man was a lot more important than heretofore recognized. 😉

Again, as I’ve said elsewhere, Alexander did compare himself to Achilles. That’s not in dispute … it just wasn’t as frequent or common as modern fans like to pretend. And Hephaistion was compared to Patroklos only twice. There’s also a problem with WHO made those comparisons: chiefly Arrian. Again, I’ve talked about this elsewhere, so won’t go over it again.

Yes, I made the comparison myself in Dancing with the Lion: Becoming. But it concerned one circumstance near that book’s end (not giving spoilers), and isn’t something they harped on otherwise. That mirrors how it appears in our sources: it’s limited, and situational.

“Patroklos” was not Hephaistion’s nickname. Wish folks would stop claiming it was.

—————

⸸ Just because somebody is tagged “historian” on a History Channel special—or his own private blog—doesn’t mean they actually have a PhD, or even a Master’s, much less one in ancient history, Classics, Classical archaeology, or ancient art history. The number of idiots on Tik-tok yapping about how Alexander thought this or did that—and clearly know jack shit—routinely stuns me…even while it doesn’t. Dunning-Kruger Effect all over the damn place.

* Greeks must often work within the confines of official narratives in order to secure jobs and funding, which can limit what they say on certain topics, from who’s buried in “Philip’s Tomb,” to the Greekness of the ancient Macedonians, to any possible homosexual “taint” staining Alexander’s greatness. This may swim against the current of academic discourse outside Greece, even by other Greeks. The Greek Ministry of Culture and Sport has softened on some of these topics in recent years, especially as LGBTQIA rights have gained better traction in Greece.

#asks #Alexander the Great #Alexander memes #Alexander in pop culture #Myths about Alexander in pop culture #Hephaistion #Hephaestion #Classics #what “real” historians actually say #ancient history #ancient Macedonia #ancient Greece

[imagionationstation]

Hi! I read your TMNT 2012 separated au that you made with ellestrade and it really gave me brainworms so I wrote a small one-shot for it! The characters kinda ended up writing themselves haha.

anyways, wanted to share it with you and also make sure that you're okay with it. Not sure how you feel about other people taking inspiration from you ideas, so if you would like me to take it down, just let me know!

Thanks for sharing such fun ideas. Here's the post (I've also tagged you in it but sometimes tags are weird and don't always show. Also its on my fandom specific sideblog, but I am the same person haha)

Gotta love those brain worms! (Ironic statement from a 2012 viewpoint, actually-) HOLY CHALUPA, BRAIN WORMS IN THIS AU UNIVERSE, WAIT WAIT ACTUALLY WAIT-

*background rambles and spazzing*

Okay, I’m back.

I’m always a-okay with whatever fan things anyone wants to create with inspiration from something I made or helped make. As long as it isn’t containing some stamp that says “this I deem canon” when neither me (nor my partner) deemed it canon, no one ever has to worry with me getting upset over some story/comic/art.

I’m going to give some thoughts and I want to disclaimer.

When I discuss my thoughts on your POV of events in the AU, I will never, in any way, intend to diss or attack the story. I think the flow was excellent and Raph’s analysis of the events occurring was intriguing. I loved it! And nothing I say will be a statement otherwise.

But, since I have a distinct inability to keep my mouth shut when it comes to turtles and you asked, I have thoughts 🧐

My brain is now turning and ya’ll have to deal.

Characterization:

Donnie: Much distrust. Much sass. A strong sense of duty to defend his brethren turtles who don’t deserve it but he’s doing it anyway.

Very on point. Much approval 👌

Mikey: Could not be more perfect. I love him. Sweet soul ✨

Leo: He’s a bit less… Forceful. Cold and calculating. Than I envision.

I’d imagine that he had to learn to shut feelings down in order to survive. Fidgeting/smiling/visibly hesitating is out of the question. Staying in Shredder’s graces meant learning to play the game. His silence is what earns Raph the ability to be loud. The only times that he’s himself is when him and Raph are alone, outside of the sight of cameras, or when someone in is danger and fear/fury overwhelms all else. He seems bland to outsiders and it takes the Hamato brothers a while to see that that he’s just a scared little boi at heart that’s just trying his best in a cruel world.

He’s also set in his beliefs, so he’s going to assume that they’re being tormented mentally, if not physically. There’s no place in his mind that wonders if they were actually safer elsewhere.

I do like your POV, though. Plenty for me to play with.

Raph:

He’s ABSOLUTELY the first to question the differences between how Shredder treats them and how Splinter treats their brothers. He doesn’t jump the gun, but as devoted as he is, he’s never really liked Shredder. I love the implications that he’s been filing away concerns subconsciously and his brain keeps poking him like “HELLO?!”

He’s very deep. I can’t decide how I feel about that 🤔

Shredder would have wanted to fan that temper into something unforgiving and vile. Or course, that doesn’t mean he stops being a sensitive soul. It could… Have something to do with Shredder manipulating him into being angry when he wills it (basically all the time) and solemn and still when he doesn’t (such as during lectures, punishments, etc).

His brain registers this situation as one where he’s not meant to be loud and angry, and so he’s kinda… Shut down. Sassy, but mellow. Processing. Adapting. Letting what happens happen because he’s not meant to stop it.

It’s a reason that Leo gets so defensive when punishments come into play. It forces Raph to feel small. It make him vulnerable.

HOLY MOTHER OF MUTATIONS- I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS NEW TAKE ON THE AU @ellestrade TELL ME IF I’M ONTO SOMETHING

Anyway, commentary:

“in one of Takeō's strategy books he couldn't care less about”

It’s like Space Heroes. He claims so and YET he read, recalls, AND clearly has DEBATED the passage so I call sus vibes.

I get giddy when I think of Takeō discovering Space Heroes-

“Junkō and Kōta— or Donnie and Mikey, whatever false name they’d been given—”

My brain made connections. I don’t know if it was intended, but I always believe that they knew them by Shredder’s names through the beginning of season one, end of season one/beginning of season two they were associating them as both, and then by the time that the City is under attack, they’ve adapted to using their real names. (But the Saki brothers still keep their Foot names.)

So, now I assume this is somewhere in that middle plot.

Fun little Easter egg~

“Takeō and Akihitō were the offense, and Donnie and Mikey were the defense” “They held their own. In fact, they dominated.”

I’m in love with Raph’s simple acknowledgment of their roles in battle. It’s a very practical outline of exactly how their dynamic on the field plays out and he's so certain of his place.

On the other hand, I’m a bit uncertain about whether they’d dominate. I do believe that they are trained and can hold their own, but I don’t know about them being as impressive as Raph&Leo, simply because Splinter trained them to defend and Shredder trained them to kill. The Hamato brothers haven’t had much time to practice in the offensive, especially since that’s Leo&Raph’s job. (In non-AU canon, they are all offensive/defensive.)

I think Mikey might learn that kinda strength at the farmhouse after being taught by Leo&Raph, and Donnie will step back from that, finally finding his place not as a fighter/leader, but as a scientist.

Definitely an interesting take, tho 🤔

“Only now does he think that, perhaps, there was a reason their master made their primary weapons blunts and not blades.”

I am chewing on this line so hard. It’s so powerful.

I can’t even tell you why. It just is.

“Akihitō knows that Takeō isn’t lying. He’d already tried to take tonight's blame all on his own shoulders, spare Akihitō of the punishment. But Akihitō knows all his tricks and he won’t let his brother suffer alone. Again.”

100% behind Raph learning to butt in when Leo tries to take the fall as they get older and punishments get worse.

“Seeing the situation, the evidence glaring at him, Akihitō cannot deny that this wasn’t exactly a great sell. Takeō and him are tied to the ground, trying to convince these two strangers that they would be safe with them. That their clan would not hurt them while that same clan was just about ready to beat them to a pulp.”

I was thinking the same thing 🤣

Leo, dude, seriously. Look around. Think for a second. You are not selling your point. You are doing the opposite.

In the end, it doesn’t even matter. Sensei will always find them no matter where they run. It was better to follow than be chased.

SOMEONE NEEDS TO TEACH THESE KIDS THAT THIS IS A TOXIC RELATIONSHIP. YOU SHOULD NOT FEEL MOTIVATED TO STAY WITH DAD BECAUSE HE WILL FORCED YOU TO REMAIN OTHERWISE. BRUH. RED FLAG.

These were Foot Ninja binds made specifically to hold them. Mutant strength and all.

It makes sense that Shredder would make these. But.

But man. He made those. For them.

Takeō tries to take control of the situation again, the bossy oldest sibling coming out in him.

HA. Got him. Leo is Leo in any universe.

“His name is Mikey.” Donnie glares. “The rat is lying and he has—” “Donnie, its fine.”

Absolutely how they view things. Mikey doesn’t care what they think or do as long as no one he cares about is paying the price. Donnie feels it is a manner of principle that they accept logic and truth.

Leo talking over both of them is valid. This kid, I swear.

“Then tell your older brother to shut up about—”

LEO IS IT OFFICIAL YOU HAVE BEEN DISOWNED

“Sounds like a you-problem.” Donnie stands. “Mikey, we saved them. It's time to go.”

Donnie would die for them <3

A hand lands on his shoulder, and he recognizes it. Takeō always knows when to give support. He’s a good brother. He hopes Donnie and Mikey will know that one day too.

OH. OKAY. WELL. 🥺

THOSE FEELS CAME OUT OF NOWHERE-

He loved his big bro sm hjkhkjhkjhjkkjhkjhkjhku

If Akihitō didn’t know any better, he’d say it was longing.

Oh, don’t worry, he is dying to have other people in his life who genuinely care for him, but as long as you guys are with the enemy, you’re a threat to his baby brother and daddy and not to be trusted

And, just maybe, it could be their world too. 

Oh, so that’s what pain feels like. Glad to be reminded.

#IS Asks #tmnt separated au #teenage mutant ninja turtles #splinter hamato #imagionationstation #leo tmnt #raph tmnt #donnie tmnt #mikey tmnt #leonardo tmnt #raphael tmnt #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt donatello #tmnt donnie #tmnt mikey #tmnt raph #tmnt raphael #tmnt leo #tmnt leonardo #2012 tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2k12 #teenage mutant ninja turtles 2012 #tmnt au #donnie 2012 #leo 2012 #raph 2012 #mikey 2012 #tmnt fandom #tmnt donnie 2012

[lesbianalanwake]

Re: dark presence rehabilitation, I was wondering... like, what's the goal? (this is based on my personal understanding which might be wrong.)

overall its goal seems to be to escape the dark place? but at the same time it seems like it wants to turn the outside world into something similar to the dark place, a neverending nightmare fueled by people's subconscious. specifically Scratch seems like a bit of a megalomaniac (I will make the entire world worship Alan's (my) writing forever!) (so much fun, geez...) - but... what's the point of escaping then? Scratch himself says in AN smth along the lines of a drop of darkness being absolutely inconsequential in the dark place, but so noticeable and fun in our mostly light world.

so, my suggestion is that the dark presence can stay outside but it ?should limit itself to smaller horrors. spice of life. a nightmare here, a nightmare there. Cats 2 (2025).

FHGHSKGHS drip-feeding the Dark Presence with minor horror allowances to keep it happy. it can ruin Hollywood. for Barry's sake.

it depends on what the Dark Presence and the Dark Place actually are. that could go a couple of ways. I could not even begin to guess which direction. scattered thoughts:

I prefer an explanation like "x entity became corrupted" over anything "inherent." it is man who is evil.

I'm continually wondering if the Dark Presence is, or is part of, a greater entity that got lost/corrupted.

AW2 describes the Dark Place as a mirror. I think the place that we see and experience might only be a sliver - a cracked and corrupted shard, if you will, because it doesn't always produce only suffering and misery and madness. just most of the time. so maybe Presence and Place are both parts of some greater ocean that got metaphysically landlocked.

maybe the Dark Presence is some kind of spirit of the Dark Place, and corruption in one leads to corruption in the other. so where did it start, if they weren't always like that?

the green/red Polaris/Hiss color scheme is all over AW2. Scratch is red like the Hiss. why is the Dark Presence so similar to the Hiss. what does it FUCKING mean, Sam.

(I have been thinking "the Hiss wasn't originally Like That" since I first played Control. something something the Hiss being embodied in Dylan who wasn't originally Like That either. so that makes me wonder even more about the Dark Presence, when they share those similarities. I cannot stop thinking about the apparently dead world that Hedron et al. came from. about the implication that something is eating away at the Oldest House, that its roots are withering. about the apparently empty world of the Quarry and the City. about how empty and occasionally extraordinarily violent the Astral Plane is when we see how full of life and personality the Altered Items are and how many of them don't really mean harm. about what might have made the Dark Place like that. what the fuck is happening out there in the conceptual reality behind this reality.)

there is the possible implication that the Diver had some hand in creating Scratch? maybe? but that goes back to the question of what the Diver is - Zane, the light/Bright Presence, something else. and what the goal is there. who knows.

I've said this elsewhere but I think Scratch in AWAN is more like. a ghoulish sliver of the Dark Presence mimicking reality like Jagger does, a finger of a giant hand trying to manipulate things. whereas Scratch in AW2 is the Dark Presence more fully embodied and also lost in the sauce. and it has fucked up big time by trying to use Alan to escape, tying itself too closely to him, to the point that even its grand escape is distorted by details of Alan's life. I don't think Evil Deerfest is necessarily what it might have originally wanted, but rather a sign that Dark Presence and Alan have overlapped to the point that Alan is changing it. like it's stuck in the Scratch persona now. has put on a skin that it struggles to take off. (but that's just a game theor--)

like. maybe it wasn't always a rabid beast of an entity and the Dark Place wasn't always a nightmare hell world, or maybe it's always wanted to get out of the Dark Place and doesn't necessarily have roots there. but over time Dark Presence/Place have absorbed and reflected so much of whatever corruption is going on that now Presence/Place want to make a distorted fun house mirror out of everything.

except. now the Dark Presence is not solely mirroring and reflecting corruption and "darkness" anymore. it's starting to mirror Alan even after it jumps out of his body, and, like Dylan being the narrative focus of physical embodiment for the Hiss, Alan is a (relatively) normal person who has been trapped and isolated for a very long time, which does strange things to a person. Barbara was just a sweet woman who got very unlucky. maybe the Dark Presence used to be similar. Evil Deerfest is strangely bright. we've seen it change, a little bit. something is going on there.

so I would like to see something a little more nuanced than "killing the evil" or whatever. (especially when it was all that Jesse and Polaris could do just to shut the door on the Hiss. ain't no way it's that easy.)

#alan wake 2 #control game #alan wake #alan wake 2 spoilers #idk i'm just wildly throwing darts at the board and hoping that something sticks fhgshg. it's enrichment for my enclosure #i love this lore so much. i want to eat it #remedy posting #*posts

[reachartwork]

Hey I fundamentally disagree with you about the ethicality of ai art. But like whatever I’m not changing your mind and you’re not changing mine

I do think, however, that the phrase “you're never too old to make homestuck fanart” is INCREDIBLY misleading. Someone who is anti ai art but isn’t the best at deciphering what is and isn’t ai would 100% believe that this is human made based on that line and I don’t think that is fair. I don’t think you should be captioning ai art with something that sounds like you made the art by hand without also saying it’s ai in the body of the post (not just the tags). I don’t know. It bothered me to see that caption please just be more mindful about people who do not want to interact with ai art at all like myself

a bit of my addendum to my previous ask: I’m sure this is not your intention based on the rest of the blog but that phrase REALLY comes off like you’re trying to pass off ai art as traditional art which is not fair to traditional artists. There is a difference there and you know it. I am an artist and I do not appreciate that difference being minimized in a deceptive way. I honestly believe you have good intentions but this was not it.

respectfully: no.

a: that post is over a year old at this point, i tagged it as ai art, my blog mentions ai art in the bio, when you link the post (or my blog) from elsewhere it says that this is an ai art account. if you are getting "fooled" at this point you really only have yourself to blame.

b: i don't see what medium has to do with making homestuck fanart. would you get this pissy if i made a collage instead.

c: nothing in the post implies that i made it by hand. even if we're getting really pedantic almost none of the art on tumblr is "handmade", it's digital, but also assuming that me saying "you're never too old to make homsetuck fanart" implies that i handmade said fan art is kind of insane.

d: you said yourself that the art was tagged ai art. why haven't you blacklisted or blocked it yet. this is a solvable problem, and instead of solving it you're going out of your way to ask me to put a big fat "THIS IS BADWRONG AI ART, DON'T LET YOURSELF GET TRICKED BY THE AESTHETIC APPEAL OF IT" disclaimer on all my posts. do you not understand not only how juvenile but also how insulting this is to me?

e: moving onto your second ask, i need to point out here that you're literally inventing a problem and then getting mad at it. nowhere in my entire blog have i EVER, EVER passed off ai art as traditional art. any "deception" is, i am so sorry because i'm about to sound gaslighty here, something you are making up in your head. i have been straightforward from the absolute beginning, DAY ONE of this blog about what i do and how i do it. i have claimed many times that I am an artist, which is true, but i have never claimed a single time that i am an illustrator, photographer, painter, or traditional artist. nothing in what i said implied this equivalency that you are, and i repeat, inventing in your head. of course there's a difference between traditional art and ai art, dude! i'm literally dating a traditional artist.

this whole two-ask combo is honestly one of the most ridiculous things i've ever read. certainly not as offensive as that one dude from the other day who told me to kill myself but it's definitely up there in sheer absurdity. this is definitionally "making up a guy to get mad at in your head". all of the problems you are DEMANDING i fix are either problems with existing solutions that you have refused to implement or non-issues that you invented out of whole cloth by inserting nonexistent read-between-the-lines implications into my otherwise straightforward and blunt statements.

you are an unserious person. please do not return to my inbox.

cheers, -reach

#ai art #discourse #ai art discourse #ask #not art #long post #personal #come on guys

[radish-club]

So I've made this point elsewhere but wanted to make it its own post.

I'm a big fan of the trans masc Rusty Thorburn headcanon but I never see folks acknowledge how fucked up it is. And I don't mean fucked up in a "this is a bad reading and you're bad for having it" way but fucked up in a "here is yet another layer in how the universe absolutely hates Blake/Rusty/whoever" way. It's fucked up in a way that ADDS to the tragedy of story, is what I'm saying.

It's that hypothetical trans man Rusty essentially gets forcibly detransitioned. He gets cut into two people a female version of himself and a male version (both presumably cis, whatever that means in this circumstance).

The male version is intentionally built to burn out fast and hard, leaving only the female version. But that's not all that happens. In the end, the female version absorbs the male, including various memories and emotions, until all that remains of the male is what little can fit in that little bird spirit that hangs out with Evan and Green Eyes.

The bulk of what is left of the person (presumably) formally known as Rusty Thorburn, is now Rose Thorburn. So in reading Rusty as trans, it takes what is somewhat of a bittersweet ending for the character and turns it into a tragic one.

And again, this isn't me arguing against the headcannon. I rather like tragedy. I like when protagonists succeed but at the cost of some aspect of their humanity.

Rose and Blake "won," at least for the time being, in the end. But it was at the cost of the dignity and agency of the person that together they once were.

I imagine a lot folks don't care for this implication or would argue against it. And I think in part it is because of how tragic or even horrifying it may be. And people WANT protagonists to have a happy ending, even if it is bittersweet.

I, on the other hand, love tragic endings. And for a Thorburn, a tragic ending seems fitting. Not deserved, mind. But inevitable nonetheless.

#wildbow #otherverse #pact #blake thorburn #rose thorburn

[crush3dmary]

20 questions writer meme

I stole this. Feel free to steal it too if you want.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

37

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

364,141

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Yugioh DM and Tales of! Mostly Symphonia and formerly Crestoria (rip).

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Darling Lagomorph (crestoria) at 155 Weltschmerz (symphonia) at 133 Philosophy of a Knife (ygodm) at 94 Fear's Ascent (crestoria) at 83 Have You Seen Me? (crestoria) at 78

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I really struggle with this to be honest, if I get a really long comment or someone saying the fic was really impactful I try to respond but honestly I usually just leave it and reply elsewhere if I know the author unless someone is actually asking something/wants more info about something. This is basically just because I'm busy but also in part due to my old dA fame (bleh) getting me in the bad habit of never replying to anything.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably In the arms of the heretic (ygodm) that fic really means a lot to me though and I think because of the premise it worked.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'd have to say Absurdities and Echoes (symphonia) poor Zelos deserves it after everything else I put him through in that series. Sorry about your ring finger.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've gotten a couple rude comments but it's basically been curbed ever since I turned off guest comments on my works. You can say it with accountability or not at all. Most recently I got a moralizing comment from someone about Ryou being 16 in Philosophy because of the smut that kind of had implications I didn't like but that's about it.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I used to write a lot of crestoria smut on my alt account (IYKYK) but I will sometimes include it as a framing device to develop character relationships. There's quite a bit of smut in Philosophy for example because loneliness and isolation are such big themes for Ryou and Bakura, but generally if I post something with smut to my main account it's because it's relevant to the story or develops the character relationships.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have a proper Symphonia/Crestoria crossover in the works that's a continuation of TOC game canon, but I've been at a standstill with my Tales works lately so it's pretty far off from being posted unfortunately. But I hope you guys give a chance once it's up, because the lore is SUPER cool.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

A certain someone who knows who they are has either plagiarized or bastardized lines from some of my popular crestoria works but other than that no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet but it would be cool!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Charles and I did a collab PITY // PIETY earlier this year and it absolutely slaps! Luisa and I are also working on an art/fic collab right now that I hoe to have posted by the end of the year but we'll see... sometimes life has other plans.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Zelloyd's gotta take the cake for this one sorry fam. When it's been your otp for 15 years nothing can ever top it. But for yugioh it's a tie between thief/tender/angst I like any combo of those three.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I try to finish everything I start, but I've got a couple Tales WIPs that I'm having trouble finding the spark for. It's not that I don't think they'll ever be finished, but it might be a while until they see the light of day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I really succeed when it comes to imagery and descriptive prose, plus getting inside characters' heads. I want to make people feel things with my work. I think the reason Philosophy and Darling Lagomorph are some of my best and most popular is because they're an opportunity for me to show off those strengths where I excel most.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

World building. I hate doing infodumps but I really struggle to include lore in ways that don't come off that way. This is a big reason I've never made the dive into original fiction (for now, I'm in the planning stages for my first novel. Stay tuned.)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

The only time I've ever done it is when writing Yuna from Crestoria because she includes random french in canon too. I also did a french title for the latest chapter of Philosophy which was kind of fun. I think it's something you can swing if you're prepared to do your research but if not, avoid avoid avoid.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Tales of Symphonia. The things I put Zelos through, man. If you think I'm bad now you should have seen me at 14.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

If I had to choose just one probably Philosophy of a Knife, because like I said earlier, I get to combine all of my strengths into something I feel really proud of. I think I picked the perfect time in my "writing career", so to speak, to work on it because I feel like the writing style is very cohesive and it seems to have resonated with a lot of people so far, which makes me very happy. I hope you guys continue to enjoy my work going forward!

[chesthighwater]

sidenote i just finished return of the obra dinn and am feeling a little insane. random bits from my playthrough (AND SPOILERS) under the cut.

no seriously you all know i'm very pro-spoilers that is my ideology but this is one of the rare pieces of media where even i say "yeah no you have to go in blind". so. if you think you might want to play it, go do that now.

OKAY ANYWAY

maba was one of the very first people i identified (after the captain-abigail-hoscut tutorial trio) via his tattoos [so i also avoided the whole "where's my frenchman" misdirection that got a lot of people] and so i developed a sort of camaraderie towards him for no reason. like, i'd walk into some absolute carnage, no idea who anyone is, trying to find my footing, and then i'd see him and be like "HEY THERE'S MABA! THERE'S MY GUY!". a friendly face in a sea of strangers. thank you maba my early game anchor.

brennan took me way longer than he should have- i had him pinned as someone else via accent due to a misattributed voiceline- but like everyone else i too felt very smart when i noticed his shot in the execution scene. good call on the game's part for not tackling the uh Philosophical Implications of firing squads.

THE MIDSHIPMEN. GOD. thomas is my favourite, obviously. regarding peter's death, i initially just assumed he missed/misjudged the powder throw due to being in an adrenaline fight or flight "OH GOD OH GOD GET IT OFF ME" situation. like, he was hoping to aim it lower, or elsewhere in hopes of injuring the kraken and getting it to let go, and just missed. if you've ever been in a near death Must React Fast situation you know it's not exactly rational thinking and precise flawless action you just do the thing. but then i read a theory that he lit the powder before he was grabbed, and then he forgot about it (on account of actively being grabbed), and by the time thomas noticed the lit powder it was too late. i quite like that interpretation. anyway, why is no one making them gay? must i do everything myself?

oh also! thank fuck for the glossary because i am Not an age of sail person. i think i have like... below average knowledge of ships. i stepped onto the deck like "hmm what the fuck is a bostun". why did anyone hire me for this investigation. i'd have to spend significantly more time googling if i didn't have the option to flip through the book every time i realise i don't know what a purser is. i'd really love to play this game with someone who actually knows their shit, it would be fascinating hearing how someone well-versed in the subject interprets the little details.

of course i also went through the initial "how the fuck am i supposed to figure any of this out" hitch, but once i got the right gameflow down it was a BREEZE. so incredibly fun. what i did was essentially decide on someone i want to figure out, bookmark all their memories, and just go through them in order observing that person, who they're with and what they're doing... those mini personal investigations were the most fun part for me.

immediate post-game heartache, by the way. as soon as i finished i thought "man, i wish this game was procedurally generated so i could replay it" IMMEDIATELY followed by "no, with the amount of attention to detail? impossible. this is a piece of art. handcrafted. an Experience. man i wish i could go back in time so i can replay it"

i had time to flip through some of the localisations as well and they were shockingly good (with only very minor inaccuracies that i noticed), and i know for a fact that that was no easy task. even beyond that, any gripes i have with this game are EXTREMELY minor. nitpicky. i'm not even gonna say them they're that insignificant. it's just an excellent game.

also i never noticed the mermaids have Three Pairs Of Boobs until i read the wiki

anyway. people i accidentally guessed correctly: peters brothers, two of the four chinese topmen (actually figured out the shoes trick for the other two!), george shirley. people i identified wrongly for way too long: brennan, martin, olus wiater, nicholas botterel (?sp). most fun had: when reconstructing an individual person's journey through all the memories they appear in. figuring out where they went and when and how and why they got there.

in conclusion talk to me about this game if you also played it okay i love you bye

#j #what an amazing fucking game. #i guess i have to find out how ships work now. if i want to write accurate gay people on a ship i must know what a ship is

[amrv-5]

Hiiii Parker, for the writing meme, from S2G2 chapter 19, because I absolutely love Hawkeye’s inner monologue in this section:

He wondered what things were like over in the USSR. What they had thought of the war, during. Had it been just as roundly ignored except for, he figured, a few nervous mothers? Angry fathers? Heartbroken widows? Was there, even now, some Soviet doctor sprawled across his lover’s lap, sinking into despair, disgusted by the actions of his nation’s military, of every military, distrustful of its government, losing hope in humanity, pulling now only for the person-to-person good that could be accomplished outside of any sort of grander organization—was its citizenry as largely ambivalent to the war as the United States’ had been? Did that, too, upset him, this imaginary healer?

So much loss and destruction, and all for a piece of land approximately the size of Nebraska.

A childish thought: why couldn’t everybody just get along, and be nice? Damn the geopolitical complexities, the social nuances, the ideological impasses. Couldn’t everybody just sit the hell down and shut up and break bread? Would it be so terribly hard to just let everybody alone—except when they needed help?

BJ shifted his weight, his hand still moving in gentle circles over Hawkeye’s torso.

Hawkeye prepared to be pushed away, sinking into mild despondency.

Something grazed his lips, and he opened his eyes.

BJ was holding a strawberry to his mouth, expression soft.

Hawkeye closed his eyes, chest aching. Who was he kidding—the bad was so unbearable precisely because there was good in the world, and beauty, and light. Because people could be very, very kind, because, at the best of times, and even, dare he believe it, most times, everybody in the world was constantly engaged in minute acts of caretaking.

He opened his mouth. The strawberry was good. Sweet, ripe, tasting of summer.

BJ’s thumb brushed the curve of his lower lip before his hand withdrew.

And before he could spend too long focusing on the mechanics by which somebody obtained fresh strawberries in February, what massive logistics were involved, the ridiculous and shameful decadence of having ripe fruit available every day of the year while people elsewhere starved, there was another strawberry at his mouth.

Aghhhhhhh LISA HELLO!!!!!!! This is one of my favorite sections of the whole damned piece I’m so thrilled you picked it out:

OKAY AHHHHH I’m still. AHHHHHH about this being picked omg. Okay this is going to get so long I’m so sorry.

Okay, so, blow-by-blow, right off the bat we’ve got an invocation of the USSR and the shadow of nuclear proliferation, the anxiety of which (not sure if this is obvious? It might be so buried in implication it’s only clear after I say it outright) creeps throughout the background of S2G2. But I also tried to flip that and here have Hawkeye framing the war as a crime of government, and law-of-large-numbers himself into empathizing with a potential doctor from the “other” side who, after all, he has far more in common with than an American general.

But the ‘crime of government’ framing turns out to be too simplistic, actually, because Hawkeye half-indicts the citizenry of each country for their perceived apathy. It’s hard to see significant suffering and realize that your society has not just ignored it but in many ways actually profited from it, and appears entirely unwilling to do anything to prevent similar future tragedies. That’s insane-making, and another recurrent S2G2 Hawk-thought—is it really insane to be devastated by devastating realities?

And from there we hit maybe my most controversial Hawkeye characterization, which is that I agree with Alan Alda when he said Hawkeye isn’t actually an extremely politically (American) liberal character. By that I mean that I primarily see Hawkeye as a proponent of autonomy, and concerned with government overreach (he was drafted, after all), rather than a capital-D Democrat. He avoids the libertarian label, though, by being pretty clearly anti-capitalist, pro-education, and also by advocating for helping others in need while disavowing his government. Does this make him, like, an anarchist? I don’t really know, I’m not a poli-sci guy. He just thinks that people should be allowed to read or watch or wear or do with their own bodies whatever they want, so long as it isn’t hurting anybody.

Anyway, as readers know he’s been on a long, complex, and largely silent spiral this chapter. It’s a lot of heady stuff, reflecting on reflections of his despair, very internal work, and this is the final car of an exhausting freight train of thought.

Which is why we’ve got BJ to draw Hawkeye out of his head and back to the physical. He’s a grounding presence here, holding Hawkeye in his lap, touching him gently, literally feeding him.

At which point Hawkeye gets a reflection on the central catch of his despair, and why he can’t make himself entirely give up on humanity, even when it would be easier to do so: People can be so good.

The phrasing of his realization, by the way, is a big-time homage to the Ross Gay essayette “The sanctity of trains” from The Book of Delights, which basically changed my life via radio (I might write about this someday, or not, it’s not very interesting) and which anyway everybody should go read instantly:

“...I suppose I could spend time theorizing how it is that people are not bad to each other, but that's really not the point. The point is that in almost every instance of our lives — our social lives — we are, if we pay attention, in the midst of an almost constant, if subtle, caretaking. Holding doors open, offering elbows at crosswalks, letting someone else go first, helping with the heavy bags, reaching what's too high or what's been dropped, pulling someone back to their feet, stopping at the car wreck, at the struck dog, the alternating merge, also known as the zipper — this caretaking is our default mode, and it's always a lie that convinces us to act or believe otherwise — always.”

The rest of this is Hawkeye noticing the caretaking, letting himself accept it, allowing himself to just focus on feeling physically okay, the pleasure of being held and having something nice to eat. These are pretty obviously central themes in a lot of my work—the continuing unsolvedness of the big questions, the lingering suspicion of the validity of despair, and then tentatively finding contentment in just being an embodied animal. Not apathy, not naivety, but intentionally allowing oneself to find moments of peace because it is necessary for survival.

+Bonus my clear affection for food/feeding as love, because I’m incapable of keeping that from infiltrating everything I write yaaay. It's just so shatteringly romantic to me. Ugh. Anyway. THANK YOU SORRY THIS IS SO LONG

#SORRY THIS IS SO LONG #I GOT REALLY EXCITED #My S2G2 thoughts are way more insane than for any of my other fics I’m sorry

[realfinemood]

Template by raysoffrost

Just a whole lot of babbling about my girl and her violent traumatized friends! Spoilers for the game, specifically the ending and a whole lot about Lae'zel's story and Astarion's romance, and also a bit about a squid.

[Did I romance Astarion this playthrough? Yes. Was it Brecca's most important relationship? Absolutely not.]

Lae'zel - Lae'zel was Brecca's best friend in game from the start, even if that start was having a sword pointed at her. But given the situation it was the objectively correct reaction to her so she didn't mind. Not only was Lae'zel a great fighter but seemed to already know a solution for the exact problem they were having? Perfect, sign her up. Even later on, when they seemed about to turn and Lae'zel came to kill her, Brecca was just impressed at her thought out plan, even if she's glad she convinced her to wait the night just in case.

(They've decided to never talk about how the second day knowing each other, Lae'zel went on about wanting to taste Brecca's sweat.)

Brecca had zero knowledge of Githyanki before meeting Lae'zel. But she trusted Lae'zel and went along with it, despite hating everything about the creche once they got there and agreeing with Astarion that the "cure" was absolutely going to be something like getting their heads cut off. [Getting a nat20 to beat the DC30 persuasion roll to convince Lae'zel to get out of the machine before it killed her was honestly the highlight of dice rolls the whole game.]

Brecca would've been wholely supportive of Lae'zel's new mission to take down Vlaakith on its own, but finding out they had been using a captured person's power this whole time made it her 100% on board the Free Orpheus plan. When it turned out they needed someone to turn into a mindflayer, Brecca was terrified Lae'zel would hate her for refusing to make that sacrifice herself - thankfully she didn't seem to blame her. Nothing could be more satisfying than Lae'zel killing the Emperor while Brecca was busy getting Orpheus to the brain. She hopes that when Lae'zel takes down Vlaakith, she takes what she learned traveling with them with her.

Wyll - For someone who has recently decided to be a better person but isn't 100% sure how to do that, Wyll was a shining beacon of How To Be A Good Person. In the beginning, Brecca definitely had him on a pedestal. But the more time she spent with him, the more she saw how being a hero meant sacrificing himself in ways that just weren't fair. She refused to let him chain himself to another pact to save his dad when there was clearly another way, and surprised that everyone else seemed to see it differently. When they went to find Ansur, she let Wyll take the lead as she certainly couldn't claim to be the hero when he was right there, and fully supported his decision to be the Blade of Avernus and help people on his own terms.

Astarion - Despite Astarion bitching and complaining about all her goodie goodie choices in the beginning, Brecca liked him in a "best friend who also annoys the hell out of you" way. She liked him because he's funny and good at shit she's not and yeah he's an asshole but still fought and had her back anyways and that was the important thing.

[The gnome slave comments were almost breakup material admittedly - my characters are either big gnome fans or gnomes themselves, take your racist nonsense elsewhere my guy.]

As for the romance itself, she's 2/2 on not realizing she was attracted until she was hit over the head with it. His lines are terrible, but they're at least so obvious even she can tell it's flirting. She definitely doesn't believe he liked her from the start, unless headbutting someone trying to slit your throat is romantic. She felt like something was off, and didn't like the implication that he was paying her back, but believed when he said it was just an excuse. When he finally explained that he was doing it for protection, the one thing she'd promised to do from the start, she didn't feel betrayed or manipulated. Just upset that he'd thought he had to pay with something she could've done without for something she was always going to do anyways.

When they finally confronted Cazador (something she kept putting off the more Astarion seemed interested in doing the ritual himself) he convinced him he could be the better person and set the 7000 free. She definitely didn't fail to persuade him and pissed him off by refusing to help, causing him to leave the party saying he hopes she dies screaming. After the world is saved, they (and Shadowheart) join them in the Underdark to help get them started in their new lives. And once that's started, they're off to find a way to let him walk in the sun again.

Shadowheart - Brecca took a long time to warm up to Shadowheart. The constant digs at Lae'zel in the beginning and the refusal to share anything about herself was a huge hurdle. But once they started going in the Shadowlands it made sense to bring her, and she started finding the actual person under there. Her amazingly terrible powers of persuasion failed her when they found the Nightsong, so she was extremely proud when Shadowheart decided on her own to not kill her. They grew closer after that and while Brecca doesn't know if she agrees with her choice to end her parents suffering, she plans on helping her start her new life and is welcome to stay with her and Astarion as long as she needs. [Shadowheart and Astarion both died during each other's final important fight and I like to believe they're close friends. As she never spoke up in the ending, I chose to believe she ran after Astarion while Brecca handled Karlach.]

Karlach - In another life, they don't get sick from almost transforming the night Karlach wants to talk at the fire. Or Karlach asks her to spend the night at the party before Astarion gets a chance to. It's probably for the best, as Brecca doesn't take not being able to fix her engine well, and takes Karlach's acceptance of dying even worse. She's beyond grateful that Wyll stepped up at the end and convinced her to go to Avernus with him, because helplessly watching Karlach die would've broken her.

Jaheira - They got off to a rough start, Brecca super not a fan of being told to go somewhere for safety and being restrained the first step in. But she got over it and Jaheira appreciated her jokes about her age (she wasn't actually trying! She's a halfling, a century is really long time!) and decisions that apparently reminded her of Minsc. Now she's happy to have a new elf grandma.

Gale - Poor Gale was in a different story from the start. Brecca smiled and nodded through his magic talk and long speeches, gave him shoes to eat when needed without complaint, and was down to fight Mystra for him because what the hell. What was intended as friendship apparently meant way more to Gale, resulting in an extremely awkward and confusing conversation about not telling him about Astarion. In the end, he left to find the crown with a confusing offer to let her be his Chosen if she ever came around to the Become a God plan. Because nothing says Chosen of the god of magic like a barbarian who knows one spell.

Halsin - Brecca genuinely isn't sure why Halsin apparently likes her so much. He's been a kidnapped damsel in distress twice and both times she's taken probably way longer than she should've to come get him. Also sure she likes tall people but he's like three times her size how would that even work.

Minsc - Brecca met Minsc way too late to have any real opinion on Jaheira's weird friend, other than confusion that he keeps insisting his hamster is talking even though she can speak with animals.

Emperor - [I the player made the Dream Visitor look like Brecca's d&d fiance. Brecca the bg3 character has not met said fiance, so has no emotional attachment to this form.]

Brecca was highly suspect of having a random person talking in their heads, telling them to eat the tadpoles when they were trying to get rid of the one they already had. But they at least seemed to be helping at the moment so she tolerated it right up until the moment she learned who they really were.

It wasn't even that he was a mindflayer - she likes Omeluum! It was he was using a captured person's power. It was the constant "I've never lied to you" while actively hiding information. It was that she was always supposed to trust without questioning, meanwhile the one time she tried to keep something private he forcibly went through her mind to find it. Nothing he showed her about Stelmane was a shock, and when he couldn't wait two seconds to see if Orpheus would help them and instead immediately turned to join the brain, she couldn't say she was surprised. Just glad that she never has to hear his voice in her head again.

#lol i don't expect anyone to actually read this whole thing #but i had a lot of time to waste waiting for my car to be worked on #so enjoy #.gaming #baldur's gate 3 #oc: brecca

[bunnieshoneys]

What are your thoughts on the whole "Lewis is pure natural talent and instinct while [insert driver (mostly seen this comparison with Nico)] is hardworking/analytical AND talented but not as much as Lewis" narrative/comparison and just how it's been pushed so much by journalists/media (esp during the Silver War if I'm remembering my dates correctly)? Because tbh it's always kinda rubbed me the wrong way the way that it indirectly implies that Lew doesn't work as hard as Nico/the other drivers because the implication that any driver on the grid, esp one with as many titles/accomplishments as Lewis, is working less than the other guys on the grid just doesn't make sense from a logical perspective, because no matter how much talent you have you can't win a million titles and break a million records without working just as, if not harder, than everyone else.

takes incredibly deep breath

i can answer this in one sentence: its racism.

but ill go more into detail, because racism in f1 is a weird beast that people SAY doesnt exist, but absolutely does. more below the cut, this is gonna be long

lewis hamilton is undeniably incredibly naturally talented. you dont do *that* in your rookie season and beat a world champion despite being put on alternate fuel strategies and tyre strategies for the first half of the season without incredible levels of talent. 07 is also spygate, though, so bare that in mind, i guess. regardless, insane season, and he outdrove PRIME FERNANDO ALONSO. AS A ROOKIE.

so im not team LH44 blah blah blah disclaimer here but yeah, you dont win SEVEN world championships without insane levels of talent, but also hard work. and the reason that it is implied that it was “just the car” for lewis so often is definitely attributed to casual racism in f1. even though drivers are nothing without their cars - schumacher couldnt have done what he did without ferrari. max couldnt be doing what hes doing now without RBR, same for vettel and RBR. people dont question their dominance as much (minus maybe max, who is still early on in his career)

i think the silver war unfortunately kinda makes the “lewis doesnt work as hard / hes just talented” argument stick out a bit bc nico in ‘16 was batshit crazy. he didnt see his wife and kids, he spent all his spare time in karts. he had to go in so hard to beat lewis its insane. but somehow the narrative for that gets switched to nico worked so hard / he beat lewis in equal machinery / he fought so hard to achieve what his dad did instead of lewis was so good that he was THAT hard to beat for an incredibly talented rosberg. which is … weird, imo!

but i think the main thing for me that sticks out is lewis not being top of the GOAT debate / there still being a goat debate between him and schumi. theres a BIIIIT of nuance there bc schumi won 5x WDC in a row (unmatched record) and drove in a very different era, and also had a HUGE cultural impact because he was the first f1 driver to be truly dominant and is the insp for a lot of the drivers on the grid today. however, lewis has more race wins, more poles, more fastest laps, and an equal number of championships. i am of the opinion that if lewis was white, he’d be largely undisputed as greatest of all time. instead, people won’t call him that unless he wins an 8th. EVEN if he does win his eighth, hes likely to still be debated.

we see racism elsewhere on the grid, too:

• albon often speaks about being called british when he does well, and being called thai when he does badly

• zhou guanyu being called a pay driver by everyone

• yuki tsunoda. ohhh my god that man is overlooked CHRONICALLY, not just by fans, but by his own team bosses. he very much deserves a shot at the RBR seat in 24 unless ricciardo is INCREDIBLE and outperforms him consistently, which i cant see happening.

theres also, somewhat, an argument for logan sargeant being somewhat of an outsider within the grid because hes american, but the fans definitely dont overlook him (partly due to his history with oscar piastri, who IS popular and on a team thats fighting for high points positions) but also imo bc hes white, where tsunoda / zhou arent.

ofc its more complex than this. theres a ton of factors at play, like ethnicity / race and then nationality that they drive for, where they’re bought up, and these all interact with each other, not just in drivers who are poc but in the white european drivers too. all of it plays into their image.

so yeah. people implying that lewis isnt as hard working rubs me the wrong way too. because its literally just racism, but most f1 fans will say that it doesnt exist, its just lewis’ demeanour etc.

which. ugh. whenever i encounter f1 fans IRL, its a pretty good litmus test as to whether ill like them or not is if they like lewis. if they hate lewis, ESPECIALLY if theyre a new fan and hate lewis, its a red flag, bc lewis has done barely anything to be hated, lol. esp when alonso has more cheating scandals and ppl seem to love him !!

#bunny answers #bunny talks f1

[dilfdoctordoom]

So... Rich's appearance in GOTG 2019 sure was a disappointment. They sell him at the end of an issue as Gamora's love so you expect big things with him and then he just. Leads the people that are chasing her directly to her and dips after the battle is over. I think he doesn't even say a word to her? Or even Peter. His best buddy "dies" and we don't even see a reaction. Whoa. It's also so incredibly weird to bring him up in that way if you're gonna push Gamora x Peter IMMEDIATELY after writers really were out there setting up the ot3 without noticing huh. But theeeeen there's those few pages in the Annual by Al Ewing that are just CHEF'S KISS

That said! I enjoyed the second arc more than the first. Characters still come and go weirdly so you know that Donny Cates is writing them elsewhere (seriously. Ghost Rider and Silver Suffer don't do much of anything besides popping up here and there but they're in the "family" scene in the hospital with Rocket?)

It was kinda fun overall? Peter was competent and that's the least I can ask? I like Daddy Issues? The Drax thing was. Weird. I know "being alive" is already a weird thing when it comes to him because of the way he was artificially recreated but the whole "hey let's shove our memories of Drax into one of these hundreds of random bodies that look like him" thing is gonna leave me pondering about the philosophical implications for days

I gotta say, my judgment was a bit clouded as soon as I saw baby Magus. I can't tell if he's a good character but I'm absolutely obsessed with him now. Baby! Magus!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!! AND HE LOOKS ADORABLE!!! I WANNA STUDY HIM LIKE A BUG

Oh, Rich is awful in GOTG2019.

There's obviously everything going on with Pete & Gamora, but the second arc literally opens with the Nova Corps being massacred & he is never shown to react to it which feels... strange, to say the least.

I hate that 616 Starmora started the way that it did here; I think it did have some potential prior, to feed into the narrative about healing but instead, it feels incredibly awkward & contrived. I don't like the retcon that Peter has always been in love with Gamora; I don't like the idea of him being in love with someone he's manipulating, brainwashing & lying to (regardless of intent).

The second arc does flow a lot better than the first. I've still got my issues with it but it does work better than the first one.

The Drax thing is so??? We all knew after Infinity Wars that he'd be back but the ramifications of him coming back in this specific way... Ewing, the loml, did touch on them. The current writers don't seem to be doing that. Cates even had a chance to. The vagueness on what, exactly, Drax is now is frustrating.

Baby Magus makes me giggle BUT. I don't know where the fuck he came from. Magus's last appearance prior to that was being murdered by Ultron in Infinity Countdown and like, yeah, that series ends with Gamora going off with baby Magus leading into Thanos (2019) but I don't know what happened between Magus dying and the end of Infinity Wars to bring us to any version of Magus being alive.

I did, admittedly, spend most of Infinity Wars slamming my head against a wall so. my memory might be fuzzy.

The annual by Ewing <3 that man GETS cosmic Marvel & Richard Rider so so well. I'm glad he's still fiddling with bits over in X-Men: Red but god, I wish he was back on GOTG.

#q & a

[dear-mrs-otome]

Any theories for Gilbert route?

Like how it will start? How will the slow burn love going? And just how mc will fall for him? Ecc.

Hmm. I don't know much about the man honestly outside of that one event I read (actually I picked up the epilogue and haven't even gotten a chance to read it yet LOL). I'm having a hard time imagining how it will go, but I get the impression it will touch on a few things:

Obviously the elephant in the room, the fact that he's from Obsidian, is a huge stumbling block right off the bat. His mere presence being tolerated in the palace is enough to have people spreading angry rumors that the Rhodolite royalty has betrayed them - everywhere he goes he's viewed with hatred and mistrust.

The degree of culpability and responsibility he bears for the actions of those who've come before him. As he said, he wasn't involved with the invasion of Rhodolite but the specter of it hovers over him wherever he goes. People rarely see him for him, I would imagine. He's a figurehead, a symbol, and people make of him what they will for their own purposes - whether that be good or ill.

In a passing comment in Rio's route (because it's the only one I've seen him in, maybe he repeats this sentiment elsewhere) and elsewhere he gives the implication that he seeks to do away with royalty or the concept of aristocracy. He clearly holds a good deal of it in contempt and disdain. This would also fit the theme of every other Cybrd Act 2 Big Bad being the anarchist, the one who wants to shake up the system. Gilbert gives off stroooong Kicho 2.0 vibes to me.

Emma spends every moment I have ever seen her around him absolutely terrified and/or on edge. It's hard to picture that blossoming into any sort of romance, but I am sure she will make her bold declarations to see him for him, charm him with her objective nature and empathy, and come to lose her fear of him when she realizes he's not the Real Enemy (whatever that ends up being - his family or The System or Corruption or what have you).

I'm not sure how an actual route will go. Gilbert seems keen on getting her exposed as Belle, not as a matter of proving it to himself since he knows she is already. There will be manipulation atop manipulation and plenty of cat & mouse, as he tries to back her into a metaphorical corner. I have to wonder if he believes he can find some use for her in his plan to shake up the system? is there specific wording in the Covenant that would allow her to appoint a prince that's NOT from Rhodolite as king, some loophole? Would Gilbert find some way to use that to his advantage? IDK all I have is speculation!

#mrs o talks #ikemen prince #ikepri #ikepri gilbert #spoiler #spoilers #ikemen prince spoilers #ikepri spoilers #this is just me throwing darts at a board but ah well

[mediaevalmusereads]

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. By Patrick Süskind (trans. John E. Woods). Penguin, 1985.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Genre: historical fiction

Part of a Series? No

Summary: In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift—an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin.

***Full review below.***

Content Warnings: animal death, racism (including the g-slur), torture, reference to incest

Overview: I’ve known about this book for some time, but for some reason, I only now just decided to pick it up. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t to fall in love with the prose and devour this novel in 2 days. As soon as I started reading, I had a hard time putting the book down, and much of it has to do with the absolute masterful way Süskind tells his story. While this book might not be for everyone, in my opinion, it is a mesmerizing, seductive, dark tale that quickly became a favorite. 

Writing: This novel was originally written in German, and since my German is awful, I can’t evaluate the faithfulness of the translation. I will say, however, that Woods (the translator) did an excellent job of rendering the novel into, for lack of a better word, a work of capital-A Art. I loved the way settings and characters were brought to life in vivid detail, with Süskind/Woods deploying visceral word choices that evoked disgust and horror at various smells, sights, and sounds. I also adored the meditations on scent, the passages on hate and love, all of which felt meaningful yet not so heavy and philosophical as to weigh down the narrative. Everything felt perfectly in balance, including the pace, which was neither too fast nor too slow. In short, this was a masterfully-crafted book, and a stunning example of a writer who knows their stuff.

Plot: The plot of this book follows Jean-Baptiste Grenouille - an 18th century urchin with a superhuman sense of smell - as he attempts to make a perfume so enchanting that it will make humanity love him. The narrative follows Grenouille from birth to death, detailing the experiences that shape him into a murdering monster. In addition to being rejected by his caregivers at an early age, Grenouille also learns the art of perfumery from various artisans, and eventually, his obsession with scent leads him to start murdering young women. The reason, the book states, is that he wishes to capture their aromatic essence - the scent that makes people fawn over them and want to do anything to protect them.

Despite this plot centering on a murderer, the actual murders don’t occupy a large percentage of the book (so lovers of true crime might want to look elsewhere). Most of the focus is on Grenouille‘s acquisition of perfumery skills as well as the detailed world of his olfactory sense, so it’s a very character-driven story that builds suspense through the way it portrays the different phases of Grenouille’s life. Personally, the lack of focus on murder didn’t bother me because I was so captivated by Grenouille as a character, and even when he started killing people, I was curious to see whether his theories about the “ultimate perfume” would work. I also very much appreciated that I wasn’t subjected to long, detailed descriptions of violence and gore, and though their was some weird gender stuff going on with all of the victims being virgin women, it only made the implications of the novel that much more interesting.

Characters: Grenouille, our protagonist, is incredibly interesting and compelling not only because of his superhuman sense of smell, but because of the way he contemplates the interplay of love and hate. Grenouille grows up without receiving an ounce of affection, and most of his time is spent capturing and contemplating complex scents. As a result, he builds a rich, sensuous, fantastical otherworld in his mind’s eye (or, rather, mind’s nose?) that contrasts with the outside world, and the novel uses the olfactory world to play with the idea of Grenouille being born bad while also longing for (and simultaneously rejecting) love. Because of the complexity of the olfactory world and the relationship Grenouille had with humanity, I found him endlessly fascinating and enjoyed watching him learn and grow (even if that growing was ultimately horrifying).

Supporting characters were perhaps just as fascinating as the protagonist. All of them felt complex and were motivated by somewhat selfish interests, but it was hard to dislike any of them because they were somewhat whimsical and had unique quirks. Giuseppe Baldini, Grenouille’s first perfume instructor, struggles to revive his failing business and wishes to be the most famous perfumer in the world (despite not being very good at his job). I was amused by his reflections on the changes in fashions and his anger at one of his rivals. Marquis de La Taillade-Espinasse, a lord who finds Grenouille after the latter’s 7 year solitude, is amusing for his belief in "fluidal theory." Antoine Richis, the father of Grenouille’s last victim, wishes to establish himself as both a rich man and as part of important families, and his devotion to his daughter is both admirable yet off-putting.

If I had any criticism, I would say that a lot of the female characters - especially the murder victims - didn’t seem to have as much (or any) complexity as the male counterparts. It’s kind of a shame, because the narrative almost treats them as objects in much the same way Grenouille does - objects to be used, not people to be mourned. I kind of understand the rationale, as making them all full characters would shift the tone to something more dark than it already is, but still, I think it’s worth mentioning because some readers might be disappointed.

TL;DR: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is a well-crafted, character-driven story that will enchant readers from the first page to the last. By building complex, sensuous worlds and following a protagonist that is simultaneously compelling and revolting, Süskind creates a modern classic that is sure to mesmerize readers with an appreciation for descriptive, visceral prose.

[ingravinoveritas]

I don't get this side of fandom. When Georgia doesn't post pics with David you lot (in a wider sense) start insinuating that 'something is wrong' with imminent divorce implications. When she does post pics, it's a 'photo op', PR, user behavior. I don't get how she (or any wife of any celeb who comes under this type of attention) is supposed to conduct her social media life acc to you. Fans' lil daydreams would look much more realistic and benign if they didn't hate on wives in such schizo ways.

Hello, Anon. Let me first say that I’m not sure which “side” of the fandom you are referring to, because--to politely yet entirely unintentionally borrow from Good Omens--I’m on my own side here. If people want to agree with what I am saying, the thoughts I’ve been sharing about Georgia, they absolutely can. Fabulous! And if people want to disagree with me, that is completely okay, too. Great! Differing viewpoints are always welcome on my blog.

That being said, because I can only speak for myself, I can tell you where I am coming from, and that I think you are mischaracterizing my position/possibly conflating things I have written with things people have written elsewhere (such as on Twitter). I’ve never once said anything about “imminent divorce” when Georgia hasn’t posted pictures of David, but I have seen comments to that effect from other people.

What I’ve mainly seen, though, is fans saying that they thought it was odd that Georgia wasn’t posting about David in the play, while at the same time repeatedly posting about Elliot Levey. It’s also worth noting that those comments came within a larger context of fans sharing that they’d had concerns about Georgia’s behavior long before this, because of reasons having nothing to do with pics on Instagram.

For me, as I believe you are referencing my tags on this post, I think it’s important to distinguish between a “photo op” and “PR,” as I was being specific in my use of the former. The definition I go by is that “PR” is something (a photo, an article, etc.) meant to cover up the truth or to sell something that isn’t actually real, whereas a “photo op” does not have that same “falseness” to it, but still has a self-serving purpose, and is taken regardless of the emotional/physical state or wishes of the other person/people involved. 

(Here is another example of a photo Georgia took when David also looked tired/fatigued/etc. that I would consider a “photo op” by that definition, as well as this photo she took at the Evening with Adele that she and David attended last year, when he was still recovering from Covid.)

When it comes down to it, though, I really, honestly don’t care that much about how Georgia conducts her social media life. I know she is going to post or not post whatever she wants, and there isn’t a single damn thing I can do about it, except share my thoughts on my own blog (which, of course, include flailing wildly whenever she feeds into the throuple/poly vibes with her, David, and Michael). And people can agree or disagree and follow me or unfollow me as they see fit.

The one final thought I will add, however, is that I probably shouldn’t have even taken the time to respond to this, because whatever argument you thought you had instantly discorporated the moment you used the word “schizo” in your last sentence. You may not have spent much time on my blog, but ableism/using people with mental illness to make a point is exactly the sort of thing I do not tolerate, and that will never go over well here.

And to me, that says that you didn’t have much of a point to begin with. Thanks for playing, though...

#anonymous #reply post #david tennant #soft scottish hipster gigolo #georgia tennant #the fact that i even gotta respond to this #i can't even with this nonsense #please have several seats #and try reading what i actually wrote instead of accusing me of ridiculous things #trying to provide a balanced perspective #fandom woes #discourse

[superbdragoncollection-stuff]

How is the ending "honest", in Matt's words?

To be clear, I am well aware people drift apart in reality. I am saying that within the context of Amphibia, the ending doesn't make sense, and it really bothers me how many people adore the ending.

Matt claims he's a "less is more" person. So I question the choice of wrapping up every single plot line in the most unsatisfying ways possible, with the flash forwards that completely ignore trauma and any implications.

He claims he thought it was "dishonest" to have them go on adventures ad infinitum. In what way? How is that dishonest? What's more dishonest, that, or retconning it so the entire status quo of earth and Amphibia is maintained, with absolutely no ramifications whatsoever, no portal transportation, ripping apart the found families, and turning the entire show into a breakup story? If you're looking for honesty, I'd say look elsewhere.

It directly contradicts the theme of the day at the aquarium episode, and I'd say their mild acceptance of the separation is completely out of character.

The show makes fun of us for caring; from Anne's mom "stabbing" her and recreating terrible trauma, to Sasha and Grime's breakup being played ENTIRELY, repeat, ENTIRELY for laughs.

This wasn't a natural disaster, this wasn't naturally drifting apart, this was someone consciously ripping the trio out of the hands of their loved ones. I don't see how the gang would accept this.

I don't understand how he can be so proud of such an ending. This isn't bittersweet, there's no sweetness or heartwarming here. There's just bitterness.

The ending made me wonder what the point of emotionally investing in anything was if it could just be taken away. What is the point if you're just going to lose it? Some claim that the point of the show is to say that you'd be okay in these situations, but I'm far from okay. I'm far from okay, far from satisfied, and I feel like Marcy did at the beginning of the series.

Seriously, I hate the timeskip so much. It depresses me so much, and I can't believe that's the sour note the show ended on.

#amphibia #amphibia spoilers #amphibia season 3

[oatmealcrisp-freak]

okay i'm gonna bitch about the purpose of fandom thing more cus it's stuck in my craw and what is tumblr if not a blogging platform and what is a weblog if not a log of my shit so anyway

lately when i peruse my internetian wares i see ppl going all "why dig", "that's not meant to be dug up", "you're enjoying your digging wrong", "you're working so hard to achieve nothing" and yeah i could bitch at them directly.

...

so anyways

my entertainment is not nothing???? rude????

genuinely and with sympathy, if your life has ruined imagination or asking questions of something or your efforts for you, or told you there's a 'wrong' and a 'right' way to do those things to the degree that there's a concrete, absolute, definitive way to fail at reading a story, i'm sorry, because that was not kind. listening to your personal integrity and considering feedback is one thing, like, "If I say this, will it do more harm than good", but that's a conversation. "Don't dig" is, IME that's someone telling you to shut up. That's not a conversation.

because it's not just a fandom thing.

nature is a story teller. it's not even just human nature, it's nature, which we are a part of. it's how we teach, it's how we explain, it's how we innovate, it's how we understand and make sense of things, it's how we grow.

2+2=4, right? That's just the way it is. When I was learning math and I asked, "but why", that's what I was told. "That's just the way it is" with the implication, "don't ask, don't dig, because no. Stop spending your time here, you're wasting it by thinking about it. Accept it. Move on." And it makes sense, right? Obviously 2+2=4.

Except when it doesn't. Except it took a lot of history and a lot of big brains reading into things and imagining shit to decide that, usually, 2+2=4. Except when it doesn't.

So. I 'hate' math now. If I see a string of numbers my eyes glaze over and my brain coughs out a puff of air like an empty wallet in a cartoon. The story I was told in response to my poor aptitude was that it was okay. I'm a 'girl'. "Girls are bad at math anyway." Also, "people who are bad at math are naturally more talented in art and language."

I know I have some mathematical aptitude. The clincher is that I wasn't allowed to ask questions. I wasn't allowed to use my imagination. I wasn't allowed to ask "but why does the apple fall on my head" and intuit and test answers over time with the brain eons of fine-tuning resulted in. And now I 'hate' math.

TLDR I wasn't allowed to dig there, but I was allowed to dig elsewhere. Encouraged, even. Something something, Emily Dickens was a lesbian, five points, something something that punchy witticism encapsulates that idea better than anything I could come up with and I'm mad about that something. Anyways, guess what two of my reasons to live are, now?

My curtains are blue. Literally. They're blue. Probably. Depending on who's looking. So the new memes add an extra layer of hilarity to this. Why are they blue? There's reasons, I'm sure. Maybe many and myriad, with and without the dimensions my presence (empty wallet) adds to the equation.

Are they relevant? Well, I look at them every day. I've got a blue house and a blue window. Blue is the colour of all that I wear. So why shouldn't they be? Can they simply be blue? Sure. But there's reasons why they're blue.

Are the reasons why they're blue relevant? That's a decision to make. Decisions are not meaningless. Time, and consideration, and effort, if they give you a tomato when your assignment was to bear fruit, you bore fruit. Unless you're in school, in which case you might get failed because the teacher thinks a tomato is a vegetable ergo your tomato is wrong, valueless, etc, and that's bullshit.

Some will say it lays in the boundary between reasonable interpretation and overinterpretation. I don't exactly care where that boundary lies. I'm enjoying myself by asking my questions and working out my imagination and taking things as far as they'll go until they snap. Ever tried to huck something just to see how far it'd go? There's very few windows here to break, you better goddamn believe I'm gonna huck that bitch and see if I can make a shiny star on the horizon that does a 'ting' noise. I don't fully understand why some folks are trying to erect a glass house in an open field but I guess if that's what works for them... It's just not what does it for me.

Bury your seeds in damp blue curtains. Make a grow bag. If you want to. If you can. Why should you? Why shouldn't you. Want food for thought?

Start digging.

Why dig?

HOLE FUN.

#GROUCHY. #GROUCHY GRUMPY grr arg etc. the opportunity to address this directly has passed so i'll bitch about it here #what are you? the fun police? acab. #i like rocks i use that metaphor a lot. #all that said fuck you personally if you're into lightening skin tones or drawing fat ppl thin and that sorta shit. those are some of the #windows.